lol I'm terrible at this

Haha, that last post is total garbage, and I really lost momentum the day after that snowstorm. I'm too much a creature of habit. Having been out of this particular habit for so long now, it's is going to take considerable effort, from someone who finds effort difficult to muster, to get into form and begin writing with command. Luckily, I've sort of rediscovered the value in putting a real pen to real paper and writing actual things that I can't backspace.

There was recently some sort of revolution in Egypt. I say that in a sort of tongue-and-cheek manner, it was an inspiring moment in history that I was able to at least bear some mediated witness to. I find the most notable aspect at this point to be lack of violence overall. I find the transition period of new government formation to be some of the more fascinating aspect of these moments in history, so I'll be paying attention appropriately.

I've become more and more firm in my belief that Americans are held back not by leviathanic bureaucracies and inept politicians, but by a body politic incapable of bearing the responsibility for cause and effect. In American politics, everything is always everyone else's fault, both on the elected and the electees. What kind of person is willing to go all-in and face the violation of humanity that is the American media coverage of Presidential elections? That in and of itself prevents our truly best minds and leaders from taking the most important elected positions. I'm all for a meritocracy, but I also have this burning itch that our sophistication of political discourse countrywide is relative to that of your average petulant teenager.

The beautiful thing is that we are getting older, and even though the difference between the current ruling elite, my generation, and the children now, may not be too far separated. However, our children's children? Do you have any idea how awesome the world will be when they are our age?! Of course, no one will owe up to this fact because we humans have this embarrassing tendency to profess the end of the world and/or that life was better at a certain time long in the past and/or that the current coming-of-age generation is inferior to their respective group. You know, complete and utter bullshit.

Sufjan Stevens is the Best Songwriter of This Generation

Just listen to The Age of Adz a bajillion times and you'll see.

Snowpocapics

This is the lunch break escape for provisions. By provisions, I mean the beer I bought to ensure I wasn't stuck at home with nothing. Thank goodness for Malloy's!


Here's the view from the third story of my compatriot's living quarters. Not too bad at all, just a little windy. He actually complained after our 500 ft. trek back to the office that the wind gave him a headache. I laughed cause, well, that's how I react to pretty much everything.


I mean, talk about composition! This gives an idea of how bad the challenge of snow removal had become around 4:00 pm this evening when I was on my way home. The storm had BARELY begun, and there wasn't a clear road anywhere.


DT Thrill. As previously mentioned, this seemed like the quickest way home, and I'm very satisfied with my decision. Most of the individuals here were well-behaved. On the left you can see Rosebuds in its temporary, non-fire-damaged location. That unit seems to be a revolving door of places, and I can never figure out why no one has had much long-term success there. I digress, snoward!


This picture perfectly encapsulates the moment in time. The white/negative space on the left is due to the blinding nature of the LED flash on my cameraphone (one word, welcome to the future) hitting our maple tree. The streaks are laser-like snow flakes dancing across my long exposure time, and the dog there is trying to relieve herself amidst what might be her favorite environment in the whole wide world. The funniest thing about her in this type of environment is not necessarily how much she loves it. It's that the first thing she does is eat snow. Then she'll run to some spot, look around, and eat some snow. Who knows why, she's adopted. But it's hilarious.


This isn't the best picture (lol, as if the other are masterpieces), but it gives an example of how strong the winds have been. That indentation is about eight (8) inches in depth. NATURE


My foot is in there somewhere!!!

For some perspective:


I live in the greatest city on the planet, and I love every minute.

Thinking Out Loud

Not sure why anyone would want to read this, but here are a few ideas I need to blog about, and I figure putting them here might help me keep myself accountable and prioritized:

- Why Sufjan Stevens is the BEST songwriter of his generation
- Why Toy Story 3 should win Best Picture at the Oscars this year
- Why Christopher Nolan is one of the most talented directors of his time, despite making The Dark Night about 45 minutes too long.
- Why Sufjan Stevens' most recent album, The Age of Adz is the Album of the Year, and why the failure of pretty much every professional critic to recognize this is a huge disappointment for me.
- Why 'Ye's most recent album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is his worst album by far, and how that ties in to the aforemention loss of respect for professional critics, since they more often than not crowned it album of the year. Laughable, if it weren't so sad.

Snowmageddon

Tuesdays are generally my late day here at work, which means today I was supposed to be at work from 11-8 pm. While provided with the option to switch out my late day to Thursday, I couldn't because I'm hitting the road for Nashville via Louisville on Thursday evening, so staying in the office until 8 pm was out of the question. I knew coming in today that I wouldn't be spending the whole day at work.

I took a late lunch with a co-worker, and before we went to his place to eat our Lean Cuisines, we stopped by Malloy's and I stocked up on some delicious beers to tide me over for the next couple of days while I wait this storm out. We left at 2:45, and when we got back an hour later, cars were exiting the parking lot and people seemed to be leaving. When I got into the office, I was told to go home. And not the usual "go home because you're here later than everyone", but "go home because we're closing the building and you have to leave." So I made a few phone calls to let my important people know I might not be in the office for the rest of the day, and left.

All in all, the commute wasn't that bad. Normally, I would take Naper Blvd south to Bolingbrook and head home, however, since Naper is a major exit off of I-88, and my previous experience on said route during inclement weather being incredibly frustrating, I decided to play my cards and go down Washington through downtown Naperthrill. It worked! I made it home in about 45 minutes, besting the hour+ it took during the last, less substantial storm.

I'm going to post pictures of all this, but I haven't set up an account at a picture sharing website to link to, so those will have to wait.

I WAS however, very excited to receive my two books in the mail that I recently ordered from Amazon (shameless plug, expect those because I'm very brand-loyal. For instance, I have a PAID subscription to Amazon Prime, and you should too). The details of which I will detail in a later post.

OK, well that's enough deferring of activities for now, I'm going to take some pictures and carve out a semi-usable walkway at the front of my mother's home. When I return, more posts!!! YAYAYAYAY!!!!

SNOWPOCALYPSE

Here in Chicagoland, Humanity’s Theme Park, we get all sorts of fun weather. This is often referred to in great hyperbole, with anecdotes such as “you know you’re a Chicagoan if you’ve used your heat and A/C in the same day,” and other such Foxworthian phrases. One that I’m fond of is the old adage, “there are two seasons in Chicago: winter and construction.”

Well, it’s Winter here in our fine metropolitan area, and the big story right now is what is being humbly referred to as “SNOWPOCALYPSE.” Beginning this afternoon, the combination of heavy snow and high winds are going to bring a pretty interesting couple of days. Lucky for you, I’m here to document the proceedings. Right now I’m at work, typing this in Word, so any pictures will begin there. I never imagined this would be a breaking news blog, and I don’t intend it to be, but I’d like to give myself something to do in the absence of any profound thoughts or burning issues to discuss.

LETS GET OUR SNOW ON, INFADELICIOUS!!!