I’m trying something new.. a YouTube playlist of these songs — I’m actually quite impressed that YouTube has ALL of these songs. Wow.

(80s Phase)
Ok.. so I dont actually have any tracks in my iTunes from this phase — it was the 80s, and all of my music is either on LP or Cassette tape, and therefore, not in my iTunes… Anyway.. it WAS the 80s when I was listening to this stuff, so it wasn’t called “80s music” back then.. Back then, it was just “pop” and I remember listening to a lot of it on 107.9, aka POWER 108.

Thriller – Michael Jackson
Let’s Hear It For The Boy – Deniece Williams
Straight Up – Paula Abdul
Piano Man – Billy Joel (my first live concert)

(Classic Rock Phase)
So, In high school, I was big into classic rock.. You know, Zeppelin, Clapton, Pink Floyd, and the Beatles. I listened mostly to 100.7 WMMS (aka the buzzard with the wig). Then, I got my first CD player, a Sony Discman D-4, by saving up for like 13 years, I think. My First CDs were.. Pink Floyd’s Delicate Sound of Thunder and the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd
A Day In The Life – Beatles

(Folky/Classical Phase)
I was a huge fan of Northern Exposure, and this track was in the last episode of that show:

Our Town – Iris Dement

All throughout my childhood, I played violin, so yah, I had an appreciation for classical music.. My favorite classical track of all time is:

The Moldau – Smetana

(Ska Phase)
I’m not sure how I found ska in college, but I did. All throughout college, I pretty much listened to like 80% ska music. I did the whole deal, I had the flight jacket, a porkpie hat, oxblood doc martens, and skanked. Ya, I even had a Vespa (and still do).

007 (Shanty Town) – Desmond Dekker
Message To You Rudy – The Specials
He Wants Me Back – Dance Hall Crashers
Tell You Why – Pietasters
Come Back Baby – The Slackers

(Punk Phase)
The ska thing kind of developed into a punk fascination — I mean, OpIV is ska-punk, so it seemed like a natural evolution.

Sound System – Operation Ivy
Life Size Mirror – No Use For A Name

(Japanese Phase)
I had a brief fascination with Japanese music. Yah.

Baby Love Child – Pizzicato Five
Sugar Water – Cibo Matto

(Electronica Phase)
And then.. I moved to San Francisco. And in SF, electronica kind of found me. I probably spent like 6 months listening ONLY to trance, and on this one trip up to Tahoe, I ONLY had trance CDs in my car.. about 2 hours into the drive, I was so desperate for ANYTHING NON-TRANCE that I almost tore my ears out until I (thankfully) found a cassette tape from high school (classic rock) that I listened to for the rest of the weekend. I have a theory that you can only listen to so much trance in your lifetime, after which you’re just, like, done with it. So yah, even though I remember really, really liking this PVD track. Now, I can’t even be bothered to sit through it. Ugh.

Out There & Back – Paul van Dyk

So, from trance, I moved on to breaks, which I think is a natural progression. I probably spent the most time DJ’ing breaks, and my vinyl collection is primarly breaks. That said, for some reason, I don’t really like listening to breaks on my iPod. Maybe that’s cuz I don’t really like listening to breaks — I prefer dancing to it.

Collect – Emit

(Folky Phase.. Reprise)
I think as a backlash to my years of electronic/trance-ness, I rekindled my interest in folky stuff. These two tracks are my favorites:

The Blower’s Daughter – Damien Rice
Lonestar – Norah Jones

(Hip Hop, Turntabilist Phase)
For like a brief time, I really wanted to be a good scratch DJ/Turntablist, and it was during that time that I found a lot of hip hop that was pretty rad.

From 93 till Infinity – Souls of Mischief
Ghostwriter – RJD2
Point to B – Prefuse 73
Swing Set – Jurassic 5

(Indie Electronic Phase)
I think the pendulum swung back kind of crooked — and since everything merges anyway, I found myself in indie-land, with a bit of an electronic influence.

Hide & Seek – Imogen Heap
Needy Girl – Chromeo

(I LOVE Xmas music)
So, for the past 6 years, I’ve compiled a CD of Christmas music. I heart christmas music, and this is my favorite holiday tune:

Baby It’s Cold Outside – Elf Soundtrack

(Indie Phase)
Ok.. and now we’re kind of in my latest phase, which is just the “Indie Phase” — that said, “Indie” is kind of a wide spectrum of things, and pretty much, for the past few years, I’ve been putting together mixtapes like every quarter. So, here’s just a sampling from those mixtapes of tracks that I find to have a particularly high level of awesomeness.

