« July 2005 | Main | September 2005 »
I drove by the local BP station an hour or so ago. Gas prices, for regular, are at $3.09/gallon. They are also that high at the local Speedways. As a comparison, the Speedways in Chicago range from $3.41 to $3.45 per gallon.
Tell me: how much of this is resulting from Hurricane Katrina and how much of this is the gas stations/companies taking advantage of the situation?
I lied ... I can't stop reading about it. This time I blame John, who posted a moving quote from a NY Times article.
The article touches on the magic of New Orleans - the fact that New Orleans isn't just a cookie-cutter city. It is old, unique, and timeless.
But there is also a sense that, like the river, there remains something immutable in New Orleans. As the jazz patriarch Ellis Marsalis once said: "You know, I don't think New Orleans is ever going to change, because I don't think in the scheme of things, it's supposed to change." (via NY Times)
I know New Orleans can rebuild. I don't think you can lose that much magic and history - even to a helluva hurricane. I think it's in the ground and it's in the river, and it's definitely in the people who make up the quilt that is New Orleans.
There are many places that need our help right now, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Network for Good has a comprehensive list as well as donation links. Some of the charities listed include
Even $10 or $20 will help.
Almost every article in today's Wall Street Journal had to do with the impact of Hurricane Katrina. I can't read any more of it. I can't read any more of the articles online either. Neither can I watch it on TV. It upsets me to the point of tears. I have torn feelings - of pain and sympathy for those who are trapped and those who have lost everything. But I'm also angry at many of those who were trapped - why didn't they go to a shelter? Take a bus out of town? Why did they stay in their neighborhoods to drown or starve or grow ill from the chemicals and stench in the unclean waters? Even though they are now evacuating the shelters, those in the shelters are being taken places where they are safe. Why didn't everyone go to a shelter, even if they couldn't leave town? The loss of life makes me so angry. A part of me is sad that those who did evacuate completely didn't always take their pets. Mostly though, I'm appalled, and awestruck, at the destruction of property and human life. I'm deeply moved - and greatly saddened. It's a bitter reminder that this is not our world - there are things far more powerful than us humans. The world belongs to Mother Nature - she's just letting us live here.
UPDATE: I now have word that our friends in the New Orleans area are all okay. Everyone evacuated - one to Cincinnati and another couple and their families to Memphis. The couple we met during Hurricane Ivan, who were to be married on 9/10, are safe in Memphis and have indefinitely postponed their wedding. They both had houses in Slidell. From what they have heard, their homes are both flooded and may be under a couple of trees. The most important thing, of course, is that everyone is okay.
Much on the crying today. I keep seeing headline after headline, with news of the tragedy and devastation. When I actually click on a link, I cry. You think I'd stop clicking. I feel helpless to help those in need.
Ways you can help are at the Network for Good.
Literally. Generally we get tickets to a good number of the Broadway series shows that come through Cincy because Kevin's company sponsors the series. This means we get to pre-order the tickets at a significant discount. Well, today, Wicked tickets went on sale.
No discount.
The tickets were originally scheduled to go on sale on 12/28, but they decided to do a special pre-sale period. My guess is that the tickets will be at a discount, if there are any left, in December. They sure weren't discounted today. Wicked is living up to its name as far as pricing goes.
I shouldn't complain. We'll probably end up with great seats. But still - $72 for a ticket! Granted, we could have gotten tickets for under $50 in the top balconies, but then everyone on stage would be very tiny. I went for the Loge. I like the Loge because you don't ever have to worry about tall people in front of you (the loge has a nice angle) and you can see the whole stage, the entire choreography and stage movement, and complete costumes. Sometimes you lose some of that with orchestra (floor) seating.And hell, tickets for the Loge cost the same as the Orchestra seats ...
Sigh. Normally we pay around $50 for our tickets, and our seats are excellent. I know $72 doesn't seem like much more, but when you're buying two tickets.
I've wanted to see this show for far too long. I read the book at least a decade ago, while it was still out in hardback and didn't even have dreams of being a Broadway musical. I love the Wizard of Oz, as you all know, and the book really changed my perception of the story! So, the cost is worth it to me, but my God, that's expensive.
 |
It's our 2nd anniversary today! I can't believe how fast it's been - it seems like the wedding was just yesterday. May we have many more! My friend Melanie said to me today: Count your blessings that hurricanes may surround your event(s) in life, but your life is more serene. Isn't that great? |
| Also today - Happy Birthday to Ian, Kate's son, who I believe is 4. He was born while Kevin & I were vacationing in Aruba. Happy Anniversary to my cousins Bob & Shirley, with whom we share a calendar date. Bob & Shirley, however, were married 52 years ago! |  |
Well, not really. Just a bunch of tidbits. And forgive any crazy typos - I am getting used to a new, ergonomic, split keyboard.
