Feeling this one today.
2024 Club Challenge
Big, big doings this weekend. I made it on the Westwood Club Challenge team, so I’ve got a bunch of tennis to play and watch this weekend.
A big draw for me is watching the 4.0 and higher players hit. The pace they put on the ball and the smart way they position themselves bounces back and forth between inspiring and discouraging. They’re playing a different game than I am, it seems. This’ll be fun.
Floating Points – “Cascade”
It’s only been out a week, but this new Floating Points album has snuck into my top 10 for the year. That damn Berghain playlist has me all up into some house music. I had forgotten how much I love it.
It’s awesome work and driving music.
Wand – “Vertigo”
In a year that has had a lot of great albums for me, this one is right up there. I’ve enjoyed a handful of songs from their earlier releases, but this is a stem-to-stern winner to my ears. The Radiohead influence is pretty obvious, but there is also a nice Storm-In-Heaven-Verve thing going on. It’s tailor made for my wheelhouse. Highly recommend.
iOS 18 with the chubby icons
While I do enjoy an OS update I wasn’t really paying attention to what was coming. The beefy, dark-mode icons were a fun surprise.
I am curious about the Apple-flavored AI stuff, so I refreshed all of the hardware for these updates, too. I got the M2 Macbook Air last year, the M2 iPad Air this year, and I’m jumping on the Watch 10 this year after getting into the SE2 over the last little while. I am in the iPhone Upgrade Program to get the good camera setup every year on the Pro Max.
Should be fun to see how it goes. I like the tech stuff.
Suffering some tennis fatigue
End of summering aside, I have been playing a ton of tennis lately and it’s starting to wear a bit. We’ve got a big tournament this coming weekend and the urge to get as much practice in has started to backfire. I’m tried and playing lazily, which is not a recipe for confidence building.
You see my zones up there. Living in Zone 1 is not evidence of a player getting after it on the court. I’ve got one last mixed doubles match tonight to play as a tune up, and then I’m on hold until the weekend. I don’t usually have to be the guy “making a conscious effort to stay upbeat and positive”, but that’s where I am today.
Fingers crossed.
I snagged one last bit of Summer
Started the day watching some pals play tennis to wrap up one of the many league seasons.
Grabbed a couple of hours at the pool on a surprising (and welcome!) warm afternoon.
And wrapped with a decent sunset.
And that’s really, really the end of summer.
Lindor is a Monster
We’ve hit a period where the Mets are playing respectable baseball, buoyed by Francisco Lindor who is having an MVP-caliber season.
This is a picture of him hitting a game-tying HR in the top of the 9th. The Mets scored 5 more in the inning and won 6-2.
He’s been an absolute rock all season.
Commuter’s Friend.
It can make it complicated for the other drivers, but it put me in a great mood.
Vientos has been a great surprise
Speaking of hope for a playoff spot, the Mets started the year stinking bad-bad, but since the All-Star break have been playing pretty good baseball. One of the great stories of the season has been Mark Vientos making the most of his opportunity to play full time. He drew the short straw at the beginning of the season when he got sent down to the minors in favor of Brett Baty. Baty couldn’t put it together, so Vientos got a shot and he’s been playing at a very high level all season long.
Last night’s walk off 2-run HR is just the latest example of his patience, where he forces the pitcher into a long at-bat and then punishes a mistake pitch. I was freaking hyped.
Meaningful September baseball is a great deal of fun.