I never thought I’d feel sympathy for Rory Kinnear playing a British Prime Minister after his turn as a thick, pompous ass of a PM in The Diplomat.

But then tonight I watched the first episode of Black Mirror (“The National Anthem”). And, well, holy shit.

My next post is gonna demonstrate that I’m waaaaay behind on some popular media, but stick with me here.

Cubs lose ignominiously to the Pirates 12-1, dropping their 10th game in a row.

Oof.

It’s a short work week, but it’s a travel work week.

CID ✈️ DEN ✈️ SEA

Let’s do this.

Yesterday at church a friend who is an editor for Random House was talking about editing a new biography of Pope Leo. Someone mentioned the Pope’s upcoming encyclical, to which my friend replied that oh yes, he’d read an advance copy.

I mean that’s a niche flex, but it’s a helluva flex.

Working to set up a new iPad for my MIL. Going from an 8-year-old iPad still running iPadOS 17 to a new A16 iPad. The device-to-device transfer setup failed, as I expected it might. Restoring from iCloud backup now. Fingers crossed…

So far this morning:

  • assembled cinnamon rolls from last night’s dough
  • left them to rise
  • 5.5 mile run
  • baked and frosted the rolls
  • Got ribs thrown on the smoker
  • Washed up the resulting dishes

And it’s, what, not yet 9 AM? It’s gonna be a great holiday.

One of these years I’ll become a good Episcopalian and get a decent red shirt to wear on Pentecost. Not feeling the red pants this morning, and the Nebraska football jersey probably isn’t a good choice. Ah well. ⚓️

2026 Reads: Howards End by E. M. Forster 📚

2026 Reads: Book of Lives A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood 📚

Marvelously written. Shouldn’t be surprised. I’m not a huge Atwood fan (not opposed, just haven’t read her much) but the memoir was lovely. And yeah, she can write.