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| Jul. 11th, 2008 @ 1:13 am |
| Stories |
| Public |
| film, music |
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Today I took us to Mission Valley to browse the shops, and then made a spur of the moment decision to see WALL·E. This is the best date movie, ever. Good for drawing couples close. It's profoundly moving, actually.
It's interesting how the filmmakers told the first half of the story with no dialogue, instead relying just on music and small audio cues, and on gorgeous, provocative visuals. It's amazing how much story can be conveyed without words, just with body language and setting. Pixar really did a great job with this. And it continued into the second half, when EVE was introduced.
The contrasting images of limitless space and tired, dusty old Earth are hauntingly beautiful. Emotion features strongly in the film; the landscapes and settings are evocative, as is the developing relationship between EVE and WALL·E; the latter has learned emotions over the long lonely centuries as he sifts through the accumulated detritus of Earth's past. The relationship between EVE and WALL·E spills over into other characters as well; two humans are awakened to the greater world around them and to each other.
Basically, you need to go see WALL·E if you haven't yet. The rich characterizations, galaxy-spanning story, and astonishingly beautiful imagery combine to make one of the very best films I've ever seen, period.
* * *
After the movie, we came home and I cooked up a delicious 3-course meal. Very romantic, and all that. Can't help but watch WALL·E and be affected. And then I read to us from Calling on Dragons by Patricia Wrede. Makin' good progress on that one.
* * *
And now I have two epic fantasy metal CDs to work through; they both arrived yesterday. The Heart of Everything by Within Temptation, and Dark Passion Play by Nightwish.
Within Temptation is a Dutch band recommended to me by Damian; so far they're awesome. Was it worth buying, having never heard of them before? Yes. They are that awesome.
Same goes for Nightwish, though this album I'd actually checked out from the library recently. I got the special edition of Dark Passion Play since it includes an extra CD with the orchestral/instrumental versions of the original tracks. Holy freaking heck: it's good. It's as enjoyable as the original CD. It's accompanying me everywhere in the car now. It must be blasted. Its soaring, epic, operatic, rich darkness must be shared with other drivers, the better to enrich their lives. It's music that thunders (with an 80-voice choir) LISTEN.
* * *
All told, an excellent, blessed Thursday, through and through.
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| Jul. 4th, 2008 @ 4:20 pm |
| Le tour du quartier en quatre-vingts minutes |
| Public |
| vintage |
| excursions, film |
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Yesterday I decided that my wife and I should embark on an afternoon jaunt. To that end, we drove for some time to a neighborhood where we could get out and walk. We purchased some of frozen yogurt, then discovered that there was some sort of antique automobile show nearby. So we strolled up and down the main street 'pon which cars of diverse ancestry lay basking in the sun, beautifully reconditioned and polished to a blinding shine.
Dozens of well-appointed, faithfully restored cars lined the main drag, and here and there owners pointed out this bit of chrome to the common man, or emphasized the unique history of the roadster in question. Every car was at least forty years old; most were more than fifty or sixty years old.
Truly, yesterday was a rare opportunity to see so much history and bygone days on one street.
After we had finished our afternoon stroll, I decided a visit to the local cinema was in order. "Hancock" thoroughly delighted us both, and was well worth the costly admission. At the close of the evening, we retired to our apartment, so that I might prepare an appropriately southwestern dinner, followed by an indoor viewing of "A View to a Kill," a vintage 1980s James Bond film.
Tonight, we will escape to the seashore, there to gaze upon commemorative fireworks for the nation's 232nd anniversary.
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| Jul. 1st, 2008 @ 5:17 pm |
| Girls & Boys |
| Public |
| music |
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I'm listening to Ingrid Michaelson's album "Girls and Boys," and I'm liking it. She's got some of the vocal stylings of Sia and Imogen Heap, mixed with the audio honesty of K.T. Tunstall. Not as wild; a bit more refined.
The album itself is very pleasing, laidback, and at times sounds like a more electric guitar-ish Sia. With Michelle Branch and Tristan Prettyman thrown in there somewhere, for good measure.
