Not Today, Satan

and other items of small comfort

This art piece by Vanessa Stockard is called ‘Satan’s Day Off’:

and she also has a fabulous piece entitled ‘Not Today, Satan’:

Her work particularly resonates with me right now. Although her art is a humorous take on her Very Naughty Cat, Kevin - the MOOD going on in the ‘Not Today, Satan’ piece of art is exactly where I’m at, plus a few levels of the incandescent rage that’s suffused throughout every cell of my being right now.

There were two other posts in the pipeline, but after the past week’s events they got bumped because I think it’s important to acknowledge the most recent national abhorrent episode.

Originally I had written a lengthy essay about my personal interactions with some (thankfully few) maga enablers in my life, but after writing it out I was so disgusted by it all…..I deleted the majority of it because the most energy I want to spend on these sympathizers involves simply fading out of their lives. (this is Phase 2 of the process I guess, as I’ve long since shed the actual maga acquaintances and extended family members I had the misfortune to know).

This is not fun to write, and I’m sure it’s not fun to read. But our government told us this week, after we saw on video the way a woman was shot in the face three times while in her car — that not only did we NOT see what we all saw, but that this woman DESERVED what we saw happen.

There are two pieces I want to highlight if you’re unfamiliar - this post (and every post) from historian Heather Cox Richardson is an essential read:

January 9, 2026

And if you’re not already following Jay Kuo, who writes political summaries of the news from an easy-to-understand legal standpoint, you’re missing a fantastic resource:

In Honor of Renee Nicole Good

I feel my blood pressure rising so I’m going to move on and show a few things that brought a glimmer of respite from all the horribleness. (My reaction to stress is to look at books. I’ve walked through Barnes & Noble twice already this week, as well as an independent local bookstore, and by the time this weekend is over, I’ll probably be at Barnes for a third time.)

Let me show & tell a few things that might bring the smallest measure of comfort:

This isn’t published until JUNE, but the fact that there’s a new book coming called ‘The Unicorn Hunters’, by the fabulous Katherine Arden, (she wrote the Winternight trilogy, one of my most loved trilogies of all time) sparked some joy.

And look at this BEAUTY. I’m not sure how ‘As Many Souls as Stars’ by Natasha Siegel has passed me by until now because this cover would have stopped me in my TRACKS. Gothic magic and reincarnation? A cat-and-mouse chase and a love story across multiple lifetimes? I think I’m getting a Kindle or reading tablet for my birthday next week, so I don’t have to buy every book I want to read, but this I might have to actually purchase.

‘The Murder at World’s End’ by Ross Montgomery JUST came out a few days ago; it’s brand spanking new and after reading it described as reminiscent of ‘Knives Out’ plus ‘Downton Abbey’, with a locked room mystery on a coastal island off of Cornwall in 1910 during the time of Halley’s Comet, I decided this sounded like a fun mystery for winter.

There are several shows coming now or soon-ish that I’m hoping will be a comfort distraction, starting with ‘Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials’ - starring Helena Bonham Carter? SOLD.

And on PBS there’s ‘Bookish’ from Mark Gatiss about a crime-solving bookshop owner:

And ‘People We Meet On Vacation’, based on Emily Henry’s book:

Speaking of Emily Henry, I just got ‘Book Lovers’ as an early birthday present to myself, after hearing people describe it as the best book rom-com of all time…ok I’ll bite…..

Oh and I also got Roshani Chokshi’s latest, ‘The Swan’s Daughter’ — she’s an if-she-writes-it-I’ll-buy-it author for me. A take on The Six Swans fairytale written by her made this a no brainer purchase. VERY excited about this one.

I also wanted to let you know about an Instagram account that brings me great joy….Malthouse Cottage - seriously like a Studio Ghibli home come to life. Truly an enchanted cottage, it’s absolutely darling:

I also wanted to let you know that twice now in the past month I’ve had pasta bolognese takeout from a local Italian restaurant and a small glass of wine. I don’t typically drink wine because I don’t really like it much, but for some reason I think it’s stupendous with pasta. An earth shattering revelation of the most minute proportions, I’m well aware lol, but I guess what I’m trying to say is that right now, if you can find a petite joy of some kind…LEAN INTO IT. I’m trying ever so hard to gather and find these moments, and really stop and note their presence because otherwise the rage will take over.

This recipe from Bon Appetit looks nice

Oh this was a fantastic read on homes and decorating, and this line was my favorite part:

“this is connected to how many of us were taught to prepare our homes for sale. Neutralize everything. Remove the personality. Hide the weird, specific things. Somewhere along the way, that logic leaked into how we learned to live. As if the safest version of a home is one that could belong to anyone, and therefore fully belongs to no one.”

If You Want People to Compliment Your Home, Stop Trying to Impress Them

The last thing I wanted to let you know about for now is this marmalade: Irish Breakfast Marmalade from Mileeven …it’s THE BEST I’VE EVER HAD but it’s hard to find. I got mine at a local British bakery and it is on Amazon but not prime. The Irish Whiskey version is though. Anyway, if you can find this marmalade, very worth it.

Oh one very last thing. My Christmas tree is still up. Not sure whether to celebrate this or request assistance. I have a no-Christmas-up-by-my-birthday rule though, so it’s coming down sometime this week. And if there’s typos in the post this week, please forgive, my eyes are too tired to check as carefully as I should.

Hugs,

Melissa