Currently Reading:Written in the Waters: A Memoir of History, Home, and Belonging by Tara Roberts. Probably the last book I’ll have to time to read to finish out the year. This one is really interesting. This searing memoir by a National Geographic scuba diver recounts one woman’s epic journey to trace the global slave trade across the Atlantic Ocean—and find her place in the world.
I love when you start reading a book and the story and writing instantly grab you and that’s what this one has been doing to me!
Also I’ve been playing this game on YouTube called Tile Guru: Match Fun under the Playables. It starts out really easy but by the time you get to like level 35 like me, it gets maddening!
It’s in the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital – Needham. You should definitely check it out if you’re in the area. Little shop called Windows of Hope. I was just there the other day as I was in the area and was enamored with all the cute little things. I thought I would give it a plug because I endorse it.
I saw a bald eagle fly right above me this morning – that was really cool!
Currently Reading:If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All
Discovered this year’s Fleurs de Villes installation at the Pru and it’s a must-see! Made entirely out of real flowers. Fleurs de Villes combines the love of flowers, local design talent, and bespoke, utterly unique displays, for experiential events like none other. Which one catches your eye?
In other minor things that have been keeping me occupied as of late:
Gametime:Proton Path. You know I love these sorts of puzzle games.
Currently reading:The Cars: Let the Stories Be Told by Bill Janovitz. The back story behind the classic Boston band.
Yesterday we got to hang out with some goats with our friends who live up in Georgetown. We got to dress them up in costumes, which was not that easy! Naturally I had to be the Goatfather. It really is a pretty cool feeling to hang out with these animals, and the babies are so warm and snuggly. Studies have shown that goats can distinguish human facial expressions and prefer to interact with humans who appear to be happy so they are pretty emotionally intelligent animals. A cat names Penny also appeared to be pretty attached to me, which was cool. After the mingle we went over to our friends’ house and hung out for a while and had lunch. Sat outside for a bit on the patio, it was pretty nice outside in the sun.
Currently Reading: Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty by Kaila Yu.
Well, I got our Powerballs in for the night. We’ll see what happens, you never know. I’d be satisfied with one of the smaller prizes actually. Still playing around with AI imagery as you can tell. Watched the Conn. Sun game this afternoon against Phoenix and it was a real good one. The Suns won’t be in the playoffs this year but the rookies they have are pretty amazing. They need some time to mature. I think if they can keep them together the team could be a contender in a few. Really excited to see how the Valkyries do as well. Yeah, I’m into the W now.
Currently Reading: Say Anarcha: A Young Woman, a Devious Surgeon, and the Harrowing Birth of Modern Women’s Health by J.C. Hallman. Say Anarcha excavates history, deconstructing the biographical smoke screen of a surgeon who has falsely been enshrined as a medical pioneer and bringing forth a heroic Black woman to her rightful place at the center of the creation story of modern women’s health care. You can learn a little bit more here if your interested.
I definitely want to take a ride sometime down to Providence again to check out the new trolls. More specifically the one by the river holding a canoe over it’s head. Then maybe a trip to Charlestown to get a pic next to some statues of a hippo and a rabbit woman playing chess. I’m kind of weird that way.
I did enjoy going to out friends pool yesterday afternoon, and playing with their dog Mollie, I needed a bit of late summer relaxation after finding out my sister was in the hospital and I visited her in the morning before. Apparently it was some kind of anaphylactic shock by the appearance of things. More tests to determine, but she’s good and out of there now so that’s a relief.
Of course after all the hanging around my exercise goals for the day was low so I had to go around the block around here a few times last night to get my steps, activity minutes, and calorie burn set to meet my goal which I did in the darkness of the street lights. I never used to care about those things but I’m on a roll having met my goal everyday for close to 6 weeks now and I don’t want to stop.
The tv finally crapped out last night. I’ll need to buy a new one. It did appear to going on the fritz lately, So that’s on my docket to get over the next few.
More later today…
Currently Reading: The Secret Life of a Cemetery: The Wild Nature and Enchanting Lore of Père-Lachaise
Let’s see, Monday night I “snuck” into the gym to use the hot tub. Tuesday was just a regular type of day I guess, Wednesday was pretty uneventful as well. although I did watch Chronicle to see if there were any good restaurants to try out that had great views, and Bubble Bath looks like it could fit the bill but it also looks like a hassle to reserve the rooftop spots which is where I’d want to be. (Also, somewhat of a strange name if you ask me).
