Goal #35

Goal #35: prepare for the hutch.

One piece of furniture I'm getting from Mom is an old hutch.  I think I know where I'm going to put it, but maneuvering it into place is going to take a fair amount of rearranging of other furniture.  If the hutch doesn't arrive this coming week, it should be here the following week, so I might as well be ready.

Recap of goal #34: I considered.  I read a bunch of articles.  These are some of the ones I think will be most useful to me as I tackle this beast:

I Don't Want Stuff Anymore, Only Things
101 Physical Things That Can Be Reduced in Your Home (and the rest of the Becoming Minimalist blog)
More Experiences and Fewer Possessions
52 Weeks to an Organized Home

I think one of my biggest challenges in trying to clear out stuff is that I'm a tactile person.  For example, lots of sites say "digitize your pictures and get rid of albums." But I sometimes look at my albums.  I never look at the pictures stored on my computer unless I'm looking for something in particular. Same with books.  I like to read actual books.  I've never been a good e-book reader, or much of a reader of articles online (this post notwithstanding).  The last time I moved I pared down my books pretty drastically.  But of course, I'll try it again.

I guess it's important to remember that what works for some of these pundits won't work for me, and vice versa.  I read one post written by a British woman.  She said she got rid of her hot pot and just heats water on her stove.  That might work well for her, but when my stupid electric cooktop is so slow that I have to heat water in the hot pot and then pour it into a pot just to get it to boil in less than 30 minutes, well -- we're in different worlds!  (And besides, how can you honestly call yourself British if you don't have a hot pot for making tea?!)

Regardless, I will give it my best shot.  Wish me luck!

What I'm Reading Now -- Unbroken

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption came out almost four years ago to phenomenal reviews.  I've been meaning to read it ever since, and the movie coming out has finally pushed me to it.

A couple of things before I get started about why this book is going to be awesome no matter what:

1) I love WWII stories.

2) I love Laura Hillenbrand, or at least the way she tells the amazing stories she uncovers.  Remember Seabiscuit?

3) I love adventure, and this book promises a lot of it.

4) I love the Oxford comma in the subtitle.  I am a staunch supporter of the Oxford comma.

So, here I go, off on adventures with Louie Z.

Goal #34

Goal #34: "Consider the benefits of an edited life."

I was going to start 2015 with this goal.  (Yes, I thought that far ahead.  Can you believe it?)  Each week of next year, my plan was to have a themed goal related to streamlining my life and cleaning up my apartment.  But, as I was talking to E while I was stuck in the Denver airport for hours and hours and hours, we concluded that you need to jump on these things when you're feeling motivated.  And since I'm feeling motivated right now, let's do it!  There's no time like the present.

I have decided (as you might recall) to stay in my little one-bedroom apartment for the time being.  There was an interview on NPR last spring with Graham Hill, who is the source for the above quote.  If you want to watch his TED Talk from 2011, it's available here.  I'm certainly not going to go to his extreme of cutting down to 420 square feet (yes, he really did that; you can see pictures of the super-functionality of his apartment here), and I will be keeping many of my books.  But he's got the right idea, anyway.

So, I guess for as long as it takes, each weekly goal will be tied to the general theme of getting my apartment and my stuff and my life in the condition that I want it to be in.  And by the end of 2015, hopefully I will have succeeded!  (That's more time that I had originally planned, but honestly less than I probably need!)  How will that success be measured?  Your guess is as good as mine, but I have time to figure it out.

Recap of goal #33: within the last week, I've worked up ideas for about 4 vacations between now and the end of the year.  Too ambitious?

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe -- Take 2

While on vacation in Colorado (more on this to come), I finished listening to Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.

I remember the "facts" of the story (such as there can be facts in a work of fiction), but I didn't remember them unfolding in quite the order that they do.

As with most stories which have multiple story lines running through them (think: Return of the King, Love Actually, Paris), over time I come to like one story line more than the other.  In Fried Green Tomatoes, I cared a lot more about Idgie and Ruth than I did about Evelyn and Ninny.  If it weren't for the great movie performances of Kathy Bates and especially Jessica Tandy, which constantly ran in my mind whenever Ninny spoke, I probably wouldn't have cared about the more contemporary story at all.

