Hello friends!
I hope you’re all having a lovely weekend, whether it’s a long holiday weekend or not where you are. Now’s the last chance for summer hurrahs before the routines of fall kick in. Pumpkins magically appeared yesterday in front of the grocery store, and I saw an early Halloween decoration on a nearby house. Or maybe the spiders are particularly bad this year. I’ve already removed three from the bathtub…
I also hope you like this new format for the newsletter. I’m quite happy with it myself - so much easier to write! The archives will be much easier to access (I will move everything over, eventually). If you scroll down to the bottom of the newsletter and click the Substack link, you can check out other newsletters published with this platform - lots of interesting stuff. Some charge for content, many do not. Depends on how famous they are… Please let me know what you think about the new look.
Labor Day weekend is when the Oak Harbor Music Festival takes place in our town. The first year it was called the “Music and Jazz Festival” because apparently those are two different things. A matter of opinion, I suppose. Anyhow, we live close enough that when the wind blows just right, we can hear the music from one of the stages. Considering how much we love music, you’d think we would be excited about this annual event.
We aren’t.
On Friday evening I was out walking Rowland when the music started. I strained my ears to see if I was hearing correctly, and the very first band was playing… cover songs?! Why yes - first the Doobie Brothers, then something I can’t recall (but I could identify as a cover), and then a medley of Beatles songs. A MEDLEY, people.
Today, against our better judgement we walked down to wander through and grab a bite to eat at one of the food booths. The band playing was mediocre blues-rock, there were only a handful of food choices, and there were stressed out dogs everywhere. Why, why must people bring their dogs to these things? It was hot, crowded, and there were lots of food smells - torment for a dog. The people watching wasn’t even very good! We found something to eat, then hightailed it up to the park to find a shady spot to eat.
The park has a small gazebo, and there was a man there playing an electric guitar along with some heavy metal CDs. He had an amp, and after finishing one song switched out one CD for another. He wasn’t playing too loudly, but did drown out the festival music from where we were sitting. I should mention that he was not very good either - totally out of tune and only somewhat in time with the song on his CD. It was amusing, and a fitting end to our music festival adventure.
Isn’t this beautiful?
Or perhaps it’s horrifying, despite it’s beauty. Just another day on aerosol earth. On August 23rd when we were inundated by smoke, other places in the world suffered from their own particulate problems.
The visualization above highlights GEOS FP model output for aerosols on August 23, 2018. On that day, huge plumes of smoke drifted over North America and Africa, three different tropical cyclones churned in the Pacific Ocean, and large clouds of dust blew over deserts in Africa and Asia.
Video of the Week
Yes folks, I know you’re as excited as I am that I can now embed videos directly into the body of the newsletter. I plan to make good use of this function by adding a video of the week - it could be music, it could be something else. You’ll just have to wait and see each week. It won’t be dull! To kick things off I’m sharing one of my favorites, Jaan Pehchan Ho - which some of you may recognize from the opening sequence of the move Ghost World.
Oh - here’s a bonus video! The original trailer for the 1965 Bollywood thriller Gumnaam, in which this song is just one tantalizing moment. Nolan and I watched it several years ago when we had Netflix, and it was a hoot. You can watch the whole movie on YouTube now.Tidbits
The horticulture industry needs young people!
Seed Your Future - mentioned in the article above
Internet problems? Blame sharks.
More book covers!
And some album covers, too
Recently eaten: had a good lunch at El Jinete in Anacortes, including a tasty margarita. The garden is still kicking along, and this week Michael made another zucchini parmigiana dish. So good, and hearty enough to eat on its own for a meal.
Reading: I started Educated: a Memoir on audio, and it is something else. It reminds me in some ways of The Glass Castle, another situation where the author was raised in unusual conditions and had to find the inner strength to get out. In print I started Where the Sea Breaks Its Back, about Georg Wilhelm Steller who sailed with Vitus Bering along the Alaska coast in 1741-42.
Making: plans for camping in one week! The chance of rain is of course increasing during that time.
Question of the Week
Each week I ask a question - just hit reply to send your answer if you're so inclined. I'll share your answers next week - anonymously of course!
What’s your favorite plant, and why is it so awesome?
Last week I asked you to share a new to you author you’re enjoying these days.
I’m a fan of mystery and suspense, and I’m always on the prowl for something new. Last year I checked out Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry based on the cover art and genre (and the fact that I was in dire need of an audio book). It was twisty, suspenseful, and well-written. Was it a one-off? After finishing Berry’s recently-published second, A Double Life, I think not. Write, Ms. Berry, write!
Authors:
a. Abbi Waxman. Her first book was so strong that her less charming but still strong second book won’t stop me from reading anything by her for some time. The Garden of Small Beginnings made me laugh so many times. A great example of how awesome but also how hilariously ridiculous parenting is. And, also, how stories, even ones about parenting, often shove children into shadows off screen because they are inconvenient to the plot. GoSB doesn’t do this.
b. Jasmine Guillory. Her first book, The Wedding Date made a splash, but her second book The Proposal (which starts with an unwanted marriage proposal via jumbotron, quelle horreur) is what makes me eager to see what’s next from her. I’m hoping her success, and that of Alyssa Cole and Helen Hoang, leads to better representation of POC and other diversity in mainstream romance.
c. Paul Cornell. I’m a little bit obsessed with his Witches of Lychford novella series. They are super short, which works well with my current life, but I also love the sort of Vicar of Dibley meets Stephen King/horror magic/kick ass women-ness of it all. Quirky but serious with an amusing anti-corporate undercurrent.
d. Martha Wells. I just really need more Murderbot in my life. Don’t you?
Reading Yamamoto Tsunetomo’s ‘HAGAKURE’(The Book of the Samurai)
It’s a translation by William Scott Wilson but Tsunetomom wrote a book ( his only ) so bright and insightful I put it up there the Gita, Acoholics Anonymous, I Ching , the Bible and Koran etc. Can’t recommend it enough.
Can't really answer your Q of the W this time because I keep reading authors I've already read. Time to branch out!
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