Currently Reading: Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations. This book is actually pretty cool in that each chapter is set in a different place and time in human history (or prehistory). The author intercuts his modern-day exploits with vignettes about an inhabitant of that time period doing activities that he discusses in the contemporary parts of the chapter, from 75,000 years ago in Africa to Rome in the 100 ADs, to China in 1200 and a bunch in between. I feel it makes it so much more interesting as if you were there doing what the people of that time did and felt.
Game time: Frog Puzzle. This starts off pretty easy but give it time!
High point though was getting to meet a star player on the Valkyries, Veronica Burton Number 22. These women players are Bad Ass! As a bonus we even got to hang with her sister Kayla, who is a sports reporter and anchorwoman on the NBC Boston network and does the Celtics games too! Oh and their mom and dad too, who is also a big name sports reporter here in Boston. Mad props to Ginni for making it happen! Oh, and Suns actually WON this game and by a considerable amount so the place was going crazy! These fans are serious! (You can click on the pics for descriptions).
Currently Reading: Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance by Laura Delano.
Now you’ll have to excuse us for a bit as we need the water heater replaced as it decided to go belly up this weekend. *sigh*
Woke up this morning to some kind of screeching. Couldn’t tell what it was. Eventually we figured out it was a Common Raven! Never encountered one of those before, it’s always been crows.
Checked out the Blueberry Festival this afternoon in Mendon over at the Vandervalk Winery. There was a giant Santa there and we got some really cool stuff from some artisans that had a few tents there. Before that we hit this Hosta place in Mendon that sells very specific varieties of Hosta and Lillies that they grow themselves. Got a few of those. They also do a great job with Lotus plants, but that’s really tricky stuff to grow, plus you need a body of water. I ate some grilled cheese from a food truck that was there as well for a quick bite.
My Princess Cheyanne book arrived just as we were leaving the house. I grabbed it up but LD wants to read it first, so I let her. She actually knows the person, from a different time and career path at the time. Anyways, I’m going to see if I can find the former Princess and see if I can get her to sign the book.
Gametime: Blobun Mini. Get the snake to cover all the squares!
We headed off to Cape Porpoise for a little mini weekend getaway. I really enjoyed this trip. The Airbnb we stayed in was really great – I would surely return to it. It was so spacious and the hosts were super great. The first night we headed to the town over called Biddeford Pool because there was a food/store place called Goldthwaites that we wanted to try. It was good and the views from their back outside area were wonderful. I noticed you could even see the Stage Island Monument in the distance. I do so love this area of Maine. We also saw deer and what appeared to be a company of black swans, but could that be true?
Next day we did a bunch of things. We hiked a part of the Carson trail, which is part of the Rachel Carson Reserve Wildlife area. It was kind of too hot to really do too much of that though plus it was a little buggy so we didn’t stay there too long. There were a ton of chipmunks around I noticed. For lunch we drove into Kennebunk and I ended up getting a burger at a place called Duffy’s. We then headed back for a little rest before hitting Goose Rock Beach for the afternoon. While there we saw piping plovers, a cool sandcastle that someone built, and a very cute Bassett Hound named Baxter that we had to greet.For dinner we got some good eats at Mabel’s Lobster Claw.
Next day we went to Sunday services at St. Ann’s Church, What’s cool is that they do the service right by the water weather permitting. It was a bit rainy when we went so the service was actually indoors but even that was pretty cool. I actually really liked everything about this location and plan to return for some other services soon. We got breakfast at a place next to Mabel’s from last night called the Pantry. I decided to try the eggs benedict with lobster and it was damn good. Another afternoon at the beach afterwards I wanted to catch a sunset at the famous fish shacks. Thanks to LD for finding the perfect location for me to shoot from!
The fish shacks. I was always curious about these buildings. After taking these shots we eventually found a place where we could get some eats (a pizza actually) which was a bit of a struggle to find food since it seems all the places around here close at 8 or 9 o’clock. I caught the tail end of the Valkyries WNBA game as they beat the Suns. It’s nice that this Airbnb had all the stations you could want, they aren’t usually like that in my experience.
Finally on Monday it started to get really hot. We checked out, hit Stonewall Kitchen for a quick bite and Yummies to get some candy fix. Our freinds up in Georgetown were kind enough to let us stop by and use their pool for a bit so we could cool off before going all the way home. So we took a dip for an hour or two and were then on our way back home.
All in all, this was a fantastic trip! I probably left out a ton of stuff but these were some of the high points!
