The Fluffbucket Diaries

The husband after a weeklong work trip to Sioux Falls, S.D.: “I listened to more Kid Rock than I have in the last 5 years.”

Picked up this trinket last weekend at a local “comic-con” (basically a small field house at the county fairgrounds stuffed with cosplayers and pop culture merch). Can’t think of a better place for this than my home office.

It’s here! My humble little Hobonichi Weeks shipment has arrived.

As I mentioned to a friend this week, the whole Hobonichi planner thing can be kind of a cult (in a major pen-and-stationery geek kind of way), and I was away from it for a while. But in a fit of pique over my worsening issues with time management—combined with my revived commonplace journal hobby—I’m back.

Maybe I should have splurged on one of the cooler limited edition covers or some of the other accessories available. But I expect this one, in the clear plastic cover I got with it, will be quite packed and covered in photos and other decor before I’m done with it.

And if anyone can explain that quote on the shipping box in the last pic, let me know.

Taking a break from baseball. It’s been a rough few days for both my teams, and I’ve got enough irritations in my life right now battering my psyche.

Twitter is good for at least one thing: giving our cat a gratuitous platform for … something.

I just spent a good 5 minutes explaining to my daughter the concept of “jumping the shark,” even noting with perverse old-person pride that I actually saw the “Happy Days” episode involved when it first aired.

My parenting work is done.

F’s weekly D&D session was canceled this afternoon, so we hit the local “comic-con” at the county fairgrounds. She added to her plushie collection; Helena approves.

Why yes, I bought a #HobonichiWeeks planner from Japan a week ago and am entirely too excited about the fact that it’s finally shipped.

Made a terrible mistake in looking at Twitter reactions to the Queen’s passing. Once again – surprise – civility is lacking, often in favor of a profound sense of smug self-righteousness. Humanity can really suck.

For the sake of my mental health, I’ve broken the habit of following most breaking news, especially political and crime stories.

But I’m riveted by coverage of Her Majesty’s failing health. “The end of an era” is overused, but here it’s entirely appropriate as this all unfolds.

And yes, it’s sad. For all the foibles and ridiculousness of the British royal family, it’s hard to dislike the Queen (using the BBC practice of capitalization here) herself. God bless her.

“Look Mom, another bowl of fruit!”

Time for a last-minute culture fix for Labor Day, the last day of the Cezanne exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago.

How I start a holiday weekend: tucked in with a cat, a pile of reading material, and a ballgame.

I was going to get snooty about how far the Washington Post had fallen, until I had to admit to myself that I actually clicked on the headline.

Got email today that pretty much said I really didn’t need to throw my hat into the ring for a news job.

I was ambivalent about the opening – one of many for a new religious news service – which sounded interesting, but I suspected I would turn out to be (a) too old, (b) too far out of the business, and (c) insufficiently Catholic. But I applied anyway, finessing my resume for the first time in almost a decade and submitting it to one of those faceless HR gaping maws that likes to send out “thanks, but we’re moving forward with somebody we like way better than you” emails. HR systems – and HR entities in general, I firmly believe – take great delight in crushing dreams.

Thing is, this was less of a dream of mine and more of a “nice to have” kind of fantasy. Honestly, despite the sometimes grueling workload, I’m fine with the job I have. If I can finagle a way to survive in it until possibly retirement age, great, because I don’t want to deal with one of those faceless HR gaping maws ever again.

Besides, I was beginning to have second thoughts about this job app when I realized I would need to behave myself online and avoid speaking my mind here (on the off-chance the Catholic News Media Thought Police found my blog). I already demonstrate a fair amount of restraint online, but I also looked things over and realized that I would really miss feeling free to vent and opine freely – a capability I would have to forego if I returned to the news business.

So, I’m jumping back online with a surprisingly happy sense of relief. At least I can stop trying to clean up my Twitter feed and go back to praising the occasional Protestant theologian again.

What happens when we go to the local Daiso outlet and F insists on obtaining almost-matching cat humiliation devices.

Halo-halo: the frozen dessert of my people.

Hard to see the shaved ice buried underneath the ube ice cream and layered with cubes of coconut gel, jackfruit strips, condensed milk, beans, ube jam, and — much to my delight — corn. (My dad put creamed corn in it when I was growing up, and I have yet to find anybody else who does.)

F refused twice to try it. She seemed genuinely hurt when I kiddingly called her a communist for refusing. (Maybe it’s a generational thing.)

It’s barely Saturday morning and my weekend is already complete.

A sad but necessary sign of the times on the back of my daughter’s high school ID card.

First day of school, high school freshman edition.

Been off all morning. Thinking about how I try not to cry every time I walk past the Target toy section and the My Little Pony and Disney Princess figurines she used to love.

Our Midwest cat cafe tour resumed in the Twin Cities.

Thai rolled ice cream is our new favorite dessert thing. Thanks, Minnesota.

Catching up on vacation pix. Spent a good chunk of last Thursday at the Minnesota science museum in St. Paul, which is as impressive as any of its counterparts in Chicago.

We’re staying near the Mall of America, but our favorite Twin Cities retail destination by far is Electric Fetus, Prince’s favorite hometown record shop.

BuzzFeed’s good for something: “Which ‘Avatar: The Last Earthbender’ Nation Do You Belong In?”

Abe said, “Where do you want this killin' done?” God said, “Out on Highway 61”