Currently Reading: Jupiter by Ben Bova
We've been doing a bit of shopping on eBay lately. How much? Well I'm not really sure yet. The final numbers depend on how many auctions CC wins today. What I DO know is that we're shopping there a little too much.
It's easy to get hooked on eBay though. They have pretty much anything and everything you've ever wanted and they usually have it at a MUCH lower price than retail. That's what gets you. At first it's a matter of, "Hey, look at that! I've been wanting one of those since . . . ". Then it becomes, "WOW! Look at how much money I'll save if I get one of these HERE instead of at the store!" The problem is that once you shift the focus from things you want to how much you save, it becomes VERY easy to talk yourself into things you never really needed in the first place.
We're going to slow our shopping now. I'm not even going to go over to the site for a while. There's nothing that I want or need so there's no reason to go over there and submit to the temptation right? I don't know if CC will be as lucky. She's still in a few auctions so she may go over there and check on them and that might lead to browsing and buying.
Let's all keep our fingers crossed for her ok? :-) And hey, if she ends up in another auction, it's ok. We all need to be very supportive. It's not easy to quite eBay cold turkey you know :-)
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Friday, March 25, 2005
Taiko Drums ROCK!
Currently Reading: Paradise Lost by John Milton
Taiko drums. You've probably seen them. They're these HUGE kettle drums set on their sides that the Japanese play. Very loud, very powerful, very fast. They're supposed to scare away bad spirits and if you've ever heard them, you can certainly believe it.
A few weeks ago, CC and I picked up a CD from the group Kodo. Taiko drums. This particular CD is called Tataku and I've been listening to it all day. REALLY great stuff. If you like listening to hard percussion or like the sound of a good drumline, check out Kodo.
Taiko drums. You've probably seen them. They're these HUGE kettle drums set on their sides that the Japanese play. Very loud, very powerful, very fast. They're supposed to scare away bad spirits and if you've ever heard them, you can certainly believe it.
A few weeks ago, CC and I picked up a CD from the group Kodo. Taiko drums. This particular CD is called Tataku and I've been listening to it all day. REALLY great stuff. If you like listening to hard percussion or like the sound of a good drumline, check out Kodo.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Old School
Currently Reading: Paradise Lost by John Milton
Three or four times a year I like to read something old. REALLY old. We're talking classical! Last year I read The Iliad, among other things. The year before that I read Dante's Inferno. You get the idea. There are a few drawbacks to doing stuff like this though. Depending on which classic you read, you can really mess up modern fiction.
Take, for example, the work of Raymond Chandler. If you really enjoy reading mystery novels, do NOT read all of his. Read one or two, but not all of them. Why? Because after reading the complete adventures of Phillip Marlow, every OTHER detective created since then will seem a bit of a rip off.
And if you're a really big fan of fantasy novels, knights in armor and such, you'll want to avoid The Lord of the Rings and also The Once and Future King. Same reason. You read them, you enjoy them. You pick up someone else's work and you spend the entire time thinking, "Gee, this is just like what happened to Frodo."
In some cases it can really enhance the novel you're reading. If you like to read books by Orson Scott Card or Ben Bova, having a little bit of literary background really helps. There are still some living authors out there who make reference to the classics without outright COPYING them.
There is one secret benefit of reading the classics though. You'll never have to worry about someone walking off with your book. You stroll around the house with a copy of Paradise Lost, set it down on the coffee table, it'll be right there where you left it. Oh sure maybe someone will pick it up and thumb through it, but once they see that it's written in verse and that it dates back to the 1600's, they'll drop it like a hot potato.
Three or four times a year I like to read something old. REALLY old. We're talking classical! Last year I read The Iliad, among other things. The year before that I read Dante's Inferno. You get the idea. There are a few drawbacks to doing stuff like this though. Depending on which classic you read, you can really mess up modern fiction.
Take, for example, the work of Raymond Chandler. If you really enjoy reading mystery novels, do NOT read all of his. Read one or two, but not all of them. Why? Because after reading the complete adventures of Phillip Marlow, every OTHER detective created since then will seem a bit of a rip off.
And if you're a really big fan of fantasy novels, knights in armor and such, you'll want to avoid The Lord of the Rings and also The Once and Future King. Same reason. You read them, you enjoy them. You pick up someone else's work and you spend the entire time thinking, "Gee, this is just like what happened to Frodo."
In some cases it can really enhance the novel you're reading. If you like to read books by Orson Scott Card or Ben Bova, having a little bit of literary background really helps. There are still some living authors out there who make reference to the classics without outright COPYING them.
