Our allotted summers….

Posted on August 27, 2022 by ksedinger

My friend Jason Bennion, who really should be a writer (and whose edits always make my books better), offered this on Facebook the other day. (He lives in Salt Lake City, so his experience of summer is quite different from mine.)

It always takes me by surprise.

One-hundred-degree days for weeks at a stretch and nights that aren’t much cooler. And then a cluster of rain storms and suddenly something has changed. The days are still hot but they’ve softened somehow, like a campfire you’ve stopped adding fuel to. And the nighttime… well, it’s just different now. And somewhere deep in the back of my head, there’s an ancient nudge trying to tell me it’s time to break out the leather jacket and long pants, time to get back to school, even though I’ve been done with that routine for 30 years.

Fall is coming, and one more of my allotted summers has slipped away..

.

Not one of Jason’s evening skies in late summer, but I think I can feel what he’s getting at….

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Eighteen

Posted on August 26, 2022 by ksedinger

In another world, not too far from this one, we’re celebrating our son’s 18th birthday.

In this world, we can only remember and wonder.

 

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Something for Thursday

Posted on August 25, 2022 by ksedinger

Here’s a sad song about a relationship coming to an end. Gordon Lightfoot wrote “If You Could Read My Mind” about his own divorce, and the lyrics are shot through with the bitterness of a man who realizes that the woman he married is now almost a complete stranger:

I never thought I could act this wayAnd I’ve got to say that I just don’t get itI don’t know where we went wrongBut the feeling’s gone and I just can’t get it back

Confessional songs always have a tough path to walk: they have to convey the emotions and the heartache, but they always run the risk of going too far, either into “too much information” territory, or they somehow don’t go far enough, relying on clichés and too much easy language to make the point. Lightfoot’s lyrics for this song are interestingly complex: “If you could read my mind” itself, the way the song begins, conveys his desire for his wife to understand him, even though he later acknowledges that he can’t find his way back to how he used to feel.

What I love most about this song is the way the melody interplays with the lyrics. Lightfoot’s words make clear that there’s no way, the love is gone, it’s gone forever–but there’s something in the melody, the way it occasionally yearns upward, that feels like maybe Lightfoot doesn’t quite believe that the love is gone yet, even though he’s heartbroken that “he just can’t get it back”. The melody here deepens the lyrics and exposes them. That’s what a good song can do.

Here is Gordon Lightfoot with “If You Could Read My Mind”.

 

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Linen

Posted on August 24, 2022 by ksedinger

As my personal fashion style continues to develop, I continue to find appreciate not just for new styles of garments, but new fabrics as well. Denim, obviously…and more recently, flannel. But I’ve also been finding linen to my liking.

I thrifted these two shirts a few years ago. Both are made of linen, and I like both enormously:

 

More recently, I’ve purchased a couple new linen shirts from Etsy dealers. One is still in transit (there were some shipping snafus and errors, of which I am being forgiving since the seller is from Ukraine!), but I got the other a few weeks back. It’s the shirt I wore to the County Fair week before last, and I loved it. (I honestly thought I’d see more people in overalls that day, but alas! Just one or two. Though I did overhear a woman behind me saying to her date, “I used to have a train engineer hat just like that guy’s overalls!” I’m perfectly happy to provoke your nostalgia, y’all.)

Anyway, back to the linen shirt, which I (obviously) paired with a pair of vintage Lee hickory-striped overalls, which I chose because besides looking cool, hickory-striped denim tends to be lighter in weight than regular blue denim.

This material is super comfortable. I just loved this shirt! I stayed cool the entire day–the material is light and of an open-enough weave to allow good airflow through it. I found wearing this shirt on a nice summer day (albeit a cool and low-humidity one) very comfortable. I suspect I was more comfortable in my loose, air-flow encouraging outfit of long-sleeved linen shirt under a pair of overalls than a lot of other guys were in belted shorts and t-shirts. I know that we want to avoid cultural appropriation and all of that, but surely we could listen to what other cultures have to tell us–such as the idea that hot weather doesn’t mean tight cotton clothes and bare skin. (Here’s more on linen as a summer fabric.)

