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Elizabeth Perry

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Uh, so, I have a weird Jew-y dilemna.

I volunteer with my neighborhood "snow brigade", which shovels for folks who need help. We're due to get some gross "wintry mix" and "icy sleet" overnight, although maybe not much accumulation.

The couple I got assigned to emailed to say — well, here: "Hopefully there will be NO snow on Friday night and Saturday since for religious reasons we are not able to shovel. If it's not much we can deal with it Saturday night."

I emailed back to say that I don't consider helping a neighbor in need to violate shomer Shabbat and I would be happy to come by and make sure their sidewalks and steps are clear.

They said, "It would be our sin to have another Jew do any work for us on Shabbos. We very much appreciate your kind thoughts to help us. But if we can't do it, you can't do it for us either."

Uhhhhhhhhhh. I am not sure how to respond to this. I don't think this is a sin! I try to observe Shabbat in the sense of resting and renewing myself, but very much not in a traditional way — like, spending a couple of hours mending and embroidering might be part of Shabbat for me because it fills my cup and I don't always get the chance to during the week! Going to the farmer's market and spending half my paycheck and cooking something elaborate on Saturday is a profoundly Shabbosdik thing for me! I don't want to tell them "your theology is wrong" and I don't want to upset them by doing something they have told me not to do (and would apparently feel guilty about????), but ... I can't just leave an elderly couple trapped in their house with icy sidewalks for a day!

*pinches bridge of nose*

I gotta get in touch with the snow brigade coordinator and tell her what's going on so she can try to find a substitute, I guess. I wish I hadn't made it so obvious I am also Jewish, just said something cheerful about being happy to shovel in the morning, but it truly did not occur to me that their observance would mean this. My bad. Ugh.

This is gonna be a real fun conversation with the snow brigade coordinator.

ETA: Snow brigade coordinator is going to check if there's someone I can swap with for future Saturdays, but since the blizzard has been delayed until Monday, when labor is allowed, we will deal with it if and when it becomes a problem next. What a ridiculous shenanigan.

I seem to be Canadian now, which is very exciting. (My paternal grandfather was born in Ontario.) I need to pull together a relatively short stack of documents to prove it (3 birth certificates, 2 marriage certificates, 2 name change records), and fingers crossed Canada (home and native laaaaaand) will welcome me home.

It is supposed to snow AGAIN this weekend. I keep reminding myself that this is how winter is supposed to be.

My to-do list has three MUST DOs on it:

write up notes for therapist before Monday session
read & comment on manuscript for crit group Tuesday
pollinator garden email

If you see me doing anything else except, like, keeping body and soul together for the next few days (if it snows more than half an inch, I'll have to take care of my neighbors, and a friend is coming over with her kid to encourage me to clean and have dinner, but other than that — !), yell at me until I go back to my aforementioned tasks.

I spent this week in slide deck hell and the week before in spreadsheet hell. There is still more slide deck hell to come, but I think I can pace it out a little more now. But spreadsheet hell will not end until May, thanks to HHS (pdf link). I like accessibility work, but I also like digital paleography and information architecture and wireframing and right now accessibility is expanding to fill all the available time and then some. Fortunately, one of the slide decks from hell actually requires me to work on a writing project, so I can cling to some vestige of being a creative person who doesn't live in slide deck or speadsheet hell. Maybe someday I will actually be one! Maybe someday I can contribute to CanLit!

ARGH, the box where I stashed a bunch of pharmacy receipts has vanished into thin air and I cannot imagine where it is, nor can I persuade myself I would have thrown it out! This apartment is not large. I cannot remember the last time I saw it, but this doesn't say much.

I have made progress on the jeans I am repairing, except that there is a new spot that has worn out. It feels positively Sisyphean. Jeans of Theseus. Well, it keeps me from doomscrolling.

