Today I was totally digging on jazz singer Sara Gazarek and her three albums (2 studio, 1 live) because of Paste Magazine (who provided a track on sampler #33) via Rhapsody (who provided the streaming music).

Sara is not as breathy as Diana Krall and not as “old timey” as Madeleine Peyroux; her voice is clear and wonderful and perfectly emotive. Do give her a listen. Her backing band is pretty sweet, too.

For those who are convinced as I am that she and her band are that great, you can see them play here in a few days in Seattle. Sadly, I won’t be able to make it. Go and make me jealous.

Today was the first “angry biker” ride on my bicycle in 15 days. The first week my back ached so badly... the second week it was rainy and I wasn’t feeling well. The time off was welcome, though, because I was getting a little tired. I could stand to give a little thanks for having to slow down.

Some of those thanks, says the Head Nurse, maybe should be directed to a major player in my sickly experience (from here):

Mucus. Who doesn't love mucus? I mean, really. It traps bacteria, viruses, pollen, and small animals; it keeps your stomach from digesting itself; it lubricates your intestines. Sure, sometimes there's too much of it, but on the whole, we don't give mucus the love it deserves. I'm going to start agitating for a National Mucus Appreciation Day.

Special bonus link: read about picking zits.

Some assorted quotes heard from around the friend-osphere:

1. "she could talk the hind legs off a mule" -- B

2. "my goal is to have my kids write a bad check for my funeral" -- R

3. "dude, where have corn nuts been all my life?" -- D

George Will on the Land of Plenty (via Marginal Revolution).

Congrats to Rico!

Mmm... Calamari...

A funny Scrabble thing (warning: some naughty words).

Her name is Butts. She steals toilet paper.

I spent most of last week laying low because of a lower back ache. In the big picture, this was the perfect time for such an encumbrance (if one must have one) for two reasons: 1) the weather was less than perfect and 2) my schedule cleared up so that I didn’t have a lot of obligations.

One evening I was able to knock off a number of things off my personal TODO list, which had been growing as fast as I’d been neglecting it (like weeds in my lawn). Both my dirty room and un-ironed clothes, if they were capable of thanks, would be grateful for an evening of quality time spent with them.

Ironing is not something I get excited about. To me, it’s work. The word “chore” takes on all the negative connotations one may conjure.

To facilitate time spent with the taxes of existence (other “taxes” include cleaning the bathroom, changing the car’s oil, picking up after roommates, etc.), I looked to find something a little more stimulating. TV was out of the question, since earlier that evening I suspended TV service for the summer. (I hadn’t watched  TV since the season finales of 24, Lost, The Office, and House, and there isn’t much point in paying for something I'm not using.) But I needed something, and the tunes on the CD just weren't doing it for me.

Yay, for This American Life. I've missed a number of episodes recently, so this was a great time to catch up. I scrolled through the archives, judging each by its title, and innocently picked the one that sounded the most interesting: #328: What I Learned from Television.

Ah, the irony.

Plato:

A wise man talks because he has something to say, a fool talks because he has to say something.

Proverbs 15:2 (NIV):

The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.

A trusted friend:

Dude... shut up.

Two weekends ago, the hiking troupe of Ben, Erland, and I went out to seek out what there is to see. Unfortunately, on the way to Canyon Lake, we hit a literal road block:

Apparently the road to Canyon Lake is unreachable by car because of the winds, rain, and flooding from last winter. I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more impassible roads for the higher elevation trails once all the snow melts (some trail damage reports can be found at Washington Trails).

We instead looked over to the next page in our copy of Hiking Whatcom County (Ken Wilcox) and found Racehorse Creek Falls. It's a half-hike off of N. Fork Rd (off of Mosquito Lake Rd) in which you must climb over trees and up slippery rocks to get the best viewpoint. My best hand-held picture:

A picture taken by someone who knew what he was doing can be found here.

Random roadside pic: