• MLB Playoff Predictions

    Well, the MLB playoffs are here, a bittersweet time for me – and many of my readers – for sure. There is a sadness that the Royals aren’t part of the festivities this year. The last two Octobers were so much fun, even if they were intensely stressful. I imagine my blood pressure will appreciate watching games more casually this…

  • September Books

    A pretty solid month of reading in September keeps me right on 52-book pace for the year. Palace of Treason – Jason Matthews. I read Matthews’ excellent Red Sparrow three or four years ago. Turns out Matthews enjoyed those characters and settings so much, he’s decided to turn it into a trilogy. Volume two just hit the shelves in June.…

  • Ocho to the Third

    Yesterday was a very busy day, which makes me a day late in offering up my birthday post for L. Our youngest turned 8 yesterday, and everything about the day fit her perfectly. As a lot of you saw, I posted some pics of her to Facebook with a little birthday announcement. At the end of the day, I showed…

  • Friday Playlist

    As promised last week, a video and playlist of older songs I’ve heard on SiriusXM over the past 15 days or so. “Bye Bye Love” – The Cars. I heard this song a week or so ago on one of the SiriusXM throwback stations. As I listened, and considered it’s greatness, I thought about how many hits The Cars had…

  • School Daze

    Our academic year is off to a decent start. The girls got their mid-quarter progress reports a couple weeks back, and all three are doing well. C has really taken to fourth grade, which is when the teachers at St. P’s begin pushing students to be self-motivated for getting their work done. Unlike the K–3 years, we don’t have to…

  • The Fanboy

    Friday night was fun. Perhaps it didn’t live up to every expectation I had for the evening, but my philosophy for the night was I would not complain about anything that involved a free concert by my favorite band within almost throwing distance of my house. There was a quibble here and there, but overall it was a very good…

  • Just Once

    Music post #2 for the day. Consequence of Sound released their list of the top 100 one-hit-wonders of all time earlier this week. It’s a lot of fun. All music lists are ripe for being picked apart for any number of reasons. I think one-hit-wonder lists are especially troublesome. You can argue for hours about how to define a one-hit-wonder…

  • Winning & Friday Vid

    It’s a big music day around here. I had a nice Friday Playlist ready to go – mostly built on older songs this week – but I’ve decided to hold that off until next week so I can focus on a couple other music-related things to share. That’s right, Kansas has a new album out today! (Insert record scratching sound…

  • Splat and Drat

    It was not to be. M’s kickball team got routed in the city championship game yesterday, 27–1 in five-plus innings.[1] Their opponents were just too good in every aspect of the game. St. B’s had a 5–0 lead after one, 10–1 after two, and 13–1 after three. Although the margin wasn’t great at that point, the game felt over. Our…

  • Go Time

    Game day! In about nine hours we’ll have a new sixth grade city champion in kickball, and M’s team just might be that team. It’s a perfect day for kickball, too! It’s going to be hot and clear, which is ideal for heating the asphalt to well over 100° – so everyone – players, coaches, and families watching – is…