First Breath After Coma – Explosions In The Sky
To Be Loved – Joan As Police Woman
Falcon Jab – Ratatat
Blood Bank – Bon Iver
Lisztomania – Phoenix
Comets – Fanfarlo

And.. that’s it, I think.. 34 biographically representative songs from my 34 years..

Anyway, I just finished traffic school, and I thought I’d share with everyone an example of the quality things that I learned today that will SURELY make me a better driver.

Which of the following is an unlikely alternative to driving?

Driving steadily can improve your gas mileage by as much as ___ miles per gallon.

It is your responsibility to ______ and protect the environment you enjoy.

Uh yah.. awesome. Well, I sure do feel like a better driver now, don’t you?

Since it’s first come first serve, in years past, people have started camping out as early as Thursday to get a good spot in line.  This year, for one reason or other, they decided to outlaw camping, instead opening the gates at 5am on Saturday, and auctioned off the top 10 spots in “line” to raise some more money.  Now, while I was not exactly *thrilled* at the thought of sleeping outside in SoMa Friday night, the whole “no camping” policy kind of put a slight damper on things for me — I mean, I haven’t camped out for anything since college, but yah.. the initial concept without being able to “buy” a spot in line was kind of cool..

Anyway, we toyed with the notion of bidding for one of the top spots in line, I mean.. what’s a few hundred bucks in exchange for a night of sleeping comfortably in bed.  But, I had never been, so I didn’t know the quality of the art, and I think the whole auction thing was kinda pissing me off so I didn’t wanna support it.

So, instead, shooey and I met up at 3am on Saturday.  Ouch.  And, to make things even better, it was FREEZING  and RAINING.  Ok, FREEZING in the SF sense, in that 45 degrees in San Francisco feels more like 25 degrees anywhere else.  It was cold.  I was not happy.  But, luckily, SomArts is like 5 blocks from my house, so after a few miserable hours of sitting in the rain freezing my arse off, I ran home and changed into my ridiculous winter coat and snow pants.  And then.. we waited.

I slept for a bit, listened to two episodes of “This American Life,” and chatted with shooey to pass the time.  We had originally thought to bring cards or something, but it was too cold and rainy to even attempt that.

That said, I think I’m pretty good at sitting and waiting.  It was actually kind of nice to be slightly (ok, I still had my iphone) disconnected from the world for a few hours.  The hours rolled away easily, and soon enough, we had our bid cards in hand, and then I was able to steal away home for a few hours before the auction.  I was #16.

The doors to the gallery opened at 4pm, and we all piled in excitedly.  Sure, there was free food and drink, but I barely remember eating or drinking anything for the first hour, I was so focused on finding the pieces of art I wanted.  I was slightly disappointed to find that my favorite pieces from the art preview that Visual Aid had posted on their site were all in the live auction, and not the flat price auction…  Aondrea Maynard’s Horizon and Gale Antokal’s Place 10 were both ridiculously beautiful in person.  They went for $3,000 and $2,500 respectively during the live auction.

Anyway, I ran around like a mad man looking at the 650 pieces of art.  At first glance, I only liked those two that were for live auction, and I was kind of annoyed.  Grrr!  I didn’t want anything!  But, then I started looking a bit more, and more deliberately, I started seeing a few more things I liked.  Phew.

My first choice was this one:

Bunny Existential, by Addie Shevlin

Shooey also liked that one, which was an issue — what happened if we both had overlapping choices on our list!?  Out of the 650, I had 16 that I liked… out of that list, Shooey and I overlapped on 3.

Turns out, it was moot, cuz all of the ones we both liked ended up taken by the time it was our turn to choose.  Bleh.  Shooey was super bummed cuz the one that she really liked was this bee painting, and on the big board, it was still available — but, when she went to choose, it was gone, so she had to make a gametime decision and choose another.

So stressful!

Anyway, I got up to the desk, heart a-poundin’ and I was able to get my #2 and #3 choices of the show:

Betula (Red) by Phillip Hua 2009, Mixed Media

I really liked the whole idea of making art on newspaper, and somehow, the fact that we cover the newspaper industry a lot at work made me appreciate this pieces a bit more, who knows.