There were some moments of brilliance in the writing, though most of it was good if somewhat unremarkable.  My favorite quotation focuses on one of the secondary characters, and describes one of those moments that happens often, but is rarely so well-encapsulated: "Smokey Lonesome looked up and said nothing.  The rest of them said the same."

This is one of those stories that just a little bit past believable, but so entertaining and easy to listen to that you don't care.

Quote of the Day

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute.  We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race.  And the human race is filled with passion.

Medicine, law, business, engineering -- these are noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life.  But poetry, beauty, romance, love -- these are what we stay alive for.

To quote from Whitman:
'Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill'd with the foolish,
. . .
What good amid these, O me, O life?
. . .
Answer.
That you are here -- that life exists, and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.'

That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.  What will your verse be?"
  -- Robin Williams as John Keating, Dead Poet's Society

Atlanta!

At last, my long overdue post about my recent trip to Atlanta to see J&T!

I was met Friday at the airport by T, who made the long trip on the MARTA to pick me up.  She and I wasted no time upon our return to their house and immediately jumped in the hot tub, because we had what appeared to be the only rain-free window of the weekend hovering over us right at that moment.  In fact, it didn't last long, as it started drizzling in our drinks not too long after we got in.  Never to be put off a relaxing afternoon in the hot tub by some silly rain, we stuck it out until we were sufficiently dehydrated.

T had dinner going in the crock pot, so we had some delicious pork steaks before heading off to a late performance at the Velvet Note, a local jazz spot.  The musician that evening was Trevor Wolford, a local boy.  He played a few famous pieces, but a lot of his own compositions.  I especially liked his Cuban-themed pieces.

This is a not-great clip (but the only one I can find) from another show of his trio playing "Cuban Lullaby," a piece he composed.  At our show, he played some songs with a couple other musicians, and a fair number of them on his own.

Saturday we were greeted by pouring rain, which facilitated my sleeping until 9:00, a luxury I am rarely afforded.  I munched on a bagel that J picked up at the store and did a little bit of work before we headed off to tour Barrington Hall up in Roswell.

I LOVE tours like the one we took of Barrington Hall.  You get to see the old buildings, the old furnishings, the architecture, and get the story, all led by a knowledgeable guide full of fun facts and answers to your questions. 

The front door of Barrington Hall, in the damp, drizzly suburbs of Atlanta

The lush gardens

When we finished with the Barrington home, we headed into Roswell proper for lunch at Roux.  With the full understanding that I was in the south and should behave as such, I started with a bowl of gumbo, and followed it up with a plate of fried green tomatoes, and an Old Roswell to wash it all down.

After we were properly sated, we headed down to the river to see the remains of the Roswell Manufacturing Company Mills, which are expansive in area and impressive in size.

Remains of the mill

One way to cross the river: shimmy across this sewer pipe

 

The City of Roswell apparently tired of people shimmying across the pipe, and decided to build a covered bridge

After this day out, we headed back to J&T's to let the dogs out, and T&I headed out again for a traffic-slowed trip into Buckhead to visit the Atlanta Botanical Garden -- another break in the rain!.  The "Imaginary Worlds" exhibit has been going on all year, and the garden is studded with enormous plant sculptures.

Our dinner that night was at Wisteria, a favorite of J&T.  One of the specials that night was a first for the chef: fried green tomatoes!  Of course I had to try these too (the breading was better).  And for my main I had the vegetable platter, which was a delight.

We finished off the lovely day with a stop at Crema for coffee.

I slept in again on Sunday, then got on the treadmill long enough to watch an episode of House of Cards, then joined J&T in the kitchen for a breakfast of bacon and eggs.

We set off for Turner Field despite the threat of rain to see the Braves take on the Phillies.

We had enough time to enjoy some pulled pork nachos, a drink or two, and a few innings of the game before the Biblical downpour began.  We left at a (slight) break in the rain, and eventually the game did wrap up, several hours past the scheduled time.

