Ramsayings

Remember when music start-ups were such a source of frustration for me? Now I really enjoy some of them! Chief among them is ex.fm, which my friend Mark showed me just the other day. Possibly the most useful Google Chrome extension that doesn’t involve a Google product.

What does it do? It sniffs out all the mp3s on a page and stores them temporarily in the extension, which allows you to browse away from their source while you listen via a sleek player. I’ve been playing Mark’s blog like a mixtape thanks to it, as well as blogs like Songs from Treme and more.

Now if it could just travel back in time to 2003…

I participated in the Save the Library protest back in November 2008. When I recently visited, I checked into Foursquare. If I check in again, I’ll be mayor of the joint. At a time when people are checking into Wawa, you’d think at least a handful of folks would still be willing to pop in for a book or two. Does it really make more sense to pay for every book you read?

C’mon, denizens of Fishtown! Visit your local library. Check out a book! It’s free and it will make you smarter. And you can hit Kraftwork immediately afterward to reward yourself.

When I was growing up, I always dreamt of working at a record store. Whether I was in Kutztown, NYC or Philly, I’d always drop off an application and say a prayer for a few hours a week at a cool shop, mostly to subsidize my record habit.

Now those gigs, along with similar ones at book and movie rental shops, are disappearing. What’s a geeky kid to do for those jobs we take on summer break, or those we take after, say, getting out of grad school?

Sure, you can always sign on at a temp staffing firm, but where’s the fun in that? I know plenty of people who’d sooner take a job that paid less at a cool shop. What those gigs don’t have in pay, they make up in prestige. How can one do underemployment in style these days?

Finally learning an object lesson in saving money: packing my lunch last week not only meant eating better and healthier than usual, but I saved more than enough money to cover dinner at Barbuzzo, including drinks and tip!

We went overboard. Way overboard. I’m heading home two days early to move Charlie’s old toys to the basement. Don’t worry; there are more toys where those came from. Are there ever!

Me? Amazing. Overwhelmed. Ever agree to keep Christmas small this year, just focus on the kids? What a way to be exposed as a Scrooge. Got Helen four nice gifts. Santa went wild for me. Can’t bring them all back on the train. Crazy!

What a wonderful holiday. Great food and company really make you feel like a kid again.