Conflicted

Is it ok to completely LOVE a band even if the members are a bunch of schmucks? Adam Duritz (Counting Crows) is a fairly poisonous individual, but I can't help thinking he's written a lot of the bests songs of the 90's. I put Morrisey and Jack White in this category as well. It seems to me that when you listen over and over to music a person has written, there's a substantive one-way influence. Is it a good idea to give someone who is personally unworthy that sort of leverage? What about really good music that glorifies bad stuff? Bad stuff like sex, drugs and rock n' roll, of course.

I gave up on Christian pop* as a genre when I was about 16. Having the "right" (see: hackneyed, cliched) subject matter is no excuse for putting out sucky God pap. On the other hand, should I restrict my listening to artists who stick to tame subjects and lyrics? I have always thought that was a lot like refusing to watch R-rated movies.


* Christian pop is music you can only buy at your local Zondervan bookstore, or in the special Gospel section at Tower Records...

Got to get this off my chest

If you're Scottish, and your accent is thicker than a leftover Dairy Queen milkshake in the freezer, give yourself a pat on the back. You're probably awesome.

Philosophy

I've had a morning full of deep thinking already, and it's only 10. Weighty questions have been juggled. How many shades off of true white should I allow my white albacore tuna to be before I become suspicious? They wouldn't can bad fish would they? Why would Major League Baseball scedule a day when neither the Cubs, nor the Red Sox play a game? Doesn't Congress require MLB to harvest a certain quantity collective fan pessimism each day? Should I wear shorts and flip flops on faith that it'll warm up? Isn't Bob likely to be nicer to me if he gets an eyeful of shapely Theis calf? And now dear reader(s), I invite you to weigh in on this one... is it possible for a single person to be nothing but happy for their attractive (opposite gender) friend when said friend finds love?

My own little Marathon

I got inspired by the Marathon heroics of Todd's girlfriend (3:54) this weekend. After taking my 3-sided aluminum drafting ruler to no less than 2 separate maps, I am ready to declare tonight's 2.2 mile jog to be a personal longest ever. That's right folks, 24 more miles, and I'll be right there....

Update: Recently, I lived the old axiom, "If you're going to drink a lot on Friday night, you shouldn't expect a great running performance from your body early in the afternoon on Saturday." Or maybe I just coined that. It just seemed so familiar by the time I made it home.

Old friends

A little backstory... my high school buddy Todd is in town for marathon weekend, and I just got back from dinner at Legal Seafood, where I met his new girlfriend. There was much laughing, and I was reminded how fine a pleasure it is to see old friends, and to feel like no time has passed. It warms me to think that the next time I see him, I can expect us to pick up right here.

With that in mind, i present you with this beauty... I mean Wendy Wyatt, but mainly I mean the picture of her picking a statue's nose. She is a college friend, and the gang had gathered for a wedding. In spite of all the changes our respective lives had wrought on us, we slid easily into the safe lazy comfort we'd built in fours years of each other's company. So here's to picking it all back up in an instant.

Marathon

The Boston Marathon, run on Boston's own private holiday, Patriot's Day, is Monday. You have to qualify with a pretty good time to even get to run, so there are no slouches in the field. Nonetheless, someone has to finish last. Todd's girlfriend, fresh off the plane from Chicago, where the marathon is hill-free, is convinced that she is going to be that one unfortunate. So I say, go Marie! 2nd-last or bust! I'm sure you'll beat the guy who runs it backwards, but if not, I still barely make it around the block, so you can hold on to that.

My life is awesome

It's 8 PM, I've been tending at the bar for a couple hours... I'm watching the Red sox beat up on Randy Johnson, eating free pizza, drinking free beer, being in charge, and I just got introduced to a really pretty girl who just got hired to work here. It's about time to buy a lottery ticket.

Sweet and Smooth

New CD today. In case anyone is trying to decide whether or not to smoke a whole lot of weed, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it won't necessarily mess up your singing voice. Willie's still got it.

Have you ever seen the rain?

Tonight's rain is the first of the year that smelled like summer rain. Sweet. Flip flops came out today. The socks I washed last weekend should last me until mid June.

Freaked Out

So, I'm at Clemson right now attending a fairly useless academic meeting. We share funding with the folks down here, but precious little else, so these trips tend to be a little watery. We MIT beavers stick together, and eat out a lot at good places. One of the more charming aspects of academic travel is getting to share a hotel room with one of your groupmates, giving you an unusual opportunity to know more than you'd like to about one of your coworkers. In this case, I am listening to the newest PhD student in the group digest his chicken dinner at a decibel level comparable to cross-room conversation. He doesn't snore, but his stomach is keeping me awake. Coming home tomorrow.

Unlooked-for Good News

My brother-in-law's little brother has been in Iraq with the Marine Corps for something like 2 years now. He got married right before shipping out, and it's been endless deployment since then, both for James and Ivy. I'm far enough out on the news wagon route that I didn't even know he was on his way home, until this morning's frantic routine was interrupted by an email full of pictures that made time stop and priorities vanish. Congratulations and welcome home James!

Optimism

To be reckoned

I think I'm responsible for about 50% of the pageviews since I put up the sitemeter two days ago. That's down from 100% just a couple days ago. Rachel, thanks for reducing my narcissism ratio. I'm touched to be worth a sidebar link. I'm eating this purple gobstopper in your honor.