Easy Photos Day

Snacks to sate appetites on the car drive to Thanksgiving Lunch.

When the Christmas Tree isn't getting put up fast enough, you take matters into your own hands.

Breakfast pile-up.

Cat in a Tree.

Placing the Christmas Star.

Last raking of the season.

Trying the Chocolate Smores shake at Burger 21.

Memory Day: Snapshots

This picture was taken 14 years ago today, on December 4, 2010.

We were on our way to a 90s Party (when the 90s were just 20 years old) at Erin and Jon's townhouse down the road. I still have the shiny band jacket in my closet and it has not been worn since.

Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

Cobra Kai, Season Six Part Two:
The practice of releasing chunks of the season over time has always been annoying, even when Breaking Bad first did it. Part Two is the middle 5 episodes of the 15-episode final season. It's full of fun 80s plot twists although there might be a little too much karate in it as all of the fight scenes start to look the same. A sublot exploring Mr. Miyagi's past is tedious but the payoff is worth it. On Netflix.

Final Grade: B

The Diplomat, Season Two:
Season Two loses the nice balance between the conspiracy plot and the British etiquette / fish out of water scenes that made Season One fun. The plot progression at the end of this season sets up some interesting ideas for the next season, but it takes awhile to get there. On Netflix.

Final Grade: B-

Nobody Wants This, Season One:
This rom-com about a podcaster who falls for a rabbi is better than expected and manages maintain a generally positive vibe while still being funny. On Netflix.

Final Grade: B

Dandelions:
This tiny board game which simulates dandelion seeds gently blowing through different gardens is fun and accessible, with just enough strategy involved to have some depth and replayability. Each game lasts under twenty minutes and has minimal setup.

Final Grade: B+

Advent of Code Day

Currently in 1st place! Follow my progress here.

Data Day: Pandora Stations

stations created over 13 years that have survived my periodic purges

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

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

1:16 AM: 2nd place in the Advent of Code Day 12 puzzle (1st overall).

6:44 AM: Showered and ready for work.

6:53 AM: Getting ready to go to the bus stop.

7:06 AM: Bagel for breakfast.

9:42 AM: Working from home.

10:19 AM: Exercise break while watching Arcane.

2:55 PM: Comes straight home and hops on her school computer to keep reading books that are only accessible if you login before 3 PM. Tater approves.

3:04 PM: Took a nice nap today (after waking up near 5 AM this morning).

5:41 PM: Prime rib night at Miller's.

7:43 PM: Evening ritual of opening the Advent Calendar in Satisfactory.

8:37 PM: Ori's getting into presents.

11:59 PM: Ready for the Day 13 puzzle (which I ended up getting 1st place on).

12 12 of 12s

a recap of 12 of 12 posts from 2024

January: Maia receives boxes of books from the Smiths, which we turn into a little library where she can check out 5 at a time. She has read them all within 2 months.

February: Our old cat is more like a throw pillow than a cat.

March: Brief obsession with flying kites, on an unseasonably warm spring day.

April: Brief obsession with the game, Five Minute Dungeon.

May: A reunited family after the ladies return home from a Minneapolis wedding.

June: I actually went into the office one day.

July: Brief obsession with the Netflix Hot Wheels show.

August: Weird tacos at Taco Bamba.

September: Mario Kart time.

October: Within 100 feet of Kevin Bacon.

November: Weather mild enough to walk to preschool.

December: Another successful year in the books.

Memory Day: Snapshots

This picture was taken on Christmas Day in 2012.

Booty was not a fan of this mask initially but became indifferent to it within 2 days of harrassment. It spent the next 9 years atop our bookshelf gathering dust and spying on our living room. We finally threw it away when we took it down to show baby Maia and realized that we were inhaling decaying bits of plastic every time we wore it.

Top Reviews of 2024

Here are the experiences I gave the highest ratings to in 2024. I hope you discover something new!

Books

• Song of the Mysteries by Janny Wurts (A+)
• Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikowsky (A)
• Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikowsky (A-)
• The Scarab Path by Adrian Tchaikowsky (A-)
• Salute the Dark by Adrian Tchaikowsky (B+)

Television Shows

• Fallout, Season One (A) (Amazon)
• Line of Duty, Season Three (B+) (Hulu)
• Yellowjackets, Season One (B+) (Amazon)
• Cobra Kai, Season Three / Four / Five (B+) (Netflix)
• Jury Duty (B+) (Amazon)

Movies / Specials

• Thelma (B+) (Amazon)
• Miguel Wants to Fight (B+) (Hulu)
• Feast of the Seven Fishes (B+) (Amazon)
• Super Mario Brothers Movie (B+) (Netflix)
• Death to 2021 / Death to 2020 (B+) (Netflix)

Games

• Satisfactory (A) (PC)
• Dandelions (B+) (board game)
• 5-Minute Dungeon (B+) (board game)

Review Day: The Sea Watch by Adrian Tchaikovsky

There are no explicit plot spoilers in these reviews.

The Sea Watch is the sixth book in the Shadows of the Apt series (with 4 more to go). It's full of imaginative world-building explorations but suffers a bit from pacing issues in the middle act.

