Working from Home

I usually take today off, since it's the only holiday I don't get through my employer, and I have an aversion to the kind of crowds the marathon draws, and I have to pass right through that area to get to work. But then I looked at the calendar and realized my monthly deadline was tomorrow.

I guess I'm normally a bit further along in my process, but I got caught a bit behind this month, so there was no way I could take today off. Then I realized I could work at home, which would be kind of like a day off, except I would have to concentrate much harder than I usually do when I "work at home." In other words, today I would need to really work.

And I did. I accomplished everything I needed to, except when I got to the end and started to upload all the files to our database thingy, the files wouldn't upload. I tried several times with several different files, but it wasn't happening. This creates kind of a domino effect, because the files have to be in that database in order for something else to happen overnight, and that has to happen so I can go in on the 19th of each month and make a bunch of stuff live on our web site.

So lucky me, I now have to email our marketing partner and explain why the database sync won't happen overnight. It isn't really going to affect anything too terribly, but it's just not how I would prefer to do things. I thought today was going to be relatively easy, but it turned out to be complicated. Looks like I should have just gone into the office.

This Week in Awesome (4/16/11)

Sorry about being absent yesterday—something unexpected came up at work.

Fellow Bostonians: a new way to check on how the T is running. (Universal Hub)

Also, a slightly more nostalgic view of the T, through animation, in the form of an inbound B line ride along Comm. Ave. in the 1960s. Several other good clips here as well. (YouTube via Universal Hub)

The parade of ridiculous but real products continues: the Slobstopper, which is basically a bib to wear while driving. Seriously. (Consumerist; see their story here.)

And finally this week, a new fragrance just for city dwellers. (Funny or Die)

American Rags

In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the sage advice was given to always carry a towel. I find a bandana to be nearly as useful and a good deal more portable. In summer it's an absolute necessity for wiping sweat off my face and neck; it can be handy for wiping stuff off my glasses; and when on the T it's a polite and somewhat more sanitary way to muffle sneezes.

So I try to keep one in my bag. I have a bunch of them in different colors that I've acquired over the years, and they last a long time. Eventually, though, they do start to get threadbare and need to be replaced. All my bandanas have a little "made in USA" incorporated into the design, usually in the lower right corner. But when I went looking for bandanas at Target a while back (you have to look around, but you'll find them near the socks and underwear), I noticed that they said "made in China."

What, we can't even make bandanas anymore? I thought it must be possible to still buy made-in-USA bandanas. I checked that sketchy army-navy store in Downtown Crossing, and the ones they sell are also made in China. I bought a couple of them, but they were terrible. The fabric was rough, and didn't soften with washing the way my older, American-made ones did. In fact, after a few washings the edges started to fray and unravel. I threw them away, wishing I hadn't wasted the $2 each on them (more on principle than because of the actual outlay).

I checked a couple of work-clothing sites I remembered from a few years ago, when I was looking for a Dickies canvas jacket, and found nothing. Duluth Trading used to sell a bundle of half a dozen bandanas, but they no longer do. I even tried a site that sells biker boots and leathers; they now carry high-tech, synthetic, sweat-wicking 'do-rags. Progress, I guess.

A google search led me to two sites, Wholesale For Everyone and Tan's Club, where you can buy bandanas by the dozen or individual pieces. I ended up ordering from WFE, because their shipping was cheaper and because, as I added individual bandanas in different colors to my shopping cart, a quantity discount took effect, lowering the total cost of the order slightly.

It seemed kind of silly to me to have to pay $6 to get a few bandanas shipped from New Jersey, but with the quantity discount the total was around $20 for eight bandanas, which isn't really much more than buying them in a store, and they're American-made. Including the ones I have that are still in usable condition, I should be set for a long time.

Tempting Fate

Yesterday all my T rides were very crowded, but on my way to work I was lucky to get a seat on the Green Line at North Station. A few stops later, while reading my paper, I heard a man's voice say, "You're pretty brave, drinking coffee on the T without a lid on your cup." I looked up and saw an older woman who had just boarded the train, clutching her Dunkin' cup.

I thought to myself that "brave" was probably not what the man really meant. I'm not sure why someone would attempt to do this; perhaps she wanted or needed to drink the coffee quickly, and with the lid on the cup it was too hot? My brain is resistant to further speculation.

A stop or two later the person sitting next to me got off the train, and of course and the woman with the coffee took her place. I glanced over and saw that her cup was still about 3/4 full. I figured it was safer for her to be sitting down, but I was still just a sudden deceleration away from possibly getting that unlidded coffee dumped on me.

The woman with the coffee asked me if I was getting off at the next stop. I replied that I still had some way to go. She offered that she was getting off at the next stop. I nodded and returned to reading my paper. We pulled into Arlington and she got up and made her way out. Crisis averted.

It's Toast

Someone just annihilated the toaster oven in the kitchen at work. I came back in the building from getting my lunch, and I could smell the burned smell all the way at the bottom of the stairs (our office is one floor up). Then I went into the kitchen to fill my water bottle, and got a good look at it. It's amazing it didn't set off the smoke alarms; the front of it is seriously charred.

I seem to remember the same thing happened around three years ago, and they threw the thing away and got another one. But why do we even need a toaster oven? Who's making toast in there anyway?

Bargain Alert: Cheap Jeans from Lands' End Canvas

I thought I was done buying jeans for a while, but lately several of them have been feeling a little loose in the waist. This makes no sense, as I have not been on a diet or anything; in fact, given the time of year, I would have thought it much more likely to have put on a few pounds during the winter, resulting in my jeans fitting a little snug.

A couple of them were a little big in the waist to begin with, and I'd hoped to accomplish a small amount of shrinkage through laundering, but it hasn't happened. Lands' End Canvas is currently having a spring sale, and their jeans are on sale for $29, which is about 40% off their normal price. Yesterday we went to the mall because I wanted to try them on in the store to see how they fit before ordering. To my surprise, the jeans were 60% off at the store.

I tend to forget that Lands' End's retail presence in Sears stores frequently has sales and promotions separate from those on the web site/catalog, and vice versa. Also, sometimes the discount offers I receive via email are valid only in one or the other; sometimes they are valid on regular LE merchandise but not Canvas, or vice versa. You really have to read the fine print carefully, which is frankly annoying.

I've moved toward slimmer-fitting jeans the past couple of years, but it isn't always easy to find jeans that are cut slimmer but aren't low-rise. (For the longer of torso, it matters for sitting comfort and shirts staying tucked in.) The Canvas "straight fit" jeans are somewhat trimmer than jeans from the regular LE line. They also offer them in a slim fit that's a bit too slim for me, but might work for others.

The tradeoff for getting a higher discount at a store is that the store I went to was only carrying three of the colors/washes available, whereas the web site has seven. I went with the basic, unmolested "rinsed indigo" finish, though I was hoping to find something closer to a medium indigo blue to wear during non-work times. But $20 was too good a price to resist, and since I now know how these jeans fit, I will probably order another pair in a lighter finish from the web.

The fabric is reasonably substantial and feels like pretty standard denim weight (I'm not going to geek out on ounces per square yard, because I don't know it and I'm not that much of a denim freak); I suspect they will need a couple of washings to soften a bit. Because these are dark, unfaded denim, there was a label attached about the dye that suggested washing them before wearing and washing them separately (which to me means "only with other jeans") to avoid dye transfer.

There was other Canvas merchandise at 60% off; this probably varies by store. (Yesterday I was at Northshore Mall in Peabody, MA, but in my opinion the men's Canvas section at the Sears in the Burlington Mall is somewhat larger and better-stocked.) There was also a clearance rack marked $6.99 which had mostly shirts in size small, but who knows what you may find at your local store?

This Week in Awesome (4/9/11)

Don't know what came over me—the entire weekend is a blur...

Watch this news anchor convince his coanchor to lick an iPad while on the air. (Boy Genius Report)

This site is nothing more than a collection of screen captures from movies showing (often extremely unrealistic) computer screen interfaces. (Videogum)

Another person with a great deal of time and patience has created something wonderful. (BoingBoing via The Hairpin)

And finally this week, Billy Crystal and Rob Reiner are in a meeting to pitch an idea for a sequel to When Harry Met Sally, but it ends up in a somewhat different place. (Funny or Die)

One More

I have a late update to the black plain-toe lace-up shoe choices. Red Wing has added this black "Postman oxford" to their heritage line (I thought it included only boots). These shoes are made in USA and are available for $220 from Nordstrom.

