OOO #25: Outfits, Ohio, and Other Things I Like
Keeping score, bagels, and a different type of hangover
Outfits
Ohio
Yesterday, my husband and I went to Lox Bagel Shop because I have been craving a bagel. I’ve been to Lox a few times before, and I’ve always left thinking, “I really need to come here more.” Their bagels are pretty good; they have all had the shiny shell, covered in tiny broken bubbles that are the hallmark of a correctly-made bagel (and yes, I do check). I forgot to order my everything bagel toasted yesterday—in my head, bagels must be toasted—but it was still pretty good, which only impressed me further. I truly do think a good everything bagel with cream cheese can cure almost all ills (except for, of course, lactose intolerance).
In the past I’ve tried bagels with their jams (their use spicy strawberry and peppercorn jam is perfection) and other spreads; moving forward, I want to try some of their breakfast sandwiches, which I know my husband is deeply fond of.
The real gem of the trip: Lox’s blueberry mint lemonade. Mint lemonades (or lemon and mints, as I’ve always called them) are some of my favorite things to drink in the Middle East, and I love to see them on menus stateside. Lox’s addition of blueberry was inspired, and I’m trying to convince my husband we should go back again next weekend so I can get another one.
Heads up: Lox has a small parking lot that requires you to drive through the area between the store and the seating area, and backing up out of the spots would give me more anxiety than I would want to invite into my life, so I really suggest street parking between High and 3rd and walking the few extra blocks.
Other Things I Like
As I write this, it’s Memorial Day Weekend, which is one of those perfect times to get a book hangover. I thought I had invented this term and was disappointed to learn that the Internet had a definition for it way before I started using it (much like my chagrin upon learning I was not the first person to think up “chili topped mac and cheese,” but I digress).
BUT the Internet’s definition is a little different than mine. Generally, the Internet agrees that a book hangover is the glum feeling you have after finishing a book while getting mentally stuck in the world the book created. Readers will find starting another book disinteresting and will actually get into a bad mood once a book they love is over.
My own definition is a little different. For me, a book hangover happens when I read nearly all of a book in one sitting, resulting in a headache from too much plot going into my brain at once (this is also why I stopped binge watching TV shows). I too need to step away form reading for a bit, mostly ot let my brain process everything I just consumed.
The first time I experienced this, much like most millennials, was while reading one of the Harry Potter books (probably Goblet of Fire, as I was probably at the age where I had cultivated that strong of an attention span). More recent book hangovers were caused by the Percy Jackson series last summer (which I maintain I do love more than the Harry Potter series) and Hell Bent, the sequel to Leigh Bardugo’s fantastic novel Ninth House. Hell Bent was the worst book hangover I have had in a long time; I had an unexpected day off from work, and I decided to use it devouring Hell Bent as I had been waiting 14 agonizing months between reading the first book and waiting for the second to come out. I sat on the couch for seven hours straight and was legitimately bleary-eyed from reading strain when it was over. My head hurt until I woke up the next morning.
This past weekend, I read about 70 percent of The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. The Alice Network is about two women, one of whom was a spy for the Alice Network in WWI, whose lives become entangled in the aftermath of WWII. The timeline jumps between WWI and the post-WWII era. The Alice Network was an excellent, engrossing novel, and I think we as a culture need to read more about WWI (in fiction and non-fiction). My head hurt a little when I finished it yesterday, and I still keep thinking about the characters.
I have also experienced the opposite of a book hangover: book procrastination (I need to workshop the name/I’m sure there’s already a term out there for this too). Book procrastination occurs when I find a book I love so much that I read it so slowly or just stop reading altogether because I never want its delightfulness to end. Julia Child’s My Life in France and Anne of Green Gables both led to some solid book procrastination.
Regardless, these sensations are both fantastic because they mean I’ve found something I love.
That’s it… have a great week!