I’m not calling this week’s post a celebration, because it’s more of a coping mechanism at this point. The United States has surpassed 100,000 deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic, another brutal death for the crime of being black, protestors attacked, riots ensue, and then calls for reconciliation… but on who’s terms? I wish I had answers. I really do.
Here are five things that are helping to keep me sane right now.
- Cyrille Aimée – Sanborn Sessions. I stumbled across this video yesterday and was blown away by this woman’s voice, the outstanding band, and a bonus shout-out to the tambourine player who is going after it.
- Cyrille Aimée – Move On: A Sondheim Adventure. After watching the above video, I had to see what else Cyrille had done and wasn’t disappointed to find this album of outstanding interpretations of Stephen Sondheim songs – one of which, “Marry Me A Little”, earned a Grammy nomination. Ms. Aimée also released an album in 2020 that’s available only to members of her Patreon.
- The Golden House by Salman Rushdie. I’ve been a fan of Rushdie for a couple years and normally inhale his books because the prose is so wonderfully hypnotic – as if someone is sitting right in front of me telling the story. This one, I’m sipping. Maybe it’s because my to-read pile is still a little thin or because I want to make this one last, but this has been a pleasure every page.
- Battlestar Galactica re-watch. Maybe it’s counterintuitive to think a show premised on a robot-led genocide could be comforting, but then again, you don’t have to live inside my head, do you? Tim and I started the process of re-watching this show when we started Free Range Idiocy last year and are just now getting around to finishing up season four. It’s hard to believe that I’d forget how good this show was since it resides on my personal television Mount Rushmore, but it’s even better than I remembered.
- Gardening. Yup, books and music and robots and plants. Whatever. Getting outside in the morning right after my workout and watering the flowers is one of my favorite things right now. It’s early (around 6:45 am), so there’s not much happening except birds and the breeze. It’s a peaceful way to start things off.
Maybe some of these things will be of help or use to you. If they are, feel free to leave a comment or even let me know what you’ve enjoyed lately.