Sleeping Tanks by Manu Schnetzler, Photograph Mounted on Aluminum

Now, ideally, I really wanted a painting — I dunno, I LOVE photography, and I have a lot of it, so I wanted to balance out my collection a bit with some paintings..  But, I couldn’t resist the allure of this piece, which was mounted beautifully on aluminum.  It’s a bit hard to photograph it, so here‘s a better image of the photo (but mine is cropped a bit).

After the excitement of choosing my works, I was able to eat a bit and drink a bit (really strong martinis, hello.)  And then the live auction started..  Now, I’ve never been to an art auction of any sort, but this one, perhaps fueled by 2 hours of free drinking, was loud and raucous.  People were jumping up and down and high fiving after they won their bids.  I may have incited some high fiving.  That said, man.. when thousands of dollars are flying around, it’s insane how ITCHY your head gets.

Head… so… itchy… need to scratch.. but don’t want to bid $5,000 for gummy bear painting…. crap crap crap crap.

But I didn’t end up buying anything by accident, although I was very, very tempted by that Aondrea Maynard painting — after checking out her site, I am coveting even more of her work now.  Amongst my favorite artists are JMW Turner and Rothko, so her work kind of evokes that kind of feeling.  Crap, maybe $3,000 would have been a good deal.  Art is a good investment right?

In any case, the live auction concluded and they started dropping the prices on the remaining artworks.  Mike Mcconnell had a drawing in the sale that I liked, and since his work was kind of lower on the wall, I was hoping that it would go unnoticed and I would be able to swoop in and grab it.  I already have one of his paintings and would love to add some more to my collection.

I had my eye on this one photograph that I wanted when the prices started to drop.  It was of a snowy country field, and reminiscent of some of my own photographs, so I really liked it.  It was hung in a prominent eye-level spot, and one by one, the works around it kept getting bought… but I waited.. $130.. no.. wait wait.. nervously trying to look at it, but not pay it *too* much attention lest someone else notice that I was looking at it a lot and buy it..  $100… steady as she goes.. and finally, at $75, I bit the bullet and bought it.

Hill Road by Jonathan Taylor, c print ed. of 30, 2006.

We got home at around 10pm and surveyed our take.. Amongst the three of us, me, Shooey and Shissla:

17 hours + a few hundred bucks = 7 pieces of art.

Not bad.  Now, just need to figure out where to hang it all.

1. The scrollback buffer allows you to multitask.

When you’re chatting with someone via IM, as soon as you’re done with typing your thought, you can switch over to doing something else while the other person is typing and composing their thought. IM clients even have a convenient “audria is typing” notification to let you know that your friend is typing madly away. And then, when they’re finished with their diatribe, you can go back and look at what they’re written, and respond.

Apparently, the “real world” does not have such a buffer. In fact, when speaking with people, you have to listen when they are talking. For someone that is constantly multitasking, I find my mind wandering as soon as I finish my sentence (when I really should be listening). And then I kinda look back at them when they’re done talking, half expecting to be able to “scroll back” and see what they’ve just been saying..

CRAP. Real life has no scrollback.

The other unfortunate side effect of this phenomenon is that now that we’re all conditioned to this constant barrage of information, normal “live” conversation isn’t enough to keep us engaged.

The nice family dinner that used to look like this:

Now looks like this:

2. The internets make you seem really smart and knowledgeable.

So you’re chatting with someone, and they say something like, “Hey, have you heard of the xx?” Now, in the real world, you’d be like.. uh, I have no idea what that is (isn’t that like a Mexican beer or whatever?). But, of course, online, you have the world at your fast fingertips, and if you’re an online citizen worth your salt, you just quickly google it, read up, and then formulate an opinion and respond. “Oh, you mean the band the xx? Yah of course, I’ve been following them since they formed in London in 2005. They’re pretty good.” Voila, you’re really smart.. and super cool.

Since the pace of the conversation in IM is at just about any speed you want, you have ample time to finely handcraft witty responses. Did it just take you 5 minutes to respond with that awesome quip? It’s fine — maybe someone at work walked into your office (but really you were busy polishing each and every word).

Of course, this works really well if you’re trying to impress some girl that you’re trying to woo over IM, since you can intelligently respond to just about any subject that she brings up.

Level 2 skills: Trying to prove a point and Wikipedia doesn’t agree with you? Victory is only a quick Wikipedia edit away.

Now, in the real world, your brain is no longer augmented by the information fire hose that is the internet. In fact, those parts of your brain that used to house said information have now completely atrophied from misuse, and without it, your brain has been reduced to that of a drooling 3 year old.

