Tag: entertainment

A hunting we will go

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Long day at work today.  I was in the office just after 6 AM and worked steadily until heading out the door at 4 PM.  I brought in my apple, ale and cheddar soup in for lunch, and brought an extra bowl for Casey to give it a try.  He said he enjoyed it.

There was a package waiting at the concierge when I got home:  the wedding photo DVDs!  Two DVDs totaling 1,206 pictures.  We skimmed through them and they really came out great.  When I have some time, I will get some posted so that people can look at their leisure.

We headed over to Home Depot tonight and picked out a Christmas tree.  We went for a frasier fur tree.  It’s about 6-1/2 feet tall.  They didn’t trim enough of the lower branches off to fit in our stand, so we have to cut off a few more this weekend.  On Sunday, Sarah is coming over and we’re going to decorate the tree.

Watched another episode (#8) of From the Earth to the Moon.  I headed upstairs after that and read more of Cauldron, which I am really, really enjoying.

From the Earth to the Moon

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I really slept in late today, not getting out of bed until close to 9:30 AM–two hours after Kelly got up this morning.  I started reading Robert J. Sawyer’s Frameshift this morning, and spent much of the day reading–and enjoying it very much.  Rob has a knack for telling a good story and I’ve been trying to pay close attention to how he does it.

We went out to Target early in the afternoon to do some shopping.  It was raining and cold out, and I anticipated major crowds and trouble parking, but it turned out to be simple and easy, and not nearly as crowded as I imagined it might be.

Kelly took a long nap in the afternoon, while I read.  It was very quiet, peaceful.  Later in the afternoon, we sat around chatting, and listening to Christmas music, while the fire roared away and the cats lazed on the warm carpet in front of it.  With the nasty weather outside, it was very nice.

Kelly had never seen HBOs From the Earth to the Moon, so we watched three episodes of it late this afternoon and early evening.  She headed off to bed shortly thereafter and I stayed up, getting just about halfway through Frameshift before calling it a night.

Back to work tomorrow.

Holiday weekend, part 2

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I woke up sore this morning from all of the Wii playing yesterday.  I slept in a bit, and when I woke up, I jumped right back into Only Begotten Daughter, making some more headway, and enjoying the story very much.  Kelly and I decided to head into Georgetown today.  The weather was nice and we thought we’d wander around, and maybe see a movie.  I got in touch with AJ and Denisse to see if they wanted to join us.  Turns out they were both working today (on a Saturday!)  We headed into town around noon and were in Georgetown around 12:30 PM.  It was nice.  I wore my new wool J. Crew coat.  We wandered around for an hour or so, ducking in and out of various shops (Banana Republic, of course–Kelly cannot pass a BR without going inside.)  We didn’t buy anything, we just looked around.

I was actually somewhat surprised that it wasn’t more crowded.  I expected the crowds to be legion, but perhaps that was yesterday and things perhaps had died down.

We did go to the movies, catching a 2 PM showing of Quantum of Solace.  It was a fun movie to watch, but I didn’t think it was as good as the last Bond movie.  After the movie, we walked leisurely back to the metro station and headed home.

In the evening, with the fireplace roaring, we watched White Christmas, which is my favorite holiday movie.  After the movie, Kelly went to bed and I sat in front of the fire, finishing up the last few pages of Only Begotten Daughter.  It was a very good book, and I could see the seeds of Morrow’s Godhead trilogy in that book.  I’m glad I decided to give it another chance.

Productive!

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Today was a productive day.  We were up around 8 AM and after watch a movie in the morning, I started putting the new grill together at 10 AM.  I finished at 12:30 (having gone through my Life On Mars playlist), and we moved the new grill out onto the deck (where, by the way, the temperature must have been about 20 degrees).  I’ll post some pictures tomorrow.