But enough comparing Michaelson to other artists -- these are just my immediate impressions. The album very definitely stands on its own. It has a magical, breezy feeling, interspersed with some very nice bittersweet sensibilities. And it has piano in it! There are too few artists that record with piano these days. I approve of the piano playing.
Go find a demo copy at your local record store, or borrow it from your local library. You won't be disappointed. Really!
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| Jun. 27th, 2008 @ 6:54 pm |
| A Thousand Years and One |
| Public |
| music |
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The new album by Mikael Fyrek is out, so go get it.
A Thousand Years and One is fantastic. Otherworldly, inspiring, cinematic, haunting, moving. Classic Fyrek.
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| May. 31st, 2008 @ 9:54 pm |
| Jones for a Saturdate |
| Public |
| excursions, film |
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(I hereby claim that portmanteau for California. Yes, I have a flag.)
Spoilers follow!
Took Melanie out to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Unfortunately, we got there a bit late, just as the opening titles faded, which meant that even more unfortunately, the only place to sit was right up front, about 18 feet from the screen. Which was way above us.
Don't get me wrong; I did want to see the movie in theatres. But this was a terrible, terrible way to see it. And since I just coughed up $21, my wife figured we should stay, even though I was somewhat wanting to leave and come back sometime to enjoy it properly. Yeah, I need to be able to enjoy movies "the right way," so sue me. Still, I got . . . part of my money's worth.
I hate to say it, but I just don't feel that there was anything special about this one. It's almost in the category of "rental", though perhaps I would elevate it a bit more if we'd had decent seats, instead of crazy-skewed-perspective seats. Squares became rhombuses. Also, that close to the screen, the artifacts on the film were really noticeable. Which brings me to another point: "What the--this isn't even digital? I saw the Star Wars and Matrix movies in digital projection. Then again, if the film quality woulda been any sharper, I suppose I would have more easily seen through the special FX.
Which reminds me: aliens. Really. Also far too many obviously life-ending ecruciating accidents, humorous as they may have been, yet our hero & co. dust themselves off and walk away. My credulousness ended when they weren't flung from the rocket sled. Though that was a very humorous, well-done bit.
Anyway, despite three of the Indiana Jones movies being released in my lifetime, and seeing 'em in the theater, this one just doesn't have quite the adventure or heroics of the originals. Though I guess when you've conquered the Middle East and Asia, it's hard to top that. South America doesn't quite cut it. I suppose Lucas figured that since the supernatural had been tamed in the first three films, it was time for Indy to come face to skull with the extraterrestrial.
Well, you tell me why the plot of this one had to be aliens.
Still, we had a decent enough time. Next up is Prince Caspian and possibly Iron Man, or whatever else is due out later this summer.
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| May. 9th, 2008 @ 2:04 am |
| Northern Exposure |
| Public |
| The Crystal Method - Sensation (Phase 4 Vinyl Mix) |
| books, excursions, film, library |
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I took Melanie north today to see the Flower Fields in Carlsbad. Was quite pretty. We managed to see just about everything mentioned in the article. And we managed to get decently lost in the sweet pea maze. That's what mazes are for. I'm normally deathly allergic to flowers, so I took a half dose of Benadryl before setting out (musn't get sleepy while driving). Either it worked, or else I'm starting to lose this particular allergy. Hopefully the latter. Anyway, I felt fine the whole time. Which is good; both of us were able to enjoy the trip. Pictures follow.
Stripes:
Looking back towards the farm's entrance and windmill:
Flower power comes in rows:
Ranunculus Fields Forever?
There were some unusual roses, so I just had to capture one:
As we drove back down to San Diego, I was struck by the desire to visit the new Encinitas Branch of the SDCL. The library is a couple of minutes away from Carlsbad. It's just as nice as I've heard, and then some. It is niiiiiice. A mini-slideshow is available on this page. It's up on a hill, so it's got a great view of the Pacific. Wraparound decks and patios are available if you don't want to read inside. Or if you prefer the view but not the weather, the whole west wall is a series of long, undulating transparent frames.
And I even got a book while I was there. Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters.
