Ponderings and Musings

No Need To Evacuate.

Back in August 2003 Earl and I drove to Wisconsin on an extended vacation. We made the drive in mid-August and had a wonderful time visiting Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and other touristy type places. While the trip was wonderful, this trip is memorable because every hotel we stayed at had a twist – the fire alarm would go off in the middle of the night and we would have to evacuate our room. This happened several times on the trip, once during a violent thunderstorm, another time due to rowdy college kids pulling fire stations and the third time was a fire alarm system malfunction.

It’s been several years since we’ve had to evacuate our hotel room and we chuckle when we think about that adventure.

We’ve been in Las Vegas for six hours. The power is currently out on one end of the strip, including several casinos: Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay. Generators are keeping the slot machines and elevators running, but the restaurants, common areas, retail establishments and bathrooms are completely dark.

I guess this hasn’t happened in a long time in Las Vegas, but folks are just going about their business and making the most of it. Earl called me (I was walking on the strip at the time, he was in a poker tournament) to make sure I was o.k. and once he heard my voice he went back to his hand. He doesn’t get excited about these things. I made my way down the darkened strip and found him and we rode a generator powered elevator back to our room. The hall lights were out but the vending machines worked.

Time to toast a diet pop.

Rensselaer, New York.

Earl and I are stationed in lovely Rensselaer for the evening. It’s the bi-monthly bear night in Albany and we are looking forward to meeting up with friends. We were lucky to snag the last room here at the “official” motel which is an Econo Lodge. Getting the last room means we are in the honeymoon suite, which happens to have a red, heart-shaped jacuzzi with red spot lights shining on it from several directions.

Yes, it’s tacky.

There are several buildings on the grounds of this Econo Lodge and the bears originally had one building for themselves. The quite chatty woman at the front desk referred to said building as the “whore house”. I guess it’s appropriate, being in the “Capital District” and all.

We made our obligatory stop at the Apple store for a sip of kool-aid. I’ve officially picked out my next computer and I showed Earl what I want when the funds are available. I’m opting to add a black Macbook to the collection. My PowerBook is going on four years old and while it won’t be retired (I love it too much), it will be relegated to DJ gigs exclusively. I also picked up Logic Express to replace ProTools in the mixing studio. I’ve never been a huge fan of ProTools and I want to give Logic Express a go for the original music mixes I’ve been making.

So tonight it is “Kegs ‘n Kilts” night at bear night. I’m wearing my obligatory Guinness gear for the party. I don’t feel that formal kilt attire would be appropriate, so I’ll go with jeans and the red hair/beard to maintain me Irish heritage.

The Back Bedroom.

So it’s not even 9:00 at night and I’m lying in the new bed in the back bedroom surfing away on the internet. I’m wicked tired tonight and I attribute that to no sleep last night worrying about today’s exams and the appropriate amount of studying I did yesterday and today. Tomorrow is the last day of classes before spring break. Thank goodness there’s only one quiz in Physics (what goes up, must come down, instant A) and a lecture from Professor Frightful and the voices in his chalkboard.

I’m lying in this bed because this is the room in the house that’s used the least. I wanted to see how this new bed and mattress feels; I have to admit that it’s quite comfortable. It was a good investment. Tom doesn’t know what to make of Daddy lying on the bed in the spare room but he still purrs with contentment. I guess he’ll purr anywhere.

Earl and I went out for supper tonight to one of our favorite haunts, Zebb’s. It was frightening in that within eyeshot I could spot three mullets (with obligatory baseball hat) and one really bad hairpiece. Even the one beer I had didn’t help the scenery.

I made a video this afternoon after my calculus test but I don’t think I’m going to post it as I’m worried about overloading the blog with video clips. When I’m just rambling I feel exceedingly boring when I watch my stuff; it’s better to post video of things that are actually interesting.

An iSight webcam shot will have to suffice for the night.

Beefcake.

American Idol: Top 12.

So I’m going to try blogging while I’m watching American Idol. I’m currently watching it in TiVo time delay. I’m not going to edit; I’m just going to jot down notes and post them at the end of the show. They are singing Lennon/McCartney tracks for the first time.

1. Syesha Mercado. “Got To Get You Into My Life”. Wow, pitch is all over the place, she’s nervous. I’m not impressed.

2. Chikezie. “She’s A Woman”. I don’t remember a Beatles hoe down song. He’s in tune. I’m having Taylor Hicks déjà vu with the arrangement of the track. Soul Patrol! Not too bad, the ball squeezed note at the end was quite decent. I’m somewhat impressed.

Paula seems somewhat “grounded” tonight. WTF. Ryan Seacrest needs to learn the meaning of the phrase “non-partiality” as he rubs Chikezie’s head.

