06/28/21: Throughline and Last Year
TLDR
Update: Upgrades
E/C/B: Cupcakes
Listening: Throughline on NPR
Reading: Last Year by Robert Charles Wilson
End Notes: You can contact me at jadettman@gmail.com
THE UPDATE
I’ve been upgrading my devices recently, mostly because the batteries of my phone and laptop were both dying. I like new technology but, generally, I hate spending money on things that aren’t necessities. My old laptop was fine, as long as I didn’t want to take it somewhere I couldn’t plug it in. My phone was getting to that point and, still, it was painful spending the money on new ones.
Of course, now that the money is spent, I am enjoying the fact that I used my laptop for three days without plugging it in.
EATING / COOKING / BAKING
I made chocolate cupcakes for Britt’s birthday this week and they were the first thing that I’d baked in a while. I used the recipe from Mary Berry’s Fast Cakes and, though they were delicious, I have to remember that those recipes always seem to come out dry. So, either I need to reduce the cooking temp or how long I bake them for.
LISTENING
Throughline is a relatively new podcast from NPR. A lot of what they talk about is history or current events with a historical context. I’m not sure what drew me to this one initially; maybe that I’ve never had a great grasp on history. But I’m mentioning it this week because their latest episode is their first in a series in which they are talking about capitalism (and we all know how I feel about that, I think).
Mostly, the episode was really good but one of the three economists that they spoke to for the episode I found so infuriating and, seemingly, the perfect example of the kind of economist that appears to lack basic human empathy for some of the “regular” people that had called in at the request of the hosts.
I really don’t want to go into my crankiness here (though if you listen to the episode and would be interested in talking about it, I’m down). The other two economist were definitely more empathetic, so the show is still worth listening to and another fine example of NPR making me think about issues. Which is why I like it.
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/21/1008906741/capitalism-what-is-it
READING
I wouldn’t call Robert Charles Wilson one of my favorite authors and, yet, I seem to own almost all of his books. I finished reading his latest, Last Year, this week and it reminded me how enjoyable they are.
Last Year is about a resort city from the future built on the Illinois plains about ten years after the American Civil War. Tourists from the future come to visit Futurity City, as it’s called, and the protagonist, Jesse, is a “local hire” who works security there. The book is almost entirely about Jesse and his thoughts and feelings about the future tourists and his future co-workers, though there is also more to it that I don’t want to spoil.
Wilson, in his books, seems to enjoy balancing personal issues with cosmic SF and the results are always kind of contemplative and enjoyable. Most are also purely stand-alone novels, so if you’re interested in checking them out, almost any of them are a good place to start.
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780765393302
END NOTES
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