Category: Reading

Just a Quick Little Recap for This Weekend Thus Far

Posted on by Markman

Over the weekend, We dedicated a significant amount of time to taking care of various tasks and activities. We both started by tending to the garden, spending hours working on planting and mulching to ensure the plants thrived. LD was in particular beast mode today removing a bunch of weeds. We then made a trip to the Depot to pick up new string for the trimmers, the darn thing ran out on me as I was whacking away. Saturday evening, I prepared the grill for some steak tips and zucchini, providing a flavorful and satisfying dinner ( or so I hoped). The following day, we opted for a classic choice of turkey burgers something simple plus we had some on hand. With that we added some shucked corn on the cob, which we find comes out pretty nice on the grill. With leftover chicken on hand, we decided to make the now famous lemon orzo soup to avoid any waste and have something else to nosh on during the week ahead. We also brought some of the soup to LD’s previous landlady, who had recently been hospitalized, offering both nourishment and support during a challenging time. She should be coming home today so that’s good news. Amidst the planting and mulching and even a little bit of napping, I managed to make progress on reading some books that I had been meaning to finish, finding a moment of relaxation and fulfillment in the midst of a busy weekend. The only real bummer is having to attend a wake later this afternoon for a woman who was kind to us and helped us with our burgeoning green thumbs.

Currently Watching: The Shield, not your everyday cop show from the early aughts.

Feeling High as Flying a Kite at Revere Beach

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We went today to go check out the 8th Annual Revere Beach Kite Festival. It looked like it rained a little bit, but mostly it was just overcast, and though it first it sounded like it might not have been the right decision to go, that changed as time went on, and it was actually a really fun time! And of course afterwards I had to gobble down a Kelly’s Roast Beef. I even got a gift for LD’s friend who’s coming to visit next month.

A video from last night’s Trixter show that we almost attended: YouTube link. Also some of the bikes at the ride yesterday looked pretty rad to me, including this Urban Arrow Bike, which costs an amazing 8,000 dollars. Personally, for me, I think I’d rather buy a car for that money.

Currently Reading: Another coming through my Libby app, Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture. (review here) I really got to get cranking on finishing these books before I have to return them!

Finding Sanctuary in a Change of Plans

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We were supposed to go to New Jersey this weekend, Teaneck to be precise, to see the band Trixter play at a place called the Debonair Music Hall, (we had the tickets and lodging all squared away beforehand) but with LD’s concussion healing and due to the lateness, stimuli and whatnot, decided to bag that for now and maybe go again at a later date. The time just didn’t seem right for right now.

Passing by this statue I had to photograph – I thought it looked really cool! (Sanctuary Theatre)

So instead, I went on the Cambridge City Spring bike ride! This particular ride’s theme was passing by all the locations and neighborhoods of the Cambridge African American History trail, stopping at two places, one being the boarding house that Harriet Jacobs ran for a while. While there I learned of her book written in 1861 and decided to add it to my reading list next.

Currently Reading: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs (1861).

Baby Bunny Sighting

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Nice to see that at least one of the baby bunnies from a few weeks ago is still hanging around and seems to be doing fine. It was definitely going to town eating some grass.

Baby bunny sighting in the yard being dwarfed by the leaves of the tiger lily plants.(Pic courtesy of LD).

Yes, I know I probably need to cut the grass again already due to all the moisture we’ve had over the last couple of days,

On another pleasing note, tonight is my work group dinner at a local restaurant, where we all hang annually and just enjoy each others camaraderie and maybe swap some war stories from our time in the field. We’ll see if I have anything interesting to share afterwards.

Currently Reading: The Lost Tomb: And Other Real-Life Stories of Bones, Burials, and Murder. I had just finished the last book I read about Michael Lauder and this read should be lighter.

The Grass Just Keeps on Growing

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A slight exaggeration

Mowed the front lawn this afternoon. It’s amazing how fast the grass is growing now after pretty much being dormant for months. No sooner do I mow it then it seems it needs mowing again!

Earlier in the day my phone beeped me a notification that a book on my Libby download queue was ready to be grabbed. It had been a while since a book I had wanted to read was ready.

Currently Reading: The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions. I wasn’t sure about this book at first because it looked pretty long but a few chapters in and I’m getting hooked. It’s actually a pretty good read. It’s up for a Pulitzer.

Spring Time Sprucing Up

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After working my rounds today, I began starting to do a lot of cleanup on and in the gardens. Getting rid of old leaves, cleaning out the beds, checking on the flowers currently coming up and bulbs starting to emerge from the soil. Getting out the various hanging planter tools and preparing the decks. Cleaning out the firepit and buying a bunch of stuff to get the season started. This is a great time of year. Also, looks like the next door neighbors just opened their pool so get ready for their drunken late night loud parties again. Oh, and LD probably has a mild concussion. Great.

