True friends will italicize blog sections for you.

Well, I’ve already used the titles of “Bits and Pieces” and “Flotsam and Jetsam” so there’s no way I will use either of them for this post, even though that’s pretty much what this one will be.

Trip report

We just spent a long weekend in Washington D.C. and it was, overall, a really nice time. The hotel was nice, but the rooms were mediocre. We had connecting rooms with the other family that was traveling with us and it’s a good thing, since the toilet in one room only worked intermittently. Also, the hotel charged $25/day to park. That’s hard enough to swallow, but our vehicle is too large to fit into an indoor garage (which is where most hotel guests with cars park and is nice and secure) so we had to park in “oversized” parking which turned out to be an alley behind the hotel. I paid $50 to park in an alley! I think next time, we’ll stay outside the city. Maybe Arlingon. Anyway, we walked the kids’ legs off the first day, but we did see a lot. We adopted a much more relaxed pace for the rest of the weekend and had a really good trip.

What is with these geneology sites?

I’ve been kind of casually researching my family tree and the amount of information available on the internet is astounding. Even more astounding is the amount of money you have to pay to access it. You can get a sampling of info from Ancestry.com for a reasonable fee, but to really research you need full access, which costs almost the same as the Gross National Product of a country like Belgium. So imagine my glee when I discovered that my local library will give me access to all of the census data for free. They use a site called HeritageQuest and it comes with a decent search function. It seems, though, that the search function isn’t quite as decent as I’d hoped, since I have been unable to locate information that I know should be there based on my Ancestry.com research. Maybe I just need to tweak my search a bit. I’ll investigate that more in the coming days.

Overpriced Beverage Report

I had a really good Chai Latte at Starbucks while in D.C. A well made Chai is a true thing of beauty.

Where the #!*& did he get that?

My 4 year old son knows he’s not supposed to pick his nose, so last weekend he asked his grandmother if it would be ok for him to pick his eye. I don’t know, maybe he just HAD to pick SOMETHING.

It’s just time

Time, that is, to redesign my website. JPChambers.com has had the same layout since its inception and I think it’s time for a new look. Maybe something cleaner and easier to read. I definitely need to make more room for the writing and less room for the other design elements. I’m also probably going to finalize my conversion to an all Mac workflow. Until now, I’ve been using Frontpage (in Windows) for my website design and maintenance and the iBook for all of the writing and research. There are at least a couple of good options for me to investigate, so that’s what I’ll be doing.

That’s all for now.

more bits and pieces

The new essay has been posted over at JPChambers.com. I know it’s a little late to be commenting on the Chocolate Jesus sculpture controversy, but I had some thoughts on it so there’s your April essay.

I also realize that I’m a little late to the party regarding The Decemberists cd The Crane Wife, but I recently picked up a copy at the library and gave it a listen. Pretty good stuff. I’m not in love with the fact that a couple of the songs are over 11 minutes long (getting impatient as I age, I guess), but there is certainly some standout music in there. It’s growing on me.

I tried two new varieties of tea this week. Raspberry Black is a straightforward flavored black tea. Nice, subtle raspberry flavor. Would make a really nice iced tea also. Strawberry Slender Pu-erh is marketed as a diet assisting, energy balancing tea. It’s good, but I’d choose the raspberry over it. That being said, I’d still recommend either one to anyone who likes a mellow, smooth, subtle fruit flavored tea.

Here’s one for you guitar players out there. Watch this video of a guy named Andy Mckee playing Africa by the band Toto on his acoustic guitar. He’s a pretty talented guy. Thanks to “Volfan” from the Good Eats Fan Page for turning me on to the clip.

Simple man

Quick little update here. I’m still working on the Easter essay for the site and it seems to be turning into a piece about the chocolate Jesus controversy. Well, that’s how it works. Sometimes writing takes its own direction. Last year’s essay turned into an expression of my guilt over hoarding large quantities of Matzo, which by the way, ended up being fed to chickens. Chickens are God’s creatures too, so relax. I mean, I guess they are God’s creatures. It is possible that they are spawn from Hell, though. Great. Now I feel bad for feeding all that Matzo to chicken Hell spawn. Thanks a lot.

Also been enjoying my tea EXCEPT for the Honeybush Vanilla. Sorry, Teavana, the Honeybush Vanilla gives me a headache. I don’t know why and it doesn’t really matter as long as I stay away from it.

Hmmm. So I’ve mentioned chicken Hell spawn and headaches. I guess I should end on a positive note. I’ve been playing the guitar for the better part of 20 years, never really well, and rarely in tune. I’ve never had a really good tuner. I’ve had pitch pipes and I’ve had those tuners with the needle gauge that never completely stops moving back and forth. The technique with those is to get the needle to wobble somewhere near the center and hope for the best. Well, I finally got a good tuner. It’s the Sabine STX-1100 and it rocks. Here’s a pic for you.

I’m such a simple man.