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Weekend Update Heartbreaks a Stranger
Mar. 23rd, 2014 06:01 pmRe: the subject heading--last week when we stopped at Amoeba I finally got around to picking up Bob Mould's Workbook 25, the 25th Anniversary of his excellent 1989 album, and after much distraction and other things going on, I finally got around to ripping it to the drive and giving it a listen. MAN, this album still kicks ass after a quarter century. It's a gorgeous album, full of lovely acoustics and incredibly strong songwriting from a guy formerly known only a few years previous as one third of Hüsker Dü, the guy who tore into his heavily distorted Flying V and howl-screamed most of his lyrics. Well worth picking up and giving a listen.
So! What has been going on in JoncWorld? All sorts of fun things.
--Taxes. Finally did them the other day, and though we still owe for both the State and Federal (I know it's my job's fault--I may need to adjust how much is taken out), it's a little less than last year. And it dawned on me that, if I finally follow through with getting published, I'm going to need to start itemizing next year. Whee! That'll be fun. But yes...that bit of silliness is over and done with for another year.
--Work. Work is...work. It's not frustrating, but I did have a bit of ridiculousness to contend with. Long story short, if you have any nonspecific questions on how OFAC Sanctions work, I'm your man. Let's just say I had to school a few people on it last week. Much fun.
--Walking, Shopping, Eating. Another fun-filled weekend here in sunny SF, in which our intrepid heroes headed over the Castro and the Mission yesterday. After a very tasty brunch in the Castro (in which a hilarious couple asked us about whether their facial hair made them look Amish) (yeah, I don't know either, but it was damn funny), we walked down 18th Street, stopped briefly at ImagiKnit (one of A's favorite yarn stores) and then for some AWESOMELY TASTY ice cream at Bi-Rite. From there it was over to Valencia, where we stopped at this really fun gift shop that sells all sorts of silly cards, and then across the street to Borderlands Books, where we spent mumblemumble on books. And then today we headed over to Fillmore so A could get a haircut, and for me to spend some time at Browser Books, where we eventually spent mumblemumble on more books. Then it was down to Japantown for some okonomi-yaki! It was probably for the best that I didn't buy any manga at Kinokuniya, then...
--Reading. I finally finished Chang Rae-Lee's On Such a Full Sea and I have to say I was pleasantly entertained, especially given that it's been described as a post-apocalyptic novel. See, this book proves that not every post- climate failure/society failure/pandemic novel needs to be full of zombies, or a horror novel, or a suicide-inducing downer (Cormac McCarthy I'm looking at you). It was not only fascinating, it was quite true to life, extremely heartfelt, and *gasp* didn't exactly have a complete resolution! All in all, one of my favorite books I've read in a long time. Well worth it. And now, I'm reading Carter Alan's Radio Free Boston: The Rise and Fall of WBCN, which I'm finding equally as fascinating--let's face it, I love pretty much any book that tells the history of rock radio, but this one is great because I'm very familiar with not just the station, but many of the deejays involved.
--Writing. Yes, still plugging away at the revision of The Process of Belief. I'm on Chapter 8, and I seem to have gotten past some of the more tetchy "stage directions" parts into some tighter prose, so there's that. As I told A., I figured when I wrote that I was focusing more on the word count than the prose itself, and paid a little too much attention to the visual cues and not much else. Around 2002-4, that tended to happen whenever I was in the zone. In other writing news, I decided to put the 750 Words aside for now, as I want to try something slightly different. More on that later.
--Making plans for our vacation. We'll be in the Massachusetts area in a few weeks and so will hopefully be meeting up with friends and family at that time. Should be fun!
So yes...been a busy but productive week here! Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!
So! What has been going on in JoncWorld? All sorts of fun things.
--Taxes. Finally did them the other day, and though we still owe for both the State and Federal (I know it's my job's fault--I may need to adjust how much is taken out), it's a little less than last year. And it dawned on me that, if I finally follow through with getting published, I'm going to need to start itemizing next year. Whee! That'll be fun. But yes...that bit of silliness is over and done with for another year.
--Work. Work is...work. It's not frustrating, but I did have a bit of ridiculousness to contend with. Long story short, if you have any nonspecific questions on how OFAC Sanctions work, I'm your man. Let's just say I had to school a few people on it last week. Much fun.
--Walking, Shopping, Eating. Another fun-filled weekend here in sunny SF, in which our intrepid heroes headed over the Castro and the Mission yesterday. After a very tasty brunch in the Castro (in which a hilarious couple asked us about whether their facial hair made them look Amish) (yeah, I don't know either, but it was damn funny), we walked down 18th Street, stopped briefly at ImagiKnit (one of A's favorite yarn stores) and then for some AWESOMELY TASTY ice cream at Bi-Rite. From there it was over to Valencia, where we stopped at this really fun gift shop that sells all sorts of silly cards, and then across the street to Borderlands Books, where we spent mumblemumble on books. And then today we headed over to Fillmore so A could get a haircut, and for me to spend some time at Browser Books, where we eventually spent mumblemumble on more books. Then it was down to Japantown for some okonomi-yaki! It was probably for the best that I didn't buy any manga at Kinokuniya, then...
--Reading. I finally finished Chang Rae-Lee's On Such a Full Sea and I have to say I was pleasantly entertained, especially given that it's been described as a post-apocalyptic novel. See, this book proves that not every post- climate failure/society failure/pandemic novel needs to be full of zombies, or a horror novel, or a suicide-inducing downer (Cormac McCarthy I'm looking at you). It was not only fascinating, it was quite true to life, extremely heartfelt, and *gasp* didn't exactly have a complete resolution! All in all, one of my favorite books I've read in a long time. Well worth it. And now, I'm reading Carter Alan's Radio Free Boston: The Rise and Fall of WBCN, which I'm finding equally as fascinating--let's face it, I love pretty much any book that tells the history of rock radio, but this one is great because I'm very familiar with not just the station, but many of the deejays involved.
--Writing. Yes, still plugging away at the revision of The Process of Belief. I'm on Chapter 8, and I seem to have gotten past some of the more tetchy "stage directions" parts into some tighter prose, so there's that. As I told A., I figured when I wrote that I was focusing more on the word count than the prose itself, and paid a little too much attention to the visual cues and not much else. Around 2002-4, that tended to happen whenever I was in the zone. In other writing news, I decided to put the 750 Words aside for now, as I want to try something slightly different. More on that later.
--Making plans for our vacation. We'll be in the Massachusetts area in a few weeks and so will hopefully be meeting up with friends and family at that time. Should be fun!
So yes...been a busy but productive week here! Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!
