Snowpocalypse Dawn II: The Indefatigable Symphony of Awesome!

Thematically, it seems like it would be a good idea to learn about coffee.... you know, if you're interested.

It's day two of Caffeine Detox, and I feel like crap. Not just the crappy kind of crap, mind you, but the kind of crap that makes crap seem decent and sportsmanlike. I've had a headache on and off all day, and I feel like I'm moving about as fast as a sloth on the sabbath, and not only that, but everything has this sort of annoying haze to it. Grr! At least the weather's nice.

Speaking of weather, how weird is this? We go from what all the major news networks (as well as CBS, because we can't really classify them as a "real" news network anymore) called the "SNOWPOCALYPSE!!!" which dropped an inch of ice (and no snow) on us, before plunging us into negative temperatures, at which time it rose to thirty for a day so that it could bury us in 6 inches of snow (I use the word "bury" here lightly, not because I feel 6in to be an inordinate amount of snow, but because the local snow removal service proved utterly ineffective in dealing with it or the inch of ice that became buried underneath) to 60 degrees, in February! (Hah! I bet  you thought I'd forget to adequately finish the sentence. Et tu, Dickens; et tu.) I'm certainly not complaining, I just think the weather this year is beyond bizarre, and possibly bordering on the realm of laughable, where the tooth fairy exists, and all garden gnomes live in a free and orderly society.

Unrelated, but still on my mind: I think the design of the new Trade Center buildings is absolutely hideous. If possible, I think they're more hideous than the originals..... The new design is all glass and metal machismo tied together in a ribbon of George Lucas' vision of the future. It makes me want to barf, and then eat a bucket of fried chicken so that I can barf again. You can see the designs here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_World_Trade_Center
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_World_Trade_Center
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_World_Trade_Center
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_World_Trade_Center
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_World_Trade_Center
Of course, my hatred might be slightly fueled by my newfound obsession (read: fetish) with all things Art Deco. If someone were to tell me that they were to build an entire art deco city, complete with people dressed in 40s garb, and that they just needed people to live in it, I would say "where do I sign?"
Seriously though, can you even compare this building to the atrocities above? They're not even in the same league of design. One is a gorgeous piece of art, constructed out of the finest materials of the day by master craftsmen that makes the statement that yes, this building is more glorious than all the rest, because it is prettier, better built, better designed, and originally had a dirigible mooring station at the top. The other is a terrifying specimen that vaunts its gaudy frame over the city around it like a knife sticking out from the heart of an innocent victim that says only one thing: More building per dollar. Eww.

Also, if you want to hear me rant about abandoning our Art Deco roots in our once beautiful cities, ask me about Detroit sometime.

In other news, I'm taking a couple philosophy classes this semester, and despite the fact that I never have any time and that my mind is in a constant intellectual vice, it's awesome. I'm really enjoying reading many of the primary sources (we've read some Locke and Descartes, and we're reading Leibniz for tomorrow.) and the class discussions so far have been really invigorating.

Rigel's new cd is on the way, so to speak. We're in the mixing stage, and should have some sort of firm release date soon. Also of excitement is the fact that we have three gigs on St. Patrick's day! All three of them are in Southern Wisconsin (one in Milwaukee, two in Madison), but I think it's going to be a really enjoyable time.

Good luck reading the label.