But there's one thing about them that would be a definite deal-breaker for me: the wedge-style sole. I didn't notice it at first, and there's a good chance it would go unnoticed by others, but I just have an extreme dislike for how this type of sole looks in profile, regardless of the color of the sole or what type of shoe it's attached to. If that sort of thing doesn't bother you, these look like they would be pretty comfortable.

The Alden Aura

For some time, I've been looking for a pair of black plain-toe shoes something like these. I was after a slightly clunky look with nice rounded toes for plenty of room up front, which I think looks pretty cool when paired with darker jeans (and can of course be worn with many other types of outfits).

Seems simple enough, right? But most of what I came across was either cheaply made, or didn't offer wide widths, or was too tapered at the front of the shoe. I could have just bought the Brooks Brothers shoes, but I was also trying to avoid spending $400 (and the BB shoes don't come in wide anyway).

Other options include the Allen-Edmonds Leeds, which runs $550 in shell cordovan but $325 in regular leather, still a bit more than I was hoping to spend. I wanted the shoes to be USA-made if possible, so that excluded the Florsheim Kenmoor, which at $225 seems a decent value (the wingtip version has been quite popular with budget-minded trad bloggers) but is made in India.*

I decided to broaden my search to consider vintage and more recent, gently-used shoes. This would give me a better chance of finding American-made shoes, but meant I would have to more wary and vigilant to avoid buying something that was the wrong size, or simply buying someone else's junk.

I'd been half-seriously looking for a pair of Aldens on eBay and Style Forum for a couple of months, but not really expecting to find any, as the Aldens that come up for sale in my size tend to be styles I'm not interested in. But a couple of weeks ago I spotted an eBay auction for black plain-toe Aldens, and they were the shell cordovan version in my size, wide width. I love Aldens, but they're pricey, and I hadn't even bothered to consider shell, as it's much more expensive than calfskin.

They were a variant of the style, with rubber soles instead of the more common double-layer leather soles, which may have made them of less interest to other potential bidders with whom I share a shoe size. I ended up winning the auction, and even with the shipping, the shoes cost me less than half of what a new pair would cost. They arrived on Saturday, and I took a quick spin around the house in them. They were the right size and fit well. The leather has a natural luster, making the shoes look like they have been highly polished.

Yesterday I wore them to work for the first time. I had a slight problem with the back of the left shoe biting into my ankle (I may be able to fix this with some moleskin), and I'm considering trying a pair of insoles for some extra cushioning, but otherwise they felt good. I'm hoping these can become long-term shoes for me as I try to transition to buying better-quality shoes.

*Re: the wingtip comment—I got that wrong. There is a wingtip version of the Kenmoor, but the shoe I meant to reference is the Veblen, which at $160 is even lower-priced than the Kenmoor, and can be purchased for around $135 with the use of a coupon code. A Goodyear welt on a shoe at this price is unusual, plus it comes in six colors. Too bad I have no interest in wingtips...

A Touch of Color

We usually have some sort of decoration on the front door. When we got married, a friend of the family who had grown up with my sister made us a beautiful decorative wreath. We had it on the door of our Somerville place for years, and unfortunately it faded from the sun, and stuff started falling off of it, so when we moved we didn't keep it.

One year, in lieu of an evergreen Christmas wreath, I bought an artificial holly wreath. It stayed on the door for months, long past its intended decorative period. Last fall I was stuck wandering around a craft store while the Mrs. picked out fabric, and I ended up buying a fall wreath that was on clearance. After Christmas, I took down the holly wreath again and the Mrs. suggested we needed some other sort of non-fall, non-Christmas decorative item for the door.

A few weeks ago she was at another craft store, buying yarn for crochet, and came home with this:

It's a little different from what I was expecting, but that's good. Now that winter is really gone, it's nice to see this flash of colors when I come home from work.

Huh?

Why does my dishwasher gel have a "best if used by" date? What would happen if it was past the date and I used it anyway?

Wrist Wants

I haven't bought any watches in a couple of months, and there's nothing on my immediate radar, which is just as well. Last July, though, I wrote about a Tudor watch that is not for sale in this country and that I'll likely never be able to afford, and at the time I was considering inaugurating a series on watches on my wish list.

I never followed through on that, partly because doing so is somewhat depressing, but I just looked through a slide show (don't you hate these blatant attempts to drive up page views?) of watches shown at the 2011 edition of the Baselworld trade show in Switzerland (where the Tudor was introduced last year) and there were a couple of watches that spoke to me. One is not realistically attainable, but the other is completely affordable.

Breitling has been known for some time for big, studly watches intended for divers, pilots, and the like. But along with a new movement for certain models that was designed and is being built in-house (as opposed to purchasing a movement from an outside supplier), the company is introducing some decidedly more low-key designs that are reminiscent of vintage models. This one in particular, the Transocean, caught my eye:

If you've read my watch collection posts, you may recall that I have a particular affinity for watches with "cross-hair" dials. This type of understated style looks like it could be from 1965; in other words, it's timeless, and will remain that way (though in keeping with modern watch trends, the 43 mm case size is somewhat bigger than watches typically were in the 1960s). It will be available with either a black or white dial (the white is nice, but the black is killer), but unfortunately it's going to retail a bit north of $5000, so it will have to remain on the "if I ever win the lottery" list.

At the other end of the spectrum, I also like Timex watches for their simplicity, durability, and low cost. Timex started a line last year called Originals that borrows design elements from the company's rich half-century of heritage (and got them into some higher-end department stores). For 2011 they will be adding to the line:

Inspired by a 1960s dive watch, this watch looks both retro and modern at the same time. I love the chunky numerals on the dial and the red accents. At a list price of $85, I'll be grabbing one of these as soon as they become available. I don't care for the "rally" style strap (me not liking the strap a watch comes with—what a surprise!), but I think this would look great on a bright red strap, making it a perfect watch to wear during the summer months.

(Images borrowed from Gilt MANual.)

This Week in Awesome (4/2/11)

Was something going on yesterday? Everyone was acting kind of weird...

This guy asks authors to autograph their books with an insult to him. (The Hairpin via Flavorwire)

Here's a kitchen tool for the more precise-minded among us. (BuzzFeed via The Hairpin)

Very funny comics from The Oatmeal.

Some web addresses flow nicely; others maybe should have been reconsidered. (Meme Base via The Daily What)

One of yesterday's best gags. I know a number of people, including some without children, who would buy this. (ThinkGeek via Cult of Mac)

Couth Booth

Remember phone booths? Actually, depending on your age, maybe you don't: they were small box-like chambers made of glass and metal (or, even further back, wood) with a folding door. They had telephones inside that you used by depositing coins. There are still a few public pay phones around, but phone booths have largely disappeared.

I was thinking about this the other day, as I was stuck listening to one side of a deeply personal phone conversation about some very messy family issues* that, not very long ago, anyone with reasonable sense and dignity would have been much too embarrassed to conduct in a public place. (Side note: believe it or not, some people still don't have cell phones.)

The great thing about phone booths was that they enabled a modicum of privacy in public environments, so you didn't have to conduct your discussion of last night's booty call* or your most recent visit to your therapist* in full earshot of everyone around you.

So I humbly suggest: doesn't this seem like the perfect time to bring back phone booths? They don't even need to have phones in them, since everyone is already carrying a phone, so that would make them cheaper to build and install. Say you're walking down Boylston Street and your mother calls to ask how your pre-trial hearing* went. You could say, "Hold on a sec, Ma, I'm gonna step into this phone booth so I can tell you about it IN PRIVATE."

But of course, not everyone would be naturally inclined to do this, since it seems that many people have forgotten what "in private" means. Then how would people be encouraged to actually make use of them? I have an idea for that too: the phone companies could inhibit phone signals in most areas, but make them really strong inside the phone booths, making them the best spots to use cell phones.

But then we'd probably have to deal with people getting into fights over them.

And of course, this wouldn't solve the issue of having to listen to people have conversations while on the subway, either. Should the T enclose a couple of seats in each subway car?

(*All the examples I've cited above are actual, real conversations I have overheard in public places, including subway trains.)

In Perspective

I generally try to avoid getting all serious and, you know, real about stuff around here because, well, mainly because there are so many others who do it better than I ever could.

But of course all of us are concerned about the events taking place in Japan, and about what they could mean for us here in the US in terms of possible exposure to radiation. (It's selfish, but it's also justifiable.) With that in mind, one of my colleagues passed along a link to a very helpful graphic that nicely expresses a lot of information about radiation exposure.

