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Friday, June 26, 2026

Have you seen this?

 

Sleepy Hollow TV promotional poster with Ichabod Crane's head tucked under his arm
Every night we watch a series, usually two hours' worth at dinner, except on Fridays, where there's conversation.  Recently, we've been making our way through 'Sleepy Hollow', which is an excellent blend of mystery, suspense, the supernatural, and history. I highly recommend it. The only detail so far that either of us has had an issue with? In the Book of Revelation, it is the lamb who says 'Come and see'. See, very minor in a world where you have an impending Apocalypse, headless horsemen, witches, a shadow Revolutionary War, and the solution to the mystery of the Roanoke Colony's disappearance--all in one. It's very different from Washington Irving's tale (although Orlando Bloom's character's surname is a nod to him). It's on Netflix right now. I'd definitely suggest watching if you like this sort of drama.


This is stunning

23,000-Square-Foot Clasping Arms Celebrate Community Resilience in Minneapolis

Across an expansive lawn at Minneapolis’ Boom Island Park earlier this month, Franco-Swiss artist Saype painted a monumental public artwork directly onto the grass. Part of his Beyond Walls series, which has so far seen 22 iterations around the world, the piece marked the first time the project appeared in the U.S.

Saype's painting on grass of two arms grasping together, one white, one black, in unity
Image Credit: Saype


Prints can be purchased at Saype's website to support future work. Isn't it amazing? It's made from a special biodegradable medium that will slowly fade as the grass is mowed.

Wednesday, June 10, 2026

I am really good

at predicting the next step or ending in a TV series or movie (particularly solving murder mysteries), not by deductive reasoning, but because you can figure out what puzzle piece is missing that will make the story work. For example, last night I was watching where the housemaid was curious as to where the young male servant was going off to with flowers, so she followed him, thinking it was to a sweetheart, but I instantly knew it was to a cemetery to the grave of his mother. And I was right. My friend, who's very good with deductive logic, hadn't expected it, and he said, 'But they weren't funereal flowers'. I said you only use those at a funeral. People bring all sorts of flowers to graves, even gay ones. So how did I know? The story needed to be that way, simple as that, to be a good story. And when I'm wrong--it's not as good as it could be.

I sometimes wonder if it means I really should try to write myself, if there's a writer somewhere in there, and maybe I would be good at creating plots after all.

Sunday, June 07, 2026

So we don't have HBO, and we wanted to watch 'The Gilded Age',

 and Lexington Public Library only has Season Three, inexplicably. Two copies.

In case you didn't know, anyone in a contiguous county (including Fayette) can get a library card at the Jessamine County Public Library and have full borrowing rights if they're an adult. Unlike the Lexington Public Library, they still have physical CDs, older books in series, Hoopla, and Freegal music, which I miss. It fills in some of the gaps. They're at 600 South Main Street in Nicholasville, so not far away, and they also have a studio and a Library of Things, where you can check out practical things like birding backpacks and telescopes. All you need is an ID with your address on it. Their website with full details is: https://jesspublib.org/

Jessamine County Public Library
The library, as you exit
I also found the first book in the Amelia Peabody mystery series, which I dearly love. So, unlike LPL, they keep older books in series. We've had to request books from interlibrary loan because LPL no longer has the earlier books for the series we want to get into.
Also, JCPL has access to Freegal Music, which LPL used to have. You can download a limited number of songs a week to keep.  For as long as you want. Period. I managed to get several albums that way when I used it before. So that is nice.

                                                  I'm also really excited because they have Hoopla, which allows you to check out five items per month--books, audiobooks, movies, or TV series. I plan on checking out Life is Beautiful, a 1997 movie that is very highly acclaimed that will apparently make me cry, and the dramatised audio version of Crocodile on the Sandbank once I am finished re-reading the book.

Also, some time ago, LPS got rid of all their CDs, and they had some Shinedown ones I got to listen to. I know, I can stream them. It's not quite the same. 😊 So between the two libraries, a lot of service gaps get filled.


Library card
The library card is kind of spiffy
Gilded Age DVD Season 1
'The Gilded Age' Season 1
 (written by the same person who
 wrote for 'Downton Abbey'

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters cover
My favourite mystery series, first book

Threat to Surprise - Shinedown CD cover

Planet Zero - Shinedown CD coverThe Sound of Madness - Shinedown CD cover





Saturday, June 06, 2026

Gorgeous

Okay, it's not at the beach, or even a field, it's a parking lot, but this was my view of the sky at sunset last night when I walked out of the Chinoe Kroger here in Lexington yesterday evening. Beautiful, isn't it?