1,200 Miles Update

Progress report on my attempt at going 1,200 miles in 2011.  I way, way, way outdid myself in February.  In January, I went just under 165 miles.  I thought that was fantastic.  The goal I need to hit each month is just 100 miles, so I was well underway.  February I went above and beyond the call of duty, thanks to my obsessive nature.  I just got home from the gym and tonight's workout brought me up to 221.26 miles for the month and 385.40 for the year to date.  I'm less than 15 miles away from my April goal.  APRIL!  I wasn't even going to go tonight, but I kind of overdid it on candy at work today and I guilted myself into going.  

I've been saying this a lot to myself lately, but I'm really proud of all I'm doing.  I'm extremely hard on myself a lot of the time and never let myself bask in the glory of things I accomplish, but this time I going to enjoy the pride.

Lazy Sunday

It's been a mostly lazy Sunday and I think I really needed it.  I haven't done much of anything today.  I did get up bright and early to hit the gym and spent only about fifteen minutes shoveling the driveway (third day in a row... enough already!), but that was my entire list of chores for the day.  Most of the rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent web surfing and listening to music.  I also foresee a nap in my near future.  I love days like this.  So much.

I've been listening to Heaven 17 and OMD this morning.  I've been listening to both those bands a lot lately.  But not just those two.  Human League, Ultravox, Spandau Ballet, Naked Eyes, Kajagoogoo.....  All sorts of mid-80s, new romantic bands.  All the stuff I loved in high school.  I don't know why it's all come raging back so hard lately, but I have to say I'm enjoying the hell out of it all.  There's a certain, I don't know... warmness to the cold synths.

I really don't have anything to say.  :-)

Winter Kills

Sigh.  Another snowstorm has hit the area.  This one was a little different than all the others we've had this winter.  First of all, none of the local newscasts would try to predict what this one was going to do.  That's kind of scary because they tell us what they think every storm is going to do, whether they're right or wrong.  This one, as of last night, was still a big mystery.  It was already snowing when I got up this morning at 5:30.  It must have just started because by the time I left for work, we had maybe only an inch on the ground.  The roads were slick, but passable and the snow was coming down pretty hard.  People started talking about leaving around lunchtime today, so at 11am, I checked the news again.  I've never seen such a varied forecast before.  Our local NBC affiliate said we were going to end up with 3 to 5 inches of snow.  CBS said 5 to 8 and ABC said 8 to 12.  ABC is looking like the winner.  We've got a lot of snow again.  And another reason this storm is different is it's the first one all winter where the snow is the heavy and wet variety.  I've got to tell you what a joy it was to shovel this afternoon.  I snapped a bunch of pictures today that I'm going to share now.

This is the view out of my office.  I'm at the back of the building and it's not really the nicest view, but at least I'm near a window.

I left work at noon and waited an hour before my bus finally showed up.  That was a real joy.

Another bus stop shot.

And another.

And another.  The one thing I really love about this kind of snow is how it sticks to the trees.  I think the way it sits in the trees is really, really pretty.

I snapped a couple pictures while driving.  Probably not the brightest idea, but it's so pretty out there.

When I got home, the snow was plowed too high at the base of my driveway for me to get my car in.  I had to park on the street while I dug out.  It took me about an hour and fifteen minutes to shovel the driveway.  I had about two shovelfuls of snow left when Ken got home.  Naturally.

Another shot of the back yard.  I keep saying it, but I just love the way the trees look with all that snow.

And because I'm a glutton for punishment, shoveling wasn't nearly enough for me.  I was home long enough to eat lunch and then I went to the gym.  Shitty roads be damned!!  I did learn a valuable lesson, though.  Never eat as big a lunch as I did and then go to the gym.  While I only had salad for lunch, it was massive and didn't have a chance to do anything but sit in my stomach while I worked out.  I had to stop a couple times because I thought I was going to lose my lunch all over the elliptical.  But I got my workout in and now have the rest of the evening to do whatever I want.  I believe what I'll be doing is....

...watching this.