There is one secret benefit of reading the classics though. You'll never have to worry about someone walking off with your book. You stroll around the house with a copy of Paradise Lost, set it down on the coffee table, it'll be right there where you left it. Oh sure maybe someone will pick it up and thumb through it, but once they see that it's written in verse and that it dates back to the 1600's, they'll drop it like a hot potato.
Monday, March 21, 2005
Some Verse
A sonnet, in the style of Edmund Spenser (1552? - 1599), Elizabethan poet, author of The Faerie Queene
Today the twenty-first of March, we deem,
---To pause a bit to honor our old friend,
---The queen of Texas theater supreme,
---Her talent and her wisdom knows no end.
How many great singers did she thus send,
---On out to center stage for all to see,
---And actors - for our fantasies to bend?
---Her vision held the audience in awe.
Behind the scenes I moved on silent paw,
---Inside the shadows following the show,
---To bring the light, the sound, the props, the law,
---Because, of course, onward the show must go.
I'm one of many fans of Judy Jay,
---So thrilled to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
----------------------------------------------------S.S.
Today the twenty-first of March, we deem,
---To pause a bit to honor our old friend,
---The queen of Texas theater supreme,
---Her talent and her wisdom knows no end.
How many great singers did she thus send,
---On out to center stage for all to see,
---And actors - for our fantasies to bend?
---Her vision held the audience in awe.
Behind the scenes I moved on silent paw,
---Inside the shadows following the show,
---To bring the light, the sound, the props, the law,
---Because, of course, onward the show must go.
I'm one of many fans of Judy Jay,
---So thrilled to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
----------------------------------------------------S.S.
Saturday, March 19, 2005
First TennesSEE YA!
Currently Reading: Venus by Ben Bova
Time to wave BYE BYE to the folks at First Tennessee Bank. I won't be visiting THEM anymore. Cut up my bank card too for that matter. You'll all no doubt remember First Tennessee. They're the ones who wouldn't let CC open an account or even share a JOINT account with me. Without a driver's license, they just wouldn't let her bank there. Worse, they actually told us it was the same at all the major banks.
Now we know different.
To be honest, had I known how much better the service was at Bank of America, I'd have gone there LONG ago. I have no idea how B of A is in your hometown. Maybe they're awful where you are, but up here, they are great. CC got a check this week, reimbursment for expenses during her Omaha trip. Normally when we get a check like that, we go to the bank where the check was issued, show two or three forms of ID, she puts her thumbprint on the check and we finally get the money. That's fairly standard actually. My sister used to have to do the same thing. Not anymore for us though. CC got her first taste of what banks are like here when you have an account with them. We walked up to the window, handed over the check and her ID. The clerk turns to her supervisor and asks, "Do we take this as primary ID?" Supervisor looks at it, nods, and the next question is, "How do you want it?" Quick, simple. We were in and out in 5 minutes. Hell it took me longer than that just to see the person at First Tennessee about closing my account.
They did manage to get one last little jab in at me though. I had been waiting for the last of my checks to clear before I closed the account. Had a total of about 2 dollars left. Wouldn't you know it, they hit me with a monthly service charge Thursday night and wouldn't let me close the account until I paid them the difference. Between you and me though, it was worth it to be rid of them. They're just not very good at dealing with people.
Time to wave BYE BYE to the folks at First Tennessee Bank. I won't be visiting THEM anymore. Cut up my bank card too for that matter. You'll all no doubt remember First Tennessee. They're the ones who wouldn't let CC open an account or even share a JOINT account with me. Without a driver's license, they just wouldn't let her bank there. Worse, they actually told us it was the same at all the major banks.
Now we know different.
To be honest, had I known how much better the service was at Bank of America, I'd have gone there LONG ago. I have no idea how B of A is in your hometown. Maybe they're awful where you are, but up here, they are great. CC got a check this week, reimbursment for expenses during her Omaha trip. Normally when we get a check like that, we go to the bank where the check was issued, show two or three forms of ID, she puts her thumbprint on the check and we finally get the money. That's fairly standard actually. My sister used to have to do the same thing. Not anymore for us though. CC got her first taste of what banks are like here when you have an account with them. We walked up to the window, handed over the check and her ID. The clerk turns to her supervisor and asks, "Do we take this as primary ID?" Supervisor looks at it, nods, and the next question is, "How do you want it?" Quick, simple. We were in and out in 5 minutes. Hell it took me longer than that just to see the person at First Tennessee about closing my account.
They did manage to get one last little jab in at me though. I had been waiting for the last of my checks to clear before I closed the account. Had a total of about 2 dollars left. Wouldn't you know it, they hit me with a monthly service charge Thursday night and wouldn't let me close the account until I paid them the difference. Between you and me though, it was worth it to be rid of them. They're just not very good at dealing with people.
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