Packing Up

Hey all,

If you actually read this with any frequency, you can find me over at http://maxres.wordpress.com

Expect more of whatever it is I do here, just with a new look!

Dave

New Shoes

Got the pictures from my shoot at Diane's back last night, and I'm pleased to report they turned out really well. Easily enough to fill my show in June, though I may hold back and make it a half farrier/half other stuff show. I'll have to get some feedback on the shots to see if there's enough to warrant 15 images from the session.

I hope to have the bulk added to my website tomorrow, but since I tend to not do that kind of thing well, I'll throw a few up here for good measure. No captions or anything, since it's late, and my hands are sore from the batting cages.

Quick aside: always make sure your window screens are in good shape, lest your cats punch them out and make an excursion outside without your knowledge. It's a bit disconcerting to open the back door, expecting George to come running, only to find him already on the back porch.

Also--Cardinals=blah.

Also also--one week until my first game as a Perfecto!

Now, onto pictures!















Dave

Why copy-editing is a good thing

Came across this little gem on a flier we received at work:

Basic Muzzle Loaders

This one-day course led by certifeid instructors will cover the history of black powder firearms from the development of black power to today's modern inline muzzle loaders.

Whoops.

In unrelated news, I saw The Princess Bride last weekend. It is, of course, quite funny. And I learned I apparently can't draw feet.

Also, you may have noticed the "Not That Bad" list over on the side. It has no real rhyme or reason--just things that I happen to be enjoying at any given time. And by enjoying Chris Duncan, I mean I'm enjoying his offensive produc---I mean....oh my. There's no graceful way out of that one, is there?

Well, you know what I mean. I hope.


Dave

Wait a minute...

So, General Mills thinks they can pull a fast one on me by making Trix round and claiming it as a "new shape," eh?

Well I can remember when they used to be round! That's right, they weren't always funky shapes! They're just bringing back something they used 15 years ago and hope we don't remember.

Well, I'm onto you guys, so be careful!

Silly rabbit.


Dave

I'm sure you knew this, but...

iPods are pretty cool.


Going to see Rush!

In............August.

Got a nice mini-vacation coming up this week: going to Diane's to do my little farrier photo-essay project I've been hoping to do. So that'll be nice.

Also nice is the return of the not-cold temperatures, even if it means the probable return of ants to my kitchen. I think I can handle it this time around. Maybe. I probably won't be saying that after having to spray the little buggers for the sixth time in three days. We'll see.

So, just to recap: iPods and Rush=cool. Yep.

And life is good.


Dave

I can't dig, yo.

This is one of our Summer Reading Club programs here at the Library:

Thursday, June 28, 2:00 p.m.
It’s All A Mystery! “Digging up Archeology”
When were the dinosaurs on the earth? How do we know they were here? How big were they? Come and learn about these interesting creatures. We will have lots of activities!

Nonononono.

Apparently we need a staff of six-year old boys to fact check our text from now on.

Sigh.


Dave

Flashbacks

I still think this is funny.


Dave

The Fence-Hopping Fox Hound

Wouldn't that make a kick-ass band and/or song? I only wish I'd come up with it.

So I did wrap up the ACPT puzzles earlier this week, but I think I had blogged myself out last week, and didn't feel like posting about them. Suffice it to say, Bob Klahn's puzzle knocked my socks off, and not in a good way. That thing was probably more of a hair-puller than anything else I'd solved. The theme was based around "spoonerisms," which I wasn't familiar with. So even with a lot of crossing words filled in, I still couldn't figure out what was going on. In the end, I think I only got two of the theme answers filled in, which is really frustrating, especially since I actually got about 90% of the grid filled in. I just hit a wall and couldn't get over it.

So after that, I tackled the last puzzle, and since my ego needed a boost, I used the 'easy' set of clues. Considering the fact that the hardest set of clues was just ridiculous, I don't feel like I missed out on much.

So, overall, it was a lot of fun. The puzzles were all enjoyable, even if they weren't at the time I was working on them. I can't wait until next year, when I can hopefully be at the tourney in person. I may need to start saving now, though, just to be sure. And it's in NYC, which oughta be fun.

I spent tonight cleaning my house. Always fun, of course, though it was nice to have a reason for the cleaning tonight. Company always warrants the removal of any and all cat hair from the premises, save for the hair actually on the cats, of course.

Daisies: Spring cleaning...
Virginia Wolfe: I'll sweep off this mat!
Newscaster: Spring-cleaning...
Peter Wolfe: I'll vacuum the cat.

Yeah, any excuse for a Rocko quote around these parts.

We're getting close to the first game of the season for the Perfectos. We had practice a couple weeks ago, and I actually hit the ball pretty well, which was encouraging. Interesting, though, is I'm a dead pull hitter. Everything was going to right field, save for a few that went to right-center. And almost our entire team is that way. We rarely bothered to have anyone in left during practice. With that in mind, I may hit the cages (ha!) in an effort to work on taking the ball the other way on occasion. Seems like it might be of use.

And how about those Cardinals, eh?

Eh?

