Before I get to the mail, here’s a photo from yesterday’s bicycle ride. The new titanium knee—or more accurately the scar tissue surrounding it—must be loosened first with bending exercises, but as long as I remember to do it I’m okay. I only rode four miles yesterday but could easily have doubled the distance, and plan to do so next Saturday with a ride to Agua Caliente Park and back. Nice saguaro, eh?
I wrote a new You Can’t Read That! banned book post but will wait a week before publishing it. The theme of the post is Banned Books Week, which this year is 23-29 September, and I want to publish closer to those dates. Usually, when I feed the blog, I publish right away and feel good about it afterward. Writing something and not immediately sharing it made me feel vaguely empty.
Later that afternoon, the mailman brought a letter from a friend, and I was able to address that empty feeling: I sat right down and banged out a letter, and knowing it’ll be read in a couple of days, felt much better. Not so much better that I don’t owe you, dear readers, a blog post as well, and this one’ll be published as soon as I finish it.
Donna had a hankering for my pasta alla puttanesca, so I made a batch Friday night. It translates as “whore’s spaghetti,” an easy dish made from whatever’s at hand. We keep our cupboard stocked with certain basics, among them olive oil, canned anchovies, plenty of garlic, capers and black olives, canned diced tomatoes, and several different kinds of pasta. And that’s what I used, selecting a box of fettuccini for the pasta.
Can’t go wrong with this dish. Want to try it? Here’s the recipe!
I’m heading out on the motorcycle in a few minutes, riding up to the top of Mount Lemon and back. Just over 50 miles, door to door, a good shakedown to see if my new knee can be comfortable for a couple of hours on the Goldwing (yes, more knee bending exercises first). I have a new wide angle lens attachment for the big Canon camera and am anxious to try it out at Geology Point, a lookout with spectacular rock formations and views partway up the mountain, so I’m bringing the remote shutter release and a tripod as well. Good thing I have saddlebags!
Meanwhile, Donna’s headed out to teach a sewing class and will be gone all day, so I’m on deck for tonight’s dinner as well. I’m thinking chili.
We watched Black Panther on Netflix last night. Granted it’s a Marvel Comics superhero movie, with spectacular technology and fighting feats that, no matter what flimsy scientific pretext they offer, may as well be magic, I liked it. A lot. But I wish the writers hadn’t pulled their punches. Imagine a heretofore unknown powerhouse of a country in deepest Africa, far more advanced than Western countries, a happy and prosperous nation, suddenly sharing its advanced tech and weapons with oppressed black populations all over the world. Apparently the thought was too scary for the movie’s backers, so they soft-pedaled it at the end.
I’m off now for a ride. If I get any decent photos I’ll share them in a future post.