007 Exhibit (and Other Stuff)

A few weeks ago, I went to Chicago's Griffin Museum of Science and Industry to see an exhibit of gadgets and cars from various James Bond movies. The exhibit, while small, had some great stuff included. I have some pictures below. I also highly recommend checking out the museum if you're in or around Chicago. I went there with my sister's girl scout troop when I was a kid, but I had not been back since moving to the Chicago area. I checked out the rest of the museum after seeing the Bond exhibit and really enjoyed it. It's a beautiful museum. Parking is ridiculous though: $22 regardless of the time you spend at the museum is insane! That was almost the price of admission for the Bond exhibit! 

In other news, the Democratic National Convention is going on in Chicago this week. Is the political tide really turning now? God, I hope so. I'm really looking forward to the time when Donny T's entire political career will just be a bad memory. Remember that guy? Ugh. I'm trying to forget him! What's Kamala's slogan? We can't go back? No, we can't and God help us all if we do.

I'm currently reading Stephen King's book of short stories now called You Like It Darker. I haven't read a Stephen King book in some time and I have to say, I'm enjoying this short story combination. To paraphrase a line from one of my favorite movies, The Big Lebowski, that dude can write! King is very good at writing about regular people faced with irregular circumstances and that's something a lot of writers can't do or can't do well. I commend him for writing so well for so long. He really is a national treasure and reading his recent work has inspired me to get on the stick and get my own writing going again. After a lot of starts and stops, I think I'm on track to get a short story done in the next few months. Thanks, Stephen!

Lazy Nina (and Lazy Kim)

I was listening to the Yacht Rock station on Sirius today (as I often do while I work my day job) and they played the song "Lazy Nina" by Greg Phillinganes. I had not heard this song in a really long time, probably since I was living in Detroit many, many years ago. I heard it frequently on our local jazz station, WJZZ, while I was growing up. I texted my sister about it because I knew she'd remember it also and she did. She mentioned that Phillinganes is from our hometown of Detroit, which explains why I heard it so much growing up. It's a really great song. 

Anyway, hearing this song today led me down the rabbit hole (but not far down) and I read on YouTube that not only is Phillinganes from Detroit, but he and I went to the same high school (at different times since we are not close in age). I also learned that "Lazy Nina" was written by Donald Fagen. I never knew this until today and I'm a huge Steely Dan fan. How did I miss this? The song sounds so much like a Dan song or a Donald Fagen solo track. I totally should have picked up on this, but I wasn't as into the Dan back in the mid 1980s when I was a teenager and when this song came out. It's always nice for me to hear something or see something that takes me back to my youth and that's what happened today with me and "Lazy Nina."  

In other news, the Lazy Kim portion of this post pertains to me. I haven't been writing much at all even though I have something on my mind to write. I even have several pages written, but I keep stalling out. I think I'm going to have to make some changes to the material I have or move on to something else. I hate not writing. It's been a lazy summer for me (and a lazy spring also) when it comes to writing and I have no one to blame but myself for the lack of writing. In my defense, I've been very busy with a project on my day job that had me working during the week and on the weekends many times, but that project is winding down, so I'm hoping to devote more time to my own projects moving forward. Lazy Kim needs to get on the stick and get some writing done.