So, I use Windows Media Player to play my mp3's on my computer, often when I'm on this computer. Typing up blogs, working on genealogy, whatever I happen to be doing.
I like WMP, because it's very easy to track what has been playing, and how many times a song has been played. I have about 1501 hours of music on here, and I have it on random play. I like that anything can come up at any time. Music, comedy, opera, talk, whatever.
However, for some reason, one song comes up more often than any other. My number one played song at random is "What's the Matter Here?" by 10,000 Maniacs.
A good song, but not one I would choose to listen to 12 times. That's how many times it's come up on WMP since I've been using this for music. The next closest high number is 5 times (for numerous songs). I mean, I do like the song (it's from before 10K Maniacs became a bit too precious for my tastes), but it comes up first a lot of times. Computer error?
Weird, I know, and does it deserve a blog? Well, it just happened, so I had to write about it.
Coming up tomorrow: My thoughts on Christmas/Holiday spirit.
NP: Lewis Black - Leave a Tip
08 December 2006
07 December 2006
Link!
You know, I'm a fairly open, friendly person. Sometimes though, someone just rubs me the wrong way, and I never really get close to people who are friends of friends, or people I see on a semi-regular basis. Sometimes it's just personality differences, or generally, I don't see a need to try to get to know someone.
I have some friends from college who I'm close to, and in that circle, there's one or two people who I never really initiate any contact with. However, one of those people, over time, has gotten to be not as annoying as they were when I first met them.
That sounds like they're still annoying now, but they're really not. I'm just operating on residual annoyance when I say that. The last few times I've seen this person, he actually hasn't been annoying at all. In fact, we've had some decent conversations, which is good. I like to like the people I hang out with, even if they're still not someone I'd initiate contact with on my own.
So, where is this all going? A few days ago, I noticed a link to this person's blog type site on one of my friend's blogs. I clicked on it, just to see what was up. After reviewing some of his writing, I noticed that this little blog was actually listed amongst the 4 or 5 other blogs of friends he had listed.
I was oddly touched by this. Here's someone who honestly, over the 12 years or so I've known him, I've barely given the time of day to (in my own way, never being actively nasty, just not really engaging in anything), who made the effort to put me on his blog. It may seem like a minor thing, but it did, again, make me rethink how I've been towards this person over the last years. I have been having better conversations with him over time, and this has made me think about how I do interact with people who I have tended to write off at different times of my life.
Granted, I'm honest enough with myself that I know we're not going to be best buddies or something, but I can approach our meetings with a different view now. So, in some way, perhaps me knowing this person who I thought I had no use for, has made me in a small way, a better person for having my own faults and assumptions reflected back on me.
So, there's your deepness for today. Enjoy!
In other news, I got my first photo Christmas card of this season in the mail today. I'll repeat my rant from last year, where I find it annoying that my friends who have kids, only send out photos of their kids in their cards, never of themselves! I enjoy that my friends have kids, but I want to see the kids *with* their parents! I know the parents better than I know the kids, and I want to see them all together. The one I got today was of the two kids outside, hanging out on a beach. It'd be easy enough to get the parents in the shot! Heck, just Photoshop them into the picture, it doesn't even have to be real!
I miss seeing my friends, and I'd at least like to see them in a photo, if not in real life!
So, parents, I plead with you! Include yourself in your photos! Your kids are great, I'm sure, but I want to see you all in one photo! Or, it's easy enough with these photo cards nowadays to have multiple shots on the card. That's what Sue and I did (watch your mailboxes, folks!), and it's great! Have a big shot of the kids, make it the main one, and put a little one of the parents on the side. If it's small enough, it'll hide the bags under your eyes from losing all that sleep from "the kids" keeping you up!
NP: Genesis - Your Own Special Way
I have some friends from college who I'm close to, and in that circle, there's one or two people who I never really initiate any contact with. However, one of those people, over time, has gotten to be not as annoying as they were when I first met them.
That sounds like they're still annoying now, but they're really not. I'm just operating on residual annoyance when I say that. The last few times I've seen this person, he actually hasn't been annoying at all. In fact, we've had some decent conversations, which is good. I like to like the people I hang out with, even if they're still not someone I'd initiate contact with on my own.
So, where is this all going? A few days ago, I noticed a link to this person's blog type site on one of my friend's blogs. I clicked on it, just to see what was up. After reviewing some of his writing, I noticed that this little blog was actually listed amongst the 4 or 5 other blogs of friends he had listed.
I was oddly touched by this. Here's someone who honestly, over the 12 years or so I've known him, I've barely given the time of day to (in my own way, never being actively nasty, just not really engaging in anything), who made the effort to put me on his blog. It may seem like a minor thing, but it did, again, make me rethink how I've been towards this person over the last years. I have been having better conversations with him over time, and this has made me think about how I do interact with people who I have tended to write off at different times of my life.
