I have a bunch of email to catch up on; I got an infection (ick) on one of my fingers last week, which has made typing a chore. Hope to catch up soon.

Oh yeah... Go Pats- on to Arizona and Super Bowl XLII!

As a potentially big winter storm approaches...
Winter Time- Steve Miller Band

In the winter time
When all the leaves are brown
And the wind blows (so chilly)
And the birds have all flown for the summer
I'm callin'
Hear me callin'
Hear me callin...

Random ramblings...

You ever have a day- or worse, a succession of days- where you just feel out of sorts, where everything just seems off, and you can't put your finger on why? Frustrating...

A very pretty version of a very romantic song... and I had a good friend of mine recommend the following as another romantic song: thanx, Orest! :)

I read quite a bit. One genre that I read more of than perhaps many of you might think is/are self-improvement type works. I needn't get into the specifics, except to say that there are some aspects of my life, and that I have certain traits, habits, etc... that I would like to improve upon and/or change. These run the gamut (and none are earth-shattering or life-altering) from health, diet, and fitness issues, to career and time-management issues, to relationship and emotional issues and well-being, and mostly about finding and/or maintaining motivation to improve and change same. One I've been reading of late is Martin E.P. Seligman's What You Can Change... and What You Can't. Obviously I won't recount the entire book, but there was one item that would be of interest to readers here; Seligman lists 16 common psychological/behavioral issues and how amenable they tend to be to treatment (whether his, or others), from curable to unchangeable. Panic disorders were the most curable, followed closely by specific phobias; other issues included things such as agoraphobia, depression, OCD, anxiety, alcoholism, and more, with varying ranges of successful treatment and/or relief (the more difficult ones to alter or treat are those that are more deeply rooted.) At the far end of his spectrum, as something almost unchangeable (assuming one wishes to try and do so) is sexual orientation and, as unchangeable, sexual identity, ie, transsexualism. Interesting. (I didn't purchase the book for help or guidance on that- I didn't even know he addressed it until I came across it. While I may have some issues- no wisecracks, you!- fortunately my transgenderism has never been one that causes me distress; it is what it is. But for those who may be troubled by their TGism, his views would suggest that it is something pretty immutable and immune to change, even if desired or willed.)

Just who is Billy Mays (or as he always screams, "BILLY MAYS!!!") Who is this guy, that he does commercials for everything from putty to mops to hooks to cleaning solutions and more? There's Billy Mays ("BILLY MAYS!!!"), some Australian guy, and two women, and between the four of them it seems that they do like 90% of all cheesy commercials! I don't even watch all that much television, yet I can't escape Billy Mays ("BILLY MAYS!!!") and his three cohorts; with all of the products out there- all of the mostly useless products they shill- couldn't there at least be more people to do the ads than just these four, over and over and over again?

Speaking of cheesy... if you like old 70's and 80's-era cop shows, give this a look: they have lotsa different content, I was able to find episodes of everything from Adam-12, to Barney Miller, to Kojak, and more (didn't find any T.J. Hooker, tho', sigh... and whatever happened to Adrian Zmed, anyway?!)

My gym has been a bit more crowded of late; always happens soon after the first of the year, the resolution crowd. Inevitably it thins out again by the end of the month, so I guess I shouldn't get too frustrated over having to wait to use equipment...

BIG one Saturday night in Foxboro... Go Pats!

"Send me dead flowers to my wedding/And I won't forget to put roses on your grave..."