Radio in the big city vs Radio in the small city

Let me tell you that, almost immediately since I have settled into the small city -- I have discovered that radio is just not as good.

In the big city, I could only find a few stations I really enjoyed. But the advantage was that those few stations generally stuck to a particular genre, e.g. elevator music, jazz, 70s-80s pop, R&B, oldies. So on one of my few stations, I would always find something I enjoyed. Generally radio was more concentrated back in the big city, in other words.

Here in the little city ... there are more stations which appeal to me in general, but their genres are so wide that it is much harder, at any given moment when I'm flipping through the stations, to find a song I like. That essentially makes my presets useless. Though at some points during the day I'm sure all of my presets are playing songs I like, it has become the exception rather than rule to be lucky enough to hit one. The best luck I've had is to simply scan through all the stations, because who knows, maybe some station I wouldn't otherwise consider is playing something I like. A lot of stations I encounter advertise themselves as "We Play Everything"....can't say I'm a big fan of everything, it's just too wide a scope.

The ultimate solution to this: an iPod FM transmitter. I typically have my iPod in the car anyway (since I always take it on the subway) so with the FM transmitter, I can listen to whatever I want. The sound quality isn't great, but it's good enough for me. Better than listening to songs I don't like.

(I wasn't initially a big fan of FM transmitters, and was actually considering dropping 900 bucks on a new car stereo complete with direct iPod integration, satellite radio, integration into my steering wheel controls...the whole package. Given that the driving segment of my daily commute will be relatively short, I'm glad I didn't make that purchase. Along with the cost, I wanted to see how my commute would be before I went for it. And the FM transmitter will suit me just fine.)

For you iPod geeks out there, I was actually quite impressed by the revision of the Griffin iTrip. My sister has one of the first ones, and it requires special tracks be on the iPod in order to use it (I believe they contain the signals to tell the iTrip which station was selected), as well as a rather tricky station selection procedure. Fast forward to September '06, when I bought mine, and I was happy to see that the iTrip (now called "iTrip Auto" I believe) has a digital readout and I simply scroll on the readout until I'm at the station I need. I can also charge the iPod through it using my car cell phone charger -- so even as I use it in the car, the iPod battery is fresh enough to last my subway trip. How about that! Nice job. (I've been seeing my battery drain possibly a little too quickly if I don't charge the iPod while using the iTrip, but I haven't investigated the matter, so I can't say that the iTrip is responsible. I don't see myself looking into this whole matter a lot -- it doesn't bother me all that much.)

Halloween

As we all know, a certain holiday is right around the corner .... Halloween. And I simply must weigh in.

I have never really understood the whole adult halloween costume craze. In college I had several friends who were quite into dressing up for halloween, and I could never really get into it. I just never saw the value in running around to thrift shops, yard sales, craft supply stores, etc. -- in search of elements of perfect costume. I never really got into the spirit of the thing.

That said, this year I am on the guest list for TWO halloween parties, both of which are coming up this weekend. And I am not going to complain. The social deities have blessed me with a chance to get out there, have a couple beers, and chill with friends.

I must say, however, that I *dreaded* the prospect of having to find a costume. With this time off, fortunately, I was able to get a jump on the situation. I knew I wanted a store-bought costume, I just did not see myself putting one together from scratch. And while I certainly was in for something cheesy, I figured I could build on some cheesy store-bought costume and maybe make it a little less silly-looking (some would argue, however, that the whole point of dressing up is to look silly).

So, without further delay, I will tell you the costume I've selected: I will be dressing up as a mustard bottle, like you see at a diner -- that big yellow bottle, goes with the red ketchup bottle, both are solid in color and have a conical spout. The costume itself is a foam bottle-looking suit with a conical hat with a hole at the top (the spout!)

But we're not done yet....I told you I was looking to build on a store-bought costume. I won't just be mustard ... I am planning on being a bottle of hot mustard, complete with flames on the bottle. (Being the hot guy that I am, ha ha, why not?) But not only that .... I will also have a (strategically-placed) sash that says, "Squeeze Me!", which was an integral part of a mustard bottle way back when squeezable mustard bottles first came out. I think it will all be worth a chuckle. Fortunately, I have an excellent sister who is a whiz with sewing and costumes, and simply thrives at projects like this. Thanks to her in advance! (For my third grade costume, she made, from scratch, a shark costume that to this day my mom raves about as one of the cutest things ever.)

