Goals 2019 -- July Recap

This month, we were supposed to walk.

I thought this would be an easy one for me, because I love walking.  I was disappointed when I didn't do very well at this.  I do have some excuses, but really I'm just justifying my failures.  First, I didn't make this part of my schedule.  Since, I didn't, I noticed in retrospect that on a lot of days, I just forgot about it.  When I did remember, it was lovely to take an afternoon stroll to break up the work day and feel a bit rejuvenated.

Second, it finally got to be summer in St. Louis!  Those days of the 110* heat index just are not very inviting for walking outside.  Especially when I was in my work clothes.  Nothing feels rejuvenating when it's that hot outside!

In the end, I walked on 16 days, which is far short of the goal of 25 days of walking that we had set out.  But I did enjoy it, and I hope that it's something I can build into my schedule a bit more going forward!

What I Watched -- Inherit the Wind

One of my law partners has been extolling the virtues of Inherit the Wind for as long as I have been working with him.  I finally got around to watching it.

Some parts of the film are overwhelmed by that classic movie camp, the corny comedy that makes old movies feel, well, old.  Out of date.

On the other hand, the subject matter is spot on.  And it astonished me how directly the subjects of the Bible and Darwinism were addressed so many years ago.

And, at the risk of spoiling the end of this film, it all works out, but perhaps not as the viewer might have hoped.  And it's a courtroom drama, so who doesn't love that?

Bottom line: one of the classics that is absolutely worth watching.

What I Watched -- A Star is Born

I was not that interested in seeing A Star is Born when it came out.  It seemed interesting enough, but movies in theaters are just not something that I make a lot of time for these days, so eventually my interest faded.

Then the movie soundtrack (really just "Shallow") hit the radio waves, which piqued my interest again.  But -- same story.  Just not enough time, and my interest faded again.

Recently, S and I were at the library perusing the DVD section, and there it was!  It was never going to be easier than this, so why not?

And I am so glad I picked it up!

I am hesitant to say too much about the film, other than the basic plot.  He's a famous star on the back end of his career; she's an up-and-comer just breaking into the industry.  They fall in love.  It's just two people who meet, over a shared interest, whose lives are on two separate trajectories.  The rest is the movie, and you should watch it without me spoiling it for you.

Also, though, the music!  I had listened to the entire soundtrack but wasn't terribly moved by it.  But then I saw the movie, and it gave so much more context to the songs that I want to go back and listen to them again.  It's certainly a codependent relationship -- without the music, the movie would have been just a boring story; without the movie, the music lacks depth.

Bottom line: I liked this way more than I expected to.  I hope you do, too.

American Son -- Take 2

I have mixed feelings about American Son.

I'll start with the good.  First, true or not (and who, now, can say?), it does paint a picture of Jr. as someone who deeply appreciated the role his family played in the country's modern psyche, and who wanted to do something good with that.  What, exactly?  Again, who can say?  But something.  Second, it appears that John was a kind, thoughtful, and introspective person.  He was not perfect -- apparently he had one heck of a bad temper -- but he did not allow his celebrity to turn him into something horrible.  He was just a man, trying to be a better one.

Now for the bad.  First, this book is a snapshot.  It covers the author's time working with John Kennedy, Jr., at George magazine - John's late-1990s attempt to publish a political magazine for the average reader.  Our author started working there in 1995; John died in 1999.  Surely, it tries to extrapolate out from that time period, but does so with limited success, as John was notoriously tight-lipped about his private life.  Second, as the author himself acknowledges in his note at the end, this book can easily be viewed as opportunistic.  And that is how I viewed it, along with many other people.  It seemed more like the author's opportunity to promote himself, because this is as famous as he would ever be: the executive editor of John-John's magazine.  (This article from the Weekly Standard also points out that Blow [now Bradley] had signed a confidentiality agreement when he started at George.  So much for that.)

It's telling that the good things about the book were the subject himself, and the bad things about the book were the scope and motivations of the author.  Do with that information what you will.

The Coronation of Poppea

The last of the operas was The Coronation of Poppea, and as with Figaro, it poured down rain shortly beforehand.  Since it was a weekday and S and I were already at my office, we decided just to eat here rather than risk another rain storm.  Luckily dinner was all prepared and packed up in a cooler ready to be enjoyed!

Our dinner was a charcuterie, cheese, and fruit plate, with some bread and oil, ancient Rome style.  And also wine, also ancient Rome style.  That really is a great way to eat.

The show was quite racy!  Overall, it was not the greatest ensemble of voices, but there were a few real standouts (specifically, the character of Seneca).

The staging reminded me of some of the "Shakespeare in the Park" plays from the early 201xs -- a bit of an odd mashup between historical settings.  For this particular show, it was a mix of 1950s attire and Renaissance-style music.  For some reason, it worked.

It was a light-hearted show, with some not-very-likable characters, but a very likable date night with S!

Fire Shut Up in My Bones

Opera number three was Fire Shut Up in My Bones with K.  But first, the food!

