New Thing #85: Tenth Of December

You'll have to forgive me if you're a big reader and what follows sounds ridiculous to you. I just haven't had much time lately to read books written for adult audiences.

I read magazines, I read children's books (for school, of course)...once in a while if I read a regular, age-appropriate book it's a non-fiction book...usually sports, sometimes history.

In short - I rarely read literature. And even more rarely do I read contemporary literature.

So I wasn't familiar with George Saunders before I saw, right around New Year's, the New York Times Magazine article titled, "George Saunders Has Written the Best Book You'll Read This Year."

I was intrigued, to say the least.

Tenth of December is the book, and it's a collection of short stories.

I'm not sure - outside of maybe high school, which I barely remember - that I've ever really read a collection of short stories. Short stories are kind of a weird thing.

On the one hand, it seems like a big deal to come up with ten good, gripping stories, anywhere from 3 pages in length to more than 60. Is that harder than one long story? I don't know.

For me, it was a little difficult to be thrown into a story, and then right when you pick up the flow, it's over.

In some ways that makes me feel like short stories are kind of a cop out - why not write a full-length novel? (Or 10.) But in other ways, it is probably a sign of really good writing that you can get someone that attached and into a story in such a short amount of time.

There's a lot of open-endedness. I don't know if I love it - I want an ending. What happened? Is this character good or bad? I'm not sure I fully understand what's going on here. Are you telling me I need to think deeply about what I just read? I also wonder how one decides which of the short stories becomes the title story for the book. In that way I almost feel like a book of ten short stories is like a band writing an album with ten songs.

That said, these were good stories. I enjoyed reading the book. I think it's too soon to make a final call on short stories in general, and George Saunders in particular. By all accounts he's a good writer - he teaches at Syracuse, he's been awarded a MacArthur genius grant.

I just don't know if I'm ready to say that "George Saunders has written the best book I'll read all year." I'll say this - I also heard an interview with Saunders on the 'Bullseye' podcast - I really enjoyed listening to him and hearing him talk about where some of his ideas for some of these short stories came from.

So I think I'll be reading a couple more of his books...as far as I know none of which was billed at the dawn of a new year as the best book of the year.

At the very least it's an opportunity for me to read something else that's written for adults.

New Thing #84: 'The Presidents' by Jonathan Coulton

A couple of months ago there was a big flap on Twitter involving the TV show Glee and a guy named Jonathan Coulton. Coulton seemed to be a pretty big deal among some of the folks I follow on Twitter.

Apparently Glee used one of Coulton's songs (an arranged cover - is that what it's called? It was a cover, but he did it in his own style.), the way he had arranged it, but the show didn't give him any kind of credit.

Then I heard an interview with Coulton on the 'Bullseye' podcast.

He's a prolific, independent singer/songwriter with a large, large following.

So I looked into him a bit for this week's Music Monday.

One song in particular stood out to me, partly because it is closely connected to a big theme in my life right now - the presidents. (My students are researching the presidents, my daughter is very interested in them, and yesterday we saw the link to the doodle-drawings of the presidents...as well as a tangible representation of my daughter's aforementioned interest.)

The song is called 'The Presidents', and it was originally released in 2005, but it appears Coulton does updated versions through Obama in his live performances. (It also appears the song is a bear to perform live, and his live performances often involve stops and starts because it's hard to remember the order. At the end of this post is a video of one such performance with minimal errors.)

It's fun, it's funny - except for some slightly strong language it would be fun to share with my class. And my daughter.

In the interview I heard with JoCo, as he appears to be known, he was working full-time in software and doing the music as a hobby before giving up his job to pursue what he loved all the time. His bio is here - I think his big claim to fame was releasing a song a week for a year on his web site. (That seems like an activity I can get behind.)

You can preview and purchase his music here ('The Presidents' is on the 'Thing A Week Three' collection) - and I'm pretty sure I knew nothing about him before I heard about this whole Glee thing in January.

But maybe you can help me out here: I'm sure Jonathan Coulton is a New Thing to me...but if that's the case then why does he seem so familiar?

New Thing #83: Drawings Of The Presidents

My friend Dave (living in Jersey City, formerly of Michigan, Los Angeles, and Boston...I think I've mentioned him) sent me an e-mail last week. The subject line: "Do this as a new thing"

A command - not even a request.

But it's cool...I didn't take offense.

I just clicked the link and made it a New Thing.

I don't know anything about the site - 'The Rumpus'. (Maybe New Thing #83.5 will be   me further exploring 'The Rumpus'.)

But I do think this link is pretty great - where the guy completes his daughter's doodles and turns them into all of the presidents. I endorse that kind of fatherly creativity.

And it also hit close to home. I think I've mentioned before how my oldest daughter has recently been very interested in the presidents. She's good at listing many of them in order, and she loves reading about them. (Remember, too, it was due to this recent obsession that she picked James Madison University to win the NCAA Tournament.)

