Huichol Musical
Quiero Que Me Quieras, 2009

This collection of German curiosities from the 1960s and 1970s made for a nice break from homework. Particularly noteworthy: Johnny Cash’s German version of “I Walk the Line” and Sandie Shaw’s groovy cover of “Always Something There To Remind Me”.

Completely unrelated:

• Ray Bradbury at the cafeteria. If you live in LA, you must start eating at Clifton’s regularly right now, and help keep it open and functioning till I can get there for my next visit. Would this be a good time to mention that I miss LA?
• Brilliant idea: As I’ve mentioned before (1, 2, 3, 4), those few people who still write checks at the supermarket also tend to the the oblivious sort who wait until after their groceries are bagged and the total is staring at them on the display to even start looking for their checkbooks. Denying them food can only be a positive thing for the rest of humanity.
• Keep in mind that I really only post about the whole “checks in the supermarket” thing about once every four years, so it’s not quite the obsession it may seem to be. But I am a little surprised at what a running theme it’s turned out to be.
• Guinness now recognizes that the CN Tower is, in fact, a tower and not a structure. This is good, yes?
• It just strikes me that I may not want to drive up to Pittsburgh a day early for this weekend’s conjugal visit.

OK. Back to learning all about link resolvers, OpenURL, and ERM. And making sure my CV is corrected and up to date. But more about that later…

I’d finished buying my groceries and ended up in the white trash kid’s lane (not a difficult maneuver around these parts). When my turn came, I saw the guy’s tattoos up close. He had some generic pattern on his forearm, but what I really noticed was his hand. It was hard to miss. He’d opted to adorn a part of his body that he’ll never be able to hide from prospective employers.

And what statement had he chosen for this highly visible canvas? Cool original artwork? His girlfriend’s name? A religious icon? A Japanese character that didn’t really mean what he thought it did? Nope. This genius chose to permanently display…a Honda logo.

I’m not sure if I’m more worried that he’ll wake up one day wondering why he made such a stupid move, or that he won’t wake up one day wondering why he made such a stupid move.

I’m including this photo of yesterday’s family gathering at our house not because of the shot of me (trust me, I would’ve chosen something more flattering) but just to point out that there aren’t nearly enough screened porches in the new generation of McMansions being built in the south.

More random Monday stuff:

• RIP Jim Carroll. I hope that someone apologized for that film adaptation of your book before you died.
• On Toronto’s 1950s motel row.
• The redesigned print version of the Winston-Salem Journal is without a doubt one of the biggest piles of crap I’ve ever seen. It looks like a weekly paper from some small town in West Virginia rather than a metropolitan daily. I remain a big supporter of local print journalism, but they’re making it really hard with this “less content, same price” mentality.