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  • Personal Review: second place – a novel, by Rachel Cusk

    I’m getting back into the swing of reading. Like all things in life, if you want to good at something, you have to make it a habit. Make time for it, work at it, do it even when you don’t want to. I’m getting back into reading shape. I read Ezra Klein’s essay “I Didn’t Want It  to Be True, but the Medium Really Is the Message,” and I agree with him that the internet, and especially my smartphone, has dampen my ability to focus and read a book. Hence why I feel like I have to work at reading.

    At the start of the Summer, I took the kid to The Strand, so we could load up on books while on vacation. Though I didn’t go there looking for it, I came across Rachel Cusk’s newest novel – second place. I became a big fan of Cusk’s writing several years ago when I read her Outline trilogy, which left me feeling inspired to write again. So, when I see anything new by her, I gobble it up.

    The story of second place is straightforward; the narrator, M, invites a painter, L, to stay at her and her husband’s guesthouse during Covid. L isn’t a particularly warm or friendly person, and his interactions with M, M’s husband and daughter end up acting as a catalyst for change and introspection.

    What I enjoyed about the novel, which I find true for Cusk’s writing, is that there is such a wonderful serene sense of just pondering life; asking questions of oneself, and looking for answers and discoveries. Her writing is almost stream of consciences, but without all the pretension that can come with that style. The narrator, M, takes in life, and remembers things and stories, and she also describes her feelings about the development of her relationship with her husband and daughter. M is doing what I do with my life, and I hope other people do as well, which is I think about the people and events that have transpired, and how it all has affected us. Not in a narcissistic way, but more is a sense of awe, gratitude even, for the ability to have a life with people we care about, and a tiny bit of resignation and loss for the people that aren’t there anymore.

    (Say! If you are a person who finds these words which I have strung together entertaining, please take a moment to like, comment or share this blog. You’re high school English teacher will thank you!)

  • Premier League Week 1: Tottenham Won, and some other stuff happened…

    The one advantage I had with being sick this weekend was that I was able to watch the opening matches of the Premier League.

    And I will reiterate yet again, that I know nothing about the Premier League, other than what I have picked up over the past five years of watching, which really isn’t that much, being that I follow Tottenham Hotspur, and don’t pay attention to much else in the league.

    At the conclusion of Week One, Tottenham is sitting on top of the table, and I’m going to enjoy that as much as I can for this week. Yes, Spurs did beat up on Southampton, but I would like to point out that Kane and Son were pretty silent in the match, which isn’t a bad thing, and may have been by design. Kulusevski, on the other hand, looked amazing and completely in control of the pitch – putting the ball where he wanted and setting the pace of the game. Now, Tottenham did have a slow start, and gave up a goal early, but unlike last season’s team, starting out in a hole didn’t seem to dim their aggressiveness at all. In fact, that early set back seemed to have inspired the team to play harder.

    With Chelsea coming up this Sunday, I will bet that Son and Kane will play a much more aggressive role. From what I understand about Conte as a manager, he will want to send a message to the League, and beating Chelsea at home would do that. It’s an early test for them, and could set the attitude for the first half of the season depending on the outcome.

    Other than that…

    Man City seems to have signed an honest to god Viking to play on their team. Erling Haaland is from the land of the ice and snow. Yet again, it does seem unfair that Man City can keep adding these dominate players, year after year, which makes the League feel like a two-team race between them and Liverpool. But, I cannot deny watching Haaland play was impressive.

    My dark horse team of the season will be Brentford again. No real reason, I just like the fact that it’s a scrappy team working their way up. I was a little sad that they lost Eriksen to Man United in the off-season, but I also knew that he had a high value, and little Brentford wasn’t going to be able to pay those prices. My hope is that they will finish in the top ten.

    On to Week Two.

    (By the way, if this blog is enjoyable to you, like a well-worn tweed blazer with elbow patches, then take a moment to like, share, or leave a comment. It will make this anglophile very happy. Chip-chip! Cheerio-o!)

  • I’m Done with Summer

    Yup, I hit the “I’m done with Summer moment” this weekend. We are currently in our third heatwave in NYC, which makes being in the City pretty unbearable. We have been inside with the a/c, which after awhile begins to feel unnatural and like we are stuck in a bubble. Then added on top of that, I got a summer cold. (We took plenty of Covid tests and they all came back negative.) This all culminated on Sunday when I uttered this demand to the gods, “I’m ready for Fall!”