Around Presidents' Day, she also started to draw the presidents - kind of like baseball cards, except showing pictures of the presidents. I think she planned on making a complete set - but as it stands, she's only through three.

I think it's brilliant, and seeing this post on The Rumpus inspired me to post it here:

New Thing #82: Reusable Starbucks Cup

I was in Starbucks not too long ago to get a(nother) hazelnut macchiato. At this point you might be thinking that I am a huge Starbucks drinker.

The truth is, I'm not.

I'm just addicted to this hazelnut macchiato right now.

But while I was there, I saw these reusable hot coffee cups.

And I figured, if I'm going to be be constantly drinking hazelnut macchiatos, I can at least be kind to the environment.

First, let's address the line between Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts.

Given the choice, I'd probably go Dunkin' french vanilla, or iced dark roast, over anything from Starbucks. (Even the hazelnut macchiato.)

Starbucks is a dessert drink. It's an afternoon pick-me-up type drink, not a first-thing-in-the-morning drink for me. Dunkin' is for long car trips. Starbucks is for sitting around the house on a lazy afternoon.

Such was the case Friday evening - after a long week, needing a bit of a kick to make it through the Friday night basketball games...it was the perfect recipe for a hazelnut macchiato from Starbucks.

And it was the first opportunity to use the reusable cup.

It cost just a dollar - I bought it last weekend on one of my hazelnut macchiato runs. It's not like that dollar investment is saving us money. Using the cup gets you 10 cents off the coffee purchase - you'd need to get 10 cups of coffee just to get your money back on the cup...there's no way it lasts for 400 cups of coffee to earn you a free cup of coffee. (It's a thin cup too - I wonder if it even lasts 10 uses.)

So it's definitely a purchase made to have an environmental impact...not an economic one.

Another problem - with iced coffee season fast approaching (I think...who knows really with the weather we've been having), it's not a cup from which I would drink an iced coffee (or hazelnut macchiato, as the case may be). The only reusable iced coffee cup they sell at Starbucks runs about $10...though the counter lady (barista?..also, I engaged her in conversation - that, too, is a New Thing!) says they're probably going to put out a similarly cheap reusable iced coffee cup.

The biggest problem right now is that on Friday evening my wife went to Starbucks with the cups to get the coffees. So I'm not even sure how to do the reusable cup thing. Do I have to approach the counter holding the cups high (chest-level maybe?) so they see them? Do I have to declare I have them when I walk in the door so they don't think I picked them off the counter then and there? And what do I say when it's time to order?

I'm thinking, "2 hazelnut macchiatos. And put it in them there cups. Please."

New Thing #81: A Crack In The iPhone

Some New Things you look forward to. Some you go out of your way to make happen.

Some happen unexpectedly.

This one falls squarely into that last category...and I'm not happy about it.

The funny thing about it, though, is that I'm not as upset about it as I thought I'd be.

My iPhone screen finally cracked.

I say "finally" because this was inevitable. It is a minor miracle that it hadn't happened before now. I drop my phone a lot.

I've dropped it on concrete. I've dropped it on tiles. I've dropped it on rugs. I've dropped it on steps. I've spilled orange juice on it. (That's not necessarily in the same ballpark...but it's probably worth mentioning.)

I've also dropped it on my face. (I can't tell you how many times this has happened. It's ridiculous. But 9 times out of 10 if I'm lying on my back and looking at my phone, directly above my face, it'll slip out of my hand and knock me in the face. It hurts more than you'd think. And if it was just once I wouldn't mention it...but because it happens so often it probably has worn down the screen.)

The final straw seems to have been the other day when I tossed it onto the mattress, and it bounced off and fell to the bedroom floor. I think on the way down it nicked the bed frame or a storage bin under the bed, and there you have it - a crack. (This is also not the first time this has happened - and the irony of the softest surface I've yet to mention - a mattress - being the cause of the crack has not escaped me.)

Note the crack in the picture above - it's the white mark right to the top left of the camera symbol. In case you're wondering, I used my wife's phone so that I could take a picture of my phone. Meta.

A couple of things about why this crack, which under normal circumstances would probably drive me crazy, hasn't yet:

1) I think the reason I'm not bothered by the crack is because it looks more like a scratch than a crack - I can kind of pretend it's not there. I'm secretly hoping that if I peel off the screen cover it will reveal that it's just a scratch on the cover and not the phone itself.

2) My brother and my wife have both shattered their phones. I've witnessed the damage in both cases. (Interestingly, I believe my wife's happened on the bed frame too.) Hers looked like a gunshot through a car window - that kind of shatter. My brother's was a crack all the way down the screen, from top to bottom. It's possible that by comparison, I'm just happy my phone is still usable so the crack doesn't bother me at all.

