the whole family watched Die Hard tonight, a first for all of us. well written, funny, and clever. verdict: yep, it’s a Christmas movie 🎥
finished Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale: And Here My Troubles Began, by Art Spiegelman 📚
presenting the uncontested winner of Best Original Holiday Song of 2020 (emphasis on “2020”): It’s Christmas and I F*cking Miss You by Charly Bliss & PUP 🎵
a live script read of Elf with all the main stars, and it raises money for the Georgia senate race, too? Sold! (today, 12/13 at 3PM CT)
[updated with fixed link]
finished Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard today 📚 what a staggering work. lyrically written, much of it more like poetry than prose, her view of nature probing its ruthless violence as much as its unbelievable beauty. I’ll be rereading this for sure. maybe annually
watched Beastie Boys Story tonight 🎥 it was uniquely done, the narration by Diamond & Horovitz performed in front of a live audience, with video clips projected behind them. we were big fans at the time of the first two albums; there’s a lot of music I need to catch up on
our movies this weekend were two old classics, though from very different eras and styles. last night: Pulp Fiction (1994), tonight: Vertigo (1958) 🎥
Tonight’s Saturday beer is Goose Island Beer Co.’s Bourbon County Special #4 Stout (2020)
⭐️⭐️⭐️
First bottle from this year’s Bourbon County haul, it is silky smooth and just delish-delosh (a perfect phrase we learned from GBBS) 🍺
watched the new Shane MacGowan movie Crock of Gold. I don’t know the Pogues’ music as well as my wife, though I may have to change that. movie was uniquely done for a rockstar biopic: hard to watch and tragic at times, but fascinating 🎥
I struggled with some of the Microblogvember prompts, but I made it (I think). it was a fun exercise, and I’m hoping to continue posting more regularly even when there’s not a little game to reinforce the habit
#mbnov
we go for morning walks on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. but the forecast says 36°, so I won’t be a pedestrian tomorrow
#mbnov
the last 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle we’ll do for a while
I’ve reached a kind of normal with wearing a mask in stores. it’s regular enough that I don’t forget it anymore, but still awkward (and regularly steams up my glasses). shopping is even less fun than ever, guess I’m glad we can do it at all
#mbnov
Saturday night beer: Brazos Valley Brewing’s Slippin’ Into Darkness
⭐️⭐️__
tonight’s movie: Stuber. not bad for an action-comedy. the leads were both pretty good, Kumail Nanjiani especially is always fun to watch 🎥
we faced a serious dilemma earlier, but we solved it by just ordering two pizzas
#mbnov
Tombo
watched Murder on the Orient Express (2017). nobody but David Suchet will ever be the real Poirot, but the cast was star-studded (Rey! Queen Elizabeth!) and it was fun (and I didn’t know whodunnit) 🎥
it’s too easy to adjust to a long, sleeping-in weekend. grateful for many things, including tomorrow still only being Friday
#mbnov
this last workday before the holiday was marred by some hosting issues (surprise! the cloud has outages, too!), but it was beautiful if only because there were no meetings to call into
#mbnov
I’m not sure if we have all the holiday meal ingredients on hand, but I know my beer provisions are all set for the weekend
#mbnov
my recommendation for some good tunes this Tuesday: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings’ Just Dropped In to See What Condition My Rendition Was In. posthumous releases can be exploitative but this collection of covers is great 🎵
our doorbell camera captured this predawn visitor (and labeled it “person detected”)
#mbnov
did some long-overdue weeding outside this morning, almost catching up on the green invaders along the border of our patio area. think I might try working a little on this never-ending task during work meetings; I can listen just as well while mindlessly pulling weeds
#mbnov
Saturday’s beer: Einstök Ölgerð’s Icelandic Winter Ale
⭐️⭐️⭐️
did I pick this to drink tonight just because “winter” is today’s #mbnov word? maybe
Friday at last, and not a day too soon. my energy and patience have really started to fade at the end of this week
#mbnov
how is it possible that November’s more than half gone, Thanksgiving is a week away, and it’ll be December any minute? time flying isn’t new but this year it’s truly, truly ridiculous
#mbnov
imagine what a day it will be, once we can break our dependence on fossil fuels and make the huge shift to renewable energy. it won’t be easy, but it will be worth it
(some of these #mbnov words are tough, man)
I think I’d love to take a long journey by train someday (not anytime soon, obviously). big, roomy sleeper cars, watching the landscape chug by. maybe it would amount to little more than a longer, slightly less cramped plane trip, but it sounds great to me.
#mbnov
I often feel like I have a poor memory. and then I think maybe I’d see improvement by slowing down, paying more careful attention to things. only I always forget to do that.
#mbnov
we didn’t go far, but we had a nice (belated) anniversary weekend away. she’s put up with me for this long, I guess we’re in it for good.
#mbnov
Saturday beer: Martin House Brewing’s Colombiana (“Rum Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout with Cherries and Coconut”)
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Has a slight aftertaste, but it tastes so much like a Mounds bar that I can’t complain (and it’s 14.5% so that’s quickly reducing complaints, too) 🍺
