Not quite what I was looking for

but it's awesome anyway. And no, Greysa, this does not mean I'll favor the vacuum over you. The vacuum sucks, and not in the way it's suppposed to do.

http://dndorks.com/article/6/Page1.aspx

Houston, we have liftoff

Woohoo! I'm publishing again. We upgraded to IE7 at work. I like the Mac look and the tabs, but I'm quite happy about the return to blogger.

Check out Kinappie's blog: www.offlede.com

I just bought three CDs courtesy of Gannett's health awareness quiz:
The Magnetic Fields' Distortion (available Tuesday!) and Holiday, and Future Bible Heroes' Memories of Love. I heart Stephin Merritt. As I've said before on other blogs, if he wanted to make babies with a woman, I'd be first in line.

A few nights ago when I couldn't sleep, I came up with the great idea to drive to Kansas City in April, instead of flying. Mostly because I want to make two stops in Mississippi. Then I remembered that I hate the drive to Jacksonville, and then I remembered that Lou and I will drive from KC to Denver. I haven't completely given up the idea, but at least today I'm realizing that it's not the best plan. Because I'd still have to drive 1,400 miles back to Florida.

If I really want to drive somewhere, why not all the fabulous places around sunny Florida that I've never visited? Like Cassadaga, Cypress Gardens, Apalachicola, the Everglades, the Okeefenokee, Plant City, Mount Dora, and, of course, Key West. But not the damn mouse.



Hmmmm, sounds like a good book ... "New Roadside America: The Modern Traveler's Guide to the Wild and Wonderful World of America's Tourist" or maybe "America Bizarro: A Guide to Freaky Festivals, Groovy Gatherings, Kooky Contests, and Other Strange Happenings Across the USA" or still "Weird Florida" and "Visiting Small Town Florida."

Soooo, what else is new? It's up and down for me. NASA doesn't know when it will launch another shuttle. My mom's returning from the frozen, snowy north in two weeks. (She hasn't been counting down or anything.) I should have a couch in about 10 days, as well as a tea cart, craft cabinet, side chair, bench, and a few other nice pieces that will give guests a damn place to sit. I might just throw a party.

It seems there are no songs about barbecue. How sad.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- North Florida begins to look like fall in late December. The sycamore and oak leaves begin to turn red, while the various vines turn a lovely golden color. It isn't like Maine, but we take what we can get in the land of pines of palms. Also, it's quite warm up here. I wore a short-sleeved shirt yesterday until sundown, then put on a fleece sweater.

Been in the Greater Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area since Thursday, and I've seen my brother, father, stepmother and her family. Last night, we went to Bono's Barbecue for dinner. Bono's is a Jacksonville-based restaurant that makes ribs, chicken and pork just how I like it: dripping in sweet sauce and falling off the bone.

Before leaving Melbourne, I had dinner at Dustin's Barbecue, a place with most locations in Volusia County. Dustin's is like Sonny's, only not as good. The portions are smaller, the price is higher, the beans are too soupy; the sweet tea and sliced pork were excellent, though. There just wasn't enough for the price tag. Melbourne just can't do barbecue. Maybe it's the red tide. Or the lagoon. Or the flame trench. Or the proliferation of space and defense contractors. Anyway, the meat's usually too dry.

Sonny's, of course, is my personal favorite of chains with many locations. It was the second-nicest restaurant in Bradford County and was started in Gainesville, so it holds a special place in my heart.

While here in Actionville, though, I'd like to visit Jenkins Quality Barbecue. It's my favorite Jax place. There's something kind of thrilling about knowing I could be shot while waiting for my half-chicken dinner with mixed sauce. (OK, there really is not.) Plus, I always get a second chicken for James, my homeless friend over by the Karpeles Museum. I'm overdue for checking on him.

OK, I need to get ready and go meet my dad. Don't know what we're doing today.

*If you know of any songs about barbecue, send them my way. Long-term readers will know my titles are usually song lyrics relating to the theme of the post.

Fiiiiiiive gooooooold riiiings, BA DUM DUM DUM

Recently, I've been thinking about an old Christmas album featuring The Muppets and John Denver. I'm not sure what brought it on, but I've really got an itch now to pick up the disc or the LP. Well, I'd love to have the LP but I wouldn't be able to listen to it.

Earlier, I found it on Amazon for less than $10. I have the chance to get a $25 online gift card and had been considering Amazon; now it's set. What was the hook that pulled me offstage like The Great Gonzo? The samples of each song. Unfortunately, it doesn't include the best part of "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

It took me back to hear just those snippets, though. I could see my childhood living room, trees from years past, could see my brother and parents decorating and all of us singing together. I miss those days more than I miss a big city. It's very likely that I'll cry the first time I listen to the album.