3) By all rights, as I've hinted at, this phone should be destroyed. I try to be careful with it, I really do. I just sometimes don't carry things correctly. My mom always used to tell me I carried things "like eggs". In other words, I spilled and dropped things a lot because I didn't carry them securely - I treated them all like they were eggs about to crack. I never grew out of that, I guess. (Again, irony - In trying to carry something gently I'm more likely to treat it carelessly. I am aware of the ridiculousness here.)

So I guess the fact that my phone isn't destroyed and after all this it just has a little crack...I can live with that.

New Thing #80: Watching The First Round Somewhere Other Than Home

If you know me at all, you're not surprised that I'm working a New Thing around the NCAA Tournament. I love the tournament, and I love writing about it.

(See the bottom of this post for an entertaining written recent history of my tournament experiences.)

But because I've written about it so much, there's very little "new" surrounding the tournament. (Though that is this year's 'new' bracket at left for your enjoyment.)

So this year I've turned what has often been a solitary experience for me into a more social one.

I'm pretty sure I've only ever watched the NCAA Tournament at home, by myself. At the very least, that's been the case in the decade I've been teaching. And even before that, I never went anywhere to watch the games - I have vague memories of watching with a couple of friends at my house.

I don't know that I had a reason for not going somewhere to watch the games. If I know me, though, which I do very well, I'd bet it was because I had too much going on. I had to keep track of my picks, which were written down, and I had to record all the scores of all the games...my living room is much more conducive than a bar to all of that.

This year, I figured I could use a break from doing all of the channel-changing by myself. I asked a friend if he wanted to catch the games somewhere after work, and we were going to try to stay out until the end of the first round of the night games - I can't make it through until midnight (it's a school night), but I can park myself in front of a bunch of screens showing CBS, TBS, truTV, and TNT - or whatever stations are showing the games - at least through the end of the 7pm starts.

Outside of actually attending some games at a first round venue, I don't know that there are any possible new NCAA experiences left for me...and I've written about them all. Hope you enjoy the following:

2008: One of the first times I wrote about my obsession with the NCAA Tournament, as well as the viewing experience. Also, a breakdown of my brackets to that point. (For what it's worth - this year marks the 21st year I'm filling out a bracket.)

2009: I wrote about the emotions that accompany the beginning of the Tournament for me.

2010: I broke down the week of the Tournament - nothing has changed all that much for me since then, other than the addition of games on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

2011: A personal favorite - The first time two of my children filled out their brackets. They did it again this year - my oldest picked James Madison to go all the way (she likes the presidents) and my middle child came out with Duke over Michigan. (Ha! One picked Duke and the other picked the Dukes!) My wife made her picks too...but they're less cute.

2011: Also from two years ago, there was a little bit of a shift in my approach to Tournament week.

2012: And last year my wife took over the blog the week of the Tournament, writing about how March Madness ushers in a big sports period in our house.

Bottom line: if you're looking for me, I'll be out on Thursday evening. But you can catch me on Friday late afternoon and into the evening...I'll be sitting at home in front of the TV...enjoying the NCAA Tournament from my usual spot.

New Thing #79: New AT&T Commercials

There's a new round of AT&T commercials out featuring the children-in-a-classroom focus group and the guy who reminds me of my friend Kevin. I was alerted to the fact that there were new commercials during some of the basketball conference championship games on Sunday by none other than Kevin himself.

"There is a new AT&T ad with 'me' and it's great," Kevin texted me. "He starts high-fiving the kids. It's hilarious."

The best part of all of this is that Kevin refers to the guy in the commercials as 'me', because I was reminded of Kevin and his interactions with children the very first time I saw these AT&T commercials.

It's not an insult. All of my friends who don't have children have been fantastic around my daughters.

Kevin's approach, though, is unique. He talks to the girls in a frank manner. And when I saw the first AT&T commercial with these focus groups, it immediately made me think of those interactions.

In an interesting twist, not long after Kevin told me about the new commercial, The AV Club, which I wrote about as New Thing #78, published this article about whether or not these AT&T commercials are effective. (I tend to disagree with the site. I think they get across what they're selling fine.)

It seems with the NCAA Tournament on the horizon there's a new batch of these commercials. I've already seen two - neither of which involves any high-fiving. So there must be more to see.

Like the Super Bowl, the Tournament serves up some pretty good commercials. I'm sure there will be some good new ones this weekend. They'll have some work to do to make me laugh like the AT&T commercials. Especially since I know Kevin's enjoying them so much too.

New Thing #78: The A.V. Club

My friend Justin, who you know from Music Mondays, isn't just a one-trick pony. In addition to knowing a lot of different music, he also watches a lot of different television. (He's a real renaissance man.)

Just kidding. He is also extremely smart and has a wide variety of interests.

And we share many of those interests.

That's how I knew, when he mentioned The A.V. Club to me, that I'd probably enjoy it.

I suppose this isn't 100% new in 2013 - I think Justin told me about the website back in November.

But it's only been in the past month or so that I've been regularly checking in on the site, seeing what they have to say about my favorite shows.

