211. Things I've enjoyed, July Edition

I am exhausted of the news cycle, as I have been for almost every week this year. So I’m going to go rehash an old post and talk about some things I’ve liked in the last few weeks.

“Pothole Confidential” by R.T. Rybak

I’ve got about 40 pages left in this memoir by former Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak. I’ve always like Rybak as a politician. He seemed to be passionate about his job and he did some good things for the city. The book is entertaining, enlightening, and offers a lot of “Oh, so that’s what happened” moments. He’s also self-deprecating, which is a hard thing to pull off for a politician.

One of the things about this election is that people are so worked up about passionate feelings, that they kind of miss the forest for the trees. You don’t just govern by passion. I believe it involves nitty-gritty stuff. Rybak goes into a lot of that stuff in a book. (I didn’t think I’d get so worked up about city budgets-- in a good way.)

Rybak talks about a wide swath of things, some fun (campaigning, rebranding the city), and some not so fun (the I-35W bridge collapse, the tornado through North Minneapolis, the Accent shooting). Being a (near) Minneapolis resident and worker, I liked hearing about all the things I missed while on the east coast.

I’m proud to say that I was friends with Rybak on Facebook before the site really took off. I was one of his original 2,000 friends. I added him after he came up to speak at CSB/SJU and we got a big group picture with him. It’s a fun, quick read about some of the more satisfying things regarding politics.

Lemons

I’ve been cooking a lot more due to my CSA box that comes every week. I’ve gotten a lot of different greens: Kale, Swiss Chard, Cabbage, Arugula, and many other types that I’ve had to google prior to prepping them. One ingredient that’s been crucial? Lemons. I bought a bag of fresh lemons for Trader Joe’s for about four bucks. It’s gone a long way to adding to the plant-heavy dishes I’ve been making. (I also like it better than a bottle of lemon juice.) It’s something I should keep around for a while.

Bojack Horseman

Bojack Horseman is a very depressing show. It’s a Netflix series featuring a bunch of anthropomorphized animals, that stars a washed-up, hard-drinking, depressive horse that used to star in a successful 80s sitcom. Sounds like a real winner, right?

It is. It’s wonderful hilarious, sad, and enjoyable all at the same time. The jokes are densely packed, but you also feel for the characters. I never thought I would feel so much sympathy for a horse. They’ve also got a bunch of great voice actors: Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Aaron Paul, Alison Brie, Paul F. Thompkins, and a bunch more.  If you like your humor with a little bit of sadness and your sadness with a little bit of humor, try Bojack Horseman.