Magic Jewball

It’s funny that soon after I sent this tweet out, I had the evening I did. I ran a program with various speakers and one particularly difficult professor decided to hijack the whole show. Not only is he willful and controlling, he’s about 80 years old and can talk until we’re all 80 years old. When I insisted on getting the two speakers he had skipped up on the stage he gave me the look of death. And the speakers looked like they’d rather die than contradict him. But it had been promised and so I fended off all his efforts to change the entire planned program. When someone asked me how I could bring myself to do it, all I could say was, “holy Jesus fuck, I have dealt with rock stars more diva-like than this guy.” So, you know, maybe there really isn’t much difference at all.

Speaking of change, just to call attention to two new blogs on my blogroll. My pal Jenny with whom I did the Philly Komen made a similar move to mine, quit her job, and is back to school this semester. I wish her all the joy I have had and none of the broke-assedness. You can follow her adventures at, where else, Hated My Job, Left, Now What?.

Also, the artist formerly known as DuchessJane (no symbol available on my keyboard), is now blogging with no mediating identity at Lambic Pentameter. This is something I know I’ve discussed on this blog many, many times: identity and the Internet. So kudos for making a tough decision and braving the final frontier, blogging under one’s own name.

Lastly but not leastly, as you may have noticed from the tweet, I have an iPad to play with, but it is the property of the school where I’m interning. While I haven’t been able to put porn on personalize it, I have noticed once again how assy this blog looks on this thing and maybe now I can figure that all out for those blessed with iPads. By the way, the iPad is awesome for occupying yourself while talky elderly professors go off on long-winded tangents. Don’t ask me how I know.

This title is because there’s no particular theme to this post. The Who were charming to meet and not diva-like at all. Of course, I met them for four seconds. From Odds and Sods:

The Who – Long Live Rock

Lately I’ve been mulling over some personal things, nothing terribly heavy, but not the sorts of things I tend to blog about either. That really sucks for this site and anyone unlucky enough to read it, though. And so, I’ve at least taken a step towards offering other options by finally making good on my blogoversary promise and updating my blogroll in the sidebar. If you’d believe it, nearly half the links led to dead blogs (oh, the agony!) and some of the others were nearing that point (that post from late 2009 with the “more soon!” message and so forth). My RSS feed reader has probably a hundred blogs on it and that’s what I combed through to come up with this new, pared down list. Why so few when I read so many? Well, lots of them are tech blogs or sports blogs or news blogs, and you probably either read them already or they’re so topical you’d have no interest. I more want to link to friends and other “personal” bloggers that you might not know, although I did leave in some big ones like Postsecret. How can you not link to Postsecret? But even when I include that one, pretty much every blog on the list is written and run by one person and is about personal insights. And unlike before where a certain percentage of the list was there simply because they linked to me, now I can guarantee you that every site I link to is also in my feed reader and read regularly by me. This is not to say you’ll want to read it because I read it, but it should at least mean that I’ll notice when the author leaves the blog behind to wither. Oh, except my own new wave video blog. I did leave that to wither… but it’s temporary. More soon! *cough*

Title comes from:
Joe Jackson – Sunday Papers

I meant to make special mention of my 5,000th comment and to toot the horn (so to speak) of said commenter except… it was me. Whoops. I mean, go me! What are the odds? But then I realized that 5000 = 5001 in Canadian, what with our poor exchange rate and so…. Woot! Go, Deas! You were my 5,001st commenter! Your prize is: a gorgeous program from Wimbledon and some delightful Canadian chocolate. Oh wait, did you think I’d be sending you that?

Hahahahaha, that would be ridonculous to expect Deas to send me that, wouldn’t it? Except she already did and for no reason except that she’s teh awesome, as we say in the US with our lesser educations. I mean, look at this bounty!*

*there was no Bounty. But look at the Coffee Crisps!

How classy does this program look? Even the tennis is fancier in England.

And you can’t see from this angle, but this thing is like a book, with big glossy pages. It is seriously stunning, like the sun shining on Centre Court. Which never happens but you follow me, I’m sure.

Here are the three best aspects of receiving this in my mailbox today.

1. I was really hungry and desiring of chocolate (but that could have been any day, admittedly).
2. The heatwave just broke and so I did not find a chocopuddle at the bottom of said mailbox.
3. I sort of knew Canadian food items would be coming but I had NO IDEA there would be a Wimbledon program! I was so excited that I clutched it to my chest and hugged it. I’m a little embarrassed about this, so let’s just keep that part between us.

