2025-12-07 13:00:00
Happy first weekend in December to all who celebrate. We had our first snow of the year this week. It snowed 2.5 inches (6.3 cm) on Thursday night and Friday morning. They shut the city down on Friday. All schools, government offices, etc., were closed. As I type this on Sunday morning, all the snow is already melted. Winter in the South...
We went to the Richmond Ballet production of The Nutcracker last night. We saw the Atlanta Ballet production in the previous century, but I remember absolutely nothing about it. I did read the Wikipedia page on The Nutcracker this week so I would have some idea of the story. I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed it. In fact, I would go to another ballet. I don't know if it was opening night jitters, or this is just what you get with the local ballet company, but in the group dances the symmetry was often noticeably off and the lines frequently not straight or evenly spaced. I'm not complaining; this is RVA, not NYC. Just something that I noticed. And let's face it, I really don't know the difference between good and bad ballet.
We dressed up for it. I'm about the least formal person around, but I am also old enough to remember when people generally didn't wear jeans or shorts on airplane flights. The airplane industry treats us like bus passengers, so I think reacting by dressing like it's a low-budget bus trip is a reasonable response. But when we had Broadway in Richmond tickets for a couple of seasons, I was surprised by how casual many people were. So I was pleasantly surprised last night that the vast majority of patrons at the ballet dressed like it was a special event.
I told Michelle that maybe we should make 2026 a year of the arts and try to get out to the ballet, the symphony, gallery shows, etc.
Also, NPR called me again to check in and ask if I'd done anything or made any changes since they interviewed me. I told them that I'm at the acceptance stage of the stages of grief on this. I don't expect Congress to do anything useful. I did die a little inside though when the reporter commented that she was glad she was still on her parents insurance.
Reading
I've also started A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway, and I find the primary characters annoying and his writing style weird. Maybe there is a reason this is my first Hemingway book. I'm about 1/3 in, so I'll probably force my way through it to check it off the reading list, but so far, I don't get the hype around it as one of the all-time greats.
Watching
We finished binging The Beast Inside Me, the Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys miniseries on Netflix. It is very entertaining, as you would expect with those two actors in the leading roles. We also watched our first cheesy Christmas movie of the year, Champagne Christmas. Minka Kelly and Paris scenery are a winning combination. It's cheesy, schmaltzy, and 100% predictable, which is why we watch these movies. However, there is a 90-second bit involving Die Hard in the movie that had me rolling.
Listening
I had two new-client pitches this week, so my work week was intense without a lot of time for background music. I mostly streamed That Station after hours, and as I type this, I've got The Red Clay Strays Live at the Ryman on the MP3 player.
Links
In Grow Slowly, Stay Small, Herman (the Bear Blog developer) shares his philosophy of running a small, sustainable business. I wish this approach was the default in the US, instead of the grow fast and break things ethos that has taken over the country.
Anil Dash on the power of not just telling stories but sharing stories in a way that amplifies them to spread beyond you, because you alone can never reach everyone in the target audience.
I haven't had time to go through Bitter Southerner's list of best Southern albums yet, but I'm sure there are several gems in that list.
And that is it for this week. Remember, in a world where you can choose to be anything, you can choose to be kind.
2025-12-01 13:00:00
How the hell is it already December?
It was Thanksgiving weekend here in the US. So a lot of us had 4 days off. All my other long weekends this year have involved travel, so although they were often fun, I typically came back tired. This 4-day weekend was 4-days of staying close to home. I got so relaxed that I spent most of Saturday thinking it was Sunday. There is probably a lesson here but I'm sure it's going over my head.
Thanksgiving was chill for us. Just us and a roast turkey breast with mashed potatoes, balsamic and honey glazed roasted carrots,dinner rolls, and a fruit salad. On Black-Friday we went out to 2 local vendor fairs and an art gallery. We spent $9. Take that capitalism! On Saturday we did more local vendor fairs, and Sunday I went out birding in the AM. I got 46 species and one lifer on Sunday, putting me at 213 species for the year.
