Sunday, September 30, 2012

The Sunday Currently I

This has been the most glorious weekend.  After a few hot days last week, everyone has finally agreed that it's autumn, and we're making the most of it.  We spent an hour at the dog park yesterday, letting Charlie romp with some new friends, and then went to a breathtaking concert of Haydn's The Creation at the National Cathedral in the evening.  I went out to dinner afterwards with some friends, but three glasses of wine finished me off and I was home in bed by 10:30.  This morning, Charlie and I headed out for a long run through the park, and I'm going to spend the afternoon swapping out my warm-weather clothes for my cool-weather clothes.  Dinner will be something nurturing and earthy - perfect!

My routines have adjusted to the change in seasons - does that happen to you, dear readers?  This edition of the Sunday currently feels fresh to me.  What new things are you introducing for the fall?

apples and honey for Rosh Hashanah

currently...

re-reading... the classics.  Emma, by Jane Austen, has reappeared on my nightstand, and I've picked up Brideshead Revisited for my daily commute.  The start of a new academic year always makes me return to my ideal reading list, which really must start with a good period novel or two.

listening... to Birdy, a 16 year old singer-songwriter from England.  Someone on Twitter shared her cover of Bon Iver's Skinny Love and I was entranced.  Her voice is so delicate and yet so fraught - it's exactly how I imagine my tangled emotions would have sounded when I was her age, had I possessed her talent.

observing... the Jewish holidays.  Rosh Hashanah was two weeks ago, Yom Kippur this past Wednesday, and Sukkot starts tomorrow.  It's a great time to reconnect with our communities, our families, and ourselves - I'm unquestionably a bad Jew, but I love the reminder to refocus on our relationships.

braising... anything and everything to make hearty stews that will last us for days.  Mushroom bourguignon from Smitten Kitchen is on the menu for tonight, we've got all the ingredients for this Indian-style stew of chickpeas and spinach, and I've decided that 2012 is the year I finally attempt Julia Child's coq au vin.  Yum!

buying... part one of Jon's Christmas present.  His birthday this May is a big one and I'm going to do something serious for that, which means that he's getting a bunch of smaller gifts for the holiday.  Finding the first now isn't about being superorganized - I'm just trying to spread out the cost of the whole present over a few months!

watching... my favorite TV shows, returned from the summer break!  I'm excited for Law and Order: SVU, Revenge, and The Good Wife to come back on the air with new episodes.  Those three, plus everything else I have to do and my love of early bedtimes, take up most of my evenings, so the only new shows I might try to catch are 666 Park Avenue and Revolution - thoughts?

snuggling... with Charlie in the mornings.  We've settled into a good groove: he sleeps on his bed in the corner of my room at night, and then jumps up onto my bed and squishes under my arm when the alarm goes off.  I hit snooze and we cuddle until it's really time to get up, when we pad downstairs to make coffee (me) and go out for a pee (him). 

drinking... ginger tea.  Everyone else is excited about Pumpkin Spice Lattes, but my favorite part of autumn is reintroducing ginger into my diet.  The best way to have ginger tea, in my expert opinion, is to steep slices of raw ginger root in boiling water and then to stir in some honey, but the Yogi brand tea bags are pretty good if you're feeling lazy.

thinking... about what "gender equality" means in this day and age.  The Huffington Post wrote a piece on chivalry on public transportation recently that garnered over 300 comments, most of them rude and insulting.  It's an interesting question that probably doesn't have one right answer, but I find it a bit ironic that men and women can't discuss this of all things in a courteous manner.

Happy Sunday, dear readers - I hope you've had a lovely weekend, and I wish you all the best for the October week ahead.

linking up with siddathornton
past currently... posts here and here

23 comments:

  1. Aww, Charlie got the boot from the bed! Happy Autumn!

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  2. your weekend sounds absolutely lovely. i also love that you have been re-reading the classics. i just read dracula for the first time a couple months ago, & i am already feeling a re-read [and really, how perfect of a time would it be for such a book?]. i also love birdy. she has a melodic, haunting voice i find irresistible! i love her cover of skinny love.
    i hope you have a great week ahead of you - yay for cool weather clothes :)

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  3. your weekend sounds absolutely lovely. i also love that you have been re-reading the classics. i just read dracula for the first time a couple months ago, & i am already feeling a re-read [and really, how perfect of a time would it be for such a book?]. i also love birdy. she has a melodic, haunting voice i find irresistible! i love her cover of skinny love.
    i hope you have a great week ahead of you - yay for cool weather clothes :)

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  4. Love SVU, pass on Revolution, it isn't great. Call In The Midwife starts tonight on PBS, it is a BBC show that is supposed to be fantastic but it was probably on when you lived over there. Glad your weekend was so nice!

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  5. Call the Midwife was massive when I was there but I somehow missed it! will definitely catch it on PBS :)

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  6. perfect time for Dracula! and maybe Frankenstein too? I loved reading that in high school, and remember how we all got so into the "who is the real monster" debate.


    thanks again for the link-up :)

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  7. his choice, believe it or not! I think that, once he realized I'd be there in the morning even if he wasn't right next to me, he wanted more autonomy. but we still get our mornings!

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  8. I love Emma!! Such a fantastic novel... Those apples look delicious too! I need to get more into braising; your dishes sound divine. Looking forward to trying themz!

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  9. You won't regret that Julia Child recipe. It's divine :)

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  10. There was a Haydn concert in the little 12th century church behind my house a few weeks ago and it was wonderful, but I cannot fathom how grand it must have been at the National Cathedral! I'm a tad jealous :)
    And I watched Revolution, it wasn't bad. Give it a go.

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  11. sounds like the perfect weekend! also....ginger tea? that sounds amazing!

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  12. Hubby and I have been watching Revolution. We really like it! It's really up our alley. I'm jealous of the weather that you're having in DC. This morning it was 57 here! Pretty exciting...

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  13. excuse my ignorance, but what is Rosh Hashanah?

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  14. it's the Jewish new year - you eat apples and honey to signify a sweet new year! asking is the only way you find out answers :)

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  15. oh, Birdy is so fantastic. Did you watch the first episode back of SVU? gah, I love that show

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  16. OH MAN DID I EVER. I loved it. (secretly I've always had a crush on Cassidy, ever since Season 1.) can't wait to see where they go!

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  17. yes! ginger tea! apparently it's good for digestion and things... but mostly it makes me feel alive in my soul :)

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  18. oh man. it was grand. that sort of thing makes me want to be an architect. or a priest. or an architect/priest.

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  19. I hear it's like a mixup of The Hunger Games and Lost. guess I can give that a try?

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  20. I read Brideshead awhile back. It was actually the first book I picked up after graduating from undergrad for my morning commute on the metro! Go figure! It's hilarious! I absolutely love the characters in this book.


    I love ginger tea, too! Ginger is one of my favorite foods. I have a piece of pickled ginger every night. It's a habit. Tastes like candy to me!


    Your cuddle partner sounds like mine. My cat, Misha, used to sleep with me all night. Recently she's been jumping up to spoon with me 30 minutes before the alarm goes off. And I curse her every morning for it- eventhough I love her for it at the same time!


    Sooo... I've come across your blog once or twice, but I am stopping by from Meg's blog because she featured both of us on Friday! (I'm right below you on that brisket post). I was pleasantly surprised to see you do a Currently post on Sunday as well! And.... it looks like we have a lot in common!


    Hello, new friend! I'll be sticking around! :)

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  21. believe it or not, characters - and I absolutely mean that word - like that still exist in certain circles in England! haha


    nice to meet you, and I look forward to heading over to get to know you better on your blog! welcome :)

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