Pithy Title Here

I had been pretty psyched all week for Bumbershoot . And, for once, it was something that lived up to the hype. Now, I've been to my share of outdoor concert festivals. But this one was different. First, most don't take place around a well-known landmark. Bumbershoot is set up in the Seattle Center, which, to all of you from outside the Puget Sound area, means the Space Needle. From many of the event's stages, you have a full view of the Space Needle. Which is cool. A few other things that make this unique: Re-entry privileges. I watched two bands this afternoon (more on that in a bit), got my ticket and hand stamped, and went home. Where I ate my food and drank my beer. Granted, if I didn't live a stone's throw from the Seattle Center, I couldn't have done this, but it made a gigantic difference. Instead of spending a day on my feet eating overpriced greasy food, I was able to go home and sit on a real couch in between bands I wanted to see. You can bring stu...

I drive a Camry. Probably will for a lot longer, too. You don't buy a Toyota because you want a four-year car. You buy a Toyota Camry because you want a reliable car. And you know, not only that, but my Camry is quiet. It has 6-cylinder giddyup in a 4-cylinder engine. It gets 600 miles to the damn tank at highway speed. The worst problem it ever had was needing a new battery. You could say I am not one to go overboard about a car. And then I got to LAX last night. I take whatever car Avis gives me on business trips unless it is an atrocity (looking at you PT Cruiser...). If asked, I prefer a car with satellite radio, sun roof and, if in the Northeast, EZPass . Last night, at LAX, I had a convertible Sebring waiting for me. Tonight, I decided to see what that was really like. After a looooong day of work throughout Southern California (picture filming, in the desert, in searing heat, in dress clothes and then still having to drive to LA), I met a friend for dinner downtown. A s...

Yesterday's commute home was really just about the antithesis of my old one. In Charlotte, it involved a lot of sitting on I-485 on a 2-mile stretch of North Carolina highway that somehow turns into Los Angeles for 90 minutes every day at 5:00. Thank heavens for NPR. Anyhow, yesterday's commute went as follows: Walk out of office Walk two blocks to Cascade Farmers Market Purchase two pints of strawberries and a pint of raspberries, all picked earlier in the day in Mt. Vernon, WA . (Buy local!) Walk 3-4 more blocks into my apartment. Can't say I was spent. Still, if I was yearning for a taste of my old commute, I got it. Because almost as soon as I got home we jumped in the car to head to Cougar Mountain ... because why go to the gym when you can hike? After a spell of stop-and-go on I-90 through Bellevue , the wilderness awaited. I'm not trying to brag. I am trying to note the virtues of the urban lifestyle, though. The way I see it, life throws enough at you... why gi...

They say don't judge a book by its cover. Nor should I probably judge a new tech toy after one day. But, when your one day includes time at home and 8 hours of plane rides, you could argue you've done all the needed testing on a portable device of any type. So... new Kindle verdict: OUT-FLIPPING-STANDING. Firstly, can I get every electronic device I have to hold a charge like this? Probably not, bc unlike every other device I have, the Kindle isn't backlit . It uses "electronic paper," which ( thank you Wikipedia : "Unlike a conventional flat panel display, which uses a backlight to illuminate its pixels, electronic paper reflects light like ordinary paper and is capable of holding text and images indefinitely without drawing electricity, while allowing the image to be changed later." This basically means it really reads like a book. As in it gets dark and you need to shine a light on it. But the non-glare screen makes that a non-issue. The interfac...

When I lived in NYC, I did plenty of drinking, eating and the like and never gained a pound. I has no gym membership. I did have the City's 13,000 miles of sidewalks at my disposal, however. Getting to work involves a 10-minute walk to the subway and five after getting off. The same after work. I would take the train to Herald Square and walk to SoHo . Then I moved to Charlotte and bought a car. I had a good life in Charlotte. I also had a gym membership and heaven help me if I hadn't. Short of walking the dog through the neighborhood, something that sounded good, but rarely really happened, most transportation was via the car. Now, here I am, back in an urban metropolis. My commute now? A 10-minute walk that starts by climbing a big hill. This morning, I needed to go to the hardware store. four blocks later, there I was. We needed to go to Trader Joe's. Bus ride, then 12 blocks. Hell last week, we walked most of the way to the store. And the dog? No choice but to walk her....

