Wegmans — Blog — Stay At Home Husband

Best Activity

The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts is one of the most famous golf courses in the world. It is home to a miracle 1999 Ryder Cup victory for the United States of America. More than 100 years ago it was the site of an historic US Open where an 18 year-old Francis Ouimet looked Ted Ray and Harry Vardon in the face and beat them both. That win inspired a book and then a movie starring Shia LeBeouf.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week I got to walk in the footsteps of some of the greatest golfers in the world while carrying the bag of my friend Matt, who was competing in the Massachusetts Amateur Championship. I had a blast helping out a buddy and watching some excellent golf.

(I wrote about more the experience and what I learned from the two days of caddying: “Natural Feedback For Kids Will Help Them Cope As Adults”)

Best Listens

Confronting OJ - Good lord this is a riveting podcast. It’s produced by Kim Glass and features Kim Goldman, the brother of Ron Goldman. Each episode has Kim interviewing people involved in the case, in essence they are all confronting OJ.

I had not listened to a single episode of this podcast until last Friday. Then on Saturday as I cleaned out my closet (literally), I listened to three episodes on the trot and finished the sixth as I drove my cloths to a donation box (which are IMPOSSIBLE to find in Boston…). The sixth episode was shocking as Kim Glass calls Malcolm LaVergne, OJ Simpson’s lawyer, to ask him to come on the podcast. His response is amazing, in a horrifying way (which led to a Las Vegas radio show confrontation between Kim Goldman and LaVergne this past Tuesday).

The seventh episode is cued up on my phone. Kim Goldman interviews two of the jurors on the trial. I can’t wait to listen, but need to be in the right head space.

“Always Golden” by Iration - This is not the type of music I typically enjoy, but this song came to me through the No Laying Up golf show. The song is used as the intro music to their latest golf travel series in California. I gave the rest of the album a try this week. It’s fine. It’s basically reggae with a California tilt. But I’d encourage everyone to add the song “Always Golden” to their summer beach playlist.

Best Reads

Chuck Klosterman interview: This is all I’ve got this week for you. Klosterman is one of my favorites. He has a new book coming out. I have enjoyed his podcast appearances with Bill Simmons. This interview offers some good reading recommendations and some snarky commentary.

Best Watches

Stranger Things - Tiff and I got sucked right into the binge vortex on Sunday night. It was classic. We had rationed out the first four episodes like normal adults and watched two at a time. When we sat down on Sunday we were in the same headspace, we decided to watch two episodes and save the last two for later in the week. Then that thing happens… we watched two, were left with a big cliffhanger, and were stuck in binge mode limbo. If we watch the penultimate episode there’s no way we save the final episode for later in the week (and Monday was out because we had to pod about the Bachelorette. We HAD to, okay! Rate, Review, and subscribe! to The Random Division, please…).

So we finished the whole damn thing. The season was great, entertaining, scary, and fun. If I could make one complaint it would be that the season could have been an episode or two longer, mainly because it felt like there were a lot of expository scenes where characters are rushing to tell someone something important while the world is fucking ending. A bit more time would have made things happen more organically within the storytelling. But what do I know (answer: nothing)?

Aziz Ansari Netflix Special - I have to admit this one snuck up on me. I had no idea Aziz was back in the public spotlight. Just a couple weeks ago, Tiff mentioned him on our podcast, and I wasn’t sure if he was someone we could, or should, mention (he’s not Voldamort, it’s just me being overly sensitive).

The special was solid. I find Ansari very funny, partly because we’re close in age and many of his observations hit home. I love his delivery and his ability to include audience members. He bookended the special with two serious moments. First he addressed the sexual misconduct that came to light last year and he finished with a mindful moment where he paused and asked everyone to pause with him to take in their moment together. The mindful moment was intense but thoughtful. I’m not sure what I think about how he handled the sexual misconduct, he didn’t apologize and instead said he took it as a learning experience; he was grateful that others in his life had also opened up told him that his mistake made them evaluate their dating past (I wonder what they uncovered… eeeeesh…). Anyway, I think it’s worth watching and it’s also worth reading this NYTimes piece about it.

Top Gun - The movie is back… I’m not even linking to the trailer, I’m just putting it right in your face… this is going to be awesome.

Best Drinks

Wegmans Blackberry Tangerine Seltzer - Firstly, Wegmans is amazing. We live within walking distance of a very mediocre Whole Foods (a renovated Johnnies Foodmaster) that we avoid doing any real shopping at. It’s too expensive and too hard to find the things we really like (and it doesn’t allow me to wander down the cereal aisle feeling like a 10-year-old fighting the urge to grab Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Golden Grahams).

Wegmans is my favorite grocery store. It is massive, so it has anything you would want. The produce is great and the bakery and prepped foods are delicious and varied. The website is also outstanding, and it will organize the items on your list so you just walk up and down the aisles , no wandering aimlessly.

The Wegmans brand seltzer is a collection of different flavors; some haven’t been great (mint lime…) but others are solid. Typically you can get four 12-packs for $10. I took a flyer on the Blackberry Tangerine this week and I highly recommend it. It’s also not a bad drink to add a splash of tequila and a lime.

Best Eats

Nature Valley Biscuits w/ peanut butter- I stumbled upon these delightful little treats while caddying this week. I grabbed one at the first tee and stuck it in my pocket for later. Good golly was I glad I did. If you like nutter butters there is no way you won’t like these biscuits. They were so good, I picked some up at Wegmans and plan to make it a staple in my snack arsenal. I also noticed an almond butter version and plan of giving those a try too.

What were your favorites last week? Have a great weekend and stay cool out there. Summer is coming…