— पांच हजार पांच सौ नौ —
I feel the need to reiterate that I really, really love this year's Troye Sivan album,
Something to Give Each Other. I still think he could have chosen a better album title—his previous two albums,
Blue Neighbourhood and
Bloom, had much pithier titles—but, whatever. It's the actual music that matters, and I cannot stop listening to this album. I have favorite tracks but I am quite fond of every single track, which is rare.
The album was released October 13, which means I've been listening to it just shy of one month now. This morning I listened to it for the 51st time. That's already by a wide margin the most I've listened to any album since 2020 (Kesha's
High Road, 59 times) and, with a month and a half of the year to go, will likely end up being the most I've listened to any album since 2019 (it won't likely exceed the 89 times I listened to Madonna's
Madame X).
Somewhat ironically given the numbers for this one album, by the end of the year it looks like the number of times I will have listened to
any album from start to finish will barely break 200 (as of this writing it's at 193). That'll be a record low since I started tracking, probably breaking last year's record low of 232. Ten years ago, it was consistently over 1,000 every year. 25 years ago, it could range from 1,000 to 1,500. Now I'm barely breaking 200, thanks to two key things: how much more time I now spend listening to podcasts rather than music; and how often I listen to playlists in lieu of albums these days. I suppose there's also a third factor: age. I just don't pay attention to new or current music the way I did when I was younger, as is the case with virtually anyone.
To me, this is all a testament to the power of this Troye Sivan album. The music is so infectious that it breaks through all of those barriers for me, and I just keep coming back to it again and again.
— पांच हजार पांच सौ नौ —
— पांच हजार पांच सौ नौ —
I had a new kind of "movie-going experience" last night. I watched and reviewed a movie that
is currently in theaters, but I saw it streaming—not quite at home, but close: it was not in the condo, but it was in the Braeburn Condos theater. Technically I did see it in a theater. I just didn't have to pay a ticket for it, nor did I have to travel more than about a quarter of a block (I live in the east building and the theater is in the west building).
I suppose I should clarify regarding
Nyad's theatrical release. It does not appear to be still playing locally. It may very well still be playing in theaters in other areas of the country. It
was playing at the Landmark Crest theater in Shoreline last week, and, frustratingly, it was the only local theater it could be found at. This movie is getting legitimate Oscar buzz, though, so I wanted to see and review it. The compromise that occurred to me was to watch it on Netflix in the Braeburn theater. Laney and I had made plans to see it in the theater last night, but when I saw it was only at the Crest, I suggested we pivot to watching it at my building. This was convenient for a multitide of reasons, not least of which was it saved Laney the price of a ticket (had it been playing at an AMC theater it would have made no difference to my monthly subscription), and neither of us had to go far from home. I barely had to leave the condo; Laney merely had to walk six blocks from her new apartment in Pride Place down on Broadway.
She brought sweet potato chips for her "supper," as she called. "Does that sound gross?" she asked. Well, kind of, yeah.
Anyway, she came by at 5:30, giving me just enough time to heat up leftover pizza for dinner before heading downstairs. I left work 10 minutes early in an effort to give me more time, which kind of barely worked, although I wound up having to wait so long for both the Monorail and Light Rail that it would hardly have made much difference had I just left as usual at 4:30. Oh well.
In any case, I
quite liked the movie, in spite of its clear flaws, and I went to write the review shortly after the movie ended and Laney and I discussed it for a few minutes and then she walked home. Barbara, back at home in Louisville, apparently "
thoroughly enjoyed" reading the review, a compliment she has been giving in Facebook comments fairly frequently lately. I replied that either her standards have changed or I am on a roll!
— पांच हजार पांच सौ नौ —
I don't think I have mentioned this yet: Sachin has moved to Nashville, of all places. He got a job there, moved in September, and is currently looking for a house to buy. He's still got his house in Seattle which he's still renting out room by room, and he was back in town briefly and staying there. I guess his ex-girlfriend-who-is-still-a-good-friend, Kim, will keep him company while he drives his car there, leaving on the 17th. (I don't know if he's in Seattle until then or if he's flying home and then flying back again before then; I didn't think to get the clarification.)
In any case, with Sachin back in town, Shobhit invited him over for dinner while I was watching the movie with Laney. When I got back to the condo, Shobhit was at his usual spot on the couch with Shanti, and Sachin was sitting on the floor right in front of him, using the coffee table as his dinner table. He had brought a bottle of liquor called Fenny, made out of cashews (this is new), and in a bottle shaped like a tree. Here's the weirdest part: the label on this bottle absolutely spelled the word FENNY—Sachin and I even argued about whether he had pronounced both Ns when he first spelled it out to me—but I cannot find a single instance of that online, where every page spells it
feni, nor can I find a photo of a tree shaped bottle. I should have taken my own picture. I never even asked him where he got it.
He had already visibly had a few drinks. He almost had another but decided against it. Shobhit really wanted him to stay overnight rather than drive home, and although he was slightly more sober about an hour and a half later when he was about to leave, he was still stumbling slightly. Shobhit gets really irritated by this, Sachin's insistence on driving after getting visibly intoxicated, and I don't blame him.
We also talked about how short a drive to Nashville it is from Louisville (about three hours, a bit less without traffic) and that I already intended to take a day trip there the next time I go visit Barbara, hopefully next year. Perhaps we will meet up. They won't have seen each other since Barbara moved away from Seattle in 2010.
That aside, there's no telling when we'll see each other again. I had gone to start getting ready for bed, and somewhat to my surprise, just as Sachin was about to go out the door, he called after me to ask if he could get a hug. So, I came out, gave him a hug, said goodbye, and then went back to getting ready for bed.
— पांच हजार पांच सौ नौ —
[posed 12:33 pm]
