Tuesday the 29th

Morning Commute:

• NPR Story of the Day from Saturday (Orthodox Jews blessing themselves with chickens. Tradi-tion!) and Sunday (tapestry made of spider silk. I now want one.)
  
• Planet Money podcast from Friday, about the G20 conference. Somedays I put this on and just figure something might leak through by osmosis. I do recall that a brewer in Pittsburgh came up with a special brew using major export ingredients from each of the representative countries.

At work:

• NPR World Cafe, featuring King Sunny Ade. Some of the happiest music in the world.
  
• NPR All Songs Considered, featuring a mixture of things I'd listen to again and things I felt tormented by. Although the rambling spoken word piece made me crack up - "Remember that science report you did about a rep-tile, about an iguana, and you didn't have an iguana? That was funny."

Evening:

• "The Fight" episode of HIMYM. I love that Marshall is actually the only badass.
  
• An episode of Property Virgins that I didn't really pay attention to, bc it was about a woman buying a model home, and those are actually kinda dull to look at.
  
• Saturday Night Live .I could not pick Megan Fox out of a line-up. And she landed the premiere? Was Kevin from The Office busy? Fast-forwarded and got this down to under 20 minutes, bc it was TERRIBLE.
  
• SYTYCD! That first kid had amazing legs, and I mean that in a dance critic way. For once, I was grateful for previews of the annyoing argumentative auditioner bc it meant I knew I could fast forward when his segment came up. The show could really spare the maudlin moments, though. I get that the one-armed dancer is inspiring without being told repeatedly. I'm bright like that.
  
• Marquis event - Sons of Anarchy! Why isn't anyone else I know watching this yet? It is AWESOME.

Still languishing:

• Premiere of Trauma. I'm curious bc I saw them filming, but I also know it's probably crap.

On the nightstand:

• Alive in Necropolis

Monday the 28th

Morning Commute:

• Walking to bus stop, listen to NPR: Story of the Day podcast from last Friday, about Chicago sending Oprah and Michelle Obama to bat to try to get the Olympics there. Feel a bit unpatriotic for thinking I'd rather see Rio de Janeiro win the bid, since America gets to host pretty frequently.
  
• On the bus: NPR: Wait Wait Don't Tell Me podcast. Both Paula Poundstone and Roy Blount Jr. are on the panel this week, so I'm pleased. Wonder if I will ever get the trifecta of Paula, Roy, and Mo Rocca. If I do, I should probably just retire the podcast afterwards.

At work:

• KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic podcast, featuring The Decemberists. One of their female vocalists on the new album grates on my nerves. Her voice is overly dramatic and reminds me of watching a goth fairy tale. And being bored. I'm not enough of a hipster to claim I have been listening forever and wish they'd return to their roots - but enough of a listener to say when I do like The Decemberists it's because of the lead vocals, which are nasal and yet still charming. Remember that episode of Mad Men that featured "The Infanta"? That was awesome.
  
• Current random mix playlist, titled "Feelin' It". Freebies mixed with a bunch of Shawn Colvin, who I'll be going to see at Yoshi's in October.

Evening

• "Ability" episode, last on disc 5 of the Fringe: Season 1 DVD series. I don't love the show, but I enjoy it. I just wish some of the episodes weren't so nauseating. There are some episodes where I shout "Oh come on! We already saw the brain goo and it was gross! We get it! Stop showing it!!" Like most programs, my shouting has little effect. If it were really cutting-edge sci-fi it would respond to me and say "So sorry, we'll just go to a humorous shot of the cow next time."
  
• The Amazing Race premiere. I do not like the twist of leaving a team at the starting gate. It is mean and unnecessary. And did not immediately eliminate the "we-fight-a-lot-and-this-will-determine-our-future-as-a-couple" couple. Sometimes I find it hard to watch TAR because I WANT TO DO IT. I don't wanna watch people start whining in the first leg, or yelling at the locals. And watching people not read clues or figure out puzzles is excruciating. Now if only I could find a clever hook... with someone who can travel well... Anyway, to close: What I Have Learned About Relationships from The Amazing Race: If you are constantly complaining about all the problems your partner has... you. Are the problem.
  
• How I Met Your Mother. First off, Neil Patrick Harris was STILL robbed. Stupid Emmy voters. Probably with no room left on their DVRs to even record HIMYM because they're full of Frasier reruns and still sad it isn't on the air and they can't just keep voting for that show ad infinitum. In fact, I bet it's the most popular write-in vote. This one was a decent episode - I like Ted best when everyone is telling him what a jackass he is, because Ted is kind of a whiny jackass. Although I don't actually fault him for picking on spelling errors in menus. Spell check is not that hard, folks. (She says clicking the spell check button.)

What's Still Languishing in the DVR

• Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus. One day I will watch it and it will be awesome.

From the Nightstand

• Alive in Necropolis by Doug Dorst. It's the SF Reads book of the month, but I didn't know that when I picked it up at the library. I actually checked it out because the main character's name is Michael Mercer, which is weird, because I work with Michael Mercer. Who apparently is unable to see dead people.