Just A Peck 0008 // Katabasis, Interactive Atlases, "Couple-versary"

Just A Peck

Welcome to the latest issue of Just A Peck. I’m glad you’re here! New issues come out most Sundays. Unsubscribe at any time.

WHAT I'M EXCITED ABOUT THIS WEEK

I preordered R.F. Kuang’s new novel, Katabasis, as soon as it was listed. It arrived this week, and I’m so glad I sprang for the Deluxe Limited Edition with stencilied edges and illustrated end pages. It’s gorgeous.

It’s almost autumn! Our tamaracks haven’t yellowed yet, but our maple (always one of the first to turn) and our mountain ash have started to color, and our ferns are well along their autumnal path of senescence. This is my favorite time of year. I can sit on the deck and be simultaneously warmed by the sun and cooled by the lake breeze. Sweaters and blankets get unpacked. The air is crisp and cool. Love, love, love.

I was a part of the actual-play podcast Twin Portals for six years. I departed at the end of Season Two. This week will be the first live show of Season Three, and I'm both excited and a little sad.

JOURNAL

We needed some brick repairs done on our chimney. The masons were here this week with a lift to get it taken care of. The weight of it seems to have killed big patches of our lawn.

Monday was Jody’s birthday! (Hooray!) She and I went out for pizza and ciders, and then got ice cream at Bridgemans to celebrate.

My friend Kate does “100 Days of Running” every year starting on August 26th. I decided I would join her this year doing 100 straight days on the Peloton. She emailed me a calendar to print out so I could track the days in analog.

Tuesday night was The Blues Brothers at Zinema. We saw it with an enthusiastic crowd, and yes, those are Orange Whips (courtesy of Blacklist).

On Friday night, we joined friends for some awesome Backyard Trivia (Jody and I won
zucchini cake!) followed by a Backyard Movie under the stars.

On Saturday, we spent the afternoon playing board games with friends, then headed to Fairhaven Farm for their five course, farm-to-table dinner series.

What I watched:

  • The Blues Brothers (1980). Watched this at the Zinema with an enthusiastic crowd drinking free Orange Whips. A ridiculous mess of a movie that is, nevertheless, one of my absolute faves.
  • Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story (2025). I've read a lot about the making of Jaws, but there were still some tidbits in this that I'd never heard.
  • Jaws (1975). Watched this under the stars with friends. 50 years later and still a masterpiece.

What I’m reading:

MEMORIES

Ten Years Ago:
Ten years ago this week, we were dropping Spencer off at UW-Stevens Point for his freshman year of college.

It’s also the week that we bought our hammock chairs! (We’ve replaced them twice since then.)

Twenty Years Ago:
Twenty years ago, Kaylee was in her first dance class. I love that, all these years later, dancing still gives her so much joy.

Thirty Five Years Ago:
This week is our “couple-versary”. It’s easy to remember because it coincides with Jody’s birthday. That’s because thirty five years ago, Jody invited me to her 16th birthday party. We had known each other for years, but that night something finally clicked and we started dating. We’ve been “Jody and Justin” ever since.

Since it’s kind of hard to see us in that photo, here’s one from her 17th birthday a year later.

MY FAVORITE QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"...we need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us. That is my belief."

-- Franz Kafka

That’s it for this week. Stay safe, friends. Thanks for reading!

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