Sure, you could whip out your iTelephone or whatever and look up stuff, but you really don’t want to be *that guy* do you?

3. You can start & stop conversations whenever you want.

Online, chats can span over several hours or days. Well, actually, this is big complaint I get from Korby; he claims that most of our chats go something like this:

Dennis (11:13am): Hi.
Korby (11:15am): Hi.
Dennis (1:17pm): Hi.
Korby (1:18pm): Hi.
Dennis (3:02pm): Hi.
Korby (3:03pm): Hi.
Dennis has signed off.

Ooops. Uh, yah sorry Korby. Anyway, my point here is that conversations can take a looong time to get through over IM, and there’s really nothing that wrong with starting a conversation, and then pausing it for awhile while you do some other thing, and then re-starting it later. Ok, maybe there is something wrong with it, but at least online, it still works, since it’s pretty much stateless.

Apparently, this is not the case in real life, and people get really annoyed when, mid-conversation, you get up and start making yourself a hot fudge sundae.

Oh wait, what? Sorry, were you still talking?

Ok, rambling done…

Anyway, that’s it for my rant for now. So, if the next time I chat with you, I seem to not be paying attention, please cut me some slack. Augmented reality systems are getting better & better, yah?? Surely live talk bubbles are right on the horizon.

In the meantime.. look! it’s Betty from Mad Men!

Just cuz she’s the coolest. And animated GIFs are awesome.

I did a little quick research and actually found that the Herman Miller guy was right — most warranties that you find on products out there do seem to be non-transferrable once the product is resold..

Upon quick glance, both Steelcase and La-Z-Boy also have this warranty policy — and, this is also a common warranty policy amongst consumer electronics manufacturers like Canon.

By only honoring warranties to the original purchasers from authorized dealers, Herman Miller is able to create tiers of pricing for its products. A new Aeron chair from an authorized dealer costs $679. From an non-authorized dealer, it costs $574.. And, voila.. the value of the manufacturer warranty? $105. That said.. the *retailer* offers a 12-year warranty on those chairs. Update: Ok, Amit correctly pointed out that included in this $105 is also a guarantee that the product is “genuine.” Ok, I’ll give you that, I suppose.

Man, this is getting complicated.

Interestingly, a pre-owned Aeron, with a 12-year warranty (not from Herman Miller, but provided by the retailer) costs $549. So, in reality, the “newness” of an Aeron is only worth about $25.

And, a quick search on Craigslist puts the street value of a used, no-warranty Aeron chair at about $450.. once again.. the value of a 12-year warranty at all? another $99.

So, the true price of a brand-new, authorized Aeron Chair?

$450 for the chair
$25 for one that nobody else’s butt has sat in
$99 for the 12-year warranty
$105 to have that warranty serviced by Herman Miller themselves, and guarantee that the product is “genuine”

Fascinating.

Anyway, I still think that the sentiment on the Herman Miller site
is a bit disingeniuous:

The Herman Miller Warranty is a statement of our confidence in the quality of our products. It’s a straightforward promise to our customers that we stand behind that quality, 100 percent–100 percent of the time.

That said, I think I get it now. It still seems very shady, but doing warranties this way allows for manufacturers to create the “grey market” for their goods — which may create a bigger overall market for their products. It allows them to effectively sell products to consumers at a cheaper price and differentiate those products with a weaker (or non-existent) warranty. I only wish that the Herman Miller dude would explain it this way to me instead of just using the “well that’s the way we’ve done it since the company was founded” excuse…

One of the parts on my beloved Aeron chair broke:

I looked on their site to see if their products have a warranty, and.. they do! Woo! It says right on their site:

“The Herman Miller Warranty is a statement of our confidence in the quality of our products. It’s a straightforward promise to our customers that we stand behind that quality, 100 percent–100 percent of the time.”

Awesome.

Well, apparently “100 percent–100 percent of the time” actually means… “100 percent– some of the time” since when I contacted their authorized repair center, they emailed me back:

“The 12-warranty only covers the original owner, once resold the warranty would be denied by Herman Miller.”

Uh.. What? That’s kinda f’d up, no? I mean, yes, I’m the 2nd owner of this chair, but why should that make any difference as to the warranty?? The chair is still a G-E-N-U-I-N-E Herman Miller Aeron Chair as far as I can tell. I mean, yes, I could just buy the part.. but, this is about the principle of the thing at this point.. grr.

