I.Have.Moments

Ages hence, I wrote this, which I recall occasionally, and was entertained to reread (edited lightly for brevity and clarity):

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Maybe I'm not as smart as I sometimes think I might be, but the other day I bought some Shirakiku's "SOFT DRINK" becuase 5 of them were only 99¢, and I thought they might be entertaining to experience. Because the package advised to "KEEP FROZEN", I found them in the freezer just now. I popped one open, and... I don't know what to do with it. The... bottle, I guess, is 3 inches tall or so, with a mouth that's no bigger than 3/4 of an inch. The stuff inside looks like a kind of steady-state applesauce that might, theoretically, squoozle out. But it doesn't move.

My agile tongue can barely reach the bottle's innards, and, unique in the universe, gravity has no effect on it. So I just stare at the little container occasionally (like a mouth-breather contemplating a revolving door), wondering what alleged characteristic(s) make(s) it either soft or drinky.

What it needs, I think, is the soft touch of a radial saw, to really open up its mysteries.

終

How.About.That

Teaching a lesson earlier today, I saw “rack my brain”† for maybe the first time (as differentiated from "wrack my brain", with a W). Or, if I'd seen it before, I never noticed. So I checked some dictionaries to see if the problem lies with me or if I'd found a simple misspelling. That led me to this, which is fascinating.

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† See also, “nerve-racking”.

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2024.March.Watched

Curb Your Enthusiasm (S02E08-09) (MacBook)
Warriors-Knicks (MacBook)
Spurs-Thunder (MacBook)
Warriors-Raptors (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S02E10) (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S03E01) (MacBook)
Warriors-Bucks (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S03E02-08) (MacBook)
Warriors-Spurs (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S03E09-10) (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S04E01-02) (MacBook)
Warriors-Lakers (MacBook)
American Fiction (MacBook)
Anatomy of a Fall (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S04E03-05) (MacBook)
Warriors-Grizzlies (MacBook)
3 Body Problem (S01E01-03) (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S04E06) (MacBook)
3 Body Problem (S01E04) (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S04E07-08) (MacBook)
Saving Private Ryan (TV)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S04E09-10) (MacBook)
3 Body Problem (S01E05-07) (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S05E01) (MacBook)
3 Body Problem (S01E08) (MacBook)
Warriors-Heat (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S05E02-03) (MacBook)
Warriors-Magic (MacBook)
Warriors-Hornets (MacBook)
The Gentlemen (S01E01) (MacBook)

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48 titles watched.

終

2024.March.Albums

Years ago, back in the States, I started to listen to all of Dylan chronologically. And then iTunes decided to obliterate the "Dylan Discoveries" playlist I was making as I went along. That, and a cross-Ocean move, killed my progress. I've been meaning to complete it ever since – or to start again, it's been so long.

Well, in March, I started again. And, because of it, I ended up listening to a shitload of Dylan – and nothing else since starting. (As I write this, Beyonce's latest has been out and all-the-news, but remains unheard by me.)

The dude is incredible. His run from "Bob Dylan" to "Self Portrait" is absolutely top-shelf, world-class, extraordinary.

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25 titles – the most in a month thus far:

Thank You for Today – Death Cab for Cutie (iPhone)
String Along – The Kingston Trio (iPhone)
The Last Month of the Year – The Kingston Trio (iPhone)
Make Way – The Kingston Trio (iPhone)
Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan (iPhone)
Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan (iPhone & HomePod)
Another Side of Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan (iPhone & HomePod)
Bringing it All Back Home – Bob Dylan (iPhone & HomePod)
Times They Are a-Changing – Bob Dylan (iPhone & HomePod)
Highway 61 Revisited – Bob Dylan (iPhone)
Blonde on Blonde – Bob Dylan (iPhone)
John Wesley Harding – Bob Dylan (iPhone)
Nashville Skyline – Bob Dylan (iPhone)
Self Portrait – Bob Dylan (iPhone)
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid – Bob Dylan (iPhone)
Dylan – Bob Dylan (iPhone & HomePod)
Planet Waves – Bob Dylan (HomePod & iPhone)
Blood on the Tracks – Bob Dylan (iPhone)
The Basement Tapes – Bob Dylan & The Band (iPhone)
Desire – Bob Dylan (iPhone)
Street-Legal – Bob Dylan (iPhone)
Slow Train Coming – Bob Dylan (iPhone)
Saved – Bob Dylan (iPhone)
Shot of Love – Bob Dylan (iPhone)
Infidels – Bob Dylan (iPhone)

終

A.Little.Wit

I subscribed to Harper's magazine two months ago and have yet to receieve my first issue – or, enough time has passed, my second. Who knows if I ever will; I'm dubious.

In one of their subsriber e-mails, they liked to a 1961 article† about writing your Congressman/etc. It was both well done and timeless – aside from names, it could likely be published today mostly unchanged. It included this little bit, which I thoroughly enjoyed:

"Dear Sir: Fellow on the radio says to write your Congressman so just thought I'd drop you a line. Yours truly."

