Break

Friday August 22, 2025

It’s Lindsay’s last week of summer, and I’m taking two days off.

This PTO thing is pretty cool. I’m getting paid to take a couple of days off! What a concept! I’ve always kind of technically had this since I’m gonna pay myself every two weeks through my company, regardless of whether or not I work, but it’s neat to get some extra money while really not having to work at all. iQuanti has a policy in which you earn up to 20 PTO days each year, but whatever you don’t use by the following March, you lose. I’m taking a parental leave through March and have 10 days accumulated already, so I’m gonna lose days if I don’t start using them. What a great incentive to take a couple of days off at the end of the summer!

Anyway, the Lincolns are in town this week, so the whole Hingham crew has availed itself for fun. Thursday (which is yesterday, but two days in the future from when I’m writing this on Tuesday, so I can be rid of it), Garrett Lincoln, Curtis Cheney, Cam Greeley, and I are golfing at Mount Hood while their wives and children hang out at our house. On Friday, we, plus seven more Hinghamites, are going out to dinner in the Seaport. Then Saturday, we’re all going down to Katie Greeley’s island in Hull for a day of shenanigans on the ocean.

That’s all after hosting some people from my soccer team on Tuesday. I’m at a very different point in my life from many of them, which made for fun topics of conversation like what Napster was and how Asher Vogel’s girlfriend, Alina, was in middle school when Lindsay and I met. It’s funny how all of our lives are jammed into a funnel, merging us into a closer understanding as we age. 26-year-old Nick and Lindsay would have had no idea what to talk about with 13-17-year-olds, but I think we all had a very nice time on Tuesday. Hell, we always have a great time with our 80-something neighbors, Bob and Linda Camberlain, too.

Anyway, taking a break, which means finishing and scheduling this on Wednesday, so I don’t have to think about it again.

Happy birthday to Jon Scott, who has made the trip for said shenanigans. Happy birthday tomorrow, Padre!

youtube.com/watch?v=tvY31eN3gtE

One Song: Little Simz - Point and Kill (feat. Obongjayar)

Nobody gives me feedback on any of these things, so it took me a while to realize how typecast I had become with my weekly song. Just week after week of lady folk singers or female-led indie bands. I’m predictable, but this is embarrassing. I’m not this simple.

I had a mini Amadou & Mariam phase last week, and Spotify kept recommending Nigerian singer Obongjayar. Kind of a mixed bag for me, but I did love this song with British rapper Little Simz. Cool video too.

One Hollywood: Hamilton, Disney+

When I told Lindsay the theme this week was “Break,” she went into a sleep-derived delirium version of “Take a Break” from Hamilton and suggested I use that as the song. I had already chosen “Point and Kill,” but I told her I’d find a way. She’s been singing it all week, so it’s fully stuck in my head now, too.

One Book: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

I’ve never done a graphic novel, but this is a beautiful one. It’s the story of the author’s childhood during the Iranian Revolution. Great example of how powerful the comic medium can be, especially for kids. There was a disturbing study released recently that found less than half of Gen Z and Millennial parents read to their kids. This is how our society fails. If reading is boring or “work,” you just haven’t found the right books yet. Yes, comics are reading. Graphic novels are reading. If our teenager is only reading Spider-Man and Alan Moore, we’ve more than done our jobs.

One Hobby: Sports cards

Lindsay and I this week had some serious conversations about how to attack postpartum depression and the inevitable stress that will come with the newborn period. Neither of us handles stress particularly well, so we’ve discussed things we can do to take 10-minute breaks when we’re ready to snap. I hate that my instinct was to open cards.

I got pretty hooked when working with Fanatics, and went cold turkey after they laid me off. But I really enjoy the tactile feeling of opening wax and it’s a really easy way to just take a deep breathe. I spent $150 the past couple of days at the two hobby shops up the road from us on Route 1 to get a bunch of paper worth probably less than $10. (Who knows, I haven’t opened them yet.) Intellectually, I know what an exploitative and predatory hobby it is, and buying wax (packs) is the most inefficient way to collect, but it’s what I like most about the cards. The waxy crunch and that satisfying crack when it pulls apart; not knowing what’s going to be in there. I hope I don’t go back to buy more. Don’t let me go back to buy more.