Movies

Quarterly Look Back - 3rd Quarter 2025 by Todd Henson

Looking back at the third quarter of 2025

And so we bring a close to the third quarter of 2025 by taking a brief look back. In the grand scheme of things it was a fairly quiet quarter. Nothing stood out quite like the trip my father and I took to New Hampshire at the end of the previous quarter, though it often felt like we went there this quarter because I kept sorting through and processing photographs from the trip. My brother did take a long vacation to Prague this quarter, so I got to vicariously enjoy many aspects of that. What beautifully old architecture.

But enough talk. Continue scrolling below to look back at the third quarter of 2025.  

Photography

The majority of the photography I’ve shared in blog posts this quarter has been from the trip my father and I made to New Hampshire in late June. Going through all those photographs and writing all the posts has been a great way to relive moments from those days. I hope you’ve enjoyed some of it, as well, especially because I still have more yet to share.

Below are the posts I published this quarter. Please take a look back at any you missed or would like to see again.

Covered Bridges

12 Covered Bridge in the Northern Half of New Hampshire

Historic Groveton Covered Bridge (New Hampshire)

Historic Swiftwater Covered Bridge (Bath, New Hampshire)

Historic Bath Village Covered Bridge (New Hampshire)

Historic Haverhill-Bath Covered Bridge (New Hampshire)

Field Notes Updates

Giant Leopard Moth

Devil’s Paintbrush

Mostly Photos

Grist Mill in Guildhall, Vermont

Evening at the Edge of the Pilot Range, White Mountains, New Hampshire

Trip Report

A Virginia Road Trip in Late May (2025)

Beaver Brook Falls, New Hampshire

A Visit to Lancaster, New Hampshire

Reading

Last quarter I mentioned my attempt to keep my reading a mix of classics and more recent works, as well as mixing in rereads from my youth. This quarter the oldest books I read were Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile from 1937, P.G. Wodehouse’s Quick Service from 1940 and I also finally read George Orwell’s 1984, from 1949, which certainly provides lots of food for thought. The most recent books I read were Alka Joshi’s Six Days in Bombay from this year (2025) and Michael Idov’s The Collaborators from 2024. I didn’t have any rereads this quarter.

I’m increasingly finding myself pulled back to classic fantasy series that came out in my youth, during the 70s and 80s. I suppose they could be considered comfort reads for me. This quarter I finally began Raymond Feist’s Riftwar Saga and regret having put it off so long. And I’ve been visiting used book stores lately trying to fill out a number of series I either began when younger or just never got around to. But I’ve also read more recent works, such as S.B. Divya’s Machinehood and P.W. Singer & August Cole’s Burn-In, both dealing with near future events related to artificial intelligence, robotics, and other technology-related topics. And though I didn’t finish any this quarter, I have been reading several non-fiction books on various topics.

The books I consumed this quarter (paper, ebook, and audio).

Here’s the full list of books read in the 2nd quarter of 2025:  Thunderball by Ian Fleming (1961), 1984 by George Orwell (1949), Firefly: Big Damn Hero by James Lovegrove (2018), Six Days in Bombay by Alka Joshi (2025), Magician: Apprentice by Raymond Feist (1982), Magician: Master by Raymond Feist (1982), Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (1937), Burn-In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution by P.W. Singer & August Cole (2020), Machinehood by S.B. Divya (2021), Silverthorn by Raymond Feist (1985), The Collaborators by Michael Idov (2024), Quick Service by P.G. Wodehouse (1940).