There's a wide array of content on the site - I know I've only just scratched the surface of what they have to offer. But what I use it for generally is to read their recaps of the shows I like.

I like to check in and see if what I thought about an episode of The Office, or Parks and Recreation, or The Americans is the same as the general consensus.

Or, as Justin puts it, "AV Club recaps are great because they tell you what to think."

I've begun following The A.V. Club on Twitter recently too, and that's where I've found some interesting articles. They play on nostalgia every so often, and if you, like me, enjoyed watching DuckTales and the 'Disney Afternoon' shows growing up, take some time to read this article about how TV was changing at exactly the time DuckTales became a success. I loved it.

I don't really need someone to tell me what to think. What I do occasionally need is a nudge in the direction of something I might enjoy. So that's the good part about visiting this site more than once a week - while searching through to see what they wrote about a TV show, I might come across something else that I never would have otherwise read about.

My wife and I often fall behind on our favorite shows. It used to be a feeling of satisfaction for me when we caught up on the DVR.

Now, that's just step one for me. I don't get closure on an episode until I read the A.V. Club wrap-up.

New Thing #77: Music From The Outlaw Roadshow

I'll take any opportunity I can to write about my brother on these Music Mondays. Unfortunately, his last new album came out in the 2012 calendar year, so I can't exactly promote new music as a New Thing.

(Although he talked about playing a new song down in Texas this week...so maybe he'll get his own featured week at some point.)

But I can keep him in the conversation as I write about other new music he's helped expose me to.

Because for the past week (actually, more) he's been in Austin, Texas, living the South by Southwest life.

He did this last year, too, though by his own admission he did it better this year.

He also played in a higher-profile way this year, as part of "The Outlaw Roadshow"...and that's where the New Thing comes in.

"The Outlaw Roadshow" is a music event presented by Ryan Spaulding - a music blogger - and Adam Duritz,  who you probably know from the Counting Crows.

This year they invited my brother to perform along with about 30 other artists. He played the first weekend, then there was another show on the second weekend of SXSW.

I was kind of stuck about what to do for this Music Monday. I was hung up on the number 77 - my birthday is 7/7, and I wanted to do something new featuring the number 7. I didn't really get anything good.

Then I realized the Outlaw Roadshow's website has a song from each of the artists who played each of the shows. So I sat and listened to each one. Two things made this seem less daunting to me - 1) My brother was at most (if not all) of both shows, and was raving about each of the bands that played, and 2) If they, like my brother, were invited to play here, they have to be good.

So I listened to 33 new songs this weekend.

I liked Bridges and Powerlines' "The Jameson," "I Can't Wait" by Star & Micey, Air Traffic Controller's "You Know Me," "Need You" by Daniel and The Lion, and "Television" by You Won't from the March 16th collection.

From the March 9th set, the PHOX and Animal Talk songs were kind of fun, and actually there was an upbeat, fast-paced tone to most of that lineup. I liked a lot of the songs, including "The Arsonist" by Tyler Stenson. My wife had been talking up Stenson since the early rounds of voting for some of the artists for the event.

A definitive highlight for my brother came when he was invited (I think? Maybe he just went up there on his own. Just kidding. I don't know how this transpired, though - he and a number of others closed out the night on stage.) on stage Saturday night to sing with Duritz. (See the video below.)

My favorite SXSW artist is back from Texas today. He's heading on the road again soon, playing in Tennessee later this week. Keep tabs on him and check him out when he's in your area.

New Thing #76: Knowing What's For Dinner For The Next Week

I found this notebook on Saturday afternoon. It's not like I was snooping - it was sitting out, open to this page, on the kitchen counter.

It seems like my wife has plotted out our dinner for the week.

That's new - I'm sure she hasn't done that before.

And I'll say this - it sounds like a tasty week. (Click on the picture to enlarge...I think.)

My wife does the heavy majority of the cooking in our house. I do a little more in the summer when I'm not working, but even then, she's planning what we're eating.

Sometimes, she has a plan far in advance. Sometimes it's the old, "What would you like for dinner?" "I don't know, what would you like?" You know. I'm sure it's not all that different from what goes on in your house, no matter what your familial status.

Rarely has it been plotted out a week in advance.

I asked her what was up.

She told me it was just so she wasn't putting meals together at the last minute. I asked her what the stars next to certain parts of the meal meant. She said those were items she needed to buy at the store.

I'm pretty impressed. Sometimes with three kids it can be hard to get ahead of anything - cleaning, cooking, and personal hygiene are a few examples. Even if this lasts for only this week...it'll make for a good week.

But even with this extra step - it's not a flawless system.

We forgot about the potato salad on Saturday night.

New Thing #75: Designing A T-Shirt

The Mets have a Social Media Night at Citi Field on April 24th. I think last year was the first one.

This year (and maybe last year - I'm not sure I know if they did this or not - I seem to remember a fan-designed t-shirt involving Mr. Met and the Liberty Bell but that could have been for something else) they invited fans to design a t-shirt for the team to give away that night.

