Changing Mind Like the Weather

I realize that just a month after proclaiming I would take on the restaurant reviewing duties from my less than dependable cohorts, I had another change of heart, and a person who stages grand reinventions monthly can be annoying. I also realize no one reads these memos, or almost no one, and if you're reading this, you are of the special few. So what happened was I set out with ambition to eat everywhere and write about it, and as fate would have it I encountered another dietary mishap when I apparently ate some wheat in something, and as a gluten-free celiac, found myself spending another afternoon sick. I have suffered too many alcohol free days to suffer similar sickness due to a common grain. So disgusted with the situation, I was forced to admit that I have to be more careful and be more aggressive about avoiding particular ingredients, foods, cuisines, restaurants, and situations—a bad lot for someone trying to write about food. It's sad—I'm an adventurous eater, but the adventure can get me into trouble. So my latest solution—assuming a solution is needed—is to try to focus again on fiction writing, and leave the restaurant reviewing up to Mr. Speen and Mr. Skiller, if they can find the time (and necessary appetites).

And I'm not even sure about that—fiction writing. It all depends on how I feel about it, once I get back into it. You have to love what you're doing if you want to even have a chance for anyone who reads it to like it. I guess... we'll see. In the meantime, as far as this website goes, I'm going to try to liven it up by having designated days (you know, like “Throwback Thursday”—is that even a thing anymore?)—though it's kind of unfortunate that in seven weekdays, only five letters are represented. But I'm not worrying about the letters too much—sometimes it works out. So here is the new week, here at rspeen.com.

Memoir Monday – In which I'll post in between one and four of the “memoir” pages: Memoir, Notebook Journals, No Memory, and The Golden Pineapple.

Cafe Tuesday – I'll explore a local cafe or coffee shop – there are plenty!

Reading Wednesday – Book review and new reading list.

Podcast Thursday – This will be coming soon – more on it later!

Farraginous Friday – Where I'll review a vinyl record – at the external site: DJ Farraginous.

Soap Review Saturday – When better than the traditional bathing day to review a new bar of soap?

Song Review Sunday/Steely Dan Sunday – Which will be a review of either a random song, or an examination of a not so random Steely Dan song.

I'm going to continue to write and post other stuff, as it comes up, of course—such as movie reviews, whenever I see a movie, and rice pudding reviews (on the Dessert page) whenever I encounter rice pudding—but the above will be the regular features. I hope that's enough. I hope that's not too much. I hope enough is enough and too much is never enough. Happy snow day!

Randy Russell, 9 November 2018