Snow picnic out there!

So, today (or yesterday, if you prefer, since it IS past midnight), I dropped bethje off at school, and then drove to work. On my way there, I got a phone call, but I wasn't able to answer it. Once I got to work, I checked the message I had gotten, and it turned out that the library was closing early. So, after driving all the way there, I ended up turning around and going back, this time in rush hour traffic on somewhat slippery roads. Needless to say, that was annoying.

I hear there's supposed to be a big storm, with snow and possibly sleet, coming here this weekend. I'm sure THAT will be fun. I hate winter.

Speaking of cold weather, weren't they supposed to go to Alaska on American Idol this season? When they listed the places they were going the other day, it wasn't included.

Am I stupid for not knowing until recently that there is an inauguration ceremony for a President's second term? It seems kind of pointless, really.

You know you've watched too much Simpsons when...

I heard on the radio about how someone who was booing loudly got kicked out of the audience at the inauguration ceremony. The second time I heard about it, I thought, "He wasn't booing! He was saying 'Boo-ush'!"

I didn't actually see or listen to the entire inauguration, which is probably good, since seeing or hearing that so-called President always makes me want to scream at the TV or radio. The clips I heard on KYW (the local news radio station) were bad enough. How can someone call for an end to bigotry when he's trying to ban gay marriage? What a hypocrite. I'm not going to say anything else on that topic, though, unless someone really wants me to.

I've pretty much made the main point of this post, but I'm going to pad it out anyway. Most of the rest of what I'll say will probably fall into the category of boring minutiae, though.

I ate at the Pizza Hut lunch buffet this afternoon. That was tasty, even though I usually eat too much at buffets, and today was no exception. In some ways, it's probably good when I go there, because I always force myself to have a salad. That means I get more vegetables when eating at Pizza Hut than I do most days, which sounds kind of weird on the face of it. As happened another time, though, they were pretty slow bringing out the pan pizzas, so I had some of that thin crust stuff. I know colleenanne prefers that kind for some reason, but I just think it's far inferior. I think one thing that bugs me is that it isn't just thin and crispy--it's also flaky. I think I'm generally not a big fan of flaky crusts. I'm sure there are exceptions, but Pizza Hut pizza isn't one of them.

My drive to work was pretty easy today, and I actually HAD work once I got there, which was a refreshing change from yesterday. Not that I mind missing work, but I DO mind driving there for nothing. On the way, I started out listening to the aforementioned news station. In addition to the inauguration, they talked about how Governor Rendell is predicting an all-Pennsylvania Superbowl. As a resident of Pennsylvania, I feel I should make it known that I don't care. I'm not into sports at all, but if I WERE going to get into a sport, football would be pretty low on my list. I'd rather watch something that's easier to follow, rather than a sport played in incredibly short, chaotic bursts, with hours of time-outs in between. That's just me, though.

After having had my fill of the news, I listened to a They Might Be Giants mix tape that I made back in 1998, when Factory Showroom was still their newest album. There were a few songs that I wouldn't have included had I made the mix more recently ("James K. Polk," for instance, and probably "The Statue Got Me High" and "Dead"), but it was still fun to listen to. I have a tape of The Spine, the two associated EPs, and No! that I've been listening to in the car recently, but it's been a while since I've heard many of those vintage TMBG songs. I mean, I remember that I like "Boat Of Car" and "Letterbox," but I forget how great they really are when I haven't heard them in a while. Maybe I should listen to Then and/or Flood tonight.

I sometimes wish I had a CD player in the car. I mean, I usually just listen to the radio, but I tend to switch channels a lot. It can be comforting to know that I'm guaranteed to like the next song I'll hear. I have a limited number of tapes I can play, and I get tired of them fairly often. Sure, I could transfer more of my CDs to tapes, but that's a lot of work.

Maybe I should work on a new TMBG mix CD, or even a mix CD for some other band. Actually, one thing I've wanted to try was a themed mix, but it's hard for me to come up with a lot of songs for most themes. Well, sometimes I can think of enough songs, but they're all by one or two bands. I mean, an idea I've had for a long time is a mix of songs about outer space, but about 95% of the ones I could think of were by Frank Black.