We also put up the Christmas tree and I put up the exterior lights. I feel a little like Charlie Brown. I'm not going to let the state of the world ruin my mood any longer. I'm going to enjoy life in spite of the bastards in charge.
On Thanksgiving Eve I wanted to watch the WKRP Thanksgiving episode, which I own in the I paid Amazon money for it sense of ownership. Amazon lost the rights to it (Apple has it now) so it's gone from my Amazon account. And that dear readers, is how I came to acquire all 4 seasons of WKRP, now safely stored on my computer.
Links
"...I remain unconvinced that I am any better off having posted all of the stuff in all of those places over the last thirty years than had I just written it down on paper."
An animated meditation (is that a thing?) reminding us that it's the journey, not the destination, that counts.
Overthinking A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Watching
We binged season 2 of A Man Inside, the Ted Danson cozy mystery on Netflix. If you enjoyed season 1 you'll enjoy season 2. We also watched Carry-On, a Netflix only movie (I think) starring Jason Bateman has a terrorist hell-bent on destruction on Christmas Eve at LAX. The movie is trying a little too hard to be Diehard, but I was entertained, which is all I ask of a movie. So two thumbs up from me. I also discovered Tasting History, a YouTube channel where the host cooks 50-500+ year old recipes and weaves in a history lesson in 20-30 minutes. They are very entertaining, and educational.
Reading
I finished up A Shattered Piece by John Scalzi last night. It's the first book in the Old Man's War universe in 10 years. If easy to read space opera with a side of snark is your thing, you'll enjoy this. But it is book 7 in this universe. It's a stand alone story, but I think you'll enjoy it more if you go back and start at the beginning.
listening
Tesla - Mechanical Resonance Live is currently "spinning" in the MP3 player on my computer. I also listened to quite a bit of Jukebox the Ghost this week. And Christmas music, because it is that time of year.
And that is it for this week. Remember, in a world where you can choose to be anything, you can choose to be kind.
And that is it for this week. Remember, in a world where you can choose to be anything, you can choose to be kind.
2025-11-22 13:00:00
I've gone from weekly updates to bi-monthly to monthly. That is not a good trend line. I need to work on that.
My birthday was on Tuesday, celebrating my 58th trip around the sun. I always say I don't feel my age, and physically that is true. A lot of GenX friends talk of always dealing with some low level nagging pain. I don't have that issue. I feel pretty damn good most of the time. However I am looking at my life and thinking about when I get to slow down a bit. Due to two layoffs and starting my own company in a 7 month period this year, we took no vacation time in 2025. The best we did all year was a couple of 4 day weekends timed to coincide with a national holiday. I've worked harder since going freelance than I have in a long time.
My workload has caused me to start playing with numbers and thinking about how I can exit the rat race sooner rather than later. If I lived somewhere where I could live on $4500 a month I could mostly check out tomorrow. I'd need to hang on to one PT consulting client, otherwise I'd be free and clear. It's tempting. Very temping. For comparison, $4500 is the sum of my mortgage and health insurance effective January 1, 2026. There are a lot of countries where $4500 a month all-in would be a very comfortable middle-class or better life (for two people).
Anyway, I had a very nice birthday. Michelle took me to Les Crepes, a Latin inspired crepe restaurant. It was fabulous. My crepe had chicken, mango-cranberries mix, caramelized onions, caramelized apples, brie cheese, and a sour cream-mango sauce. It weighed about a pound. And because it was my birthday they gave us a Nutella dessert crepe on the house.
On Thursday my smiling face was on the front page of NPR.org for a few hours. It has been an interesting couple of weeks for me online. NPR interviewed me then featured me in both an audio segment during Morning Edition and in print on the website. Also, George Takei commented on something I posted online.
