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FB10: Week 33

A blah week despite the Labor Day holiday followed by a couple of days off of work.  The week, and month, got off to a slow start on Sunday, finishing with just 3000 steps.  Things improved a bit on Monday as I rose to 3800 steps.  A day off of work on Tuesday pushed me up again to 4400 steps.  Trips to the hardware store on Wednesday to look for a new toilet seat led to my best outing of the week, garnering 5200 steps.  A return to work on Thursday saw a big drop-off, leaving me 32 steps shy of 3500.  A small rebound on Friday pushed me back up to 3600 steps.  The week wrapped up with another improvement on Saturday, as I fell 2 steps shy of 3700.

Total steps: 27,280

Daily average: 3897.1

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T Minus 6

Following yesterday afternoon’s loss to the Guardians, the White Sox now have 114 loses. just six away from the modern record set by the expansion Mets in 1962.  They would have to go 10-5 over their remaining 15 games to avoid tying the record.  They have won ten games since June 29.

Following the loss, team owner Jerry Reinsdorf released a statement, his first of the season, saying that the season has been “painful for all” and that the entire organization “is extremely unhappy” with how the year has played out.  He expects to have more to say once the season has mercifully come to an end.  Unless he has decided to sell the team, which is extremely unlikely, or is willing to admit he made a mistake with the Chris Getz hiring, which is also unlikely, I doubt his additional thoughts will be worthwhile.

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Book 39 (of 52) – The Mayor Of Maxwell Street

The Mayor Of Maxwell Street – Avery Cunningham

Nelly Sawyer, daughter of the supposed richest black man in the country, comes to 1920s Chicago for her brother’s funeral and finds that her parents have committed her to becoming a debutante.  While balancing her newly found social requirements with her desire to become a reporter, she goes after her first, and most dangerous, story: who is the so-called Mayor of Maxwell Street.  She teams with the mysterious Jay Shorey, working to uncover the mayor’s identity while keeping herself out of trouble.  When tragedy strikes during and after the cotillion, Nelly stumbles upon the surprising identity of the mayor, but can she still protect herself and her family?

The Mayor of Maxwell Street, the debut novel from Avery Cunningham, is an intriguing look at the upper crust of black society during the Prohibition era in Chicago.  As a local, it was interesting to see descriptions of areas I know from a century ago, but I don’t know how vivid those descriptions play to someone not familiar with the area.  I’ll keep an eye out to see what Cunningham has coming out next.

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Fifty Years Of Music – 2007

Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth.  In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.

We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 2007, the year I celebrated my 33rd birthday.  Only five of these songs remain familiar to me today, with just four of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.

#74: Amy Winehouse – Rehab
iTunes stats: 24 plays

Peaking at #9, it was Winehouse’s sole US top ten hit prior to her untimely demise.

#27: Kanye West – Stronger
iTunes stats: 32 plays

Spending a single week atop the Hot 100, it was West’s third #1 hit.

#12: Avril Lavigne – Girllfriend
iTunes stats: 33 plays

Lavigne’s first #1 hit, it spent one week atop the chart in May.

#7: Plain White T’s – Hey There Delilah
iTunes stats: N/A

Nominated for two Grammy awards, it spent two weeks at #1 in the summer of 2007.

#2: Rihanna featuring Jay-Z – Umbrella
iTunes stats: 30 plays

The lead single from her third studio album, it spent seven weeks at #1 in the summer of 2007.

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T Minus 9

Following last night’s loss to the Red Sox, the White Sox now have 111 loses. just nine away from the modern record set by the expansion Mets in 1962.  They would have to go 11-8 over their remaining 19 games to avoid tying the record.  They have won eleven games since June 22.

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FB10: Week 32

A small decline thanks to what may have been my first infection with COVID.  The week got off to a good start on Sunday, finishing with 5100 steps thanks to a trip to Guaranteed Rate Field.  Things fell off a bit on Monday, coming in with 4300 steps.  Despite a positive test on Tuesday night, I managed to increase my total, needing 35 more steps to reach 4400.  An inconclusive test on Wednesday morning convinced me it was ok to head out for a team lunch, but I finished with only 3000 steps and another positive test at night.  A slight improvement on Thursday pushed me up to 3600 steps.  Despite a negative test on Friday, I managed only 2700 steps.  A second negative test on Saturday led to another trip to the ballpark, gathering 5400 steps as I watched the White Sox tie their franchise record for losses in a season.

Total steps: 28,597

Daily average: 4085.3

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Book 38 (of 52) – A Faint Cold Fear

A Faint Cold Fear – Karin Slaughter

An apparent suicide becomes suspicious when Sara Linton’s sister, Tessa, is brutally attacked while the police investigate the scene nearby.  A second murder the next day at the local college, also staged as a suicide, puts police chief Jeffrey Tolliver on edge, believing there is a link between the three crimes.  When the investigation starts to lead to Lena Adams, Jeffrey’s former protege, it complicates things for all involved, making it unlikely they will be able to stop the killer before another body turns up.

A Faint Cold Fear is the third entry in Karin Slaughter’s older Grant County series.  Because I read the first two out of order, I couldn’t really remember where things left off with all of the characters.  With three more books to go in this series and a new Will Trent entry just released, there will be plenty of Slaughter to go around for the foreseeable future.

by admin

Fifty Years Of Music – 2006

Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth.  In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.

We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 2006, the year I celebrated my 32nd birthday.  A mere eleven of these songs remain familiar to me today, with just three of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.

#76: Rascal Flatts – Life is a Highway
iTunes stats: N/A

A cover of the Tom Cochrane classic for the Cars soundtrack, it peaked at #7.

#71: Bon Jovi – Who Says You Can’t Go Home
iTunes stats: N/A

The band’s highest charting song of the decade, it reached #23.

#42: Black Eyed Peas – My Humps
iTunes stats: 26 plays

Dismissed as a puerile form of sexual titillation by some critics, it spent six weeks at #3 while spending over nine months on the Hot 100.

#38: Nickelback – Photograph
iTunes stats: N/A

The band’s third top ten hit, it went to #2.

#34: Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx – Gold Digger
iTunes stats: 17 plays

Featuring a sample of a Ray Charles song from 1956, it became West’s first #1, spending ten weeks atop the Hot 100.

#23: Red Hot Chili Peppers – Dani California
iTunes stats: N/A

The band’s third top ten hit, it topped out at #6 and won two Grammys.

#9: Justin Timberlake featuring Timbaland – SexyBack
iTunes stats: N/A

The lead single from his sophomore effort, it spent seven weeks at #1.

#7: Gnarls Barkley – Crazy
iTunes stats: 27 plays

Spending seven weeks at #2, the group’s debut single was the first track of the year to hit #2 and not rise to the top of the charts.

#5: Shakira featuring Wycleaf Jean – Hips Don’t Lie
iTunes stats: N/A

Shakira’s first chart topper, it spent two weeks at #1 in the summer.

#4: James Blunt – You’re Beautiful
iTunes stats: N/A

Spending a single week atop the Hot 100, it was the first non-hip hop/R&B track or American Idol song to reach #1 since 2001.

#1: Daniel Powter – Bad Day
iTunes stats: N/A

It spent five weeks atop the Hot 100 in the spring of 2006.