Go Local

If you've been a faithful reader, then you may recall a post I made last August about Organic vs. Local. Anyway, I stumbled across a nifty website called localharvest.org. Type in your zip code and, according to the website, "find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area, where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies."

Yaaaaaay produce!

I Heart SOX

There's nothing I'd rather do on a beautiful spring Friday afternoon than sit at my computer and trudge through fileshares, SAP Transports, and countless emails all in the name of Sarbanes-Oxley. Oh Sarbanes-Oxley, how I love thee.

If I ever make it to Congress, I'm going to change the acronym to SUX.

Minnesota = Golf

I played golf tonight with fellow blogger Bradley. About halfway through the round I came to the realization that the game of golf is a lot like Minnesota, particularly Minnesota's weather.

Golf can be a very frustrating sport. You can play for 4 hours straight and hit 4 hours worth of bad shots. But then you have that one shot that just simply feels right. I mean, it was perfect. All of a sudden you forget about your prior frustrations. You think to yourself that maybe golf isn't so bad. Not only do you enjoy it, but you feel like you're pretty good at it too. You can see yourself playing golf for a very long time.

Minnesota can be a very frustrating state to live in. You can have 5 months worth of winter and be ready for spring 4.5 of those months. But then the ground thaws, the geese return, and the weather is just simply perfect. Suddenly, you find yourself loving Minnesota. Why wouldn't anyone want to live here? The winter wasn't so bad after all, was it? You can see yourself living here for a very long time.

cheddarvision.tv

Have too much time on your hands? Looking for a new hobby? Wish you could experience Britain? Then join the nearly one million viewers of cheddarvision.tv. Yes, cheddarvision. Yes, it is just a webcam showing a block of cheese aging. Yes, people do in fact spend time watching it. Why, I do not know.

What Happened to all the Weddings?

For a period in my life it seemed every summer weekend was filled with wedding activity. Here a friend, there a friend, everywhere a friend of a friend was getting married. It was like going to dozens of mini reunions. Everyone was happy and all had a bright and promising future.

I don't know what's happened since then, but that pace has dropped dramatically. Perhaps I'm getting older. Perhaps the early bloomers in my group have all said their vows. But lately my reunions have come from less fortunate circumstances.

One of my good friend's mother passed away this past week. Today was the funeral. It was a sad occasion, yet good to see my lifelong friends. It still amazes me to this day that I could go a year without speaking with one of them and pick up as if we had a beer together the day before. My friend's mom suffered from Alzheimer's disease, just as her mother did.

I'm not really a poetry person, but I was moved by the poem included in the funeral bulletin today, and wanted to share...

Heart Memories
by Louise M Eder

I remember you with my heart
My mind won't say your name
I can't recall where I knew you
Who you were
Or who I was.

Maybe I grew up with you
Or maybe we worked together
Or did we bowl together yesterday?
There's something wrong with my memory
But I do know you
I know I knew you
And I do love you
I know how you make me feel
I remember the feelings we had together.
My heart remembers
It cries out in loneliness for you
For the feelings you give me now.

Today I'm happy that you have come.
When you leave
My mind will not remember that you were here
But my heart remembers
The feeling of friendship
And love returned.
Remembers
That I am less lonely
And happier today
Because of the feeling
Because you have come.

Please, please don't forget me
And please don't stay away
Because of the way my mind acts.
I can still feel you
I can remember with my heart
And a heart memory is maybe
The most important memory of all.

Mobile Clubbing

I just recently read about a mobile clubbing event at Victoria Train / Tube Station in London. The event was orchestrated through word of mouth and the web. The idea is pretty straightforward:

1. Go to a specified location and bring a personal music device
   
2. Don't do anything out of the ordinary, yet.
3. At the specified time, cue up your music, get your groove on, dance as if you were at a club

Photo of the event snagged from Micheeky's Flickr photo set.

Awesome.

Blu Dot

A few weeks back Addie and I had the opportunity to visit Blu Dot's headquarters up in northeast Minneapolis. One of Addie's friends got a job there recently and invited us over for lunch and a tour of the facilities.

I first learned about Blu Dot when I stumbled across this shelving unit back in Decatur while I was shopping for furniture. Too bad it costs more than some small automobiles (i.e. Nowakowski's bug).

Office space, photography studio, warehouse, and prototyping workshop were all crammed into the same building. It was cool to see the space of such a small yet influential modern furniture company. Bummer that I didn't get to bring home any samples.

Easter Weekend = Lots of Fun

• Friday night - Pieta Brown at The Cedar, followed by a stop into Palmers
• Saturday morning - 5th bed delivery attempt. It was finally delivered correctly (almost)
• Saturday day - worked outside in the cold, finished our backyard fence (almost)
• Saturday night - Neko Case at First Avenue
• Sunday morning - service at a Danish Lutheran Church over by Minnehaha Academy
• Sunday noon - Easter lunch and egg decorating
• Sunday afternoon - Sunny but chilly jog
• Sunday night - "Heavy drinking" with Anders' family

iTunes + Local Concert Listings = iConcertCal

I recently found out about iConcertCal, a super cool plug-in for iTunes. According to their website, "iConcertCal is a free iTunes plug-in that monitors your music library and generates a personalized calendar of upcoming concerts in your city."

I haven't installed it yet, but definitely plan to. I will try to remember to give a recap about how accurate/useful it is after a few weeks of use.