And of those, my favorites were:

Magician: Apprentice by Raymond Feist

Magician: Master by Raymond Feist

Silverthorn by Raymond Feist

I’m grouping these three books together as they’re part of a series, and that series is part of a much larger series called The Riftwar Saga. I’ve been aware of Raymond Feist for a very long time, and my brother highly recommended his work, but until recently I’d just never gotten to them, perhaps because they’d grown into such a long series. But I’m so happy to finally have dived in. These are classic epic fantasy stories, the sort that I enjoy and that the 70s and 80s authors seemed to do so well. This series, at least so far, focuses on a rift between places and perhaps times that can interconnect different worlds. The first two books focus to a great degree on the development of Pug, who becomes a young apprentice and over the years grows into a master magician. The third book, Silverthorn, spends more time with other characters from the previous books on a personal quest by one of the princes to save his princess. I can’t wait to see where the series goes from here.

Quick Service by P.G. Wodehouse

This is my second time reading a P.G. Wodehouse comedy and I hope to read many more. Such a fantastically funny story full of interesting and lively characters and a plot that keeps weaving back and forth. Taking place in the English countryside not far from London there’s an interesting mix of aristocracy of various levels, staff of all sorts, business dealings, artwork and artistic appreciation/obsession, thievery, conniving, romance, the list goes on and on. I think I can consider Wodehouse a go-to author when I need something lighter and more comedic to brighten my mood. And Simon Vance is a go-to narrator for entertaining audiobooks.

Burn-In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution by P.W. Singer & August Cole

Burn-In is a science fiction story that takes place in the very near future, so to some extent perhaps it’s more thriller than science fiction. The authors chose to footnote their sources throughout the book, so though it’s fiction it almost has the feel of non-fiction because of the massive number of footnotes. They did their best to portray real technologies, in some cases extrapolating just a bit to where the technology may soon lead. None of it felt that far fetched, which I suppose is a scary thought. It felt like a book to get people thinking, to make them aware of what some potential futures might hold, perhaps to better help us try to find a decent path forward instead of one leading to more conflict and problems. But I also felt the story was well written enough that it kept me fully engaged from beginning to end.

1984 by George Orwell

This is one of those classics just about everyone has heard of and that many read in school. None of my classes ever included it, though, so it took me until now to give it a read, and I’m glad I finally did. Now I have a better context when folks reference it. It’s fascinating to look back at the state of the world when it was written in 1949 and ponder how that influenced Orwell in writing the story. And it’s equally interesting, and scary, to look at the state of the world today and ponder our potential futures. I feel similarly about this book as I did about some others I’ve read, such as Night by Elie Wiesel, The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, in that I can’t help but think it would be a better world if more people spent some time with these books.

Movies, Shows & Anime

Favorite, or notable, films I watched this quarter.

I watched a few more movies than I did last quarter. And though none of them really stood out as outstanding movies, I did enjoy them all and really enjoyed most of them.

I don’t think I can pick a favorite, but as a group I probably enjoyed the following the most:

  • Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): This was a great continuation of the series, and a great rejuvenation to it. Incredibly violent and full of action and destruction, but also enough storyline to weave it all together.

  • Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008): What can I say? I enjoy Indiana Jones stories, and I’d yet to see this one.

  • Love and Monsters (2020): A surprisingly entertaining, humorous, and quirky movie labelled as An Apocalyptic Love Story. I was pleasantly surprised by this one.

  • 65 (2023): Another pleasant surprise with a very small cast, mostly just two people, about a pilot who leaves his wife and ill daughter to transport sleeping passengers across space but crash lands on a planet and must fight to survive. I think it’s better to go into this one blind, so I won’t say anything more, other than I ended up really enjoying it.

And the rest include:

  • Under the Mountain (2009) was an Australian film and a remake of a TV series from 1981 about a couple of twins who travel to Aukland to stay with relatives and end up meeting an interesting character played by Sam Neill and running afoul of an entire group of strangers. Probably geared more towards a younger crowd. I recall watching similar shows from Australia or New Zealand when a kid and really enjoying them.

  • Dawn of the Dragonslayer (2011) seemed to be a fairly low budget and very stereotypical fantasy movie about a kid whose father is killed by a dragon, setting him on a quest for revenge, who stumbled into love along the way. It felt like it was targeting young adults, perhaps in their early teens.

