Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

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“You should treat yourself to a ride today. It’s pretty spectacular out there.”

My lovely bride had already been out and about. I was sitting still and reading the morning news. But when your beloved encourages you to do a thing, you do a thing, and that’s how the personal revolution began today.

The first day of August is the academic’s traditional day of “What have I done with my summer?!?!” panic. The fall term comes into focus and there’s a lot to do, and it’s a scramble until May. But I’ve been doing some work of late, and today just didn’t feel like it. It was, I was told, pretty spectacular out there.

So I went to the library.

The local public library — which is staffed entirely by volunteers and open for 28 hours a week, but only 24 per week in the summer, which asks you to pay $2 for a card which is provided “Compliments of” a bank in a different town altogether — called yesterday to tell me they’d received a book I’d requested through the interlibrary loan.

Libraries, if you’ll let them (which is to say, if you go more than once) are magical places. But, really, the ILL system lets everything come to your library, even if you have but a small library in your town. About once a year, this time of year, I avail myself of the library for an easy fiction read. (Most things I read throughout the year are news, work-related or history. But there’s always something easy and/or breezy if you’re willing to be seen checking out such a thing.)

So I did that. I’ll read it this weekend, and the revolution will be over and it’ll be back to work on Monday. Or possibly Sunday evening.

I came home and, because it was spectacular, I treated myself to a bike ride. It was blue-gray out. The UV was only a 3. The temperature was 78. After I’d worked up a sweat it felt almost coolish outside. (This is different than the brief bout of cold you might feel with heat exhaustion. It was purely damp clothes, damp skin, and 20 mph winds.

There was one place where, on a straight road, I passed a house with a flag, a restaurant with parking lot flags, and a fire department with two flags. In that brief span, and it couldn’t have been any greater a distance than two city blocks, if you were in a city, the flags were blowing in three different directions.

It was not the fastest ride, but the one place I really tried I easily set a new Strava PR, so there’s that.

After that, it was time to go to the yard. It was time to pick up sticks from yesterday’s storm. Mostly it was just that, five-six, pick up sticks. The magnolia did fine.

But there’s a branch in another tree that will have to come down. Eventually. Somehow. It’s a little high up.

Our poor trees stand no chance in these winds. This weighs heavily upon me.

Then again, a lot does these days. How could it not?

We were trying to count, and we believe this is the fourth time we’ve seen Guster this year now. They just play around us a lot. Or, we are in a place where they do a lot of shows. If it is four times this year, then it’s seven times since we moved here. They’re close by, it’s a good show, so why not go?

It is important here to say I’ve seen these guys play, off-and-on, for more than a quarter of a century now. It’s become a joke, who has opened for them. They sell custom-shirts that they’ll print at the venue, so you can make yourself known as a hipster by signifying which Grammy-winner-to-be you saw with them. I think Jump, Little Children might have opened for them the first time I was able to catch a show. (Unless I’m forgetting an even earlier one.) All of which is to say, they are a fun band and they do terrific fan work and it doesn’t always sound exactly like their studio stuff. But, in all of those years, or the last four year shows this year, or any show I’ve seen of theirs in six or seven states, they don’t seem to do a lot of ad lib jams.

But, tonight, I just happened to be holding my phone at the right time for this little diddy.

Look how much fun they’re having! That may be the best part of the whole thing.

The Mountain Goats opened for Guster. This past year I’ve suddenly heard a lot about The Mountain Goats. When this show came up I thought I should learn about The Mountain Goats. But then I got distracted and, finally, I decided, just find out live. And I’m glad I did. I understand what everyone is talking about. I mentioned this on Bluesky.

Finally got to see @themountaingoats.bsky.social.

I understand what everyone was saying. I get it now.

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— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.bsky.social) August 1, 2025 at 8:05 PM

One of the guys in the band wrote me back, right after the show was over. That was about the point when I was looking over their catalog: 22 studio albums, four compilation albums, three live albums, not to mention many EPs and demos that are floating around out there. That’s a lot to contemplate. I don’t think I need to be a completist here, but there’s not enough time in the day to learn where to pick up on something new that’s already so robust. (It’s concept albums everywhere and sequels decades on and so on.) Where to even begin?

