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April 30, 2007
More Power
Insert manly grunting noises here.
Continue reading "More Power"
Posted by dberger at 8:40 PM | Comments (0)
April 29, 2007
Good Times With New Friends
A couple months ago Mary mentioned that she and some friends were going to be in Port Angeles this weekend, and that we were invited to join them for a dinner party of sorts.
We arranged cat-sitting last night (I really don't want to contemplate having a diabetic cat without neighbors as amazing as Dave and Marcia) and left early, top down, to for the drive - figuring we'd stop at a few wineries on the way.
Continue reading "Good Times With New Friends"
Posted by dberger at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)
April 27, 2007
Wants and Needs
I want a DSLR - have done since before my failed attempt to buy one "for Dawnise" to take on her trip to S. Africa.
But I don't even remotely need one. And I'm really good at differentiating needs and wants, and de-prioritizing (and rate limiting) the latter.
Continue reading "Wants and Needs"
Posted by dberger at 1:47 PM | Comments (1)
April 26, 2007
Recent (Re)Discoveries
Dawnise found Fountains of Wayne a while back - though I'm not sure where - and recently I've actually listened to some of their stuff. It's light, a little fluffy, but not as much as I first thought.
More recently, she recommended Amos Lee, who I'm really enjoying. Somewhere between folk and soul, with plenty of smooth.
Check 'em out.
Posted by dberger at 1:21 PM | Comments (0)
April 19, 2007
Notifications
I just realized that I've posted a fair number of entries without remembering to send the email notifications. So if you're not getting this via RSS syndication and rely on email notification of updates, you might wanna pop in and see what you've missed.
Sorry 'bout that.
Posted by dberger at 8:49 PM | Comments (0)
Isaac's Storm
I just finished Isaac's Storm, another fantastic non-fiction narrative by Erik Larson of Devil in the White City and Thunderstruck.
Having just been in Galveston (albeit briefly) the story was very vivid - Dawnise and I walked along the seawall (built after the hurricane of 1900) looking out into the Gulf of Mexico. It's not hard to imagine the sea reclaiming that tiny spit of land - and taking thousands of lives in the process.
The book was "typical" Larson - well researched and compellingly and vividly told. If you've read his other works, add this to your "to-read" queue. If you haven't read the other works mentioned above - add them all.
Posted by dberger at 8:42 PM | Comments (0)
Musical Culdesac
I'm on the penultimate track of the Not Another Teen Movie soundtrack (on Rhapsody).
I'm not much into punk - and even if I were, more punk isn't what I want to hear - it's more cool renditions of 80's new-wave tunes by punk bands.
I'm at a musical culdesac - nowhere to go but somewhere else...
Update: Or, I could continue on to Punk Goes 80's (on Rhapsody). Nifty.
Oh yea, and Rhapsody rocks.
Posted by dberger at 2:31 PM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2007
Another of Life's Ironies
When I was a teen, I had time a plenty, and easy access to other gamers - but squirreling away the money for the next game book was a serious thing - especially given my fascination with two publishers that had churning out books down to a near science (TSR, then owner of the D&D and AD&D franchises, and Palladium Books, who had the ROBOTECH license).
Now, these years later, buying books isn't the problem - books I got a'plenty - it's finding the players, and the time. Who says the universe doesn't have a sense of humor?
Continue reading "Another of Life's Ironies"
Posted by dberger at 8:47 PM | Comments (0)
April 16, 2007
Living on an Island
I like where I live.
I really do - don't get me wrong. I like my house, I like my neighbors, I like the island.
But sometimes it is a pain in the arse.
Continue reading "Living on an Island"
Posted by dberger at 9:15 PM | Comments (0)
April 12, 2007
Neverwhere
I really like Neil Gaiman - loved the writing in Sandman (generally unimpressed with the art, though), thoroughly enjoyed American Gods, and just finished Neverwhere, which didn't disappoint.
I could describe it, or you could read the Amazon capsule summary - but just go get a copy from your local library and read it.
Posted by dberger at 3:38 PM | Comments (0)
April 11, 2007
New and Improved, To Take Longer!
The Washington State Ferry system has been rolling out a replacement to the ageing paper ticket system for frequent riders called Wave2Go.
They should have brushed up on their Queuing Theory - then perhaps they would have avoided more than tripling the time it takes to get cars and motorcycles through the ticket booth.
Continue reading "New and Improved, To Take Longer!"
Posted by dberger at 8:53 AM | Comments (0)
April 8, 2007
Loss
My uncle Alan died last week, on April 1st, after being removed from life support. I've sat down to write about it several times since we got home, maybe this time I'll actually finish...
We got a call last Saturday that he was going to be unplugged on Sunday, with as many family members who could be, and wanted to be, present. I wanted to be there to say good bye, all accounts were that the man was already gone - only the shell remained.
After discovering that flights would have cost us the better part of $1100, we hit the road Sunday morning for the drive down. We got a call from my dad just as we were crossing the OR/CA border that Alan had passed peacefully and quickly after being removed from the respirator.
Continue reading "Loss"
Posted by dberger at 10:36 AM | Comments (2)