Happy 5th birthday, sounds familiar; I always knew you’d make it.
bloggin’ ain’t easy lately
Wednesday. Sorry for the sporadic entries of late, I’ve been busy with work… and a day without time for my mind to wander usually means a night without much to write about. Gonna be random today I think… but I want to get something out there.
Last night we had friends over for dinner. I came home about an hour early to start the barbecue and char the meat; not a bad deal. I can remember watching my dad barbecue for us when I was a kid, we had one of those traditional round Webbers, black – the kind like you see in those 1950s episodes of Leave It To Beaver or Ozzie and Harriet. I remember we had some sort of Sunset Guide to Grilling cookbook which showed the novice grill chef how to form two mounds of charcoal on either side of the bowl for indirect heat. I was always fascinated with cooking over fire, and still enjoy it. So, like I said, coming home an hour early from work to start a fire and cook meat isn’t bad at all.
Tonight Sharaun had a volleyball game so Keaton and I got some time to hang out just Dad and daughter. We took a nice long bath, playing in the bubbles and transferring water from one litte cup to another. After that we got dressed for bed and brushed our hair (I brushed hers, she then returned the favor), and played for another ten mintues before getting into the crib. We had a little tea party, and played in the “pretend pool” (which is just a comforter spread out on the ground with pillows for “floaties”). I like when I can give her my full attention, although I admire Sharaun for doing it all day long, as it’s pretty demanding and requires putting aside whatever you might want to be doing (I mean, not to say I don’t want to be playing in the pretend pool with my daughter… but you know what I mean).
It’s less than a month now until Anthony and I embark on our “makeup” trip back into the Sierra backcountry along John Muir Trail. This time, we’ll be four as Ben and Erik will join us as we try to finish the sixty-plus miles we failed to complete last time around – stupid snow… (what, you don’t believe me?, there totally was snow). The four of us got together last week to have a planning session (read: pizza and beer and about fifteen minutes of me going over our slightly-modified last year’s itinerary). I’ll go ahead and do a big kickoff entry here as that date nears, with the same kind of boring data I posted last time (I know, you can’t wait). I think we’re all getting pretty excited, and hopes are high that we don’t get turned back by weather this year. (In fact, the portion of the hike we plan to do this year has few “easy” outs, so we’re banking on Mother Nature being good to us).
I guess that’s all I have. Bloggin’ ain’t easy lately.
is akismet broken?
Anyone else having issues with Akismet lately? For about the past month or so (from a timeline perspective, I want to associate it to the release of WordPress 2.5+, but I don’t think I have any real evidence to do so) it’s been passing a pretty large amount of spam each day. Prior to this recent behavior, I almost never had to worry about comment and/or trackback spam getting through Akisment and onto my frontpage. Lately though, about three to ten pieces a day are slipping through Akismet’s filter. Just take a look at today:
Yeah, all of those passed through Akismet’s filters and onto the blog proper (and that’s only all that would fit in the screenshot). I always diligently report the spam mistakes back to the Akismet servers, so I was hoping maybe I’d be helping ID some new kind of spam technique and these would eventually dry up. No luck so far though, still getting multiple pieces a day that make it through.
What’s up Akismet?
two inches of fresh powder
Yeah, so I did. Let me have it; it was a busy time at work and our evenings were filled most every night. I’m gonna say that this week’ll be better, but it’s hard to make promises when things are busy. I’m actually home alone right now, it’s around 10am on Sunday. Sharaun and I drove separately to church, as I had to come home early to meet someone. The weekend was good, if a little flaky on our part: Friday was a low-key evening with friends; we had two separate fêtes Saturday that we were supposed to attend, but ended up only making it to one; and today (Sunday) we were supposed to do lunch with friends… but…
When we got back from church Sunday Sharaun ended up having to call and cancel our lunch date with friends at the last minute because she mismanaged her time and was under too much pressure to get things done for a moms’ group steering team meeting this afternoon (she’s the coordinator). So, now I’m sitting here feeling like an absolute heel for my complicity in flaking; half embarrassed and ashamed, and half angry at her for putting me in this position. It’s a crappy situation, you know, feeling like a jerk because she overcommitted. (And I say that knowing full well some of you are thinking about pots and kettles calling each other names.)