Bought a barely-ever-used couch/convertible from my friend Traci over the weekend. I love it. It's so great to have a piece of furniture in the living room for the first time in, oh I don't know, three years!
The coffee table was an anniversary gift this year from my mother. It's the IKEA Hemburg coffee table. The photos after the jump don't really do it justice.
I am waiting for an end table to arrive from IKEA, and around Thanksgiving I'll probably buy the Tullsta chair in natural/white and possibly a second end table (we'll see how the chair looks first). That will round out my living room and we'll be done! Yay!
Before and after photos after the jump.
We all know that I've developed a slight (read: huge) paranoia about hurricanes since living through Cat. 5 Ivan in 2004 in Jamaica. So I spent a good deal of last night, as well as today, worrying about New Orleans. I'm sure if I turn on CNN or MSNBC there will be stupid reporters standing in the beating rain and wind reporting. I should probably take that as a good sign.
While it now looks like the city didn't take the direct hit I was worried about when I went to bed last night, there will still be effects of the hurricane. New Orleans, one my favorite places on this earth, is built like a bowl, with the French Quarter at the bottom of the bowl. In fact, it's a bowl that is below sea level.
New Orleans has known for years that even "just" a Cat 3 Hurricane could wipe out the city. Add to that, the folks who live out on Lake Pontchartrain (and Kevin & I have a few friends in that area) who will also experience massive flooding, and you've got yourself a recipe for total disaster.
On the news last night, they were explaining how calm it is before a hurricane hits and that in the morning, people would wake up (not that they could actually sleep) to awful, howling winds. I can hear those winds in my head and I don't wish those on anybody. Ironically, a couple we met in Jamaica during Ivan lives out near Lake Pontchartrain and are scheduled to be married on 9/10.
In addition to worrying about Katrina, a girlfriend of mine is now dealing wth a scary situation herself. Her mother had a stroke over the weekend and she's been trying to grapple with the implications and be there for her mother.
Please, keep the people in the path of the hurricane in your thoughts, and please keep my friend in your thoughts as well. I'm a big believer in the power of positive thinking.
NOLA Updates:
The Superdome Roof isn't holding up as well as it could I guess, as those inside can see the outside and are starting to feel rain. Also, you can view some of the weather on the existing web cams set up in New Orleans. No telling how long the feeds will be available. John Donley, of the Times-Picayune, is blogging from the Times-Picayune "hurricane bunker" for as long as he can.
 |
I tend to get all riled up about Creationism (or Intelligent Design) displacing Evolution. Because of that, I don't mention it as often as I come across it. It really is a hot button for me. |
Bobby Henderson, who wrote the letter, proposed that the school district also teach students about the Flying Spaghetti Monster. After all, ID suggests that a greater supernatural being created the world. Henderson postulated that students would be let into thinking that the supernatural being was the Christian God and that, in all fairness, the theory of the Flying Spaghetti Monster should also be taught.
I know it's ridiculous, but really, so is the notion of ID. ID is based on faith and evolution is based on science. I agree with Henderson that if they insist on teaching ID, they should do it in the context of a religion class, not in the science classroom. There is a distinct difference between faith and science, no matter how blurry the Bush administration makes the lines.
Pastafarianism is growing daily - an Internet underground movement that makes a definite point with some fun thrown in as well. Boing Boing now has numerous posts on the Flying Spaghetti Monster, so much so that I finally broke down and posted as well. If you actually view my site instead of just getting the feed, you may have noticed the button that popped up to the right a few days ago - FSM. Clicking the button takes you to the letter submitted to the Kansas City School Board, letters from the school board (from supporters of the science without ID curriculum), and other notions.
I've mentioned before that I have nightmares of secretly teaching my kids, and my friends' kids, evolution while they run off to both private and public schools to learn only Creationism and ID. It could happen.
There is now a million dollar reward out there to anyone who can prove that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is not the son of Jesus. This is in direct response to a $250,000 challenge by a creationist to anyone who can successfully prove - to him - that evolution is fact.
