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I haven’t posted in a while, so here’s a really, really freaky video:

Yeah I’ll post something else soon …

Today is the 40th anniversary of the big huge devastating May 11 Lubbock Tornado. More importantly, it’s the 30th anniversary of the 10-year disaster commemoration concert: Tornado Jam, starring Joe Ely, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and … um … lots of other people … in Buddy Holly Park. And I was there! As I recall, my date was a girl who didn’t much like me, and who I didn’t see much after that, which was pretty much the story of my dating life (especially when it came to big events) back then, just like the Chicago concert my senior year in high school. But I digress: Watch the video! Maybe you’ll see me in the background somewhere …

Guess I need to post something, here’s the best episode of Community of the whole season …

But that’s the easy way out, so let me just say that … I washed my work shirts today, went to Home Depot and got some tree fertilizer spikes and a washer to finish installing the brackets for the new drapes for the computer, stopped by a new restaurant that just opened today (Flat Iron Grill, a local catering company that decided to put down to roots, I had a steak wrap), picked up some prescriptions at Walgreens, cleaned up a 20 square foot section of the garage, aired up my bicycle, listened to Thistle & Shamrock on NPR, and am currently live-tweeting SNL.

Man, I need a nap.

Anyway, the most recent episode of Community was EPIC EPIC EPIC. The whole episode was a spoof of postapocalpyse/survival/action movies, and they totally nailed it. But don’t take my word for it. Watch it and marvel.

I’m blogging this to remind myself to check back. It’s a link I found in a fellow Lost-twitterer’s bio: We Are Movie Geeks.

And seriously, how did we ever watch TV before Twitter?? I’m not one of those “Here’s what I’m having for breakfast” Twitterers, but it’s a huge rush watching an already great show like Lost and at the same time following hundreds on conversations and reactions on the episode. It’s huge. It makes TV watching a wildly social activity.

Who would have thought that was possible.

Yes, if you’ve been reading this blog all these years [and who hasn't?!], you’re familiar with with my colorful ol’ college buddy that we called The Spook, and you know that every year I struggle to think of a different was to announce his birthday (which is actually tomorrow, April 11). This year, it occurs to me that I still haven’t posted the song that country singer Jake Kellen wrote about him [seriously!], so here’s the amateur music video that accompanies the song:

In fact, I think it’s my first ever video of Bristol that I’ve posted:

I think I’ve posted more videos in the past 2 months than I did in the previous 36 months! I think I started out as too much of a perfectionist, wanting to do titles, or have better lighting or sound, or just generally making more of a production out of it.

Now I’m finally more of a mindset of where I’m saying, “Ooh, that’s cool, let’s upload it! — NEXT!”

Anyway, check out his frantic little paws, batting at my shoes through the crack in the door. Never fails to crack me up!

I thought this was hilarious - these three sweet pups running for safety, and two of them actually make it onto the lap!

These folks were playing outside the main halls are the Irish Festival last weekend. They’re called Paddy Gone Wild, and you can find out more about them — and here more of their music for free - here.

Yeah, yeah, it’s been almost a week since the Irish Festival and all I’ve posted is this video, and it’s just related to the venue and not to the festival itself, and I didn’t even post it here until now — I haven’t even put any of my festival photos on Flickr!

Hey, blogging isn’t what it used to be. Diminishing returns is the name of the game. I blog in short form these days, on Twitter, Facebook, and Blip.fm (as well as Flickr & YouTube & Tumblr and whatever else) and route it through here.

Anyway, here’s this, more to come:

You may recognize the music as Aaron Copland’s Hoedown, better known as the “Beef: It’s What’s For Dinner” music, and as the song covered by ELP in about 1971.

Anyway, enjoy, and check back.

Remember what you were doing exactly four years ago tonight? I was lying in a hospital bed recovering from having a tumor (and HALF OF A LUNG) removjed.

And my wife was in the emergency room, because she collapsed of exhaustion while coming to visit me in ICU and somehow managed to BREAK HER ANKLE.

Because we don’t do anything the easy way.

The recovery was pure misery, mainly because the surgery wreaked havoc on my ribs and back, but never before in my life have I gone four years without severe bronchitis, so it definitely paid off in the long run.

I have also been able to spend the last four years with an enlarged perspective on life: No matter what happens, I can shrug it off, because I had cancer, and I LOST HALF A LUNG.

Makes everything else seem petty.