At this point, it was late afternoon, and the traffic southbound to San Diego was starting to stack up, so we left before it got any worse. Melanie napped the whole way, as she did on the trip north. And I'd brought along my trance/dance tunes, too. Sometimes it's energizing, sometimes it's soothing. Apparently.
Tonight, we watched Roman Holiday, as a fitting end to our excursion.
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| May. 4th, 2008 @ 4:02 pm |
| Update those bookmarks . . . |
| Public |
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. . . I've got my own domain now:
http://www.museimpromptu.net
So long, Freewebs. Hello, new host.
My website is back in action!
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![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) greenblock40 and his sister were in town for their dad's wedding, so my wife and met up with them. i haven't seen andy in awhile, and it's been years since i last saw meghan. good times were had -- laser tag, safari-ing for The Coffee Bean (couldn't find it), and then back to our place for s'more fun, including this really weird card game that involves remembering words.
pick a category ("electricity", "things you shouldn't put in your mouth", "sea creatures", "authors" "body parts", etc.) everyone says one thing related to it, and that word is theirs. you have to remember what they said, because the cards are dealt in sequence, face up, and if you get a matching card with someone else, you have to blurt out their word first, and then you add your accumulated deck to theirs. whoever has the most cards once the deck runs out loses, and picks the next category. oh, and if you are dealt, say, two kings right on your pile, you have to call out your word before anyone else does, or if they beat you to it you eat their stack. yeah, it's totally unfair in a really evil way. sometimes remembering your own word is harder than remembering three or more others. it's the sort of association that drives people into hysterics. and bigger piles of cards.
a great end to a typical day at the library. well, perhaps atypical. i'm reading a novella by steve martin called the pleasure of my company. it follows the humorous mental life and (almost) adventures of a vaguely neurotic, compulsive Californian. i approve.
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| Apr. 30th, 2008 @ 11:01 pm |
| Decibel et al |
| Public |
| William Orbit - Adagio for Strings |
| gentoo, music, software, wip |
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I've been busy with various hackery, delving into Drivel and Decibel Audio Player. Been adding feature and bugfix patches to the former, and attempting to bring the latter to Gentoo, as detailed here.
Decibel is, like, the most awesome audio player ever. Here it is running on my system, in the Library view. This sorts everything by artist, regardless of whether the file is in a folder or just lying around buried somewhere.
And here it is in the File Browser view. This one sorts folders first, then files second. It's the same view you'd see in any file browser, so it can involve more hunting for a particular file, since it just displays what's there, and doesn't try to organize anything.
To sum up: Decibel is nifty. More screenshots available here.
* * *
I've had a huge TODO list for the last coupla weeks, and I'm happy that I've finally got all but two entries taken care of. They are:
1. (Finish) writing the next chapter of Work in Progress.
2. Roll out new website.
Number two is done . . . I just haven't uploaded it yet. That's in part because I'm getting s'more content ready. The poems are mostly done; I just need the next chapter of WIP to be finished. Seriously. I've been unable to finish chapter 4 for how many years now? Even though the next 5 or 6 are ready to go. I could just cheat, and throw one of the others in and call it "Chapter 4", but I couldn't live with myself. That's taking the easy way out, even though it's a synthetically-told story.
Also, I've been looking around for low-cost webhosting. Freenode has pissed me off for the last time. Time to bite the bullet. Dish out the dough. Preferably as little as possible. Once I've found a host, I can get the new version of the site up and running; I feel like there's little point in unleashing it at the moment.
I'm beginning to suspect that being a developer for Genoo Linux is slowly poisoning my right-brain. I mean, I haven't really been feeling creative nor done anything since I started. Well, to be fair, I suppose I probably haven't done much since early 2005. It's been so long since I was really creatively productive that I can't even remember when I last produced copious volumes of work. Maybe there's stuff in my paper & pen journals. I need to go dig those out, wherever they went. Sometimes going digital is bad for creativity. Too many opportunities for distraction. I'm not ADD, but the internet and various computer diversions sure give the opportunity for it.
