found this thru Goodreads under near future fiction, cross linked to the state library system
(where I get it for free) delivered to the local branch.

Written by a musician, it is eerily prescience. Published in 2019, just before the 'pandemic' hit,
the virus isn't the same, but the lockdowns, isolation and restrictions on gatherings are right on.

In this captivating science fiction novel from an award-winning author, public gatherings are illegal making concerts impossible, except for those willing to break the law for the love of music, and for one chance at human connection.

A Song for a New Day
by Sarah Pinsker

experiencing a tropical storm today. lots of rain and gusty
thanks for the OT philly

teaser quote, reminding me of the fluidity of the vernacular among other things.

Pelosi throws world class shade at Nitwit Nero.

I have some vague impression of what "throwing shade" is or is supposed to be, but that's about it. So, merriam-webster says:

Shade is a subtle, sneering expression of contempt for or disgust with someone​—sometimes verbal, and sometimes not. It appears in the phrase to throw shade,​ ...

"Subtle"? Nancy? Wikipedia says Anna Holmes says it is

"the art of the sidelong insult"

Further deeper dives doesn't help much, but it is clearly theatrics, which is, of course, Nancy's forte', tearing up paper, slow clapping, wearing Kente Cloth, but that is perhaps as well, for her forays into things substantive are seldom in our interests.

The primary thing, I suspect, which is nowhere enunciated or elucidated is that it needn't be remotely based on merit. After all, Nancy couldn't find the high ground with a theodolite, and whomever Nitwit Nero may be, it is almost certainly one of her peers, but probably from the other wing of the great nefarious uniparty, with which she has been totally happy to collaborate throughout here career. I still wonder just how braodly they have to define subtly to accommodate here usual theatrics, but this is a specific case, so maybe she pulled it off. As long as they're involved in playground antics they aren't screwing us over, so I guess that it's all for the good.

be well and have a good one