July 2005 Archives

So I may have introduced some of you to All Consuming, the media tracking site. (Its that thing over there ------------------>>>>>
that's responsible for my currently reading list.)

Well, All Consuming has merged with another site run by the same people called 43 Things. Its fun and a little addictive and one of the joys of the web. The idea is pretty simple: Everyone makes lists. My family (especially my mother) has a ridiculous facility for list writing. Even as much as I am not typically prone to such Type A behavior I still find myself in love with lists. 43 Things is basically an online, collaborative, searchable, taggable, interactive to do list. This one is mine. You can add them yourself, or latch onto things created by others. Its all visible and can be commented on or "cheered" (the currency of the site, you receive a limited number of cheers per day, and can use them to support any tasks, people, entries or comments you like).

Its hard to explain why I'm enjoying it so much, never really having been much for the social networking tools that the online world has wrought. But there is something fun about it, where you can see how unreasonable you are about what you want to accomplish, but then always find someone worse than you and you can find plenty of commiseration with your failures.

Anyway, check it out. If I get around to it I may link it up from this page too.

Some updates: Had a great final shutdown with the General. Got a lot of work done, as well as a lot of loafing. Got to hang out on the lake at Neal's place, and eat sushi homemade by Noriko. (She even made my favorite: Bacon and Asparagus Rolls). Had a great float down trip, with much sun and guitar playing and very little sleep. Magnus and Kathy's wedding in Traverse City was awesome, and almost ridiculously fitting for them. Went to Old Mariner's Church on Sunday to get blessed, met some interesting people and then ate brie fondue and asparagus bisque.

I have a tenative place to live in Traverse. Its actually a bit distant in the Torch Lake area, which would necessitate a half-hour or more drive daily, but its available to me cheaply and without reservation, which makes it a perfect backup plan. If I can get some more money or find something as cheap and closer then I may pursue it, but its no longer a matter of being homeless. And that's nice.

Announced my plans at work, and I'll admit to enjoying the doubletakes perhaps more than I should. August 12th is my last day which means I'll be working right up to the day before I leave. Which leads me to:

Very Delayed Housewarming / Going to Sea / Summer Why Not / 1 year anniversary of the death of Rick James Barbeque and Shindiggery

When: August 6th, 2005 Anytime after 3PM
Where: 400 Ashland, Detroit (email me for directions)
Who: You and your good for nothing friends
Why: Well, any of the reasons above. There'll probably be Guinness and grilled food products (some friendly to the vegetarian inclined) and general tomfoolery

I'll probably put this up on evite too, and bother some of you that way, and probably I'll forget some of your addresses and not bother you when I should have. Come anyway.

The new league will require a lot of changes in rosters and salaries, and I think it will be ultimately positive. But it will be hard not to miss Darren around here. And I'll always consider him a hometown boy and buy him a beer (even if he joins the fucking Avs).

As a Detroit resident, I will be voting in both the upcoming Mayoral Primary on August 2nd, as well as the General later on November 8th. As such, I feel it is now time to announce the highly-coveted Lost Continent endorsement.

Just watching through Ron Livingston's video diaries of the making of Band of Brothers and found a great quote:

"The first thing they did for us was they set up a 10-day actor boot camp. They train us in the same way that they train military people. It seems that the only difference is if you say 'Screw You' in real boot camp they can throw you in jail. If you say 'Screw You' in actor boot camp they can't put you in jail, they just call Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks."

And really, is there a more frightening punishment for an actor?

Happy Independence Day, all.

Some of you already know this, but I figured it would be best to provide a central location for any questions. The short version: I'm hanging up my automotive engineer spurs with the General and am joining the Merchant Marine.