Today's post is a departure from my often light-hearted tone and brief word count. Monday starts the month of June, in which fathers are acknowledged for their value to their families, their communities, and society. My love and appreciation for my dad, my grandfathers, uncles, male cousins, and other black men who are important to me have been at the forefront of my mind. Whether still living like my dad, two of my uncles, and my cousins or dead like my grandfathers and my dad's brother, all of their lives beat the odds that were, and still are, stacked against their existence. My dad grew up in the Jim Crow South. As a very young child he developed a heart condition, which doctors told his parents would likely kill him by his tenth birthday. My dad was ten years old when Emmett Till was murdered on August 28, 1955, a fact that makes me wonder if other potential external threats to his life ascended to the top of my grandparents' list of concerns for his health tha...

Greetings to all from the odd and challenging new world of isolation and social distancing—or as innate recluses call it, everyday life. Seriously though… Gratitude, support, and prayers for all of the essential workers from medical professionals to cleaning staff, people in the food supply chain, store clerks, mass transit and postal workers, truckers, mail carriers, and everyone who is obligated to leave their homes and families each day while the rest of us stay safe at home. Your sacrifices and suffering in service to the greater good of humanity is appreciated. On an entirely frivolous note, following the Maryland stay-at-home order has provided me with the opportunity to indulge in gluttonous consumption of my favorite brain candy—books. First, the 20+ borrowed from the public library. (Truthfully, at the time that quantity seemed excessive in the context of what was supposed to be a two-week shutdown.) Second, e-books from OverDrive and NetGalley (because the anticipat...