Hi!

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Hiya Folks!
I’ve been a terrible blogger these days and as with all blogs, posts like this are inevitable. I don’t really have a good excuse for my lack of posts this Spring other than outright laziness. And perhaps the Bruins making it to the Stanley Cups Finals. (YEAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!)

But I digress.

I am copying a large batch of photo files and while that’s happening I thought I’d pop in here and say hi. I was going to lay down all kinds of false promises to update more, but I won’t blow smoke up your, well, you know. I’ll try to post more, but that’s as good of a promise as you’re gonna get from me these days. No one reads this anyway, and this blog doesn’t really have much of a focus to begin with so I don’t blame anyone for not reading it.

I have also had too many ideas running amok in my head these days and when I finally get to sit down and vomit them out onto paper or screen I am too tired to do more than a quick post or I land on Facebook or Pinterest or something equally brainless and before I know it, it’s time for bed. Some days that’s just what my brain needs though, and that’s okay.

It doesn’t help that we both have tablets and fancy phones now which are ideal for web surfing. I am now trying to limit my “screen time” to outside the bedroom. I have a stack of books waiting for me and damnit, I need to get some sleep.

Well, it seems my file transfer is just about done. Time to go!

Link Dump

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Here’s some interesting links and articles I’ve stumbled across lately, and some not so lately, for your time wasting pleasure:

Random Blathering

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I am dilly-dallying. I am quite good at it. I should be paying bills and getting ready for work. Instead I’m goofing online and listening to THIS. It’s kind of mesmorizing and I’m not sure if I like it yet.

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Well, I finally got off my butt and planted some bulbs. I had some daffodil bulbs I bought in the Fall and forgot about, so I planted them in the little patch we have outside our front door. I hope some of them will come up next Spring. I bought some gladiola’s on Friday and planted about half of those. They should come up this Summer. Here’s hoping they don’t overwhelm the yard… I think they get kind of tall. Well, bulbs might work for me plant-wise. I don’t have the patience to baby plants along and I kill houseplants. We might put a flower box on the deck, but we’ll see.

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I’ve been obsessed with Game of Thrones lately. I just finished re-reading book three, A Storm of Swords. HBO is about halfway through Season 3 of the show and it’s pretty good so far. I could watch YouTube interviews with the cast and crew all day to get me through each week. Can’t wait for next Sunday!

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Other than that, I’ve got nuthin’. Oh wait, here’s some photos from my niece Shae’s 6th birthday party: Shae Turns 6!

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Click on images to view more.

Divinyls Singer Chrissy Amphlett Dead at 53

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I fell in love with this song back when it came out in 1985 or so. I was at the New England Folk Festival near the entrance there were pile of freebie newsletters, pamphlets and such. My sister and I came upon a box full of 45′s (that’s a 7 inch vinyl record for you youngin’s) and every single one of them was the single release of this song:

So we did what any greedy little snot nosed kid would do and we took most of them. We figured we could use them as Frisbee’s or give them to friends or something. Little did I know how awesome this song would be. When I got home I played one on our record player and was blown away. I was about 12 years old. I’m betting this song changed my musical tastes. I can’t really remember being “into” a song before then. I discovered Cyndi Lauper shortly after that, which I am sure explains a lot.

Full story HERE.

Marathon Monday

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Well, it’s been a weird couple of days here. Some asshole decided it would be a good idea to set off two explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. First off, everyone here is fine and as far as I know everyone I know is fine. We were not there at the finish line and if we were going to watch, we would pick somewhere out in the suburbs closer to the starting line to watch where it’s easier to park. Neither one of us want to trek into Boston on a day off anyway. We weren’t running it either in case you were wondering. If you ever see me running, call the police because it means someone is chasing me.

But frankly, this whole thing sucks. SUCKS. Watching the marathon in person is a yearly tradition for many families in Massachusetts. I saw my first Marathon in Newton back in the early 1980′s with John and my siblings and we had a blast. I’ve seen it in Brookline, Ashland and Framingham as well. I am afraid families will now be reluctant to go out and cheer the runners on. It’s been some time since we went out and watched it in person though. Maybe next year we’ll have to do that.

Game of Thrones!

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Season Three of Game of Thrones started last weekend and the first episode did not disappoint. Thank you to Alexi & Maria for letting us mooch their HBO each week. Don’t forget to call us if you need a babysitter!

I started re-reading book three,  A Storm of Swords,  in early March. I am actually listening to it in the car. The reader is actor Roy Dotrice, who happens to have a small part in Season Two, and he does an excellent job reading this series. One of the best readers I’ve ever heard. I love “reading” books in the car and can generally do a disk a day with my commute. I especially love doing long books in the car since they are so cumbersome to lug around and are difficult to read in bed. And a good story in the car keeps me from turning into Little Ms. Road Rage which in the long run will probably help my blood pressure more than any medication can.

I forgot how much happens in book three though. Don’t worry, I won’t give anything away, it’s just, well, book three is a doozy. So much happens in book three that HBO is apparently going to split the book into two seasons. If you are watching the show and were shocked in the first two seasons, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet! The one piece of advice I give to everyone reading the books or watching the show is to not get too attached to any character. Bad shit happens. A lot.

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Here’s a funny video about the series that may be a wee bit NSFW – there’s a couple of F-bombs in there but it’s pretty damn funny.