Hello! My post earlier this week got pretty heavy. I’m glad I wrote it and deeply touched by the responses, but today we’re going to do…the complete opposite of that. I’m just going to have some fun and share some stuff I’ve been really enjoying lately.
This is mostly Internet things, because those are easy to share and because I’ve been wasting too much time on the Internet, between the still settling into Meriden and trying to figure out how to find friends and fun social things and the checking my UConn Law application status checker way too often ever since it went from “application complete” to “application in review.” (What do you meaaaaan it hasn’t been updated on the Sunday of a holiday weekend?) But I promise some of them are not!
A YouTube channel I’ve been really digging is Jet Lag: The Game. It’s made by the team behind a couple of fun educational channels, Wendover Productions and Half As Interesting, but in this one they create challenges in which the world map is a board for a game: Connect Four using US states, racing to circumnavigate the globe first, playing tag across Europe, and racing to visit and complete challenges in the most US states in 100 hours. It’s a ton of fun to watch. (Side notes: I am #TeamBen for life, or #TeamBenAndAdam when they’re paired up, and I am utterly convinced that if they ever let fans participate in these challenges I would absolutely crush it. Do I have any evidence for that belief? Of course not! But I believe it anyway.)
I’ve been doing my usual catchup on music from 2022 that I missed but made it to other people’s lists of top albums, and one that’s really caught my ear is angel in realtime. by the Australian band Gang of Youths. I’d heard of them before but hadn’t made time to listen until someone on my music nerd listserv posted a top 10 list in which 4 of the top 5 albums were also on my list and the other was Gang of Youths, who he compared to U2 and The National. The subject matter of angel in realtime. is a bit dark - the central story is about the lead singer Dave Le’aupepe’s father dying of cancer and what he learned about his family afterwards - but the songwriting is brilliant and the music delightfully melodic. I’m absolutely loving it.
Netflix has announced that Drive To Survive season 5, covering the 2022 Formula One season, is coming out on February 24. I have mixed emotions! I’m going to watch, and there’s some stuff that I’m really excited to see the Netflix treatment of - Ferrari’s and Charles LeClerc’s promising start before constant heartbreak, the Oscar Piastri-Alpine contract drama, and the mass confusion post-Japan about whether we actually had a world champion. I’m also curious how the show plays differently as an existing fan rather than someone new to Formula One. I can’t claim longevity as a fan, of course, but I’ve been rewatching as many of the 2022 races as I can and learning more about F1 from non-Netflix sources every day. I’d like to know how much I enjoy it from this perspective and if some of the criticisms I’ve heard hold up or if it’s just whining from joyless purists. However, my feelings about the inevitable “Daniel Ricciardo gets fired from McLaren” episode (or, God help me, episodes) are best described as follows:
While we’re on the subject of Formula One, a newer and lesser-known channel I’ve recently found and really liked is The Data Dudes, who do some really cool visualizations of past Formula One seasons and try to find different ways to compare racers across eras. I’m a sucker for a good data visualization, and though I’m skeptical that the GOAT of Formula One is actually something with a definitive answer, it’s really fun to watch them test different theories and learn more about the history of F1. These guys deserve a lot more love on F1 YouTube.
My dog Molly is usually self-cleaning unless she finds a nice pile of mud to walk and roll in, but she’s been prone to sebaceous cysts (they’re harmless on their own, don’t worry) as she gets older. I’ve been wondering if more frequent baths might help prevent new ones from popping up, and she picked up a couple dirt patches, so we gave it a try today. I’m not sure if she’s on board with the “more baths” plan, but I love this ridiculous dog so much.
And one final recommendation for my CT/local friends that’s decidedly not on the Internet: I tried out part of a scenic drive in the Litchfield Hills yesterday which I absolutely loved. The full loop starts at the Route 4/Route 63 traffic circle in Goshen: take 4 west to 7 north, 7 north to 44 west, 44 west to 41 south, then 41 south to 4 east until you’re back where you started. I only did the 4 and 7 parts since it was starting to get dark and I needed to make a Target run pre-Capitals game (insert loud sobbing noises about losing to the Flyers here), then took 44 east back to my neck of the woods, but it was beautiful and I’m so glad I did it. Farmlands, woods, hills, a bit of snow on the ground but none on the roads - everything I want from a backroads drive. There’s even a covered bridge right off Route 7 in Cornwall if that strikes your fancy, though I must admit I prefer modern engineering and bridges with multiple lanes! I need to do the full loop with (or as) a passenger so I can get a few pics - next time.
That’s all I’ve got for now, but feel free to leave a comment with some cool things you’ve liked recently, on the Internet or otherwise. Hope you all have a lovely weekend, friends.