All posts by Jonathan

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers stopped in Madison last night in the middle of their 30th Anniversary tour (they’ve been around 30 years already?). They played an outstanding show here at the Dane County Coliseum.

Because of the busy day I had at work yesterday, and the gloomy weather we’ve been having for the past week or so, I really had to drag myself off to the show. However, when Tom and the band walked out on stage and started playing the opening riffs of “Listen to Her Heart,” I was instantly glad I came. Judging by the crowd’s enthusiastic welcome, I wasn’t the only one.

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Where have all the paperboys gone?

Do you remember paperboys? (Sorry I know that’s not a gender neutral term. If I use it again, just think child who delivers newspapers).

These days, adults deliver newspapers while driving in their car. They throw the paper out the window and you’re glad if it lands in your driveway, much less close to your house. During rainy weather, you’re lucky if the paper isn’t thrown at a velocity that makes it scrape along the concrete and tear the bag open, leaving you with a soggy mess.

Back in the day (when I was a kid), newspapers were delivered by 12-14 year olds. I never had a paper route when I was that age, but I did have some friends who were paper carriers.

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End of the summer dread

Right around this time of the year I often get a sense of emotional dread with the end of the summer. Dread probably isn’t the right word… melancholy might be more appropriate.

I think a number of factors contribute to that feeling. The darkness of the evening is arriving noticeably sooner every day. My summer vacations are over. Nights are starting to feel cooler. At work, we are gearing up our plans for the upcoming school year.

It isn’t so much that I don’t like the change of seasons. In a lot of ways, autumn can be my favorite time of the year. I don’t think it’s the fact that I’m getting closer to bitter cold days and nights of the winter. Although work is a little less hectic in the summer, I do enjoy the challenges the academic year brings.

Perhaps it’s the noticeable passage of time that bothers me. Winter is on it’s way, and the joys of warm weather will soon be a memory. The world is changing and there isn’t a thing I can do about it. I can only ponder how it makes me feel.

Adventures in kitchen remodeling

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I’ve got running water in my kitchen! This is not a bad thing (it only runs when I want it to). Four days ago I wasn’t so sure that would be the case.

A while back I decided to get rid of my 23-year-old kitchen counter. Of course you can’t have a new counter and keep the 23-year-old sink and faucet. The disposer was also in serious need of replacing. So, I purchased the new stuff, and signed up with a contractor to install the counter. In order to save some money (I hate to think what a plumber charges per hour), my brother and I ripped out the old stuff, and had planned on installing the faucet and garbage disposer ourselves. After all, Steve and I have both watched a lot of This Old House episodes, and the two of us replaced his garbage disposer last winter.

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Longfellow’s laughing Allegra

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I was telling some friends about my Mom’s situation (currently in hospital), and they asked about her name (which is Allegra). When they asked me where the name came from, I didn’t know.

So today when I stopped by to visit Mom, I asked her if she knew how her parents chose her name. Mom said she believed it came from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who had a daughter named Allegra.

From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.

Mom told me she heard this story much later in life, from her sister. Apparently there is some question as to how true it is. Nevertheless, I thought it was an interesting story and worthy of posting here.

If you’d like to read the entire poem, here’s a link to The Children’s Hour by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Worst URLs?

Good Idea: Getting a domain name for your company.
Bad Idea: Not realizing the domain name can mean something else…

Leave the kids at home when you buy flowers or trees at the Mole Station Native Nursery. www.molestationnursery.com

Who Represents is a website where you can find the agent that represents your favorite celebrity. Just don’t forget the gifts when you visit. www.whorepresents.com

Get a custom-made pen from Pen Island. www.penisland.net

And last but not least, the website for an Italian Power Generator company. www.powergenitalia.com

Yes, these are actual domain names. Visit the Top 10 unintentionally worst company URLs for the full list.

Note: Since many of these domains no longer work, all links in this post now go through an archived version on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

Will the dishwasher be next?

The other day I was doing laundry and the washer (which was original to my 23 year old condo) decided it had enough of this life and died. [sigh] Time to buy a new one. Might as well replace the dryer too, which is also two decades old. After shopping around a bit, I got out the credit card and bought those today.

Once they are delivered (which I hope will happen before my clean underwear runs out), I will have replaced every major appliance here, except for the refrigerator and dishwasher. New stove, furnace, air conditioner, water heater, and now the washer and dryer — all in about a year and a half. I’m betting on the dishwasher to go next, it’s the last original appliance. Any takers?

My Morning Jacket

The band I was looking forward to most at this year’s Summerfest was My Morning Jacket. Coming off the heels of one of my favorite albums of 2005, I had high expectations. I wondered how this unique band’s recorded music (which sounds elaborately produced) would come off live. I was not disappointed. The show started off with the opening drones of “Wordless Chorus.” When the lead singer got to the line “We are the innovators, they are the imitators” I thought, you can say that again.

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