With Netflix, I’ve watched a lot more TV than movies, but in 2021 I still got in an average of just under 2 movies a month, ranging from the absurd to the surprisingly good. Some highlights:
The Muppets – To save the now dilapidated Muppet Theatre, the Muppets must reunite to fundraise via a telethon. Scattered across the world and out of practice, will they be able to put their show together in time? The plot is simple and contrived to showcase classic Muppet songs, but it’s funny in a self-aware way and features some fun celebrity cameos alongside the Muppets. [The sequel Muppets Most Wanted suffers a bit from the sequel syndrome where the plot becomes just a little too wacky, but it still has its moments and it’s where the evil Kermit meme comes from.]
To All the Boys: Always and Forever – The conclusion of the To All the Boys trilogy, this movie is affected the most from the decision to set the movies in Portland, OR instead of Virginia where the books took place. While the first two books/movies mainly featured Lara Jean’s high school and the nursing home where she volunteered, which could plausibly be located in most places in the US, the third installment is about choosing a college, so basically every location in the book had to be changed for the movie. Because of that, large portions of the book were altered, but overall it’s still a nice finish to the trilogy.
Onward – A fairly standard quest movie with lovely animation, a solid soundtrack, fun characters, and a gelatinous cube. With one chance to temporarily see their deceased father again, brothers Barley and Ian must work together to survive a D&D-style adventure. It’s not earthshattering, but after a string of sequels (excepting Coco), it was nice to see something new from Pixar.
Cats – Yes, the 2019 CGI/live action monstrosity or whatever you’d like to call it. Where do I even begin. There’s a great hour-long video that breaks down a lot of the technical and musical issues with this movie, but to sum things up: the star casting was a problem and changes to the script completely undermined the entire point of the original musical. Apparently the actors were told they didn’t need to sing in time at all, which led to Rebel Wilson’s very messy number, Laurie Davidson’s excruciating feature song, and whatever it was that Ian McKellen ended up doing.1 On the other hand, Steven McRae as Skimbleshanks has to perform his eponymous song in 13/8 (subdivided into 3+3+3+2+2) and so he does it exactly in time and it works, unlike a lot of the rest of the movie.
1I have no problems with any of these actors, just their extremely questionable performances in Cats.
Little Women – I enjoyed this adaptation (the 2019 movie) of the novel. It captured the feel of the characters and plot well and didn’t overdramatize or overcomplicate things.
Labyrinth – Again, a somewhat straightforward quest plot in which Sarah has to make her way through a labyrinth to save her baby brother Toby from Jareth the Goblin King after wishing Toby gone. The characters and setting are memorable, helping this film to earn its status as a cult classic.
The Nightmare Before Christmas – Jack Skellington, citizen and hero of Halloween Town, is dissatisfied with the same old Halloween routines. Looking for something new, he discovers Christmas and is determined to celebrate it, with Halloween Town’s own spin on it. The soundtrack (instrumentals and songs) is very strong, and the stop-motion animation, done in 1993, still looks great. Only one question remains after watching it: is this a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie?
The Rocky Horror Picture Show – The science fiction musical parody is arguably best viewed live, but this was an interesting introduction to the movie. It’s . . . bizarre.
And very briefly: Hook is good in places and the cast includes Robin Williams and Dante Basco (the voice of Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender). The Mitchells vs. The Machines was overall pretty good but felt like it was trying too hard at times. Raya and the Last Dragon – great animation, good characters, average plot. Frozen II was a pretty solid sequel and I enjoyed “Lost in the Woods.” I have mixed feelings about Toy Story 4; for what it was, it was well done, but in some ways it opened up questions that didn’t need to be asked.
I also finished Star Trek: The Next Generation, wrapped up a final half season of Schitt’s Creek, watched all of Kim’s Convenience, saw the latest season of The Great British Bake Off, caught up with Grey’s Anatomy by watching 9 more seasons of hospital drama, went back to watch Star Trek: The Original Series, watched the She-Ra reboot She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and started Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Saturday, January 29, 2022
Sunday, January 23, 2022
2021 Life of an Engineer book awards
It was another quiet year for reading, but I did end up finishing 17 books, for an average of 1 or 2 per month. As the clearest indication that the pandemic had finally gotten to my brain, I read the 4 main books in . . . the Twilight Saga. I did not read them when the books and movies first came out, but I thought I’d see if they were really as bad as people now claim. (Spoiler: they aren’t, but they’re not good either.)
