When I first joined flickr, I never expected this many people to view my photos - 26, 645 views! WOW! I'm not sure what to make of it...
Monday, July 31, 2006
Sunday, July 30, 2006
BROWSERS & SEARCH ENGINES
I'm also installing Greasemonkey. It's a free Firefox extension which lets you add user scripts to tweak the websites you frequent. I want to iron out some hassles I've experienced with flickr, like my long list of alphabetical groups with no way to reorganize them. I'm sure I'll find some other useful scripts to try out. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
I'm curious. Which browser are you using? IE? Netscape? Safari? Firefox?
On a similar subject. what's your favorite search engine? Metaeureka? MSNsearch? Alta Vista? Yahoo? Google? With so many choices, it would be nice to hear your opinion.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
HIT IT
I run at the gym six days a week. This week I've increased my distance. Every day I've been reminded that running is mostly a mental battle. But I've had a game plan.
Every time I'm tempted to slack off and quit early, I make myself start thinking about taking dance lessons with Pauline. It's something we've been planning lately, and the thought of it helps motivate and sustain my workouts. I mean, who wants to be a wimp out on the dance floor? Another mile? Bring it on!
Thursday, July 27, 2006
COOKBOOKS
I'm busy photographing every cookbook I own - about 50 in all. Then I'll get rid of them. They take up some hefty shelf space, and I only use a handful of them. How did I ever end up with so many of them? Do things seem to magically populate your home, too?
NOT THAT SMURFY
When I stepped through the door, I noticed something, or more like, a lack of something. Where was the stock? The store was bare – only a couple of racks and shelves with a few stereos and a remote controlled toys. One look around, and I wasn’t even sure if the place had batteries, much less what I needed. Realizing I was probably in trouble, I asked the guy at the counter.
"Nope," he said. "Don’t have it. Got a nice goat, though." (OK, maybe he didn’t say goat, but he might as well have.)
"No. Thanks anyway," I turned on my heels for the door.
"Have a nice day!"
"You bet."
Total wash out. My first clue should have been the hay bales at the entrance. I guess that’s what I deserve for getting my hopes up. I won’t even bother checking out the new (limited menu) mini-McDonalds that just opened up in the gas station. I’ll bet they don’t even have milkshakes.
I’m glad to see my hometown growing, but something isn’t always better than nothing. Take the once locally-owned grocery store, recently bought out by a chain. (For anger management reasons, I won’t even mention the video rental place.) The grocery does good business dealing a few necessities: milk, bread, eggs, cigarettes, and diapers. But the rest of the stuff, while technically "in stock," has been sitting on the shelf or in the freezer a long time. If you buy anything there, you’d better check the expiration first. The town’s just too small to turn over stock fast enough to keep up with the dates.
I can understand why corporations think they can open up miniature chain stores in small towns like mine. The main reason must be high gas prices. It used to be no big deal for small-town shoppers to drive thirty miles to the city when gas was only a buck-a-gallon. But now, it’s like, "Hmmm…I wish the store were closer, or that I could have that delivered!" So, I get the point of these smurf-stores, but they are a strange kind of growth. They somehow make the town seem even smaller and less convenient.
When I think about it, I have to trick myself into thinking of my stay here as an adventure. I imagine myself living in the Wild West. Inconvenience goes with the territory. So what if Frontier Bandits held up the Stagecoach? Who cares that my USB cable, the one that should have been on aisle two of the General Store, is out with the tumbleweeds, lost someplace on the prairie? After all, that’s just the way life goes when you’re a Bold Pioneer, like myself.
I can live without milkshakes, after all. Eventually, though, I’ll have to change my tune from, "Don’t Fence Me In" to Lisa’s lines from the "Green Acres" theme song. There’s just too much city in my blood to make this return to the country a permanent move.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Sunday, July 23, 2006
WHITEWASHED
Since growing the beard, I'm feeling like I'm all hair - the rest of me just blends into the background. I'm thinking of going all out hippie - letting it all grow until I can't stand it anymore. I can see that homeless/Jesus look working for me.
THERE'S A STORY IN THAT
Can you imagine what life might be like in a place like that? But the setting changes as soon as you leave Scotia. Across the river is the town of Rio Dell (population 3,174). How does it compare to its idyllic neighbor? Cross the narrow green bridge that joins the two communities, and it's like you are stepping from the beauty of the 19th Century back into the problems of the 21st. Lining Main Street is a clutter of cheap restaurants and ramshackle gas stations - no matching color schemes here. Rio Dell's economy is depressed. Some residents are unemployed. Others are even homeless. And the crime rate? The local police answer about 3,200 calls a year.