Yeah, I can't decide either. The pitching's been pretty good so far, but man, I hope the offense decides to, I don't know, do something. I don't think we can count on Gary Bennett to get 3 hits every night. Though it would be pretty cool.

Noted elsewhere in the Cardinals' blogosphere is the Birds' knack for destroying NL closers this year. Weird. Though I will admit to feeling sorry for Brad Lidge at this point.

And that's all for now.



Dave

ACPT 5/6

Huzzah and hooray--I finished both of these puzzles with time to spare. 26:44 on Merl Reagle's 'Gender Bender,' and 19:33 on Maura Jacobson's 'What Are They?'

I really like Merl's puzzle. I think I got the theme fairly early on--I had Frito Lay originally, but once I got the first half of the theme clue, 'sex change,' I caught my error and was on my way. What I wasn't expecting, though, was the theme meandering its way into the clues. So 84-across, 'fay,' and 10-across, 'Sox fan, often,' made no sense with their respective answers--send and vegan. I'm not saying there aren't any vegan Sox fans, of course, but it didn't make much sense in the puzzle. Actually, I don't think I picked up on that little trick until I'd been done with the puzzle for some time. I went back to look at it, and then it clicked. Well played, sir.

Maura's puzzle was another case, as has been the norm through this, it seems, where I was getting theme answers and not instantly knowing what the theme actually was. Once I got 'Ball Rooms' as an answer for "Lucille Chambers," I got the last name/synonym theme. Alas, there were a number of last names I didn't know off-hand, but between crossing fill and the second part of the answer, I was able to figure out. Though I will admit to having 'Hardy Guys' as opposed to 'Hardy Boys' for the longest time.


And hey, the Cardinals scored 10 runs today. 10! That's more than the first 5 games of the season combined, so maybe we've turned a slight corner. Nice to see Pujols get himself a HR, and the 3-5 day from Yadi was a nice bonus.

I'm really hoping the cold snap breaks this week. It's just getting annoying at this point.


Dave

ACPT 3/4

Do you think Cathy Millhauser would appreciate the irony if I felt like strangling her while working on her puzzle? This is not to say it was a bad puzzle. Far from it, actually. It was, as usual, a wonderfully punny theme, and once I got the idea, it wasn't too hard. There were just a lot of moments where I was staring at the grid, not knowing the answers, and I needed to lash out at someone. And it was either her or the cats.

Interesting thing about the puzzle (which I almost finished)--it seemed to have two themes going on. The first was the obvious 'death' answers like "Looney Tombs" and "I'm a bereaver," but then there seemed to be a sub-theme in two of the other answers: Bier One Imports, along with Morgue and Mindy had the 'one' and 'and' both rebused-up in a single box. At least I think so. Since there's no other bagged candy that is M__M's besides M&M's, it had to be the case. And that threw me for a loop, making me think there was something like that going on throughout the puzzle, which I didn't seem to notice. So....it should be interesting to see how I did on that in the end.

In the end, I can say I enjoyed the puzzle. I liked 'kookier' as fill, along with the ore/o'er/oar trio. And it's odd, because a lot of the puzzles I've been doing outside the Tourney stuff has been popping up in the Tourney puzzles and vice-versa. Just before I did these two, I worked on a puzzle with 'skiff' as an answer. And there it was in Cathy's puzzle!

I actually finished Mike Shenk's puzzle before time was up, so that was nice. I liked the visual rebus spelling out the word rebus at 40-across. And "pass go" as a way to earn $200 was really clever.

So two more on tap today. Can't wait.


And how about Root Beer last night, starting that DP with Yadi? And yay for Chris Duncan, who seems to be the only guy who has remembered how to hit.


Dave

Celebrity Watch/ACPT 2

I saw Nelly at Strike 'n' Spare tonight.

Yep.



Just finished (well, almost) Patrick Merrell's puzzle, Faulty Keyboard. I thought it odd at first when I saw two U's back-to-back, but left them, since I had a hunch the theme was built around something sneaky like that. And once I saw it pop up again, I knew what was going on, thought the Elvis song itself didn't come to be at first, mostly because of one damn word--I had heron in instead of egret, and it threw off that entire chunk of the puzzle. Solutes was salines for God knows how long. I also had magna instead of summa, but once I got the theme, I was able to fix that and the SW corner fell quickly. The NW fell almost as fast once I got the long cuumuuluus clouuds, which is really hard to type.

NEVER heard of little Sambo. Had 'sits out' for awhile, which didn't help matters. I felt really bad about not getting Sunbeam sooner, considering how much I'm in the kitchen. But for the life of me, all I could think of was Kitchen Aid. Grr. And I used to have a Sunbeam mixer!

Randomly wrote 'In G' for Chopin's "Nocurne ___ Major," which had me stumped for "prepare for surgery." Scrug up doesn't make much sense. Bad idea, just sticking letters in like that.

Alas, I couldn't wrap up the puzzle. 49, 57, and 61-across never came to me, so I'll have to take a hit there. Everything else though, as far as I can tell, is correct, so that's good.

But it's bed time now, so I'll take on Puzzle 3 tomorrow. Apparently it's a toughie.



