Whew! 103! That's a Load Off My Mind!

I had an awesome day, so let me tell you how it started.

bk got me into geocaching back in August, and then I visited Phoenix in October and introduced RAJwantsabirdie to it. I never really thought of it as a competitive sport, but RAJwantsabirdie can be counted on to make just about anything competitive. I only had 26 caches when I got him started and he's been taunting me since about how he's going to pass me in numbers.

Initially, I scoffed, he will never pass me. The more I thought about it, though, I realized: it's inevitable. He's determined, he has nice weather this time of year, and he has 671 caches within 10 miles of his house. As of yesterday, I too was determined, but it was 30 degrees out, and I only have 109 caches within 10 miles of my house -- many of which, I've already found.

So, to make peace with those circumstances, I settled for logging 103 caches total (21 in the last 24 hours) ... handily beating RAJwantsabirdie to 100. I'll be looking at his ass for the rest of this race, but that's ok because it feels good right now.

And it is, after all, the best I can do.

Here's to the end of a gorgeous (but really cold) day spent with my absolute favorite: That's right ice-cold-Amber-Bock-next-to-a-roaring-fire, I'm talking to you!

Oh, and you too bk! ;-)

As for RAJwantsabirdie -- thanks for making me work for it! Good luck and happy caching!

Life By the Numbers

New Phones: 1

Blessings I Was Thankful For Last Thursday: 74 (not including family, friends, pets, work I can live with, good health, or working electronics).

Recent Out-of-State Trips: 1

Traveling Companions: 1

New Members in bk's Fanclub: 11 (oh gawd, everybody loves Bill)

Followers of My Blog (which is public): 1

Followers of bk's Blog (which is private): 2

Travel Bugs In My Possession: 3

Total Geocaches Found to Date: 75

Total of Unpaid Bills: $0.00 (not including mortgage)

Showings of My House in the Last Two Months: 0

Anticipated Percentage of Equity at Final Sale: 100

Total in Checking: $32.46

Christmas Gifts Still to Buy: 0

Christmas Gifts Still to Wrap: 2 (maybe 3)

Number of Snowman Movies that I Love Because the Music Tells the Story: 1

Happy Holidays!

(The film is based on Raymond Briggs's The Snowman. I must have seen it on PBS when I was just ... young. There's no dialog. Runs about 20 minutes. This is part 1. The video quality seems poor, but gets ... well, it never gets better. Just listen. Here's Part 2. And Part 3.)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

bk and I went to see Sweeney Todd at the Lexington Opera House on Saturday night. I was transfixed it was so good. When the curtain went up, bk leaned over to me and said, gleefully, I can already tell I'm going to love this!

The production was a little unusual because the cast wore more or less modern clothes and they never showed any of the murders -- they mimed them while the stage lights turned red and then the victim would put on a jacket with blood spilled down the front. Since none of the actors ever left the stage, it was helpful to remember who was dead.

The reason the cast was always on stage is that they also played all of the instruments. On a couple of occasions the person who was singing was actually playing, but most of the time, the folks not directly involved in a scene would step to the edge of the stage and take up their instrument. There was a violin, a bass, a couple of cellos, a guitar, a piano, a tuba and a trumpet and, I think, a triangle at one point. The only furniture on stage was a coffin that they used alternately for a table or a bed or a platform.

The cast was talented and the whole production was really well done. Loved every minute of it.

The funny thing is that the production was sponsored by the Kentucky Blood Center, and the audience members each got a little straight razor letter opener as a souvenir.

The New Phone Books are Here! The New Phone Books are Here!

Well, actually, I did get a new phone book, but I also got a new phone, which has a better story.

I filled out a thing on line because I got a good discount through work (shocker!), and (after already giving my name, home address, date of birth [wtf?], and SSN) when I got to the driver's license field I blinked and -- suddenly -- I balked.

Second off, let me just say, people and organizations ask for very personal information all of the time and IT IS ALMOST NEVER WARRANTED. This is a pet peeve. Anyhoo, I got there and said to myself, no, line-in-the-sand, no.

So the guy calls me and says, hey, uh, prettygoodlife, I got your order, but I saw the zero in your DL and, uh, I really need that. I gave him back the exact same speech, first denying that I even had a DL, and then making up another story, and he said, well, it's policy, and I said, well, I'm talking to you on a cell phone right now, I don't need you. Sorry, can't have my DL.

...time passes...