Best nonfiction
Light: Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting (5th edition) by Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, and Paul Fuqua. In this (again) uncontested category is an instructive guide to lighting for photographers based on the physics of light. It doesn’t give you step by step directions to light a vase or your Instagrammed breakfast, but it explains why and how you might want to light something a certain way depending on where it is, what it’s made of, and what you want it to look like. Informative and well written, with plenty of example photos.
Best fiction
Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan. This last book of the “Crazy Rich . . .” trilogy picks up 2 years after China Rich Girlfriend (and 4 years after Crazy Rich Asians) with the Young family fortune at stake after Nick’s grandmother has a heart attack. It’s as ridiculous as the previous two books, and is overall a fun read. Several threads from the earlier books get tied up, and it’s a satisfying ending to the trilogy.
[Runners up – Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Similar stories of unmarried daughters looking (or not) for love in early 19th century England while dealing with their dysfunctional families, gossipy neighbors, and various vapid acquaintances. Having made it through my entire public school and college career without reading any Austen, I ended up listening to Persuasion (the Spotify recording by Cynthia Erivo) and reading Pride and Prejudice in 2021. I was pleasantly surprised that both were better than I expected.]
Best YA fiction
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix. This was an interesting read. It takes place in an alternate 1983 London where a group of magical booksellers keep watch over the city, making sure the myths and monsters of the Old World don’t intrude into the New. While the right-handed deal with the intellectual side of things, the left-handed patrol and fight in the field. When the booksellers (left-handed) Merlin and his sister (right-handed) Vivian find that their jobs intersect with Susan Arkshaw’s search for her father, the three must figure out who Susan’s father is and what he (and Susan) has to do with recent Old World activity threating to disrupt day to day life in London.
Best science fiction
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin. Unrelated to the above. I’ve read very little non-YA science fiction by female authors and Le Guin’s works are classics, so I finally picked up The Left Hand of Darkness. It has a D&D adventure/Star Trek exploring strange new worlds feel to it as it describes the Terran Genly Ai’s first contact with the planet Gethen and his quest to convince them to join the Ekumen, a United Federation-type body where the Gethenians will be able to share in the knowledge of the other planets in the Ekumen. Ai’s experiences are interspersed with stories and lore from Gethen that build on the world that Ai discovers. This might be my pick for the best book I read in 2021, and I’ll leave it at that.
Most vampires
And the award for the Most Vampires goes to . . . the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn). [Warning: Spoilers ahead.] If you somehow don’t already know, Twilight is about Bella Swan falling in love with the vampire Edward Cullen, choosing him over the werewolf Jacob Black, and the 2,000 pages of drama that ensues. It’s actually not the worst thing I’ve read, and my main complaint is that Bella might be the most boring character in the history of characters. For vast swaths of the novels, her defining characteristics appear to be 1) she’s really clumsy and 2) she’s really pale. She otherwise seems to have virtually no hobbies, treats her human friends horribly whenever she deigns to spend any time with them at all, and generally whiles away her life cooking for her father Charlie and pining after Edward. If you can get over that, the plot isn’t awful and the unfolding of the vampire/werewolf lore and the action scenes are pretty interesting.
Best nonfiction
Light: Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting (5th edition) by Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, and Paul Fuqua. In this (again) uncontested category is an instructive guide to lighting for photographers based on the physics of light. It doesn’t give you step by step directions to light a vase or your Instagrammed breakfast, but it explains why and how you might want to light something a certain way depending on where it is, what it’s made of, and what you want it to look like. Informative and well written, with plenty of example photos.
Best fiction
Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan. This last book of the “Crazy Rich . . .” trilogy picks up 2 years after China Rich Girlfriend (and 4 years after Crazy Rich Asians) with the Young family fortune at stake after Nick’s grandmother has a heart attack. It’s as ridiculous as the previous two books, and is overall a fun read. Several threads from the earlier books get tied up, and it’s a satisfying ending to the trilogy.
[Runners up – Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Similar stories of unmarried daughters looking (or not) for love in early 19th century England while dealing with their dysfunctional families, gossipy neighbors, and various vapid acquaintances. Having made it through my entire public school and college career without reading any Austen, I ended up listening to Persuasion (the Spotify recording by Cynthia Erivo) and reading Pride and Prejudice in 2021. I was pleasantly surprised that both were better than I expected.]
