I have done nothing of importance today. Grabbed breakfast at lunchtime with Rory and Laura, but didn’t even come close to finishing.. I ordered a Monte Cristo sandwich but it simply wasn’t that good. Got back here and tooled around on the computer for awhile, avoiding the nasty weather outside. I reheated leftovers from last night’s dinner for dinner tonight (BBQ from the Cambridge Deli & Grill over on River St.).
I was really crabby and cranky yesterday, but I am feeling a bit better today. That said, I think it’s a good thing that I have avoided human interaction as much as possible today… I think I just needed some time to myself. I might go see Fight Club at the Brattle tonight at 9:30p, but only if someone else wants to go with me…
Single most important event of the past year: Getting Laid-Off
Favorite album bought this year (tie): Various Artists - “Rise Above” and T. Raumschmiere - “Anti”
Favorite album rediscovered this year: Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
Favorite song discovered this year: Ween - Piss Up A Rope
Favorite song rediscovered this year: Big Black - L Dopa
So FUMN went down this weekend, and I have to say that I disappointed myself… While Sick was a carousing success, and Female Trouble seemed well received (even if some thought it was too long), many thought that The Short Films of David Lynch were a bit tough to sit through (and most of the griping was about his introductions)… I think I let my film snobbery get the best of me on that one…
But the biggest disappointment for me was the Star Wars Holiday Special. I spent a few bucks getting this tape, I expected it to be “funny bad”, but it was just bad… There was simply not a single redeeming quality about this film, and forcing people to sit through it at 2am was pure evil. I simply have to do a much better job in the spring when FUMN returns again….
But all of that aside, the weekend was tons-a-fun… It was cool getting to hang out with Karen, Frances, and Matt as a group again, and then tossing many of my rochester friends into the mix just made the weekend better (wookies aside).
Karen came to Boston instead of going home Sunday night, and we were able to catch up on the Sopranos, do some shopping, and go to the egyptian exhibit at the MOS… The exhibit was cool, but I wish it was bigger given the money it cost… It is advertised as the largest collection of egyptian antiquities ever to tour North America, but both of us felt it seemed small..
All is well and good in the world. Tomorrow, Matt and I will drive to Amherst at 4:30p to pick up Frances. After that, we drive to CT to pick up , and after that we are apparently picking up Rene. We were all going to take seperate cars, but that just seems silly, so everyone is packing into the as-yet-unnamed minivan… We will be rolling into Rochester real late, so I am not sure if a Nick’s run is in the cards for Friday night… We will see, cuz I will have done one hell of a lot of driving…
So yeah, come to Fucked Up Movie Night… You never know when the last one will be….
Didn’t accomplish much today, but went with Adam and Gaurav (new roommate) to this BBQ place like two blocks away that we managed to miss over the year that we have lived in this apartment. I drove past it when I was getting the car registered the other day… The ribs were pretty yummy…
Waiting to hear from as to whether or not she is going to be able to come to Rochester this weekend… She might not be able to tweak her schedule for work on Sunday, which would make getting her back in time for work real difficult. That bit of info is the keystone that will determine the schedule for all the travel, so until I hear from her I am not sure when I will be in town tomorrow night, etc. Let it be known, there will be Nick’s, DiBella’s, and Dinosaur BBQ.
While it is true that I can think of things better than driving and commuting in the snow, my love of the fun and beauty of snow overrides any practical thought I have on the subject. I went out to lunch today to get a car adapter for the iPod (since the trip to Rochester this weekend could be long enough to threaten the battery life). As I was leaving the mall the snow began, and I decided to walk home in it… The city is so pretty in the snow… Hopefully the streets will be clear enough by the time I need to leave for Rochester tomorrow.
Last night I loaded up the iPod with some fresh music and audiobooks. I put the new “Mike Patton w/ DJ” bootlegs on there, this set with the X-Ecutioners is fantastic, so I can’t wait to hear the others! I also stuck the first half of The Diamond Age and the new Bill Maher book on there..
Update: Good thing this cigarette lighter adaptor is “Built for Mac OS X”…. What the hell???
Why is is so fucking hard to find an mp3 player these days that just plays fucking mp3’s? I have 55 gigs of mp3’s (99.9% legit, even) and I don’t need some software to manage what I listen to, so why is it that every mp3 player these days feels the need to “suggest smart playlists” and “scan my music”? I understand that these features appeal to some people, but not to me. I sit down, pick an album, and listen to it. And all of the craptastic features added into modern media players just get in my way.
I have been fighting with iTunes all freaking day trying to get it out of my way and finally gave it the boot. I am going to play around with Audion now, but I am highly skeptical it will be any better… I shouldn’t have to write a fucking simple media player… Any of you Mac users have any suggestions?
And while you are at it, tell me how to get my fucking home and end keys to behave properly. That nuisance alone is enough to make me want to sell this machine. I understand that some transition is to be expected, but I am not going to give up home and end.
This morning I headed out to get all of the car stuff taken care of. On Omar’s recommendation, I went to the Central Square Insurance Agency to get the car insured… That went smoothly, and while their quote was 50 bucks more than the quotes I got online, I figured it wasn’t worth the hassle of tracking down the other places (who probably wouldn’t have honored the online quote anyway).
After that I drove over to Watertown to get registration and plates, which was another pleasant experience at the Mass DMV. I got to the clerk, got a number with a 5 minute estimated wait time on it, and only ended up waiting about 10 minutes. After 5 minutes at the counter I walked out with plates and a registration.
Once that was taken care of, I headed over to the Cambridge Parking Office to get a parking permit… I waited longer here than I did at the DMV, but it still wasn’t that long…. I got back to the apartment, put on the plates, slapped on the sticker, and moved the car to the street, no longer in fear of getting a ticket/towed…