Welcome back to JackJams, where I badly paraphrase and embellish conversations I had with people around me without shame. Case in point: My wife described in great detail today the schedule, menu, and soft-opening journey of a new local coffee shop. I was frankly shocked at her knowledge of a place she’s never actually been. I said, “How on earth do you know all that?” Her response: “You spend 8 hours a day reading plot summaries and production trivia about superhero movies on Wikipedia. I spend the same amount of time learning information that actually matters to our life, like our community’s small businesses, our son’s school schedule, and whether we have food to eat.”

Is this the true difference between men and women? Or do I just REALLY like to know that the guy who wrote the movie “Jack” also created the horror franchise “The Purge?”

In today’s issue:

-Potty humor

-A playlist update

-A well-done rom-com

Oh, and of course, here’s our playlist link.

A bathroom grows in Fairfield.

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks in Texas, rising at 5 AM one rainy morning to vacate our home so some men could give us a new bathroom. The old one wasn’t broken, but it also wasn’t working. It had (to name but a few issues): a purple paint color one can only describe as “sad fairy periwinkle,” a straight-from-a-hospital bathtub, and pipes as brittle as a Nature Valley bar.

It was time for an update.

For the first time in our home reno journey, we have been working with an interior designer/architect. She is kind, funny, understands our vision, and is extremely reachable (thank god). We meet with her often and I do my best to stay engaged but always end up mindlessly refilling my water 8 times or tackling a chore I’ve been putting off for 11 years.

Reagan and her get on like a house on fire (yikes, bad choice of words), and we are both so excited to see how things turn out. In the meantime, we’re in an AirBnB that’s design aesthetic is something between “Girl Boss!” and “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?” It’s only five minutes down the road, but after being out of the state for so long, it’s hard to not be completely settled in our own house.

Jack, as always, has been a champ. He misses his Texas family dearly, but we are nothing without our routine and we’re all grateful to be back in school (and at work) with our friends. We’re all VERY ready to be home and preparing full speed ahead for Halloween (my costume is niche but will be appreciated by this readership), but for at least 6 or so more days we’re gonna let the wonderful, hard-working builders create a dreamlike place for us to poop and pee.

Oh right, the playlist.

I think it’s time to make it official: Jack’s favorite band is Coldplay. (Fun fact: When I got an iPad I paid the extra money to engrave it and I decided to put something stupid on it that seemed inspirational but actually meant nothing. I picked a Coldplay lyric.)

Their new album, Moon Music, features song titles like “iAAM” and “JUPiTER” and, amazingly, one is just a graphic of a rainbow. I don’t think I have to describe the music but it’s a bunch of drum machines and lyrics Chris Martin stole from palm readers and “mystics.” It’s hooey. And, fine, occasionally catchy.

Couple other good additions to the list, though: “Got Me Started” by Troye Sivan features a sample of the Bag Raiders song “Shooting Stars” that is so groovy and dance-y. We also somehow snuck a new Motion City Soundtrack song on there called “Stop Talking” that is probably the first MCS song I’ve liked in 12 years. It seems like a one-off for now, but boy I hope that doesn’t stay the case.

The most ambitious addition comes from Reagan, who added “Radio Ga Ga” by Queen, which is like 3x longer than any other song on the list. Once Jack got past the intro, he was all in. It’s a good song, sure, but part of me thinks he just likes saying the name.

A rom-com we fell for.

You’re guessing I’m gonna talk about “Nobody Wants This,” with Kristen Bell and Adam Brody and you’re right. A delightful show about rich people in LA who don’t seem to have jobs even though the whole thing is about their jobs, it’s sweet and cute and actually FUNNY.

It’s a little on-the-nose for me as it tells the story about a gentile woman and a Jewish man and how that can be, ahem, tricky. As a person who grew up in that very situation and got to see the joy of compromise (when my mother allowed for some), it was fun to see myself in some of the situations.

Sure, my dad wasn’t a rabbi and my mom wasn’t a godless Los Angeleno who only cared previously about designer jeans and rooftop bars, but there was enough character development to keep things grounded.

It’s blissfully comprised of ten 25 minute-long episodes and can easily be finished in a weekend. It’s not a spoiler, but I’m hoping for a season 2 (you’ll see what I mean).

That’s it.

Looking forward to including some progress shots of our new bathroom, but until then, here’s one more pic from a very loving and joyful time in Texas.

See you next time (and tell your friends?).

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