Owlspotting

Books: I stepped out to a cafe in my neighborhood to read Calvin Trillin’s “About Alice.” The book is a tender 78-page remembrance of his wife, who died in 2001. The book was originally a New Yorker essay I had read back in March, but I wanted to own it bound between covers because of its simplicity and sincerity. Calvin loved Alice and he doesn’t use hyperbole to show it.

When Alice died, I was going over the galleys of a novel about parking in New York—a subject so silly that I think I would have hesitated to submit the book to a publisher if she hadn’t, somewhat to her surprise, liked it. When the novel was published, the dedication said, “I wrote this for Alice. Actually, I wrote everything for Alice.”

Music: Boston’s Dear Leader. Their record “The Alarmist” is a straight forward rock record, but the coarse groans of their front-man makes it a worthy ride.

Television: The NFL Wild Card weekend. Yes, I am a sucker for American football, and the last quarter of the Dallas – Seattle game only reinforced this guilty pleasure.

Movies: “Notes on a Scandal.” Yes, Judy Dench is always unbelievably good, but who knew Cate Blanchett, who has played an elf queen and a slain journalist in her career, could be so arousing as an upper-middle class tormented school teacher?