A post that isn't about moving, home selling, home buying or anything else of a similar ilk

I was going to write, yet again, about my current all-consuming activities, but then I came to my senses.  Instead, here's just an assortment of random "stuff".

My favorite album titles
In no particular order for no particular reason:

• Seven and the Ragged Tiger - Duran Duran; not only does it have a cool title, but it has a few good songs to boot (including one of my favorites, "New Moon on Monday").
• Babylon and On - Squeeze; another great album that I also own that has a cool title.  "Hourglass" is a workout staple for me.
• Learning to Crawl - The Pretenders; one my the best albums I have ever heard.  I love the back story behind the album as well.  Google it and read for yourself.  I've often times contemplated my own moments in life when I've had to "learn to crawl".  Favorite tracks?  Really, mostly all of them.  
• Learning to Flinch - Warren Zevon; I don't own the album and I'm not especially fond of acoustic sets, but I just love the title. I don't know if Zevon was thinking about the Pretenders album when he came up with the name, but never the less it's still pretty cool.
• The Unforgettable Fire - U2; yeah, an album titled after a description of a nuclear bomb explosion is somewhat pretentious, but I like it never the less.  "Bad" is one of my favorite songs of all time.   

Words I use to describe peanut butter
I hate peanut butter.  I despite it.  Here are a few choice words to describe it:  Acrid.  Disgusting.  Putrid.  Vile.  Vulgar.  Nauseating.  Foul.

I don't know how any human being could consume this stuff.


The Number of times BBC America has played "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"
At least 476 times, give or take a dozen.


Things that 20-somethings do that irritate me
With no offense intended to anyone, and I realize that there are plenty of younger folks who don't fall under these categories (but there are some...).

• Pretend to be worldly - You can't be worldly and be young.  Sorry, you can't.
• Think they are owed something - The world doesn't own you an education, a cellphone with a data plan, or a leadership position just out of college.  Speaking of education, "going to school" isn't a vocation, it's a means to a vocation.
• Disrespect the past - Want to understand the present?  Study the past.  Don't want to study the past? Well then don't pretend that you actually understand the present.
• Are suckers for marketing schemes - The folks at Apple must love the average 25 year old.  "Behold, the latest iThing, with new 4% larger screen!".
• Think that things are free (that really are not free) - Basically nothing in this world is free.  Facebook?  Nah, it's not free; the cost is much of your personal information that is whored out to marketers.

Things I've recently learned to enjoy
Where "recently" is defined as being over the past 4 or 5 years:  Blogs, classical music, BBC America (especially Top Gear), English Breakfast Tea, supporting a local rescue mission, A Prairie Home Companion, stuffed chicken thighs from Gerrity's, Evernote and Mental Floss magazine.


Reasons why I really don't like the winters in Northeastern Pennsylvania

• Parts of my skin develop a lizard-like quality.
• Breathing in super cold air does not make my asthma very happy.
• Two words:  Dirty snow.
• Three words:  Dark at five.
• People who drive Jeeps during bad weather and somehow believe that driving a Jeep makes you immune from the basic laws of physics.  Want evidence?  Drive down I84/I380 just after a major winter storm and count the Jeeps stuck between the north and south lanes.