Then he calls back to try to convince me of the difficulty in which he finds himself, it being company policy and all, and he said to me one of the sweetest things ever. He said, "Help me to help you. If you had a driver's license number, what would it be?" I, of course, assured him it would be "12345" and he thanked me and ...

... I think I'm getting a new phone.

OK, and if you don't like that, try the Flaming Lips and a sweet story of robot love. I think.

Blog Recommendations

A couple of ... I dunno ... rants ago, I realized that I'm in the market for new blogs to read. I was amazed at how hard that order would be to fill, but if you find yourself in a similar spot, my progress may be interesting.

Opinion I am a sucker for opinion pieces as long as the opinion is well argued and doesn't appear to have any particular axe to grind. After all, the opinions that don't match mine test mine, so if I'm feeling particularly deluded I can even find affirmation in an opinion piece that sits squarely on the other side of the fence. That said, the opinion doesn't have to bear on anything earthshattering. Here is one really interesting thing I was pointed to:

• Roger Ebert's Blog - Did you know that Roger Ebert lost his ability to speak? I didn't. He had surgery or something and there was a complication. This post about how his voice has returned via his writing is quite moving. Honestly, I always admired his knowledge of movies, but I never liked his show. And this guy can write. I recommend his blog in general, but I also recommend his post about The Pot in particular.

Travel I'm huge for buying travel magazines (think Budget Traveler or Outside's yearly travel issue) but I read those mostly to pass time. My travel jones doesn't really kick in until I read about a place on line. (Sigh.) These sites help.

• IGoUGo is designed for actual people who have actual jobs and can't take eight weeks in a row for a $45,000 cruise down the Nile. This site is easy to navigate and has lots of first-hand advice.
• GoWorldTravel - I dunno, I just like this site. Well organized information, and interesting and thoughtful articles.

Fashion I love to see things that people wear. In print, I'm so distracted and aggravated by the rumors and peccadillos of American celebrities, so I usually buy the UK versions of both OK! and Hello! magazines. Love that I can laugh at what they wear but not know a thing about them. Online, I read GoFugYourself (which continues to be hilarious), but I just came across this gem:

• The Sartorialist - This site is awesome because there's little comment and it largely comprises looks found on the street somewhere. In other words, someone wore these clothes out of the house because they wanted to wear them, not because they thought they might have their picture taken. Beautiful -- it's like art, whether you like the clothes or not.

So, that's how the hunt for new blogs goes. Recommendations are welcome.

What a Great Start!

Isn't this awesome? It's like the gate agent who tells you why your flight hasn't left yet.

I think it's a wonderful beginning. I also think it's being beseiged so we'll have to forgive a somewhat slow start.

Change.gov

Election Results! Redux!

I really couldn't stand not responding to that post on Linda Holmes's site, so I did and was promptly schooled (due to my own error) that anyone can make a mistake for one day. Read the comments. I'm one of the last few comments and I made one inarticulate comment (which I tried to withdraw), but it gave opposing counsel one last minute to argue their case.

p.s. I (totally) un-subscribed from her site a day before that exchange! It's not because she doesn't agree with me! Damn it, Jim! I'm a business analyst, not an unsubscriber!

p.p.s. This all makes me wonder -- who writes blogs? How much do you know about your favorite blogger? It's weird!

Election Results & War Tactics

Hee hee, I wrote the following post, but wanted to lighten it up by sharing a really cool war video. Enjoy! Then read my heartfelt sentiments about the election!



OK, so I think that the family votes in ... hmmm ... one ... two ... three ... four different states (and there is a strong potential that the parents voted from a fifth -- or even Mexico -- if they used their absentee ballots), and I'm almost as sure that we voted for at least two different candidates.

Not that it matters much, but I voted for Obama. I'm not a huge fan (Biden was my first choice, he dropped out, Hillary was my next choice), and I don't think the McCain/Obama economic policies are all that different, but I really admire Obama's seeming ability to pull people together. I remember reading about a rally where he mentioned McCain's name and there were boos, but he responded, "Don't boo. Vote." That's the kind of temperament I want in a world leader. I think Obama can pull people together in a way that McCain is probably not capable of -- and mostly because McCain's loyalty to Bush really hurt his credibility with people.

But that's all neither here nor there. I've heard from folks on both sides, I can understand and appreciate the view of those who voted for McCain.

