Rebirth Of The Red Lantern: Volume 1, Chapter 7

WHAT’S ON MY MIND

A road trip. About a decade ago I drove to Desert Hot Springs to see what it looked like in case I felt priced out of the Southern California pricing market. Now I get to visit and explore Palm Springs and the rest of the surrounding cities to develop a setting for my novel that blends most of them.

Today I’ll start working on an itinerary that includes dining and writing, but it’ll be flexible. I want to meet Spo and other bloggers that may be there. Who knows. Maybe they’ll join me for a meal or two?

WHAT BOTTLE I OPENED 

Kaleidoscope Red Wine Blend, 2022 (Total Wine, $14.99). I’ve updated the 2025 Wines page with my thoughts on this Robert Mondavi offering. I’ve already opened next week’s wine and I’ll update the page before I leave for my trip.

WHAT I BOUGHT

Besides the Surface Pro 11? Check out what I listened to for the deets.

WHERE I’M GOING

We know where I’m headed in a few days. Later this morning I’ll visit a B&N with my SP11. I’ve already written the Prologue and first chapter for my new writing project, and I’ll use some time in the Starbucks Cafe to get Chapter 2 going.

WHAT I LISTENED TO

The playlist was a little heavy on Metallica and for good reason. Before I donated my CD collection to Goodwill many years ago, I forgot to record MP3s of the And Justice For All album. I missed listening to tracks like “One”, “Blackened” and the mostly instrumental “To Live Is To Die” so I spent $9.99 to correct my egregious error.

WHAT SACRED TEXTS I READ

Curiosity got the best of me at a nearby B&N yesterday when I picked up a classic business book that’s… in the coming days I’ll write a post to discuss my feelings about it. 

I also picked up a second set of Hatsune Miku page clips because I lost Rin and Ran, the orange and red clips, from the original set. All six are vocaloids, so this set is like my version of DC's Super Friends. If I remember correctly, Meiko (brown) and Kaito (light purple) came before Miku. Both Meiko and Luka Megurine (dark purple) are old enough to drink, and the latter has also appeared on Goodsmile Racing race cars in the past. All of them are dressed as if they're attending a traditional Japanese fireworks festival.

Here’s what I read or have in progress this week:

• The Great Gatsby
• The Millionaire Next Door (In progress)
• Uzaki-chan Wants To Hang Out!, Volume 12
• Assorted Entanglements, Volume 7
• I’ve Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years And Maxed Out My Level, Volume 14
• Imitation, Volume 5
• Zatanna #1
• Deadpool/Wolverine #2
• Deadpool #11
• Captain America #2

Also in progress from J-Novel Club 

• The Hero And The Sage: Reincarnated And Engaged, Volume 4
• The Poison King: Now That I’ve Gained Ultimate Power, The Bewitching Beauties In My Harem Can’t Get Enough Of Me, Volume 4
• The Villainess Is Dead! Long Live The Empress! Redoing The Story After A Poisonous End, Volume 1
• My Fiance Cheated, But A New Love Rings!, Volume 1
• My Tiny Senpai (manga), Volume 1

WHAT I WATCHED

The Ramsey Show clips on YouTube. I don’t agree 100% with everything Dave Ramsey or his panel says, but it’s solid advice for most people. You could do far worse like listen to the charlatans who are pushing the idea of not saving money as the right thing to do.

WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY

Three more days and I’ll be at least two hours away from family members. Enough said.

THE TOMMY MILNER SALUTE GOES TO…

Political dolts and family members are ineligible for what will going forward replace a good slap, so I’ve got nothing this week.

A FIST BUMP GOES TO…

Cam Waters. Aussie Supercars is back, and there’s been two races at Sydney Motorsports Park so far as of this writing. Guess who qualified fastest and finished first in both of them? Hell yes!

WHAT’S UP WITH MY HEALTH

I did a Zumba workout instead of a walk on Wednesday, and my left knee didn’t appreciate that. It feels good today, but I’ll wait upon my return from Palm Springs before I do another 30 minute class. I was mostly faithful to a strict diet and I’m at 256.2. In plain English, I lost two pounds this week. Hooray!

A QUICK NOTE BEFORE I GO

With the exception of the post I’ll write upon completing The Millionaire Next Door, my posts for the next week will be travel related. I’ll publish one on Monday regarding packing, and Tuesday through Friday I’ll update the blog nightly — unless something unexpected happens. Ara ara!