Musings.

I've found myself embracing minimalism for a long time, and I am looking forward to moving so I can really take the chance to just completely rid myself of things that I don't need. I've eschewed my rather large CD collection for the opportunity to purchase music online (a large hard drive helps out a lot). I'm using the library a lot more for my book-reading needs. I'm just trying to keep everything down to nice and simple. I like simple.

On a side note, baseball season has started today, and MAN, do the Dodgers look good. Even though they're losing 8-5 right now to Atlanta, they look like a really good team. I love Opening Day. There has been baseball on TV for 5 hours now, and I get to be home and enjoy it instead of at work trying to catch up on scores on the Internet.

I kow we're getting a fairly decent-sized house (1200 square feet), but I am treating it like a much smaller space, so we can really maximize its potential. I've got Michelle talked into using the "Arizona Room" (I prefer to think of it as an enclosed patio, which it really is) as a den, with the bookshelves out there to act as an artificial wall to the washer and dryer. We might even get to keep the dining room set out there, because I am really looking forward to having some nice get-togethers out there, rather than having to go to other people's houses because we are in a somewhat cramped apartment.

That monster.com commercial, where people look so excited to be on the job? I seriously can't think of a job I would have where I would react like that. I think this job is one of the best I've ever had, and I still can't wait to get out of there at noon every day, and it's very hard for me to get the computer turned on to work from home. I think I'm going to have to talk to Michelle about me working until 1:30 and then coming home, with her working from 2-5 every day. I can tell you, that would probably be a lot easier, because right now, with working 7 straight hours without a formal break, I am getting burned out pretty quick near the end of my day at work, and any time after 11 AM is barely productive for me.

Goals, Week Ending 4/8/2006

1. Read 2 Corinthians 1 - Ephesians 1


2. Pack kitchen implements we're not going to use in the next month.


3. Get a moving checklist online and make sure we are caught up, then stick to it for the remainder of the month.


4. Complete the eternal bedroom project of get this stuff packed or else


5. I'm sure there's something I'm missing... sorting through to find out if I need it or not. Can't quite figure out what it is, though. So my goal is to figure out what it is.

Nothing else too spectacular this week. Just trying to keep my head above water here; last week was way too exhausting for me.

Week in Review, 4/1/2006

Two goals, 50% complete.

1. Read 1 Corinthians.


2. Tackled that file cabinet... finally. Wow, that's more work than I thought it would be, and getting it started throughout the week while trying to make up hours missed on Monday was too hard. I made a major dent in it on Saturday between Conference sessions, but I would be lying if I said I was anywhere near being done.

And that's it. I did get the cookbooks packed in the kitchen, for what it's worth.

KYO's Benoît on downloading music

You can listen to Ben's comments here.

OK, it's in French, but what he's saying is that the downloading of music is "drowning the development of new music", and that people who download music do not have any respect for the artistic process. I can see where he's going with this (he obviously thinks it's stealing, although I didn't hear that specific word in there).

As a musician myself and a former download addict, I do think that online radio and places to "audit" songs (for example, pandora.com) are the way to go to discover music that you really like when you're of an age and maturity to actively search it out (look at the demographic that radio generally appeals to, and you'll see that my observations are right).

And for the respect thing, I totally respect Ben and KYO -- I know that when I was their age, I could never do anything like that. I do wish that thrie music was more easily accessible here in the USA.

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On another note, I just heard Emma Daumas' song that she collaborated with Ben on. Wow. It's more of a standard pop song, but between this song and her work with Hanson on "Someone", she is going to be a pop force to be reckoned with for at least the next five years.

Assessing.

Scored a 65 on the Clean Sweep assessment today. I know it's the second time I've taken it, but for the life of me I don't know if this is an improvement or not.

Found out what "1066" was (the Norman Conquest). Besides that, I have all the other dates down well. I will continue to work with the list and relieve myself of any ignorance.