Dave

ACPT--Puzzle 1

My packet 'o fun from the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament arrived today, and despite the assurance I could work these at my leisure, I had to get cracking. I've been waiting too long for this to just let it sit around.

So I'll try and post thoughts about each puzzle as I work them.

#1 was by Paula Gamache. The theme wasyin/yang, clued as "opposite principles in this puzzle," though I'll be damned if I can find any examples of such in the grid. The two longest answers are 'misery index' and 'johnny angel,' which have some opposite-ness, I guess. But beyond that, I'm kinda lost.

I tore through about 2/3 of the grid, then got hung up on some answers I didn't know. Names, mostly, and a couple terms I hadn't come across before. With a fifteen-minute time limit, I finished in 13:15, with about 5 minutes spent trying to force those remaining answers out.

SOme fun fill included etyma (as in etymology), Olmecs, and lisps.

Maybe I'll get the theme, eventually.


Dave

If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home By Now

So, according to this little sidebar at the Yahoo! homepage, one of the most sought-after places to live, along with cities like San Fransisco and Seattle, is, um....Valdosta.

Now, I lived near enough to Valdosta for a couple years, and as far as I can remember, the only thing that town had was a mall. Oh and plenty of clay, Which was weird for a Yank like me, since I was used to seeing dirt everywhere. Looking at the ground and seeing red was pretty weird.

Said mall was also the site of mom, Steve, and me getting locked out of the car one day. Steve, I believe, was about to experience some motion sickness as we hit the lot. In the flurry of everyone hopping out of the car, the keys stayed in, and we all locked our doors. Whoops. Much freaking out ensues, and in the end, a kindly mall security guy uses some fancy contraption that probably looked a lot like a coat hangar to open the door. Much rejoicing.

But is all that enough to warrant its desirability? Maybe people like fire ants. I dunno.


Dave

Thanks, Mr. Eck-steen

I never thought I'd say this, bu David Eckstein would make a pretty good straight man in a comedy duo.

Yeah, so I'm basing this off one commercial. It's still pretty amusing.

No baseball thoughts just yet, though the Cardinals are doing their best to not hit some more.

Update: 8:20 p.m.

Also: I don't care what anyone else thinks, I like Joe Buck. For whatever reason, he and Al were talking about American Idol, and he said that his girls were home, glued to the TV, "and they ain't watching me."

I like a little bit of self-deprecating humor. And Lord knows the game hasn't been all that interesting tonight.

But hey, Looper's pitching well, so that's nice.

Update: 8:21 p.m.

Carlos Delgado just hit one out. 2-0 Mets. Natch.



Dave

Whoosh.

I feel I should clarify a point from last night: I'm not saying that Hrabosy was necessarily wrong in his claim. He could very well be right. But the way he sadi it made it pretty clear that we wasn't saying this because he felt a strong conviction about the matter. Rather, it just sounded like he was trying to make some kinda joke about something topical.

Bascially, I'm saying Al Hrabosky is kind of dumb sometimes.

But I do like Joe Buck.

Kip Wells looked pretty good last night. A couple defensive lapses made the score worse than it could have been. One of them was his own fault, but beyond that, I think he should be fine. If we can get something resembling an offense together, maybe we'll be able to scrounge up a win. And I know it's only been two games, but still. Ugh.


Dave

Winds of Change

Bottom of the first during tonight's Cards/Mets game--Al Hrabosky, while talking to Joe Buck about the Cardinals' lack of hitting in spring training, mentions the weird fact that the wind was blowing in from the same direction quite often, deadening some of the balls the Cardinals were hitting.

And why was the wind doing that, Al?

"It must be global warming."

Ah, of course.

In other baseball musings, the Cardinals might do better if they didn't hit into all these double plays. Just a thought.


Dave

Just a Little Bit Outside

Well, that's why they play 162 games, isn't it? I thought Adam Kennedy looked pretty good, as did the bullpen. And really, we were only a few breaks away from having the game tied, or at least much closer. So I'm not too worried. Now if we open 0-6, and aren't scoring at all, well then I'll be worried.

Still don't know why Oquendo sent Eck home on Wilson's single, esp. with Pujols coming up. Grr. I hope the Secret Weapon hasn't been inhabited by the body of Wendall Kim.

I may try to post baseball thoughts more often this season. We'll see how that goes. I doubt it'll be very insightful or anything, but a running commentary on the season could prove interesting.

And for now, I'm Charles Kuralt, and we're going to leave you with this shot of a flower.

Hole in my Soul

Ah, I've been missing you. It's good to have it back, I must say.

Apologies to anyone who couldn't see the Japanese characters in my last post. It showed up on my computer at work, but not at home. But you can still be amused by the English "translation."

I was at Mass this morning, and amused myself with this thought: what if the ushers started carrying debit card machines during the collections?

Go Cards!

Dave

Say What?

Did you know the Gooch has a website?