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† "The Easy Chair – Don't write your congressman, unless..."; June Issue, 1961.
終

2024.February.Albums

Codes and Keys – Death Cab for Cutie (iPhone)
Narrow Stairs – Death Cab for Cutie (iPhone)
The Photo Album – Death Cab for Cutie (iPhone)
The Photo Album – Death Cab for Cutie (HomePod)
Thank You for Today – Death Cab for Cutie (iPhone)
Kintsugi – Death Cab for Cutie (iPhone)
Traveling On EP – The Decemberists (iPhone)
Picaresque – The Decemberists (iPhone)
I’ll Be Your Girl – The Decemberists (iPhone)
The King is Dead – The Decemberists (iPhone)
The King is Dead – The Decemberists (iPhone)
Picaresque – The Decemberists (iPhone)
Picaresque – The Decemberists (iPhone)
Thank You for Today – Death Cab for Cutie (iPhone)
Codes and Keys – Death Cab for Cutie (iPhone)
Ultimatum (Expanded Edition) – The Long Winters (iPhone)
Picaresque – The Decemberists (iPhone)

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Look, the point of this was to listen to more full albums, primarily full albums I've never/rarely heard before.

I know that. But I did not stick to that in February....

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17 titles.
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2024.February.Watched

Daguerréotypes (MacBook)
Rue Daguerre in 2005 (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S01E01-03) (MacBook)
Baldwin’s Nigger† (MacBook)
Hawks-Warriors (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S01E04) (MacBook)
Warriors-Sixers (MacBook)
Warriors-Pacers (MacBook)
Warriors-Suns (MacBook)
Warriors-Jazz (MacBook)
Clippers-Warriors (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S01E05-06) (MacBook)
Warriors-Jazz (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S01E07-08) (MacBook)
Steph-vs-Sabrina Three-Point Challenge (MacBook)
NBA Skills Challenge (MacBook)
NBA Three-Point Contest (MacBook)
NBA Slam Dunk Contest (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S01E09) (MacBook)
NBA All-Star Game 2024 (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S01E10) (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S02E01-05) (MacBook)
Warriors-Lakers (MacBook)
Warriors-Lakers (MacBook)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (S02E06-07) (MacBook)
Warriors-Wizards (MacBook)
Lakers-Clippers (MacBook)

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36 titles.

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† Not a comfortable title to type....

終

2024.January.Watched

Knight and Day (TV)
Center Stage (TV)
Fame (TV)
Warriors-Magic (MacBook)
Nuggets-Warriors (MacBook)
Billy Elliot (TV)
Warriors-Pistons (MacBook)
Raptors-Warriors (MacBook)
Pelicans-Warriors (MacBook)
Warriors-Bulls (MacBook)
Grizzlies-Warriors (MacBook)
A Letter to Three Wives (MacBook)
When We Were Kings (MacBook)
The Last Detail (MacBook)
The Rumble in the Jungle (MacBook)
Flight (MacBook)
The Swimmer (MacBook)
Sixers-Spurs (MacBook)
Warriors-Hawks (MacBook)
Bucks-Cavs (MacBook)
Kings-Warriors (MacBook)
Mavs-Hawks (MacBook)

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Only 22 titles. I was busy doing stuff – holidays, birthday, etc.

終

2024.January.Sneezes

You want a fucking outlier? Here's a fucking outlier:

January's sneeze total was 113.

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It stands to reason that the one with the most-ever would be a 31-day month, but this isn't even close to that being an appreciable factor.

I've had only a couple/few months with mid-90s sneezes – only a few at most, in over 4 years. January's was almost 20 more sneezes than that.

And the month started off slow! A few days in, I'd only had maybe one or two sneezes, but then I was assaulted by god or whatever. In one day, I think I had 10 (maybe 12? – it was intense, regardless) sneezes. Nearly blew the damned doors off!

It was wild.

終

2024.January.Albums

I've been meaning for some time to listen to some 1960's folk albums. My dad loved the music and often played it. Enough time has passed since he died that the idea of listening to them isn't as much of a third-rail anymore. But, still, I hadn't actually started to. Tommy Smothers died in late December and that was enough of a catalyst to start me doing just that. And so I did. Here are the complete albums I listened to in January:

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The Kingston Trio (Live songs) – The Kingston Trio (iPhone)
The Kingston Trio – The Kingston Trio (iPhone)
The Kingston Trio At Large – The Kingston Trio (iPhone)
Here We Go Again – The Kingston Trio (iPhone)
Peter, Paul and Mary, 1962 – Peter, Paul & Mary (iPhone)
Sold Out – The Kingston Trio (iPhone)
Peter, Paul and Mary, 1962 – Peter, Paul & Mary (iPhone)
The Two Sides of the Smothers Brothers – The Smothers Brothers (iPhone)
Curb Your Tongue, Knave! – The Smothers Brothers (iPhone)

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Only 9 albums, but January is always a weird month – holidays and birthday, etc.

終

Time.Gets.Away

Leaves you with nothing, Mr, but unfulfilled intentions.

Wanted to mention that, as I said on Mastadon, listening to Death Cab for Cutie albums (I default to a handful of albums; it's a bad habit but they're damned good), I noticed "Thank You for Today".

At first I was like, "The fuck is that?" but then I started playing it and shit myself. It came out just before Covid, as I recall, and I listened to it enough times to memorize the lyrics, before completely (somehow) forgetting it existed. So I've listened to it a buncha times since and it's damned good.

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There are other things, too, I want to mention here, and will, as time/motivation allows.

終