Not sure why the camera focused on my thumb here. Weird.
This is the big onion. I bought it at Trader Joe's, which charges per-vegetable and not per-pound, so the big onion only cost me 99¢. I have used it twice, substantially both times, and it is still absolutely massive. I love you, big onion.
Nice Salad
I invented this nice salad. Highlights include roasted broccoli, fancy croutons, and a bit of a vegan cheese blend that tastes really nice when you're not expecting it on your fork. Also there is chicken, which tomorrow will be salmon.
I am still learning how to salads, so veteran salad eaters please do not roast me over this.
Fancy fiber tonic
I made a special walk this morning to get the fancy fiber tonic, after my friend told me it existed. It is a good and tasty tonic, and somehow apparently is nutritious.
Cherry Blossom Reading Spot
This place is two miles and change from the place I live. I walked there with a comfy reading chair that fits in my backpack, and got about an hour and a half's worth of reading in, as the sun slowly set. This has been a Top Three Favorite City Place for me for approximately ten years, and when I leave, which will be eventually, I will miss this place a lot. It is the second park I have ever felt this way about.
Comfy Reading Chair That Fits In My Backpack
This chair, which is deceptively snug, weighs something like two pounds, and gets very small when placed in a backpack. It is one of two Outdoor Chairs that I own; the other is a giant behemoth which I love very much, but there is something special about a chair that can come with you.
When people come out onto my balcony, they often sneer and dismiss the comfy reading chair that fits in my backpack, much like the worse side characters in a fairy tale with a moral. In those fairy tales, all those people would meet grisly ends.
The Complete Works of Moonriders (1976-2011, extended oeuvre 1973-2021)
I have two favorite bands, but this is the favorite band whose works I could listen to for six days straight without repeating a song of.
In Roberto Bolaño's 2666, a number of literary critics fall in love with a fictitious author; we are told very little about what his books are like, or what their themes are, but we are given many of their names, to the point that the constant reference to them becomes a kind of dry running joke. Discussing Moonriders works a similar way, because all of their albums successfully sound like fictitious albums by a fictitious band. "Are you a fan of Mania Maniera? I myself find Le Cafe de la Plage to be a delightful guilty pleasure. Of course, the Captain Hate trilogy is certainly something."
Their prowess, furthermore, is implausible enough that, even as a fan of the band, I find it hard to believe that they exist.
It's still very funny to me that they titled their final album Ciao! Funnier still that an early album was subtitled Christ, Who's Gonna Die First?, and that the opening track on Ciao! jumped 20 years later to "Who's Gonna Be Reborn First?"
One of their side projects resulted in the only album whose title and art managed to shock and offend me twice in a row.
First the name leaked, and the name was Japan's Period.
That made me feel a whole bunch of things.
Then, after two months' processing/anticipation/dread, the cover released, and:
Sometimes I am very glad that I don't understand any of their words. Other times, it makes me very, very nervous.
Thank you for experiencing these good things with me!