The winner gets, besides the pride of having designed a t-shirt, a chance to meet a player and attend the game that night.

The contest ended at midnight last night, and for a week or so I kept forgetting about it.

At about 9 o'clock last night I remembered and decided to give it a go.

I doubt it's very original. I went with the old "Tweet rhymes with greet!" approach, substituting 'tweet @Mets' (@Mets or #Mets or Mets.com had to appear on the shirt somewhere) for 'greet the Mets', from the "Meet The Mets" song.

Judging for the winners is weighed as follows: 40% on creativity and originality (I don't know that mine was all that original), 30% team spirit (come on. I know I have 100% of that 30%), and 30% overall artistic quality (um, well, I'm not all that artsy).

Some observations: I hadn't written that many block letters since probably junior high school. Which is probably the last time I also drew that many 'Mets' in script. I'm not even sure it's OK for me to be publishing my submission here. (Our secret.)

I hope they don't take points off for handwriting - I have to think if my design wins they'd put some kind of type-written font on that shirt. No one wants my handwriting on a t-shirt.

You have to admit - it's not a bad slogan, right?

I'm not expecting to win. Or maybe I am. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to submit something.

I'm not getting my hopes up, at least. April 24th is a Wednesday night - it's a long shot for me to even attend the game.

But I sure would try if I won the contest.

New Thing #74: No More Gym

You know how it usually goes when the new year hits: "This year I resolve to go to the gym more often." That's usually me.

And actually, in recent years I didn't necessarily need to resolve to go - I just needed to maintain my multiple times a week schedule.

We were members of the local YMCA and working out was part of my normal routine.

But last year, especially since school started in September, I just wasn't going.

So my wife and I resolved to quit the gym.

It's not the first time we've left a gym - we've been members of numerous gyms, and when we moved or found something better we've had to cancel our memberships to numerous gyms.

The Metrowest YMCA, our most recent membership, was pretty great. Especially for  a family of 5 with young kids - we had a daycare option, and my oldest took a tee-ball class a couple of falls ago.

But we just weren't using it enough.

The New Thing here is really that I've been working out at home a lot more. Along with keeping track of my weight and watching the calorie intake, I've been keeping track of my workouts. I've been trying to do push-ups and sit-ups every night, along with other, newer exercises. (Stay tuned for those. And for those skeptics out there, you're right, I haven't been doing it every night. But I've been doing pretty well.)

Those exercises, coupled with the occasional basketball game and then running once the weather gets warmer, has me feeling good about my new exercise routine.

My wife and I have talked about perhaps enrolling in another gym once the summer rolls around. We've also talked about some other New Things we could possibly do. I'm kind of excited (and maybe a little nervous) about one particular option.

I'll be sure to let you know about it when it happens.

New Thing #73: Statistics!

Today is Pi Day. You know - March 14. 3/14, and the digits in pi are 3.14...... Did you know about Pi Day?

I feel like I only knew about it since I became a teacher.

And I'm a big numbers guy.

That's one that was never on my radar.

I bring up Pi Day because today's post is about numbers.

I have an app that allows me to keep track of how many people are reading my blog.

I think.

It's called 'Statistics For WordPress'.

It gives me the number of people who click the links each day, and the individual posts that are clicked too.

I have no reason to believe it's inaccurate, but I also don't know how much stock to put into it.

There are certain days I can see that people have clicked through a bunch of the entries, so that seems about right, like someone catching up on what they missed.

But there are other days that the clicks seem so arbitrary that I just don't know what to think.

I can also see if people clicked over through Facebook, Twitter, or a search engine like Google. (People searched for 'brownie batter donut' almost every day since I posted that one. Someone even searched for it at 'duckin donuts'. Also, for some reason that Billy Joel video took on a second life this week and there were a lot of searches for it.)

It seems like people are reading, and for that I'm appreciative.

I've had days where I've received as little as 3 views.

But I've also had big days - more than 100 views. (It seems like when people help spread the word on social media that helps increase the hits. Todd Kramer posted about the site when I wrote about him, and there was a big spike those days.)

I have no idea how many hits should be a goal. More than 100 seems like a good number, but I think the reality right now is that very few people know this exists. Maybe another New Thing before the end of 2013 should be to talk up the site a little more to increase readership.

But know that if you've been one of the people whose click registered in my Statistics app, I really appreciate you reading. And I hope you come back.

Or not. It doesn't matter. Not like I'm counting or anything.

Ahh, just kidding. I'm counting every day.

New Thing #72: 94 Seconds

I was browsing the App Store this weekend and came across a game I hadn't seen before. It's called '94 Seconds', and I quickly became addicted.

It's kind of like Scattergories - you get a letter and a category, and you have to come up with something in that category that starts with the letter you're given. (Examples to follow.)

And it's timed - you have 94 seconds to get as far as you can.

