Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

Man Seeking Woman, Season Two:
The second season of this show full of bizarre skits about relationship tropes has some very funny moments but doesn't feel as fresh as the first season. With only one more season to go, I'll probably finish it off, but am in no hurry to binge it.

Final Grade: B-

Party Down, Season Two:
The second season is better than the first, although the vibe feels a little different with Jane Lynch gone to Glee and Megan Mullaly taking her place. Worth watching if you like raunchy humor mixed with a tiny bit of character development. On Hulu.

Final Grade: B+

The Diplomat, Season One:
This show about a woman becoming the ambassador to England when she had expected to do "real" work in Afghanistan has a very unique flow and fun energy. It sometimes feels like the show, Homeland, if the main character weren't broken and if people cared less about who carried out the terrorism and more about who should be invited to tea. There's a lack of closure in the ending (another season is probably in the works), but otherwise we enjoyed the whole first season. On Netflix.

Final Grade: B

A Man Called Otto (PG-13):
This is a by-the-book sentimental movie about a curmudgeon whose suicide attempts keep getting interrupted by the well-meaning people around him. There are no surprises, and I think it would have worked a little better if Tom Hanks had looked about 10 years older than he does. On Netflix.

Final Grade: B-

Maia's Art Day

More notable artwork from April 2023.

They draw a lot of self portraits in Art class these days.

Instruction manual for riding a bike.

She has an umbrella to keep her dry.

Two bunnies waving at each other from across the river. I'm most impressed by the advanced use of perspective in this art. The far bunny is smaller! The near bunny is facing away! Artistry!

Data Day: 5.75 Years of Haircuts

Sep 2017 - May 2023

I've cut my own hair since 2004, having always hated the barbershop experience. I keep a piece of paper with the dates of my last haircut taped to the inside of my medicine cabinet as a reminder for when the next cut should occur. Here is the most recent data before the page filled up:

• Average Time Between Haircuts: 21.677 days
• Least Time Between Haircuts: 13 days
• Most Time Between Haircuts: 35 days

• Total Haircuts: 96
• Total Money Saved (Assuming $20 Per Cut): $1920
• Extrapolated Money Saved Since 2004: $6344

First Impressions: Diablo IV

There are no major spoilers in this review.

It's been 11 years since Diablo III was released as a shallow, cartoony mess, and 9 years since Blizzard turned it into something worth playing long-term with an expansion pack. Diablo IV arrives in a new era where Blizzard games are no longer an auto-preorder because of a string of misfires (the overly monetized mobile version of Diablo, the Warcraft 3 remake that was broken out of the box, killing Overwatch 1 then dropping development on the only features of Overwatch 2 that made it different from 1, and the general ickiness of monetization and battle passes).

I purchased Diablo 4 with reservations, but reasoned that I would get at least enough entertainment out of it to warrant the high cost. And so far, I'm having a great time -- I haven't played Overwatch 2 since.

Diablo 4 returns to the dark mood of the first two games in the series while retaining many of the more enjoyable, accessible features from Diablo 3. The gameplay loop is satisfying and the story is serviceable without inducing cringes. Graphics and sound are perfect.

The classes I've played (sorcerer and rogue) have a good amount of depth and customization even though the skill trees feel a little shallow. The game is challenging, even on normal mode, forcing a little more thought into the way you build out your character. My only nitpick is that there's a noticeable amount of rubberbanding when trying to maneuver around corners and clicking in just the wrong spot.

For many people, a game like this doesn't truly begin until you've beaten the story mode once and progressed to higher difficulty levels. My main character is only level 43 right now, so I can't guarantee that the experience won't go sour once I hit 50 (I'm still only on Act II in the normal mode). Blizzard has plenty of room to mess things up with seasons, battle passes, and monetization, but for now, I'm happy with my purchase and looking forward to trying out every class.

Easy Photos Day

Meeting up with the Ahlbin clan at Rady Park in Warrenton.

Maia's first, brief hot tub experience at our rental in Delaplane.

Dressed up in the depths of Amissville for a retirement party.

The final resting place for the Novetta broccoli logo -- the side of a sheep barn.

Discovering ants in the Children's Discovery Zone at Sky Meadows State Park.

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

12 pictures of your day on the 12th of every month

6:07 AM: Showered and ready for work.

6:17 AM: Bagel for breakfast.

7:12 AM: Working.

7:51 AM: Inking the next business development cartoon.

8:37 AM: Maia is off to camp at Trinity Church!

