The Q Queue
The Q Queue
Ted
Monocle | May 2020 print edition. The first print issue to address the Q head-on pushes a travel-obsessed magazine staff to look inward. Since being pushed toward this publication by Adam last summer, I’ve appreciated its measured tone, global view, and simple voice. Today is no different, and this At Home edition is a comforting read.
THE IONIAN MISSION by Patrick O’Brian. This 8th entry in the Aubrey-Maturin series (think Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany in billowy shirts and coattails) is the perfect escapist tale. I was on hiatus from the series for some reason, but now has been the perfect time not only to enjoy the richly detailed Napoleonic era capers but to remember that life on a ship was unspeakably awful. Amputations, scurvy, lashings, hangings, exploding cannons, boat splinters, etc. We’re still ahead of the game!
Field Notes Deader Prints. The new and already sold-out Deader Prints — made up of Aaron Draplin’s design scrapins — have what it take to enthuse the Field Notes crowd: eye-popping designs, thousands of variations, and the thrill of learning which random and potentially brilliant designs you’ll get. It’s the closest thing to that childhood thrill of opening a pack of baseball cards as a kid. The suspense, the drama, the horse-trading. My shipment is on the way; I’m hoping for a Texas poster and a Draplin rookie card.
MLB Web Vault: Nolan Ryan’s 7th No-Hitter. To date, I’ve avoided heavy duty baseball nostalgia. My heart was hardened by the Astros cheating scandal, so I was tempering myself before the Q. But my hardened outer shell has softened, partly from talking to Eric Nusbaum and Adam about the wonders of baseball and reading Eric’s recent Sports Stories about the Seattle dog. Baseball and taste buds are eternally linked, after all. When YouTube’s algorithm served up old school baseball, I relented. Watching Nolan Ryan strike out some of the Toronto Blue Jays’ greatest hitters — Olerud, Alomar, Jr., Joe Carter — after the announcers questioned his stamina early in the game was magical. To watch the entire game (though I admit I skipped huge swaths of the Rangers batting) lent depth to the experience that you rarely get from highlights alone. Mostly, I was reminded of what great stuff Ryan had. A laser straight fastball, a wicked curve, and a dipping change-up that doesn’t get a lot of publicity.
Q on!
