Life Soundtrack

I was tagged for this by Kate a while ago, and I'm finally getting around to it. Hopefully my random music selections will seem cool and indie, as opposed to lame and teenybopper-y. Here goes!

So, here’s how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool… (hey, that’s what the directions said, not me!)

Opening Credits: Behind Hazel Eyes - Kelly Clarkson (off to a bad start)
Waking Up: Sweetness - Jimmy Eat World
First Day At School: You're Pretty When I'm Drunk - Bloodhound Gang
Falling In Love: Callin' Baton Rouge - Garth Brooks
Fight Song: Out of Jail - They Might Be Giants
Breaking Up: Do You Dream of Me? - Michael W. Smith
Prom: Right Through You - Alanis Morisette
Life: Good Old Fashioned Loverboy - Queen
Mental Breakdown: Beds are Burning - Midnight Oil
Driving: Killer - Adamski feat. Seal
Flashback: Come with Me - Puff Daddy w/ Jimmy Page
Getting Back Together: Seperate Ways - Journey
Wedding: Uptown Girl - Billy Joel
Birth of Child: Points of Authority - Linkin Park
Final Battle: I want to Spend my Lifetime Loving You - Marc Anthony w/ Tina Arena
Death Scene: Salisbury Hill - Peter Gabriel
Funeral Song: High on You - Survivor
End Credits: Breathe - The Prodigy
Kate Extras-
Summer 2006: All Through the Night - Cyndi Lauper
My Friends: Roll to Me - Del Amitri
Dating: Time After Time - Matchbox 20

Now, I have to admit that I totally cheated. After the first They Might Be Giants song my computer went on a TMBG bender and gave me like 10 of their songs in a row. I didn't want this to be a one-artist exclusive, so I hit next a few more times. Sue me!

In any case that was really fun. Some of the songs are apropo, and some sure aren't, but it was fun to listen to a random smattering of the music I've (100% legally) accumulated over the last decade. I don't know who to tag, but I think everyone should give this a shot.

Merry Christmas Eve!

No More Running

I spoke with Dr. McCardel today about my knee MRI. It turns out that there is no stress fracture, and also no meniscal tear. My knee problem isn't an injury, per se. What I've done is wear away my knee cartilage to the point where there isn't enough cushioning left, so it hurts to run. This is bad news.

There is no treatment, there is no procedure, there is no fix. I'm not supposed to run anymore, by which I mean ever. I am also to stay away from raquetball and ultimate frisbee, making it a perfect hat-trick of physical activities that I enjoy.

What I am allowed to do is bike, and use elliptical runners and skiers. So, those are just going to have to be the basis of my new fitness regimen. This will also give me the time to keep focusing on weight training, which I have gotten into since I phased out running.

This is tricky- I'm not asking for pity or anything, but I don't want to downplay it either. This is a very big deal for me. I've only been running for a few years, but it has become a huge part of my life. I've been planning my time around 10k's and marathon training for the last year or so, and I'm really going to miss it. Running has been my TV time, my solitude, my social outlet, my challenge and my triumph, but I guess it's time to move on. At least I got to go out in style with the marathon.

So I guess I'm going to let my subscription to Runner's World run out. I think biking's next. If you're setting up a team-triathalon, I can still do 2 out of 3 events, and that ain't bad.

Knee TBD

Most importantly: If you can't roll your pant legs up, they give you a pair of delightful unisex disposable shorts.

So I had some X-rays that showed...absolutely nothing. So the doctor spent a while torqueing everything around checking for pain, and I was almost disappointed that nothing hurt. To complete the process I go in for an MRI tomorrow at 10:30 pm. It's a little annoying to walk away without a positive diagnosis, but at least we know a whole punch of things it's not- for example, it's probably not a torn meniscus or ligament stuff, because that should hurt. It's not confirmed, but it's most likely a small stress fracture in the bone. It's not a good thing to have, but it is something that will heal on it's own, unlike the other possibilities. I'll let you know when I hear something else, but I'm going to put a check in the positive column.

TMI

Today is my Orthopedic appointment for my knee- wish me luck. I know to expect a lot of knee flexing and pulling, and my pant legs only roll up so high, so I figure I'm going to have to drop trou at some point during the exam. To be proactive, I chose to wear boxers today, which I never, ever do. By the time I got downstairs, I remembered why.

Honestly, I don't know what dudes can wear boxers. It's like they thought "You know what would make these pants even more comfortable? A tennis ball-sized wad of fabric right in the crotch." I mean, what are you supposed to do? I try to tuck the boxer legs down into the pant legs, but it never works. And let's just say that these are only the issues I'm comfortable talking about on a blog that my family reads.

