This week's written snapshots.
delight
Ever since the got a Pikachu stuffie from the claw machine at the Primm Mural Gallery (formerly an outlet mall), they’ve been into Pokemon. He wanted a Pikachu and she drew an Eevee with a witches hat. Their lights from the jack-o-lanterns left a bold mark on the ceiling.
The unseasonably warm autumn meant that these poor pumpkins went mold in a couple of days. But still, it was a day of carving and a few good photos.
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That Pikachu might have been the most impactful dollar that we’ve spent (for good or ill). It’s turned into a costume, a change in TV habits. Pokemon Go has me walking in circles around the house to hatch eggs and the kids just forced me to try out the Pokemon Sleep tracking app. They’re constantly drawing different Pokemon when they aren’t playing. He’ll walk up and start talking about random creatures and evolutions, without no explanation or context (of course!)
I recently heard on the Cortex podcast that Pokemon may be the most successful IP of all time. It’s hard to argue from this household. Lord help us if we get into the TCG card game, or if we ever get a Nintendo.
02 Dec 2023
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A few Christmas Albums
A couple of years ago, the girl fell in love with Lucy and Linus, starting a search for Christmas jazz albums. Here’s what we’ve found on Hoopla:
Ella wishes you a Swinging Christmas, Ella Fitzgerald — She specifically requested it the day after Thanksgiving, so you know it’s good! What a gorgeous voice.
Holiday Soul, Bobby Timmons — This instrumental album holds its own beyond Christmas. Bobby Timmons is an amazing pianist, obscured due to his early death. For non-Christmas fare check out Chicken & Dumplin’s and Chun-King on youtube.
A Charlie Brown Christmas, Vince Guaraldi Trio — This album kicked off our jazz kick at home and is still great. Actually, I wonder if this album is why my current personal jazz preferences leans towards trios.
If you want crooners, here’s a few albums by Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Gene Autry.
And for Christmas-adjacent jazz, I gotta add John Coltrane’s My Favorite Things.
Happy December and an early Merry Christmas!
02 Dec 2023
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Journal Notes (11/20, 11/23, 11/26)
11/26
Part of our role as parents is to make the kids uncomfortable.
They don’t enjoy it, but we can’t let them settle into a bad local optima.
(that afternoon, we took the training wheels off his bike)
11/23
Life is funny, it takes you places.
I play a part by going along.
But I tend towards the passive.
Most likely comes from my mom.
11/20
I write lists.
Making tasks visible lets me manipulate them.
Maybe even cross shit without doing them
(because I realize they’re unimportant).
I do love my lists.
Be careful about procrastinating by list.
Do the work!
29 Nov 2023
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Thanks for reading!
Justus