NYT crossword for today, March 27, 2023:
New Monday personal best = a very short video today.
NYT crossword for today, March 26, 2023:
This Sunday puzzle was a lot of fun. Not too difficult, and at least one really fantastic “ah ha!” moment.

Quite the unfortunate juxtaposition in the NYT Crossword today… 😬
I remain baffled by any suggestion that unmediated readership-facing AI to provide info is any “killer app” for a journalistic organization. It is unconcerned with the truth, which seems like a pretty big disqualifier to me.
Picked up my library hold of Meredith Broussard’s new book ‘More Than a Glitch‘ tonight. Looking forward to digging in.
NYT crossword for today, March 22, 2023:
New personal best for a Wednesday!
NYT crossword for today, March 15, 2023:
My audio recording failed, so I recorded a post-solve commentary track. Kinda weird.
In honor of 314 Day, I asked ChatGPT to imagine St. Louis on 3/14/2034 and tell me ten facts about it. Here’s what it said:
Sure, here are ten hypothetical facts about St. Louis on 3/14/2034:
ChatGPT
- St. Louis has a population of just over 3 million people, with steady growth in recent years.
- The city has become a center for innovation in renewable energy and sustainable urban development.
- A new high-speed train connects St. Louis to other major cities in the Midwest, making travel easier and more efficient.
- The city’s downtown area has undergone a major revitalization, with new restaurants, shops, and entertainment venues attracting both locals and tourists.
- The St. Louis Blues have won several Stanley Cup championships, making them one of the most successful hockey teams in recent history.
- St. Louis has invested in new infrastructure to support electric and self-driving cars, with charging stations and autonomous vehicle lanes now a common sight on the city’s streets.
- The city has become a hub for medical research and innovation, with several world-renowned hospitals and research centers located in the area.
- The Missouri River has become a major destination for outdoor recreation, with kayaking, fishing, and hiking opportunities attracting visitors from across the region.
- St. Louis has a diverse and thriving arts and culture scene, with museums, galleries, and performance spaces showcasing the city’s creative talent.
- The city has become more inclusive and welcoming to people from all backgrounds, with initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion in all aspects of city life.
Congrats to Meredith Broussard on the publication of her newest book: More Than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech. I enjoyed her fireside chat at NICAR and jumped on the library’s waiting list as soon as I saw the listing pop up the other day.
Trying to logically reason ChatGPT into a corner to prove it is “lying” because it is biased is about as effective as doing the same thing with your cat. Also equally entertaining for outside observers, so by all means, please continue…
50 day streak for the NYT Crossword! If you’d like to watch me mispronounce things and struggle over embarrassingly obvious pop culture, here’s a playlist. (There aren’t 50 there because I started doing them before I started recording them).
St. Louis City SC might just be for real. What a start.
NYT crossword for today, March 11, 2023:
Settle in. It’s a long one.
My kid is starting a K-2 soccer program and they just sent out an email saying they needed another head coach. I’ve never played soccer but you better believe visions of being junior Ted Lasso just flashed through my head.
I would attend an entire conference with data journalists just talking about organization and workflow tactics and strategy. #NICAR23
I am at the NICAR conference in Nashville until Sunday. Occasional nerdy posts may occur. If you are also here, feel free to say hello.
Just saw St. Louis CITY SC’s first ever MLS goal. Neat.
NYT crossword for today, Feb. 19, 2023:
What a great idea for a theme.
I’ve taken the opportunity while recuperating from whatever illness took me out this week to watch a good bit of the England-New Zealand Test cricket match. It’s pleasant to listen to something with the rhythm of a sport but that I don’t understand the details of.

🥑🌶🧅🍅 Decided to attempt some guacamole.
NYT crossword for today, Feb. 12, 2023:
Tricky one today. I was worried I’d have to look something up toward the end, but wound up guessing. Eventually. Also bonus appearance by inadvertent Siri activation.


10/10 no notes.

Breakfast skillet (potatoes, sausage, eggs, rosemary w/ toast)



Chipotle chicken. Not bad.
Roasted chicken with root vegetables.


