Stories & SNippets : 2024
…and observations, journals, & musings on music, film, books, art, and pretty things. and life in general.
January 2024
Things I watch solo in January
Finally finish season 2 of Foundation. I will say it: it is making a case for a place in all-time great science fiction television.
Things Becca and I watched in January
Saltburn. Not a fan. So many aesthetic and performance elements to appreciate, and sometimes dialog, and oftentimes the delicious immersion of Rosamund Pike in her role. But overall? Left me feeling empty; not the sum of its parts, not anything to inspire, to educate, to elucidate, to contribute necessary meaning or context to life, and in the end…something that was entertaining enough to finish once, respect the work that went into it, and then leave behind, not to revisit.
General
A 7- and 4-year old watching Peg + Cat. “There’s lots of things you can learn from it that are good…can we watch it?!”
Attack of the Clones / Anne of Green Gables. Yes, we started both of these on consecutive weekends during an ice storm. Both stories about orphans beginning with An (Anne, Anakin). There are a few differences after that. Our Youngers are thoroughly enjoying tracking the evolution of characters through the Star Wars universe and we are enjoying their enjoyment. Aaaaand…1985’s Anne of Green Gables has held up so, so well. The love of nature and relationships and imagination and learning and…the kindness shown by many, juxtaposed by the pettiness that is alternately cruel and hilarious; yet always infused with a beauty and awareness of life and those who share a space with you on the paths life takes you. Such a beautiful adaptation.
A 16-year old re-reading A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and then handing it over to me to begin; I hand over A Gentleman in Moscow for her to fall in love with for the first time.
I love that. A 13-year old reading The Outsiders for the first time.
January 18
A beautiful being born at the dawn of this decade and…much as we like snow, we don’t like its cousins: wind and ice; the things that get in the way of being with those you love and want to celebrate with. Love this person whose giggly and earnest presence is a highlight for all of us. Ice, go away!
January 19 - the casualties of storms, volume 2
Winter Formal; a looked-forward to event, off the platter for now.
January 21
I raced through Liu Cixin’s 2008 novel The Three-Body Problem; “race” in the sense that I was sucked into the multiple-era storyline about…Earth, humanity, and their place in the universe(s). Thank you, Ken Liu, for the 2014 translation that made it possible for me, as an English reader, to read.
January 22
Once upon a time, my daughter and wife started watching Gilmore Girls together while waiting for me and my “one more minute” timeline that is sadly…not infrequently more than one minute, as I’m racing to finish just one more thing or one more piece of work before joining my wife and two Olders for a little bit of evening viewing together. I have enjoyed the bits and bites of seen of it and know the the characters well enough to sort of know what’s transpiring at different points. But when I walked in and saw a certain figure whose identity took me 1.5 seconds to figure out…it was game over. By that, I mean that if I had any idea that Sebastian Bach, all-time great metal vocalist, was a recurring star on Gilmore Girls, then I would immediately have been forced to shut down any viewing of the show not involving me. I took his presence as an invitation from the universe to share two of Skid Row’s greatest hit videos from the 1980s (that was his band). The bittersweet balladry of I Remember You and the great rebellion anthem to close out the decade, 1989’s Youth Gone Wild. My family seemed mesmerized by my curation, so I continued on to one of the decade’s other great metal vocalists, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, and we watched them light up the world with 1982’s You’ve Got Another Thing Coming. So good. Gilmore Girls, Sebastian Bach, Judas Priest. That’s a triad.
January 23
I would not exist, as would not my six siblings, were not a certain special someone born upon this day once upon a time. Much love, as we celebrate in various ways with schooling, feeding goats, reading books in the woods, and drawing in the forest.
January 24
Twenty-four days into the year, and we’re already into high school forecasting for next school year. Crazy.
January 28
The Smiths, circa 1984, on a Sunday, with a little Echo & The Bunnymen thrown in (Hatful of Hollow, Ocean of Rain, respectively).
January 30 Far away, Joe
A beloved day in our annals of family history and existence; the entrance of a bright light to many with her impish presence and witty intelligence. How I love to banter with this now 14-year old. Wow. Fourteen. Unbelievable.
