
Day 84: My mother-in-law is visiting for a couple days. After a pleasant dinner and walk around the neighborhood, we came downstairs to watch the World Aquatic Championships and work on a puzzle for a while.
Enthusiastically Ambiverted Hopepunk
Photos, usually taken by me. May be mirrored or imported from other services.

Day 84: My mother-in-law is visiting for a couple days. After a pleasant dinner and walk around the neighborhood, we came downstairs to watch the World Aquatic Championships and work on a puzzle for a while.

Day 83: Well, it was bound to happen eventually – not only did I forget to post, but I forgot to even take a photo on this day! As penance, a shot from my childhood, as my mom introduces me to the wonderful world of pornography.

Day 82: We braved I-405 and the I-90 bridge on a busy summer weekend to come out to Mercer Island to see Seattle Shakespeare‘s production of The Tempest. Another gorgeous day for an outdoor play!

Day 81: A bit of home improvement we’ve been meaning to do for a long time — mounting an antique cast-iron bell that my wife inherited from her great-grandmother. It hung outside her door for years, and this is the second home we’ve had where it’s hung outside ours. To mangle a Crocodile Dundee quote, “That’s not a doorbell. This is a doorbell.”

Day 80: I’ll say a little more in a separate post, but in brief, Barbie is excellent. The less you know going in, the better, but even if you’ve been reading reviews and articles about it, there’s so much in here that will surprise you. If you’re even remotely curious, it’s worth your time.

Day 79: Tasty homemade mango/tangerine/canteloupe popsicles for dessert! Just blended fruit, a little orange juice, and a day in the freezer.

Day 78: Got to work and found that just about ten minutes before, the entire campus had lost power. The power company had been notified, but had no idea of the cause and no solid ETA for a fix, so it was back home for me! By the time I got home, campus was officially closed until 10 a.m., and we’ll see what sort of notices we get as the day goes by. Either the power comes back and I head back to campus, or I just work from home after ten.

Day 77: I don’t normally go directly to brushing my teeth immediately after coming home from work. But then, I don’t normally get surprised by suddenly getting a clumsy bug for an impromptu snack during an afternoon walk outside. Ew.
33/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1990 Hugo Best Novel
Still as engrossing as when I first read it, many years ago. Far-future space opera on a huge scale, but presented through a series of vignettes shared by members of a band of pilgrims (if this sounds rather like Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, be glad you got a good education in classic literature) heading toward what seems to be an unpleasant fate for all of them…and possibly billions more. Amusingly, while I knew that this was part of a series (originally two books, then four) because I have all of them on my shelf, I’d forgotten that the next book is not so much a sequel as the second half of a single story. Good thing I can just head upstairs and grab the next book to keep going!
NOTE: Given Simmons’ descent into right-wing politics, including Islamophobia and publicly attacking Greta Thunburg, he has earned a space on my “milkshake duck” virtual bookshelf, collecting those authors whose work I discovered, enjoyed, and might still enjoy, before later realizing that they are what I consider to be rather horrible people.
