On My Mind – Odds & Bits – 5/26/2018

Apologies to those who come here for the reviews.  I just felt the need to write about a whole host of things currently “On My Mind”.  Please be patient with me – I promise a return to our regularly scheduled programming soon.  🙂

Summer is definitely here in Chicago.  That means a lot of things to me – one of the most joyful being that I can get back into the Garden.  I have three creative outlets in my life.  One of these – recently rediscovered with the help of this Blog – is my writing.  The second is my work – which may come as a surprise to some given my role as a senior sales & marketing leader for a mid-size company – but I do think of it that way.  There’s a creative element to developing sales & marketing strategies designed to drive revenue growth that I’ve always enjoyed.  There’s also an element of creativity involved in mentoring and coaching those who work for you – helping them learn their jobs and growing into their full professional potential.  Third – most seasonal but in some ways my longest standing – is the work I do every Spring, Summer & Fall in the garden.

One of the many things that attracted us to this old house 8 years ago were the extensive beds and the great garden architecture that the prior owner had laid out.  Over the course of the last 8 years, my wife and I have adjusted, re-designed and extended their original vision to make it our own.  The picture above is of the remotest part of our back yard taken on our wedding day – we were married here surrounded by around family members and close friends.  We’ve maintained it and grown it as a cutting garden that helps us keep the house filled with fresh flowers.  It’s changed over time – we lost the Azalea in the center and the Rose of Sharon with the white blooms on the right hand side of the altar – but we’ve replaced those with new selections and added on here and there to keep things fresh and lively (I’m actually planning to put two new Rose of Sharon in this season in both locations – I want to return the landscaping as closely as possible to it’s original appearance on that very special day).

My wife jokes with me about the fact that I’m much better at putting things in the ground than I am at taking care of them over time – probably a reflection of the fact that I do see this as a design / creative endeavor and not as daily work.  I’m just thankful that she’s there to make up for my shortcomings.  I spent several hours yesterday putting new perennials in – daisies, liatris and beebalm for the cutting garden.  It felt good and it helped – as it always does – to allow me make a final break from the ugly Midwest winters.

Also happy to say that I’ve made progress on my TBR problem.  I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the pile that was building up “On The Shelf” a few weeks ago:

http://booksofbrian.com/on-the-shelf-confession-5-14-2018/

Since then, I’ve actually managed to make it through 3 of my 5 New May Releases:

“The Wolf:  Under The Northern Sky” By Leo Carew

http://booksofbrian.com/on-the-nightstand-the-wolf-under-the-northern-sky-5-20-2018/

“Artificial Condition” By Martha Wells

http://booksofbrian.com/on-the-nightstand-artificial-condition-2-25-2018/

and “Uncharted” By Kevin J. Anderson and Sarah A. Hoyt

http://booksofbrian.com/on-the-nightstand-uncharted-5-25-2018/

I’ve made a good start on the 4th – “King Of Ashes” by Raymond E. Feist and I have to say…I’ve been pleasantly surprised.  I’ve stuck with Feist through every word he’s written about Midkemia – 29 books by my shelf count if you treat Magician as a single volume instead of two separate halves – Magician: Apprentice & Magician: Master – as originally published.  I loved that series – particularly the first half entries and the “Empire Trilogy” written in collaboration with Jenny Wurts – got countless hours of enjoyment from it.  Having said that, the whole thing just started getting stale during the second half.  It was almost like Feist was trapped in a world he loved but from which he both wanted to and couldn’t escape.  When I saw that he was launching a new series, I was both excited and a bit worried.  For no reason – based on the first few chapters.  Feist managed to suck me in from the first page and I’m enjoying the read so far.  Too early to tell if it holds up but I’m encouraged.

I started into the 5th of the New May Releases titles – “The Soldier:  The Rise Of The Jain” by Neal Asher – but made a tactical decision to shelve it as a future read.  Asher has written so many books about the Polity, it’s such a complex world, his books build on each other and – having only read the first two entries in the series – “Prador Moon” and “The Shadow Of The Scorpion” – I felt a little lost during the first couple of chapters.  I’m just going to have to turn The Polity into a long term project and try to read through the books in order of entry.  I have “Gridlinked” – the next in the series – “On The Shelf” and am planning to get ’round to it – eventually.

Finally, I was able to finish the second volume in “The Shadow Campaigns” series by Django Wexler – titled “The Shadow Throne”.  I read, really enjoyed and reviewed the first volume – “The Thousand Names”:

http://booksofbrian.com/on-the-nightstand-the-thousand-names-4-14-2018/

…and I’m committed to finishing the remaining 3 books and 1 novella.  I won’t review “The Shadow Throne”.  I plan to wait until I finish the entire series and put up an Epilogue post.  Still, it was a very good read and left me wanting more.  It sacrificed some of the straightforward simplicity of ‘The Thousand Names” that I enjoyed but I like the way he’s using the French Revolution and the Napoleonic period as a historical archetype for his story.  It’s good stuff.

So…things feel pretty good right now.  I’m going to make it through May and be ready for my New June Releases, the garden is coming up nicely and I’m starting to see plenty of color, I’m enjoying the early summer heat, I’m planning to clean and prep the grill for outdoor cooking – beginning this Sunday – the kids are headed off for their overseas summer adventures, baseball is in full swing, the Longhorns have put together a great 2018 recruiting class and Sue and I are having a ball.

Time to fill the fridge with cold beer and relax into the season.

Have a Great Weekend and take time to recognize those who have sacrificed on our behalf.