Can't you just see the kinds of characters who might live in towns like these? My mind started racing when I first read about them in the New York Times. Why are they making the news? Pacific Lumber has decided to sell Scotia's homes to its residents and is pushing a deal to turn all municipal responsibility over to (you guessed it) neighboring Rio Dell. Imagine how much life will change for the residents of the two towns as their worlds collide. It would make a great story, don't you think?
Speaking of settings, I've also been thinking about writing a story set during the weeks surrounding Hurricane Katrina. I've got an idea for the narrator, too. Imagine a small child who loses his home in the storm and is sent to live with relatives in the East. His siblings are split up and sent to various states to live with friends and family. His mother goes West to work and support all of them, while his father stays in a tent down South to battle the beurocrats and try to salvage what he can of their possessions and old life. I'd tell the story primarily from the youngest child's POV, mixing in letters and phone calls from the rest of the family. I keep thinking about his story. It's fictional, but it hits close to home. I know people who are still living in tents or who had to abandon their homes and start over in strange new places. I feel the story growing inside me, and I think I'll be able to tell it eventually. Similarly, I'm finding myself connecting with the towns of Scotia and Rio Dell. It's only a matter of time before I put words on paper. This is a first step, right? It's been a long time since I've written fiction, but I'm excited that I've finally got some ideas buzzing around again.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
BLOGS OR ADS?
OVERHEARD
He: "I'm gonna' kill you as soon as you're away from your mom."
She: "I'll just stay by my mommy, then."
He: "Well, you're a big chicken!"
She: "I am not"
He: "Oh, yes you are. Look at yourself! You're growing a beak!
She: "Shut up!"
He: "Oh, I'm eating chicken nuggets. Sorry about eating your relatives!"
Brings back memories of childhood, doesn't it? Oh, to be young and in love.
EXPATRIATE
FUN WITH EBAYGLISH
I wonder what the buyer thought when he read this comment from a seller: "put your mother's fart,the item is same to the picture, your eye is blind!" I dare you to read it aloud without laughing.
MANSPACES AND MONORAILS
As it turns out, Jack and Kevin are following a new cultural trend. Today's MSN home page features a link to this article about "Manspaces." And, come to think of it, this topic reminds me of a rerun of "Yes, Dear" called "Space Jam." In the episode, Kim wants to clean out the garage by throwing away all of Greg's college memorobilia. He lies to Kim about donating the junk to the thrift store and actually rents a storage unit for it. When he gets there and starts unpaking his stuff, he finds two other husbands, a record collector and a star wars junkie, using their units as hiding places from their wives. At the end of the episode, Kim confronts Greg about lying to her and convinces him to move his junk back into the garage. Of course, the episode wasn't funny, but it does tie in nicely with this blog (also unfunny and pointless).
You know how I tend to end my blogs with a question? Well, I don't really want to know how you feel about manspaces. So I'll ask you this instead: How do you feel about monorails? Are they just a passing fancy, or are they really the world's most modern transportation system?
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Saturday, July 15, 2006
OLD-SKOOL BOXES
I check out Todd Franklin's flickr stream or his blog about once a week. He's an artist who frequently puts up nostalgic pics. Yesterday, I was surprised to find this photo in with his other posts for the week - two schoolboxes that he had in the 70's. What's the big deal? I had the same boxes! Nothing like mass production to make it seem like a small world, after all.
Kirk Demarais also blogged about his school supply box this week. He makes a good point: because I used it every day, the pictures on my schoolbox probably got deeply embedded in my psyche.
I picked up this box in a local thrift shop because I remembered using it in grade school. It's dated 1979.
Do you remember your favorite supply box? What did it look like? Do you still have it stashed away somewhere? Maybe your mom or dad rescued it to store odds-n-ends and stuck it in the top of a closet or on a garage shelf. Or is it a lost treasure?
STOP BIG MEDIA
Turn on the radio today in any U.S. town, and you'll hear the same Paris Hilton song played over and over. When was the last time you heard local talent played on the radio? (And I'm not talking about on your college station.) Do you ever wonder why your hometown station plays the same repitition of songs by big name commerical talents (using the term loosely)? Wouldn't you like to hear something new? And how do those famous few top the playlists all over America?
