Summer winds down

Finished working today. This marks the first summer I have not worked two jobs. It also marks the first summer I wasn't making minimum wage. I'm moving up in the world!

I now have until September 3rd before I head back to Maine; classes start September 9th. Plans are not concrete, but do include a trip to Chicago for the last four days of August. Go Megabus!

The usual bitching about my fantasy squad: hitting is on fire; my pitching staff is having a meltdown. Which is frustrating, considering the quality of the pitchers I have. So it should turn around...hopefully. I'm not excited about a third-place finish.

For the next week, before heading to Chi-town, I am planning on doing a lot of reading, and a lot of sleeping. Also some general hanging out, and definitely hitting Jungle Jim's before leaving. Once I get inside, I can still forget that the outside is horribly like a strip mall.

I have far too many books to read. I finished "Fool," the latest from Christopher Moore. If you haven't read it, and enjoy King Lear, read it. If not, pick up "The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal." It's hilarious. Next on the agenda is "Shadow and Light," a noir mystery set in Weimar Berlin. One of the characters is Fritz Lang. Need I say more?

I'm also perpetuating my love of war histories with "The Day of Battle," the second of Rick Atkinson's fantastic trilogy about the North African/European theater of World War II. This one's about the battles for Sicily and Italy, and is a fascinating read. To me, at least.

I also plan on rereading Italo Calvino's "If on a winter's night a traveler," because it's a great read. Just sayin'.

Anyway, that's it from me. Enjoy some music, on me.

Happiness Measured Through...Bloggers?

It's true. A new metric has been developed that analyzes blogs (as well as song lyrics and speeches, such as presidential State of the Union addresses) to determine the average mood of the nation. Read about it here.

Interesting things to take away:

Teenagers are the most unhappy bloggers, according to the study, using negative words like "mad" and "fat."

Michael Jackson has positive lyrics.

Notable days of depression include the fifth anniversary of 9/11 and June 25, or the day MJ died. Days of higher than average happiness include Christmas and Valentine's Day (although both have negative words associated with them).

It's interesting, at least.

Wait a minute

It's August? I don't remember approving that. There are now three weeks of work left, and a month between now and my flight back to Maine.

In other, tangential news, my fantasy baseball team is struggling to overcome third place malaise. I have no points from either saves or stolen bases, and I'm not likely to get any. My hitters lead the league in RBI, runs and homeruns, which is a constant surprise to me (second in batting average). My pitching staff, normally solid each year, leads in wins but has of late taken hits to ERA and WHIP. I've got a nifty 73 points usually, but the teams ahead of me keep flirting with 80 points. I was in first back in June for a bit, but it didn't last. Trying to trade outfielders (I'm overstocked) for starting pitching with low ERA and WHIP, but I don't know if that'll work. Anyway...

Got a shortwave radio for my birthday. It's pretty awesome (see the picture above). So far I've picked up broadcasts from Cuba, Venezuela, China, Taiwan, and Romania, to name a few. Most have English broadcasts, so I'm not left guessing. Apparently the BBC doesn't broadcast to North America via shortwave anymore. I'm disappointed.

That's about it for now. I'm still hoping that the government can turn out decent healthcare reform, but pessimism is slowly creeping up on that hope. More later.