Steaming potatoes before browning them continues to be one of the great discoveries of my adulthood: it's so fast! and tidy! and produces perfect potatoes! I do need to acquire bamboo steamers for better steaming of fish and various Asian dishes and whatnot, but first I gotta figure out where would I put them? I have a tiny kitchen and a lot of equipment but I swear I use pretty much all of it (I would use the pasta roller more if eggs were affordable, but that really is the only thing I look at and wince, trying to justify the space). Semi-relatedly, the attempt to make the trash situation less horrible seems to be working: a small trash bin forces me to take it out more often, before the contents get gross. I should've gotten a foot-pedal model, but that is really the only flaw in the system, and I do like that the legs elevate it so I can clean under it easily. It's almost embarrassing how easy this dose of shame was to hack, but better late than never, I guess.

This might be the first time that Jo Walton's reading list did not result in a half-dozen new library holds, so I unfroze some existing holds and headed over to rivkat's to catch up on her notes on books. Results: several new holds, as expected and intended. I feel much better.

I fought my way past Amtrak's terrible 2FA and did not have to deal with Julie, which definitely counts as dodging the boss battle, but now I am getting errors when I try to buy my Dessa ticket, and in conclusion, computers were a mistake.

The gherkin is asleep on my chest (tiny tiny tiny snores) and allegedly it is going to go above 0° C for the first time in days, possibly weeks, tomorrow.

I have wonderful friends who validate me when I'm having a hard time.
Farmer's market pesto in the freezer in the middle of winter.
My team won a prestigious award at work and I got to read the nomination and it says really lovely things about the work we do.
I already had the book Humankind: a hopeful history out from the library and after encountering Too Many Informations about the Epstein files, I started reading it and it is exactly what I need right now (although I would very much like to know what e.g. Maimonides' thoughts are on Bregman's argument, as well as wisdom traditions from India and China; maybe we'll get there).
The public library is giving out free seeds which means it WILL be spring someday.

Another 4 inches of snow? And high winds? And "arctic chill"? I cannot.

I am trying the applesauce loaf again, this time with some chunks of "Gold Rush" apples in the batter and making sure not to use lumpy brown sugar. Fingers crossed.

Amtrak's 2FA system is garbage and I may have to contend with Julie, my nemesis (Amtrak's phone customer "service" bot) to get to New York to see Dessa in March (and sneak out of a conference early); my splurge on Restaurant Week was kind of a waste of money (pasta oversalted, rosé weirdly bland); I am sick of all my clothes, no doubt because I have been wearing all of them at the same time for the past month, and the idea of acquiring different clothes is the epitome of exchanging money for bads and disservices.

THIS IS THE BAD PLACE.

Is it possible to post about planning my big trip later this year, and how beautiful the park looks in the snow, and the pistachio biscotti I baked, while Minnesota is under siege by the federal government, who have hired thugs qualified only to lick freezing-cold metal poles?

I hung some calligraphic art yesterday, which has Pirkei Avot 2:16 on it, right next to my desk, where I can see it every day as I email my reps ~~Carthago delenda est~~ ICE and DHS must be abolished.

Stand With Minnesota.

I am planning to go on a walking holiday in Europe in late 2026! I am very excited.

I know a few of y'all have done these, and I would love to get your advice and recommendations. The things I am primarily thinking of include, in no particular order:

organizing flights to and from the start point; I don't think the walking holiday company does this since I'm in the US -- I may have some complications and don't love the idea of sorting it out entirely on my own
what to wear on the daily hike & what supplies to carry with me

but I would be very grateful for suggestions of things to consider that I have not thought of! I have wanted to do this for a long time but I have not ever done it.

Still not dead but also still sick, so that's great. At this point I'm constantly congested and constantly exhausted. Bodies were a mistake.

I'm not dead; I've taken today & tomorrow off work and would not be surprised if I call in sick Thursday & Friday as well; I'm in less pain than I was, but I'm still pretty uncomfortable; mostly stopped coughing but my head is full of goo, which may honestly be worse. I felt marginally better yesterday, and thank goodness I took advantage of it to change my bedlinens and run the robovac, because today the prospect of taking the dirty linens down to the basement to wash them is making me quail. (ETA: 1/3 accomplished.) Naptime now.

Fuck. CVS is out of COVID tests, but I picked up cough drops and loratidine, per rahaeli, on the assumption that this is covid; between the cough and the general sense of recognition, I am pretty confident in my self-diagnosis.

