This was borrowed from mnoo’s journal on dA. Basically you let your MP3 player play random songs, and then you use the song titles as answers to the questions. It mostly doesn’t make sense, but ocassionally something funny comes up.

How does the world see me?
Sia - Breathe Me

Will I have a happy life?
The Killers - Everything Will Be Alright

What do people really think of me?
The Arcade Fire - Une Année Sans Lumière

Do people secretly lust after me?
The Arcade Fire - In the Backseat

How can I make myself happy?
Billy Corgan - A100

What should I do with my life?
Damien Rice - The Blowers Daughter

Will I ever have children?
Placebo - Infra-Red

What is some good advice for me?
The Killers - Smile Like You Mean It

What do I think my current theme song is?
The Killers - Mr. Brightside

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
Death Cab for Cutie - I Will Follow You Into the Dark

What song will play at my funeral?
The New Pornographers - The Laws Have Changed

What type of men/women do you like?
Athlete - Wires

What is my day going to be like?
Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor

Why am I here?
Gipsy Kings - Hotel California

What will people remember me for?
Mark Mothersbaugh - Ping Island/Lightning Strike Rescue Op

What song will I get stuck in my head tomorrow?
The Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)

Are there people outside waiting to take me away?
OK Go - The House Wins

What will this year be all about?
The Mountain Goats - Broom People

I can’t describe how great it feels that it’s warm enough to open the windows and get some air circulating in here. I love spring.

I’ve been sitting on this information for a while, wondering what to do with it. Basically I was trying to figure out where pageviews on my portfolio were coming from, because I can’t explain the number of views certain images are getting. This report shows all public images in my online portfolio ranked by views. My log files show that my portfolio site is getting from 80,000 to 100,000 unique visitors per month.

I started a little investigation, and discovered that my photos do pretty well in Google Images. If you type any of the following keywords into Google Images, one of my photos will come up on the first page of results:

wet dripping glamour anticipation magnetewan hands trimester pregnancy hair tamara purity contemplation sisters hesitation lipstick sunkist hero compel doorframe thinking stormy lucy elegance asiatic relaxed launch driving softly forward photographer illuminati alabaster finished midnight upreach ambition femme slippery satisfy martini

Some of these are fairly popular image searches, which is why certain images from my gallery are getting so many hits. I’m not sure what this is earning me right now. It’s certainly not making me rich, but I’m sure it’s useful in some way. I wish I was better at scheming devious plans to take advantage of it…

I feel good about my improv right now. It feels like it’s been a long climb back up from the closure of the Staircase, when I was getting on stage at least once a week with people I knew very well. Now I’m playing mostly Toronto, with people I don’t know and who don’t know me, but the time we’re spending rehearsing is starting to pay off. I feel much more comfortable than I did even a month ago, and I’m starting to take bigger risks on stage again.

This weekend was filled with improv. I’ve been observing the ITC Level 1 class on Saturday in preparation for maybe teaching it myself some day. This Saturday’s class was the final of eight weeks, and so I got to play with them in a bit of a fun jam. It was refreshing to play with this group, which includes the multi-talented Hesi After that class, I rehearsed with Big in Japan, and we sharpened up our Harold style, which includes an organic, narrative opening. I’m enjoying the narrative opening, which I think provides better fuel for our sets than the pure organic openings we were doing before. After the rehearsal, I headed back to Hamilton and performed in the monthly improv jam. It was a great show, actually. Audience and cast had a lot of fun. That was seven solid hours of improv in one day.

To top off my improv weekend, Big in Japan performed Harold Night at the Oasis last night. We had a solid set, with games that anchored us to our audience suggestion of “communism” and energetic scenes that clearly tied in those ideas. I can see that we’re really weaving together as a polished group. On a personal level, it’s the first time in a while that I left there without thinking, “Man, I should have said/done that instead.”

Every car needs a name. My last car was called Sheila, because she was an Outback Sport. If you’ve watched any Monty Python, you’ll get that. Naming my new car was a bit more difficult. But, I finally settled on a name. I want you to meet the newest member of my family, Emeril. Yes, Emeril Legacy. Bam!

I picked Emeril up from the dealership this afternoon, and we spent the afternoon driving around, getting to know one another. My first impressions are that the Legacy definitely feels more refined than the Outback Sport. I love the feel of the materials inside the car. There’s lots of soft, cushioned plastic surfaces and metallic and cloth accents. Controls for the headlights and signals have more texture and feel better under the fingertips. The sliding cover for the cupholders has a nice rubberized texture too. The driver seat is 8-way adjustable, so I’ve been working on finding just the right driving position. The ride is smoother and quieter, and it feels heavier. Well, it is a bit heavier, but not a lot. It feels much wider too.

Handling is impressive. The suspension is firmer and lower than the Outback Sport, so there’s a bit less lean into corners, although I haven’t really put it to a serious test yet.

I’m still getting used to how much room I have around me, and I’m learning where the corners of the car are. I’m being pretty conservative with parking right now, until I figure out exactly how much room I have when I back into parking spaces, etc.

The trip computer is kinda cool. It tells me instantaneous and average fuel economy. It’s pretty good for learning how to drive without using a lot of fuel. Stomp on the gas and see it jump up to 35L/100km, and then ease off to watch it settle down to about 5L/100km. I’m aiming for about 10L/100km average. We’ll see how that goes.

Anyway, Emeril and I have at least four years ahead of us. Looks like a good start so far.