Alas, it's all in Japanese, and I didn't learn enough to translate the kanji on his site. So I let Babelfish do it for me. From this: 田口選手のセントルイスカージナルスがワールドシリーズを制しました。それに伴い、今夜は帰宅がおそくなるため、試合後の電話取材によるコメントをお伝えします。

「まずは何よりも、ここまで僕らを盛り立ててくださったファンの皆さんに感謝します。今夜はまだ家に帰れず、メールを書ける状態ではないので、明日改めて、ご報告させていただきます。応援本当にありがとうございました」 ,

we get this:

セントルイスカージナルス of Taguchi player controlled the world series. Attendant upon that, tonight because returning home becomes slow, conveys the comment with the telephone collection of data after the playing. "You pile up me first what compared to, to here and you appreciate in everyone of the fan raising. Tonight because it is not in a state where the mail can be written not be able to return to the house yet, tomorrow again, you report. Support thank you truly


That's right, folks. So Taguchi controlled the World Series. And I can't come up with anything else very witty on this. But it's darn funny trying to make sense of all that.


Tomorrow again, I report.
dave

Ah. Title! Subject!

I went to the batting cages last week to get in some swings before the Perfectos' first practice (for me, at least) this weekend. I've been swinging a whiffle bat for so long that a real bat, with actual weight to it, was quite a change of pace. So I went, and learned, that while I may be able to do a lot of stuff, hitting a baseball consistently is not one of them. Granted I was out of practice, but it was still pretty bad. I did, I should add, work on "keeping an eye on the ball," and it did help some. I think I just need more time to work on it. I even bought my own bat a couple days ago to take to the cages (and games, maybe), just so I'd have something I could consistently use and get a feel for.

On a somewhat less exciting note: yesterday's NYT puzzle featured a good theme that just happened to be the exact same style of theme (anagrams) that I used in the puzzle I made a few weeks ago. So I'll hold that one for a little while and keep working on my other two ideas, which are a bit less generic in their theme, and are less likely to be used by someone else. Hopefully. Still waiting for my ACPT puzzles to arrive. They were supposed to arrive this week, so anytime now would be good. The tourney is in NYC next year, so that oughta be fun. Start saving now, I guess.

Other thoughts:

-home opener is Sunday. Yay baseball!
-spring is here, which means the Bradford Pears are blooming, and that means my least favorite scent ever.
-Rush and the Moody Blues are coming to town this summer: yes, 2007 is the Old Guys of Rock Summer Tour
-PointFest features Wolfmother and the Killers this year. Sweet. The line-up also features 14 other national acts, and about as many local acts. Out of all those groups, I've heard of one of them. Is it worth sitting through a ton of people I don't know or, at this point, even care about, for two good bands? Hmm.
-getting ready to buy my fourth point/shoot digital camera. Wild, man.
-it was warm enough last weekend/this week to have the windows open, which I did. But I didn't want to turn on the AC, so the house got kinda warm for a period. The heat works as some kind of sedative, I think, because Sunday and Monday nights featured nothing but laying around by myself and the cats. Just.....sheer nothingness.

And now, work.


Dave

Communication

As of 10:00 p.m. tonight, my laptop has renewed internet connectivity AND it sees my desktop via the network.

So, um, thanks, Vista.

U2 DVDs to burn, finally!


And, culled from the archives, a comment I made after going to the dentist back in March '05:

"You know, "Ladies With the Iron Hook" would be a good name for a rock band."


Brady

Money? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Money!

How true, how true. This is a fairly accurate representation of things.

I'll be 51, assuming I don't move and what-not and what have you when all is said and done.


And did I mention I got a collect call from someone in a correction facility Friday night? No? Oh. Well I did.

No, I didn't accept. Lord only knows what the guy wanted. I do feel bad, though, especially if he only gets so many calls a month or something like that.

So to whoever made that call Friday night, I apologize.


Tin Type

What's an Irish Boy From a Good Family Doing in the Gutter?

So with today being, apparently, the Day of Patrick the Saint, I did the only thing I could think of that was in keeping with the intended spirit of the day: I sat outside in the cold and occasional snow to watch a baseball game, as one tends to do.

And I had a Guinness. Guiness? Too lazy to go look it up. You know what I mean.

The team in question is the St. Louis Perfectos, of which friend Karl is a member. It's a throwback-type league, playing by 1860s-era rules. It's not vastly different, though there are a few interesting twists.

-If a fielder catched a fly ball/line drive off one hop, an out is still recorded/
-Foul balls don't count as strikes.
-Foul tips, though, are subject to the first rule.
-The secondbaseman has to stay within two strides of the bag when runners are on.
-No overrunning first base. If you do, you can get tagged out.
-No gloves!

And others, I'm sure, but I can't remember them. It's all a lot of fun, though. Everyone has a nickname, and are referred to as such. There's only one umpire, and he hangs out around the plate. Close plays out on the bases are on the honor system.

This was the first game of the season, traditionally played on St. Patty's Day. Or thereabouts. Because you know how the Irish loved their baseball.

It was also a doubleheader, and since the team was going to be a little short, I volunteered my services. So I stepped onto a baseball field as a player for the first time since.....well, it's been a long time. I even got to play second base, which is where I always wanted to play in grade school.

I didn't hit for beans, but I did alright in the field, turning a couple plays, and generally not looking like an idiot. My nickname was either Picard/Shutterbug/Brady, depending on who was talking to me. Someone also suggested Tin Type, which I really like.