February 2024
Finished watching Under the Skin.
Star Wars episodes 4 and 5 with all of us. That would be the original (A New Hope) and the excellent The Empire Strikes Back. Our 4-year old thinks Darth Maul is great, as did his now-13yo bro at age four. Our 16yo and 13yo are not impressed with the original trilogy overall (episodes 4-5 so far; their favorite is E2 Attack of the Clones).
February 03
Somehow, I find myself a spectator in a sport I’ve never spectated: chess. My son, a competitor on crutches, thought from a different sport. Fourth place in SW Washington. Think he feels good. As he should. More importantly, I had a great time with him. Love that guy.
February 06
Am I proud of my wife and the care, concern, compassion she gives to her patients? Yes. I have difficulty imagining too many health care professionals speak - in HIPPA-compliant, privacy-respecting ways - as positively about their patients, behind their backs, as her. That being said, I grow weary sometimes of the shifts she covers for fellow colleagues. Especially 12-5 on this February Tuesday.
February 17
Some Kind of Wonderful for first time with the Olders. One of my favorite of the ‘80s John Hughes-ish universe rom-coms.
March 2024
Loving the Vaccines’ latest, Pick-Up Full Of Pink Carnations. Their cheerful-ish punk-flavored rock rolla keeps enough pop and irresistible hooks to fill up albums worth, while still drawing from some of my faves from the late 70s, late 80s, and early 00s (that respectively respectfully would be Ramones, Jesus and Mary Chain, Franz Ferdinand).
Middle of the month: two weeks to make my way through the Killers’ catalog, full albums beginning to end. The big surprise for me: their last, Pressure Machine, such a gentle turn that’s still them, but brings Springsteen-style storytelling to the forefront and stands up to repeated listens. Also plenty of Imploding the Mirage.
Watched May December with Becca. Unsettling.
Watched Past Lives by myself, ready to watch again with Becca. Loved, loved, loved.
Other watches: ongoing Brooklyn 99,
Oppenheimer with Olders. Not only matched, but surpassed my expectations.
Re-reading an old Jeffrey Archer short story anthology Becca brought from the library. It’s a large hardcover edition with illustrations by Paul Cox, and the format has brought me a new level of enjoyment to many of these classic stories.
March 04
Started Star Wars Return of the Jedi with all of us. It’s that season of our lives. Started Oppenheimer with the Olders. In the first 45 minutes, Nolan’s ability to deconstruct this era of history and provide both a personal and a large-scale bird’s eye view is mesmerizing.
April 2024
Bouncing, with our Olders, amongst film-watching and a trio of shows: Brooklyn 99, Gilmore Girls, and now Resident Alien. We recently finished the third Kenneth Branagh interpretation of Agatha Christie’s great detective Hercule Poirot: A Haunting in Venice. Like the last one, Death on the Nile, I love the mix of locales and mingling of characters; I also feel with both that my enjoyment as a whole was less than the sum of its pieces. Great character, some good scenes, not blown away by the wrap-ups.
I return to the series Black Mirror, determined to definitively rank them and be prepared for the upcoming series 6. Dark, dark dark and terrifying in how close we are, how close we live, how much we are dependent on technology and its role that’s baked into virtually every part of our lives and relationships.
Amon Amarth, Swedish death metal singing of Viking sagas, introduced by my friend A—-. Had on heavy rotation.
April 21 a Sunday
I never tire of their excitement over building with the dozens of wood blocks I cut, sanded, and painted over the years. I cannot count the permutations of ideas they’ve come up with. Currently they are into stacking them into these ornate, Stonehengian-mystic architectural designs and then inhabiting them with combinations of toy animals and small dolls. It’s really neat.
