In This Issue (organic, non GMO, and No AI!)

• Getting Artsy: My 2026 Sketchbook Revival Journey

• I Read War and Peace!

• I Reread The Great Gatsby

• A Fabulous Curry Recipe, that could be made with either tofu or chicken

• Regular Features

  • Boardgames Played

  • CD Listened To

Getting Artsy

This is the second year that I have participated in the Sketchbook Revival Challenge. This purpose of the challenge is simply to experiment with new techniques, materials, and subjects in a sketchbook. My projects for this year are summarized here.

I Read War and Peace!

As part of my intention to read more classic fiction, I decided to tackle this beast: All 1356 pages! It took almost 3 months but I made it. You can see some of my thoughts on the experience here.

I Reread The Great Gatsby

Of course I read this in high school. Didn’t everyone? I had also read it at least once since then, but it was quite a while ago. It’s a short book with relatively few characters and a simple plot, so it was a good palate cleanser after Tolstoy.

In case you don’t remember, here are the themes covered in the book

• Revenge

• Wrongful death

• Infidelity

• Love lost

• Love regained

• Socialites

• Haves and have nots

• Jazz age

  Red Lentil/Tofu Curry (Replace the tofu with chicken if you want)

Full writeup here, which includes my inevitable recipe modifications.

Board Games Played

• Fire In The Lake

• Cuba Libre

• Mah Jong

• Arracourt

• Mr. President

CD’s Listened To

Frank Zappa/Halloween 78 (5 CD), Joe’s Garage (2 CD), One Size Fits All, Zappa in New York (2 CD), Roxy and Elsewhere, Bongo Fury 50th (5 CD), Ruben and The Jets

Grateful Dead/Blues for Allah 50th Anniversary 3 CD Box Set

Buddy Guy/Left My Blues In San Francisco

Steve Earle/Copperhead Road

Ravi Coltrane/Spirit Fiction

George Benson Quartet/The George Benson Cookbook

Oscar Peterson Trio/At Baker’s Keyboard Lounge

Gram Parsons and The Fallen Angels/Live 1973

Ari Bragi Karason/Unclear Family