Look at that - I remained calm throughout the whole post. Perhaps the Flying Spaghetti Monster is watching over me.
Emphasis on the talk.
Kevin signed up for Google Talk as well. His office is in the basement and mine is on the top floor of our home. He can't hear me if I yell. So I clicked the little phone icon next to his name in my Google Talk buddy list. I started typing, and talking. He could hear me talking. He didn't have a microphone, so he couldn't hear me, but obviously my Dell Laptop's built-in mic was strong enough. He said the sound quality was really good. This is an awesome way to talk to people long-distance. All you need is a microphone and speakers on both ends.
Again, you currently need a gmail account to use Google Talk and if you need one, let me know. I have several invites.
I'm pretty impressed. It was just so easy and required no knowledge and no setup. Cool!
With all the traveling we've done this summer, we've picked up a few Wall Street Journals in airports, hotel rooms, etc. This brought a startling discovery (for me, at least): I like the Wall Street Journal. I really enjoy the Marketplace section, and on Fridays, I love the Weekend section. This section is expanding and will now have a Saturday offering as well.
Well, the other day I received an offer to get the WSJ at an insanely low price for 26 weeks. So we took it. This is my first experience with a daily paper. Periodically, we sign on to get the local Cincinnati Enquirer on Sundays, but purely for the ads and coupons. The Cincinnati Enquirer is a biased, conservative paper. I hate it. It's amazing the stories they overlook and equally amazing that they put some of the articles above the fold that really shouldn't be there. Anyway, the first WSJ came today and I read it. Hopefully I can keep this up. It's so hard to read papers when the Internet is just right there. The paper, however, gives me headlines and articles I wouldn't normally see.
BTW, the WSJ is how I learned about Google Talk (my previous post).
Today Google released another great product - Google Talk. I'm going to go sign up for Google Talk. I've always railed against AOL and MSN, and I never really knew too many people who used the Yahoo product. I'm going to have IM, but this time, it'll be Google. I'll probably even get a headset so that I can make Google Calls to other folks over Google Talk. That's so handy.(I still think Skype is the future, but Google Talk is handy.) For the beta run of Google Talk, you need a GMail account. If you need one, let me know. I've got 50 or so free invites.
When we were at JavaOne, we met a part of the Google Team. They were great, and I swore that in 5-10 years, we would move to California and work for them. It seemed such fun, and so full of passion. I remember when I worked at a company like that, in the early days of starting up. It was incredible, and Google seems to always have that passion behind them, and a love of R&D that also comes to fruition.
Oh, and Google has a sense of humor. Not just in their fun holiday logos, but in the various things they release. For instance, Google is now available in 116 different languages, as well as Klingon and (this is great) Swedish Chef! Bork! Bork! Bork!
More on Google: The NY Times has an article on Google today that I find interesting. Apparently Silicon Valley has decided to hate Google as much as they hate Microsoft. Why? Because Silicon Valley likes to believe (however inaccurately) that they are about the underdog. Google is well on its way to top dog, and the Valley doesn't like that. The article is almost funny, as people complain that Google is taking away talent and driving up the cost of programmers. Yep, Google is hiring the best and the brightest and paying their employees a lot more. That plus perks like an on-site gym, free meals, and more. Damn them, those evil Google people. :roll eyes: Kudos to them for paying computer programmers, who work long hours no matter where they work, what they are worth, and for inspiring loyalty and passion in their employees. How many companies actually do that anymore? Heck, if you're going to become a large, multi-national corporation and eventually take over the world, you might as well as have fun while you're doing it.
Ikea is an incredible place. I got my Poang chair and footstool. I put it together in minutes and it's unbelievably comfy. I also picked up a new coffee table and area rug for our basement. The area rug ties together Kevin's old but comfy brownish couch, the new natural colored chair with the dark wood frame, and the off-white coffee table. While at IKEA, I finally knew how I was going to decorate the family room. For two years I've been determined to do a "wine" theme and I still will. But I'm not using the burgundy and green colors I was leaning towards. Instead, I'm doing the room in shades of taupe and brown, including the built-in bookcases, and off-white. It ties the room to the rest of the house and will be fairly easy to re-paint. I always try to paint with an eye to what the next owner of the home will want. After all, I wouldn't want to buy a home with walls covered in colors that will take loads of Kilz to cover. (Although I seemed to do that this time.) I will put up a wine-themed border around the ceiling on two walls, including over the bar, to give us our wine basement, as well as all the nifty prints I've picked up in California the last couple years (Napa Valley doors, a map of Sonoma, etc.). I also picked up a bunch of odds and ends at IKEA, such as a quilt cover, a lazy susan, and other things. It's so easy to pick up the little stuff while you're wandering around the floors.
