- kudos:

I have made so many sneering comparisons between sports fandom and blind nationalism as someone who doesn’t really care about sports, but now that I’ve got a team (my kid’s) to be super invested in… yeah, I actually feel the comparison more, just with more self awareness.

- kudos:

Between a work conversation a few days ago and a podcast I’m listening to this morning, I’ve spent a lot of time this week wishing I were a regular comic book shop customer.

- kudos:

The spookiest things in our house right now aren’t the Halloween decorations, they’re the ultra high visibility vests we keep by our bikes and startle me with an eerie glow every time I open the door into the dark garage.

- kudos:

“Aw man, I’m not as good as catching flying socks as I am at catching a frisbee.”

- kudos:

Nothing like taking a break from trying to convince kiddo to help with weekend chores to try to convince kiddo to help with farm chores in our shared Stardew Valley game.

- kudos:

RSS feeds for my local newspaper stopped updating nearly 3 weeks ago. Not sure if it’s the website or my app, but it’s making me grumpy.

- kudos:

I appreciate Bible scholar Thomas Römer in an academic sense, but I also sometimes remember that I first discovered him through a French comics podcast where he showed up to say that he thought R. Crumb’s adaptation of Genesis could have been more imaginative, and that’s what really sold me on him.

- kudos:

This week, I’ve encountered Ursula K. LeGuin’s anarchist vision of what a university could be as well as a number of reminders of how much things aren’t like that vision.

- kudos:

Today marks five years since I tried out mental health counseling for the first time, and I’m grateful for the good it’s done me since then.

- kudos:

Today, I demonstrated I know just enough ed psych to be a troublemaker in relevant meetings.

- kudos:

A family lunchtime discussion about centaurs has devolved into wondering what the rules of genetic inheritance are in Greek and Norse myths—and some speculation as to whether I was cursed by Athena long ago and am only masquerading as human.

- kudos:

We’re riding out hurricane effects here in Kentucky by making sure everyone in the family has pajamas on by 3:15.

- kudos:

Bilan du vélotaf ce matin : un peu mouillé (la pluie est arrivée au bureau juste avant moi), et les chevilles nues sous mon pantalon (je porte toujours des chaussettes courtes, ayant oublié les autres à la maison).

- kudos:

I made a BASIC joke for kiddo’s lunchbox note today. Turns out I forgot to actually put it in her lunch, but once we both got home, I was pleased to see that she puzzled out the syntax on her own.

- kudos:

Concerned about the fragile masculinity of the driver whose response to my pulling up in the bike lane is to progressively inch forward into the intersection so that I don’t beat him across when the light turns green. My dude, so long as you don’t run me over, I’m good.

- kudos:

Trying jasmine tea for the first time. I can see why Le Carré characters keep ragging on Control for drinking it, but it’s not bad, actually.

- kudos:

Real uptick in emphasis on grades, homework, and tests in kiddo’s school this year, and I’m torn between a paternal impulse to get really invested in all of that and my professional disdain for how invested we all get in all of that.

- kudos:

With Mozilla exiting the fediverse, I guess it’s time to really think about either hosting a personal server or seeing if I can make my Hugo site play nice with ActivityPub…

- kudos:

I had to visit Gab today to hunt down some data for a paper, and boy was this the wrong Monday to visit that hellhole of a site.

- kudos:

Les frites ne sont pas un vrai repas en soi, mais la poutine, si, et j’en serai toujours reconnaissant aux Canadiens.

- kudos:

I am currently on a train, and I so rarely have the chance to do this (there is no passenger rail where I live, in Kentucky) that it feels extra fun.

- kudos:

I wish that wearing an implicitly anti-surveillance EFF t-shirt through airport security this week had been a deliberate decision, but I just like wearing EFF shirts and it wound up being a happy coincidence.

- kudos:

Being a parent sometimes means developing strong opinions about things you knew nothing about before your kids were born—like what the best optional-second-player mechanics are for platformer games.

- kudos:

Bike commuting golf: See how few times you have to put your foot to the ground while on your way to work. It’s more a game of chance than skill (lots depends on the red light gods), but I still enjoy playing.

- kudos:

It feels weird to be giving advice to first-year faculty, because I still feel like I don’t know anything, but my spouse recently pointed out that I’m now more senior than most of the people I turned to for advice during my first year…

- kudos:

“That kid spends too much time listening to audiobooks and podcasts while already doing other things,” I think to myself as I turn back to the dishes while putting my earbuds in.

- kudos:

After a few days of griping that the library has once again misplaced one of the books we turned in, I have indeed found the book in kiddo’s room.

- kudos:

Spouse bought some “chai spice” nut butter last weekend, and—tragedy of tragedies—I’m the only one in the family who likes it. It is a bit more peppery than I usually like chai stuff, but my increased toast consumption wouldn’t indicate as much.

- kudos:

Like much software, I only know as much Git as I need to get my stuff done, but I’m pleased to report that some code conflicts in class finally got me to learn .gitignore.

- kudos:

A funeral home across the country has included me on an email to all staff. I have never worked at a funeral home, much less there. What’s more confusing is that a family member in that state recently passed away, and so I keep having to check that that has nothing to do with it.

- kudos:

I keep getting lured to meetings by free lunches, only to remember once I get there that my leftovers from home would be better than anything the college will pay for.

- kudos:

I don’t know if it’s summer amnesia, taking on some new responsibilities, or a coping mechanism, but boy did I forget how much of my workday emails can take up.

- kudos:

Last Christmas, we got kiddo one of those Wreck this Journal books, which is why there was a block of ice with “figure out a way to freeze this page” peering out from it that was melting in the sink while I was listening to French internet radio and making a batch of muesli this afternoon.

- kudos:

Kiddo has been really into Greek mythology lately, and this has culminated in presenting me with “twelve trials” à la Heracles—but that basically get me to clean her room.

- kudos:

“Well, I GUESS I’d better stop talking about the FURIES [of Greek myth] so my dad can go off and have a good time at WORK!” I mean, I’m just trying to get us out the door to school on time, but I still feel like I’ve been owned.

- kudos:

After many years of living rent-free in my head, the Daniel Tiger “go potty” song has retreated beyond the limits of my perfect, immediate recollection. I am experiencing a complicated mix of relief and nostalgic sadness.