Day 2,365, Quasi-Quarantine: A Whimsical Beach Puzzle For A Stuttering Beach Trip

 

It was a stranger OBX visit this summer, with some melancholy, a new member of the party, and a different part of the beach to explore.

While parts of the trip had a hard time getting off the ground, the old standby was a puzzle to work on, and this colorful collection of shapes, flowers, and symbols added an air of whimsy to the festivities.

8.1 out of 10, would build on the beachfront again

Day 2,364, Quasi-Quarantine: Another Year, Another Fantasy Luck Death March For The Scooters

(AI prompt: Create an image that accurately depicts the frustration of repeatedly losing at fantasy football when you're consistently predicted to win)

The Scooters had bounced back from a really weird draft with a couple of strong preseason claims and a trade that could end up being notable.

Scooters get Kenneth Gainwell, RB, TB

Other team gets Khalil Shakir, WR, BUF, and Kayshon Boutte, WR, HOU

I was trading from a position of extreme strength to get a third running back who could start at a flex position in a pinch. That was the case in Week 1, when Brock Bowers got hurt (wheeeee!) and Alec Pierce was put on a pitch count of 25-30 plays.

When I headed into the evening matchup (Cowboys-Giants), I was in a great spot, trailing by around 20 points with both Dak Prescott and George Pickens playing. ESPN told me I had a 75% chance to win.

Except I'd seen this movie before.

And when I say "before," I mean four or five times a season for around a quarter-century of fantasy football. So I put my chances to win somewhere around 8%.

Of course, that's just what happened, as Pickens racked up an entire 4.3 points, Prescott fell short as well, and I somehow managed to lose by four points.

Oh, fantasy football season is so incredibly on.

Onward, Scooters.

Day 2,360, Quasi-Quarantine: Vietnam Vet Navigates Assimilation In The Wyoming Wilds In "Walk Me To The Distance"

 

“He was a murderer, and the major well of guilt in this was that he felt no remorse. He laughed softly to himself and shook his head. The most frightening element of it all was that, even with the grotesque image of the retarded man bound and dangling, the action was somehow beautiful.”

This Western-coded novel follows a Vietnam War veteran who tries to assimilate back to everyday life, settling in Wyoming after feeling ostracized in his home state of Georgia. The action is seen through Kevin's occasionally unreliable perspective, and some of the bizarre behavior and decision-making we witness passively could potentially be related to PTSD (we didn't have a name for this when the novel was written more than 40 years ago, which also somewhat explains much of the problematic language).

“He wondered if a man actively seeking to surrender could be captured.”

Kevin ends up living on a ranch with Sixbury, an elderly widow who cares for a son with intellectual disabilities named Patrick. As Kevin tries to navigate interpersonal dynamics, an abandoned child enters the equation, leading to a series of heart-breaking and traumatic events, some of which really sneak up on the reader.

“The doors were open, and there under the moonlight, David saw him. Patrick was fucking a sheep.”

With something of a fever-dream quality, sparse prose, and concepts of frontier justice, "Walk Me to the Distance" evokes Cormac McCarthy. While the work is indicative of a young novelist finding his footing (it's Percival Everett's second novel and a precursor to classics like "James" and "The Trees"), this short blazer of a book asks compelling questions about the meaning of family, sexuality, the assimilation of grief, and the the difference between society and individuality.

“As he drove home, he found himself oddly relaxed. It was an empty feeling, but not at all uncomfortable. He didn’t feel lost, though he couldn’t say just where he was. He didn’t feel stranded and he didn’t feel helpless. He didn’t feel anything and that was all right.”

Limerick Friday #653: Another Year, Another National-Stage Humiliation -- Day 2,354

When State rains, it's pourin'

The signs we all kept ignorin'

Creativity and preparation we lack

Such is the life of the Pack

Especially under Snorin' Doeren

TCU fell apart at the seams

Fulfilling the N&O's Belicheat dreams

Michael Lombardi's office cleared?

Steve Belicheat has disappeared?

Ignore all that while the media creams

A party of ignorant bitches

Full of ass-kissing pitches

To an 80-year-old senile predator

Who shits his pants on the regular

This is the cult of bigotry and temporary riches

$180 million in dead cap money

The outlook ain't sunny

The 'Fins can barely field a squad

And the talent? Good god

If it wasn't so sad, it would be kinda funny

A fraud at quarterback

Missing a rushing attack

Receivers just can't get open

And instead of tacklin', we're hopin'

Meet this year's Wolfpack

Last time ...