Mad Men Update

Various entertainment sites are reporting that AMC has a deal with Lionsgate for season 5 of Mad Men, but that it won't air until 2012 (not a surprise at this point, given the length of the negotiations).

However, a deal for Matthew Weiner to continue as showrunner hasn't happened yet, and we all know that the show wouldn't be the show it is without him, so let's hope they can reach an agreement soon. Basket of Kisses says they will be speaking to Weiner tonight, so head over there for more.

Day Tripping

The Proper Bostonian and I had a fun time in New York on Friday, even though we were only there for about six hours and it was kind of cold and windy. When I went alone a year ago December, I took Megabus, but this time we took BoltBus. Both are fine, and the longer before traveling you can purchase your ticket, the better the fare.

I found the seats in the Bolt buses less welcoming; the shape of the bottom cushion and the imitation leather surface made it difficult for me to find the a comfortable seating position. Also, the Bolt buses make a rest stop about halfway between Boston and New York, which adds 15 minutes to the trip. Megabus used to leave from Back Bay Station, which would have been more convenient for both of us, but now they leave out of South Station along with Bolt, as well as the Fung Wah and Lucky Star buses.

After we'd made plans to go on Friday, I learned about a J. Press warehouse sale taking place last Thursday and Friday, only a few blocks from where the bus would let us out, so I figured it was worth a look. Neither of us ended up buying anything there, but I could have: there were some very nice, American-made suits in my size, and everything was 70% off the original tagged price. Selection was hit and miss; the PB found a suit she and her husband had seen a few months back in the Cambridge store, but not in his size. They have sales like this a couple of times a year, and unlike some of these events, this one had some seriously good deals. I think the thing to do in this case, if you plan to attend one in the future, is to be there as soon as it starts on the first day for the best selection.

Our wanderings took us down to the Flatiron area for lunch at Eisenberg's Sandwich Shop, then along 23rd Street to the second location of the Doughnut Plant on the ground floor of the Chelsea Hotel. (Yum.) We then stopped at Fishs Eddy and ABC Home, where The Conran Shop now occupies the lower level. I have fond memories of the old Conran's stores (somewhat like Crate & Barrel) that used to be on Exeter Street at Newbury (the site of the Exeter Street Theatre and later Waterstone's bookstore) and in the Porter Exchange building in Cambridge, so I was pleased to check out its new incarnation. (The store had been at a different location in New York, but I never made it there.)

Heading toward Soho for the obligatory visit to Uniqlo (maybe one of these days they'll start selling online here in the US), by pure coincidence we happened to pass the site of the Triangle factory fire, which occurred 100 years ago Friday. I'd been reading the coverage in the New York Times leading up to the centennial, but hadn't expected to pass by the building itself, and definitely hadn't expected to witness a memorial ceremony taking place on the sidewalk. (If you're interested in learning more about this terrible, tragic incident, which is considered one of the key events in the history of the American labor movement and the development of workplace safety regulations, this book is a good starting point.)

After visiting Uniqlo and a couple of other stores, we walked over to St. Patrick's Old Cathedral on Mott Street (now designated a basilica by the archdiocese of New York) to light candles, then we had to hurry back to catch the bus home.

This Week in Awesome (3/26/11)

My sources this week may not be especially broad, but the material's good...

These two go together: people who hold up either a record album cover or a book cover and have styled themselves so they blend in with what's depicted on the cover. Hard to explain, but easy to understand if you just hit those links. (The Hairpin)

Photos of stuff found on the street. (The Hairpin)

You've probably heard about some artist's great album that never got released for some reason. Here's a list of 10 of them (each on a separate page, unfortunately). (Flavorwire) As a follow-up, The Awl discusses a few more (satirically).

Friday Away

By the time this has auto-posted on Friday morning, the Proper Bostonian and I will be rolling along the turnpike (courtesy of BoltBus) on our way to New York for a brief (same-day return) shopping excursion. It was her idea, but I don't need much convincing, especially when the words "shopping" and "New York" are used in the same sentence. More later...

Short-Sighted

It's kind of early in the year to be talking about this, but the fashion designer Tom Ford says men "should never wear shorts in the city." I understand where he's coming from, but I find this rather unrealistic. But then again, Mr. Ford's version of reality is likely vastly different from mine.

(the following is more or less paraphrased from a comment I posted on The Awl's story on this)

I can appreciate Mr. Ford's intent—after all, he's a designer, of course he wants to see men dress better—but somehow I suspect he doesn't spend many 90+ degree July days walking around in Manhattan (or Boston or any other city) or riding public transit there. I imagine his summers are spent largely in the Hamptons or in Europe, lounging on beaches, and when he does have to return to the city for work, he's driven around by a car service and only has to walk from the door of his home to the car to the door of his office building. If that was my life, I'd probably wear long pants in summer too.

What America Needs?

Lewis Black hadn't done a "Back in Black" segment on The Daily Show in over a month, but last night's bit about one of the potential 2012 presidential candidates was hilarious:

The Daily Show - Back in Black - Trump 2012
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

News of the Mad

It's been a while since I've mentioned Mad Men here, but FYI: the DVD and Blu-Ray sets for season four of Mad Men release one week from today, so you can still place a preorder if you're so inclined, or just buy it from a B&M store next week.

You may not have heard, but AMC is still negotiating a deal for the show's fifth season with its creator, Matthew Weiner, and production company. The latest reports say a two-year deal is close to being finalized, but they've been working on it for a couple of months now. What this means to you and me and other fans of the show is that it's very unlikely it will be back in production in time to air in its typical late-summer/fall time frame, so you should prepare for a longer wait for its return.

Tech Schlubs

My attention was directed to this piece on the New York Times site (go read it now, while you can still do it for free) about the sartorial habits of tech entrepreneurs. Disturbing, to say the least. We all know that engineers and programmers and developers generally don't care much about how they look (I worked with a group of guys who proved this every day), but the implication of this article is that Silicon Valley types seem to think that T-shirts, jeans, and sneakers are how they need to dress in order to capture venture capital funding.

Allow me to quote directly from the article: “It seems that if you dress up too much, you run the risk of not being taken seriously,” said Erica Zidel, a Seattle-based Web entrepreneur who attended Harvard around the same time as Mr. Zuckerberg. “There is an unspoken rule in entrepreneurial culture that your look should be laid back.”

That notion is really disturbing. Of course I believe that what a person is capable of is more important than how that person dresses, but business attire represents a sense of respect for the process. I don't like the idea that someone might view a person dressed in a suit and grown-up dress shoes as trying too hard. I guess this is one more reason I'm not a tech entrepreneur.

(This also begs the question: what do the VC's wear?)

Nonetheless, I hope that there are entrepreneurs who are willing to challenge this mindset and dress well because they like to dress well.

This Week in Awesome (3/19/11)

All right, the work obligation has been met, sleep has been obtained, the coffee and leftover pizza has been consumed—what are we waiting for?

My love of die-cast cars goes back all the way to my early childhood, when my parents used to get me Matchbox cars (when they were still made in England) in the little yellow cardboard boxes from a local drugstore, and some of the first generation (1968, I believe) of Hot Wheels. Sadly, my mother sold them all off at various yard sales after I'd left for college, so whenever I see things like this I'm both nostalgic and envious. (Telstar Logistics)

This couple hilariously recreates poses from romance novel cover illustrations. (Oli + Alex via The Hairpin)

From the "more awful than awesome" file, here's a little game for you: start watching this informative, helpful video from Phoenix, AZ lingerie store Mr. Bra. See how long you can go before you (a) feel nauseated; (b) close the tab; or (c) google the number for the Phoenix police department. (The Hairpin via Reddit)

And finally this week, to cleanse your visual and mental palate from the above, Jimmy Kimmel has branched out from late-night host to fitness guru. Here's his first workout, and here's his diet plan.

Stuff to Read (About the Media)

So, I've been working toward the monthly deadline this week, hence the silence today. I don't expect I'll be all that available tomorrow either, so I'm going to suggest a few pieces of reading material to fill the void. (There is kind of a theme here, thought it happened coincidentally.)

The New York Times ran a page-one Critic's Notebook piece yesterday about the growing prevalence of vulgarities in pop music. It might have been a bit more intriguing if the author, Times music critic Jon Pareles, had turned his pen on himself, so to speak, and assayed the connection between the existence of stories like this and the decline of mainstream media (because prudish newspapers won't print naughty words, see?), but it's still worth a few minutes of your time.

