Torrefaction

1. This year, for Chinese New Year, we're having our long-overdue Christmas gift exchange with my brother P and his family (the youngest of whom is Chinese, and a year older than Charlie).  So we'll give gifts on CNY but they won't be proper CNY gifts, which is about typical for how it goes with us. At least we'll be getting the kids together, so that should be fun.

2. I dragged Charlie away from his books to make him come out and play in the snow yesterday.  He loves snow, but BOOOOOKS!  I remember being on the kid side of this conflict.  Reading on a snowy day is the best, but of course going out and playing in the snow is also the best.

3. However, today I am wondering if that was a good idea because the little sprout has a fever.  And since he's already been on antibiotics (for an ear infection, which he got in spite of having tympanostomy tubes) for a week, the fever is perplexing.

4. I bought that horrible trashy book Game Change and I am going to savor every horrible trashy page of it.

5. I got the audiobook of Spin from Audible, but the reader did that thing of pitching the female voices really soft, which makes them sound lost, tentative, and lacking in agency than they already are.   Since the beginning of the story is very much about people feeling lost, tentative, and lacking in agency, it was making me a little crazy, so I had to bail. I really need to preview audiobooks before I d/l them.  Fortunately I have the Tor free e-giveaway e-copy on my e-Kindle, so I am reading it that way instead of listening to it.

6. What is the origin of this "5 things" thing? Enquiring minds want to know...[Edit: answered, below, by mrissa]