The Weekly Wrap: September 7, 2025

I run the community bookcase in our condo building. It usually cycles through novels, political nonfiction (because DC), and hobby related titles. Recently, however, it has been taken over by jigsaw puzzles. Since the bookcase runs on the “Little Free Library” model, I decided to scoop up a few and bring them into work to create a "community puzzle."

The first puzzle was out for less than two minutes before someone was sucked in. By the end of the day, the whole thing was finished! Even better - a student left a little thank you note behind. It completely made my day.

It was a good reminder that trying something new doesn’t have to be complicated or risky. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, nothing lost. But every now and then, those small experiments pay off in the best possible ways.

Also, the entire library team is now on the lookout for puzzles we can add to our collection.

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• What we lose when we use the National Guard wrong. [The Atlantic - gift link]
• A better way to clean your ears. [WaPo - gift link]
• File this under things I learned this week. [AP]

• CLEAR means more than skipping the TSA line. [Up First]
• What is the Smithsonian going to do? [City Cast DC]
• A behind-the-scenes look at the domain name market. [Planet Money]

• The only reason I knew about the indie film We're All Gonna Die is because it was made by the team behind a D&D podcast I listen to. They wrote, directed, produced, and some of the team even acted in it. But it didn't come across as a bunch of friends filming on iPhones. The production quality was much better than that. I would describe this as a buddy comedy, rom-com set in an end of the world plot. It was enjoyable. [Amazon Prime]
• We gave in to the zeitgeist and watched K Pop Demon Hunters. The soundtrack has been stuck in my head ever since. (And I'm not mad about that.) I can't say I've ever watched anime before (and I'm not sure this one fully qualifies). I get why this movie is so popular. It's a good story with catchy tunes and great - if frenetic - visuals. Now if only we could get the kiddo to try it. [Netflix]

• I wanted something "cookouty" for Labor Day. But it needed to be minimal prep since our plans kept us out most of the day. So, I made an easy slow cooker pulled pork. It's all of three ingredients. We piled the pork on potato hamburger buns with dill pickle chips. On the side we had coleslaw. [All Recipes]
• Originally, we were going to eat our baked pizza chicken with salad AND garlic bread. A change in plans meant the kiddo was not joining us for dinner. So we left the garlic bread in the freezer. That was a good thing, because the chicken was hearty enough as a main without a carb assist. I recommend not skipping the herb oil. It adds something special to the dish. [Budget Bytes]