Over at Jalopnik there's some worthy coverage regarding The Detroit News's decision to edit the online version of a car review in response to alleged complaints by an advertiser, and the author's subsequent decision to resign.

And in a similar vein, The Awl wrote about some internecine wrangling between AOL cousins TechCrunch and Moviefone. (You'll want to follow the links in that one to get the whole story.)

A Stop Too Far

On my way home last night, the Orange Line train I was on came out of the tunnel after North Station and stopped at Community College station. I was standing in front of a woman who stood up suddenly, so I moved aside, but instead of heading for the door, she craned her neck to look over the other passengers and out the window of the train (she was rather short).

She turned to her left and addressed a woman standing next to me: "Did I miss North Station?" The other woman tried very hard not to smirk and replied, "I'm afraid so." The first woman had been asleep and was trying to figure out how far out of her way she'd gone. She quickly exited the train, probably grateful not to have found herself all the way out at Wellington or Oak Grove.

Adjustments Required

I got the message from Costco yesterday that my glasses were ready. It was sooner than expected; I'd been told seven to 10 business days, and yesterday was the sixth business day, and they had to be sent to the Pacific Northwest and back, so that's a pretty fast turnaround.

I'm pretty excited about these glasses, so of course I went to pick them up last night. No problems with the lenses, but the frames had been altered. Specifically, the temples were bowed outward and then bent back in again toward the back, making them too wide for my head. (They were quite straight when I got them, and fit my head the way I wanted.) I also believe (though I can't say with complete certainty) that the edges of the frame, where the temples meet at the hinges, had been filed down slightly to allow the hinges to open wider, causing the temples to angle outward more before the shaping. I had to have the optician bend the ends in more, and after a couple of tries she got them so they held my head snugly enough.

For someone with a hat size bordering on extra large, my head is kind of narrow from side to side, which is one reason I appreciate eyeglass frames that are offered in a variety of sizes. And I understand the difficulty of making glasses for someone when the lab is thousands of miles away from where the person who will be wearing them is, but I've done this a few times now (had glasses made through an online store, or otherwise in a place far away) and I've never seen frame temples shaped like this.

It seems like a much more sensible approach would be to leave the final shaping and adjustments to be done when the customer receives the glasses. If Costco feels this isn't a feasible option (there was only one person on duty at the optical counter last night, so I can see where this sort of adjustment might not always be possible to do quickly), then offer that information up front and let me decide if/how I want to proceed, such as giving specific instructions not to make any changes to the shape of the frame, or taking them to another optical shop and offering to pay for adjustments.

This issue aside, the lenses were done correctly, and were completed more quickly than I expected.

Now, in last week's post about these glasses, I meant to talk about why I was getting another pair after a little more than a year. So let's make this visual. Old frames (image borrowed from DreamShades):

And new frames (image borrowed from the eBay listing of the frames I purchased):

Before the black frames, I used to wear gray metal-framed glasses that kind of disappeared into my face. This wasn't intentional, but at some point I realized that I wanted my glasses to make more of a statement. Glasses that do this and are a more essential part of one's overall style tend to have a bolder frame, which is what led me to the Ray-Bans.

But ultimately I decided that they were a bit too hipster for me, and I also think they make more sense for a younger person. Given my age, personality, style of dress, and the image of myself that I want to present to the world, the round glasses in the tortoise color are a better fit. The black glasses were also too wide for my head, which is a function of them being available in only two sizes. The tortoise Anglo American 406's are available in four sizes, and these are the second-smallest. And finally, I hated the little Ray-Ban logos on the temples.

So, that should be the last I have to say about glasses for a while. If you like these frames and think you might want some for yourself, may I again suggest you visit Optometrist Attic, where they (and other classic and retro styles of eyewear) are available in a variety of colors and sizes.

Sold

I'm pleased that I was successful in selling the two Seiko watches I posted on Style Forum a couple of weeks ago, and also pleased that both purchasers were happy with the watches. The money has been specifically earmarked to go toward my credit card balance, which was the reason for wanting to sell stuff in the first place.

The nice thing about the forum is that there is a built-in audience. People are members because they are interested in certain things, and the fact that there is no cost to sell is an added bonus. If you post something for sale on eBay, you know that a lot of people will see it, but you also know that you are going to pay a fee if it sells, and the higher the selling price, the higher eBay's cut (as a percentage of the sale price).

On the forum, you can start at what you believe is a fair price, and odds are you will have to lower it after a few days, and generally sellers include shipping in the selling price, but I think that overall there is a higher likelihood of being able to sell items on the forum at prices that make both seller and buyer happy. Heartened by the watch sales, I'm next going to attempt to sell some outerwear.

This Week in Awesome (3/12/11)

I'm gonna blame the hour change for forgetting to do this yesterday, and leave it at that...

I overlooked this last week: a joke liveblog of the iPad 2 announcement. (The Awl)

A roundup of dumb warning labels is always good for a chuckle or two. (Forbes via Consumerist)

This site loves its retro, which makes it worth a look.

And finally this week, in the interest of expanding our cultural knowledge, The UK explained.

Weekend Reading: The Grand Illusion

As we head into the weekend (which is going to be pretty decent around here), have a look at this interesting article over at Time discussing research about how parents idealize parenting in order to compensate for the emotional burden it creates.

As someone who has chosen not to have children, I find this sort of thing interesting. I try to avoid judging or disparaging the choices others make. I think those who want to be parents are to be commended, but I also think that too many people end up as parents for the wrong reasons, or without a serious and thorough consideration of all the ramifications.

English Boots (Almost)

Last week I saw this post on Put This On, about these English-made Chelsea boots that were on sale at Brooks Brothers for half off the original price, with a code for another 15% off because they were in the clearance section. The final price was $224, around 60% off the original price.

The idea of a pair of made-in-England shoes at such an appealing price was very tempting. I added a pair to the shopping cart, pondered it for 30 minutes or so, then bought them, knowing that I could return them to the Brooks Brothers store if they didn't fit.

During the pondering period, I thought about the fact that they were only available in standard (medium) width, which, depending on the shoe, frequently doesn't work for me. I decided to compensate by going up a half-size, which sometimes works.

The shoes arrived on Tuesday, and they were quite beautiful. The leather was soft and lustrous; the heels had a couple dozen small copper nails in neat rows. English shoes tend to have tapered, somewhat pointy toes, and these did, which worried me. But I put them on and found that they felt roomier than they looked like they were going to be. The half-size up seemed to give me enough room up front, but I was concerned about their appearance.

They seemed too dressy to be casual, yet too casual to be dressy. I thought about the situations when I would be most likely to wear them, and the clothes I would be likely to wear in those situations. I wondered how much wear I would really get out of them. I looked down at my feet and thought that the boots looked bad with the dark jeans I was wearing that day.

Ultimately I decided that there was no need for me to spend $225 on shoes of questionable usefulness. If I could buy a pair of Alden plain-toe bluchers for that price, I'd have no hesitation about keeping them because I know I'd wear them all the time, and aesthetically I think I prefer the rounded, slightly blunt shape of that sort of American shoe anyway. The boots were returned to the store.

(By the way, if you're interested in this style of boot, I did find an American-made Chelsea boot for around the same price; the brand is Neil M and the style name is Portland. But I'm not going to buy them either.)

Business Attire

Because of my interest in clothing and style, I tend to notice what other people are wearing. There are seven other males who work in my office, and I realized that they all dress rather plainly. All of them are at least my age and most are older than me, so that may be a contributing factor, but it's unfortunate that more men don't take more of an interest in their clothing and appearance.

I realize that many people have more important things on their minds, and it's not that any of my coworkers dress poorly, it's just that there seems to be a lack of imagination. The thing that strikes me the most is the overwhelming dominance of solids and the general absence of color overall. I rarely see even a striped shirt among them, and there are other, less fortunate choices, like yellow dress shirts and half-zip sweaters.

Sure, I wear solid polo shirts in the summer, but I tend to prefer them in brighter colors, and equally as often I'm wearing a striped or plaid button-front shirt. I've always preferred patterned shirts, particularly stripes. I just find them more visually interesting, and I know the ladies in the office notice, because I've received compliments from them. That's not my goal, but who doesn't like being told "that's a really nice shirt"?