Oh Whoa Is Me

It's kind of, sort of one of those "oh whoa is me" posts.  I hate when I feel this way.  Especially after having such a fantastic day yesterday.  But I had my second lousy night of sleep in a row and that's usually the cause of the state of mind I find myself in today.  But since I'm completely aware of why I'm feeling down and about what I'm feeling down, that kind of negates half of it, right?  I just know that if I can get a solid night of sleep tonight, I'll feel so much better tomorrow.

Tonight is one of my off nights for the gym.  The biggest reason (and it's lame, I know, so shut up already) is because Survivor is on tonight.  My friend Sharon and I watch it together, kind of, every week.  She at her house, me at mine and we discuss during the commercials.  Tonight, though, she has plans and won't be home to watch it live.  Knowing that I'm not constricted by time restraints tonight, I seriously considered going to work out some of my frustrations.  I always feel so good when I'm done and drenched, but I realized that my four day a week schedule is quickly becoming a six or seven day a week schedule.  Today is the first day I haven't gone since last Wednesday.  I'm really trying to avoid going every single day.  I get very obsessive with things and suddenly that's my entire world.  The gym is quickly becoming that to me and that's scaring me.  I can feel that a large part of my self esteem is tying itself up in the gym and that's not healthy.  What I really should do is the complete opposite of what my heart is telling me to do.  When Survivor comes on, I need to sit my ass in front of the tv with a big bowl of ice cream and enjoy.  

I've noticed that I have a new recurring theme in my dreams lately.  All the dreams are different, but they all somehow involve Ken and I moving.  Last night we were moving into a big, old warehouse.  I need to google what dreams about moving mean.  I'm kind of afraid what I'll find out.

*Gasp*

I'm bummed out.  I have two external hard drives as well as my computer's internal one.  I got my first external because my computer's internal was getting full, plus I have all my music on it and wanted a back up, just in case something happened.  I got my second external because my computer's internal drive was almost completely full.  I wanted to move all my music off of the internal and onto one external while backing it up to the other external.  Last night I discovered that my first external was shot.  Nothing I could do could get me to access anything on the drive.  The computer offered me the option of formatting the drive, but that was it.  I tried everything I could to try and recover the files on the drive, but to no avail.  Everything on it is gone.  Luckily, most of it was just duplicate files of things that I have elsewhere.  However, there's one thing on there that I never got around to backing up on the other external.  I've been meaning to do it, but never think of it.  That would be... my porn.  I lost it all.  But the drive appears to be back to working again.  Time to back the music up before something tragic like this happens again.

Hand update.  If the pain I was feeling yesterday, on a scale of one (no pain) to ten (worst pain), was a ten, today it was a two.  What I didn't realize was we had a massive storm front moving through the area.  Yesterday it was in the fifties, today in the twenties with lots of blowing wind and some snow.  My body has been working it's way towards becoming a living barometer over the last few years.  Usually weather like this in the winter affects my wrists, while summer weather like this I feel in my shoulder.  It's now moved my my hands.  Joy.

I hit another goal in my attempt at going 1,200 miles this year.  Today I passed the 300 mile mark.  I feel so good about this.  I'm more than a month ahead of schedule on this challenge.  I should be close to 350 miles by the end of the month if I keep up the pace I'm currently on.

Hand

I hurt my hand.  I'm not sure what I did to it, but my right hand hurts like a fuck.  I might have messed it up yesterday when I got home from work.  The temperature has been milder than usual lately, so I took the pick tool thingie (I don't know what it's called) and tried to break up some of the ice from around the mailbox and the end of the driveway.  I think I sprained my hand or something.  I'm not happy about it.  It seems that once I'm feeling great and I'm ache and pain free, something comes up.  My feet are finally feeling better, my wrists are feeling so much better than they were last week, so the pain has got to go somewhere.  Hopefully a day or two and it will feel better again, too.

Comics In My Future

Both DC and Marvel announced their upcoming books for May 2011 this week.  Not that anyone really cares but me, but here's what I'm planning on buying out of the books that are coming.  Seems to be a rather lackluster (at least for me) month.