For our anniversary, Mom bought us the glass-topped Hemburg coffee table. I've decided to use it in the living room, with my friend Traci's white couch. The glass top will show off the oriental rug. Now, I just need two of the Tullsta chairs I saw at IKEA. I'll have to save up to get those - I just blew every penny I had on the furniture I did pick up at IKEA. I love that place. While we were in Schaumburg, Mom & I also stopped by Nordstrom Rack, Filene's Basement, and Marshall-Field's - three wonderful stores they don't have here in Cincy. I now have several of the bohemian skirts that are still in style. It's aggravating. About a decade ago, I had tons of the bohemian style clothes and I've gotten rid of them all. Here they are, all trendy again ...
The Jimmy Buffet concert was last night. It was wonderful! I received a mystery phone call from someone, during the concert, who was also at the concert. He (she?) had saved a spot for me on the lawn, but I was in row I of the Pavilion. Now, if you were at a concert and someone else at the concert called you, do you think you would be able to hear them? No! So, mystery caller who knew my voice and obviously has much better hearing than me (not hard - I'm practically deaf anyway), if you read my blog, please let me know who you are! I'm way too embarrased by not knowing to actually call you back without the concert in the background.
Back to the concert - it was great. Jimmy played a lot of covers though (Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews, and the obligatory James Taylor). I wasn't thrilled with the covers, but it seemed like Jimmy was having just a phenomenal time giving the concert. Oh, there was a guy there with a Jimmy Buffet puppet he acquired on eBay. I love puppets, so I have to hunt down a Buffet puppet. Jimmy even saw it, played with it on stage, and autographed it!
Update: Kate found the Buffet Puppet online. Next time I have $115 sitting around ..l.
I may come back with shelving for my office. I'll definitely come back with a Poang chair and a coffee table. Perhaps an ice bucket for my mother-in-law (her request). Who knows what else? (Funny, the coffee table is for the living room that has no furniture.)
I looked at a couch yesterday. While it's not what I would buy normally, for the price (I'm getting a deal from a friend), it's perfect. Also, it's a pull-out sofa, so it serves as a guest bed.
Now, if I can just get some furniture for the living room, which is sitting empty.
Oh, and I'm going with my Mom. Kevin is here.
So here's the thing - my office is a disaster area. I can barely walk in it. There are papers everywhere, as well as clutter. Clutter, by the way, that I can't part with. Oh, and dolls - my entire doll collection is in here. As well as stuffed animals. And books. And more books. A printer. 4 computers. A stereo, TV, Tivo, DVD player, and CDs. And more books.
My office is a disaster.
Today, Design on a Dime (HG TV) turned me down because, as much as they saw my need, they won't travel more than 20 miles outside of Chicago or Los Angeles. I'm more than 20 miles from Chicago.
I need help - professional help. The catch - I can't really afford to have a designer come in and do this, so I need a reality show to do it for me.
I am just about ready to box up my dolls (this makes me sad - I love my dolls - esp my collectible Barbies) unless I can figure out something to do with them. If I could build up somehow - use all that space at the top of my walls ...
Oh, and the office has got to be ergonomically correct.
If you want to see what I presented to Design on a Dime (it's cringe-worthy), go here. Really - come up with a reality show that needs me. Please. I cannot function in this office much longer. My business has just grown farther and faster than my little home office was originally meant for, yet not fast enough to pay rent and utilities on a separate office. (If any of my friends feel like submitting me for While You Were Out or any of those, I'm game. Really.)
A new technical puzzle for my techie readers:
Situation: http://blog.write-tech.com redirects you to http://writegirl.typepad.com/writetech (the Write Technology Weblog hosted here at Typepad.) This is fine and dandy except that once you land on the site, the actual typepad URL is displayed.
Enterprising readers can find their way to the weblog at which you are currently staring. While I never post anti-client sentiment or anything, I don't necessarily want them reading my struggle with Weight Watchers or my latest saga with my hair dresser. (Let's leave out the arguments that whatever I post on the web is public knowledge, and work on a technical solution.)
