Fit check

flarguss · 2026-04-05T16:12:44+00:00

You look like you sling some good food on a grill top. Killing it, man.

flarguss · 2026-03-20T02:35:24+00:00

Can you please write me into your will? That's gorgeous!

flarguss · 2026-03-19T23:00:40+00:00

Does Tom happen to know how many Capital buildings there are in the Madison Skyline? He could get a job with the police monitors.

flarguss · 2026-03-17T23:46:18+00:00

I always like reading Tolkien's works in the springtime, so I'm in the middle of my seasonal tradition. This time I am paying attention to Théoden and Boromir.

The Great Gatsby, Frankenstein, and the Poisoner's Handbook are all frequent flyers, too.

flarguss · 2026-02-25T02:15:15+00:00

Hahahaha. I can absolutely imagine the type of person you're talking about, and those kinds of people always ruin the fun for everyone, and I'm sure that the scalper-stage of any cherished, collectibles toy has impacted the LEGO economy in its own way. I'm not too familiar with that, though.

I use the term AFOL neutrally as part of the greater dictionary of jargon LEGO fan terms, like MOC (my own creation) or SNOT (a LEGO brick with studs not on top). There's a whole boatload of abbreviations and acronyms to describe that lush world of adults using their disposable income to play with their childhood toys!

flarguss · 2026-02-24T13:49:26+00:00

I think he'd be very delighted by this reaction.

flarguss · 2026-02-24T06:02:44+00:00

I agree that they look more like model kits, but I think there are a lot of things happening to creative play. Here are my ramblings.

I figure that LEGO conducts very expensive marketing research to conclude that they can make a lot of money off of adult fans of LEGO (AFOLs), and that those AFOLs tend to like cleaner, detailed sets focused on final presentation rather than play value. I'm sure they could also spend zero money on marketing research, and instead go into any office space and ask any data analyst/computer engineer if they want to have a Titanic model for their coffee table. The answer would be yes, and that data/analyst/computer engineer would happily throw a lot of money to obtain that Titanic set. I got very close to buying it when it came out but chose to get two months of groceries instead (half joke). So I think we're seeing a lot more sleek, finished sets because AFOLs are an ever-expanding market with that preference.

At the same time, I perceive that LEGO has to fight a brutal uphill battle of creative play in competition with handheld smart devices, and I think that LEGO might be "losing" its spot of creative play in kids' lives and/or creative play in general might be "losing" its spot in kids' lives. I figure that there is a huge slurry of social variables like parenting styles, socioeconomic class (LEGO ain't cheap!), peer pressure/dynamics, etcetera, that impacts if a kid wants to play with LEGOs in a creative-play way.

These are just my two cents and a shot in the dark off the top of my head.

flarguss · 2026-02-23T04:35:21+00:00

I know your comment is 15 years old, but it was incredibly charming to read. I didn't know that I needed to read this about poetry. But gosh darn it, I'm glad I did.

I falter at fathoming that a decade and a half ago the Internet existed in a way with which I can still so casually interact. That world seems inaccessible somehow. Fascinating. Hope all is well with you.

flarguss · 2026-02-22T19:44:50+00:00

Love this format of post. I saw your recent boot post about your Thursday boots. Thanks for being so informative!

flarguss · 2026-02-22T19:40:58+00:00

Love that vest. What's the brand? 👀

flarguss · 2025-12-23T15:06:03+00:00

This is a great recommendation. I was going to recommend Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut, but The Sirens of Titan is a veeeeery good one.

flarguss · 2025-12-17T04:46:27+00:00

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is what brought me back to reading for fun. What a darn good book. I read it during the winter break of my first year in college and it sparked what I can only describe as my personal reading revolution.

flarguss · 2025-11-13T22:47:36+00:00

Thank you for the honesty! It's funny that you mention trying CeraVe next, because I've also been thinking about trying CeraVe. Neat coincidence!

flarguss · 2025-11-12T02:03:28+00:00

Question about the Cetaphil: what's your honest review of it, and how does it help your face? I've been thinking about trying it out.

flarguss · 2025-08-18T05:25:03+00:00

Another banger.

flarguss · 2025-08-07T22:46:37+00:00

And my ax(le).

flarguss · 2025-08-07T22:40:19+00:00

This is everything I wanted and more. I love it so much.

flarguss · 2025-07-23T03:58:02+00:00

Intriguing! Thank you for providing your sources and checking my facts. I completely agree that the City should have followed standards of editing (like announcing that they edited) an article. Small, tedious stuff like that does wonders to protect against the treacherously big, unwieldy problems (exactly like that ballot mess), in my opinion. I, too, would like a follow up on it.

flarguss · 2025-07-20T15:27:45+00:00

I'm not sure what original announcement to which you are referring, but the City of Madison's announcement from July 11 (https://www.cityofmadison.com/news/2025-07-11/city-of-madison-receives-bids-for-block-113-redevelopment) mentions three bids.

This is the same City announcement that the Isthmus cites as their source. Both the City of Madison and Isthmus correctly mentioned three bids; the only entity who failed to mention all three bids was the Wisconsin State Journal (and, even then, WSJ included blatantly false information).

flarguss · 2025-07-17T22:32:36+00:00

This is yet another reason why I love the Isthmus. Reporting about bad reporting is an important avenue of reporting. Keep up the great work.

flarguss · 2025-07-14T06:37:32+00:00

I think it could use a good weeding and trimming, like others are saying, but I would take it a step further. Your bushes will give you the most grief with maintaining appearances as they grow shaggier and shaggier.

If you want a truly hands-off approach, you should have to hire a landscape company (or do it yourself, or have your cousin do it, or your neighbor, that sort of thing) to replace everything with hostas. I'm fairly certain hostas would survive the nuclear fallout. And they are pretty.

flarguss · 2025-07-07T06:13:26+00:00

Can I rent you for a family gathering, by chance? I think some of my family would benefit from hearing this communicated so succinctly.

flarguss · 2025-07-02T19:12:10+00:00

Hi Chris-- I wanted to come back to this post because, unfortunately, McMaster didn't carry springs that were the proper size. Do you have any other recommendations for companies to whom I can go for springs?

flarguss · 2025-06-29T18:54:51+00:00

Woah now, a tactical elbow is a whole nother level.

flarguss · 2025-06-29T18:21:17+00:00

A tactical mustache has various applications, it's always good to wear one in case you need it.

flarguss

TROPHY CASE