Becca multitasks drinking coffee and reading A Series of Unfortunate Events to our Youngers while Olders do chores and make pancakes. We breakfast together and the cleanup, post syrup and bananas and peanut butter, is significant. Later, there is more chores, for after all, it is Sunday, a day that has sadly brought dread upon much of the family for the responsibilities and necessary tasks it brings. Vacuums and brooms are pulled out, pileups of shoes from entryway are dragged into daylight, and spirits fight to stay strong. I try to keep moods good with some Bishop Allen and George Ezra popping loud. On AirPods, I later crank Amon Amarth, because Swedish death metal is what my spirits need. Simultaneously, boys combine G.I. Joes, Fisher Price, and a doll house set. The incongruousness and juxtaposing convergences of our pastimes and listenings is what makes our family favorable and flavorable sometimes. Later, the boys shift to playing their own version of the board game Clue. My father in law, bless his pea picking pancreas, mowed our back yard, as my mower is still…not functioning. The flowers are beautiful, the sun is out, I run some LP, Adrianne Lenker, Jenny Lewis, and Spoon to close out the afternoon. Kids shift to homework, others shift to watering out of a leaky watering can and watering…the grass, and potential seeds we planted recently, though my hope is small. After that, they set up a slide going off the porch onto our driveway, a setup that does not give me comfort. Later, they add a skateboard and various dolls into the mix.
Eventually, we wrap it up and eat in front of the telly, watching The Last Jedi. Not so bad, as Sundays go these days.
Also: Amon Amarth for me, on AirPods and headphones.
April 23
Listening to Robert McCloskey’s timeless 1951 collection of stories about Homer Price. “Don’t turn it off! We’re still listening!”
April 24
Continuing to watch Star Wars episode 8 The Last Jedi. I have been enjoying this arc (starting with episode 6). Our Olders loved Star Wars for a season of their lives earlier, and then around 2017, felt, I suppose, like they’d outgrown out - or rather, wanted to see other types of things. So this is my first time through with episode 8 and (soon) 9. I think we’re all enjoying it. Even the Countess Becca, who finds great delight in ‘accidentally’ confusing Star Wars with Star Trek.
May 2024
Listening:
Beastie Boys - Ill Communication (1994)
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)
Sparks - Kimono My House (1974)
Amon Amarth
May 01
Read The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere a 2013 Hugo-winning short story by John Chu. Not one I’ll likely read aloud as a family bedtime story.
Watched an episode of Brooklyn 99. Amy disappears before her sergeant exam, Terry thinks a break room refresh is just the thing. It’s not.
May 03 Vocal Auditions
They sang
far out of their comfort zones
they did so, so good.
May 04 in which I confuse myself yet again
I frustrate myself sometimes. It’s called being too clever for your own good and it goes something like this, and also it’s something where I haven’t learned my lesson.
We have a giant whiteboard, right? I use this whiteboard for all manner of communications and communiques and teaching lessons and outlines and definitions and lists and so forth. I am a scribbler, a notetaker, a list maker. I also have children who are quick to the scent when it comes to me hiding anything. In this case, I had a stack-up of films on my mind at different points that I wanted to remember to watch. As with many things involving children, I knew if I simply wrote the titles down, I would find myself in dreadful trouble, and unwanted opinions would begin to pour in.
So I, in clever fashion, grabbed a dry erase marker and scrawled out cryptic references for me to remember and log on our viewing list. Unfortunately…I didn’t do it soon enough and began to lost track of which films I was referring to. I’ve deciphered some. It shouldn’t be difficult. But it suddenly is. What was I thinking? I’m determined, over time, to translate these, so I’ll come back and fill in as I figure out. And maybe I’ll learn my lesson sometime.
BoS = Bridge of Spies
EV: ASo = ????
LNT = Leave No Trace
KR = ????
BH = ???Z
tV = The Village!
Eq = Equilibrium, I think
May 07 a Tuesday
A 7/8 classroom and Boys in the Boat discussion.. Conversations with moms at a coffee place - run in, not planned - about teens and how to handle boredom, bingo, dementia, and mindful use of technology.
May 10
Looking at Google 165/170 calls for Sept-Nov.