I hate Murdoch and Fox News, but man, I love the cartoons on Fox

Hey there, hi there ho there Blogger neighbors. In Jacksonville (PVB, actually) and look, I can update this here bloggy. Amazing. Looks like something in the new work computer doesn't like Blogger. Grrrr.

So what's happened since the last update? Oy, hard to say now. My mom's in CT being a nurse, snowed in, and doesn't want to see snow for the rest of her life. Which, according to something she told my brother, may only be 10 more years. Excuse me? WTF? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, we're not 10-4.

Tonight I did most of the laundry and burned all the photo CDs. I could mail them tomorrow if I didn't still have so many cards to write. That's the thing about weekends: I have so much I want to accomplish, yet I want nothing more than to relax. Well, this time next week, I'll be on vacation. Yee-haw!

Speaking of vacay, I still don't have anything planned. I'm going to a concert in ORL on the 30th, but nothing else is really set. My dad said he might be in Jax, but that's not certain. I want to have some kind of post-Christmas swap your bad gift/ swap secret gifts/ white elephant ornament party. I haven't yet picked the theme (or the date), but it should be after I bring down the furniture.

For so long, I couldn't sleep at night. Now, I'm barely making it past 4 a.m. This is a good thing. This means I should go to bed NOW.

I got a lumbar rest for work and used it while driving to Jax. I think I'll get one for the car. It was quite nice.

My brother and I watched "The Simpsons Movie." It was awesome.

My brother's new monitor is gargantuan. I told him I should have such a thing at work. I think the width is equal to my television at home (25"). Crazy.

On this weekend's agenda: Get new glasses at brother's work, have photos taken with brother downtown, go shooting with Matt in the evening of pretty Jax "night lights," maybe deliver old photos to friends and family of exes -- photos that friends and family would want, meaning none of me and lots of them, write cards to be mailed with CDs and put in mail, write the rest of the cards, check mail at old mailbox, drive to Melly on Friday. Can I do it all? Probably not. Most of it would be fabulous. I should go to bed so I can get started. Heh.

I'll try to update some more while I can. Miss me when I can't update!

And another one come and another one gone, another one bites the dust

So the boy and I are off. It's OK, we really are different. And we were never more than dating, so it's not heartbreak city.

But his method was effed. It can only be topped by Masshole's '05 ender. Harry Caray said, "I knew a few days ago I just wanted to be friends, but I waited until today because I knew I'd see you at this party." In the meantime, of course, I was wracking my brain about why he wasn't calling.

Lately I've been reading a lot. And I'm trying to limit my selections so that I'm actually reading and not just accumulating library fines. On the shelf now:

The Manual

Three Black Skirts

I saw this next one in the bookstore today. The chapter titles sold me:
Do I want to date right now? I don't know ... Maybe
Insecurity kills more relationships than infidelity
You are what you hate
The right to change your mind should be revoked

Why You're Still Single

Of course, that's not the book I went in for. Neither is the astrology guide (plus CD-ROM!) but that's OK. How often can you find books on cognitive-behavioral therapy in Books A Million? I may just have to get those two from Amazon. Which means saving money.

Ah, money, how I hate thee.

I wish I could get my head on straight. I'm so much better off than I've been in the past, but it doesn't dampen the craziness I feel right now. It's to the point that any regular daily habit is being pushed to every other day. All I do at home is sleep and read a little bit. My poor cat really is being neglected. OK, not really, but she acts especially desperate.

Case in point (for general malaise, not cat): It took me a week to finally do my laundry. The night I did it, I put away the pants. A few days later, I put away the undies and sheets. The shirts are still sitting on my bed, stacked and getting covered in cat hair.

I can see all obstacles in my way

I'm having more trouble seeing lately. Been staring at the screen more since picking up pagination duties. Troubling, actually. Causing sentences to fragment.

At least today I got a giant good catch, albeit too late to do much. (It's never too late? Well, maybe.) I noticed a few conflicts between a story and a cutline I was working on after 11 p.m. This happens regularly, as any copy editor knows. My boss decided to look into one of them, and wouldn't you know, the information couldn't be verified through the property appraiser's Web site. And gosh, the reporter didn't even include the address in the story. (It's in a fact box ... but still.)

After I'd finished the story, I went to the clerk of courts Web site. Interesting. The people in the story -- they're raising money to refurbish a building and make it a community center or some such -- went to court earlier this year with two different banks about foreclosure. More research: They were in court a few years ago with another church.

I printed out the info and left copies for the Metro desk. We'll see where it goes.