I bring all of this up because I saw just one of the ugliest bits of behavior on the internet that I've seen in a while, from one of the writers on the internet that I most admire. Linda Holmes is a writer (blogger is kind of disrespectful because that lumps her in with the likes of me), and in the past couple of weeks she's posted a few pro-Obama things. My reaction was essentially to ignore it, it's her blog, she can make her own editorial decisions. I thought it seemed like she picked a fight with a guy who said he disagreed with her position on the election, but -- again -- it's her blog, she can fight with people.

Then the day after the election she posted something that struck me as ... odd. I'll link to it, but I think it's fair to paraphrase it as relief and happiness that the election had gone the way it had, but also an indication that she thought we should all take a day to be obnoxious about this. She called a Gloat Day (gloat is her word, not mine). Check it out, maybe I'm wrong.

I read it and thought to myself (initially), it's her blog, she can post what she wants. But as the day went on, it stuck with me. I thought to myself that -- of all the reasons I voted for Obama -- this was the absolute most important one to me: this country needs to unite to solve some very serious problems. I was -- I am -- appalled that an educated thinker whose opinions I generally respect thinks even the smallest service could stem from this kind of petty exercise.

On Barack Obama's list of ways to celebrate this election this way is at the bottom.

You can read Linda's and her readers' Gloat Day here. It's just as petty and ugly as you might imagine. And it all makes me very sad -- because (to spin Mr. Obama's own words) maybe it shows that we can't.

Halloween

I feel like I have so much to tell and yet not much to say.

bk and I made our first plans for an extended trip (four days!) and we're pretty excited about that. The trip is to to Mahtomedi and I know that Susie will be pretty upset about it (that she doesn't get to meet him first), but she's in Mexico now so it's hard to get her riled.

I managed to avoid Halloween costumes for another year.

And, happily, I arranged for some pumpkin carving (although I can't figure what happened to the pictures I took of the carver!).

Oh, yeah, and I came across two cd's I should have been listening to before...

{Darn, how did I delete those pics from my camera?!?!?!}

Traffic Widget

Maintenance note:

I just added a traffic feed that I would probably have made private if I was techier and could figure that out. I'm thinking about making the blog itself private (which would make it harder for people that I want to have read it, to find it), but I wanted to get a feel for how much traffic the blog gets in the meantime, anyway.

Please tell me if you think the new widget is too intrusive. It's a new gadget that I can easily take down. Should blend into the woodwork since I think what I'm getting is mostly folks who click "Next Blog" -- plus my adored family members. ;-)

For what it's worth, I think it's kind of weird anyway. It thinks I live in Versailles (go ahead, pronounce that correctly, non-locals).

Allergies

This post probably has a lot more detail about what's wrong with me than you want. I'd move on to that article about NPR if I was you.

Jus' sayin'.

From the time I was small I have always been allergic to something. Initially, it was milk (I drank soy before it was cool!), eggs, and a variety of growing things ... along with stuff they could never pinpoint (I once had an allergy test that looked like a long string of mosquito bites). Then I grew and got over it and the frequency eased to once or twice a year. And then about ten years ago I moved to Kentucky.

Since then I have had two serious bouts with allergies:

• February, 2002, while returning from a trip to Arizona
• October, 2008, while returning from a trip to Arizona

I was in Arizona over the weekend and had a fabulous geo-caching day (16!) but we did a lot of desert tramping and I think I got one of those un-pinpointable things up in my head and -- well, I'll be honest, I really want to go to some dark unknowable place right now until this is over.

While flying from Sky Harbor to Blue Grass yesterday, everyone I looked at gave a glance and decided they wanted absolutely no part of what I had going on. Both eyes were swollen and watering, my nose was rubbed raw, and I had this weird dry cough.

This morning, I woke with one eye sealed shut and mid-size drifts of aloe-infused tissue surrounding my bed. Ech. I feel everything in my head. I know where my brain is and I feel the roots of my teeth. If I breathe like a normal person I feel cool air swirl through the middle of my skull with every breath, and my eyes are crying to get out -- so I breathe through my mouth. I'm not stuffed so much as empty and I am constantly 40-60% about to sneeze.

I seriously mean this: I don't know who they are, but god bless the folks who invented Puffs Plus and Benadryl.

I can't wait for tomorrow. I know it will be better then.

Mail Goggles

Heh. Now they just need to find a way to apply this to phones.

Mail Goggles.

NPR Music

It isn't like it used to be, when you heard great music on the radio during the drive to the lake -- and then that song became emblematic of the day or the whole summer and then just hearing it again made you lighter. I think the music that makes you feel like that is still out there, it's just so much harder to concentrate on it or find the time for it, or sometimes just to recognize it when you hear it.

