Friday / photo — Comments Off on That time of year
07
Feb 20

That time of year

So we’re doing this again …

It’s as good a reason as any to stay in your box.

The amounts of snow have been negligible, at least. But it has been cold enough to sow. And it always looks like it, of course. And that’s the trouble, this time of year, isn’t it? The calendar says we’re about to turn into the second week of February. Now, where I’m from — by routine and habit and reasonable sensibilities — that means we’re aboooout a week away from seeing those first little green sprigs and shoots of spring.

Where I am, it means I have two more months of gray skies. What that means is we have to find two months of stuff to talk about without complaining overmuch. It’s annoying, really. It annoys me, being annoying about being annoyed. Maybe I need a good, all-encompassing, immersive hobby. Also, it’s going to snow again on Sunday.

But tomorrow, it’ll just be cold. One day we’ll stop doing that, perhaps. In April.

IU / journalism / television / Thursday / video — Comments Off on There’s a lot to watch, only a little to read
06
Feb 20

There’s a lot to watch, only a little to read

I think these two items work together nicely.

That tweet is framed politely, the report spreads the condemnation a fair bit. Which is easy to do, there are many fingers to point in many directions. But, ultimately, everything seems to follow the rule of gravity, and point downward. Lowest common denominators being what they are.

Full day in the office, followed by several hours in the studio. So there’s not a lot here. (Initially I wrote lout, which was more typographical error than subliminal message, but I fortunately caught it just in time.) I do have some video from the studio, however. Tuesday night we watched the news:

And they made white chocolate strawberries, which may be the way to go there, it turns out:

Tonight was sports:

So many sports:

I hope that’ll keep you for now. We’ll try to do better next Thursday, and at least a few of the days in between. See you tomorrow, then, right?

errands / music / Twitter / Wednesday — Comments Off on I see a woman in the night with scissors in her hand
05
Feb 20

I see a woman in the night with scissors in her hand

I’m not one to go in for aesthetic as a driving principle. The concept employs a lot of people, and it is obviously effective. Sometimes in obvious, sometimes in ever-more subtle ways. It’s just not something I think about a lot, or give a lot of credence to — which is the huge and obvious error, of course.

Use this shade of paint or that one. Put the product on the aisle, at eye level or on the end cap, I don’t care that much. Place your advertisement in this commercial break or in that magazine. Good for you. Burn incense in your shop, or just go crazy with the oils and potpourri. I’ll say “Whatever.”

I notice those things, for the most part, but it doesn’t obviously sway me one way or another when I do. I’m not immune. I wouldn’t suggest it. We’re all susceptible. But I think that the subtle has more impact on my decision making process than the obvious. I think this is because most of my shopping and errands and such are very task-oriented. And the task is usually “Find the least expensive thing possible.”

So a coupon is a good thing. And today I had a coupon. For a haircut! At the place I normal endure! This was a half-off coupon, and it expires tomorrow. So, tonight, I made a stop and had them take about half my hair off.

But while I’m sitting there waiting for my turn, I made a decision about hair aesthetics:

Just do an image search, and you’ll get the bigger point, of course. But also, I’m not the world’s biggest Neil Young fan.

The lady that cut my hair this evening was nice. We chatted, which I rarely do a lot of sitting in that chair. I think they probably appreciate the break, usually. But, tonight, we found ourselves talking about the weather and the upcoming snows — which aren’t forecast to be nearly as frightful as she seems to think.

She lives up on a hill and when it snows her car can slide down the driveway, even with the emergency brake engaged.

What happens if you park sideways, I asked.

She lives in a duplex. Parking sideways would block in her neighbors.

So they could park sideways, then, and you could call the boss tomorrow and say you’re blocked in?

This thought had never occurred to her. I could tell because I saw a glance in the mirror, where she was looking for the boss.

And my hair got cut, which was, perhaps, the productive highlight of the day.

Instagram / IU / memories / Tuesday / Twitter / video — Comments Off on Caucus captaincy for sale
04
Feb 20

Caucus captaincy for sale

It’s turned cold again. And these are the days of our lives. Probably for the best. If you start having enjoyable weather for three days in a row you’d come to expect it, and you really should know better to do that here until mid-April.

Which is depressing.