  • The Beekeeper (2024) is a stereotypical Jason Statham action film that weaves in the world of online scammers. It’s the sort of movie that plays on the desire to seek out and payback nefarious folks who so often seem beyond the law. But as we know if we’ve seen any Jason Statham films, no one is beyond him. I did enjoy elements of this one, though some parts required far more suspension of disbelief than usual.

  • Death on the Nile (2022) is Kenneth Branagh’s take of Agatha Christie’s classic novel. I had just read the book and so was very much looking forward to the movie, and perhaps that allowed me to set too high expectations that the movie just couldn’t deliver on. It was ok. But I wasn’t a fan of some of the directions they took the character(s), which just didn’t fit my view of them having read several of Christie’s Poirot books so far. Perhaps they’re drawing on elements from books I’ve yet to read, or perhaps they were just giving it the typical Hollywood veneer.

Music

I can’t think of much in the way of an introduction to the music I’ve been listening to this quarter, so I’ll just let the songs speak for themselves. I hope you find something below you might enjoy.

NANO / ナノ - Lost in Gray

My favorite song of the quarter is from a new artist to me that I stumbled upon at some point and haven’t been able to put aside since. NANO in English, ナノ in Japanese, she’s an artist from Japan who appears to have been creating and performing music for many years, though I know next to nothing about her.

Dream Theater - Bend The Clock

Dream Theater has been one of my favorite bands since I first began listening to them with the release of their album, Images and Words in 1992. They’re known for their progressive metal and this particular song does showcase some of that though it’s on the softer side of their work. It’s from their latest album, Parasomnia, released earlier this year.

Lord of the Lost x Within Temptation - Light Can Only Shine in the Darkness

I’ve been listening to Within Temptation for a few years now and have been meaning to feature them here for some time. They recently collaborated with Lord of the Lost, a group I’m much less familiar with, but I thoroughly enjoy what they’ve created. 

Feuerschwanz - Sam the Brave

Being a big fan of The Lord Of the Rings (books and movies) I have to highlight this tribute to Sam, a key character in the story, though one sometimes overlooked. I love how the vocals rotate between German and English.

 

Life

Well, it’s been another quarter. I’ve spent some of it looking back and appreciating the vacation my father and I had late last quarter. I’ve enjoyed hearing about and seeing photos from my brother’s vacation this quarter. Mid-quarter was two years since my mother died and I think my rhythm is still a little unsettled. I’ve done such a poor job responding to blog comments since that time period.

My father and I made a couple runs to a local farm and filled several five-dozen bags with freshly harvested ears of corn. Fresh corn can taste so good, and I learned how to cook it in my air fryer instead of boiling. I also realized we’re back into apple season, so we’ll have to start keeping our eyes open for interesting less-common apple species at the various farm markets and stores we frequent.

I’ve continued enjoying my explorations into the wide world of home brewed coffee. At one point I really wanted my own espresso maker, and though I may still one day get one I’m less drawn by it now. Instead, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my very simple Hario V60 pour over brewers and beans from local roasters that are more in the light to medium roast range than the darker beans I’d once been more drawn to. I tried a very nice light roast Brazil Cerrado Natural from Battlefield Coffee in Fredericksburg, Virginia, that said it had notes of almond, dark chocolate, walnut and hints of cocoa. I’ve only begun to actually detect these sorts of notes in coffee, perhaps because I’m slowly developing my taste buds or perhaps only for specific beans. I definitely tasted the notes of dark chocolate and cocoa.

This quarter my brother brought back some beans from Alo Village in Ethiopia using the natural process and roasted by mazelab coffee in Prague, Czechia. They were the lightest roasted beans I’ve tried, and the hardest to grind, and created the most interesting tea-like coffee I’ve ever tasted with some very distinct berry and floral flavors. The packaging says they have notes of black berry, red berry, peach and purple flower, and I very distinctly tasted berries and flowers. And I quite enjoyed it.