Rumours of piracy and lost ships reach the ears of Stenwold Maker as he continues to build alliances with the Ant-kinden and prepare Collegium for the inevitable return of the Wasp Empire. Stenwold's mission to unearth a possible Spiderlands conspiracy is thrown off-course by the discovery of the Sea-Kinden, a multitude of people living under the Ocean who may be a bigger threat than any known land-based enemy.

Book 6 follows Stenwold, Teornis of the Spider-kinden, and Laszlo, a new Fly-kinden in the role of snarky sidekick. The main characters and plots from Book 5 are barely given lip service before a new tale is told, so readers interested in learning more about what's become of Cheerwell Maker and her new traveling companion will be disappointed.

The pacing of this book didn't quite work for me. I felt like Act I was a bit too timid in pulling on the threads that mattered, and just when it started to get interesting, the rug is pulled out from under the main plot in Act II with the introduction of the Sea-kinden. What follows is a very creative road trip through the Ocean, full of new Kinden, complex politics, and different locales but of questionable import to the main plot. Act III picks back up again, but might even be too fast -- a lot seems to happen off the page and a key confrontation with a tyrant feels cartoonishly trope-y.

I hope that the depth of world-building in the middle section ends up meaning more in subsequent books, but in isolation I felt like it was too much flavor and not enough forward motion. I had the same feeling about the sections of a previous book that described the politics around (and under) the Exalsee.

Even so, I've heard that the best is yet to come in this series and Book 6 has not dissuaded me from planning to finish the series. Adrian Tchaikovsky approaches everything he writes with such a unique perspective and I can appreciate what he's written here even if I still like Books 4 and 5 more.

Final Grade: B-

Ho Ho Ho

2024 Timeline

A smattering of events from 2024

• Maia started gymnastics.
• Did a lot of web administration stuff and earned an AWS cert.
• It snowed moderately.

• Rebecca got a new car.
• Did a lot of web administration stuff.

• Got a new phone.
• Upgraded our electrical system and got an EV charger installed.
• Went to Bethany Beach for Spring Break.

• Survived an eclipse.
• Redecorated the basement bathroom.
• Ian turned 3.

• Ian had his first overnight grandparents visit.
• Amber died at the age of 19.

• Went to Lake Anna for summer vacation.

• Maia turned 7 and went to the cat cafe.
• Quick overnight trip to Winchester.
• Painted our driveway white.

• Saw AJR in DC.
• Visited the Ahlbins.
• Maia and Ian had their first movie theatre experience.
• Bought a new dryer.

• Turned 45.
• Maia discovered a love of snow crab legs.
• Got addicted to Satisfactory.

• Spent Fall Break in Lusby, MD.
• My dad broke his hip.

• Went to Shenandoah for 2nd Fall Break.
• Maia started swimming lessons.
• Adopted new kittens.

• Hosted the Whitmer clan for a late Thanksgiving.
• Participated in Advent of Code for the 7th straight year.
• Hosted Sara and Karl for Christmas.

End-of-the-Month Highlights Day

New photos have been added to the Life, 2024 album.

• Events
  • Hosted the Whitmer clan for a belated Thanksgiving dinner on S 12/1.
  
  
  • Took the kids to visit the grandparents on M 12/2. Got sick overnight.
  
  
  • Family hike in Claude Moore Park followed by dinner at Miller's on T 12/3.
  
  
  • Solo dad dinner at Local Provisions on H 12/5.
  
  
  • Maia and Rahel had a playdate to meet the kitties on S 12/7. Christmas Lights in Claude Moore Park in the evening.
  
  
  • Rebecca and Maia went on a girl scout outing to an alpaca farm on S 12/8.
  
  
  • Solo dad dinner at Miller's on H 12/12.
  
  
  • Went to a work lunch at Ometeo on F 12/13.
  
  
  • Took the kids to the grandparents to make Christmas Cookies on S 12/14.
  
  
  • Solo dad dinner at Local Provisions on W 12/18.
  
  
  • Ian's preschool Christmas program on F 12/20. Sara and Karl visit from Minneapolis.
  
  
  • Dinner at Aslin Brewery / IZZI with Sara, Karl, Car, and Jordan on S 12/22.
  
  
  • Sara and Karl returned home on Christmas afternoon, W 12/25.
  
  
  • Visit from the Smiths on H 12/26 so we could watch Abby the cat for a week.
  
  
  • Went to Udvar-Hazy with my sister's family and my parents, then hung out around our house for the rest of the day on F 12/27.
  
  
  • Had Tom & Peggy and Marc over for a visit on S 12/28.
  
  
  • Celebrated Christmas with the Whitmer clan in The Plains on S 12/29.
  
  
  • Visiting my parents with the kids on M 12/30.
  
  
  • Rebecca and Maia visited Marc while Brian and Ian went to Miller's on T 12/31.


• Projects
  • Started competing in my 7th year of Advent of Code at midnight on S 12/1 (got 1st place).


• Consumerism
  • The washing machine broke on W 12/25.
  
  
  • No amazing new games, shows, music, or books this month.

December's Final Grade: B, A little too much social time and not enough sleep.