Melancholy Rut

I've been stuck in a full blown melancholic rut for the last few days now although I think there were undertones of it for the past week or so. Things that once made me giddy are making me think of sadder things. My head is unable to stay in the moment. I feel isolated and alone although I am not. I teared up while talking to a co-worker on the phone about it. She suggested I go out roller blading. She's probably right. The less I concentrate and think about things in general, the better I'll probably be.

More than a Richard Castle book signing

6:30 pm Head to The Grove from work
7:00 pm Arrive at Barnes & Noble. Meet a delightful couple in line, I. and S., on the third floor where the signing is taking place. Quickly find out that you must purchase the book before hand so I. and I head down to the first floor, but the books are possibly sold out. We're told that they may have some in the back if we can wait awhile. I've brought my dvd so I at least have that and I. purchases one as well. A few minutes later -- more books! BAM! said the lady.
7:30 pm We see Nathan Fillion head towards the head as we wait in line.
~7:45 pm Nathan is back and talking to those who actually arrived early enough to sit in the seated area. We're so far back I didn't even know where the front was. We hear muffled words then laughter. :(
~8:00-8:30 pm We catch a glimpse of Seamus Dever and then Jon Huertas -- we wave to Jon Huertas and he waves back! :D
~8:30-9:30 pm Slowly make our way to the front. We're pretty much at the tale end.
~9:30 pm Shaking hands with Jon Huertas! Chatting with Seamus Dever (he was in Ireland visiting family when they recorded the commentaries hence his was separate). Taking pictures with Nathan Fillion. Thanks I!
~9:40 pm Chatting with Andrew W. Marlowe (he actually signs with the "W" in his signature) and Ruben Santiago-Hudson! Didn't even see the latter there until we got up front.
10:30 pm Arrive home in time to catch the last half of Castle
ABC, please pick up Castle!

Crap!

I just discovered I am a victim of credit card fraud. One credit card was charged a little over $900 at 7 gas stations through 12 transactions over 13 days -- for some reason the thieves took a brake one day, all within the last few weeks. It was dumb luck that I decided to log in today and found these charges. Whoever devised the fraud alert system for my cc company should be knocked upside the head. How can 12 near consecutive gas purchases not seem suspicious? Anyhow account has now been locked, but god damn it what a crappy way to end/start the week.

la times video review

I never knew the LA Times had these, but I found this one by Mary McNamara on "Life" and couldn't agree more:

FNL

I have been bit by the Friday Night Lights bug this past weekend (damn/bless you E!), but this time around I vow not to do my usual cyber-stalkerish routine and keep myself spoiler free by faithfully watching each episode. So far E, N, and I have gone through 8 episodes in 2 nights, but it seems we must go our separate ways with work starting up again.

Veterans vs. the raising stars

Despite missing 4 of its stars, including the team captain and two vice captains due to needed rest, injury, retirement or a combination thereof, the Norwegian women completed a EC hat trick winning it's third consecutive European Championships against the only team who was able to stop its 20+ winning streak early in the tournament with a tie: Spain. I didn't wake up early enough to watch most of the first half, but from the play by play it seems I saved myself much heart ache -- by the end of it, Norway was finding its stride and defending better against Spain's aggressive attacks. After the break Norway rose their game to a whole other level relying on experience and depth of talent to keep at it and completely overtake the warn out Spaniards who highest international placement was 5th at the world champions in 2003 when they defeated Norway to get there. You could tell watching the game that that defeat and the draw in their opening match this time around really drove the desire to not underestimate Spain again, but Spain is a team on the rise. No one spoke of their chances before the tournament and they surprised everyone. The only team to truly beat them at all was Denmark who had been crushed by Norway the night before. The most interesting aspect of all though is that Spain wouldn't have made it out of the main round had Norway not defeated previous medal contender Romania. And they did this while resting their number one goal keeper and basically using the match to give their younger players more tournament experience. Freaking amazing! If you watch the match you will see and hear the Spanish women cheering Norway on. There's no doubt that Spain deserved to make it into the semi-finals and this first trip there and beyond won't be their last.

One sour note during the match was host nation, Macedonia. Who unfurls a giant flag in the middle of the final match over the crowd and expects the team's fans to be happy about it? [scratch that: Ok it was in the last five minutes when it was pretty obvious that Norway would take home gold, but still aiming your anger at the team who has nothing to do with it isn't very sportsmanlike either and Norway was not among the teams complaining about the host.] When it looked like the Norwegian fans in the middle of the stadium refused to let the flag fall over them the crowd turned on Norway, booing them when they were on the attack. Some teams have been complaining about the bad conditions and lack of professionalism with the host nation: occasional blackouts, freezing practice halls, bad security during the matches, etc. I doubt Macedonia will host any handball championships anytime soon. The Denmark/Norway 2010 EC is likely to play better and with greater attendance with so many international players in the Danish league gaining local fans year after year, but first the 2009 World Championship in China! As automatic qualifiers, let's hope the Norwegian players get their much deserved rest, but that's doubtful with so many playing in clubs competing in the EHF Champions League resuming in the new year. Good luck!

Music of '08

I generally follow the path of least resistance when it comes to picking up on new/new-to-me acts, but this year has been pretty good to haphazardly discovering new music I love:

• Fleet Foxes - S/T
  • These guys are apparently the new jewel of the Pacific-Northwest so I guess it not that big a find
• Born Ruffians - Red, Yellow, Blue
  • Fun, funky vocals and harmonies. It's plain infectious. Thank you KEXP Song of the Day podcast.
• The Ting Tings - S/T
  • Actually the ipod marketed "Shut Up and Let Me Go" is probably my least favorite track, but a good gateway into the body shaking beats this English duo pumps out. Find based off a recommendation after seeing Tegan & Sara live.
• Alphabeat - This is Alphabeat
  • Pure pop body-shaking goodness from Denmark. Warning: the giddy earnestness of some of their vocals is highly addictive and can lead to a serious case of stuck-in-your-head-itis. (Team) Handball got the ball rolling on this find that was later re-enforced by a random recommendation from an old classmate I facebooked.

Mom and Me

My mom and I are a lot a like in our quirks. She saves the colored string that hold rice bags together and I save the crumpled up recycled paper that often comes as packing material with online orders. Today I've used both to help "wrap" two gifts -- yeah...

Learnt.

Today my officemate remarked that her computer was so slow it took half a minute for the "three-finger salute" to register. I replied, what the hell was a "three-finger salute"? Is that like reading between the lines? -- for shame! Is it a generational thing!? I recognize and even mourn a bit that kids these days probably don't know what the "blue screen of death" is, but I've never heard of Ctrl-Alt-Del being called the "three-finger salute." It takes about as long to say either, but I guess there is more anger behind the latter.

California Propositions

I've been going over The Los Angeles Time's complete editorial board endorsements this morning to print them for my mom and I just wanted to share this line from their No on Prop. 8 position:

Fundamental rights are exactly that. They should neither wait for popular acceptance, nor be revoked because it is lacking.

I'm am dumbfounded by the recent polls showing Prop. 8 is gaining support within the last month or so when same-sex couples have already been marrying since June. Those mean-spirited homophobic Yes on Prop. 8 ads really annoy me -- I want to punch that Pepperdine lawyer in the face. Surprisingly the comments in this post have been rather civil, but I still find the Yes on 8 arguments dumb when none of their fears like gay parents or gay adoptions are actually affected if Prop. 8 passes. Plus the battle call to protect "traditional" marriage ignores the fact that real traditional marriage and not just modern conventions of "marriage" were less about love and family and more about politics, property, and cheap labor.