My excuse is that "It's so much easier to edit a composition in AbiWord than with paper and pen..."
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Today was our 4th anniversary as a couple, so I took Melanie out for a long, continuous date.
Shopping at Fashion Valley (including a visit to the Apple Store, where we booth oohed and ahhed over the iPod Nano. And the Apple Keyboard. I'm thinking of replacing our current keyboard with it, even though it's $50. It has a nice feel, though it was a little hard to tell how noisy it was, given the noisy store. We're looking for quiet keyboards, you see, so that's totally a reason to visit the Apple Store.
We were going to dine at PF Chang's, but the wait time was too long. Instead, we made a spur-of-the-moment-secretly-planned trip to Old Town, where we browsed the shops and dined at El Fandango, where I brought over the strolling guitar minstrels to serenade us with a love song. Melanie was embarrassed in a good way. Most excellent.
Then we were off to our beach in Point Loma, where I proposed two years ago. We strolled the dunes and rocks by moonlight and starlight. There were even seals barking in the distance; they must have imported them to the beach.
Hmm, our 2 year wedding anniversary is coming up in just a few short months. Will have to top today's date. That's one of the best parts about anniversaries -- trying to continuously outdo the previous one. She's worth it.
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We went miniature golfing this afternoon, at Pelly's up in Del Mar. Neither of us had been there before, and it was quite a treat. The whole place has a very nice nautical theme, complete with livesize whales and other sea creatures. Various environmental facts and figures dot the courses, as well as bits of surfing folklore, artifacts, and lingo. Laidback beach tunes piped in all over, too. Just the thing for making you relax and forget that you just putted 4 over par on that last hole.
It's right by the freeway, the fairgrounds, a driving range, and not far away, the ocean. If you haven't been, you need to. It's cleaner & better kept than the Boomers around town. Not to mention more fun, and the crowds are better. You won't run into the annoying teenage punks that you find in Clairemont and El Cajon.
The courses may be viewed as slightly easier, at least the one on the right is. It's definitely for the kiddies. The one on the left has a more . . . subtle evil. It's definitely hard. Worth it though. The signs said $4 replay, but the ticket guy let us do the second course for free. Maybe it was the gray, slightly coldish weather? Anyway, we're very impressed with the place. It's worth the drive.
Of course, then we came back and watched The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which was a complete letdown. The name's a mouthful, and so's the terrible acting, story, and script. 3 hours of torture. Brad Pitt hams his way through his idea of an old west caricature baddie. It's complete crap. 1/10. 3:10 to Yuma, which came out at the same time, was a much better flick. It's not my favorite, but it is at least a semi-interesting character study, with more action, better timing, and a decent script. And Alan Tudyk. Who gets killed. Again, because Serenity wasn't enough.
Fortunately, Stargate: Atlantis season 1 arrived a few days ago, so we're working our way through it. We like.
I made tortellini + chicken parmigiana a couple of nights ago. Mmm, yum. This was the night after the Chinese cooking experiment went south. Stupid noodles. They were conspiring with the chow mein sauce. I'll get you next time, Gadget.
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The last few days have been rather busy for Melanie and I. What with having fun out on the town, and all. Unfortunately, I hurt my back again in the process. I'm hoping I start healing again in time for the next workweek.
Tuesday: we finally watched "Across the Universe" after spending the late afternoon and early evening at Seaport Village, followed by an extended scenic detour home. "Across the Universe" was a good movie; parts were trippy--groovy--but were more than made up for because Bono (of U2 fame) and Eddie Izzard had cameos in those parts. Completely awesome and perfect. See this movie. Do it.
Wednesday: A nice quiet night in. I think there was frozen yogurt. And definitely the reading of new books. For me, Habeas Corpses by William Mark Simmons; another new favorite Baen author. Still waiting on the last one of the series to arrive, Dead Easy. Habeas turned out to be rather bloody; more disturbing than the rest of the series so far; am actually thinking of donating it rather than keeping it, as the whole second half of the book was a complete let-down. Instead of occupying the remaining plot with some rather pointless out-of-body experiences, it should have been finished in just a chapter or two before getting on with the rest of the narrative. What should have been just a side-quest took up the rest of the book. First time I've felt slightly let down by the series; the author just got the reader bogged down in unnecessary shtuff. Still, I'm hoping the fourth and final book pulls it all together. Once the post office delivers it; bleh. It's been 10 days.
