• Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 84

    Chart Week: April 17, 1982 Songs: “Stars On 45 III (A Tribute To Stevie Wonder) (Medley)” – Stars On 45, “Pop Goes the Movies (Part 1) (Medley)” – Meco. Chart Positions: #38, 4th week on the chart. Peaked at #28 for two weeks in May. #35, 10th week on the chart. Peaked at #35 for two weeks. First off, elephant…

  • A Change in (Pas)Times

    I’ve been working on this post for literally two months. It isn’t groundbreaking, super important, or one that I think my readers will finish and say, “Damn! That was some good blogging!” It’s just a post about hobbies and how my interests change over time. The problem is I keep turning it into a lengthy philosophical rumination about how/why we…

  • Weekend Notes

    A weekend of transition in various ways. Kid Hoops Back to tournament action for L and her travel teammates. Her ankle is still recovering from the sprain she suffered over a month ago. In our games Saturday that showed. She seemed sluggish and a step slow. We lost the first game by 18 to a very good team. They were…

  • Friday Playlist

    https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7Iu8oNr3BY9TYrgxwQVtUi?si=40153ce895d1417a “Let’s Hang Out Forever” – The High Water Marks This was a great song to soundtrack the past week, as it felt more like summer than spring. “Want To Know” – Free Range Country or Not entry of the week. “Wrapped in Gold” – World News This could be from 1985 just as easily as it could be from…

  • Reader’s Notebook, 4/11/23

    Africa Is Not A Country – Dipo Faloyin Those of you who read these posts should know I’m perpetually behind, and even after nearly 20 years I’m still not smart enough to jot down my thoughts about a book shortly after finishing it. So the first entry in each post is usually going to be about four weeks old and…

  • Holiday Weekend Notes

    A pretty good Easter weekend in our house. Family Weekend As happens when your kids are in Catholic schools, it was an extra-long weekend. CHS had a four-day weekend, while St P’s had early dismissal Friday and were out for Easter Monday. Throw in C being home sick and L having her annual school service day on Thursday and it…

  • Friday Playlist

    https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0bOTCe8GgyKEdyHV4sKxso?si=266c3bfd462b4f89 “Anti-Curse” – boygenius The supergroup released their first full-length album last week. It’s very good, or at least the high points are. I love how it’s a combination of songs where each singer takes the lead and songs that are collaborations with all three taking turns. Here Julien Baker is up front. Critic Steven Hyden liked this song so…

  • College Hoops Notes

    Let’s wrap up the college basketball season. Jayhawk Talk Bill Self finally appeared before the media on Wednesday, his first interaction with the press since before his heart episode nearly a month ago. He looked and sounded great. In his recorded interviews with Greg Gurley during the NCAA tournament he always seemed half a step slow, either verbally, mentally, or…

  • Ranking Shit: Alternate Hoops Programs

    As mentioned awhile back, I have a few of these in various stages of development. With the college basketball season complete, seems like a good day to dust off this one. This idea comes from a KU-centric podcast I listen to regularly. During the holidays they had a segment where they selected an elite program they would choose to be…

  • Spring Break 2023

    A long week in the Dominican Republic to celebrate M’s senior class spring break. Not only did we take the whole family, one of C’s best friends came along with us. There was some drama, a few travel difficulties, but overall it was a pretty good seven days. Location We stayed at the Hard Rock Resort in Punta Cana. I…