Anyway….

(Same pic as immediately above, detail)

(No idea what that facial expression is about)

I like how “lived-in” linen looks. A nice crisp cotton shirt is lovely, but so is soft and worn-in linen.

(Detail and enhancement of last photo above.)

To sum up: Wear more linen, folks! You’ll be happy you did. Here endeth the lesson!

 

Posted in Fashion, On Bib Overalls, Photographic Documentation | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Tone Poem Tuesday

Posted on August 23, 2022 by ksedinger

A very modern work today.

Karel Husa (1921-2016) was Czech by birth, being born in Prague. When he was just 33 he emigrated to the United States, where in addition to being a celebrated composer he taught for decades at Cornell University. Husa won the Pulitzer Prize for Composition for his third string quartet, and his piece Music for Prague 1968 is one of the most notable compositions for wind band of the latter 20th Century. Music for Prague 1968, in which the composer pays tribute to his own people in the face of Soviet aggression, was later transcribed for orchestra, whereupon it enjoyed greater success. Husa was a forward-thinking composer who employed wild dissonances and difficult melodic material, in addition to quotes from ancient works. He was also a great experimentalist with different sounds, as you’ll hear in this piece.

Today’s work is Apotheosis of this Earth, a 1971 piece that started for wind band and chorus, but was also later transcribed for orchestra. The work springs from Husa’s deep environmentalism. Here is the text of Husa’s own writing on the piece (credit):

The composition of Apotheosis of this Earth was motivated by the present desperate stage of mankind and its immense problems with everyday killings, war, hunger, extermination of fauna, huge forest fires, and critical contamination of the whole environment.

Man’s brutal possession and misuse of nature’s beauty—if continued at today’s reckless speed—can only lead to catastrophe. The composer hopes that the destruction of this beautiful earth can be stopped, so that the tragedy of destruction—musically portrayed in the second movement—and the desolation of the aftermath (the “postscript” of the third movement) can exist only as fantasy, never to become reality.

In the first movement, Apotheosis, the earth first appears as a point of light in the universe. Our memory and imagination approach it in perhaps the same way as it appeared to the astronauts returning from the moon. The earth grows larger and larger, and we can even remember some of its tragic moments (as struck by the xylophone near the end of the movement).

The second movement, Tragedy of Destruction, deals with the actual brutalities of man against nature, leading to the destruction of our planet, perhaps by radioactive explosion. The earth dies as a savagely, mortally wounded creature.

The last movement is a Postscript, full of the realization that so little is left to be said: the earth has been pulverized into the universe, the voices scattered into space. Toward the end, these voices — at first computer-like and mechanical — unite into the words “this beautiful earth,” simply said, warm and filled with regret…and one of so many questions comes to our minds: ‘Why have we let this happen?’”

Listening to this work several times over the last few days, I am reminded of Stanley Kubrick’s use of modern music (primarily Ligeti) in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The piece speaks of the industrialized destruction of our own habitat, along with the habitats of many others, and of the regret as our light slowly dies. It’s not an optimistic work, to be sure. But optimism is not always well-taken.

Here is Apotheosis of this Earth, by Karel Husa.

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An ANNOUNCEMENT.

Posted on August 22, 2022 by ksedinger

Yes, that’s right! An ANNOUNCEMENT!

I’ve joined the ranks of people with newsletters.

Why?

Well, this is strictly a case of me being a follower: it seems like everybody is doing newsletters, so I needed to join the bandwagon.

You can find mine, Dispatches from the Forgotten Stars, right here, and I hope you’ll subscribe!

