jlou

Is there anything greater than watching Barack Obama dance with Ellen? I didn’t think so. He has the classic I’m-dorky-yet-lovable move mastered. Love it!

Slate ran an article this week about the basic disappearance Jeff Mangum, the brains behind Neutral Milk Hotel. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea has been one of my favorite albums since probably high school, so now that I think about it I’m shocked that I never checked to see if they put out any other music. In any event, it’s an interesting story. Check out the article, then check out the music.

I listened to a segment on NPR today about places listeners felt people should take their children while they were young. One lady lived along some exotic river with her grandson for 2 weeks. Another family took all summer off to drive from New York to Seattle (All summer?? How slow were they going?!?). Another guy took a road trip through Tunisia with his son. Every vacation seemed worst than the last. Upon reflection, I’ve come to two conclusions:
1. I saw some places when I was a kid…I think. Honestly, I don’t remember. I consider my memory pretty darn good, but I really don’t remember anyplace I saw before the age of about 12 well enough to speak with any sort of confidence about it. This includes the town I lived in for nearly 9 years. I’m left to wonder if there’s really a point to making sure your kids see things.
2. As an adult, I honestly can’t think of anywhere that I want to visit. There are places I wouldn’t mind visiting, I guess. You know, if I didn’t have anything else going on that week. Things that would qualify as anything else: a sale at Target, a new episode of The Soup, or working internet at home.

I just caught myself reading about the Terminator franchise on Wikipedia. The worst part? I don’t think I understand it. Enjoy this excerpt:

After the machines failed to prevent John Connor from being born, they try again, this time attempting to kill him as a child with a more advanced terminator, the T-1000.

Huh? OK, I suppose I understand that sentence on its own, but the whole storyline? Not a chance. I suspect the same mental block that prevents me from ever understanding the plot to The Fast and the Furious is coming into play here too. Imagine my shame.

I hope this new look gives those of you still checking my site some hope that I haven’t completely given up on it. Yeah, home still goes to the dino picture. I’m working on that. Yeah, elsewhere doesn’t go anywhere. I’m working on that too. Yeah, my writing skills still need improving as illustrated by my use of ‘hope’ twice in the first sentence. No promises that I’ll work on that. Furthermore, there are graphic tweaks and browser compatibility issues to be addressed. Eh. I’m not worried about it. I’m pretty impressed with myself that I made any progress.