I’m trying. That’s what I’m doing.

Wednesday. Whassup?

While on a typical Wednesday I’ll take an inventory of what I’m reading, watching, cooking, drinking, etc. and report back with vigor, once again I find myself worried that I’ve been kinda distracted of late and also too busy with life for many of those extracurricular pursuits. Which is perfectly ok…why the artificial pressure??? We all gotta cut ourselves a little slack. It’s not like I’ve been hibernating…but still…

I’m reading, sometimes…

I mean, I did finally finish reading the biography about Louise Fitzhugh, author of Harriet the Spy. And now that I have I feel compelled to revisit the exploits of one Harriet M. Welsch—it was a fave book as a kid and I’ve lost the details to time, but I’m intrigued after reading the biography. (I also added the cartoon series on Apple TV+ to my too long “To Watch” list.) Harriet is a real cutting-edge character, I think, and so I’d like to spend a bit of time with her with a perspective informed by my quasi-adult sensibilities.

Apparently I’m on a bit of a biography run (two’s a run, right?) as I’m currently reading Billie Jean King’s autobiography All In. Maybe it was some weird repressed Pride Month thing subconsciously driving me to choose two books with marginalized (though triumphant, kind of) subjects…not that it matters…anyhow, the book is enjoyable. I was a bit young when she was ascending the tennis throne and while I watched and enjoyed the movie Battle of the Sexes, I still wasn’t aware of all the details and nuances of Billie’s struggles. We’ve come so far but we have so far to go…and I think that statement is a bit of an unfair sweeping dismissal of exactly how far we’ve come and how much people had to sacrifice to get us here, and how much they had to endure as well. Sacrifice is one thing—endurance is quite another. And people took a lot of shit (to put it mildly) to stand up for what they believe in and who they are, with a lot (understatement) on the line.

Beyond that, I’ve not been reading much else. Attention span of a gnat. But I do have a bit of quiet time to look forward to next week and I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to settle in and turn some pages with a bit more fervor and enjoyment than I have been. Stay tuned, but don’t hold your breath.

And the tv is often turned on…

TV shows are in reruns so despite having a long “To Watch” list I find myself throwing on background TV vs really watching anything. Mostly that consists of baseball and American Ninja Warrior. We did watch Downton Abbey: The New Era over the weekend—not sure how, if you liked Downton, you wouldn’t enjoy spending time with some old favorites. We did. It was a fun watch. I also saw Top Gun: Maverick on a whim, a lovely nostalgia filled few hours…and I said good by to Issa and the crew as I got around to watching the final season of Insecure. And because I flew recently, I’ve watched some of the final season of Grace & Frankie. Lily Tomlin still has it—totally cracks me up. Oh and of course I’m still watching Jeopardy but I’m really tiring of Mayim. She’s too quick to judge and I’m still smarting over Sadie’s Harriet Tubman answer being disqualified because she didn’t finish writing out “Tubman.” I’m not saying her handwriting’s neat but…

A gal’s gotta eat…

My mom’s post-Tai Chi Thursday dinners are back on so that’s great as it gives me an opportunity not just to have some quality time with her but also to menu plan and try out some new recipes. Last week was gnocchi with sweet and hot peppers and this cornmeal shortbread blueberry deliciousness. I’m not sure what I’ll do tomorrow though I’m leaning toward fish tacos. Not sure why but that’s my inclination today. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

The garden is filling in nicely. We’re got a lot of stuff flowering and some infant tomatoes and peppers, so fingers crossed that we eventually get a decent harvest. We’ve got one hot banana pepper ready to go, but before I snip it I want a use for it. Anyone? Ideas? One-banana pepper recipes? And of course the mint plant has been a gift that keeps on giving in the form of a Bourbon Smash, one of my fave summer libations.

Good looking banana pepper, right? And the rest is looking good too.

