Weekend Notes
It is the last day of Christmas vacation in our house. It might hit 50 for the third-straight day, but no one seems real interested in getting outside and doing something. Probably has something to do with me telling everyone their rooms need to be cleaned up before anything else gets done today, and no one is moving all that…
Friday Playlist
Is it Friday already? Time for the first playlist of the year, then! https://open.spotify.com/user/224aiwksicafjldlua6nnpo4y/playlist/1ZBwe63X1Mfd9rjfpKcQfr?si=7fzREkOnQpaA-dBv3AkGxA “Blue” – Thyla. This is kind of a perfect January song. Lyrically, it is dark and depressing, the singer complaining constantly about being “blue, blue, blue, blue, bluuuuuueeee.” Yet the music is driving and powerful as if it is pushing her through those January blues to…
Big 12 Hoops: The Beginning
A new Big 12 basketball season has begun. In a very strange first night of the year, there were three road wins. The only team to win at home? The Mighty Jayhawks of Kansas. When the balls were first rolled out back in November, consensus was KU would have no problem rolling to their 15th-straight Big 12 title. Kansas State…
Starting Off Strong (In Theory)
Happy New Year! Hope your celebrations were safe, happy, and the headaches/stomaches that resulted have passed. Our New Year’s Eve went well. The Pacers game was good. Well, other than spending 15 minutes to travel three blocks right before our parking garage. Not sure what the hell was going on but traffic was a nightmare. The Pacers won by 8,…
Stats
The always interesting final music stats post of the year. This year’s – or last year’s more properly – December numbers are even more out of whack than in the past thanks to our addition of the Sonos speaker to our household. In fact, December threw off the entire year’s numbers. December 2018 Bing Crosby – 210 Frank Sinatra –…
Wrapping Up 2018
Here we are, another calendar year about to end. 2018 was a wacky, wild year for us. There were a ton of kid sports: volleyball, basketball, kickball, cross country, soccer, cheer. There was our first family trip beyond the US borders for spring break in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. There was our first family visit to the ER, when C…
Christmas ’18 Wrap Up
After a busy week, things are finally slowing down enough to share some details from our Christmas celebrations. My in-laws came in from Florida last Wednesday. This is their second Christmas since going to Florida full-time, so Saturday my mother-in-law and the girls had their second annual baking day. They baked three kinds of cookies and a coffee cake for…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 19
Chart Week: December 22, 1984 Song: “The Belle of St. Mark” – Sheila E. Chart Position: #34, 9th week on the chart. Peaked at #34 for three weeks over December and January. One last 1984 countdown to close out the year. And, holy crap, what a countdown it was! The summer of ’84 gets all the glory, but this week…
Friday Playlist
Christmas vacation has begun. The girls had early dismissal yesterday and are now home for two-plus weeks of holiday bliss. Or hiding in their rooms staring at their devices. Christmas in 2018… As a self-anointed connoisseur of holiday music, I thought I would share some of my favorite songs that aren’t jam-packed into every other Christmas playlist you may have…
Reader’s Notebook, 12/19/18
’Tis the season for quick reads. So some blurbs about a few (mostly) slim pieces I’ve rolled through recently. Being Santa Claus – Sal Lizard with Jonathan Lane A memoir by a Christmas season Santa who does everything from standard mall Santa gigs, to private events at homes, to visiting sick kids in the hospital. It’s pretty saccharine, but Santa…