And even better?

I'll be joining up as full-time member. Suh-weet. The season doesn't pick up again until mid-April, so I can get some practice in and maybe head over to a batting cage to get some swings in.

So now I'll be playing three sports.

Kick-ass. I can't wait.


yours,
(Matthew) Brady

Free

No, this isn't the new/cool feature I was talking about earlier, but it is a darn cool picture, and far be it from me to keep it from all y'alls.


Dave

chordchordchordchordchordchordotherchord

Whoops.

Been a bit longer since my last post than I've planned. I've attempted a couple posts lately, but got bored and decided against it. So there you go.

For those interested, I did finish the RPM challenge. I did one more song Sunday night, and another on Monday, capping off far more recording than one should undertake in a four-day span. The nice thing, though, is that I actually have an album, as opposed to 10-12 songs recorded over a long time. So it sounds really cohesive. And yay for that.

The website is finally redone. I need to add a couple things, but all the images are up, and it's made in a way I can easily add/remove content. Sweet.

Picked up a wedding to shoot in July, I think, assuming someone not the dad gets back to me. And I get to travel to Paducah! Oooooo.

Portrait shoot for Lindenwood this Friday, which means I've got a medium format camera at my disposal. Kick. Ass.

Working on my second crossword puzzle right now, with a theme even stupider than my last one. But I think it's a good stupid, if such a thing exists.

My upgrade to Vista arrived today. We'll see what all the hoo-ha (good and bad) is about as soon as I get it installed.

I saw a guy wearing a blazer/dress shirt combo with red shorts and loafers with no socks at the store today. A very large part of my soul died with it. Just......no. Ick. Bleah. Etc etc.

I think it bugs me when people say "eck cetera." Nonono. It's just "et," folks. Thanks.

If I can get around to it, I might try something interesting (to me, at least), 'round these parts in the next day or so. We shall see.


Fin.
Dave

I've Got the Music in Me!

Those who frequent this bit of web space (anyone?), may recall my blurb about the RPM Challenge, which I signed up for a few weeks ago. At the time, 10 songs seemed like nothing. I had plenty of time! And I came up with a few little ideas/chord changes/etc. and put them on my recorder. Then they sat around for awhile, and it was looking like I was going to run out of time. I figured at the very least, I'd have some new stuff to work on when the time was right. Then the RPM folks sent out an e-mail with a blog post from someone else doing the challenge, basically saying not to give up. So I said to myself, "Self, let's do this. We've got an entire weekend free, so let's make the most of it."

And we did. Just 10 minuted ago I wrapped up my eighth song since Friday night. Six totally new tunes and two old chord changes that were never fully realized. So now I'm two songs away with a few days to go. As luck would have it, I'm going into work at 12:45 on Tuesday, so I'll have time tomorrow night. It's surprised me how fast I've managed to crank these out. They aren't my best tunes, but they hold their own with anything else I've recorded. It's been fun, though I don't want to wait so long next time.

I also took some time to revamp the 'ol website this weekend. It's not totally done--there's something I need some help with regarding the links, and if you happen to be looking at the site at anything larger than 1024x768, it may looks kinda funky. So I need to work on that. But those are pretty minor issues, I think, so I should be good to go by next weekend, which, as luck would have it, is another open weekend.

Anything else?

If there is, I can't think of it. My brain is pretty fried right now.


Dave

A 1000 words

Picture post ala Kelly today.




I started making my own crossword puzzle. It started like this...


...and wound up looking like this. Darn hard work, but ultimately worth it.


It snowed last week. Fun times, believe you me.


Well that just sucks, doesn't it?


Don't go leaving cans in the trunk of your car when it's going to be -reallycolddegrees outside.


Dave

Leavin' Here

I don't know if this happens to everyone, but it seems like it can be easy to get comfortable in your current situation. In this case, spend long enough at a job, and you can get used to things. Complacent, maybe. Steady pay, and a fair amount of creative freedom, so why bother leaving? But I think I've hit a point at the Library where I can't really go any further than I already have, creatively speaking. I've explored the subtle nuances of author pictures about as far as I can.

All of this disjointed rambling is basically my way of saying it's time to move on, career-wise. Otherwise, I might be stuck at the library forever.

Way back when, when I was applying for jobs, I said I wouldn't move because I couldn't afford. But last week, coming home from soccer, I hit upon an idea: what if I found a job in some other city and then moved? Then I could afford it. Brilliant!

And the more I thought about it, the more interesting the idea sounded. Exciting, even.

As was pointed out, I've never been much of a roamer, opting to stay in town for college, and what-not. But as was also pointed out, I'm not really tied down by anything, so if I'm going to go, now's as good a time as any. And I think I'd really like to give it a try. As was also also pointed out, I can always come back if it doesn't work out.

SO where to go? When to go?

Well a lot of the where comes down to where the jobs are, assuming I can find something newspaper-y. I doubt I have enough experience to get on with a big daily, but I'm open to starting somewhere small and working up. So I'll look around and see what I can find. As for when, not until next year at the earliest. Too many commitments right now to just up and go. And it'll give me a chance to scout around.

