Better

I've been neglecting this 'blog... but, no, really I haven't. Fact is, I know barely anyone reads my posts anyway, and that's OK. Living life is better than writing about it anyway, as much as I enjoy writing. So I've been doing some of that, and hopefully you (whoever you are) have been as well.

There's been some travel. My trip to Egypt last year was incredible, of course; this year began with the traditional visit to Brazil, though I spent less time there than usual. Gina and I spent a relatively warm February weekend in Cape May, then decided soak up some sun in Key West for a few days in April. We did a little tour of New England over the long Fourth of July weekend, spending a night in Boston (where no one at Cheers knew our names), another one in Portsmouth, NH (where we had a delicious breakfast at La Maison Navarre), a short, rainy jaunt through Maine culminating in scrumptious lobster rolls with a lighthouse view... and two nights in beautiful Vermont. We did some kayaking, admired a waterfalls, visited the Ben & Jerry's Factory (well, we arrived just before closing, but we still managed to get some ice cream and peruse the gift shop and the Flavor Graveyard), held some baby goats, and just loved the hell out of the Green Mountain State. And each other.

Catsitting in April, dogsitting in July... I lost an aunt, my mom's sister, suddenly in May. I got to see a friend and former colleague, along with two current colleagues from Egypt and two from the US, with Gina at a great Turkish restaurant over Memorial Day weekend. More of my attention has been spent on Netflix (and Prime TV, and Apple TV+) of late, but it's probably safe to say that I still watch less TV than most of my friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. I did get Gina into "Black Mirror" after showing her the "Joan Is Awful" episode, and she and I are making our way through "Peaky Blinders" together (just finished season 2). And then there's the car situation.

A week before we embarked on our trip to New England, my old Corolla was totalled in a three-vehicle collision on Route 17 in Paramus. Fortunately, I wasn't injured at all, though the crash did pop up in my mind's eye randomly over the next week or so, including a few times as I was drifting off to sleep. Loads of fun. Gina went on a few test drives with me, and I'm happy to report that I'm now zipping around in a Pontiac G6 (which I've named Gisela), and I really enjoy this car, in a way that I never quite did the Toyota. Don't get me wrong, it was a dependable vehicle, but it just didn't spark joy the way the Pontiac does.

In hindsight, getting a pic of my car at Lyndhurst's
"Kingsland Explosion Memorial" might have been tempting fate, but...

All in all, things are better. Yes, I did put out a new song in May, "Spark Rekindled." My music output has slowed down rather a bit. You're welcome.  ;-P   If I wrote songs, or 'blog (or social media!) posts, solely for feedback and commentary from others, I'd have stopped a long, long time ago. I do have a few unfinished song ideas I'd like to finish, and I'm considering re-recording a few tunes for an EP, but there's no rush at the moment. I'm still getting a little more comfortable with the ukulele, and it might be fun to switch over to that for a while once I'm done with the other projects. We'll see.

In the meantime, there are two months of summer left as of today. Enjoy 'em; I plan to!