Since the opera -- which is based on the autobiography of New York Times columnist Charles Blow -- is set in a small Louisiana town, we had some southern classics for dinner.  Our extremely fancy entree was cheddar and pimiento grilled cheese sandwiches, accompanied by chicken salad and potato salad.  There were also deviled eggs, although I forgot about them in the fridge until the following day.  Our drink was a 1930's New Orleans invention called the Cocktail a la Louisiane.  It required some work from S to perfect the recipe, because all I found was an ingredient list, without measures.  However, he undertook the task like a champ (albeit kind of a drunk one by the end of it).

We ate at home so S could participate, then headed down to the show.

Speaking of the show, I enjoyed it more than I anticipated I would.  First and most importantly, it was a collection of strong voices, singling well together.  Much to my surprise, though I do not generally consider myself to be a fan of jazz, I enjoyed the scoring, which was heavily jazz influenced.

The semi-permanent staging was simple but effective, made more so by the contrast between scenes of Charles's chaotic home life, which involved lots of furniture and other set pieces brought out for a few minutes, and scenes focusing on Charles's loneliness, which were spare and, well, lonely.  Speaking of that, there were a trio of characters played by one actress -- destiny, loneliness, and Charles's girlfriend Greta -- which was an inspired casting choice. 

For Charles himself, he was portrayed as a child and as an adult. There was a time warp happening in front of our eyes, with adult Charles shadowing young Charles through various significant moments in his life -- sometimes singing in duo, sometimes just observing, watching the beginning of the derailment of his childhood.

Some critics complained that the performances were melodramatic and that certain scenes were overly-long, but I did not find that.  Contrary to some of the classic operas, in my opinion this one told a much longer and more detailed story in the same time frame, giving it the feeling that it was moving along quite swiftly.  To my surprise and delight, I overheard an elderly audience member exclaim, "That was very good!"

Goals 2019 -- June Update

Here's K!

I’ll admit, when M proposed that we should try five new things in the month of June, I was nervous. First, I wasn’t sure that I would have time because I was finishing up the academic year. Second, anyone who knows me knows that I’m not really a “new thing” kind of person. I’m more of a “tried and true” kind of gal. But, I quickly realized that our monthly goals are designed to get us out of our comfort zones, so I accepted the challenge, albeit hesitantly.

Like M, I only made it to four-and-a-half, but I was pretty proud of myself for that! My new things were:

1.     Tried an Aperol Spritz. I know, I know. This one hardly counts. I mean how hard is it to step outside of your comfort zone with a new cocktail? But I’m counting this one because there’s a story or two behind it. It’s apparently the “new” summer cocktail, though the Italians have been drinking them for quite some time. My friend K, who is Italian, loves them, and I’ve heard her talk about them for two years now, but never tried one. Then, I read an article in my Sunday New York Times that claimed that an Aperol Spritz “is not a good drink.” Well, apparently, there are a lot of people who feel very strongly about this. The internet was “deeply offend[ed],” according to the New York Post. Even the Washington Post took notice and they issued a follow-up article in which they claimed that the Times article sent “shock waves through social media.” So, at this point, I had to know what this was all about. I had to leave my whiskey comfort zone and venture into the fray. And, I have to say, I’m not particularly impressed. Like that time I read Twilight or the time I started Fifty Shades, I can happily say that I am glad that I know what the hubbub is about, but I’m equally as glad to return to my whiskey.

2.     Joined a bunco group. This one found me. My friend J decided to get a bunch of her friends from different circles together to create a bunco group so that we could see each other regularly. Most of the women in the group have children, so this was a way for them to set aside some regularly scheduled time when they could roll some dice, maybe win some money, and have a glass of wine with grown-ups. I support of all of these things, so I said yes even though I had no idea what bunco actually was. And then I proceeded to worry about what I had just gotten myself into. Typical. Once I finally went, though, I had a great time. Until I realized that I think being part of a bunco group makes me officially old.

3.     Adulted. Hard. (Ish). On a recent work trip, I had the pleasure of staying in the dorms at a college in Philadelphia that I will not name here, but if you want to know, I’ll probably tell you. On our first night, the room was cold and damp. On the second night, it was a little warmer, but still damp. Also on the second night, my roommate and I (incidentally, K of Aperol Spritz fame) were feeling pretty good after a dinner of whiskey and beer, so we decided to turn the air off and open the windows to get some fresh air to mix in with our stale, moist air. But, when I put my foot out of the bed the next morning, I stepped onto a soaking. wet. floor. Whatever work that air conditioner was doing to keep the moisture under control when it was on, it did not do when it was off and all that air moisture became a floor lake. When we got back to our dorm that night, the water was still there, as were the footprints from our morning trek through our lake. I laid down on the bed for a five minute breather, and when I stood up, the front of me was dry and the back of me was wet. Within 15 minutes we were in an Uber on the way to a hotel where we took ourselves out to a nice dinner like the grown-ass women we are, slept in dry beds, and returned back to campus in the morning. I broke the rules that existed in my mind, put my comfort ahead of anything else, and for me, that’s a sign that I’m all grown up.

