A mix of personal and pop culture, updated whenever I feel like it.
from the table cameras came out better than expected. I’ll be uploading Jill’s mom’s pics tonight, share them at some point tomorrow. That leaves the table cameras (which would need to be converted to digital, not sure if Costco does that) and the professional photos (which will be possibly another month).
We’ve decided what to do for the thank you cards, but it’s a secret until we start sending them out.
That’s right, gainfully employed once again. It’s a government contractor (yeah, unusual around here) but I’ll still be developing software for mobile devices.
Jill’s happy, I’m happy, looks like both of us will be off tomorrow so we’ll likely go early to the Allman Brothers Band (with Little Feat opening) at Nissan, do a little book browsing and go out for dinner.
Peter David, while a fine author in his own right, does wonderful reviews of TV shows he likes, including a great one for “Lost”.
I’m really looking forward to seeing tomorrow’s conclusion of the pilot. It was funny, I had read that the pilot would be eaten in the pilot, but Jill didn’t know that. When we realized the pilot was played by Greg Grunberg (under injury makeup), she wondered aloud if he would be killed off “Alias” so he could be on this series. I didn’t tell her I knew what was going to happen to him until it did.
Neil Gaiman’s blog entry for today had a link to this review of the Author’s Preferred Edition of “American Gods”. My favorite quote: “This is book lust, the love of books as physical objects.” That sums up exactly my feelings when it arrived here.
BTW, Neil himself will be in town October 9th, as part of The fourth annual National Book Festival, which is free and open to the public. Neil’s time: 1:00-1:40.
Saturday I went to my myo, then wanted to make it back to watch a documentary on A&E about Star Wars. About five minutes in, I realized the same doc was on the new DVD, so flipped over to Toon Network and watched an episode of the new Justice League (very good, I was surprised at the number of obscure characters they used), then read the paper. Once Jill got up from working the night shift, I made some food (mostly leftovers) and we channel surfed for a bit.
We got to Ballston around 6. The Blocktoberfest was a fenced off area of Wilson Boulevard in front of the Ballston mall. We got there midway through Shane Hines’ set. We got a beer (luckily they had Red Hook in addition to the usual suspects) and watched him, then caught the end of Fighting Gravity’s set (they ended with “Ring Of Fire” and “Tainted Love”, an odd mix). We sat down on the curb until emmet swimming started, then got up to the second row.
This was emmet’s second show with new bassist Scott Brotemarkle. While Scotty has played with Todd numerous times, and come up to sing with them (most notably during “Broken Oar”on Earplugs 50), this was different. And excellent. I’ve never been to an outdoors show that had the vibe of an indoor one, and this felt just like a show at TTs (well, without people trying to get to the bathroom by going between you and the stage). The show was great, and Scotty’s voice blends well with Todd’s, even on the songs he hadn’t done before.
After the ‘fest, we decided to get some dinner, which was a bit of a problem, as it seems everyone else had the same idea. Even a couple blocks away was crowded. We tried to get a table at Gaffney’s but there was a 45 minute wait for food. We went to Flat Top where they were able to seat us right away, but the food did take a while. Next we stopped by Dave & Melissa’s to pick up the wedding leftovers (table cameras and centerpieces). Finally we went down to Adams Morgan where Katie (one of Jill’s coworkers) was throwing a rooftop party. Jill enjoyed chatting, and I couldn’t take my eyes of the skyline – you get an amazing view of DC from 11 stories up.
We didn’t get home until after 2, so we slept in Sunday. And we were glad we did, because it was a big cleaning day that wore us out. Started off with huevous rancheros (it was going to be an omelet, but I had run out of cooking spray and was using butter which caused the egg mixture to stick), then moved to the dining room, where we sorted gifts, got trash and paper recycling piles together. Next stop was the basement. I keep boxes for shipping eBay auctions, so I had to reorganize the boxes and packing materials. Jill brought down all the new stuff that we didn’t have room for upstairs. While I finished the basement, Jill moved to the kitchen to box up the old dishes and put away the new. At least that was the plan until she discovered we were out of dish soap. She made a Target run while I read the paper. Then I grilled chicken that had been marinating in a wasabi ginger sauce and cooked some beans, then we watched some Simpsons eps (nothing to watch on TV), finishing with brownies and ice cream (all low carb, and pretty tasty).
