This is Hi-Fi

Ooh! Just checked her site and Liz Phair is back in the recording studio working on her new album.

That's how I feel about my job, and that's why I gave my notice today.

Responses to the news:
"Congratulations!"
"congrats!"
"congrats!"

It's a little scary to quit without something stable lined up, but I've gotta do what I've gotta do.

I had dinner with a friend that I hadn't seen in months, and I'm following that with a bottle of champagne.

By the way, does anyone know champagne fits into the "glass of wine", "mug of beer", "shot of liquor" equation? =) I've had... well... ummm.... some...

The cheesecake is almost ready to come out of the oven... I was half asleep when I started and back to back episodes of the West Wing has been keeping me awake. I haven't really used my oven in a couple of months and I remembered that I never really went through with an oven cleaner after Turkey Day. Oops. When I fired it up to 500 degrees and popped open the door, you could smell sizzling buttery embers from splashed remnants of a large bird.

I sure hope this one turned out OK. While the recipe was tweaked, I have yet to have a failure. My buddy's birthday better not be the first.

One of the funa activities during Kikkoman's birthday party on Saturday, was totally unexpected. Someone brought a board game called Apples to Apples. I had so much fun playing this, it wasn't even funny. The way the game works is that every player gets a hand of red cards that describes a person, place, time period, or thing. On every turn, a new player rotates through being the judge. The judge reveals the top green card from the shared deck with an adjective. The players choose the red card that they think the judge will think is the best match the green card and they play them face down (The judge doesn't play a card on his own turn). When everyone has played their red card, the judge reveals all of the players' choices and chooses however he sees fit. If the judge chooses your card, you are awarded the green card. Play continues until any given player accumulates a certain number of green cards.

You might be thinking, what in the world does this have to do with rain? Well, I'll tell you! During the first game (I think we had 6 players), the judge revealed "Spiritual". Of the 5 choices, 3 of the cards were "Zen", "Rain", and "Whipped Cream". The judge picked "Rain". HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE???

During Kikkoman's bday party, I used the word schmoopy (I don't remember the context), and nobody knew what the heck I was talking about. Here's a real-life example. The link is broken, but it used to have a link to the blog of "The Redhead" where she posted a pic of accordion guy. If I remember the chronology right, about a week later they guest blogged on each others blogs. And now they're getting married.

THAT is schmoopy.

Note that the only reason why I know about this is that Accordion Guy used to have a relatively cool blog with topics such as the multi-part "Worst Date Ever". It's a long read, but it's pretty fun and worth the effort.

...Maybe I drive to get off, baby.

I saw Dust to Glory last night, and it was absolutely fantastic. While I had heard of the Baja 1000 before, I never really knew what it was. I thought it was going to be a non-stop tour-de-force of driving action, but it was a lot more. For starters, the cinematography was spectacular. From the serenity of the largely undeveloped landscape, to the awesome visuals of the machinery, to the hottie Tecate pit babes. ;) They did an incredible job of making me want to see the spectacle of the race, as well as try to compete in the race itself. Seriously speaking, I'm completely unqualified to try and do something like this, but it sure sounds awesome. =)

If there's nothing else that I know about myself, I know that I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Over the years, I've accumulated more than my fair share of bumps, bruises, cuts, and scratches. Every last one was worth it. I'd rather pitch myself down the ski slopes at top speed and fall, than to make it down flawlessly. When we play flag football, I tend to throw my body around somewhat recklessly.

On some level, I should try and do this while I can. I remember my mom telling me that I should have a will, now that I own some property. My thinking was that I have no spouse and no children (that I know of ;) ). If I get hit by a bus tomorrow, what do I care? I'll be dead!

This year's event is November 17th-20th. Who's with me?

I saw 2 more flics last night:

Code 33 (2.5/5) - To be honest, I'm not entirely sure that I wanted to watch this one. I mostly watched it because it was at the ACC before the other movie that I wanted to watch. It basically followed members of the Miami police department during their manhunt for a serial rapist. The general content of the movie was kinda sad and disturbing, but luckily the movie wasn't at all graphic. I wasn't at all in the mood for something like that.

