Spring In Your Step

Just as spring has sprung up before the official launch date, so too has the year advanced much further than I can fathom. Time just never seems to be a constant, only ever moving too quickly or too slowly, when of course it is only perception that is altered. But yes, spring was leaked this year like most new albums and movies tend to be. And I gotta say, I don't mind. Am I sweating awkwardly sometimes? Sure. But I tend to be doing that anyway.

To repeat what I've said and what lots of people say, you wouldn't really appreciate spring and summer weather without the contrast of winter. It's true, and it weeds out certain types that might not make a place so joyous were there not seasons. The question I have is: if I didn't have seasons to contend with, would I become the type of person I am alluding to and denigrating? And if so, is it by virtue of the changes brought on by climate, or by proximity of those who enjoy such a climate? A little from either column is the most likely of answers.

I don't think any of that made all too much sense, but there's no sense trying to make recompense or deleting the damned nonsense.

Signs of oldness are rearing their head once again in my life, like how I was tired yesterday after spending all of Saturday drinking and enjoying a few beverages in the early afternoon of Sunday. Lethargic zombie would describe my energy level. Good thing Starbuck's flavored my iced coffee Italian armpit this morning. I'm surprised it didn't cost extra.

I got nostalgic for a place called college this weekend too, in a way that would never happen if I was at my own college campus. It's hard to explain but it doesn't really need explaining, it's just that usual thing where I'd love to have lived a thousand different lives in a thousand different places but to do so all at once, and not really over accumulated lifetimes. This is why there are books, movies, and so on. And booze. Because you've got to relax the mind sometimes.

Time to go off in search of a secluded trail to run peacefully. Or send a bunch of emails. Same thing.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good as can be expected Monday.

Presidents and Pronunciations

That's a shot of none other than George Bush Senior, 41st President of the United States. At least, I hope it is 41st. I used to know all of my presidents in order, as well as other semi-worthless facts like a memorization of the periodic table, but I've really fallen off. It's one of the things I'm going to take the opportunity, along with perhaps geography - I am hoping - to brush up on while recovering from surgery in the upcoming weeks.

Back on Bush briefly, all puns and euphemisms somewhat unintended but not to be amended, I find this picture of him surrounded by the cheerleaders of a university whose motto is "Hook 'Em Horns" to be pretty spectacular. I look forward to visiting Texas and I think the burnt orange and white makes for totally sweet uniforms and university gear.

As usual I keep coming up with all manner of tidbits I mean to share but somehow manage not to find the time to post them up. So, also with my time off, I may try to do some retro-blogging, as in retroactive.

Before I sign off though, I've got to address word pronunciation or, rather, mispronunciation. Before I attack other people's errors, I must say that I am guilty of this kind of thing myself from time to time. For instance, the word "cache" which I was pronouncing with a long "a," rather than "cash."

A couple of my favorite offenders are the people that attempt to say mocha and would end up with a hard "ch" over essentially a "k" sound and, lately, people talking about chipotle. The former I experienced very often in my days as a popcorn-pusher at a local Loews theater as we happened to offer an iced mocha beverage. I was reminded of this when I had my first Starbuck's coffee experience about two weeks ago and overheard many a struggle. While I'd eaten some pastries there in the past, I don't really drink coffee, and I must say that my first experience was a bust. I think this is common coffee-drinker knowledge, but the beans were over-roasted, giving my coffee a burnt flavor which I would assume is somewhat of a function of needing to taste the coffee over all the sugary flavorings most people add to their Bux. Chipotle for some reason seems to induce temporary dyslexia, prompting it to be referred to as chi-pole-té.

These days I'm finding myself getting in touch with my British routes, downing a lemon zinger tea at work in the morning, and capping many nights with some bomb Ahmad . In the latter I decided to dunk some Costco madeleines of late, and I must rescind, or simply amend, my earlier vote of dissension on the classic french cookie-cake. That reminds me of when Nabisco ran fig newton ads, typically with someone eating them in bed, with the slogan, "it's not a cookie, it's fruit and cake." Not only are fig newtons delicious, but I think that it now says cookie on the very packaging in which they are sold. So much for that debate...