Blurt! — Sben https://blurt.pile.org/sben/ Recent content on Blurt! — Sben Hugo — gohugo.io en-us © 2019–2026 S. Ben Melhuish Sun, 24 May 2026 18:40:19 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1779676819.101298/ Sun, 24 May 2026 18:40:19 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1779676819.101298/ Walked from Mercer Island, through Bellevue, to Evergreen Point, about ten miles.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1778383949.59957/ Sat, 09 May 2026 19:32:29 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1778383949.59957/ Mima mounds on the prairie.

Meghan and I went down past Olympia for Prairie Appreciation Day, a great day out.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1777778019.72231/ Sat, 02 May 2026 19:13:39 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1777778019.72231/ Fired up the grill for the first time this year, for huli huli chicken.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1777777985.523313/ Sat, 02 May 2026 19:13:05 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1777777985.523313/ Walked from Beacon Hill to Georgetown, for real this time.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1776399277.685988/ Thu, 16 Apr 2026 20:14:37 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1776399277.685988/ The contractors finished on Tuesday; we’ve been slowly putting the laundry room and kitchen back together since then.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1776055010.963421/ Sun, 12 Apr 2026 20:36:50 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1776055010.963421/ Walked down to the Center for Urban Horticulture, stopping in Lake City to check out a small record store and revisit a record player store.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1775671533.649837/ Wed, 08 Apr 2026 10:05:33 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1775671533.649837/ Contractors arrived this morning to start a small remodeling project.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1774742733.741553/ Sat, 28 Mar 2026 16:05:33 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1774742733.741553/ Protesters marching down Pine St. from about 12th Ave.

Walked from Montlake to the protest on Capitol Hill, then with the march downtown (though I didn’t go all the way to Seattle Center).

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1774676075.991225/ Fri, 27 Mar 2026 21:34:35 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1774676075.991225/ Meghan and I finished season 2 of Slow Horses. This one kept the overall shape of Dead Lions but played much more loosely with the details, simplifying parts of the plot and amplifying or introducing others — all, I think, to the benefit of the show.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1774152295.998568/ Sat, 21 Mar 2026 20:04:55 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1774152295.998568/ Instead of walking from Beacon Hill to Georgetown like I’d planned, I stuck my head into Day Moon Press on a whim and spent a lovely two hours talking about printing.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1773452698.02343/ Fri, 13 Mar 2026 17:44:58 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1773452698.02343/ Snow dusting the trees at the edge of the inventively-named South Woods Park.

