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A Lifetime In 10 Weeks

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The last couple of months have been pretty crazy/amazing/profound. So much has happened that, I’ll probably never remember it all, and truthfully, that doesn’t bother me. In some ways I have a tinge of regret for not having taken the time to write it all down as it happened or shortly there after. If not just so I have it archived somewhere. But in reality, some of it I don’t know how to write about – i don’t have the words to fit the experience. Some of it I don’t care about. And some of it I simply don’t care to remember.

So instead I’m going to cop-out and make a list of some of the major and minor events of the past 10 weeks in no particular order and just leave it at that. I can only hope my life remains as eventful and that I take the time to write about it afterward.

I went to my first honky tonk.
I saw Built To Spill play again.
I’ve been to the hospital three times for three different individuals. Two of them in the emergency room. One fatal.
I met family members I have never met before and most likely will never meet again.
I spent a long weekend at my timeshare in Vail.
I went to a mini-family reunion and ski vacation in Breckenridge.
I suffered through a 150-hour work week.
I took a full week vacation.
A loved one died in my arms. It was probably one of the most weighty and profound experiences in my life to this point.
I did my time in the back of a cop car in Henryetta, Oklahoma.
I had the pleasure of staying in a giant mountain mansion with six bedrooms, four bathrooms, two hot tubs, and ski in ski out access.
My car was hit by a kid who had his drivers license for a measly two days. He ended up totaling his car a week later.
I Was invited over by complete strangers for a mardi gras party/steak dinner.
Somehow fit in about eight days of skiing.
Saw a friend who I haven’t seen since his wedding.
The kitchen remodel was completed.
Mom came to town for a visit.
A few birthday parties were celebrated.
I got fall down drunk with a co-worker.
And lots of other various sundriness and ephemera.

Dog Gone It: 8 Foods To Keep Away From Your Dog

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There is are naturally occurring stimulants theobromine and methylxanthine compounds found in cocoa beans will cause vomiting, heart problems, seizures and death in dogs. Despite it’s morbid premise this amazing National Geographic infographic will tell you exactly how much chocolate it takes to kill your dog. Other foods to keep Fido and Spot away from include:

Alcohol – Alcohol depresses brain function in dogs and can send them into a coma. It can cause further damage by turning their blood acidic.
Onion – An onions damage to canine hemoglobin is cumulative, so small tastes over time can be worse than wolfing down the whole bulb. It will eventually cause anemia.
Grapes – Toxicologists have found that grapes and raisins can cause acute renal and kidney failure. As few as ten raisins or grapes, anywhere from nine ounces (255 grams) to two pounds (0.9 kilograms), could be fatal.
Macadamia Nuts – Experts have yet to determine why just a few of these nuts can produce tremors, even temporary paralysis, in a dog’s hind legs.
Garlic – Dogs don’t have the necessary enzyme to properly breakdown the compound thiosulphate so garlic, in any form, breaks down a dog’s red blood cells, and large amounts over time can lead to anemia and possible kidney failure from leaking hemoglobin.
Coffee – The caffeine in a cup of java is a methylxanthine compound that binds to receptors on cell surfaces, precluding the normal compounds from attaching there.
Bread – Like alcohol, ingestion of yeast can cause fatal damage. Active yeast found in raw bread dough releases alcohol as it grows.

I Better Get Back To Work

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By my age:

    Based on a nightmarish dream, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
    Russian ambassador Aleksandr Borosovich Kurakin introduced the practice of serving meals in courses.
    Frederic William Herschel, an English astronomer, invented the contact lens.
    American sprinter Evelyn Ashford won her final Olympic gold medal at age 35, old for a sprinter.
    Amedeo Avogadro developed Avogadro’s hypothesis.
    Law School professor Anita Hill charged that Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas made indecent remarks to her.
    Margie Profet proposed a new theory of menstruation which claims that menstruation protects against infection and won a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant.
    Astronaut Buzz Aldrin achieved his life’s ambition at age 35 and wondered, what do you do after that?
    Mozart stopped composing and started, well, you know.

