Like many parents, we bought a camcorder around the time our first child was born.[1] Like many parents, we recorded dozens of moments during our early years of parenting, sometimes letting the tape run long past the point when it should have been shut off because we were so utterly delighted with everything our child did. Like many parents the camcorder slowly got used less-and-less as we added more offspring to the family.
The first full weekend of summer is in the books. Let’s go back a couple days to our first two days of summer vacation, last Thursday and Friday. Nothing too exciting on the agenda either day. Some bike rides, softball hitting practice in the street, hanging out with a visiting aunt, a trip to the library. And the girls first two full swim practices of the summer. Recall that we switched to a different swim team this year.
Links Figured I should start the summer off right by getting the links out on the normal day. Tomorrow is the Champions League final. After a lengthy absence from the elite, Juventus is back in the title game after a surprise run through the knock-out stages. They were my first favorite European team; I adopted them after the 1994 World Cup because so many of Italy’s best players were on the Bionconeri.
youtu.be/IoBJ0CfdS… “Inside Out” - Spoon I have one rule when making general music lists: each artist/band gets only one entry. So whether it is a year-end list or a favorites-of-all-time list, I have to decide which song best represents a particular act. For my favorite songs of 2014 list, Spoon’s “Rent I Pay” checked in at #11. But it took me much mental back-and-forth to decide which Spoon song to include.
Day one of summer! It’s right at 8:00 as I start this. Two of the girls beat me out of bed, despite letting them stay up late and being told to sleep in, but one is still zonked out. Of course, we could still hear noise from that one’s room after 10:00 last night. I, happily, slept in until the time we would normally be walking out the door for the trip to St.
At first glance, it was a light month. Two books?!?! What the hell? Ahhh, but the truth is more complex. One book took nearly three weeks to read. And in spare moments I was also reading books about photography. So, fear not. I knocked out my obligatory five books in May. I just won’t bore you with the details of the photography guides. The Sympathizer - Viet Thanh Nguyen Man, what a book.
Jeez. Another month that just flew by. Games, practices, birthdays, the first couple lake weekends of the year. And the winding down of the school year. Cram it all into a 31-day stretch and we’re turning the calendar seemingly moments after we last did so. L. wrapped up soccer yesterday. She enjoyed this season, but also developed some bad habits that were inevitable when she was, at times, playing against four-year-olds.
youtu.be/WgUAvzP-q… “She’s Not Me” - Jenny Lewis How many of you remember the 1989 movie Troop Beverly Hills? I’m 99% sure I never saw it, although I do remember the name. It was a Shelly Long vehicle, which right there should be enough to let you know it was terrible. It also was the feature film debut of the wonderful Carla Gugino. And it was the second big-screen appearance by a youngster named Jenny Lewis, who had done TV for several years, and would continue to act into the 1990s before forming the band Rilo Kiley with her then-boyfriend Blake Sennett.
It’s a tent-pole requirement of parenting to always be comparing the lives of your kids to your own childhood. We point out the ways our children are more fortunate than us: “I didn’t get to go to Florida until I was 31. You’ve been there three times before you turned 9. Stop complaining!” We observe the changes in how parents monitor their children today. For example, it seems like most of my generation had free reign to play wherever they wanted for as long as they wanted.
Good grief. Busy-ness (as opposed to business), laziness, a holiday weekend, and a general late-school year malaise have me well behind in sharing links. This period of inattention just happened to coincide with a flood of great things to share. So brace yourself, grab a beverage, shut your office door (or send the kids to bed if the hour is appropriate), and take a deep breath before diving into these.
youtu.be/daUyogS1w… “Constructive Summer” - The Hold Steady A GREAT fan-made video that takes the words of a song and uses them in an unexpected way. Charming, funny, and inventive. Oh, and the perfect song for the unofficial start of summer. Let’s build something this summer!
As you know, I dig series finales. I love it when a show that has been on for years, and has built a loyal audience and deep back-story, closes everything out with one last episode and goodbye. But when it’s a person who is leaving air rather than a show, and 33 years of history rather than just a solid 5–7 year sit-com/drama run, it’s a little different. It’s tougher to draw a straight line and connect all the dots between the first episode and last when you’re dealing with over three decades and two different networks.
Some assorted Kid Notes that have been jotted down in recent weeks. This is totally unofficial, and I base it without knowing anything about the rest of the school, but I’m declaring my girls the Reading Champions of St. P’s. Second graders are given reading wheels during second semester they are required to complete. They contain 12 categories, with the entries each, that the kids have to read a book for.
What birthday summed you up the best? I’m not saying your best birthday, or the most memorable one. I’m saying, which of your birthdays contained all the elements that, combined, explained the person you were/are? I ask that question because I believe yesterday was the most C. birthday of C.’s life. She was happy, crazy, giggly, and excited. She also had three meltdowns, got in trouble and sent to her room, and had some of her favorite toys taken away because she was fighting over them with one of her sisters.
youtu.be/ldWSMhu4C… “True Trans Soul Rebel” - Laura Jane Grace with Miley Cyrus Miley is doing some interesting things these days. I can’t say I’m on-board with, or understand, many of them. But her Happy Hippy Backyard Sessions are often fantastic. I highly recommend checking out the other performances. Here, she joins Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace for one of the best songs off one of the best albums of 2014, Transexual Dysphoria Blues.
I hinted last week that I had made a purchase that would require a lengthy post. I’m sure some of you immediately thought, “That glorious bastard bought an Apple Watch!” Nope. My feelings about the Apple Watch are pretty similar to how I viewed the initial iPhone back in 2007: cool gadget, but I don’t see the need for one in my life. I think we’ll all be wearing some kind of connected watch in the relatively near future.
We have a truck-load of mulch being delivered shortly,[1] so some links to help you pass the time while I try to beat the rain. We’ll begin with basketball. This article is a year old, but got passed around again after the player who it focuses on, Cheick Diallo, committed to play his one year of college basketball at Kansas two weeks ago. Interesting how, at least when it comes to college choice, the headline was 100 percent accurate.
Takes almost as hot as the weather here in central Indiana.[1] A-Rod Wow, the Yankees have made Alex Rodriguez a sympathetic figure, something that seemed impossible. I love to hate A-Rod, but I also admire his comeback. It would have been easy after his last injury and suspension to just retire and disappear into the void. He could say goodbye to the media, to fans booing him at every at-bat, and to all the drama that has surrounded the last part of his career.
youtu.be/qVtAteilk… “Turn Around” - Mikal Cronin In the style of Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn.” Cronin’s new album, MC III, is one of my favorites of the year. As he did on his last album, he perfectly combines classic power pop with straight-ahead rock, and this time throws on some layers of strings to add a lushness to each song.
I am a wee bit distracted this week. We’ll get into it more soon, likely next week, but I made a semi-major purchase over the weekend. Which, of course, demands that I share a lot of words about the research that went into said purchase and how the purchase is working out. But that’s a few more days away. In the meantime, a rare political post! It’s the worst time of the year.