Five Things This Week: week 14

Outside
I had an enormous crush on Amelia Earhart growing up. In the mid-nineties, when the internet was still in its awkward infancy and I stumbled on Ric Gillespie’s rudimentary web page for TIGHAR and his obsession to prove that Earhart and her navigator crash landed on Nikumaroro atoll and died there waiting a rescue that never came. I remember being so captivated that even in those college-poor days I managed to donate something to help fund one of his organization’s expeditions to the tiny speck in the Pacific that has got to be one of the most remote places on earth. But I became disillusioned pretty quickly. I think it was the single-focus, Nikumaroro-or-bust attitude that wouldn’t allow any other possibilities which turned me off the quickest. And while there are so many Amelia Earhart conspiracies and supposed-explanations, Gillespie has been a tireless pitchman for his theory.
So when the headlines decrying the Earhart mystery solved, I had a feeling Gillespie’s TIGHAR would be involved. Outside does a nice job explaining why the Nikumaroro scenario doesn’t stand up to much scrutiny. 
Tim Pratt
Over the weekend someone asked me what my favorite short story was. I froze up, couldn’t think of any! I finally dredged up Salinger’s “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” because it was the first short story that really rocked me back on my heels. But afterwards I thought about the question, and this is the story I came up with, “Impossible Dreams” by my literary crush, Tim Pratt. I’d heard and fell in love with this story before I knew who Tim Pratt was – that came about through his Marla Mason urban fantasy series of books. Then I found his short stories, discovered he wrote this, and it’s been all proverbial moony eyes from the back of the classroom.  There are so many things I love about this story, but the biggest thing that truly inspired me was his tone – and this is consistant through his other works – it’s very conversational, very easy to read and flows so effortlessly. He doesn’t intimidate with his prose, and in the process tells an engagingly charming story that shook the dust off the old Romantic in me.
Give it a read and see if it strikes you like it did me. Or, if you prefer listening to reading, the science fiction podcast, Escape Pod, read this back in 2007, and it’s still online. 
The New Yorker
Molly Ringwald’s essay about her complicated relationship with John Hughes’ films is extremely thoughtful and nuanced. “How are we meant to feel about art that we both love and oppose?” she writes late in the piece, and that works as a perfect thesis. More than just her reflections, she also reached out to some of the other actors involved for their opinions.
FYI: The New Yorker has a paywall, but like any good dealer, the first three article reads are free.
4UglyDeliciousUgly Delicious
Netflix
Chef David Chang is one of my culinary heroes largely because he doesn’t give an F about pretense. After opening his Momofuku restaurant in New York he’s had a pretty high profile as a celebrity chef. He also started the now-defunct Lucky Peach magazine, which I have almost every issue. So when I heard he had a new show… well, I’ll just cut to the chase: it’s as awesome as I could have hoped. I’ve only seen the first two episodes: “Pizza” and “Tacos”. Why didn’t I binge it all? I’m savoring them like a fine dessert.
Facebook
I heard about this story on the NPR Politics  podcast from their “Can’t let it go” section, but it’s apparently gone viral. You have to read this story, but the takeaway is don’t cool pepperoni on an open window sill…

Selfie Week 14: Resolution Progress Report, Q1

Go GiantsIt’s the beginning of April and the Giants hat in the picture serves two purposes – one, as much as any, it’s the start of the baseball season! The Giants are 2 and 2 and I’m happy with that right now. Tomorrow they have their first homestead and that as much as the glorious weather are showing the way to summer.

The second thing about that hat is it’s become my writing hat. It started as a fidget – the hat was in my office and I had writers block. I just put it on because it meant I didn’t have to stare at the blank screen. But as soon as I put it on, poof! The words came! I repeated it a few days later and, poof! More words! I hope this means the Giants will similarly find offense instead of just defense, but we’ll see! TWO AND TWO, I say!

Which reminds me, April also means the year is officially a quarter over. I’m honestly in a little bit of denial about this, but you can’t argue with the calendar. Well, sure you can, but people are just going to look at you funny. Funnier, that is. Back in January, I made some 2018 resolutions and I did say I wanted to “review every quarter to see how I’m doing.”

Lovely.

