Italiano Pianoforte, 6.2 Miles, & Approaching 50
Plus: a shipwreck tale, a restaurant review, and college sports.
I had a birthday this month, and in one more year, I’ll hit the half-century mark. I’m not sure why, but I’m absolutely looking forward to it. Fifties are the new forties, or at least so I’ve been told. I’m thinking of some ways to look back at the year the birthed me. A 1974 retrospective upcoming. But for now, some current works.
Reading
The Wager by David Grann
I’ve always been fascinated with the world of sea faring. Not in any sort of romanticized way but in how absolutely brutal it must have been. Life was hard enough hundreds of years ago much less being crammed into an enormous vessels with hundreds of other men and forced to endure barely survivable conditions.
When I saw the hype around David Grann’s new book, I figured this might be a good place to dive into this world. Sure enough, it is. I’m only up the shipwreck itself, so I’m sure good times will be had by all on a island off the coast of South America. Enough of them survived to propagate the story though history, but I’m betting it’s going to be rough.
Writing
My First Restaurant Review: Masa y Más
After writing about food for years now, I finally had the opportunity to write a real-deal restaurant review. It was a fantastic experience and a great challenge. Masa y Más is down on South Lamar so I went there several times over the course of SXSW. I tried almost the whole menu. While there were some misses, it’s a nice place with more-than-solid fare. I’ve even been back since on my own dime. That’s got to count for something.
More reviews to come. Next up: one with lots of things to offer to the carnivores out there.
Moving
Mission Accomplished: The Capitol 10K
Eight weeks of training led up to the event, and somehow I ended up exceeding my expectations. I owe it all to two women. I fell in with them early as they were running my pace, but as we hit the hills of Enfield, they didn’t slow down. That pushed me hard but kept my speed up. I dropped back from them halfway through, but it was a great initial push.
I’m now done with endurance work, at least for a year. I do want to get my mile time up, but that’s it. Back to the barbell!
Living (in Austin)
Ludivico Enaudi in Concert
It was several years ago I heard Ludovico Enaudi on KMFA, our local classical music station. While he has a foot in that world, he’s also so approachable as to be rightly labeled a pop musician, too. His work ends up in movies as well. I saw him the last time he came to Austin, and he came back once again, this time highlighting his pandemic-era album Underwater. It’s rhythmic, repetitive, and soothing. After a bit of that, he brought in first two strings and then techno-wizard with glorious boops and bops. One of his final song was “Nuvole Bianche,” and this rendition was absolutely haunting, leaving out just the right amount of notes and delaying others until it was only partly recognizable. This was worth the cost of admission. I can’t wait till he comes back.
Miscellany
I’ve come to love watching the Aggie women’s tennis team play, and I was able to attend both of their tournament appearances in College Station. College tennis is really something else. You can position yourself to watch three matches at once. I found myself following three possible breaks of serve that potentially could have influenced the whole affair. It’s exciting stuff. The Ags got through both opponents, but then fell in the national tournament. At least I didn’t have to see that in person.
While I was there, I popped into a baseball game. Got a great seat, and enjoyed some May small ball.
What’s Next
A trip to New England. There’s got to be a lot to say about that!