2026-10-15 12:00:00
One of the problems with the pocket supercomputers that we all carry around is that they've killed the simple act of being idle.
Many years ago, we had a basement. In that basement I had a real stereo system with a 5 speaker system that was perfectly balanced to my spot on the couch. Not infrequently I would head to the basement with a drink, put on a CD, and just sit there in the dark enjoying an album the way the artist intended.
I haven't done that is probably 15 to 20 years. To be fair, since we moved in 2017 I have lacked a room for a proper stereo set up. But even if I had that, I'd probably be doom scrolling to Led Zeppelin instead of enjoying Led Zeppelin.
The closest I come to that state of zen these days is birding. When I'm birding I'm totally absorbed by looking and listening. It's really the only thing I do in my current life where I reach that state of detached concentration.
But birding is not idle.
Most people, given 10 seconds in a checkout line, will pull out their phone. Nobody can just be, not even for 10 seconds. That can't be healthy.
I need to find a way to be idle at home.
2026-10-12 12:00:00
It's been a while since I posted an NA beer review. As you might have guessed by the name, it's a pumpkin beer. I hate pumpkin pie. I like pumpkin beer.
This is a good one. It's a porter with flavors of cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg. The pumpkin is very subtle.
This is a worthy seasonal. It would be a good beer if had an ABV of 6% and 280 calories. Instead is less than .5% and 80 calories.
2026-10-10 21:33:00
I've lived in Virginia for 9 years, yet somehow last night was my first time at the festival.
My bad. My very bad.
In my defense, I think we are frequently camping when it hits town, as early fall is prime camping season. We were supposed to be camping this weekend, but real life got in the way. So I headed into town after work on Friday.
One thing about the RFF is that it has a very inclusive definition of "folk." It's really a traditional music festival, spanning folk, jazz, blues, and traditional music styles from across the planet. Last night I saw three acts.
The Michael White Quartet - New Orleans Jazz
Reverie Road - Irish
Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials - Chicago Blues
Did I mention all this wonderful music is free? And these are not local acts; these are world-renowned artists at the very peak of their respective genres.
I haven't found any videos from last night on YouTube, and I'm not going to subject both of my readers to my janky phone videos, so I'll post representative videos from each artist below.
2026-09-27 11:26:00
What does "occasional" mean to you? I have done 3 of these updates all year. I feel like that is really stretching the definition of "occasional."
In my defense, I'm getting to a point where I don't want to be online at all after work. This rant from yesterday is something I felt in my soul as I read it.
I started and deleted 3 different attempts at a blog post this past weekend. I even spent some time thinking about life without a blog, without social media, without any of this. Not only that, but I have to admit, I wasn't coming up with many negatives to shutting all this down. I've been writing online since 12/31/1995, and I don't think any of it would be missed. When I quit Facebook for 14 months literally one person messaged me to say hi during that time. Out of sight, out of mind. Online relationships are shallow, so shallow most can't even survive a venue change.
My wife's birthday was last week, and we celebrated by hopping on Amtrak for a long weekend in Philadelphia filled with art museums, good food, jazz, walking randomly through Philly neighborhoods, and dinner with a longtime imaginary internet friend. Amtrak is an underrated travel option in the northern half of the eastern US. I was able to work on the train, meaning we spent a long weekend in Philly, and it really only cost me 1/2 day of work.
Earlier this year I found a food tour gift certificate that Michelle bought me for Christmas 2019. I was very surprised when the tour company said it was still valid. We cashed it in on Saturday and spent 2.5 hours wandering around the Arts District with 8 strangers, sampling food at six restaurants.
Lillie Pearl - Braised short rib eggrolls
Mama J's - Fried catfish, mac and cheese, and greens
Brickfire - Pizza
Buna Kurs - Ethiopian coffee and a very spicy Timatim Fit Fit
Rappahannock - Freshwater oysters, raw and baked
Gather & Hem - Beignets for dessert.