I dare you to play it and not get addicted.

The app is free, and when you start with it, you have 30 categories. There's a way to purchase more categories. I did that. There are other add-ons that are mixes and matches of what's available in the highest-level premium add (including getting rid of ads). I just wanted more categories.

There's a pretty good mix of brain-twisting elements to this game that I like. One is the timed element - it makes things like thinking of a fruit that begins with the letter 'F' harder than you'd think. Or sports that start with the letter 'M'. Some things come to mind right away for me - like states that start with 'T'...but others are harder. That's the second interesting piece - even before you consider time, there are certain words that pop into your head right away and others that take longer to think of. Like, I can be given fruits that start with 'G' twice in a row and I could struggle to come up with 'grapes'.

It's also interesting how momentum plays into the game. If I skip a category because I get stuck, sometimes it takes me a few more categories of skips before I can find my rhythm again. (The opposite is also true - sometimes my brain is clicking and I can get on a really good hot streak.)

My biggest complaint with the game is that it employs spell check - which is great for texts (I've become the person I never thought I would when I text, typing just a few letters, misspelled, for a word and then letting auto-correct fix my error), but not great for '94 Seconds.' When I want to write 'iditarod' for sports beginning with 'I', 'idiot arid' is not going to work for me. (I suppose it's my fault for not just going with 'ice hockey'..but like I said, it can be hard to think of what you want at the right time. Sometimes you have to go with what pops into your mind first.)

It's a great game, but I only recommend it if you have time on your hands - it gets addictive quickly. (And the alert that pops up when you reach 100 games is not helpful - it's especially alarming when it happens so soon after you begin.)

The categories are good - some are very challenging.

And that's why I have to go now. I need to brush up on my 'trees and shrubs' and my 'periodic table elements.'

New Thing #71: Hazelnut Macchiato

My wife and I have a deal - When I make the purchase at Starbucks, she needs to tell me exactly what her order is, how to say it, and the conversation always ends with me asking her, "Is there anything else that they're going to ask me that I need to know?" I don't like standing at the counter looking dumb because I don't understand how to order at Starbucks.

So when I offered to pick up a couple of coffees Saturday evening, I was tentative when she said, "I think I saw a sign at Starbucks that they have something called a hazelnut macchiato. I'll have one of those with whipped cream."

I made sure she gave me an alternative if there was no such thing.

Right from the moment I walked in, though, there were multiple signs touting this New Thing. (That's a terrible picture of one of the signs at left...I kind of snuck the shot and the sun was in the wrong spot - what a disaster.)

I knew then that I had to get one too.

Here's the thing about hazelnut: I've always loved the smell of it. Really loved it. It smells delicious.

But I can't recall whether I've ever had it.

At Dunkin' Donuts I'm a plain, french vanilla, or dark roast kind of guy. But I'm always tempted by that hazelnut smell. And at Starbucks I stay pretty routine (see the lead-in to this entry for evidence as to why) - usually a mocha of some sort.

But for some reason (OK, we all know it's because of the New Things) on Saturday I decided to try the hazelnut macchiato - I got mine iced.

It was great - I think it was better than an iced mocha. Tasted more like an iced coffee rather than a chocolate drink, which I liked.

My wife thought it was good. She says she would get it again. Unprompted by me, when I asked her to describe it, she said it was better than a mocha.

So there you have it. Hazelnut macchiatos are better than a mocha.

I liked it so much I got another one Sunday. I have a feeling I'll be having many more this spring.

New Thing #70: Death Cab For Cutie

We have a radio station here in the Greater Boston area that calls itself independent radio. I'm not sure exactly what that means other than the fact that occasionally they'll play some songs that you don't usually hear on the radio.

They're also the first to play some of the music that becomes popular later and appears on the Top 40-type radio stations.

I tell you this because it was probably on this station that I first heard Death Cab For Cutie years ago - probably with the song, "Soul Meets Body."

But I'd never heard an entire album by the band.

Last week when I was down in New York, Justin gave me his phone to scroll through the music so I could pick out some new music ideas for 'Music Monday'.

I thought about Wilco, because I'm fairly sure I've never heard a Wilco song, though I've heard lots about the band.

He said that would be a good idea...then said it might be better to start with Death Cab For Cutie before that, and appreciate the songwriting of Benjamin Gibbard. (Interestingly, twice this week on the way to school when I turned on the radio I heard 'Stay Young, Go Dancing' - that helped clinch the decision for me.)

I looked at the band's discography, and saw the songs I recognized - In addition to "Soul Meets Body" there was "I Will Possess Your Soul."

I decided that to start with I'd get the album that featured "Soul Meets Body" - 'Plans.'

It's easy, I think, with Death Cab For Cutie to just say that all of the songs sound the same, because Benjamin Gibbard's voice and the band's style is so distinctive. When you really tune in to the lyrics, you realize that the songs, though stylistically sounding the same, are quite different.

