Update: 2/26/07

Around this time last year, Laura took off for Tampa Florida to stay with her parents for a week. This time she's actually headed back to Chicago for business.

Reading back through the blog last year, I can see I'm pretty much up to the same old hermit activities to keep my mind off of missing her.

This is OK though. I am skilled at being a hermit. If this were a role playing game, I would be a level 10 hermit, with powers in paper filing and cubbard organization systems. The house needed a good cleaning anyway.

Mostly I've been enjoying my new Blockbuster Online membership and taking care of the dogs -- which is much harder with just one person!

First in from the rental queue is one of my old favorites from 2004, The Butterfly Effect. Aston Kutcher does a suprisingly good job at acting in this sci-fi thriller.

It's like a darker version of Back to the Future. In fact, it's very dark so don't expect a happy ending. Aston Kutcher eventually loses both his arms and cannot pick up a candy bar... he crushes it in his prosthetic hand. That's not a spoiler, it's the worst part of the movie.

Trust me, it's still worth watching.

Update: 2/21/07

Funny video of the dogs today...

Update: 2/20/07

Pushing the G-map a little further... I have the route around my neighborhood up to 3 miles now. I loaded up my (Laura's) Ipod nano with some electronic music classics. Nobody listens to techno music anymore -- except for this guy.

Here are a few of my favorites that made it into my running mix: Paul Oakenfold's Tranceport, ATB's Clubber's Guide to Trance (which is all of a sudden expensive!) and Matt Darey's Euphoria, Vol. 4. I can't run and listen to any other kind of music. I've tried rock, folk, alternative, pop, oldies, rap, jam bands and just about everything else.

To me, there's nothing better than a good trance tune to run too, but that's just me.

Update: 2/16/07

Last Thursday we had a company bowling party with endless chips, pizza and other refreshments. None of the food pyramid was represented on that night, and I gleefully plucked up samples of each with my non-bowling fingers.

Nearly everyone was good at bowling, and each brought their own style:

Bryan Chupp, of rival blog Chupp Online, incorporated the laser-rocket windmill:

Ben Wu, whose name was truncated to "Wu Ta" on the scoreboard, favored more shoulder and less elbow:

Although looking at the picture a second time, Ben's rear leg seems to get left behind... Regardless of his athletic prowess, Ben is and forever will be the curator of the Nukie video (Nukie recieved a 2.7/10 vote on IMDB).

Despite the different ways of tossing the ball -- as a team we all managed to get respectable scores (with a few faults), and enjoy a solid bowling night

Today's Friday video is a two-way tie this week: Polite Distances is a hilarious short and Web 2.0 is IMHO a great primer on where the web stands today as instrument of social connectivity.

Update: 2/13/07

So my computer got nuked this weekend. I woke up Sunday morning and some crucial files were corrupted or missing from the system32 folder in Windows. This is not a good sign.

Long story short, I played with the registry and got burned. It's like telling your car to reach speeds at which the tires melt, and then asking it to go faster. Like I said, my computer is back to square one... and I'm editing this website with ANOTHER 30-day trial of Macromedia Dreamweaver. Maybe this time around I will pay for it -- seeing as my digital karma is in full effect this week.

This weekend we watched An Inconvenient Truth, "starring" Al Gore. The movie was good, definitely an eye opener regarding global warming.

Call me lazy, but I still don't think it's that big of a deal.

For one, Gore didn't source his facts beyond saying "I have a friend" instead of "I know a scientist" as a preface for delivering one chart after another, most of which lacked labels for x and y axis for scale.

Adam is going to freak out when he reads this. He is a global warming nut.

Oh well, House is on -- new favorite show! If you haven't yet seen the Blades of Glory trailer, you have to check it out.

Update: 2/5/07

Here are my nominations for top three Super Bowl ads in 2007:

#1 Company: Garmin >>> Link to Super Bowl ad on Youtube.

#2 Company: Sierra Mist >>> Link to Super Bowl ad on Youtube.

# 3 Company: Coca Cola >>> Link to Super Bowl ad on Youtube.

I liked the Garmin ad because I have a poor sense of direction when driving, and I hate pulling out the map. The beard comb-over was really creative and funny, and the Coke video game ad was a nice contrast to today's excessively violent games.

There's no way to naturally transition to the next topic, so I won't.

I covered six dining room chairs this weekend AND braved a visit to Calico Corners. It is where testosterone goes to die... and less brave men waited in their cars outside the store, I saw them. I envied them.

But I got it done!

Update: 2/1/07

Another good episode of The Office aired tonight. My favorite part was when Michael was showing Dwight how to remove a bra, using Dwight as a model.

I'm not sure if many of you own or have played a Nintendo Wii yet, but it comes with a ridiculously fun game called Wii Sports. You basically wave this little wand around to produce quasi-athletic movements (some are more realistic than others), to play baseball, tennis, golf, bowling or boxing.

My own mother could even appreciate that the Wii reminds you to go out and get fresh air if you play it for too long. She vigilantly protected me from television and video games growing up -- telling me to not spend too much time in front of "screens."

My favorite feature so far is a mini-game called "Wii Fitness" which tests your skill daily and estimates your age. The Wii has a calendar built in, and it only lets you play the fitness game once a day.

My best fitness age so far is 37. I sank to a low point this week at 72, that's what I get for half-heartedly going through the motions.

The Wii is fun on days like this, when the entire city of Charlotte shuts down over an inch of snow.

And if this entire post makes you want to call me a dork and punch me in the shoulder -- watch this video first. There are worse vices than video games.