I walked through Little Italy today, lots of people inside and out watching the Canada-Morocco match, but the vibe wasn’t like it is when the Azzurri are on the field. 

Now I’m back to doing a book cover for a collection of Marxist writings on which I’ve been asked not to put a portrait of Karl. So maybe Harpo?

One of my two main clients has been going through hell lately because his wife has cancer and has not been getting better. He called me yesterday to tell me that she has elected to have MAID (Medical Assistance in Dying) next Monday.

He was crying.

I said some things, but have been thinking, one grew up with certain formulaic things to say if someone’s relative was seriously ill or had died, but no appropriate responses when told that person had scheduled their death.

I mean, you can’t say “I hope it goes well.”

What American comptitive eater has won the Mustard Yellow Belt a record 17 times?

What sort of fully-functioning object was "America", a 227-pound 18-karat gold artwork that was exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum and then stolen from Blenheim Palace?

What American company (the world's first billion-dollar corporation) was co-founded in 1901 by Elbert Henry Gary, for whom Gary, Indiana was named?

We're back. Not sure what happened there, the out of memory zapper zapped mongod last night. I took the opportunity to do a package update as well. Thanks Rob for pointing it out.

What did Gertrude Ederle become the first woman to swim across?

Who was Emperor of Japan from 1926 to 1989?

What was Ernest Hemingway's debut novel?

The run-up to the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup was utterly dispiriting to me.

However, the games have begun, and things are feeling normal again, even in the face of... everything.

Okay so hey, in the glorious randomness that is my life, I went to a Dr Pepper Knockoff tasting last weekend. It has been 20 years since the last Dr Pepper Knockoff tasting that I attended, so it was time.

NOTE: Dr Pepper dropped the "." after Dr in the 50s. 

INTEL: Dr Pepper was invented by a pharmacist in Waco Texas who wanted a drink that tasted like the pharmacy smelled. 

May 30th, 2026 Bethesda, Maryland Dr Pepper & Knockoffs tasting results:

TOP CHOICES: 

• DR PEPPER - tried and true. Best mouthfeel, best tasting
• MR P!BB - deserves a PHD. Like Dr Pepper + splash of cherry

NOT TOO SHABBY

• DR TOPPER - very respectable clone. Hint of bitters?  Would work well as a mixer for an alcoholic bev. 
• DR. PERKY - best name. Not bad actually. Solid but not stellar.

OKAY

• DR. POP - very vanilla. Almost but not as good as Perky.
• DR THUNDER - Tried and ok. Not a loser, but not a winner. 

ONLY IF YOU HAVE TO

• DR BOB - bland, watery, better the second sip but still not good. Malpractice comes to mind

JUST DONT: 

• DR. POPZ prebiotic soda from Aldi (?) - Maybe shouldn’t have been invited, more kombucha than soda. Medicinal, artificial, thin. Suggested use: drain cleaning.

THIS IS REALLY A DIFFERENT THING ALTOGETHER

• Cheerwine. This one is not even trying to be a Dr. Pepper knockoff. Not sure how it slipped into the tasting. Good, but not in the DP family,.

Before his death from lung cancer at age 42 in 1978, John Cazale acted in five motion pictures, each of which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.  How many can you name?

Goal 2026.2 - Read the following books

SUMMARY - Of the 13 books:

• 3 Finished (Camus, Kafka, Bronte)
• 3 Started/Partially finished (Melville, Hesse, Cao Xueqqin)
• 3 Have text, not started (Cervantes, Akutagawa, Dostoyevsky)
• 4 Still needing to aquire the text (Yi Sang, Goethe, Dante, Homer)

1. Yi Sang - The Wings + Crow's Eye View << this one is still proving hard to source. I might have to settle for something else by him
2. Johann Wolfgang Goethe - Faust, a tragedy in two parts. Have a version in German, but that doesn't actually help. Will acquire it eventually. 
3. Miguel de Cervantes - The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote de la Mancha. Acquired but have not started. 
4. Ryunosuke Akutagawa - Hell Screen. Acquired but have not started. 
5. Albert Camus - The Stranger. DONE. I listened to it as an audiobook while driving and while crafting my dragon.
6. Cao Xueqin - Dream of the Red Chamber (also known as Story of the Stone). I have realized the version I'm attempting to read is 4 VOLUMES long. I've put a pin in it 75% through volume 1. 
7. Emily Bronte - Wuthering Heights. DONE. I read half then listened to the rest as an audiobook while driving and while crafting my dragon.
8. Herman Melville - Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. I've been starting and not finishing this book for years. It's my white whale, so to speak. So 45% done, again. Maybe this is the year.
9. Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Crime and Punishment. Acquired but have not started. 
10. Dante Alighieri - The Divine Comedy. Neither acquired nor started part 1: Inferno. I did read it as a teen many years ago. I did acquire (err, find in the museum that is my house) a version of part 2: Purgatorio. Also don't have part 3:  Paradiso
11. Hermann Hesse - Demian, the Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth 3/8th done. This is my current active read. Listening it as I drive, or do housework.
12. Homer - The Odyssey. Have not started. I have like 7 versions of this on my shelf, but not actually the translation I wish to read.
13. Franz Kafka - Metamorphosis. DONE (in 2025)

PS: I also recently read the 3-BODY PROBLEM by Liu Cixin. And MONK & ROBOT by Becky Chambers. Both recomended.