GREEN LANTERN #66 
Written by GEOFF JOHNS 
Art by DOUG MAHNKE and CHRISTIAN ALAMY
Cover by DOUG MAHNKE
1:10 Variant cover by CLAYTON CRAIN
The blockbuster “War of the Green Lanterns” takes it toll! Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart and Kyle Rayner fight on against their fellow Lanterns – and the carnage escalates to savage heights. And how will the other New Guardians capitalize on it?
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.




GREEN LANTERN CORPS #60
Written by TONY BEDARD
Art and cover by TYLER KIRKHAM and MATT “BATT” BANNING
1:10 Variant cover by CLAYTON CRAIN
John Stewart and Kyle Rayner figure out their roles in the coming end the “War of the Green Lanterns” – but what that means will rock the Corps to its core!
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.




GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD WARRIORS #10
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
Art by FERNANDO PASARIN and CAM SMITH
Cover by FELIPE MASSAFERA
1:10 Variant cover by CLAYTON CRAIN
“War of the Green Lanterns” continues! Guy Gardner has seen the deadly prophecy of Krona – but what can he possibly do to stop it?
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.




ACTION COMICS #901
Written by PAUL CORNELL
Art and Cover by KENNETH ROCAFORT
1:10 Variant cover by DAN JURGENS
We can’t tell you much about this issue without ruining some of ACTION COMICS #900’s surprises, but suffice it to say, Doomsday’s back – and you’ve never seen him like this before! Doomsday’s first appearance brought about the “Reign of the Supermen,” where four characters – Superboy, Steel, Cyborg Superman, and Eradicator – came onto the scene to try to fill Superman’s shoes. Now, with “Reign of Doomsday,” it looks like Superman might need to fill their shoes!




FLASHPOINT #1
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by ANDY KUBERT
1:25 Variant cover A by ANDY KUBERT
Variant cover B by IVAN REIS and GEORGE PÉREZ
Not a dream, not an imaginary story, not an elseworld. This is Flash Fact: When Barry Allen wakes at his desk, he discovers the world has changed. Family is alive, loved ones are strangers, and close friends are different, gone or worse. It’s a world on the brink of a cataclysmic war – but where are Earth’s Greatest Heroes to stop it? It’s a place where America’s last hope is Cyborg, who hopes to gather the forces of The Outsider, The Secret 7, S!H!A!Z!A!M!, Citizen Cold and other new and familiar-yet-altered faces! It’s a world that could be running out of time, if The Flash can’t find the villain who altered the time line!
Welcome to FLASHPOINT!




THE FLASH #13
Written by GEOFF JOHNS and SCOTT KOLINS
Art and cover by SCOTT KOLINS
1:10 Variant cover by ANDY KUBERT
THE ROAD TO FLASHPOINT concludes! His name is Eobard Thawne. He is the fastest man alive. He is the Flash of the 25th Century. You know who he is and how he got his speed. But you don’t know the rest of the story. Find out how Thawne went from Flash to Reverse-Flash and what his mission is next in this unlucky thirteenth issue on the Road to FLASHPOINT!
Retailer please note: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the Previews Order Form for more information. 




JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #57
Written by JAMES ROBINSON
Art and cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
1:10 Variant cover by ED BENES
Eclipso’s master plan is revealed at last! But how can even he achieve such an outrageous goal? And how does it hinge on his control of the moon and the Emerald City of the Starheart? The JLA must fight Eclipso’s ever-growing Shadow Army while looking for answers in a race against time to prevent The End of Days while he targets the next pawn in his plan of ultimate control: The Spectre. Plus, Obsidian is back...but whose side is he on?




DETECTIVE COMICS #877
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Art and cover by JOCK
Batman plunges deeper into the mystery surrounding the brutal murder of a young woman whose body was found in the belly of a killer whale. But his detective skills lead him into a deadly trap set in motion by some of the Gotham Underworld’s newest and most fearsome players. Don’t miss the finale of “Hungry City!”




