Look! It's a Post! at 12:02 AM

It's been so long, and yet I still can't come up with a decent opening sentence. Not having looked back over the last couple of years in my blogging history, I think it's pretty safe to say that almost two months is the longest I've gone without posting. It's not as if this is an uneventful time in my life, but the events are repetitive enough to me that none of it really seems interesting. I've been essentially living in a hotel since August, and the novelty is pretty much lost on me at this point. Although I have racked up a few Marriott Rewards points—I'm a platinum member, which I guess happens after about 75 nights stayed. Of course, 75 nights is kids' stuff now. I don't even know how many I've stayed. So it's a hotel in Ft. Wayne during the week, and then back home to Kokomo on some weekends (when I either don't have to work Saturday or feel like making the drive when I do work Saturday.) Happily, Jessica and Luke come up sometimes to keep me company, though I'm still at work quite often these days and don't get out as much as I'd like. But hey, them be the breaks right now—it's always like that moving into a new position like this.

We're still trying to sell the house of course. The market is just so frustrating right now. Of course, it was no good when we first put the house on the market, but it's really not good now, with the holidays coming up and whatnot. I think since we've had it on the market, we've had like four showings. I can think of three, and I'm adding one in case I'm missing any. That averages a little more than one per month. It's all temporary, I know, because the place has got to sell some time, right? I mean, it's a good house. Who wouldn't want to live here? Come on…you know you want to move to Kokomo. Joel, I can't promise you could teach at a school on an island, but there's a big stuffed bull in a park here in town that would make a great field trip. No, seriously. His name is Old Ben, and someone stole his tail one time. But I digress.

Despite my lack of activity here on the old blog, I have been writing weekly articles over at MMATorch.com, which I'm still really enjoying. For the uninitiated, mixed martial arts (MMA) is a fast-rising combat sport that is just so much better than any boxing you can find today that it's ridiculous. There's a card tomorrow at 9:00 on Spike TV. They don't usually have the great matches on free TV, but there's a chance for some decent action, so check it out.

As far as media goes, I don't let travel slow me down. Well, okay, yes I have. But I'm really glad now that I bought a laptop earlier this year, as I'd probably never see a movie without it. As it is, my Netflix activity has slowed to a crawl, but I've still managed to check out some decent stuff. Brick was fantastic, and Hard Candy was not for everyone, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit, despite being squeamish about the premise. The Proposition was also pretty good, though honestly I can't remember a lot of detail at this point. I just remember enjoying it.

I've gotten a chance to check out most (not quite all) of the new shows this season while keeping up with the old favorites on the weekends thanks to TiVo. I tell you, I don't know what I did before the technology. But anyway, "Heroes" wins the prize for best new show of the season. Much-hyped "Ugly Betty" is alright, though it's set in the world of a fashion magazine, which should be enough to make me hate the show, so it says a lot that I'm still watching it. "Friday Night Lights" has really surprised me. I thought that show had no chance, but I enjoy it a lot. Of course, I'm a football nut, but Jessica likes it too, and she steers mostly clear of the gridiron on Sundays. "Lost", of course, is awesome, and have you seen the trailer for the next season of "24"? Wow. That's just quality viewing there, folks. Can't wait. I'm also intrigued by the show "Day Break", which will fill in for "Lost" during the mid-season hiatus (a much better idea than breaking up the momentum of the show with countless reruns, ala last year.) Against all odds, "Prison Break" is turning out to be better this season than it was in its inaugural season, where they actually, you know, broke out of prison. "Veronica Mars" isn't as good this year as it has been in the past, but the latest episode showed some signs of good things to come. And of course, "The Office" continues to be the highlight of Thursday nights. Seriously people…does it get any better? (Okay, "Arrested Development" was pretty good too…don't get me started on that again.)

I'm listening to a lot of different things right now, too. I like the new John Legend album a lot. I don't know if it's better than the first, but it's pretty good. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, I'm digging some Mastodon, which is a metal band that keeps it pretty basic as far as metal goes, and they remind me a lot of early Metallica in that way (although the singer screams more than I'd prefer.) I especially dig their "Leviathan" album, which is based on Moby Dick. Fun stuff. In another totally different vein, did you see any of Beck's recent performances on Letterman or SNL? The man can do no wrong. If you didn't see his performance of "Clap Hands" on SNL, find it and watch it immediately. I'd link to the YouTube video, but NBC had it taken down. Because they…don't want people buzzing about the best episode of Saturday Night Live in recent memory. Or something. Seriously though, you'd think that if they know people want to see things like that, they'd at least put it on their own website, but nooooooo. Friggin' NBC. But next time that show airs, you must see this performance. Hugh Laurie was the host. Speaking of Beck, his new album is sweet as well. And staying in the music vein, I've been trying to think of the best album I've heard this year, which is very hard to think of, because I listen to a LOT of music. I still haven't figured out what I think is the album of the year to this point yet, and of course it may not matter with more albums still coming out, but I think I know what my favorite single this year is. It's two minutes and 56 seconds of hard rock perfection, and it is "Woman", by Wolfmother. Short, sweet, and great. Also, one more music note: Zimm turned me on to this blog, where he found an acoustic performance that Chris Cornell did in Sweden. Download it (you can find the link there), for it rules. Cornell is amazing.

With books, I'm currently listening to the audio version of the Dark Tower series by Stephen King, which I love. I tried reading the fourth installment after listening to the second and then reading the third, and I couldn't do it. The audio was just too good. Frank Muller, the guy who reads the books, really brings the story to life. I know he doesn't do he whole series, so I'm hoping the other(s) are as good as he is. But for the written word, I'm currently reading The Ruins, by Scott Smith, and I'm loving that too. I'm on a pretty good run right now for top-notch media. You get in those ruts sometimes where you just can't pick a good movie to watch or book to read, but right now it's the opposite for me. It's nice, because it really helps me unwind after obnoxious days, and it takes my mind off of being away from home so much.

I suppose that's all for now. I know most of this was about media, but I'm hoping (hoping, I say) to post more often about all the everyday happenings. We'll see how that goes. I've missed posting on a more regular basis, but it's still tough to get back into the pattern. Take care, everyone.

Song of the Day: "Billie Jean", by Chris Cornell. Yes, he covers it in the performance I linked to above. It's really cool.