Cast iron cottage pie supper.

Oh cool, my time machine must be on its way.
My wife and I watch Cracking the Cryptic, a YouTube channel that solves sudoku and talks through the logic. I’ve seen similar with the NYT Crossword, so I decided to give it a shot. Pretty fun (though I’m terrified of mispronunciations). Here’s today’s puzzle:
I’m not entirely convinced that cryptic crosswords aren’t a collective Mornington Crescent-style joke being played on the rest of us.
9:30 a.m. and I’ve already watched the movie, had coffee and finished the NYT crossword. Turns out getting up early to drop my kid off at the bus makes me do stuff in the morning. Not productive stuff (so far), but progress.

Boy, today’s Today In History in the Post-Dispatch (web version) starts bad, stays bad and ends with a doozy.
I like that Siri can read notifications, but it went 0-for-2 on a message from my TV that “Southern Eel” is about to play “Illinois Street”.

Ten years ago today I was at an IRE boot camp at Mizzou in Columbia, Mo. learning how to be a data journalist. The Journalist’s Creed was written by Walter Williams, founding dean of the Missouri School of Journalism, in 1914.
I realize I’m to the point in my life where if I do anything really good I’m going to be held up as an inspirational example like “he did his first X at age Y: it’s never too late to do that thing you want to do”.
I sure do love a good deep dive on a niche topic. Oaths! How do they Work? via A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
“Today, an overwhelming majority of @stlpublicradio’s on and off-air staff are taking a historic step in becoming the first @NPR radio station in #Missouri to form a union… #WeMakeSTLPR (🧵)” @stlprguild on Twitter
I’m sure I’m not the first to make this observation but tonight it occurred to me that walking to bed in a dark house with your phone flashlight is the modern-day equivalent of using a chamberstick.
It is January the third and I’ve just opened the windows and turned on the house fan.
If you’d like to listen to one of the greatest orchestras in the world play its New Year’s Eve concert with an all-surprise program, here you go. 7:30 Central Time.
I don’t wish to ruin Christmas, but I’m scanning in a handwritten recipe book passed down through my family and there’s a recipe for something called “Yam-brosia”. It contains sweet potatoes, bananas, coconut and worcestershire sauce.
My other kid: “Dad, who’s the best at soccer?”
Me: “Well, right now Argentina is the best.”
Him: “But I’m the best.”
My kid walked in and saw ARG 3 – FRA 2 and said “Oh, Arkansas (pronounced “Argansaw”) has 3 and France has 2!”.
“For about 10 years I’ve been curating an extremely carefully selected and sequenced Christmas playlist. …” @JeremyDGoodwin
I’ve been listening to this playlist for the last couple years (it’s on right now, in fact), and I really enjoy it. If you’re looking for a “just press play and enjoy” experience, this is the one.
You can kill the reporter. You won’t kill the story.
Las Vegas Review-Journal: A reporter’s killing revealed a decade of Robert Telles’ toxic behavior
Followed @chatfieldwill on journa.host.
Followed @jeremybowers on journa.host.
Best Buy had Lutron Caseta smart switches on clearance today, so I got a starter kit (hub + dimmer w/ remote), another dimmer w/ remote and three switches for about $150. Spent the evening installing them. So far so good.
Powerball numbers being delayed because of a technical glitch on the night of the biggest jackpot in U.S. history and also the day before an election seems like an autogenerated spy thriller plot.
Testing Monocle/Bridgy Fed/a bunch of stuff I don’t understand.
After about 5 minutes of the new Weird Al movie, I thought “There’s no way they can sustain this level for a whole movie,” and then it just keeps heightening until the credits.
The soundtrack to the new Weird Al biopic is out and you’ll be pleased to know the lyrics to “Amish Paradise” are still safely wedged in my brain, 26 years later.

