We had an interesting Monday when it came to interactions with automobiles, both indirectly and directly. Things started with a bit of a bang. Just before we were heading out of the house to do school drop offs C yelled to us, “There’s a car on fire outside!” I ran to our front door and, sure enough, on the main road our house sits near, about 100 yards from our front door, a car was sitting, hood open, with flames pouring out of the engine block area.
There are moments when the lack of respect I get in my house is unbelievable. Example: yesterday S and I used the relatively warm and dry afternoon to put up some outdoor Christmas lights. Part of our post-pool construction landscaping was adding seven Norwegian spruces to our backyard to provide some privacy. We decided to add them to our holiday decorating by wrapping them in Christmas lights. (We also have five new Norwegian spruces in our front yard, but they are over 250 feet from the nearest power outlet.
open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Lenox Hill” - Thyla. This here shit? This is the shit that is right up my alley these days. Driving, dreamy pop with a female vocalist. Wait until you see my Favorites of 2019 list… “Now I Know” - The Whiffs. This song has a serious late ‘70s/early ‘80s vibe to it. The rock music of that time that bumped up against New Wave but still had a garage rock core.
As if the golf wasn’t enough, I have myself another old-man hobby. Or I nearly had another old man hobby, I should say. Back in July I saw an online ad for a watch sale at some random store. It wasn’t a store I was interested in, but I clicked through just to see what was available. The watch I had been wearing daily for nearly five years - a Citizen Eco-Drive - was starting to get beat up a little bit and I’d had my eyes open to get something new for awhile.
We finally - FINALLY - wrapped up the fall sports season last night. It was a strange and disappointing ending. L’s basketball team’s first opponent in the City tournament was a team that was undefeated. All those wins came in very convincing fashion. We figured it was another team loaded with six graders who play year-round and we’d be lucky to stay in the game for a quarter. Our assessment about their talent was accurate.
Mother Nature takes a lot of grief around here. Occasionally, though, I have to give her props. Yesterday she dropped an absolutely perfect late fall day on us. It was sunny, not much breeze, and although the high was forecast to be in the mid–50s, she kicked her heels off, checked her nails, and gave us a bonus high of 61. I spent most of the day doing yard work, but I did not mind because it was so beautiful out.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…–4bYpMGZlA “For the First Time” - Best Coast. What a glorious day! We have new Best Coast music! I’m deep into my Favorite Songs of the Decade research. Best Coast is on that list. On Monday I did some searching to see if BC was rumored to have any new music on the horizon but came up empty. Less than 24 hours later this dropped, with news of a new album in 2020.
It’s been nearly three months since my last (and first) What I’m Watching post. I haven’t watched much in terms of variety since then, but I have packed in some quantity. So here’s a quick run down. Brooklyn Nine-Nine I was doing some DVR cleanup, mostly deleting crap the girls recorded and never watched over the summer, and realized I had almost half of last season’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine to still get through.
It was a big weekend, as I had my much anticipated visit to a local country club for a round of golf with a friend. But before we get to that, I must share the round I played nine days earlier. That day I was not sure of my goal. It was a cold, dreary day and I had a hard time getting motivated. But, looking at the forecast and my schedule for the next week, I realized this might be my last chance to play before the country club visit.
As has become routine, a quick-ish rundown of what went down over the weekend. Halloween OK, not technically the weekend, but worth a few words about how the girls spent Halloween. M went to a friend’s house to hang out and watch movies. C, along with most of the girls in her grade, dressed as Dalmatians. They didn’t quite make it to 101 but you get the idea. And L dressed as Robin from Stranger Things and joined two friends who were dressed as Dustin and Steve from the show.
open.spotify.com/playlist/… “November Has Come” - Gorrilaz. Hey, look, it’s November 1! “Your Book” - Say Sue Me. Might this be the first time I’ve featured a band from South Korea in these posts? These kids have zero K-Pop to them; this sounds straight out of the early ‘00s indie era. “Downtown Lights” - Frankie Lee. Lee grew up in Stillwater, MN. In the mid–90s actress Jessica Lange moved there with her husband Sam Shepard.
As is my norm, I am behind on sharing my books with you. So here we go… Normal People - Sally Rooney I hate when a book lets you down. I was really enjoying this book as I worked my way through it. And then the final quarter or so ruined most of that good will. Normal People is centered on two Irish teens from opposite sides of the track.
OK, finally some weekend notes. Youth Basketball L’s team finally got their second win of the year, a nervy 18–15 win. They were down 14–10 in the fourth quarter, which seemed like a monumental gap. We got back-to-back steals and scores to tie, then cranked up the defense, got a couple more scores, and held on for the win. It was everything a 5th–6th grade basketball game should be: maddening, hilarious, outrageous, and ridiculous.
Monday got away from me a little. I had some things on the agenda, but also figured I’d be able to sit down and crank out a weekend summary post or something. Then things got a little weird. So in the interest of posting something before Monday is over, here is a quick review of my day. I know, I know: I’m breaking ground for new levels of excitement here!
A couple new songs with a healthy dose of nostalgia this week. open.spotify.com/playlist/… “Our Little World” - County Line Road. Maybe it’s the name of the group, but I was surprised to learn this band is from England and not the US. This track has a big, mid–80s feel to it. “Walking on a String” - Matt Berninger with Phoebe Bridgers. What better way for Berninger to introduce the world to his first solo album than to release a single that features Phoebe Bridgers?
Chart Week: September 17, 1983 Song: “Stand Back” - Stevie Nicks Chart Position: #35, 16th week on the chart. Peaked at #5 the week of August 20. First a piece of housekeeping. I noticed this morning that I mis-numbered my last entry, for some reason skipping from 31 to 34. I have updated that post to correctly show it as entry #32 in the Reaching for the Stars collection. I regret the error.
I had a Reaching for the Stars post lined up for today, but one huge sports story has me skipping to throw down some sports thoughts on your heads. Kansas - Missouri Basketball is Back Well this was a total surprise. I have a few birdies out there who occasionally drop hints that big news is coming. None of them shared even a whiff of this coming out before last night’s announcement.
We are one step closer to being done with fall sports. L played her final soccer game of the season on Saturday. They won 3–1 to push their record to 4–1–1, including four-straight wins. It was kind of a bummer day, though. Early in the second half she was standing near a defender who was trying to clear a ball and took an absolute blast in the back of her head.
“Hail, Hail” - Pearl Jam A bit of an odd music week for me the past few days. I’ve hit the point in the calendar when I set asdide new music I dive into my Favorite Song list for a bit to start whittling it down to a manageable number before the final push to rank them for the year. Ah, but this year ends in a nine, so there’s also a Decade list to work on.
As we get deeper into October, the opportunities to play golf in the midwest are rapidly shrinking. I have played twice in the past couple weeks, both rounds worthy of brief breakdowns. First, as the title suggests, I have now carded a lifetime best of 92. In fact, I shot 92 in each of my last two rounds. Which, given where I started and what my goals are, is pretty great, right?