With no further ado, let’s get to the resolutions:

  • Achieve low-hanging Bucket List fruit: Cross off five bucket list items this year.
    Number of bucket list items crossed off Q1: zero.
    Yeah, we’re not starting out great, are we? I have excuses – of course I do, right? – but it’s been a matter of time and money, or rather a scarcity of both. I have gone through the bucket list and thought about what is reasonable for the year, and I still maintain I will be able to hit five items this year. And since this resolution doesn’t explicitly say “x number of items per quarter” I’m technically not behind.
    No if I have nothing to show for myself come the end of June, then it’s time to admit I’m behind the proverbial eight ball.
  • Selfie Posts! I’m not kidding: One Selfie Post a week. 
    On this point I can claim a victory! I admit, I’ve begun to stretch the definition of Selfie, but nonetheless, this marks the twelfth selfie post in a row since I started this. And, here’s a parade of Selfies thus far:
    Jungle Gym Jordy16-year-old-Jordy
  • Stick to a posting schedule: three posts a week.
    Not bad so far, and I’m proud of myself for this. Yes, a couple stories took the better part of two weeks (I’m looking at you “Utterly Unexplainable” parts 1 and 3!), but so far this year we’ve had a metal magician, a different perspective on a “Groundhog Day” phenomenon, a hit man who screwed up, Larry (destroyer of worlds), Last call on a space station, a dragon finding love, trouble in created realities, and then the three part story about unexplained belly button rings, three alien species, and sasquatches.
    It’s been a great quarter for stories! I hope you’re not bored, because there’s more coming.
    Oh, and I shouldn’t forget Five Things This Week. It’s expanded from exclusively linking to articles, to adding music, television, even shameless gadget plugging. I hope some of the stories and recommendations have been useful or at the very least put a smile on your face.
    To summarize: doing good on the schedule, and proud of it!
  • 10,000 step days. ‘ll start small and build: At least 1 10K day a week in Q1, 2 10K days a week in Q2…
    Where the bucket list items couldn’t be technically gauged as a failure since no specific quarterly timetable was announced, I can safely say this is the resolution I have most egregiously flubbed. Without checking I think I might have just a handful of 10K days for the entire quarter. Yeah, totally botched this one.
    Okay, new quarter, new start. I’m hitting the reset button and starting this week aiming for 1 10K day a week each week for the quarter. Here’s to new-new beginnings!
  • Shut up and make things! One completed project a month. 
    Yeah, I’m chalking this one up to time and money again, with a healthy dose of “weather,” as my construction area is the deck and it’s been messy to work out there. But that just counts as another excuse.
    I’m hoping to get this one started again for this quarter.

Honestly, these four resolutions are good ones and I’m glad I made them. Even though I’m only two and two (sound familiar??), I can say that the two I have been good on – the writing parts – have made a profound difference in my spirit and mood. There have been some major reasons for me to get pretty down these last few months – and anyone who has been around me can attest that they’ve probably seen me in those moments. But my writing has buoyed me like nothing else. I’m extremely proud of the quarter’s worth of writing that’s on here, and I’m excited to keep it up. Let’s make it a great spring!

Oh, and that podcast thing? Totally happening this spring!

Five Things This Week: week 13

Been a long week? Five Things This Week has got your back. These are guaranteed to lift your spirits. Let’s dive in!

Atlas Obscura
Name checking “The Valley of Hearts Delight”? Check. Heirloom stone fruit? Check! I now want to live in the South Bay again just to grow fruit trees!
NY Times
Does it?? I’m, uh, asking for a friend…
Seriously, though, it gets a little overly romantic as it goes on, but how many articles do you read that talk about Philip Glass as a plumber?
Washington Post
Here is your feel good story of the week. The title says it all. Well, it leaves out an important stat line: playing in an NHL game for the first time, Scott Foster had 7 stops in the fourteen minutes he played.
From the article, “Foster is one of a small group of ’emergency backup’ goaltenders who are kept on hand, usually in the press box or the stands, in the highly unlikely event both regular goalies on the roster are hurt or otherwise unavailable.
‘Among hockey’s great quirks,’ as Hockey News explained, ‘is that it’s the only pro sport with the potential for someone not on the roster to come out of the stands and actually play in the game.’ But, ‘it takes a very rare set of circumstances to open that door.'”
Pod Save America
On a Five Things a few weeks ago I recommended NPR as a relatively balanced place to get in-depth political insight. Pod Save America is unabashedly not balanced. It’s hard left, but in an incredibly thoughtful way that is largely missing. One of this weeks podcasts is given over completely to an interview with former Vice President Joe Biden, and it gives me hope. Well, it makes me sad he didn’t run, but it gives me hope that some day politics can return to normalcy. Some day…

5
“Co-worker got his lunch stolen and they’ve agreed to let him watch the security camera tape.”
Twitter
This thread is one of the reasons I adore Twitter. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of terrible stuff on Twitter, but I maintain it’s who you follow. I have a wonderfully eclectic list of folks I follow that almost always make me smile. And then there’s gems like this. Please, click on it, follow the thread, enjoy.