SLSO Show #5 and a Great Weekend

S and I had a great weekend a couple of weeks ago.  It finally felt like spring, and it happened to be our 6-month anniversary as well.  S told me he was picking me up at 11:00 on Friday from work, and off we went -- I wasn't sure where.

Turns out that the destination was the spa at the Four Seasons, where we had a lovely afternoon using the fitness center, getting massages, enjoying the jacuzzi, and reading our books.  We headed over to Planter's House for dinner, which is where he had our first date!  Since that time, they have expanded their food menu, so instead of only eating appetizers, we got a full meal!  S had the steak and frites -- I tried a couple of his fries, and they were delightfully covered in gravy.  I had the pork belly and white cheddar grits, which was so good I couldn't stop eating it even though I should have saved half for later.

Saturday was a busy day!  It started out with my trip to the Maplewood Coffee Crawl with some girlfriends.  While I did that, S got himself some breakfast and ran an errand or two.  He picked me up at the appointed time and then took me to my cousin A's bridal shower in Kirkwood.  He took that time to finish up the book he had been working on the previous day and do a bit of shopping.

Once the shower was over, we continued the shopping with trips to Global Foods and Alpine Shop -- two places we really like but don't visit very often because of their location.  We then took our first bike ride of the spring!  We rode from the Alpine Shop parking lot over to the Grant's Trail trailhead, and rode it to the end and back.  It was chilly starting out (it didn't get quite as warm on Wednesday as they predicted), but turned out to be a good temperature once we got moving.

We had a healthy dinner at Frida's -- the Frida's burger for S, and the falafel for me.  We finished up the long day at the Symphony.  The first piece was Paul Dukas's The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which is probably most well-known from the segment in Fanntasia where Mickey Mouse brings the broom to life.  That piece, predictably, I loved.  Second was Edouard Lalo's Cello Concerto in D Major, which was a mixed bag.  I loved the first movement, found the second movement terribly sad, and was moderate on the third.  After intermission, the final piece was Cesar Franck's Symphony in D Minor.  I can't say much about this one because I slept through a lot of it.  Oops!

Sunday I had the chance to do some much overdue work in my garden.  I had mulched over all my beds with leaves in the fall, and hadn't had the time to clear them out yet.  Some of my poor plants were already poking up through them, desperately trying to find sunlight.  I hope I didn't do too much damage by leaving the leaves on for too long, but such is life, I suppose.  On the next nice day, I'll do my planting!

Goals 2019 -- April Edition

Food is the name of the game in April.

S is joining me this month, since our food lives are so closely intertwined.  We have a couple of goals to improve our diets, habits, and general food intake, after months of eating whatever we felt like.  Our rules have lots of exceptions, but they're there because we're also (somewhat) realistic about what we'll actually be able to accomplish.

1. We will be vegetarians for a month.
Almost.  We have a few meat-based leftovers in the fridge, so we can finish those rather than wasting them.  We will not be obsessive about things like broths and bases that may contain animal-based products.  But we will not buy, make, or eat any dishes with meat at their center.

2. We will not go out to eat.
Except for cocktails and special occasions.  (Let's be serious, folks.  There will still be cocktails.)  Where this is going to be especially difficult is at lunch, because I often go out with my coworkers and S often goes to the cafeteria at his office.  But we'll see what we can do.  There are a couple of special occasions that we will make special exceptions for -- S's mom's birthday, a dinner for my grandma, and a friend's wedding come to mind.  So we will really enjoy those special occasions and some restaurant-prepared food!

K's food goal is coming up shortly!

Goals 2019 -- March Recap

So much reading to do this month!

