Strangely dreary weekend here, with unexpectedly cloudy and rainy weather that dampened any eagerness to get outdoors. So, I got more picture framing arranged, oil changed, and grocery-shopping done. Outside of that, saw some football on Saturday, headed to the library for a good long time on Sunday, had Cold Stone, and other semi-mindless activities.
posted at 12:50 PM - comments
Friday, September 26, 2003
Finally feeling better today, after hacking the better part of my respiratory system into the bathroom sink this morning. Man, if you need a way to stop people from smoking, just let them experience that feeling for 30 seconds and they'll leave skid marks. Then Drew and I went to Tijuana Flats for lunch, and I chowed through a jalepeno slice, expecting the mildly exciting result that you get at Subway or Taco Bell. Instead, it was a crunchy, bright green, little A-bomb that served the dual purpose of entertaining Drew and clearing the liter or so of mucus that had been clogging my head cavities. So now, after a whole lot of visual detail and too much personal information, you know how I feel.
News today about IT. You might be wondering what IT is: IT is a revolution in Individual Transportation. Actually, there's nothing that revolutionary about the Segway Transporter, or, as I like to call it, the Segway Scooter. Let's face it, we've had over-priced, impractical transportation before that was recalled within the first two years of its existence. Seriously, Detroit had that market nailed down tight decades ago. Mr. Kamen, if you want to be revolutionary, it's time to step up to the plate. We've seen mediochre before.
Sometimes TV is just mindless entertainment, but sometimes it hits darn close to home: 'Ed' and 'West Wing' were both prime examples of that last night...and my feelings on both are now documented parts on Internet lore. I also continued my journey through a book called "Toothpicks & Logos" about design and how it shapes society. It's a good reminder that every thing we see (almost without exception) has been designed, be it the font you are now reading, the site that holds it, the monitor that it is projected opon, the chair you may (or may not) be sitting in, and the clothes that you may (or may not) be wearing. It's funny to think of something so totally integral to our culture as an art, but I think that is certainly what it is.
Another comment is sparked today when I checked, as I periodically do, the sites that Blogger lists as "blogs that catch the eye," and I've picked up a couple of important trends. Firstly, apparently to have a blog worth mentioning you need to be a) a major player in the IT/web design field or b) a sorority girl at a large college or an ex-sorority girl now living in a major urban area. Secondly, you know what I think I'm doing just fine and dandy down here in a non-major, non-urban area working as a major player in a totally-unrelated field.
Cough and cold got worse overnight, so today I'm working through a Robitussin-induced haze. We surely do take our health for granted sometimes - with this cold I don't feel like doing anything but sitting on the sofa wearing comfortable clothes and staring at the ceiling. I've been scouring the internet for coffee tables of late, not that I would buy one if I found one, but it's amazing how scattered, discontinuous, and disheveled the internet is. There ought to be rules about that, but I guess instead it reminds of how fast we latch onto new technology...by the time a site is up and ready for use the store is out of business or the product being sold is out of style and unavailable.
posted at 4:00 PM - comments
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Made my best effort at a new dish last evening - turned out fairly well and was helped considerably by an unexpectedly good bottle of wine. Sometimes wine-on-a-budget gives you budget wine, sometimes it gives you a lifestyle boost. I seem to be coming down with yet another head cold; something about Florida just seems to clog my sinuses like it's nobodies business. But, I still managed a swim in the pool (maybe the chlorine is getting to me after swimming pretty much every day for the past week?) and today I even feel sore in the lats and traps, so I know I'm working hard.
posted at 1:03 PM - comments
Monday, September 22, 2003
More soccer this weekend, then a depressing win by Oregon over the Maize & Blue on Saturday. A/V duties, a couple of phone calls, some swimming, some napping, a trip to the library....nothing wild or crazy about this weekend. Now the cat (and Bill) is out of the office all week, so I'm hoping these 5 days will fly by.