Anyway, xoxo and thanks so much, Deas (and Mr. Deas, who I assume toted it home). I owe you 5,001 expired Metrocards!

And to the writers of my 4,999 other comments (if you’re wondering why the comment count is higher, it counts crazy spam comments, too), thank you all for being the other half if not more of this blog! Because if a post is published in the forest and no one comments… the computer is probably being eaten by monkeys.

Title is the slogan of Canada Post and means, according to the handy Queen’s English provided, “From anywhere… to anyone.” Which could also be the slogan of this blog. Or Measles/Mumps/Rubella.

It is true, I will use any excuse to link to this exciting Canadian artist.
Loverboy – Turn Me Loose.

I had a bit of an influx of first-time viewers (I hesitate to call them readers, as I have no idea whether they read anything) last week and so that pushed me to revamp my About section, which I promised to do several months ago but never did. There’s nothing like a lot of new people essentially saying, “who is this person and what is this blog?” and having the answer be three years old to propel you to finally get something done. For those who know who I am, there’s nothing much new for you, I’m afraid. But it used to be that the sidebar said it all (works in the music industry, lives in New York, blah blah) and now the story is more complicated. So because the posts are eternally in the present tense and the present has changed, I thought maybe it was time to add a bit more about where I am.

I also deleted the Napster Links FAQ page as those no longer work. Because they suck. I may update it at some point but if/when it ever comes back, it will probably state something about how Napster sucks. You can consider that a sneak preview.

But back to the About page. The blog info has mostly stayed the same although I took out old references to features I no longer feature and utilities I no longer utilize. One interesting thing I noticed, and this is only the second time I’ve ever changed this page in four years, is that I always make the change in June. In fact, this one is a day off from being exactly three years to the day after the last change. And the page was originally set up in June of 2006. What is it about soul-sucking heat that makes me feel the need to tweak my blog?

And now, a week later, it’s July and we’re due for yet another heat wave. But this is OK, or at least somewhat, as this week begins my new mini-semester and unlike last month, my classes are in a physical place, a physically air-conditioned place. It’s not that I don’t have A/C, it’s that I’m too cheap to run it, and since I already pay huge tuition dollars to my school, they might as well cool me, too.

Today is a holiday for most people, but for me, it’s just another summer day without much to do except think about moving to Alaska for the season. But I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth and has an enjoyable day off to come. If you are vacationing in New York, as many people seem to be, come visit me at Starbucks where I’ll be nursing a tall ice coffee and contemplating whether it really is less expensive than a day’s electricity. I suspect….. not.

Nirvana – About A Girl

Last year, I was terribly upset because my third blogoversary post narrowly missed being my 500th post. Well, screw you, random numbers! Because this post will be exactly my 600th. Go me! Except that means I’m posting less than ever, so, boo me. But this year has been a bit different from all the others. I have a new direction and so, somewhat, does the blog. Last year I said in my blogoversary post that I had something cooking and now you know what that was, my big life change. Should you want to do some reflection (because I won’t be doing much today), or just rehash that post, it is here. But besides that, I also reflected on the occasions of the end of the decade, John Hughes death, Michael Jackson’s death, and two memorable Depeche Mode shows.

I think the one about my life change was easily one of my favorites of all time to write (and re-read), but I’m also enamored of the Depeche Mode one with its snippet soundtrack, and my two part series, Guided Tour of Becca’s Baltimore. That had a soundtrack too, you just couldn’t hear it.

And now, a link free paragraph. Lots of times, I wonder if there is a natural point for a blog to end, not because I want mine to be over, but because I worry that I never will end it. Sometimes, weeks pass where I have nothing significant to say or I am too busy writing things that someone will grade to post anything here. This is the sort of obvious place to say, “I never imagined I’d still be blogging four years later!” But I did. In fact, until some other, better medium comes up, I can’t imagine not having this place to connect with people. Other forms have come up like Twitter and Facebook and Buzz and they have their place. But they are not like this place. So thanks everyone for reading and commenting and connecting with me. If elected, I promise to do my best to actually update my sad and old “About” page as well as my outdated Blogroll. God bless the Internet!

By the way, it appears after three+ years of letting me post songs for free, Napster has revised their site and business model. Which means that not only can I not post Midge Ure’s Four as I had hoped to, but that all my links, nearly four years of them, are broken. Super. I will look for a better solution; yet another campaign promise.