Goals 2019 -- January Recap

K and I had very active Januarys (Januaries?)!

Here's K's report on her month of yoga:

When M and I started talking about New Year’s Resolutions (though I think we both managed to avoid using this phrase), part of my hesitation was that those resolutions never stick. But, when she suggested that we try similar goals to hold each other accountable and then make it public on a blog, part of me thought, “with her by my side, I can do anything” and part of me thought, “the shame of public exposure will keep me on track if nothing else will.”

Now, you all know how busy M is. She’s about 1000 times busier than anyone else I know. So, I (basically) thought to myself, “her suggestion will be reasonable and manageable because she doesn’t have a lot of free time.” And then, M texted and (basically and completely unreasonably) said, “how about 25 workouts this month?” I balked. I texted back to tell her I wasn’t sure I was up for it. I did the math with J and he agreed. She was being unreasonable. And then insanity hit, and I texted back and said, “I’m in.”

Almost the next day, a YouTube channel I’ve been watching offered a 30 day practice for the New Year, so I signed up to add to my motivation. I also convinced a friend of mine to try yoga with me so that I would have a local partner to encourage me to go to the studio on a regular basis.

As the month began, I started going to the studio more regularly because I knew I was going to be held accountable. I made yoga the priority again, which meant leaving work in a timely fashion every day so that I could get home and get to the studio. That worked pretty well for the first week and a half or so, and then reality hit. Things popped up at work that kept me longer, but, not to be deterred, I used my YouTube sessions to keep myself on track. And when I’d fall behind in my count, I’d do one studio session and one home session to keep myself on target. J says that doesn’t count, but I think it does because the goal was to do more yoga, and this month I did more yoga than I’ve done in the last few months. Call it cheating, call it creativity, or call it determination, but I made it to the end of the month with 26 yoga sessions completed! And, I never would have done it if it weren’t for M and her faithful readers. Thanks guys!

For my part, a smaller percentage of my workouts than I expected were erging workouts, but there are a few reasons for that.  The first is that, because of the number of workouts I had to hit, I needed to add weekend workouts, and those are never erging.  (Incidentally, my weekend yoga workouts were from the same YouTube channel that K was watching, though neither of us knew of the coincidence at the time!)  Second, C and I decided we need to do more weight lifting than we have in winters past, so even some of the weekday workouts that previously would have been erging now are not.  And third, C went out of town on a ski trip this month, so I had to come up with some make-up workouts while he was gone, because erging alone is no fun.  Despite all those setbacks, I managed to get 26 workouts in too!

Here's what my month looked like:

Interesting that all my days off are in the second half of the week...

We did it!

Oscar Nominations

Despite all of my relatively recent movie viewing, I have heard of extremely few of the Oscar nominees.  In the list I was looking at, I had to get all the way down to the animated features before I even recognized a movie title!  These are the ones I have heard of in the major categories:

Animated Features
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs (which I saw on the plane home from Cambodia)
Ralph Breaks the Internet

Adapted Screenplay
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Documentary Feature
Free Solo
RBG

What does it say about my cultural involvement that I have not even heard of a single one of the best picture nominees?  Not that cultural detachment is necessarily a bad thing, but apparently it's a thing that I possess now.

Friendship Brewing Company

Before the recent bouts of snow have made it really feel like winter, we had an unseasonably warm weekend, with temperatures creeping into the 60s.  S and I took that opportunity to get on our road bikes, for the first time in a long time.  We pedaled ourselves to Friendship Brewing Company.  We sat at the tables outside, had some beers, and ordered food from FBC's joint food venture, Benefits Bistro.

It was a delightful outing, and long overdue!  When spring comes, I think it'll become a regular adventure.

That Isn't All The Movies?

How is it possible that after my two recent and expansive posts about movies, there are still more movies that I've seen which I haven't written about?  I've been a delinquent blogger, that's how.  Here's what else I've seen:

Birdbox: this made-for-Netflix movie stars Sandra Bullock in a not-too-distant-future apocalypse flick.  The villain is an invisible shadow-type thing, but if you look directly at it, you develop the uncontrollable need to off yourself.  If you go outside, you have to do it blindfolded, which makes for an interesting adventure when Sandra's character sets off on a journey with two kids to find a safe community.  It wasn't a great movie, but it was entertaining.