Today I was expecting a phone call about a job, so didn’t get online until now. I did run all the paper recycling out (filled my entire car), dropped the table cameras off for development, and got gas and groceries. I cleaned up the kitchen and living room while I watched the Star Wars:Empire of Dreams documentary. Good stuff on there, including screen tests by Kurt Russell and William Katt, and some interesting deleted scenes (Han kissing Leia on Cloud City) in addition to insightful comments by Lucas and all the actors.
And with buttah, too. I joined my parents, my sister and her boyfriend. My mom wanted to do something for my sister since she doesn’t celebrate her birthday, so she decided we needed to go to Clyde’s for their lobstah special. Sharon had big news – she’s moving to West Virginia, where Forrest (her boyfriend lives). They’re not shacking up – she’s taking over his two bedroom apartment, and he’s finding a new one bedroom place. She hopes to telecommute to her current job, but is leaving tomorrow without a definite answer. Very brave.
Anyway, the lobster was excellent, everyone had it but dad (Forrest had a burger and part of Sharon’s lobstah, and I note that Clyde’s website says “Double lobster special to be enjoyed by one customer only. No splitting, please.” Oops, but the waitress said nothing). Sharon had forgotten how to dissect hers, so Mom showed her how. I was happy we ate late (around 8:30), as Jill wanted to go out for Mexican for lunch. She called right when I was being interviewed by 5 guys in a product group (interview still went pretty well, and they took the phone call in stride), and we ended up going to the Tortilla Factory, where I had a cup of soup and a spinach quesadilla. She wanted to go to Pablo’s, and normally I would have agreed, but I had a job application to complete and needed to run to the post office, and Tortilla Factory was closer. Food was tasty, too.
OK, last set of wedding pics for now:
Rehearsal
Wedding by Jess Cannon
There’s still Jill’s mom’s pictures, but I’m waiting on the middle CD of three before I can post them (it went to Ireland, then Massachussetts, and should get here next week – don’t ask why). Should get the table cameras sometime in the next couple days, but I don’t have a good feeling about them – we developed one already, and only two pics came out, and they were hazy.
Cat Stevens can’t set foot in the United States, but Yanni is allowed to walk around free?
Man, talk about the terrorists winning…
half.com will stay open, as eBay has reversed its decision.
Watched “Lost”, “Smallville”, and “CSI:NY” last night. I think “CSI:NY” will be like the original “CSI” for me (if I’m around, I’ll watch it, but I won’t tape it). It’s not horrible like “CSI:Miami” (No, Mr. Caruso, CSIs don’t need to go out and shoot people, you’re missing the point). “Lost” was a nice mix of action, soap, “ER”, and horror (but what do you expect from JJ Abrams, who’s made a frothy mix of soap and action on “Alias”), and “Smallville” was fun, cheesy in spots, but Clark flying made it all worthwhile.
Finished “The Dark Tower” today. I tell ya, if the section in New York doesn’t move you, nothing will. I liked the ending, and have such a feeling of accomplishment right now. It’s a bit odd seeing metafiction in his work, but it seems to fit. A piece of info I was curious about (minor spoiler) – the driver of the van that hit Stephen King died in 2000 of an accidental overdose of a painkiller. Or was it?
Along the lines of the guy selling a wedding dress. Here it’s a pen.
Ok, I’ve finished reading email, snail mail, web sites, and the paper. I may have to cut down on reading once I get a new job.
Speaking of, had an interview this morning, seemed to go well.
100 pages into The Dark Tower, only reason I stopped was to go to bed to get up in time for the interview. After I blog, I’ll finish the paper, figure out dinner, then dive back in. Hile, Roland!
And in final catching up, here’s the first set of wedding & related pictures:
Bachelor/ette party by Melissa Brady
Wedding by Melissa Brady
Wedding by Angela Cannon