A former coworker, and friend, said something over 15 years ago about how he envied the generations that came before us because they all had something they lived through that crystallized their identity as a generation. The Great Depression, World War II, Vietnam and Civil Rights—he longed for something similar to shape us, to make us.

I remember thinking at the time that in that moment, I could tell he was six years younger than me. And full to the brim of the kind of hungry, dramatic glory-seeking that marks so many Young White Men stereotypes. Why, I thought, on earth, I thought, would you want something terrible to happen just so your generation had something important to define them?

His wish has drifted to mind often over the years, and when we experienced the pandemic, I thought, well, here it is, this is our generation's thing. But now we have a dictator pretending to be a president and siccing troops he can't afford to pay on lawfully protesting citizens while he deports Latine people to prisons in El Salvador and threatens similar horrors to judges and Congresspeople and reporters who oppose him. Other judges, Congresspeople, reporters, and lawful citizens look away while he deconstructs 250 years of (extremely imperfect) democracy in less than 5 months.

More protests across the country are planned for this weekend, and I have no idea where we'll be on the other side of them. Somewhere better, I hope, and I certainly plan to keep fighting in the ways I can, regardless—I'll have plenty of time for cynical resignation when I'm in jail—but I wonder if that old coworker is mature enough now to regret his wish.

This week has gone by so fast, and I suppose that makes sense given all the adventures, quiz-related and otherwise, I've packed into the days. It still feels a little strange to know that today is the final opportunity to share Killer Quizzes until next year, though. I wonder what the world and my life will look like by then.

I'm going to sit here in the hot golden hour, sip my cocktail, watch Sev attempt to teach his son catch-and-release fishing in our pond, and just be grateful that I'm here right now and that this is the world I get to sink into. I've folded the parchments into dragonflies today. If you let them dance a little while, they'll come to rest in your hands when they're ready. ( Happy Saturday and happy quizzes! )

Today's quizzes took a little longer to respond to than usual and have left me feeling in need of a chic cocktail. (And a wardrobe makeover, but let's aim for the goals I can accomplish, shall we?) And since it is Friday—and I have ice cubes!—a chic cocktail I will have.

Sev is pulling the ingredients together while his son is attempting to eat as many of the cherry garnishes as he can sneak away, so I will leave you to peruse the parchments ( and seek your own post-quiz libation. )

The tofu tacos turned out very, very well, I am happy to report. (Though I'm grateful I had some extra red bell peppers to toss in, since the recipe definitely needed them.) I've been raving to Sev for the last day or so about how excited I am to get to make more tofu/soy-focused meals in the future. For a long time, I was under the impression that someone with my family's history of hormone-based clotting disorders needed to stay away from soy in large quantities, since the articles my sister found said that the phytoestrogens in soy amplified those hormonal conditions.

The research I did just recently, though, seems to indicate that soy is actually highly beneficial for women, that the phytoestrogens help balance hormonal conditions rather than aggravate them. Add in the ways it improves insulin resistance, lowers cholesterol, and is protective against breast cancer, and I decided I should probably start eating more of it. It's also a completely new ingredient to play around with, which tickles my creativity and culinary curiosity. That's something Sev can appreciate, but I'm sure he's very tired of hearing me talk about it.

If I promise to stop raving about tofu, will you do the honors of sharing the quizzes today, Sev? ::bats eyelashes:: Hmm? Hmmmmmm? ::grumbling rumble and flutter of parchment:: Ooh, I love the vines climbing up the side of the scroll. ( The leaves are so delicate! )

I'm gearing up to make tofu tacos for the first time, and I'm both excited and a little impatient for them to just be fixed and ready to eat, already. This, in a nutshell, may be one of the reasons why I will never be a truly joyful cook. Do I take pride in being a capable and occasionally creative chef? I do indeed. Would I also just rather someone else do that work so I can concentrate on eating it? Yes. So much yes.

But enough of those impossible daydreams! Let me get to the quizzes so I can get to the tacos. Sev and his son are out enjoying today's gorgeous weather, and I'm focused on cookery, so there's no fanciful origami today. I did tidy my library table, though, so today's parchments ( should be easy to find. )

Ice cubes are in the freezer, Sev and his son are coloring at the library table, my brand new copy of BTS' The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever is playing, and I have an evening of watching fun things with сестра to look forward to tonight. Not bad for a Tuesday. I'm even feeling energetic enough to fold today's quiz parchments into butterflies. ( Best of luck in catching them! )

I've been remarkably productive for a Monday, which means that now all I want to do is find a hammock to flop in and a Mai Tai to drink. Alas, there are no hammock-suitable trees nearby, and though I've mostly made the transition to summertime foodstuffs, I haven't stocked my freezer with ice trays yet. I shall have to make do—fitting for a Monday.

Sev and I are still taking it easy, though, enjoying the blustery heat before it becomes unbearable in the next few weeks, so feel free to pick through today's quizzes on your own. The scrolls are tucked under the flowerpot in the corner, ( but you can probably hear them fluttering. )

I can't quite believe we're already at the Week of the Killer Quizzes. Partly that's due to the weather, which has been unseasonably cool and lovely lately, but mostly it just seems odd to arrive at a June again when the person I was, and the world as I knew it, last June is so different as to almost belong in another era. I've had a number of wonderful experiences in the last year, but many of the changes around me have been very negative, and both cases have demanded a lot of adjustment and growth. I am still myself, or so the quizzes tell me, but the person taking last year's quizzes feels very far away at the moment.

I'm thankful Sev and his son are still here, at least, to add a touch of continuity to the proceedings. Though he, too, is deeply grateful for the gentle weather as we ease further into this mad year. We're going to sit on the porch and listen to the phoebes sing their names as you dive into the quizzes. ( Feel free to join us whenever you like. )

I started this ages ago when I needed a distraction and longed to linger over the books I'd read and rejoiced in last year, and I've been pecking away at it ever since. It feels a little silly to post a Books of 2024 meme almost halfway through 2025 but here we are! If you are at all curious about the books I loved (and loathed, I guess, but mostly loved) last year, ( please, step right this way! )

Every time I get sick, I can't help wishing I were a small and pettable animal, able to curl up in someone's lap and whimper occasionally while they coddle me. Part of it, I think, is because pain makes me feel both small and crumpled, so why not get some benefit out of that sensation? But I also think being sick is a lonely experience, as John Green elaborates on so eloquently in that episode of The Anthropocene Reviewed, and so it's comforting to imagine someone close by, noticing as you struggle and doing their best to help.

Instead, I am attempting to distract myself with fanfiction, wishful thinking about the book I would like to be finishing today, and a mental countdown to my next dose of analgesics. Alas.