9/20 170 - $1085
10/18 165 - $1490
11/15 170 - $1435
May 15
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Little Moments
May 19
Watched The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023). Not a big fan of prequels these days, but enjoyed seeing the origin of Snow and some backstory on the Hunger Games.
May 20
Watched Unfrosted (2024). Strange, uneven, but enjoyable. And for the first and possibly last time in our family history, we bought Pop Tarts to eat during. Not the healthy-ish kind. Straight up reg.
May 24
Two boys played and played and played and played, both wearing backpacks. “Where are you going?” I asked as they scurried down the hallway. “To school,” the elder answered over his shoulder, and then clarified: “…not your school. Spy school.” “Yeah,” the other chimed in, “we’re going to Spy School, and then Outdoor School, and we’re going to learn about the outdoors while we’re inside.”
The lead-up to the next show and its accompanying auditions, stresses, dynamics, and relationships. A 16-year old is going after a part. So are others. One will get it.
Sneaked in some 2019 Springsteen and 2011 Amon Amarth.
May 25
I feel like there are four traits I’ve had in abundant supply for much of my life: self-confidence, humor, patience, thoughtfulness. I feel right now like I have one of those, and the others have slipped away. I need to find them again.
May 28
The passing of someone we never met, yet we know his daughter, and she is a wonderful and neat person.
June 2024
Listening:
the Raveonettes
Xavier Rudd
Viewing:
Sugar, the Colin Farrell Apple TV series that starts out noir detective and…really, really enjoyed.
June 21 Movies to watch with different combinations of kids this summer:
Batch 1: The Goonies, Captain America, Solo, Big Fish, Secondhand Lions
Batch 2: Despicable Me, Kung Fu Panda, The Sandlot
Batch 3: The Quiet Girl, The Dark Knight Rises, possibly Wolverine?
June 22 Sunday
A high school graduation party. Spoke with some moms about movies, including scary movies. One daughter of H—— likes them, one doesn’t. Recommended, along with my two Olders, Missing and Run. Shared a love of the ice skating movie Blades of Glory. Spoke with one of the graduates, J———, about one of his favorite movies, John Carter. Spoke with his father, who incidentally and coincidentally shares a name with his son’s favorite movie, about getting together later this summer to play cards with. Spoke with one of my daughter’s classmates, J——-, about a shared love of the film Whiplash.
Played the lawn game corn hole with our kids, along with a couple elementary and high school students, including one named after the heroic figure in the first Narnia tale, and a certain sharp-shooting, bread-baking shootress.
June 23 Monday
First day of culinary school - and first day of high school learning, period, for our 13-year old! Quite a start, with a wrong classroom. Don’t be afraid to ask directions and questions! Thank you t a very nice 3D Animation instructor helping more than a few students find the right classroom.
I take the Youngers to a morning program. The two huddle together throughout, engaged and involved, but also pals and protectors of each other the whole way through. There was a circle in which each participant was asked to tell their favorite animal. Several say lion, tiger, leopard, horse, etc. Our 7-yo says salamander, our 4-yo flamingo. The latter appears, to me, nervous at answering, leaning into his elder bro, rocking. But answering and involved.
Our 7-year old is in an interesting stage currently of being concerned with us leaving a room - such as me stepping out to help his younger brother in the bathroom. Our oldest son went through a similar phase around this age too. Trying to be patient and empathetic and understanding. Sometimes more successfully than others.
June 27 a Wednesday
Did I take the boys to a summer program in the morning I didn’t necessarily feel like…taking them to? Yeah. The reasons are varied. Did they have fun? Yeah.
Assorted notes:
Spoke to a former ukulele teacher about her travels.
Pushed the boys 32 trillion times on a tire swing. The gratitude I received? “Mama swings us higher!”
I stop to check on a tractor a couple 70-something gentlemen are offloading and inspecting. I ask a question about what’s wrong with the PTO. One of them responds with “You didn’t know?”
Always feels good to have a good faith question responded to with a response questioning your intelligence in even asking.
Some boys - other boys - fighting, pushing, arguing - toward the end of the program. By that point, my two, prodded by me - were the only kids singing the closing song. Did I sing? Yes. Well? Not necessarily.