📷⚾️ Saw a winner. #STLCards




Five years ago today I got to visit the National Mall in Washington D.C. for the first time, including the memorials to our service members there. I will never forget it. See larger images.
Since they were born, every night before I go to bed I check on my kids. Sometimes it’s 10, sometimes midnight, sometimes 2 in the morning, but I always check. I’ll stop someday, but not tonight. Especially not tonight.

📷⛴ Towboat “American Beauty”. Not every day I shoot something you can legitimately buy a model of.
Up next is Uwe Rosenberg’s New York Zoo. Adorable animal meeples. #Geekway

Live from the show floor at #Geekway 2022! The first game was Caper: Europe. Excellent start.

On the eve of spending four days playing boardgames at #Geekway to the West, I’m watching Only Connect on YouTube and wondering if a pub quiz/trivia night/scholastic bowl type of convention exists, and if not why not.

Today is GiveSTLDay. My employer, St. Louis Public Radio, is raising money to make our building more bird-safe. If you’d like to help out, here’s where you can learn more.

If you enjoy my bird photos, please consider donating to my employer, St. Louis Public Radio, for GiveSTLDay. We want to make our building in Grand Center safer for birds. Even $10 would help, but $25 gets a tote bag thank-you. More details

🦫 via today’s Mark Trail
Every five or ten years I catch TOMMY (1975), and every single time I have forgotten just how incredibly weird the whole thing is. I found the Blu-Ray at the library yesterday, so reset the clock.
Definitely almost got phished by this legitimate-looking email. I own this domain and have some domains registered at Dreamhost, but this domain is not registered at Dreamhost. Also the URL linked to the button didn’t make sense.

I watched Severance on AppleTV+ last night. And by “watched Severance”, I mean “watched ALL OF Severance” because once I watched the first episode I couldn’t not watch all the rest.




⚾️ A few of my photos from the #STLCards #OpeningDay. See more on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/brentajones/albums/72177720297974938
I was somehow under the impression baseball had gotten rid of the dumb extra-innings starting runner rule for this season, but apparently not. Good to have something to get annoyed by, I guess.
⚾️ The minimum ticket price for the #STLCards home opener on Stubhub is $70 for Standing Room Only, $73+ for seats. $50 SRO tickets still available through the club, but cheapest seats are $100.
In my experience, data nerds often do have a sense of humor.

from The Data Detective by Tim Harford 📚
Currently reading: The Data Detective by Tim Harford 📚

⚾️ The #STLCardinals are playing baseball on my television.
What an amazing story on a number of levels.
His software sang the words of God. Then it went silent. — Input
This is lovely and extremely relatable.
via Kottke
Today my kid’s teacher sent an email about making a time capsule today on 2-22-22 to be opened on 3-3-33 because that “will be just a few months shy of their high school graduation” and as I was reading it I aged like the Indiana Jones guy who drank from the false grail.
2:22 2/22/22! #twosday
2/22/22!
Novle: just like Wordle, but each guess is the full text of a famous novel.
Monobob looks like a lot of fun and sounds like a minor comic book character. #Olympics
⛷ I’ve never been skiing before, and this alpine course is terrifying to look at on TV. I can’t imagine flying down it at 60-80 mph. Of the first four skiers, one crashed and one finished with a bloody face. #Olympics
Dadding during the Winter Olympics means trying to convince your kid that the phrase “skeleton athletes” means a team of literal skeletons.
☀️❄️ The snow is beginning to melt, and I know that because my (not-so-)smart rain gauge just told it’s raining. (It isn’t raining). #stlWX
Home automation: I’ve been sitting here next to a window with mostly-closed blinds reading for a while, & a minute or two ago I realized it was getting dark. A few seconds later, the lamp in the corner behind me turned on because I’d set it to turn on a few minutes before sunset.