Day 2,352, Quasi-Quarantine: Sprawling "Atonement" Documents Complicated Love Story Amid Backdrop Of False Accusations And World War II

“The problem these fifty-nine years has been this: how can a novelist achieve atonement when, with her absolute power of deciding outcomes, she is also God?”

Initially set in pastoral England in the 1930s, "Atonement" does a stellar job of blending timelines and backdrops. The action moves to France in World War II and eventually to 1999 London as the characters embrace challenges, emotions, and obstacles.

McEwan is a master at navigating an unreliable narrator and documenting the horrors of war, elegantly interspersing poignant interpersonal moments along the way. He places a stolen moment in the midst of generational and global conflict, studying its ripple effects and ramifications over decades.

“As long as he did not think of the edge, he would not go near it, and would not be tempted. He forced himself to remember the dullest things he knew–bootblack, an application form, a wet towel on his bedroom floor.”

“ … Beauty she had discovered, occupied a narrow band. Ugliness, on the other hand, had infinite variation.”

The author deftly moves between the timelines, avoiding a number of opportunities that could have disrupted the narrative.

If the introduction of the C-word jars the reader to attention early on, the book really finds its stride in part two, as we're thrust into the middle of a war, replete with heartbreaking and horrific scenes. The final section, "London 1999," beautifully completes the tale.

“His business was to survive, though he had forgotten why.”

The result is a 21st-century epic, as "Atonement" thrives in the complexities of human nature and finds hope in the bleakest circumstances.

“‘Do you love me?’

“She hesitated. ‘Yes.’ No other reply was possible. Besides, for that moment, she did. He was a lovely boy who was a long way from his family and he was about to die.”

Day 2,350, Quasi-Quarantine: Shuttle Puzzle Division Of Labor Leaves Me Adrift In Outer Space

 

The 500-piece History of Space Travel puzzle featured space suits, launch vehicles, space craft, and even the space station -- representing every space suit and vessel launched into space since 1961.

While I dug this puzzle in concept, it was another experience where my partner did entirely too much of the work. Another bummer was that it was missing a piece, which bothered the completionist in me.

6.8 out of 10, would build by myself again

Day 2,345, Quasi-Quarantine: The Snipers Were Out In Full Force Along The Scooters' Draft Freeway

 

So we've all had that fantasy football experience where it feels like the person picking before you in the draft takes the player you were targeting seemingly every time during the course of the selection process. Most of the time, you look back and realize that it happened way less than it felt like.

And other times, you look back and realize you weren't exaggerating at all and it happened around a dozen times. 

Yeah, so that was this year for me.

I got sniped so many times in this draft that I was literally angry for no reason I was able to coherently articulate. ESPN sending its unasked-for draft grade moments after the conclusion didn't help -- especially since ESPN doesn't understand how superflex drafts work (arguably, neither do I).

There were eight instances where the player I wanted as picked directly or two picks before my spot that were particularly damaging to my overall efforts:

• Ja'Marr Chase (1st round)
• Derrick Henry (3rd)
• David Montgomery (6th)
• Kenneth Gainwell and J.K. Dobbins (ninth)
• Jordan Mason (11th)
• Chris Godwin (13th)
• Alvin Kamara (14th)

What really got me steaming was the back-to-back of Godwin and Kamara, as Godwin was someone who fell that I was excited about and I had a plan to immediately stash Kamara on IR and fill his roster spot directly following the draft.

Other examples that didn't upset me quite as much:

• Amon-Ra St. Brown (2nd)
• Nico Collins (4th)
• Emeka Egbuka (5th)
• Woody Marks (12th)
• Keaton Mitchell (15th)

I feel like I pivoted really well after my strategy got torpedoed early on, but the draft-day results followed on the heels of a highly frustrating season that saw me win the winner's consolation ladder, end up in fifth place, and wrap up the season 10-7 after back-to-back wins over my least-favorite owner.

I really liked my roster in the final weeks of the season and finished on a heater, but the combo of injuries and shite luck -- I allowed the second-most fantasy points in the league -- proved too much to overcome.

Now I'm left to hope that a testing draft isn't an omen that the upcoming season will go down a similar path as last year's.

Go Scooters.