• Thursday Notes

    Snow Day We had the first snow day of the year yesterday. It was kind of a dud. The storm that was supposed to drop 5–8” of snow here could only muster about 2.5 inches. As the storm was expected to hit right at the morning rush, most area schools had either cancelled classes or jumped to e-learning well before…

  • Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 81

    Chart Week: January 23, 1988 Song: “Don’t Shed A Tear” – Paul Carrack Chart Position: #21, 11th week on the chart. Peaked at #9 for three weeks in February. It feels like I’ve lost the momentum for this series lately. After reviewing the numbers, I did add 15 entries in 2022, which was three more than 2021. Perhaps it seems…

  • Jayhawk Talk: 1-2-3, Time to Panic?

    Perhaps THE thing that has set Kansas apart and made their Big 12 success so consistent in the Bill Self era is their ability to avoid losing streaks. Lose one? They almost always win the next. On the rare occasions they lose back-to-back games, a win in the third is about as easy money as you can find. There might…

  • Friday Playlist

    This was the week when I tried to figure out what my new normal listening habits are. The Bridge went back to playing their regular rotation of music, so while I still listened to their stream often, I wasn’t quite as obsessive as during their Z to A countdown. But I also didn’t completely fall back into listening to mostly…

  • Jayhawk Talk: The First Slipup

    Well, KU’s end-game luck had to run out eventually. After winning 15-straight games that were decided by less than 10 points, KU came up a point short in overtime in Manhattan Tuesday night. KU missed 10 free throws and 23 3-pointers. They had the ball at the end of regulation and overtime and didn’t get a shot off either time.…

  • Monday Links

    Over the holidays I worked hard to get my Instapaper queue cleaned out, especially a whole swath of very long reads that had been sitting there for months and months. Of them, this might be my favorite, an accounting Susie Goodall’s attempt to sail around the world by herself. There are all kinds of harrowing details of her effort, but…

  • Friday Playlist

    A little late today as I spent most of the morning running around doing things for the girls. It’s also been a rather odd start to my music year, and I’m not piling up the new music the way I normally do. More on that below. I have managed to cobble together a few songs for your listening pleasure. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6HPRk1Rt4pbbSnMxMsYfEu?si=3f02a88840644271…

  • Jayhawk Talk

    Another nail biter for KU on Tuesday, an improbable four-point win over Oklahoma after trailing by ten (and looking dead) with about 5:00 left. KU went over 11 minutes without hitting a field goal. ELEVEN MINUTES! Oklahoma was loose and focused. Then KU got a dunk. Followed by two offensive boards and a 3. Bill Self found a way to…

  • Reader’s Notebook, 1/11/23

    Often December is when I really pad my reading stats. There’s always at least one holiday book. I also tend to get locked into a good reading groove as the days get cold and dark and the girls are out of school. Not this December. I only finished three books last month. Despite that, I still logged 62 books for…

  • Weekend Notes

    It’s back to semi-normal today. L returned to school after her Christmas break. M and C still have one more week of J-term, so they go in a little later and get out a little earlier. But all three have to get up in the mornings again. Last week I had to get up to make sure C was up,…