Sunday’s and, to a lesser degree, yesterday’s weather, were nothing more than an aberration.

Which is also disconcerting.

There’s a lot going on here:

The carefully selected handwriting. This is the sort of thing that’s discussed before it’s done, right? “No one could read my handwriting,” and so on. Then there’s the frowny face. And the first-person. It has grown self-aware. And is sad. Now, is the sadness brought about by the existential dilemma of being a soda dispenser? Is the sadness because the dispenser knows this isn’t her fault, but is rather a faulty hose somewhere between here and the syrup? Maybe the grief comes because it knows a manager — the third shift leader in charge of liquid refreshments — forgot to fill that order.

Or maybe there’s a legal issue. It wouldn’t be the first time. Forty-some years ago Barqs was sold outside of the family, but the heirs, the Robinsons still had some companies with the Barq’s name and so the trademark battles began. The 5th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the family, so it was the root beer’s new owners that were out of order and … here we are.

I just learned that some of the fountain drink versions of Barq’s has no caffeine, which, as I understand it, is the point. But is it any good? I mean relative to other root beers? You’ll have to let me know.

It is the beginning of the other Super Bowl season. Iowa is caucusing and it’s simultaneously a silly demonstrating of nominating candidates and fascinating for journalists. The election is like the Super Bowl, so I suppose this is the first of several weeks of wildcard playoffs or something.

I slept in my car on the night of the 2000 general election, and that was just covering the local stuff. I dozed off listening to the networks being fed to AM radio and went back inside the studio (they didn’t let us sleep in there, for some reason) for my first hit of the morning and saw the same national network guys still plodding through. I’m not sure which of us had a better night, but I know they looked better than I did. And we, somehow, have convinced ourselves this is a good thing.

I don’t have any strong memories from election night, 2004. I sat in a newsroom in shivered in 2008 and convinced a bunch of student-journalists that, maybe, they should go get some reactions. In 2012, more shivering. In 2016 I watched everyone else do things. But I digress.

Tonight, I’m going to sleep long before anything is decided in the confusion that is Iowa. Iowa is confusing in a good cycle, and it is given outsized weight relative to its importance. That’s the media’s fault, really. And everything else is from a bunch of people gathering in gyms and people’s homes and wherever else and using what is, apparently, a poorly designed app.

What could possibly go wrong? Everything tonight, it seems. But I’m not staying up to watch it all. I’m not convinced that is a good thing.

We did television tonight. I recorded a little bit of it. Sure, I’m standing in a studio with five high-definition cameras, four of them controlled remotely from the adjacent control room (there was also a sixth high def camera working at this moment, as well, as we’d gone meta) and I’m holding my phone up at eye level …

This is one of the podcast series I want to do: New things shape ongoing disciplines. Think anyone will want to not want to do this one with me, too?

More on Twitter and check me out on Instagram as well.

Monday / running / Twitter / video — Comments Off on My quads, though
03
Feb 20

My quads, though

Well, that was beautiful. Yesterday, I mean. Sunny. Warm. The sort of day where you go outside bracing for one season and are left to marvel that you’ve somehow been transported to an entirely different season. Or that your human notions of space-time are finite and limited. Or that a different weather system has moved into your region. One of those things. Definitely the second one.

Anyway, it hit 62 degrees, so I ran 6.2 miles. And, in the breeze, there was a tumbling tumble-crape myrtle.

I walked outside to run and heard that thing scratching its way down the street. So, of course, I had to follow it a while. It left the road once, and went deep into someone’s yard before stopping, such was the breeze. I retrieved it, put it back in the middle of the road and it blew around some more. I’d managed to walk five or six houses down the road before I decided I had enough footage to make that oh-so-compelling video. You can cover a pretty decent distance if you’re busy staring in a viewfinder. Or at your phone screen. There’s probably a lesson in there somewhere.

Just a lovely run. Started too strong. Stayed fast. I dropped almost five minutes off of my last 10K over the same course. And I thought that one felt good. It must be the shoes.

Now I just need them to make me fast.

So it was sunny and warm yesterday. Today it was almost warm and overcast, so I only ran a 5K today, faster than I have in a good long while. And now I’ll let my legs rest a bit.

Are we padding this out with tweets? We are padding this out with tweets.

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