posted at 1:06 PM - comments
Friday, September 19, 2003
A harder-than-usual 22.8 last night as I rode the downwind leg home by myself, stuck between the high-powered C group and the pokey D group...it's frustrating to watch the pack pull away at 24mph when six weeks ago I'd have been leading the charge. Then back home, a dip in the pool, some Thai chicken for dinner (sans wine since I'd forgotten to chill any white), then an overtired haze of not a whole lot before an early bedtime. Bottom line: taking a month off isn't good, getting back up to speed is worse, and riding 85 windy miles and Florida's newest hill will just plain wipe you out.
posted at 2:08 PM - comments
Thursday, September 18, 2003
Since a couple of people have wondered where the yellow stripe is, it's time for (cue theme muzak and booming voice) a BrownCow PSA. To see the latest features and periodic updates to graphics, please load the site and then hit "Refresh" on your browser's toolbar. If this doesn't work, open your browser's "Tools" menu, select "Internet Options," then find a button that says "Delete Temporary Files" or "Delete Cache" and press it to clear the older stored versions of BrownCow...then you'll be guaranteed to be in prime time.
Last night was pretty wet and rainy, so no car-washing got done. Instead I washed and lubed and tuned my bike a little bit, hit the TimberChase pool, then got all caught up with Megan.
My return to the Tuesday-Thursday LBK ride last night was notable for two reasons - first because it took me over the scary-tall and not-quite-smooth-yet Ringling Bridge and second because my average was a totally respectable 23.7 over the flying island. I'm still pretty gun-shy after the events of the 29th July, but I suppose I'll overcome that with a few more rides. Until then, I'll be more than happy to keep a few feet between my front tire and the wheel of the person ahead of me, so please please please whomever was wearing the Cannondale jersey behind me last night: STEP OFF!
posted at 1:00 PM - comments
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Yellow is the new red, I think. So today, with NO ado whatsoever, BrownCow has a yellow stripe. Good stuff. Watched some football, swam pretty hard, and caught up with some folks via telephone last night. Been in a bit of a reading funk the past week...need to find a good book to get back on track, but tonight I'm going to be riding over the new Ringling Bridge instead of heading to the library.
posted at 12:53 PM - comments
Monday, September 15, 2003
Whoa nelly! Where's Keith Jackson when you need him? The Blue posted 38 and N-D laid an egg, and now the train is cruising. If they can give some of that treatment to Oregon next week I think we're good to go until OSU on November 22.
Around here, I coached some kids in soccer on Saturday, which was fun. We did some drills, I helped some kids, I helped the coach, it was like old times except in reverse. Apparently they finished the bridge, too, but I was so pooped from running around in the sun all morning that riding the bike after the big game didn't sound like too much fun. Then Sunday, a missing face in church was a bit of a letdown...as Merritt says, maybe she was detained and will be back next week. Who knows.
Got seats for the MSU v. Indiana game today. Not pretty, but dang are tickets expensive...looks like I'll have more than enough WorldPoints to rent a car by February. It's tempting just to sit at Robin's and watch it on TV, where we'd still be able to hear the band. But, since there's no TV at Robin's, we'll go inside and get wild and crazy. I'm pumped.
Doesn't take long for info to be disseminated these days...between email, free long distance, and the Blog, everybody knows my business practically before I do. I guess the information age is a double-edged sword in that regard - on the one hand our access to goods, services, and knowledge has grown infinitely, but sometimes I think we start to learn stuff from so far outside our realm that we're out of control. If I can read cnn.com and WebMD.com for 20 minutes, I will know more than enough about aortic dissection to have an intellectual conversation about it, but I'm still not even on the horizon of being a qualifed medical mind. Our thirst for knowledge is watered and fertilized and allowed so much sunlight now that, much like my house plant Spike, it is taking over lives. Perhaps (again, like Spike) it is time to trim things in, cut away the lower shoots, thin out the upper branches, leaving a focused organism living in control and not having to grapple with its growing needs. Or not. Being smart is good, a hunger to learn never killed anyone, so why not? But, are smarter citizens better citizens? In utopia wouldn't the average IQ be higher, but isn't that a catch-22? Gather the nerds together and you will have a very needy culture. Hmmm. Hope UM wins big, that's all I know for sure.