  
The Green Mile: S was appalled when he discovered that I hadn't seen this, so we watched it right away.  It's one of his favorites, and I can see why.  Good acting, good characters, complex emotions and decisions.  A winner for sure.







Dumplin': another made-for-Netflix movie, this time starring S's girlfriend Jennifer Aniston.  She plays a former beauty queen and mother of Willowdean, a plus-sized teenager who decides that she needs to teach some people a lesson about beauty.  It was cute.  To quote S, "I wasn't mad at it."

Even More Movies -- SLIFF!

S and I did such a good job going to SLIFF movies this year -- for the first half of the week anyway.  Then our collective illnesses got the better of us, and we called off our participation in the second half.  But, here's what we managed before we fell victim to the weather.  Get ready for another barrage of movie titles! (Links are either to trailers or full films, depending on what was available.)

Our first night:
Doc Shorts: Animated Lives: a collection of animated, character-driven shorts, including Bike Trip, Marfa, Lotte That Silhouette Girl, Story of Aishan, My Grandfather's Memory Book, Hoan Alone, Carlotta's Face, Maya Bdeg'a (Pelican Hill), and 5 Years After the War.

Intelligent Lives: a moving documentary about ensuring that people with developmental disabilities have the resources to live meaningful lives.

Mr. Connolly Has ALS: this was an unexpected treat, a short film at the beginning of Intelligent Lives.  It's the story of a high school principal's last year in that role after his diagnosis.  A very sweet story which provides a little bit of faith about kids these days.

I can't remember what we did for dinner this night -- probably just grabbed something in the Loop.

Our second night:
We started out with an early dinner at Yellowbelly, which was immensely filling and tasty.  I had either the fish sandwich or the burger, I can't remember now.  What I do remember is that it came with a mountain of fries.  My drink options were a bit limited, on account of my distaste for both tequila and mezcal, but I still managed to stumble my way through the drink menu on rum alone.

Inventing Tomorrow: this was a great documentary about some of the world's top kid scientists, their research, and their participation in ISEF (the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair).  The coolest thing that we learned from this movie is that there's a Public Day at ISEF, and one of these years, we are going to go!

My Name is Batlir: a goofy but sweet movie about a boy with an oversized head, and how he finally finds his place.

Narrative Shorts: Baring It All: stories about vulnerability, including Three Centimeters, Spring, Camgirl194, Tightly Wound, L'Amazone, Constellations, Barefoot, Denise, and Life After.

Our third night:
Stroop: a horrifying documentary about the war for rhino horns in Africa, and an investigation into the eventual use of the rhino ivory.

Dinner was at Mission Taco Joint in the Loop, because we both love street tacos!

My Big Gay Italian Wedding: a comedic coming out story featuring a very unhappy Italian father.

Our fourth night:
Heaven Will Wait: a story about two girls drawn to radical Islam, and the different directions that their lives go based on the choices they make.

Dinner was at Vito's, which was disappointing.  People love the place, but I've never understood why.  I'm pretty sure the only reason it's still in business is because it's so close to SLU, so they have a built-in audience.

Narrative Shorts: Comedy: these should have been just what they sound like.  They were disappointingly not funny, and the venue (the Stage at KDHX was awful; we ended up standing through the whole show).  We missed a couple of the shorts -- we were late because we couldn't get our bill at Vito's, and left early because I was not feeling well and my feet were killing me.  12:58 P.M., My Son NN, Writer's Workshop, We Know Where You Live, It Should Be Easy, Sac de Merde, Driving Ms. Saudi, Gina, Life Partner, Medusa, One., Jessica Jessica, Boob Sweat.
The ones we didn't see: Il Etait Une Fois Mon Prince Viendra, I Will Not Write Unless I Am Swaddled in Furs, Floovy, and A General Audition.

