• Looking Back

    I wrote this yesterday, but forgot to post it before heading out for an afternoon of kickball. I believe M is coming home with an assignment tonight to ask S and I what our memories of September 11, 2001 are. Her social studies teacher wrote her memories of that day on her whiteboard and shared a pic of it on…

  • Friday Playlist

    A very special playlist this week. I don’t listen to a ton of 70s music – there’s some OG punk and very early new wave that sneaks in, along with a pinch of classic rock – as I generally skew towards 80s music when listening to the old stuff. But my love of music came from my parents always having…

  • Professional Football Prognostication

    Oh boy. Football season is here. “Do I detect a certain ‘Meh’ in that statement?” many of you might ask. I will confirm, there is plenty of ‘Meh’ in that statement. For a variety of reasons, I get a little more disengaged from the NFL every year. Likely the biggest factor is how L plays soccer on Sundays,[1] something she’s…

  • Summer’s End

    The last real weekend of the summer is in the books. And, if you judge only by how tired I was last night, it was a good one. Fortunately by nearly every other measure it was indeed a fine way to wrap up the summer. It’s become a tradition that our KC friends the Belfords come into town this weekend.…

  • Friday Playlist

    https://open.spotify.com/user/224aiwksicafjldlua6nnpo4y/playlist/2C7eOMtEDxiI2dLQRKUsuK “September” – Earth, Wind & Fire. This is a god damn great song. How this peaked at only #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 is another indictment of the 1970s. “September Gurls” – Big Star. One of the greatest power-pop songs of all time. “Wake Me Up When September Ends” – Green Day. Since we’re sticking with a theme…

  • Reader’s Notebook, 8/31/17

    A Divided Spy – Charles Cumming. I hate it when I realize, a decent stretch into a book that is part of a series, that I missed the previous entry in the set. I had read book one of Cumming’s Thomas Kell series and then picked this one up. Problem is this is book three. And as the books all…

  • Out of the Fish Business

    We’re out of the fish business. Our last betta, Harry Potter, died an unfortunate death today. He was on his last legs already – L was sure he was dead last weekend – but then I accidentally wacked the side of his bowl with a lid to some Corningware while I made my lunch. Water and gravel went everywhere. By…

  • R’s: Crap

    Well, shit. August wasn’t supposed to be like this. After a scorching hot June and (most of) July, the Royals were supposed to roar into August and battle Cleveland for the AL Central lead, all while solidifying the lead they had built up in the Wild Card race. Worst case, they were going to play New York or Boston in…

  • Sports, Sports, Sports

    We are officially in the busiest stretch of the year for us. Right in the middle of kickball season. First cross country meet was last Saturday. Soccer practice begins this Wednesday. For the next two weeks we’ll have five teams cranked up and rolling through practices and games/meets. C had a solid sports weekend. Friday night she had a kickball…

  • Friday Playlist

    The music day I’ve been waiting on since way back in the spring is finally here: The War on Drugs A Deeper Understanding is officially out. Sadly, perhaps because they are now on a major rather than indie label, folks like me who had pre-ordered the album did not get a link to download it a week early as with…