Sunday, August 31, 2008

the end is nigh

at least the end of my lazy summer.

one class that had little to no homework followed by 3 weeks of chill time and now it's time to go back to the real world.

start my new schedule at work and my new semester at school this week.

Liane and I did get out of town this weekend though for a trip up to the cabin in Ely for possibly the last time (at least until we help her parents move out). kind of sad but it is a little far for them to keep driving not to mention the layout of the lot is getting to be a bit much as well.

I was able to get a little mtn biking in up there and riding on dirt roads is a surefire way to get your throat all scratchy.

If I had another month of vacation I could definitely hit my season goal but it looks like I will need to count on the weather staying relatively nice into the end of October at least (I'm planning on riding until Thanksgiving but we will see how that goes)

Month Total - 300
Season total - 1200
miles to goal - 300

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

living the glamorous life

since I joined twitter, I find myself posting here less and less.

i suppose it could be a combination of the easy add nature of twitter, combined the the perceived effort to actually type something up.


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the big in-law family reunion was this past weekend so I got to spend some quality time in des moines.

we went to the IA state fair on sat and it was interesting to see the differences from the MN fair.

it definitely seemed like there was still more of a connection still to rural life than MN. we checked out the animal barns and got to see part of a sheep shearing competition. also checked out 4-H and the agriculture building which not only had all the winning veggies on display, but the infamous life-size butter cow as well.

one other notable difference was in the food selection. I did not see one cheese curd or mini-donut booth the whole time I was there. lots of pork chop on a stick however, and if you go I recommend the IA pork growers assoc. booth--YUMMY!!

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I picked up a couple of CDs before we left that I was completely unable to listen to even though I had them uploaded on my ipod (that is a different story though)

2 weeks ago I picked up the new Hold Steady and the Fleet Foxes

a lot of people seem to be thinking this is the hold steady's chance to make it to the big time but I am not so enchanted with this album. definitely not up to their last one and probably nothing will ever touch seperation sunday. I get the feeling it must be more palatable to non-hold steady people since those critics are the ones crowing about it.

Fleet Foxes is not up to all the hype but it is a very good album. you've no doubt heard the CSNY and 60's referencines so I won't repeat them here but it is a solid debut and I look forward to more music from them in the future.


right before the trip I grabbed the new various and a couple of used CDs: Bowie-alladin sane and PJ Harvey-Is this desire?

The new various is a collection of their remixes (including one of the sugababes) and others remixes of their work. given some of their more experimental reinterpretations via white label 12"s I was expecting a little more. I also felt a little let down by the remixes of their own work. the one "new" track limbs showcases their strength and I am still looking forward to the new album hopefully soon.

as for the bowie and pj harvey, they are both classic albums that you should have if you don't, so don't even think twice.

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since I've missed a couple weeks again here is a quick catch up on the biking (2/3 of the way to my goal)

w/e 8/3 - 91
w/e 8/10 - 52
season total - 1043
miles to goal - 457