I tried to make something happen, thinking I could just about thread the needle while racing traffic and the clock. Thanks to willingness to settle for at least one needle, curiosity and overheard kindness, I wound up threading two. I sure hope the folks who looked out for me get to thread theirs.

I did a thing I hadn’t for a while yet, even though I knew it would come. The sign-up went smoothly enough. How could it not? The tasks were a bit dispiriting and discomfiting, but about as uncannily Uranian and embarrassingly eldritch as expected. Someone I spoke to today called it IT. I wish.

An oddly musical day, but who knew how odd: smooth-jazz versions of Nineties quiet-storm R&B riding to the festival, where an official unofficial after-party flyer caught my eye. After the acts onstage in the park came a bus-ride tip from an unquotable and an algorithmic UK drum-and-bass serve.

If I treasure anything lately, it’s time. If I do things right with it, there’s enough left to fix an important thing at home, plan a couple more for next week, ride herd over how I spent it last month and nearly matched a key metric, knock out several more songs, and get ready for […]