Good morning! Who is watching the Super Bowl today? I will watch for the commercials. I hope they are really funny this year. We all need a little bit of humor.
Right Now:
Coffee drinking is in progress. I am also assembling veggie enchiladas for our game watching feast. I will serve it with rice and black beans, chips and seven layered dip.
This Week:
On Thursday I have an appointment to get a different vaccine, my second shingles shot. It’s a good thing I set a reminder to book the appointment because four months went by fast. I’ll run over on my lunch break and check that off my list.
There could be more audition stuff going on this week but at the moment I am not sure. There are these things called “walk-ins” where certain schools open up a block of time to allow last minute walk-ins. It’s a good way to open up your possibilities. We are adding four schools for walk-ins.
At the end of this week my church is doing a Galentines event for youth group. It sounds fun. My availability is unknown at this moment since it will depend on what I noted above. I believe it’s outside. Have to check on that.
Have I told you that my son decided to apply to grad school? He has submitted a few applications so far. He will graduate this summer with a B.A. but wants to continue on in Arts Administration so he can pursue his dream of opening community art centers in underprivileged neighborhoods.
Reading:
My eyes are begging me to take a break. Reading, reading, reading, but besides my eyes, it feels good. This week my reviews for Are We There Yet? and Klara and the Sun will post. I finished The Night Tiger so I will get that review up soon.
Next up is Murakami’s latest, First Person Singular, and this one that one of my students lent me:
Watching:
We started to watch Schitt’s Creek, finally! We are done with Season One and it’s great. It’s funny and crazy and well-written. My husband watches it with me and we both love how quickly the episodes fly by. We say we are going to watch an episode and then before we know it we’ve watched three. We should get through these seasons quickly.
Grateful for:
- Bookish friends who let me borrow books. Thank you!
- Streaming services. I know they can get out of hand if you have many but the few we have are just too fun and used plenty. So many good things to watch.
- Independent bookstores. It’s more than just supporting a local business for me. It’s the whole experience. The booksellers talk books and LOVE books. So different from the big box stores. Plus, bookstore cats and dogs. LOVE. One near me even has a wine bar! It was brand new when the pandemic hit so it hasn’t been tested out yet but… a wine bar!
Photo Credit: The Occidental
I will leave you with this. Seems like more people are being vaccinated for COVID now instead of tested for it. I think that is a good sign.
Book Chatter 
I’ll be honest that I’ve never been one much for the Super Bowl and this year, even less so, but I get the commercial appeal. Ha…I just finished my iced coffee with a little Bailey’s and Cream in it…you told me (us? on Instagram, I believe) that your son was applying to grad school…good for you on the reading. I’m trying a little myself today…Schitt’s Creek is a good binge-watch…I agree that it is a good sign that more people are getting vaccinated than tested, but from what I’m reading, the testing needs to keep up too. Otherwise, it’ll just get worse. That said, my wife, a 911 dispatcher who also has some health issues, was able to get her first vaccine this past week. I’m working on getting mine. Unfortunately, with my BMI, I do qualify and from what I’m reading (New York Times, Washington Post, etc.), it’s better if more of us get vaccinated, even if we open it up to more people. Personally, I know there are staff here at nursing homes and hospitals that don’t want to get it so if they don’t…those shots shouldn’t go to waste. I’m not going to waste my shot! 🙂
As soon as we are able to get the vaccine we will but it will probably be fall before our group comes up. They are only going by age here, not by health status.
I have a feeling that will change before summer. From what I am reading, they will need to get the vaccine into as many arms as possible… Aside: I just started WandaVision and as weird as it is, lately I think our world is in a science fiction novel.
My son has been wanting me to watch WandaVision but from the clips I am not sure it’s for me. I am willing to give it a try.
I am hanging in, but it is very strange.
Ti, I like the commercials more than the super bowl but, I heard there will be fewer this year as well. As a NE Pats fan, we will be rooting for Tom Brady at his 10th super bowl, even if he is no longer with NE. This guy is incredible. I am so happy for your son, he sounds like an incredible young man. I’m trying to support a local Indie bookstore here as well during the pandemic, there aren’t many left near me.
I got my shingles vaccines in October and January as well. My husband got his first COVID vaccine on Wednesday with the 2nd one scheduled for 3/3. It went so well and he was in and out of docs office in 30 min. I have to wait till March, I think, as it goes by age here.
Hope you have a good week. It’s 29 degrees here now and it has started to snow again – we had 10″ last week as well.
I’m glad your husband was able to get the vaccine. In Los Angeles now, they are holding back appts for shot #1 because there aren’t enough to guarantee #2 and those folks need their second dose. It will be forever before we get ours. They said summer at first but now they are saying fall.
