Resolutely directing my attention toward these clouds and trees while pumping gas, and away from the endless loop of obnoxious video ads on the pump. (My current read of The World Beyond Your Head by Matthew B. Crawford is certainly an influence here. π)
Shamelessly stealing from the two Jasons, whose posts summarizing the things they’ve been watching/reading/watching/otherwise enjoying are always delightful, to share a list of my own “multimedia diet” from August.
Uni-Ball Signo DX 0.38 - I’m always on the search for the perfect pen; I don’t know that this one is it, but it’s my favorite for the moment. I bought one with black ink, but if I reorder, I will try the blue-black ink. I’m using it primarily for writing in a new Leuchtturm notebook - dotted ruling forever
The National Parks - I simply cannot get over how enormous this country is, and what an astonishing variety of natural beauty it contains.
Vinyl records - More thoughts to (probably) come on our recent conversion to listening to music on vinyl, but it’s been probably the biggest change in our media habits of late. Gillian Welch got a lot of play this month, and most evenings find us spinning jazz albums from our ever-increasing collection.
Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball - If you’re not already watching college women’s volleyball, may I suggest that you start? Fast-paced games, explosive athletic talent, intense rivalries, and an ever-increasing infrastructure support to grow the sport (there have never been so many regular season matches on major network television as there are this season). If you have any affinity with a university or college, they probably have a team you could cheer for. If not, there is definitely room on the Nebraska bandwagon. Our team this year is absolutely stacked with talent…should be a fun season! Go Big Red!
Shaken espresso with oat milk and brown sugar syrup - my order of choice on the rare occasion that I buy something from a coffee shop. I have been making the syrup at home myself so I can make my own to take to work, and it makes a nice change from just straight coffee/lattes. Man cannot live by Aldi energy drinks alone, after all (though on night shift, I sometimes try).
John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs by Ian Leslie
This Is Happiness by Niall Williams
Midwest Futures by Phil Christman
Wide Awake: The Forgotten Force That Elected Lincoln and Spurred the Civil War by Jon Grinspan
King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby
Heartwood by Amity Gaige
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
Cabin by Patrick Hutchison
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
Great Big Beautiful Life: Reese’s Book Club by Emily Henry
A handful of books from the Prey/Kidd/Flowers series by John Sanford to
Gave up on Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Devotions by Mary Oliver (still currently reading a poem or two each day from this)
Ronin (1998) - A classic for a reason. I generally get weary of action movies, with their interminable scenes of explosions and ever-more-elaborate chase sequences, but this felt like a throwback in the best way. Those high speed car rides through tight, winding European inner city roads were more suspenseful than anything I’ve seen in more recent action movies. The real standout for me, though, was all of De Niro’s turtlenecks he wears throughout the movie, with this grey cashmere number under a suede sport jacket being the high watermark. Men, what’s stopping you, etc. (A-)
Vinyl Nation (2020) - a documentary about the resurgence of vinyl records in recent years. Enjoyable, but a bit heavy on Record Store Day content imo. Would’ve liked to see even more history and production process than we did (the sequences at the factories that they included were a real highlight - very soothing a la Mr. Rogers at the crayon factory). (B)
Black Bag (2025) - delightful, stylish spy movie, with bonus reflections on trust and marriage, all in a tight 93 minutes. Make sub-2-hour-movies the norm again! (B+)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) - repeat viewing number 3(?). It’s been a few years since the last time I watched, and it always holds up. The animation is of course stunning, the soundtrack an instant classic, and the character development and storyline so rich and satisfying (even to this non-superhero-fan). (A+)
My current reading philosophy is to have approximately three books (or more than three books, but spanning these three categories) going at any given time:
1: Some sort of “stretch book.” Generously defined, this means something that is challenging in some way: either in form, content, or both. Lately I’m making a concerted effort to read more classics/older books, which mostly fall in this category.
2: Some sort of non-fiction. Generally my least favorite category, but I’m trying.
3: Some sort of absorbing fiction. Usually I read this on Kindle, and it could be anything from a lowbrow mystery to highbrow literary fiction, but it’s something that I can read with easy enjoyment. This constitutes the vast majority of my reading right before bed, or during slow times at work, when my mental capacity may not be high enough to grapple with something more ambitious. I tend to move through these books very quickly, so they constitute the bulk of what I read.
Finished reading: The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot π
The last 40% of this book comes together beautifully, with the urgent insights into human spirituality, temptation, and suffering that I expected from the author of Middlemarch. I will be honest, though; only sheer determination got me through the first half of the book, which felt like mere preamble to the meat of the ending. My persistence was rewarded, but it was a long journey through a lot of silly aunts and unclesβ conversations to get there.
Finished reading: Station 11 by Emily St. John Mandel π
Second time reading Station Eleven. Since my first read through the book (over ten years ago), I’ve watched the HBO miniseries adaptation, which I very much enjoyed.
There was a space of about eight years between my first read and watching the show, so the book wasn’t particularly fresh in my mind when I watched, aside from some broad plot outlines, so I was curious to see how my impressions of the book would hold up, rereading it just a year or so after watching the show. The miniseries and book both have aspects that they do better than the other (Kirsten/Jeevan relationship, The Prophet arc, respectively, to name the two most glaring), but both are really beautiful works of art and worth spending time with.
Currently reading: Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray π
He seems to be thus far a very minor character, but “Sir Huddleston Fuddleston” has to be one of the best names in all of literature. (Taking his place amongst such other greats as Tom Bombadil’s pony, Fatty Lumpkin.)
Bethany