it's taken me nearly 30 years, but i've finally figured out a few of my favorite things. (i have a hard time limiting myself to just one favorite, so the fact that i've finally done this is a big deal for me.)

Movie – Amelie from Montmartre : the first time i saw this movie, i fell immediately in love with the main character. i knew that i liked the movie a lot, but before i rented it and got to watch it again, i had settled on "So I Married an Axe Murderer" as my favorite movie. shortly after i finally decided on "So I…", i rented Amelie, and my recently picked favorite was quickly deposed.

Album – Monkeywrench – Clean as Broke Dick Dog : i've been saying for years that this is the greatest album of all time, largely tongue in cheek, but i finally realized that this album–of everything i own–is my absolute favorite. This first disc by some of the influential players from the Seattle "grunge" explosion, was an exploration of blues music as the roots of modern rock & roll, and particularly of grunge–the "Seattle sound."

Restaurant – Irish Rover, Louisville, KY : I've long held the Irish Rover to be "one of" my favorite restaurants, but i've finally taken the plunge and singled it out as the numero uno of restaurants in my personal pantheon. In fact, as i was thinking this morning, and to pull out an inside joke from the old days… if Jesus were to give me a plate of fish & chips, he would've ordered it from the Irish Rover.

i've been trying to decide for several years on a favorite color, and it's either black or a dark purple… but then, i don't know if you can really *pick* black as a favorite color. it seems like it's one of those staples that you just aren't allowed to pick… i dunno.

those are the only favorites that i've managed to settle on (well, i've got my favorite girl now, but she knows who she is). just don't ask me for top ten lists, 'cause i don't work that way… i like too many things too much to narrow it down that far. that's why these favorites are such a big deal to me–it's a miracle i managed to figure them out at all.

in other non-news, there's a fun little discussion going on over at the new louisvilleshowcase.com where we started out talking about all the crappy emo rip-off bands, and moved on toward rip-off bands in general.

and yeah, still haven't got the last Paris entries up… i know you're just dyin for 'em.

ok. so, i managed to take my laptop to my grandmother's with me over christmas, and, while i was there, managed to get *both* of my final paris posts typed in and ready to go. only problem with that is, i've yet to find an opportune moment to get them from the laptop to the desktop at home, and to work on the remaining images i need to link within the post. so, this is another stop-gap post, to hold us over until i can get off my tookis and get the final Paris entries online so we can get back to a regular schedule (or something).

AllSnap – this is a kick ass little utility for windows that gives "all" your windows the ability to "snap-to" one another (and the desktop edges) like PhotoShop's palettes, or WinAmp's various component windows. i've been looking for something like this for years.

LLuna 2 – and this one is probably the most interesting application of Instant Messaging (even of Jabber technology in general) that i've ever seen. it allows you to browse web pages and chat with people who are currently browsing the same site you are. craziness.

geoURL – this is one of those fun, utilitarian sites we all like to geek out over, at least momentarily. i went ahead and registered bipolar with it, so now you can (if you can interpret the satellite images) get within 40 – 50 feet from my house. also, there's this neat little feature that will show other registered sites and their physical distance from casa de coffeemonk. the closest currently is ben's site. (of course, since he's the one that pointed this site out to me.)

old-man.net – yes, in case you hadn't noticed, old-man.net did finally launch on monday. and not a moment too soon, as the puffin has decided that it's time for the a-go-go to be a-gone-gone. so, take your last longing looks folks, as the a-go-go will be no more in short order.

that's it for now.

well, i've gotta say, the first few weeks of this year have been just as good as the last few months of last year. so far, so good. i generally don't like to make resolutions, so i've avoided it this year as usual. of course, there are things that i'm trying to do in my life to improve it, but that process started many years ago.

for the past several days, i've been working like crazy on getting the Old Man site whipped into shape and ready for public consumption (that link isn't live *yet*, but will be soon). The really sad thing is, i think i've ended up putting together a better site for them than i made for my own band… ah well, guess that just means i'll have to overhaul the prick site soon.

and speaking of getting things whipped into shape… i just went out on monday and played racquetball with friend & co-worker ben while our respective significant others did their own workout routine. now, he beat me solidly at 3 games to 1, but i figure i did pretty well considering i've only just stopped smoking recently (well, in the past couple months), and i haven't had a lick of exercise since the last time i played baseball with him & his crew. and before baseball… the last exercise i had was probably the last time i went running… nearly a year ago. needless to say, this body is pushing 30 (well, ok, pulling 29) and severely out of shape. but, i did actually manage to make it through four entire games (and could have done more if the gym hadn't been closing), and i managed to hold my own throughout. ben pretty much took me to school for the first couple games, but once i remembered what the hell i was doing and got warmed up, it was pretty much a dead heat, even battle. i think i can take him, next time.

damnit. i had something else to say, but by the time i got a browser window open to load… whatever it was… up, i forgot what the hell it was i was going to look up. sometimes i really hate being so easily distractable.

anyway, i fully expect you all to hold your breath in anticipation of the new old-man.net. oh, and have a happy geeky wednesday!