My New Favorite

I just started this, so far, witty as all hell book that feels like it’s talking directly to me. Despite the author being young enough to be my bambina, I can SO relate to her childhood feelings of isolation—wanting so much to fit in and be accepted (but never quite getting there). I keep thinking “school experiences didn’t evolve from the 60s/70s to the 80s/90s? Mean girls didn’t become extinct in all those years? WTF! Humans suck!"

I started following Ms. DeRuiter on Threads because she’s funny and real or as real as someone I’ve never met yet still truly, potentially, exists in real time and space…unlike, say, Ripley (and Jonesy), who I adore but have been advised is just a fictional character in a favorite movie series. *sigh*

I follow her because she’s witty as fuck—did I mention that already? Apparently she’s a blogger, public speaker (that’s a thing, a profession? Talking? I can do that! Wish I’d heard about that 40 years ago. Oh wait, my extra-super-enhanced misanthropic nature might have put the kibosh on that), traveler and travel writer. I’d, sadly, never actually heard of her before signing on to Threads. Glad that's been remedied!

Anyway, the book is If You Can't Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury and her name is Geraldine DeRuiter. TOTALLY recommend!

At about 1AM this morning (could NOT put it down!) I passed a spot where she talked about the restaurant, Red Lobster. Oh my, back in the day Red Lobster was, for me, the absolute height of fancy, schmancy dining. Dim lighting? Dark wood paneling? Shrimp? Lobster? Clam chowder? Oh yeah baybees—bring it!

*ahem* That was a long time past. Warum? For starters I don’t eat shellfish anymore. Is that for religious reasons? FUCK NO! Lobster, prawns and shrimp all look like large horror movie insects. No thank you. Clams, mussels and oysters are gross and slimy (but, what can I say, I LURV clam chowder). Squid and octopus? Oh my, NO. Just fucking NO! They’re intelligent beings. It’d feel cannibalistic. Scallops? Love them—when served up they look like little cubes (tofu-esque) as opposed to seaworthy xenomorphs. I try to be consistent though so I'm now a no on scallops.

I still eat some fish. Mostly that’s a bit of salmon in the fish tacos Jen and I get once every couple weeks or so. In the stray blue moon, Ten and I will pick up fish and chips. That’s usually made from cod or haddock. Now that I think on it, this easily be replaced by properly seasoned tofu.

Back to the book though—so far, Ms. DeRuiter has only, more or less, casually mentioned her anger-management-challenged violent stepfather. I’m hoping she managed to duck his more aggressive abuse, of-fucking-course. The one thing that’s clear is that she survived childhood and managed to turn her isolation, her lack of connectedness into personal strength, creativity and humor versus diving into nasty-ass adult relationships or addictions. She was able to set firm boundaries and stick to them.

I can relate.