Anyway, that's why it's such a happy thing that someone points that stuff out.

Songs for a Drab and Unfulfilling Existence is a great article by one of the staffers at NPR.org, and the first couple of songs it links sound like the first weekend of the summer.

Kind of nice on a fall day.

(Here's a sample, if you don't want to follow the links. Just click.)



I recommend NPR's page: Discover Songs. Not everything's a home run, but you'll find things you might not have found otherwise.

My Ben Folds Weekend!

Ben Folds played in Louisville last weekend and bk bought tickets a couple of months ago (because he's awesome) so we went. The show was great, not least in part because the Louisville Symphony -- the backup band for the evening -- is familiar with Folds's work with Shatner and did a really lovely, geeky tribute to the six Star Trek franchises. And because their conductor is so enthusiastic you just want to run down to the stage and high five him most of the time.

The weekend was also fabulous because we found some really fun geo-caches. One of them involved us driving to the top of a nine-story parking garage, dashing from corner to corner -- lining up various landmarks with various other landmarks -- and then driving down to the bottom and through the "chimes of freedom" to a lovely place where we logged our names and said thanks for the cache.

The weekend was also fabulous because bk and I had a picnic lunch across the street from the Louisville Metro Correctional Center and it was romantic and pretty (unless you're a man, it was pleasant and eco-friendly, then, damn it).

Finally, the weekend was fabulous because of the hotel. We stayed at 21c Museum Hotel (I should mention -- because we are poor people -- this was an extravagance). The hotel has a theme, which should be clear from perusing this photograph (there are at least 20 more penguins perched on the eaves of the building, and at least 20 more stationed at various locations throughout the hotel):





(bk and I have a wonderful series of photographs of the penguin that became enamored with bk and left to join the circus...) ...but, I digress.

The hotel's larger theme is art for art's sake. It's not confrontational, it doesn't make you angry, it makes you laugh. For the most part it makes you say, Oh, honey, look at that! bk took this photograph at the elevators and I wish I'd looked smarter or prettier or something. The letters of the words fall from the ceiling and if you step into the frame, the words pause at your silhouette. It's hard to tell from the pic.





The hotel's art makes it really special. Moments I remember include:

"Hey, she's moving!"
"Wasn't that penguin over there earlier?"
"Bill, wake up, come look at this!"

San Diego

San Diego was the site for my company's most recent client forum -- sort of a convention where we get our clients to talk about what they like, see what's new, hang out, and generally have a good time. It's something many of us dread (including me), but I always have fun.

This year we had a great speaker in Brett Leake, who is both a comedian and a motivational speaker -- emphasis on the comedy (I laughed until I cried). Here's a link to his website. He's very inspirational in that he has some significant health issues that are a big part of his act, but he presents his material in such a way that you end up thinking not about his story so much as your own. It was a very touching (and, again, very funny) talk.

My flight home was at around nine in the morning and I enjoyed the airport so much that I wanted to share. These are some things that were right around my departure gate. The fountain with the "sun" above it is quite stunning in real life.

Pictures I Like

This post is rated PG-13 for thematic elements and some depictions of lawlessness.

Last week, I came back after picking up lunch one day to find that someone had been at my desk, messing with the breakfast item I had brought but not eaten. The usual suspect was laughing so hard he couldn't even defend himself.

"I can't believe how filthy it looks," he giggled. Son of a preacher man, my eye. (OK, well, it is very funny. Go ahead and click to see it better. You know you want to.)

* * *

We had a social event at work last October with much dressing up and merriment. I've already shared the winning pumpkin's photograph (check the archives to see Nascar Cindy, carved by Farmer's Wife and me). I was looking through another collection of pictures from that event and came across this gorgeous version of bk.

Best prison girlfriend ever.

For Sale

My house is for sale. I've been talking to the realtor over a couple of weeks -- cleaning, filling out paperwork, cleaning, talking, cleaning. Typical drill.

I've sold two houses before. The first I didn't sell so much as give away. The second sold within the first week it was on the market. I like this house -- love it, in fact. But it's really, really far away from where I want to spend my time.

I don't think this one will sell right away and I'm prepared for a long wait. But it's a pretty house to live in, so I don't mind.

Check out my website: PrettyGoodLife's House. Be sure to click on the Visual Tour at the left.

p.s. And then click the "Buy Now!" button.

The Last Picture Show

Last night I went to Lexington Green, the first movie theatre that I ever saw in Lexington . . . for the last time.

