Farewell, Atomsk

Atomsk, my dearly beloved laptop purchased such a short while ago in large part from my loving parents, is (effectively) dead. When taken to the Apple Store, he was declared to be at DAMAGE TIER LEVEL 4. That's apparently bad. As in, DEFCON 4 THE SOVIETS HAVE GONE TO CONDITION RED bad. The man at the desk tells me it will run at least 1300 to repair him.

Though his data is still intact, I figure it is too late for him. I am exploring some options, but Im not too hopeful.

Right now, Im preparing for the worst.

The king is dead. We must prepare for succession.

THE MACBOOK
A solid choice. Small, cute, cheap and high-powered. However, it lacks any kind of decent graphics card and has an admitably small screen. Since I use my computer as a kind of entertainment center, this could be problematic.

THE MACBOOK PRO
Highpowered and wide (not thick), this is the heavy hitter of Apple's portables. A faster chip, larger screen and a nifty graphics card are its highpoints. But its price tag brushes past the WAY WAY TOO MUCH level.

THE IMAC
Best of both worlds, but stuck to the ground. A huge screen, a graphics card with more RAM and a hard drive the size of greate Milwaukee are just some of its dandy features which come at an equally dandy price. But its not exactly going to fit into my backpack.

PS.
I become E-FAMOUS! Try to find me on this page!

PPS.
As you can tell from these pictures, all the other bands were not nearly rocking hard enough. You ain't got time for gentle melodies if you rock so hard you have to wear a tamborine on your head! Go buy Mason Proper's album, or better yet see them live.

PPPS.
Also, get the new Wilco album. And see them live too.

Double Battered and Deep Deep Fried

Bonus points if you can identify the origin of this post's title!

So, I was going to update you with lots of super fun happy information that I have been saving for the past two weeks. I was going to tell you all about my new grounds job, about Claire staying with me, about my best friend Kris moving out west, about Spiderman 3, Shrek 3 and Inland Empire.

Instead Im going to tell you that I am an idiot. I am an idiot because I spilled black current and apple juice on the keyboard of my laptop. I lept into action trying to save him, but Im pretty sure it blew before I could get it turned off.

Right now, sweet sweet Atomsk is drying out in my room. I'll try to turn him on tomorrow, but Im pretty certain theres no hope. At least he went out in fiery battle - like a true viking.

More on the computer situation, as it develops.

Back to you, Phrank.

Rolled Up And Eaten In A Pasty

Remember how I said that I'd check and see if there was some kind of deeper meaning to my trip the Upper Peninsula? Yeah, there isn't one.

I drove for a really, really long time. I counted mile markers. I pulled over for gas when my gauge went below 3/4 of a tank remaining - I was very paranoid. I saw huge windmills. I crossed a huge bridge. I got scared when outside of Munising, because there were ice flows in the lake. It was at that exact moment that I realized I was very, very far away from home and that I might be in trouble.

In Houghton, land of trees, I hung with Nate and his roomate Stu. Nice guy, Stu. Reminds me of someone - but Im not sure who. At some point while hanging around I noticed how well me and Nate work off of each other - we were just going back and forth with stories, commentaries, theories and general blather with machine gun speed. A good time, for sure. I have great friends, Im surely quite lucky.

We chitty-chatted late into the night. Very late. I didn't have much sleep in my system while caravanning back from the frozen north, but I did fine. Im told that the distance I traveled north is the same distance midway into Tennessee if applied southward. And to think I did it twice! It was remarkable to see the trees get greener and greener the farther south I went. Since most of the time anyplace you looked at up there seemed to come out of an ecology calendar, the drive was a lot like flipping through a Safari Club publication very quickly.

Im still pretty worn out from the whole thing. But by gum, I enjoyed myself. I take it back, there's some meaning in there somewhere. I'll write a book, and then let the students figure it out.

Here's some pictures:

The Great Northern Transport

Massive Michigan (word for trip beginning with "M")

Im back in Troy, at the Eddy Team Base, preparing for the single longest car trip I have ever endured.

Such a thing is, by definition, unprecedented.

The story begins many years ago in High School where I met a kid named Nate, in band class. He played sax in the campus band and I played clarinet, but somehow we met up. Fate? Naw. Its like sifting river gravel, which makes all the sediments of like mass move to the same area - drawing all the emeralds together. Did you like that? Did you see what I did there? Its a metaphor, describing how I feel about my serendipitous meeting with a dude who has continued to be a very close friend and creating a comparison between my homies and precious gems.

Anyway, we went on to have many misadventures through our highschool days, and since our graduation he's been making his home in the great white north, at Michigan Tech. Tomorrow morning, I will rise and get into my car. I'll turn on the newly installed stereo deck and rock out hardcore for 9.75 hours until I reach his pad.

I just checked, and I don't think there's any deeper metaphorical edge to this trip. Although I guess I won't really know until I get back.

See: map of amazing trip.

See Also:

Pictures of me and Claire at the Zoo!