Present Participle List: January 2019

This was a busy, busy month at work. I worked a lot of overtime and then I got a yucky cold. So I waffled between working my butt off and being flat on my butt. Here are a few things that I got up to.

Watching:
Documentaries, lots of them.

Top Chef Kentucky: It’s been years since I watched a season of Top Chef, the show with the hottest judges in reality show history, Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio. Nothing much has changed about the show and I prefer it that way. There are still the nice chefs and the cocky chefs and the nervous chefs and creative challenges in between in-show car and Whole Foods commercials.

Eating:
Shrimp and Grits: One of my 19 in 2019 goals this year is to cook new recipes. I subscribed to New York Times Cooking and cooked Shrimp and Grits with Garlicky Swiss Chard as my first two new recipes of the year. Then I ate grits again and again after that and at least another time after that.

Listening:

Radiolab episode: The Punchline Thanks to the recommendation by MJV, I checked out a hockey-based episode of RadioLab about the season when goon John Scott was elected to the NHL all-star game in a popular fan-fueled campaign. It could be an allegory of what happens when corporations try to use social media marketing without a complete understanding of how it works. It details the steps the NHL took to remove John Scott from the game and highlights their villainy. Sure, the NHL is run by jerks, but in this situation they go out of their way to be total dicks. I recommend this episode to sports fans and students of social media alike.

The Smiths
I read Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, whose characters are big fans of the Smiths and I’ve been on a Smiths’ bender ever since. I’ve been listening to A Light That Never Goes Out a lot, probably an unhealthy amount.

Reading:

Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies by J.B. West This intriguing book by J.B. West, who served as usher and then chief usher in the White House from FDR to Nixon is filled with awesome tidbits about the first families he served. There is nothing salacious here as West has such respect for each of the presidents and their families. The book covers so many behind-the-scenes looks at important moments in American history including the Kennedy assassination and the death of FDR in office.

Playing:
Star Wars: Edge of the Empire

A Way Out
A bartender at my favorite bar Best Buds Gaming Lounge recommended A Way Out to my friend D and I and then we spent the next many hours and beers playing it. It’s a cooperative prison-escape jaunt that feels more like playing through a movie then a game. Yeah, there are a lot of cutscenes but you also get to steal a truck from old people! This playable Choose Your Own Adventure is very entertaining.

That's what I was up to in January