Author Archives: Thistle

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About Thistle

Queer, neurospicy, chronically longwinded oversharer. 40s; they/them. ✍️📷🐈📚🥾🇩🇪🏳️‍🌈😇💖🐍

Operation Girly-Girl

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Thistle

I mentioned a few weeks back that I was doing a personal project in April that involved “dressing up like a traditionally-gendered girl” every day this month. The project was meant to focus on two things that I would very … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal | 22 Comments

Destiny Disrupted, by Tamim Ansary (audio)

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Thistle

Subtitled: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes It comes as no surprise that different parts of the world view the history of the world in different ways, or that the western view of history that I learned in … Continue reading →

Posted in 2015, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Top Ten Books with Lovable Flawed Characters

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Thistle

Flawed characters lead to rounder books, but flawed characters do not necessarily mean lovable characters, not for me anyway. I’m not a fan, for instance, of the Count of Monte Cristo’s vigilante “hero” or the manipulative, controlling love interest in Austen’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Talk | Tagged | 18 Comments

Sunday Coffee – Spring Break

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Thistle

This past week was spring break here (much later than I’m used to!) and we decided to spend the week traveling around to all the little New England states we’d never been to: Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman

Posted on April 23, 2015 by Thistle

Richard Mayhew is ordinary and passive, floating through life and letting things happen to him. One day he makes the choice to take an action, helping an injured girl that he stumbles upon. Suddenly, he’s thrown into an alternate London: … Continue reading →

Posted in 2015, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Top Ten Favorite Authors

Posted on April 21, 2015 by Thistle

Favorite authors: for me, defined by my consistent enjoyment across many books, rather than simply authors of my favorite books. For example, Possession by AS Byatt is one of my favorite books, but I’ve never made it through another book … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Talk | Tagged | 10 Comments

Sunday Coffee – The Great Laptop Kerfuffle

Posted on April 19, 2015 by Thistle

Back in June 2013, I got a new laptop. It was a PC, running Windows 8 – the first Windows computer I’d had in over five years. I’ve never really been a 100% Windows or Mac person. There are things … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal | Tagged | 6 Comments

Irritable Hearts: A PTSD Love Story, by Mac McClelland

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Thistle

Mac McClelland is a journalist who developed PTSD while on assignment in Haiti. The various events/conditions that led up to the disorder are more complicated than the previous sentence makes them out to be, and of course dealing with PTSD … Continue reading →

Posted in 2015, Adult, Prose, Wellness | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Ten Fun Vacation Things

Posted on April 14, 2015 by Thistle

Second week in a row when the Top Ten Tuesday topic doesn’t really work for me, so instead, I’m going to recap the recent four-day visit I had from my very good friend Stephanie! In no particular order, my top … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal | Tagged | 3 Comments

Sunday Coffee – Change

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Thistle

This week, while reading a book, I had a moment of clarity. You know those moments when a single word or phrase can take the way you remember a part of your life and rearrange it in an instant? An … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Talk | Tagged | 4 Comments