Ayyy, it’s a weird week where Thursday came way too quickly for my taste, but with it is another edition of Down the Pipes. This weekly blog is paywalled but totally free forever if you sign up now, so if you can’t see anything beyond this introduction just pop your email address in the box below, select the “free” subscription tier, and enjoy the bloginess once I add you to the comp list. Some weeks will be immensely personal, some will be immensely political, and some will be immensely lazy (like this week!). But if you find yourself enjoying it, feel free to tell your friends. The paywall is a mere ruse to keep this thing semi-private from the internet at large, though if you fall for it and pay me I will appreciate it all the same.