all that's past is prologue...

I had very much wanted to see Conclave in theaters last fall, but we never seem to actually get *out* to movie theaters. So I was happy to see the DVD on the "Lucky Day" shelf at the library, and after my meeting last night I came home to Patrick making some popcorn and we settled down to watch it. It was great — the cinematography was beautiful and that would have been better on the big screen, but just being able to hang out and watch a movie together, in the middle of my busiest month, was great. So I don't see enough movies, and I have not seen a lot of great ones lately (besides Conclave, and Wicked on Christmas.) Last year started well (partially thanks to the Spirit Awards) with the American Fiction, Maestro, Four Daughters , and The Color Purple , but got kind of slow after that. Probably because I did not see enough movies. And really I need to see more. Most of our viewing activities are series on TV that we watch slowly over a way too long period because we di...

(I'm distracting myself from the Big Things by obsessing over some smaller ones....) Lately we've had a string of either meh or fine-but-nothing-to-write-home-about meals out, which got me thinking about some of the great meals of my life. The only current Michelin-starred restaurant I have eaten at is a place called Cookies Cream in Berlin, a hidden almost speakeasy-like place that took us a few tries to find. It was really All That, and was entirely vegetarian, so I did not have to worry about any of it. It was incredible. I did eat at Chez Panisse when it still had a Michelin Star, with Patrick and my friend Val. It was indeed amazing. Even better was when Val, Patrick and I ate at Bouchon , before it gained its star but when Chef Keller was actually dining there that night. As one might expect, it was incredible. I have wanted to dine at the French Laundry since the days when you had to keep on calling on the day that reservations opened up for 2 months later, but it has ...

Many of you know of my love for Bar + Cart. It's no Lawless; no matter how often I m there I never seem to become a regular. But I'm there frequently; we both have Gold Cards; and I try to get people there as often as I can. We were just there with my Norwegian cousins and were super-happy to share it with them. It's been the kind of place I also like to bring new people to for happy hour meetings, so I was super excited when, just last week on January 9, they announced a whole new happy hour menu with great prices! I posted it on my timeline and tons of people wanted to meet up for drinks. Great way to start 2025! Today I met my friend there. I was a little surprised when, newly painted on the door it said "Social Hour 3-6,"but I thought maybe they were incentivizing showing up before 5:00. Menu prices were higher too, but they had just made another post about the happy hour earlier today, so I figured it was all good. My friend and I were wedged into a table bef...

 Catzen Coffee opened on New Year's Day, but the demand has been high so I had not made it there yet. I've been following them on social media for what seems like forever (and I am sure longer to them).  So today, when my amazing friend Kate offered to help me with a spreadsheet, I said we should meet there. I solved the spreadsheet thing before she got there, but we turn out to be an incredibly effective co-working team; I got more done in that two hours than I would have been able to at home (which face it, is kind of like a cat cafe in itself...). I also had a delicious fig walnut latte. It was still very busy while we were there, so we worked mostly outside of the cat "den" area, and then headed into it at the end for some cat time. It was truly as amazing as expected. Their "most famous" guy "Big (Cup o') Joe" was as incredible as I expected him to be, but honestly all the cats we got to meet were awesome, from super cuddly LeeRoy Jenkins...

I started on my new year's resolutions tonight by putting together this hot fudge pie — hope it tastes as good as it smells baking! More on the resolutions soon. A hint is that we spent much of this weekend deep cleaning the kitchen — like the tops of the cabinets, sorting out and getting rid of dishware we don't use, spraying down the cabinet doors with Dawn, etc. It felt really good to get it taken care of and I am looking forward to a cleaner and more organized kitchen. I also promise that that tangine was not that greasy the last time I used it.

 As I ease into 2025, I'm also thinking back on 2024. Rather than a resolution, I had a word — BUILD — and this is what I wrote about it. "Build" ended up meaning a lot about my physical environment instead of all the meanings of the word: Our front doors:  https://prologuist.blogspot.com/2024/03/welcome-build-post.html Art: (not a "Build" post per se but close enough):  https://prologuist.blogspot.com/2024/02/femme-au-plateau.html The new woodwork above the fireplace:  https://prologuist.blogspot.com/2024/03/keep-home-fires-burning-build-post.html A lifetime dream of going to Africa:  https://prologuist.blogspot.com/2024/04/africa-build-post.html Front curtains (working on a new storm window now):  https://prologuist.blogspot.com/2024/04/in-my-defense-i-was-left-unsupervised.html Scraping the garage:  https://prologuist.blogspot.com/2024/04/scraping-by-build-post.html Planting at Summit:  https://prologuist.blogspot.com/2024/04/april-showers-buil...

As I ease into 2025, I'm also thinking back on 2024. Rather than a resolution, I had a word — BUILD — and this is what I wrote about it. "Build" ended up meaning a lot about my physical environment instead of all the meanings of the word: Our front doors:  https://prologuist.blogspot.com/2024/03/welcome-build-post.html Art: (not a "Build" post per se but close enough):  https://prologuist.blogspot.com/2024/02/femme-au-plateau.html The new woodwork above the fireplace:  https://prologuist.blogspot.com/2024/03/keep-home-fires-burning-build-post.html A lifetime dream of going to Africa:  https://prologuist.blogspot.com/2024/04/africa-build-post.html Front curtains (working on a new storm window now):  https://prologuist.blogspot.com/2024/04/in-my-defense-i-was-left-unsupervised.html Scraping the garage:  https://prologuist.blogspot.com/2024/04/scraping-by-build-post.html Planting at Summit:  https://prologuist.blogspot.com/2024/04/april-showers-build-post...

I can't let 2024 go, though, without a few high points: 1. Tanzania and Zanzibar This trip speaks for itself. The most amazing trip we've ever done. 2. Other trips Other trips were pretty great too — New York for college visits and shows and seeing friends, a couple of cabin visits, Duluth day trip, New Orleans for Thanksgiving. 3. Beatrix's first summer show at circus. Her triumph, not mine — but she was great. 4. Aurora Borealis 4. Purchasing a Toulouse-Latrec. I'm still happy every day when I look at it. 5. Family here for Christmas The Norwegians were here and it was so much fun!