Best YA fiction
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix. This was an interesting read. It takes place in an alternate 1983 London where a group of magical booksellers keep watch over the city, making sure the myths and monsters of the Old World don’t intrude into the New. While the right-handed deal with the intellectual side of things, the left-handed patrol and fight in the field. When the booksellers (left-handed) Merlin and his sister (right-handed) Vivian find that their jobs intersect with Susan Arkshaw’s search for her father, the three must figure out who Susan’s father is and what he (and Susan) has to do with recent Old World activity threating to disrupt day to day life in London.
Best science fiction
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin. Unrelated to the above. I’ve read very little non-YA science fiction by female authors and Le Guin’s works are classics, so I finally picked up The Left Hand of Darkness. It has a D&D adventure/Star Trek exploring strange new worlds feel to it as it describes the Terran Genly Ai’s first contact with the planet Gethen and his quest to convince them to join the Ekumen, a United Federation-type body where the Gethenians will be able to share in the knowledge of the other planets in the Ekumen. Ai’s experiences are interspersed with stories and lore from Gethen that build on the world that Ai discovers. This might be my pick for the best book I read in 2021, and I’ll leave it at that.
Most vampires
And the award for the Most Vampires goes to . . . the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn). [Warning: Spoilers ahead.] If you somehow don’t already know, Twilight is about Bella Swan falling in love with the vampire Edward Cullen, choosing him over the werewolf Jacob Black, and the 2,000 pages of drama that ensues. It’s actually not the worst thing I’ve read, and my main complaint is that Bella might be the most boring character in the history of characters. For vast swaths of the novels, her defining characteristics appear to be 1) she’s really clumsy and 2) she’s really pale. She otherwise seems to have virtually no hobbies, treats her human friends horribly whenever she deigns to spend any time with them at all, and generally whiles away her life cooking for her father Charlie and pining after Edward. If you can get over that, the plot isn’t awful and the unfolding of the vampire/werewolf lore and the action scenes are pretty interesting.
Sunday, January 16, 2022
The Year in Ann Arbor [2021]
Well, “year 2 of the pandemic” wasn’t what anyone wanted to hear after 2020, but here we are. For a couple blissful weeks in July, it looked like we might be able to slowly start reducing Covid restrictions thanks to vaccines and declining cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, then along came the delta variant, followed closely by omicron.
January was a quiet month for me. I went on a winter adventure for the sake of photographs and walked over 8 miles in snowy weather. It was completely worth it. Otherwise, I hung around my apartment, cross stitched for the first time since 2013, played the library’s special pandemic winter version of the Summer Game (aptly called the Winter Game), organized four years of research files, and started watching Kim’s Convenience on Netflix.
In February I worked on my big Acadia National Park cross stitch project and (re)discovered audiobooks and podcasts as a good side activity for cross stitching. I used to listen to audiobooks on cassette tapes, but I never could get into podcasts because I’d either be doing something, get distracted, and stop paying attention to the podcast or not be doing something, get distracted by the need to do something, and stop the podcast. Selections for February included Jane Eyre, Persuasion, and the Office Ladies podcast (an episode by episode recap and behind the scenes look at The Office). With my first paper (finally) accepted and published, I began working on and finalizing simulations for my next paper.
As the semester went on and the university continued transitioning back to in person classes and activities, during March all students in on campus housing, including grad students, were required to participate in weekly asymptomatic Covid testing. I strategically scheduled my tests for the same morning engineering would give out free donuts on North Campus so I could pick up a donut on my way back to my apartment. With my bike still out of action with a flat tire, I hiked the trails around my apartment for the 94,858th time. To celebrate one year of the pandemic, I gave in to the likely pandemic-induced brain melt and requested Twilight from the library.
April turned out to be one of my more eventful months of pandemic life. Although Tax Day 2021 was delayed, I filed in April because I had no reason not to. MLS and the New England Revolution also started up their 26th season, and I got my bike tire tube replaced (it was punctured by a metal wire, likely in a gutter masquerading as a bike lane), began the saga known as writing my second manuscript, finished the Acadia cross stitch, and received my first Covid vaccine (Pfizer).
