News and Updates

1. Happy Father’s Day to those who celebrate! I have done many things in my life that I am proud to have accomplished, but none greater than being a dad for Oliver and Lauren. 

2. Of course, I had a good role model.

3. I think we need to get up a petition to have Take Me Home, Country Roads declared the backup US national anthem, to be performed at all sporting and cultural events immediately following the official one. Everybody already knows the words, it’s a lot easier to sing even or especially when drunk, and judging from the World Cup crowds the rest of the world already believes it’s the national anthem anyway. Everybody claps after The Star-Spangled Banner because we’re glad it’s over and the game can start now, but we applaud Take Me Home, Country Roads because we like it.

4. Note: while it is also a great song, Old Town Road is a different composition.

5. I have managed to see a fair number of games in this World Cup so far. I saw the US beat Australia in a fairly convincing style. They look like an actual team out there, and they’re already through to the elimination rounds. I also saw the goaltending clinic put on by the Curacao goalie as that nation earned its first ever World Cup point, the sheer overwhelming force of the Netherlands against Sweden, and Cote d’Ivoire very nearly defeat Germany. I just finished watching Iran hold off Belgium for a 0-0 draw that was much more interesting than the score would indicate. It’s been a fun tournament on the field as well as in the streets.

6. If there is a better metaphor for the current American regime than the absolute fiasco that is the Reflecting Pool in Washington DC – an own goal of staggering idiocy and utter predictability – I haven’t seen it. They took something that already worked, awarded a contract to “fix” it to an unqualified loyalist, ignored every scientific and engineering fact that could possibly be relevant to the project in order to cram it into an ideological box, went 1100% over budget only to see the shoddy work dissolve within days and now they’ve stationed the National Guard to keep Americans away from public taxpayer-owned land, they’re arresting people who get too close, and they’re blaming everyone but themselves for all of this. No wonder this administration lost a war against another country. They can’t even win against algae.

7. I spent a portion of yesterday hacking back the trumpet vines that threaten to absorb our fence every year. It turns out we still had a fence under all that greenery. I am always amazed by the sheer in-your-face exuberance the trumpet vines display despite or perhaps especially because of the fact that they’re clearly not wanted. Respect.

8. If you haven’t read KJ Parker’s books (Tom Holt’s alter ego) you’re missing out. I’m on Book 2 of the Saevus Corax trilogy – part of Parker’s ongoing “Charming Rogue” stories – and it’s reminding me of why I used to read all the time. Perhaps I’ll get back up on that horse after all.

9. It’s been a month since the semester ended and I’m not much further along on all of the various projects and tasks that I set for myself this summer than I was at graduation. I suppose I should have seen that coming, but still.

10. I keep looking out for the new 2026 coins but I find I rarely use cash anymore and nobody in the stores has any idea that there are new coins to be found. I am starting to suspect that the whole thing is a Reddit-fueled hoax. It would not be the first, I’m sure.