Somewhere in March.
Week 106.
I think.
I keep starting and abandoning this thing because attention spans are for schmucks.
People are once again convinced “it’s all over.” This happened last year too and it most definitely was not over. I will be happy to be wrong. But I don’t trust a goddamn thing anymore. (Not that I ever did. Especially when it comes to this Global Fucking Pandemic.) So I’m sticking with the glass-half-empty for now.
We have now surpassed the official two-year mark since Bob started working from home. Right now there is still no plan for that to change and hallelujah for that, because we are hurtling headfirst into Minnesota’s longest season: ROAD CONSTRUCTION. And in mere days they are starting a major two-year long construction project right outside our door and we are not looking forward to it, but the less we have to leave the house while it’s going on, the better.
Anyroad.
… I’ve been listening to a lot of Monkees music lately. Also watching the TV show. If the show came out new today, I would think it was stupid and annoying. But the nostalgia factor is very strong and instead I find it amusing—problematic 1960’s viewpoints notwithstanding. Though it’s not nearly as problematic as I would have expected from a fifty-some-year-old TV show, but there are some things that would definitely not fly on TV today. There are also a few things that make me stop and say yep, still tracks. (RE: demonstration vs riot) Also, I can listen to their performance of Riu Chiu from their Christmas episode on repeat for hours. It’s a little sad that Micky Dolenz is now the only Monkee left. Their music has been a constant my entire life.
… Speaking of problematic television…I was watching a cartoon of Horton Hatches the Egg and there is a scene where Horton is captured and taken across the ocean on a boat. A fish pops out of the water, sees this happening, looks at the camera and says, “Well, now I’ve seen everything.” He then proceeds to take out a handgun and shoot himself in the head. I THOUGHT DR. SEUSS WAS A KIDS CARTOON. What the actual fuck 1942? The scene was removed from broadcasts sometime in the 80’s but I have it on DVD and apparently those have not been censored even though other shows on the disc are marketed for kids and are much less…traumatizing.
… I recently fell down a hard drive black hole and was reminded that Steve Burns (he of Blue’s Clues fame) put out an album in 2003 called Songs For Dustmites. Then Youtube told me that there were two music videos released for it. I remember listening to Mighty Little Man, What I Do on Saturday, and Troposphere on a constant loop back then. And may or may not have revisited such habits after unearthing the album from ye olde music arsenal.
… In Technology Hates Me news…I have now learned USB3.0 is not always superior to USB2.0 when it comes to transferring files. (Amazon reviews would lead one to believe that 3.0 is the end-all-be-all for everything, but also the worst thing ever.) I don’t even know how much time I have spent beating my head against the wall over a vague AF error message and unhelpful internet advice, but my problem seems to be solved just by plugging in my external HDD into the 2.0 port instead of the 3.0 port. This is especially infuriating because previously I got the same error while using the same port, but I cannot remember which drive specifically I was using at the time so I can’t say for sure if it was the same offender as the one that DID work THIS time. Regardless, The semaphore timeout period has expired error message can go fuck itself.
… I heard part of a work call Bob had with his boss on Friday afternoon wherein Boss asked Bob if he was planning on taking off early for the day since he was working a few hours on Saturday and once again I was reminded of the glaringly stark contrast between the company Bob works for and the Toxic Shit Hole (TM). Whenever I had to work on a Saturday I would be expected to work late the Friday before (or every single day if we’re being realistic) AND be there first thing Saturday morning. But God forbid I rack up any overtime hours for logic hath no place in a company from the Seventh Level of Hell. *ahem* ANYWAY. I am glad Bob likes his job and his boss and if he has to work on a weekend at least it’s from home.
… I’ve been building a playlist for the story that has consumed my brain for the last…two…?…years…? It is sixty-five songs and counting as of last update. Pairing up songs with scenes has served to highlight just how many gaping holes there are in the narrative and how much more story there is to tell before it’s even close to being finished. Which is unnerving because this thing has surpassed ninety thousand words and overtaken ye olde Ben & Marina in word count by a solid 30k at this point. (Unless you add in the unexpected ∞Tyler sequel. Then it’s somewhere between 10 and 20k.) The odds of me finishing this thing are about as good as any other story, but it at least has a mostly fleshed out plotline and could actually BE something, which is far more than I can say about most things I dump on a page. But still…NINETY THOUSAND WORDS.
The word count has risen since taking this picture, but I already edited and uploaded this one, so…
In the meantime the soundtrack of Ryan & Hallie may or may not be influencing the Last.fm stats…
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Top 10 Most Played Artists for February 2022…
1.) Brandon Flowers … 323 plays
2.) The Monkees … 253 plays
3.) Sara Bareilles … 156 plays
4.) The Killers … 130 plays
5.) Splender … 128 plays
6.) I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME … 116 plays
7.) Panic! At the Disco … 74 plays
8.) Fall Out Boy … 73 plays
9.) Carbon Leaf … 68 plays
10.) The Young Veins … 64 plays
Honorable mention: Matt Nathanson, Darren Criss, Tonic, O.A.R., Billy Joel, Nine Days, Emerson Hart, Toad the Wet Sprocket
Total of 1,703 plays of 741 tracks from 85 albums by 19 artists.
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Mighty Little Man Steve Burns |