I remember it being really busy the first time I went there, but last night the same girl working the ticket stand was working concession. Don't get me wrong, they're not closing, but they're going to be a discount theatre and that's, well -- I don't fly coach if I can help it. I'm not ragging on them for doing what they need to do to survive, I just wish they were still going to be my source for obscure gems.

The Kentucky is another art house movie palace, it's downtown, and it's . . . great. It's a classic building, plus it has lots of interesting movies. I saw Priceless there. Lost in Translation. And the re-release of Blade Runner (and? By the way -- Deckard? Totally not a replicant.). I saw a few others at The Kentucky, too. Parking is a nightmare, although they make fun choices -- but, then, they only have two screens.

Lex Green is right in the middle of town so it's easy to get to, easy to park, etc., etc. Plus, I've seen a ton of great movies there. I saw Pan's Labyrinth, The Orphanage, The Visitor, When Did You Last See Your Father, and Mama Mia!, just to name a few.

We saw Bottle Shock there the other night (great!) with a pretty full house. Then we saw Henry Poole Is Here last night and we were the only ones in there (also great!).

Concession Girl said they are now going to be a dollar theatre (to be truthful, $1.50), she said it was a corporate decision, it came as a surprise to her, and she was kind of bummed about it because she really likes the movies they show.

She thinks they will still have the opera series.

William Shatner - Has Been - In Stores Now!

bk made a couple of mix CD's for me, and this was probably the funniest, most surprising piece of the whole thing. I can't link you to the song, but here's a video (from YouTube's gildersniff) that captures the essence. If you find the video distracting, just listen. ;-)

There is some obviously real and talented singing on the song -- that's Mr. Ben Folds, who arranged Has Been. [Edited to note that the singer is Joe Jackson, not Ben Folds. See the comment below for proper credits for everything. Oops.]

Also, interesting side note, you'll hear a crowd start to sing, and bk knows two of the singers (I know one). The crowd was recorded live at a Ben Folds concert.

Click.

Geo-caching

Go right ahead and get all of those jokes out of your system. The best I've heard? "Geo-caching is how geeks spend time outdoors."

Heh. And even that is a geek's interpretation of caching.

Ok, so imagine this: Geeks all over the world think to themselves, weeeell, what if I hide something of little pecuniary importance and tell other geeks about it using a code and suggest to them that they will be superior to other geeks if they get here sooner than later...

That's geo-caching in a nutshell.

I love it and I totally blame bk for this mess. Bastard! I want to cache everywhere!

Here's a picture of where I went caching recently. I don't know if you can see it ... not being -- I assume -- an official member of geocaching.com. OK, yeah, that is a really terrible pic! It was hot! What's your point!?

Hmmm... So...geocaching.com. Check it out.

Site Updates

I've made a few small updates to the site that I hope will make it easier to use.

Subscribing - Check out the new Subscribe to Me buttons at the top right. In the old days, I kept a list of favorite blogs and periodically I would go to each site looking for updates. Inevitably, though, some authors don't update for months so you stop tracking them rather than take the disappointment of seeing the same old post when you go to their site. By subscribing, your reader service monitors your list of blogs and automagically lets you know about any updates. That means that you can learn about my fondness for Rainier cherries and Peter Gabriel in the same feed and with the same gravitas as finding out about the latest news from Iraq. There are lots of different reader services, but I've only ever used one so it's the only one I can recommend: Google Reader. Follow that link to find out more. Basiljaz uses NewsGator, so I think that's a good option as well. Trust me, once you start subscribing to feeds, your internet reading becomes so much more productive.

My Blog List - I updated the format for my blog list so that in addition to the title of the blog, you can also see a link to the latest entry and when that entry was made. The list always sorts the most recently updated first, but this should make it a little more meaningful. For example, if my link to Pound ever jumps to the top, it's probably worth reading. I have actually read both of her books and I think she hasn't updated the blog in a while because she's working on Book the Third. Check out her other website Candyboots and click on the individual cards on the right. You'll thank me later. Be sure to note that each page has a separate title (look at the title page on your browser) and if she provides any links in the individual pages, click on them. She's a hoot.

Last thing -- this blog entry itself is an experiment because I'm trying to post from my email account. We'll see how it works. Posting via Twitter comes next!

Art & Artists

Speaking of Dale Chihuly (and we were), I love his work. I have always loved glass, either as beads, or a mosaic, or a solid piece (or a worked piece, or a formed piece or ... just anything). My favorite glass pieces are hung in windows so that sunlight comes through them and they always look different.

