I'm blowing back my trouble to the east, while we sit together sad, like our fathers used to be

Traded in some dvds for some cds at Newbury Comics yesterday. I was looking to pick up a couple of Everly Brothers albums I was having difficulty locating practically everywhere else, and a particular Merle Haggard album. I was also looking to get an old Kraftwerk cd, too. I struck out on all counts. I did, however score on other fronts: I picked up a Fleet Foxes Ep, an old radio broadcast by the Stanley Brothers, The Gun Club's first record, one by Lightnin' Hopkins, and a different Merle Haggard cd than the one I was looking for. All under thirty bucks. Most of the cds were ridiculously cheap and with my trade-ins, I actually got some money back.

Managed to squeeze in a run yesterday, though the rain made an appearance midway through, making the whole affair soggier. It was a good run; the high energy of the Gun Club injected a spring in my step and the rain wasn't entirely unwelcome; it took away some of the uncomfortable mugginess that had been managing to sap me of some of my motivation.

Today's a good day to bunker down and immerse myself in a book. I just picked up Deepak Chopra's Life After Death: The Burden Of Proof, a book I heard about from reading the transcript of a debate between Chopra and Michael Shermer from Skeptic magazine concerning the veracity of the claims Chopra makes in the book. Shermer, who I recall is an atheist or at least an agnostic, made some intriguing points, but Chopra made such an informed, intelligent, and powerfully written rebuttal that I determined I'd pick up his book the next time I was near a book store. I've read a couple of his books in the past and enjoyed them, so I'm fairly confident I'll be pleased with this one. I think I need a book like this right now.

I've had the house to myself for most of this weekend, which hardly ever occurs. Craig's off at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Rich, in a rare turn of events, has been out and about. It's not that different, actually, them being gone --- I didn't all of a sudden take off my clothes and scurry around the house yelping about freedom, but sometimes it does feel nice having te place to yourself.

To return to the subject of reading, I've noticed over the last year or so that my attention span while reading has shrunk considerably . Something I suspected, but didn't pursue, was the notion that the way we navigate the internet has changed the way we approach books. I just came across this article ---- http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google --- that illustrates pretty convincingly that there may be some truth to the notion. Check it out, especially if you've had the same experience that I've had.