Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I get the chance to watch two movies outdoors this week: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Dirty Dancing.

2. Arriving at the farmers market in the final minutes has its perks: the bakery stand where I pick up something for breakfast asks if they can give me some free cookies. Why, yes, you may.

3. I tend not to like to inquire about things and have been known to just let them go, rather than pick up the phone, send the email, or approach a person. This time, though, I finally get up the guts to ask and am now signed up for a class that starts next week.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

Today marks the beginning of Book Expo America and its online counterpart, Armchair BEA. As always, Day One begins with a request to answer five of the posed ten questions:

Tell us a bit about yourself: How long have you been blogging? Where are you from? How did you get into blogging?

Hi! I’m sprite, blogging from Washington, D.C., for the past ten years. The blog was a birthday gift from my partner, Rudi, who wanted to give me someplace to write. I’m not sure that this is what he had in mind, but tough luck! In addition to Rudi, we share The Burrow, our subterranean home, with three cats and lots and lots of books. I’ve gotten away from book reviews in the last few years, but hope to pick them back up again soon.

What is your theme song?

Ellis Paul’s “The World Ain’t Slowing Down.”

I totally sing along and dance to it (I’ve choreographed different bits to the lyrics) when it comes on my iPod, whether it’s at home, at work, on the street, or on the subway.

What book are you reading right now?

I usually have several books going at once, unless I’m utterly absorbed by one. That’s not currently the case, so I have Terry Pratchett’s The Color of Magic in my purse, because it’s the first book in his DiscWorld series and I thought I should start there after he died earlier this spring. After finishing Kate Hannigan’s middle grade historical fiction novel, The Detective’s Assistant last night, I’ve returned to Fablehaven by Brandon Mull at home. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix remains my audiobook on my phone, after having to wait to take it out a second time when I didn’t finish it before it was due back in April. I don’t usually have only fantasy novels going, but I’m in the middle of the Once upon a Time Reading Challenge, which finishes up on the Solstice. That said, though, any of these could fall off the radar tomorrow in favor of a new book that catches my fancy.

What is the top book in your TBR pile?

In a literal answer, sitting atop the pile closest to where I’m sitting, it’s Gayl Jones’ The Healing, which I picked up at the library on Saturday and which I saw recommended in this article on (mostly) underappreciated writers of color.

What book are you most looking forward to reading this summer?

I haven’t yet read G. Willow Wilson’s second volume of Ms. Marvel comics, Generation Why, yet, so that’s high on my list. And I’d be lying if I ignored Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman. Yes, its publication is problematic given the author’s current health, and, yes, I’d feel better about it if it had come out after she’d died, and, yes, I’m terrified it will be mediocre. But, come on! We’re talking about finding out what happens after Scout grows up. Aren’t you the least bit curious?

Today’s post is both for Karen‘s Weekending update and for Carole‘s Ten on Tuesday round-up:

I had a relaxing Memorial Day weekend:

1. I sat outside for four sunsets in a row. (This looks more light than it actually was.)

2. I progressed on my knitting after a few setbacks. Sometimes reading the pattern carefully helps: For instance, did you know that row 101 is not the same as row 1? Or that put a yarn over in between two picked up stitches is not the same as put a yarn over every two picked up stitches. On to the lace edging!
3. I finished one book and put some serious mileage into a second one, which I picked up on my trip to the library Saturday.
4. I blew a lot of bubbles. Sometimes there were children around to enjoy them. Other times they were just for me.

5. I made strawberry fool for dessert.
6. Rudi and I went swimming at the local outdoor pool, which opened for the season this weekend.
7. I took myself out for teatime at a new-to-me cafe along the waterfront. They have streetside garage doors that roll up and tasty French desserts.

8. I listened to a Beach Boys cover band and picnicked with friends by the river.
9. I watched a couple stages of the Giro with Rudi and finished my first cycling challenge of the spring (30 miles in 30 days).
10. Rudi and I harvested the first strawberries from our garden. We ate the initial two on the spot.

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Although my dad broke his pelvis, he managed to do so in a way that will not require surgery, knock on wood.

2. Dinner and milkshakes with my friend Amani.

3. The final episode of The Late Show with David Letterman marked the end of an era in late-night tv. I loved his final few weeks of shows and the tributes from his fellow late night hosts.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

I am done knitting the body of my shawlette and need to move on to picking up the stitches around the edge for the border next. Conveniently, the pattern calls for yarn overs on every row for the ease of just this task, so I hope to be nearing the end of this project this month.

Tonight brought some bad news, so I opted to start a new book by the most amusing author I know, Jasper Fforde. It’s the third Jennifer Strange novel and the first few chapters promise as entertaining a read as the previous two books in the series.

The weekend began on the right note with the first Friday night concert of the summer at Yards Park. We broke in my new picnic blanket (thanks, Mum and Dad) and closed down the park, lingering first at one street corner, then another, before bidding our friends adieu for the night. Rudi and I biked home along the Mall, arriving back at the Burrow just after midnight.

Saturday was Rudi’s birthday, which he planned to spend much of on a bike ride. That meant I got to sleep in and then get some reading and some chores done before he came home. We’d invited some friends out for pizza, so after dodging a downpour, we met up with them at the restaurant. We arrived during the dinner rush, but John and Nicole had grabbed a table, so we sat amidst the families and then outlasted them, eventually ordering dessert (which I’d hoped would happen, since I hadn’t baked a cake for Rudi).

This morning, we got up early, since Rudi was hoping to find strawberries at the market. We did, along with these gorgeous, fragrant peonies (and some other things). We watched the David Letterman interview on CBS Sunday Morning and then the final 15 kilometers of the Giro. I dozed for a while. Eventually, Rudi headed out to a picnic with his ski team, and I got on the bike and went to Georgetown. I sat outside and read, returned some library books, hunted in vain for ducklings along the canal (although I did see goslings, turtles, fish, cormorants, cardinals, purple finches, and a great blue heron, flying awkwardly overhead), bought a snack at Dog Tag Bakery, and talked to my folks while sitting canal-side. I stopped at Trader Joe’s for a few items (it’s that rare between-terms period that meant that the store wasn’t crowded on a Sunday evening) and went to the garden to water and plant some potatoes and a few onions before returning home, where I spent the evening reading, watching Battle Creek on tv, and working on my shawlette.

It was a good weekend.

Weekending along with Pumpkin Sunrise.