Currently Reading: Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers
I was able to find a book of some of Edgar Allen Poe’s most famous stories in a little library while I was hanging around, It’s been a while sine I read those. This version looks to be nicely put together, with illustrations and editorial thoughts in the margins. Afterwards we picked up some more plants, which we’ll get into their pots this weekend, along with a stone cat figure that reminds of of Carson. Probably put it near where the bunnies lay their nests in the pot as he is the protector of the baby bunnies!
Currently Reading: As soon as I finish the memoir I’m reading now it’s off to read Save Our Souls: The True Story of a Castaway Family, Treachery, and Murder by Matthew Pearl.
Not generally a place we would normally check out, but we do like to shake things up and try something different now and again. This place surely was that. This was the kind of place you visit just once.
Currently Reading:The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty. I happened to see the author of this book doing a talk on C-Span after just flipping around the dial in a moment of boredom and it sounded interesting. I mean we all know the story but this traces the history back to the great-grandfather and all the previous fathers leading up to Alex. Come to find out, they’ve been pretty corrupt all along! When I saw how big it was I started to get a little daunted but the style is perfect and it’s easy to read. I recommend it, especially just to see how corrupt this family was from the start,
Canton may be best known at the moment for Karen Read, but this awesome structure precedes her by 190 years! The Canton Viaduct, a stone arch bridge that spans the Neponset River, was constructed in 1835 as part of the rail line connecting Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, and it remains in use in the 21st century!
Ended up watching some really old 48 Hours rerun and they had this story on about an event that happened in Falmouth down on the Cape back in 1979. I found it so interesting I had to download the book about the events so, Currently Reading: The Year We Disappeared.
There was a bunny outside in the front yard all day, just sitting. LD in the morning had thrown a carrot out for it but it didn’t touch it. That was until after dark when we spotted it finally munching on the treat! By morning, the carrot was gone as far as I could tell.
Gametime: Fill The Heart. Pretty challenging at times! I like it.
Currently Reading: Next up on my reading list, The Inherited Mind: A Story of Family, Hope, and the Genetics of Mental Illness by James Longman.
Ended up watching that Karen Read documentary on ID over the last couple of days. I’d have to say, it did a pretty good job describing everything that’s been going on. I would recommend it, especially if you have any interest in this crazy case.
Currently Reading: Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism. This is going to be a good one as Facebook tried to squash this getting out. Seems like it’s more about the geopolitical stuff.
I got to hang out with my old friend Mollie yesterday afternoon for lunch with our buds up north, Hard to believe she’s a bit over one year old already! She needs to have an operation on both her hind legs – they have a tendency to come out at the joint somewhere at times and has to be “put” back in. She’s getting the first one done in a couple of weeks and then the second one sometime after that. She’ll need to take it easy and do rehab and all that stuff. Poor thing, she’s very sweet. Good luck Molllie!
Currently Reading:Gray Matters: A Biography of Brain Surgery by Theodore H. Schwartz
Saturday we got invited to participate in LD’s former landlady’s birthday. A glorious 86 years! Amazing! Yesterday we kind of hunkered down dealing with the snow (which thankfully wasn’t a big deal) and baked a bunch of things while running the Jukebox. Tasty treats like banana bread and muffins, chickpea muffins which are surprisingly good and of course, the signature lemon orzo soup! We also watched the Puppy Bowl which has become a yearly tradition. No interest in the actual Super bowl.
Currently Reading: Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross.
Took a jaunt over to Andover early this afternoon to pick up our latest addition to the collection – this pottery cookie plate. We don’t see this one very often, if at all, so had to grab it, and at a good price too. It’s also heavy as hell! Also dropped by a little library in the area and found a cute little book about the Velveteen Rabbit for LD. When I saw that, I knew I had to grab it for her. We’ve also been filling the libraries up with a book purge around here.
Gametime: Bash. Finished all the levels but it took me quite a but to solve the Bonus one. Felt very satisfied once I got it.
Currently Reading: The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne by Kate Winkler Dawson. I’m liking this one, such a unique concept. The author comparing and telling the story alongside another author who wrote about the incident over 100 years ago.
The scene above was from last summer, at a location that is very close to where we stay at Earth-3. I always liked this picture, it’s one of my personal favorites. I can’t wait to get back down there again and soak up some rays.
I renewed my annual AAA membership and that’s fine and all but I don’t particularly care for it being all digital now. Call me old school but I liked having the plastic card in my wallet. I would imagine this saves them money yet I didn’t see the fees go down at all. Interesting.
Currently Reading:Hitchcock’s Blondes: The Unforgettable Women Behind the Legendary Director’s Dark Obsession
![](https://hatchetation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/491839867_10233678197792149_1307572033211940647_n.jpg "Lobster "flavored" ice cream. Meh.")