I made it about 10 minutes before I changed. Doctor McCardel's getting the big show, but he's seen it all before.

Christmas Meme

Tagged by lil' Katey...

Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapped. First class all the way!
Colored lights on tree/house or white? I think either one on the house is fine, but for me personally, I prefer white. The tree can go either way but I usually have color.
What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Stuffing. And lots of it.
Favorite Holiday memory as a child: I'm not sure anything has ever rivaled the pure, unadulterated joy of receiving the Nintendo Entertainment System (with power pad). We didn't leave the house for days.
Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I never heard of this until well after childhood, and I feel cheated. I think it's brilliant.
How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? For years we had mostly generic glass balls with a smattering of personality ornaments. This year: bare. But it was a little fiber optic tree, so it's all good.
Snow! Love it or Dread it? I like it for about a month on either side of Christmas. Unfortunately there's never any snow in Maryland.
What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? My family makes these cookies we call "sprits." I don't know if that's the real name, but you shoot them out of a little press and eat them by the handful.
What is your favorite Christmas Song? Little Drummer Boy *sniff.* Favorite arrangement would be Mannheim Steamroller's Carol of the Bells, and for a contemporary song I like Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas is You. Shut up.
Candy Canes -Yuck or Yum? Yum. I think they should sell candy canes year 'round. Also jelly beans.
Favorite Christmas Tradition growing up: Christmas Casserole! In my old age I've also grown to appreciate a good midnight, candlelight Christmas Eve service.
Least Favorite Christmas Tradition Growing Up: I used to hate the church services. Also getting socks.
Breakfast or Presents First? Is that a joke? We never would have made it through breakfast is there were presents to be had.

I have no one to tag. Who hasn't done this yet?

Overheard in Target

From the next aisle over:

Child (around 5 or 6): *cough* *cough* *cough* *haaaack!*
Child's Mom: "Are you okay?"
Child: "Guess I shouldn'ta' put that in my mouth."

I thought it was funny. For the record, this is my 100th post! Glad it was one that I spent a lot of time on.

Brown Sauce- Explained!

You know what's easier than writing a blog post? Copy and pasting in a relevant paragraph from an e-mail you just wrote. Here's what I told Carly:

In other news, it's cold and rainy, the sun's up from about 8 until about 4, and Shelley got sick so I had to do everything myself today. It's alright though- I bought some awesome candy and crackers and I'm going to make some more hot chocolate with the in-room tea service you always get in the UK. Today they left me golden crunch and shortbread cookies- last night I ate the pack of shrewsberry cookies, which I usually avoid, because what the hell's a shrewsberry? I still don't know, but the cookies were pretty good. They always prompt my co-workers and I to say "The shrewsberries taste like shrewsberries!" One more day then I head for home. The flight back is 8 hours, and I've seen all of the movies except "Little Man" and "The Devil Wears Prada," so I might just watch "Click" and "MI3" again.

I forgot to add that our car is an awesome Mercedes hatchback which I did a pretty good job of driving all over the narrow, winding, dark, rainy roads (I only hit one curb!), and one of the guys at Goodrich looks a little like me but talks just like the Geico gecko. Not the old one, but the new one.

I mentioned brown sauce in a post a while ago, and I quote "What is brown sauce? I don't know, but it makes up the big three condiments (along with ketchup and mustard) in England, and it tastes like Death. The only flavor I could isolate was vinegar." Well, last night a dinner I snagged a little packet so I could bring you the ingredients. They are, in order:

Spirit Vinegar
Glucose-Fructose Syrup
Apple Puree
Treacle
Water
Concentrated Date Juice
Modified Cornflour
Concentrated Tomato Puree
Wheat Flour
Salt
Rye Flour
Flavoring
Spice

Those aren't the components I expected, but I'm not surprised. That looks like the kind of list the GC/MS spits out on CSI, before they run it through the database and it spits out what they make up, which in this case would be something like "Queen Elizabeth's vomit." I'll bring the packet back with me, because, you know, Christmas is coming.

We are Impressed

There are so few benefits to living down here in BFE Maryland, but one of them is the base theatre. If you know me, then you've heard me complain about the one crappy movie theatre in town, because it really does suck. Fortunately, the base has a nice little single screen theatre that shows movies a few weeks after they hit the regular places. It used to only be $3, then it went to $4, and pretty soon it's going up to $4.50, but we wont talk about that now. The cool hidden benefit is that because it's a military base, sometimes we get free sneak previews. So last night Kate and I went to see We are Marshall, a full 13 days before it's actually released.

