Sept. 25:

Wienermobile: Or... You Are What You Drive?

A few weeks ago, I spotted the actual rolling advertising icon, The "Oscar Mayer Weinermobile". For those of you born in the 21st century, the Weinermobile is a custom car shaped like a hot dog sitting atop a yellow mustard colored 'bun'. It's one of six (6!) V8 powered frankfurters that drive around the United States and Canada promoting an American icon right up there with baseball, apple pie, and the bankrupt Chevrolet. There are not that many truly iconic vehicles that make me want to have a picture taken in the drivers seat: The 1966 Batmobile, The Monkeemobile, The Movie Batmobile(s), and the 1979 DeLorean/Time-Machine from Back To The Future.

But the 'Weinermobile' is unique among these in that it was designed primarily, and strictly as an advertising 'vehicle'. And in keeping with the 'verbalizing' of America - just as 'Google' is not only a noun, but also a Verb... "I googled weinermobile today"... so too is the word 'weinermobile' in my mind a word symbolizing all 'rolling-ad-vehicles'. You've seen them: Red Bull, graphic-wrapped busses. Weinermobiles.

Recently, the bank started a program where employees can volunteer to promote the bank by getting their car wrapped in bank colors, and logos. You may have seen them already outside Sounders games, in the parking lot at the local dog-park... wherever. I thought long and hard about whether I wanted to turn the silver TDI Jetta 'biodiesel' (with the chrome logo lettering 'BIODIESEL', and the chrome chachki 'trek-fish' - as in... "It's not about creationism OR evolution [or Noodly Appendages for that matter]... it's about THE FUTURE - somewhere we're ALL hoping to live... together") into a 'weinermobile' for my company. Oh, the ~$300 cash/month would be nice. And I don't have a problem with following the rules of the road - within speed limits, etc. It's the removal of the 'biodiesel' logo, and the 'Trek-fish' that kept my vehicle in it's factory colors. I have a window sticker or two (SeaHawks, Crimson Tide, Episcopal Church) in addition to the extra chrome paraphernalia. Oh, if there were only a chrome & black bumper icon of Terry Pratchetts' "anthropomorphic personification"...

Besides... The Batmobile=Batman. The Monkeemobile=The Monkees. The Weinermobile=A weiner? None for me, thanks... I'm driving!

Sept. 24:

Spending the night in the same basement bedroom where you spent the final 2 years of your marriage is a surreal experience. Confronted not only by the house projects that need doing [simple things that would drive me crazy because they're such quick fixes - loose kitchen faucet, bulbs need replacing, etc.], but also by an overwhelming sense of how new and opulent the house feels compared to the cramped 90 year old house in West Seattle. Still... Kayla (my dog) is really enjoying herself.

I discovered the '1001 Movies You Should Watch Before You Die' list, and was surprised by the sheer number of noteworthy films I've not yet seen. During the past 3 years, I've spent a lot of time critiquing cinema with an eye toward trying to improve my own story telling, and find something new to say cinematically with my own filmmaking projects. Last night, I watched a few of the silent classics from the list “A Trip To The Moon”, and re-watched “The Great Train Robbery”. I started watching “Les Vampyres”, a serialized silent film in 10 parts. I think I'll stick with the modern films since the slow pacing of these early silent classics make them almost impossible to sit through without sitting on the fast-forward button. One big caveat there...

I am NOT collecting films, nor attempting to see every film under the sun. Life is too short to fritter it away chasing lists of what someone else thinks is a great film. The intent is to use the list to pick from among great films when there's not an obvious choice of something to watch. I'm not a 'compulsive collector' in that way. But SPEAKING of NetFlix...

Another annoying thing happened at the office this week. Because the company I work for is owned by a bank, the bank's internet security squad tends to be somewhat authoritarian about which websites can and can not be browsed from a workstation desktop via the bluecoat web filter system. But to make up for this the company provides public 'kiosk' PC's on each floor from which to view personal email (like gmail, hotmail, etc) – of course, these kiosks filter out some web addresses that they shouldn't (like the online dating site OkCupid.com for example… big brother, please fix that!). This week, however, the 'blue coat bandits' went TOO FAR, and stole our ability to adjust our NetFlix Queues from a workstation desktop!!! Oh, I could understand if they wanted to block the on-line movie viewer… but the DVD queue?!?! Give me a break.

Sept. 22:

Mental Hygiene.

