I heard a term that some teenagers used when they decided to give up their electronic devices for a month – “Offline October”. That’s what I’ve decided to call my time off before I start work again in just over a week.
Another new term I’m using is “Movie Matinee Monday”, since I’ve gone to see a movie the last two Mondays, while D’s working during the day. What shall I see tomorrow? Last Monday was “Bad Times at the El Royale”, starring Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo (in an amazing performance) and Jon Hamm. The movie is set at a hotel called the El Royale that straddles the Nevada/California border. The story is definitely on the darker side of film noir and that is nicely offset by some great singing by Cynthia.
Diana flew to Boston on Monday and was able to have dinner at Bricco in the North End. This was where we had planned to eat on Saturday before all the flight challenges. She returned to Dallas on Wednesday afternoon and sent me a text saying “gong to be a bit delayed”, along with this video. A car caught on fire right where she was trying to collect hers. After about an hour, she was able to retrieve the Passat and head on home.
Tim was in town for work on Thursday and we met him for dinner at a relatively new restaurant in Legacy West called Haywire. This is a Texas themed restaurant with 3 floors providing different options. The 3rd floor open air bar is described as having a Marfa theme. Marfa is a town in south Texas, close to Big Bend National Park, with a unique and eclectic artist community. The most interesting part of the bar is a full size airstream trailer with tables and chairs inside.
We enjoyed our dinner on the second floor and it was nice to catch up with Tim.
Alicia arrived home on Friday afternoon for the first time since leaving for college in June. The Ogans arrived for the weekend on Friday evening and Tim came over to hang out with everyone. We went from just the two of us in the big house to nine overnight on Friday. We had a very enjoyable night just hanging out and chatting.
For Saturday lunch we tried the Food Hall at Legacy West (right next to Haywire restaurant). The hall has about 20 very varied food vendors and lots of outdoor seating options to let us enjoy the first sunny, dry day in weeks. I really enjoyed my chicken tikka masala naan wrap and some samosas.
We thought the ladies were off for some shopping after lunch, until we received this picture. They decided that a nice bottle of half price rose champagne and steak tartare from Toulouse restaurant was a much better value than the workout attire they were looking at.
A quick respite at home and then it was time to head to Oak Cliff for dinner and a concert.
We ate at Nova, our new favourite pre-concert dinner stop. Everyone enjoyed their dinner and Anne commented that one could make a great meal out of a couple of side dishes – the broccoli, cauliflower, and mac n’ cheese are all great. I tried the chicken fried pork loin that is one of the signature dishes and was not disappointed. I have a decent sized portion of left overs waiting on me for dinner.
The concert at the Kessler was excellent. Big Sam’s Funky Nation opened with a high energy, crowd pleasing set. The ladies were all dancing in front of the stage and Sam invited them up to dance on the stage with him for the finale. Diana was singled out first and was a good sport, although the look on her face said she was quite nervous about what was in store. Here’s a short video with Diana, Anne, Kaitlin, and Alicia (left to right).
Here’s another video of Sam’s trombone on the Beatles “Come Together”.
It took a few songs for the Rebirth Brass Band to get warmed up and into their groove. They were in good form for several songs before we left for the long ride home. The Rebirth is perhaps the best known New Orleans brass band. I took Diana to see them at the Maple Leaf on our first night in New Orleans and was pleased to see that she enjoyed them so much.
Our friend Jens was having a 60th birthday party on Saturday evening and we were able to stop in for a bit on our way home from the concert. It was nice to see his son again – probably close to 20 years since I last saw him in San Jose. Glenda did a lovely job organizing food and decorating for the party.
Sunday began with a brunch that Alicia had organized for some of her friends. The Ogans participated for a short time and then had to head off to the airport.
I’m watching the Cowboys lose to the Redskins while writing this post – there’s still a lot of time for them to come back but they are not looking like the same team that had a big win over the Jaguars last week.
I finished a couple of books this week – a feature of my time off that I’m really enjoying. The first, “Less”, by Andrew Sean Greer, I found to be a very entertaining read. I liked these two descriptions of the Pulitzer prize winning book.
A scintillating satire of the American abroad, a rumination on time and the human heart, a bittersweet romance of chances lost, by an author The New York Times has hailed as “inspired, lyrical,” “elegiac,” “ingenious,” as well as “too sappy by half,” Less shows a writer at the peak of his talents raising the curtain on our shared human comedy.
“Less is the funniest, smartest and most humane novel I’ve read since Tom Rachman’s 2010 debut, The Imperfectionists….Greer writes sentences of arresting lyricism and beauty. His metaphors come at you like fireflies….Like Arthur, Andrew Sean Greer’s Less is excellent company. It’s no less than bedazzling, bewitching and be-wonderful.”
―New York Times Book Review
Here’s a typically entertaining passage as Less begins his adventures in Morocco:
“What does a camel love? I would guess nothing in the world. Not the sand that scours her, or the sun that bakes her, or the water she drinks like a teetotaler. Not sitting down, blinking her lashes like a starlet. not standing up, moaning in indignant fury as she manages her adolescent limbs. Not her fellow camels, to whom she shows the disdain of an heiress forced to fly coach. Not the humans who have enslaved her. Not the oceanic monotony of the dunes. Not the flavorless grass she chews, then chews again. Not the sun or the moon or the stars. And surely not the heavy American, a few pounds overweight, but not bad for his age, taller than most and top heavy, tipping from side to side as she carried this human, the Arthur Less, pointlessly across the Sahara.”
The second book, “The Reminders”, by Val Emmich, was an equally enjoyable read. I wasn’t sure about the story premise – thinking it might be a bit of a stretch and not something I would typically enjoy, but the folks at Interabang books were so positive about it that I decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did. Here’s a synopsis of the story from an online review:
“Grief-stricken , then again,over his partner Sydney’s death, Gavin sets fire to every reminder in the couple’s home before fleeing Los Angeles for New Jersey, where he hopes to find peace with the family of an old friend. Instead, he finds Joan.
Joan, the family’s ten-year-old daughter, was born Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory, or HSAM: the rare ability to recall every day of her life in cinematic detail. Joan has never met Gavin until now, but she did know his partner, and waiting inside her uncanny mind are startlingly vivid memories to prove it.
Gavin strikes a deal with Joan: in return for sharing her memories of Sydney, Gavin will help her win a songwriting contest she’s convinced will make her unforgettable. The unlikely duo set off on their quest until Joan reveals unexpected details about Sydney’s final months, forcing Gavin to question not only the purity of his past with Sydney but the course of his own immediate future.
Told in the alternating voices of these two irresistible characters, The Reminders is a hilarious and tender exploration of loss, memory, friendship, and renewal.”
I had planned a few activities on Wednesday, but couldn’t put this book down until it was finished. That rarely happens with me. The combination of the way the HSAM condition in the young character is described, and her desire to write a song for a competition in her father’s basement studio, kept me thoroughly engaged. There are only 30 people in the world that have been diagnosed with HSAM, and I remember watching a TV show where Marilu Henner demonstrated her ability to recall everything about every day in her life as if watching it on video.
I chuckled when reading this passage:
“In the kitchen, I fix myself a cocktail. Gin, Campari, sweet red vermouth: a Negroni, Syd’s drink of the moment. The fridge is empty, so I do without the orange rind.” Negroni is the cocktail that’s currently aging in my barrel and I typically serve it for McD with an orange twist.
Let’s finish out with a final taste of brass band music from the Lil’ Rascals Brass Band:
This just in – the Cowboys have tied the score with the Redskins at half time.