A Mid-Lease Car Update
As we are in the back half of October, that means I am officially halfway through my current auto lease. With 18 months in the books as an EV owner, and 18 months left before I need to make a decision on my next car, it seemed like a good moment to check in and see how I feel about…
Wednesday Links
Steven Hyden with a wonderful retrospective on one of the great American bands that never really went away, at least on classic rock radio, but also never had a big revival. Listen to the Cars in 2025, and you’ll hear the accumulated history of 20th-century rock music—the elemental directness of Buddy Holly and Elvis records, the songwriting sturdiness of the…
Reader’s Notebook, 10/14/25
A bit of a slog lately, as I’ve worked through a group of books that I did not love. These are the risks you take when you grab suggestions from many different sources. Swag – Elmore Leonard Last month I came across an article that was an appreciation of some of Leonard’s lesser known works. I’ve read several of his…
Weekend Notes
Another weekend that was brightened by visits from college kids and a few more signs that we are deep into fall. Fall Break Part 1 M came home Wednesday evening. UC had a two-day fall break this year, but she had to go back Friday evening because her boyfriend’s fraternity had their annual trip to the horse races in Lexington,…
Friday Playlist
“October” – The Helio Sequence We’ve finally had a couple of cool days and chilly mornings, although temps will creep back up closer to 80 next week. Close enough for me to bust out this fall classic, at least classic to me. “Break The Girl” – Florence Road Wonderful, bouncy track by some young ladies from Wicklow, Ireland. “Automatic” –…
Reaching For The Stars, Vol. 119
Chart Week: September 24, 1983 Song: “It’s A Mistake” – Men At Work Chart Position: #38, 13th week on the chart. Peaked at #6 for two weeks in August. What clichés about Eighties music jump into your head the quickest? Big hair and spandex? Synthesizers? Gender ambiguous British men in suits wearing more makeup than your mom? Artists with little-to-no…
Fitness Update
We’re a week into the fourth quarter of the year[1] and I bet a few of you are annoyed with me for not sharing my latest fitness update. My bad. Here it is. Q3 was my best of the year so far. Which makes sense as it was the warmest, least stormy stretch of 2025 so the pool was always…
Weekend Notes
A much better weekend of football compared to a week ago. Added bonuses of fun stuff involving two of the kids, and maybe the last summery weekend of the year. Let’s get into it. Friday Friday was L’s 17th birthday. To celebrate we took her and some of her friends to our local hibachi place, which is always fun, more-so…
Friday Playlist
“Summer Soft” – Stevie Wonder You find It’s October, and she’s gone… “Dipped” – HighSchool Earlier this year Aussie band CIVIC released a song called “Chrome Dipped.” Now we have another Aussie band, which does not sound very Aussie at all, with a similarly named track. “Light Sleeper” – Home Front One of my top 5–10 post-punk bands making music…
Reader’s Notebook, 10/2/25
In the Weeds: Around the World and Behind the Scenes with Anthony Bourdain – Tom Vitale A book that has been out three years but I managed not to hear about until just now. Written by one of Anthony Bourdain’s closest associates, it is definitely a warts and all accounting of what it was like to work with the late…