Back in college, I can remember Sharaun staying up all night, alternating between fits of nailbiting crunchtime-efficiency and fits of frustrated tears over her own procrastination. I don’t think one major project or curriculum-deliverable went by where waiting until the last minute and working in a fevered panic wasn’t her modus operandi. Even to this day, she still works that way – hunched in front of the monitor into the wee hours on the eve of her moms’ group events. What’s worse is, when she gets in that panicked last-minute rush, I become a convenient outlet for frustrations. Suddenly, I’m not helping enough with this or that, or could’ve done something to ease her to-the-wire trials. I’ve learned to stay clear, let her work, and try and be as helpful as possible. I figure, if it helps me stay married, I guess it’s just something I have to learn to do.
Seriously though, I don’t mean to dispariage the work she does, I think it’s great – it’s just days like today when I get to look like a shining ass that irk me. For someone as unorganized as she is, possessing little to nothing of the rigors of planning, she garners tons of accolades for the work she does. I suppose maybe I just don’t understand. My Vulcanesque brain may just be too logical to understand the thought processes of the fairer sex, perhaps. I do love her to death, though; all the little bits too: every sock or pair of jeans on the living room floor, every open jar of peanut butter on the counter, every cabinet left open, every light left on, and every spare set of keys Home Depot charges me for.
Well, I think I’ve covered that event enough, let’s move on.
Sharaun got on to me the other day because the camera’s memory card is full. Used to be, I’d empty that thing once a week and post pictures online. As you’ve no doubt noticed, I fallen off that wagon a bit. If you wanted to stick to a theme here, you could say I’ve flaked on that part of my online responsibility too, I suppose. Really, though, it was about time I cleared that thing off and went through images to get a new batch into the galleries. So, that’s just what I did. And, surprisingly, the whole of both June and July (which even included a trip to Florida and my parents’ Fourth of July visit) generated a measly twenty-three “decent” images. Maybe we’ll get more now that I emptied the camera. For now though, you get what I got – so go check out the new additions here.
And, that’s all folks. Goodnight.
I ain’t about hard
Hi! What up? Shut up. I don’t care. Nah, I’m just kidding… what’s going down? Nothing? Yeah… me neither.
It’s Monday though, and it was an uncharacteristically Fallish day for California. Just when it should be one-hundred degrees plus it cools down and even gets chilly at night. I loved it, although when I woke up and felt the lingering chill of night it made me feel like I’m behind on designing this year’s Halloween props. Well, more accurately fixing all the props that broke two years ago… which was a couple of the major ones. I guess the cooler weather makes my brain think Fall, and Fall means it’s time to get working on Halloween.
Each year I build one new prop, and I usually allow myself one “large” purchase along with it. One year it was a massive fog machine, the kind clubs use. One year I bought a nice drill to aide in construction, another year a jigsaw. One year a twenty gallon air compressor. This year, I’m not sure. I know I need to rebuild the flying crank ghost, because she literally wound herself to death last year, and I need to make some adjustments to the ceiling dropper too (which, despite never getting a full teaser video, actually came out pretty well in the end). So, I think I’m gonna start working on those soon. The crank ghost rebuild could take time, depending on whether or not I choose to do an “industrial strength” one or go with the cheapie I built last time (which looked great, but ultimately only lasted four seasons). I’m thinking this time I do it right with angle-iron and a heavier-duty motor.
Thinking about it, I don’t think the changes to this year’s props will actually demand that much time… maybe a couple weeks to get things right. The most difficult part will be fixing the ceiling dropper’s triggering mechanism and audio synchronization issues. If I figure I can do that with relative ease, then I may actually have enough time to engineer a totally new item. And, I’ve had an idea in my head now for over a year that I’d love to make happen: A glowing half-corpse/ghost that travels in a large loop in the air around our yard, as if floating along. I imagine a torso and head, with a ragged end at the midsection and outstretched arms, flying around the yard overhead. I know, a lofty concept. But, I’ve sketched it out several times and think it can be done with just one drive motor and two or three clever pulley stanchions. We’ll see…
Anyway, enough about Halloween, eh? I just get excited… it’s been my favorite holiday ever since I was a little kid and all. Let’s move on.
Today at work was busy. In fact, work’s been getting busier all the time lately – a change from the few months of relative “down” time I had. My program is sputtering along at half-choke, throttling up towards 100% which should happen sometime in January. Then it’s balls-out for a good two years again before the cycle begins anew. Things at the sawmill go like that, where a project lasts about three years or so, and then resets. I’ve been through five now, some in parallel, obviously, and I feel like I’m getting better every time around. I guess I’ve made up my mind that I’m gonna stick around this job. I like it enough, I’m good enough at it, and it pays well… so, why leave? It all fits nicely into my “why change?” style. Change is hard y’all, and I ain’t about hard (well, most of the time, anyway).