posted at 1:47 PM - comments
Thursday, September 11, 2003
Busy couple of days here at work, due in no small part to my spending frantic lunch hours booking a winter vacation in lovely Whistler, British Columbia. But, after some sweat and toil I'm booked for 6 nights at Timberline Lodge in Whistler Village, ready to spend a week with Nick and Anthony and Bonnie terrorizing the slopes of Whistler and Blackcomb. Now all I need is to track down airplane tickets, a rental car, and to monitor the exchange rate so that when I buy the other 5 nights of lodging and 15 days of ski passes I get the best possible deal. Ahhh yes, bless the dollar, curse the silver standard, and long live the USA.
posted at 12:54 PM - comments
Tuesday, September 09, 2003
First MNF game of the season last night - a snoozer, but the Bucs played tough D as usual and won 17-0. Forgot to mention one of the other highlights of the weekend: a down to earth film called "Raising Victor Vargas." Fascinating to continue to see new aspects of the city, especially in the sections outside wealthy, trendy, upscale, and hip Manhattan. Tonight I'll be (hopefully) wrapping up some vacation lodging research and maybe even booking a place to stay for my winter ski holiday at Whistler. Hooooowah.
posted at 4:32 PM - comments
Monday, September 08, 2003
Busy weekend: surfing in the big Henri-induced waves on Friday evening, then football football football all the live long day. Had quite a surprise when a young, attractive, female engineer showed up at FUMC on Sunday, which might have been a highlight. I also biked a little and swam a fair bit and read up on soccer to get ready for my coaching debut next weekend.
posted at 12:43 PM - comments
Thursday, September 04, 2003
Today is the official kickoff for planning this winter's ski trip, and I'm getting very excited, even as rain and humidity bears down on the Suncoast as a reminder that summer is still very much upon us. Hopefully Tropical Depression 12 will bring some surfable surf my way and this weekend will be straight out of a Weezer album.
posted at 12:56 PM - comments
Wednesday, September 03, 2003
Headed out for a ride last night - solo - to assess how much ground I've lost since my last tour de Longboat. I went 10 miles out to the Lido Key Beach and back, and boy oh boy did I ever feel weak. But, the new 105 gear is an improvement and Sarasota Schwinn really outdid themselves on the setup....the brakes are firmer, the shifting quicker, and the lever assemblies rattle way less.
My deep thought for today is about animation (sadly, not the kind where drawn figures alliterate what live actors cannot). After a few consecutive days with somebody who gets fired up about the little things, about life's minor blessings as well as the major ones, about good service and bad service, about rollercoasters and dolphins, I've decided that in the end cancer or overpopulation really won't be the cause of our demise as a culture or species. On that final afternoon in the sun, the final human will realize that apathy has killed us. Then they will probably roll over and take a damn nap with the last few hours that could be spent surfing or riding or petting dolphins or even just having an opinion about something.
What a Labor Day holiday it was. We maxed out the Orlando experience - two evenings at Downtown Disney, a day at Universal and Islands of Adventure, and a day at Sea World and Disney's Magic Kingdom. There were coasters big and small, several enchanted forests, tree houses in two different parks, searchlights everywhere in the sky, and even the chance to pet a friendly dolphin. Plus, there was a lot of time spent between #511 and Orlando, which might have been a drudgery except for the pleasant company along the way. It's good to have time just to talk and chill and stare in wonderment at the lightning overhead when somebody else is there to share the experience with you, but it all ended much too soon and now it's back to reality, even if it's only 80 percent reality this week on account of having Monday off. It should be a busy short week and then next weekend football season hits full stride and UM will try to push its record to 2-0 against Houston.
posted at 12:50 PM - comments
Monday, September 29, 2003