My Own Personal Sabbath #8

Almost every Sunday since mid-May 2020 with a few exceptions, I have been taking my own personal Sabbath, where I tune out of the news and social media and turn off my ringer and all notifications on my phone on Sundays or Saturday and Sunday. In the interest of full disclosure, I do use my phone to listen to music and podcasts, and check out e-books from the library. Before, during, or after my Sabbath, I share what I am reading, listening to, or watching for that day or days.

Two weeks was the week of little things, one after another, many unexpected, that led into last weekend’s sabbath. This past week, it was, without going into details and being admittedly cryptic, one big thing (don’t worry, my wife and I and our families are all okay) that led into this weekend’s Sabbath, which already is in progress.

I’m writing this Saturday morning. It’s about 10 a.m. I’m listening to the soundtrack for the movie Drive My Car by Eiko Ishibashi. My wife is also off from work this weekend and she is in the next room, journaling and listening to the music with me. Her birthday was this past week and we had a pre-birthday celebration earlier in the week. Last night, we had a post-birthday celebration with dinner and a movie, popcorn and wine. The celebration will continue throughout this weekend and the month.

Besides journaling and meditation this weekend, I also plan on continuing to read the devotional books I chose for Lent last month, and reading and listening to Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting through The Storm by Thich Nhat Hanh and narrated by Dan Woren. I only have about an hour left in the book and probably will finish it this weekend. As usual, I set up a playlist of podcasts set up that includes the 100th episode of Niall Breslin’s podcast, Where Is My Mind?:

On the fiction front, I have several books from which to choose, but I’m not sure yet what I’ll read, if anything this weekend. Among my choices are books by Elmore Leonard and Tim Dorsey.

Tonight we’ll probably watch some fun TV, with a bevvy of choices, including Tacoma FD, The Righteous Gemstones, and a Mystery Science Theater 3000 movie. We’ll see what we are in the mood for tonight. Tomorrow, along with my reading, I’ll be chilling out in the 21st edition of The Chill Out Tent, which is celebrating its second birthday. I’ll leave you with a sample from a recent session:

To readathon and chill out

This weekend, I’m chilling both Saturday and Sunday, first Saturday for much of the day with Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon and then Sunday afternoon in The Chill Out Tent.

If you are unfamiliar with Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon, here’s a description from the readathon blog:

For 24 hours, we read books, post to our blogs, Twitters, Instagrams, Litsy, Facebook, Goodreads and MORE about our reading, and visit other readers’ homes online. We also participate in mini-challenges throughout the day. It happens twice a year, in April and in October.

In the graphic above are what I have selected to read and, in two cases, what I probably will start but not finish on Saturday. They are:

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
The Potter’s Field, the 13th in the Inspector Montalbano series, by Andrea Camilleri
The Perseverance by Raymond’s Antrobus, and
The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor.

The two that I’ll probably start but not finish are the Dickens and the O’Connor. I am more likely to finish the short mystery (by Camilleri) and the book of poems (by Antrobus).

I’ve been making my way slowly through the Inspector Montalbano series this year, and I borrowed the book of poetry recently with a few other books of poetry from the Free Library of Philadelphia. I own the O’Connor, which I have read through back in college when I had a class on Southern writers that included her and William Faulkner. And the Dickens, I borrowed via Prime Reading, which also includes audio from Simon Vance if I want to listen to it.

I plan to post updates periodically on my Instagram and every six hours here on the blog. So join me in my journey, if you want.

Then on Sunday, I’ll be kicking my feet back again to chill with chill music with the 13th edition of The Chill Out Tent, starting at 12:45 p.m. where I am, and 5:45 p.m. in England.

Here’s the lineup:

**For further explanation, visit here.**

With both events, I plan to keep to myself for the most part, yes, partially because I am antisocial (to a degree anyway) but also because I need to escape this weekend. Without going into details, it’s been a slightly rough ride the last couple of weeks and, to mix metaphors slightly, I need some smooth sailing time.

Chilling in The Chill Out Tent again

My Own Personal Sabbath #33

Almost every Sunday since mid-May 2020 with a few exceptions, I have been taking my own personal Sabbath, where I tune out of the news and social media and turn off my ringer and all notifications on my phone. Throughout the day and/or sometimes the next day, I share what I am reading, listening to or watching during my Sabbath.

Tomorrow, as I have been at the end of many months during 2020, I will be in The Chill Out Tent, which is a series of live streamed events from an imagined chillout space in a virtual festival. Or as the group organizers explain:

Sunsets in Ibiza, sheep watching in Scotland, little fluffy clouds in Arizona…
Turn on…stay in… chill out…

For me, it also fits in with my goal of tuning out of news and social media for the day and can make for good background music for my reading. Tomorrow, I have a few choices to read, but I’ll probably continue with the Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri. I am up to No. 10, August Heat, and have No. 11, The Wings of the Sphinx, already on my Kindle ready to go when I’m finished with August Heat.

Sunday

9:20 AM

I am writing this in a car wash, listening to a BBC Radio 4 podcast In Our Time. It was recommended to me by a fellow blogger and Sunday Saloner, Susan of the blog The Cue Card. This episode is on Marcus Aurelius.

Before I chill out this afternoon in the tent, I had to get out this morning to prepare for this afternoon. After this car wash, I am off to the grocery store for snacks for the party later. Also early this afternoon, I am going to grab a bottle of wine to quaff while chilling.

So until later, when I update you more…

11 AM

3 PM

After church, I went to the wine and spirits shoppe for wine and now I’m in the tent. I’m not reading as planned because the visuals are stunning here in the tent…and also the wine, let’s be honest. In addition to music, there also are videos to accompany the music.

9 PM

Finally reading, with Seamus on my lap. August Heat, the 10th Inspector Montalbano, by Andrea Camilleri.

What are your plans for the weekend? Do they involve reading? If so, what are you reading? If not, what are you doing otherwise? I’m

Ending the month with music

This weekend I am off “concert hopping,” sort of like bar hopping but with musical events. Tonight I am going to a concert in Japan…

Filmed at the historic Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan, in September of 2017, this historic performance has never before been released worldwide. January 30th, 2021 marks the first official release from Dream Theater’s ‘Images, Words & Beyond’ tour, featuring a live performance of the classic album, ‘Images & Words’, captured in its entirety during their September 11th, 2017 appearance in Tokyo.

…and then tomorrow afternoon, I’m off to England, Scotland, Los Angeles, and again Japan for some curated deejay sets. I’ll also be appreciating clouds.

What are you up to this weekend? Have you partaken of any of the virtual concert or theater performances over the last year? Or do you have you any upcoming events you’ll be attending? Let me know in the comments.