The Virtual Funnies Pages

Just over a year ago I gave up home delivery of the Boston Globe, due to the elimination of the super-cheap add-on rate I got as a New York Times subscriber. But at that point the only reason I was really getting the Globe was to read the comics, so I reasoned that I could do that online.

I do that now, but it's not quite as easy as you might think. Only a fraction of the comics that run daily in the Globe are available on boston.com's comics page, so I was left to seek out the ones I wanted to read elsewhere.

Most comic strips are distributed to newspapers through syndicating services, so those are the sites you want to visit. They are overloaded with ads and slow to load, but they get the job done.

I now read 15 comics daily, and to do so I need to visit three sites: GoComics, comics.com, and Comics Kingdom, which is sort of a portal template that papers can use to customize a comics page; somehow I ended up using the one that belongs to the Portland Oregonian, but you can also access it via the San Francisco Chronicle or the New Orleans Times-Picayune (quite possibly the greatest newspaper name ever).

The Next Pair

I finally made it to Costco over the weekend to visit the optical counter and see about getting lenses put in my new frames. I have a very strong prescription, so having it made into high-index lenses (which are noticeably thinner than traditional polycarbonate lenses) sometimes costs a little more (sometimes it costs a lot more, depending on where the glasses are being made).

The Costco price for the lenses is $110, which is extremely reasonable. They also charged $18 because I was bringing them a frame from elsewhere. I understand why they do this, and I don't find it excessive. The turnaround is 7 to 10 business days, because the frames need to be sent to their lab in Washington state, where Costco is headquartered.

I asked if the company has its own lab, and the person assisting me gave me the rundown: the lab makes glasses for all the Costco optical locations in the US, and only for them. She told me it's the size of a Costco warehouse building, but two stories, and they make 5,000 pairs of glasses a day. (I meant to ask how they get the lenses into plastic frames, since they don't screw together like metal frames do, but I guess I can do that when I go back to pick them up.)

I'd also like to mention that the person who helped me was polite, friendly, and knowledgeable. In fact, I've never encountered anyone working at Costco who wasn't all those things.

This Week in Awesome (3/5/11)

Quite a decent weekend we're having, feels like winter is over (or at least close to over). The melting has progressed to the point that yesterday was the first day I could walk from our house to the bus stop without having to walk at least some part of the way in the street. Meanwhile, back on the internet...

I was reluctant to bring attention to anything related to Charlie Sheen, but this meme of New Yorker cartoons captioned with quotes from his interviews felt suitably removed from the fray. (BuzzFeed via The Hairpin)

This video serves as a cautionary tale, but the more significant question remains unanswered: how did the truck get there in the first place? Given the outcome, maybe it's best we don't find out. (StreetFire via Autoblog)

There's a good chance those of you on facebook have already seen this, so I offer it as a public service for the rest of us. (The Daily What; actual origin point unknown)

And finally this week, a clip from Jimmy Kimmel Live that affirms Tom Hanks's status as one of the greatest people ever, regardless of what you think of his acting. (TV Guide)

The Switch

My mother pointed out to me that Daylight Savings Time begins a week from tomorrow. I understand why the government changed the yearly start and end points several years back, but I don't like it.

I miss the gradual lengthening of the days we used to experience during March, before the hour jumped ahead in early April. Now it's getting dark just before six, and CLICK! it's shoved ahead an hour.

It also means it will go back to being dark when I get up for a few more weeks, which bothers me more than darkness when I leave work (which seems to bother more people). And the first week, when I'm adjusting to the change, usually frazzles my brain pretty badly.

And this all makes me wonder why we don't just switch to permanent DST. At this point we're already on it for two-thirds of the year. I'm sure there's DST info out on the web, but I haven't had a chance to look.

(TWiA will arrive later today.)

The Show Is Free

On both my morning and evening subway rides today, the other riders and I were treated to some bonus entertainment:

As I was getting on the Green Line at North Station, a commotion erupted behind me. Two women got into an argument about being pushed; it seemed like each was accusing the other of pushing her. It had happened just as I'd turned my back to sit down, so I didn't know who was right or wrong. Interestingly, they both went toward the front of the car, where they continued their argument. (I would have expected them to go in opposite directions so as to avoid one another.) I could not see them, but I heard another voice intervene and get them to stop shouting at each other, and that was that.

On the way home, I got on the Orange Line at North Station and came face to face with what I first took to be two drunk locals. After a few moments it became clear that it was one drunk local and his friend, who was in another category altogether. It was more like he was bipolar and in the midst of a manic episode. He was talking continuously, and though not all of it made sense, some of it gave me the impression that he was fairly bright.

Since the train was crowded I had no choice but to stand near them, so I turned to face the other way. They were silent, but after a few moments, I felt a finger touch the back of my hat. I turned around to look at them, and the drunk one pointed at the manic one, who grinned and shrugged. I gave him a glare, removed my hat, and turned back around. They had a laugh at my expense, and the manic guy went back to his babbling.

But this was the best part: drunk guy happened to use the word "asshole." Manic guy said, "Hey, watch your language: there are kids on this train." (I'm not sure if that was true, but it's likely there was at least one.) And then he added, "I manage to say all my crazy stuff without swearing." Well said, dude. But seriously, don't be touching me like that. Not cool.

Made in America

You all know I feel strongly about buying American-made stuff when it's realistically feasible. ABC News is doing a series all week on this subject, and it's worth watching.

The Tuck Rule Revisited

Gentlemen of greater Boston: I'm seeing way too many of you walking around with your pants tucked into your boots. DO NOT DO THIS, regardless of what you may have seen on fashion-show runways or in GQ.

Because—think about it, and I really shouldn't have to point this out—you are not on a runway, you're on the subway. Okay? You look like you're five and your mom has just dressed you and sent you out to play in the snow.

You want to roll up your pants so we can all see how stylish your boots are? I'm not personally down with that look, but it's definitely the lesser of these two evils.

Reframed

I've been on a bit of an eyeglass kick the past few years. I got a new pair of glasses in early 2008, then another pair a little over a year ago. That was when I changed from metal to plastic frames for the first time in something like 20 years. I'm not one of those people who wears a different pair of glasses each day of the week; I was at least partly influenced in that decision by prevailing style trends, and a little by Mad Men as well.

And now I've gone and done it again. I found a site called Optometrist Attic that carries vintage, old stock, and newly made frames in traditional styles, and they had the exact style I had in mind, rounded frames in a tortoise color. As it happened, the same frames showed up on eBay a couple of weeks ago, in the size I needed, so I bought them there instead.

These frames are made in England by a company called Anglo American Optical. This style is available in about a dozen different colors and in several different frame sizes. It's truly a classic style, and it's very similar to what I wore 25 years ago, during my time in college and shortly after. It's funny that I would find my way back to it, but not so surprising.

I'm not wearing these frames yet because I need to get lenses made. I'm going to talk to the optical shop at Costco to see what they charge for my prescription, but from what I've heard their pricing is pretty competitive. Further reports will be forthcoming.

This Week in Awesome (2/26/11)

We're a bit light this week; things were a bit busier at work this week than I expected, plus we're off to RI for my mother's birthday so these will just have to do...

Justin Bieber (I know, you never expected to see those words on this blog, but keep reading and it will all become clear) made his second and (presumably) final appearance on CSI last week as a (spoiler alert) troubled teen. Here's how it ended, in slightly extended form. (GorillaMask via Videogum)

I love this, but I hate that it has to exist: How To Go Through A Door. Maybe they'll do an advanced one for revolving doors. (IsA's Wonderful World via Consumerist)

Many of us, myself included, have worked in retail at some point, and anyone who has worked in any kind of job with public contact will enjoy this site. (Consumerist)

Won't You Be My (T) Neighbor?

At North Station this morning, I got off the Orange Line and was crossing the platform to wait for an E train when I heard the PA from the train behind me: "Please move all the way into the cars. Don't be afraid to get close to your neighbors."

Spurned by Spooks

Well, this isn't good: You may recall me mentioning the BBC spy show Spooks (aka MI-5) that's been running on the Boston PBS station. The last episode of season 8 airs tomorrow night, so I went to the WGBH web site to read whatever one-sentence blurb they might have about the first episode of season 9.

I was quite surprised to see that next week's scheduled episode is... the first episode of season 1. So they're going back to the beginning? Season 9 aired in the UK this past fall, but I guess WGBH's agreement to air the show didn't include season 9, or maybe the BBC doesn't want it airing here just yet; I don't pretend to understand the intricacies of international licensing rights for TV shows.

