You know what? Screw cross-posting to Twitter. Get yourselves an RSS reader.

Katie turned 16 not that long ago. Recently her left eye came out of its socket and after 2 failed attempts to repair things she ended up having the eye removed (enucleation). It was pretty gruesome but she came through like a trooper and is now pretty much back to normal. She’s really hoping that annoying cone can come off after her checkup next week. When the injury first happened I said that I would not be spending that much money on surgery for a 16-year old dog.

Inspired by the Tumblr blog My Husband’s Stupid Record Collection I thought I’d go through my albums one by one as well, but without writing nearly as much about each of them. My records are organized (loosely) alphabetically. So, starting from the top left, we have 38 Special. I only had a brief infatuation with 38 Special, but this was the album that started it. I spent too much time trying to draw that cover (and never succeeded).

People wonder why I like old, simple, manual, mostly analog devices and tools. This weekend served as a pretty good reminder of why I sometimes hate technology. Bluetooth Headphones I have a rather expensive pair of Bluetooth earbuds so I can listen to audio books while I ride my bike. I bought them so I could ride without worrying about tangled cables or the buds falling out. I charged them up (which is required before every ride because battery life is pretty bad) and drove to the bike trail.

Vivian Giang in Fastcompany But this doesn’t mean that watching television makes people happier. Robinson says that those who watch more television also reported feeling less happy compared to those who spend their free time reading and socializing. This makes sense to me, since I typically only watch television when I’m in a bad mood to begin with.

The contemplation of things as they are without substitution or imposture without error or confusion is in itself a nobler thing than a whole harvest of invention. — Francis Bacon

Waffle on Social Media: My blog’s older than Twitter and Facebook, and it will outlive them. It has seen Flickr explode and then fade. It’s seen Google Wave and Google Reader come and go, and it’ll still be here as Google Plus fades. When Medium and Tumblr are gone, my blog will be here. (Via inessential.com) This is exactly how I look at it. I started this blog in 1999 and although it has an audience of nearly zero, I find it invaluable as a public history of what I’ve been thinking about over time and it is owned by and depends on no one but me.

Photo: EPA/FILIP SINGER Today, GZ Media is the world’s biggest vinyl record producer. It has more than 1,400 employees who in 2013 pressed more than 10.5 million records. In fact, in February this year they managed to press an incredible 42,000 vinyl records in a single day. via Inside The World’s Biggest Vinyl Record Factory.

Books I need to read It seems I’ve gotten behind in my reading. This photo shows some of the books I’ve either started and not finished or haven’t started at all. And this doesn’t even include those on my Kindle. I don’t mind having extra books around. It’s like having a neighborhood library right in my house.  

To Rise Again at a Decent Hour: A Novel: Joshua Ferris I loved “Then We Came to the End” but this latest book by Joshua Ferris didn’t do as much for me. I enjoyed the first half of the book most, during which dentist Paul O’Rourke tried to determine who had created an entire online presence in his name. I identified with Dr. O’Rourke, who is a Luddite addicted to his “me-machine” (iPhone).

Bucky McMahon. I’m thinking, you know, it was good shit, plastic. It answered a myriad of ‘how to’ questions, and thus occasioned a fabulous efflorescence, an unprecedented burst of wealth. Maybe plastic was Death disguised as Santa Claus—something for everyone from the ever-expanding plastic sack—but certainly this would be a tough planet without the plastic used in our technology. Maybe a good motto for homo sapiens as a species is, Live fast, die young, and leave a pretty archeological record.

This new Leica M-P does look great. It may be a "Perfect understatment" but I can't pay $8,000 for a camera body. I'd sure like to try one, though. It looks great without the usual Leica "Red dot" and with the etched "Leica" script on the top. Maybe someday. http://us.leica-camera.com/Photography/Leica-M/Leica-M-P