My pulse was racing. Lesson learned, don’t let work get to you too much. When you go home, leave work at work.

Franklin P. Jones. “The trouble with being punctual is that nobody’s there to appreciate it.” [Quotes of the Day]

A friend of mine invited me along to The Kendall Cafe last night. I had a great time. We were there to see Mike Viola, who was really good. It might be another CD for me to put onto my wish list.

Of course I also just found out that Steve Poltz, who is from an old San Diego Band called The Rugburns, is playing next week. I think I’ll have to go.

Once again, courtesy of that cool guy over at http://freewillastrology.com/

Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, music critic Joel Selvin panned the singing of Mariah Carey. Concerning her “relentless swoops, whoops and fluttering notes,” Selvin said, “no less an authority than Jerry Wexler, producer of Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, calls it ‘over-souling.’” I bring this up, Scorpio, because you’re close to doing the equivalent of “over-souling” in your own life. Please step back from the brink. No matter how cool you are, no matter how skilled or smart or attuned, don’t beat people over the head with your magic and prowess.

Wow. I haven’t done a Friday Five in ages.

1. Would you say that you’re good at keeping in touch with people? Unfortunately no. I’m soso good. I seem to be good for a bit, then bad, then good, then bad. I really do need to work on it. But luckily at least a good chunk of my friends seem to be as flaky as me.
2. Which communication method do you usually prefer/use: e-mail, telephone, snail mail, blog comments, or meeting in person? Why? In general, it’s a case by case thing. I like email a lot. Probably because it fits me being flaky now and then. But if I need to talk to someone right away phone is probably my best. I used to be the kind of person who could sit on the phone for hours and hours and hours every day.
3. Do you have an instant messenger program? How many? Why/why not? How often do you use it? Yes indeed. I have accounts with most of the major systems. Since I have way too many friends who will only use one specific system, and with each person it’s something different. And I’m always on IM. I won’t always respond to everyone, but I’m always on it.
4. Do most of your close friends live nearby or far away? These days I’d say more live nearby. Though I do have a lot of friends who live far away. I think part of it comes from having been online so long.
5. Are you an “out of sight, out of mind” person, or do you believe that “distance makes the heart grow fonder?” Somewhere in between.

And a big happy one year birthday to http://fridayfive.org/

jlist.com has all kinds of ‘wacky’ stuff from Japan. There are definitely some things that jumped out at me:

• The My Neighbor Totoro Backpack – Because Totoro just rules.

• Hello Kitty Microwave Coffee Maker – Does this really work??

• Hello Kitty Toilet Paper — green – Because I certainly want to wipe my ass with Hello Kitty

• The Dog Toilet Paper – pink – or maybe a dog

• Hello Kitty Pink Mayonnaise Cup – For those times you want to carry around Mayonnaise?

• Puchi Onigiri Maker – So I can make my own Onigiri!

Top ten search words that people used to hit my site:

#reqs: search term

The New York Times has two articles online talking about Spirited Away and Hayao Miyazaki. Here’s the links:

Boorish Gods and Sad Swine. Japan hasn’t yet designated Hayao Miyazaki (“Spirited Away”) as an official living national treasure, but he does have his own museum in Tokyo. By Dave Kehr. [New York Times: Movies]

Conjuring Up Atmosphere Only Anime Can Deliver. The theme of the revered Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki’s epic anime fantasy is dislocation. The movie could be considered Mr. Miyazaki’s “Through the Looking Glass.” By Elvis Mitchell. [New York Times: Movies]

Jean Cocteau. “We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?” [Quotes of the Day]

Today in my Amazon Gold Box. I found one of the best offers ever. I always get a kick out of the names on the power tools. Especially when I’m clueless when it anything like that. But when I looked closely I decided this was the funniest Gold Box offer I’ve ever seen:

What a bargin!