Day 1503

On our walk today, the dogs and I passed two hikers wearing surgical masks, a little further down the trail we saw someone nailing a big cardboard sign to a tree with a magic marker message that simply said FOUND TOOTH. There was no explanation of who lost the tooth in the first place, or why finding it was important. On our way home we passed three Japanese girls creating an elaborate tableau in the woods out of red and white paper lanterns and crepe paper. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. Did I mention that it was a very nice day? On a nasty day none of this nonsense would be taking place. In inclement weather, the dogs and I pretty much have the park to ourselves.

We also saw a lot of people in hammocks this afternoon. When did spending the afternoon in a hammock become trendy?  I see people spending forever carefully stringing a hammock between two trees with rope, and then as soon as they are situated inside the hammock, they get out their phones and begin texting someone. Is this today's equivalent of communing with nature. I don't get it.

Admittedly, I don't get much these days. Somewhere in another room of house I hear the Grammy Awards playing on a TV. I used to really like the Grammys but I seldom watch the show anymore. I just don't understand the appeal of performers like Macklemore. Is this even music? About the only thing that will stop me from channel flipping when I hear music on TV lately is when I accidentally encounter one of those Kennedy Center extravaganzas where they are giving a lifetime achievement award to a group like Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin. Where is this generation's Stairway to Heaven or Welcome to the Machine? I haven't heard it yet.

Dot and Dash had a great time at the dog park today. The temperature got up to 73 degrees and it was warm enough to wear shorts. Shorts in January is almost always preferable to ice storms in January. I did a little yard work when we got home from the dog park, and then I went to the gym. After my regular workout, I shot free-throws for a while. I have no interested in basketball as a game, but I'm fascinated by throwing free-throws. To consistently dunk the ball time-after-time, you have to perfect your hand-eye coordination. The tiniest little deviation will send the ball to the left or the right. I still haven't been able to shoot five "nothing but net" free-throws in a row, but I'm getting closer.

Has anyone noticed that I've passed the 1500 day mark? 1500 posts in a row without missing a single day ever is somewhat of an achievement. It's an odd little achievement, but it would be hard for someone to duplicate. The blog is slowly but surely becoming popular. Most people just read it on Facebook or Google+, but at least they read it somewhere. Probably by the time I reach Day 5000, people will be placing bets in Vegas on what the final day number will be. It won't be tomorrow. That's for sure. Tomorrow is just another day filled with blood tests and boring assignments. Mondays always make Tuesdays look exciting.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1111

I made another trip to the storage warehouse this afternoon. Since I had already dealt with the vinyl albums, I decided to tackle the cassette tapes today. Since tape cassettes are so small, I was surprised to fill an entire packing box with the things. Some tapes were music I used to play in the car when I commuted between Seattle and Portland. Other tapes were samples of radio commercials I'd written and produced over the years. There were a lot of tapes.

The record industry has quite a racket going. They've somehow managed to con us into buying the same songs over and over again on different media. I've purchased vinyl albums, only to purchase the same thing again, first on cassette tape, then on a CD, and finally as an iTunes download. What will they think of next?

As I've been packing my music away, it has struck me that there hasn't been a lot of really memorable music in the past ten or fifteen years. The old albums I was packing away are still being played on the radio today. Actually, they're played everywhere from iPods to elevators. As I was watching the Kennedy Center Honors on TV the other day, I was mesmerized at the audience reaction to Nancy and Ann Wilson as they sang "Stairway to Heaven" during the tribute to Led Zeppelin. Everyone knew that song by heart and still loved it after all these years. Can you think of a similar reaction to anything you've heard recently? Probably not. Like it or not, the music that defined my generation, still defines music.

On the way back from the storage warehouse, I stopped by Home Depot to see if they had any less expensive floor lamps. They did. Although the lamps I looked at were dirt cheap, it only took a few seconds to see why. The pole lamps I looked at in the design studio the other day were fabricated from solid rods of stainless steel. The Home Depot poles were all constructed out of three foot sections of cheap aluminum that you had to assemble yourself. The lamps looked like they were made from old tent poles. The reason some floor lamps are $24 and others are $2400 is the same reason that a Lamborghini is not a Ford Focus. You get what you pay for. Too bad I can't afford either a Lamborghini or a fancy designer pole lamp.

The dogs don't worry about such things. For them, the best things in life are free. They certainly enjoyed their excursion to the dog park today. The weather was cold and brisk and it put all the dogs in the park in a frisky mood. Dash was exceptionally playful today and he even managed to get Dot to run with him for a while.

You'd think tomorrow would be a holiday, since Christmas Eve was a holiday last Monday. Apparently it's a work day though. Janet's working. Most of my clients are working. I'll probably be working as well.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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