With the weather warming up in May, I continued hiking as usual and also took my bike on an extended ride down the Border to Border trail into Ypsilanti. When a friend from Cornell was in Michigan to visit family, I met up with them at the arboretum for my first in-person social activity in months. Other notable goings-on: baking a carrot cake, finishing Star Trek: The Next Generation, watching soccer.
I kicked off summer in Ann Arbor on the second day of June by baking some quintessential summer staples, pumpkin cranberry bread and pumpkin muffins. At the beginning of the month, I staked out the peony garden, and that was followed by a hunt for periodic cicadas. Midmonth, the AADL Summer Game started, I checked in with Cornell ChemE at my virtual 5th reunion, and I worked on the incredibly tedious tasks of making manuscript figures and compiling the world’s longest Supporting Information section. Later in June, I baked the famous Doubletree cookies, then while on Reddit, read a post that discussed Dungeons & Dragons, wondered how exactly D&D worked, remembered a blog post from years ago about Critical Role (an internet show in which voice actors play D&D), and started in on Critical Role’s second campaign. Similarly to podcasts, it’s a great cross stitch side activity because you don’t really need to watch half a dozen people sit around a table and talk for four hours straight, but it’s an entertaining background for the repetitive nature of cross stitch.
The back and forth editing process with my advisor started on my manuscript in July. Thanks to the aforementioned vaccines, I attended outdoor church for the first time since the pandemic began, and the library reopened for browsing. The lab had its second virtual defense, I stopped by Art Fair to watch the chaos, and the Revolution unbelievably was having what was shaping up to be their best season ever. At the end of the month, I took two buses and a plane to go home for the first time since December 2019.
I spent most of August with my family at home, where I got to go to Wegmans, see a Revolution game, hike a fair amount, and take a road trip up to Acadia National Park. I planned most of the Acadia itinerary, and we hiked some of our usual favorite trails as well as some new to us.
Back in Ann Arbor for another semester, my first achievement of September was catching up on all 17 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy. I also made my return to my office and started making preparations for graduation while finishing Star Trek: The Original Series before it left Netflix.
In October, I jumped right into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and my research group took a road trip up north to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We visited Pictured Rocks, the Porcupine Mountains, Copper Harbor, and Mackinaw City. Upon our return, I got back to work because I had my data meeting scheduled for the end of the month.
By November, the defense countdown was on. I submitted my second manuscript and NaNoWriMo-ed my thesis in the office while enjoying the weather outdoors when possible. After closing out the MLS season as the Supporters Shield winner (best regular season record) for the first time ever and setting an overall record for most points in a season, the Revolution lost in the first round of the playoffs, ending the hopes and dreams of Revolution fans yet again.
Finally, the time had come, to talk of many things, but actually just my micelles. In December, I got my thesis written and distributed to my committee, and shortly before Christmas, at long last, held my dissertation defense. After passing, I celebrated Christmas and New Year's in Ann Arbor with The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Night Before Critmas, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and a bike ride along the Ann Arbor portion of the B2B trail when it hit 40 degrees on the last day of the year.
January was a quiet month for me. I went on a winter adventure for the sake of photographs and walked over 8 miles in snowy weather. It was completely worth it. Otherwise, I hung around my apartment, cross stitched for the first time since 2013, played the library’s special pandemic winter version of the Summer Game (aptly called the Winter Game), organized four years of research files, and started watching Kim’s Convenience on Netflix.
In February I worked on my big Acadia National Park cross stitch project and (re)discovered audiobooks and podcasts as a good side activity for cross stitching. I used to listen to audiobooks on cassette tapes, but I never could get into podcasts because I’d either be doing something, get distracted, and stop paying attention to the podcast or not be doing something, get distracted by the need to do something, and stop the podcast. Selections for February included Jane Eyre, Persuasion, and the Office Ladies podcast (an episode by episode recap and behind the scenes look at The Office). With my first paper (finally) accepted and published, I began working on and finalizing simulations for my next paper.
As the semester went on and the university continued transitioning back to in person classes and activities, during March all students in on campus housing, including grad students, were required to participate in weekly asymptomatic Covid testing. I strategically scheduled my tests for the same morning engineering would give out free donuts on North Campus so I could pick up a donut on my way back to my apartment. With my bike still out of action with a flat tire, I hiked the trails around my apartment for the 94,858th time. To celebrate one year of the pandemic, I gave in to the likely pandemic-induced brain melt and requested Twilight from the library.