I did a decent job.  I didn't knock out everything, but I made good progress on each of my goals:
- Truman: I knew, because this book isn't mine so I'm not comfortable carrying it around and beating it up, that I only had one hope for finishing Truman this month since the library license for the ebook expired (which they did eventually renew).  It was to download the audiobook, which I did.  The problem is that the only audiobook version available at the library was an abridged version.  So I did finish it, but not quite the complete version.  I'm still counting it.
- Ethics (and Other Liabilities): this one I finished, and loved.  Hooray!
- Fall in Love for Life: I made good progress on this one, but didn't finish it.  As of this writing, I'm on page 157 of 205 -- and it's a quick read so I should finish soon!

K's update will follow shortly!

Alarms and Ads

I can't be the only person who thinks it should be highly illegal to use the sound of alarm clocks in radio and TV ads, can I?

Happy St. Patrick's Day

SLSO Show #4

Yesterday was an interesting show.  The theme was death.  But it was oddly not depressing.  There were only two pieces, and no intermission.

The first piece was Stravinsky's Funeral Song, op. 5.  It was written shortly after the death of his friend and mentor, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.  The piece was performed once, at a memorial concern for R-K, and then the score was lost to the ages.  There were rumors about where it was, but searches by musicologists turned up nothing.

Over 100 years after its only performance, in 2015, the long lost score turned up in the dusty corner of a library at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.  The piece was sad and powerful and lovely.

The second piece was the showstopper in length, but in my opinion paled in comparison in terms of its ability to move.  It was Johannes Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, op. 45 ("A German Requiem").  It is a seven-movement choral piece, so I was predisposed to like it.  However, the basis in Bible verses predisposed me to dislike it, so it balanced out around mediocre.

Ethics (and Other Liabilities): Trying to Live Right in an Amoral World -- Take 2

What an interesting read.

Ethics (and Other Liabilities) is a collection of essays which were originally published over the course of two years in Esquire magazine.  Each essay addresses a different question, often stemming from an experience of the author or a friend of his.

The questions, though they were compiled and published in 1982, remain relevant.  The specific details of the stories obviously seem dated, but in a funny way that just serves to remind the reader of the durability of the problems.

Stein is perceptive and economical in his writing.  What I would really like to do is read it again, one essay at a time, and discuss each with someone else as we work our way through the volume.

I don't read many books twice.

What I Watched -- Free Solo

S and I lucked out in finding Free Solo on TV while we were in Colorado.  We would have missed it if our original flight hadn't been cancelled, so it was one of the silver linings of the slightly extended vacation.

The movie is every bit as astounding as one would expect of a documentary about a rock climber whose dream is to scale a 3000-foot wall with no ropes or other safety equipment.  It's an astonishing thing to attempt, a physical and psychological accomplishment, and a triumph of nerves.

It makes my heart race just to think about it.

Bottom line: a stunning film.

What I'm Reading Now -- Fall in Love for Life: Inspiration from a 73-Year Marriage

On to the March goal, which hopefully I will have better luck with than February!

I'm getting started on Fall in Love for Life: Inspiration from a 73-Year Marriage.  It was K's pick and looks like it'll be a quick read, plus something in small chunks for the airplane today.

The title pretty much says it all -- life lessons from a long marriage.  I'm all ears!

Goals 2019 -- March Edition

Reading!  Yay books!

I'll be honest, my goal this month is a lofty one.  I want to finish two books that I've been reading forever.  One, Ethics (and Other Liabilities), should be fairly easy to get through.  It's a short collection of essays, so it's easily broken up into short reading bursts.  The other is Truman, which I've been working on for about 100 years.  I'm two thirds of the way there.  Is it too much to do the rest in a month?  Probably -- especially since apparently the library's e-book license expired, so now I'm relegated to only making progress when I'm at home.  But I'm going to try.  I also have a my next postal book club book: Fall In Love for Life.  It's really going to be a challenge to get through all three, but if our cold weather holds out, maybe I can do it!

K has two book club obligations: The Poet X and Where the Crawdads Sing -- because one book club is never enough!  She also has a goal to read two additional books, though those haven't been selected yet.  It'll be a surprise at the end of the month to find out what they are!