Read Watch Listen - SB Hopper

Out damn spot...

It turns out I did sign up for Apple+. I blame (and thank) Chuck for the Severance recommendation. I am doing my best to spread the contagion. It's a great show. Tonight I started watching The Tragedy of MacBeth. I think MacBeth and Hamlet are neck and neck for the

Blog

Odds and Ends

The finale of Severance was intense. (No Spoilers here.) I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Our main characters had a window, of unknown length, to reflect and gain awareness about their circumstances. A window that could close at any moment. Some of their actions confused

Blog

This interview is not over

I wouldn't say I'm particularly interested in vampires. I like vampire stories, but in the same way that I like any good story. And Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire was a good story, about Vampires. I vaguely remember the film and reading the sequels. I was more interested in

Blog

A little catch up

I'm striking out on getting a COVID booster. A perfect storm of demand, staffing shortages, and glitchy websites. I've spent a lot of time walking to local pharmacies. It's not pleasant. The pharmacy workers across the board seem exhausted and stressed. I missed my only real chance in the past

Read Watch Listen

Just for the halibut (trust me, there will be a rolling of the eyes)

I'm eating too much and exercising...let's call it infrequently. I know it's winter, and PNW winters encourage big bowls of soup and stew mopped up with bread. Mmmm, bread and soup. But this is getting out of hand. The belt buckle never lies. So it was probably a really

Read Watch Listen

Plans

I know I can be a downer sometimes. I blame some of it on the medium. I think if we were sitting down having an actual conversation, it would come across more as questioning and searching rather than the sky is falling. Even though the sky is falling. I'm going

Photography

It's been a while

Well, I sure dropped out of sight for a while. I think the pandemic and a lot of other depressing news caught up to me. I just wasn't excited about anything. The dark days and near constant rains of early November sure didn't help. Shook up the routine a bit,

Read Watch Listen

The Irish were born for leaving...

...otherwise the world would have no pubs. It's a line in the trailer for Belfast, and I might have misquoted it. The movie looks fantastic, and I can't wait to see it. Black and white, incredible actors, and fantastic music. At least two of the actors were in The Fall

Blog

Never give your parents grief

It's a pretty solid rain right now in Seattle. We're very close to the I'm always cold season. It doesn't matter how many layers one wears...always a little cold. I'm not complaing, at least not entirely. I can't abide excessive heat, and I believe all of us will be

Blog

An Unreliable Narrator

I have been out with friends a few times the past week or two, and inevitably portions of the discussions involved COVID. I've started describing my experience with a breakthrough case as no big deal. After all, I thought my initial negative tests put me in the clear, and I'm

Blog

Here comes the rain again

It was a dark, windy, and rainy night. Sounds like we're going to get drenched here in the Pacific Northwest. Stay safe everyone! Let's hope it helps with western wildfires. I thought this was a pretty cool description from the National Weather Service: Given that this is the first atmospheric

Blog

Carthage Must Be Destroyed

Carthāgō dēlenda est. ~ Cato (via Wikipedia) The sirens beckon. I am lost in the ancient world. A re-discovery of sorts. I spent the last 6 years or so not wanting to think too much about the Middle East. I'd had enough, for a lot of reasons. Looking back I think

On the Streets

Half of what you see, none of what you hear

Today was a good day, yesterday was pretty lousy. Let's start with the lousy. It started off ok. The building manager and the gas meter inspector folks were coming round. You know what that meant - stuffing everything into a closet. I'm exaggerating, a little. (TB - I always imagine

Read Watch Listen

Maybe a bad idea (I'm full of them)

Charles Mudede is a fantastic writer, economist, film-maker...how do people get so talented at so many things. He has an article in The Stranger about climate change that made a lot of sense to me, things I've been thinking about for a while but can't quite articulate at his

Read Watch Listen

Don't forget the good

Muddling along in the meh zone. I'm not feeling awesome, but I'm not feeling terrible, either. If things continue like this for a few more days, I'll be grateful. It helps having friends and family who check in on you. Instant morale boost. A friend dropped off sushi, miso soup,

Read Watch Listen

The White Lotus

I blazed through HBO's The White Lotus. It's a very dark comedy set in Hawaii. I enjoyed it, but it gets dark fast. I have some complaints, but I don't want to ruin anything. I thought the acting was great. If you've seen it, this may sound weird - it

Read Watch Listen

Off the Road

I've finally finished Kerouac's On the Road. I'm glad I revisited it, and I'm glad I'm done with it. My copy is an underlined mess. I'll probably just hold onto it now until I throw it out. I think anyone else trying to read this copy would just get too

Read Watch Listen

Dana Frankoff film Voice Above Water

I watched an incredible short film on Vimeo today - Dana Frankoff's Voice Above Water. You probably already guessed most of that from the post's title. Powerful, beautiful, sad. It's about 12 minutes. I recommend it. And maybe if enough of us watch it, it'll somehow make a difference.

Read Watch Listen

Hey there PNW

I've been thinking about you all and the heat. I've escaped the furnace of Phoenix for cooler temperatures in the high desert, but the memory of that oppressive heat remains, and I had air conditioning. I hope you and the pets are holding up. Safety first, late night "deep thoughts"

Blog

Kate Winslet is a treasure

I'm watching and very much enjoying Mare of Easttown. It's nearing the end. I'm going to discuss it a bit, but don't worry, you won't run into any spoilers. Kate Winslet is an amazing actor. I don't know the chronology of her career. She must have been fairly young when

Blog

Keep it up, Washington

When facing down a pandemic caused by a frightening virus, humility is key, especially when you're a blogger without any trace of scientific or medical background. But we're all allowed to discuss the pandemic, right? I think things are looking up in Washington. According to Bloomberg, Washington has administered enough

Blog

Quick Check in

Hello! Sorry for the absence. That second Pfizer shot knocked me on my keister and off rhythm. I got the shot early, at about 1000. At about 2200 I started feeling off. By 2300 I felt like I'd been hit by a freight train. I was pretty much useless the

shoulda been a tweet

Tufekci's look at what we knew when in COVID fight

How's your COVID bandwidth? Zeynep Tufekci has an amazing essay examining the early timeline of our COVID knowledge. Hmm, poorly worded. I've had too much coffee and not enough breakfast. Tufekci shows that "we" knew early on the main COVID risks - indoors in poorly ventilated areas and close contact

On the Streets

Time is a flat circle

Blog

The intersection of Thomas and Treasure Island

(Note: I started this post a day or a week ago.) I had grand plans for a grand post. But now it's late, the day has passed. Thinking vs. doing. Scale back one's objectives, but don't fall to the level of bullet points. Never bullet points. My walks haven't increased,