OK, first off... the cat. The cat was spotted on the Charlotte- Mecklenburg Animal Control adoption Web site and was only up there for about a day. Plenty of other cats have remained on there, so we can safely assume this cat has found a new home that is not under my out-front shrubbery. You can all rest that much more soundly, dear readers. :-) In the meantime, it hit my house last night... by "it," I mean fall. Came home with some friends, got out the fall candles and the like. Even changed the Facebook profile photo to my October avatar. What's the best about this time of year, though... the smells. I mean it. Beyond the Yankee Candle Harvest scent... this is the time of year to get the spices out. Last night, that meant a fresh batch of molasses cookies. I use the King Arthur flour recipe for these and, year after year, I am convinced they are the perfect cookie. They smell outstanding. That house-filling smell of spice. They look like a cookie. I mean, th...

Who'd've thunk it? North Carolina, a state that produces more tobacco then any other, where city names adorn cigarette packs (looking at you, here, Winston-Salem)... has banned smoking in bars and restaurants in bars effective Jan. 2, 2010 . The state senate and house have agreed on a bill and the governor will sign it into law. Me? I'm going to celebrate by wearing a wool sweater into a bar on Jan. 2, knowing I will not have to Febreeze it afterward. The truth is, though, I'll likely celebrate it by going to the bar more. I cannot tell you how many times Sarah and I have gone out someplace, thought about getting a drink, and then saying "eh, don't want to deal with the smoke." Smoking in bars, for me, has always made it so I have to be in a very specific mood to go to the bar. Because after an hour, my eyes are burning and I reek all night. And, yes, I hear all the people saying "Oh this is going to mean people won't go to bars any more....

The economy is bad, to be sure. There aren't a lot of upsides to that. When you find an upside, I'm of a mind that you take advantage of it. In this particular case, the upside is that it's dirt cheap to travel overseas right now. So, Sarah & I are going to exercise our passports in a month. Through the continuing magic of Yahoo! Travel - my go-to for el travel cheapo for several years - we've got flights and a hotel in London starting March 4 (or March if you start when we land). I've always felt kinda bad... I've been to Europe and Sarah hasn't. I remember never having been there and being around people who had been. It wasn't any fun. It's one of those things that nothing you can say in that conversation is going to be able to hold serve. Anyhow, for what really looks like bargain pricing, we are going to have a four-night trip. We get to fly directly from Charlotte. I'll get to exercise my new digital SLR in the best way possibl...

I have a shirt that reads "Keep Austin Weird." If you've never been to Austin, you have no idea what that means. If you have... well, this won't surprise you. Some kids in Austin hacked into those flashing construction-style traffic signs with great results (photo taken from Austin American Statesman, which credits nofearofthefuture.blogspot.com):

Just came upon this little nugget from Space.com (via Yahoo! News) and, I'm such a geek, I thought it outstanding. Basically, tonight, you'll be able to look into the sky all night and see the planet Venus (just below the moon all night) and - just after sunset - Mercury and Jupiter. NOW for the cool part: "Venus is so bright you can see it during daylight if you know where to look. Given Venus' proximity to the moon on New Year's Eve, this would be an excellent moment -- just before sunset -- to use the moon to help you find Venus and gain bragging rights for being one of the few people to be able to claim seeing more than one planet during the daytime (Earth being the other one)." That's pretty flipping cool if you ask me. And what better way to start ringing in the new year by contemplating just how small we all are in this universe and yet we spend our time worrying about money and war most of the time. The universe could care less.