R. is shipping me tests and some other stuff, because she is a fucking saint. I am changing back into my jammies and finishing this pot of tea and going back to bed. Ugh.

I ~~read~~ took out $4856.23 worth of books from my local library in 2025, from 256 checkouts, and an unknown number from the other library systems I have a card with (Minuteman, NYPL, and CLAMS, which at this point I use entirely for ebooks). There were of course any number of DNFs, and a number of rereads; I am fifteen books into the Aubreyad, finished the Twelve Houses series, the Founders trilogy, and am up-to-date on The New Yorker.

Standouts included, in no order whatsoever:

Shepherd, Nan. The Living Mountain : A Celebration of the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland. Canongate, 1977.
Helwig, Maggie. Encampment : Resistance, Grace, and an Unhoused Community. First edition, Coach House Books, 2025.
Kimmerer, Robin Wall. The Serviceberry : Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World. Illustrated by John Burgoyne, First Scribner hardcover edition, Scribner, 2024.
Anand, Pria. The Mind Electric : A Neurologist on the Strangeness and Wonder of Our Brains. First Washington Square Press / Atria Books hardcover edition, Washington Square Press/Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, LLC, 2025.
Kingfisher, T. Snake-Eater. 47North, 2025.
Schlanger, Zoë. The Light Eaters : How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth. First edition, Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2024.
Attlee, Helena. The Land Where Lemons Grow : The Story of Italy and Its Citrus Fruit. Penguin Books, 2014.
Leong, Julie. The Teller of Small Fortunes. First edition, Ace, 2024.
Bennett, Robert Jackson. The Tainted Cup. First edition, Del Rey, 2024.
Bennett, Robert Jackson. A Drop of Corruption : An Ana and Din Mystery. Illustrated by David Lindroth Inc, First edition, Del Rey, 2025.
Koenig, Leah, and Kristin Teig. Portico : Cooking and Feasting in Rome’s Jewish Kitchen. First edition, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2023.
Mukherjee, Siddhartha. The Emperor of All Maladies : A Biography of Cancer. First Scribner hardcover edition, Scribner, 2010.
McKinley, Robin. Sunshine. 1st ed, Berkley Books, 2003.
Tesh, Emily. The Incandescent : A School Story. First edition, Tom Doherty Associates/Tor Publishing Group, 2025.
Moorehead, Caroline. A Bold and Dangerous Family : The Remarkable Story of an Italian Mother, Her Two Sons, and Their Fight against Fascism. First U.S. edition, Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2017.

May 2026 include good books, learning interesting things, and well-funded public institutions for all of us.

Yuletide very pleasant; usually I get a comment on an old fic or two in a fandom someone has rediscovered through Yuletide and gone on a deep dive for, but not this year!

About three or four inches of snow (7-10cm) fell overnight and I shoveled my front sidewalk and steps, because the snow removal guys had done next door but not us (?), and then tromped down to my assigned house in the neighborhood, where I shoveled the longest driveway in Rhode Island and enough sidewalk for two houses and what felt like two flights of front steps. Thank goodness it was light and powdery, and almost all of the above was in good repair so I didn't have to fight the asphalt like last year, but I earned every bite of the steak and eggs and homefries (not nearly as good as last time) at the diner.

And then C. and her kid and I went to the ZOO and saw CREATURES. Macaws! Ibis! Elephants! A two-year-old giraffe who is already trying to fuck the other giraffes in the enclosure (this is a good thing, they want genetically-diverse babies from him) but he's not tall enough yet! An anaconda 99.8% percent in the water in its tank, I wanted to boop its snout SO MUCH. Red pandas that were so fluffy they looked fake. The river otters were having so much fun in the snow and splashing in their pool. The docents were super friendly and the French fries were delicious. Would 100% zoo again.

Then a hot bath and a nap. Bliss.

I have finished the daisy which covers the tea stain on this t-shirt! I am very proud of myself.

Satin stitch, French knots, stem stitch, and fishbone stitch.