We didn't eat any dinner that night.
Yesterday I volunteered with Virginia Master Naturalists for 4 hours at the State Fair on the Living with Bears project. I played so much Black Bear Bingo with kids yesterday. And with that, I'm over my 40-hour annual volunteer commitment. I'm doing another shift on Wednesday evening. That does not mean I will quit volunteering though. I'm enjoying it.
Reading: I just published some recent book reviews here.
Music: I've been enjoying a couple of recent album purchases.
Sell Their Souls by Jeremy Porter & The Tucos
Midwest pop-punk, but not 90s emo stuff. This is The Replacements with the guitars more amped and less jangly. It’s good stuff.
Hold The Mash by Parker Barrow
If AC/DC and The Black Crowes had a daughter it would sound like this.
At my current pace, it's almost guaranteed that my next "occasional update" will be a year-end thing.
Remember, in a world where you can choose to be anything, you can choose to be kind.
2026-09-25 07:06:00
For reasons, my doctor suggested I adopt a low-sodium lifestyle. It's been 3 weeks now, so here is what I've learned.
WHY DO WE PUT SALT INTO EVERYTHING IN THIS COUNTRY?
My strategy going into this was to try to eat a near-zero sodium breakfast, and under 500 mg at lunch, leaving me about 1000 mg for dinner. I'm mostly sticking to that.
Cheerios has sodium. Technically, it's just under the level to qualify as heart healthy, and comparatively it's not much. You do need roughly 500 mg a day to you'll have other issues. It's not salt added to the cereal for taste, but one of the preservatives introduces sodium. At first I thought it meant I had to give up my Cheerios habit, but I have since learned comparatively speaking, Cheerios are low-sodium. The only major brand cold cereal that is roughly zero sodium is Frosted mini-wheats. They are not the tastiest things around, but I have been eating them.
All milks, both dairy and non-dairy, have sodium. Again, they are technically low sodium foods, but a large glass of milk is going to add a good chuck to your daily total, as it's around 65 mg per cup for most milks.
All bread, and really all baked goods, have sodium. It's in the baking soda along with added salt. Read the labels as store bought bread varies widely. The brand we typically bought was 120 mg per slice, and we cut that in half by changing brands. Generally the fancier the bread the more sodium in it. So get used to plain white or wheat bread.
No salt added peanut butter exists, and it's fine. Jam's are typically sodium free, so a PB&J is still a viable lunch. Deli meat is a sodium bomb. Just get used to life without it. I was not a fan anyway, so that has not really bothered me. Low salt Ritz crackers are fine too.
Swiss cheese is almost sodium free. Cheddar and most other common cheeses you will find at the store have 100+ mg per slice. So it's manageable but enough to pay attention.
Soft corn tortillas have no sodium in them. That means if you make your own taco seasoning without salt (as I was already doing), tacos can be a low-sodium food as long as you go easy on the cheese. Tortilla chips vary dramatically in the amount of added salt. Read the packages and watch the serving size. Mission brand has a healthy serving size of 10 chips at 90 mg per serving. Same with salsa. My favorite brand, Herdez, is a sodium bomb. However Green Mountain Gringo Salsa is a reasonable 80 mg per 2 TBS serving. I can make 2 TBS salsa last for 20 chips, making it possible for me to continue to enjoy chips and salsa on occasion. Frito-Lay has a lightly salted tortilla chip which is a good option too.
Lightly salted potato chips are widely available. However, banana or plantain chips are also available, and they have near-zero sodium and taste better. The Latin convenience store near my house sells giant cans of plantain chips for $7.00. It's my go-to accompaniment to a PB&J now, and also makes a great snack.
Jarred pasta sauces have a lot of salt in them. I found one that was salt-free, but it was also $7.00 a jar and did not taste good. I sometimes make my own pasta sauce and I'm back to that now, using no-salt added crushed tomatoes and halving the adding salt at the end of the simmer.
Just forget about frozen meals. They are all sodium bombs.
