Coming up on the last full week at the school I’ve been at since 2016. A summer full of training for my new position and a concert tour of Brittany.
After 23 years of procrastination, I have finally finished reading The Lord of the Rings.
From Twain to Everett
When I was a senior in high school, I played Huckleberry Finn in a community theater production of Down River (think Big River without the Broadway pedigree). I loved the story then, and I love it now. Producing a musical like that today probably wouldn’t be received very well because… well, that judgment isn’t mine to make. Or maybe it is; I don’t know.
I just bought my first physical book in probably 15 years or more. I’ve been all digital since I can remember.
Maybe I could come up with a collection of blank text file templates and charge $250.
Every time I get on a self-curated personal music library kick, I am quickly reminded how painful that whole process is.
The HVAC technician accidentally broke the capacitor on our system. Replaced at no charge. No offer to upgrade to the flux model, though.
Fortunately, I have not experienced the One UI 7 bug that led Samsung to pull the update. 🤞🏼
Today would be a great day for an actual First Contact Day.
The only way to use RCS on an Android device is to use Google Messages. I know that’s a carrier issue, but still…
I have been playing around and am now disabused of the notion that iOS is more private/secure (I know there’s a difference) than Android. I’ve got my Samsung device pretty impressively locked down. The app ecosystem is terrible, horrible, no good, and very bad, but PWAs can make up for some of that.
Bad Actors - ★★★★
Finished reading: Bad Actors by Mick Herron 📚 Probably Herron’s best installment of the Slow Horses series. This will make a great season if the Apple TV+ show makes it this far.
Excalibur - ★★★☆
Bernard Cornwell’s Excalibur portrays a realistic take on Arthurian legend, focusing on Derfel Cadarn as the main hero while depicting Arthur as a reluctant leader whose goal of realizing a peaceful life in a peaceful Britain is ultimately doomed.
Heretic - ★★★★
Brilliant. Disturbed. Disturbing. Brilliant.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - ★★★★
Andy Serkis is brilliant as he narrates Tolkien’s classic, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
Chaos: The Manson Murders - ★☆☆☆
The story of Charles Manson is always intriguing, but this Netflix documentary loses all credibility within the first 10 minutes by subscribing to conspiracy theories that are based purely on speculation with no supporting evidence.
At the start of the day tell yourself: I shall meet people who are officious, ungrateful, abusive, treacherous, malicious, and selfish.
—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (trans. Robin Waterfield)
My wife did not appreciate my morning recitation of P. D. Q. Bach lyrics over coffee.
My wife has decided that our her Corgi needs a ramp to get on our bed instead of the set of foam stairs she’s been using for years. 🙄