And hey, all this home improvement should make selling the house easier, eh?

So there you go, if you didn't know already.

It is, of course, possible that I'll find something here, or come up with some reason to stay. So this isn't set in stone. Something slightly less firm.


dave.

Meh.

I'll just be skipping today, thanks.

dave

You Gotta Roll With It

I'm updating via laptop tonight, for those interested. I should be doing this from the donut shop, but I figured the donut place wouldn't have wifi, so I opted to bring my donuts home. So, naturally, Old Town Donuts has wifi. Noted for next time.

RPM update: I have 4 chord changes put down in the recorder waiting for me to flesh them out. Not bad, really, so hopefully I can keep up the pace. I may just be in one of my creative moods, and if so, the timing is really good.

Food update: I had my first experience with sushi last night. And the verdict? I didn't not like it, for whatever sense that makes. I had a spicy tuna roll, which, sadly, had the distinction of being not spicy at all. I also had a yellow fin(?), which wasn't a roll, just a slice of fish on a bed of rice. That was quite tasty. I also had some miso soup, also good, and some tempura, which was also good. One item ordered, which I passed on, was, I think, some kinda shrimp with all the legs still attached. I had to pass on something similar in France, when the shrimp still had its eye attached. Yum.

Major life decision update: well, let me dwell on that one a bit more and I'll let you all know. But it promises to be exciting if I go through with it.

I also plan to get back in the habit of posting pictures here every so often, so, you know, if you're into that kind of thing, stay tuned.

Dave

Let the Music Play

I came across an interesting competition of sorts yesterday whilst perusing this great internet thing. It's called the RPM Challenge, and the idea is to record either 10 songs or 35 minutes of total music over the month of February. The record and mail in a CD. From there? I don't know, actually. I don't recall the specs on that part. Or maybe I didn't read it. Either way, it sounded fun, and it seemed like a good way to get some new music written in a hurry. True I missed a few days, but I should have time. I came up with something last night, so it'sa good start. I did some jamming with Andrew last night and once we got going, we came up with some cool ideas. Nothing I remember, but it'sa good sign that the creative juices ae still flowing. So we'll see how this goes.

And after seeing Flecktones show number 7 Monday night (excellent, as always), my summer plans are starting to fall into place. The TABBBQ is June 23 in K-Ville, MO. So what I figure I can do is go up that weekend, then make my yearly off-week the last week of June, and go to Chi-Town to see the 'Tones again on June 28. Seems like a solid deal. Get a mini-vacation and a concert in all at once. That may wind up effectively ending my Memphis plans, but you never know. For now, I'd rather go see the 'Tones. So I should probably start planning that and see who may or may not want to go.

Anything else new?

Well, we're rebranding ourselves here at ye olde Library, which means new logo, slogan, etc. Of course, the two are being worked on independently right now. So my logo ideas may have nothing to do with any slogan we choose. Which makes sense, you know. Anywho, we've been brainstorming to some extent down here in Communications, tossing out anything that pops into our head, in case it leads to something really good. Alas, it's been slim pickings in my head, as I've not come up with much of anything. Unless you count "Baby Got Books" as a valid suggestion.

Yeah, neither do I.



Dave

Say What?

So here's a fun game--try and describe something like cold. Or hot. Or what about red? If you met someone who, somehow or other, had no concept of what cold was, how would you do it (without sticking their hand in a freezer)? I can't, off the top of my head, come up with a good way to do it. It's just assumed that people know what cold is. Or red.

One definition I found for cold: "having a relatively low temperature; having little or no warmth"

Well, I guess that works, but it doesn't get into the nitty gritty of what cold really feels like. I suppose you can use words like "sharp," or "biting," maybe, but even those don't seem to help all that much.

It's possible, nay likely, that I'm making a bigger deal out of this than need be, but it's still kind of interesting what happens when you take for granted that everyone knows what something means.

Or maybe the recent cold snap has frozen too many of my brain cells.


Dave

Pop Right In

Things I can do without: commercials for stool softeners. I don't care how you market it, it's still icky.

Things I can always do with: popcorn. Especially when I pop it myself. Somewhat more satisfying that way. And it's interesting, to boot: a minute or two of nothing, telling the corn to get going, and then....one pop, followed by another, and another, and so on and so forth. It's a very unique thing, culinarily speaking.

So I'm feeling nerdy, gimme a break.

So what else is new around these parts?

-I got a laptop, and his name is Ator. No moon boots were included.
-I came home from work today and noticed a rut in my driveway. And from there it took
me a good two minutes to notice that there was a tree missing in my backyard. Ah-ha!
-Dave is not tank.
-City Museum. Good place. Dangerous if you aren't careful, but fun.
-I have a photo display going up at HQ this week. If you happen by there, stop in for
a look.
-Another show is going up in June. More details later.

I think that's it.


Dave

The Flickering Flame

Most of the time, I'm quite happy with the state of my professional life: I get to take pictures, and I have a lot of flexibility in what I can do. I get the chance to be a little silly sometimes, which is always nice. So between the library and the Journal, I really can't complain.