Granted, I'm honest enough with myself that I know we're not going to be best buddies or something, but I can approach our meetings with a different view now. So, in some way, perhaps me knowing this person who I thought I had no use for, has made me in a small way, a better person for having my own faults and assumptions reflected back on me.
So, there's your deepness for today. Enjoy!
In other news, I got my first photo Christmas card of this season in the mail today. I'll repeat my rant from last year, where I find it annoying that my friends who have kids, only send out photos of their kids in their cards, never of themselves! I enjoy that my friends have kids, but I want to see the kids *with* their parents! I know the parents better than I know the kids, and I want to see them all together. The one I got today was of the two kids outside, hanging out on a beach. It'd be easy enough to get the parents in the shot! Heck, just Photoshop them into the picture, it doesn't even have to be real!
I miss seeing my friends, and I'd at least like to see them in a photo, if not in real life!
So, parents, I plead with you! Include yourself in your photos! Your kids are great, I'm sure, but I want to see you all in one photo! Or, it's easy enough with these photo cards nowadays to have multiple shots on the card. That's what Sue and I did (watch your mailboxes, folks!), and it's great! Have a big shot of the kids, make it the main one, and put a little one of the parents on the side. If it's small enough, it'll hide the bags under your eyes from losing all that sleep from "the kids" keeping you up!
NP: Genesis - Your Own Special Way
05 December 2006
Books!
I'm glad to see my book blog from yesterday getting a good reaction. Jen, I'll take a look at that book that you mention, and Queenie, Stephen King is usually worth a good re-read.
I've read The Stand numerous times, and have really enjoyed it. I did read "Everything's Eventual" earlier this year, as I went through one of my King kicks I go through every 10 years or so... I tend to burn out on King, and then save up a bunch of his stuff to read, and then get into reading them all at once. This most recent kick started out after finishing The Dark Tower series (made me cry, by the way). I picked up "Insomnia," and even though I recall it getting some poor reviews, I actually really liked it.
Lou, one of my college friends, tends to think that many of King's books don't have really good endings, and I can agree with him on that. Some do have the whole "deus ex machina," let's pull a rabbit out of the hat conclusions. The Stand is actually kind of like that, but since the subject of the book is all about good, evil, God, and mystical forces, I can see where it comes from there.
I also enjoyed Desperation/The Regulators when I read them both in a row. Desperation was the better novel, but having the same cast of characters in two very different novels was an intriguing experiement. Bag of Bones, I read a few years ago, and thought it was a good return to form for King. Next time I'm in a bookstore, I may have to pick up some of his newer paperbacks that I haven't read, to finish off the tail end of my 10 year kick.
I do have to give honorable mention to King's short story, "The Boogeyman," in the Night Shift collection. If you haven't ever read this story, I recommend you to go out and find the book in your local bookstore/library, and read it. I believe it's the second story in the book, and when I first read it as a youth, it really got me. I mean, it got me good. I mean, I was frightened to sleep. I mean, I couldn't not think about the story for quite a long time. I mean, it freaked me out, MAN!!!!
Sorry, a bit of a flashback there...
The Harry Potter books were also suggested as a possible re-read. I could definintely do that at some point, but I really just started reading them all late last year, so it's a bit too soon for a re-read. Looking through my bookshelves today, I noted Kim Stanley Robinson's "Mars" trilogy of books. They're worth a re-read, but I last re-read them (for the first time) right before I got married back in 2004, so like with Potter, it's a bit too soon to jump into them again.
I got strange looks at lunch today when I mentioned that I had re-read the Lord of the Rings trilogy perhaps 10 times in my life. Perhaps it's more like 8 or so, but I don't think, for work that good, that that's too many times... Although if I go the Tolkien route with my next read, I very well might pull out The Simirillion instead of LOTR. It's a tougher read, but I think I'm still getting more content out of reading that at this point. It's dense, like reading a novel with no dialogue, but very rewarding for the depth of the story. And it sets up all the sadness that happens in LOTR, giving the entire world of Middle Earth the context of what happens in the Third Age (when LOTR happens). The Simirillion details the First Age of Middle Earth.
Have I lost the non-geeks out there yet?
With all this being said, I still haven't decided what to re-read yet. King is coming up fast (hrm, perhaps the "Four Past Midnight" collection, I recall enjoying that on the first read...), but there still might be some SF dark horses out there. And, of course, the Tolkien is always a strong option.
NP: Camper Van Beethoven - Shut Us Down
I've read The Stand numerous times, and have really enjoyed it. I did read "Everything's Eventual" earlier this year, as I went through one of my King kicks I go through every 10 years or so... I tend to burn out on King, and then save up a bunch of his stuff to read, and then get into reading them all at once. This most recent kick started out after finishing The Dark Tower series (made me cry, by the way). I picked up "Insomnia," and even though I recall it getting some poor reviews, I actually really liked it.
Lou, one of my college friends, tends to think that many of King's books don't have really good endings, and I can agree with him on that. Some do have the whole "deus ex machina," let's pull a rabbit out of the hat conclusions. The Stand is actually kind of like that, but since the subject of the book is all about good, evil, God, and mystical forces, I can see where it comes from there.