I also purchased some beans from Aperture Coffee Roasters in Woodstock, Virginia, that they sourced from Columbia and that used an anaerobic process that are described as having notes of milkshake, banana, guava and wine. I received them two days after they were roasted and decided to try them right away instead of waiting for them to rest a while. The aroma was very strongly fruity, quite fascinating for someone more used to the earthier aromas of other beans. And one of the benefits (though sometimes a curse) of having a long beard is that these types of aromas tend to absorb into the beard so I can continue smelling them for some time. I could taste the notes of guava. I’m curious to see how or if the flavor shifts over the coming days. I love trying these very different beans.

So you can see it’s mostly smaller, simpler things that have brought me enjoyment this and most quarters. Making photographs. Reading. Listening to music. Spending time with family. Brewing and tasting interesting coffee sourced from all over the world. And those things may shift this way or that way over time but they eventually tend to return to center.

What about you? What do you find brings most of your enjoyment throughout each quarter? Does it vary quite a bit? Or is it a pretty small range of things?

Thanks much for reading. I hope your quarter has gone well, and I hope you have a great final quarter of the year.


Do you enjoy these posts?

Sign up to receive periodic emails with updates and thoughts. Don’t worry, I won’t spam you. And please consider purchasing artwork or products from my online store, and using my affiliate links in the sidebar to the right when shopping online.

I appreciate your support!


Quarterly Look Back - 2nd Quarter 2025 by Todd Henson

Looking back at the second quarter of 2025

With the end of the 2nd quarter we’re now halfway through the year. Regardless of what we think about how fast or slow it’s gone by, it does provide a nice opportunity to take a look back at what we’ve done so far and to make any adjustments we might want to before the year ends. We have time to reflect a bit and then to refocus or to shift focus or to continue on our current path.

But first, please spend a little time with me looking back at the 2nd quarter. Below is a list of the posts I published as well as books I read, movies I watched and music I’ve been listening to. I’m hopeful you’ll find something of interest in the mix.

Photography

It’s felt like a decent quarter for photography. I think I managed to create a range of different photographs of various subjects. And I worked to write posts in various categories instead of sticking too much to a single category. I’ll work to continue that going forward, though the hot and humid months of summer do sometimes result in a slowdown as I just don’t feel as excited to get out and about in that weather. Thank goodness for air-conditioning in cars, though. Perhaps I’ll do more photographing from the road. 😃

Below are the posts I published this quarter. Please take a look back at any you missed or would like to see again.

Architecture

What Once Was Home

White Chapel Methodist Church – Fort Valley, Virginia

Views of the Abandoned Fairview Church of God in Woodstock, Virginia

Inverted Worlds

Polyhedral Dreaming

Mostly Photos

Spring Roadtrip Along Franklin Pike, West Virginia

On the Trillium Trail – April 2025

The Last Petals of Spring

Reviews

Daring to Look: Dorothea Lange’s Photographs & Reports from the Field by Anne Whiston Spirn

Trip Report

Fisher’s Hill Battlefield – Ramseur’s Hill

An Early Spring Drive Through Fort Valley, Virginia

Woodstock Tower

Variations on a Theme

Wild Geranium – Spring 2025

Reading

As has been the case for some time now, the majority of my book consumption was in the form of audiobooks which I sometimes listen to while driving, doing housework, and before falling asleep in the evening. But I also read some in paper form, one of which was from the library, the manga No Longer Human. One theme I noticed this quarter was listening to audio versions of books I’d read in paper when much younger, so long ago it was almost like reading them again for the first time. I had a general feel for each book but had forgotten most of the storyline. This was the case with Neverwhere and the Dragonriders of Pern books. I’d like to continue rereading favorites from my youth, while still finding both newer books and classics I’ve yet to read to add to the mix.