Thursday: We ventured out to La Jolla Cove, but as there was no parking close to the cliffs, and since we were hoping for more sandy beaches nearby, we instead spent the afternoon just above it, at La Jolla Village. Surprisingly, there was parking, so we browsed the shops and got some ice cream. First time I've actually had ice cream from Cold Stone that did not have that funny taste their stuff is known for (and why I've always avoided it). Some kind of peanut butter and chocolate creation that pleased my taste buds. I made sure to buy a bookmark at one gift shop, since I've been devouring some new books I bought online and seem to have devoured my only other decent bookmark.
On our rather scenic detour/return trip, we found another promising quaint neighborhood and some even more promising shops, so I curried favor with my wife by purchasing some bead supplies from a well-appointed store. It was nifty. It's amazing what can be turned into beads when you apply a little creativity. Points to the store for presentation too. There was a piano store just down the street (my kind of place), but at this point all the walking we'd done around the hills of LJV was taking its toll on my back, and the pain forced us to head home.
We met up with Melanie's sister for dinner in Point Loma along the way, at Gus's. I had a hankering for a gyro. It was okay; I've had better. Didn't help that there was figureskating on the TV in the background. Ack. We parted ways; my wife and I were headed home; Anna was headed back to more studying. Easter break isn't always break-ish.
We finally arrived home, just slightly sunburned and fatigued by our travels. Well, I was. I ended up napping off and on, while my wife created beady art. Or something. I woke up enough around 11PM to watch Next with her, which is a "meh" sort of movie. Sort of a combination of the TV shows 24 and Stargate SG-1 (season 8, "Avatar"), and the films Deja Vu and Paycheck. Less inspired. Very much a "lady and the tiger" kind of ending.
Except:
1. without Keifer Sutherland
2. Daniel Jackson only had 2 seconds precognition; Nick Cage had 2 minutes; how easy is that!
3. Without Denzel Washington
4. Many more glimpses into the future (Cage had it easy).
5. Cage should not have been sexing Jessica Biel, who's young enough to be his daughter. He should have not grossed us out, but instead have gone for the chick his age, Julianne Moore. But hey, I guess it's the 90s.
Today's my mom's birthday, so happy birthday to her.
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| Mar. 18th, 2008 @ 8:31 am |
| Instruments, wooing, and stardom |
| Public |
| piano |
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Have you ever wanted to be a rock star?
Well, maybe not rock star. Maybe not even rock. "Person of alternatively-inclined music," perhaps.
I know I have, sometimes. Which is why I'm trying to get just as good as I can be on the piano, though I don't practice as often as I should. Gone are the college days of playing for 5 hours (any given day.)
Still. I really wish I'd been able to play the guitar at some point in my life. That would be rocktabulous. Or even indiefabulous, depending on desired level of stardom, as the guitar is such a versatile instrument. Historically, it is the number one instrument for wooing, though my wife says that the piano was and is part of my unique attraction.
Guitars are nicely portable, suited for stardom and for wooing. Pianos, not so portable. Hard to spontaneously serenade when your instrument weighs a quarter-ton. Also, even when amped, the piano still just doesn't have the appealing growl of a guitar.
Since I can't seem to learn guitar, bass, or even the sexy chapman stick, I'll settle for being able to play heavy mellow . . . on the piano.
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| Mar. 8th, 2008 @ 11:08 pm |
| ER II |
| Public |
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Guess who spent all day in the ER?
Me!
Guess what the docs figured out?
Nothing!
Guess what I'm going to do next?
1. Hope it never happens again.
2. Create my first ever list of drugs that I'm (possibly) allergic to.
3. Never take Relafen again.
4. Find my LJ entries from the last time I was in the ER three years ago and revisit some memories.
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First: SCALE 6x went very well. Good times were had. People were met. Things were discussed. Bribes--snacks--were handed out. CDs were burned and distributed. Shwag was collected.
