I’m getting married to the most wonderful person I know on Monday. Today we got the marriage license!

Recently completed HFM Prescott’s The Man on a Donkey, a wonderful piece of historic fiction about the main actors (and a few fictional ones) of the 1536 Pilgrimage of Grace—a rebellion against the religious changes of Henry VIII. Despite being a scholar of 16th century England I’m not at all interested in historical fiction, but this was quite a beautiful work set as a chronicle and tracing half a dozen characters from their youth until the final suppression of the Pilgrimage in summer 1537. Prescott does get straight to business so I can imagine it would be a bit difficult to place oneself without preexisting knowledge of late medieval/early modern England, but that thrown-in-the-deep-end attitude worked for me.

Edit: word is that Hilary Mantel was deeply influenced by Prescott, as was the playwright of A Man for All Seasons.

I’m pretty sure if I brought him to the NYSE they’d have to suspend trading.

I was sent to a series of the ‘better’ programs—i.e., the ones without deaths attached to them. It took a decade of therapy to deal with the worst of the trauma and I still experience PTSD episodes several times each year. It’s astounding how these facilities carry on functioning with merely a name change. There’s almost no regulation, let alone patient rights. My first program was truly one of the better ones and they had patient rights information posted through the facility and hard copies provided in your welcome packet. When I was sent to my second program (wilderness), I asked what my patient rights were. I received dumbfounded stares followed by laughter.

Posted mere moments after I set a batch of cold brew to do its thing! Oh well, next week I guess—no bad way to start a Monday.

Book Darts! I’m typically reading for research and writing and the book darts are great for coming back to the right sentence when I’ve stopped off. I’ll leave them in long-term if I’m swapping between edited volumes—I’ve got a tin of 100, so it’s no problem if I leave a few within books here and there. I typically add one to the first page whenever a new book comes home. If I haven’t got one already placed or I start reading while out and about I dog-ear.

Hahahaha she’s gotten me a few times, then reality of a tenuous financial situation got the better of her song. As soon as things are settled it’s number one on my list.

Thank you kindly. It was a slow path here, but each step has been such fun!

Course: top left is the Fellow Ode grinder with SSP burrs next to the Fellow kettle. I made the little shelf myself with a cutting board and some shelf riser legs. Tucked beneath is a small black tray with the James Hoffmann dosing cup and spray bottle on the left (I believe the dosing cup has been discontinued, sadly) atop the Acaia Lunar scale, while on the right is the Hario V60 01 in glass with an olive wood holder. In the back of the tray are my filter papers in a generic black metal holder and my daily supplements. Also in the tray is a lone chopstick used for stirring. Photobombing on the right is my pride and glory KitchenAid stand mixer.