The books I consumed this quarter (paper, ebook, and audio).

Here’s the full list of books read in the 2nd quarter of 2025: Attack Surface by Cory Doctorow (2020), Diavola by Jennifer Thorne (2024), No Longer Human by Junji Ito (2017), The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong (2024), For Your Eyes Only by Ian Fleming (1960), Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (1996), Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey (1968), Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey (1971), Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie (1937), The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey (1978), The Swords of Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber (1968), Three O’Clock in the Morning by Gianrico Carofiglio (2017).

And of those, my favorites were:

The Swords of Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber

This is the 5th book of tales featuring Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, the classic fantasy duo. The previous books had all been short story anthologies. This is the first full length novel and it was great getting a longer storyline featuring two of my favorite characters. Granted, for the middle part of the book the pair had been in different parts of the world on their own adventures before coming back together again for the grand finale where they must try to save their city of Lankhmar.

Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey

Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey

The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey

These three books make up the first Dragonriders of Pern trilogy which I absolutely loved as a kid. Granted, this wasn’t exactly the fantasy dragons of other series I was used to, but instead the story of human settlers to a planet called Pern and how over the generations the settlers lost some of their history and slowly began rediscovering it. There are dragons, of course, but these are creatures of the planet the settlers called dragons because of their similarity to the mythic beasts of fantasy and mythological lore. I should note that I didn’t enjoy The White Dragon quite as much on a reread as it felt far more YA than the first two. But it very much appealed to the younger me, and it still has that special nostalgic power held by favorite books of our youth.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Another book I first read when younger, though not as young as when I started reading Pern. This might have been my first exposure to Gaiman’s fiction and I very much enjoyed it. I loved the reread as it was an audiobook narrated by the author, and he has the perfect voice for telling his stories. It tells of Richard Mayhew who, through an act of goodwill and charity, finds himself in London Below, a world under the streets of modern day London, and full of strange, interesting, and dangerous characters.

No Longer Human by Junji Ito, Osamu Dazai

I should provide some warnings first off, this can be a somewhat graphic book, both visually and in subject matter. It’s based on the novel of the same name by the Japanese author Osamu Dazai. Here, Junji Ito has adapted it to manga form, similar to comic books in other cultures. It’s a bit of a sad story showcasing the life of the main character and all the problems he lives through, many, if not most times, the results of his own actions and inability to control himself. As time goes on it just spirals deeper and darker. A difficult but well told and well drawn story.

Movies, Shows & Anime

Favorite, or notable, films I watched this quarter.

I’ve not watched much in the way of movies or series this quarter. That’s not to say I haven’t watched any video-related content, just that most of it was probably YouTube, and unfortunately most of that was likely wasting time randomly clicking this or that, kind of like channel surfing, trying to relax but really just zoning out.

The newest movie I watched was The Watchers (2024), and I mostly enjoyed it though it hasn’t really stuck with me. But I thoroughly enjoyed my rewatch of a childhood favorite, The Sandlot (1993), about a group of kids and their experiences bonding over baseball.

Music

I’ve narrowed in on three songs I’ve enjoyed this quarter. One of them I’ve been aware of for a while now (The Islander) but have yet to feature here. The other two I only discovered this quarter. I tried to pick a range of styles so that if you don’t enjoy one you might enjoy the next, though I completely understand if none appeal to you. Give them a try, though, if you’re not already familiar with them, and let me know what you think.

Tommy Johansson - The Winner Takes It All (ABBA cover)

I first learned of Tommy Johansson when I stumbled upon his band, Majestica. Later he became a guitarist for the group Sabaton, another fantastic band. Lately, I’ve been watching a lot of the covers he posts most weeks on YouTube. In each cover he sings all the parts and plays all the instruments: guitar (electric and acoustic), keyboard, bass guitar, drums. Given he’s from Sweden I figured sharing one of his covers of ABBA would be appropriate. He gives the covers a metal feel while, in my opinion, staying true to the source. I love what he does both vocally and with the guitar riff at the very end of the song.