July 2024
Reading:
On the last Ramona book with the boys - Ramona Forever. Soooo good. This series…how it has aged, so well, is remarkable. Doesn’t mean every single sentence or idea. But the feelings of childhood, of community and family and perspectives on relationships…magical and inspiring, yet grounded in truth and realism. Thank you, thank you, Beverly Cleary.
July 02
Three songs today:
True Love Way - Kings of Leon
Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat - Sparks
Five Years - David Bowie
July 22
Matthew Ryan. His gravelly track Babybird from A Late Night Highrise is still one of my favorite songs of 2007.
Finished Titanic with the Olders
Pollyanna (a portion on a summer Monday late afternoon)
August 2024
August 13, a Yumm Tuesday : Sneak attacks on Adonis, reverent mantises, Pop-It and hard convos.
Two boys on a couch, reading an old hardback edition of The Guiness Book of World Records. Yes, we’re the people who keep those old editions around. As long as they get picked up and read, we’ll keep them around. They move from house to front porch bistro table to slurp breakfast cereal while thumbing through.
I talk with a 7-year old about…life. Matters of life and respect and being a good sport. It is not a conversation he is excited about. Nor am I. But that is how it goes. Thou shalt be respectful and kind, and when thou art not, thou shalt engage in extended mandatory dialog with thine father. Lowercase f.
Four children play Pop-It together for the thousandth time, a 17-year old does dishes, there is dancing, a pair of danger devils attacks their Adonis brother, age 14; he fends them off with relative ease…but less ease than yesterday.
Becca and I take a shopping trek to scope out flooring for a much-needed bedroom. A bedroom that will be a release valve for three boys living in a small room. We decide to knock the socks off our kids and splurge on a twenty dollar bottle of Yumm sauce on the way back. No joke.
We return to some individuals interacting with a praying mantis, and then heading to the dry hot ground to find more. A teen helps his mum make supper while his brothers munch on apples outside; fruit in one hand and bugs in the other. Later, a scrumptious supper of salad, green beans, black beans, sauerkraut, and…Yumm sauce. Then: more Pop-It. It was a summer day.
August 25
I help our daughter map out a timeline for being able to juggle the demands of caring for animals who need support of both the feeding and medicinal type as well as the emotional sort, as contained on a very specific schedule, that will also allow her to do things such as prepare for school and play tennis. Life is doable when you can draw a diagram and make a list. :)
August 30
A great deal of Sparks.
Martha on PBS Kids.
Dark Matter (just me).
September 2024
Reading:
Finishing, savoring the last Ramona book with the boys. Soooo good.
September 06
A quick shop on a Friday morning.
Our 7-year old being asked to be in the upcoming production of Shrek. Also: cannot hide his pride at his proficiency in Maths and at reading: “I’m reading Ramona on my own.”
Our Olders swapping shirts, then driving their mom to work before heading up early to classes. Adorable.
On the last book in the Ramona series. Sooo good.
I have a great conversation with my brother Jonny about the conjoined nature of Trust with Empathy: you have to believe, in good faith, that you have truth and are looking in the mirror to be honest with yourself and find it. To empathize deeply, you have to be able to understand, or try to understand, and to understand, you need honesty and truth in communicating two ways. To help others effectively, most of the time, you must be able to help yourself first and face up to the truth. I value these conversations with him greatly and his desire to grow, to learn, to face up to life and always learn.
On the last episode of Dark Matter. The nature of regret. Good series, excellent episode.
September 07 : 5, 14, 7, badly.
A boy who wants badly to go to a candy shop.
A boy who wants badly to go to a track.
A boy who wants badly to go on a hike.
One might be possible,
or none.
September 11
I reluctantly take a political survey over the phone. My daughter does ASL translation and models for a photo shoot with Jonny. We spend a big chunk in classes: Nature, Dance, Health, Photography, consult for 9th grade.
