Day of the Mantle, 37th of the Dog Days, 526 M.E. (Deneb): My Friday routine is finally different from the previous four days of the Gregorian week. It starts the same - radio alarm at 7:00 am, one hour of WREK's The Classics and a second hour of their Just Jazz programing (although neither is strictly "the classics" or "just" jazz). Make my coffee and take my vitals. As I continue to awaken, I take on the NY Times crossword, Spelling Bee, and Wordle puzzles over my first cup of coffee while I catch up on the news, both MSNOW and email newsletters from Axios, the Guardian, and the Times (I like to triangulate my coverage a bit to get different perspectives).. 

But Fridays are different, because in addition to the daily puzzles, the Times also has a Friday news quiz. I got nine out of 11 right this week, and it's actually something of a point of pride for me not to get them all correct - a 100% score indicates I've spent too much time doom-scrolling and watching the news. Everything in moderation, brother.

But Fridays are famously New Music day, the day most labels release their latest albums. I get some notifications of new releases via email, and each Friday I check out NPR's online New Music Friday lists, and Spotify's Release Radar. Today's emails alerted me to a new edition of Jim O'Rourke's Steamroom series (number 68) on Bandcamp and of Thor Harris' new Ditch Girls project, also available on Bandcamp as well as streaming on Spotify, which is surprising because he took much of his own music off of the platform a year or two ago. NPR listed a new albums by electronic artist Lawrence English and by Alabama indie rocker Lee Bains, both of which I found on Spotify. And finally my Release Radar included an album by avant-garde percussionist David Moss (who I used to see in the 1970s performing with local Boston jazz band Baird Hersey & the Year of the Ear) featuring a cast of all-star collaborators including John Zorn, Arto Lindsey, Fred Frith, Bill Laswell, David van Tieghem, and Jamaaladeen Tacuma.

Much of my Fridays are consumer by tracking down all those musical leads and time spent listening to it all. To make it worse, I got a late start today because I was up late last night listening to the Red Sox' 13-inning win over the Chicago White Sox, quite honestly one of the best baseball games I've followed in years (Boston came from behind five times to tie the game, three times in extra innings). 

I fell so far behind that I wound up blowing off my alternating day walk. The forecast at 2:00 pm said there was a 70% chance of rain between 3:00 and 4:00, and that was good enough for me. The rain never came, but to be honest, I didn't want to walk today. I was tired and enjoying all my new Friday music. I try to get in an eight-mile Van Buren on my walks, but if a one-mile walk is named after Washington, the first President, what do I call a day with less than one mile covered? A King George, I suppose. Today was a mad King George day. 

Fridays once also meant watching Bill Maher on HBO but not anymore - fuck that guy. He's changed - I think the covid shutdown broke him - and he's now insufferable. I don't mind hearing opinions with which I disagree, in fact, I like listening to an intelligent debate on the issues, but when the opinions are presented in his smarmy, self-righteous manner, while he changes the subject as soon as one of his guests dares disagree with him on something, it becomes unwatchable. It's too bad - I hope Bill get the help he so clearly needs.

And finally, happy hour! As a rule, I don't drink during the week (although I make exceptions) but on weekends, I allow myself a beer or two, or a glass of wine, or a cocktail (although I make exceptions). Limiting drinking to weekends lessens the potential of turning into a full-blown alcoholic in my retirement, and gives the weeks a greater sense of rhythm. And surprisingly, it's also made me enjoy alcohol less and less - some weekend nights, I simply don't feel like drinking, or finding that there's nothing in the house to drink, simply shrugging it off until the next weekend.

And so it goes. Saturdays are about the same as Fridays, although without the new music, and Sundays are about the same as Saturdays, although with John Oliver on HBO providing the nightly commentary I used to enjoy from Bill Maher.  

And that's my week. Thus is the life of an urban monk, this high-functioning introvert/misanthropic hermit. Just thought you'd want to know.