#262 The Fix Up
18 September 2016 // Eugene, Oregon
I’ve come to love cutting back on the things I own. Taking old clothes to be donated. Giving old books away to friends or selling them at Powell’s. I swear to you I didn’t just find out I’m dying. It’s just better in so many ways to own just enough… not more and not less.
I’m sure I’ll always have a few things I’ll accumulate quickly. The bookshelves will replenish themselves soon and it’s hard to say no to a useful kitchen gadget. I’ve spent most of my adulthood so far pretty low-budget, so I turned into an excellent scavenger. Hopefully I can keep up these new habits though for the benefit of other scavengers.
I got to spend a good amount of time today tidying up and I’m quite pleased with the look of our living room.
I don’t know when this change happened but I’ve come to love the look of my space when it’s all cleaned up and neat. Growing up, I was kind of a messy kid. Now, having a house with everything squared away feels weirdly energizing.
#263 Last Week Off
19 September 2016 // Eugene, Oregon
I have this week off, more or less. Some errands and odd jobs and freelance projects to tinker with, but mostly a week off.
Stopping myself from doing too much work this week. I can do this so easily when I start to get spare time. I like to take on a bunch of projects, and sometimes having nothing to do for a week gives my brain too much space to start taking on even more projects.
My goal right now is to not let that happen. Weeks like this don’t come by very often.
#264 GCF Welcome
20 September 2016 // Eugene, Oregon
Spent some time welcoming new grad students onto campus. Here’s some of the things this week making me happy.
I’m loving the show Galavant. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard at a TV show in a long time.
I love Rover. The Airbnb of pet sitting. We needed to find someone for Beignet this weekend while we’re in Austin. I hope to get myself listed there as a dog walker soon enough!
I loved watching the Marlins play for the first time on Monday since Jose Fernandez’s death. By now a bunch of people have seen headlines and replays of Dee Gordon hitting a home run on the first at bat any one of his teammates took after the tragedy, but watching it in real time was unbelievable. By far the most emotional oomph and heart I’ve ever seen out of a game, personally, and I’m glad I gave this a watch on Monday night. We all could do with some reminders of how human we are.
#265 Jeremy Visits Eugene
21 September 2016 // Eugene, Oregon
A visit from Jeremy wouldn’t be complete without taking him to get his shots.
#266 Andrew Pham
22 September 2016 // Eugene, Oregon
Heads up, Eugene! If any of you are looking for a piano teacher or if you need somebody to play for you or accompany you at some event, Andrew Pham is your guy!
He and I got to take some headshots together to update his site and they are coming together.
#267 A Tale For The Time Being
23 September 2016 // Eugene, Oregon
“Life is fleeting. Don’t waste a single moment of your precious life. Wake up now! And now! And now!”
–Ruth Ozeki
This book. I’ve been mesmerized by it since reading it. I’m completely fascinated by the amount of invention in the idea of this book and the amount of vividness in the way it was executed.
Ruth Ozeki essentially wrote herself as a character, interacting with another character she invented. Oftentimes, this book hardly feels like a work or fiction and you genuinely feel like you’re with Ruth, reading the discovered diary of Naoko in Japan. It feels like all this is happening just off of Vancouver Island in real time, as you read, which is quite a feat. There are more magical elements like disappearing pages, alternate futures, ghosts and superpowers, and yet it still feels realer than some biographies I’ve read.
The character voices in this book were so vivid and likeable. There are some horrific moments, but also coming to terms. This book straddles between timelines, fiction and nonfiction, magical realism and naturalism, darkness and light so quickly. Overcoming duality seems to be at the center of these stories and they accomplish their goal. There are some heavy themes in here, but if you like fiction that provokes some thought, I can’t recommend this enough.
#268 Oregon Ducks
24 September 2016 // Eugene, Oregon
I’ve had the perk of getting Deanna and I into games for fifteen bucks the past couple years, but this will be our last season to take advantage of that.
Unfortunately our five game sample size gives us a losing record.
W vs. Colorado, 2014
W vs. Georgia State, 2015
L vs. Utah, 2015
L vs. Washington State, 2015
L vs. Colorado, 2016
Always leave things better than you found them. I love this idea. Sadly this won’t be the case with Ducks football. We came in during their best season ever.
Anytime Marcus Mariota wants to take a gap year from the NFL for grad school is fine by me.
PHILIPPE LAZARO 