📚 Found this book @slcl this morning — published just a couple weeks ago! Seems relevant to my interests.
🎵 “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” performed by @punchbrothers, sung by @christhile? Yes please, and thank you.
Only Connect is such a great quiz show. I’d like to think I’d love a US version (usually at least a couple questions per show I think rely on cultural references), but I worry it would lose its charm. And who could possibly be our version of Victoria Coren Mitchell?
Dadding level: Spent the morning at the local independent hardware store and making a Pinewood Derby car with oldest kid.
(disclosure: have never made a Pinewood Derby car before; wife has done at least as much of the work as I have to this point)
I’ve finished my first bag of coffee for the year. Since the beginning of the pandemic I’ve been through 44 bags of coffee beans in varying sizes and brands (and 1 can of Folgers). Nearly 73 pounds in total, 48 pounds of which was Cameron’s Breakfast Blend.
There were some things I expected from the new AppleTV+ version of Macbeth. The Office’s Chris Finch was not on that list.
Turning out the lights and heading to bed using the flashlight on your phone is the 21st century equivalent of walking through a dark house with a candle and chamberstick like some Dickensian character.
Spent about $50 on baritone/bass musical anthology books and then all night pulling up the tracks and considering audition songs despite the fact I haven’t auditioned in a decade or been on stage in almost 20 years. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Looks like it’s a 2nd-pot-of-coffee kind of day. Haven’t had one of those in a while.


Found a baseball card shop at the mall selling boxes of packs for $10. I know they aren’t worth much these days, but 500+ bits of nostalgia for a sawbuck? Deal.
How long was 2021? The Bernie Sanders mittens meme happened this year.
Started the day with Kaldi’s ‘Tis the Season blend, ending it with Urban Chestnut’s Old Tjikko, aka the beer that tastes like a Christmas tree in a glass (in a good way). Not a bad Christmas Eve.
If you’d like to spend 40 minutes watching me make some tasty Lithuanian liqueur, I got you the perfect present this year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bARLJyDjY_M
Watching Aaron Sorkin’s SportsNight: setting a show where you can have characters naturally go off into a soundproof room seems convenient from a story perspective. (I don’t know that TV editing bays are soundproof, but they look similar enough to the ones at the radio station)
Things may be dark, but tonight at dinner my three-year old got to giggle and say “Excuse you, ketchup!”
Good to know the classics still get a laugh.
Finally got fed up enough with the Monterey bluetooth issues that I plugged in an old Apple keyboard I had lying around. Should’ve done this months ago but I kept hoping the issues were temporary.
I theoretically have a package arriving today. I say theoretically, because tracking told me it was on a truck for delivery here in St. Louis all day yesterday, didn’t show up and would be rescheduled for today, but somehow at 3 a.m. today it arrived in Champaign, Ill.
That thing when you don’t realize Python has a built-in to convert a binary string to decimal but it seems easy enough so you write your own, and it turns out to be the easiest part of the whole problem. In related news, adventofcode.com is back.




And here are a few close-ups of the #BCBS Double Barrel. I normally don’t worry too much about the variants, but I’m happy to have found this one.




🍻 Happy #BCBS day to all who celebrate. Pictured: my 7-year vertical, the Double Barrel variant I found, and the new (and, for comparison old) bottlecap on the standard.

And for an after-dessert snack, some foraged black walnuts. A lot of work, but pretty tasty.
When the first commercial came on the broadcast of the parade this morning, my kid said “Wait?! There’s commercials on live TV?!” and I just thought, Kid, you have been SPOILED.
Today I learned my smart thermostat has developed the capability to be used as an AirPlay speaker and it feels like an on-the-nose analogy to my career. Related: my thermostat lives in a room with a 3-speaker Sonos surround setup.
📚 Quite enjoying James Lapine’s new book “Putting It Together”, about how he and Stephen Sondheim created “Sunday in the Park with George”. He interviewed almost everyone involved and it’s fascinating to hear the story in all the different voices.
I guess the pandemic probably delayed it for a year or so, but looks like we’ve hit the “hire a babysitter to go out for the night” stage. Not sure the full weight of that realization had hit me yet.
Suzanne Vega was inspired to write the song Tom’s Diner 40 years ago today.
Guys and Dolls, adjusted for inflation (from 1933): the $1 “solid gold watch” would be $21.44 today. Harry the Horse collected the $5,000 reward on his father (also Sky Masterson’s raindrop bet), over $100k today. $1,000 for the crap game at Joey Biltmore’s garage: >$21,000.




