In last week's post I mentioned that the pepper and tomato plants were ready to be planted outside. This was done yesterday and the plants are outside now
In front of the house we have put them in pots
In the back of the house we have transferred the plants to a raised bed
It is over 80 degrees today, hopefully the plants will love this weather and grow big
For Mothers day... we didn't do much because we are still under lockdown.. my oldest son made this crumb cake.. it was delicious
This Week I Tweeted
US video game sales have record quarter, as consumers stay at home
New numbers from NPD confirm what we’ve known for a while: The first quarter of 2020 was a very good one for gaming companies. The new report notes that sales hit a record $10.86 billion in the States between January and March of this year, marking a 9% increase over a year prior; $9.58 billion of that figure was from video game content.
The primary driver is, you guessed it, COVID-19. As stay at home orders have been enacted on the federal and state levels, people are coping with the ongoing daily horror that is life in 2020 by playing video games. Lots and lots of video games.
New numbers from NPD confirm what we’ve known for a while: The first quarter of 2020 was a very good one for gaming companies. The new report notes that sales hit a record $10.86 billion in the States between January and March of this year, marking a 9% increase over a year prior; $9.58 billion of that figure was from video game content.
The primary driver is, you guessed it, COVID-19. As stay at home orders have been enacted on the federal and state levels, people are coping with the ongoing daily horror that is life in 2020 by playing video games. Lots and lots of video games.
Some cool stuff you might enjoy
Most detailed ever photograph of The Night Watch goes online
The Rijksmuseum is today publishing the largest and most detailed ever photograph of The Night Watch on its website, making it possible to zoom in on individual brushstrokes and even particles of pigment in the painting. Work on Operation Night Watch will resume on Wednesday 13 May in the glass chamber in the museum.
I have seen this painting many times, the reason is because I grew up in Amsterdam and my neighbor worked for the Rijksmuseum. I always got complementary tickets. The interesting part is that I have been to the Rijksmuseum more times when moving to the US than I did when I lived in Amsterdam :-(
This does looks pretty cool, you can just keep zooming. Direct link http://hyper-resolution.org/Nightwatch
Why millennials have fallen in love with stamp collecting
Covid has increased the number of people getting interested in stamp collecting. Here are 3 articles I happen to see in the past couple of weeks
Post modern: why millennials have fallen in love with stamp collecting
Philately is gaining popularity with younger hobbyists, who are drawn to its vintage - and Instagram - appeal
It was once a byword for boring, but it seems stamp collecting is finding a new – young – audience, despite the fact that some hobbyists have never actually posted a letter.
Philately is gaining popularity among millennials, many of whom see the creative pursuit as an escape from their screen-based lives, says 37-year-old Suzanne Rae, from North Yorkshire.
“Philately is tangible: it’s relaxing and unplugged. It’s also very Instagrammable,” says Rae, who is only the second female chairman the Philatelic Traders Society has had in its 91-year history. “Twitter and Instagram enable young collectors to find people like them, and see that it’s not only a geeky old man’s pursuit.”
Covid-19 Virus Affect On The Stamp Market
The strong reaction of the US Government to the Covid pandemic has resulted in the self-isolation and self-quarantining of millions of Americans as well as people worldwide. While this is having a devastating effect on the economy, it has been a real boost to the stamp market. Stamp collectors around the world suddenly have many hours of time to fill since they can't go out, go to work or watch sporting events. Hence, they spend time buying stamps. The dealers I spoke with all report a surge in orders, many from customers they have never had before.
COVID-19 a shot in the arm for stamp collecting
Well, if you’d asked me a few months back what was needed to give stamp collecting a kick up the backside, my first answer would probably not have been “a global supervirus pandemic.”
But it sure feels like that’s what has happened. The enforced worldwide recreation break has existing collectors burying their heads into their albums, lapsed collectors dusting cobwebs off old shoeboxes, and curious novices taking their first tentative steps into a mysterious world.
New philatelic blogs and Instagram feeds are starting up, and online viewers are devouring YouTube clips. Philatelic magazines have even been offering free access to an edition or two.
Even the mainstream media have noticed. Stamp dealers report rising sales. Kids are writing letters. Even before the COVID-19 crisis kicked in, both the BBC and the Observer were reporting the growing popularity of stamp collecting among younger collectors.
Some Progress
Books finished so far/in progress
In progress
In progress
Done with these
Books in the queue
These are next... in no specific order
- Return Of The King (started 4/15)
- The Silmarillion
- The Library Book
- The Histories
- Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War
- The New York Nobody Knows: Walking 6,000 Miles in the City
- The Wind Through the Keyhole: The Dark Tower IV-1/2
- Out on the Wire: The Storytelling Secrets of the New Masters of Radio
- The Godfather
- The Terror
- A Legacy of Spies
- Four Past Midnight
- A Random Walk on Wall Street
- Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower & the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused
- Marathon: The Battle That Changed Western Civilization
- Walden Illustrated
Books to get
Here are the books I plan to get. These were either mentioned on more than one podcast, recommended by friends, or are new books from authors I like, for example Eric Larson's latest book about Churchill and the Blitz
Here are the books I plan to get. These were either mentioned on more than one podcast, recommended by friends, or are new books from authors I like, for example Eric Larson's latest book about Churchill and the Blitz
- The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family and Defiance During the Blitz by Eric Larson
- Ulysses by James Joyce
- Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat
- The Lessons of History by Will Durant and Ariel Durant
- The Prince by Macchiavelli
- The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War by Peter Hart
- Hero with a 1000 faces by Joseph Campbell
- The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great by Steven Pressfield
- Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West by Tom Holland
- Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides
- Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S. C. Gwynne
- The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic by Mike Duncan
- Permutation City by Greg Egan
- Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
- Black Elk: The Life of an American Visionary by Joe Jackson
- What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir by Haruki Murakami
- The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson
- A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
- The Innocent Anthropologist : Notes from a Mud Hut by Nigel Barley
- Shogun: The Epic Novel of Japan by James Clavell
- Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
- Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis
Running progress
My goal is to run 800 miles this year, this means about 4 runs of about 4 miles per week
Miles Percentage
296.81 37.10%
So far that burned a bit under 45,600 calories
