I admit it. I'm a SUCKER for interesting male vocalists singing hook-filled, melodic tunes in the register my own voice does well in. I just like to sing. It's one reason I like driving. I can't believe there was actually a time when I drove with the audio system OFF. Anyway, been listening to The Golden Hum by Remy Zero, a couple of Posies albums, the Unbelievable Truth disc, Geneva, and I would listen to Shins if I had any of em.

I'm really into finding the best driving music. Now, my next car MUST have MP3 built in. This is not only so I can bring 100 songs per disc with me, but also so that I can bring all the thousands of game remix MP3s I have without having to wastefully convert them to redbook. But while remixes would make astounding driving music, the bread and butter of my mobile listening will consist of music that sounds good when I sing to it. Sloan's One Chord to Another is great, the Shins album was terrific... what else? Son Volt's "May the Wind Take Your Troubles Away" is the best car song I've ever heard. "Black Motorcycle" by Remy Zero and "Time of Your Life" by Paul Oakenfold (because it was the music for my favorite bike video ever) are the best for riding.

I'm arranging my life through Excel lately. I've got a number of files with my budget for the next two years, maintenance schedules for my car, transaction records, most wanted lists, plans, and all my reference information.

I've also been studying nutrition and dietary needs. I went on a fast in February, ate nothing but oatmeal, cream of wheat, noodles, ramen, pancakes (made with water with no butter or syrup), bread, and... that's about it. Nothing from the meat, fruit/vegetable, or dairy "food groups." AND, not very much of what I did eat. Interesting experiment. Now I'm back to my "normal" diet. But wait... My normal diet only comes to around 1500-1800 calories per day, sometimes significantly less.

And I often get a pretty good amount of vigorous, full body exercise -- less now that I don't bike as much, but more real soon when I start shooting baskets every day again. I've been looking at the fat/carbs/protein mix, and ways to cut out saturated fat (in favor of unsaturated fats) and refined sugars (in favor of natural sugars, starch, and fiber). I delved into the whole Vegan/Raw Fooder debate and found a great site which cuts through some of the bull and myths of Veganism. No, I'm not going Vegan, and I'm not cutting out meats or dairy. In fact, quite the opposite. I'm educating myself so as to become healthier and more in tune. That may involve a number of different choices regarding all sorts of foods. I can finally do this because I have A) a car and B) money.

My father has some amusing/sad stories of the morbidly obese patients who come in. Usually they have problems associated with their weight that they're complaining about -- no energy, sore knees, trouble sleeping, etc. We're talking about women 5'3" who weigh 350 pounds. Not only are they going to die young if they don't turn things around drastically, but what kind of life is that? It is pitiable, though. I don't know how someone can get to that point -- but quite obviously, it happens all the time. I remember a restaurant in Springfield, MA last summer. It was one of those all-you-can-shovel-in buffet places, kind of a budget steakhouse type of place. I was surprised to see roughly 90% of the patrons were obese. I didn't imagine the east coast would be like that. It was probably the first time I lost my appetite by just looking at other people and thinking. Of course, my family and relatives are slender, but everyone else in that restaurant looked as if that restaurant was the last place they needed to be. Kind of my problem, and an abnormality for me anyway. To be sure, as I wrote last August at Nepenthe Island, life in Springfield revolved around the five meals of the day. I'm sure I put on 1.3 pounds or more in the five days we were there (representing about 900 positive calories per day).

I'm amazed how comfy my desk/workstation is. In fact, this is my favorite place in the whole world. Everyone should have DSL, a fast computer, an LCD television, Infinity speakers in near-field, a Mitsubishi CRT, and a large, sturdy L-shaped desk.

Not too much blog commenting by me this week. Just THIS, mostly.

I rented and watched the film version of The Shape of Things, which was just priceless. I might not have liked it had I not seen the play already, but Gretchen Mol and Rachel Weisz do an excellent job. Lots of funny moments and subtle cinematography.

The Mavs start their post-season as the #5 seed this Sunday in Sacramento. Just before the game is the SpeedTV broadcast of round 1 of the MotoGP season.

I've been thinking I might be happy with a car like the Mazda 3i. Not the 3s, the 3i. I don't know, looking at slightly more expensive cars leads to thinking about even more expensive cars, and soon you're thinking the car you want must have this, this, and that to be good. The 3i is a nice little car, and I can get it with an MP3-compatible CD player.

If my checks get direct deposited, and I do online bill paying for all my bills, and I use my credit card for all online and in-person transactions (paid off in full each month of course), I should never have to use cash, checks, or stamps again.