It's great when you listen to a new album for the first time and can pick out a good song. I particularly liked "I Will Follow You Into The Dark", mostly because the first line stood out to me: "Love of mine/someday you will die/but I'll be close behind/I'll follow you into the dark."

Justin shared that his favorite is from the album 'Narrow Stairs' - "Your New Twin Sized Bed".

"What I really like about Benjamin Gibbard's writing," Justin told me, "Is that it's almost visual. He doesn't tell you what's going on. Instead he describes the scene and then you figure it out for yourself. That's why I like 'Your New Twin Sized Bed'."

What's funny is that Justin also used "Brothers On A Hotel Bed", from 'Plans', as an example of Gibbard's writing, which is another song that I liked and listened closely to the words on - mostly because it's just such a strange title. (A glance at the discography hints at the wealth of strange titles - and probable stories told through song.)

(For what it's worth: Justin added this, "I hate when people use the phrase "painting a word picture," but...that's what he does." He wrote this to me just two days after I used the phrase "picture he painted there" to describe the Jason Motte interview with Buster Olney in a post for New Thing #67.)

One last night about Death Cab For Cutie and their distinctive style - Remember when Owl City had that 'Fireflies' hit a couple of summers ago? I knew enough about Death Cab For Cutie's sound to never love that song because I felt like they were absolutely ripping off Benjamin Gibbard's style. I suppose there's a fine line between flattery/inspiration and ripping someone off...but I didn't like it.

I love getting familiar with new music every Monday. This is fun.

New Thing #69: First Ladies - Influence & Image

My oldest daughter has been really interested in the presidents lately. Either she surprises us with a fact that she knows...or she asks us a question that I find myself surprised that I know the answer to.

I've kind of unexpectedly become a mini-expert on the presidents.

I'm far from a scholar...but I'm finding that I know quite a bit.

I credit 9 years of teaching fifth grade, where my students each year have written research papers on a variety of our country's presidents.

I also know a bit about their wives - and I hope to learn more, thanks to a new series on C-SPAN.

I know, C-SPAN. It sounds boring. But it's kind of interesting.

A couple of weeks ago they premiered a show called "First Ladies: Influence & Image."

When they kicked off the series, they did two separate panel discussions over a couple of hours about the roles a First Lady plays. It was surprising because we were expecting a produced, narrated story about a First Lady. But another surprising aspect of it was that I couldn't stop watching - it was very interesting.

I figured with the actual individual profiles, which began the next week with Martha Washington, there would be video and voice-over. We had seen an article in 'Parade Magazine' a few weeks ago that previewed the series, and we just assumed it would be a regular TV show. Instead, again, it was a roundtable discussion with some pre-recorded portions.

(Truth be told, I have yet to see the Martha Washington episode: The first episode was pre-empted by the budget news in Washington, getting bumped to midnight, so my DVR missed it. So now I'm stuck in the position of waiting for C-SPAN to air a First Ladies marathon so I can catch the repeat of Martha Washington. A lower point in my life I can not recall.)

My data is based on the Abigail Adams episode. She's in the upper echelon of First Ladies, so I assume all the shows will follow the format of her show.

C-SPAN tries to make the show interactive. It's live, apparently, which I didn't realize, and they invite you to tweet them or message them on Facebook, or call in with questions. I might take advantage of that and see if I can get on the air somehow. (Guess what kind of people call into C-SPAN on a Monday night? Yup...it was about 50-50 in the Abigail Adams episode that the caller was going to be a nut. That added an interesting tension to the proceedings. Although I will say, the woman who hosted the show handled the, um, unprofessional calls smoothly.)

Two episodes are done - they're going to go in order over two seasons until all the First Ladies are covered.

I find the discussions about the First Ladies very interesting - I don't know if it would be everyone's cup of tea. But if you're going to start watching, I'd say now would be a good time. It looks like they're giving short shrift to Martha Jefferson, who I don't think lived to be a First Lady, and jumping to Dolley Madison (who I think played hostess during Jefferson's presidency as well as Madison's). I'd recommend starting with her - she was an interesting woman.

New Thing #68: Clicking The Link

For many years, if you sent me a link on the internet to check out, I'll be honest: I probably didn't check it out. I'm not really sure why.

If it was an article, I probably didn't think I had the time to read it.

If it was a video, I probably didn't think I had the time to watch it.

If it was a sound file, I probably didn't think I had the time to listen to it...or the appropriate plug-ins to play it.

OK. I guess I kind of know why.

But in 2013 I've made more of an effort to check out the links.

I've started to change my mindset from "I don't have the time" to "If they had the time to watch it, and thought enough to send it to me, then I have the time to watch it." (Of course there are levels of this: If you're the type to post any link you come across, I kind of see it like the boy who cried wolf, and I'm not going to click.)

As a result, I've seen a lot of the popular videos that everyone likes to talk about.

Like the goats that scream like humans.