This is a piece from my house and obviously not a Dale Chihuly, but it's very pretty. About 12" in diameter, and about an inch thick. It's hollow.

If you follow this link, you can see some of the works of Dale Chihuly, and you can see all kinds of ways he's created with glass and light. The link is fun, because it has a bit of embedded video.

This link is nice too, but it's a specific (temporary) installation in Venice. My favorite piece is the Campiello Remer. The Squero di San Trovaso is nice too -- it reminds me of those glass balls Japanese fishers used to attach to their nets.

Also -- just so that I can get all of the art news out of my system -- I went to the art fair recently and got a couple more pieces by Vivienne Lee. She's a chinese painter and I now have three of her prints. Her prints come matted with (obviously) the print, and a small original painting in the same vein as the print. I love her stuff. She does a sort of non-sensical landscape as a background (the three I have include an impossible hill, impossible lights, and an impossible forest), and then populates it with happy working people. People running, people on bikes, ducks, pigs, and -- in a new favorite -- fireflies.

This detail is from the one with the impossible forest (it's called Banyan Trees). In the print I have, the people are about a quarter of an inch tall (not including bikes). The print itself is 22 x 28.

Las Vegas

Sorry, I've been inattentive. To make sure I get this done, I'll break it up into a couple of different entries.

First, I went to Vegas 8/7 through 8/10. I hadn't been in years -- so long that I'm not even sure I remember the last time I went, which I think was probably for work. Anyway, I've decided I haven't missed much.

In some ways, many things have changed and in some ways nothing is different. The crowds are still horrendous. I was talking to RAJwantsabirdie and he said, "Yeah, you have that thing --it's not a fear of crowds exactly -- it's ... just ... an unreasonable seething anger at crowds." I think that kind of sums it up. I was ready to brain somebody on the walk from the Flamingo to the Venetian. I'm not sure that Vegas understands that the train should be cheaper ($5 one way, but if you have two people...that's cab fare).

While there, I did enjoy myself. I got to see a friend I hadn't spent time with in years, I hung out at the pool at my mom's timeshare (which is spectacular), then hung out at the pool at the Luxor (not so spectacular), I spent entirely too much for dinner at the Venetian (ok, it was very good, and the waiter spoke Italian to the Italian party at the next table, but still), saw Cirque du Soleil's O, enjoyed the fountains at Wynn's, and went to see the Dale Chihuly piece at the Bellagio. Here's a little piece of that last one.



The funniest part was probably the first night when my mom kept getting me drinks and so I ended up quite tipsy, standing in Wynn's at 1:30 in the morning (4:30 for me) with my face up against the glass at the Chanel store saying, "Pretty!"

My favorite part was getting home. ;-)

Dr. Horrible is Back!

Yay! Hulu.com is carrying Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog! Previously I posted about how great it was and included a link to the (stale) website where you could only watch the teaser. Now you can check it out for free, with ads. Enjoy.

Dr. Horrible!

If you're not already on the bandwagon with watching video on-line, let me be the next to recommend it to you. The commercials are short, the quality is excellent, you can watch all kinds of stuff you never thought you'd find. Favorite sites for me are:

ABC.com (Watch Samantha Who? and Pushing Daisies! Or Lost, seasons 1 - 3!)
CBS.com (Survivor!)
Hulu.com (Most NBC shows, lots of FOX, and a whole lot of other really great content. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -- what could be better than that?)

What I've Been Up To

My friend from Oz asked me where I've been and why I haven't blogged in a while (thanks for noticing, family) and the answer is that I've been here but occupied with the silliest things. I have been trying to at least update the whole listening to/watching sections, because life does continue and at least those things have changed, but ... yeah, that's weak.

The straight story is that I've had some fun personal stuff going on, and I'm getting ready to go to Las Vegas at the end of the week. I really want you all to do your own blogs though (family) so I feel like I need to make this a regular thing, and the only way to do that is ... just do it. So I'll share with you two things that I found really interesting this week.

First, I found some beautiful Rainier cherries. I walked into the produce section on Sunday and absolutely had to have them. I'm not a produce person, not a great shopper, I'm not particularly adventurous, and I don't vary much from a pretty fixed grocery list, but these are gorgeous tasting. They're tangy and sweet and firm and juicy and, well, it sucks for you not to be eating these. They give me joy every time I open the frig and I wish I could take a picture that does them justice (this is God's way of telling me I should get a new camera).