What will I be writing there? Well, there are a few issues up already, so you can sample them. It won’t be too different than what appears here, really, although since each issue is a self-contained thing, it will read somewhat differently. I don’t plan to echo content from the newsletter on this site, nor do I have current plans to monetize the newsletter content, though I certainly won’t turn away shekels or quatloos that people want to throw my way.

I haven’t totally settled on a publishing schedule for it yet, since I’m still getting my feet wet, but I’m gravitating toward an issue twice monthly (with occasional extra issues as I see fit). The newsletter will be a marketing tool as I hopefully produce more books moving forward, but I also want to provide something that’s not a waste of time to read. I will probably diversify the newsletter’s content as I get more used to it–one idea I like a lot is serializing a story there–so I hope you’ll come aboard!

It’s been rather strange the last few years, as I’ve watched once-prolific bloggers mainly shift toward Twitter and let their blogs kind of wither on the vine…and then, finding they want to write long-form content again, instead of returning to the blogs they instead go to newsletter platforms like Substack and Medium. And that works out great for them, as those sites are monetized. (It also results in some of my favorite commentators producing more and more content that’s paywalled, which is a development I am not in love with–but I’m also not in love with the idea that talented folks not getting paid for their work, either, so obviously I’d rather err on the side of the former.) I’m kind of pigheaded in my refusal to abandon this blog (which is itself a successor to the eternally-appreciated Byzantium’s Shores), but a newsletter that can double as an email marketing list for my books sounds quite useful, potentially.

Anyway, please do check it out and subscribe!

 

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“Then you may take me to the Fair–” “We did that.” “No, it’s a DIFFERENT Fair this time!”

Posted on August 21, 2022 by ksedinger

Our summers often pivot on two fairs: the Sterling Renaissance Festival, and the Erie County Fair, which we attended on Friday the 12th. (I would have posted about it sooner, but then that dumbassed virus showed up and put its feet on the furniture and drank from coasterless glasses and got crumbs over everything and was basically just a big asshole.) While The Wife was unable to attend Sterling because of her recent foot surgery, she was able to attend the County Fair, by virtue of a day-long scooter rental.

This year we were graced with probably the most perfect weather for the Fair we’ve ever had: it was clear with low humidity, there was a light breeze all day, and the high temperature was 72 or so. It was simply a perfect day for going to the Fair.

We had a mostly great day, though The Wife petered out quickly by the end (it was her first major long outing since before her foot surgery in June). There are some notable things from years past that aren’t there anymore, which does happen every year but seems more sadly common moving forward. The biggest thing I missed this year was the giant model railroad exhibit that used to always be set up in the Grange Building; hopefully that manages to return next year. Also, the lovely old building that used to house the woodcarving exhibits is entirely gone, having been demolished for safety reasons, which is a shame. The Fair is still a huge amount of fun and can easily kill and entire day, but it did feel–this year and last–a bit more wide-open, which is to say, a bit more empty. I’m hoping for rebounds in the future, but…who knows.

After reading lots of online complaining about prices, I have to report that while prices were up, they did not seem wildly up to me. I spent roughly what I usually spend in terms of food, plus a little. But I never got the sticker shock that I had at the Sterling Renfest when I saw that the turkey legs that were once $9 are now $16. They also rolled parking and admission into a single price, which eliminates the need for money handlers at the parking entrances and makes getting into the park that much quicker, but folks are complaining about that online too, for reasons I can’t fathom.

Here are some photos from our day at The Fair. I have more available in a Flickr album, if you like this sort of thing.

Proper Fair attire.

Wide view of one of the main junctions at the Fair. No, I did not eat at Mr. Sticky’s. Sticky buns and cinnamon rolls are wonderful, but I can’t eat such heavy stuff at The Fair.

 

I always love the ole firefighting equipment.

 

This guy won SECOND place for woodcarving! I’d have given it first, which went to a duck decoy. (Yes, it was a VERY well-done duck. I just love this dude better!)

Beautiful chess board! I like how this carver took inspiration from, but did not reproduce, the classic Staunton pieces.

