June Round-Up

Finally! A timely monthly round-up! Let's go!

Movies Seen: Thirteen, with one in the theater. That one was "Simon Says," and you can read my review of it here; definitely not one of the summer blockbusters, which as of the end of June, I had not seen a one of. Of the non-theater viewing experiences, the best was probably "The Dead Girl."

Books Read: Three. One was another Cormac McCarthy book, which will soon be coming a theater near you. I liked it, but it doesn't come near to the greatness of "The Road," IMHO. I also decided to tackle Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series, but I have to say, I wasn't really taken with "The Gunslinger," the first book. It was a bit of a chore to get through. I will keep with the series, though, as I hear they get better as it goes on. The third book I read is called "Him, Her, Him Again, the End of Him," and it has been getting all kinds of raves for being hilarious. I think I chuckled maybe two or three times, which was disappointing, as I thought the premise of the book was a promising one.

Fancy Dinners Out: One, at Farmer Brown, for Father's Day. It was hit or miss. Some things were fab, like the jalapeno corn bread with sides of maple butter that they keep bringing to the table, and the shrimp poppers appetizer. I had a steak, which you can't really go wrong with, but the potatoes that came with it were gray, which is a totally rookie mistake. (Once you cut a potato, you need to put it in water or it will oxidize. What kind of cook doesn't know this?) My dad got the fried chicken and seemed to like it, but the mac and cheese that came with it was completely gross. At least to me. The strawberry rhubarb pie was awesome, but the Blue Bottle coffee, which has been amazing everywhere else I've had it, was a little bland and watery. Maybe we didn't let the French press steep long enough, but it tasted to me like they just weren't using enough coffee. So, like I said: hit or miss.

Live Shows Seen: None, so I'll just talk about bowling instead, which I did twice (and once at the end of May). I'm still not very good at it, but I almost broke 100 during one game, and hit two strikes in a row during the last frame, which was exciting. Which leads me to...

Shoes Bought: One pair of bowling shoes, of course! At least, I ordered them. As of today, they still haven't arrived. So much for a round of July 4th bowling!