Before I make a final verdict on a movie I like to see it twice and reflect a little while, but after one viewing I really liked it. I understand that unlike Hoosiers (good movie) or Glory Road (bad movie) it is actually pretty close to the way everything happened in real life. Knowing that it all really happened gave it an extra punch- I was actually close to tears a few times, and not just because I'm becoming a big baby in my old age. It's not what I expected from the guy that brought us Charlie's Angels and Cypress Hill: Still Smokin'.

In any case, it's not often that I get to bring you insider Hollywood information, so I'm recommending that everyone see this movie. By the way Matthews McConaughey and Fox were both really good in it, which helps me get over the loss of Party of Five.

The other reason I'm blogging this morning is to let everyone know that I'm leaving for England tonight. I'm being sent back to Wolverhampton for some more JSF stuff, so I might be incommunicado for a few days, but I should be home Thursday night. I've said it before and I'll say it again: It sounds like it's fun, but it's not. Wolverhampton is the Gary Indiana of the UK, and the 5 day forecast is Showers/49, Rain/51, Drizzle/49, Cloudy/51, and finally Showers/52. If all goes well I'll be able to get e-mail, but you never really know what's going to work ahead of time. Once I get back to the Homeland, I pretty much repack and head home for the holidays. Whee!

FYI: The Party of Five thing was a Family Guy reference- I never watched that. Just Sayin'.

Arts & Crafts

Why is Guns and Roses' song November Rain always better in my head than it is in real life? It came on the XM the other night, and just like always, I got all excited, remembering it as an epic rock anthem. Then when I hear it, it's a little bit of a letdown. I think I'm always expecting a bigger buildup to the overture before Slash's face-melting guitar solo. Does this happen with other songs? The only one I can come up with right now is En Vouge's Free Your Mind, where I always wished they would spool back up from the breakdown a little slower. Actually scratch that- the song's great as it is.

In honor of Friday, I present to you one of the best holiday web apps ever: Make-a-Flake! It lets you virtually chop up your own kindergarten Christmas art project. I've spent a little too much time with it this morning, but at least I made this masterpiece. You can finally cut the really elaborate snowflakes that always fell apart in real life.

CBRCMD Website

Remember that Humane Society Pet Day 5k race way back in May? Apparently the Chesapeake Bay Running Club of Maryland just got around to updating their website, and guess who's on the front page?
That's right, yours truly! It's me and several other racers, at least for the time being. You can see most of the runners seem to be getting ready for the start of the race, or listening to the speaker, except me- I'm apparently talking on some sort of invisible phone. This follows the trend of my senior design project: I only get photos in the media when I'm clearly unaware I was on camera and doing something dumb looking. At least I'm wearing huge socks.

MyHeritage Revisited

A while back I did a post about the MyHeritage Celebrity Matcher. Well, much to my surprise, the site still exists! Now they have a spiffy new feature that gives you picture tailor-made for blogs or MySpace, so I thought I would play around with that a little. So far I came up with this:



It's pretty neato in general, but I think I hit the jackpot with that picture. Sure, my first match was that gumpy picture of Arnold Vosloo, better known as The Mummy, or as I like to remember him, the bad guy that Hillary Duff murders in cold blood in Agent Cody Banks (I saw it on the plane, okay?). But after that, it matched me with a bunch of pretty good looking cats. I mean, come on! Tom Cruise? Brad Pitt? Dean Cain? Stifler? Even a dapper young Clint Eastwood. This has to be the biggest computer error in my favor ever!

But while I was playing around with it I tried a few different pictures. I really don't have very many pictures of myself, so I tried the classic photo of me at the Lincoln monument. Look what it came up with then:

You got it- I look like Herman Melville while Honest Abe looks like Angelina Jolie. I guess I can see that they both have very hollow cheeks, and Angelina's skin tone could be likened to white Georgia Marble. But I guess that means Herman and I share a tintype-like lack of features except for our huge manly beards. I hope they refine this technology a little more before they start using it to screen people at the airport, because Winona's got enough problems as it is.



Edit: This used to be another MyHeritage collage that matched Osama Bin Laden with several Hollywood notables, including Winona Ryder. That's sort of key to the joke, but now it has disappeared. C'est la vie.

I Hate Ken Dixon

My first beef with the Ken Dixon family of auto dealerships is that they insist on putting their emblem on every car they sell. My personally philosophy is I paid for the car; it is now mine. Your dealership name and/or logo will only remain on it if you're paying me some sort of advertising fee.

