The Myth & The Majesty

1. So I finally jumped on the "Stranger Things" bandwagon. After a week and now 1.22 seasons in, I'm trying to learn to pace myself so that, among other things, I'll stop being followed by dark tentacle creatures through dreams. 2. I appreciate Black Hills winters greatly. 3. Still wouldn't argue with a little snow, though. A little. 4. Looking at a weird week ahead. We'll see how it all goes.

A year ago, I gave a not-quite-a-review for a book. I read Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore in a Denver hotel room while preparing for a life that ... as it turned out, never quite happened. It was a weird place and time in my universe and on some level, I wondered if my deep, abiding love for that book was inextricably linked to that almost-life. Six months later, I read it again. Turns out this was a book that had nothing to do with where I was. I still loved it. Then, something crossed my radar in September. Robin Sloan , the hilarious and brilliant author of Penumbra , had a newly released novel. ... About bread. Kind of. I finally acquired it last week, and then this week I opened it up. And the next day, I was done. Here's my review: Go read it . The thing that gets me about Sloan's books as a whole is that they are rather hard to describe. They're not directly mysteries or love stories or anything quite that easily classified (well, not yet...

I'm finally hitting that thing on my to-do list that I've been casually delaying for, oh, about six months now. Of course, it immediately went awry. Like most of you, I carry a smartphone that at any given point in time contains hundreds of photos I've barely perused since they first appeared on the screen. Sure, every once in awhile I'll thumb through them, trying to remember what day that hike was or when exactly that aunt visited, and occasionally I'll trip over something oddly memorable. Like this. Or the day I took this. Or ... Seriously, how many cat pictures do I have?    This one caught me a tad off guard. And of course, there are the food photos. I seem to be a digital hoarder. Well, no longer. In the midst of my data cleanse, after I'd pulled everything from the last two years off my memory card and while I was sorting through it, I got The Message. Card Corrupted. Formatting Required....

1. When you come across a bison in the woods, it is every bit as unnerving as you'd expect. 2. I moved many things that I should have thrown away. On the other hand, my donation pile is only getting bigger. 3. Like many, I've been thinking back on 9/11 and where I was that day (early morning band practice), which led to a strange trip through the things I do and do not specifically remember. I remember the Gulf War, although not when it started (I was in first grade). The explosion of Columbia  was a huge deal, as I was in class at an engineering university. (We watched the coverage all day in the dorm common room.) Bin Laden's death (while I was packing for my summer). But what I've realized this week is how many people -- kids, in my book -- I know that have no memories of any of these things. Kids who worked for me were born after 9/11 or Columbia. Kids who have memories of those don't remember Columbine -- and more to the point, no memory of what scho...

"This wasn't how this year was supposed to go." I don't know exactly how many times I've said that in recent history, but do me a favor. Keep going and read that sentence again with my intended tone. It's not a whine -- it's a slightly bewildered but hopeful phrase, as though what became reality might actually be an improvement on what was expected. "This wasn't how this year was supposed to go." I've had a lot of catch-up conversations in recent history that have started with, "So have you moved yet?" Each time I get to back up in the year and fill whoever it is in on exactly how the last few months have progressed, and each time I'm a little more baffled. Yes, I'm still on hold (as far as I know). Yes, I'm looking for other jobs in the meantime. No, my patience isn't infinite. No, I don't actually mind staying in Rapid City. In fact, the summer has been quite fun. This wasn't how this year wa...

This is a broken car door handle. It's been a thorn in my side for a few years now. Why? Well, at one point I would have said it was too expensive to fix and therefore it was very low priority. Recently, however, I needed to replace my front brakes. Let's talk about things that are too expensive. Egads. This time, though, I realized I had the time to take care of it myself, and after a fair bit of research (that is, watching videos on YouTube) I realized I could probably do my brakes myself. A few parts, a couple hours, and voila -- brakes! Which is what brings me here today. You see, I'm not really a DIY person (whether that was car stuff or other stuff) and there are a lot of things out there that I used to only purchase. Over time, however, I've realized how much of it I can take care of myself in a shorter time for a lot less money, whether it's fixing something or making something from scratch. I'll admit, I have an  unfair advantage : ...