Second, I've been re-listening to Peter Gabriel's solo stuff and that, too, is gorgeous. The music is so thick and has so much texture, plus there's something expressive in his voice that makes me want to crawl up into it and stay awhile. Sometimes I'll find myself playing a track or even an entire CD over and over. I love his new one too, called Big Blue Ball, which is a collaboration with lots of other artists that spanned over ten years. It's really skillful, but you can tell they had a blast while making it.

So, anyhoo, although I haven't done very much worth talking about, I feel comfortable that my advice for the rest of your week is directly on target: Rainier Cherries and Peter Gabriel. Find a way to make it work.

Dr. Horrible

This is such an inventive piece of work. I was lucky enough to catch it in the short window of its free availability. Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion singing and practicing their evil laughs. Very fun. Sorry for the late notice.

http://www.drhorrible.com/index.html

Joss Whedon (of Buffy and Firefly) explains his master plan here:

http://www.drhorrible.com/plan.html

Yellow Flowers

I've been driving by this field every day for the past week (well, except for while I was in Anaheim) and these flowers are crazy pretty. I risked re-injuring my ankle hiking through a field in my flip flops to get this shot. I wish I'd been brave enough to go over the fence.



Click to see it better. It's a great field, but it's not a great photograph. It was either this one, or the joy that a little white adhesive tape can bring to a street sign that should read Elk Lick Falls (I didn't do it! I don't even think elk are that limber!).

Life By the Numbers

OK, family, I don't mean to be critical, but in the most loving way I must say you are miserably bad at creating (and then linking) your own blogs.

I'm disappointed.

That said, for me:

• Projects completed: 1 (Look forward to your Christmas gifts. Or ... not.)
  
• Projects conceived: 1 million
  
• Trips in my future: 3
  
• Trips I'm looking forward to: 1 (Las Vegas)
• I love my pets this much: Henry: $304.10. (Elliot...well, I haven't had to prove it yet)

(Psst, shh, Henry below.... she's a girl)

• Work level happiness: 75% (Yay!)
• General happiness: 90% (Yeah, really! Sorry!)
  
• Things that piss me off: Downloads that fail.
  
• Things I'm excited about: 2
• Things I'm thrilled! about: 1

Guess the rest.

Movies & Other Silliness

I saw two great John Hurt movies this weekend -- not that I was looking for John Hurt movies, but that's just the way it happened.

V for Vendetta -- Four out of five stars. It's creepily appropriate to what's going on in the world today and it just makes me want to be disobedient.

Best line: "People shouldn't be afraid of the government; government should be afraid of the people."

Hellboy II - The Golden Army -- Five out of five stars. Guillermo Del Toro did an amazing job with this movie. It's really funny, it's visually spectacular, it has good action and great special effects, and -- acknowledging that it's fantasy -- the plot holds together. Moreover, the whole tone of it just feels right and I liked the way they resolved the story but left some really good teasers for another sequel. I was a little disappointed that they did not bring back David Hyde Pierce as the voice of Abe, but that's my only complaint. Go see this in a theatre.

Best line: "I'm not a baby..." (and I won't spoil the rest of that for you). ;-)

Other Silliness -- While I was on vacation the hostas ... um, passed their prime, so to speak. But I did say I would take a picture after they bloomed:




As usual, click for a better look.

What Riley Found

Riley found this in the yard.

I should probably mention that Riley is the most lovely dog. He was my sister's gift to her love when he was a puppy. He's loyal and friendly and a bit old, but he loves to fetch. Riley loves to fetch like other creatures love to breathe. He will let you throw for days while he fetches -- I'm not exaggerating. He will fetch until you fail him, and let him drop dead. It's his purpose.

On Sunday, he found this thing in the yard and he brought it to us and our initial impulse was to say, "Ew, Riley!" and throw it. But....he fetched it and brought it back.

I should also mention that the fourth of July is an amazing time for where I spend my summer vacation. The neighbors have a one bedroom trailer with a garage so they end up with about 20 people living in tents, all sharing the same bathroom. And my dad's place isn't much better because on the fourth we had seven beds sleeping a total of nine people, all sharing one bathroom.

It's typical of the neighborhood. On the fourth, it's such a GREAT place, it's heaven, we're all willing to live in a tent just to be there.

But anyway, back to what Riley found.....I think he may have found it in a tent.

(Go ahead and click if you want more detail. We took this picture after he'd already bitten off the end. But look at him! He's so eager! "Throw it!" he's thinking, "Throw it, you knuckleheads! I will bring it back!").