I have also heard rumors of costumes such as .... a guy and girl going as Hugh Hefner and a Playboy Bunny; the lead singer of a rock group I've never heard of, a Star Wars character -- I think somebody like Han Solo, a transporter I think, I'm not sure. One girl I talked to is going to go as a "White Lie", where she'll wear a white dress and have some sign on her like, "Oh, I'll definitely call you" or something like that. I always found costumes like that clever, you have to think about it a bit.

I'm sure it will be a good time. I figure I just need to loosen up a bit. Part of my problem I think is that I'm hesistant to just let myself be embarrassed by dressing up silly (like being a mustard bottle) but I have to remember: it's all in good fun. I took improv comedy for the same reason -- as we learned in the class, sometimes you go out there and just embarrass yourself, but you're better for it.

Haircut / blond highlights

As I mentioned in my last post, I tend to get blond highlights in my hair nowadays, which has always involved a trip to a hair salon. This is a trend that started in the big city.... I was a devout barber shop visitor for my entire life until I was about 25. And it was always independent barbershops-- I always referred to SuperCuts or any such chain as the "Microsoft Barber Shop" and scorned it as putting the independent barber, e.g. the old man who has cut your hair your whole life, out of business.

Then I started the highlights as something fun to do for the summer. I had a wonderful stylist, who unfortunately moved away before I left the big city, but she did a great job. The highlights were visible but subtle, which was the look I was going for. I always have to trust my stylist, as I never know how I should get my hair cut. Even if I saw a guy on the street with a hair cut I liked, I doubt I could describe it to the stylist. Generally I've had good luck with this strategy, I mean, who knows better about "current guy hairstyles" than somebody who creates those hairstyles?

Normally I'd ask around work for suggestions on hairstylists -- which is how I found my excellent big city hairstylist, but I haven't started work yet, and it was time to get my hair cut. So I checked out a few local magazines and just went to the one rated best in 2006. And I must say, thumbs up. Definitely A+++ on the cut itself. The jury is out on the highlights. The stylist decided to use two different colors on my hair (giving different tones of highlights). And as I had hoped, the highlights are pretty subtle -- maybe a little bit too subtle. I give every haircut a week to see how it turns out -- and I've always found that my hair looks best (in the haircut cycle) about a week after it has been cut. I'll have to report back then. Generally a positive experience I would say.

More subway talk

Following up on an earlier post, I had yet more subway adventures, this time at rush hour!

As I said, my job does not start up until Monday, but it turns out my John Hancock was needed on a few more items of paperwork. And no problem, I never mind a trip into the city! So that finished, I decided to go get a haircut as well. And my haircuts involve some blond highlights now, so that tends to take a while, and I didn't get out of the city until about 5:30.

The first train I was on was packed to the gills. Squished in like sardines. Standing room only. The second train wasn't so bad, and I managed to get a seat, but those seats are close. I was up close and personal with two female rush-hour riders. No doubt they got a thrill out of sitting so close to a handsome young man like me....ha ha ha.

traffic light sensors

We'll wind things up tonight with....a complaint!

This new city I've moved to....doesn't have widespread penetration of sensors that can detect oncoming cars at traffic lights and adjust.

Picture it: where I came from, if I pull up to a red light at 1am, with no cars near the intersection, the sensor will detect my presence and change the light so it is green for me. Seems intelligent.

Not so much where I am now. I'm coming home about 1am, and I must have sat for three minutes at a red light with no other cars anywhere in sight. And it probably would have been ok to go on through at that hour, but I prefer not to, especially given that traffic enforcement is somewhat of a priority. What can I say, I don't like to live that dangerously.

Traffic light sensors! Good invention! Good idea! Roll 'em out there!

subways and downtown

One of the things I've been doing while I've been off from work is explore the downtown area of this smaller city into which I'm settling.