Ever hear of the term "payola?" The labels are paying off the giant conglomerates who control the airwaves. That's right: the big name labels pay Big Radio to feature their mainstream acts, blanketing the airwaves with their "stars" and leaving the indies out in the cold. But the airwaves are public property, and payola is supposed to be illegal.
The FCC has already fined Sony BMG and Warner Music Group $15 million + for payola abuses. These fines are too small to really make a difference, but the FCC won't impose heavier fines or take away their licenses unless you and I do something to force the FCC to hold the conglomerates accountable.
Please visit Free Press to find out ways you can fight back against big media (unless you secretly like "Stars are Blind.") While you are at Free Press, please check out their discussions of Net Neutrality, "corporate-sponsored" news, and the AT&T merger.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
ANYTHING CAME AND WENT
A year ago, I was rehearsing for my upcoming role in Center Stage's production of Cole Porter's "Anything Goes." I ran across the photos online today and posted some of them to my flickr account. A lot of screwy stuff has happened to me in the last year. I'm glad to remember some of the good times. I'm looking forward to performing again, someday.
PATRICK RHYMES WITH...
Along this same theme, happy 49th birthday to my brothers, Dan & Steve!
THE TWINS IN 1958
This photo is my favorite of the twins - who turn 49 this month. They've changed a little since Mom snapped it.
4 VIDEOS
The next two Kablamo vids I'm posting tonight are fan remakes of my favorite SNL digital short, "Lazy Sunday." The first was done by a couple of guys named Bryant Fisher and Max Sitinikov. The next was done by two eleven-year-olds, Luke Brightfield and James Gillespie, with help from one of their dads.
If you are offended by dumb things, don't watch this last one:
ONE RED PAPERCLIP
Pauline has been telling me about this guy who is trading a paperclip for a house. Today, Terry emailed me the link.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
NES EMULATION
Friday, July 07, 2006
PIRATES
I talked to a theatre employee about the new "Pirates" movie coming out today. She previewed it on Tuesday and loved it. Ben and I will see it tonight.
Here's a survey to gauge how excited you are about the newest Depp flick:
__ I'm with you - I'll be there opening night.
__ I might see it with the kids sometime.
__ I'll rent it.
__ I'm avoiding it like the Black Death.
__ What Pirates movie?
NINTENDO, REVISITED
I'm visiting my brother Steve's family for the holiday/his birthday (Happy #49, Chief!) and my nephew, Ben, and I have been discussing growing up playing video games. He's a member of the Nintendo Generation, while I'm an Atari guy. If you are ever in the mood for old skool gaming nostalgia, you should check out what's available online. Ben's downloaded all the classic Nintendo games, along with covers of the theme songs done by a band called the Minibosses (other bands cover the songs, too).
The timing was perfect when I checked my inbox and found this Mario video. Thanks to Terry for sending me the youtube link.
Of all the 1st generation games, Super Breakout is still my favorite. Which of the old games tops your list?
Monday, July 03, 2006
CRAVING
Last night, I dreamed of marzipan stollen, so I awoke craving it. I wish I had brought some back from Germany and stashed it in the freezer.
Ever had a strange food craving that you couldn't satisfy? What's a good substitute for stollen?
Sunday, July 02, 2006
SKETCH IDEAS & GHOSTS IN THE SQUARE
(1) an ad for Emo Elmo - complete with black eyeliner, safety pins in his lip, and depressing sentiments. Who wouldn't rush out and buy one?
(2) little kids prank calling 911 - admit it; you did it, too. How mad was your mom?
(3) oh man, this one is gone already, and I knew it when I started typing this list...Does that ever happen to you?
On Friday, I got an unexpected invitation from Ryan to drive up to Oxford for Ole Miss' Shakespeare Festival. I enjoyed the plays and meeting his friends from the theater department there. We saw Rowan Oak and walked around the Square.
My mom's family is from Oxford, so while we walked around town, I started reading the dates on the buildings and thought about my great-grandparents and grandparents walking those same sidewalks seeing the same sights. There is a DVD store that has a display of antique TV's in the window. As I stood looking at them, I remembered that my mom first saw a TV in an Oxford Square storefront window. There I stood over 50 years later looking at a similar set. I liked experiencing that feeling of history.
We stayed at Ryan's college roommate's century-old farmhouse in Water Valley (about 20 minutes away). My dad's family lived in that town for many years; his grandfather ran the railroad there. So this weekend turned out to be a bit of a homecoming for me.