Currently Reading: The Riddles of the Sphinx: Inheriting the Feminist History of the Crossword Puzzle. (review).

Gametime: Ping On Ice

Swan Boats Start Up Tomorrow

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The iconic swan boats of Boston start up another season tomorrow in the Public Garden. I didn’t get a chance this winter to check out the clown heads at Winteractive this time but maybe sometime in the summer I can check out these boats again.

Currently Reading: Welcome to the O.C.: The Oral History. Great television show from the 90s, especially the first few seasons. I only got to see the whole series a couple of years ago on streaming, having never watched it when it first came out.

Wild, Windy, and Wet 💦

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Not the greatest day to be outside today but I persevered. We lucked out pretty good considering, never lost power, no flooded basement, etc. although the outdoor heater blowing over a couple of times bummed me out. Looks like the top is probably pretty warped now but I’ll check it out better when the weather brightens up and assess what happened.. Also the television guide on the Fios doesn’t seem to be populated, might have the reboot the box.

Currently Reading: Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne. So far into the third chapter and I’m liking it.

Not the Greatest Message, Right?

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Me and the Bunny outside Woody’s Liquors Store in Somerville a couple of years ago. Such an “Old Somerville” thing to do!

Something to keep the kids busy while the parent(s) stocked up. 🤔🤷

We’re on the hunt for some old vintage board games, so if you have any, let me know!

My knees have been acting up again, joy of joys.

Currently reading: Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up. I find myself not agreeing with this author in the book at all for the most part, but was curious to see another perspective.

Beach Ready and Dollhouses

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I’m ready for those warmer weather beach outings now! This picture I took a little while back makes me yearn for those days right now, but I know they’re coming. Just have to be a bit more patient.

Today’s brief adventure was checking out a dollhouse in Wellesley that I found for LD (it’s amazing what you can find on Facebook Marketplace, I do like to look over the listings) to perhaps buy for her new office location. This thing was quite large yet nice and not flashy, and it came with the prettiest furnishings. She fell in love with it right away, and it’s now part of the family! Then we took a little side trip to see something macabre, which I’ll tell more about later.

Later on in the afternoon I ran a couple of errands, put in a Powerball ticket (had to try, right?) ate some more lemon orzo soup that we made again last night and updated this page with this latest entry.

One of LD’s Birthday gifts from yesterday. A 100 piece jigsaw puzzle of us!

Currently Reading: The Battle for Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology. Getting all science-y with this read!

Small Weekly Updates and Beach Waves

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B.E.A.C.H.: Best Escape Anyone Can Have.

Went to Earth-1 to run some errands, visited my grandparent’s grave in Malden, had a treat at Kelly’s Roast Beef, visited LD’s old landlady who recently lost her husband who was a very nice man, celebrated LD’s birthday, and yeah, that’s about it.

We made a quick visit to the beach today since it was kind of nice out. When we arrived we were amazed at how active the waves were and the water itself was quite close to the entry points. We had never seen the water travel up that high before.

Today we plan on making the lemon soup again.

Currently reading: Gardening Can Be Murder: How Poisonous Poppies, Sinister Shovels, and Grim Gardens Have Inspired Mystery Writers and Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself by Hef’s last wife.

Living It Up in Lavalette

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Day 1: Running Around the Beach

Arrival!
Staying here
Hoops!

Day 2: Giant Hungry Hungry Hippos Experience

Wavy this weekend
We’ve arrived
Gotta find this by us
Winnings!

Day 3: Coffee and Meetups

Fun couple of days away. Got to see some family, hang out at a house by the beach, partake in the local activities, take a side jaunt through New York State to catch up with a friend (shout out to The El Dorado Diner in Elmsford!) and grateful for the good times. Didn’t get back from travelling until late last night, hence the sparse update- have to recuperate!

Currently Reading: Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth by Natalie Haynes

Visiting some Goat Friends and Getting New Brakes

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We spent yesterday hanging out with some goats at the Sanctuary. I hadn’t been there in a while, and we dropped off some food for the animals. After all of that and returning home for some relaxation, we cooked up a storm, preparing a variety of recipes, some for later in the week. I finally had some time today to travel to Earth-1 and get my brakes done; it had been long overdue, and I’m delighted to be able to mark that off my list.

Currently Reading: Genealogy of a Murder: Four Generations, Three Families, One Fateful Night by Lisa Belkin.

An Ordinary Thursday with Meanderings

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Bow to the King! The wonders of A.I.

Just playing around with some AI this afternoon. Doing a little face swapping on things. Like me on this Greek artwork. At least I think it’s Greek? Could be Roman I suppose. Anyways, it’s pretty good except I don’t think it got the hair quite right.