And then the guy in the band gave me album recommendations.

So that’s nice. And just as soon as I get through three other musical stacks of things I’m doing … I’ll be doing this.

They’ll have pumped out nine more albums by then.

Anyway, we’re contemplating seeing them again Monday night, because they’ll all be close by again. And why not? Also, Monday, it’s back to work. And I’ll share one or two other videos from this show. (One including The Mountain Goats.) And then, Tuesday, it is working on campus. Meetings and everything.

And, Wednesday, I’ll start making syllabi. Then it gets real.

Unless it is pretty spectacular out again.

cycling / photo / Thursday — Comments Off
31
Jul 25

Storm riders

We’ve been reliably told — or so the weather reports would tell us — that the heat wave will break. The storms that rolled in this afternoon were pushed through by a cold front. That happened in the mid-afternoon, and the phones erupted with obnoxious sounds urging us to take action. And to also plug in and turn on the weather radio. (Note to self …)

I was standing over my lovely bride’s shoulder in her home office when this happened. So two phones in close proximity made great big wah-wah sounds. Tornado warning. And all the little towns and crossroads listed seemed relevant. Seek shelter now, and all of that.

So we went to the basement. Twenty-five months in this house, and that’s the first time.

We stayed down there about a half-hour, which was probably about 10 minutes longer than necessary. The local TV meteorologists have a large DMA to cover, and they seem to think that other communities also deserve attention. But, finally, between what they were showing and what I could see on the radar apps, the storm that suggested rotation passed over to the north and west of us.

Hopefully everyone is OK. Things look good for the most part, here. It rained all through the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, so we couldn’t do a complete inspection.

For now, I know this. I sure could go for some days in the 80s, and I’m not talking about the decade.

So maybe we’ll stop roasting. Or is it broiling? That all depends on the humidity settings. We did a bit of both this morning, when we went out for a quick ride. You know, before it got hot.

I have convinced myself that I don’t handle the heat as well as I used to. Or can do. It takes some habituation, and the other part of this is that I’m not particularly enthused by the idea of suffering through it to the extent necessary. What once felt like a badge of honor now just feels like There’s other stuff to do, too, ya know …

So after a time, I went slowly. Because of the heat. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

Somewhere in here — not here, but on this ride — I crossed 20,000 miles on my Specialized.

I’ve been saying that’s when I’ll spring for myself a new bike. But that means shopping. And analysis. And agonizing. This is not a hobby bereft of details. And people love their specs. I’d like to be over bike specs, but you can hardly avoid them to get the fit and function you’re after.

Also, this is expensive. Buying a bike is the fourth most expensive thing I’ve ever purchased, after my home, my car, and a pound of ground beef.

So if you want to help me shop, or start a GoFundMe …

photo / Rowan / Wednesday — Comments Off
30
Jul 25

That’s a good thing

Someone decided that Zoom meetings should last an hour. That’s probably too long, but you can get a lot of stuff done in an hour. And that’s a good thing. There’s always the pleasant surprise when some of them wrap up even more quickly. On the other hand, sometimes they can run longer. And at 90 minutes today, I tried the first of the “thanks” and “goodbyes.” Later, I was more successful with the “thank yous” and “get outta heres.”

It was a beneficial meeting. I got a page full of notes. Some clarity was brought to plans. We have two separate steps of action to take, and also another new role for me at the office.

If anyone is keeping track, I’m now sitting on five departmental committees, and chairing one of them. I’m also on a university committee. And then I have this new thing, which has to do with social media, which I regard as a hazing prank. There’s also the Center, for which I write. I wrote something today, in fact. And then I am doing new class preps seven, eight and nine this term. I have been here four terms so far.

The social media thing is directing a student employee who is working on departmental socials. This is as hard as you want it to be, and can be as fruitful as you want it to be. The good news is that I have a returning student to help light the way, and it is a person I’ve had in two classes, so we have some familiarity. And we have a meeting set for tomorrow, now. So two meetings, two days in a row, and it’s July.

I’m not even on the clock, technically.

