Blurt!Sben

On Sunday I took a two-hour or so walk around Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace.

Mon., Apr. 21, 2025, 5:47:51pm PDT

On Saturday, the bambina and I met her cousin downtown, and then we bussed and walked around, ate doughnuts, and eventually made it back to our house.

Mon., Apr. 21, 2025, 5:47:09pm PDT

Finished reading Thinking With Type by Ellen Lupton. This is a sort of introductory survey of all things typography and typesetting. Some of it was material I knew pretty well; a lot of the rest isn’t stuff I know well or have put into practice. (Though as I write this I suddenly am having a flashback to the high school newspaper.) This will definitely stay on my small typography reference shelf.

Thu., Apr. 17, 2025, 8:25:56pm PDT

On Sunday, the dude came over for dinner (Belgian beef stew).

Mon., Apr. 14, 2025, 11:18:02am PDT

On Saturday, we met Mom and Greg and Jocelyn and their kids for the bambina’s dinner out.

Mon., Apr. 14, 2025, 11:15:16am PDT

Walked along the path of Thornton Creek down to Matthews Beach, then along the Burke-Gilman Trail to the light rail station: four hours, 11 miles, 23k steps. Rainy but not unpleasant.

Sun., Apr. 6, 2025, 3:35:59pm PDT

Played Magic last night with the dude and Greg and his son.

Sun., Apr. 6, 2025, 3:32:18pm PDT

Finished rereading A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr., at least 25 years since I first read it. I liked most of it, a kind of bleakly- or cynically-hopeful story of preservation of knowledge in a cycle of humanity’s self-destruction. Alas, the end of the book centers on a Catholic argument against suicide, which I found a little offputting.

Fri., Apr. 4, 2025, 9:20:28pm PDT

Finished reading The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison, the latest in the series that started with either The Goblin Emperor or The Witness for the Dead depending on how you’re counting. Like the others, this book is generous and compassionate, both towards and among its major characters. It focuses on reparations for sins committed by previous generations, which Addison handles thoughtfully. But two things: First, some offscreen cartoon villainy undercuts some of the care and thought that went into the resolution. Second, the book’s setting and language demand a lot from the reader, and the story picks up immediately after the previous left off; usually I like not reading awkward “remember this from the previous book” insertions, but if any book wants them, it’s this one. Do not pick this up as your first in the series.

Mon., Mar. 24, 2025, 8:10:29pm PDT

Tonight’s kitchen victory: pan pizza.

Mar. 17, 2025, 6:06pm

Finished reading Matter by Iain M. Banks, another of his Culture stories. Some mind-blowing ideas, and a really good expansion of scope, and fundamentally a good story — let down a bit at the end by an epilogue whose tone feels a little sour compared to the rest.

Mar. 15, 2025, 11:33pm

Ants are back, after a fairly long absence. Can’t say I’d missed them.

Mar. 14, 2025, 3:28pm

The dude came over for dinner last night.

Mar. 10, 2025, 3:14pm

Had Mom over for brunch yesterday, then I went over to her place to set up a soundbar for her TV.

Mar. 10, 2025, 3:13pm

Saturday’s kitchen victory: a ton of Bolognese sauce.

Mar. 10, 2025, 3:12pm