๐ถ๐ปWeek Notes 080
๐๏ธ // Jul 5, 2026 - Jul 11, 2026
We're definitely in the middle of summer now and it started to heat up quite a bit this week. Our front yard is mostly hanging in okay other than a few dry spots, but the backyard remains a source of disappointment and despair thanks to the heat and the ravages of our two dogs.
โฝ๏ธ Incredibly disappointing showing from the USMNT against Belgium. Balogun eligibility controversy aside, multiple starters with high level European experience entered the round of 16, and completely failed to meet the moment in utterly embarrassing and inexcusable fashion. We made Belgium look like world beaters through poor passing, and hapless decision making, and the Europeans were all too happy to Trump-dance their way into the quarterfinals.
๐บ๐ธ I enjoyed a nice 4 day 4th of July weekend thanks to taking Monday off as well. It was nice to get the flag out for a few days again, and imagine what our country could be again rather than what it currently is. Did a little bit of additional yard work as well and finally cleared all the pine needles and crap off our basketball sports pad as well.
โบ๏ธ The girls and Nathan spent a night camping in the side yard where there's grass, and the dogs can't get to them to mess up Mary's good 4-man tent (I gave it to her as a birthday present way back when we were dating and it's still in very good shape). The younger two girls would have liked to do it again and it's cool that they have the desire and are almost old enough to do that on their own.
๐ถ๐ปMary and I got in a couple of evening walks this week and I took part in a long soccer scrimmage at L's very hot practice last night so lots of good exercise for me this week. Really need to get back to running with the girls again though.
Playing
๐ฎ Played a little bit of Starboard with my youngest daughters. Initially found it kind of meh, but once I started figuring out the crafting side of things and realized you can light up underground areas with torches a-la Minecraft started having quite a bit more fun.
๐งโโ Continuing to have a good time with the Marvel set. Didn't do a ton of drafting this week, although I anticipate doing that quite a bit once I start my long summer staycation next Thursday.
Watching
๐บ Witch Watch S1 ๐๐ I'm a little over halfway through the first season and really enjoying the characters, humor, and general anime/manga satire. The developments with Wolf, the Enchanter, and the as yet unknown Big Bad are pretty fun and I enjoyed seeing initially disastrous spells being used in clever fashion in later episodes. Getting a fully realized Uron Mirage episode within an episode as well as the whole manga collab subplot with Ms. Makuwa and Kukumi was pretty awesome and hilarious as well.
๐บ Seinfeld ๐๐ Mary started working her way through he series on Netflix and this is a show that I don't mind sitting down for the occasional random episode with her at all. The classic parking garage episode, IQ test cheating scam, and Keith Hernandez episodes were standouts that I caught this week.
๐บ Akane-banishi S1E6 - ๐๐ I've been slow rolling and savoring this anime from the beginning, but halfway through the season and with major stakes ahead I'm poised to binge the remaining half and dive right into the manga. Just an absolute gem of a series.
Reading
๐ Dan Da Dan ๐๐ - Made it through the first 50 chapters and closing in on where the anime left off. Looking forward to catching up on the next 200 or so chapters this summer.
๐ Monochrome Days ๐๐ - Very enjoyable series on becoming successful manga artists after abandoning your dreams to get a real job and support your family. Really cool inside look at the entire industry and process.
๐ Blue Box Ch. 249 ๐๐ The penultimate chapter in a remarkable manga series that I'm confident will remain an all time favorite no matter how much more manga I read in the future. Kind of bummed that it had to montage so much of Taiki's last year of high school, to get to tomorrow's concluding episode, but still a good one with some amusing Hina and Yusa brothers interactions as well.
๐ Drawn to the Fire Ch. 1-12 ๐ Enjoyable basketball-focused high school manga, that pales in comparison to Blue Box, but still has its merits.