A Pound of Paper

 I recently finished John Baxter's charming memoir A Pound of Paper: Confessions of a Book Addict. My wife says I'm a book addict so it seemed right up my alley. I had just finished Baxter's A Year in Paris and greatly enjoyed it so I almost immediately ordered this memoir since I had an Amazon gift card laying around begging to be used. 

This book is actually more about Baxter's lifelong pursuit as a rare book collector. He has some funny and engaging stories as he recounts digging through old bookstores and shops for works worth collecting. He does talk about his life a bit which is indeed interesting. He came from from the backwoods of Australia, spent time in London, Virginia, Los Angeles before finally settling in Paris. He has some wild experiences in all his various stops.

If you like collection books then this work might be for you. Baxter writes in a breezy and engaging way so it's a fun read.

NHS

Proud of the boy 

 

Kite

My neighbor’s kite got away from their kids and ended up in our tree. That’s way up there. Not sure that thing’s coming down anytime soon. 

Microburst

Hoo boy. My daughter and I were walking from the high school to the junior high yesterday in the morning and got caught in a microburst of rain and wind. When we had left the high school it was only lightly raining. Then a sudden wind storm blew up and broke my school district issued umbrella. We took off in a mad dash to the junior high which is just across the parking lot. We tried to go through the junior high band hall which is almost always open. Not today. We had to circle back around in the rain and go to the usual cafeteria door. A lousy way to begin your morning! Had I known the light rain would suddenly turn into a windstorm I would have driven my daughter to school. Twenty minutes later it was bright and sunny. So it goes...

826

 

I wore this shirt to church this past Sunday, with a sports jacket. But an older lady didn't seem to like the skull. She asked me twice about it. She seemed bothered by it. I had to assure her that the shirt represented the non-profit 826 Valencia in San Francisco. I had to explain to her their mission in reaching under-served students for tutoring writing skills. How they use a pirate store at the front of the center in order to meet zoning requirements. She still seemed non-plussed that I would wear a skull to church.

Cedar Ridge

Last Saturday was a beautiful day in North Texas. So we took advantage of the weather and went hiking at the Cedar Ridge Preserve in Duncanville. This is one of our favorite places to hike in the DFW area. There are some steep trails that provide a nice workout and the scenery is amazing.

 

Neo-Soul?

 

I think this out-take photo from Easter looks like the cover of a cool neo-soul album from the late 90's that was trying to replicate a 60's vibe.

Bad is Bad

The Royals are bad. Really bad. I didn't think it could be worse than last year. But it is. It is reminding me of the 2000's Royals. 

Yes, still early. But it's looking increasingly grim.

They can't hit.

They can't pitch.

They can't play defense.

Their best players don't hit when guys are on base. 

Ugh.

My MLB radio subscription expires at the end of this month. I'm seriously considering not re-upping.

It’s not hard…

 

John Muir Day

 

Happy John Muir Day! Do yourself a favor and read some Muir. He knew what mindfulness was before mindfulness was cool.

Pink Vette

 

Saw a pink Vette last night. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a Vette that color. 

Autism Awareness Month

One of my students who has autism gave me this bracelet for Autism Awareness Month. He is one of the smartest and brightest students I have this year. 

I have heard some say that maybe a re-labeling is in order. Some say we now have plenty of awareness of autism in our society but what we need now is more acceptance of those with autism. Autism Acceptance Month. I like the sound of it.

Notre-Dame

Notre-Dame - The Soul of France by Agnes Poirier. This is a very nice history of the Notre Dame Cathedral. The first chapter is a gripping account of the terrible fire of April 15, 2019 that caused enormous damage and came very close to destroying the entire building.

Poirier then tells a concise but fascinating history of Notre Dame and how She represents the history and culture of France. My wife and were amazingly fortunate to have visited Notre Dame seven months before the fire. It was an amazing experience to be on top of the tower when the bells rang. We were stunned to see the fire on the news. The books ends with an update on the restoration process and the hope that comes with the rebuilding of Our Lady of Paris. A very nice and inspirational read by @agnescpoirier. I enjoyed it very much.

Part Two

 

My Kids Love my Jokes

 

A Year in Paris

 A Year in Paris by John Baxter

This is the second work I’ve read by Baxter. I first encountered him on the Shakespeare and Company Podcast. He was a fascinating conversationalist so I checked out his The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrians Guide to Paris. His writings were very engrossing so I bought a few of his other works and just finished A Year in Paris.

Admittedly, I have an affinity for Paris. I loved visiting there a few years back. I enjoy studying French history. Baxter brings the city alive in new ways in this work. His overall theme is that France is a nation closely attuned to the differing seasons of the year. He discusses how this connection with the whims of nature impacts both French history and it's current day culture.

His stories of both the past and present are full of whimsy and never cease to entertain. Baxter is the kind of guy you want to hang out with at a cafe or dinner party simply because the conversation would never be dull. He is erudite, witty and engaging. I encourage you, dear non-existent readers of mine, to check him out.

The Mail

 

The second edition of the resurrected The Believer came in this week. Always a good day when The Believer arrives in the mail box!