Diet sodas have 40 mg of sodium in them.
Taking the salt out of packaged foods increases the price.
Low-sodium bacon tastes fine. It's still a healthy dose of salt, but if you plan around it that day you can fit 3 slices into your day easily. A day with bacon is a better day.
Beer has zero sodium. I haven't looked, but I assume bourbon is the same.
Eating out is as a trap. Don't do it often, and treat it as a cheat day. You can ask for your fries not salted, buy grilled vs. fried and do other things to minimize the salt, but restaurant food is just going to be seasoned. Chains at least have to publish the nutrition labels.
McNuggets at McDonald's are surprisingly okay sodium wise. We only eat at McDonald's when on road trips, and even then sparingly, but at least there is something there that I can eat.
I've lost 6 pounds.
Overall, the transition hasn't been that big of a deal. Eating out less often is good for the budget, and avoiding sodium has caused me to lose weight.
2026-09-14 03:05:00
Over the Edge of the World by Laurence Bergreen
Rating: ***
This is the story of Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe, sourced mostly from several first hand accounts that survive from the 1500s. Working on a ship back then was never a great job, but the 80-90% fatality rate on this trip is extreme even by those standards. 5 ships and 260 men resulted in 1 ship of about 20 mutineers bailing before the one remaining ship limped into port with about 25 near-dead sailors on board. But not Magellan, as he was killed by an angry tribe in the Philippines after he torched a village over some perceived slight.
The first half is fascinating, and then it gets a little repetitive once they get through what we all call the Strait of Magellan. Find an island, barter with the natives, piss them off, and flee for their lives. It's a mistake they made over and over again. That said, none of us should discredit the absolutely insane achievement they pulled off, circumnavigating the globe without a map.
Platform Decay by Martha Wells
Rating: ***
Book whatever in the Murderbot series. It's been a few years since the last one, so when the book just dived into the story without any backstory, it took me a while to get into the groove. But ultimately it's another fun adventure with my favorite almost human.
Never Stuff Your Dog by Alan Alda
Rating: ***
He wrote this at 70, and although overall enjoyable, it felt a little thin. Given the impact MAS*H had on both his life and the culture in general, I think he could do a book this size just on MASH, instead of giving it one thin chapter in an overall surface-level look at his life.
On the Hippie Trail by Rick Steves.
Rating: ***
I did this as an audiobook at the gym. Rick and a friend did the Hippie Trail (Istanbul to Katmandu) in 1979 when they graduated college. He found his journals from that trip during COVID, and this book is the result. It was the last year of the Hippie Trail, as turmoil in the Middle East made it impossible after that. It's entertaining, although it's difficult to imagine a world as separated and cut off as the Middle East was in 1979. This is literally an experience you cannot have today and can probably never have.
London Falling by Patrick Radden
Rating: ****
By the author of Say Nothing, the best book written about "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland, this narrative non-fiction uses the suspicious death of a 19-year-old in London to dig into the Russian oligarchs that established themselves there after the fall of the USSR and the entire culture of conspicuous consumption that they flaunted. How that impacted a 19-year-old middle-class kid that lied his way into that circle and then probably killed himself jumping from a balcony, avoiding the fallout from his deceit being uncovered, is a central conceit of the story. It's just as compulsive reading as Say Nothing, although maybe not quite as personally impactful to this American of Irish descent.
Up On Cove Mountain by Earl Swift
Rating: ****
Earl through-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1990, spending some time with two hikers who were brutally murdered in an AT shelter in PA a few days after he had been with them. The killer never supplied a motive, and it's weighed on Earl's mind ever since. In 2024 he decided to hike the trail again, hoping to gain clarity into the murder and also to explore how doing it in his 60s is different from in his 30s. What results is an entertaining trail journal of both hikes, wrapped around a true crime story about the murders. He never gets any real answers on the murders. Sometimes bad stuff happens to good people, and there isn't a damn thing we can do about it.
