Pushing Forward Back September/October 2019

Pushing Forward Back, The Sunday Salon, What I'm Listening To, What I'm Reading, What I'm watching, What We're Watching

September started well as I had four days off for the Labor Day Weekend. To start the weekend, I read Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography, Born to Run, which continues my year of reading mostly great books. On the fourth day, Tuesday, my wife and I went on a day trip to Three Brothers Wineries & Estates, which includes three wineries and a brewery, and it was a beautiful day for it.

After tagging Three Brothers on Instagram before my birthday in June, they gave me two free tasting passports for five flights of wine, beer, and cider at each of the wineries and the brewery. The only thing we paid for was the gas to get there, our lunch at their restaurant on site and some wine that we got (but of course).

The following week, I had a follow up for my left knee after getting three gel injections at the end of July and start of August. As a result, I am having arthroscopic surgery on October 22 on my knee to check, and repair, if needed, my meniscus which was diagnosed earlier this summer as “degenerative” from osteoarthritis. This surgery is in addition to another medical procedure, a colonoscopy since I just turned 50 in June, that I am having on October 14 and a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood test I am having on October 15.

The third week brought a visit from Joe, a college roommate, mid-week during which we binge-watched the first season of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, available on Hulu. I had started watched it earlier in the week but when Joe told me he had seen part of it, but never got to see all of it, I stopped watching so we could watch together. However, once we started it, he realized it was another version, just called Dirk Gently, that he had seen, not this particular one. We enjoyed it, though I had never read the book, but it was, and is, very weird. I usually don’t “go” for that kind of weird science fiction “thing,” but I went with it and surprisingly liked it.

The fourth week, my wife and I celebrated Bruce Springsteen’s 70th birthday on Monday by watching his New York City concert from 2001. Then on Friday, I had the day off from work before working my Saturday for the month. On Friday, I listened to Sturgill Simpson’s new album Sound and Fury, which is very unlike his previous two albums, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth and Metamodern Sounds in Country Music. Sound and Fury definitely is that, full of the sound and fury of rock and roll, whereas the first two were country and, dare I say it, pop music.

Tomorrow, I plan on rounding out the month by going to a birthday party for my soon-to-be 5-year-old niece Grace. Her birthday is in the middle of the week so the party is tomorrow.

Also Read

  • The Curse of the Pharaohs, the second Amelia Peabody mystery, by Elizabeth Peters, which was good, but not as good as Born To Run.

Also Watched

  • Friday Night Dinner (3 seasons), with my wife – hilarious
  • Rocketman (movie), with my wife – very good
  • Booksmart (movie), with my wife – surprisingly good (a Superbad but with girls and funnier)

Also Listened To

  • Norman F***ing Rockwell by Lana Del Rey, out at the beginning of the month.

October is…well, I already told you about my surgery…event-filled. And while the main event, the surgery, isn’t necessarily fun, I believe it is necessary and hopefully will help alleviate the pain in my knee. The other event in the month to which I’m more looking forward to is Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon, which is Saturday, Oct. 26. It also happens to occur during my two week convalescence after the surgery.

Topping the list are two books apropos for a weekend so close to Halloween:

  • The Unforeseen by Dorothy McCardle
  • The Night of the Hunter by Davis Grubb.

The first is a recommendation from a friend, who also recommended to me I read McCardle’s The Uninvited, her first novel, which I did and enjoyed. Now I’m going to give her second novel a go. The second is the basis for one of my wife’s favorite movies of the same name, starring Robert Mitchum…which I probably will find somewhere online and watch with my wife during my downtime.

Besides reading, and medical appointments and procedures, that covers most of my October, I think.

Also To Read

  • Less by Andrew Sean Greer, which I started earlier in the month.
  • The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland, which I picked up while “shelf-reading” at the library.

To Watch

  • Mindhunter, Season 2, on Netflix now
  • Good Omens, Season 1, on Amazon Prime now
  • Schitt’s Creek, Season 5, on Netflix Oct. 10
  • Letterkenny, Season 7, on Hulu Oct. 14

To Listen To

  • All Mirrors by Angel Olsen, due out Oct. 4
  • Ode To Joy by Wilco, also due out Oct. 4
  • Magdalene by FKA Twigs, due out Oct. 25

I also would be remiss if I didn’t mention one other book I plan on reading this coming month: A Story To Tell by my sister, Lisa Howeler. She self-published it and as of September 19, her birthday, it is available for purchase on Amazon. Oh, happy belated birthday, Lisa, if I didn’t mention it. 😉

How was your month of September? Read any good books, seen any good movies and/or TV shows, listened to any good music? What was the highlight of your month? What are you most looking forward to in October? Share in the comments.

Published by Bryan G. Robinson

Blogger formerly known as Unfinished Person. Still an unfinished person...

Published

14 thoughts on “Pushing Forward Back September/October 2019”

  1. Ah, Geez…thanks for the link. *blush* Good thing I actually remembered to read your Sunday Salon post this week 😉 Kidding, kidding. I think there is a British version of that Dirk Gently show listed on Britbox too. We liked Good Omens…even though it was weird. Also, you’re having SURGERY!? WHAT?! When did this happen?! 😉

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  2. We love MIndhunter! Haven’t started season 2 yet. Sounds like a good month. Good luck with the doctor stuff you have coming up.

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    1. I think you already told me that you wouldn’t be participating in the readathon…in the initial post I had about signing up for the readathon. We all have to do what works for us. I work during the week and deal with books all day (work at a library and am on a computer all day). I don’t feel like unwinding with a…book. Plus I spend time with my wife when I get home from work, before she heads to work (works midnight shift). So I save my reading mostly for weekends, which is why weekend readathons work for me.

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  5. I’m so sorry to hear that you will be having surgery on your knee. I hope the procedure goes well, that you heal quickly, and that the surgery solves the problems you have been having.

    It should be wonderful to read a story written by your own sister. I can’t wait to hear what you think of it. I’ve read her blog posts, and I think she is a good writer.

    I’m still waiting to hear back from the Apple Store about my keyboard replacement. I plan to call them again tomorrow. No word on when it will be fixed.

    Thanks for sharing some good tv shows. I always have great difficulty finding these.

    Have a good week!

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  7. So your knee does require surgery. Maybe that’s a good thing. They can finally make it right.
    As you know, my September was uneventful on the reading front. A book club book that stalled me and a good but long book that I had trouble getting through because of my overall distraction issues. Plus, today on my blog I discuss the loss of a blogger most of us knew. I found out last week and it just derailed me a little.

    Today, the finale to Fear the Walking Dead which got better. Volunteering beforehand. A little cooking. Not a bad Sunday.

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    1. That’s the way I’m looking at the surgery too. Maybe it will be helped by the surgery. I’m sorry to hear about your blogger friend and understand about distraction issues. So what’d you cook yesterday? 🙂

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