3. Ramiele Malubay. “In My Life”. First thought – Deniece Williams or Stephanie Mills sounding voice. The little person fills the stage very well. I thought she did very well, and I haven’t been a fan of hers. I don’t really agree with the judges.

4. Jason Castro. “If I Fell”. I’m not caring for the unplugged approach to the performances this season. I don’t believe it allows us to focus on the vocals nor does it level the playing field amongst the contestants. On the other hand, I found his vocals to be pretty good and they fit his appearance well. He doesn’t blow my skirt up or anything, maybe I don’t get him.

5. Carly Smithson. “Come Together”. I think it’s a well established fact that I love me Irish. Carly is no exception. I like her take of this song and I find her vocals flawless. She could easily make this a single and do well on an active rock station. I think she’ll be in the final two with David Archuletta.

6. David Cook. “Eleanor Rigby”. (Not a fan of his hairstyle). He’s holding back too much and his pitch accuracy is missing. I’m not enjoying the performance at all. His take on the chorus of the song was kind of good, but I HATED the verse.

Wouldn’t it be groovy if one of the contestants sang the Stars on 45 medley of Beatles tracks?

7. Brooke White. “Let It Be”. She doesn’t seem confident playing the piano tonight. I’m not one to talk, but if you’re going to sing and play piano simultaneously you can’t look at the keys. She’s struggling, both vocally and with the showmanship aspect of her performance. She’s missing quite a few notes with pitch issues. Mumbled words. I like her, but I’m disappointed. I think she knows she blew it.

Crimminy, here Ryan goes with the shoes and feet again.

I don’t like the new American Idol graphic used before commercials. It looks bare without the oval.

8. David Hernandez. “I Saw Her Standing There”. I don’t remember “pizza bistro” being a wink-wink code for “gay bar strip club”. His vocals are decent but I don’t find him to be suited to this type of music. He’s trying too hard.

9. Amanda Overmyer. “You Can’t Do That”. She’s a natural on the stage. I love the way she approaches a track and she definitely has her own style. Not sure it’s marketable in today’s pop climate. Her embellishing on the melody is impressive. She reminds me of a girl I went to college with. Her name was Kayleigh.

I’m glad Simon told Paula to shut up. She needs another distemper shot.

10. Michael Johns. “Across The Universe”. (I prefer Carly’s Irish accent, but that’s probably predictable). He totally reminds me of Michael Hutchence. The performance is not engaging me but the vocals are good. Kind of boring.

11. Kristy Lee Cook. “Eight Days A Week”. Not liking the country spin of the track at all. It doesn’t twang well, though she is nailing the vocals for what it is. Paula was on target with her comments. It reminded me of Carmen Rasmusen.

I really dislike Ryan Seacrest. I twittered the he would be hot naked if he had a gag in his mouth. I was wrong. Even that wouldn’t be hot.

Quick aside during the commercial, the Bimbo Jones remix of Yoko Ono’s “You’re The One” is actually quite fun.

12. David Archuleta. “We Can Work It Out”. Wonder boy forgot the words! He’s stressing himself out way too much. His weakest performance of the competition, still an excellent performer.

Say Ahh.

Last night Earl and I joined First Earl for dinner at a local Italian restaurant. The restaurant is called Joey’s, only seats 38 people, is in a charming old store front and is appropriately located in the Italian side of town. We love it there1.

While I was enjoying my New England Clam Chowder, I realised that it was too hot for consumption after I had a big hunk of clam in my throat. (Typing that sentence kind of makes me gag a little). My first instinct was to swallow the clam, which I tried to do, except it was too big to swallow, so it just kind of hovered in the back of my throat where it proceeded to burn. As I grabbed for my drink (which was beer – fuel for the fire), the clam made it’s mark on the back of my throat where it apparently made a burn mark that now rides on my tongue. My throat is sore and it feels like I have the constant presence of a clam in my throat. It won’t go down, it won’t come up, it just sits there. I’m sure it’s just some swelling where the burn mark is and that it’ll all heal in a couple of days but it’s wicked annoying.

I’m such an idiot sometimes.

1 When Olive Garden was staking out potential sites in our area, they ate at Joey’s. After their meal they decided that they could never compete here and abandoned plans to come to the area. They also asked for a jar of Joey’s sauce so they could analyse it.

It’s Time.

So here we go again. Most of us in the United States were subjected to the horror known as Daylight Saving Time when we awoke this morning. My body thinks it’s 10:30, the clocks lie and say it’s 11:30. I will now be in a continuous jet lag mode until this insanity stops. I’m hoping the trip to Las Vegas completely messes me up to the point of a chronological reboot so I can get myself back on track.