BATMAN #710
Written by TONY DANIEL
Art by TONY DANIEL & RYAN WINN
Cover by TONY DANIEL
Two-Face is back! As an unknown villain targets Two-Face and other Gotham City crimelords for extermination, Batman discovers that Kitrina Falcone, a.k.a. “CATGIRL,” is next on the hit list! Can he save the junior mobster in time? And will helping Kitrina force Catwoman to get involved?




BATWOMAN #2
Written by J.H. WILLIAMS III and W. HADEN BLACKMAN
Art and cover by J.H. WILLIAMS III
1:10 Variant cover by AMY REEDER
Horror! A terrifying new villain stalks the innocent children of Gotham City.
Intrigue! A threatening government agency is hot on Batwoman’s trail.
Romance! Kate Kane’s new relationship is heating up.
It’s all here for our heroine! Can Batwoman stop the new evil rising from the damp back alleys of Gotham’s barrios and overcome the many challenges she faces as both Batwoman and Kate Kane? 2011’s most anticipated new ongoing series intensifies in this exciting second installment of the 5-part “Hydrology” storyline!




BIRDS OF PREY #12
Written by GAIL SIMONE
Art and cover by JESUS SAIZ
They’ve had the growing pains, the split-ups and the reunions. Now it’s time to see the Birds of Prey do the dirty jobs no one else can. When a mysterious yet familiar villain threatens to organize all East Coast criminal activity, from loan sharking to illegal arms trading, Oracle is forced to test the limits of the Batman Incorporated strategy, using her own operatives as pawns in a battle for the soul of Gotham City!




SUPERMAN #711
Written by J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI & CHRIS ROBERSON
Art by EDDY BARROWS & J.P. MAYER
Cover by JOHN CASSADAY
1:10 Variant cover by DAVE JOHNSON
Superman meets Sin City as the “Grounded” storyline takes The Man of Steel to Las Vegas! But waiting there for Superman is an out-of-control Livewire, who has become more powerful and erratic than ever. Can Superman (with the help of Jimmy Olsen) shut her down before she shuts all of Vegas down, and more important, is Superman somehow responsible for her condition?




ADVENTURE COMICS #526
Written by PAUL LEVITZ
Art by GERALDO BORGES and MARLO ALQUIZA
Cover by EDUARDO PANSICA and EBER FERREIRA
A “Legion Academy” single-issue story starring the enthusiastic (and slightly spacey) Legionnaire-in-training, Comet Queen! We learn her origin tale and the tragedies she has endured on her path to graduation. 




LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #13
Written by PAUL LEVITZ
Art and cover by YILDIRAY CINAR and WAYNE FAUCHER
The battle with the Legion of Super-Villains rages on as the fate of the planet Colu hangs in the balance!




TEEN TITANS #95
Written by J.T. KRUL
Art and cover by NICOLA SCOTT and DOUG HAZLEWOOD
Trapped in a dangerous world of monsters from Hindu lore, The Teen Titans are being hunted down. Will Superboy be the next to fall? And for what dark purpose does the Demon King Rankor need our heroes? Don’t miss the next chapter of Solstice’s first adventure with the team!




TITANS #35
Written by ERIC WALLACE
Art and cover by FABRIZIO FIORENTINO
After his teammates’ betrayal and the loss of another eye, Deathstroke must reunite the splintered group if they’re to have any hope of escaping Drago’s island. Meanwhile, Osiris and Isis return to Kahndaq to reclaim their thrones, and the Tattooed Man returns home to Liberty Hill, where he runs into Vixen. 




ZATANNA #13
Written by PAUL DINI
Art by JAMAL IGLE and JON SIBAL
Cover by ADAM HUGHES
Satanic sorcerer Brother Night lost his magical powers when Zatanna defeated him atop Mount Diablo. But in prison, he’s forged a bloody pact that could make him the most dangerous nemesis she’s ever faced! Last time, her friends barely escaped with their lives; this time, they might not be so lucky!




