Surprisingly enough, though, I still love Elmo.
Indochine
Canary Bay (1985)
And a cover from 2009.
Highlights from last week’s trip to Washington:
- Making a presentation on the same stage as some major international heavy hitters and in the same building as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
- Dinner with Juan Felipe at Busboys and Poets.
- The National Building Museum and its orgasmically amazing bookstore.
- Great Lebanese place in Alexandria.
- The aforementioned shower head. I usually have a hard time believing a high-end hotel is really three times better than the Red Roof Inn, but I was almost convinced this time. It helped that I wasn’t paying for it, though.
And some stuff for a warm spring evening:
- Good piece on modernism in Canada. I really love that modernism was a bigger deal in Canada than in the US.
- in honor of the late Margaret Thatcher.
Interesting article from the RaleighCharlotteNewsObserver about how the southern accent is disappearing from urban areas in North Carolina. We’ve all been hearing this for years and it is, of course, true. I work with lots of younger NC natives who sound no more southern than the people I worked with in California and I sometimes spend days at a time going about my business without hearing a noteworthy twang. I think this research is too quick to dismiss the impact of broadcast media, but that may be an artifact of the article rather than the actual research.
People here have a hard time figuring me out too. With my North Carolina roots having been moderated by some speech training, by some low-grade radio work, and by thirteen years in California, the average person I meet has no clue where I come from (although they could probably figure it out by paying close attention). And I kind of like that.
Photos from my recent weekend in Bristol, Kingsport, and Johnson City. I’d always thought it would be fun to spend a weekend there. I was right.
[flickr-gallery mode=”photoset” photoset=”72157633084069238″]
Tonight at dinner, a friend and coworker was asking me if I thought I’d ever get married again. I replied, as you might imagine, that I could scarcely imagine anything more unlikely. But I may have changed my mind. I think I’m ready to engage in a long-term relationship with the shower head in my hotel room. It’s quite wonderful. It’s not a sex thing, but damn…
That said, the “massaging soap” is really creeping me the fuck out.
Spirit of the West
Home for a Rest (1990)
It seems that whole Republican “limited government” philosophy only applies when starting or ending a marriage is not involved.
I will not allow the state to decide how a portion of my income will be spent nor to regulate my business, but I’m happy as a clam to allow the state to tell me whom I may choose to marry and how long we must stay together.
Uh huh…
The coldest March in recent memory continues and for about the fifth time in the past three weeks, I have no heat. That means that instead of using my holiday for good, I get to spend yet another day waiting for the plumber to come out and not fix it correctly. This annoys me. I may just spend the weekend at my other house.
The Weather Channel is no longer predicting snow showers in DC next week. I’m pretty much OK with that.
I’m bored with this theme now and am going to bed.
Tuesday night on the couch:
- My doctor is very happy that there’s currently about eighteen percent less of me than there was six months ago. Blood pressure 103/68. Heart rate 63. All blood looking good too. I’m surprisingly healthy. But I had to laugh when he asked how my stress level had been for the past six months. Which is much better than crying…
- Were I (a) Jewish and (b) in Toronto, this would have been my seder choice. Actually, I probably would’ve done it despite my lack of religion.
- Good read. Not quite as good as I’d hoped but still very good.
- Next week I’ll be in DC doing a conference presentation inside the National Archives. That’s not nearly as glamorous as it sounds but at least I get to visit an old friend. And maybe even some snow–or so says The Weather Channel.
- Still haven’t decided where to live. Suggestions welcome. It’s a call I really need to make pretty soon.