Like a silver lining, except not

I just realized something: for the past two summers, "I got a mosquito bite in an embarrassing and/or hard-to-reach spot" has not been a topic of conversation.

I do not have a lawn, so the seriousness of the drought we've been having in the Triangle has been an abstract thing; I was aware of it, but it didn't impact my life in any way.

Frankly, it's a bit disconcerting to be feeling that impact, even if I'm really happy not to be mosquito-bitten lately...

(no subject)

A very interesting Salon article on the relationship between Guitar Hero, real guitars, and guitar music. (Salon got rid of the Flash-ads-before-you-can-read, it looks like).

I think there probably is some carry-over from the game into real life. When I was playing Guitar Hero, I was surprised at how the buttons you were supposed to push mirrored the song's musical structure pretty well... more so than in Dance Dance Revolution, I thought, though maybe that's 'cause I know nothing at all about dance? Or because Dance Dance Revolution isn't actually trying to mimic anything real-life?

But--if it is really true that Guitar Hero is bringing back classic 70s and 80s rock music, I must ask WHY WHY WHY? Because a lot of it (I say this from listening to the classic rock station when NPR is having a pledge drive) is just awful. Some of it just isn't my thing, and some of it crosses over into Awesomely Bad, but a lot of it can only be explained by lots of people being on drugs in the 70s.