I waited ‘til after seeing Doctor Strange to read Chuck Jordan’s thoughts on the movie. I found myself nodding in agreement with his well articulated views.
This is a fun Marvel movie, but also a Sam Raimi one—with his trademark blend of horror and humor.
I could be wrong, but I feel like James Gunn kicked off injecting personality into this universe—regardless of who or when, I dig it.
Unrelated, I have Tom to thank for the hot dog fingers that Joe is modeling.
To commemorate Brett’s 40th loop around the sun there was bowling in Kentucky with cocktails to follow in Northside. The good news: Second Place has added a large option of their bourbon slush. The bad news: a big storm chased us away from the patio and we missed out on the birthday celebration.
To celebrate 513 Day (May 13th), a group of folks from People’s Liberty got together and caught up for our first in person reunion for some time. The last one over Zoom was moving, but this allowed for easier catching up.
We gathered on a particularly vibrant afternoon at Findlay Market, overlooking the Globe building—the hub for the 5 year philanthropic experiment that brought us together.
Some fun awards shined light on folks, there was bending of elbows, sharing of stories and spreading of good vibes.
Afterward, I picked up dinner at Mighty Good and I liked it so much I tweeted about it (and I seldom tweet). Their BBQ, pot roast, fried chicken and sides changed my mind about leftovers. It was great the first time and better the second! (If you go, get some of the Tennessee hot slaw and white cheddar grits as sides.)
After work I took up the task of assembling a cantilevered patio umbrella.
These off-centered umbrellas have always kind of bothered me, but aside from a sun shade there aren’t too many options.
I capitulate.
Nothing much to report other than the magic of capturing energy from the sun to power things.
I should have listened to Lorde’s latest album today.
(On the listening note: The Happening is a bumpy ride, but it catches a vibe at the 3 minute mark.)
The basils are leading the pack. Pretty sure the cilantro pod is a dud.
Started the day watching the Figma keynote to see new features folded into the collaborative design tool. Lots of good new updates but my favorite detail is that they changed the order of layers to be more natural. It’s a small thing, but prevents a hiccup in the mental model.
Extra awesome and also terrifying? All these features appeared in the app immediately.
In other news, I dug into the soil yesterday and planted some snapdragons that my friend Kathryn had dropped off.
First, I needed a trowel and soil for this hand painted pot my niece made.
Digging in the dirt, nudging earthworms to safety, shaking roots loose and getting each plant set in place—it’s such a calm connection.
It all started with a text from my brother. He was in the neighborhood getting flyers printed.
“Free for brunch?” he asked.
Sure!
Been working on this list of places with patio seating and now was a good time to test it out. We settled on Brontë Bistro which is connected to Joseph Beth Bookstore—very appropriate as this was Mother’s Day. (Mom loved going there.)
Used the early afternoon to mow, plant some flowers in the dirt (more on that later) and get ready for an evening dinner with Grace.
She stopped by with goodies from Germany and loads of stories and perspective.
Making notes to explore “What’s your moonshot?”… That far our idea that could take you in entirely new directions.
The evening could have gone on for many more hours, but alas, it was a school night and she was on a whirlwind of a tour.
There is no single stack of books, but this stack is by the couch (the morning light at the table made for a better snapshot). Something to grab and read on the porch, tote around for appointments, that sort of thing.
The continual ruse to shift time away from a screen.
Nothing against screens, but after a while pixels tend to sear a bit.
The Glass Hotel Emily St. John Mandel – Just few chapters to go. Not digging as much as Sea of Tranquility The ending chapters wrapped everything up in a thoughtful and somewhat haunting bow. Enjoyed! Recommended if you want to add some backstory to characters in Sea of Tranquility.
The Muse Jessie Burton – Reviews are mixed, not sure how this ended up here.
Run Rose Run Dolly Parton & James Patterson – It was half off and I was in a weak moment
The Sparrow Mary Doria Russell – Hat tip to Doug
Ten Steps to Nanette Hannah Gadsby – Thanks to Casey’s mom for this
The Weekday Vegetarians Jenny Rosenstrach – For the recipes, upon Austin’s rec.
Closed out a long week watering plants. It was good for the soul.
Unfortunately I’m still making bad photos at the wrong ISO.
Combined these two images and called it a day.
6 years later, she still stares at me.
For respite I’ll build a wall of pillows to prevent an easy line of sight.
This is probably the best thing on my camera roll this day, which isn’t saying much. I fell down another TikTok rabbit hole and ended up buying this Pink Stuff to clean the stove. It works and all, but I’m not sure it’s any different than Soft Scrub. It really took a lot of elbow grease.
It does smell better. And it’s pink. (insert shrug emoji)
It was this stove door or a photo of Edie under a cat bed.
This might be a good boring moment to share how I arrive at a photo.
First, I download all pictures from the camera into separate folders for each day of the month. Then I dump all my newest phone photos into a big single directory.
I’ve lately been shooting all iPhone photos in Apple’s version of RAW and iPhoto doesn’t sync all that data through the cloud. (Locally downloaded copies open in the RAW editor of Photoshop, but not when I drag them from the Photos app.)
When it comes time to post I can search all photos taken on a given day across camera and phone:
Also documented the arrival of Nintendo Switch Sports. A cocktail with an umbrella. A stack of books. A screenshot of Fiona Apple song I wanted to remember. That Pink Stuff and remnants of a rare Instagram story.
The latter seems to disappear, but I guess it doesn’t after all.