Solution #1: Leave it as it is. It's not that big of a deal (which I agree). However, keeping it as blog.write-tech.com would just really be nice.
Solution #2: Install Word Press or something similar on my Write-Tech server and run it from there. Tried that last year and I wasn't very successful. There's something about the ease of use of Typepad that I'm too lazy to leave.
Solution #3: Use an invisible frameset that loads the Write Tech blog into an index page at blog.write-tech.com. I tried that today and it worked. But my euphoria was short-lived. I discovered that I was trapped within my own frameset. All the Typelist Links on the side opened within the frameset. I can't do that to my users. If I knew how to customize the Typelists on Typepad, this would be the ideal solution. But right now, I can't seem to add a target frame to Typelist links.
Any other thoughts and ideas as to masking the typepad URL would be great. Thanks to all my brainy readers!
There's no way this can be real (Presidents generally don't have cocaine addictions in their past). However, it's an interesting thought: Christopher Walken for President (more cowbell!)
UPDATE: I emailed Snopes.com Monday and asked if they would publish an article on this - ferreting out whether the rumour is true or false. Ask and you shall receive. I got an email Wednesday stating they'd published information on this very thing. It is most definitely a hoax, as I thought. And Yay! to the good people at Snopes.com - your Urban Legends reference page.
It is so nice to have a husband who is a computer guy. Last night, in about 20 minutes, he figured out my RSS feed to Javascript localization issue and now everything on write-tech.com is running on its own server. Yay! (I'm also able to use the same conversion engine for the script on kevinandshel.com!)
So, forms are local, RSS conversion is local - we are good. Yesterday I wiped the entire public HTML directory and re-built it from scratch. I no longer get a virus monster (I have amusing anti-virus software) when I load write-tech.com.
All is good in my computer world.
So I've spent the entire day tracking a virus that attacked me from my own web site (write-tech.com). I think it's gone. I know it's gone from my PC. I know it was Java based and seemed to have taken up residence in my J2EE files. The Java Development Environment is now removed from my PC. Can't remember why I installed it in the first place anyway, although I do remember installing it.
Now I can't decide if it has decided to leave write-tech.com alone. I've lost an entire day to this.
I'm currently trying to bring everything on write-tech.com internal, I just haven't figured out how yet. My two big issues:
-RSS Feed Display
-Forms
- I use Feed2JS, a nifty service from Maricopa County Community College (super-duper elearning resources!). It displays the RSS feed from my Write-Tech blog on the Write-Tech site. For another example of this (where you won't get a virus), go to http://www.kevinandshel.com. At the bottom of the page, you'll see the last few entries from the Kevin & Shel blog. Now, the Maricopa site explains how to host the whole deal on my own server, but I couldn't PHP my way out of a paper bag, so it's all greek to me.
- I use FormMail (matt's script archive), which is legendary, for my forms. It hits a perl script that I host, yet when I get the emails, they are from webmaster@jeep.websitewelcome.com. I haven't figured out why yet because Perl is slightly beyond me (I'm such the application geek - but not a programming geek. HTML really does not count.) Update: Actually, I think that may be the server I'm hosted on (it's a long story). However, I found tons of extra files hanging out in the CGI folder, and I killed those. Hopefully that helps with the whole "virus" thing. In theory, I'm not leaving my own server at all for forms. It's just the RSS feed now.
Any help on any of this, from any of you programmer folks out there, would be greatly appreciated. I'm at the end of my virtual rope today.
The Buffet concert - my annual pilgramage to a one-night-Margaritaville - is one week from today. In honor of this fine occasion, I present this little cartoon:
So at the moment, I'm reading an interesting book on pop culture and word-of-mouth trends. It's a business book called The Tipping Point, but it's written in a, well, happy sort of style by Malcolm Gladwell - a journalist for The New Yorker.
It basically explains how word-of-mouth trends are similar to viral epidemics. I know it doesn't sound like a promising premise, but it is a fascinating look at our culture. For instance, he investigates the phenomenon of 6 degrees of separation. (In Cincinnati, I swear everyone is only 3 degrees apart at most.) The interesting thing in 6 degrees of separation, he points out, is who is doing the separating. There are certain people, which he calls Connectors, who know enough people that they become a focal point. For instance, I'm pretty certain that my friend Gabby is a Connector. Through her, I can meet tons of people - and have met tons of people - some of which are now friends and others of which are business contacts. Gabby is the type of person who socially connects with a large number of people, remembers their names and occupations, and then introduces those people to others.
