The Myth & The Majesty

1. As an offshoot of Party of One , let me just say ... I love being a regular at a restaurant. I love walking into a place and knowing the staff by name. I love it when they know what I'm going to order before I order it. I love the comfort of chatting with people who wander through. However, it's a little alarming when you realize how much more you hear as a regular than as a normal diner. 2. I'm really looking forward to "The Avengers" on Friday, even if it'll be a little while before I get to see it. Maybe it's because it's a Joss Whedon movie. Maybe it's because it's been in the works for so long and I've heard about it since almost the very beginning. Maybe it's just because I'm a nerd. In any case, I can't wait. 3. It's been some time since I paid this much attention to "Dancing With The Stars." I guess it took them casting a Packer. (And Urkel! Who knew we'd ever have the chance to look at Urkel and sa...

Here's the thing.                                                                                            (Hey, post 1337!) I'm very particular about some things. The people I'm around. (Aren't we all?) The books I read. The things I consume -- beer, most definitely. Coffee to a large degree. Wine, sometimes. Baked goods to a degree that may be a little out of hand. I've been called a snob, and to be honest ... I'm kind of okay with that. Some things in life are worth the extra time, effort, and/or money. But you know what? S...

Spring. And a concert I won't get to see (but a trip I need to make anyway).  And summer campfires. And one of my favorite places.

Dr. Dennis: [ On TV ] Get real, Kevin, 'cause when you feel like a dirtbag, it's because you're a dirtbag. Right? So just own it. Say it out loud: "I am a dirtbag."  Lou: Dirtbag? I don't think that guy's a real doctor. (From "Over the Hedge." Cinematic masterpiece? Maybe not. Occasionally hilarious? Definitely.) I have come to believe that everyone should do a truly random job at least once in their adult life. I'm not talking about the things you did when you were sixteen or while putting yourself through college, but something later in life, something that is completely different than what you've always done. The last year and a half has been good for perspective, if nothing else, and my newest employment has been particularly interesting so far. And -- here's something fun -- it's slowly restoring my faith in humanity. Doesn't seem to make sense, does it? Here's the thing. I do a lot of TV-related number ...

After a weekend of lying around, moaning, and thinking my head was going to cave in -- or of drugging myself sufficiently to function and then doing the moaning/head cave-in thing again -- it felt great to wake up feeling normal. I've never been so excited about a Monday. Ever.

Seventy last week Then rainy and cool today... Thanks a lot, SoDak. Hard-to-rise Thursday Bagel waiting on my desk My coworkers rock. Bandstand & New Year's Lost an icon yesterday Rest in peace, Dick Clark. Birthday coming up Should maybe celebrate, but ... please don't sing to me. Five syllables here Seven to follow that line But this line has two extra.

Last year, I wrote a little bit about my mild obsession with bookstores . Now, let me tell you the problem that comes from that. I love books. I love the feeling of a book in my hands, I love their portability, I love that they never need charging, and I love (gasp!) being able to take notes right in them. I love being able to take one into a bar with me without being too concerned about consequences.  [Please ignore the bobbleheads.] Not to say I wouldn't consider a Nook or a Kindle, but truth be told, I love my paper. The catch here is that sometimes ... I go a bit overboard. I spend a lot of time and money in bookstores. I'm never safe at a library sale (but at least then I only spend $5!). When I had my big apartment all to myself, I spent a little too much of my disposable income filling it with books. I had about six different sets of shelves to fill and they were all packed -- fiction, nonfiction, travel, cook, serial killers and mental illness, science an...

It was confirmation day in church today. For our church, this means they're in the 14-16 range, mostly freshmen with a few sophomores thrown in. One of those girls was someone I knew from my days at the scrapes and burns factory nine years ago. It was kind of nuts. More accurately, she was the source of this story (which I'm pulling from an old post because it wasn't the only topic in said post)... We had a gerbil and a hampster at the beginning of the year. Nice, well-behaved little hampster; evil little white-rat-like gerbil. The scene: Friday, about 4:30. Most of the kids have gone home, and there are about fifteen left. I'm starting to watch the clock; I'm off in an hour. The kids had permission to play with the hampster, but naturally one of them felt the need to get the evil gerbil out. One coworker asks me if they should put them back, since they took both out anyway; I say yeah, probably a good idea. The hampster ends up back in his cage and the gerb...

Brace yourself: I'm about to say something profound. The Internet is a vast and lonely place. Okay, so it lacks profundity but I think we can probably accept it as a simple truth for our time. Sure, there's a place for everyone. There are more online communities and divisions and cliques than the country's largest high school -- but boiled down, it's really just you, alone at your computer. Hm. This is getting depressing faster than intended. Oy. If only. My point is simple: as much as we like our online communities (there's a reason Facebook is worth billions), not so deep down, we seem to like them as much for their removal from real society. It was a circuitous route, but this is what I'd really like to discuss today. Anonymity is one of the best and worst things about this colossal web. You can be anyone -- whether you use that for good or to create fodder for a Lifetime movie. This anonymity has changed and in many ways dissolved in the ...

...I'm reaching the end of my twenties. 1. I have more friends' due dates than wedding dates written in my calendar. 2. I've stopped requesting "fun" things for my birthday and instead want a pair of these: 3. I've started using the phrase, "I'm too old to stay out that late." 4. That refers to anything after 11:30. 5. I don't dye my hair because I'm not rapidly going grey (like a lot of my friends and some family) and I intend to enjoy it while it lasts. 6. Early mornings are starting to look appealing. (6a. That one weirds me out.) 7. I sometimes choose food based on whether or not it will give me heartburn. Lucky for me, there are still more things I'm NOT too old to do, and a hefty chunk of those I'll never outgrow. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have some ice cream and then probably watch Psych. Have a good night, all.

Jonah Hill, continuing to make Jason Segal uncomfortable. (Universal Pictures) Matthew the Waiter: Hey, how's it going? Peter Bretter: Hey, I'd like to grab some dinner, please. Matthew: Okay, great. Is your wife gonna meet you? Peter: No. Matthew: Your girlfriend? Peter: No, I don't have a girlfriend, so... Matthew: [confused] You're just by yourself? Peter: Yeah. Matthew: Sucks. Okay, so just one. Here's your wine list, your menu, come on. You want, like, a magazine or something? It's gonna be boring if you're just sitting by yourself. Peter: No, I'll be alright. Thank you. Matthew: I would just be so depressed. ("Forgetting Sarah Marshall." Yeah, that's right. I just quoted that . I swear, it's relevant.) I had coffee with one of my single friends a few weeks back and we got onto the topic of "Things To Do When You're Single." More accurately, we were talking about things that should be experienced and one ...

Umwelt is the idea that because their senses pick up on different things, different animals in the same ecosystem actually inhabit very different worlds... Okay. Okay. I know. I haven't posted much of my own stuff lately. I haven't really heard complaints, either. But this ... this requires recognition. And pictures. For April Fool's this year, xkcd has comics determined by your browser and location. I started to get curious about how many different ones had turned up and in searching the forum, I ended up with thirty-some images without really trying. I won't post them all ... but here are a few to enjoy. You may have to click on them so they're readable. (Also, some of them contain adult language. Just so ya know.) [If you arrived from the xkcd Wikipedia page...] (This one turns up for those coming from the .mil domain...)

... you should definitely check out Google Maps' "Quest" option for some 8-bit fun. Hopefully they continue to give it as an option for a few more days. For instance ... Mount Rushmore. I admit ... part of me is just happy it's shown in the correct place ...