But every once in awhile, the thought of yet another author to shoot, or a fairly dull Journal assignment can get to me, and I have to wonder where the excitement is. I need a spark or something to keep myself into what I'm doing, or the pictures are going to turn out looking like I don't care.

Such was the case yesterday. I had just left BJ's, after getting some shots for a story the Journal is running. And I was a little disappointed, because I didn't feel like the pictures I had were all that good. But I wasn't....feeling it, I guess, when I was shooting. And if I can't get into a shoot, nothing is going to work. I can't force myself to take great pictures. And what made it more annoying is that I had really pushed to get this story through. So I felt as though I hadn't held up my end of the deal.

Then I remembered a couple things: one was an idea for a photo story I had (the ferrier who comes to Diane's every so often to change the horse shoes). The other was that I had, somehow or other, just received 4 free rolls of film from Kodak. So why not use the film for this shoot? Which is what I'm gonna do, once it gets warm enough for the horses to need new shoes. I'll follow the ferrier around for a day and see what I get. Don't know what I'll do with the pictures yet, maybe look into a show somewhere, but it should be a good way to keep the flame going.

Or at least go visit Diane.


Dave

Totally Plowed

This morning, anyways. The roads last night were certainly not plowed, making my midnight commute home down 270 a most exciting affair. I have to admit I kinda like driving in the snow (sans father in the passenger seat), probably because it's a real test of all your driving skills, and it makes you really pay attention to what you're doing. I'm not saying I don't normally, but the extra...well, having the snow makes it more interesting. But I can't, for the life of me, figure out why the people who own the big trucks and SUVS, vehicles designed to handle this kind of thing, are all driving slower than me, in my Lumina. And it's not like I was driving like a bat out of hell, either. I don't think I broke 35 the whole way home. And all these big clunkers are poking along at 25 or so. Weird.

I got a bug in my head to look into heading off to Stamford, Connecticut this March for the annual Crossword Puzzle Tournament. But it's bit expensive for me to be planning this close to the event. So I'll save up and go next year. That said, there's an 'absentee' version I can do: they'll mail me the puzzles and I can send them in and see how I rank with everyone else. And for only $20, it's not a bad deal.

Speaking of words, I have 2 new words I can try and throw into my vocabulary: xebec and twiner. Xebec is a type of ship, and twiner is, um, well, some variation of twine. The dictionary wasn't too helpful in telling me what it actually meant. But it got me big points in Scrabble.

And did you know 'set' has the longest entry in a standard dictionary?

How wonderfully nerdy.


Dave

-Title Removed by Author-

If you really want to know what I was going to title this, head down to the bottom of the post.

I did something a bit unusual before turning in last night: I grabbed a book and read for awhile. Normally I grab a crossword and work on that. But in an effort to get the creative juices flowing (lyrically), and to get through all the stuff I need to read, I figured I'd switch things up a bit. I started with The River Why, which I'd actually started a few months back and promptly forgot about. From there I may tackle Three Nights in August, and if I'm feeling up to it, The Silmarillion. Since they were both gifts, i figure someone might appreciate it if I actually, you know, read them.

Important lesson learned today: if you talk loud enough in the bathroom, people out in the hall can hear you! I stopped by a water fountain at work today, and from a nearby lavatory, I heard some gal discussing a recent, um, diahrrea situation. Fun! Then she came out and I had to keep a straight face. All the more reason not to talk whilst in the bathroom.

The washer? Oh it's fine. Naturally.


Dave




So I was going to use the title "Let it Flow," which just seemed a bit too much. But it's okay down here!

You're Soaking In It

There are times, such as, say, when one is hosting a Godzillathon, that owning a house is a nice thing. I mean, cramming 7 people and two cats into, say, an apartment, would be kinda tricky. So it's nice to have a living room to work with.

Then we have those times when this whole house thing sucks eggs. The washing machine decided to go on the fritz today. Apparently it doesn't like water anymore and decided it would be better off on my basement floor. Alas, it didn't consult with me on this, as I would have given a firm 'no' on that idea. But, considering the washing machine is older than me(!), I guess it has seniority.

All this is a roundabout way of saying I have to have a repairman come out tomorrow. Granted, it means I can stay home from work, but still. Mom was kind enough to point out that the washing machine has had less maintence in its 26 years than me in my 25. It is a Maytag, after all.

And my branch! Oh I wish you could have seen it when it was splayed across the gap between the tree and my roof, just laying there over my power and cable lines. Thanks to my neighbor, though, we managed to seriously trim it back. As soon as time allows, I'm up on the roof* to finish it off. The tree from whence it came is all but dead, drowned out by two larger trees. So another service call was put in to have someone estimate how much it'll take to bring it down.

Houses. They're a blast!


Dave





*Yes, I was damn close to going up on the roof Saturday, ice and all, to take that damn thing down. I had no desire, after surviving an ice storm with my power intact, to have some stupid hunk of wood knock out my lines. Thankfully, my neighbor talked me out of it.