And after that, S and I both got really sick, so no more movies for us.

A Much Belated Christmas Recap

I love Christmas.  Let's just get that out of the way.

This year it snuck up on me more than usual, so I was a bit unprepared for the festivities.  Nevertheless, I managed to watch some of my annual Christmas movies: Love Actually, Little Women, and It's a Wonderful Life, as well as a few made-for-Neflix cheesefests.

I also did some fun, not-so-typical things, like Nemesis Fighting Alliance's 'Twas the Fight Before Christmas!  It was my first MMA fight, and it turns out that Casa Loma Ballroom is a great venue for it (much to my surprise).  There were 16 fights on the card, including two girl fights (one kickboxing and one grappling), and all of them went.  Some were quick and unfortunate; some were really great fights!  It was a fun night, so thanks to S for finding it and to E for coming along for the fun.

S and I also repeated one of our Christmas activities from a couple of years ago: the Historic House Tour.  This year, there were different houses on the tour.  We saw the Chatillon-DeMenil House, the Eugene Field House and Museum, and the Old Courthouse.  All were decked out in their Christmas attire, which I love.  Also on the tour was the Campbell House Museum, but we have been there several years for Christmas, and we had limited time, so we skipped that one.

S, trapped in court

The decorated staircase

The view of the arch from inside the Courthouse

The arch from outside the Courthouse

We also tried to go see a giant train set, but there was a $2 admission fee and it was cash only (which we didn't have) so we were disappointed there.

We spent Christmas proper out in Colorado, along with T&D, K&J, and E&A.  It was a great week, and T had the great idea to do a cook-off.  Each couple was assigned one night to cook dinner for everyone.  It was a great discovery of new dishes and a festival of deliciousness and overeating.

Christmas Day Hike - S and K taking a bar break, and S and me enjoying the view

S took me skiing on my birthday, which despite the crowds, was a nice re-introduction to the slopes on a sunny and not-too-cold day.

There were also a couple of cross-country skiing adventures, lots of snow, and lots of pizza!
 

 This was after the first small snow (9")

 Our second cross-country skiing adventure, and lots more snow!

 

 Homeslice Pizza - yes, we ordered 3 large pizzas for 5 people.

That cross-country skiing is hard!

Our meal was Irish themed.  S was having dessert of Guinness cake,

Guinness, and some ice cream to wash it all down

 

 T and D's lovely Christmas tree

Contrast of Cities

I was recently listening to an old New York Times Book Review podcast, and the host was interviewing Abby Ellin about her new book, Duped: Double Lives, False Identities, and the Con Man I Almost Married.  She was talking about the difference between being in DC and in New York.  Her take on the two:

"In DC, no one is who they seem to be; in New York, no one is who they want to be."

Interesting thoughts, both.

So Many Movies!

S and I went to Cambodia for our honeymoon.  More on that someday, I hope.  But before I get to all the trip details, a little bit about the many, many movies (plus a bit of TV) I watched on the plane rides there and back.  Props to Singapore Airlines for having quite a selection!  We had lots of time in the air with personal TVs: San Francisco to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Singapore, and Singapore to San Francisco.  Here's a quick summary of what I watched on the flight to Asia:

Ocean's 8: a fun, girl-centric, star-studded version of Ocean's 11.  Totally worth spending a couple of hours enjoying.









Notes on a Scandal: a complete change of pace from Ocean's 8 -- a psychological thriller, dark and disturbing.








 
Dr. Strange: after Notes, I needed something a little lighter.  I turned to the Marvel universe, aided by Benedict Cumberbatch, whom I adore.  It was a good pick.

Tazzeka: I turned to foreign creations for the closing hours of our flights.  Tazzeka tells the story of a Moroccan boy with a talent for cooking, which he learned from his grandmother.  He leaves for Europe, inspired by a girl he met, and learns things he never expected.







The Great British Bake-Off: I didn't have enough time to watch another movie, so I picked up an episode or two of The Great British Bake-Off, which I am now obsessed with.  Two things I love!

