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Jun 15, 2024:
On Aging In Metal
Heavy metal loves gods, loves impossible feats carried out live and on stage. For decades now, the gods of heavy metal have trotted out the hits. They …
May 21, 2024:
What I Read in April 2024
A shorter list this month because the weather is nicer, because I long to be outside, because a lot of things. I’m falling behind on …
May 17, 2024:
What I Read in March 2024
March ended with a resumption of winter. I was not a fan, but I did end up reading more as a result of our suddenly snowy month. With the lateness of …
Mar 26, 2024:
What I Read in February 2024
February was by Duluth standards a dry month, a warm month, an odd month. As I write, at the end of March, we’re in the middle of a storm that …
Mar 10, 2024:
What I Read in January 2024
Why yes, this post is very late. No, I don’t mind you asking. It’s been a very busy time of late, with a small job change and the bustle …
Feb 11, 2024:
Shakespeare's The Life and Death of King John
A few weeks ago, I read Shakespeare's The Life and Death of King John, which presents an unfamiliar King John. Shakespeare’s John is a king in the …
Jan 10, 2024:
What I Read in 2023
My reading goal in 2023 was to sneak past my 2022 books total and read 135 books. With 138 books read, I just managed it. I’m proud of that! I’ve been …
Dec 29, 2023:
What I Listened To In 2023
2023 was pretty definitively my year of classical music. This year, I have learned about sonatas, concertos, symphonies, piano miniatures, and …
Dec 14, 2023:
What I Read in November 2023
The end of the year is list season, which I love. I don’t need to know what’s best, I don’t think any of us do, but I do love learning about new …
Dec 10, 2023:
A Heavy Metal Roundup
For a good while this year, I wasn’t feeling especially jazzed about new heavy metal. This is not to say that good metal hasn’t been released. It …
Nov 29, 2023: The Discographies Project In The New Yorker, Colin Marshall writes: I’ve made a daily habit of listening to “old” music—music by artists who began their careers in the …
Nov 13, 2023:
What I Read in October 2023
October is a strange month. On the one hand, it always feels like something new to me. I celebrate my birthday (quietly, I don’t like to make a big …
Oct 18, 2023:
31 for 31
I’m turning 31 this year, a number I have a surprising number of feelings about. In recognition, if not celebration, of the occasion, please enjoy 31 …
Oct 8, 2023:
What I Read in September 2023
I wrote this month’s entry while eating mochi cake in a coffee shop. It was very nice to have the bustle around me. I am not usually a person who …
Sep 10, 2023:
What I Read in August 2023
Happy September! I did not read a lot this last month, but it was a great month for music, music, music. My wife and I saw Bon Iver to kick things, …
Aug 13, 2023: I Love Things By Examining Them From Molly Templeton’s most recent Mark as Read column for Tor.com: This is how I love things: by examining them. Some things, I want to look more …
Aug 6, 2023:
What I Read in July 2023
As I write this, we’re just a few hours past the United States bowing out of the 2023 Women’s World Cup. I’m sad about the loss, but I’m hopeful that …
Jul 9, 2023:
21 Pen Questions
In May, Ana over at The Well-Appointed Desk asked #21PenQuestions and provided her answers to all of them. I haven’t written about my pens here, but I …
Jul 7, 2023:
What I Read in June 2023
We’re halfway through the year, which is somehow a surprising thing. Time moves slow-quick these days, I find. The StoryGraph tells me I’ve read 65 …
Jun 27, 2023:
A Brief Interview With Your Host
It’s great to get to talk to you, Ian. Likewise! I’m glad to be here. You’re an academic librarian, right? Yes. It’s a job that gives me the …
Jun 25, 2023:
The Smile - “Bending Hectic”
I wrote last year about The Smile’s “The Smoke,” a song I spent a lot of time with off an album I absolutely loved. The Smile is a Radiohead … what? …
Jun 11, 2023: American Smiles On Friday, I attended the Lake Superior Libraries Symposium, a very fun little library conference. My favorite presentation was given by Nancy Sims, …
Jun 10, 2023:
What I Read in May 2023
I made it a good way through the Joy Harjo collection I mentioned last month, but it isn’t quite done yet. The onset of spring (Summer? Does summer …
May 7, 2023:
What I Read in April 2023
It’s early May in Duluth, which means that though our days are cold, they are very long, they light is beautiful, and the lake looks inviting. I have …
Apr 30, 2023:
Learning About Classical Music
Going into this, I’ll own that I haven’t made a great go of learning about classical music in the past. I’ve tried, but in …What I’ve Tried In The Past
Apr 12, 2023:
What I Read in March 2023
March is a struggle anywhere, but Duluth, Minnesota does its best to make the month feel eternal. The advent of April has given us what will, I hope, …
Mar 10, 2023:
A Playlist of Latter-Day David Bowie Songs
Below is a playlist of my favorite Bowie songs from the ‘90s on. We’re starting with 1993’s Black Tie White Noise and ending with Blackstar (his …
Mar 4, 2023:
What I Read In February 2023
February certainly was a month! I didn’t do as much reading as I did in January — things are just a little bit busier here at A Turn of the Page HQ — …
Feb 19, 2023:
Ten Years of David Bowie’s The Next Day
It was 2012, the drive home from college was five hours, and I was still using a CD player. I burned The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the …
Feb 13, 2023: Cécile McLorin Salvant's Ghost Song In a New York Times profile written around the release of her most recent album, Ghost Song, jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant describes the record …
Feb 8, 2023:
What I Read In January 2023
We did it, we’re here, it’s February in this, the Year of Our Lord 2023? As I write this, it is also 20 degrees below zero. That’s not great! Let’s …
Jan 26, 2023:
Black (Sabbath) Thoughts
Can I make a confession? I’m a bit of a Black Sabbath hipster. I’m not one of those people who will tell you that Born Again is one of their best …
Jan 8, 2023:
The Golden Enclaves, by Naomi Novik
I read Naomi Novik’s A Deadly Education because I wanted Harry Potter without the baggage. Magical school? Check. Wizarding community living in …
Jan 2, 2023: My Reading Goals for 2023 In 2022 I: Read 134 books. Read 40,0005 pages. Escaped from a school-imposed reading drought. In 2023 I: Want to read at least 52 books. Want to read …
Dec 29, 2022:
A Few Songs I Loved In 2022
Spotify tells me that the album I listened to most this year was Iron Maiden’s Senjutsu. That doesn’t really surprise me, though the album …
Dec 22, 2022:
What I Read In 2022
One year ago, I finished an M.A in English. I’m proud of having earned the degree, but I think it would be fair to say that I struggled with how …
Nov 20, 2022:
Iron Maiden's A Matter of Life and Death
Iron Maiden have never made a perfect record. The Number of the Beast (1982), Piece of Mind (1983), and Powerslave (1984) all routinely end up on …