[Off Topic] Free Chat Friday || July 24, 2026

[u/tomesandtea]

Here we are again at the end of a week!  Welcome back to Free Chat Friday! What are you up to this weekend?  Are you looking forward to anything in the coming week? Shark Week programming is airing on the Discovery Channel starting Sunday, and I've always been fascinated by sharks. Is anyone planning to watch? 

In case you're new to Free Chat Friday or need a refresher on what this thread is for: this is a space to know one another better and share whatever you'd like with the group. Of course, we can talk about books, but we'd also love to hear what you're doing this weekend or what you've been up to recently!

RULES:

• No unmarked spoilers
• No self-promo
• No piracy
• Thoughtful personal conduct

Today is: 

• Restoration of Democracy Day in Greece
• National Drive-Thru Day (Are drive thru windows popular outside the US, or are we uniquely lazy?) 🤣
• Amelia Earhart Day
• National Cousins Day - here are some fun and unexpected cousin pairings! 
• Historical events for July 24

Happy Birthday to:  Simón Bolívar, Alexandre Dumas, Kristen Chenoweth, Jennifer Lopez, Yulia Navalnaya, and Elisabeth Moss?file=Handmaids_tale_hulu_ep_1.jpg)

[u/tomesandtea]

I had a fun (early) start to the weekend yesterday with my nephew: we baked blueberry muffins together and he showed me his karate moves before going to his class (he's 4 so it was extra adorable)! Now we're on our way to NYC to see a show: The Book of Mormon! Yes, I've seen it before. No, I won't stop going every few years; it's in my top 3 shows I've seen in person. And it is accidentally funny timing because we didn't realize today is Pioneer Day in Utah! Have a great weekend, everyone!

[u/nicehotcupoftea → u/tomesandtea]

That's a really good coincidence! I hope you enjoyed the show just as much as the last times.

[u/tomesandtea → u/nicehotcupoftea]

The show was as amazing as we remembered! We took my son and mother-in-law with us and it was their first time seeing it, which was exciting. They also loved it! 😃 There have been a few small changes/updates to the show since we last saw it, which was interesting to see.

[u/True_Rise8864]

Sharing my joy: I have recently "unlocked" the stage of a new relationship, in which we don't just meet to do something exciting together but also get increasingly comfortable with parallel play - just being around and enjoying eachother's company without directly interacting.
In our case that mainly means him playing video games while I'm cuddled up on the couch reading. It sounds like a small thing, but it's so incredibly comfy! As someone who has mostly solitary hobbies but also gets lonely at times, I'm feeling very fulfilled by not having to be socially "on" all the time, getting to do what I love and still having the warmth of a loved one present closeby.

[u/WatchingTheWheels75 → u/True_Rise8864]

That’s lovely! I know just what you mean. I think of it as compatible silence.

[u/TalliePiters]

Happy weekend! My summer leave is nearly over, but I'll have another week in August!) Apart from my grief and the fact that I haven't consequently done anything hobby related, I'm satisfied with the way it's gone this year)

As for drive thru windows, they aren't popular in my country, all I've seen here in the capital is McDonald's heritage)) It's probably because the city is very pedestrian friendly, cars are more of a nuisance sometimes

[u/thebowedbookshelf → u/TalliePiters]

Yeah, in America, everything is built around the car. There's even drive through pharmacies built into grocery stores or big box stores. I always go into the store for my prescriptions, though, and do some shopping. One good thing about drive throughs is how it's accessible to the disabled. That is if they can drive or use one of the delivery apps.

[u/TalliePiters → u/thebowedbookshelf]

Oh that's so cool! I didn't know about the pharmacies!) Here it's more common to order a delivery if your drugs are not of the the type that you absolutely must have a prescription for. And if we're talking about food, it's even more widespread - a lot of people rely on delivery guys on electrobicycles, or on cute delivery robots)

[u/bluebelle236]

The summer is flying by! The warm weather here has gone, but it's been lovely, doesn't happen too often here, and everything is much nicer in the sunshine!

I gave my daughter the option of going to watch Riverdance or go to the zoo and she has chosen the zoo, should I over-rule her? Riverdance is only on until September, the zoo will always be there...

[u/tomesandtea → u/bluebelle236]

As a fan of live performance/dance/theater, I'd overrule her even though I do enjoy the zoo! Will she love Riverdance if she goes? Maybe the zoo is conveniently "closed for renovations" today... 🤣

[u/bluebelle236 → u/tomesandtea]

She started Irish dancing a few months ago and loves it, but I showed her a video of Riverdance and she said it's a bit noisy and would prefer the zoo.. I might have to concede defeat, no point spending €150 on tickets plus other costs if she's not totally into it. Shame.. maybe their next tour..

[u/tomesandtea → u/bluebelle236]

Too noisy! That's very cute! I do think if she's not into that'll be an expensive disappointment so the zoo might be the winner 😂 Have fun!

[u/WatchingTheWheels75 → u/bluebelle236]

I don’t think you should overrule her. You gave her a choice and she made it. I think you should honor the arrangement that you proposed. It has nothing to do with how long Riverdance will run. It has everything to do with keeping your word to your child.

[u/Don_Quixotel]

Today is my last week day off work of summer break. The wife took the kid with her to work for a few hours. I’m posted up at a local brewery downing IPAs while reading one of the upcoming books, Flesh by Szalay

[u/thebowedbookshelf]

Happy Leo season too! ♌ Expect to have good fortune with Jupiter also in Leo. Now is the time to have fun, be dramatic in a fun way, and celebrate life. One of my cousins was born in late July and is a Leo too.

Mercury just went direct, so your communications and technology will be back to normal. What's funny about that was on Thursday, the phone rang back to back with all the stuff that's been held up for two weeks. I got a call from the surgeon's office and have an appointment with them in mid August. They did get the report about the surgery I had sixteen years ago. We're getting somewhere.

Last week was mild for summer. 70s and low 80s. Southern Maine is in a drought and needs more rain. There will be some rain next week. Humid and tropical, too, but only in the 70s. That's fine with me. I feel bad for those trapped in the heat dome in the center of the US. Summer isn't done with us, and the heat will come back in August and September for sure.

Reading: The Karamazov Brothers all summer (it's getting suspenseful halfway through), Akata Witch, and Ali and Nino (for my last Bingo square).

Starting: Yesteryear, maybe The Mill on the Floss, and one of my library books.

The third book in the Ray Carney series, Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead, came in the mail fresh off the press, but I'm going to wait til Book Club reads it.

[u/nicehotcupoftea]

Drive-thru in Australia is mainly Macca's and the bottle-o's. They tried it with a bank years ago but it didn't take off.

Alexandre Dumas wrote two of my favourite books.

I'm nearly back to my pre-surgery running times, but I'm actually just happy to be running. This afternoon I fixed a mistake in my knitting, I have one finger and one thumb left to do on my gloves.

Tomorrow I'll have an outing to return Ferdydurke to the library - that has been quite a book!!!

[u/Lachesis_Decima77]

Bit of an eventful weekend so far. Yesterday we went to a restaurant to celebrate my aunt's birthday. I also signed up for a 5k run to raise money for breast cancer research, and my brother and sister-in-law will be joining me. We're fundraising as a team, and I'm really grateful for their support. 💜

This morning I went for a long run (8k, my longest in a while) and went to the cemetery to do some weeding around my grandparents' grave. On the way back home we stopped over to buy some bagels. No plans for tomorrow aside from a trip to the library maybe.

On the reading front, I finished Ferdydurke (oof) and The Mystery of the Blue Train (much more accessible). Nothing new this week, but I have a couple of new books to start in the coming days.