Nightwish - The Islander Live @ Tampere

I love Marko Hietala’s voice in this song, and this specific performance is incredible. He used to be Nightwish’s bass player, but here he shows he can also sing and play guitar. Troy Donockley shines in this performance playing the low whistle. And Floor, usually the lead singer, takes the role of backing vocalist and perfectly melds with Marko while allowing him to shine. Far more of a folk sound than typical of Nightwish, and perhaps that’s why it stands out so much to me. And if you’re wondering what Marko says during the short pause at the beginning of the song… I have no idea, but I know he’s speaking Finnish.

BABYMETAL - from me to u featuring Poppy

I’m not usually the biggest fan of screaming vocals, but I really (REALLY) like this song and how it goes back and forth between melodic and harsh, very similar to RATATATA, the collaboration between BABYMETAL and Electric Callboy that I featured this time last year. They’ve been doing really well with these collaborations lately. This one is a very catchy tune and I purchased the single so I can keep playing it on repeat. Great high energy workout song.

 

Life

As with last quarter, this one felt busier than I’d like. Looking back I realize it likely wasn’t as busy as it felt, I just let it get to me. I’m working to do better with that. What about you? How do you keep from feeling overloaded even when you know it’s really not that bad in the grand scheme of things?

Thankfully, also as with last quarter, there’s been lots of time doing things I enjoy, from going on short excursions with my father, practicing photography, reading some great books and just enjoying a simple cup of freshly ground coffee using beans from a local roaster. Increasingly it’s the simpler things I most look forward to and enjoy.

And speaking of doing things I enjoy, my father and I took a vacation up to New Hampshire in the latter half of June. In addition to my father’s 60th high school reunion and visiting relatives in both New Hampshire and Maine, we had time to explore much of the area and I took advantage of that to create a few photos here and there. The landscapes up there are absolutely beautiful with mountains all around. And some of the towns and buildings within them are very old, dating back in some cases to the 1600s. Some of the towns appear to be dying off and in disrepair while others have found a way to rejuvenate themselves with thriving main streets.

Another joy of mine has been grinding and brewing coffee. I’ve recently purchased a Hario V60 single cup brewer and have enjoyed experimenting with ratios, water temperature, grind sizes, and pouring techniques. While visiting a farmers market in New Hampshire I sampled a medium/dark roast sourced from Tanzania and roasted locally by Porcupine Coffee Roasting out of Bath, NH. I enjoyed it enough to purchase a bag, as well as one of a lighter roast sourced from Brazil which I’m thoroughly enjoying. And when we returned to Virginia we stopped by Central Coffee Roasters in Sperryville where I picked up a bag of Sulawesi Toraja, Guatemalan Antigua Los Volcanes, and the bean they said was currently their most interesting roast, Indian Monsooned Malabar. I can’t wait to try each of them.

I hope you had a great 2nd quarter of the year. And even more so I hope you have an equally great 3rd quarter. Spend a little time looking at where you are and thinking about where you want to be at the end of the year and try to identify some small things you can do to help get you there. I’ll be doing the same.

Thanks so much for all your continued support!


Do you enjoy these posts?

Sign up to receive periodic emails with updates and thoughts. Don’t worry, I won’t spam you. And please consider purchasing artwork or products from my online store, and using my affiliate links in the sidebar to the right when shopping online.

I appreciate your support!


Quarterly Look Back - 1st Quarter 2025 by Todd Henson

Looking back at the first quarter of 2025

So looking back to my intro to last year’s 1st quarter look back I reported it was in some ways a slow quarter. Well, it didn’t feel that way this year, at least not the latter part of the quarter. I continued struggling to do anything productive in the evenings after work, and some time on the weekends was taken away by work, prompting me to plan ahead enough to schedule some posts and emails in advance to assure I was still able to share something each week. Here’s hoping things slow down just a bit the rest of the year to allow a little more enjoyment intermixed with work.

