a networking genius??

I just might be.

A guy I work with has been telling me about how nice it's been since getting an XBox 360 and Xbox live. He mostly uses it to watch streaming Netflix movies. I used to have XBox live, but since moving into the new apartment I cancelled my membership because of how inconvenient it was going to be to network my XBox. My router is all the way down the hall where my desktop computer (which I use as a media server) is so I can't move it. I didn't want to run a 150ft cable down the hall either. So I figured out how to use my laptop as a wireless receiver and boost a wired connection from it to the XBox. It's working splendidly so far and I've enjoyed watching two episodes of 30 Rock. When Haley gets back I'll enjoy "Man on a Wire" with subtitles. It was tough to understand the first time since half of it was in French and the rip I had of it didn't include subtitles. Soon I'll also enjoy getting my butt handed to me by some 12 year olds in Halo.

traveling to nyc?

Here are a couple legit things I learned on my latest trip to nyc.

1. Bolt-Bus on Tuesday night rules. I paid $10 and arrived in midtown in two hours.
I'm almost positive there is no possible way to get there cheaper. If I had driven, the tolls would have cost more. The train costs $35 more at best and is only about 40 minutes faster. (but because of how the schedule worked out I actually only got there 20 minutes later than the train would have gotten me there.)

2. iPhone & Google maps is the smartest public transit navigator that I'll ever be able to fit inside my pocket. We had no clue what we were going to do... and little clue how to get there and we did things and got there fairly easily. We also had no idea how to get to JFK from where ever we might end up that day... but we did that too. And with my iPhone I was able to make it from JFK back to Penn Station all by myself in time to catch my train back to Philly.

That's about it.

so far this morning...

this is what I've done. (A is hidden by D... same location)

and... I was still the first person in the office today.

south philly 6:30am...

Had to take my car to get a few things checked out last week. After I dropped off the Breeze, I had some time to kill before meeting Haley for breakfast so I walked around for about half an hour.

carnival cruise lines = purveyors of lies

Fact: this didn't happen. The crowd in this commercial was definitely not the crowd that the fine folks at Carnival made wait around for more than 3 hours before sending home without the satisfaction of seeing a pinata smashed with a wrecking ball.

The lama stood in an empty parking lot for a week after the "event" then they quietly took it down around 9:00 on a sunday. No wrecking balls, no candy, no fanfare, nothing but a bunch of lies.

a.a. bondy

So Casey posted this link a while back (because he's cooler than me). I've probably listened to these songs 20 times over the past few days. I have a tough time figuring out why I like the music I do.... Scandinavian metal... hymns... southern folk. But whatever it is that makes me like stuff, A. A. Bondy has an awful lot of it. I love it.

Check out some of his stuff.

fishtown...

Haley and I rocked out the last of 2008 (best year of my life) by taking some pictures of Fishtown. It was cold. It was awesome.

obama... you need to talk to this dude

microwaves...

also check it out in HD here just click the "watch in HD" link under the video

merry christmas from my office...

beer run!

Since you can basically only buy beer by the case in Philadelphia (there are exceptions, but cases are the way to go) some friends and I go together every couple months and get a bunch of cases then split them up. Today we got 7 cases. It was kind of amazing.




We divided them up in the parking lot, and probably looked a little too excited about our purchase.

statistically speaking...

Cormac McCarthy said in an interview with Oprah that statistically speaking at any given time there is in fact a luckiest person in the world. He's right I suppose... I mean people win stuff... some people win a lot of it... and if you could tally all wins (or whatever else one would qualify as a sign of good luck) and make a list, there would in fact be a person sitting atop that list as the luckiest person on the planet. I think I know this person. She lives in Philadelphia and is my girlfriend.

Here's the breakdown.

Oct. 5th: First time I met Haley she buys a lottery ticket at a corner store in Fishtown. She says its her first one... wins $8.

Nov. 14th: At a fund raiser for Peru, there's a drawing for acupuncture treatments. A ton of people enter. Haley wins.

Conversation about an hour ago: "At our Holiday party I entered a raffle for a free weekend in Woodstock New York. I left the party early. I wonder who won." About 10 minutes ago I get a phone call. "Guess what? ... I won the weekend in New York."

That's three increasingly valuable prizes in as many months. I might need to plan a trip to Atlantic City for new years. Unbelievable.

my co-workers are a constant source of encouragement...

I love hymns

because they are full of stuff like this.

For every poor mourner, who thirsts for the Lord,
A fountain is opened, in Jesus the Word;
Their poor parched conscience, to cool and to wash,
From guilt and pollution, from dead works and dross.

