This month’s focuses
The list of hobbies, events, media, and more that I’ve been focused on this month:
General
Welcome to the second of an infinite series of my life updates! I’m sure you’re incredibly excited to hear what major changes have happened in the past thirty days, give or take. In a way, I’m kind of excited about writing these posts. On paper, writing a hip, bloggy post once a month is a short task with a far-out “deadline;” but, it also highlights how quickly a month can go by with seemingly low significance. That’s what this is about: finding real, overlooked significance in the apparently mundane, and building my creative writing skills as I go.
Movie of the Month
Let’s start this off with a bang: my favorite new movie (to me) of the month. I guess it doesn’t have to be new, but my record these days is probably twenty-to-one new movies to old. November’s movie of the month goes to … Aftersun (2022) - ( JustWatch - RT - IMDB ) This movie was fantastic. It pulls out all the stops for a two-person play. The writer, Charlotte Wells, highlights the struggles of single-parenting, reflects on the complexities of mental health disorders with respect to inheritance, childhood wonder & independence, and she accentuates this great story through creative camerawork. 9/10, would recommend.
November’s Events
We celebrated Thanksgiving in Astoria, OR. We rented a waterside cottage and cooked a traditional (to my Southeastern US family) Thanksgiving feast with one of our close friends (who infused fantastic Puerto Rican dishes into the event). It was great! We walked around town and bounced between a few breweries (Fort George and Reach Break tie for best beer in town), caught the sunset on the water, and woke up to wonderful birding and a sea lion sighting from the front porch of the shack. Cheers to you friends and family.
Books
Let’s not make this any more painful than it has to be: I started one new book, and I’m forty pages in. The book is God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens. Eventually, I will finish Naked by David Sedaris. I only have a few dozen pages left, but I’ve left it sitting out and it’s starting to look stale and unappetizing. It still would feel great to finish it up before end of year.
Hobbies
Microgreens
These posts are meant to keep me honest; the same batch of microgreens that I planted last month are stil under the grow lights today. Those poor things are pre-teens by now: tall, skinny, terrible posture, and bitter. Maybe this batch will be a good outdoor transplant as a cover crop for the garden over the winter. Bring back the nitrogen!
Kombucha
Another few batches brewed! Kombucha has to be the most forgiving hobby I have. My horribly unsteady hands can pour -25% to +25% off target for any of the core ingredients and it will still be Kombucha. Leave it in the pantry for a month? No problem! Stronger flavor. It also scales extremely easily. Grab a new jar, split off some excess SCOBY, and boom. Speaking of SCOBY, I’m also very happy with the way mine developed after having been started from scratch. Hey, let me know if you ever want a slice to start your own batch!
Overall Wrap-up
This month was great: lots of good food, lots of good company, and a whole lot to be thankful for. I hope you’re willing to stick with me for another month; I hear the next one will be wild. 🤙