My Threads

  • Fri, 07:18: Happy National Coming Out Day! https://t.co/34AX2ugk5q
  • Fri, 23:01: Today I learned about Saint Pierre and Miquelon, an archipelago of eight islands off the southern coast of Newfoundland, and 12 miles to the *west* of Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula. What's so special about it? It's a French territory—a vestige of once-vast "New France" dating back to the 17th century, now with a total land area of 93 square miles and a population of about 6,000. The official language is French; the official currency is the Euro; its residents are French citizens; it's the one place in the world where France shares a (maritime) border with Canada. I did know that there were several French territories in the Western Hemisphere, perhaps most notably in the Caribbean, and of course also French Guiana in South America. I had no idea, however, that there was such a place in North America at a latitude north of the continental United States. Who knew? https://t.co/Rse29IxQef

wheels turning

10312023-80

— पांच हजार छह सौ बानबे —

Little to report today. I walked home, most of the way. I walked downtown and then took a shortcut on Light Rail up to Capitol Hill.

Shobhit and I made pizza for dinner.

We started season 2 of Pachinko on Apple TV+. Shobhit was a little noncommittal at first, but after we watched the season premiere, we wound up bringing the second and third episodes as well.

And then I realized we still had this week's episode of Only Murders in the Building to watch and so we watched that. It was a standout episode, with Meryl Streep returning as a guest star, and the introduction of Melissa McCarthy as Steve Martin's much-younger sister. She was hilarious, but the absolutely best part was Molly Shannon's studio executive character telling Meryl Streep's character that she's an incredibly shitty actor. Oh but then there was the physical fight between Meryl Streep and Melissa McCarthy, which was hysterical.

This show is unapologetically corny and I still love it. Its roster of guest stars this season is kind of bonkers. I could list off like ten more from this episode alone, but the parts I mentioned were the best.

— पांच हजार छह सौ बानबे —

10312020-92

— पांच हजार छह सौ बानबे —

I just checked my Google Calendar and found two holiday event ideas from last year I put onto my calendar for this year, and I had not thought of until seeing it this morning. One was to see if the Holiday Express train tour at Mt. Rainier has finally returned—and it has! Trouble is, tickets went on sale September 1 and are already sold out. Shit! I'll have to note for next year and set the reminder for much earlier in the year.

The other one is "Winter Wildland" at Northwest Trek, between Christmas and New Year. Now I'm really considering that one. I think I'll ask Alexia if she has any interest.

— पांच हजार छह सौ बानबे —

. . . Well, shit! I very nearly forgot that I had a Zoom lunch scheduled with Karen today, until like 11:45. I texted her to confirm, and within minutes she sent me the Zoom invite.

We talked a lot about . . . architecture! She was at a landscape architects convention in D.C. last week, and while she was there she discovered a building that turned out to be the local Apple Store on the ground level, and the city history museum on the second floor. She showed me some photos and the building looks old, beautiful, and fascinating. Whenever the hell I might find myself in Washington, D.C. again I need to have that place on my list.

I also told her a bit about my meeting on Monday with the Office Relocation Project Team. We chatted a bit about accessible entries, and I learned new things about certain symbols on floor plans that indicate whether there is enough space for a wheelchair to turn around: it's a tiny little wheelchair symbol inside a circicle made of a dashed line.

She's also got a new delay on the house construction in Tulalip. She had really hoped to host holiday gatherings there this year but now it's looking to be January at the soonest. As she said, though, it's certainly better to delay to get it right than to rush it and get it wrong. Especially when we're talking about an accessible building.

Anyway I guess I'll get back to work now.

— पांच हजार छह सौ बानबे —

10222023-01

[posted 1:07 pm]