More rain. I’ve had to take excitement where I can find it, even if that meant going to Sainsbury’s for groceries. While we were there, I took a look at the book section and was struck by the fact that, for all the books there, there were really only a handful of cover designs, the various elements appearing in various permutations. The fonts for author name and book title were limited, the background designs all very similar. I understand the attraction of the familiar, but the end result was that they were interchangeable and none of them stood out.
Back home, I took a look in on the live cams. from the volcano in Iceland, just in time to watch a snow bunting in front of one of them. The last time I saw a snow bunting was in the Cairngorms, I think, or possibly somewhere above Drumochter, so a fun little spot. Not quite as exciting as the red kites of Henley, but you can’t have everything.
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I started watching a programme that’s been around for a while but is new to me, The Blacklist. It’s old school in that it follows what was the standard US network TV format of 22 episodes per season, each of 42 minutes plus ads to make it up to an hour. The premise is ridiculous and it suffers from ‘criminal of the week’ syndrome. There are echoes of lots of other shows revolving around the FBI including, for some reason, The X-Files and Millenium although there is no supernatural element,. The two main leads, played by James Spader and Megan Boone, are engaging, and there is a cast of thousands of solid actors involved.
I doubt I’ll stick it out for all of the 160 episodes made so far, but you never know.
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Back in March 2019 when I retired, I made several posts here musing on what I might do, including this one:
I wrote there: I have no plans to look for a job. That’s not to say I won’t look at work opportunities, just so long as they don’t look like a job. My guiding principle is that I am in no hurry to make any decisions at all; my immediate priority is chilling out.
I also wrote a couple of things that I intended to do but, for one reason or another, I haven’t done. I haven’t reacquainted myself with a fretboard or walked coastal paths. Covid made a big dent in the latter, but I don’t really have any excuse for the former. The work/job thing has been a mantra for me for two years–happy to work, don’t want a job. It grew a bit too: if I did have to find a job, I have no interest in climbing greasy poles or management positions; been there, done that, got the pension.
Anyway, the point I’m meandering towards is that the writing and revision I’ve been doing is definitely work, but doesn’t feel like a job. Long may that continue.
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Music: I haven’t done a random LP from the shelves selection for a while. Maria Muldaur’s first album was released in 1973. I think I first heard it in ’77 and I bought it late in 1979. Midnight At The Oasis was the big hit of the album, but I like all of it. This was originally recorded by Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks.
Maria Muldaur : Walking’ One And Only
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