I had a beautiful run of good golf, so I’ve been playing a lot, trying to savor the last of the good weather, and as it turns out, my good golf. What a game. It must be there are just a few people who can play consistently well. For the rest of us, it’s mostly bitter disappointment mitigated by tiny spurts of proficiency and eternal hope.
But that’s why I have lots of hobbies. So disappointment is a moving target.
I’m thinking the key is diversity of interests. When you get pissed off at one, move on to the next until you can come back and play nice with the others.
And so, with golf turning out to be such treacherous jerk, I turned to my friend Art and completed Number 40!
For some strange reason, I went with a Christmas theme. You may recall I don’t like Christmas all that much, although I’m into the food part and regularly make decorated cookies and other holiday treats. I think I wanted to see if I could capture some of the iconic images of the season.
As it happens, I actually like Number 40! Maybe it will make a believer out of me. Probably not, but I still like it.
I haven’t decided whether I should hang it on the wall with all the others or box it up with almost nonexistent holiday decorations and trot it out sometime in December. We have a big nutcracker from Germany, and that’s about it for seasonal décor, so I’m leaning toward another brick on the wall.
That reminds me last year I convinced Dale not to get a tree, so I suppose I will have to go along with that mess this year. I’d better start preparing myself now. By the way, I’m doing that with politics, too. Preparing myself for the worst so whatever happens won’t be such a shock. I’ve already rehearsed in my head how I will stay calm if it all goes to hell.
Anyway, I do like the tree in the end, particularly the part where Dale decorates and I drink Single Malt Scotch. But overall, I see Christmas trees as a long run for the short slide.
Aside from bad golf and visions of sugar-plums, I was feeling sad that I finished the Easy Rawlins series by Walter Mosley. I prowled around the internet to see if there was a new one on the horizon. There isn’t, but I found a six-book series by Mosley featuring Leonid McGill. I’m in the library queue for the first one, so I should get that next week.
Current reading is the Longmire series by Craig Johnson. As for the books, I like them but don’t love them. I used to say that about men. With a few exceptions, it mostly still applies.
Free from Amazon Prime was a twister called Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea. It’s about a woman accused of murder and headed for a trial when she is killed on 9/11. An investigative reporter starts unraveling the story 20 years later, and there are surprises everywhere. I enjoyed it.
Have you seen Killers of the Flower Moon? I haven’t read the book, and I was thinking about doing that first, but this might be one time when the movie wins. However, I haven’t been to a theater in years, and I’m not sure I can sit for 3.5 hours. Still, I actually think I might rather sit in a theater for that duration as opposed to my living room …
Fewer distractions and the popcorn is better!
Number 40 is great. Thanks for the explanation of disappointment being a moving target. That helps me see my life for what it is. Always hope of some accidental achievement around the corner, though!
I don’t know if I can brace myself for the fall of democracy, but I will try.
Now that you mention it, disappointment being a moving target kind of explains everything. It certainly applies to my career. I figure you’ve got to just keep going, keep trying, keep exploring, so there’s always a little honeymoon period between disappointments.
I’m terrified about the election, but I need to let it go. Like you, I will try.
Need a pic of Number 40 please!
I see it now (could not see it reason in email) … love it!
I’m glad it finally showed up! I think the phone is best for viewing these pieces, because you can blow it up and see the details.
Love number 40–very colorful. I definitely can’t sit in a movie theater for 3.5 hours. I have to get up halfway through 90 minute shows at home.
Then there’s the pee thing. A new definition of streaming! Yeah, I believe I will wait and watch it at home.
Donna, give author Reavis Wortham a try, if you haven’t already. I’ve finished his Sonny Hawke series; I’m now in the middle of the Red River series. A comment from a reviewer prompted me to pick up his books – “I’ll read anything that Reavis Wortham writes.” I have to agree. Our daughter-in-law, a former librarian, clued me in to fantasticfiction.com. You can read about his (and other authors’) novels there.
Thank you so much for the recommendation! I will definitely check him out.
I love number 40 and you should have it out all year.
I have become obsessed with a writer I discovered through Amazon Prime free books. Freida McFadden. She writes psychological thrillers which may not be your thing, but I love them.
OK. I’m adding him to the wall because you said I should. Done.