Gladwell also touches on the Hush Puppy shoe trend. Apparently, Hush Puppies weren't that popular. Then a group of hipsters in New York decided they wanted to be different and bought Hush Puppies to wear out clubbing. The right people saw the hipsters in the right place at the right time. Those right people also bought Hush Puppies. They told other people. And the trend spread. The people at Hush Puppy were amazed, as they hadn't advertised at all, yet their shoes were insanely popular in New York and LA and apparently spreading to the rest of the nation as well.
Word of mouth trends. I'm actually not too far into the book. He has more points, other than the use of Connectors. It's really interesting reading.
(Malcolm Gladwell is also speaking at a conference I'm attending in November.)
Hello! Jamaica photos are posted. You can get to them here.
Usually, I wouldn't post the photos password on my blog, but our internal server (here at home) is having issues and I can't get to my pages to update kevinandshel.com. So the photos password is traveller.
The trip was incredibly relaxing. We discovered the beach the last day and loved it. The most exciting thing was that we met Walter, Mieke, Jeff, & Tracy. The most upsetting was that in our last few hours, a bottle of bright coral nail polish fell out of my purse and exploded all over my new white skirt, kevin's khaki shorts, and both of our shoes (mine were relatively new). There you go. The whole trip consisted of bars, beaches, and boats, with some good company and some bad nail polish. Really, except for the nail polish, it was like a Jimmy Buffet song.
 |
The Muppet Show, Season 1 DVD was released on Tuesday and we picked it up. Kevin was almost giddy with excitement, as he just loves the Muppets. I do too - and I remember seeing a lot of these (most notably the Connie Stevens and Florence Henderson episodes) the first time around. They were filmed in 1976 but many of them weren't aired until 1977. (We have "Muppets" as a Wish List on our Tivo. It gets some interesting things - like when the original Kermit was on the Flip Wilson show. He wasn't quite a Frog yet.) |
These Season 1 eps are awesome and its fascinating to watch characters like Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear evolve and develop personalities. We're still working our way through the season, and it's great!
The DVD set also includes Muppet Morsels - these are tidbits similar to pop-up videos. It's awesome to learn all of the interesting facts around the guest stars, the Muppets, and the Muppeteers. A lot of thought and humour went into creating the Muppet Morsels.
As I watch the Muppet Show, I can't help wondering if the level of humour is consistent throughout all 5 seasons (I guess we'll see as they're released). Season 1 is very much geared towards adults (heck, the pilot ep, included, is called "Sex & Violence). As a small child, I figure I loved the Muppets because they were huggable and I've never been able to resist talking animals. But when I was little, I had no idea what they were joking about! No wonder my parents watched this show with me!
Another muppety goodness tidbit: Statler and Waldorf (the hecklers) are reviewing movies over at Movies.com!
If I recall correctly, Fraggle Rock is geared towards children. I love the Fraggles too - Season 1 of the Fraggles comes out on September 6, in case you're curious. I've pre-ordered it.
Everyone should go get the Muppets Season 1 DVD. Yay Muppets!
We also picked up the Muppets Wizard of Oz. I know it's not the greatest but I have all the Muppet movies and the original Wizard of Oz is my favorite movie.
A post that's all over the map:
Let's start with the car. Kevin's parents went to Europe the week before we left for Jamaica and they left us their 1996 Acura 3.5 RL. I've been driving it ever since. Wow - what a great car. It's only one year newer than my old Mazda, but wow! It's way more luxurious (even seat warmers!) and it's a v6. I should probably never be allowed to drive a 6-cylinder car. I love the power. I love this car. I don't want to give it back when they come home on Sunday. What do I want for Christmas? An Acura.
When they left us the car, it had the Check Engine light on. Turns out it was the EGR valve, which everyone said we could ignore. Except that it directly affects fuel consumption. In other words, the Acura (my baby) was drinking gasoline and it's currently too expensive to let that go - esp since the Acura, being a picky child, only drinks Premium. Anyway, we doubted that Kevin's parents would ever fix it and would continue pouring cash, er, gas, into the tank. Yesterday I spent a good portion of my day at the garage and emerged, $400 later, with a fixed Acura.
Did I mention how much I love this car?