Although my right gluteus maximus is strained / pulled / painful - you read that correctly: I literally have a 'pain in the ass' - my mental hygiene seems to be just fine. On opening the mental floss cabinet, the resulting waft of air - though accompanied by a somewhat dank, musty smell [disuse?], shows no sign of rot, depravity, or self-loathing. The sane-o-meter shows green, as does the luciditometer, and the humorometer. Although I don't like to look at the humorometer... it can get old so quickly... probably needs more steam, or a new LED light to replace the burned out incandescent blinky light.

I'm thoroughly convinced that blackberries, iPhones, and iPods should be outlawed in bars and restaurants. Last night, the female/male ratio was great, but they were all clicking, and looking down at those tiny screens. I'm sure the next 'new old thing' will be an eyesight syndrome based on 'blackberry vision'. Oooooo... how about a line of those drug-store reading glasses repackaged specifically for PDA users. I'm sure SOMEONE has thought of this before. We could donate the proceeds to a fund to provide glasses to children (and adults) without access to descent opthamalogical care - starting right here in the USA. It was appalling to me to see the throngs of people who turned out this summer for free dental & medical care from RAM (Remote Area Medical Foundation) at their MASH-like 'field hospital' setup in the Los Angeles Staples Center. You want another sign that our health care system needs drastic reform? That was one of the best examples I've seen.

Sept. 21:

So what happened between early Sept. and now? Beatles Rock Band.

Yes, I picked up Beatles Rock Band for myself and my sons, and we've been having a great time playing, and singing Beatles tunes. They were a little blown away when I moved the difficulty straight to 'hard' on the vocals, then scored 100% on 4 out of 5 songs. It's a pity "If I Fell" isn't in the song-list... it's one of my favorites.

I saw the movie "Happy Endings" recently, and one scene early on had one of the women singing karaoke to Billy Joel's "Honesty" - I heard it, and thought... "I can sing that"... so I found it on YouTube, and gave it a try. I think being able to connect to the sentiment makes the lyric, and performance ring just that much truer, so next time there's a karaoke night, you can be sure I'll sing it.

Saturday, "This American Life" covered the story of Mark Whitacre, and his bizarre [but TRUE] story of how ADM was involved in fixing global pricing for the amino acid Lysine. The radio story was from 1999, and the events covered in the story were made into a comedy - "The Informant" - starring Matt Damon. It was an elegantly choreographed story with complex overtones, and rich deeper meanings - some of which were only hinted at in the film. But to have heard some of the actual hidden microphone tapes, then to see the same scenes dramatized in the movie served to add a bizarre, almost surreal, flavor to the epic story. Mr. Whitacre had some mental health issues to deal with... but in his own mind, he was the only sane one in the room. He was so deep in 'That River in Egypt', that he could not conceive of a world where his whistle blowing might cost him his job. On the contrary, he envisioned a future with himself rising quickly up the ranks to be President or CEO of ADM once all the 'evil price fixers' were locked away for their nefarious price fixing schemes. But his insistence on cleaning every leaf from his driveway by running the leaf blower at 2am... that was perfectly rational.

If you need a good laugh, check it out.

Sept. 20:

Two Days, Two Triathlons. Not as a participant, but as a kayak 'swim rescue' volunteer. Saturday was the MMLF triathlon (tri, tri, and tri again) at Cottage Lake in Woodinville. It was rainy, and cold, but still worth getting up at the crack-of-dawn-thirty.

As for today, sunny and warm for the Trekwomen Triathlon in Lake Washington. Saul was there with the kayaks, and around 15 other volunteers for kayaks. Add to that the 20-40 lifeguards, and the 1000+ participants, and you begin to get an idea of the mass of wonderfully healthy, happy people on the water this morning. What a GREAT DAY! Say Mary Meyers again, and her dog (the MM in MMLF is for Mary Meyers). She was a kayak / lifeguard supporter today - I need to ask her for another 'swag-hat' from the MMLF triathlon because at least one other person is threatening to steal mine... they like it that much.

So the load-out went smoothly, and I just got dropped off at the Greenlake Starbucks. I'm composing here while the Disney photos (from 3 weeks ago - WOW where has the time GONE!) upload to Costco for printing. Enjoy the sun!

Sept. 6:

I bought myself a new bicycle today - it's a Schwinn Jaguar 7-speed 'beach cruiser' bike. I had to buy some accessories, and from that, I can tell the bike is going to demand more, and more. First it was the water bottle holder, cable lock, and headlight. Next it's going to be a rear rack/shelf, and fenders.