Semi-amusing anecdotes:
1) They see a man pick up a prostitute, and they pick him up after a block or so. After some brief interrogation, he mentions the fact that he is a married man. Later, in a discussion between one of the detectives and the prostitute, they have the following dialogue:

Prostitute: 9 out of 10 married guys that pick me up do so, because they say their sex-life with their wife doesn't have enough variety. Would you eat spaghetti every day for the rest of your life?
Detective: You've got to mix it up. Some days you add some meat. Some days you use a different kind of cheese.

2) After capturing a potential perpetrator, they have a whiteboard where all the detectives on the case write their name under two columns that say something like "He did it" and "He's not the one".

CL.ONE (pronounced 'clone') (1/5) - I remembered why I don't like sci-fi movies. The producer/director started the movie by talking about how the entire cast had never made a movie before. Actors, cameraman, composer, etc. Good effort for a first time, I guess. I kinda want my 112 minutes back. The CG and special effects were largely iffy, too.

Just a few more days until my life changes forever. That's right. I'm going here. My partner in crime from NJ now lives in Atlanta with his wife, and this seemed like a good excuse to head out there and visit. I keep saying that I should get some wife-beaters and a trucker hat so that I will fit in. I'm only half-joking about this. Right now, I've got a decent enough tan that I might be able to pass as a Mexican if I put some shades on. We'll see if I have time to do a little shopping before I go.

I spent some time on the phone with him between movies last night, doing a brief recap of the last few weeks, the weekend ahead, and life after that. There are very few people that I actually tell everything, and he would be one of them. One major topic of conversation is the concept of "having a list", which also came up during drinks on Saturday night. In general, I'm not really a list person. I've probably made < 10 checklists in my entire life. The only one of real significance was my "List of Toys I Want" that I made right after I graduated. That one was lost a long time ago, but I think I've pretty much gotten everything that was on it anyway. =)

The one that I made wrt what I look for in a woman, was mostly in jest. I've got a couple girlfriends that are always ragging on me with phrases like "Why don't you have a girlfriend? You're too picky!" or "Stop searching for the perfect woman!". At the end of the day, I'm confident that I'm not being too picky or looking for perfection. I just don't have the same set of criteria that others do. Seriously speaking, if everyone was looking for the same woman, the world would be a pretty boring place for the ones that didn't match the spec.

I realized a long time ago, that almost all of the best decisions in my life were made by a gut decision that flew in the face of my hypothetical preferences. Very few of them actually turned out to be wrong. Given my track record, I'm pretty sure I'll continue to just call them as I see them. When it's right, it's right. I'm not going to let some arbitrary criteria that I picked in a hypothetical situation run my life.

I'm officially unemployed now. It feels good. =) Blogging will be light until next week, since I'm headed out of town.

I've been taking Bella, a German Shepherd/German Pinscher Mix, for a "test drive" since Tuesday morning. We're in the acclimation phase, where we're trying to figure out if I'll be a good forever home for her.

After going for a 3 mile walk this morning, and another 3 mile trip this evening (2 running + 1 walking), she's tuckered out and was napping on my living room floor earlier. After coming up to me twice, while I was on my laptop, she gave up on me and went to sleep on her bed in my room. I guess she's trying to tell me that I need to go to sleep now.

Here she is...

After playing football in the gloomy weather yesterday, I flipped on the radio to hear the DJ talk about how the next song might brighten our day, if the sun wasn't going to get the job done. I had forgotten how much I liked I'm Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves. I've been singing it for over 24 hours now. To my friends benefit, I've only been doing it when it's just been me and the dog. It is interesting to note that the album was released in 1985.

I'm training for this mini-triathlon and I realized that I really don't know the first thing about running. Well, maybe I know the part about one foot in front of the other and the part about relaxing the upper body. After that, I pretty much just go on instinct. While I can sprint at a fairly reasonable pace, I can't run distances worth squat. I'm extremely lucky if I don't lose my breath at the end of 2 miles. What should I do? As my island boy friend would say, "To the Internet!"

I find this article about Kerri Strug. I don't know why I felt strangely compelled to read it, instead of one by some champion runner. The only thing I could think of, is the fact that I will forever remember gymnasts as the teenage girls doing their thing at the Olympics. It's strange to think that she's all grown up now, and is barely younger than I am. Then again, maybe I'm just a big procrastinator.