Traveled north last weekend. Stopped in Sioux Falls. It’s neat. More photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmX2MXh3
Apple Music’s Halloween Classical playlist has Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy on it. I guess it’s a little mysterious sounding?
I have a cold but woke up today being able to comfortably hit A below low C, so I’ve got that going for me.
Resolved: The best bowl of cereal is the last bowl in a bag of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Gary Paulsen, best known for writing the YA novel ‘Hatchet’ (though he wrote a lot more), died today. I remember reading that book in school. I’m glad he wrote it, and glad I read it.
Getting vicariously exhausted/stress-sweaty being here while a couple delivery folks try to maneuver a freezer into my house and down the steps into my basement. My body had a literal physical response, which I did not anticipate. Interesting.

Steve Jobs died 10 years ago today. Art by @hughcards



Opening evening of Geekway to the West in the books. Everybody vaccinated and masked while playing in the common areas. We played three play-and-win games: Renature, Blossoms and Santa Monica. Finished just before midnight. Not too bad.
Black Walnuts product meeting: We’ve created the most delicious snack possible. How do we market this thing? —Put it in the hardest to open packaging ever created! —That’s genius, what else? —What if it also stained your hands for a week? —Promotions for everyone!

If you’re still wondering about the legitimacy of the iPhone 13 Pro camera system, I managed to capture stars and fire in the same frame. I live in suburbia, so stars at all are impressive. This is edited, but I’m pretty wowed.

📷 🔥 ⚾️ With the forecast, maybe the last regular-season #STLCards bonfire. Thanks for the good season, guys.
Remember 2011? For the #STLCards, Game 6 lives forever, but how about Game 162? The Cards were 8.5 back in the wildcard race (only 1 spot) at the beginning of September but pulled even with Atlanta before the final day of the season. All times Central (and approximate).
⚾️ You probably have one or two games you consider the best ever for your team. But exactly one decade ago tonight was the greatest night in Major League Baseball.
The opening to the new season of Bake Off was really quite something.
I’m watching Space Jam for probably the first time since it came out, and friends, however weird you remember this film to be, I guarantee your memory is not doing it justice.

📷🥃 Do you have a favorite glass? This is a Kosta Boda Mine tumbler. It was the first (and still pretty much only) expensive glassware I’ve purchased. it is heavy and textured and lovely to hold.

📷🛰 I spent the day at a park where everyone was pretending to be from the 15th century or so, and then tonight I came home and took a picture of the International Space Station with the computer I carry in my pocket.
19 years ago, my first story for the Indiana Daily Student was published on the front page. It’s not great. But you can read it here. (CMS changes mean it no longer has my byline, but I have photographic proof)


Turns out a chainsaw makes processing firewood much easier.

After the service for my grandmother this morning, I walked around the cemetery a bit looking at the markers, some dating back to the early 1800s, at least. Google tells me this guy was a member of the Horse Thief Detective Association.
In a scene somewhat reminiscent of turning on the lights and playing a final song when closing down a bar, my grandmother’s visitation this afternoon ended with a rousing rendition of Steve Goodman’s Go Cubs Go.

Cleaning out the house after my grandmother died a few days ago, my mom and aunts discovered she was in a play in high school. I was amused to find this Indiana humor (“Mama’s Baby Boy” written by Charles George in 1933, performed in 1953, also in small-town Indiana).
Cardinals baseball on the radio, wafts of a high school football game in the distance, a crackling bonfire, cicadas and crickets. It’s the late summer Friday evening soundtrack of St. Louis.
Cardinals’ offense shows up for Waino and Yadi’s night. #stlcards
One benefit of working from home is you can start dinner at 1:30.

🍳🌽🍞🌶🍋 Next cast-iron experiment: jalapeño-lime cornbread.

📚 Found “Mapping America”, a new book, at @SLCL this morning. Got through a couple chapters so far.