I always hate this, but Ken Dixon is an offender on two different fronts: First, it's not just a license plate frame or a sticker or something, but an actual metallic emblem adhered to the vehicle. The frames come right off and stickers can be peeled away, but for the stupid emblems you have to get out the heat gun, warm up the adhesive, carefully pull it away without scratching the paint, then re-polish the spot where it was. Second, the emblem is just the "Ken Dixon" logo. My Neon had a dealer sticker on it when Jim bought it, but at least that was clearly the auto dealership. It said "Hart City Dodge" or something of the sort ("Hart" city being a reference to Elkhart, IN, "The city with a heart"). The Ken Dixon emblem just says "Ken Dixon." Not even "Ken Dixon Honda" or "Ken Dixon Auto Group." How arrogant do you have to be to just put your own name on every car you sell? Plus, it's written in a really lame script, and the "i" is dotted with a freaking star! What is this, 2nd grade? Why doesn't he just dot it with a heart or smiley face?

Apart from the offenses of the logo itself, they seem to be applied with all the care of an airport baggage handler. The one on my car was tilted at least 10 degrees from horizontal. My buddy Mike's theory is that the script font makes it hard to align, but that's just more reason to change it or get rid of it altogether.

Back to my main point. Since I was driving back from the airport on Thursday anyway, I made an appointment to bring my car in for the one-year/15,000 mile service at the dealership. I'm not sure what all it entailed, but I know oil changing and tire rotating were involved. I got there late because of the freak Texas ice storm, but they still helped me out and it was totally dark outside by the time my car was done. I immediately thought my steering was a little funny, but I wasn't sure. Kate and I have already established that the Ken Dixon service department can't breathe on a vehicle without screwing up the alignment, so I should've turned around right there and then. But, I was lazy and kept going home. The next day I let Kate drive a little ways, and she agreed that the car was pulling left, so I told the dealership that I would be bringing it back as soon as I could. Then Sunday morning I stopped to get gas, and as I stood at the pump I noticed that the problem might not be my alignment, but the fact that my left front tire was almost completely flat! We're not talking a little low- I mean the rim was almost on the pavement. I immediately drove to the air pump to fill it up, and it registered less than 10 psi! My tires are supposed to be 35 to 40, and the rest were all hovering around 20. What the hell? Not only had I driven the car about 100 miles like that, but I know "tire pressure" was one of the things they claimed to check.

All the more reason not to trust car dealers!

Thanksgiving Pics

Tomorrow I start the shopping! It is starting to feel a lot like Christmas- I've got the lights up, I often have the XM set to the holiday station, and it was snowing so badly in Dallas that my flight home was cancelled and I had to wait an extra 4 hours for the next plane and de-icing. That's right- a full blown ice storm in Texas, then I land in Maryland where it's 70 degrees. Wonky.

In any case, I wanted to post a couple of my mom's pictures from Thanksgiving!

Here's me with the delicious turkey. The whole meal was a team effort, but I'm still pretty proud of how this guy turned out.


This doesn't really have anything to do with the holidays, but I wanted to post it anyway. The day after Thanksgiving we stopped at the Base's aircraft museum, so here's Daniel and I with an old Sikorsky H-53A Sea Stallion. We both work on the new H-53K- Daniel from the contractor side, me with the government. We work on totally different areas, but hopefully I'll get sent up there someday and I can make a visit out of it.

There's not much else to tell right now, except that my knee is really bugging me. The day after Thanksgiving was supposed to be my triumphant return to running, because that was like 4 weeks after the marathon and I figured it would be mostly better. I don't know if it's the endorphins or the general fitness or what, but I really miss the jogging! In any case, we made it about 1 mile before I had to pack it in because of the knee. Then it hurt a little Saturday, not so much Sunday, and then from Monday on it's been a nightmare. I'm going to get it checked out pretty soon. I'm thinking Meniscus Tear, but I'm no doctor. I did diagnose Howard's mono, though (burn!).

So I haven't run in 4 whole weeks- and I've gained 10 pounds since the marathon! Isn't that ridiculous? Of course, maybe it's not such a bad thing. As Jamie put it, "You were starting to look like a meth addict." Don't worry though- I'm not going to be doing any sort of workouts until at least after Christmas. I realize the holidays are when you need excercise the most, but I can't think of any cardio excercises that don't involve the knee. I think I am going to step up the (upper body) weightlifting, so that'll be something.