September 12, a Thursday
We sleep in. All of us. Not a one of us up before 7am. Can’t remember or imagine the last time that happened. It has been an intense week month year. There was general jolliness early on, and a morning devotional about the importance of saying “I love you” as much as possible and of the importance of recognizing the triggers and signs of dust-ups or conflict coming on. There was schooling and reading in generally good spirits, and my precious niece has a terrible series of breakout-bumps that I feel so bad for and my Ambassador Brother had a Jetta back up - yes, back up - into his car on the bridge this afternoon, then take off, and…oh yes, we had corn dogs, which is something all six of us are delighted about. There were some emotional ups and downs and difficulty with two younger ones winding down, a girl getting accidentally kicked in the face by her 7yo brother, and a 14yo writing his own versions of Eminem tracks and sending me into paroxysms of laughter with his impersonations of various people. A boy has a follow-up doc appointment; he’s accompanied by younger bro and mum; they take a Goodwill run on the way back and return with Thanos and Anakin Skywalker. The Olders work on the farm. I talk with my music producing brother about investing: Motley Fool funds are generally a good bet choice. We watch Brooklyn Nine Nine season 6 Heist episode. The Halloween-at-Cinco de Mayo one. We laugh. I love this ritual. Also, we are going into winter without the house issues taken care of I swore would be taken care of before winter.
September 13
The year continues with a new ritual: scheduled grocery shops. 10am. Still getting used to it.
September 14
We descend upon our friend Sue’s art show - art booth - in Battle Ground. We come away with a big lovely canvas of sea life. Later, our daughter joins a birthday party with a group of neat peeps.
September 15
22 years. Whoa.
Listening to a double whammy of Magnetic Fields, in honor of my bride: All My Little Words and Queen of the Savages.
September 16
We shall embrace learning, knowledge, and growth, including in the areas of personal finance, even when they’re deeply inconvenient at 7pm on a weekday.
September 17
Is this to be our new vehicle? What a process this has been: and this is the date we’ve waited to check it out. Still bull-ish. Still looks like it’ll happen. Crossed fingers. Gonna feel good to be in a family vehicle again that runs well.
September 18
Our HV fam proceeding with Tilly house purchase.
We are proceeding with our first mini van purchase.
The Fed is proceeding with a .5% rate cut.
See: two days previous, the 7pm hour.
September 19
My beloved joins the second half of her decade. I love this girl and this life we’ve built, through the many roads, mountains, and weathers.
September 23
See: one week previous, the 7pm hour.
September 25 : You can’t change what you don’t measure.
See: one week previous, the 7pm hour.
It’s easy to feel inspired in the moment, the present.
But to keep it going; to execute a plan, a great plan, and make it a process, a ritual, to commit…
…that’s what’s challenging.
September 27 Friday
We attended the premiere of No Place to Grow Old at Newmark Theatre in Portland, “…an intimate portrait of the rising crisis of senior homelessness in Portland, Oregon.” It’s a worthy and timely subject, and something I’d like to think we would have chosen to go to completely on its own merits. Perhaps we would have. The big catalyst tonight though was who did all of the original music for the film: my brother, Jeremy Long. We watched in the packed venue, where it was received extremely well. His music complemented the characters beautifully and set a tone of somber urban reality, yet also found hope and humanity in this thorny tangle of complexities and people.
October 2024
Listening:
Shovels and Rope
Sound of Music soundtrack
Volbeat, per Rachel
Viewing:
finished Bad Monkey, per Jeremy. Loved.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
finally, finally finished The Wonder. also this month, me solo: It Follows.
October 10 a Thursday
My Uncle-in-Law Kirk, for a second consecutive Thursday, came by to help me finish up putting in patio door and provide a list/plan for me to finish up siding and deck. I’m very grateful for the time he spent in giving me a big boost with getting through a difficult part of this…remodel? Not so much remodel as flat-out necessary fixing.
There was ballet class for one, Goodwill costume shopping for others, Becca babysitting a precious little niece with our two youngest, plenty of studying, and a missed Judas Priest concert for me. Had really been hoping to go see War on Drugs last Thursday and…Judas Priest tonight. Neither happened. Next time.