Not much to report on about today. Just shuffling around town doing my thing. It’s amazing that on the days you don’t think you’ll get a lot, you do, and when you think you’ll get a lot, you actually don’t. It’s so strange. Meanwhile, the head honchos want to have a meeting with us in a couple weeks to discuss some “issues.” Sounds ominous but that’s just the way these guys talk. Not sure what that’s all about but hopefully nothing too earth-shattering.

Currently Reading: Released: Conversations on the Eve of Freedom by Gypsy-Rose Blanchard. Looks like this will be an easy one, it’s only about 100 pages. I already know the story from all the television shows but it popped up as available, so I figured, what the heck. Give it a go You know the story, the one about the Munchausen by proxy.

Embracing the Cold and baby goats

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We took a ride out to Franklin, Ma this afternoon to look and admire some more goats, including meeting this cute little one week old named Nugget. They also had a farmer’s market there where we got some goods. I got an alpaca winter hat which is super soft and warm, and LD got some stuff including a homemade wooden bunny made by an artisan who works with wood that you can stick crayons into it’s back – really cool.

Currently reading: We’ve Got You Covered: Rebooting American Health Care

So That’s What It Is

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So I guess this is what I’ve been dealing with lately. Joys. I’ve been hobbling around like Quasimodo, plus this cold weather doesn’t help it any.

Patellar tendinitis is a common overuse injury, caused by repeated stress on your patellar tendon. The stress results in tiny tears in the tendon, which your body attempts to repair. But as the tears in the tendon multiply, they cause pain from inflammation and weakening of the tendon.

And not just one, but both knees, although the left is probably a bit worse off than the right. Apparently the way to address it is nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicines, rest, elevating the knee, ice packs and stretching and strengthening exercises. None of those are easy for me.

Today was very cold outside, but I persevered!

Currently Reading: On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good by Elise Loehnen.

Snow Day Baking Day

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Because today was a snowy day, we chose to spend the day baking, lots and lots of cookies. Actually, LD performed the majority of the cooking, and I only assisted a little. I went outside a couple of times to deal with the snow, and I ended up breaking one of the shovels, which I’ll have to replace shortly. I should have known better, but I pushed ahead anyway, and it broke under the weight of the snow.

Yesterday we were supposed to go to the sanctuary with a good friend of ours, but she was feeling a little under the weather so we decided to bag it for now, maybe take it up in another week or two. Probably just as well, as my knees have been killing me lately.

Currently Reading: The Apple II Age: How the Computer Became Personal. For some reason it took forever to get this at the online library, but I’m not sure why as it doesn’t appear to be a particularly long read. And also a book that’s kind of morbid but I’m also finding quite fascinating and a pretty good read, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers.

Peace, Love and Hope

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Going into the New Year with Peace, Love and Hope!

Had my Mom over today for the New Year and we made a brunch for her and us. It was a good time, LD created this amazing Mediterranean Frittata and we had blueberry pie for dessert. Yummy! Then after dropping her off back at Earth-2 we headed out to Revere Beach for our annual tradition of starting the new year at a beach and caught a sunset! Then we came home and made a delicious Scarborough Fair soup! Good day for it! Then it was to relax in for a night of binging old season 2 episodes of Nip/Tuck.

Yesterday I was able to pick up another Dedham pottery item for the collection! This one is a cat and the best part is that the location pickup was literally just a few blocks away and the woman was practically giving it away at a super price, so score!

Currently Reading: My Effin’ Life by Geddy Lee. First book of the year!

A Beachy Xmas

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Went to the beach yesterday afternoon because it was so nice out! Other than that it was a nice quiet day relaxing at home and opening all our presents. What a nice day it was.

Currently Watching: Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God and old episodes of Nip/Tuck.

Currently reading: Animal: The Bloody Rise and Fall of the Mob’s Most Feared Assassin

Night Time Barn Visits

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Our friend from Maine that we hung out with last weekend came down for the day to spend some time with us and to finally Meet Carson. Carson was very engaging, didn’t hide, and I think legitimately had fun with her playing with him and getting all the attention and various gifts like treats, which he devoured happily. We made some pasta and chicken meatballs and side salads while she brought this amazing vegan dessert that she made which didn’t taste vegan to me at all. Like a suped-up peanut butter cup ball wrapped in chocolate. The main visit of the day though was to visit the sanctuary as they were doing a night tour, something they do once or twice a year, where you get to visit the animals in the evening. We also sat by their fire pit while listening to carolers and she got to pick out two stuffed animals from Santa. I also bought a calendar and a car magnet for LD. We’ll need to take her back there someday in the daytime so she can interact with the animals better as they roam around but this was a great introduction. I also got some more compliments on my scarf, people seem to really dig it. I must agree, it is pretty cool. Then we drove her home back to her apartment in Boston and then we came home and eventually fell asleep. All in all a great day!

Surrounded by goats
Can you spot the horses in Santa’s Barn?
The large firepit

Currently Reading book #46 of my year: Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke.