Posting this on by personal blog, lets I forget one day:
On a Mac:
Select any number of files in the Finder
Hold the option key and select File -> Slideshow Items
TIL.
It’s things like this that make the Mac such a wonderful machine
For the repose of the soul of Victor C. Charnetsky (father of a very close friend of mine), I pray and ask that you remember him.
🗞️ The 2025 War on the Rocks Summer Fiction Reading List
“Forget the algorithm — this list was created by the humans who bring you War on the Rocks. Here, they share some of their favorite works of fiction.”
🎵 From Capelton Hill - Stars - ★★★★☆
I missed this album in the post-pandemic malaise in which I stopped listening to music regularly. Lovely to (re)discover.
As they say, credit where due. Trump made the right call taking out those nuclear emrichment sites. I didn’t think he’d do it. Risky, yes. All public policy, foreign policy most of all, is a choice over trade-offs because there are no solutions. The world is safer for this decision.
🗞️ The Real Reasons Your Appliances Die Young | Reviews by Wirecutter
- Survivorship Bias
- Government Regulations
- Consumerism
Eleven years. Loving each other through good times and bad, sickness and health…
Best night of training in months. Three consecutive submissions (2 blue belts, 1 upper white), and survived (ie., I did not tap put) to a purple belt. 10 months in, jiujitsu is starting to really click.
Today I learned that Dodd-Frank includes a prohibition against insider trading on private, government information, and that in financial circles it’s called “the Eddie Murphy Rule” after the film Trading Places.
The kids made it a good day. Took me to lunch after Mass, and later we went to a city pool. I’m grateful they knew it would be hard for me today: so they made the day that Paco would have (Paco was always the one to plan how to make your day great).
It’s Father’s Day, but someone is missing. I miss this guy so very much. He was “the strongest avenger” in our house. And he never let a day like today pass without celebration. So, I’ll rally for Paco—my buddy bear, my “el torrito”, but he’s not here. And my day will always be incomplete.
Three months of grief, and my birthday.
Yesterday. The fifth.
Three months have passed since Paco died. Since then, I have been somewhat on auto pilot. There have been moments of sobriety, moments of clarity that come as quickly as they disappear. But on balance, these last three months have felt like an eternity. And yet it feels as raw as last week. This week especially, the weight of his absence has felt extraordinary.
Today. The sixth.
My 45th birthday. Paco would have been the most excited. More than my wife. More than the other kids. More than all of them combined. He loved to make birthdays the best for whomever. Paco would have fought his siblings to wake me so that he could be the first to wish me happy birthday. He would have insisted on getting me a giant birthday balloon from Dollar Tree, and would not let the sun set without surprising me with a cake. “Dad, stay in your bedroom while we make a surprise cake for you.”
Lucia and the kids did well to make the day feel joyous as they could. We ordered breakfast burritos for delivery. I took the kids to the movies—a reshowing of The Bad Guys (2018)—and got some tacos for lunch. Before dinner, we went to do indoor mini golf. And yeah, they got balloons. Four of them. He is not forgotten.
My cake says “145” because of a running joke. My dad always added a hundred to his age when I was a kid. I started doing it to my kids. They all know the truth by now, but it’s the still the running gag in the family about “dad’s old.”
☕️ My first proper pour over in months. Dialing in a new grinder I’ve wanted for a long time. The inexpensive but worthy King P1.
Oof. I had to replace the car battery this morning. More than double since the last time (2022, I believe).
🎥 World Record Rubik’s Cube, via Twitter/X.
0.103 seconds. Let that sink in.
I’m not saying he’s overthinking it, but I just received a student email about fall classes. (Spring classes ended last week, and grades weren’t due until this past Monday.)
Washington should recognize that rehearsals like Strait Thunder-2025A are a serious form of escalation. Not responding, or not appearing to respond, will invite further escalation. Washington should clearly communicate steps taken in response to Chinese Communist Party actions surrounding Taiwan.
Pope Bob, from Chicago—and a fellow alumni of Villanova (where I got my MA)—knows how to make an entrance. Deo Gratias.
Big kid one his pinewood derby tonight. Undefeated. After these last two months, he needed something to be excited about it.
