31 July 2018

ergo: Metallica

i switched on the radio to get some inspiration from NPR to write something for you and ended up listening to Metallica instead. i chose the radio in the first place because the audiobooks that i have right now suck. not that i am in a position to criticize anyone else's writing. i mean i'm having a hella time just ginning up two paragraphs, and these others have churned out thousands of words. but position be damned, amirite? because i will say it: these are not award-winning words they are churning.

when audible or the library suggests that people who read the books that i like also read these other books, it really makes me wonder about those people. did they really understand the books that they were reading that i like? because those books are unique and fast-paced, fresh and entertaining. they have well-rounded characters who develop during the story and plot lines that you wouldn't expect. intelligent books with smart yet realistic dialogue. books that show instead of tell. those are the books that i like.

these other books? these books that they say that the people who read the books that i like also like? most of them are routine with flat characters and tired plot lines. are the people who are reading the books that i like reading these other books just because there're not enough books in the world to keep them happy, or do they like these other books and they just read the books that i like because there're not enough books in the world to keep them happy? how could you not like the intelligent books with the well-rounded characters and the well-crafted plot lines? 

all that said to say, i cannot find enough quality audiobooks to keep me happy - ergo: Metallica.

30 July 2018

i'm not making excuses, but...

i don't write something every day 'cause i just don't know what to say.

i sit and sit before the screen, yet it's as blank as ever been.

its harder than you think, you know, to think of what to say, and so,

i don't write something every day 'cause i just don't know what to say.

i sit and sit before the screen, yet it's as blank as ever been.

its harder than you think, you know, to think of what to say, and so,

i don't write something every day 'cause i just don't know what to say.

i sit and sit before the screen, yet it's as blank as ever been.

its harder than you think, you know, to think of what to say, and so,

i don't write something every day 'cause i just don't know what to say.

26 July 2018

make mine a stovepipe.

why don't we decorate our cars more? i mean, sure, there're bumper stickers, magnets, and the occasional wrap, but most of us are decidedly dully rolling up & down the freeway. would you wear the same clothes every day? okay, not you, you freak. no one is talking to you. would the rest of you wear the same clothes every day? no, you would not. why do you wear the same car every day? why do any of us? seems to me there's a whole untapped market for car hats, scarves, and double-breasted jackets.

25 July 2018

onde está minha mala???

my pimsleur portuguese tutor is teaching me about lost luggage.

today i was in an all-day meeting in a conference room in my office building. it wasn't my meeting -- was actually led by people from another organisation. i didn't have responsibility to prepare any content, just basically had to show up and bring my brain. it involved people from other places around the country, plus one guy from the UK and one from india.

the location in my building isn't one i frequent, which meant i was using unfamiliar restrooms, and i will say that one of the two such facilities smelled strange. not strange like gross, strange like strange. like it was in another office building. like i was in another office building.

it was a touch surreal and a tidge freeing... as if i were not only in a different place, but as if i were also a different person.

maybe even a person who speaks portuguese.

24 July 2018

eu me chamo ace.

for a good while, i've thought it would be cool to be able to speak portuguese. audible had some pimsleur books on sale so i used a credit to get book 1 of brazilian portuguese lessons. the pimsleur method involves a lot of speaking and no writing, so other than a few words, i don't know how to spell the things that i am saying. for example, it sounds like they are saying "yo" but i know it's "eu". so, i can get why they teach you by sound because obviously the letters are confusing. i've done all 5 lessons twice and i am getting pretty good at the lessons, but when i tried to show off some of what i learned at work, my colleague was all, haha you sound like a robot with that careful pronunciation. well, joke's on her because the portuguese word for robot is robô which is pronounced hobo and hobos are the bomb diddly.