And on the flight home:

The Meg: An action movie got the return flight started.  The Meg wasn't a great film, but Jason Statham is always grumpily amusing, and I very much enjoyed Ruby Rose's turn in this one.

Puzzle: It was pretty much impossible for me not to watch Puzzle, once I discovered it in the directory.  It tells the story of an underappreciated suburban housewife who discovers a love and talent for jigsaw puzzles, which take her to some unexpected places.

 
All the Wild Horses: Have you heard about the 1000-mile horse race across the Mongolian plains?  I hadn't either.  This doc will give you the details, and totally engage you for the duration.

Isle of Dogs: I feel about Isle of Dogs the same way I feel about Wall-E -- the first half to two-thirds was amusing and enjoyable, the last bit, I could have done without.

Sharp Objects: To be fair, I didn't get quite all the way through HBO's Sharp Objects; I had to shut it off with about 20 minutes to go.  I had been through the tense bits, though; I don't think I missed much, especially since I had read the book.  For what's it's worth, I liked both the Sharp Objects book and visual version better than Gone Girl.

In addition to all of that watching, we also got through a couple of things that S downloaded onto his tablet.

Black Mirror: we watched two episodes of this Netflix show, which is weird and confusing but somehow engaging.  It's a little bit like watching a train wreck -- you just have to look because you're so horrified by what you might see.

Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable: I don't want to say too much about this for fear of spoiling anything -- but I recommend that you watch it before you google it, or you'll spoil some of the fun.

And this doesn't even cover the slew of movies we saw at SLIFF (although we missed out on several days of it due to my nasty illness).  Those films to follow!

Mill City -- Part II

Sunday morning began delightfully with coffee!  Victor's 1959 Cafe was the site of the coffee run, and the coffee was intense.  I sipped on it for a while and it kept me going all day.

We headed from there off to breakfast proper at the Grand Cafe, a delightful little spot that was revamped a year or two ago, and now is a gem.

We started with an order of monkey bread, at our waitress's suggestion -- and she did not lead us astray.  Of course I also had a mimosa to go along with it.  My main was the lobster spaghetti; much as the coffee kept me caffeinated all day, my spaghetti kept me satiated.  We were all happy after our meals!

We spent some time exploring the Uptown Art Fair, then headed off to Target Field to take in a Twins game.  It was an enjoyable and relaxing way to pass an afternoon, and we followed it up with some more relaxation at Lake Harriet taking in a Ticket to Brasil concert and touring the rose garden (but holy cow, the damage the Japanese beetles were doing!).

We were ready to eat again, so headed to Martina for dinner.  We had a whole variety of things, sharing around the table.  I ordered the charred Brussels sprouts salad, but I don't remember now what everyone else ordered, until the dessert -- the panqueque (basically a banana and caramel crepe).  I had a Moon Mama to drink and we all left with full bellies.

Monday we headed off to St. Paul.  Breakfast was at the Colossal Cafe, which has now closed due to the retirement of the owners.  But we got there while it was still open, and the massive portions (for my part: the apple, walnut, and brie flapjacks) fueled us for our day of shopping along Grand Avenue.  We hit the Red Balloon Bookshop, Bibelot, Lovegood, and lots of spots in between.  We toured the pretty houses on Summit, including walking by the home where F. Scott Fitzgerald lived in the late nineteen-teens, at the beginning of his literary career.

We stopped for a snack at Izzy's Ice Cream, swung back by the hotel to pick up our suitcases and take one last look at the music wall, then off to the airport we all went. 

It was a great weekend, and my lovely sisters have all my thanks for planning such a wonderful time!

Mill City -- Part I

Loads of thanks to K, E, and mom for a great weekend in Minneapolis!  They treated me to a wonderful weekend in celebration of what was then my upcoming nuptials (and as I write this, was many, many months ago)!  We did a lot of eating, a lot of touring, and generally had a great time.  And then we did some more eating.

