brainsplotch

So much for my great plan to write a post every day. Definitely not realistic, and probably for the better. Nobody needs to read about every mundane thing I've done every single day. Taking a few moments to jot some things down. The wind is swirling threateningly outside my window as I write this, it feels as if a thunderstorm may be brewing. This is not good because I am planning to go outside and grill steaks. It has been a rather eventful week. On Wednesday, I met up with my old college friend Tom F., whom I lived with in Capitol Villa Apartments (near the Michigan State campus) during the summer of '89. I had not seen Tom since about 1990, but we reconnected through the wonders of Facebook (probably THE best aspect of Facebook). Tom was on vacation (he lives in San Francisco) and came to Ohio and Michigan to visit friends and family. The two of us got together at the Peanut Barrel, a popular watering hold across the street from the MSU campus. The Barrel was much busier tha...

(So much for my attempt to write on every single day this month, I missed yesterday. Perhaps I should aim for every other day). The title of this blog entry comes from the song "4th of July" by the great band, X. It's a song that's not so much about the 4th of July, but about a disintegrating relationship. The protagonist of the song is depressed, smoking a cigarette alone, while "Mexican kids are shootin' fireworks below." The joyful festivities mock his sadness. I love this song, and have always tried to play it on July 4 (but haven't done so in several years). Did the usual 4th of July stuff--went to the beach, drank a beer, saw a parade, and saw some fireworks from the backyard of my house. Returned home from Saugatuck, a cute (albeit trendy and ritzy) Lake Michigan coastal community. Hit the beach there, ate a late lunch at Chequers, a fish-and-chips joint in town that we like, and were also able to see the Saugatuck 4th of July party outside th...

I've been seriously neglectful of this blog, so I've decided to not worry too much about how interesting my posts are, and simply write in here every day about SOMETHING, regardless of how trivial it may be. In fact, I'm going to attempt an experiment and make a concerted effort to write in this blog every single day for the month of July (and I'm not off to a good start because I missed yesterday, July 1). Okay, talking about the weather is usually boring, and a sign that you don't HAVE anything to talk about, but it's unseasonably cold in Michigan today. It's been unseasonably cold for the last few days. Today's high temperature in Lansing was 58 degrees, yesterday's high was 61, and Monday was somewhere in the low 60s. The average high temperature for July in Lansing is 82. The average LOW temperature in July is the same as today's high. In typically freaky Michigan weather fashion, last week we had temperatures in the upper 80s and low ...