one out of the millions
Yes, I have finally given in and become a proud parent of a little, white bundle of joy... formally known as iPod. What finally prompted me to buy this was the number of times I have wanted to listen to music while studying in different locations and, never quite knowing what music I would need at that particular time, smaller (storage-wise) mp3 players just wouldn't suffice. So, that is the rationale behind the purchase... that and they are just so cool!
Over the weekend I began preparing for iPod's arrival, ripping my cds to mp3's through iTunes. I was planning to redo my digital music library anyway, which also may have influenced my purchase (you have to use music library software that is compatible with the mp3 player), so this work wasn't unexpected. Last night, by the time iPod had finished charging for the first time, I had made a dent in my cd collection, having ripped 143 albums totalling 1808 songs. I transferred all of those songs over to iPod, hit shuffle, and was on my way.... For posterity's sake, the first song played: "Romans" by Jennifer Knapp.
The importance of February 14th
Forget about Valentine's Day and all the sweets that go along with it, today is distinguishable for an entirely different -- and some might argue, more important -- reason: it was on this day in 1989 that the first satelite was put into orbit that would eventually form the satelite web we know as the Global Positioning System (GPS). So, ask yourself this: should today be recognized in honor of keeping Hallmark Cards afloat (yes, I realize the history of the day goes back a little further than that) or should we celebrate the fact that we can now pinpoint our exact position in the world so we never have to ask for directions again?
The Iron Giant
This weekend during the visit of Chicagoland friends, I was introduced to several new -- to me -- movies and tv shows. This is a common occurrence when hanging out with Steve. His home is like a scaled-down version of Barnes and Noble and Blockbuster rolled together into one Chicago apartment... except you don't need a membership or credit card to enjoy the books and movies, and if you're especially trustworthy, he'll let you borrow something for an extended amount of time (the 2 1/2 years that I've had "Nobody's Fool" is a little extreme, though). Anyway, during this visit Steve brought along the hillarious first season of "Arrested Development", which is currently in its second season on Fox. Who knew a dysfunctional family could be this funny?! He also brought with the movie "The Iron Giant", written and directed by Brad Bird, the writer and director who brought "The Incredibles" to the big screen. "The Iron Giant" is about a boy and his other-worldly friend. The story is at both funny and a good critique of the diseased human condition of fear of that which we do not understand. This movie definitely makes it into my Top 10 list.