I watched some more House of Cards that afternoon (I was in the middle of a tense few episodes), before we decided it was time for more food, this time from Eclipse di Luna, a tapas restaurant.  I sampled the fried goat cheese, hummus, chorizo-stuffed dates, avocado salad, and some of T's paella.

We finished up the trip by listening to the Cardinal's game.  Then I packed and set off for the MARTA station early the next morning.

Thanks to J&T for a great trip!

Goal #33

Goal #33: consider my next vacation.

"Wait, didn't you just go on vacation?" you might ask.  In fact I did, a couple of them.  But half (okay, maybe a quarter) of the fun of going on a vacation is looking forward to it.  So, I need a place to go.  Suggestions?

Recap of goal #32: shipping arranged (and half paid for)!

Random Links

Did you know that funny headlines are called crash blossoms?

Probably the best product review ever written.

Random quirky videos about random quirky things with random quirky David Rees.

Did you know this about African wild dogs?  And if you want to see them in action, check out this segment from Planet Earth for some great video, or this breakdown of their hunting strategies (part 1 of 3).

These are the people we have protecting our safety.  How safe do you feel?

Logos of great scientists.

What I Watched -- All Is Lost

Months and months ago, I tried watching All Is Lost, which is a movie about a guy who's alone at sea.  I fell asleep.  Imagine that!  A movie with almost no dialogue, soothing sea sounds, and I fell asleep.  Who would have imagined that?

With a little more sleep and a lot more daylight, I decided to give it another try.  Watching All is Lost was, in a way, the opposite of watching a movie with subtitles.  With subtitles, you have to be glued to the screen because it's the only way to know what's going on.  With All is Lost, I was prone to stop paying attention, I think because of the lack of dialogue.  Boy was that a mistake.

It's the process that this guy goes through, of slowly having his lifelines stripped away from him, of trying to save those lifelines every step of the way, of exercising every last bit of his encyclopedic knowledge of his craft and the sea, of taking resourcefulness to a new level, that really makes the movie.  It's what sucks you in.

And even with my initial lack of initial attention, by about halfway through, I was glued.  I was glued as he held it together through challenge after challenge, and glued as he started to come apart.  Right until the very last minute.

Perhaps because there is so little human speech in this movie, the sound effects are especially important.  It was a little bit of a challenge to watch because of the range of volume required, from calm, placid days thousands of miles from another soul to raging storms and crashing thunder.  My other mistake was not to be somewhere with good surround sound that I could crank up to really get the full experience.  Do yourself a favor and make that happen.

The story is simple, easy to tell, so there's not much to surprise you there.  But that's what makes the enjoyment of it all the more impressive.

Bottom line: a surprisingly suspenseful film, and a bit of a risky project which deserves to be rewarded.

Random Links

Photography in WWI: The War No Image Could Capture.

The irony of the Beatles' beetles.

Not one of the legal profession's finest.

Just another monkey copyright story.  Next up: patents.

An entertaining, cartoon-y way to waste time.

#wordcrimes.

Goal #32

Goal #32: arrange for shipping.

I spent an hour or so one night this week (instead of going to Whitaker, see below) just straightening up my apartment.  I also spent a bit of time looking at condos to buy.  What I decided, after seeing how much better my place looks when it's tidy, is that I should really probably just get this place organized and live in it for a while.

We'll see if that idea lasts.

Regardless, I'm getting some furniture from Mom, and I need to make arrangements to have it shipped here so I can finally get rid of some of these boxes!

Recap of goal #31: has summer gotten away?  Certainly not this past week!  I went to see the Cards play the Red Sox twice (and win twice!), and it doesn't get much more summery than that!  I was hoping to also see the last of the Whitaker summer concerts at MOBOT, but I didn't quite make it.  And I rode in the Moonlight Ramble (more later)!

Corpse Flower

The Missouri Botanical Garden has been blessed, or cursed, this season with two corpse flowers, titun arums.  I missed the first one, but T and I went to Mobot's special late-night hours to see the second one during the peak of its stinkiness.

And that is certainly how it earned its nickname, the corpse flower.  I've never smelled a corpse, but I imagine it's something like this.

