Food and song last night, dance and music tonight. My daughter and I went to Duke to see Is It Thursday Yet?, a powerful and enlightening performance by dancer Jenn Freeman about her Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis at age 33. I was floored. Great voice by Holland Andrews, too. #appreciation
When I post to Micro.blog, I almost always stay below the 300 character limit so I chose my words carefully, but in all my years here, I never realized that ‘&’ results in more characters than ‘and’.
Erin and I attended the Snap Pea pop-up dinner inside Durham’s Northstar Church of the Arts. Chef Jacob Boehm and pastry chef Danielle Snow prepared a delicious locally sourced vegetarian meal and soprano Ginger Jones-Robinson, accompanied by pianist Matthew Ganong, filled the space with moving music. Snap Pea called this event ‘For the Whole Round World to Hear.’
I’d been intrigued to learn about Snap Pea because the images on its website show grand long-table meals in outdoor settings. Last night’s event was similar, with two long rows of tables, clothed in white, down the nave of the church. Erin and I sat across from each other and struck up conversations with the other couples next to us.
Yesterday, as it happened, I spent the day in Pittsboro at Perch Coworking and used the time to look back on this past year and also plan for the year ahead. In the next months, I’ll be focusing on my own Long Table project and seeking out collaborators to explore ways we can facilitate good conversations over good food.
One next step is to spin up a new blog for the Long Table; I’ll most likely use my account on Micro.blog to do that.
I am inspired by Snap Pea, and all the long history of mankind coming together over a meal to find common ground.
I’m in Pittsboro, NC, on a day pass at Perch Coworking, sitting at the long counter for a personal retreat. I’m reviewing the past year and progress on my “vivid vision” goals, defining my positions and roles and responsibilities at work for the year ahead, and sketching two new projects.
Just learned about the annual NC wildlife photo contest. 2025 winners here. I suspect @amerpie could be in the running with his great photography.
For dinner tonight, I made lablabi, a Tunisian harissa and chickpea soup, and it was delicious. I followed the recipe from Milk Street Magazine; see story here.
I had fun writing this blog post about a book I’m currently reading (The Notebook by Roland Allen) and how it connects to my grandfather, Frank the Beachcomber, and my own lifelong use of notebooks 📚
Watched this in 1985, four days in a row, at the movie theater on Third Street in DeKalb, Illinois: Back to the Future 🍿
Another beautiful and warm Sunday morning, with 40+ guys on the pitch for pick-up soccer games. Oliver joined me today. No goals from either of us but we had fun. Now home with coffee, watching the leaves rain down in the forest around our house.
Bottled the orange bitters. My buddy Andrew made a batch, too. We started the first step—orange peels, gentian root, and more in high-proof Boyd & Blair vodka—together here then followed the next steps in Brad Parsons’s Bitters book at our respective homes. Time to test this.
About to drive to Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw to see Ketch Secor (first saw Old Crow Medicine Show here in Carrboro in 2003). Also just purchased tickets to the Belair Lip Bombs in Raleigh next April.
Dave Winer about running Feedland on your own:
It’s not for poets, though I do know one who got it running.
Could be me. I have Feedland running on my webhost and you can see my News Product (the feeds I read, categorized across a bunch of tabs), here.
At Cat’s Cradle with my eldest daughter to hear Vincent Lima, who gives a brief retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice that threads through his new album.
A perfect morning for pick-up soccer, with the time change everyone seemed to show up. An hour into play, I surprised even myself when I took a pass and, even with a defender in the net, I squared up and perfectly fizzed the ball into the corner for a goal. That got me three double high fives.
A friend who hunts our land each deer season (bow and arrow, from up in an oak tree) has had a trail cam out there for the last couple of months. He came by the house today and showed me images he’s gotten. Said up to 7 coyote have been there at once. This image of coyote watching deer is cool.
Just registered again for the Uwharrie Mountain Run next February. I’ll do the 8 miles along with some work colleagues (hoping they got up early to snag a spot in this perennially popular but limited race).
I’m three episodes into Jad Abumrad’s latest podcast, Fela Kuti: Fear No Man and loving it. It’s got history, personality, music, meditation, and layers of meaning. So good.
Long-time subscriber to the New Yorker, and I’ve keep the auto-renew option turned off, which meant my subscription lapsed this month. I just went to renew and got the introductory rate for one year (then renewal goes to $195/year). I’ll take it. This magazine is golden.
Record store purchase today included Fleetwood Mac 1975 album. Now I’m sitting in theater waiting for new Springsteen biopic to start: Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere 🍿
Back now from a great outing in the beautifully warm NC autum day - first the No Kings protest in Hillsborough, then down the road to the Salt & Smoke & Sound festival at Blackwood Farm: democracy + free expression + assembly + sun + music + bbq + beer = gratitude for U.S.A.