Next, I got rid of all of the trash and recycling, and then vacuumed the downstairs.  It looks so much better now that that’s been done.  Kelly’sUncle called asking for some help with his iPhone and I called him back and offered my suggestions.  Our garage door wasn’t working right this morning.  It opened up just fine, but wouldn’t close.  I called maintenance, and they came by and "fixed" it (they said mine was the second this had happened to today, and that the cold was likely the cause).  I say "fixed" because later this evening, it wasn’t working again, and I had to open and close the door manually.  I’ll have to call maintenance again tomorrow.  Spoke to Mom early in the afternoon and then, finally, I could take a break.

Kelly and I played Wii for a while and around 3:30, Sarah came over and we headed to the movie theater to see Madagascar 2.   It was the first time I’d seen a "cartoon" movie since I was a kid.  Actually, the jokes were pretty funny.  (I loved it when one of the penguins, cursing his lack of opposable thumbs, cried out, "Damn you, Darwin!")  When the movie was over, we came back to the house for a little while before heading out to dinner at Noodles.

I’m spending the rest of the evening sitting by the fireplace, reading my science magazines.

Life on Mars

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I’ve been enjoying Life on Mars on ABC.  I may have mentioned somewhere that I was puzzled by a few things–like why Sam doesn’t "prove" he’s from the future by making a specific prediction.  But it seems that, for now, the writers are avoiding the issue.  Nevertheless, I enjoy the show.  One thing I really like about the show is the music.  Unlike most shows these days, Life on Mars is not making use of the latest hits by Dido or The Fray (or any other CW-like music).  Instead, because the events take place in 1973, they are using some good classic rock from that time period.  In other words, the music has been great!

I’ve been working on putting together a playlist of the songs that they’ve used so far.  Here’s my list:

  • Everything I Own (Bread)
  • Reeling in the Years (Steely Dan)
  • Life on Mars (David Bowie)
  • Spaceman (Harry Nilsson)
  • Sweet Lucy (The Propositions)
  • We’re an American Band (Grand Funk Railroad)
  • Going to Make a Time Machine (The Majestic Arrows)
  • Tuesday’s Dead (Cat Stevens)
  • Wild in the Streets (Garland Jefferys)
  • I’m Gonna Keep on Loving You (Kool Blues)
  • He Keeps You (Boscoe)
  • Anywhere In Glory (The Mighty Indiana Travelers)
  • Everybody is a Star (Sly & the Family Stone)
  • Black and White (Three Dog Night)
  • Mother and Child Reunion (Paul Simon)
  • Rock and Roll (The Velvet Underground)
  • Bang a Gong (T. Rex)
  • Lucky Lady (Jones Brothers)
  • 20th Century Man (The Kinks)
  • Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress (The Hollies)
  • Long Promised Road (Beach Boys)
  • Sweet Cherry Wine (Tommy James and the Shondells)
  • I’m Chief Kamanawanalea (The Turtles)
  • Just a Little Lovin’ (Dusty Springfield) 
  • Reflections of My Life (Marmalade)
  • All the Way to Memphis (Mott the Hoopie)
  • Get Down (Gilbert O’Sullivan)
  • I am a Rock (Simon and Garfunkel)
  • Ground Zero (Chris Cornell)
  • Signs (Five Man Electric Band)
  • Baba O’Reily (The Who)
  • Little Willy (The Sweet)
  • Out of Time (The Rolling Stones)

There you have it.  Now isn’t that a cool play list?

TV Thursday

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Busy and productive day at work today.  It was bitter cold today, but we made the most of it.  When we got home from work, we lit the fireplace and sat by the fire all evening, being lazy and watching TV:  Smallville, The Office, and Life on Mars.

No mail of interest today.  I spoke briefly to Dad.

Today’s reading: Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

More Tiger

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Productive day at work today.  It was cold and overcast and there were threats of snow flurries, but I didn’t see any snow today.  When I picked Kelly up from work, I cleaned up a bit.  I scoured the kitchen, cleaned the litter boxes and took out the trash and recycling.  We watched the two most recent episodes of Dexter this evening, too.