Woke up to snow, and it kept snowing basically all day, finally letting up now. Accumulation was never more than an inch or so, and roads were basically fine; it was just a (cold) pretty day.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1773322928.132673/ Thu, 12 Mar 2026 05:42:08 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1773322928.132673/ Windy yesterday evening: lost power before bedtime; it came back in the middle of the night, about six hours altogether.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1773030231.052218/ Sun, 08 Mar 2026 20:23:51 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1773030231.052218/ Had Mom over for pot roast.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1772518887.737356/ Mon, 02 Mar 2026 22:21:27 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1772518887.737356/ The dude had a band concert tonight; Meghan and I brought Mom.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1771914871.869157/ Mon, 23 Feb 2026 22:34:31 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1771914871.869157/ Last Friday, Greg and I had dinner and Basque cider at Oak. Talked for a good three hours.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1771129280.260808/ Sat, 14 Feb 2026 20:21:20 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1771129280.260808/ My Valentine’s gift to Meghan was walking from Northgate to Wallingford via Blue Ridge and Ballard, about ten miles.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1770272713.790689/ Wed, 04 Feb 2026 22:25:13 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1770272713.790689/ Finished reading Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global by Laura Spinney, a survey of our understanding of the Proto Indo-European language and its descendants. I knew bits and pieces of this, but Spinney wove it together into a clear, compelling whole. This was one of my fastest non-fiction reads in quite a while.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1770009157.351681/ Sun, 01 Feb 2026 21:12:37 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1770009157.351681/ Meghan and I finished watching season 1 of Slow Horses.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1769751302.673319/ Thu, 29 Jan 2026 21:35:02 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1769751302.673319/ Meghan and the bambina and I finished watching The Return of the King.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1769377637.833147/ Sun, 25 Jan 2026 13:47:17 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1769377637.833147/ Posted a review of my 2026 2025 RPG reading.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1769231834.842455/ Fri, 23 Jan 2026 21:17:14 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1769231834.842455/ Finished reading Civilizations by Laurent Binet, translated by Sam Taylor. This was an alternate history where the losing emperor of an Incan civil war conquers much of Europe, introducing religious tolerance and maybe a kind of proto-socialism in the process. I loved the first half of the book; the third quarter kind of lost any sense of stakes, and I started to feel like Binet was writing cleverly rather than well. The end of the book turned me back around, with a sort of epilogue that I haven’t quite fully absorbed. Overall quite good, even if not quite as good as I thought when I started.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1768885179.070148/ Mon, 19 Jan 2026 20:59:39 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1768885179.070148/ Had brunch with Amy and Dave yesterday, then the four of us went to see the exhibits at Cannonball Arts.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1768593185.998827/ Fri, 16 Jan 2026 11:53:05 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1768593185.998827/ Current earworm: “Truckin’” by the Grateful Dead, pushing out another earworm which outstayed its welcome two weeks ago.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1768532719.693939/ Thu, 15 Jan 2026 19:05:19 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1768532719.693939/ Finished reading Real Tigers by Mick Herron, book 3 of the Slough House series, a couple days ago. Another fun read, continuing the humorously cynical tone but this time with a bit more optimism for the slow horses.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1767626802.210742/ Mon, 05 Jan 2026 07:26:42 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1767626802.210742/ Finished reading The Mills of the Gods by Tim Powers. Classic Powers (Phoenician gods + Paris + Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, and Pablo Picasso), executed … well, acceptably. Not one of his great works (start with Last Call or Declare, not his later books), and a little heavy-handed on the Catholicism (were all of his books like this?), but includes a truly harrowing oil lamp–lit journey through the Paris catacombs.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1767568584.173681/ Sun, 04 Jan 2026 15:16:24 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1767568584.173681/ Meghan and I watched the first two episodes of Slow Horses, as good as the book.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1767568439.5633/ Sun, 04 Jan 2026 15:13:59 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1767568439.5633/ Meghan and the bambina and I finished Fellowship and started The Two Towers.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1767069619.337255/ Mon, 29 Dec 2025 20:40:19 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1767069619.337255/ Looking south along the BPA Trail, under the eponymous power lines.

Walked from the Federal Way light rail station to the Tacoma train station (with two unexpected detours), partly along the BPA Trail: 38k steps, 19 miles. A good dumb walk to end a year of them.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1766971155.609529/ Sun, 28 Dec 2025 17:19:15 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1766971155.609529/ Finally finished rereading Ursula K. Le Guin’s version of the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, reading her translation/rendering notes this afternoon. I don’t understand most of this, but most of what I understand resonates, and a lot of what I don’t makes me think.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1766902080.295559/ Sat, 27 Dec 2025 22:08:00 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1766902080.295559/ Meghan and I watched the first half of The Fellowship of the Ring (standard edition) with the bambina. She has identified it as the origin of three well-known memes (so far).