BATMAN: KNIGHT AND SQUIRE TP
Written by PAUL CORNELL
Art by JIMMY BROXTON
Cover by YANICK PAQUETTE
In a secret bar within the city where magic is used to keep the peace, heroes and villains gather to enjoy a pint and talk about their days. But what happens when the magical barriers that prevent fighting are dropped and a building full of heroes and villains confront each other all at once? Knight and Squire have to save both friend and foe in this tale from the 6-issue miniseries from writer Paul Cornell (ACTION COMICS) and artist Jimmy Broxton (THE UNWRITTEN).




ARKHAM ASYLUM: MADNESS TP
Written by SAM KIETH • Art and cover by SAM KIETH
It is the most feared house in all of Gotham City. It contains the worst that the city has to offer. It is the place the Dark Knight’s most dangerous and psychotic foes call home. Writer/artist Sam Kieth, creator of THE MAXX, invites you to spend 24 hours in Arkham Asylum, the most unsettling house in the DC Universe, in this original Batman graphic novel.




TALES OF BATMAN: GENE COLAN VOL. 1 HC
Written by GERRY CONWAY, ROY THOMAS, PAUL LEVITZ and DOUG MOENCH • Art by GENE COLAN and others
Cover by GENE COLAN and DICK GIORDANO
For the first time, DC Comics collects the moody Batman stories drawn by comics legend Gene Colan, with appearances by some of Batman’s greatest foes, including Man-Bat, The Monk, Rupert Thorne and more. Collecting BATMAN #340, 343-345 and 348-351 and DETECTIVE COMICS #510, 512, 517, 528 and 529.




BATMAN: THE STREETS OF GOTHAM – THE HOUSE OF HUSH HC
Written by PAUL DINI • Art by DUSTIN NGUYEN and DEREK FRIDOLFS
Cover by DUSTIN NGUYEN
Cracking under the strain of living as Bruce Wayne, Tommy Elliot plans his final, murderous revenge on Dick Grayson, Selina Kyle and other members of Bruce’s friends and allies. Can Dick and Damian thwart Tommy’s plans – or will the end of Hush require the return of Bruce Wayne? Collected from STREETS OF GOTHAM #12-14 and 16-20!




AQUAMAN: DEATH OF A PRINCE TP
Written by STEVE SKEATES, PAUL LEVITZ and others
Art by MIKE GRELL, JIM APARO and others • Cover by JIM APARO
Don’t miss this dramatic 1970s tale from ADVENTURE COMICS #435-437, 441-455 and AQUAMAN #57-63! As Aquaman faces his greatest foes, Black Manta plans his ultimate revenge on the Sea King – resulting in the death of Aquaman’s infant son and the dissolution of his marriage. 




GREEN ARROW: INTO THE WOODS HC
Written by J.T. KRUL
Art by DIOGENES NEVES and VICENTE CIFUENTES
Cover by MAURO CASCIOLI
A new era begins in this title spinning out of BRIGHTEST DAY, from the first six issues of the hot new series.
After Star City was devastated by an attack by the villain Prometheus in the pages of JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE, the White Lantern Ring gave birth to a massive, mysterious forest located at the center of the destruction. Now, Green Arrow lives in the woods and strikes against crime and corruption as a modern day Robin Hood.




POWER GIRL: BOMB SQUAD TP
Written by JUDD WINICK
Art and cover by SAMI BASRI
In these stories from issues #13-18 of her series, Power Girl finds herself mysteriously unaware of the period in her life when Max Lord was pulling her strings as part of Justice League International. Meanwhile, the distractions of being a heroine cause her business to falter as her friends and co-workers disappear. 




STRANGE ADVENTURES #1
Written by BRIAN AZZARELLO, SCOTT SNYDER, PETER MILLIGAN and others
Art by EDUARDO RISSO, JEFF LEMIRE, KEVIN COLDEN and others
Cover by PAUL POPE
1:10 Variant cover by MARK BUCKINGHAM
Don’t miss this eighty page collection of science fiction short stories from some of Vertigo’s all-time greats, as well as the hot new talents of tomorrow! From the far reaches of space to the not so distant future, we bring you eight science-fiction stories as only Vertigo can do them. Plus: the Eisner Award-winning 100 BULLETS team of Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso reunite to bring you the first chapter of their upcoming new series SPACEMAN! 




