Today, we celebrate Michael completing his 20th complete trip around the sun, using a photo of him surrounded by Angelina and Danny from last spring as we celebrated college graduations.
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Book 18 (of 52) – Here One Moment
Here One Moment – Liane Moriarty
When a woman goes down the aisle of her plane on a flight to Sydney, she starts handing out predictions to everyone: age of death and cause of death. While most of the passengers write her off as a kook, a few start to take her seriously after three deaths seem to confirm her predictions. They attempt to track her down, not knowing that she has unknown connections to some of them.
Here One Moment, the latest from Liane Moriarty, was a nominee for fiction in last year’s Goodreads Choice Awards. While this is my first experience with her written work, I have seen some of the adaptations of her previous novels, like Big Little Lies and Apples Never Fall. I enjoyed this foray into her work and may just revisit the rest of her oeuvre at some point.
Fitbit XI – Week 11
The end of my quick trip to Dallas to see Michael helped keep me above 30,000 steps for the second straight week. The week got off to a good start on Sunday, finishing with 5200 steps after flying home from DFW. Going back to work on Monday left me 26 steps shy of 4000. A small increase on Tuesday put me 28 steps away from 4300. A day filled with meetings led to my worst day of the week on Wednesday, needing 24 additional steps just to reach 2800. A nice bounce back on Thursday had me 12 steps away from 3800. A night out on Friday to celebrate Danny’s new job pushed me up to 4600 steps. Powered by my first visit to Wrigley Field this season, Saturday ended up being my best day of the week, coming in 34 steps shy of 6200.
Total steps: 30,838
Daily average: 4405.4
iTunes Top 200: #89 – 99
Music. It is a powerful thing that brings people together, creates memories, and evokes emotions. It is the universal language that speaks to the soul. It forms the soundtrack of our lives.
It has now been five years since we last counted down the Top 200 songs in my iTunes library, featuring he songs I have listened to the most since 2007. It is time to do so again, seeing which older songs still resonate and if any newer ones have joined the fray. So, without further ado, here are my most listened to songs, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2025.
Today, we kick off the second half of the countdown this week with the final two songs tied for 99th place with 41 plays apiece before starting the first group tied for 89th with 42 plays since my stats began in late 2007.
#99: Biz Markie – Just a Friend
iTunes stats: 41 plays, most recently on 6/20/2024
Previous ranking: #144
Ranked as the 81st greatest one-hit wonder of all-time by VH1 in 2000, the track picked up ten new listens over the past five years.
#99: The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour
iTunes stats: 41 plays, most recently on 9/25/2024
Previous ranking: #79
The sole title track from one of the group’s movies to not be released as a single in the US.
#89: Travis – Baby One More Time
iTunes stats: 42 plays, most recently on 2/24/2024
Previous ranking: #89
This live cover from the Scottish band was released as a bonus track on their 1999 single Turn.
#89: Tegan and Sara – I Hear Noises
iTunes stats: 42 plays, most recently on 8/26/2024
Previous ranking: #79
This track was my introduction to the twin Canadian songstresses, thanks to the occasional appearance on WXRT and an MP3 from a friend.
#89: N.W.A. – Fuck Tha Police
iTunes stats: 42 plays, most recently on 3/24/2024
Previous ranking: NR
A high debut for the song that Rolling Stone ranked as the tenth best protest song of all-time earlier this year. Continue reading →
Book 17 (of 52) – The Wedding People
The Wedding People – Alison Espach
Following the breakup of her marriage during the COVID lockdown, Phoebe heads to a luxurious New England hotel planning to end her life. When she arrives, all of the other guests are there for a week-long wedding. When she accidentally gets involved with the bride, she decides not to kill herself and instead finds herself pulled into the orbit of the wedding, changing both her outlook on life and theirs.
Winner of the 2024 Goodreads Choice Award for Favorite Fiction, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is my first exposure to her work. It took me a bit to get pulled in, but, once I was, it was a great ride. I can relate somewhat to Phoebe’s predicament, feeling the life has passed you by and hoping to find a way to change your approach to it. I’m not sure if I’ll be diving into her back catalog, but this was an entertaining read.
Book 16 (of 52) – The Last Place
The Lasy Place – Laura Lippman
When Whitney hires Tess to investigate unsolved murders to see if police overlooked domestic abuse to help push lawmakers to consider new laws to protect women, she instead finds a serial killer, one who now has Tess in his sights. Working with a former toll officer forced into retirement due to his obsession with one of the murders, she tracks down the killer’s true identity. Can she stop him before he comes after her?
The seventh entry in Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan series, The Last Place, finds Tess more comfortable and settled with her life. This turned into an interesting mystery, one which moved outside of the city of Baltimore and into the surrounding county. I’ve got five more Tess novels to go, not to mention any other works in Lippman’s oeuvre, so there’s plenty to still get to.
2024-2025 Final Standings
Purdue’s men’s basketball season came to an end last weekend, falling to Houston in the Sweet Sixteen. It was a strong showing, coming off their appearance in the title game last year and the loss of Zach Edey. Tickets were hard to come by this season, and the only game I was able to attend was in Iowa City, adding Carver-Hawkeye Arena to my collection.
2025 Team Records – Men
| Team | Won | Loss | Winning Pctg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purdue Boilermakers | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Iowa Hawkeyes | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
Four Is Final
In a tournament that has been lacking any major upsets, it is fitting that the Final Four contains the four #1 seeds for just the second time ever. My bracket is officially toasted, so congratulations to whatever team winds up winning.
Fitbit XI – Week 10
The start of the baseball season and a quick trip to Dallas to see Michael let to my best week since last July. The week got off to a decent start on Sunday, finishing with 4300 steps. Monday was just a little better, falling just 4 steps shy of 4400. Tuesday ended up being my low point of the week, garnering exactly 3700 steps. My last day of work on Wednesday saw my output jump up, coming 27 steps short of 4800. Thursday was Opening Day and my first trip to the renamed Rate Field pushed me up to 5900 steps. A trip to Texas on Friday pushed me over my daily step goal for the first time since February, ending the day with 7900 steps as we saw Michael’s dorm and did errands for him. A trip to the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth to see Clue on Saturday put me over 6000 steps.
Total steps: 37,007
Daily average: 5286.7
Spring Time
We start the second quarter of 2025, and kick off Michael’s birthday month, with a shot of him sitting at the dinner table last Thanksgiving. We also have a special appearance from Okapi okapi, Danny’s favorite stuffed animal.