It’s when we get our first good look at the snowplow damage.
Now that I have extra time and fewer obligations (no job, no kids at home), I’ve been enjoying cooking more. I wouldn’t exactly say I “lose myself” in it, but I’ve been enjoying eating what I make a lot more, especially if it’s something new and different. In my opinion, a glass of wine or a bit of weed before dinner will enhance your savoring experience. Taste the flavors, enjoy them, eat SLOWLY.
I recently shared some soups and stews from New York Times Cooking. I have one more for you. It’s similar to the Tortellini Soup, but it adds chicken (so it’s heartier) and is made in the crockpot, rather than the Dutch Oven (Le Creuset). It’s easy and good. NYT recipe attached (for free). My only note would be to avoid “Muir Glen” canned tomatoes. They just don’t taste as good as some of the other brands.
For me, there was no greater growth experience than college. The college experience is like no other. The sheer number of new people and new ideas you’re exposed to in a short timeframe is bound to change even the most “set in their ways” 18-year old.
I was lucky my parents paid the bills and my college had no core requirements whatsoever, so I could take whatever classes I wanted—from poetry to Russian history. (Amazingly, I didn’t take a single science class.) Throw in my semester abroad, internships, guest speakers, drug experimentation, and a winter trip to the Soviet Union, and it really was a mind-expanding time for me.
Hanging out in college: my roommates Ann and Carla and other friends in our on-campus apartment in 1984 or 85. The three of us shared one bedroom, but we had a nice living room and a kitchen.
It’s sad that the liveaway college experience has become so expensive and debt-producing. It’s not fair. I think the four-year model needs to go. Three years of college is plenty, and would be significantly cheaper. “Uni” – as they call it in the UK – is only three years. I mean, maybe a few select majors (like Engineering) need four years, but everyone else (Liberal Arts, Fine Arts, Business, etc.) could be done in three.
Speaking of the college experience, we went to see One Love, the Bob Marley biopic, based on DanLovesFilm’s recommendation (American critics be damned) and I had fun. There are definitely some weaknesses in the script and I had a hard time understanding the Jamaican/Rastafarian accent, but the music is the music and it’s great. Marley is played by Kingsley Ben-Adir and he’s 🔥
Kingsley Ben-Adir as Bob Marley
So, GenX: I recommend you have yourself a cocktail or a weed gummy (or both) and go see One Love. You’ll have a good time jamming in your theater seat to one of our key college soundtracks.
Wow, tough prompt. There are different kinds of happiness. There’s contentment, relief, satisfaction, pure joy, thrill, etc. I was relieved when I woke up in my warm bed this morning and realized again (re-realized?) that someone I truly dislike is out of my life forever. Ahhhhh.
I’m content sitting here looking at my beautiful December delivery from BloomsyBox.com. I’ll be satisfied when we finish our Christmas puzzle, but – horror or horrors – it appears that a piece may have disappeared into the vaccum cleaner. Lifting up my voice with others in song is pure joy, especially when I feel like our choir is really nailing it and the congregation responds. Travel can be thrilling. My very first glimpse of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris from the taxi on the way to the hotel was a thrill. There it was – the real thing.
My first glimpse of the Arc de Triomphe from a Paris taxi was a thrill. Now that I look at photo, I’m remembering our driver was named Clovis and was French-Haitian. He had some interesting objects hanging from his rear view mirror.
But there’s nothing quite like laughter – tears in your eyes laughter – to really make you feel happy. Here’s where I admit that I enjoy smoking weed, always have. I have so many great memories of smoking a joint and giggling with my dear departed friend Carla. Looking into her big beautiful eyes and just cracking up about something. I’m not saying I need weed to laugh helplessly, but it does tend to have that effect on me. Most recently, I smoked (well, vaped) and watched a really funny Netflix stand-up comedy special by Pete Holmes (whom I’d never heard of before) and laughed out loud. White, straight, male stand-up comedians can go either way for me – I either hate them or I love them. Holmes has a modern, silly, interesting male perspective and goes a bit deep on things like God and atheism. Plus, he’s got some absolutley hysterical GenX bits, including one about the old “See and Say” toy we all had. Check it out. High or not. Hopefully, you’ll LOL like I did.
I have a screened-in porch, which I grew to appreciate during the pandemic. During those first three summers, I lugged an inflatable mattress out there because I wanted to have a comfortable place to read and smoke weed. I called it my flop bed. This year, I bought an actual chaise. It’s not quite as comfortable as the mattress, but it looks better.
Screens are key in New England due to the mosquitoes.
I like the nature sounds and tree view on my porch.
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