X-MEN: EARTH’S MUTANT HEROES #1
Written by VARIOUS
Select Character Artwork by GUS VAZQUEZ
Cover by KALMAN ANDRASOFSZKY
All things mutants take center stage in this all-new collection of Handbook-style profiles! Featuring X-Men members (Madison Jeffries/Box, Paulie Provenzano, Wraith/Hector Rendoza), trainees (Onyxx, Ink/Eric Gitter), allies (Fred Duncan, Tom Corsi, Candy Southern, Shortpack), the evil (Cortex, X-Cutioner, Amelia Voght, Zaladane, Black Womb) and the lesser-known (Litterbug, Jazz, Arize, Jack in the Box, Crule), and updates for the big guns (Professor X, Magneto, Emma Frost, Beast, Mystique). And because you demanded it: Joseph gets a profile at last! Plus: brand-new Gus Vazquez art for the majority of profiles!




NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT ANNUAL #1
Written by JAMES ASMUS
Penciled by MAX FIUMARA
Cover by BLACK FROG
“Escape from the Negative Zone”
The Annual Event of 2011 comes to a conclusion! The X-Men! Steve Rogers! The Negative Zone! Blastaar is after our heroes, but what if we told you he wasn’t their biggest problem? What if we told you that the lack of water and bizarre physics of the Negative Zone had driven Namor crazy. What if we told you he was so crazy that he’s destroying everything in his path, even his friends? THE ANSWER IS THAT YOU WOULD BUY THIS BOOK!

Meh

I mentioned the other night that I was taking today off from work.  The reason was because the exterminator was coming to set traps in the attic.  For the last few weeks, Ken's been convinced we have a mouse.  He keeps hearing something in the wall and Ollie kind of just stares at one wall in particular for hours at a time.  I thought he was overreacting when he said he called the exterminator, but he's prone to overreact and after nearly 17 years, you'd think I'd be used to it by now.  So the guy comes out on Friday to do an inspection and he doesn't find any evidence that we have mice, but he does find evidence of squirrels and chipmunks, as well as a big hornets nest in the attic.  Arrangements are made for someone to come and put traps in the attic, remove the nest and whatever else has to be done.  Our appointment was for 8 to 9 am today.  I took the day off to let them in to set the traps.  The rest of the day I planned on spending on myself, maybe go shopping and treat myself to lunch.  At 10 o'clock I called to find out where the hell my guy way.  I got a lot of run around on the phone and was ultimately told that my appointment was cancelled and rescheduled for late afternoon.  What's awesome about this is they never called to let us know this.  I kind of had a little hissy fit on the phone and was promised that someone would be there as soon as possible.  I was promised between 12:30 and 2.  I was really annoyed because I was basically being kept prisoner in my own home.  Since I knew I had at least 2 1/2 hours, I went to the gym to work out some of the aggression I was feeling.  I didn't realize how pissed off I was until I saw I did nearly 9 miles in one hour.  I think that might be a new record.  As the afternoon ticked on and no one was showing up, I called back.  This time it was about 1:45.  When I was told that the guy wasn't even on his way yet, I kind of exploded.  I was NOT happy.  And I made sure the person at the office I was speaking with knew this.  I was mindful to not scream at her, but I just started going off about how unprofessional this was, what a horrible first impression her company was giving, how I'm stuck waiting when I have to get to work (okay, so I lied about that, but still, I was PISSED.)  The guy finally showed up at 2:45.  