Always a favorite thing: the quilts.

Mural on the Grandstand exterior.

We don’t eat NEARLY as much at The Fair as we used to. Ribbon fries, though, are ESSENTIAL.

Dinner is always Chiavetta’s. I make some mean Chiavetta’s in my backyard, but the pros just somehow always seem to get it done just right.

Sheep. (I am not convinced that sheeps and goats aren’t somehow the same beasties, just at different points in their lives. I mean, I know they’re not, but some part of me remains pretty sure they are.)

The Fair is most beautiful at the end of the day and into early evening. We left shortly after taking this. Hopefully next year we can manage a little later stay….

I’m already looking forward to the 2023 Fair!

Posted in Life, On Buffalo and The 716, Photographic Documentation | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Day Seven (the last day)

Posted on August 20, 2022 by ksedinger

I’m going to stop counting the COVID days after today, because I think it’s pretty much done. I’m back to work Monday, so…yay. I have a bad feeling about what my Inbox is going to look like when I get back, but that’s Monday’s problem. It’s still the weekend.

Because COVID struck me before I could get our week’s groceries (over time I’ve evolved into less of a “Buy it all in one trip” person and more a “a few things here, a few things there” person), we’ve been cobbling things together here and there. My mother was gracious enough to pick up a few items for us on her trips, and then on Thursday I decided that I would try The Store’s curbside-grocery pickup thing. Since we also needed a dinner plan, I also figured I’d use The Store’s curbside “meals to go” thing and order some sushi for The Wife and a pizza for The Daughter and I. Easy!

Except…I’d never done the Curbside Grocery Ordering thing before, and it turns out that you have to do it way in advance. Like, probably the day before. This makes sense, now that I think about it: someone actually has to run around the store and literally “shop” the order, which takes time, and there are only so many employees available to do that. So you place your order and pick a time slot at which time you’ll expect to go pick up your stuff. I went to make my order at 4pm last night, and found that we couldn’t pick up until today. Oops. Again, that’s on me for just not knowing how it all works.

We did get the pizza and sushi, though! Another funny item: when ordering the pizza on the app, when it got to the toppings, I wanted pepperoni and sausage on the whole thing, and banana peppers on half. The app asked me what side I wanted the peppers on: the left or the right! That struck me as a really weird question. Does anybody care what physical side that only-half topping is on? I thought back to all the really weird customer interactions I had at Pizza Hut, and I couldn’t remember anyone ever lodging a complaint about their toppings being on the wrong side. I’d have pithily said, “Well, flip it around and it’ll be right!”

Of course, a minute or two later I recognized what the app was trying to do: that’s the phraseology they came up with to allow for pizzas like “pepperoni and sausage on half, mushroom and onions on the other half”. So you would input the pepperoni and the sausage on the left, and the mushrooms and the onions on the right. Makes perfect sense, but sometimes you encounter things that are perfectly logical but phrased in ways you don’t expect and it takes a bit of thinking to catch up.

(For the record, I had them put the peppers on the right. Which they did!)

Anyway, now it’s Saturday: Farmer’s Market, a quick trip to our favorite local bakery, and we have to pick up our groceries. We also have to do laundry and I’m way overdue in vacuuming the upstairs. Oh, and writing! Gotta write. I’m on a streak, and you have to respect the streak.

And now, time to finish this coffee and attack the day. I close with a cat.

Remy watching a bee that got inside.

 

 

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Writing and other pursuits….(day six)

Posted on August 19, 2022 by ksedinger

As of this morning, I am pretty much completely symtom-free. Huzzah! Unfortunately, as of this morning, according to the test I took when I got up, I am not yet COVID-free. Boo! I assume this just means that my immune system still has some work to do in escorting the hangers-on and the squatters off-premises. It’s a work-in-progress, and all that.