April turned out to be one of my more eventful months of pandemic life. Although Tax Day 2021 was delayed, I filed in April because I had no reason not to. MLS and the New England Revolution also started up their 26th season, and I got my bike tire tube replaced (it was punctured by a metal wire, likely in a gutter masquerading as a bike lane), began the saga known as writing my second manuscript, finished the Acadia cross stitch, and received my first Covid vaccine (Pfizer).
With the weather warming up in May, I continued hiking as usual and also took my bike on an extended ride down the Border to Border trail into Ypsilanti. When a friend from Cornell was in Michigan to visit family, I met up with them at the arboretum for my first in-person social activity in months. Other notable goings-on: baking a carrot cake, finishing Star Trek: The Next Generation, watching soccer.
I kicked off summer in Ann Arbor on the second day of June by baking some quintessential summer staples, pumpkin cranberry bread and pumpkin muffins. At the beginning of the month, I staked out the peony garden, and that was followed by a hunt for periodic cicadas. Midmonth, the AADL Summer Game started, I checked in with Cornell ChemE at my virtual 5th reunion, and I worked on the incredibly tedious tasks of making manuscript figures and compiling the world’s longest Supporting Information section. Later in June, I baked the famous Doubletree cookies, then while on Reddit, read a post that discussed Dungeons & Dragons, wondered how exactly D&D worked, remembered a blog post from years ago about Critical Role (an internet show in which voice actors play D&D), and started in on Critical Role’s second campaign. Similarly to podcasts, it’s a great cross stitch side activity because you don’t really need to watch half a dozen people sit around a table and talk for four hours straight, but it’s an entertaining background for the repetitive nature of cross stitch.
The back and forth editing process with my advisor started on my manuscript in July. Thanks to the aforementioned vaccines, I attended outdoor church for the first time since the pandemic began, and the library reopened for browsing. The lab had its second virtual defense, I stopped by Art Fair to watch the chaos, and the Revolution unbelievably was having what was shaping up to be their best season ever. At the end of the month, I took two buses and a plane to go home for the first time since December 2019.
I spent most of August with my family at home, where I got to go to Wegmans, see a Revolution game, hike a fair amount, and take a road trip up to Acadia National Park. I planned most of the Acadia itinerary, and we hiked some of our usual favorite trails as well as some new to us.
Back in Ann Arbor for another semester, my first achievement of September was catching up on all 17 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy. I also made my return to my office and started making preparations for graduation while finishing Star Trek: The Original Series before it left Netflix.
In October, I jumped right into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and my research group took a road trip up north to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We visited Pictured Rocks, the Porcupine Mountains, Copper Harbor, and Mackinaw City. Upon our return, I got back to work because I had my data meeting scheduled for the end of the month.
By November, the defense countdown was on. I submitted my second manuscript and NaNoWriMo-ed my thesis in the office while enjoying the weather outdoors when possible. After closing out the MLS season as the Supporters Shield winner (best regular season record) for the first time ever and setting an overall record for most points in a season, the Revolution lost in the first round of the playoffs, ending the hopes and dreams of Revolution fans yet again.
Finally, the time had come, to talk of many things, but actually just my micelles. In December, I got my thesis written and distributed to my committee, and shortly before Christmas, at long last, held my dissertation defense. After passing, I celebrated Christmas and New Year's in Ann Arbor with The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Night Before Critmas, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and a bike ride along the Ann Arbor portion of the B2B trail when it hit 40 degrees on the last day of the year.
Sunday, January 9, 2022
What I Did Last Fall
Back in Ann Arbor at the end of summer, I prepared 1) for the undergrads returning en masse and 2) to get ready to graduate. I think I’ve been in school long enough. In between deciding to hold my dissertation defense before the winter break and subsequently having to track down my committee, submit a paper, fill out all manner of paperwork, hold a data meeting, and NaNoWriMo1 my thesis, here are some things I did during my last fall in Ann Arbor as a grad student.
Looked out the window at the right time for a random sunrise.
Took an early fall bike ride out to the Barton Nature Area in the late afternoon of a warm, sunny Friday. I knew it was too early for fall colors, which are never spectacular in Ann Arbor anyway, but the weather was too nice to miss out on inside.
