We had goulash when I was a kid, though it wasn’t cooked in a cauldron and seemed to be more of a stew with all the leftovers in the fridge stirred into it. It usually had paprika in it or, if it didn’t, I sprinkled it across the top of my bowl at the table.

• In the novel in progress, the main character is a long-time student of Karate. How do I communicate what her outlook on life is like? I wondered. I’ve found Funakoshi’s book The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate to be very helpful.  Those of us who appreciate a rather Zen-like approach to life, find much to like in this little book.
• When a friend learned I was just finishing Robert Galbraith’s (aka JK Rowling) Troubled Blood, she wondered whether I thought she might like it. I told her she was on her own this time in making that decision. Why? The book features an old-style detective and is very long, very British (people are always stopping for tea), has a lot of characters in it, and takes its time working through a complex plot to the final showdown. I liked it, but then I’m old and eccentric. I’ve read most of the books in the Comoran Strike series and will probably read the next one.
• My wife and I are staying away from the news, and have recently enjoyed watching “Bull Durham,” “No Time to Die,” and “The Great Escape” as alternatives. (A long Robert Galbraith novel will also distract you from the shootings and the ongoing blunders in Congress.)

• 

  Our Georgia heatwave has backed off a bit from those 100° heat index days from earlier in the week to a balmy 89°. Meanwhile, Montana’s Glacier Park is having heavy snow with a chance of avalanches. Gosh, Mother Nature needs to get things under control. And then there are floods around Yellowstone. If I had a choice, I’d select the snow–but not the avalanches.

• Today is Father’s Day, and my daughter and granddaughters are way up in Maryland while I’m miles away in Georgia. Thank goodness Facebook gives us a way to remember the holiday. My father has been gone since 1987. Not sure he would grok the Internet or Facebook, but he would remember this picture taken near Santa Cruz, CA when I was little. Yes, I come from the San Francisco Bay Area and had family all over the place in that area when I was little. I’m the kid on the right who seems to be either cold or scared.
• When I see these old pictures of my parents, I’m very concerned about the pictures of me my daughter and granddaughters will be showing people 50 years from now. I don’t think I’m going to look as good as my parents looked.
• In more mudane news, Facebook has yet to fix the software glitch on my author’s page. If they keep stonewalling me, I’ll probably delete the page before the week is over. c’est la vie

–Malcolm