More randomness after the jump.
 |
Peter Jennings passed away yesterday, from lung cancer, at the age of 67. This is so sad. Growing up, we'd eat dinner and watch the local ABC news. After that, still during dinner, we'd watch Peter Jennings report the National News, every night. I grew up with Peter Jennings at my dinner table. I can't imagine the world of News without him. I watched him in Berlin when the wall fell. Even more a part of my memory, I watched him report on the tragedy in Tianneman Square and I cried my eyes out. At the dinner table. I remember mostly because my parents couldn't believe I would react that strongly to something half a world away. |
As I grew older, I switched to Tom Brokaw for my news, and eventually gave up nightly televised news altogether. But news anchors like Jennings and Brokaw gain a unique perspective on our culture over several generations. Peter Jennings was a part of my own cultural upbringing, and a wealth of knowledge and wisdom on the ever evolving world. He will be missed.
Before we left for Jamaica, we saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I loved it. I wasn't overly thrilled with the CGI magic of the Oompa-loompahs, but I also was sort of partial to the original little green-haired guys. The songs though are just utterly Danny Elfman. I thought, other than some deviating to provide Wonka back-story, that the movie stayed much truer to the book than the original. The best description I've read yet comes from author Neil Gaiman's blog:
Was talked by the girls into taking them to a Drive-In last night. Dozed intermittently through the Dukes of Hazzard, missing, as far as I could tell, nothing important in a film in which everything seemed obvious except its reason for existing in the first place, and was wide awake for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, most of which I really enjoyed.
It seemed like a collision between three films: a remake of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,a film of Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and a third film, which felt increasingly familiar until the final image, when I remembered where I'd sort-of seen it before -- from the iconic horror actor [Christopher Lee, not Vincent Price] as the father to the snow that isn't snow at the end. I loved all the Dahl, loved most of the Burton-doing-Dahl, but felt all the bits that seemed to have wandered from the third movie (a strange sort of Burton-does-Burton-lite I kept wanting to call Edward Candyhands) were simply out of place in this story. Dahl wrote Charlie's story, and that's the film Burton begins with, but it hiccups in the middle of the film and turns into Wonka's story (he's now the one who learns something and changes, not Charlie, after all), which felt a bit like watching a version of Cinderella in which Cinders winds up skipping the ball in order to sort out the emotional trauma of her Fairy Godmother. (Hmm. That might be fun, actually.)
Well, we're back from Jamaica. It was a great trip! I'll talk more about it later though, once I get the underwater photos developed and can post my photos online. I'm taking them to Sam's tonite, so give me a few days.
On to more local things. I've decided to actually switch hair-guys for good. My stylist, Joe, cut my husband's hair the day after he made fun of me for wanting to cut mine. While cutting Kevin's hair, Joe made fun of me again and said the hair cut I wanted was "toddler spit." It's one thing to make fun of me to my face, another to continue doing it while cutting someone else's hair, even if it was Kevin. Joe has offically pissed me off. Not only that, I stayed pissed off about it throughout my whole vacation. However, I also continued to love my new haircut from Douglas throughout my whole vacation. I can make it curly, I can flip it up, I can flip it down ... it's awesome. I love it short. So today I made an appointment for color with Douglas next Tuesday. That's huge - I'll be getting my hair colored by someone other than Joe for the first time in 5 years. All because Joe has a really big mouth and can be tactless. Oh, and he's so busy running the place that he no longer really listens to his customers. Man, I'm pissed at him. I suspect either Douglas will tell him, Kevin will tell him, or he'll wander in to see Douglas while I'm getting my hair colored and that would just be bad. Oh well - it's next to impossible to get an appointment with Joe anymore anyway. Oh my gods, I'm mad at him.
But I am excited to see what Douglas can do to my hair color.
Swamped with work. After the photos get posted, you can bet my ability (err, time) to post blog entries will be short - similar to back in January and February. Swamped with work is good though. Really good. That means paychecks, and I didn't get one of those in July because business was slow.
In a couple of weeks, Kevin has a conference he is going to in Indy and I'm heading to Chicago with Mom. We're going to IKEA and I'm going to buy at least one chair, possibly two, and a coffee table for the living room. (To go with a couch that we don't have yet.)
That's about everything. I'll post more on Jamaica later.
David Allen: Getting Things Done : The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
Craig Ferguson: Between the Bridge and the River
I'm hoping that Craig will compare to Christopher Moore. I love Craig's extemporaneous monologues on his show.
Christopher Moore: A Dirty Job
And speaking of Christopher Moore - his newest will arrive on my doorstep shortly.