Second: Valentine's went quite well. I cooked dinner, dessert, read to us, played some piano, got us hooked on the third season of Lost, etc. Also, it rained muchly, which was quite welcome. I love rain.
Third: Today we visited the historic lighthouse @ Cabrillo monument, picking up Melanie's sister on the way. I don't think I'd ever actually been there despite living in SD all my life. It was a beautiful day. We even saw an aircraft carrier, CVN-76, steam into Coronado bay. It was quite close, and very much awesome. Then we went down a little further from the lighthouse and scrambled about the tidepools until it was time to go home. And then more cooking and more Lost.
Fourth: Michael & Becca are in town, so we'll be hanging out with them for the holiday weekend. More good times!
Fifth: I caved. I got a MySpace. I feel like I'm a little old for it, but gosh darn it, it could be a good way to keep in touch with friends, especially those who've switched from LiveJournal. There. I did it. Finally. I'm probably somehow contributing to the delinquency of youth even though I'm not in that demographic. Sellout.
I'm such a cheap whore.
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I got a new (ever-so-slightly used) laptop a few days ago. As such, it has occupied my attention. Getting it set up, etc. Just today I discovered that it does not, in fact, seem to have a Bluetooth module. So I may have been shafted by the IBM customer service representative. Oh well. It's amazing in every other way.
Today, instead of caring about the Super Bowl, my wife and I spent a quiet day inside, grading papers, reading, playing piano, and watching Stargate SG-1 season 9 while the rain came down outside.
Truly, it was good.
And tonight, I randomly fired up AIM (via pidgin) for the first time in like 4 years. I chatted with just_whelmed and _jadedgirl_. Like, old school. Possibly skool, with a K. And before that, I got a random note from Katie Manning. And David Simpson has recently returned to the internets.
The old days, they are a-comin' back. This is good. There are many good people that I have lost contact with over the years.
I started a new series of fantasy novels by Jim Butcher, called The Dresden Files. They center around a professional wizard. They are possibly mystery-like. I like his writing style so far.
On Friday, my wife and I are going up to LA for SCaLE. We did last year, too. I'll be representing Gentoo at our booth. I anticipate many merry times, though with a slightly smaller group of Gentoo folks than last year, as it seems fewer will be able to make it. Last year we had folks from as far away as England and/or Norway flying in. You win some, you lose some. I still plan to raffle off omp as a door prize. As a sort of fundraiser for the foundation. So drop by, if you're in town! The exhibitor floor is free as far as I know.
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| Jan. 24th, 2008 @ 10:30 pm |
| (no subject) |
| Public |
| cooking |
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Tonight has seen much successful cooking, first dinner, then baked goodies. Why is it that I seem to do all my baking late at night?
Most recently, I made blueberry muffins at about 1 or 2 in the morning, so that my wife could wake up with a breakfast treat. Tonight, at 10PM, I made fudge brownies. They smell divinely yummy, of course.
And in the background, I'm watching the last episode of Stargate SG-1 season 7.
Brownies and Stargate are a winning combination. Especially late at night. Why is that?
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| Jan. 22nd, 2008 @ 12:36 am |
| weekend road trip: stress and relaxation |
| Public |
| excursions |
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we made a spur-of-the-moment decision to visit some friends up north, who wanted us to visit, too. having never personally made the trip up to bake-o for the purposes of visitation, i was thrilled. we almost never get the same three-day weekend. was too great an opportunity to pass up.
four-plus hours later, we arrived at about 10PM saturday. there was heavy traffic from just before la mirada all the way through burbank. driving in the la area is probably the most stressful activity i can imagine. we have some nasty interchanges and heartstopping merges here in san diego, but those pale in comparison to the 100 miles of nervewracking, ulcer-inducing snarl that is the los angeles valley and surrounding areas.