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1766901994.693681/ Sat, 27 Dec 2025 22:06:34 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1766901994.693681/ Family over for Christmas dinner.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1766599488.129073/ Wed, 24 Dec 2025 10:04:48 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1766599488.129073/ Almost made it through the Christmas season without getting earwormed by the Bad One, but it was playing at the grocery store yesterday from a speaker right over the checkout line, so I was basically doomed.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1766368369.660585/ Sun, 21 Dec 2025 17:52:49 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1766368369.660585/ Meghan and I went to Letterpress Distilling for cocktails and to see Amy and Dave, selling produce there.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1766368307.449894/ Sun, 21 Dec 2025 17:51:47 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1766368307.449894/ Yesterday, we went to Meghan’s family Christmas gathering, including out-of-towners from the Bay Area and New York. Lovely time.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1765695667.122825/ Sat, 13 Dec 2025 23:01:07 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1765695667.122825/ Lights reflecting on Green Lake. People walking on a Green Lake dock, lined with paper lanterns. Three hot air balloons, two lit up by their own flames. Two people walking their dog by Green Lake, one with a colorful lit cape, the dog with a glowing collar.

Walked around Green Lake for the Pathway of Lights. Too crowded, but still glad I went — good weather, music, and views.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1765668197.618807/ Sat, 13 Dec 2025 15:23:17 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1765668197.618807/ Our last incandescent light bulb blew out, and the switch it was on didn’t work with LED bulbs, so replaced the switch.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1765079752.050949/ Sat, 06 Dec 2025 19:55:52 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1765079752.050949/ Current earworm: “Letter Never Sent” by REM.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1764650784.776058/ Mon, 01 Dec 2025 20:46:24 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1764650784.776058/ Had coffee yesterday with Bryan, then walked to the train past Green Lake.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1764314818.286251/ Thu, 27 Nov 2025 23:26:58 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1764314818.286251/ Thanksgiving dinner, with Mom, at Greg and Jocelyn’s.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1764204185.29333/ Wed, 26 Nov 2025 16:43:05 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1764204185.29333/ Two loaves of bread, on racks to cool.

Today’s kitchen victory: bread.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1763706620.410712/ Thu, 20 Nov 2025 22:30:20 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1763706620.410712/ Meghan and Mom and I went to the dude’s campus band concert tonight.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1763535540.7308/ Tue, 18 Nov 2025 22:59:00 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1763535540.7308/ Our new mattress arrived today.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1763535421.977195/ Tue, 18 Nov 2025 22:57:01 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1763535421.977195/ Speaking of books, I’m slowly rereading Le Guin’s version of the Tao Te Ching, and I just started rereading her masterwork, Always Coming Home.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1763535344.357242/ Tue, 18 Nov 2025 22:55:44 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1763535344.357242/ Started reading The Will of the Many by James Islington but set aside about a third of the way through. I’d bought a copy based solely on its cover and heft, but found myself disliking every character, none of whom seemed capable of uttering a simple true statement.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1762981547.496064/ Wed, 12 Nov 2025 13:05:47 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1762981547.496064/ Got my flu shot, finally.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1762981510.792957/ Wed, 12 Nov 2025 13:05:10 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1762981510.792957/ Meghan and I tried to go to the pub for our anniversary, but it was packed, so we ended up having pizza and a drink at Ridge in Greenwood.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1761537755.77574/ Sun, 26 Oct 2025 20:02:35 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1761537755.77574/ Of course the weekend after posting about the months-long pattern of spam email dropping to near nothing on the weekend, I get a ton of spam email. Current spam hyperfixations include Costco, Omaha steaks, AAA, and Ace Hardware.

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1761332309.494525/ Fri, 24 Oct 2025 10:58:29 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1761332309.494525/ A large tree, probably some kind of maple, full of bright red leaves. ]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1761197249.492303/ Wed, 22 Oct 2025 21:27:29 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1761197249.492303/ Finished reading The Dog of the South by Charles Portis. This was amazing; every character was such a weirdo, such a wild card, that I never knew what was going to happen next, and was just along for the ride. Portis treated each of them with respect, and the overall effect was maybe something like a less cruel, less political Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (meant in a good way).

]]> https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1760924323.268196/ Sun, 19 Oct 2025 17:38:43 -0800 https://blurt.pile.org/sben/micro/1760924323.268196/ One of the amusements I get from the current state of the internet is that sending spam email seems to be a Monday-to-Friday job.

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