Just a few random updates and thoughts — because I'm tired and really don't have the concentration for anything more coherent at the moment.
The Coal Bowl. I'm taking no sides and never will, and it looks like it's going to be around for ten more years. The whole concept is just so ludicrous and arbitrary. In fact, it reminds me of an old man putting boxing gloves on his sons and demanding they fight for his entertainment. I guess that's not entirely inaccurate.
Biking. Still at it, though not this evening. I went over three miles last night, which is still not Lance Armstrong territory, but is a gradual improvement. That's the goal, and it makes me happy. Meanwhile, Martha's boss has delivered a street bike to our house and left it in our garage — so now I have two. Cool!
Tapas. Let me get this straight... I'm supposed to pay more, and in return, get less to eat? Fuck that.
Dammit. Andrew's latest word of choice. No idea where he picked that up. To his credit, he is using it in a contextually correct fashion.
Linkage. If you ever use the Internet and realize there's a lot more to it than just poking around on Facebook, you owe it to yourself to visit Caslon Analytics. It's one of the most fascinating sites I've visited in a long time and it covers a multitude of relevant topics for the digital era. Go, peruse, enjoy.
Autumn. The leaves are starting to slightly change colors, the light is shifting in the sky, and with the exceptions of some storms in the forecast this weekend, we're in the middle of a stretch of mostly blue skies, a few random clouds, and pleasant temperatures. If AccuWeather is to be believed it's going to last for the next two weeks. I love it. But... I know what's coming.
Psych 101. I've recently realized one of my former supervisors had the singular goal in life of getting others to do his bidding, even people who had absolutely no reason to. This didn't necessarily make him a dick, and it had nothing to do with me at all — it's just how he was. It was a nice realization. By the way, his wife constantly did whatever she wanted and it drove him batshit crazy. Mmm... schadenfreude.
Earthquakes. West Virginia has been hit with a series of earthquakes over the last six months. They've all been minor, under 3.5 magnitude, which is about like a butterfly sneezing. I think it's interesting anyway. The Appalachians were formed from the collision of continental plates, just like other mountain ranges. Inevitably this means seismic activity. In the case of these West Virginia hills, the plates are no longer geologically active, which of course raises the question: how, exactly, can earthquakes occur along geologically inactive plate boundaries?
Say what? The Bed Intruder Song — if you could call it a song — has cracked the Billboard Hot 100 based solely on Internet sales, word of mouth, and people emailing it back and forth to each other. The "song" was made by running a news broadcast through a piece of software called Auto-Tune, which kind of made it... musical. I'm not sure if Billboard or music can be considered irrelevant as a result, but I do know if that's all it takes to get onto the Billboard charts anymore, it's an odd, odd thing.
And that's all I've got for now. For a short week, it has felt long and mentally draining... let the weekend recovery begin.