Photography

My father and I continued our regular outings this quarter, something we both very much enjoy. Though we do still continue visiting some of the same locations we’ve also been purposefully choosing new directions to explore. Sometimes we don’t find much but other times we uncover another location that I turn into a blog post, some of which you may have read this quarter. If not, or if you’d like to revisit anything, then please take a look below at the posts I published. Click on any photo or link to read more and see all the photographs associated with the post.

Architecture

Grace Episcopal Church, The Plains, Virginia

A Visit to Occoquan Workhouse (2010)

Rector’s Warehouse and Station - Rectortown, Virginia

St. John’s Baptist Church and Moses Lodge - Hurleytown, Virginia

Best of the Year

My Favorite Books and Films in 2024

Best Photos of 2024: My Favorites of the Year

Field Notes Updates

Bullock’s Oriole Building a Nest at Barr Lake State Park

Mostly Photos

A Visit to the Office

Reflections at Pope’s Creek in Winter

Random Thoughts

Make Time For Playtime

Two Horses

Trip Report

Bunker Hill Train Club Open House 12/14/2024

Colonial Beach in Winter

Reading

There are so many classic books considered masterpieces and must-reads that I’ve yet to read. I’m working to integrate some of those into my regular reading, so this quarter I tackled The Iliad by Homer. I don’t know yet what I’ll try in the next quarter. I’m working on a list of books I’d love to read before I die, but I don’t want that list to become a shackle. I will continue reading new works as well as those that are simple entertainment, and rereading when the mood strikes me. But I’ll also continue tackling some of those masterworks, trying to round out my literary education.

The books I consumed this quarter (paper, ebook, and audio).

Here’s the full list of books read in the 1st quarter of 2025: Guitar Zero - The New Musician and the Science of Learning by Gary Marcus (2012), The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn by Tri Vuong (2024), Shareholder Yield (2nd Edition) by Mebane Faber (2013 / 2024), Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles 3) by Frank Herbert (1976), Venus in the Blind Spot by Junji Ito (2019), Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (2016), The Minority Report and Other Stories by Philip K. Dick (1987), Stormbringer (The Elric Saga 2) by Michael Moorcock (2021), The Iliad by Homer: A New Translation by Caroline Alexander (801 / 2015), Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror (Deluxe Edition) by Junji Ito (2000), Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (2023), Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie (1936), Black Paradox by Junji Ito (2009), How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster (2003).

And of those, my favorites were:

The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn by Tri Vuong

I was fortunate to win a copy of this book through a goodreads giveaway. Before that I’d been completely unfamiliar with it and didn’t realize it started as a web comic. I ended up thoroughly enjoying this story of a floating skull in a trench coat going around solving supernatural problems. He has a heart of gold but there’s also something else about him, something more problematic. I’d love to read more.

Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror (Deluxe Edition) by Junji Ito

Long ago I watched the Japanese movie, Uzumaki, based on Junji Ito’s work and thoroughly enjoyed the strangeness of it all. I was pleased to find my local library had a copy of the manga and quickly checked it out. Far stranger than the movie, I absolutely loved the crazy story and artwork, all those spirals, spirals everywhere.

Stormbringer by Michael Moorcock

I’m continuing to enjoy my exploration of the classic Elric sword & sorcery stories, ones I wish I’d read when much younger. This second volume felt like it would be the final one, and yet there is still more to read, so I look forward to seeing what’s next.

Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie

This was a fun one. An eccentric host obsessed with murder has invited a group of people to a party and says he did so because each person is either a murderer or someone who investigates or writes about them. Of course, he is then murdered at his own party, leaving Hercule Poirot, Superintendent Battle, Colonel Race, and Ariadne Oliver to solve the crime.

