Seek The Substantial

It has been too long.

Books:

I’m reading so much and it is lovely.

James by Percival Everett: this is the best book I’ve read in a decade and it’s not close. It follows the Jim, the slave from Huckleberry Finn, and tells the story from his perspective. It is amazing.

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar: this is the second best book I’ve read in a decade. It has given me so much and it’s a book that I just never expected to like at all, but here we are. It is the story of an Iranian man, Cyrus, whose mother died in an airplane mistakenly shot down by the US military and a father who brought him to the United States, worked in a chicken farm in Indiana, and died from exhaustion. Cyrus struggles with his place in life. This book gave me the idea of “sonder”: The profound feeling of realizing that everyone, including strangers passing in the street, has a life as complex as one’s own, which they are constantly living despite one’s personal lack of awareness of it. This applies to everyone you have ever met and people that you have not met. It applies to people in Iran or anyone anywhere and you realize that everyone has lives as complicated as yours.

Martyr also gave me the story of Allegri’s Miserere, which was a composition that was composed in 1638 by Allegri, but the composition was to never leave the chapel. Mozart heard the piece in 1770 at the Vatican for Easter and wrote the entire piece from memory.

Other books I have finished since I finished James in October:

The Man Who Died Twice – Richard Osman
The Bullet That Missed – Richard Osman
The Bright Sword – Lev Grossman
The Last Devil to Die – Richard Osman

The Osman books are part of the Thursday Murder Club series and they are good fun reads. The Grossman book is a King Arthur legend after Arthur is has passed and the balance between the old way and the new way. I am currently read The ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley.

A/V:

Slow Horses – season 2 (working on season 3)
Shogun
Shrinking – season 1 (working on season2)
Invincible – seasons 1, 2 & 3
Arcane – season 1 (working on season 2)

All of these things were 100% worth my time. Fits and I have watched Invincible and Arcane together and it’s been a fun experience.

Life:

Fitsum: Is close to finishing his freshman year of high school and he’s got his learner’s permit as of March. He’s taking honors classes plus an AP class, in band and also doing long distance and cross country.

Youssouf: Close to finishing his 7th grade year. He’s set the junior high record for the 200m and triple jump (includes both 7th and 8th grade). He’s also taking honors classes and will be inducted into the National Junior Honor Society.

Me: I’m still running and I’m running harder and I think I’m getting better, slowly but surely. Work is work and my life at this time revolves around my kids. Miranda is working so hard and I have always been in love with her.