Played some Tiger Woods tonight.  I got my first hole-in-one today (on a par 3).  Also got my second double-eagle.  Not only that but it was right after another eagle.  I finished that round something like 14 under par.  I shot a 58 on a par 72 course.  I had a whole bunch of birdies.  It was by far the best round I ever played.

Spoke to strausmouse  this evening.  He’s back from China.

Not much in the way of reading today.  A few pages of Franklin Roosevelt.  I did finally get the November 8-14 issue of NEW SCIENTIST in the mail today.  Naturally, I’d already read that one online, and so now I am awaiting the next one.

My sleep cycle is off, somehow.  I’m going to bed near midnight.  Been doing it for about a week or so now.  I’ve got to get back on-track.

Gettin’ caught in the rain…

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It was unusually warm yesterday, over 70 degrees by mid-morning.  Kelly and I walked up to Pentagon City where we had brunch at Harry’s Tap Room.  We then wandered around the mall for a little while, popping in and out of various shops, just browsing, not buying.  We walked back home and about halfway, the skies opened up and it started to pour.  The last time this happened, we were on bikes.  This time, since we were on foot, we dashed up into a grove of evergreen-like trees and, believe it or not, they were enough shelter to prevent us from getting any more wet than we already were.  We waited out the rain shower (about 5 minutes) and then continued our walk home.

I headed straight for the mail box and still no NEW SCIENTIST, much to my dismay.  I continued reading the online version throughout the lazy afternoon.  Later, Kelly napped and I watched Forrest Gump.

I spoke to Dan this evening.  Later in the evening, I played more Tiger Woods 2009 and on the 5th hole at Wolf Trap (a par 5), I had my first ever double-eagle (for which I got a $3,500 bonus!).  From what I understand, a double-eagle is the hardest shot to get in golf, and it was pretty exciting to see.

Slept in until about 9 AM and then we watched Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood.  Much colder today, and very windy.  Sunday Morning was good.  They did a profile of Steve Miller, which put me in the mood to listen to some of his music today.  They also did a piece on the Oxford Project, which was really interesting.

I was looking for Apple, Ale and Cheddar soup recipes online.  I couldn’t find any for all three, but I found partial recipes.  I may try concocting my own Apple, Ale, and Cheddar soup this evening based on what I found online.

Kelly worked on the last batch of thank you notes last night and this morning.  We should get those in the mail on Monday.

Thursday

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Still no NEW SCIENTIST.

Rainy day today.  As planned, Karl, Todd and I headed to the house during lunch.  They helped me bring the grill up from the landing and into the living room (where I can more easily maneuver it toward the kitchen) and then we spent an hour or so playing Wii.  It was a lot of fun.  They wanted to see what Wii Fit was like, so we played some of that, too.

I’m trying to reduce the amount of paper I use and so today, I downloaded a demo copy of DevonThink to see if it will work better for me than paper in collecting notes from reading and other things.  It is supposed to be very good at collecting and organizing this type of information.  How well it actually works depends on how well you can hierarchically organize your information, and last night I got started playing around with it a bit.  If it turns out to be a useful way of capturing and finding information, I’ll end up buying a license for it.  It only works on Macs, but I could end up using it at work also, since I have a Mac there, too (on which I run Parallels).

Last night was TV night.  We lazed around when wegot home.  I watched new episodes of Smallville, The Office, and Life on Mars.

Today’s reading: Franklin Delano Roosevelt (through page 88.

I am surrounded by clocks!

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Throughout the day yesterday, I was slowly consumed by a vaguely familiar feeling–one that says: you are getting sick!  Sure enough, by the end of the work day, I was feeling it:  running nose, stuffy head, headache, etc.  I am supposed to get a flu shot on Tuesday.  I am hoping that it’s not too late.

