This weekend’s kitchen victories: pesto made with basil that Meghan grew in the greenhouse, and strawberry fool.

Finished rereading Cugel the Clever by Jack Vance (which I originally read as The Eyes of the Overworld), book two of the Dying Earth series. This picaresque was quite entertaining, despite (or because of) the cruel and antisocial main character, who invariably chooses the most destructive option whenever possible. You know what? I regret that characterization of the book. It’s a trap: You’re meant to be entertained by the cruel and antisocial main character, and you’re meant to gloss over how he sexually coerces one character and sells another into slavery. Fuck that, and fuck this book.

Finished rereading The Truelove by Patrick O’Brian, book 15 of the Aubrey/Maturin series, and the third book of a circumnavigation of the globe. Another well-crafted book, focusing on the relationship among the ship’s officers; most of the naval action is relegated to a montage sequence late in the book.

Amy and Dave came over for brunch on Monday.

Starting to learn how to pull decent shots with my new Cafelat Robot espresso maker.

Finished rereading Anathem by Neal Stephenson. Boy do I have complicated feelings about this. On the one hand, the concepts are fascinating and the storytelling is top-notch. On the other, there’s a bunch of pandering to nerds and contempt for non-nerds, especially in the first half of the book, not to mention the casual sexism. (I would be curious to see what the book would have been like in the alternate universe where he wrote it today.) I used to recommend this book without reservations, but now it would be more along the lines of The Lord of the Rings (read this, but don’t fail to notice that the people with dark skin are bad guys).

Today’s kitchen victories, a rare multicourse meal: risi e bisi (risotto with peas and pancetta), brasato all’Amarone (beef braised in Amarone wine), polenta, and tiramisù. Mom came over.

Tonight’s kitchen grill victory: steak fajitas, the first time using the grill this cold, rainy spring.

Spent a couple hours with my good friend Jeff, who I haven’t seen for [mumblemumble] years, and his girlfriend Jen. Had a great time.

Drove Mom to Portland so she could go out with her two friends, who have stayed in touch since they were in first grade together.

Finished rereading Bad Machinery parts 1–10 by John Allison. Allison’s writing continued to mature over the course of these stories, with a clear trajectory towards Steeple.

Current earworm: “No You Girls” by Franz Ferdinand.

Finished reading Spear by Nicola Griffith, a short, fun novel retelling the story of Percival and the Holy Grail. (It’s just around a quarter the length of Hild!) A lovely digestif of a book.

Had a work meeting (!) this afternoon, with a customer who was in town. First time I’ve done anything like this in more than two years, of course.

Finished rereading Scary Go Round volumes 1–8 by John Allison. I first read these as they were published online (starting with 2004’s “1840 and All That”); it was very interesting to reread them as a whole work, seeing the progression of Allison’s artistic and storytelling styles and interests.