Notes (The (Mostly) Non-Sports Edition)

I know, I know, I haven't really had anything to say lately aside from football reports. When you work at home and never leave the house, it's amazing how little you find to write about. It's also amazing how unmotivated you can be to try to re-create a post that Blogger lost in its draft stages, as happened to me recently. And yet here I go, trusting it again.

I experienced another technical glitch when my iTunes library exploded earlier this week. I'm not exactly sure what happened. I was trying to update my iPod; iTunes said there were 100 songs that couldn't be found, and the whole thing went to hell from there. Only a couple of files were lost; most were duplicated, which was a pain to fix. I managed to salvage my playlists, but I lost my play counts and ratings, so I'm starting from scratch on those. Oh, and if anyone's interested, my library currently comprises 3,359 tracks.

I think I've taken care of our cricket problem, though. We were starting to have some minor issues with some other types of bugs as well, so we finally broke down and got some treatment for the perimeter of our place and some spray we could use inside the garage. If that hasn't killed them, it's at least made them smart enough not to chirp while I'm awake. Either way, problem solved.

So Sunday morning will bring with it the official end of the summer. I won't miss it, really. The only exciting thing that happened this summer was that Brandi and I moved from Bowling Green to Troy. I miss the days when summer meant freedom and adventure. Now it just means the electricity bill will be really high with the air conditioner running all the time; otherwise, it's no different from any other time of year. Being an adult sucks.

Speaking of Bowling Green, Brandi and I will be making our triumphal return this weekend for BGSU's first home football game of the year, against the Temple Owls. With the completion of the Sebo Center, the installation of FieldTurf, upgraded selections at the concession stands (at upgraded prices, of course), and plenty of other cosmetic enhancements to the Doyt, I'm really excited to go check it out. Oh, and the team looks like they might be pretty decent this year, too.

I recently finished reading the original abridged version of Stephen King's The Stand. It's my all-time favorite book, but this was my first time reading it as it was originally published in 1978. I didn't come to The Stand until after it had been republished in its extended and updated form (now the only way you can get it, unless you shop a used book store) in 1990. It was fascinating to see what was missing from the version I was so familiar with. It really gave some insight into the editing process. In some places the story really was tighter, but in a lot of places the story kind of jumped, and you could tell something was missing. I definitely won't be abandoning the full version anytime soon. The parts of the story that King added back in helped to give it the flavor, the fullness, that, in my eyes, makes it such a fantastic book.

I don't watch a lot of TV. Well, not in terms of shows, anyway--I do watch a lot of sports. However, anytime I read something from George Lucas about the two upcoming Star Wars television series, I get more and more excited. I can't wait to see this stuff.

I'd like to point out a couple of new links over on the left sidebar. Odd Things I've Seen is a blog a co-worker shared with me, thinking I would enjoy the witty writing style--and she was right. I also think the photography and the stories are pretty fun. And speaking of photography, the folks at Blogger just launched Blogger Play, a slideshow of photos and images that people are uploading to their blogs. It's fascinating to watch the pictures go by, and they link to the blogs in question if you see one that's particularly interesting. I think it's an awesome feature.