Blurt!Sben

Finished reading The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories and “The Wood at Midwinter”, short fiction by Susanna Clarke. All of the stories fit right into the Strange & Norrell setting. The stories in the former are all charming and have the novel’s characteristic humor. The latter is unsettling in the same way as Piranesi.

Nov. 15, 2024, 5:20pm

Meghan and I visited the dude, then went out for an anniversary dinner.

Nov. 10, 2024, 11:36am

Finished rereading Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, about the return of English magic during the Napoleonic era. This massive book proceeds at an appropriately stately pace, but the intensity ratchets up a notch every time the gentleman with the thistle-down hair appears. In addition to her well-crafted writing, Clarke’s footnote game is top-notch.

Nov. 9, 2024, 10:20am

And I am already weary.

Nov. 6, 2024, 8:28am

Tonight we had one (1) trick-or-treater (Iron Man, age 4).

Oct. 31, 2024, 8:47pm

Went over to Mom’s to see her, and help her deal with a jury duty summons.

Oct. 26, 2024, 8:21pm

Had Mom over for dinner last night.

Oct. 21, 2024, 7:46am

Thinned and organized our accumulation of cables.

Oct. 19, 2024, 9:01pm
My hand inserting two ballots into a ballot box.

Voted.

Oct. 19, 2024, 3:53pm

Traveled to the Bay Area with both kids and Meghan’s mom, for a wedding. (Meghan’s niece, one of the flower girls at our wedding!) It was a good time.

Oct. 15, 2024, 10:44am
A colorful house near the beach in Half Moon Bay. Windswept trees near the end of the road to the beach in Half Moon Bay. The beach at Half Moon Bay.

Half Moon Bay.

Oct. 13, 2024, 10:07pm
An In-N-Out with crossed palm trees. A squat palm tree.
Oct. 11, 2024, 6:43pm (edited)
A prickly pear against a fence, with a blue sky above. Persimmons, yellowish, ripening on a tree.

Prickly pear and persimmons in the back yard.

Oct. 11, 2024, 5:20pm

Had Mom over for dinner tonight. We should see her more often.

Oct. 5, 2024, 8:34pm

Meghan and I went to a fundraiser dinner for the local botanical garden. Kind of fun to see how the other one percent lives.

Sep. 28, 2024, 10:42pm