October 13
I decided recently I’m trying to go the rest of the year without asking anyone: what do you do? It is such a boring and difficult and loaded question for many, including myself sometimes. And why do we tie up so much of our identity with work?
We join a local Apple Festival - the fruit, not the Tim Cook company - for booth-hopping, people running-into, and nachos. The kids slide, jump, and swap out tickets for fun.
October 14 a Monday
Fresh groceries, tree transplanting, two boys making up outdoor games with a hula hoop and chasing their newest friend, a cicada, around, soundtracked by whoops and shouts. They got filthy. Trying to winterize and declutter. And get stuff out of the rains coming soon. Later: burritos, a 14-year old with bad stomach pains, editing a senior’s paper analyzing several seminal 17th-19th century American documents.
October 15
The rain is here, and our daughter is not. Counseling outdoor schoolers. Missing her. Full day of in class and consult, then salamander hunting on the mountain. Successful. Two happy boys. Loads of dishes and supper prep soundtracked by The War on Drugs. Closed out with watching My Octopus Teacher. Really enjoying.
The War on Drugs - Lost In the Dream, started My Octopus Teacher documentary, partial episode of Elementary with our 14-year old. He’s trying to figure out an uncrackable safe mystery involving a cracked safe.
October 18
Carnival at school. Fun times. More importantly: our daughter back. We are complete again.
October 19
Captain America: The Winter Soldier, with our Youngers. This is a joy, to share this for round 2 and see our Olders also digging. Again. Then: Get Out with Olders on a Saturday night. Big hit. Held up.
October 20 a Sunday
Helping old friends move in the morning. Fixing chainsaw in the afternoon. Using fixed chainsaw (new bar, new chain) to butter through a dozen old trees and limbs as evening fell.
A little more Winter Soldier in the evening. Then watched…The Purge with Olders. Good idea? Well, I don’t know. I saw it a while back. They’ve wanted to for a while, which doesn’t make it okay or mean it’s going to happen. But we did. They were underwhelmed. I appreciated as a thought experiment, and the visceral terror that comes from imagining your own home being under attack…it’s a provoking and disturbing thought. But I enjoyed watching and talking with them about it.
October 21 a Monday
So wet. Boys so happy merging action figures, wood blocks, and LEGO structures. So many of our conversations these days are about the Marvel universe. We finished Captain America: the Winter Soldier and I continue to be impressed at how well they’ve held up. Schooling, grocery outing in soaking rain, then off to college fair, where we wandered from table to table, gleaning information and insights about schools all over Washington. I have so much pride and affection and confidence in this seventeen year old. So excited as she heads to…the unknown.
A few SNL clips to close the day. Follow up to the best skit ever: a second installment of George Washington, this time talking about what Americans will do with the English language. So good. Also: listening to Tool, Belinda Carlisle, Nirvana, and Tricky while driving with our senior to college fair. A big highlight.
November 2024
Listening:
Men Without Hats
Run the Jewels
a 14-yo memorizing Eminem
Shrek soundtrack
Sound of Music on vinyl
illegal Christmas music before Thanksgiving, against my direct mandate
Reading with kids:
Naptime - Iris De Mouy
Our Fort - Marie Dorleans
The Quiet Crocodile - Natcha Andriamirado
A 17yo reading Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club
Becca working on Rumors of Another World, All the Light, and Cherilyn Clough’s follow-up memoir
I finally start A Confederacy of Dunces. Loving. Hilarious.
Viewing:
It’s hard to overstate the joy that watching The Great British Baking Show has brought to all of us. What a masterclass in how to compete hard, value people, and give and receive criticism and feedback. Love.
Me solo: Furiosa, His Three Daughters, Mad Max, The New World (what an elegant, elegiac love poem disguised as a two hour plus movie)
x4: Trap (a very enjoyable Shyamalan!), Don’t Move (nifty little thriller), Thelma (new all-ages-ish classic, thanks JT for the recommend; 93yo grandma out to track down a scammer is a tale worth telling)
26 -
November 26 A Tuesday
Tough convos, lining up window and gutter financing, trying not to ghost insurance brokers and doing so anyway, consult (writing narratives, seed dispersal patterns, me arguing with roomful of teachers about when Christmas season begins), Trader Joe’s and Goodwill run through with boys, Hot Frosty and birthday celebrations with beloved mother/grandmother, SNL clips pre-bedtime.