🥘🍗 The cast iron cooking continues at speed. Last night I made macaroni and cheese in one pan and cooked up some pork chops in the other. Tonight, fried chicken breasts for sandwiches and nuggets for the kids.

When you go grocery shopping and find a couple steaks marked down to sell today, you have a pretty decent lunch & leftovers.
📷⛰🌲 I was in Southeastern Illinois for a funeral yesterday morning, and realized that Garden of the Gods — which I had somehow never visited — was nearby. So after the funeral I did a little solo contemplation walk. Nice place.
In my pile of sheet music, I found a mediocre counterpoint composition I did in my first music theory course as a college freshman. I also found some schedules and grades, so I can tell you I was failing at it mid-semester but must’ve pulled out a passing grade.
Finally starting to catalogue my collection of sheet music and it might be overly revelatory.
“We are expected to send our kids off into God knows what, to work our jobs and live our lives like nothing’s wrong, and to hold it all together for months and maybe now for years without ever seeing a way out.”
— Dan Sinker in The Atlantic
I’m not into “the pop” as the kids say, but Lorde’s new album is a pretty pleasant listen!


To paraphrase Michael Scott: “It takes a big man to admit when he was wrong, and I am that big man.”
Ah yes, the traditional… checks calendar and clock …August 19, 1:18 a.m. St. Louis fireworks.
My kids are many years away from high school, but looking up the bus routes for this year I see that some high-school age kids have to be at the bus stop a little after 6:30 a.m. That seems extremely early.

The thing about playing in the fire that no one ever tells you as a kid is that A) yes it is fun to play in the fire and B) eventually you’re old enough that no one tells you to not play in the fire.
I bought two adorable camping-sized cast-iron pans earlier today (a 6″ round and square), which explains why I’m seasoning four cast-iron pans at midnight (this is the second cycle, and I figured I might as well do all the pans I own at once).
Baseball is like pizza. I’d rather have good baseball than bad baseball. But bad baseball is still better than no baseball at all. #STLCards
I would be pleased if AppleTV wanted to own the space of filmed stage musicals and shows. Apple Original Films announces filmed production for the musical “Come From Away”
#stlwx
The film version of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, with Gary Oldman, Tim Roth and Richard Dreyfuss is on sale at iTunes for $5. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/rosencrantz-and-guildenstern-are-dead/id1056872270
Schauffele’s in trouble. Just put one off the right side on 14, maybe lost. Then played a provisional that went off the fairway into the trees on the left. Only leading by 1. #Olympics
When I first opened this box of 100 coffee filters to make my morning coffee, Missouri was averaging 660 cases per week, and nearly 11 deaths. I just finished the box. There are now nearly 2,500 cases per week in Missouri and 17.4 deaths. I’ll open a new box tomorrow.
What a terrible day. At least we get to get up and do it all again tomorrow.
You know what doesn’t get used as a cocktail garnish as often as I’d expect? Grapes.
I know I’m not the first person to make this observation, but whoever approved this new Slack commercial with the two “knock brush” notification sounds can go stub their toe.
The neighbors invited us over to swim in their pool that has a section that’s 8 or 10 feet. Treading water there while watching out for two (life-jacket-wearing) kids, I have a renewed respect for the #Olympics water polo players.
I mean, my goodness. Look up the women’s foil match between Kiefer (USA) and Harvey (CAN). That was tense! #Olympics
Watching #Olympics fencing and coming to the conclusion I’d be very quickly dead in any sort of swordfighting situation. I can’t even tell where a lot of these hits are on the slo-mo replays.
Ah yes, St. Louis’ traditional July 19 fireworks.
I take OK pictures of birds sometimes. These are great pictures of birds.
via kottke
The Kindle version of Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird is on sale for $1.99. It’s a pretty good book on writing.
Discovered the fascinating macabre song cycle Ghost Quartet while working from home today. Written by the writer/composer of Great Comet and featuring a couple of the performers. A lot of the same musical DNA.
“I’m the worst” — Central Park
“Don’t think about the failures, think about the future.” — Central Park

I am working from the newsroom today for the first time since *gesticulates at everything* and thought, “well, at least I don’t need to update my calendar right away.” Then I realized that’s 2020.
Turns out not picking up a golf club for two or three years mysteriously did not solve the myriad issues with my swing.