Oh, and this dip from Trader Joe’s is great:

Here’s a sampling of some other stuff I’ve been doing:

Floating. We opened the pool mid-May and at this point it’s perfectly perfect for bobbing about. No better place to have a cold beer than on what pretty much is a floating bed. And if you’re not a believer in the temperature maintenance power of Yeti, I encourage you to pop a can of beer in the Yeti Colster and fall sound asleep for an hour in the hot midday sun…and once you wake up and remember where you are take a nice long slug and be prepared to be amazed. The Colster could be hot to the touch from the sun…but the beer remains perfectly chilled. It’s like a dream.

Ahhhhhh…

Listening. Floating in the pool doesn’t go without a soundtrack, so there’s always something on. Sometimes it’s Sirius XM—The Bridge for those multi-generational easy listening times, The Spectrum for when I want a balance of the old and the new, and Alt-Nation for when I want to feel younger, hipper, and relevant-er. But I’ve also been vibing out to the playlist from my niece’s grad party. It’s super-chill. I like to think that she gets her (good) playlist-making gene from me. And the real bonus is I splurged and scratched the itch I had about getting a wireless speaker to tie into our existing system and suffice it to say that after two days of extreme listening pleasure over the weekend I’m declaring that we’ve already gotten our money’s worth. (But the truth is we probably need a few more days (months?) of enjoyment before we really break even.) You can’t put a price tag on joy, and they joy I felt hearing music on the far side of the yard all weekend was through the roof. And about that playlist from my niece’s party…have a listen if you like.

Switching cellphone companies. That’s a huge deal. From the mental acrobatics that accompany the inevitable intense internal “should I or shouldn’t I?” debate and the quick math about how much I’ll save, I ultimately embraced my senior citizenship and went all-in on the T-Mobile 55+ offer. I’m 55, so why shouldn’t I save $50 a month and get the new iPhone 13 Pro for a mere $200? The anguish about this transition has been disproportionate (no surprise to anyone who knows me) and now that I’ve taken the plunge (well, more like half-submerged myself in an ice bath) I think I’m just about in the clear…nothing more stressful than changing cellphone carriers…until I remember that when I finally do get the new phone up and running I still have to get a screen protector on straight and with no dust trapped beneath it. However backing up my XS has been excruciating thus far and if I can ever get my current phone content floating in the cloud (or get the device-to-device transfer to work) I’ll be able to port my number and say “Sayonara, AT&T. You’re welcome for all my money for all those years.” Pray for me.

Seething. Yep, I’ve been seething. Another mass shooting, at a 4th of July parade in a well-to do suburb (violence knows no boundaries)…all I have to say to the politicians out there is this: whatever you did to get control of every women’s uterus, do the same thing to get control of military-grade assault weapons and ammo. And do it now. There is no place outside of the home that we can confidently feel safe and that’s really fucking sad. And the media coverage is reprehensible. A lame attempt at sympathy as a means to pry the emotional door open in an attempt to get sensational details, about the shooter, about the carnage…disgusting, really. And it’s showing a really ugly side of Hoda Kotb. I think she might need to read Toxic Positivity. As smiley as she is on tv I can’t help but wonder if she’d mug you in a not-so-dark alley for the last loaf of the elusive marble rye. (Seinfeld reference, if you’re wondering.)

Seething, Part 2, Skimpflation. So yeah yeah yeah, prices are going up and packages are getting smaller…what used to be 16 oz. is now 14 and 14 is now 11. I get it. But nothing got my attention quicker that the big bags of ice dropping from 20 pounds to 16 and now cost 3.99/bag. I spent $8 on frozen water and it was barely enough to keep the full cooler chilled. I need my 20 pound bags. FFS. We’re skimping on life essentials and that’s where I need to draw the line.

Never a dull moment. Gotta fly—dentist appointment to start the day. Have a great week. See you Thursday.

And thanks, as always, for being here and giving me a little bit of your precious time. I appreciate it so much…love you too!