So the timeline was basically this:

Last Friday: Attended the Erie County Fair. Toward the end of the day, noticed a throat tickle and a bit of stuffiness. Attributed this to occasional seasonal allergies and being outside and not having drunk nearly as much water as I usually do.

Saturday: Started thinking, “Huh, this is starting to feel suspiciously like some kind of crud. Might wanna keep an eye on this.”

Sunday: Got up after a night of sneezing, coughing, and a mild sore throat. Thought, “Huh. This is definitely some crud. Better test. Oh look, COVID. Well, shit.”

Monday: This was when I felt the worst. Slept downstairs, and then when The Wife (who has tested negative this whole time, Huzzah!) headed into her home office for work, I went to our bed and crashed for several hours. The worst of the sneezing and coughing was this day. Even so, it never got worse than any other normal cold I’ve ever had. By dinner time on Monday, I felt noticeably better. (Oddly, the way my colds usually progress, when I’m starting to feel better is when I sound the worst to other people!)

Tuesday: Definitely on the mend, feeling significantly better. Much less sneezing and coughing. Also, by this point the usual cold-related brain fog is starting to dissipate, so I’m starting to really think about writing again. In fact, on Tuesday afternoon I opened Scrivener and actually did get some writing done:

Not the easiest 500 words I’ve ever done, but I got them down.

Wednesday: Back to, I dunno, we’ll call it 80 percent. And I got more writing done!

By the way, another milestone fell on Wednesday:

Yup. When I started writing Forgotten Stars V, I hoped to be somewhere near the book’s end around the 180K mark. That is not going to happen. As I’m writing now, I’m finishing up the Second Interlude before I write all of Act III. Ouch. More on that below….

Thursday: Feeling 90 percent normal! And the floodgates opened up:

Yup, yesterday was a really good day for writing. The goal now is to have more and more days like yesterday.

Also, I had planned our dinner on Sunday to be grilled chicken wings, but obviously the COVID arrival screwed that up. Last night, though, our desire for wings would not be denied. Because, in the immortal words of John C. Reilly in the comedy classic Stepbrothers, “But what if I want wings?”

Shot…

…and chaser.

The sauce, by the way, is The Store’s brand of Korean barbecue sauce. I love this stuff. Just love it. It’s got that sweet-and-salty Asian soy thing going on, and it’s gluten-free, so The Wife gets to enjoy it. And yes, All You Grillers, I do apply the sauce at the end of the cook and let it caramelize and char a bit. There’s a whole school of thought out there in which this is heresy and you never put sauce on (“if you use sauce at all, and why would you, that’s what rubs and pre-seasonings are for, you heathen!” as another sub-school of grillers would say) until the meat is at the table, but I disagree, and it’s my grill and my kitchen.

(Oh, I would never put sauce on a steak on the grill. Steak gets S&P and that’s it. After all, “S&P, the choice for me!”)

So now it’s Friday, which means my forced vacation is coming to an end. Now, I’m thinking a bit about how I use my vacation time. Because I only get a few weeks of it (though I’m a couple years out from earning more), I tend to stretch it out through the year on vacations that are mainly long weekends. The exceptions to this are if we happen to have an unusually lengthy trip planned, such as our Hawaii trek last December, but as a rule, I rarely take an entire week off. But having done so now, I’m kind of thinking…I might start doing so. Especially once I hit the four-week plateau.

And now, I’ve got Friday’s writing to do, and since I’ve got some momentum going, I’m also going to get some plans in place for next week once I’m back to work. Also, look for an announcement on Monday! Hmmmmm!!!

I close with this funny thing I stole from Facebook this morning. Peace out, y’all!

 

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Something for Thursday

Posted on August 18, 2022 by ksedinger

I heard this song…someplace online, a week or two ago. I honestly don’t recall where. I think someone used it as a background on their video about something else. But I love this singer’s voice–husky and soulful in her lower register, but she can also rise up and do some belting–and the song itself is quite beautiful. Here is Katrina Stone with “I Hope So”.

 

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