Soon I'll be attending my 4th and 5th memorials/celebration of life from the past 9 months. All of the people were in the "longterm friendly but not close" or "very close 20 years ago, but not recently" categories. So I have not been dealt meaningful personal grief, but there's been a sense that it all is pretty sad.

Two of the people were in their 40s, two in their 50s, and one mid-60s. Four of them died of cancer, and one aneurysm. Four men, and one woman.

Is this what getting older is like?! Accelerating rate of eliminations from the ultimate reality show? Is there a degree of acclimation? Do you follow a learning curve and become less rattled by it eventually? (I'm not talking about losing people you're close with. I don't think that would become easier. I'm talking about people of whom you're fond but not close.)

Also, have memorials largely replaced funerals?

Tariffs, Cory Booker, latest lay-offs, election outcomes, Luigi Mangione: let's just throw it all in the mush pot here.

I wish this were a longform piece, but it's still pretty cute: 'The food is bad, everything is bad': what it feels like to be on a hopeless NBA team

"When you lose," says former NBA All-Star Xavier McDaniel, "it's like getting a life sentence. I knew for me, losing, it started me to drink beer. Losing created a lot of bad habits. Losing can be a disease. We were losing so much [my rookie season] that by January I was drinking beer!"

My theory on sports is that a game is basically a playful little laboratory, bounded by what people often crave in real life that doesn't exist: clear rules that govern all situations, where you get to do just the fun parts. (For people that find jumping and running fun.) It's not for everyone, obviously.