According to the branding on the side, it's called a "Hypertool" -- I'm afraid to google it.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

I just got back from my semi-annual visit to Chetek. We visited my sister in the hospital, saw the fourth of July parade, went to the Rod and Gun store, we watched some fireworks, chatted with the neighbors, pooh-poohed over the state of the other neighbor's yard, we watched the Chetek Hydroflites, went to two cemetaries, I sang the National Anthem twice, and I won seven games of Rummikub (out of eighteen games I played) . We also went out on the boat a lot.

I'll try to dole out the excitement in small pieces. Here's my favorite of the week:



Please, also note that my friend Basiljaz (sis, you may remember her and the Kiwi as our gracious hosts) has combined her seriously Dickensian leanings with her love of air travel so that her new blog appears in my bloglist. Enjoy.

Drunken Hiking Accident

When I was eleven, we lived on Brown Street in Tucson and I was in Mrs. Carson's 6th grade class. Mrs. Carson was a gorgeous blonde, tall and slender, and I was -- hands down -- the worst part about her first year at her first job. She hated me with intensity and was new enough she didn't know to hide it. I was super smart, but I was a big liar and full of bravado and I acted like hellspawn to everyone. It was some weird combination of hormones and not having friends (it was the only year we spent in Tucson), but, gawd, if she could have strangled me she would have. And I totally deserved it because I was an incredible brat.

One morning, we were having our physical education period and we were practicing high jump under her uncharacteristically disinterested supervision and I trashed my ankle. I twisted it so badly that it practically exploded. It got so swollen so fast that I can't even imagine the number of tendons and muscles and ligaments I must have torn. I remember she looked at it and kind of went "Eh, I guess you can go see the nurse."

In her defense, this was way back before they had P.E. specialists for middle-schoolers, and way back before teachers and schools really took responsibility for kids. And it was her first job. But damn, my ankle was trashed. I didn't break anything, but I ended up spending eight weeks in a cast.

I think that Mrs. Carson became one of those teachers who learned to really look out for kids like me, and save us from ourselves, but she wasn't at the time.

Anyway, I bring all of that up because on Friday night I twisted the shrieking crap out of the same ankle.

Hostas

My mom visited in early April (for Keeneland) and we sat in the yard one afternoon drinking wine and she tsked, "What's that?" gesturing vaguely at a stumpy part of my yard. "Those are hostas," I said.

She had never heard of them so, mom, if you're checking your Google Reader, these are hostas. I admit they do seem like a bit of a blight in the winter, but they're nice now.

I'll post another picture when they bloom.




Click for a better look.

I Can See My House From Here!

It started with a link I got from my fellow conspiracy theorists about what the Google cameras look like:

http://sfcitizen.com/blog/2008/06/16/the-united-states-park-police-vs-the-google-maps-car-san-francsicos-presidio/

And then we started talking about it -- and it is pretty fabulous to see a place so easily -- and were looking at everyone's houses and commenting things like, "Oh, yeah, that's when so and so was adding the new sunroom. Look, you can see the construction." Since I live in a fairly new, gated community I didn't think I'd see much, but, heh, I would be surprised.

Look! They came on trash day!



To try this for your own house, go to maps.google.com, enter a street address, select "Search maps," select "Street view." They're often not exactly on the address, but click the white runner to move backward and forward. Also, not all addresses are available yet.

Master Pumpkin Carver

For example...

If we'd been doing this last fall, I would have shared with you that my friend Farmer's Wife and I won a pumpkin carving contest. I think the key to our success was the footnote in the rules that you could accessorize the pumpkin.

I give you NASCAR Cindy.

p.s. This picture does absolutely no justice to the magnificence of the piece -- it was fabu. Click on the image to see it in its full glory!

And yes, that is spray on glitter.

Keeping Up With the Joneses

To my brother and sisters (I mean that literally, I'm sorry, but this isn't an open invite to the blogosphere):

I'm terrible about keeping up with everyone so I'm hoping you'd be interested in starting our own network of blogs. I'm too old for myspace and too cranky and impatient to actually write letters.

For my part, I can share my travel pictures and silly art projects, and you can share news of whatever interests you:

• Children
• Pets
• Causes
• Recipes
• Golf scores
• Photographs
• Home decor
• Upcoming events

Maybe? Interested? Add a comment if you want information on how to do this (it's super easy).

Come on! Try it! I'll go first!