We’ve hit a cycle of boom-bust weekends that should extend at least a couple more weeks.

This was one of the bust weekends. At least for four of us.

M had parties all weekend, I believe she had 12 she could have attended from Friday through Sunday. We met her at one of her buddy’s on Sunday and she looked totally wiped out. So naturally we – meaning S and I and other parents who have known M for years – made fun of her for being so tired from just having fun. We suggested she either go home and go to bed, or have a Diet Coke, eat something, and stop moping around.

She did not take this advice well. So we just laughed at her and enjoyed talking to the people who wanted to have fun.

Poor girl has one more week of parties to get through. Hopefully she survives.

S and I are only hitting up the families we know well and/or have spent a lot of time with over the years. We hit one each day. The Saturday party was fun because it was for a middle school classmate who went to a different high school. So we got to see some parents we haven’t seen in four years, other than on Facebook.

Sunday evening I took C and L to see Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse. All the thumbs up. I believe I’ve said this every time I’ve watched a Spider-Man movie since the latest iterations started, but I’m not a big Marvel/DC/superhero movie guy at all. There’s something about the Spidey movies that always works for me, though. And the Miles Morales universe ones are especially excellent. They are some of the most stunning visual entertainment I’ve ever seen. And the stories aren’t bad, either. I also love how these movies don’t take themselves too seriously. There are lots of jokes that poke fun at comic-based stories or the idea of a multiverse.

SPOILER ALERT

I hadn’t read anything about the new movie before we saw it, or watched the first Miles Morales movie again to refresh my memory. All I knew was that it was getting great reviews. So I was floored when the final scene closed and the screen displayed “To Be Continued…” I mean, I figured this wouldn’t be the last Miles Morales movie. But I had no clue this one was going to end in a proper cliffhanger. I was looking at my watch the last ten minutes thinking, “How the hell are they going to wrap this up?” I guess they will wrap things up in the next movie!

END SPOILER ALERT

NBA

I haven’t written a thing about the NBA playoffs. Last fall I flooded my podcast app with a bunch of NBA pods and generally listen to one or two each day, depending on my schedule. However, once Tyrese Haliburton got hurt and the Big 12 picked up its conference pace in January, I didn’t watch a ton of pro ball until the playoffs started.

This has been an entertaining playoff season. The Nuggets are so fun to watch, with such good balance and one of the low-key most entertaining players of all time in Nikola Jokic. And the Heat are just so damn relentless that they force you to admire their play, especially Jimmy Butler with his uncanny ability to morph into one of the five best players in the world once the playoffs begin.

I haven’t watched all of every playoff game, but most nights I turn the TV on around 9:00 and pick up whatever game is on. Back when there were still multiple series going on, I would also watch the first half of the late game before heading to bed.

If all this sticks to me through the summer, I may have to write more consistently about the NBA next year. Especially if the Pacers make a good draft pick/trade and take another leap in the ’23–24 season.

Summer School

L started summer school today. She’s taking two classes – PE and health – as that clears her to take strength training in the fall. So she basically has a regular school day. I dropped her off at 8:00 this morning and will pick her up at 3:30. On Tuesdays she will have basketball workouts for two hours after school, on Wednesdays for two hours before school. They will likely play games on Thursday nights.

Kid is going to be tired for the next month.