ulcer-inducing is not hyperbole; for the first time since i was in the emergency room in 2005, i got some sorta serious stomach symptoms. i'm still not fully recovered; my stomach feels like it's thinking of developing holes. i can tell my insides were/are starting to come apart. too stressful. it was at night, in weekend holiday rush hour, for four+ hours. all the way to the central valley. i've never driven it before. man, it never lets up.
so we enjoyed the company of michael+becca, damian+annie, and ryan+christine. good times were had -- bbq & shish-kebob & football all day sunday after attending a modern amish church (mennonite of some kind).
on the amish church:
aside from a teensy bit more order to how things are done, and a very respectfully quiet audience, it wasn't really different from any other modern medium-to-larger protestant church. i was surprised at the lack of audience feedback though. the church i go to, you will hear other folks; it is not exactly "quiet as a church." but it wasn't a "this congregation is dead" kind of silence either. so that's a little different, i guess. also, the Bibles in the pews are english standard version, whatever the heck that means. i haven't heard of it before. seems to be published in wheaton, il. also, not that it matters, but it does not feature the words of Christ in red. it also has the somewhat arbitrary (and obvious) paragraph headings. just a few differences from the nondenominational churches i'm used to. really, as long as the Word is taught straight, without any joel osteen-type spins, churches should pretty much be the same wherever you go, and i mean that in a good, spiritual sense.
on the football games:
bah.
did anyone really expect the chargers to snap the patriot's miracle undefeated season? bah. oh, and bah to new york. we couldn't even get a packers victory to almost make up for it. who cares about new york and manning. that kid is so emo. no one should pay any attention to him whatsoever. just shave his head and push him into a snowbank. is he even old enough to buy booze yet? boo, giants.
(bah.)
continuing:
we came back today in slightly better conditions (until it rained), though again, we ran into stop-and-go traffic from burbank almost through irvine. didn't help that it was also raining intermittently. added about 30 minutes to what otherwise would have been a 3 hour and 30 minute trip home. so that was sorta stressful, but not as bad, since my wife offered to drive the first half of the trip. i stayed stress-free by reading my book. some folks can't do that in a moving vehicle, but nothing makes me carsick. books are a great way to spend the miles if there's no real scenery. anyway, i also had packed a decent CD set for the trip, which helped greatly when it was my turn to drive. conjure one (+ conjure one remixes), bitter:sweet, enigma, evanescence, and thievery corporation. forgot to bring blue man group, though. we both found ourselves wanting to blast "the complex".
as we drove through the la area, i looked around and thought, "there aren't too many folks that i can think of that live here. i don't think i'd ever want to live up here." and then i thought "we should put in a surprise visit to them!" but i figured just_whelmed would be studying, and pete would be paragliding. oh well, maybe some other time.
as we headed south down the 5, i was struck by how pretty the ocean is. we didn't get to see it on the trip up, as night had fallen. but even though we have good friends up north that i love to spend time with, the ocean looked so welcoming and familiar.
also, the air was not dusty, dry, and smelling of manure farms. you can take the san diegan out of san diego, but you can't take the ocean air out of him. well, you can, by replacing it with central valley air, but he won't like it.
two more days of work, then i get a weekend. yeah, i know!
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| Jan. 15th, 2008 @ 10:29 pm |
| two years of ring (& bling) |
| Public |
| brioskj - red sea moon |
| anniversary |
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two years today since i proposed to my wife. on a cold, windy beach at 3 in the morning, no less.
hey. it worked, didn't it?
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| Jan. 14th, 2008 @ 10:43 pm |
| Overdue books |
| Public |
| books, library |
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Today, someone returned two bulk paperbacks to the library: Firefox and Firefox Down. The first book was made into a fairly successful movie starring Clint Eastwood, which I've seen.
But the titles of the books aren't remarkable. What makes these particular returns unique is that they were due September 11, 1990.
That's right. Almost 18 years overdue. At this point, I'd almost say "You may as well have kept them", but the books in question actually belonged to our branch. So now it's like, "Yeah, you better bring 'em back!"
I'm very protective of my paperbacks.
These two were old and heavily weathered, so I weeded 'em. But I'm otherwise zealously OCD protective of my paperbacks.
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