So, I wrote them a nice letter of my own…

Hello,
I am a happy owner of an Aeron chair. Recently, the lumbar pad on my chair has fallen apart, as you can see from this photo:

Anyway, I contacted Chair MD, and they informed me that your 12-year warranty does not cover me since I am the 2nd owner of this chair.

The label on my chair says:

Model # AE123AWB AJG1BBWP 3D01
Born-on date: 1999-05-18
Factory Order #: 493715

So, clearly, this chair is well within the 12-year warranty period, so I am writing to ask why it is that the warranty does not cover this chair. Is the warrantly less valid since I am not the original owner?

Isn’t it still the same chair?

I mean, if you buy a used car from somebody, the warranty goes with that car (and that makes sense).

Anyway, it’s really not the money ($65 for a new pad isn’t bad, I guess), but I really would just like an explanation, since the reasoning befuddles me.

Thanks!

Sincerely,
Dennis Yang

So we’ll see what they say…

Update:

Well.. I got a reply from Herman Miller…

Hello Dennis and thank you for contacting Herman Miller. We do have a 12-year warranty on the Aeron chair, but the warranty only extends to the original purchaser of the product when it is ordered through an authorized Dealership. The warranty does not transfer. I have included the verbage from our warranty below:

Regards,

Brandon McElfish/Herman Miller

Way to NOT ANSWER ANY OF MY QUESTIONS in my original email. I am fairly good at the google, and I was able to find that warranty information myself (as I explained in my email).

FAIL.

Honestly, I just want someone from HM to email me and say something like “Yes, we know our warranty policy is ridiculous, and we only stand by our products if you buy them from authorized retailers because we do not care about the re-sale people.” I mean.. yah. Come on.

If I am being ridiculous here, someone please tell me.

Update 2:

Ooo…

So, I wrote Herman Miller:

Hello,

Thanks for your reply!

As I stated in my original email — yes, I am familiar with your
warranty policy, so you did not answer my question.

I am simply inquiring as to *why* your warranty policy is this way?
Warranties for other durable goods like automobiles stay with the
product itself.

I am still sitting on a quality-made Herman Miller Aeron chair, no?

Thanks!

dennis.

And then they wrote back (super quickly, I might add…):

Hi Dennis, our original owner policy has been in place from the beginnings of Herman Miller as a company. I think you would find that there are very few products on the market where a warranty
coverage is passed on to the second owner of the product. That includes several automobile manufacturers.
Best regards,
Bob McAndrews
Herman Miller Inc.

Hmm.. that sounds like a classic “cuz that’s the way it is” answer.

Seriously? Wow.

I mean, I kind of expected more from Herman Miller, but… oh well. I mean, it’s not really the money, I can find a new lumbar support (a $65 part) on eBay for pretty cheap, but like, why have a warranty at all if you’re not going to honor it?

I’m not sure where (ahem) I got this song from, but it got me wondering.. damn, this is a good song, but is that really Rivers singing?  I mean, the album listed in the ID3 tags is “Rare,” but I’m not able to actually find any reference to this recording anywhere..  Well, imeem has a copy, but that just means that this person got it from the same place I did..

Weezer – Earth Angel (Platters cover) – Punk Ska Covers

And.. that one is even worse.. I mean, Earth Angel is NOT a Platters song (it’s originally by the Penguins), and that song is definitely not Punk Ska.

So.. I dig a little deeper.

A search on YouTube turns up this same version of the song, now attributed to the Temptations:

Uh.. ok.  This is clearly not the Temptations..

Seeqpod?  They think that this version is sung by The Temptations and Buddy Holly.

So, I ask shazam, on my iPhone — that has to be a good way, right?  

Shazam identifies this song as Earth Angel, by Bones Howe, from the Back to the Future Soundtrack.  Aha!  That’s a little better.  And that’s why this version sounds so familiar, right?

But.. who the F is Bones Howe?  Voila, thanks Wikipedia, he was the music supervisor for Back to the Future.  Ok, that makes sense, but I don’t think he actually sang the song did he?

More digging lands me at the Amazon page for the soundtrack, where the song is listed as “Earth Angel – Marvin Berry.”  Uh, great.  Marvin Berry, of course, was the fictional character from the movie (he was supposedly Chuck Berry’s cousin).  I mean Marvin Berry & the Starlighters may have a mySpace page and all, but considering that they describe themselves as “a swing band in Hill Valley, California” it’s clear that they’re more fictional than real.

