SOL March 4: Book Groups

            This afternoon I was in another book group. This group’s book was Apostles of Revolution: Jefferson, Paine, and Monroe and the Struggle Against the Old Order in America and Europe. Yes, it’s detailed history, and fascinating, but it’s long, almost 400 pages. As we met via Zoom, I asked how many had finished the book. No one had. One person hadn’t even started it, but she confessed that this kind of history is not to her taste. Another had read the preface. But another person and I hadn’t been able to read much because we both had other book groups earlier in the week.

            “What was the book in your other group?” I asked.

            “Hamnet,” she replied.

            “No!” I said. “That was my other group’s book, too!”

            What a coincidence. We two spent the next five or so minutes discussing our reactions to that other book, a novel about William Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, who died from plague at age 11. We both liked it, but had some reservations about the writing style.

            And even though no one had finished our book, Apostles of Revolution, we still had read enough to have a lively discussion.

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I’m participating in the 16th annual Slice of Life Challenge over at Two Writing Teachers. This is day 4 of the 31-day challenge.  It’s not too late to make space for daily writing in a community that is encouraging, enthusiastic, and eager to read what you have to slice about.  Join in!

 

SOL March 3: Transport

            I went to one of my three book groups tonight. This was the second time we’ve met in person since Covid started, and a couple of people there had missed our first in-person last month, so it was like a second first time.

            I had to go to Brooklyn. By public transit. I love public transit. I can read a book, I don’t have to worry about other drivers, I don’t have to pay a small fortune for a taxi or car service since I live in upper Manhattan. Both Google Maps and MTA.info said it would take about an hour. But that’s in some ideal world.

            I only had to wait a few minutes for a No. 1 train at 110th Street & Broadway. Two stops later, I got out to switch to an express, and a No. 2 train arrived as I walked across the platform. And I got a seat, so I could continue to read the book for one of my other book groups, which is meeting tomorrow at noon.

            Two stops later, at 42nd Street—Times Square, I got out and walked up steps to get to what I hoped would be an N train. (The N train would take me to Brooklyn, where I could switch to an R train to get to my stop, Bay Ridge.) The N is an express, only now it’s not an express in Manhattan. It runs on the same track as the R train, in Manhattan. Here a Q train, another express, came by, then another Q train. I didn’t know if or where the Q train met up with the R train in Brooklyn, so I let them go by. On the local track an R train appeared. The R is a local train, so it will make every stop there is. I was going to need the R train eventually, so why not get on it now? Or should I wait for an N, that will eventually become an express? Maybe I should get on the train I know will get me where I want to go. And I got a seat on the R.

            Two stops later, the R stopped — and stayed in the station. For more than 10 minutes. Occasionally, a voice came over the PA system, but I couldn’t make out what it was saying. I texted my book group that I being held in a station. Eventually, we got moving and made our way, local stop by local stop, to Brooklyn.

            But wait, one more delay awaited me. At 59th Street, where I would have switched from the N express to the R local, I was informed that the R I was on was going to skip the station I needed. I would have to get off and wait for the next R train. It was only a couple of minutes, but I seemed destined to be as late as possible for my book group.

            They did wait dinner for me, and I got a glass of wine. And now I know the right way to get to this area of Brooklyn. 

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I’m participating in the 16th annual Slice of Life Challenge over at Two Writing Teachers. This is day 3 of the 31-day challenge.  It’s not too late to make space for daily writing in a community that is encouraging, enthusiastic, and eager to read what you have to slice about.  Join in!

SOL March 8: Communities

Growing up, I thought I wasn’t a joiner. I didn’t belong to any groups in school or college. I didn’t know how to just join something on my own, I had to know someone or be invited. But women’s liberation changed all that. It was the first place where I felt that I totally belonged. And women’s liberation gave me the courage and confidence to join other groups.

    And now... I belong to so many groups. Groups that have kept me sane through the pandemic. Social isolation has meant isolation from face-to-face gathering, but  Zoom has been a lifesaver. I know there are people who hate Zoom, but without Zoom, I would have been really isolated. Seeing people, even on Zoom, has been better for me than the telephone. But back to groups. Here are the groups I have been Zooming with over the past year.

    1. Women’s group. This group has been meeting for more than 20 years. It’s a group I organized in my mid-50s, after a conversation with a friend about whether I was thinking about women and aging and sex. In fact, I had been, and began asking my friends whether they’d like to be in a group to discuss these issues. Once I had a critical mass, six or seven women, I think, we held a meeting, and we were off. There’s much more I could say about this group, but let’s get on to my other groups.

    2. Writers’ group. I joined this group a few years before the women’s group started. I was teaching journalism at the time, and one of my students invited me to a reading by her writers’ group. I had been thinking about a writing project, and I wasn’t going to get tenure at my teaching job. I went to the reading, each reader was better than the next, and I got up the courage to ask if I could join them. Of course, they said, and that writing project go underway. I could say lots more about this group, too.