Speaking of social media, I braved Instagram today, trying to search for something from both my memory and the even more vague and forgetful algorithm. Finally got frustrated with the whole enterprise, which led me to this funny, not self-referential haha, but also not self-aware haha.

It doesn’t become self-aware, in my view, until it cleans up its act.

The thing I wrote, which should be published later this week, is a 1,200 word column about baseball. It’s not hard. It’s fun — except for the part where my computer crashed. That was a setback. And that took up most of the rest of the day, a day which was just too hot to do anything else but to sit and sweat. And have meetings.

The herb I mentioned last week? Spearmint. And, friend, we have a lot of it.

Not pictured: the rest of it.

You can use it in teas, salads, ointments and chew on the leaves. (The novelty of that one wears off quickly.) You can preserve it. Why you need to preserve spearmint escapes me. You can’t get rid of the stuff.

I have also, today, settled on the schedule of my Criticism class. I selected two more great readings for it today. One or two more of those and the full outline will be complete, leaving me just the course, the syllabus and the slides to make. So I’m on schedule? Because, like everyone else, I forgot there is a 31st day in July. Yay! More time to work during my time off! (It’s a good thing.)

iPhone / memories / photo / Tuesday — Comments Off
29
Jul 25

Three simple steps

I made myself a new phone background. It’s easy and fun. And this one was good, so I thought I’d share it, in case you needed a new look. I found this on a wall in California in March of 2024. It seemed like really good advice. Still does. So click this photo, download the thing, you’ll have one hastily made wallpaper ready to go.

I had to do a little scrolling to find that photo. The energy levels were different in 2024 than they are in 2025. Gee. I can’t, for the life of me, imagine why that is.

Should try to work on that.

Anyway, the kitties are taking this mantra to heart. Here’s Phoebe, doing the relaxing.

And here’s Poseidon, doing the enjoy portion on both a chair and a little end table. It started out as a lunchtime cuddle, but this was better, I guess. Well, he enjoys it.

Neither of them have a problem with the repeat part of this life approach.

OK, back to my work studies. This meeting prep won’t do itself.

cycling / Monday / music / photo / video — Comments Off
28
Jul 25

Tripping sillies

A quick shot from our Saturday afternoon bike ride. Not pictured is my lovely bride, who was way, way ahead of me by this point. It’s not a race, but it is a competition, you know? And, lately, I’ve been getting it handed to me.

Anyway, she’s up there somewhere. That was the first route we discovered when we moved here. It’s a solid 23 or 24 mile loop. And it’s been improved by a red light at a key intersection. This is also the route where the hub on my rear wheel shattered earlier this year. I looked down at the computer when I got to the spot. It was 10 miles into the ride. (I’m sure I knew that then, because I would have looked at the same computer, but who can remember these things in such granular detail?) That would have been a long way to walk home, but my lovely bride came back and picked me up. She was ahead of me that day, too, and don’t think I didn’t put all of that together in my head while I was struggling through a headwind.

There’s a place on that route where you’re going into a cross-headwind one direction, and you take two quick lefts, such that you are going 180 degrees the opposite of the direction from whence you just came. And when you do that, you just get a crosswind.

These breezes aren’t fair, is what I’m saying.

There was a concert, which I totally forgot about.

And a kids birthday party, which we totally forgot about. We put in a small appearance. They had a rope climbing course above us all. I did not get invited to take the climb, but someone did. Looked fun.

There was also a rail system in the ceiling which let you fly around in the air, a perpendicular superhero. Some people would stay up there all day. There were also wall climbing areas, and American Ninja Warrior-inspired leaping set ups. And, of course, video games. Upstairs was where the birthday party room was, and the kids that we went to see had a guy who was working on just his fourth party.

I asked him if he had any horror stories yet. He’s already seen some things.

The kids loved him, and that’s what counts. Except for the No Flipping rule on the trampolines, it seemed everyone had a good time.

Everything else is moving swiftly. I got a brief on a class I’m teaching in the fall. (Two more of those to go.) I have about six days of a second class to flesh out. Meetings start Wednesday. The stress and “Why aren’t syllabi things that magically appear in the middle of the night?” panic will begin soon after.