september 24 etc
My partner and I have never posted a cute couples pic on Instagram. It's not that we aren't cute (we are) or on that platform (we are) or hate that kind of thing (we don't, and you are all gorgeous). It's just that doing that kind of thing isn't really... us.
I only have nine pics on my personal Instagram and none of them have me in them. The only shot of my face on that platform is a selfie from 2022, before I cut off my pandemic hair. I haven't looked at her Insta in ages but I assume it's something similar.
Anyway, I mention this because today is our anniversary. While I don't ever (and won't ever) feel the need to talk publicly about our thing, I just want to say that if you have enjoyed any of my various bloggings here or at Oddball (this week's questions went up yesterday btw) she deserves a lot of the credit.
I used to think that no good creative work came from happiness but that's nonsense fed to guys like me between the ages of 16-25 to justify all kinds of self-obsession, self-destruction, and self-aggrandizement.
The view from middle age is different. It is informed by experience and by trying a lot of things and knowing what works and what doesn't. And because I am middle-aged and have failed in every way very experienced I can tell you that for me personally, the best and most rewarding work I've ever done (including whatever work I do here, actually) has been downstream of joy and peace, two things I have experienced in almost indecent abundance over the past few years.
On y va!
🤪🔥 If you didn't read yesterday's post I would suggest you do because the intro section is me at about a 4/10 on the unhinged scale, which doesn't sound like a lot but I haven't gone over a 2 in a few years. (combatdavey.net)
🎵🎵 Here's a song for you to put on whatever playlist you put on before you lift weights. Or, like, commit crimes. (Spotify)
🎵🎵 Here's a song to put on whatever playlist you put on before you commit crimes. Or, like, lift weights. (Spotify)
🎵🎵 John Gentile from Bandcamp wrote up/put together this excellent piece for Bandcamp's Lists feature about how the Roots Radics done changed the game like Gina Linetti. (Bandcamp)
🤖🤖 "The demise of writing matters, because writing is not a second thing that happens after thinking. The act of writing is an act of thinking." This is from a new piece at Derek Thompson's Substack about how human cognitive skills are declining in developed countries because of AI everything. (derekthompson.org)
🗣️🗣️ ICYMI, Jimmy Kimmel's show was uncancelled and aired last night. Here's some of Kimmel's 9/23/2025 monologue via images with text overlaid in case you were interested. (combatdavey.net via Instagram/evanrosskatz)
⚾⚾ Three Detroit Tigers did the spastic Tr*mp dance during a game at Yankee Stadium on September 11. Since then, the Tigers are 1-10 and have choked away a massive division lead and might miss the playoffs altogether after looking borderline dominant all season long. (Twitter/RapidResponse47; Twitter/DuncanSmithNBA)
🎥🐯 The Tiger is a short film by Spike Jonze and Halina Reijn "featuring looks from the Gucci: La Famiglia collection" and features the likes of Ed Harris, Demi Moore, Edward Norton, and Elliot Page. (Gucci)
🌲 gonna
🌼 go
🌱 touch to a
🌳 grass restaurant
🌷 now
Be good to yourself.
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