May’s Mutterings: Rants and Ramblings
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Water Gun Fight (aka Enjoying the Summer)
Our rising 9th grader (or, more accurately, our 14 year old son) decided that what was needed to make the summer more fun was a water gun fight with a bunch of friends. He cleared the date and time with us, issued invitations to his friends (by text, of course), and on the appointed day,…
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4th of July in Nantucket
We were kindly invited by some good friends to join them in Nantucket for the 4th of July weekend. Nantucket is one of the very few places on the East coast that reminds of us God’s country (otherwise known as the West coast). There were magnificent sunsets: Fun 4th of July fireworks (lit off on…
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8th grade graduation
Our son graduated from 8th grade a few weeks ago in a lovely ceremony held at the school. Being a 14 year old boy with only an embryonic frontal lobe (at best), he neglected to mention that he was part of an ensemble that was singing as part of the ceremony. (If you knew the…
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Movie review: Finding Dory
We were fortunate enough to be able to attend an advance screening of the latest Pixar movie, “Finding Dory.” (Thank you to Disney for donating the item to a Children’s National fundraising event!) Jim and I are both fans of “Finding Nemo” and actually thought the emotional resonance of that movie was one of its…
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Restaurant review: The Source (Washington, DC)
The Source is a Wolfgang Puck restaurant next to the Newseum. Scott Drewno is the executive chef and in addition to being an extremely talented chef, he is also a really wonderful guy (possessing both characteristics is not as common as you might think). The restaurant recently revamped its menu, so we went and checked…
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Book review: The Millionaire and the Bard by Andrea Mays
The Millionaire and the Bard: Henry Folger’s Obsessive Hunt for Shakespeare’s First Folio by Andrea Mays My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Folger Shakespeare Library (located in Washington, DC) has the world’s largest collection of First Folios (the original compilation of Shakespeare’s plays). To explain how the largest collection of the world’s greatest English…
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Folger Shakespeare Library London Board meeting
I am on the Board of Governors of the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the Folger decided to have its June board meeting in London this year. The Board meeting itself was held at the British Library and quite productive. (Or, rather, getting to know the other Board members and the senior staff better was extremely…
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Movie review: Captain America: Civil War
I have a soft spot for movies with lots of explosions and (cartoon) violence. I also have a soft spot for Disney. And a soft spot for the Marvel movies. And a *definite* soft spot for Jeremy Renner. So when you have a movie that contains all of those elements AND adds an extra element…
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Book review: An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson
An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson My rating: 4 of 5 stars I am familiar with the actual author, Josephine Tey, who was a strong believer in the innocence of Richard III in the murder of his nephews, as evidenced by her book “Daughter of Time.” She was also the author of several mysteries,…
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Family Life Merit Badge (aka Cleaning the Basement)
Our fourteen year old son is in Boy Scouts and, as part of the process, has to earn merit badges in a variety of subjects along the way. (For those of you familiar with Boy Scouts, he is currently a Life Scout with only his camping merit badge and his Eagle Scout project standing in…
Got any book recommendations?