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30 September 2003 — An Old Freak (5)

It's not just you I'm ignoring.

Dana:: Man. You've been an e-mail black hole lately. You doing okay?

J.D.: :)

In part of the catch-all weblog entry that I threw together for today (but have not posted) I mention that I've been a slacker re: e-mail (and phone calls). I've been absolutely terrible at replying to all of my friends. And now that there's a stack of stuff that needs replies, it's so intimidating that I'm almost unwilling to start!

I'm fine, though. Thanks for asking. I'm just a) scattered, b) busy, and c) overwhelmed.

Now that things are caught up here in the office, I'm going back through and trying to answer e-mail. I'm treating it as a stack, though, and not a queue. Matters are not helped by the overwhelming quantity of junk e-mails I'm receiving now. I hate fucking spammers.

A more substantive reply later. I promise.

And I'll reply to you, too. Really. (Just be glad you haven't e-mailed me at my Yahoo! address; I haven't checked e-mail there in weeks...)

I was leafing through the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, reading about the upcoming album releases, when it dawned on me: I'm old. I have no idea who most of these people are: Ludacris, G-Unit, Jay-Z, Blink 182, Joss Stone, Hilary Duff, the Shins. (Hey! At least I know who The Strokes are. And Belle and Sebastian. And Sarah McLachlan.)

I'm even lost here on my own site. The sexy songs thread continues to grow, but it's being filled with recommendations for songs and groups that are unfamiliar to me: Tweet, Mya, Aaliyah, 504 Boyz, Rascal Flats, Ginuwine.

I'm old.

My pencam order arrived today. After watching the MNF kids play with the digital camera over the past couple of months, I decided to get cheap digital cameras as Christmas presents for the older members of the group. The pencams are fun, if of limited utility. Their biggest drawback, though, is that they don't provide an instant preview each time an image is snapped. I've watched Harrison use the digital camera, and the first thing after pressing the shutter is to look at the preview screen. The pencam might be a difficult transition. On the other hand, it'll be his camera to do with as he pleases, and it's cheap so nobody has to worry when he leaves it outside in the rain or throws it out his bedroom window.

Thanks to Lisa, I've become something of a fiend for book jacket covers. She introduced me to the wonders of Brodart, and I've placed a couple of small orders. I gain a tremendous sense of satisfaction from covering a book jacket. If I have a few minutes of free time—I'm waiting for Kris or I'm momentarily bored—I'll grab a couple of books and cover the jackets. Somehow, adding a book jacket cover increases a volume's worth in my eyes. I told Kris, "A book jacket cover can turn a piece of junk into a treasure." And I meant it! I've got many old books lying around with ratty covers. Reading them is a sad affair. But once they've been cloaked in a brand-new Brodart Just-A-Fold II book jacket cover, they're suddenly young and sprightly, full of dancing words.

I'm a freak.

Kris and I were hacked off at the mega-hyped "They Hated It!" marathon of Trading Spaces episodes last night on TLC (remember when the channel really was about learning?). All of the ads had made it look as if there would be a single episode devoted to the aftermath of particularly bad renovations.

Instead, the marathon comprised time-compressed regular episodes followed by maybe sixty seconds of follow-up interviews. Lame! But not as lame as we are for getting our hopes up about a Trading Spaces episode…

That doesn't stop us from getting our hopes up for this weekend's $100 Grand two-hour special. We'll watch it. I just wish Frank were one of the scheduled designers. Can you imagine what Frank would do with $100,000? Gold-leaf chicken stencils hand-painted on the wall! A window treatment made from napkins of the finest silk! Sterling silver cutlery bent into folk art sculptures! Frank's a good guy, and is the only designer who really listens to what the homeowners have to say, but I wouldn't want him to decorate my house. Give me Doug, any day. (The carpenters? Amy Wynn is hot, but Ty is flat-out annoying. Nobody's as bad as Kia though. shudder Draperies made from a camouflage parachute in a home on a military base? Shoot her, please.

I'm a freak.

On this day at foldedspace.org

2005 — New Old Office   It makes me laugh that I spent an hour this morning re-arranging my office.

2004 — Portrait of a File-Sharer   Thanks to file-sharing technology, ABC has me as a viewer.

2002 — Games People Play   Stupendous weekend: much fun had with many friends. Thank you, all. I'm not glum any more.

Comments
On 30 September 2003 (04:28 PM), Tiffany said:

Your lack of knowledge of ‘new’ bands is not a sign that you are old. (I am not saying that you are not old.) It is a sign that you are devoting the time you used to spend listing to music to doing other things that you now deem more important. The lack of a ‘new’ music radio station and the fact that MTV no longer plays music, makes it even harder to know who is ‘hot’.
Yes, the book cover things does make you a freak.


On 30 September 2003 (05:22 PM), Scott Durbin said:

JD - how 'bout a little love for the foldedspace champ? Oh, and I think Amy Wynn is hot too. Take care old chap - it only gets more overwhelming.


On 30 September 2003 (05:40 PM), Mom said:

I had forewarning about the "They Hated It" episodes thanks to members of my Trading Spaces chat list on the east coast who saw it first and posted warnings (for once there was no fighting about opinions on designers and everyone was in agreement). As a result, I opted to spend the evening finishing the book "Snow Island" rather than watching the marathon. Frank is, has, and I think always will be my favorite designer. It could be because I enjoy country and he has done some that I've liked (which is a good thing, since I live in a country cottage) or also because he is naturally humorous. He is the only one of the designers that I would let touch a room in my house, with the possible exception of the utility room, and whoever could get as wild as they wanted to be in there (although it's probably too small for them to consider redecorating in the first place). I have no desire to live in a 48-hour fishbowl, though, so this is all hypothetical. :-) I can't say there's really a cast member I dislike, although sometimes I truly have to wonder what is going on in various designers' heads. I, too, am looking forward to the $100,000 show. It's going to be interesting to see if the homeowners wind up with dream rooms or $50,000 train wrecks. :-)


On 30 September 2003 (05:51 PM), Mom said:

It's maddening when my smiley faces get divided like that. Also, I wanted to say that there have been people on Trading Spaces in the past that I've really hated. I couldn't stand Dez or Alex.


On 30 September 2003 (11:11 PM), Nikchick said:

As far as Trading Spaces goes, it's all about Vern for me, baby. I'd be happy to hang out with Frank or Gen, but not crazy about most of what they might do to the house. But keep Hildi and Doug away from me, yikes! Those two drive me crazy.

J.D., would this be a good place to mention that we're coming to Portland this weekend, since you're not answering e-mail at the moment? ;)


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