It has been a very busy few months since my last opportunity to write here but a quick run down looks like this:
Saddleback ski adventure featuring a two day blizzard of 60 mph winds with uphill limited to the trusty T-bar and our intrepid touring expeditions. Most importantly, though, a great family hang with kid cousins;
Weekend trips to the Catskills for skiing with friends, and a solo day trip in 60 degree sunshine with perfect spring conditions;
A sojourn to visit grandparents in Florida with gorgeous golf, beach and pool recreation and relaxation;
An NYC visit from Maine cousins through Central Park and The Met, Coney Island rides and Brooklyn FC soccer, Prospect Park and Smorgasburg, a South African circus and Korean BBQ;
Long Play Festival with amazing musical performances in beautiful downtown Brooklyn venues, a Mother’s Day of Cajun Zydeco and crawfish at the stunning Strong Rope Brewery in Red Hook, and Mr. Sunday dance party at Nowadays in Ridgewood;
Camping weekend in Vermont, then a return to Middlebury for a very fun and nostalgic 25th reunion!
A Land Party for the Ages, with 50 people and four amazing bands performing on a vastly improved stage and sound rig;
A big beautiful “No Kings” protest against the Commander-in-Chief;
Then today, June 25, 2025, we woke up to the inspiring news that Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for NYC Mayor!
And today is also our 20th wedding anniversary!!! Since I met Alaina at Midd, I knew that I would do anything to be a part of her life; I have dedicated and devoted myself to her, and my marriage and family makes me happier than I could have possibly imagined in November 1999. Love is everything!
Entertainment:
& Juliet: Wonderfully fun Broadway musical featuring hits by Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Katy Perry etc;
Sinners: mixing ancient blues and vampires in a modern crowd pleaser;
Contact: rewatched one of my all-time favorite movies with the family;
Ted Lasso: also rewatched one of my all-time favorite shows with the family;
Ivy’s Dance Recital to Drops of Jupiter by Train, and Horse Showcase on Zeppole;
Dave Matthews Band at Jones Beach, Two Step closer;
Literary excursions:
Scarcity Brain by Michael Easter – humans evolved in a world of scarcity, where survival was a daily effort and acquiring resources required intense personal investment, but today we live in a world of material abundance where purpose and meaning can feel scarce.
Music is History by Questlove – Year by year historical journey of the music Ahmir Thompson grew up listening to in the context of contemporaneous political and cultural moments and movements;
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu – Far out sci-fi of communication with life in a chaotic tri-solar system;
Life As No One Knows It by Sara Imari Walker – Assembly Theory offers a new way of thinking about the definition of life and its emergence, with implications for the search for life beyond our home planet;
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking – I read this 25 years ago and wanted another pass with my recent science curiosity and research, which provided a helpful context for these incomprehensible concepts.
Playground by Richard Powers – Beautiful and haunting story intertwining class hierarchy, colonial exploitation, climate change, technocracy and democracy, love and death;
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen – Recommended by Miles from his classroom reading, a powerful survival story of a boy stranded in the Canadian wilderness;
Horizons: The Global Origins of Modern Science by James Poskett – Science evolves and expands as human awareness spreads around the world; while a Eurocentric history predominates, the evidence is clear that science grew out of a collaboration with newly interacting cultures and people;
Galileo’s Error: Foundations for a New Science of Consciousness by Philip Goff – Galileo established modern science by separating the physical world from personal qualia; the distinction has produced an incredibly accurate understanding of many of our experiences, but fails to explain the experience itself. Panpsychism posits that consciousness may be a fundamental aspect of reality;
The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley – A great writer self-administers mescaline and describes the mind-altering event while musing on human consciousness.
Thank you to authors for sharing their ideas and thank you for being a reader!