Sky

Went to see the Kansas City Royals the other night in Arlington as they came to play the Rangers. This was only my second time in the new Rangers ballpark and I was happy to see the roof was open. They seldom open the roof, even in good weather. Last year they only had it open for 16 of their 81 home games. I tell you, it makes a big difference. It felt like a real baseball game. When the roof is closed it feels like a game played in a barn.

The game did go to extra innings. I'm too old for extra inning games on a school night. Unfortunately the Royals lost. But it was a pleasant evening at the ball yard.

 

165

Really. I promise to slow down on the blog posts once I get to 165 posts for the year. That would match 2014, the year of my highest blog output. I hope to settle down to a post every other day or so once I hit that mark. I've enjoyed posting every day but I'm running on fumes regarding post ideas!

Maginot Memes

 

I saw this on a French History Podcast Facebook page I follow. Perfect timing since I was discussing the invasion of France the next day in my European History class. My kids learn more from memes sometimes.

Coltrane at Walmart

 

Saw this while in line at Walmart Customer Service today. Obviously some philistine didn't comprehend the eternal epiphanies contained within and returned it. Fitting I saw this the day before Easter.

Happy Easter!

 

Zeb

 

I have to say it was pretty cool to see Zeb's cameo on The Mandalorian last week. The CG was well done and using the original voice actor from Rebels was inspired. Greatness.

100

100th Post of the Year! 

Admittedly I'm running out of momentum. Not sure how long I can keep the post-a-day run going!

Starting Badly

 

The Royals have started out badly. This is not a surprise. Although their great Spring Training may have created a glimmer of hope. And yet, I still try to catch a couple of innings of their games each night on the MLB app. I find listening to an inning or two calming. Reminders of my childhood and adolescence. Totally worth the $30 a year to get their radio broadcasts. Even if they are terrible. Ah, it's a long season yet. Nothing matters till June, right?

Grifter

I know it probably won't amount to much (but who knows!?) but it sure is nice to see that guy arrested in New York. Won't make much difference to the hard core cult members. But maybe, just maybe more and more Americans who did vote for that grifter will see the light or at least move on in a state of fatigue.

Passed

 My son was quite thrilled when we were passed by an Aston Martin on the highway the other day.

Sitting

 

Just sitting in a coffee house chillin 

Twee or nay?

 

 

Recently I inadvertently began going through Sting's catalogue although not in such an ordered way as some of my other recent catalog listens. He holds up although near the end his voice begins to show signs of age and he can't quite hit the high registers as consistently as in earlier albums. I didn't care much for his My Songs album where he covers his own stuff. The originals are much better.

My dive into his stuff has not been strictly chronological and I've bounced around quite a bit this past week or so. Today I even went back to his days with The Police.

I like Sting. But the one gnawing thing in the background is the lurking pretension. He seems like a really nice guy on interviews. He's stood up for some worthy causes and given to charity. But I've seen these puff pieces about him and Trudy at their 400 year old villa in Tuscany, or their manorial estate in England and their swank bungalow in Manhattan and it comes off as twee. They always mention they both grew up working class which I guess is their attempt to say to not to hold this fabulous wealth against them. 

So it's hard to go all in on Sting. He sometimes seems so overly self-aware that it transitions into clueless-ness. Maybe I'm too hard on him. He does write a good line and sing a good verse. Why should I hold his throwing his wealth in our faces against him? I don't think he's intending to throw it in our faces. I don't think he's meaning to be snotty. I think he just thinks he has a fascinating life (which he admittedly does) and wants to share that with us. 

Most of us are guilty of that although on a much smaller scale. Social media has made a lot of us narcissists. Who am I to talk? I have a blog for crying out loud. How vain is that?

I guess Sting's mystique is part of the whole persona. I do think the music stands quite strongly on its own. But music is usually sold beyond the recordings. That's been the case for decades. Image and branding are important to move product. Sting may be no different than most successful musicians. I guess I just need to ignore the Oprah interviews or CBS Sunday Morning profiles and listen to the songs.

Vice

 

 

Miami Vice came out when I was in Junior High and I loved it. Friday nights at 9 pm was must-watch TV. I tried wearing dock shoes without socks but that gave me blisters so I gave that up. I did wear white Bugle Boy pants and knock off Wayfarer sunglasses. I stuck with Miami Vice even when it lost some of its cultural cachet after the third season or so.

After the show's initial run I would see it on TV every so often. The USA Network played reruns for awhile. And would I catch it on local syndication here and there. But it had been a long time since I had given it a serious watch. 

Recently I saw that it was streaming on the free Tubi app. So I've been giving it a look. I've watched the first four or five episodes of the first season and I am thoroughly enjoying it. These episodes have really held up so far. Now, I remember that not all seasons and episodes held the standard during its run. But I'm enjoying far more than I did in my re-watch of Battlestar Galactica. 

The first season is very cinematic. The plots are serious and sometimes very dark. The Ferrari Daytona (although fake) is awesome. The soundtrack is killer. I'm going to have to keep going with it I think.