And yes, Hot Frosty for my MIL’s bday is, perhaps, vaguely Christmas-related...shhh…it’s not Thanksgiving yet. This is mortifying.
November 27 The Favorite Part (a 7-yo)
He has discovered a newfound joy in reading…particularly with reading aloud for worship from a children’s Bible…
…and quizzing all those around to make sure they were listening attentively.
December 2024
Viewing:
Home Alone (kids only - both the original first movie and the new remake)
Dear Santa (per our friend Tehya’s recommendation; thoroughly charmed by the kid, very funny, enjoyed)
Reading:
A 17yo starting Normal People
December 15
Started Nutcrackers with Ben Stiller. Watching Alien: Romulus solo.
MY 22 FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2024
A Real Pain
Alien: Romulus
Challengers
Conclave
Furiosa
His Three Daughters
Inside Out 2
Hit Man
Juror #2
Rebel Ridge
Saturday Night
Thelma
Trap
Honorable mention
A Different Man
Dune: Part Two
A Quiet Place: Day One
Caddo Lake
Civil War
Don’t Move
Flow
Heretic
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Longlegs
September 5
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Wild Robot
Third Tier : Done well, no regrets, probably will not watch again
Coming soon
Miscellaneous
Coming soon.
Documentary
Coming soon
All ages-ish
Flow
Inside Out 2
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Wild Robot
Holiday
The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever
Guilty pleasures
Havoc
Self Reliance
Watchers
Not great, but worth a once-through
coming soon
Want to see
A Complete Unknown
Anora
Babygirl
The Beast
The Bikeriders
The Brutalist
Deadpool and Wolverine
Emilia Pérez
The End We Start From
Gladiator II
Hard Truths
Here
Hundreds of Beavers
Janet Planet
Kinds of Kindness
Megalopolis
Monkey Man
Nickel Boys
Nosferatu
One Life
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Spaceman
We Live in Time
Wolfs
Underwhelming / disappointing / plain bad
Blink Twice
Drive Away Dolls didn’t finish
Back to Film Index by Year
ESSENTIAL MUSIC OF 2024
My favourite 11 albums
The Vaccines - Pick-Up Full Of Pink Carnations
Honorable Mention
Future Islands - People Who Aren’t There Anymore
Disappointments & underperformers
coming soon
Haven’t listened / haven’t spent enough time with yet
Coming soon
My 44 Favorite Tracks
Another Nightmare - the Vaccines
The Dreamer - the Vaccines
Fancy Sauce - Green Day
Give Me the Ghost Back - Future Islands
Modern Girl - Bleachers (E)
On a Train or Bus - Grandaddy
Peaches - Future Islands
Sadness As A Gift - Adrianne Lenker
Sometimes, I Swear - the Vaccines
January
Fancy Sauce - Green Day
February
Coming soon
March
Coming soon
April
Sometimes, I Swear - the Vaccines
Visions - Norah Jones
May
Tiny Moves - Bleachers
June
Modern Girl - Bleachers (E)
Look Ma, No Brains! - Green Day (E)
Villa Rose - Caravan Palace
Father to a Son - Green Day
July
August
Another Nightmare - the Vaccines
Peaches - Future Islands
Lunar Eclipse - the Vaccines
September
The Dreamer - the Vaccines
Give Me the Ghost Back - Future Islands
On a Train or Bus - Grandaddy
Discount De Kooning (Last One Standing) - the Vaccines
October
The Sickness - Future Islands
Corner of My Eye - Future Islands
November
King of Sweden - Future Islands
The Tower - Future Islands
December
Sadness As A Gift - Adrianne Lenker
Spiritual
Coming soon
Covers
Coming soon
2024 HAPPENINGS
Coming soon