    3. Book group 1. This is a group I joined when I noticed that a friend in my writing group was reading Stephen King’s 11/22/63, which I was also reading. She was reading it for her book group, and I asked if I could join them for that discussion, because I wanted to talk about this novel. Of course, she said, and I was in a new group. This group alternates fiction and nonfiction, which

    4. Book group 2. Initially, this group started to discuss aging and retirement. It was mostly historians, many at the university where I had taught, and soon it evolved to be a political group once Trump was elected. But after almost three years of politics, our organizer felt she was in so many other political groups, she wanted respite. Let’s read novels, she suggested, and that’s what we’ve done for the past many months — though even the novels we’ve read have had a political bent.

    5. Book group 3. A woman I’d known for many years had terminal cancer. Years earlier I had invited her to my women’s group, but she was already in a group talking about retirement — they called it “refirement” — so after she died, I asked if I could meet with her group, and stayed. Many of the members were midwives, ret. It had become a book group as well, but relied more on books that were available at the library, so not the latest titles.

    6. Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon. I learned about this salon from the writing friend whose book group I’d joined. This group, started by a lawyer by day, poet by night, meets monthly with a featured writer who holds a brief workshop, reads from her (occasionally his) work followed by a Q&A, and then an open mike. From one of the members, I heard about the next writing community.

    7. Creative Expression NYC (originally Open Expression in Harlem). This group also meets monthly, and also includes a featured writer and an open mike, though with the open mike first.

    8. Movie group. Another friend started this monthly group. We agree on a film in advance, see it on our own time, and then meet to discuss. Once we couldn’t agree on just one film, so for a while we would see two movies to discuss, often a foreign film. When one of our members’ macular degeneration made subtitles hard to read, we’d always have one English-language film along with the non-English-language film. There’s also a strong political bent to the movies we choose.

    Is there another group I’ve missed? Aren’t these enough?

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I’m participating in the 14th annual Slice of Life Challenge over at Two Writing Teachers. This is day 8 of the 31-day challenge.  It’s not too late to make space for daily writing in a community that is encouraging, enthusiastic, and eager to read what you have to slice about.  Join in!

 

 

Covid Events, Cancellations, and Postponements

(from my datebook—EDITED)

March 10, I attend a performance of Hamilton as a guest of a friend.

March 11, I ride the subway for the last time.

March 13, Gender & Transformation workshop canceled.

March 14, I eat in a restaurant with a friend, for the last time, and shop for groceries, for the last time.

March 15, the funeral of an old colleague of Jack’s is postponed to an indefinite time.

March 15, movie discussion group (Sorry We Missed You) is canceled.

March 18, lunch with a friend canceled.

March 20, book group 2 postponed.

March 22, plans to see Drunk Shakespeare are canceled.

March 23, talk at CUNY by Victoria Phillips on “Women, Power, and Intrigue in Cold War Berlin” is canceled.

March 24, book party for Ann Snitow’s posthumous book, Visitors, and a book by Daniel Goode is canceled.

March 25, Vivien Gornick and Alix Shulman in conversation at the Center for Fiction is canceled.

March 26, Big Words reading on the theme of “Dreams” is canceled.

March 26, opening day for baseball season is canceled.

March 28, the group of Mets fans I was going to join at Bobby V’s bar in Stamford is canceled

March 28, Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon meets via Zoom.

March 29, New York Antioch Alumni chapter gathering postponed.

March 30, staged reading of a play by Robin Rice is canceled.

March 31, check-up with my doctor is canceled.

April 1, my women’s group meets via Zoom, on regularly scheduled day.

April 3, book group 2 (The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu) meets via Zoom, postponed from March 20.

April 4, New School panel on Ann Snitow’s book Visitors is canceled.

April 4, book group 1 (T.R. Reid's The Healing of America) meets via Zoom, on regularly scheduled day.

April 8, dentist appointment is postponed.

April 11, Pauline Olivieros's music meditation via Zoom.

April 12, family meets via Zoom, a new event.

April 14, North Star gala is canceled.

April 15, income tax deadline extended to July 15.

April 16, book group (A Long Petal of the Sea) meets via Zoom, on regularly scheduled day.

April 17, Gender & Transformation panel on Ann Snitow’s book Visitors is canceled.

April 17, Publishers Weekly happy hour via Zoom, a new event.

April 18, Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon’s 9th anniversary via Zoom, a regularly scheduled event.

April 19, New York Antioch Alumni chapter meets via Zoom, postponed from March 29.

April 19, family meets via Zoom.

April 21, National Gallery writing workshop, via Zoom.

April 24, book group (New York Times special section, "One Nation, Tracked") meets via Zoom, on scheduled day.

April 25, staged reading of Jen Abrams's How to Queer a Stroller, via Zoom.

April 28, New York State primary is postponed.

May 1, Gender & Transformation workshop is canceled.

May 2, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra concert is canceled.

May 2, book group 1 (Homegoing) meets via Zoom, on regularly scheduled day.

May 3, family meets via Zoom.

May 6, women’s group meets via Zoom.

May 6, dermatologist appointment is postponed.

May 7, book group (The Testament of Mary) meets via Zoom.

May 12, podiatrist appointment is postponed.

June 3, women’s group meets via Zoom.

June 6, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra concert is canceled.

June 23, New York State primary rescheduled is canceled.

July 1, dentist appointment is rescheduled??

July 29, dermatologist appointment is rescheduled??

The future?????