I spent yesterday evening re-reading Helen Dewitt's The English Understand Wool, one of the best books I've read in the past few years, and reading T. Kingfisher's Snake-Eater, which I loved.

A friend is stopping by to keep me company while I make snickerdoodles, and this has prompted me to sweep and run the vacuum cleaner; this evening I will go to needlecrafting and there will be a colleague there.

On my way out the door to a vigil for last night's mass casualty incident; today is also the thirteenth anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting, and there was an antisemitic mass shooting in Bondi Beach, Australia yesterday.

I do not know how I am going to get through this vigil and come home and light my chanukiyah, with its engraving, More life. The great work begins.

ETA: Ran into some coworkers at the extremely well-attended vigil and they came home with me to light the chanukiyah, and that helped.

On this Bandcamp Friday, I have purchased the entirety of Dessa's discography; made a loaf of bread for potluck Shabbat services tonight; gone to the makerspace to continue sanding the drawer divider pieces I made with the laser cutter earlier this week; picked up my CSA box; nearly froze to death waiting for the bus home.

Finally committed to buying myself some solid gold flatback earrings that I can keep in, and got the Maison Miru pavé lightning bar pair, which are almost identical to the Mateo bypass studs, except not diamonds, and about 20% of the price. (Christ, when I bookmarked those earrings, they were almost a hundred dollars cheaper.) I have managed to get them into my ears all by myself (look, I didn't get my ears pierced until I was 30, and push pin flat backs are even harder), and I am pleased to report that they are delicate and sparkly and I look forward to wearing them for the foreseeable future.

It's a shame that Saturday is my long cardio session at the gym, because damn does my hair look great on Sundays, when it is clean but the curl has fallen out juuuuust enough that the ringlets don't look fake. (My natural curl texture in the front is, genuinely, Shirley Temple curls. It is absurd.)

I have made cranberry-apricot cake and poppyseed cake and am restraining myself from making a miso-maple cake. The cod with artichokes and saffron broth did defeat the bag of artichokes that had been in the freezer since the dawn of time, but I actually think the broth isn't great — oddly bitter? — and won't be making it again. (I have leftovers and will eat them, but I won't be happy about it. Thank goodness I didn't waste the second cod fillet on this.) The pesto + white beans, on the other hand, were delicious and will become a new staple.

Sir Tom Stoppard's death is extremely upsetting and I am watching "Shakespeare in Love," "Enigma," and "Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are Dead" and reading Arcadia, The Invention of Love, and The Coast of Utopia about it. And re-reading the cricket bat speech from The Real Thing.

Yesterday's treadmill session was the longest yet and incredibly boring, even with A Court of Fey and Flowers distracting me. I ended up with the beginning of a blister and no willpower left to resist the prospect of samosas and saag paneer at the Indian restaurant down the block, but honestly $45 for three meals is pretty reasonable.

And then I was awake from 4:30 to 6:30 and am not happy about it. But I made decent hash with fried eggs for breakfast and put the cast iron re-seasoning in the oven alongside a packet of garlic, and made a small pot of cranberry applesauce with red wine on the stove, and sent the robovac trundling around my bedroom, so I rescued my Sunday from a pretty dismal start.

Yet again I have to go to campus more than once this week, and this can only end badly.

Realized after my most recent gym session that I'd been misreading the training plan and I have accidentally skipped about half a training session so far, and sessions are going to take longer than I thought. Whoops. The good news is, I also realized that this is a great opportunity to watch Dropout, give that reading on my phone at a 3mph pace is not super comfortable. So fingers crossed I actually like Dimension 20!

I made squash dumplings and banana bread and if I can make myself get off the couch, will bake gâteau invisible and a fresh loaf of bread. How is it possible that I picked up my CSA box on Friday, went to the farmer's market on Saturday, got some groceries Sunday, and yet I still need to buy more ingredients for food? Also I would like a gold star for excavating the frozen bananas, it is really hard to keep weird-shaped things like whole bananas organized neatly, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Elizabeth Perry | studio

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me and my big mouth

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no. no, thank you.

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walking holiday!

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2025 in reading

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I finished a project!

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