PixlBit

I started a blog entry a couple of weeks ago and didn't get far, I copied it and I'll paste it in, just so I don't have to try to dredge up what was going on out of the cobwebbed recesses of my brain:

"I'm too lazy to come up with a better title. Deal with it. (had to do with my blog title) 

Life's been busy. Juggling work, social obligations, and chores while still trying to keep some time for myself has been interesting lately. My boss is one vacation this week, so that puts me firmly in charge, and I have to say that the man is seriously underpaid for what he has to deal with. At least I don't have any problem employees to deal with and my co-workers have been working very hard to help me out this week. But enough whining about being in charge, on to what I've been up to.

Listening: In the CD player recently: The Promise of the Sowing - Dan Schatz, The List - Roseanne Cash, The River and the Thread - Roseanne Cash. Live: a ceilidh at my friends' farm with a bunch of other people a week ago Friday, Roseanne Cash in concert for free at LL Bean a week ago Saturday, and my friends Dan Schatz, and Kendall and Jacqui Morse at a house concert last Saturday. Dan's new CD came out a couple of weeks ago, and I got an early copy because I was in on the crowd funding thing. It's pretty good, if a little more mellow than what I usually listen to.

Watching: Been watching The Medium, I'm on the 6th season. I like it, probably not everyone's cup of tea, though. Found a reasonably priced used copy of My Neighbor Totoro at Bull Moose a couple of weeks ago and made Jason watch it with me. He now wants to see more Studio Ghibli movies. I'll be keeping an eye out for a copy of Spirited Away next. (and this is as far as I made it before getting distracted by life)."

And so it goes. Things have been insanely busy at work, and on my days off, I come home and play hermit. I do the number-crunching for the monthly public use reports, and we're 5,000 visitors ahead of where we were last year at this time. And it may have been one of the busiest Labor Day weekends I've ever worked, so September started out with a bang. And my underpaid boss? well, his job reclassification finally came through while he was on vacation and he's now a Manager II instead of a Manager I. Not a huge pay increase, but it's nice that the job title reflects the added responsibilities he's been doing for the past several years.

In terms of what I've been doing, I'll go with the usual format.

Listening: The weather station, lol. No, seriously, that's pretty much been it.

Watching: I never finished updating the last time I tried to write a blog entry, so let me see if I can find my notes... Whoa! That was easier than I thought! Anyway... here's the other stuff I'd watched to that point: a French mystery series called Witnesses. Pretty good, but I have to be awake enough to pay attention to the subtitles when I watch it, or I miss out on what's going on. I finished watching The Red Road, another series on Netflix. It was well acted, but the story itself was too drawn out and none of the characters were particularly likeable. Finished the first season of Death in Paradise, a British detective series set in the Caribbean. I loved the first season, but lost interest when they killed off the main character at the beginning of the second season. Don't want to spoil it for anyone that might want to watch it. Like I said, I really enjoyed the first season. Jason and I finally finished watching the last season of The Amazing Race. They need to go back to Sunday night and lose the gimmicky crap that they're using to try to recapture the audience that they lost by moving the show to Friday night. Also trying to catch up on the last season of Hell's Kitchen. Still trying. Chipping away at Twin Peaks, three episodes in so far. I have to be in the right mood to watch it. Tried to watch Family Ties (I blame nostalgia), but that show was so dated and the acting so stilted that I gave up after the first episode. I also checked out the first episode of Broadchurch. Gave that up rather quickly.

As for movies, it's been a mixed bag, as usual. I have officially hooked Jason on Studio Ghibli movies. We've now seen Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. I've been buying them as I find them on sale or used. So far, Jason's favorite has been My Neighbor Totoro. He's watched it at least once after we watched it together. Other movies watched were: I, Frankenstein (liked that one a lot), Along Came a Spider, If I had Wings (a feel-good family movie about a blind kid who wants to run cross country and the troubled kid assigned to help him as community service. Predictable, sugary sweet, nothing that really stands out), and a wretchedly bad scifi imovie called Monsters: Dark Continent. So bad that we quit watching about 15 minutes in.

That catches us up to where I left off last time. I finished Medium, the last season sucked. Watching Longmire Seasons 2 and 3 before season 4 shows up tomorrow on Netflix. Caught up on the episodes of NCIS I missed last season before the new season starts, watching The Rockford Files when the mood strikes, SeaQuest DSV, and binge watching Person of Interest. For movies, on Netflix I've seen October Gale (sorta kinda a chick flick/drama) and Thale, a Norwegian horror movie. DVD watching includes Kingsman (great movie!), Stand By Me (movie may be set in Oregon, but the dialogue and geography are pure Cumberland County, Maine), The Magnificent Seven, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (I know how bad it is, but I like it!), and Live Free or Die Hard. All of them seen before with the exception of Kingsman.

Reading: I ordered a book called Naturally Curious by Mary Holland. It's a month by month guide to the nature of New England. It's packed full of info on just about every natural history subject out there.

Playing: I finished the main story levels of Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga last month. Only took me five years. Started Lego Batman 3, but got distracted. I've mostly been playing Animal Crack, er, Crossing and Fantasy Life. Much like Mothman, I'm spending a lot of time levelling up my Lives and doing requests for the NPCs. When I get stuck and have no more quests that will help me level up my Lives, I do the next chapter.

As for AC: New Leaf, well, I'm really good at catching fish and bugs and digging up fossils and making my house bigger. Not as good at decorating it or writing to my fellow villagers. And I'm a total failure as a mayor, because I haven't enacted a single solitary ordinance yet, and I'm kind of lagging in the Public Works department, as well. Hey, I didn't ask to be mayor! I'm down to needing only one fossil to complete the fossil wing in the museum. 

I'm also having fun with Street Passes and Spot Passes. Jason and I walked down to the Old Port in Portland a couple of weeks ago and I snagged a bunch while we were wandering around. I also hit up the McDonald's on laundry night, it's right across the street from the all-night laundromat.

Games picked up over the summer have been: Lego Batman 3, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, and... well, I guess that's been it. I've been good this summer, apparently.

This has gone on long enough. I'll write a ranger blog sometime in the next week, and I'll try to get my pics up on Flickr so I can post them in the blog. Happy Wednesday, Pixlbit Nation!