They have been putting up wall clocks here at work.  They are fancy, GPS clocks, whose time is synchronized by satellite.  Otherwise, they look like the clocks you’d find in a school classroom, minus the stentorian ticking.  One showed up on the wall outside my office.  Another about 40 feet to the left, and still another 60 feet to the right.  Standing in myoffice door, I can now see three clocks.  Another clock hangs above the elevators.  They didn’t appear all at once, but one-by-on, like the symptoms of a virus–the flu, perhaps.  I have more empathy with Captain Hook than I used to.

Played a good round of Tiger Woods after work yesterday, something like -4 through 13 holes until I screwed up a par 5.

Kelly suggested I go to bed early.  I didn’t cook dinner and I was in bed at 6:30 PM and out cold.  When I woke up, it was something like 4 hours later.  Kelly was sound asleep and I was wide awake.  Not feeling better, but not any worse either.  I went downstairs, and watched the tivo’d episodes of Smallville and The Office that I missed earlier.  I read for a while, and then went back to bed.  Eventually, I transferred to the guest room because I was tossing and turning a lot and didn’t want to keep Kelly up, or get her sick.

Spoke with Mom today.  Received a few cards in the mail.

It’s deathly quiet in the office this morning.  Weather is supposed to be beautiful today.  Sunny and mid-70s.  strausmouse  is on the slow boat to China, where he’ll be bandying about for 9 days.

Today’s reading:  Einstein.

ETA: Yesterday, when I said to Karl and Leanna that I was disturbed by the fact that I could see three clocks when standing just outside my office, Karl responded instantly with, "Well, maybe you should stay in your office and get some work done."  SMACKDOWN!

Fall back

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For the first time in a long, long time, I did not turn the clocks back before going to bed.  That’s not to say I didn’t know that daylight savings ended today.  I just forgot to turn the clocks back.  I was pleased, therefore, when I woke up around 6 AM, to turn the clock back an hour.  I even managed to sleep in a little bit this morning.

Today was generally a lazy day.  We sat around, watched TV, played Wii.  I went grocery shopping.  Early in the afternoon I worked on thank you notes, getting through about 20 of them.

It was much cooler today than yesterday, but it was still pretty nice out.  I sat out on the porch for a while, reading, and left the screen door open so that the cats could come out onto the porch as well.  They seemed to enjoy it.  It was Zeke’s first experience willingly going outdoors on his own and his was curious, but also, understandably nervous.  Late in the afternoon, we watched Jerry Maguire.  Kelly was off to bed early and I stayed up, playing one more round of Tiger Woods and then reading more of NEW SCIENTIST.

Another lazy Sunday

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY goes out to the Norm half of vickyandnorm  today!

Sore today from all of the Wii playing yesterday.  (Can you believe it?  Sore from a video game?)

Another lazy day today.  We slept in but were up in time to watch Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood.  It was a beautiful day out, but it wasn’t until around 2 PM that we finally ventured out of the house.  We walked to Shirlington in bright sunshine and cool temperatures and, as always, the walk was pleasant.  In Shirlington, we stopped at Johnny Rocket’s for some lunch, and then headed across the street where I got a haircut.  I’ve never gone into a Hair Cuttery on a Sunday afternoon and found it so dead.  There were a half dozen stylists just sitting around waiting for someone to come in.  It took them longer than usual to cut my hair, and I think that’s because they were bored and wanted the company.  One odd thing:  the price had gone up to $16 for a haircut, this after a recent spate of TV ads that promised, "Always $14."

Heard from A.J. and Denisse this afternoon.  First Denisse called, and later, A.J. called and we spoke for a little while.

We watched TV in the late afternoon and early evening, watching The Bicentennial Man, based on Isaac Asimov’s short story of the same name.  I saw the movie when it first came out, but I enjoyed watching it again today.  When it was over, we headed back out for a short walk.  This time, the skies were dark and the temperatures were cooler, but the cool air felt good in my lungs.

I spent the rest of the evening reading more of Einstein.