Fireworks might be one of my favorite things to shoot. More here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/brentajones/albums/72157719551589410 🎆 📷

Aside from getting lunch with my family at the Zoo a few weeks back, today was my first in-public sit-down meal since I think March 9, 2020. Still effectively outdoors though.
One of the great skills in life I hope to acquire some day is stoking a bonfire just enough to burn out right when a baseball game ends. #STLCards
Today I found out I am ‘bang on the window to get the squirrel off the bird feeder’-years-old.
Can you guess when the storm moved through last night? ⛈
Hold music that plays for a seemingly-random amount of time, suddenly cuts off in the middle of a phrase, then starts again after a second or two and plays for a different length of time feels actively hostile.
Lovely vintage typewriter LEGO set.
Via Kottke.org
Today is the first day of in-person summer school. And my youngest is at daycare. And my wife is at work. Meaning, for the first time in a year+, I get to work a regular day by myself at home.
It’s been an emotional few days — I performed with my singing group again for the first time in more than a year, my oldest kid turned six and graduated from Kindergarten, and we sold our first house where we’ve lived since being married. Still feeling it out.
Four Laps: a Looping Video About Looping Videos

I do take the point that a fire pit with a USB battery/fan/power bank is a little too on-brand, but come on. Look at it.
I know I had an idea I’m excited about when I look up from my computer and it’s suddenly much later than I anticipated.
Today, for no apparent reason, Heywood Banks’ “The Cat Got Dead” popped into my head for the first time in probably a decade. So now it can be in yours too.
Heh. From behind the office door where my kid is logging on to his music class, I hear him sing (to the tune of the Jaws theme):
“Muuu-sic. Muuu-sic. Mu-sic mu-sic mu-sic mus-icmus-icmus-ic.”

Evicted a basement snake this morning. Probably 18-24 in. if you stretched it out.
Vegas’ multicolored seat coverings: 👍
Vegas’ golden helmets: 👎
#STLBlues
Today I booked 2 different home-related appointments and for both of them the people didn’t show up or call. (The first I tracked them down and they were very apologetic and nice and came right out; I haven’t called the second since their window was over at 8 p.m). Am I a ghost?
File under “sometimes the algorithm is good”: Discovering an hour-long special of Hugh Laurie professing his love for New Orleans and the blues.
Kottke — The World’s Most Beautiful Gas Stations
The World’s Most Beautiful Gas Stations:
May these buildings and their less attractive brethren soon fade into obsolescence, be converted to electric car/bike charging stations, or be repurposed for other things.
These are great. Perhaps not so spectacular, but as a local pick I’d add this one on Grand in St. Louis — I first knew it as a Del Taco restaurant, subsequently renovated into a Starbucks/Chipotle.
I had a dream that I was somehow involved with the production of Garfield: The Movie and it won Best Picture. (I have never seen Garfield: The Movie).
I’ve been drinking them for nearly 10 years, but it just occurred to me that one of my favorite cocktails is essentially a perfect martini plus a little brandy and bitters (no olive). Or, if you prefer, a perfect Manhattan — sub gin and brandy for the rye. Tasty.
Still at the age where he’s excited by big trucks (and who isn’t, let’s be honest), my kid is playing outside when I hear the engine of the garbage truck on the street. My kid: “GARBAGE TRUCK! GAR-BAGE! GAR-BAGE! GAR-BAGE! GAR-BAGE!”
My kid just asked for an afternoon snack of a chocolate chip cookie. I asked if he wanted one of the ones I made.
“Oh, no thanks, I’ll have one of the regular ones, that I like.”
Thanks kid.
Ten years ago today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers activated the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway to reduce flooding on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Story
🐦📷
A local community newspaper letter-to-the-editor says teachers teaching virtually should earn less.
I’ve been at home with a remote-learning Kindergartner all year and no.
Turtle