I also enjoyed Desperation/The Regulators when I read them both in a row. Desperation was the better novel, but having the same cast of characters in two very different novels was an intriguing experiement. Bag of Bones, I read a few years ago, and thought it was a good return to form for King. Next time I'm in a bookstore, I may have to pick up some of his newer paperbacks that I haven't read, to finish off the tail end of my 10 year kick.
I do have to give honorable mention to King's short story, "The Boogeyman," in the Night Shift collection. If you haven't ever read this story, I recommend you to go out and find the book in your local bookstore/library, and read it. I believe it's the second story in the book, and when I first read it as a youth, it really got me. I mean, it got me good. I mean, I was frightened to sleep. I mean, I couldn't not think about the story for quite a long time. I mean, it freaked me out, MAN!!!!
Sorry, a bit of a flashback there...
The Harry Potter books were also suggested as a possible re-read. I could definintely do that at some point, but I really just started reading them all late last year, so it's a bit too soon for a re-read. Looking through my bookshelves today, I noted Kim Stanley Robinson's "Mars" trilogy of books. They're worth a re-read, but I last re-read them (for the first time) right before I got married back in 2004, so like with Potter, it's a bit too soon to jump into them again.
I got strange looks at lunch today when I mentioned that I had re-read the Lord of the Rings trilogy perhaps 10 times in my life. Perhaps it's more like 8 or so, but I don't think, for work that good, that that's too many times... Although if I go the Tolkien route with my next read, I very well might pull out The Simirillion instead of LOTR. It's a tougher read, but I think I'm still getting more content out of reading that at this point. It's dense, like reading a novel with no dialogue, but very rewarding for the depth of the story. And it sets up all the sadness that happens in LOTR, giving the entire world of Middle Earth the context of what happens in the Third Age (when LOTR happens). The Simirillion details the First Age of Middle Earth.
Have I lost the non-geeks out there yet?
With all this being said, I still haven't decided what to re-read yet. King is coming up fast (hrm, perhaps the "Four Past Midnight" collection, I recall enjoying that on the first read...), but there still might be some SF dark horses out there. And, of course, the Tolkien is always a strong option.
NP: Camper Van Beethoven - Shut Us Down
04 December 2006
Chapter!
I finished the Richard Dawkins book "The God Delusion" on Sunday. It's a good read, again, recommended for all regular (and irregular) readers of this blog. However, I have a thing with most non-fiction books.
I have real trouble reading the last chapters of non-fiction books. I don't know what causes it. It's with science books, history books, pretty much any subject that I read non-fiction in.
Sometimes, it feels that the author is just restating what they already made clear in the rest of the book. Other times, they're trying to reach some grandiose conclusion, when I'm not really interested in hearing about it. Other times, I might just be tired of the subject, even if I'm interested in the book itself. I figure that nothing much new is going to be brought up in the last chapter, so I can safely skim or ignore it.
With the Dawkins book, I'll probably try to read the last chapter in a month or so, when I'm a bit more distant from the material.
But, in the meantime, I am now TOTALLY without an unread book in my "to read" pile. This is rare for me. So, I have to decide what I may want to re-read. Here are some options:
I have real trouble reading the last chapters of non-fiction books. I don't know what causes it. It's with science books, history books, pretty much any subject that I read non-fiction in.
Sometimes, it feels that the author is just restating what they already made clear in the rest of the book. Other times, they're trying to reach some grandiose conclusion, when I'm not really interested in hearing about it. Other times, I might just be tired of the subject, even if I'm interested in the book itself. I figure that nothing much new is going to be brought up in the last chapter, so I can safely skim or ignore it.
With the Dawkins book, I'll probably try to read the last chapter in a month or so, when I'm a bit more distant from the material.
But, in the meantime, I am now TOTALLY without an unread book in my "to read" pile. This is rare for me. So, I have to decide what I may want to re-read. Here are some options:
- I may jump into a re-reading of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Or the Simirillion. Always worth an extra read.
- The Gunslinger books of Stephen King. Granted, it's a 7 book series, that I just finished reading about a year ago, but it could be interesting to re-read at least the first novel.
- Asimov, Clarke, or Heinlein short stories: I really enjoy the short story as a format, and I cut my teeth reading some of these science fiction master's shorter works in my youth. I'd be interested to see what still stands up, and what doesn't quite cut the mustard anymore.
- I could re-read some of my books from grad school... Oh wait, that sounds like work. Scratch that.
- A variety of my favorite SF authors have books I could re-read. Those authors include David Brin, Gordon Dickson, Gregory Benford, the aforementioned Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein, or a variety of others...
So, any opinions? LOTR is an old favorite, which I actually haven't re-read for a few years, so it might be nice to take this opportunity to jump into that world again, but it may also be nice to revisit some other works I haven't thought about in awhile.
Opinions are welcome in the comments section...
NP: Mike Keneally - Dyin' Day
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