Weekly Journal 10.14.26

Reading

I could barely put down A Beautiful, Terrible Thing by Jen Waite. The author discovered her husband's affair during an extremely vulnerable time in her life, which obviously broke her heart, but there turned out to be more than just one affair. It was one of many affairs he'd been having and then pathologically lying about for years. He revealed himself to be a sociopath who had the author fooled into believing they were soul mates.

I found something a little off about how easily the book hooked me, and how compulsively easy it was to read. It was very sensationalized. This may account for the mixed reviews I found while quickly skimming the results of a Google search. I'm not a book critic, so I can't put my finger on it, but I can tell you that reading it helps you get through a cross-country flight.

Next up is Famesick, which I also expect to be somewhat salacious and compulsively readable.

Watching

I'm following the Great British Baking Show as closely as usual. I liked the "audience choice" theme last week, especially the technical challenge, which turned the usual format inside out. The showstopper challenge—making a wearable dessert—was obviously over-the-top, but I thought it was a hoot anyway. Unfortunately I don't think the eliminated baker had the cookie engineering skills to pull off something complex enough to impress the judges. That doesn't mean she was a poor baker.

I'm saving the next Halloween Baking Championship episode to (I hope) watch with my son. He loves horror stuff, so should enjoy the creepy/haunted doll theme they previewed last week.

Cooking

I can't remember cooking anything notable this week; I only remember the times I chickened out and ordered delivery instead. I did make some roasted chicken breast that my son disliked because he said it made this throat feel weird. This may put him off chicken for a little while.

Doing

I'm currently in a hotel in a Midwestern city, recovering from a couple of free drinks and a large steak at the closing banquet of a business conference. I have one more night away from the family and I'll be eager to return home. This town is too small, and the weather has been too variable, to promote a lot of exploration beyond the conference center. Yesterday I took part in a kayaking trip on a local lake, but the weather quickly shifted from sunny to lightning-prone after we launched our boats, and we had to evacuate out of an abundance of caution. It was gorgeous while it lasted.

Listening

Wynonna's new album is great. I grew up listening to the Judds, but I haven't really been into country music for a long time, and I forgot how lovely Wynonna's voice is. It sounds very rich with age (she is 62).