This Can't Be Right

I woke up this morning, as I tend to do most mornings, and noticed something strange: I had electricity. Now, this is usually a commone thing for me to notice. In fact, I don't usually notice it at all: it's just assumed. But we had a respectable ice storm last night. And, as faithful followers of this bit of web space may recall, any time a major storm of any sort rolled through the past year, I was always out of power. Remember Death Storm? Icy Death/The Cold Shoulder? I was always among the powerless. But today was different. Just down the street from me was out, but I'm still on as of this writing*.

True, I probably just jinxed myself, but I'm going to revel in it all the same.

And I can't lose power now, Godzillathon '07 is tomorrow night! Many people are coming! BJ's pizza is on the line here, people. That is not something nature should be messing with. No no no.

I'm going to order myself a laptop shortly. Very exciting. It'll have a DVD burner, which means I can transfer the 10gb of U2 DVDs off my hard drive and burn them. Obsessed? Me? Nah.


Dave



*Well, duh.

Digging In

It's interesting what can happen after you're in a relationship long enough---you get used to a lot of things and you don't have to really worry about many of the general ins and outs of being with another person. But when you have to start over, all you knew gets thrown out the window, and you have to relearn a lot of what you started doing as second nature. And it's all silly stuff, too, like "how often do I call?" and "is it possible to sound like you're nagging about getting together after so long?"

Eventually, it all evens out, but it's weird having to do all that again. But I'd rather have to do this than not at all, if you catch my drift.

Kind of like getting back on a bike, which I did last night*. I got an itch to go riding, so I went out for awhile after dinner. I think it was the first time I'd been on a bike since July or something crazy like that. And it was pretty good. A little chilly, but nothing unbearable. I'm glad I stopped when I did, though, because as soon as I got off, my legs went all Jello on me. It was like being drunk, only I was out of breath and sweaty instead of completely disoriented and incoherent.

Godzillathon '07 is this Sunday. I don't know what amaze me more: that I've managed to do this 4 years in a row, or that I've got a group of people who keep coming back for them. Scary, really. I do enjoy them, though. Everyone seems to have a really good time, and we get to eat lots of pizza. Works for me. I even have somewhere between 2-4 new people coming this year, so I'm really excited. And watching the movies on TV now that I can get sound from grandma's old speakers should be even better.


It seems like it's Engagement Season** lately, as I've had 2 friends get engaged in the past two weeks, and a total of 4 in the past 3 months. Crazy! Mum tried setting me up with someone she works with who happened to be engaged ("Does she need a photographer?"-me), and Dave's brother just got engaged (being recommended as a photographer). Whew.

That's all, that's all.

Dave



*What a segue!

**Generally regarded as the gap between the end of the NFL regular season and the start of Spring Training^

^Only about a month!

Another Round

I think, in the Grand Scheme of Things, that enough dance/party songs have been written to fill four hours worth of time. Wouldn't you agree? So why is it then that some DJ would feel it necessary to play the Electric Slide twice, while ignoring plenty of other worthwhile candidates? I mean, really, anything would be better than that. Or maybe it's just me. I can never be bothered with that dance, so maybe I'm missing some phenomenal secret that is only revealed upon doing said dance.

That's probably it.

I made a really big, important, and potentially life-changing decision last week: the next time the Foo Fighters are on tour, I will go see them, no matter what it takes. Yes, I realize the possible ramifications of such an undertaking, but the rewards should outweight the risks.

Sigh.

This post is pretty lame. It's what I get for not posting for a few days and for trying to make a post first thing in the a.m.


David Moore

or: devo maid

Gut Chex

I don't think shopping is all that hard. Granted, I've had no choice but to do it the past 3+ years, but even if I was just starting out, the basic concept is pretty darned easy: find out what you need, write a list, go to the store, and buy said items. Look for sales. If you need cereal, find something on sale, and then pick from those options. Etc., etc.

So why do people need to call their significant others on the cell phone to double check? Do they not trust their own judgement? Do they think the wife/husband back home doesn't trust their judgement? Come on! It's just cereal, for God's sake! Just grab a box and go! I know there may be kids to consider, but just stop and think before going about what they do and don't like. Not that hard.

There. I feel better now.

Me? I will admit to grabbing a box of Honey-Nut Chex only to go back a little later and swap out for a box of the rice variety. Easier to deal with in the a.m., and a bigger box for the same price. Good deal all around.


Dave

Ring In

So here we are in 'ought-seven. And, if today is any indication of the rest of the year, I plan on being pretty laid back. To wit: I've yet to put on anything resmbling real clothing. I'm currently clad in a white t-shirt and red penguin lounge-type pants. I went to bed in them around, oh, four a.m., and got up in them around eleven or so. And I'm perfectly alright with this. Lest you think I've slugged around all day, let me say that I have done some useful stuff: washed the dishes and did an hour or so of painting. But I had to stop because the stomach was telling me to eat. So more painting later.

Last night/this morning was lots of fun. Nothing terribly stand out, but a good solid time of fun, which is all that really matters. If I learned anything last night, it's that sloppy joes are more appealing to some people than steak and potatoes. And we made hats! If dad didn't have my camera right now, I'd take a picture. But rest assured, it's a thing of beauty.

This should be an interesting week ahead. Odds are good enough may (or may not) happen to set the tone for the early part of the year. Should be fun.


Dave