Movies, Shows & Anime

Favorite, or notable, films I watched this quarter.

This quarter there was a mix of rewatches of old favorites along with some first time views of new-to-me movies. I also found enough time for a short anime series from many years back.

My favorite movie was Greyhound (2020), starring Tom Hanks commanding a destroyer escorting an international convoy of ships across the Atlantic. But before they make it across they encounter and are hunted by a pack of Nazi U-boats. A short and yet very impactful film that I felt did a great job portraying the difficult decisions made in times of war.

My next favorite was a rewatch of The Faculty (1998), a horror film I loved when it first came out and loved again this time around. I enjoyed how it paid homage to the literary science fiction and horror stories that came before.

Another great movie was Finch (2021), a science fiction post-apocalyptic film starring Tom Hanks and a couple AI robots he pieced together, along with a live dog he takes care of. Not many characters, but lots of depth.

On the animated front I finally watched the anime series Paranoia Agent (2004) by Satoshi Kon. What a wild and crazy ride, just as one would expect of his work. It spiraled deeper and deeper into paranoia as the series progressed, and by the end of the final episode (number 13) one is left wondering what they just watched.

Also on the animated front was a rewatch of the classic Rankin Bass production of The Hobbit (1977) based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s book. This was a favorite as a kid and it was great rewatching.

I watched the highly acclaimed Martin Scorsese film, Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), a very well made and impactful story, but one that felt far too long and didn’t fully capture my attention. And I watched Ghosted (2023) and Monster Hunter (2020), both of which I found very forgettable.

Music

This quarter I continued finding and listening to new tracks by favorite artists. The first two are different styles of rock, and the third is for those who prefer a softer sound. I love all of these songs and have listened to each multiple times this quarter.

The Warning - Hell You Call A Dream (Live From Time Square)

It’s so great to see the continued growth and success of this fairly young trio of sisters originating from Mexico. In this video they perform live from Times Square in New York.

AVANTASIA - The Witch (featuring Tommy Karevik)

Here’s another great new track from Avantasia featuring their typical catchy choruses and fantastic (and fantastical) musical storytelling. I never tire of this group.

華風月 -「悠久の地」(Eternal Land)

And finally, for something a bit softer, here is a beautiful composition by Yuko Suzuhana, with her on the piano, Daisuke Kaminaga playing the shakuhachi (bamboo flute) and Kiyoshi Ibukuro playing the koto. All three are also members of the group Wagakki Band, another favorite of mine.

 

Life

As mentioned in the intro this quarter felt a bit busier than I’d have preferred, at least busier with elements I derive far less enjoyment from. So I’m hopeful there’ll be a slight shift this next quarter, either in the mix of activities or in my perceptions of them. Sometimes all it takes is a mental shift in perspective, but of course that can be a challenge to implement.

Thankfully, though, there have been many opportunities to enjoy things that bring me pleasure: outings with my father; dinner and time spent with family; a bit of quiet time with a hot cup of freshly ground coffee; time spent staring at words on a page or screen, transforming those words into images, videos, sounds, scents, emotions, knowledge; exploring the local area and discovering all sorts of new places and locations, researching and learning about these places and past events, creating photographs to show what still remains; creating photographs of anything and everything that catches my attention; listening to some great music and watching some entertaining movies and shows; and putting these very words down for you to read along with any interactions we’re fortunate to have with one another.

In parting, I want to thank you for all your support throughout this quarter. There’s a good chance I’d continue doing this just for myself, even if no one read any of it. But it makes it so much more meaningful knowing there’s even one person out there who finds this interesting enough to share a little time reading what I write and viewing the photos I create. So thank you!

Have a great 2nd quarter!


Do you enjoy these posts?

Sign up to receive periodic emails with updates and thoughts. Don’t worry, I won’t spam you. And please consider purchasing artwork or products from my online store, and using my affiliate links in the sidebar to the right when shopping online.

I appreciate your support!