And the celebrities that sing with screaming goats.

And the game-winning steal and three-quarter-court game-winning shot.

Or the half-court cheerleader flip shot.

In the past I might have ignored a tweet from Jad Abumrad (from Radiolab) that said "Oh my god this footage of a Cheetah in slo mo will make you weep," but this week I clicked on the link, despite the inevitable nightmares that will probably result. (It did not make me weep but it is tremendously impressive. Jump to the end if you get tired of watching the cheetahs [they're almost kangaroo-like! I didn't get tired of it!] and see how they filmed it.)

I even devoted the necessary 7 minutes to the Mila Kunis interview that everyone says reveals how charming she is. And I was charmed. (But I'm not buying that the interviewer didn't know exactly what he was doing.)

I think you get the picture.

Although maybe you don't. Because I don't know that in a post like this, with multiple links, that I would click on all of those links.

But it's baby steps for me. I'm getting better at clicking.

And I guess I should note this: I don't click on everything.

If something reaches annoying levels of popularity and gets posted way too much, I won't click on it just out of spite.

And that's why I still have no idea what the Harlem Shake is.

New Thing #67: A High Profile Retweet

I'm having quite the Twitter week. I've been doling out some compliments.

Early in the week I sent a note to Josh and Chuck of the 'Stuff You Should Know' podcast because their TV episode about time travel was so fun to watch. (The show is no longer on once a week - now it's on in bunches every other Saturday afternoon. The last episodes air this weekend...no word on a second season. I suspect the '365 New Things In 2013' TV show jinx is now a thing.)

Then on Thursday evening I tweeted Buster Olney because I liked an interview from his podcast.

And he retweeted me.

This is worth writing about for a few reasons. One is that this is the biggest retweet I've ever gotten. Buster Olney has 658,200 followers.

Secondly, I really liked the interview. Or part of it, at least. The part I liked was when Jason Motte of the St. Louis Cardinals talked about being on the mound to close out Game 7 of the 2011 World Series. He talked about the precise moment the wave of crowd noise washed over him on the mound during the game and how he enjoyed the moment - anyone who has ever pictured themselves in a Game 7 situation had to have appreciated the picture he painted there.

Third is the result of the retweet. It drew a lot of attention to my tweet. (No new follows, it should be noted.) It might sound insignificant compared with more than 650,000, but I got retweeted 6 more times (all by followers of Buster, not me), favorited once, and then got 4-to-5 more replies (again, not my followers but Buster's followers).

I never really understood why guys like Olney, when they received tweets laced with vitriol, retweeted and engaged those people rather than just letting them sit there. Well, now I have a better idea. It's tempting to do something. Because the 4 replies were all somewhat pointed. (Well, one was more of an insult directed at Motte than me.)

All I meant by my tweet was that, being a Mets fan, I don't like the Cardinals. I didn't want a reason to root for any Cardinals, but I like Motte after listening to him speak with Buster Olney. The replies seemed to interpret that as me usually hating players on other teams. I never used the word hate. I just don't root for them - so I don't like them.

But here's the last notable thing: I think a few years ago those replies would have sat with me and ate me up inside. They didn't really do that this time. Maybe it's because writing about them is a good outlet. I don't know. But I have an idea now of what people are talking about when they talk about internet trolls - it's hard when people engage with you in a harsh manner. I can only imagine what happens when more than 50 people are following you.

So that was my Thursday night. If you want to get in on the Twitter fun, follow me @jsucich. Just be nice.

New Thing #66: Twitter Computer App

I'm still getting used to the existence of apps for the computer. You know, I've used apps on my phone for a few years now, and (I think) many similar ones are available for the computer desktop.

The only one I've used at all is the Twitter app.

And the jury is still out.

If I'm doing any tweeting, chances are I'm using my phone.

Among its advantages - it was the first available option for 'quotable retweets' - the retweets where you add something to the front and then 'quote tweet' rather than straight up retweeting. So I'm in the habit of doing that only from my phone. (And to be honest, I don't even know if you can do that from the computer yet.)

I just find the iPhone app easier to use overall. (At some point I'll explore TweetDeck or other Twitter apps. I know there are other options out there than the plain old Twitter app.)

But I like the Twitter computer app too. It's easy to write tweets from, it does a great job of quickly pulling up mentions (like if I type in @ and then some letters the options come up), and I like how it changes the text color for hashtags.

But it's not perfect - It's not obvious to me when there are new tweets on my feed, and I don't like that you have to use the 'File' menu at the top of the screen for so much. It seems so five years ago. And I admit some of these problems are my own fault - I am not used to checking it constantly, like I am with my phone, so sometimes I forget about it and lose sight of new tweets.

This is a pretty New Thing - I'm writing about it too soon to pass real judgment. I'm sure, though, as spring (and baseball season) approach and I'm on the computer a lot watching baseball and keeping tabs on the Twitter feed, I'll be using the app quite often.