The problem was that we weren't the only people reading our emails and showing up at the Linnean House just before bed.  The line was about three times as long as the building, and not moving an inch.  So instead we just walked around the back and peeked in the window.  Some of the windows were open, which let enough of the stench out that we were glad we weren't inside after all!

Quote of the Day

"Henceforth, politics would not be a sphere in which human nature is perfected; the political project would not include pointing people to their highest potentials.  Instead, modern politics would be based on the assumption that people will express and act upon the strong impulses of their flawed natures.  People will be self-interested.  The ancients had asked, What is the highest of which mankind is capable and how can we pursue this?  Hobbes and subsequent moderns asked, What is the worst that can happen and how can we avoid it?"
  -- George F. Will, "Religion and the American Republic," National Affairs

Congrats, M&M!

About a month ago, I ventured up to the shores of Lake Michigan to celebrate the marriage of my best friend from college.
I had an early flight to Milwaukee on Saturday morning and was in my rental car by 10:30 or so.  Festivities started around 6 that evening, so before I headed up to their little town, I decided to cruise around the city and see what I could find.  What I found was the Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear, a wacky museum portraying daily life in the Milwaukee area in the interbellum years.

I could probably cook on that.

 

The old grocery store.

A vintage cash register at the pharmacy.

From there I headed up the shore to help out with wedding prep, since I still had a few free hours.  The festivities were on the beach at M's cottage, which was a lovely setting perfect for their party!

The path to the beach.

The bar!
 

A thick fog rolled in for several hours in the afternoon.

What with all the lush greenery and the inability to see more than 20 feet, I felt like I was in Ireland!

Looking back at the cottage.
 

The happy couple (tired of smiling)!

The mothers of the brides, giving their toasts.
 

There were only two of these very stylish glasses available for all the guests, and I got a pair!

Dancing on the beach!  No one seemed to mind the rain a bit.

The party was great fun, and was followed by some much-needed bacon and eggs back at the cottage the following morning.  We did a bit of clean-up, then I headed back to Milwaukee for one last thing I wanted to see before I hit the airport.

I just barely caught the final tour of the day at the Pabst Mansion, former home of Captain Frederick Pabst and his family.  It is well restored, with some replica pieces but lots of originals throughout the house.  Unfortunately you can't take any pictures inside, so the best I have for you are some outdoor shots.  There are some interior pictures online.

It was a stunning place.

What I Watched -- Girl Rising

I honestly don't even remember where or when I heard about Girl Rising, but one day a few weeks ago, I got a notification from the library that it had arrived and was on hold for me.  Before going to pick it up, I couldn't have told you what it was about.

What it is about is girls (as the title might suggest).  It's a moving documentary about the condition of individual girls around the world, and the power of an education.  None of this is new or news, but it is worthwhile to be reminded of what some people have to do or overcome to achieve what so many of us take for granted every day.  And it is astonishing to be reminded how little girls are worth, even today, in some parts of this world.  Truly remarkable.

Each of the nine girls comes from a different troubled country: Cambodia, Haiti, Nepal, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Peru, Sierra Leone, and Afghanistan.  Some of their stories have happy endings; some do not.  But each girl, as the DVD cover says, is a revolution in her own small way.

Bottom line: a story that needs to be told -- and realized.

Goal #31

Goal #31: don't let summer get away!

Is anyone else wondering how it got to be August?  I certainly am.  This week, I am hoping to remember that, and do some fun, St.-Louis-in-the-summer stuff!  Stay tuned next week to find out what I managed to squeeze in!

Recap of goal #30:  I did much better with drinking tea this week, and limited myself to one cup of coffee max every day but Friday -- which really wasn't my fault!  I only planned to have one cup, but our clerk brought me a vanilla latte from Starbucks, and how can you say no to that?

Random Links

A book club I'd like to join.

Honey badger gonna find a way out!

If you're a Game of Thrones watcher and have a sense of humor, try Gay of Thrones, because it's awesome.

I'm moving to England!

My favorite little rover has set a new record!

Doors that are not doors.