Now if this wasn't bad enough, I made the mistake of calling Ken after I called them the first time.  I just wanted to let off some steam, but since he's the world's biggest co-dependent, this exploded in my face.  This led him to keep calling me to offer "advice."  Ken's "advice" is hardly that.  And if that wasn't bad enough, I get home from the gym to find him sitting on the couch.  He came up with a bullshit excuse to come home to check up on me.  As if I wasn't already pissed off enough about the exterminator, he just made it worse.  Finally, once the exterminator was gone, I headed out of the house.  I needed to get out and have a little "me" time.  I'm not in the car 10 minutes before he called and decided it was best that we had an early dinner.  Honestly, it was the last thing in the world I wanted at the time, but if you know Ken, if I didn't give in, he would just make it worse.  Not in a malicious kind of way, but in a he-thinks-he's-being-helpful kind of way.

This was not the day off I had envisioned.  I'm kind of emotionally spent and may actually climb into bed.  It's not even 9 o'clock.  How sad is that?

I Ordered This Last Night

Weekend

Random thoughts from the weekend.  

Last night I spent about an hour trying to fix an issue with the Norton update I installed on my computer.  I ordered a new disc and it came on Friday.  I installed it yesterday afternoon and then went about my business.  A few hours later I came back to the computer with a big error message on my screen.  I contacted Norton via their website, was immediately connected to a tech (no wait?  For real?  YES!) and he spent an hour trying to fix what was causing the error.  It took him longer than he thought, but no big whoop.  I wasn't going anywhere.  For the extra time it took, he credited my account with an extra 30 days of service.  I was surprised that they would even do this.  Bully for me!

I've gotten a little too obsessed with going to the gym.  I need to pull back a little.  We're almost half way through the month and there have only been two days that I haven't gone.  That's way more than the schedule I have set for myself.  But with all those visits, as of this afternoon, I've officially hit my 100 mile for the month goal.  For February, I'm at 103.98 miles (and counting.)  Add to that what I've done in January, I'm at 268.12 miles.  I should have no trouble passing 300 miles by the end of the month.  I like having that extra cushion just in case something happens.  I don't want to fall behind.  

Oh, and I've slightly modified my 1,200 mile goal for the year.  I now want to go 1,233.8 miles.  Why such a random number?  I put my address into Google Maps as the start and Walt Disney World as the finish and the distance is 1,233.8 miles.  At least by car it is.  If I drew a straight line between my house and WDW, I'm sure it would come in below 1,200.

My stories are starting back up this week.  Wednesday is the start of Survivor and I believe next Sunday Amazing Race is back.  My television viewing has been at a low lately, not that I'm complaining.  I'll start bitching once more of my shows start showing up again and I have trouble keeping up.

I have to take Tuesday off this week, but more about that later.

Design Crushes

Ken tapes a lot of design shows on DIY Network and HGTV.  I end up watching a lot of them with him.  While I couldn't tell you too much about any of them, there are a couple designers I have little crushes on.  The first one is Matt Muenster.  He hosts a show called Bath Crashers.  He trolls a hardware store until he can find someone willing to let him come to their house and give them a full bathroom remodel.  He's kind of cute, but he's kind of not cute at all.  But he's mostly kind of cute.

The second one is John Gidding.  He's the designer on Designed To Sell, one of my least favorite design shows out there.  The show is incredibly contrived, horribly staged and just plain uncomfortable to watch.  It's scripted to it's death and beyond.  It's really bad.  But John is so pretty that I don't care.  

Here's a clip from the show Portlandia.  I wish there were more clips from this episode available to post.  It was hysterical.  To briefly sum up the episode, the music industry has completely crashed and to make ends meet, Aimee Mann has turned to cleaning houses.  She ends up working for these two douchebags, who happen to be huge fans of hers.  But more importantly, they're douchebags.

Ultravox - Vienna

Another song I consider a perfect pop song. Also, another song I accidentally posted on my photo blog. It's had being pretty.

The Human League - Louise

Because I'm retarded, I accidentally posted this over on my picture blog. I meant to post it here the other night.

This song came on while I was at work the other day and I stopped everything I was doing and just got lost in it. I've always loved this song. It's a great example of the perfect pop song to me. Don't you agree?