Random observation(s)

I think that living in my apartment complex has turned me into an old man. Yesterday some kids were playing outside, and I yelled at them to stop playing in the laundry room. Of course, they're not supposed to be playing in the laundry room, and one of the kids was terrorizing the other two with a small dog, but still. The look those kids gave me was the most incredible look of disdain I have ever seen.

It makes me wonder why I would even want to get into education, if kids are like that.

Signed the lease on the house on Tuesday evening. Can't wait to move in there.

Reading the book Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs To Know by E.D. Hirsch, Jr. It's a phenomenal read, however, since there are standards to measure myself against, I'm a bit worried. :-) The appendix is "What Literate Americans Know", and it's just a list. I'm interested in seeing what the list entails and how I stack up. I can tell you right now, the first item is "1066" and I have no clue what on Earth that is.

A columnist from Sports Illustrated used the word "ripe" instead of the word "rife." I don't know what's worse, the fact that someone is misusing an expression, or that the editor didn't catch it.

This ultra-smart playlist thing that I set up is really cool, but it's not weighted towards new music as much as I would like. I also don't know how to "reset" the smart playlists so the new music makes it into the mix sooner. For example, I have put 4 new CDs on the computer today, and I am still having to deal with all the Elvis Costello that was loaded on last week and sitting in the playlist. Actually, they're coming up pretty soon, which I shouldn't complain about, but I can't wait to get to the point where it's more of a MIX.

Goals, Week Ending 4/1/2006

Man, first week of April already!

1. Complete 1 Corinthians.


2. Have everything that is mine, in the bedroom, that is not clothes, packed in boxes or in the file cabinet, ready to go.

I'm not expecting much out of myself this week, and as you can see, the novel isn't even on there. With the doctor's appointment on Monday, that will probably be a "make-or-break" point in the week, and it's a shame that it's coming so early, but it's also a blessing as well, since the whole week won't be shot if it's good news.

Word of the week: "statusfaction"

STATUSFACTION n. What one feels after acquiring a large amount of material objects in order to make their friends and neighbors think more highly of them.

Week in Review, 3/25/2006

1. I read the Bible.


2. I am still working on the ultra .MP3 tagging project of doom. The good thing is, it's getting a lot easier... I realized that iTunes will do many of the things that Tag & Rename will do, which is a good thing, beause I was able to set up queries (read: smart playlists) to determine songs that I still needed to tag (with either year or genre). Still working on that. iTunes gets the import CD right more often than CDBXP, and I can tag the files as I import them.


3. Didn't happen. I'm going to have to take a different approach if I want to get the novel finished. I found an eHow on "How to Create a Convincing Villian" the other day... looks like I should read that. Also, you know, come up with a plot. That's really the one thing that the mystery is lacking. I have good format ideas, and the basis for some of the characters, but without a story, everyone's just going through the motions, and there's not much to write about when that happens.


4. Paperwork is next to the file cabinet, it just needs to go inside the file cabinet. Yeah, that's it.


5. Both the bookshelves and linen closet are almost packed. So, perhaps, it's a goal completed by attrition.

Other things happening this week that made this week rather busy and unconducive to accomplishing goals. I even tried to keep them short and sweet... oh well. We'll see how next week goes.

Another Update on the "500 Greatest CDs" Project

Number of CDs listened to so far: 53
Number of CDs on hold at the library: 1
Number of CDs reserved for checkout: 0 (whoops! How'd that happen?)
Number of Bob Dylan CDs: 7 (Missed one last time I counted)
Total CDs audited: 54
Number of CDs remaining: 439
Percentage complete: 12.2%

Hey, not bad! With the exception of not having ANY on hold, one to pick up (that I wasn't even aware of), and the 14 on my desk -- some of which I have yet to listen to, this isn't bad progress in a week. If I keep this kind of progress up, I will be done in just over 17 weeks (assuming 5%/week progress). This is not counting CDs not available at the library -- I don't know how I'm going to get those taken care of, because there are already some issues with that.

Time to get reserving!