I don’t know why we play this game with the clocks. “Noon” is suppose to be when the sun is at it’s highest point in the sky for the day. Plain and simple. This system worked for a long, long time. Then we started with the whole energy conservation, make the day brighter approach to things and started fucking around with the clock. This latest incarnation of insanity, which started last year, has extended Daylight Saving Time to nearly 2/3 of the year. This change is all in the interest of saving energy.

Am I the only one that finds that sort of absurd? Why would a government that’s completely in bed with energy companies want us to use less energy? Studies are showing that we actually use MORE energy during Daylight Saving Time. Let’s watch those oil company profits jump, jump, jump in a legislated dance.

I can barely get up for an 8 a.m. class as it is. Tomorrow morning it will be pitch black when the alarm shrieks at 6:30. Tonight I will lie in bed at 11:00 (which used to be 10:00) trying to force myself to sleep. Tomorrow morning there will be more accidents on the road from groggy drivers. But it’s all good, right?

I was thisclose to starting a rant about this sheep mentality we have going on in the country but I’m not going to. Quite frankly I’m so confused as to what time it is I’m still trying to sort out the whole breakfast/lunch debate. But if I hear one more person say that Daylight Saving Time makes the “day longer” I am going to scream.

Blogged Anxiety.

Sometimes I just can’t take the pressure. Knowing that I have a deadline occasionally makes me a little bit anxious about a situation. For instance, I can’t take the pressure of having bananas in the house. We can go to the market and pick up bananas that are greener than a shag carpet from the 1970s, but the moment they enter our house they turn browner than the border around the aforementioned shag green carpet and then I have to chuck them down the disposer. While the bananas are doing their thing, I feel guilty for not overdosing on potassium and eating a banana with every meal. I can’t take the pressure of bananas turning brown. It’s just me and I’ve learned to accept that.

I have my blogroll set up on an RSS feed. Every hour various computers throughout the house grab the latest blog entries from the 50 or so blogs on my to-do list (the computers then compare their lists and resolve them to one tidy list, which I can access from anywhere in the house; I’m such a geek.) The majority of blogs that I follow are those of sexy gay guys. I also read various geek and tech blogs geared toward your typical über computer user. Said blogs are complimented by a smattering of video podcasts that I watch and audio podcasts that I listen to. I also compliment the audio podcast lists with broadcasts from Irish radio, as I like to know what’s going on in Dublin, wanting to live there and all.

So imagine the panic I feel when I see that I’m falling woefully behind on my blog reading. 10 unread blogs. Joe.My.God. posts a bunch of entries and then its 17. Y-O-Y does his thing and there’s another three making 20. Karl writes every morning, sometimes Sean goes right crazy with the number of blog entries in a day (which I think is a good thing, by the way) and then there’s all the technology blogs and before you know it, 40 unread blog entries in two hours.

Since I’m a college student and all, we must also factor into the equation my sitting down and actually writing a blog entry. I have so many things to say but after reading the stack of blogs that I read on a daily basis I find myself sounding like a parrot. On the other hand, sometimes I feel like I bitch about the same things over and over again: most drivers suck, cell phones should be shoved up the owner’s ass, I love Dublin and wish I was there, my collegiate experience is interesting when you have a professor named “Professor Frightful and his cast of voices”, I’m oscillating back and forth between Mac, Linux and Windows, I have a lot to do with no time to do it, the list goes on.

My blog anxiety is occasionally superseded by my e-mail anxiety. If I don’t answer an e-mail within a day it’s likely that I won’t answer it at all and that’s just rude of me. I know it’s rude of me. Since I’ve had an e-mail address since 1984 you’d think that I’d be better about it but I’m not. I still have an e-mail from Labor Day 2007 hanging out in my Inbox that I haven’t responded to. Our friends in Wyoming probably think we were vacuumed off the face of the earth.

It probably sounds like I’m in some sort of continuous panic about these things, but I’m not. Just venting them on my blog has relieved the anxiety somewhat.

I think I’m going to go answer that e-mail now.

Everyone’s Doin’ The Dunkin’

Earl and I live less than one mile from a shopping center. In it’s heyday it housed a “Nichols Discount City” and a “P&C Foods” grocery store. It fell upon bad times in the mid 1990s and everyone except the post office moved out. A local realtor bought the property, sunk a bunch of money into renovations and now it’s at 100% capacity once again with specialty shops and the ever-present post office.

Today they broke ground on a brand new Dunkin’ Donuts. I wonder how loud the donuts will call out for us around 11:00 at night.

They’ve also announced plans to build a new car wash. We’ll have the cleanest cars in the county on our donuts run.