4.     Changed the oil in a silver truck named Red. This one is all thanks to M and S. And, I basically stole this one off M’s list, but in all fairness, it is something I have wanted to learn to do for a long time. So, poor S had to walk me through the steps, every one of which I bungled, but he was clear and patient and gracious despite my errors. S, have you ever thought of being a teacher? I think you have all the qualifications for it. I feel quite accomplished as a consequence of completing this task, but somewhere in the middle of it all, I had the thought, “yeah. I’m just as happy to pay an expert to do this for me next time.”

5.     Thought about my trip to Europe. This one is my half. But really it should probably be my one-quarter because we planned this trip long ago and we’re not going on this trip until July. But, because I fell short in my five things, I’m going with it. As far as travel to Europe is concerned, I’ve been to London and Ireland. And that’s it. But that will all change in the next fifteen days as I travel with J, my mom, his mom, and our neighbors to seven different cities in the Western Mediterranean, from Spain all the way down into Italy. It will be my first time on one of the really big cruise ships. It will be my first time in all of these cities. It will be my first time trying to navigate through places without the benefit of a guide who knows what they’re doing. I will need to use all of the bravery and adulting skills that I have learned in June to survive in July. And, I’m sure that somewhere along the way, I’ll have another Aperol Spritz. And a whiskey.

Happy 4th of July!

Goals 2019 -- May Update

Here's K!

Well, here’s my May update, finally! I find it a little ironic that in the month, long, long ago, where we were supposed to clean out our inboxes, I was remiss in completing my electronic duty of submitting my update! The digital activity that was intended, at least in my mind, to help me be more efficient and responsive to the necessary information that was coming in obviously did not translate, in this instance, in the way that I had hoped.

When M and I talked about doing a “digital cleanup,” my goals were mainly to clean out my email inboxes and to unsubscribe from the million and one junk mails (is that a word?) that I received every day. They came in because I once said I was interested or I once purchased something, but I never looked at them. Instead, I just gave myself carpel tunnel as I swiped left to delete them. I was able to accomplish these two tasks within the first few days of our endeavor, which made me feel quite accomplished. I cleaned out every inbox that I have, forwarded one account that I don’t want to keep checking to another so that I would be sure not to miss anything, decided to begin using that one account over the other (don’t ask why that took so long…), and gleefully unsubscribed to much of the junk mail that I receive. This is a process that needs a repeat as culling the accounts that you want to receive things from and the ones that you don’t sometimes takes a few passes.

As far as the results of this effort are concerned, I am still burdened by more email than I care to receive, but I think that’s the curse of the modern era. On the occasions where I had the opportunity to open my email in front of other people (mostly at work), I did receive several compliments on the tidiness of my email inbox. And, when we were in the process of interviewing new faculty, one candidate opened his email on the projector to find his presentation, and his email alerted him to the nearly 3200 unread emails in his account. In this moment, I experienced anxiety for him and wanted to help him sort through his email to whittle that number to a more reasonable double-digit one. Before this, I would have identified with him because there is always a point, as the junk comes in, where I used to give into the deluge and allow myself to drown in email. But, this small act of digital cleanup has been one that's made a big difference for me.

Going forward, I hope to keep my work inbox cleared out so that it can do double duty as a “to do” list and as a way to ensure that I try to focus on responding to the emails that I can right as they come in. I also plan to find myself on a couch with some bad television on in the background unsubscribing from more email lists in the not-too-distant future as this digital effort really was one that made me feel a little more in control of my life.

Goals 2019 -- July Edition (Update)

Here's K!

I’m on board with this goal for many reasons. First, the last time my dog visited his vet, he was embarrassed to find out that he had gained five pounds! He asked if we could go on more walks to get back down to his fighting weight, so now I can oblige. Second, I’ll be heading out on this aforementioned cruise, and lest I be embarrassed to find out how many pounds I have gained upon my return, I will use this to try to keep myself at my own fighting weight, and also to keep myself awake. Third, fresh air. Fourth, podcasts. Fifth, summer. Sixth, the television I shouldn’t be watching. Seventh, the book I should be reading. Eighth, why not?  And, I’m sure I’ll find the ninth and tenth reasons in the actual undertaking of this endeavor.

Goals 2019 -- July Edition

Walking.  It seems like such a simple thing.  We do it all the time.  We walk around the house; we walk from the car to the store and back; we walk to the mailbox.

But we will walk deliberately this month.  After lunch or after dinner, or even some other time if that's the only time we can fit it in.  A dog may be involved.  Or not.  But it will be a thoughtful, purposeful walk, with the purpose being the walk itself, and not as a means to something else.

Just by coincidence, this story was on NPR this morning!  Hopefully we can keep this in mind all month. As with yoga back in January, we're shooting for 25 days of walking.