Watching| Spiderman: Far From Home
> I loved, loved, loved it. Nothing against the others, but in my opinion, Tom Holland is the best Spiderman. The movie had just the right amount of wrap up from Avengers: Endgame and future focus for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). There was a nice balance of seriousness and humor in this July movie.
Reading| Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
> This is the second book in the Harry Potter series. While the first one was good, this one is better. I’ve been really drawn into the story line and can tell that there will be some cliffhangers that will only be resolved in future books. We’ve also started playing the phone app Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and you can see the connection between the books and the game. Both are a lot of fun.
Remembering | Getz/Gilberto
> Sad to say, João Gilberto, one of the founders of the bossa nova sound, recently passed away in July. Keith and I have recently become big fans of bossa nova music and discovered his 1964 album Getz/Gilberto. Fantastic! It includes one of our favorite songs, “Girl from Impanema”. If you’re looking for something new to listen to…might want to check this out.
Working On| Our Fantasy Football Draft
> Because of our move to Gainesville, we took some time off playing Fantasy Football. Well, no more. We’ve signed up for a league on NFL.com and are now spending time trying to learn player statistics, etc. It’s a welcome distraction and a nice way for us just to spend our Sundays relaxing, watching football, and maybe cooking something in our
Feeling| Productive!
> I typically work with three monitors. Yes, three. For years, I worked with two. Then one day, while fixing one of our computers, our technician suggested three. I thought to myself, “I don’t know. That seems a bit excessive.” Well, later I had the chance to test drive three monitors and OMGosh…it’s fabulous! Anyway, my external monitors have been out of commission for the past month and now they’re finally working again. I’m in heaven and productive again!
Planning| Home Time
> With the exception of a short business trip, I’m basically at home for the next couple of months starting in July. And I’m delighted. I don’t mind traveling, but for those of you who are like me and travel regularly, it’s also nice to be home.
Loving| Herman Miller Cubert Personal Light
> A friend of mine sent me the best gift – a Herman Miller Cubert Personal Light. I adore the modern design. And it’s very functional. Not only is it a light, but it has USB ports and an outlet. It has a touch-sensitive dimmer and an auto shutoff. Beautiful and functional. It’s what I love about Herman Miller.
Geeking|Groove Life
> As a small business owner, we like to help out other small businesses. One of the ways we do that is by backing Kickstarter campaigns. Our latest is Groove Life. The company has been around since 2015. They make silicone jewelry. Groove Life was looking for backers for its latest product – silicone watch bands. As backers, we received new Apple Watchbands and their signature silicone rings earlier in July. So far, we’re impressed. Great for a hot day when you don’t want to wear metal.
We hope you’re enjoying the summer. What’s UP with you?
Finally getting into what retirement means for workaholics: taking my talents and skills – honed razor sharp from being self-employed for 30 years – and redirecting them elsewhere.
Non-profit:
The Aspetuck Land Trust preserves open spaces still left after a century of suburbanization of the farmlands that once comprised Fairfield County, CT, which includes Westport, where I live, Greenwich and Darien. The executive director immediately recognized that a guy who sold $2,000 tickets via direct mail and email for 16 years (while programming all the content and building the HR Technology Conference and Exposition® into the largest in the world and coincidentally making my pile) might be useful for selling memberships.
Eudcation:
NYU has started a new M.A. degree program in HR tech, the country’s second after Berkeley, where some instructors have invited me to do star turns (on the mistaken belief the young professionals will know me), but I am studiously avoiding their hard work of developing full-semester courses, delivered online and in-person.
Local Politics:
Been pulling me for decades. Eight minutes from my home in the next town of Norwalk is a four-screen theater, built in 1918 as a vaudeville house, showing foreign and independent films. Imagine a cultural resource like that in the leafy suburbs devoted to raising and schooling children?!? I’d have to move back to Manhattan if it ever shut down.
Suddenly it looked like a developer was going to do just that, demolishing it for his subsidized apartment house – for parking! I marshaled everything I’ve learned about political power reading the 5,600 pages of Robert Caro’s four books on LBJ and one on Robert Moses (all first in their publication years and a second time recently sitting on the beach for consecutive Junes); my favorite college course on “Presidential Power”; plus covering the Board of Selectmen as managing editor of the weekly “Provincetown Advocate” on Cape Cod.
I’ve been helping opponents turn the town’s Common Council against the plan. We got a reprieve from what was considered the certain death vote in July 2019 with a postponement until September. I won’t tempt fate to say we’re gonna win.