Saw a Michigan volleyball game with some coworkers. Like a lot of things at this university, it was a spectacle, and not entirely in a good way. (Nothing against the players themselves or volleyball, more so how the university treats many things Michigan related as a Big Deal that you should be #blessed to have the privilege of witnessing.) Michigan lost to Ohio State in straight sets; the only good thing about that was that they didn’t drag out the ordeal too long.
Took a later fall bike ride out to the Matthaei Botanical Garden past peak fall colors mainly to enjoy the bike ride, which can normally be done almost completely on recreational shared-use paths. At this time, a portion of the Border to Border trail was closed for repaving, so I took a detour that’s shorter than the B2B but less pleasant, on account of the traffic roaring past you at9485 “40” mph. I also spent part of an afternoon at the Arboretum and some afternoons/evenings rotating through my usual parks.
Also caught up on all of Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix and finished Star Trek: The Original Series before it left Netflix; watched the New England Revolution win their first ever Supporters Shield; worked on cross stitch projects; took a trip to the Upper Peninsula (posts to come); read about light and darkness (Light: Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting and The Left Hand of Darkness); celebrated Thanksgiving with cranberry sauce; and baked snickerdoodles, banana muffins, double chocolate cookies, molasses cookies, sugar cookies, and cranberry orange scones; besides various research activities and other actions necessary to sustain life.
1Short for National Novel Writing Month, in which participants try and write 50,000 words of a novel during the month of November. I wasn’t writing a novel, but I did have a thesis to put together in about a month.
2Bracket/shelf fungus is an actual identification, I couldn’t find what the orange mushrooms might be, and I’m pretty sure lasagna fungus isn’t an actual thing.
Looked out the window at the right time for a random sunrise.
 |
| Good morning, Ann Arbor |
Took an early fall bike ride out to the Barton Nature Area in the late afternoon of a warm, sunny Friday. I knew it was too early for fall colors, which are never spectacular in Ann Arbor anyway, but the weather was too nice to miss out on inside.
 |
| Clockwise from top left: tree, Barton Dam, kayakers on the Huron River, Barton Pond |
More fungus hunting while on mini hikes closer to my apartment. It was overall a very damp summer and a great year for mushrooms, at least the very probably poisonous and at best un-nutritious varieties I’ve been spotting.
 |
| Clockwise from top left: yellow lasagna fungus, red bracket/shelf fungus, shiny orange mushrooms, brown bracket/shelf fungus2 |
Saw a Michigan volleyball game with some coworkers. Like a lot of things at this university, it was a spectacle, and not entirely in a good way. (Nothing against the players themselves or volleyball, more so how the university treats many things Michigan related as a Big Deal that you should be #blessed to have the privilege of witnessing.) Michigan lost to Ohio State in straight sets; the only good thing about that was that they didn’t drag out the ordeal too long.
 |
| Crisler Center |
Took a later fall bike ride out to the Matthaei Botanical Garden past peak fall colors mainly to enjoy the bike ride, which can normally be done almost completely on recreational shared-use paths. At this time, a portion of the Border to Border trail was closed for repaving, so I took a detour that’s shorter than the B2B but less pleasant, on account of the traffic roaring past you at
 |
| Clockwise from top left: lone tree across a pond, high water at Fleming Creek at the Botanical Garden, yellow tree at the Arboretum, Dhu Varren Woods |
Also caught up on all of Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix and finished Star Trek: The Original Series before it left Netflix; watched the New England Revolution win their first ever Supporters Shield; worked on cross stitch projects; took a trip to the Upper Peninsula (posts to come); read about light and darkness (Light: Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting and The Left Hand of Darkness); celebrated Thanksgiving with cranberry sauce; and baked snickerdoodles, banana muffins, double chocolate cookies, molasses cookies, sugar cookies, and cranberry orange scones; besides various research activities and other actions necessary to sustain life.
1Short for National Novel Writing Month, in which participants try and write 50,000 words of a novel during the month of November. I wasn’t writing a novel, but I did have a thesis to put together in about a month.
2Bracket/shelf fungus is an actual identification, I couldn’t find what the orange mushrooms might be, and I’m pretty sure lasagna fungus isn’t an actual thing.
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