Set aside The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon about a quarter of the way through. I wanted to like this, and probably would have finished it if I’d read it ten years ago, but today it feels more drawn-out and portentous than I’m willing to tolerate.

The bedtime conversation with the bambina covered Bose–Einstein condensates (I was on uncertain ground) and the Kelvin temperature scale (more confident here).

Current earworm: the piano bit from the second half of “Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt” by Pharoah Sanders.

Finished reading The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. A couple quibbles aside, I loved this book, set in Manhattan c. 1900. It felt like a puzzle where all the characters ended up fitting together just so (and I think the quibbles are where I didn’t feel like the fit was quite satisfactory … but they were minor characters). Recommended.

Serious insomnia last night.

Finished reading The History of Jazz (3rd ed.) by Ted Gioia. This was kind of the flip side of A History of the World in Six Glasses: I wish it hadn’t been quite so long, but I was fascinated by every part of it, and wouldn’t cut much if anything. I now have a lot of listening to do.

The dude played in the band for the football game, and managed to only get wet while waiting for a ride home.

Both kids were home sick (not covid) from school this week. (Makes me wonder a bit about the schools’ anti-covid measures.)

Walked down to Mom’s this afternoon, along the Interurban trail, through Greenwood, and around the base of Green Lake: eight miles. Then, met the rest of the family for quiche and plum cobbler.

Amy and Dave came over for drinks and dinner on Monday, and the kitchen was trashed. It was great.

Finished reading Steeple, volume 1, and rereading volume 2, by John Allison. I read volume 2 serialized online (it’s ongoing), and it and the first are great ridiculous fun.

Finished reading The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe (as the second half of the Shadow & Claw compilation). Not quite as compelling as Shadow, but it felt like the protagonist was a little more active (even if he was somewhat unpredictable). Will move on to the next two books soon.

Ran around town with Meghan this morning and afternoon.

The kids are off at school, for the first time in a year and a half.

Finished rereading Desolation Island by Patrick O’Brian, book 5 of the Aubrey/Maturin series. This one was grim, nearly unrelentingly so: plague, storms, and mutinies, with a bare glimmer of hope at the end of the story. Compelling reading.