back to work
I gotta tell ya – I love my 4-day weekends. Got my car in for an oil-change, did a little shopping, got to walk the dog twice, watched a movie marathon, took in the Oscars, and (reluctantly) gave Salem a much-needed bath.
However, first day back-to-work always sucks. I’ve spent most of my morning dealing with e-mail. Going through it, reading it, deleting it, writing it, responding to it. I’ve never gotten this much e-mail before, and I miss not getting them. It is a great form of communication, but I sometimes think people tend to rely on it too much. So needless to say I’ve spent most of my day recapping conversations that took place while I was gone.
My coworker just said the word “buttock”. Now there’s a stress-breaker for ya.
best picture showcase
D and I went to St Louis to watch AMC’s Best Picture Showcase along with a buddy of mine from work, and we had a great time. It was a full house; I’m glad we arrived early for decent seats. I purchased our tickets online, and my receipt clearly stated seats were first come, first serve, and to arrive 30-45 minutes early. A handful of people who showed up late had the nerve to bitch about the lack of good seats; some decided not to stick around (stupid move, considering they spent $30 for a large popcorn, large soda, and no movie). (more…)
i’m in repair
Saw the dentist this morning for the 1st phase of fillings (the number cavities add up to double-digits; serves me right). He asked me which side I preferred to have done first; I chose the left side, since there were fewer cavities to deal with. Funny thing – it wasn’t until I felt the numbness that I figured out he injected the anesthetic into the right side (CL tells me that he was actually working on his left side). He didn’t realize his mistake until after having dealt with fillings on the bottom right side. He apologized repeatedly; I assured him It was really no big deal to me. Now I’ve gotten the worst of the 2 sides done, and the dentist will work on the left side in about a week. Shortly thereafter, I’ll have oral surgery.
Saturday, D and I head to AMC Theatre’s Best Picture Showcase. It starts at 11 AM, and they will be showing each of the 5 nominees for Best Picture in this year’s Academy Awards. We will get a 15 minute intermission between movies (and a slightly longer dinner break between the 3rd and 4th movies). What is really cool is that tickets cost $30 each. This includes 5 movies, free large popcorn and free large soda (both refillable). You really can’t beat that. We need to be at the theater an hour early to assure good seats, and we probably won’t get home until after midnight. It will be a very long day, but it should be fun.
sophia elise
Born on Feb 10 at 8:13 AM. Congratulations to Avigail and Steve! She’s beautiful! Lots of love from all of us here in the Midwest.
Shutdown Day – March 24
“Can you survive for 24 hours without your computer?”
I had done this before for even longer (during Lent), but that was nearly 10 years ago. I rely on the computer for news, communication, work, and entertainment, and with everything being digital these days (from photos to music to video), it will be tougher to do. I’m sure I could handle 24 hours, but I don’t think I could repeat a 40-day performance.
Be a part of one of the biggest global experiments ever to take place on the internet. The idea behind the experiment is to find out how many people can go without a computer for one whole day, and what will happen if we all participate! Shutdown your computer on this day and find out!
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” on the ukulele
Jake Shimabukuro plays “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” on the ukulele.
long time no blog
And it will be a little while longer til I start posting better entries. I’m lacking motivation right now. Just to give a quick update – I’m stuck in all-day training the next 2 weeks (meaning I won’t get much work done). It was 10 years ago today when I first met CL in person. D has been the typical teenager, prompting his mother and I to be a little more disciplinary to get our point across. Lent is approaching, and I’m still unsure of what I will sacrifice.
Oh, and we got maybe 4 inches of snow. Seems miniscule compared to this. CL wouldn’t mind if they gave us a foot.
global warming?
Wave of arctic cold grips Midwest, Northeast (MSNBC.com)
It’s currently 13 degrees here, feels like 3, and I think it’s snowing (I don’t have a window in my office, so I don’t really know).
Steve Jobs – Thoughts on Music
An interesting column by Steve Jobs about music, iTunes, and DRM.
Why would the big four music companies agree to let Apple and others distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The simplest answer is because DRMs haven’t worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy. Though the big four music companies require that all their music sold online be protected with DRMs, these same music companies continue to sell billions of CDs a year which contain completely unprotected music. That’s right! No DRM system was ever developed for the CD, so all the music distributed on CDs can be easily uploaded to the Internet, then (illegally) downloaded and played on any computer or player.
random 10 #91
10 songs that sum up your weekend… or were on your weekend playlist…
I watched the Foo Fighters’ concert DVD “Skin And Bones” this weekend. Awesome acoustic show from a band that rocks. So needless to say, my list is all Foo. (more…)
It’s official: Apple and The Beatles kiss and make up
Apple and The Beatles’ parent company Apple Corps said Monday they have entered into a new agreement concerning the use of the name “Apple” and apple logos, ending a testy trademark dispute dating back nearly three decades.
Apple’s Jobs has been courting the British rock group — arguably the most prestigious name to thus far escape the digital music download scene — to join his iTunes revolution for some time. Speculation on the matter reached all-time highs last month, as news reports suggested the two parties were close to an arrangement that would give iTunes first shot at online distribution of Beatles songs, including a three-month exclusive that would begin with the release of the Beatles’ Cirque du Soleil project, Love, on Valentine’s day.
Far Away, Super Bowl’s Losers Will Be Champs
Where do the Super Bowl losers’ t-shirts and hats go?
In some parts of the world, the Seattle Seahawks are the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Buffalo Bills are the last great football dynasty and Tom Brady is some frustrated quarterback from New England who can never win it all.
compact fluorescent light bulbs
If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR, we would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of nearly 800,000 cars.
