minerals, ice deposits....

I don't really have anything of great import to talk about here, so I thought I'd introduce a fun list. Two lists, actually. One of things with which I am obsessed, and another of things with which I was recently, but no longer, obsessed.

THINGS WITH WHICH I AM PRESENTLY SO VERY OBSESSED¹:

• Explosions in the Sky. A wonderful post-rock band out of Austin, TX. In the same vein as better known bands like American Analog Set and Mogwai. I've been listening to them a whole lot lately.


• tsn.ca. Hockey news from a source that is infinitely better than nhl.com. I go back dozens of times a day every day.


• Carolina Hurricanes message boards. I spend a lot of time there every day. Some of the people are complete imbeciles, but I'm sure there are some of you among us who can relate to spending way too much time on sports message boards (I'm looking at YOU, areseven and southpawgrammar)


• whiffle ball, and its vastly superior cousin, whiffle beer. Although we didn't play this past Sunday, and I won't be playing this Sunday, it's still an obsession.


• Gene Hackman. Maybe Netflix "made me do it", but I sure have been watching a lot of Gene Hackman movies lately. The Conversation was great, but anyone who says it's better than The French Connection has got to be on the heroin.


• the four-pack of Solitaire games I downloaded for my phone. Totally retarded. Do I play the game because I'm insomnic, or am I insomnic because I'm playing the game?


• Crystal Lite lemonade. Mmmmmmmmm! I drink a lot of this stuff. It isn't as tasty as handmade lemonade, but it's much easier and cheaper. If it'll prevent me from drinking soda, then I'm all for it anyway.


• using Pavement lyrics to title my posts. This has a backstory, which I will perhaps share. Sometime soon.


• my hockey blog and the universe surrounding it. What? I've gone 18 months without NHL hockey, and opening night is (check the timer) almost upon us. You didn't really expect me to sit on my hands the whole time, did you?

THINGS WITH WHICH I WAS RECENTLY, BUT AM NO LONGER SO VERY OBSESSED:

• Badly Drawn Boy. This comes and goes, but I have presently gone about a week without listening to him.


• Tetris I have a Tetris game downloaded on my phone which used to keep me up all the time, but I've thankfully gotten off of that. Reminds me of our 1993 Tetris Tournaments.


• Jessie, a "new girl" at work, who I have seen exactly once. I developed a crush on her right away, but we never work at the same times. As I've said before, though, it's never a good idea to fish off the company pier.


• Yetisports. Remember a couple of years ago when we all discovered that little flash game where you were a Yeti and you hit your penguin buddy (who was dropping from the edge of a cliff) with a bat, trying to get him to fly a long way? There's a whole series of games where the Yeti and the penguin are the characters. Go there with caution, but I should warn you to stay away from "Seal Bounce" unless you want to find yourself staying up all night, calling in sick to work and forgetting to even eat dinner.

now playing:

Dirty Three She Has No Strings Apollo

¹ Heather Creegan, who writes the dandy hockey blog [so.very.obsessed] explains that when she got into hockey a few years ago, a friend commented about her obsession. She replied that it was beyond obsession. She wasn't obsessed -- she was "so very obsessed". She used it as the title for her blog. I like it.