But I can't wait to take it on a trip. Tomorrow I'm going to ride downtown, and maybe ride up to Seattle Center, and check out Bumbershoot. ;?> (How much are tickets to Bumbershoot, anyway?)

Tonight, it's NetFlix View Instantly, and popcorn with Kayla... my 4-legged daughter. (yes, she's a VERY pretty girl - something she always wants to be reminded of).

Sept. 5:

Last night, attended an end-of-summer party at Gasworks Gallery in Ballard to support Mashedpotatoes.org (i.e. Northwest Harvest foodbank). I took a 5 pound bag of russets, but wasn't really in the right mood to be meeting people. I went home from work exhausted, started to watch a DVD from NetFlix before the party, and about an hour before, was nodding off... so I took a quick nap. That 30 minutes was refreshing, but I woke up feeling lethargic, and not really ready to mingle. Forced myself out anyway, and saw plenty of people there - a good male/female ratio as well - but not many I found interesting. I would rather like to meet someone there who I saw just as I was leaving... Julie, I think... If it's meant to be, we'll meet again.

I'm feeling a bit silly about insisting there's 'someone out there I can get along with'... discouraged is the word of the week. So, I'm turning away from the 'dating' goals - they're not working anyway. I haven't yet met the woman to make love with 10,000 times - the 'marathon woman' who's more interested in long-ies than 'quickies'. I'm going to continue to focus on doing things I want to do: cycle the Iron Goat trail, hike the mountains before they get icy, and joining a dance lesson class. I might even consider joining a community band, and dusting off the ol' brass instrument.

And the travel last week was great. Now I'd really like to visit Disneyland in California again. Would it be a good place to go solo? hmmm... I'm betting I would be 'traveling solo, but never alone'. Could be fun.

Sept. 2.1:

What is up with GMail tonight? I can't get to my inbox to save my life. Are they really repeating their mistakes of Tuesday, and overloading their load balancers? Come one guys - get some business and operational sense: Learn from your mistakes.

I just realized my laptop has been running on batteries for at least an hour - I forgot to plug in the 'brick'... I'm trying to minimize my 'phantom power' usage so much that I always unplug the power bricks, phone chargers, etc. and have the TV/Computer on 'Smart Strips'. But to forget to plug it in... Doh!

Well, I've spent more time with the on-line dating sites this week than I'd planned - so now I'm looking forward to the Gasworks Gallery end of summer party Friday night at 8pm (via Meetup.com). From the list of 'yes' RSVP's to-date, it looks like it will be a good crowd. See you there!

Sept. 2:

I'm back from a week in the Florida sun, and an amazing time traveling with my sons, my mother, and my long-lost cousin from the UK's channel islands. Two days in the Magic Kingdom, two at Epcot, and one day split between Universal's "Islands of Adventure", and "Universal Studios Florida". We must have walked 10 miles each day, and it felt great to be out and about, and enjoying life with family.

The first two days back were spent getting a handle on issues at work. Last night I finally had time to get a descent haircut - so my hair is short again, and not soaking wet as it is in the photo I just uploaded from "Islands of Adventure" at Wimpee's hamburger stand. ("I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today")

In the on-line dating front, I read a VERY INTERESTING profile last night, and made the mistake of replying late after a long and tiring day... why doesn't OKCupid have a 'recall' button? I felt as if I was pouring my heart out, or at least that's what I was strangely compelled to do... but this morning I can't even bring myself to re-read it. I'm sure I wasn't at my best, and probably come across as a rambling idiot savant instead of a stable, and well grounded Mensan.
Note to self: never write a heart-felt email longer than a paragraph after a 10 hour day workday.

Then again, the 10 hour workdays - while few and far between - are not conducive to building a relationship. Which reminds me... I've been torn about whether to put 'Dating' or 'Long-Term' as my 'goal' for the on-line dating sites. Yes, I'm interested in a long-term relationship, but long-term relationships come after dating, right? I don't envision dropping right into a long-term relationship with anyone, but instead starting slowly by Dating - seeing someone off-and-on for a while, learning more about each other, and mutually 'choosing' each other as someone to pursue further. I don't want to be someone's "second choice", and I'm sure they don't want to be mine either.

As always: Be Happy!! (Misery has ENOUGH company)