Opening Day, Part 1
A quick kickball update following opening day for C and M. C’s team played in an early game that I kept score for. It was close early, tied 8–8 after three, but C’s team had two big innings to break it open and won 35–17. Our girls looked really good in the last three innings with several girls who struggled…
Busy From the Beginning
The first full week of school is now underway. the girls were a little grumpier the last two mornings than they were on Thursday and Friday. I admit so was I. I’d love to get into some kind of daytime routine, but we also started a bathroom remodel yesterday. It should be pretty quick – knock on wood – but…
Friday Playlist
A busy day for me, as it’s kickball jersey distribution day. So a slightly different playlist, with the Spotify tunes focusing on three of the greatest pop songs ever made. Seriously, if you put these on an endless loop, most of the world’s problems will drift away. https://open.spotify.com/user/224aiwksicafjldlua6nnpo4y/playlist/7e38bv9Vggb1cfKmwWbbXu “There She Goes” – The La’s “Into Your Arms” – The Lemonheads…
First Day Back
First day of school! Summer is over!1 The girls and I closed out the summer with a pretty fun day yesterday. I took them to a wall climbing place. We got there right after they opened and they had the walls to themselves for about 45 minutes. There was a combination of both automatic belays and ropes that I had…
Running Out of Time
People right at my age grew up at the very tail-end of the Space Age. In the late 70s we weren’t too far removed from the glory days of the Apollo program. I remember our school library being stocked with cool books about both the missions to the moon, and others that focused on theoretical trips beyond the moon that…
Gearing Up
We got our final lake weekend of summer vacation in the books. Like our last visit, two weeks ago, this was a split weekend. Saturday was gorgeous: upper 70s, no humidity, warm sunshine, and a fairly open lake as a lot of the locals were already back in school. Then clouds moved in and Sunday was cool and rainy, which…
Friday Music Link
It seems like pretty much every week brings along some 30th or 40th anniversary of some event that makes us children of the 80s feel awfully old. This week’s anniversary was the 30th of the release of Def Leppard’s Hysteria. Over at The Ringer, Rob Harvilla gives the album its proper due. Def Leppard’s ‘Hysteria’ Is Still the Greatest Hair-Metal…
Friday Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/user/224aiwksicafjldlua6nnpo4y/playlist/5ET9xOsp7Doq5qjwA5Oov2 “Valley Boy” – Wolf Parade. Wolf Parade’s absence hasn’t been quite as long as some other bands that have returned this year; their last album was just seven years ago. And in the interim, its members were still active in other groups, most notably Dan Boeckner in the Handsome Furs and Divine Fits. Based on this song, it’s like…
Reader’s Notebook, 8/3/17
Walking the Himalayas – Levison Wood. I didn’t know anything about Levison Wood before I saw this book at the library. I didn’t know he is fairly famous for his on-foot treks, which have been turned both into multiple books and TV shows. I just liked the idea this book is based upon: him walking the length of the Himalayas,…
R’s: Hot Streaks & Bold Moves
I intentionally held off writing about the Royals activity at the trade deadline because I didn’t want to be responsible for jinxing their hot streak. Fortunately, after winning 10 of 11, they’ve now lost 3 of 4, so any bad stretch is not on me. First off, what a great run! Right after I said they needed to go 6–3…