Also on Thursday we attended the annual Thanksgiving potluck with the Richmond Audubon Society, which is highlighted by a slide show of bird photos taken by members during the year, many from far flung locations on birding trips. There are many seriously talented photographers in the club. I was inspired to try to up my bird photography game.
The shit status of the country is ruining my Christmas mood, so far. I'm just not feeling it at all. We don't do a lot for Christmas anyway, it is normally just a quiet day at home with controlled gift giving. But I seriously haven't been able to even think about it for a minute without it depressing me. Maybe I need to plop a nickel on Lucy's desk and have a chat with her, or volunteer to direct the Christmas play, or something.
Last weekend we attended the annual Christmas light show at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. It was pretty, as always. We go every year as our membership gets us in free on member preview night. It was 60F and we were walking around in light jackets. Not exactly Christmas weather.
We do have a date night planned for tonight. We are going to go out for drinks then attend an Improv comedy show. And we plan to go birding in the morning and then hit a couple of fall festivals in the afternoon. With me glued to my desk 8-6 every day I need to do a better job of getting more outside time.
Watching
We binged season 2 of Nobody Wants This on Netflix this week. It was not as good as season 1, but entertaining enough. The previous week we binged season 3 of The Diplomat, which was exceptionally entertaining.
Reading
Make Me Commissioner by Jane Leavy is a humor learning look at the state of baseball today, and what needs to change to make the game more entertaining.
Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen is a deeply researched scenario of one way we might destroy the planet with nuclear weapons in the near future. The scenario is terrifyingly plausible.
More detailed reviews of both books are on the books page.
Listening
I've got Kevn Kinney's catalog on shuffle play as I'm writing this. I also just discovered Jesse Welles and I'm obsessed with his Woody Guthrie / Dylan vibe. The guy has released 4 full albums this year and a hard-left folkie getting Grammy nominations is something that gives me a little bit of hope for the future.
And that is it for this week. Remember, in a world where you can choose to be anything, you can choose to be kind.
2025-11-16 13:00:00
As members of Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, we get to see the annual Christmas light display at no extra cost the weekend before it's opened to the public. It was light jacket last night, so certainly not "Christmas weather," and last night did nothing to get me into the Christmas spirit. With all the shit in my life and the world currently, I'm not feeling the holiday spirit at all.
2025-11-15 13:00:00
Last week someone on Mastodon posted a link to an article on NPR.org looking for people that wanted to talk about health insurance. I happen to have some very recent history in this area so I completed the form. Earlier this week NPR reached out and did a 3-minute interview, of which one sentence ended up in the story. But it was the lead!
Yesterday NPR reached back out asking for a picture, as they are turning the Morning Edition audio story into a print story. I have not seen it online yet, but when I do, I'll add it here. The NPR.org story
Keep pressuring your representatives. Trump has lost Marjorie Green Taylor, who was very much acolyte #1 in the cult 12 months ago. Once Trump falls MAGA goes with him. JD Fucking Vance is not going to inspire that type of loyalty.
Ironically, the Republicans have now decided that insurance companies are the problem. They are not wrong, but of course they have no interest in actually fixing the problem. They've been unwilling and unable to produce a single plan to fix healthcare since Trump promised it was days away in 2016, but now that the voters have spoken, they are producing healthcare reform over a couple of evenings of cigars and coke in the basement of the House building.
What could possibly go wrong?
Meanwhile, I watched a YouTube video last night about 10 countries where I I could live for about $1000 a month. I'm sure the video is making all kinds of assumptions that don't apply to me, but even if they are off by a lot, $2500 a month plus whatever insulin pump stuff may cost would be a very dramatic improvement in my life. It definitely bears further research.
I used to occasionally wonder what it was like to live through the fall of an empire. Did the average Roman know the empire was falling? I guess I'm going to get an answer to that the question the hard way, by living through it myself.
2025-11-05 13:00:00
I'm just going to leave this here where I can find it later.
