Happy Birthday K!

The End of Mad Men

I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, so read on!

I'm not much of an obsessive TV watcher, but I do have to admit that I was a bit sad when I came to the final scene of the final episode of Mad Men recently.  It really didn't have much to do with how the show ended, more that it ended.  I really enjoyed the show, and Don's ups and downs, and the development of lots of the characters -- Peggy, Joan, even Sally.

And of course there were the clothes and sets.  So much fun to soak up all the mid-century (and later hippie) details.

Three cheers for a show well done!

A Life in the Arts

I have done so many things (and been so exceedingly busy at work) that I have not had time to write about them!

I'm going to try to do blurbs about few past fun activities at a time, for two reasons:
1. It's easier for me.
2. Details have been forgotten.

So, let's get started!

Pretties -- Take 2
I finished Pretties on a rainy Saturday.  I was basking in the glory of going nowhere and doing nothing, which are two things I almost never do.  It is also exceedingly rare that I feel satisfied about a day in which I accomplish surprisingly little, but that rainy Saturday was one of those days.  Oh, what I would give to have another one!

Anyway, I was a bit bored by this book.  As with many teen series books, it's a lot of repeated angst.  Eh.

What I Watched -- American Sniper
I finally went to see American Sniper!  I'm not sure how I managed to avoid it while it was on its first run.  It's a war movie, it was Oscar bait, and it has Bradley Cooper -- this movie was made for me to see!  It's just a little added benefit that T and I went to see it on Memorial Day weekend.  (It's still showing at the dollar show -- which, by the way, is no longer a dollar.  It's $3.50.  That's inflation for you.)

There was a lot of controversy when this movie came out that it glorified violence and warfare.  If you were one of the people who said that, I disagree.  I think it does quite the opposite.  Sure, you see the SEALs do some seriously badass stuff, but you also see the toll that their work takes on them and, in the case of our protagonist, their families.  I feel like the people who truly felt that way didn't see the last 30 minutes of the movie?

Bottom line: powerful, but not pretty (although Bradley Cooper is both powerful and pretty).

Goal #23

Goal #23: return to the world of the blog -- slowly.

As I'm sure you have all noticed, I haven't been writing much.  Or hardly at all.  But, as you will see below, I have been doing fun things, both with E and before she got here.  So I will do my bestest to at least do some little recaps, because lord knows it's been to long now for me to recall the nitty gritty details.  I'm old like that.

Recap of goal #22: E and I had all the funs!!

Goal #22

Goal #22: fun, fun, fun!

E is in town for a few more days, and we are going to live it up!  (Also, I am going to try to blog.)

Recap of goal #21: I have three articles of clothing that still need to be swapped out, but with E's help, I identified the likely candidates for extinction.  Now I just need to narrow down the list.

Goal #21

Goal #21: arrange for the new purchases.

I bought some new clothes over the weekend, and I have a rule about that: for every piece that comes in, one has to go out. In addition to that, I ordered my bike rack for my new car (which is not here yet either), and I need to figure out where I'm going to store that.  And I may also shortly purchase a new bike, just a cheapo cruiser to ride around town. That I can probably just leave in my garage. If someone steals it, I'll be out $50. No big loss.

Recap of goal #20: a near-complete miss.  I think I managed to read about 3 pages, which did not double my progress (although given my lack thereof, I can see how you might think it would have).

Random Links

Happy the dog is safe; can understand about 1/3 of what the owner says.

This is generally how I behave in the mornings as well.

Art in honey.

Is LA the new NYC?

It's never too late to get an education.

A recap of my little friend's accomplishments.

Goal #20

Goal #20: double my number of pages read.

K, E, and I started a postal book club a few months ago.  We gave ourselves 2 months to read our first book.  I'm on page 53.  Even if I can double the number of pages read, I'll still only be halfway there, but it's better than being 1/4 of the way there!

Recap of goal #19: records are organized!  Now I just need to keep listening through them.

What I'm Reading Now -- The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

I caught up on my podcasts again recently, so I decided to listen to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, which I've had stored in my iTunes for ages.  I first learned about it on Books on the Nightstand, and shortly thereafter picked it up at the library and tucked it away for later.  Now it's later.

Things I think I will like about this book: it's set in England, it's about walking, and I don't really know much else about it.

Let's see what I learn.

What I Watched -- Brick by Chance and Fortune: The Story of Brick in St. Louis

Who would watch this movie?  Could anything possibly sound more boring?

Here's the answer: I would watch it!  And it wasn't a bit boring.

I discovered it when searching the SLCL catalog for Pokey LaFarge music.  (He does some of the music in the movie).  But if you're into architecture, history, maps, development, and my fair city, this movie is in your wheelhouse.  It was basically made for me! If it sounds like it was made for you too, the whole thing is available on YouTube.


The title and subtitle pretty much tell it all -- watching this, you'll learn the history of brick making and building with brick in St. Louis.  You'll learn about kinds of bricks, different neighborhoods, and what happened to the brick industry.  But it's awesome.

The whole premise of this doc reminds me of something Alain de Botton said in one of his productions: "A good building needs to be more than just structurally sound.  It's appearance must also in some way cohere with both its place and its time."

Bottom line: brick buildings in St. Louis cohere with their place and time.  They tell a story that's worth knowing.