April 19, 2021 Edition
Just two weeks ago the spring was upon us a couple weeks ago and life was seemingly new: COVID looked like it was on its way out sort of, Easter was upon us, the word glorious was everywhere. Last week I found myself wishing for a holiday because lawd nothing is happening. It’s like Groundhog Day (the movie, not the bizarre celebration of marmoting prognosticating) in that every day is exactly like the next, over and over, with no markers of anything moving forward except my email inboxes growing. With that in mind, let’s try to find a couple things that feel at least a little novel about last week.
best re-start of a bingewatch: Burn Notice
god, I love this show so much. I loved it when it was first airing and I love it again, my 3rd time restarting it, which means I’ll have a solid command of the first season by Friday. It’s tone is absolutely perfect: a little smug, a little clever, a little bold, a lot of action, beautiful backdrop of Miami, and freakin’ Bruce Campbell. Could there be a more perfect 1-hour drama? And then there’s either Cagney or Lacey (I think Cagney) in the person of Sharon Gless, as Michael’s mother, that takes it to the next level. With series regulars Fiona, the “trigger happy ex-girlfriend” and Campbell’s Sam, a retired FBI agent, and a gloriously quirky revolving door of recurring characters like Barry, the Money Launderer, and a host of dorky FBI agents assigned to keep an eye on Michael, there’s no way I can watch just one of these episodes.
My most favorite part is the narration that Michael, the main character, does to give a sense of context and move the story froward. It’s a bunch of spy “tips” that are, frankly, insane but end up being hilarious as posed because the tone is very much one that Julia Child or Bob Vila would strike on their actual how-to shows. Best line that I’ve heard so far: When booby-trapping your house, it’s important to remember to keep it simple. Thanks Mikey, my boy.
Maybe this time I’ll actually get to the answer of who burned Michael. I’ve not even come remotely close…here’s one way to reverse the groundhog day syndrome forever.
best chore completed last week: Car Wash!
What is it about automatic car washes that just feels delightfully wrong? Is it all of those shimmying belts running over the car, the riding in neutral on those rails that move you forward, or your dog in the backseat thinking it’s the apocalypse? I vote “all,” PLUS the whole behind-the-scenes nature that makes it feel like a slightly illegal activity and I’m for it.
Plus my car was clean for, like, three whole days so…win.
best adulting completed: Big payment on the credit card
I’ll be honest, nothing in my youth prepared me for the full-on suckage of paying bills. It’s monotonous and never-ending and I’m always feeling like I’m simultaneously filling holes during the day only to find that I’ve been digging holes in my sleep. Like Groundhog Day. So, despite the actual physical pain I felt about it, I paid a BIG (for me) chunk of a payment on the old credit card. Oh, the things I could’ve done with that money had I not been fiscally responsible.
Amazon, I’ll be back next month. Not to worry.
pastry of the week: donuts
AND I FEEL NO SHAME ABOUT THAT. I ate a bunch of donuts this week and you know what? Loved every second of it. There is a real donut dichotomy, though, in that the absolute best donuts are either truly wonderful old-fashioneds in all of their dense cakey goodness OR light and fluffy, airy, yeasted donuts with their delicious melange of icings. Obviously, I get both but if I was ever forced to choose…it’d be a dark day, indeed.
Honestly, this is all I’m able to muster today. I need a new way of doing this because looking back at whole weeks might be my problem: a data collection issue. As this week burns along, I’ll jot down notes in the moment in the hopes that I figure out something truly interesting to say.
In the meantime, it’s only about six weeks to MEMORIAL DAY.
My Tent on the Beach 