We all arrived on Friday evening, and after scoping out our hotel, headed to 112 Eatery for dinner.  We lucked out timing-wise, because it poured down rain while we were in the restaurant, and it was a great place to be during a rainstorm.  It is a small place, very nicely renovated, but they held onto the dark bar feeling.  Our table was way in the back, so we were tucked safely away from the storm, peeking out the front windows at it like characters in an old-timey movie or a Sherlock Holmes story.  The food was incredible (which you'll see is a theme from the weekend): cauliflower fritters, burrata toast, gnocchi, and scallops for dinner.  Dessert was tripartite: banana tart with chocolate mousse, lemon ricotta cheesecake, and (to drink) bourbon with a brown-butter wash.  They were all good, and the butter flavor added to the bourbon was surprisingly delightful!  I still haven't tried it at home, but maybe soon.

From there, we wandered down to Marvel Bar for some delicious nightcaps.  Between us, we had the Remember the Maine, Presbyterian, Double Luxe, and the Savvy Blanc.  Their menu has changed now, so I can't tell you what any of our drinks had in them, but they were lovely.  The place was very crowded, and we were lucky enough to snag a table as some other folks were leaving, so it made for pretty good people watching while we were sipping.

Saturday morning was a true Minneapolis brunch at Keys at the Foshay.  K and I split a Keys omelet and a breakfast sandwich, and I started off the day right with a berry mimosa.

In case that wasn't enough food, we trekked the couple of blocks between there and Angel Food Bakery for some sweet treats to finish off our already-decadent meal.  I scored the last piece of caramel whiskey bread pudding (which they didn't even want to serve me, since "the end pieces don't get enough sauce," but I talked them into it) and a latte -- which was much needed to keep me just this side of a food coma.

We decided it was time get get some culture, so we headed over to the Walker.  I am not normally a big lover of modern art, but the Walker has a fun, we-don't-take-ourselves-too-seriously vibe, which I was totally able to get behind.  Here are some examples:

EU posters

A string of lights.  Because that's art.

Zoom in and check out the wallpaper.

There is an extensive garden outside the Walker, which includes this famous piece, as well as the blue rooster, and L-O-V-E!

There is a group of benches with a disturbing collection of thoughts carved into them. This was the least creepy one I could find in my collection.

Some giant worms in the garden.

We didn't want to let the overcast day get away from us, so we headed to the Mill City Museum to learn about the city's history in the milling industry.  I had no idea that so much of the country's flour was milled in Minneapolis, so it was fascinating learning.  The bad news was that the Flour Tower tour was sold out when we got there; however, we got a pro tip just to go get in line, and it worked!  We were able to weasel our way onto a tour!

The history of the milling industry in Minneapolis is more than I can possibly recount accurately, but there is a version available here.  What I found most interesting, especially in light of my love for industrial buildings,is that the Mill City Museum is housed in an old mill, the Washburn A mill. Just a few years after the mill had been completed in the 1870s, flour dust was ignited by a spark and the building burned to the ground.

The milling industry during WWII.

 The Baking Lab, where you can experiment and find free samples!

 

The still-standing wall of the burned-out Washburn A Mill.

One of the best parts of the Flour Tower tour is that you get to go out on the reconstructed roof of the mill building to take in the view of the river.

Dinner after the museum was at the cafe at the Alma, and it was a real treat!  We started with delightful-looking cocktails -- I had one called the Garden of Eden.  The remainder of my meal consisted of pork belly French toast (because who doesn't love breakfast for dinner?) and strawberry panna cotta.  The dessert, much to my surprise and delight, came with a tiny pop tart!

Our final Saturday activity was a trip to the Jungle Theater to see Hand to God.  I didn't know much about it beforehand; K and E had sent me two possible plays to go see on our weekend away, and I picked this one, but mostly based on the fact that it had gotten some good reviews, mostly saying it was funny, and a bunch of Tony Award nominations.  I'm always game for a laugh.

And it was pretty hilarious -- especially the first half.  The second half got a bit disturbing, but still a good pick overall, and an excellent end to our Saturday.

Happy Birthday, Mom!