11:03 AM: Leftover Panera for lunch.

1:19 PM: Home from camp and double-fisting strawberries.

5:03 PM: Summer reading challenges.

5:22 PM: Pizza for dinner.

5:35 PM: Digesting.

6:05 PM: Playing a game of Kingdomino.

6:05 PM: Waving at the neighbours.

Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (PG-13):
This is a pleasant stab at a movie set in the D&D world that doesn't require a lot of background lore going in. Hugh Grant as the villainous conman is probably the best part.

Final Grade: B-

John Mulaney: Baby J:
John Mulaney's most recent standup special is pretty personal, focusing on his recent drug rehab, but still very funny. On Netflix.

Final Grade: B

I Think You Should Leave, Season Three:
There are maybe three skits that are as funny as those found in the first excellent season of this show, but it's still worth watching (episodes are very short) just to appreciate the crazy connections that Tim Robinson came up with as each skit steadily goes off the rails. On Netflix.

Final Grade: B-

Wanda Sykes: I'm an Entertainer:
Wanda Sykes' latest standup hour starts strong but gets a little too serious by the end, killing off the momentum. On Netflix. Can you tell we've temporarily reactivated our Netflix account?

Final Grade: B-

Easy Photos Day

Rebecca celebrates her 40th birthday with a petting zoo!

The goats.

Ian listens to Grandpa read "My Truck Is Stuck".

IRL Mario Kart.

Realizing that handbells make more noise than shouting.

Meanwhile, Rebecca and Maia take an overnight trip into Shenandoah Valley.

Memory Day: Snapshots

This picture was taken 30 years ago, on June 4, 1993, and was recently unearthed at my parents' house.

This was taken at my junior high Freshman Prom (called the "Freshman Banquet" for some reason that did not involve cannibalism) and shows the pack of friends that mostly stayed together throughout the night. From left to right: Zulfan, myself, Rachel, Beza, Jennie, Michelle, Cheryl, Geoffrey, and Michelle's date from another school.

Review Day: DuoLingo

I've been using the DuoLingo app to fulfill my 2023 goal of learning Spanish to communicate better with my neighbors. I purchased the $83.99 annual pass because the ad-supported tier is absolutely useless for anything other than trying out the app. (Between the very slow loading screens and the twice-as-loud ads after every exercise, it's impossible to keep focused or make much forward progress).

I usually spend 15 - 60 minutes per day using DuoLingo. It's a mixed bag with a few more positives than negatives.

The Good

• The length of each lesson is perfect. Courses are broken up into units of 6 - 8 lessons each, and each lesson is broken up further into 3 - 5 quick modules. You can do a part of a lesson in just a few minutes of downtime, or sit down more formally to do an entire lesson. The Spanish class is huge -- I've done 28 units so far and there are still 192 to go.
• The variety of lessons (reading, listening, writing, speaking) is nice and forces you to think in the language in multiple ways. There are review modules in each style so you can get better at your weakest areas.
• The organization of the content is well-done. Topics are well-paced and new vocabulary words will pop up for several lessons to come so you learn them through repetition. Collections of words (numbers, months, types of things) are sprinkled throughout so you don't end up with a boring "Let's learn 20 different numbers and nothing else for two weeks" lesson like you would in high school Spanish.
• The gamification (earning points, rewards, and leaderboard status) provides a shallow way to keep you practicing consistently. You get more points for reviewing than you do for learning something new, which helps make the lessons stick.

The Bad

• The actual LEARNING part of the equation is lacking. Almost all of the learning is done with trial and error -- throwing something new at you then correcting you when you obviously get it wrong. This can lead to some confusion in later lessons that introduce exceptions (for example masculine vs. feminine, or when the adjective goes BEFORE the noun). While this teaching style works for reinforcement, it would still be better to teach a few things upfront so you understand the foundations instead of learning so many things by rote.
• The voice recognition aspect of the speaking sections is subpar and easily gamed. It seems to trigger based on the peaks and valleys of your sound wave so you can skate by just hitting consonants and mispronounce tons of stuff in the middle. Sometimes it refuses to accept your answer unless you slow way down and recite each word in isolation. If you try to speak as fast as some of the colloquial teaching examples, you have a high chance of being rejected.
• The gamification is ultimately a distraction from learning. If you get sucked into the competitive leaderboard, you'll find that some activities provide far more points than a NEW lesson. You may end up wasting a lot of time strategically using the "double experience" milestones and repeating old lessons for speed, with diminishing returns on how much you're actually learning. However, you'll eventually find out that the leaderboard is meaningless because you get grouped up with 30 new people every week so there's no room for real rivalry or cameraderie.