I Used To Love This Cartoon

Jim Parsons & Dr Who

Some Pictures Of Things I Like

I don't really have too much on my mind right now.  I'm dreading going back to work tomorrow.  Not because I hate my job or anything like that.  I had a nice weekend and it went by way, way too fast, like usual.  I'd like to have at least one more day before getting back into the normal routine.  The only complaint I have about the weekend (besides it being too short) isn't really about the weekend.  It's about me.  My wrists decided to kill me this weekend.  I've got a mild case of carpal tunnel syndrome, nothing that I think is too serious to get my wrists cut apart for.  Fifty weeks of the year I'm fine.  But every so often, my wrists start to kill me.  I'm not sure what brought it on this time.  My one wrist has been a little achy for a couple weeks now.  I've attributed that to all the shoveling I've been doing in my driveway, whether that's the real cause or not.  But all weekend both wrists have been screaming at me.  I hope in a couple days they calm back down, because I have to say that it's really, really, REALLY annoying.  I've noticed that the elliptical machine isn't helping matters, either.  

Ken has taken to cooking Sunday dinner for the last month or two.  I have to say that I like it.  I like it a lot.  He's been back on Weight Watchers and that's the reason he's cooking.  Tonight he grabbed a bunch of things we had sitting around and made a makeshift chicken dinner.  He also made this baked apple thing on puff pastry that was really good.  So good that I had more than my fair share (and since I'm not on WW, I added ice cream to both portions I ate.)  I'm going to pay the price for that tomorrow, of that I am sure.

The Superbowl is on tonight and I don't care.  I'm really looking forward to Wednesday at work because all the idiotic Superbowl talk in the men's room should be over by then.  Tomorrow the game will be talked about.  Tuesday the game will be talked about because half the office won't bother to come in on Monday to talk about it.  The talk about all the commercials will be over by then, too.  I can't believe how much attention is given to both the game and the commercials.  We were channel surfing while eating dinner and stopped on the game and I got to see a couple commercials.  And I didn't think they were any better or worse than what's normally on tv.  Bah.  

I'm so looking forward to the Green Lantern movie.  I really am.  I'm still not convinced Ryan Reynolds is the right fit for Hal Jordan, but I'm still looking forward to this.  I haven't been to the movies in probably four or five years, but this year looks to be the year I put an end to not going.  I really hope they don't fuck this one up.

The new release of 2011 are starting to come out and Lori McKenna just released her new album.  I really love her.  I love the quality of her voice and I love that she really sounds like she is completely engrossed in whatever song she's singing at the time.  I've only listened to this once, but it really grabbed me.  Tomorrow at work Lori's going to help me drown out the Superbowl chatter.

Henry Cavill, some English dude no one has ever hear of before, has been cast as Superman in the next Superman movie.  I'm not sure I see Superman in him, but I'm kind of interested.  I didn't see the last Superman movie, though I should rent it.  I didn't hear great things about it, but I didn't hear horrible things about it.  I'm hoping the new movie will bring Superman back to the forefront again.

I didn't even know Wanda Jackson was still alive.  But she is and she just put a brand new album out.  What's significant about it, for me at least, is that Jack White produced it.  Now I'm not really a big White Stripes fan, but I love that Jack has this love of people like Wanda Jackson and Loretta Lynn.  A love so big that he's tracked them down and made records with them.  And he's made good records with them.  He's been both true to them as artists and true to himself.  They're really fun to listen to.  Listening to this record reminds me of a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack for some reason.

*sigh*  Apparently Steve Rogers has no chest hair.  I'm not sure how the Captain America movie is going to be, but I'm looking forward to this one, too.  I've avoided most of the Marvel movies because I really don't care, but this one looks like it could be great.  I can't believe how much Chris Evans bulked up for the role.  I liked him better with less muscle mass, but he's still adorable.

I only found out about this album about an hour ago.  I had no idea Nena put out a new double live album.  Looks like it just came out a few months ago.  I thought at first it might be a European only release, but iTunes has it for sale and now I own it.  Haven't started to listen to it yet.  Like Lori McKenna's new album, Nena's will help me get through tomorrow.