Okay, not to worry, I've watched a good chunk of this show via Netflix, so I just slid over there and... no season 9. According to the show's Wikipedia page, DVDs for each season are released in the US each January, so the season 9 DVD will come out... next January? That can't be right. It also says that season 8 just came out on DVD last month, and I'm quite sure Netflix had it available to rent before that.

However you look at it, this is bad news for fans of the show. If I got any of you interested, I apologize. Hopefully season 9 will become available some time before next January; maybe Netflix will make it available for streaming as they've done with most of the other seasons. Let's just hope season 8 doesn't end with a cliffhanger—some seasons have, others haven't.

Watch Wednesday (2/23/11)

What's this? Watch Wednesday? Well yeah, I bought a watch, so... WW has been on hold for several months, because I was trying to exercise some restraint, but I knew I'd end up buying another watch eventually.

Seiko makes good-quality, moderately priced watches, many of which are not "officially" sold in the US. But the internet makes many things easier to find and obtain. I bought this one from an eBay seller; it came with the boxes and warranty coverage, which is not always the case, so do your homework if you're looking into such a purchase. Sites like Creation Watches and BlueDial carry a lot of these watches too, as does Amazon. (I have never personally purchased a watch from any of these sellers, but I'd certainly consider doing so.)

As I mentioned the other day, I posted some watches on Style Forum, one because I'd decided it wasn't quite big enough for my wrist. That one sold right away, and I see this one as its replacement—it's quite a bit larger, about 43 mm across. Automatic movement, display back, nice beefy case, cool orange accents on the dial and hands. You can't really tell in this crappy pic, but the second hand is black and the tip is orange (the white circle is on the other end), and that little orange triangle between 4 and 5 is pointing at the date window.

As usual, this watch came with a lousy strap (if you look at this picture you can see it) that I had to replace. It's leather with a plastic top surface stitched to it that's supposed to look like those "kevlar" straps, but it looked cheesy and made squeaky noises every time I moved my wrist. Gone. In its place is this thick leather strap by Hadley-Roma, from Global Watch Band in Florida. This thing is about 1/4" thick at the ends that meet the watch (check out the step-up from the stitching to the padded center section).

The leather was so stiff I was worried I wouldn't be able to get it to shape to my wrist properly, which is important when you're breaking in a new strap so it sits on your wrist the right way. I figured out which hole I needed to wear it in (the last one) and put it on the little plastic stand in the pic for a few hours to help with the shaping, and then I was able to strap it onto my wrist with no trouble.

The last watch featured on WW back in October also got a new strap, and it's also a huge improvement. This one is made by an Italian company called Morellato, and I bought it from The Watch Prince. It's a very interesting leather that's been treated to be water-resistant and feels like some sort of synthetic, but the best thing about the Morellato straps is that they're made in Italy, but priced like straps made in China.

Tool Time

Regardless of your level of handiness, you reach a point where you need some certain basic tools for everyday household tasks. And given my somewhat compulsive nature, I like to have the correct tool for the job when possible. The Mrs. made fun of me when I bought a rubber mallet to use to assemble a piece of furniture (she probably would have just used her shoe), but it was only $5 and I have had numerous occasions to use it since.

Likewise, I purchased a small hand saw many years ago (I can't even remember why I needed it then) and the first year we were living here, one of the upstairs neighbors knocked on the door one December afternoon and asked, with some skepticism, "Do you by any chance happen to have a saw?" because they had just brought home a Christmas tree and it was a bit too tall. I was only too happy to be able to say that I did in fact have a saw.

Power tools cost more, so the purchase of them has to be justified more. I've had a Black & Decker cordless screwdriver for almost a decade, and it's one of those things that makes sense for almost anyone to have. But I'd noticed that mine was losing its ability to hold a charge, until it no longer worked at all. So now you have another screwdriver that's just like all your other screwdrivers, except it's much bigger, heavier, and more awkward to use.

I was thinking about what to get for a replacement when one of those one-day sale sites, Yugster I think, offered a palm-size model from Skil. I went back a couple of hours later to take a closer look and it was already sold out, and this was before noon, so I figured it must be a decent gadget. I looked around online and found it on the Skil web site. There are actually a few different models, but they're all basically the same. They have lithium-ion batteries that hold their charge for a very long time, and some models come with an LED light below the bit to help you see what you're doing.

Some models come with accessory kits and charging stands, but I think the biggest benefit of this is the small size: not only is it easy to hold, but you can add a bit extender and get into tight spaces with it. I finally made it to a Lowe's over the weekend and picked one up; it was $30 there.

Wanna Buy A Watch?

I've posted three of my watches for sale over at Style Forum. I already have offers on the Seiko 5, but the other two are still wide open. (SF requires membership to send private messages, but if you are interested and are not a member, contact me through the blog and we can discuss it.)

This Week in Awesome (2/19/11)

So winter's reminding us that it isn't quite over, but at least the drifts have receded enough during those couple of warm days that the Mrs. can see oncoming traffic while she backs the car out of the driveway. Meanwhile the web is full of seasonless gifts...

One of those folks with an insane admirable amount of free time has been using it to recreate the famous car chase from the movie Bullitt (which you may recall I mentioned recently) using 1/32 scale cars and stop-motion filming. Check out the preview. (Jalopnik)

Misery Bear is a web series from BBC Comedy about a little tan stuffed fellow whose life is full of travail. (BBC via The Awl)

Tired of the usual, boring drawer pulls? Here's a suggested alternative. (Apartment Therapy via The Hairpin)

Interesting piece about the outsize impact certain books can have on us when we're young and impressionable. I've only read one of them, ever, so not sure what that says about me. (Flavorwire via Hairpin)

And finally this week, the latest Darwin Awards hopeful submits his application. (Videogum)

Bargain Alert: Red Wings

I imagine at least a few of you share my interest in clothes and shoes, so I want to alert you to a particularly good deal available at Orvis online. Orvis has a group of products they call the "Made-in-America Collection" which is pretty self-explanatory. What makes this somewhat interesting is that, like J. Crew, Orvis carries products from other American companies.

In the shoe section they carry items from Alden, Allen Edmonds, the Wolverine boots I bought in New York last fall, and Red Wing Iron Ranger boots. Strangely, they're calling them the "Cannon Valley" boots, but if you look at the picture it's clearly the Iron Ranger in the color Red Wing calls "amber."

These typically sell for close to $300 a pair, but Orvis currently has them on sale for $180, plus they're offering an extra 20% off all sale merchandise through Monday, bringing the price for these down to $144 (plus tax and shipping, if applicable), which qualifies as a steal. That's probably less than you'd pay for a lightly used pair on Style Forum, assuming you could find someone selling a pair in your size.

The only real caveat is that anything smaller than a 10.5 is gone, and these run big by a half size or so. But if you like the Red Wing aesthetic, want a solid, sturdy, American-made pair of boots that will last you decades, and are a larger-footed guy, this deal is calling you.

Deadline Week Alert

This is turning out to be a particularly busy week for me at work; the monthly deadline approacheth, as it always doeth, but I find myself juggling that with several other small projects at the same time, so at this moment there's no predicting what posting may be like for the rest of the week.

I was hoping to find some good reading online to point you at, but it's late and I'm more tired than usual (I almost nodded off while watching TV an hour or so ago), so I think you should just go watch this a few times.

Overheard: Not By Me Edition

So I know this person from back when I worked at the Huntington Theatre in the mid-90s. She still works there, and I've run into her a few times at the Mass. Ave. Orange Line station. She recently started twittering things she overhears on the bus, and it's about as strange and amusing as you would expect, so check it out, okay? The best part is you don't even need to "follow" her, you can just hit that link and they're all there.

And The Winner Is...

I watched the entire Grammy awards show last night, something I haven't done in well over a decade. I wasn't planning to, but then I heard about some of the artists scheduled to perform. I also knew that Arcade Fire was nominated for Album of the Year, and although I figured they had no chance of winning, it kind of gave me an excuse to check out the show.

I'm still taken aback that Arcade Fire won, but more because of the competition in the category than for any question about whether or not they deserved to win. The Suburbs is a rich, bittersweet, evocative, nostalgic look back at the joys and heartaches of growing up in this country, and I can only assume that it struck a chord among the academy's voters, not to mention that it's truly an album, one that bears listening to in its entirety—I would not go so far as to call it a concept album, because it isn't, but the same themes and ideas definitely recur from song to song. And even though they were the last act to perform on the show, they pretty much set the Staples Center on fire with raging versions of "Month of May" and "Ready to Start."