Final Grade: B, at $84 per year the app is still cheaper than an in-person course, but the amount you learn is directly dependent on your daily motivation. The convenience of having it on your phone may outweigh the dearth of true teaching.

Ian Year 2 Month 2 Battle Report

Random Ian Factoids

• Ian has a loud booming voice. He can often be heard in his crib singing the ABC song or Alouette on pitch.
• Ian has a very dominant personality and can bridge the extremes of emotion in an instant. After a pleasant overnight trip to visit my parents, he had 4 tantrums in the car on the way home: the sticker was peeling off his water bottle, his water bottle spilled on his pants and his pants were wet, his water bottle fell on the floor, and his cracker broke in half but he wanted a BIG cracker. This was all in the space of 2 miles of driving.
• He likes clocks, watering plants, chasing bubbles, shuffling mulch, being outside, reading books, and playing with trucks. He doesn't like when the neighborhood kids see him as a novel new playmate and try to interact with him.
• I cut his hair one lock at a time (while he's distracted by dinner) over several days. As soon as he notices, he starts squirming.
• His favourite word is NO.
• He has started mimicking Maia's words and favourite activities. He doesn't always like to draw himself but will ask us to draw things for him.
• He has memorized the words in many of his Trucktown books and can read them on his own from start to finish.

Stuff Ian Says

• "I no dog. I IAN."
• "Draw I, A, N here."
• "Jack be nimmel, Jack be kick. Jack sash thew wall of brick!"
• "NO. Chickens don't drive trucks."
• "It's eight forty eight!"

Here is Ian trying to take a picture with Maia's little camera, taken last Spring:

Maia's Art Day

Notable artwork from May 2023

"Once a pon a time there was a buro.
A littll bunny livd in it.
The bunny wnet to the garden
All winter long he had eneuf vegee's.
This is wat it looks like in his buro."

A dragon!

L: A true story about a flower.
R: "I see a bunny"

"L: I am planting flowers." Maia's final kindergarten report card noted how she liked to label all of the things in her pictures.
R: "It's felld day!" Maia was excited to eat popsicles and get wet on her school's Field Day.

End-of-the-Month Highlights Day

New photos have been added to the Life, 2023 album.

• Events
  • Ian recovered mostly from his strep on H 6/1.
  
  
  • Maia had Kindergarten Field Day on F 6/2.
  
  
  • Rebecca and Maia went to another middle school musical (Beauty and the Beast) on S 6/3.
  
  
  • Rebecca took the kids to Elizabeth's to celebrate Renae's birthday while I stayed home to relax on S 6/4.
  
  
  • Emily came to visit on T 6/6.
  
  
  • The Edwardses stopped by for a visit on their way to the airport on H 6/8. Annie and Dom visited as well.
  
  
  • Weekend trip in the country with my mom, F 6/9 - S 6/11. Rented a house in Delaplane. Visited Anna's family at Rady Park in Warrenton on Saturday then went to the retirement party of my old boss. Came back on Sunday after a brief stop at Sky Meadows Park.
  
  
  • Maia started 3 weeks of summer camp at Trinity Church, M 6/12 - F 6/30.
  
  
  • Family dinner at Local Provisions on W 6/14.
  
  
  • Rebecca celebrated her 40th birthday with a petting zoo (Ponies Plus) in the backyard and tons of friends on S 6/17.
  
  
  • Ian and I spent the night at my parents' house on S 6/18 while Rebecca and Maia traveled to Big Meadow Lodge with Annie and Dom.
  
  
  • Date Night at Local Provisions on F 6/23.
  
  
  • Rebecca took the kids to visit with Annie, Jessika, Andrea, and Ben in Arlington on S 6/24.
  
  
  • Went to Anthony's 5th birthday party on S 6/25.
  
  
  • Maia lost her first tooth (bottom front) on T 6/27 ($1 from the Tooth Fairy).
  
  
  • Family dinner at Bungalow Lakehouse on W 6/28.
  
  
  • Maia lost her second tooth (bottom front) on F 6/30. Rebecca and Maia went to the Sterling fireworks in the evening.


• Projects
  • Continued learning Spanish with DuoLingo.


• Consumerism
  • Started playing Diablo 4 instead of Overwatch 2.
  
  
  • No amazing shows, movies, or music this month.

June's Final Grade: B+, nonstop, but very fun