2007: The Year In Blogging

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Readership here has steadily increased over 2007. Below is a graph of my total number of absolute unique readers during 2007 (Click to make it bigger). The spike in February was due to a link from Boing Boing. The spike in June was due to a link from StumbleUpon.
Unique Visiters 2007

The top ten referring sites to Artifacting (with search engines remved) during 2007 were:

Below is a chart of referrals to Artifacting throughout 2007:
Referring Sites

Below are the top ten most visited posts published in 2007:

General stats for Artifacting are as follows:
Posts 857
Categories 64
Comments 3,101
Words in Comments 93,532
Words in Pages 767
Words in Posts 177,269

2007: The Year In Cities & Towns

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Taking a cue from Jason Kottke, this is a list of cities and towns I’ve visited in 2007. One or more nights spent in each place. Those cities marked with an * were visited multiple times on non-consecutive days. Travel for me this year was about average for my life. Most of it was for fun but there were a few work trips stuck in there too.

Vail, CO
Edwards, CO*
Denver, CO*
Boulder, CO*
Ft. Worth, TX
Snow Bird, UT
Poipu, HI
Honolulu, HI
Manhattan, NY*
Saucacus, NJ
Jacksonville, FL
Atlanta, GA

2007: The Year In Music

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According to last.fm these are the bands that I listened to most during 2007. There are a few bands that were also on last years list, namely Ween and Modest Mouse, however both have slid down in there positioning.

    1. Wolfie
    2. Rainer Maria
    3. Carissa’s Wierd
    4. Ween
    5. Mindless Self Indulgence
    6. Modest Mouse
    7. The Softies
    8. Tool
    9. The Beatles
    10. Pink Floyd

Below is a wave graph of the top 75 artists that I listened to over the last year (click for a larger image). It’s a great way to visualize the trends in my listening habits throughout the year. And it sure is purty.
2007 Wave Graph

And these are the songs I listened to most:

    1. Modest Mouse – Float On
    2. Beastie Boys – Son of Neckbone
    3. Modest Mouse – Medication
    4. Sufjan Stevens – John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
    5. Cat Power – Remember Me (eMusic Solo Version)
    6. Wreckless Eric – Whole Wide World
    7. Control Freq – Sweetest Day (radio mix)
    8. Rainer Maria – Planetary
    9. Digable Planets – Nickel Bags
    10. Donavon Frankenreiter – Move By Yourself

I don’t think I went to enough concerts this year to complete a top 10 list so I’ll settle for a top three. Here they are (with links to what I thought about them):
1. Manu Chao/Gogol Bordello
2. Widespread Panic / DJ Logic
3. Beastie Boys

If you’re curious, here is a link to my music stats during 2006.

I’m always trying to discover new music so please go ahead and friend me over at last.fm

2007: The Year In Movies

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Below are the top 5 highest rated movies I saw during 2007, including a short review and my rating out of 10. Not a single movie I saw all year scored a ten out of ten (Little Miss Sunshine won that honor last year).

1. When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
Heart wrenchingly sad, depressing, unbelievably moving and yet incredibly informative and somehow uplifting. A surprise from Spike Lee and a film everyone should watch (most likely through some tears).
9/10

2. The Devil and Daniel Johnston
Equally sad, funny, and heartwarming. This movie stuck with me for a while.
9/10

3. I Like Killing Flies
Generous servings of existential angst featured daily with a side of flies. Kenny Shopsin is shrewd, loudmouthed, vulgar, entertaining and smart. He’s is also my new hero.
9/10

4. Knocked Up
Very, very, very, funny. Not to mention charming and sweet.
9/10

5. Grey Gardens
This is equal parts creepy,disgusting, funny, and just plain old fascinating. Two bat-shit crazy birds run around their dilapidated mansion outdoing each other with quips of derangement and insanity.
9/10

UPDATE: I figured that I might as well add the worst movie I saw all year. You know, just to make things complete. It was a tie. Please avoid both of these movies.

1. Catch And Release
Ricochet romance at its worst. Gooey, unrealistic and all but the first ten minutes were predictable. Where have all the romantic comedies gone?
2/10

2. Shortbus
Not only have the Europeans had real life (not simulated) sex scenes in their movies for far longer than Americans, but the sex actually looks enjoyable. This movie portrays all the complexity of sex but none of the emotion. Basically, it is one giant gimmick.
2/10

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