A robe is provided, their shame now to hide,
In which none are clothed, but Jesus is bride;
Though it be costly, yet is the robe free,
And all Zion’s mourners, shall decked with it be.

-from The Gospel Brings Tidings by William Gadsby
-brought to my attention by Red Mountain Music -listen -buy cd


One of my favorite things about going to Alabama last week was going back to Red Mountain. The music is no small part of why I loved that place so much. Thanks so much to all the folks who lovingly work on it.

it's different here...

I'm glad to have gotten to spend Thanksgiving in Alabama. It's been wonderful to see so many of the people that I've missed so much since I left. I also couldn't be more excited to almost be on my way back to Philadelphia to see the new people Ive been missing.

aftermath...

This is what I expect the tables at our houses in heaven will look like after we welcome home old friends.

Thanks to the Smith's for the warm welcome, and being the hardest people in Birmingham to say goodbye to. I've missed you guys.

tagged...

So I was tagged by Susan.  Due to said tag I am writing 6 or so random things about myself.  While I'm glad to respond to the tag, I don't feel the need to tag anyone else specifically.  But if any of the 2 or 3 people that read this would like to write random stuff about themselves in return go for it.

I've developed an odd affinity for pumpkins this season.  I don't ever remember liking pumpkin pie, but I liked it this year.  I've also drank a ton of pumpkin beer.  DogfishHead Punkin' is the best by far.  I even made, well sort of made, pumpkin bread this week... kind of weird.

I'm learning that I'm a much bigger nerd than I ever thought.  My boss was giving away a book of fractals, and I was excited to get it.  I like all the math in it, but don't understand a lick of it.  I also was abnormally excited to find out that z-depth information can be contained and manipulated in RLA files exported from 3D programs when imported into 2D compositing applications.  

I am really terrible at bowling.  I wish I were better, but I am not.

I have an irrational fear of getting my fingers chopped off after falling down during the act of ice skating.... which I've never done.

The fact that the Market - Frankford line is both a subway and an el blows my mind.  I mean I get it... but still.

I constantly replay conversations and events in my head.  I think of things I should have said, or said differently.  I wonder how that would have changed the outcomes of conversations.  I think that I do it so I'll be better prepared next time.  I never am though.  Every time I walk away and my head is flooded by more clever comments,  better explanations for myself or the perfect parting words that I typically am left to say to myself.

broken iPhone...

So... my iPhone broke. It actually kinda got soaked by the most rain I've ever seen in my life... while it was in my pocket... as Haley and I were also being soaked by said rain. I'm no meteorologist, but I would say at least 8 to 12 inches of rain fell in the amount of time it took us to walk the last 5 to 6 blocks to my apartment. We looked like we'd been swimming in our clothes. Ridiculous. Anyway... the phone would turn on, but there was about a third of the touchscreen that no longer worked. I got up this morning and decided I'd drive to King of Prussia (yes that is an actual place) to the Apple store and see what, if anything I could do. I get there, make my maintenance appointment, then get to walk around for about two and a half hours waiting on my Genius to become available. In that time I got attacked by a toy helicopter, had my hands exfoliated with salt from the dead sea, found a bathroom to wash dead sea from my hands, and determined that Vampires are definitely in this season.

After all that was done I met Wallie*, my Genius.
"Whats the problem with your phone?"
"The touchscreen isn't working in these areas."
"Oh that has to do with the thermal layers. Let me run the info and if its under warranty we'll get you a new one and you'll be on your way."
"Oh great."
I knew it wasn't under warranty, but I'd let him run it just in case. Then something amazing happens. Wallie goes to the back and gets a small white box... from a gigantic lego-castle-ish stack of small white boxes and pulls from it a shiny new non 3G iPhone. After typing in some stuff on his computer he comes over and says,
"Its not under warranty, but I ran the serial and your phone is known to be prone to this type of issue. We're going to replace the phone at no cost to you."
"Oh great." and in my head I think... "my phone is prone to getting soaked by an afternoon torrential downpour. cool."

Hooray Apple! Hooray Wallie! And hooray for not asking any questions about when I first started noticing this problem!

Check out other pics from this guy.

*not his real name... I remember his real name, but though it might be better to not use it.

my neighborhood...

Took this a little while back while walking home. Its a couple blocks away. There's a lot of speculation about the meaning of shoes tangled in wires. I think it means at some point in time someone threw some shoes up in the wires to see if they could get them caught. I had shoes tangled in the wires at my place in Montevallo too. Probably meant the same there.

what I've learned about Philly...

I've decided that Philly is a town that's just waiting for something to honk its horn at.