I enjoy a psychological thriller from time to time and will definitely check out Freida McFadden. I do love those freebies. Thanks for the recommendation!
Oooo, I love #40!
Maybe you can give us a tutorial about staying calm if things go bad? I’m still hopeful since we’re still a year out, but if the worst happens, I may need to meditate 8 hours a day to stay calm.
Thanks! I am trying hard to stay calm, but I’m not sure I’m doing anything worthy of a tutorial. However, I will write about it, as I know a lot of us are struggling.
1. I have been working my way through the Easy Rawlins series, also, and I’m on the next to last. I will be so sad when it’s over. The stories are not only well written but I grew up in the LA area and recognize many of the streets that are named and the important events that Mosley weaves into his stories. It has partly been a look back in time and culture for me.
2. Disappointment in one’s hobbies……sigh. A few years back I took up bowling and joined a league. When I started my average was around 105. Three years of steady bowling and my average was………105. Because of that, and a few other reasons, I gave it up.
3. I hate Christmas, too. Family estrangement has turned holidays into a big, gaping wound. And damn, they drag on for three months every year.
4. Love your new definition of “streaming” as we age. But, I adore going to the movies and buying hugely overpriced piles of candy. It gives me a chance to dress up, although that sounds pathetic. Our problem is that there are only about 3 movies per year that appeal to us at our age.
5. Election results. There is no chance of any good outcome next November. I keep writing in my own candidates, but they never win.
I’m so glad you like Easy. He grows on you. There’s a guy who works at the golf course where I play who reminds me of Easy. I kind of want to say something, but I’m afraid he’ll think I’m hitting on him.
As a foodie, the other thing I hate is all the holiday cooking competitions on Food Network. I could barely get through Halloween, and now this.
I would go for the popcorn, although I have fond memories of going to the movies and eating a boatload of candy when I was a kid. My mother wouldn’t let us buy it at the theater, but she gave us a quarter each to buy what we wanted at the corner store. That bought five things! My sister always went for the chocolate stuff, while I preferred the compressed dextrose — Neccos, candy necklances, SweetTarts, etc.
The election is terrifying. I got all bummed yesterday after a poll was released showing Trump with commanding leads, but then I remembered polls are just polls. I could be miserable from now to November reading all this crap, or I can ignore it. I’m trying to go with the latter.
“Compressed dextrose”. I think you win some kind of award for coming up with that.
My hobbies mostly occur in the kitchen baking & cooking & eating. I’m not striving for any sort of mastery although the cookie decorating is a work in progress & even I wasn’t disappointed with the last batch. I’m seldom disappointed in my own home. Is homemaking my hobby? It’s when I leave the place that disappointment mounts; some days it’s hard to keep a smile on my face on the road, dealing with one system & another (think health care, insurance, utilities, etc). There’s a line in a song – god is great, beer is good & people are crazy. And sometimes the disappointment is directed inward when I don’t manage my reactions to the craziness better with a Zen smile on my face. Fall preparations are done & I’m enjoying a NOvember so far. Two of the latest reads – Middlesex & A Complicated Kindness. Both older books from 2002 & 2004 respectively. Just started The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides (a gift from last Christmas)- “..a mix of Hitchcockian suspense, Agatha Christie plotting and Greek tragedy.” And speaking of Christmas, I’ve spotted a tree to drag into the house. Yes, I cut them down in the ditches. I didn’t put one up last year much to my neighbor’s chagrin. I even fight with myself over the lights! I watched The Miracle Club with Katherine Bates, Maggie Smith & Laura Linney. Needed closed captioning to navigate the Irish accents. And that’s what NOvember will entail – reading & watching when I’m not in the kitchen.
What an interesting observation about being disappointed once you leave the house. I would have to agree that most of my disappointments other than golf are when I hve to deal with the real world. I also agree I’m happiest in the kitchen.
The Zen smile — still working on that one.
Number 40 would make a fabulous festive decoration – I am envious. I used to make festive collages each year to hang in our dining room instead of the usual art, but there isn’t sufficient space now for me to spread out and enjoy it, and it’s no fun when it’s rushed.
I laughed at your comment about men and the Longmire books – I’ve only watched the series, but I think you’re absolutely spot on for both topics! 🙂
I’m delighted you got the humor in my Longmire comment. It made me laugh!