I took the photo above of three boys in my fall Senior English elective. These guys are seventeen and eighteen-years-old and proudly sporting backpacks made for toddlers. I love this about Hotchkiss kiddos. In fact, there’s a lot I love about the students here, and a series of short videos on our school’s social media…
Author: caritagardiner
261. Why Life isn’t a Choose-Your-Own Adventure
I take New Year’s resolutions seriously. Most of mine stick. (For example, I started #hotchkiss365 on Instagram almost nine years ago and have missed days only when I was in the hospital.) That said, thinking about what to post at the end of the year seems like a big responsibility because I’m considering what resolutions…
260. Why Play in the Spirit
In today’s post, I’m going to discuss an idea I had back in September, but I decided to put it now in case you want to think about new year’s resolutions and what kind of person you want to aim to be. At the beginning of the school year, my responsible, thoughtful, and energetic class…
259. Why Ask Questions
Back in May of 2019, I wrote a post about asking questions before making assumptions. If you aren’t a long-time CaritaGardiner.com/blog reader, I recommend you go back to read that post before you read this one. At the time, I was thinking about two moments in which I unintentionally did things that violated others’ senses…
NetGalley Review of Once Upon an Algorithm
title: Once Upon an Algorithm author: Clara O’Connor publisher: One More Chapter publication date: January 19, 2024 pages: 329 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: none summary: While at her friend’s bachelorette trip, Lenora has one weird night with Jack in Paris. Then, it turns out that she has to work with him on developing and launching…
258. Why Swap Your Lens
Do you remember reading books like the one above when you were a child? If you don’t, you might follow the link attached to the photo to buy yourself a treat. I always thought it was super cool to hold the colored plastic over an image to reveal something I hadn’t seen there before. The…
257. Why Take Advantage
I’ve written quite a few posts about why people should give, but today’s post offers my thoughts on why you should take, in particular, take advantage of every preventive service your insurance will cover. Insurance companies aim to maximize their profits. To meet this goal, they employ great mathematicians to calculate the potential income and…
NetGalley Review of Ready or Not
title: Ready or Not author: Cara Bastone publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback publication date: February 13, 2024 pages: 400 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: nausea and puke, unplanned pregnancy, ultra sound, drunkenness summary: Eve’s one-night stand pregnancy reveals who’s in her corner and helps her figure out what she wants in work and in love/friendship….
NetGalley Review of The Prospects
title: The Prospects author: KT Hoffman publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback publication date: April 9, 2024 pages: 384 peppers: 2 (on this scale) warnings: some mentions of transphobia summary: Gene is a baseball player who’s mad that Luis has been traded to his team, but at the same time, Luis is hot and interesting. tropes: enemies-to-lovers what…
256. Why Be the Sag Wagon
The photo above, a hyperbolic depiction of the sag wagon even on its original website, gets well at the possible burden of cleaning up after other people get to experience the exciting part of an event. In more than thirty years as the significant other of a cyclist, I’ve many times gotten the call to…