Couldn’t help but notice how similar these album covers were. I mean, they’re so close to each other in my iTunes library!

While listening to AV Talk, one of the few podcasts that I happen to actually subscribe to and listen to when I remember that things called podcasts exist, I caught the 2011 Sundance wrap-up episode and filled a list with movies that piqued my interest.

Of everything mentioned, one movie in particular hit a soft spot for me: “Being Elmo: A Puppeteers Journey.” I was astonished when I heard that the last half of the movie was insanely heartfelt and would have you teary-eyed the entire time. While I was driving, I couldn’t imagine how Elmo and the story of the aspirations of a puppeteer could have an audience in tears. Then I saw this video:

In less than a minute, Elmo with his supreme, red-furred goodness and sunshiney monster attitude made me tear up and wish I could have him wake me every morning and tell me “Elmo loves you!”

Anyways, I want to see this movie now just to see how I react to Sesame Street related things as an adult.

I don’t even remember how I stumbled upon them but they’ve grown on me this week. I’ve been on a hipstery-dance music kick with Two Door Cinema Club and the likes and I might have found Friendly Fires through some related artist thing. Either way, I’m a happier person.

Just a little obsessed right now. Perhaps I’ll do a little writeup sometime when I watch the 1st season again.

It lives again!

So much to catch up on SLP. Glad that I think of you when I’m sick and at a loss for what I really should be doing.

A little reminder to myself to get some things knocked off that pesky to-do list.

Taking a trend that I have noticed around the interwebs and the fact that I suck at coming to my blog often enough (but am awesome at checking my reader in the morning), I am introducing “Morning posts.” Pretty low-key showings-off of some of the things that tickle my brain while I’m waiting for the coffee to kick in.

• The Agitator blogger Radley Balko just moved to Nashville right about the same time as one of my best friends so his adventure in discovering the city really is kind of a glimpse into what a newcomer to the city is experiencing. Sounds Like the Scariest 5K Ever

• Around here in the Pacific Northwest, trees are so abundant that they all kind of live together to create the landscape. They never really get a personality but in the case of “Domesticated Trees,” you really get the feeling of the tree feeling outside of its natural environment, and what it has to go through to “fit in.” Woah. Did I just make a self reflective statement based on trees? Domesticated Trees via DoobyBrain

• Love this shirt. $500 though? Sad. Prime Minister Hatoyama Shirt via Orange Crate Art

• iPad will never replace book. There is a very engrained philosophy behind the physical object and how that begets the idea of free and equal access. Some excellent quotes from NYT Opinion post:

…I didn’t grow up reading texts. I grew up reading books.

The entire impulse behind Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iBooks assumes that you cannot read a book unless you own it first — and only you can read it unless you want to pass on your device.That goes against the social value of reading, the collective knowledge and collaborative discourse that comes from access to shared libraries. That is not a good thing for readers, authors, publishers or our culture.

Also noticing that I really need to redo my WordPress theme. This one was made from scratch as a learning experience so, lots of missing bits… weekend project!

The symbol of our country… delegated to keeping my food from being sloppy

Did one of my crazy rounds of driving yesterday and ended up in Centralia, WA. A town somewhere between Portland and Seattle along I-5, it seems to be some sort of touristy, glorified bathroom break… which is weird because I always hit Centralia after being on I-5 for about 10 min.

Anyways, one of the largest and most obvious eateries in the area is Country Cousin which happens to be owned by the Ramblin’ Restaurant Group… did not know this till I went to their website. (Love Mercato, BTW) The menu is the familiar fair that you would expect along a major interstate. The stuff that’s palatable by most American drivers: burgers, sandwiches, most items with a decent amount of meat… their specialty being some sort of pot roast. Tough choices for an ethical eater.

Their yak burger is a standout item though. The meat is harvested in Elma, a town that I pass through on my drive from Hoquiam, where, along the way, you might actually see future burgers out in the field. It’s kind of pricy; 9.99 for a cheeseburger but it’s an excellent price to pay for leaner meat which won’t cause stomach cramps.

Bah, rambling! Trying to get one point across: Food is excellent… atmosphere is unique but… service needs a big boost. I read some reviews where people were complaining about uppity teenagers but it was honestly a diversely aged staff that day. After working in a restaurant, a person becomes more tolerant of waits and frazzled servers; I mean, it was me at one point or another. Sadly, our waitress did a big no-no: bringing the check out with the food.

Ughhhhh… This move pretty much says “My customer relationship is completed. I probably won’t even come check on your water glasses.” (Which was the case) I feel bad since I wanted to like the place because it is locally owned and, in some aspects, locally supplied. Once this happened, though… I started noticing weird things like the ceiling treatment which is faux made from particle board screwed to the old ceiling.

Perhaps it was just the day or something but, it’s really tough for me to say that people were what gloomed my experience at a restaurant.