The Princes of Serendip

I started off the day with a lofty set of goals: get/build bookshelves, secure the downstairs door (which leads to the basement, and which should be secured by means of the big deadlock the landlord installed, and to which I have no key, and which said landlord left open longer than I felt comfortable with), and clean out the detritus that my temporary Yoko-less state has inflicted on the fridge. The last was easily done first; the second was remedied by discovering that the landlord had locked the deadbolt; and the third, well, the third ended in a stroke of luck.

Seeing as how I was in need of bookshelves, I hied myself hence to Uhuru Furniture just up the street from me. They accept donations of goods and sell those goods for their cause. Admittedly, as socially conscious as I may be, my ulterior motive in visiting them is that they often have very reasonable secondhand goods for next to nothing; we got our superb dining room table and six chairs for less than a hundred bucks, and they've served us well. So, armed with the idea of getting a bookshelf for the back hallway, away from the prying eyes of visitors and therefore not required to match anything we've previously decorated the place with, I set forth. A quick survey of the place revealed only one item that matched the description put forth, but sadly, that bookshelf had long triangular sides, thus making it both more stable and too big for the space I had in mind. I turned to go... and walked right into a much narrower bookshelf that was perfect for another spot, this one in my computer room/office. I paid my $16.31, loaded it up in my Honda Civic (with the trunk ajar, but hey, it was a short drive), and quickly (but carefully) drove home, where not fifteen minutes later, the bookshelf was installed, and all of our CDs were in place, thus allowing me to throw away the packing box we'd been keeping them in.

Mission: accomplished. And all this without having to brave Home Depot or Ikea!

The Grates

If you enjoy pop-py songs along the lines of Katrina and the Waves' Walking on Sunshine coupled with wacky videos straight out of... well, wherever it is that LSD and Ecstasy meet for that happy zone (you know, the place before it all goes wrong), then look no further than to The Grates. Highlights include the videos for Science is Golden and 19 20 20.

Capital of the Nation

I went to DC last week for a conference and had a lovely time. (Apologies to Tom and Donna, but Waldorf turned out to be a little too far out of the way this time around.) Note that the mercury went to 100 degrees while I was there, so I stayed indoors during the daytime. Highlights included the National Portrait Gallery (avoid the giant head!) and the International Spy Museum (my name is Asad; I am from Jalalpur, India, and I am visiting Paris for two weeks on business). After dark, I took a walk from just across from the Jefferson Memorial all the way past the Lincoln Memorial to visit good old Uncle Albert.

Also had excellent home-made fried chicken with Rob and Elizabeth, planed, trained, and automobiled up to Rhinecliff to meet up with Jim and Sharon, and then lazed in the Catskills and on the Hudson River for the rest of the weekend. In all, a successful and lovely weekend, depsite the heat and humidity.

How was your weekend?