The weather has turned hot again, which is expected since we’re halfway through July and in the thick of summer.  Hot, humid weather means I skip my morning walk, don’t stay on top of the weeds in the garden beds quite as well, and generally stay inside except in the morning and evening.  I’ve already been looking ahead to appointments, deadlines, and things that are just around the corner, and it reminds me that each season is short-lived.  In just a few weeks, the mornings will be more pleasant for walking, the afternoons won’t be as sticky, and our electric bill won’t be staggeringly high from running our AC.  So, as much as I dislike the summer heat and melt in it, I’m trying to savor and enjoy it.

I hope you are, too.

Here are my four things for this week: Twatchman, Top Chef, don’t settle, and the usual.

what I’m reading

I am going to be joining my Instagram friend, Michelle Wooderson, for her self-imposed summer school soon, so I’m studying up on my selected artist, John Twatchman.  I have a couple of books on Twatchman.  One was purchased at a library sale, and it’s okay, but nothing spectacular.  The other, one though, the one I will recommend if you’re interested in his work is THIS ONE.

I’ll be doing some studies of his work, so I’ll share more about that when it’s “my week.”

what I’m watching

I have been watching through the latest season of Top Chef.  I’ve been watching that show for years, and I enjoy the creativity, imagining how the food tastes, and learning more about some of the best chefs in the world.  If you’ve never watched Top Chef, some of the earliest seasons include a lot more behind-the-scenes drama, which I didn’t enjoy, but the newer seasons really focus on the food and the competition.

We’ve eaten at a few restaurants owned by Top Chef contestants over the years, and that has been an amazing experience.  Jeff and I will save up and splurge, ordering two or three things from each course so we can try as much as possible.

what I’m loving

“Don’t settle for nice, for pleasant, for familiar.  Keep looking until you find something that really moves you, that resonates with your core.  And I mean this for everything – for people, for interests, for hobbies, for your possessions, clothes, music, books, art.  Everything.  Curate every aspect of your life, as much as you can.  It’s in the things that deeply inspire us that we can find ourselves.” – Anonymous

what I’m working on

I’ve been working on painting this week…it’s pretty much a daily thing, so it will always come up in this section, I think!  I’ve also been working on research and scheduling interviews for my next book.  Working on that book has come in spurts and starts, so I haven’t quite found my rhythm with it, yet, but I’m getting there.

Otherwise, it’s been a pretty quiet, normal week.

Here are a few of my paintings from this week…  I am still tweaking a couple of them, but they are almost there.

What have you been reading, watching, loving, and working on?