Reader’s Notebook, 5/31/17
A little behind, so better catch up as I hit the summer reading season. No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach – Anthony Bourdain. I’m working through a number of shows I have stockpiled on the DVR, watching the Royals most nights, and still trying to read. But I do attempt to squeeze in an Anthony Bourdain show…
Summertime
Memorial Day weekend is in the books, the girls are out of school, and summer is officially here! The school year wrapped up uneventfully. All three girls passed. Or at least we assume so; middle school grades are mailed so I supposed there’s still a tiny chance we’re going to have an uncomfortable talk with M about her academic plans…
Friday Playlist
Special playlist for a special time of year. https://open.spotify.com/user/224aiwksicafjldlua6nnpo4y/playlist/65TNV566d1SVBsbrcItNyR “Friday I’m In Love” – The Cure. A highly significant song in my life. Although it was Pearl Jam and Nirvana that were most responsible for shifting my taste in music away from Top 40 pop and R&B back in 1992, this song had a huge impact as well. It was…
On Roger Moore
You probably heard that Roger Moore died yesterday. History has been very kind to Sir Moore. Once upon a time, his run as James Bond was laughed at and derided. Eventually, though, people figured out that his portrayal of Bond was perfect for its time, and making his Bond dramatically different than Sean Connery’s was necessary. Connery might have turned…
Wait ‘Till Next Year (Again)
For the third time in three seasons, M’s kickball team advanced to the City tournament. For the third time, they came up short. A disastrous top of the 7th inning put them on the wrong end of a 19–8 score in yesterday’s championship game. It was their second-straight, second-place finish. Their run began with a semifinal loss in the fall…
Finishing Off and Starting Up
Last weekend of spring, last week of school. Just four more mornings of an alarm at 6:35 and the normal grumpiness as the girls and I navigate the time between me waking them up and dropping them off at school each day. We set the stage for the summer by putting the boat into the water on Saturday. We’ve usually…
Thursday Playlist
At first it didn’t hit me why Chris Cornell’s name was one of the headlines in this morning’s New York Times Morning Briefing email. “Why is he listed, did he say something about Trump?” was my first thought. I just did not expect his name to be listed because the news was just breaking that he died overnight. You can…
C = 11
It’s a birthday day for us today. C is now 11. I don’t go back and re-read what I’ve written in previous years about each girl on their birthday, because I think they haven’t changed much. Or at least the two older ones have largely been the same kid for several years now. So I imagine this will be repetitive…
More Kid Sports and Weekend Notes
A pretty busy few days, anchored by kid sports. So we’ll start with those and add in the other fun things that were a part of our weekend. First off, C’s kickball season came to an end Thursday night. You may recall her team was in a three-way tie for first place going into the final game of the season.…
Friday Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/user/224aiwksicafjldlua6nnpo4y/playlist/7q4GpO5FHjKwTHMk5e2jcR “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness” – The National. The first single off the next National album is a shot out of the dark. So many of their songs are slow, brooding, builders. Here they get right to the point. Which confuses me. I’m used to it taking a long time to get into their albums; it took…