I'm back!

I'm back at work after a week in Maryland visiting my girlfriend and her family. I had a surprisingly good time. I say surprisingly because most of the week was spent being decidedly domestic. I got to play in the kitchen a lot and spent a lot of time keeping small children out of trouble. Who know I could deal with this sort of domesticity? :-)

Stupidity alert...

You'd think I would be aware of this by now, but it still amazes me every time I realize how much being sick in some form degrades my ability to think clearly. I have had at least two major (lasting two plus weeks) episodes and countless minor ones to point to in my own experience, but everytime it happens, I still find myself with a dumb, surprised look on my face...

Sleep and sickness

Getting out of bed this morning, while neccessary, was definitely a mistake today. Usually when I get up, I feel a bit better. Not so today. I think I am going to go back to sleep and see how I feel in a few hours.

Strange things to remember...

For some reason, I was thinking about sweaters this morning. Don't know why, but I was. This led me down memory lane to a sweater that an ex-girlfriend's mother (grandmother?) gave to me way back when. It was one of those gaudy christmas themed sweaters that most people ony pull out of the closet for christmas eve or christmas day and then hide for the rest of the year. This one was extra special in that it had little lights sewn into it that lit up the little xmas tree on it. To make it even more silly, she got matching ones for me and my girlfriend. I don't think either of us ever wore them... :-)

Fun things to do in the morning

This morning on my way to work, I happened to be driving by as a guy was having a very bad morning. I stopped to make sure he was OK and waited for the fire department with him. I'll be sending him copies of my pictures later today.

I know this sounds harsh, but my good mood today has been based on the fact that whatever happens to me today, short of the complete destruction of my new car, my day will be going better than his!

DJ Danger Mouse and the state of the music industry

For some reason, I have really been stuck on DJ Danger Mouse's remix of Jay-Z's Black Album. This is one fine piece of work, re-mixing some new sounds (The Black Album) with some of the most classic rock music of all time (The Beatles' White Album). I am not normally a big Jay-Z or Beatles fan, but the combination is incredible.

The irony of this is that DJ Danger mouse was sued for producing it because he did not get the proper permissions. I think this is one of the big reasons that the music industry is taking it on the chin: they are not encouraging musical innovation. Instead, they are working overtime to protect their sources of revenue, even when by letting things slide a bit, they could be bringing in more fans to an artist. I know I am thinking about buying a couple of Jay-Z albums now that I have heard this thing. I won't even get into my opinions of the quality of the artists that they are promoting these days.

I doubt my rantings will impact the attitudes of the record companies, but it would be nice if they could see the stupidity of their actions. They should be encouraging new music and probably trying to lower the price of acquiring music, rather than setting their lawyers on everyone that appears to be possibly taking a dollar or two away from them.

Sick!

I hate life when I'm getting sick. I seem to be coming down with an annoying head cold. Can't wait to spend a day or two hiding under the covers! :-)