Since we’re only mostly on lockdown around here, the kids are off playing with some neighbors. Outside, with masks on. But it’s better than nothing.

While they’re gone I’m relaxing, enjoying the cool breeze coming through the screens while dinner simmers on the stove. Cajun beans and rice, yum. They’ll take at least an hour so I thought I’d say hi. I’m realizing now that my updates won’t fit smoothly into a story so I’ll just go with the tried and true list format. Here’s what we’re up to this week:

1. Baby birds! We have a weeping mulberry in our front yard. The birds love it and this year a couple decided to make a nest. If you look closely you can see a baby beak sticking up from the top.
2. I finally got around to watching The Girl with All the Gifts. I read the book ages ago and really enjoyed it, and the movie was great as well. They kept the story tight and the atmosphere mostly quiet and understated, and it was interesting and haunting to watch.
3. Someone posted an article on reddit called Why You Hate Contemporary Architecture. It’s a long read but fascinating. I don’t hate every single bit of contemporary architecture but this really articulated the things I love about older buildings.  I couldn’t help but see a parallel to why I personally dislike the minimalist decorating aesthetic. This paragraph especially spoke to me: “Once upon a time, socialists liked to make beautiful things; the works of William Morris, John Ruskin, and Oscar Wilde are filled with both celebrations of classical aesthetics and pleas to liberate human beings from the miseries of economic deprivation. The core idea of leftism is that people should be free to flourish, in both body and mind, and they should thus be able to do so materially, spiritually, intellectually, and artistically. Handcrafts and ornament are not bourgeois, they are democratic, in that a society of artisans is a society of people who are getting to maximize their creative capabilities, whereas a society of people in clean-swept Corbusier-style skyscrapers have been reduced to specks, robbed of their individuality, stripped of their ability to make the world their own.”
4. I’m almost finished with the body of my cardigan! Only 25 rows to go. The instructions want me to block the body panels and sew them together before I stitch on the sleeves and hood, so I’ll try to get a good preview picture when that’s done.
5. I’ve been listening to random playlists focused on ’80’s goth and ’90’s punk and they played L7. Gosh, L7 was a fun band. I really only listened to Bricks are Heavy and Hungry for Stink but I have fond memories of those. Since lockdown life is pretty slow and I now have 5 things on my list, I’ll just leave you with a couple of their classics and get back to cooking. Hope you’re all as safe and entertained as possible.