First, the subway, which has been somewhat of an adjustment for me. I had an English teacher who grew up in San Francisco, and she told us about how it was a big deal for her to switch from being all nice and isolated in her own car, to all of a sudden being crammed into a subway car uncomfortably close to group of people, half of whom probably don't use deodorant. I have not hit this problem just yet (I've been doing my exploring at a lot of off-peak times, like going into the city at 4 in the afternoon, or leaving it at 7 in the morning....) but I know my rush hour experiences are around the corner, as the subway will be my primary mode of transportation to and from my new job.

But it is nice to just walk around the downtown area which is quite manageable. Or in the slightly outlying areas (the neighboring city where I will be working). Immersing myself in the hustle and bustle of the city on a Monday night. Discovering nooks and crannies of a urban area where it feels like I could fit. That's a place to be, I think.

Of course, in my few forays into the city, just walking around, I've only hit the tip of the iceberg. There's so much more to see and do, the possibilities seem endless. We'll see what kind of adventures I can rustle together....all I know is, this new place seems like a great opportunity to come out of my shell, find exciting things, and actually DO them. And it's about time.

dunkin donuts

I had my first trip to a Dunkin Donuts since I've moved back to a place where Dunkin Donuts exists. (In fact, my sister and I thought we could do very well with a Dunkin Donuts franchise back in the big city. It's surprising there is no Dunkin Donuts presence there).

At any rate, I am trying to eat better, so I felt proud of myself that I managed to hold out for about three weeks before finally caving in. It was about 8 at night and I was in a mall shopping for a belt rack for my closet. I ended up wandering through the food court and spotted a new donut called a "French Toast Twist", which looked pretty much like a kruller. I told the girl behind the counter, "I know it will be stale, but I want to try it." The guy working with her microwaved it for a minute or so, an action I assumed was intended to make the thing seem less stale, but he told me he did it because the filling inside is better hot. So I parted with a buck and gave it a shot.

And it was at best, average. I don't know what I expected; it tasted like French Toast. I won't be buying it again. There are a precious few donuts I shop for at Dunkin Donuts, and in no particular order they are: strawberry frosted, vanilla frosted, vanilla cream filled, chocolate cream filled, and marble krullers. The super star of late has been the coffee cake muffin, though for some reason the quality of the coffee cake muffins hasn't been what it when I first discovered them. And since I shouldn't be eating muffins, I probably shouldn't do a whole lot of experimentation getting to the bottom of the lack of quality there.

But I did manage to get a pretty sweet belt rack.

A man who needs an introduction....

Hello all you out there in TV Land.

I've just moved from a large city to a smaller one.

With one foot out the door, a few (at least two) of the co-workers I was departing made a request (probably jokingly) that I should start up a blog and keep them up-to-date on the inner workings of my strange little brain (or you might say, the thoughts or "output" of my strange little brain). I guess I wasn't too surprised by this suggestion: I was one of the guys around the office who kept it light, made things fun, and, as one co-worker and very good friend put it, I am "a guy who loves life".

Quite honestly, I laughed off the suggestion. I had tried blogging before and couldn't stick with it. Abandoned my first blog. Plus, could I entertain people for real? With no one feeding me set-up lines? In the large city I left, I took a class in improv comedy. And as a dear friend pointed out, "we all think we're funny, but you have to go out there and invent things!" I'm also a very private guy -- I don't like to share details, intimate or otherwise. Airing out my dirty laundry on a blog: not for me.

However, since the move, I really thought carefully about having a blog -- and I decided to go ahead with it, as you can tell. Over the few weeks I've been settling in this smaller city, I've had plenty of blog-worthy thoughts that won't reveal any of the sordid details of my life, as if you'd want to read about them anyway. It gives me a chance to write with some inspiration: my own real thoughts as I "trudge" (if you can call it that) through life. One of my secret dreams has been to write (oops, there goes a personal detail!) and this seemed like a good way to explore. And if I can make a few people laugh, or at least provide some entertainment, well, I'd regard that as a valuable public service. I'm going to try to keep it fun. We'll see how it goes.

So, read on and enjoy.