The show itself has changed somewhat over the years; not that many awards are given out during the broadcast itself, to allow the focus to shift to live performances, which I think is a good idea, and is probably more of what fans want to see anyway. A few highlights:

Lady Gaga's arrival at the show inside her egg-womb thingy, and her emergence from it to perform her new song "Born This Way," was typical Gaga and a brilliant piece of theatrical self-promotion. The song itself was a little too much of a clone of "Express Yourself," and this surprised me. Lady Gaga goes to a great deal of effort to present and promote herself as a true original, so even if she is this generation's Madonna, I would not expect her to mimic Madonna so closely. Bonus points for presentation, though.

Likewise I won't soon forget the sight of Cee-Lo Green done up as a giant rainbow chicken. (Just imagine the bad trips that caused among those watching the show while high.) The puppet band was cute too. Gwyneth Paltrow, not so much, and I'm not referring to her appearance but to the mere fact of her presence—it was just pandering to the Glee crowd. I felt like she was a distraction and took the emphasis away from Cee-Lo, where it belonged.

I'm totally digging Janelle Monae. I saw a clip of her performing on Late Show a while back, and I was really impressed. She isn't just talented, she has presence. She's fantastic, and I really need to get her music.

I had to mute the Justin Bieber performance. I really can't bear the sight or sound of him. By coincidence, some sort of domestic argument was happening next door (not the first time this has happened) just as he was starting to perform, so the muted TV allowed us to hear some muffled yelling and the arrival of several police cars and an ambulance outside our house.

This Week in Awesome (2/12/11)

I didn't want you to think I'd forgotten TWiA again: the Mrs. is finishing an application to a graduate program, so she was using the computer a lot this weekend, while I tried to stay out of the way and keep quiet.

This compilation video is six minutes or so of people doing questionable things that result in them being injured. I felt bad about watching this, but at the same time I couldn't stop watching it. Discuss... (BuzzFeed via Awl)

The Brooklyn-based blog Lost City (which went away for a while last year but then came back), recently made a visit to Providence, which got my attention. Some excellent photos of Federal Hill signage.

Did someone say "more time-lapse video"? Only too happy to oblige: here's footage of a new bridge that connects surface streets in the Bronx and Manhattan being installed last year. (Jalopnik)

The New York Times went behind the scenes at Pixar, not an everyday occurrence.

And finally, my favorite clip of this past week: a music video of the Joy Division song "Transmission" created using Playmobil figures. (The Awl via Entertainment Weekly)

Keyboard Shortcut

I don't have much to say about tech gear; this may be because I use Macs at home and at work, and they tend to just work without fuss. But recently I noticed that the keyboard I use at home was seeming a little tired. It came with the desktop G4 Mac that I bought in 1998, so it was not exactly a surprise.

I don't care for the keyboards that Apple currently sells; they are too flat, so the keys don't have as much travel and thus have a very poor tactile feel, and I also don't like how the keys are spaced. So I looked around a few online spots and read some reviews, and decided to try a Logitech keyboard.

I don't need to move the keyboard around while I'm using it, so I decided to stick with a USB-corded model. They make a "compact" keyboard that has approximately the same footprint as the Apple keyboard I wanted to replace, which is convenient because the slide-out keyboard shelf on my desk at home has just about enough room for that keyboard and the Apple trackpad I got for my birthday from the Mrs. The compact model is inexpensive, solidly built, and has good key feel—there's a certain springiness to the keys that makes it pleasant to type on.

After I bought it, I happened to see a different model in a store, also a Logitech, with a much sleeker design and illuminated keys. It looked about as flat as one of the Apple keyboards, but the key feel was nothing like the Apple. It felt even better than the one I'd bought, and the keys were also very quiet. It was pretty sharp-looking, and I wanted one, but this one retails for $80 and I could not justify spending that much to replace a keyboard I'd just bought.

But I could justify getting it to use at work. I set up an eBay search for that model and checked it every couple of days. It took several weeks, mainly because the fixed-price auctions were asking too much, but I won an auction for an open-box unit for $30. I've been using it at work for a couple of weeks now, and I highly recommend it.

Office Shoes

Recently I was having an email conversation with the Proper Bostonian about, among other things, winter boots. She asked me if I kept shoes at work to change into so I didn't have to wear my insulated, waterproof boots (which are somewhat heavy and clunky) all day. I told her I don't, because men, as a rule, can rarely be bothered with such things.

But then I started thinking about it, and I realized it would make so much sense to have shoes at work and be able to change out of my boots. Of course, I could just take off my boots and walk around the office in my socks, but there's something a bit presumptuous about that. In fact, I worked with a guy some years back who would remove his shoes as soon as he arrived at the office every day, and spend the day walking around in his socks. He was a nice enough guy, but still...

So I went down to the basement closet annex and retrieved the blucher mocs I bought from L.L. Bean a couple of months ago. They are decidedly not winter shoes (which is why they were in storage), but they're quite suitable for wearing around the office. So thanks, PB, for the suggestion. It's nice not to feel quite so weighted down all day.

What Are You Watching This Winter?

In the realm of television, February is a ratings "sweeps" month (although it's difficult to imagine how that archaic metric is going to remain relevant much longer), so the broadcast and cable networks roll out lots of new programming. Here are a few shows that are worth your time (if you aren't watching them already).

If you watched any of the Super Bowl, you saw plenty of promotion for Fox's new police drama The Chicago Code, which premiered Monday night. The show comes from creator Shawn Ryan, who was responsible for The Shield, one of the most viscerally compelling shows of the past decade. So right there, you've got me interested enough to give it my attention. It's being shot on location in Chicago, so it looks authentic. The plot is going to weave weekly cases with an overarching story about fighting corruption in the city's government. (Watch the first episode here, on Hulu.)

Over on Fox's cable cousin FX (where The Shield ran for seven seasons), the second season of Justified arrives tonight. Based on short stories by Elmore Leonard, Justified follows US Marshal Raylan Givens, who has been assigned to the county in Kentucky where he grew up. This is a sly, thoroughly engaging show that at times feels like a modern Western, with humor, action, and indelible characters, and Timothy Olyphant is utterly magnetic in his portrayal of Raylan. (Episodes of Justified are not streamed online, but each episode is repeated several times over the course of the week; check the schedule on the FX web site for information.)

Also on FX, the hilariously raunchy animated spy spoof Archer returned for its second season a couple of weeks back. Sterling Archer is a superspy and a huge asshole to everyone around him, including his boss (who also happens to be his mother) and fellow spy Lana Kane (who also happens to be his ex). The show derives much of its humor from showing us that even spies have to put up with difficult coworkers and workplace shenanigans. (Episodes of Archer don't post for online viewing until 30 days after they have aired on FX; three of last season's episodes are currently available here, and the multiple airings each week are in effect here as well.)

Does your cable or satellite system carry the IFC channel? If so, you may want to flip over there on Fridays at 10 pm (speaking of archaic... don't flip, just set your DVR) for the TV version of web favorite Onion News Network. ONN makes The Daily Show seem like Meet The Press; instead of merely spoofing news and events, the ONN folks just flat-out make shit up, and really funny shit at that.

Paired with ONN on Fridays is Portlandia, a spoof of life in the laid-back Pacific Northwest city, created by and starring Saturday Night Live's Fred Armisen and musician Carrie Brownstein. My favorite bits so far have been the woman who freaks out when she finds an unattended dog tied to a post outside a restaurant, and Fred and Carrie playing a couple who employ Aimee Mann as their housekeeper (the conceit is that the music business is so bad these days that even talented people like Ms. Mann have to take menial jobs to survive). (Watch clips from Portlandia here.)

Elsewhere: Parks And Recreation is finally back (Thursdays at 9:30 on NBC), and absolutely crushing it. For me, it's tied with 30 Rock for the funniest show on TV right now. New episodes of Top Gear are airing Mondays at 9 on BBC America, and this is the current season that is still airing in the UK, with a delay of only a week or two—quicker than they've ever made it across the pond. (The Middle East Christmas special that was posted on YouTube for a few days will air this coming Monday, the 14th, at 10:20 pm,) And White Collar is cleverly and stylishly playing out the second half of its second season (Tuesdays at 10 on USA).

