Right Stuff, Wrong Sex

Right Stuff, Wrong Sex: America's First Women in Space Program by Margaret A. Weitekamp
2005
Weight: 12 oz
Method of Disposal: Lending Library

This book was great.  The writing style was straight forward and factual so if you are not into history books this one will likely be a challenge for you, but the information inside of it is so important and so interesting.  How has NASA managed to exist my whole lifetime without me ever hearing about so many amazing women?  I keep having this moment.  Watching Hidden Figures, reading this book, reading Rocket Girl.  I had no idea.  I was enthralled with each woman described within this book.  I would get excited and try to remember every name and new detail so that I could share it later, but there was so much that I did not know, and I struggled to keep it all in my mind and accessible.  I think this is a great starting point to a lot more reading!

In other news, the old NASA joke that if women are ever allowed in space it will be because men have been approved to have 120 lbs of recreational equipment....not cool.  In another book I am reading currently (What Happened), Hillary Clinton talks about writing to NASA as a little girl.  She wrote to them to say that she wanted to be an astronaut.  They wrote her back that they do not have girl astronauts.  Who does that?  Even if it was true.  Crushes a kid's dreams like that.  I guess they were just trying to be honest, but come on NASA.  You have disappointed me in so many ways, but I am determined to love you.  The good news is that I bought this book in a NASA store at Cape Canaveral so I give them that.  They were not trying to hide this discouraging history.  Times truly have changed.

I have been reading about amazing and intelligent women who work so hard and are incredibly brilliant.  They have dedicated their whole lives to what they find inspiring and important and never end up achieving their ultimate goals.  I cannot help but think about how overwhelming the disappointment must have been when Jerrie Cobb realized she would never go to space.  The moment when Hillary realized she lost the chance to be the first woman President of the United States of America...and to a heartless buffoon that sexually assaults women.  I cannot think of anything more unfair, really.  To work so hard and watch the bull in a china shop trample his way through and to the top.  I think of Jill Tarter looking for extraterrestrial life and retiring with no proof that there is life out there.  It is so frustrating and, at first look, makes me sad.  Then, I think about all the amazing achievements these women did reach in their lifetimes and all of the people they influenced and touched--including someone who will become president, women astronauts that have been or are on their way to space, and the person that finally discovers and proves the existence of extraterrestrial life.  I think of all the people who are inspired by these women and make their way in other arenas with them in their thoughts.  I guess the cliche is true.  It is much more about the journey than the destination.  I hope that at some point I am able to look back on my life and feel that I used my passion to achieve something.  Of course, if I were really really lucky, I might look back and see that I achieved THE life goal.  I could be a Valentina Tereshkova and make it to space.

A People's History of the United States

A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present  Howard Zinn
1995
Weight: 1 lb
Method of Disposal: Donating

I was recommended this book by one of my high school teachers--which is lucky.  He was not the kind of teacher you would have expected to make that suggestion.  I think it was a very important segue from the way I had been taught.  Much less surprising, I was handed it again in college.  Howard Zinn became a larger than life figure.  Someone that showed so many people to look further into the histories they had been taught and to not just accept without thinking, digging but, more importantly, listening to people not in the positions of power.

I now have an electronic copy of this book, but I have also read it twice so it is off to a new home.

Atlanta: Then and Now

Atlanta: Then and Now by Michael Rose
2002
Weight: 1.6 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donating

I gave this book as a gift to my grandparents--probably in 2002.  They regifted it to me--probably in 2016.  I really enjoyed it.  I think it is fun to see the city grow.

Over 800 Pages of Western Civilization

From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life by Jacques Barzun
2000
Weight: 3.5 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donation



I was in my junior year of high school. The girl I had known since fourth grade sat next to me in AP European History, and we tried to have a good time making jokes and passing notes. She always did better on exams than I did. She was far more skilled in the cramming arena than most other students—now she is even good at studying.

That year we were assigned the task of reading From Dawn to Decadence, and it was painful. I think everyone in that room, with the exception of a boy-genius named Michael Smith, struggled through the 800+ pages of European History. Oh, it was SO painful. I would like to tell you that I have held onto the book all this time so that I could revisit it. Maybe it would not be so bad now. I might be older, wiser, and more inquisitive? Somehow, I doubt it. I am not going to risk it anyway. No way will I suffer through that book again. No, I think I held onto it as a trophy. An “I lived through this” trophy—not that I am keen to admit it so maybe trophy is not the right word. A personal and secret memento of book-reading gone bad?

All that being said, I felt a certain leap in my heart when I saw it on the bookshelf. It was beckoning me, and I rejoiced in finally being able to put it out once and for all. I am packing it up tonight, and I hope to never lay eyes on it again. Good riddance.