There ARE too many streaming services now! Gone were the days when there was just a handful and you could subscribe to them all. Now there’s too many and I just ignore half of them.
Looks like a lot going on this week. The walk-ins sound cool and hope the auditions continue to go well. And great to hear that your son is going to apply for grad school!
What really bothers me about streaming is now the shows we normally get through cable are being moved to “plus” platforms so if you want to continue watching, you have to add that service. We have lost a few channels and yet our bill remains the same and is in fact going up every month. I am ready to ditch it but my husband likes live sports.
We only have a couple of streaming services and I can never keep track of what to watch or on which one… sigh. God luck to your son, and I’m betting he’ll realize his dream! I’ve had my shingles vaccines, but am not eligible for Covid yet. We’re hoping to get my husband scheduled this week. Lots of good books… you’re reading up a storm!
Schitt’s Creek is so much fun!
That’s great that your son is applying to graduate school. Where does he want to go?
You’re so good that you got your shingles shot, I’ve been putting that one off and now don’t want to get it in the midst of possible COVID vaccine.
He has applied to many schools. His top pick is probably Claremont in San Bernardino but he applied to Florida, DePaul, NYU, Boston, and a few more I can’t remember.
We won’t be watching the Super Bowl, but I plan to spend some time watching the commercials once they hit YouTube. Actually, I’ve already watched one this morning (Bruce Springsteen’s commercial for Jeep) and it was very good.
Exciting news about your son. He sounds like he has a big heart!
I need to get my shingles shot since I’ve had shingles twice. I have a physical in a couple of weeks and will make sure to mention it to my doctor. I won’t be eligible for the COVID vaccine for quite some time, though, since I’m under 60. At least my mom and my husband will get theirs this month. We hope!
I love independent book stores, too, but want to say that I worked in a big box store (B&N) for over a decade and while it’s not the same as a small, indie, we booksellers loved to talk about books and loved working in a business filled with book lovers. I’m sure there are exceptions and there are people who just work there to make a living, but the majority of my coworkers were just as obsessed with books as I am. Just my two cents. 🙂
Enjoy your seven layered dip & chips. I used to make that all the time and my husband would love it if I made it again. Maybe for Valentine’s Day. 🙂
In regards to my big box bookstore comment… I strictly speak for my local store. It’s gotten a little better with some new employees but for years many of those booksellers could not be bothered to assist you in any way. “Not my section” is a fave response and is “Never heard of it” as they walk away. It was on the verge of closing a few times although now, it seems to be rebounding.
The seven layer dip was missing something. It had very little flavor. We pick it up from a local market and it is usually so good. The enchiladas were good though. The game was super boring and one sided. The commercials were not great. Sort of a dud of a game for us.
We had Tortilla Chip Enchiladas for dinner tonight and it turned out really well. It was the first my husband had tried the recipe. We have been enjoying a quiet Sunday. Watched a couple movies, spent some time outdoors and I am now getting a little blog visiting in before heading upstairs.
Good luck to your son with his grad school applications!
I look forward to your review of Night Tiger.
I look forward to being able to visit my local indie store again someday. I think they just opened for appointments, 15 minutes to browse. I don’t know if I’ll go though until they are open more fully. For now, I will make do with curbside pick up.
Have a great week, Ti!
A lot of people made enchiladas in some form yesterday, queso too. I ended up making homemade queso for the first time and it was eaten up in no time. I made a lot of enchiladas so I made up a second tray for another night. I love when I am able to do that.
Sounds like you had a good weekend. TB won as I expected they would. I liked the Halftime show, but my daughter loves that guy and his songs, so her dancing around probably made it better for me.
The Weeknd is okay. I thought his performance was good if not a bit weird. It was artsy and made a statement but it fell a little flat for me and the audio was not great.
The game was super boring for me. No great commercials either but the food was good. It was a pretty day though and before all of that we got out for a long walk which helped offset the snacking.
Wonderful news about your son. I’m always happy to see people pursuing their dreams.
I look forward to seeing your review of Klara and the Sun soon.
No Super Bowl for us. No interest here!
Have a great week, Ti.
I’ll watch the commercials on YouTube eventually 🙂
Good luck to your son in the application process.
Wishing you a great reading week
It’s been years since I’ve seen a really good Bowl commercial. I really needed some funny ones since the game was so slow.
Hello. Are you close to Vromans? Seems like a cool place. I made it to SoCal but been very busy with my folks and medical appointments. They got the vaccine (at 85!) … so that was a plus. Have the #2 shot in early March. Hope your second shingles shot is easy. My second one was easier than the first one — which made my arm sore for 3 days. Seems like you are on a Roll with your reading these days, Great! have a good week.
Vroman’s is about 35 miles from me. So glad your parents got the vaccine!