Friday Flames | 4.19.24
A weekly synopsis of what we figured out about four new world records, rebuilding Notre Dame, and the Tortured Parents Department.
Now that we’ve finally reached April 19, the date that has dominated the world’s fascination since the Grammys, we’ve very glad to announce that our son says he will commit to a college today!
He says he’s known where he wants to go for at least a week, and probably much longer than that. When we toured the college last fall, he told us it was his first choice, head and shoulders above any others we’d seen. And even after he explored more options and applied to ten other schools, he still knows this is the one.
He’s been dragging out the actual commitment, partly because after witnessing his brother’s experiences he wants to be absolutely sure. He also wanted to look at the other schools' offers to feel good about being wanted in so many places (for a kid on a 504 who thought he was bad at school for years, that's a big deal). But we also think he just wants to yank our chains a little, which is very on-brand and very funny, and doesn't actually bother us even though we’re pretending it does.
Will he actually pull the trigger today? We’d say the chance of him letting a little steam out of The Tortured Parents Department is around 70%.
Embers in the News
Here are some of the links that peeked through the noisy news cycle this week:
World record no. 1 81yo Josephine Michaluk still gives blood four times per year and has donated a Guinness World Record of 209 pints over her lifetime.
World record no. 2 58yo DonnaJean Wilde set the new Guinness World Record for a female by planking for 4 hours, 30 minutes and 11 seconds.
World record no. 3 The world’s oldest conjoined twins, Lori and George Schappell, died at 62 years old. Doctors predicted they wouldn’t reach 30.
World record no. 4 In India, scientists think they found fossils of the largest snake that ever lived, which was 50 feet long, 16 inches wide, and weighed a ton.
News from Alums
Episode 13 guest Emily Gavin expressed her fears over this piece about Chinese biotech giant WuXi AppTec. Congressional scrutiny into the company as a security threat might prevent it from producing the drug that is keeping Emily’s wife alive.
This week on the podcast
We had a wild weekend trying to defy cultural reinforcement.
Currently reading
Magda is reading Sara Ahmed's The Feminist Killjoy Handbook: The Radical Potential of Getting In the Way, which instructs its readers how to live as a feminist killjoy and still have a connected, joyful life. Two thumbs up so far.
It’s hard to believe that Notre Dame Cathedral burned five years ago this week. Now that the new spire is up and scaffolds are coming down—on schedule for a reopening on December 8—Doug read this deep-reaching longread about the restoration and the 13th-century techniques used by volunteers from Carpenters without Borders.
Currently watching
Doug’s two most lasting impressions from the new Steve Martin documentary are 1) Martin’s determination to analyze and tweak his zany, postmodern act for over a decade until it hit big, and 2) how becoming a dad at 67 dispelled his fears over how good a father he could be, since his own dad was so aloof and dismissive.
Magda has been watching Freaks and Geeks with her son and stepdaughter (who hadn't seen it before). She is really thankful not to be in high school anymore and is looking forward to not being a parent of anyone in high school.
Currently cooking
Magda made arroz con pollo and everyone loved it and asked for it to go in the regular rotation. Also, after she freestyled some baked pasta, our son said she "went too hard on the ricotta.” Ok, then.
Now that the weather is warming, Doug is planning to devote an entire day’s get-together around some slow-roasted barbecue. Brisket is the front-running meat, but a big, honking pork shoulder isn’t out of the running yet. Details and recipe to follow.
Next on the podcast
It doesn’t sound right to refer to next Wednesday as our 25th wedding anniversary. We should just say we got married on April 24, 1999, and on Wednesday it will have been 25 years since that happened. We’re going to see how much we remember, and whether we remember it in the same way.
Thanks for reading, and vive le coq!
Magda and Doug