Cubed

When I wrote last week about my job at the e-commerce company, I neglected to mention one curious aspect of our office environment after we were reunited with the rest of the company in the new office space: our cubicles were equipped with sliding doors.

Let that sink in for a moment: sliding doors on cubicles.

The doors had a sort of translucent corrugated plastic insert. I guess the door was supposed to be used as a sort of "do not disturb" indicator, but come on. This was ten years ago, so my memory is not precise, but I seem to remember that the walls of the cubes were between four and a half and five feet high; regardless, they were low enough that most of the people working there could easily look over the top of the wall. Pretty silly.

The one thing I did like about the cubicles, that I have not come across in any other place I've worked, was that the work surfaces had a light, IKEA-ish fake-wood finish, as opposed to the bland beige or gray desktops you see in most places.

Flopped?

When I got to the bus stop this morning I saw, lying on the sidewalk, a single white flip-flop. Is it possible there's a wormhole in the vicinity, and it accidentally slipped off the foot of a time-traveler?

Crossed Tracks

Apologies for the absence of TWiA over the weekend. What happened? I'm not really sure. It was going to be a light installment anyway, and I think that made my subconscious make me "forget" to post it.

Yesterday I was actually fairly busy almost from the time I got up; there was a lot to be done around the house, and outside of it as well—I spent about two and a half hours breaking ice and removing it from the front steps, the sidewalk, the driveway, and the walkway around the back of the house. Good exercise, actually, and it was a pretty nice day, but now my wrist hurts, of course.

There was weirdness on the way to work this morning too, though not the usual kind. The commute actually started well; the bus came more or less when it's supposed to, and traffic was normal so we were not delayed. When I got to the platform at Wellington, I started a conversation with a neighbor, and a train came in that was pretty well packed so we both decided to wait for the next one.

A few minutes later, as a train was coming in on the outbound side, the PA announced that it would be heading back into Boston. We looked at each other and said, "Seats!"

When I got to North Station I crossed the platform and waited a couple of minutes for an E train. But somewhere along the way, the E turned into a C, except I was pretty engrossed in my newspaper and so didn't notice this until the train was between Hynes and Kenmore. Rather than take the time to double back to Copley and cross the street to catch an E train, I decided to head upstairs at Kenmore and catch one of the buses that passes through the medical area. I had to wait about five minutes for a bus, but otherwise it worked out well, and I suppose I could consider this an alternate route to get to work if necessary.

Early Morning Surprises

The dog's been going through one of her phases where she needs to go out during the wee hours. We think she wakes up because she's cold, or hears a truck pass by outside (she's always been particularly sensitive to the sound of diesel engines, which goes back to her days being transported to and from the race track in a truck), and once she's awake she realizes she needs to go. Lucky us.

As I was pulling on some clothes at 5 am, making sure I dressed warmly enough, I could hear a low noise coming from outside, nearby, that sounded like some sort of engine. I figured this is what had awakened her.

When we got outside, I discovered that the source of the noise was a Bobcat shovel, being operated by the negligent neighbor I mentioned last week, to clear his sidewalk. (At 5 am; thanks for that, dude.) It only made me more angry, because HE HAS A FRIGGIN' BOBCAT (or at least has access to one), making it super easy (relative to the rest of us snow-schlepping schlubs) for him to clear the walks.

So what's the excuse for not doing it for the past three weeks? I know the guy hasn't been on vacation or anything, because I've seen him plowing after each storm, as the snow got higher and higher on the sidewalks in front of his house. People are such assholes.

Also, I never got back to sleep after I finished walking the dog. Not a great way to start the day.

Caffeine Deprived

I ran out of coffee yesterday. We weren't being good New Englanders and didn't make a pre-storm run to the grocery store. So this morning I had a bowl of instant oatmeal, and no coffee, before I left the house.

When I headed outside to the bus stop, I couldn't find my paper. Things have been a little iffy lately regarding the paper delivery, with the weather and all, so I wasn't completely surprised. But it meant that I had nothing to read on the way to work, and no time to go back in the house to get something.

A couple of stops before I needed to get off the train, I realized that I had nodded off for a few seconds. And then I remembered that I hadn't had any coffee yet. What a strange feeling. I have certainly gone into that groggy zone on the way home from work on a few occasions, but never before even arriving at work.

We are now restocked with coffee and other essentials, just in case.

Frozen Slush

We were told on Tuesday not to go into work today. I think that's the third time this winter. It turned out not to be such a big deal, at least compared to some of the other storms we've had this year. But the forecasts indicated that this one was going to be somewhat unpredictable, due to fluctuating temperatures. The Mrs. got up at 6:30, took the dog out, came back and said it wasn't doing anything outside, and that she was going to work.

I shoveled Tuesday night from the snow that fell that day, because I didn't want it to get trapped under a layer of ice. Today I went outside at around 3:30 pm to assess the situation. The temperature was in the mid-30s for much of the day, but by the time I went out it had dropped back to about 25, so there was an inch or so of frozen slush covering all the areas I'd shoveled clear the night before.

Not only was the slush heavy, but it stuck to the shovel, even the metal one, making for slow going. I was able to clear everything except the sidewalk in front of the house, which had already frozen solid, but was not slippery because the surface was rough from foot traffic. But I bet it will be slick by tomorrow.

I finished clearing the plow-spill from the bottom of the driveway just before the Mrs. arrived home. If we get a decent day soon where it warms up a bit, I can hopefully clear the front walk.

Update: I just took the dog out for last call, and there's a thin frosting of snow on everything; it must have fallen after I came inside. (The forecasts I saw actually predicted the storm would end this way, so give them credit for getting one right.) This may be for the best, as this top layer of snow may provide a little traction tomorrow morning.

Ten Years After

Today marks the day ten years ago when I was laid off from my job at an e-commerce company. Why would I even bother to remember this? I guess the fact that it happened on the first day of the month makes it somewhat easier to remember without really meaning or trying to. At that point I had been employed there for about two and a half years.

What I mainly remember was that the layoffs (four or five others besides me) came as quite a surprise. We were all under the impression that the company was doing well, and it was, but it was not yet at the point where it was self-sustainable, and after the dot-com bubble burst in the second half of 2000, it was much more difficult for fledgling companies to secure that crucial next round of funding.

Working there was a big deal for me because it was the job that got me out of the hell of retail work where I'd been for the previous decade. There are people who enjoy working in retail and are really good at it, and then there are the rest of us, who ended up there because we couldn't land any other sort of job. In my case it had dragged on way too long, and I was stuck. But my retail employer was one of the first clients of the e-commerce company, and I was chosen to be their point of contact.

I didn't wait long before letting them know, very unambiguously, that I wanted to work for them, and then it happened—they asked me to work for them. I'd never pursued a job that way, and gotten it. At first I worked as a freelancer while I still had the other job, but after a couple of months the other job was eliminated, and a couple of months after that the e-commerce folks offered me a full-time contract position.

I came into things relatively early: the office was still in the basement of the founder's home. When I started I was creating new products in the database and assisting with customer service. But within a few months things were moving along well enough that they needed to hire more people, and in order to do that they had to find a real office. I finally felt like I was where I was supposed to be, doing what I was supposed to do.

Things happened very quickly after that. A year after starting as a contractor, I was hired as a full employee. Later that year we ran out of office space, and my department was sent "offshore" to a temporary space while the company waited for new office space to be completed in a building around the corner. When we finally moved back to the mother ship, we were only there for about three months before the first layoffs happened. The company hung on for one more year before ceasing operations.

I was convinced that I would never again find a comparable job. I now had some relevant experience; I just had to find a situation where it would be useful, and there weren't many of those. After exhausting unemployment, I ended up having to return to retail work, but only for nine months. A placement agency found me a position that seemed like it was made for me. The commute was terrible, but it was a good job, and it paid even better than the other one.

I was at that company for two years. During that time we were sold, and our new owners then merged with another company that ended up being in control and moved our operation to North Carolina. Laid off again, I was forced to return to retail yet again, but this time I was also able to get temporary part-time work through the agency that had placed me at the previous job.

These temp gigs led directly to the job I have today: I was placed here on an indefinite assignment five years ago, which allowed me to quit that final retail job, and seventeen months after that I was hired permanently.

When I look at the ups and downs of my last decade of working life, it almost seems like there was planning and design involved. The truth is that it was far more random, but things do happen for a reason, and I'm certain that had I not been laid off ten years ago, I would not be in this job today. Also, I probably would not have met the Proper Bostonian, who became a good friend.