    This declaration seems to arrive every year at the exact same time; the first week of August. Just like how I will ask for the end of Winter during the first week of February. It’s a pattern and also the rhythm that the clock of my life runs on.

    Yet, I read that from here on out, every year, Summer will start to get hotter and longer, and depending on where you live, you’ll either see more or less rain. Unless we do something, the hospitable human environment that has supported the development of civilization for the past 10,000 years is coming to a close. At least that’s what Neil deGrasse Tyson said.

    I know that’s a dark place to go, but I just want to put on a sweater cuz it’s cold out.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Farmer’s Markets, Premier League Starts, and Summer

    (Don’t jock my style!)

    If you were to ask me how old I feel, I would say 25 even on a bad day. But, there are a few things that do, unfortunately, remind me that I am a middle-aged man. The fact that my hair is gray, that I have enough ear and nose hair that I have to trim it, and I am balding. The other factor that most comes into play is my desire to go to a farmer’s market early on a Saturday morning. Not just a desire to go to one, but an actual level of excitement to be there. I think we’ll hit the one up in Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow one (weather permitting), and I hear there is a pickle vendor there, which makes all the difference. The real honest goal is to get out of the City, but to also get more fruits and vegetables in our diet. The person in our household pushing for this is our daughter. The wife suggested we hit up a farmer’s market as a way to meet the kid’s request, and now I am looking forward to getting a bunch of produce. I guess there are worse things to get excited about in middle age.

    The Premier League starts today with Crystal Palace v Arsenal! Hopefully, and I am biased, Arsenal will go down in flames, as that will fill my Hotspur supporting heart with so much joy! Tottenham’s team has stayed pretty much together in the off season, so I am expecting a solid run from this club, especially with Conte in charge from the get-go. I have read all the predictions, and it seems like the whole world is either picking Man City or Liverpool to win the league, BUT just about everybody has the Spurs down as third or fourth on the table, so to me, that says there is hope, if nothing else, that Tottenham can make a run at it. And let’s not forget that this season there is Champions League play, and that break in the middle for the World Cup. This is going to be a crazy football season, and I am sure I will be writing about all of it.

    Go Away Summer! I’m tired of your shit!

    (Say! If you enjoyed the refreshing oddness and thirst-quenching blandness of this blog, please show some love and like, share, or comment on this post. It does a body good!)

  • Blog, Journal, and Fiction Updates

    Some funny things happened on the blog the other day. The first was that someone, or maybe a bot, sat on the home page and looked at it 55 times. It was great for my paltry stats, which if I am lucky, I will get four views/visitors a day. So, one person looking at my page 55 times was cool, but at the same time, if you were a person, what the hell were you looking for? The home page is pretty basic, and not very informative. Were you a person that I know? Were you looking for your name? Odds are it was a fluke, a bot, or something that wasn’t human related. I mean, who looks at a home page 55 times over the course of an hour? Anyway, just thought I’d get that off my chest.

    As for the journal, I have been having issues with it. The issue I speak of is writing in it. This is clearly an after effect of getting out of the habit of writing. Over the past two days, I have had opportunities to take a half hour and write in it, but I have passed. I came up with some excuse of why I should put it off, and I did. I wanted to blame the Summer schedule I have with the kid, as I am with her all day now, but that excuse comes down the blaming the kid, and well, that makes me a shitty parent. (I don’t want to be a shitty parent.) No, no this one is on me. Writing was easier when the kid was in school, that’s a fact, but back in the Covid days when we were all up on each other, I was able to make the time, and that also is a fact. I need to make the time, and on a small level, that annoys me. Making time, means that it’s work. And if work annoys me, then that means I’ve become lazy again. Hence, why I am annoyed.

    And if I haven’t been writing in the journal, then I clearly haven’t been working on the fiction. I got four stories that are still out with magazines. I am expecting to hear back from them in the next month. I’m not trying to be a downer, but odds are they will be rejected. What I want to do is go out and submit to more places, but I am coming around to the idea that I might want to do another round of rewrites. That will take time. I have a plan in my mind of what I want to do, and where I can tighten things up. But, again, I need to make the time.

    (Say! If this blog tickles you in a fancy way, please bestow me an appreciated like, share, or comment. It will make the bot-gods happy, and keep me on the right side of the River Styx!)