Mo Stuff

Too bad there's no such thing as a life-GPS.

When I went to visit my mom in Dallas over Thanksgiving she mentioned that she was thinking about getting a GPS, or a GPS-enabled cell phone.  Technology is not my mom's strong suit as evidenced by the fact it took me years just to get her off Microsoft Windows ME because she was just comfortable there.  Now, I suspect she'll hold onto Windows XP until her last day.

Regardless, I offered to give her my GPS.  Which I did.  While I was there I showed her how it all worked and she seemed truly impressed.  The funny thing is that I'm willing to bet money that the next time I visit - whether next month, 6 months from now, or beyond, it'll be where I left it....in the box.

The reason it's pertinent for this post is that I needed a new GPS.  With all the driving I do finding things is just a necessity, and I don't like using my iPhone as my main source of navigation.  There are a number of things that I wanted in a GPS that I didn't have in my last one so as usual I did my research and waited for Black Friday to make the move.  Which I did.

Now, there's a 5-inch Garmin GPS on my dash.  She's very polite...and I use the pronoun "she" because she's got a female voice.  She's very polite...she even sometimes says "please" when providing directions.  The funny thing is that I find myself talking back to her sometimes....kinda like Siri....but of course she doesn't answer.  But I think it's probably telling of how much time I spend in it and how much I depend on her.  As far as I'm concerned the GPS is up there with the microwave oven, cell phones and laptop computers as life-changing "appliances".

I suppose it would be nice to have similar navigation guidance through life.  A GPS Unit that says "Um...don't do that" could be helpful.  Or, when you  meet someone it urges you to follow-up with them because it recognizes the potential for the future.  I suppose the closest thing any of us has to a life GPS is our gut, but the funny thing is that even though we know better than the GPS how to get from A to B yet we still trust it I don't know that we have a similar level of confidence in our gut.  Just saying...

After getting out of work yesterday I did the 4 1/2 hr. drive home, so today I'm in Charleston.  I've got a busy day....work, hair appointment late this afternoon, today is the December Art Walk downtown which is always special, and I've got a ticket to see Keb 'Mo tonight.  That doesn't include all the little things.

There have been a couple of interesting things on Huffington Post over the last couple of days.  One is that Ellen DeGeneres seems to have again earned the ire of the conservative group "One Million Moms" with her most recent JC Penny ad (article here).  I had't seen that ad, but frankly I find it pretty funny.  And their problem can't be with the content - it's with the fact that Ellen is involved at all.




Speaking of Ellen, Finding Nemo comes out in Blu-Ray this week and I'll be sure to get my copy.  I've been waiting for this for years.  It's still one of my favorite "feel-good" movies.


So - I'm going to see Keb 'Mo tonight.  I've followed his music for several years, and tonight I finally get to see him.  I'm looking forward to it as he plays a unique style of blues that I particularly enjoy.  Kind of Robert Cray-ish, but he's a little rougher.

It surprises me how many people have never heard of him and that's ok as far as I'm concerned.  It means getting a ticket wasn't as crazed as it might have been, and he's playing in a relatively small venue so there's more opportunity to be up close.





Since this entry seems to be filled with video I may as well add one more to the mix.  I used my iPhone to take a little movie during lunch yesterday.  It's fairly self-explanatory...




There's a little story behind this.  The guitar in question is a SeaGull S6.  It's at the top of the scale of what I'm willing to pay.  Anyway, I went to Guitar Center during lunch, where they have a special isolated "Acoustic Guitar Room" that's somewhat calmer than the frenetic noise of electric guitars, drums, and other "stuff" in the main store.

There was a guy sitting in this room playing this specific guitar.  And he made it absolutely sing.  It sounded gorgeous.  We started to chat a bit and he acknowledged that he owns several guitars for a variety of reasons, but that his S6 was his most "fun" to play.  Well, one of the key reasons I'm looking to get back into this is "fun"....so I had a deposit on it while it was still warm from him playing it.  It all just felt so....."right".

This afternoon, after work but before Keb Mo, I'm going to my hair salon.  I suspect that the dark roots so evident in my little video will be gone by tonights.  I truly enjoy my salon experiences, so perhaps I'll share something from there.

In the meantime that's all for now.  Gotta get busy.  :)