• Friday Playlist

    https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7nt3r8Pr3aGblX46oUxDI7?si=8f3b4a486ce5457a “Spring” – Briston Maroney “Autumn” – The Gaslight Anthem That’s right, we’re getting crazy with the seasons this week! Here two new songs representing the opposing equinoxes. Oddly enough, I find both songs to sound very fall-like, if in different ways. “Waiting for a Cloud” – Golden Apples And then we get this song, which was released about three…

  • Sports Notes

    NFL Four weeks into the NFL season and I’m not sure what to make of things. Is there a single team that deserves unquestioned trust? The Chiefs lost at home to Detroit opening night, righted themselves over the next two weeks, then apparently looked kind of crappy against the Jets last Sunday before escaping with a win. The Bills played…

  • September Media

    A pretty slow month for some reason. I guess tennis took up time at the beginning of the month, then I never really got into a groove? I was also listening to football on Fridays and watching a lot on Saturdays and Sundays, with the occasional Thursday and Monday game thrown in. Still kind of weird I watched zero movies.…

  • Lone Star Weekend

    With a notable exception, I enjoyed a very good weekend down in Austin, Texas. There were a couple motivations for going. One of my best buddies from college, E-bro, has lived there for something like 15 years. Another KU buddy, Billy Sweets, lives in Dallas. The three of us text pretty much every day, so much so that our wives…

  • Thursday Playlist

    I’m off to the airport around 5:45 AM Friday for my weekend trip to Austin and I’ve got a busy day ahead of me as I prep, so I’ll post this 20-something hours early to avoid either forgetting to send it or messing up the scheduling options in WordPress. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4T4B24oj1WOC7YERV7LESM?si=cb5f671b135248de “Alley Light” – Squirrel Flower Ella Williams’ songs are often…

  • Reader’s Notebook, 9/27/23

    I’m not sure why but I’ve struggled to put together blurbs for my most recent books. I’ll bash away for a paragraph or two then realize I’m not really sharing anything interesting other than a basic summation of the plot and give up. After three false starts I’m officially throwing in the towel and offering the briefest of notes about…

  • Tuesday Links

    I’ve been informed that our internet will disappear sometime this morning as Xfinity “works to improve the quality of the network” in our area. I think that’s code for finding a way to charge us more. Of course, they’ve said this like three times in the past week and it always ends up getting delayed. However, I saw their trucks…

  • Weekend Notes

    HS Football Cathedral went down to Lexington, KY to play last year’s Kentucky 5A state champs. The Irish got an early lead, weathered their normal letdown, built the lead again, then held on for a nine-point win. Probably their best, most complete win of the season, from what I could judge by listening. They travel to Cincinnati next week. The…

  • Friday Playlist

    https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7gecH6WQXHOX9iL3Rqxcht?si=93cd5f1f7c8e4e29 “September” – Earth, Wind & Fire OK, we’re a day off. But I can’t miss my annual chance to throw this into a playlist. “Deep End (Paul’s in Pieces) – The National The National dropped a surprise album Monday, serving as a companion to First Two Pages of Frankenstein, released earlier this year. There are two really good songs…

  • Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 90

    Chart Week: September 19, 1981 Song: “General Hospi-tale” – The Afternoon Delights Chart Position: #35, 9th week on the chart. Peaked at #33 for two weeks. I’ve been reading through the RFTS archives and was surprised that I’ve never written properly about a novelty song, stuff like “Pac-Man Fever” or “The Curly Shuffle,” for example. I probably should have held…