Ugh.. so yah, I still don’t know who actually sang this track, since according to the internet, it was sang by Weezer, The Temptations, Buddy Holly, Bones Howe, or Marvin Berry.

Yah, if it’s on the internet it must be true.

So, here we go…

1. Put Your iTunes on Shuffle. (I used Party Shuffle, cuz Shuffle isn’t really “random”)
2. For each question, press the ‘next’ button to get your answer. (or listen to each song, like I did.)
3. You must write down the name of the song no matter how silly it sounds!
4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.
5. (I added this in myself) – Tag some peeps you want to do the same.

What do your friends think of you?
Breakaway, by Ratatat
iTunes thinks I’m a rebel, always marching to the beat of my own drummer.

If someone says, “Is this okay?” You say?
What Went Wrong, by The Slackers
Yah, I’m a very very caring person.

How would you describe yourself?
Baby It’s Cold Outside, by Ray Gelato And The Giants Of Jive
I guess lately, yah.. I’ve been really cold. Brrrrr.

What do you like in a guy/girl?
Fixing A Hole, by The Beatles
Ok iTunes, I don’t think I’m really a fixer, am I? Is it possible that you know me better than me? Or, maybe you’re just being a little dirty. (snicker, snicker)

How do you feel today?
Beautiful Day Without You, by Royksopp
Wow.. that’s like exactly right. You’re starting to scare me, iTunes.

What is your life’s purpose?
I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow, by The Soggy Bottom Boys
Ok, that’s just depressing, and kind of wrong, since I’m pretty happy.

What is your motto?
Point to B, by Prefuse 73
Hmm. Not a bad motto… just abstract enough to work.

What do you think about very often?
Cute Without the ‘E’, by Taking Back Sunday
I think I have more emo music than my personality really alludes to.. or maybe I’m more emo than I think I am.

What is 2 + 2?
Why Do I Keep Counting? by The Killer
Another direct hit by the iTunes shuffle. Well done.

What do you think of your best friend?
Moon River, by Nan Vernon
My best friend is a new cover of an old classic? I suppose.

What do you think of the person you like?
To Have And To Hold, by Colin Hay
Yah, and I should probably tell her. But you all know that’s not me.

What is your life story?
Sailor Song, by Regina Spektor
Well, thing is, considering this song could be interpreted be about a sailor sailing around the world on the seas looking for something.. maybe that fits.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Stuck In The Middle, by Steelers Wheel (Mashup)
If I grow up to be stuck in the middle, that would suck. But at least it’s a mashup.

What do you think of when you see the person you like?
Dangerous and Sweet, by Lenka
Yah, sure, that works.

What will you dance to at your wedding?
In our Bedroom After the War, by Stars
I think this song is actually about a breakup, so.. maybe not such a great wedding song. Sorry, iTunes, you’re failing a bit here.

What will they play at your funeral?
Sand and Ice, by Fanfarlo
I really like this tune for my funeral actually… It sounds hopeful. If only I actually listened to lyrics, cuz I really have no idea what this song is about.

What is your hobby/interest?
Apres Moi, by Regina Spektor
Really, iTunes? Another Regina song? Seriously, that’s like a mixtape no-no. You should know better.

What is your biggest fear?
What Went Wrong, by The Slackers
Ok, I’ll let it slide this time, cuz this song is dead on for this question.

What is your biggest secret?
Dream, by Priscilla Ahn
My dreams are my biggest secret? That’s kind of deep, iTunes.

What do you think of your friends?
Medley – Sentimental Reason, Tenderley, Autumn Leaves, by Natalie Cole
Yes, my friends are awesome. And I love the fall.

What will you post this as?
Here To There, by Michael Nyman
Ok, if you say so.

Cuz, you know.. a picture is worth a thousand words. And an animated blingee is worth like a billion.

Build your own Blingee

As for the rest of the election, maybe I’ll find some time to write some more about this, but in general, I’m really looking forward to some good changes enacted by the Obama administration, (despite Picked Nits’ fears — interesting counterpoint reading, if you’re into it, btw…).  I’m befuddled by the whole Yes on 8 thing passing, it’s just sad.  I’m happy that the train proposition is looking like it’ll pass… and I’m annoyed that L didn’t pass.  Grr.  I’m really tired of walking around piss and poop in this city, and if something like L worked in NYC, then maybe it would work here too.  Luckily, the funding has already been approved, so hopefully we’ll get to see if it works.