• Friday Playlist

    First off, apologies. I had a morning project that took longer than expected then lunch duty at St. P’s and I am a bit behind. Better late than never, though. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2YsU1QXSLIkGoyfGEYxAGW?si=ZN2fMnPdQre5bPOnWlogcA “Ghosts” – Bruce Springsteen. HOLY SHIT!!! The lead single off Springsteen’s up-coming album, the title track “Letter to You,” is pretty good. But this? Again, HOLY SHIT!!! Best song…

  • Reader’s Notebook, 9/29/20

    My reading pace has fallen way off over the past month. I tried to start a book I was very much looking forward to reading but couldn’t focus and gave up. That lack of focus is most of the problem. Where I’m usually itchy and nervous if I’m not reading in my free time, I currently lack the motivation or…

  • Weekend Notes

    It’s time for the weekly Monday sports review! Gale Gale Sayers was waaaaaay before my time. He retired about six months after I was born, and his final two years in the NFL were slowed by a series of serious injuries that robbed him of his breath-taking speed. But there were uncles, and friends of uncles, and other people their…

  • Friday Playlist

    Another week when I’m not terribly prepared to share a playlist of (mostly) new music. I’ve reached the point in the year when I start looking backwards and doing some tentative work on my Favorite Songs of the Year list. While there has been plenty of new music in the middle half of the year, and some of that music…

  • More Check Marks

    A couple kid milestones to share. First, C got her braces taken off yesterday. This was both early and late. She was originally pegged to be in them 22–24 months, and this was just month 17. But it was also late because she missed an appointment during lockdown so likely would have had them removed 4–6 weeks ago had she…

  • Weekend Notes

    It was a weekend dominated by watching sports, mostly on the TV. Friday night we went to an (outdoor) fundraiser that a high school friend of S’s was throwing. This is her pal who nearly died of Covid back in April. He brought together a few well-connected friends he has (one is an NBA player) to throw a neighborhood concert…

  • Friday Vids

    For most of this week I’ve been listening to A) the new Doves album, which is awesome, and B) working through Steven Hyden’s The Best Bruce Springsteen Songs, Ranked list. As of Thursday night I am just past the mid-point of the list. I’ve discovered some songs that are new to me that I’ve really enjoyed while building more respect…

  • Tops of Eighty Four

    It only took six weeks for Tom Breihan to roll through the 20 number one songs of 1984. 1985 has some bangers, for sure, but we’re approaching the point where I’ll be more interested in his words than in the songs themselves. In the comments, people ranked the Number Ones of 1984 in their preferred order. Believe it or not…

  • End of Two Seasons and A Career

    The fall 2020 kickball season has come to an end for our family. L’s team capped their season Wednesday with a run-rule win against the nearest parish. L had a grand slam, a three-run triple, and a single to close out the season. She didn’t kick quite as well this year as in the past. I’m not sure if that’s…

  • Football!

    Football is back! After three weeks of high school action, the college and pro ranks joined in this weekend to give us another nudge towards a sense of normalcy. Let’s run through the weekend’s happenings. High School CHS played arch rival BCHS on Friday. CHS was ranked #1 in 5A, BCHS #1 in 3A. Despite the difference in size (CHS…