Before I go, I wanted to tip my bloggers hat to a longtime friend of mine who’s recently started writing online. I read, with tears poised in puddles just inside my eyelids, glistening in little shivering lumps of surface tension, waiting for one small motion to send them streaming, the first two parts (one here, two here) of her multi-part entry, “I Killed My Parents.” All the years I’ve known you, Sheila, and I’ve never asked you about your folks. I’m not that guy, the one who asks, even if you set me up for the question… I’ll likely balk until you’re ready to tell me outright. I’m glad I finally know the story, thanks for telling me (and everyone else). Can’t wait to read the rest. And, oh yeah, we love you.
So, that a sappy enough ending for ya? Hope so, ’cause I’m outta stuff to write. I think it’s a respectable entry, no? Yeah, let’s call it a wrap.
Oh hey wait, look, Megan used Keaton as the subject of a Photoshop tutorial. That’s an interesting kind of exposure, eh? And, maybe it’ll get you “we want new pictures!” hounds off my back for a few hours. (I swear they’re coming, for reals… soon even.)
Goodnight friends. Until tomorrow.
atoms of music
So, I know… I took a little haitus. Truth be told, it wasn’t some 1,000th-post respite or anything, I was just occupied evenings the past couple days. I hope you’ll forgive me the disappearance, and pray you’ll fall right back into that daily groove with me again.
Me, I’ve been doing fine. A few of our clique have recently succumbed to a nasty stomach virus, which is now making its way through the group. A pillar of natural hardiness, this would normally phase me little. However, I can’t help shake this strange tingly-chills thing, and I have the odd sensation that my body is working to defend itself. And, with a camping trip looming this weekend – I’ve got petitions out to several dieties (a good engineer should always try to cover the spread), just in case.
Now, for something completely boring.
Not too long ago, I came up with the concept of the atomic appreciation of music. See, I think everyone appreciate the tunes they enjoy at different atomic levels. Let me explain by giving an example: For me, my “atom” of music is the album. I consume my music in albums; I acquire and catalog my music by the album; and, for most part (with a few exceptions) I judge the “goodness” of an artists’ effort based on the sum quality of the album which contains it. Now, this is not to say that there’s no place for the single, because I’ll admit I have my share of one-night stands when it comes to a good catchy tune, but, for me personally, the album is the base-unit. I don’t download songs, I download albums (let it be known, however, that I pay for everything I do download in real American dollars that I’ve earned working at my job).
The thing is, I don’t think this is the way most people consume their music. And, to be honest, it has its drawbacks. I think I’m less apt to enjoy the sparkling singularity of a stellar one-hit-wonder because of it, and I’m also prone to looking down my nose at an entire LPs worth of songs just because of one or a couple stinkers. I think most people are more prone to enjoying their music on the atomic level of the song. This, in fact, seems quite logical, when you consider it. But, whether it’s the collector in me or what, I’m stuck on the album. And, there are some rewards for this… think about Zeppelin’s 2nd LP, or Delaney & Bonnie’s Motel Shot. Albums that just play like a solid wall of awesome, think Arcade Fire’s Funeral, or Sgt. Pepper. Yeah, for real.
OK, I’ve just wanted to type that for so long… I know it’s not fun to read. Apologies.
And, unfortunately, I’ve got nothing more. I swear I’ll make a comeback next week. Forgive.
my 1,000th post
It’s like some kind of celebration up in here.
Today marks the 1,000th here on sounds familiar. I know you can barely believe it, but this very sentence you’re reading right now, which lives as a part of this very post you’re reading right now, is just one sentence of one post out of a thousand. I don’t know, it seemed like a big deal to me.
I mean, doing the math: this blog officially started on September 11th, 2003. Today is July 10th, 2008. I guess that’s pert-near five years of wirting. If we estimate ~250 “bloggable” days per year (exlcuding weekend and holidays), that’s 1,000 out of 1,250 days I’ve written, or something close to 80%. Yeah, it’s an inflated rough estimate – but I think sounds familiar has done me proud.
And, since I’ve reached such heights, I’m taking today off. I suggest you click that “random post” link on the sidebar a few times and see if you stumble on anything you like. Or, go down the blogroll and read some of my friends’ stuff. Or, don’t.
I’ll be back Monday, have a good weekend.