It's Friday. That's All I Care About.

I have to comment, first of all, on the fact that I'm not especially fond of the picture my brother chose to put of me on my profile. In this picture, as you can see, I'm interestingly dressed, wearing a military jacket and a pair of shorts. Nathan can tell you exactly what kind of jacket that is since the picture was taken to use as he attempted to sell it on Ebay. All I know is that it's from the 1930's or '40's (okay, i might not have even gotten the date right), it's from the Soviet Union, and some dude (a rather small one, seeing as how it fit me almost perfectly) who drove a tank wore it. I thought it was pretty darn cool and I'm not sure why, exactly he wanted to sell it, but he did and I was chosen as the model. So in case you ever wondered what the heck I'm wearing in that picture and why I'm wearing it, there you go. Nathan, we've got to find a new picture.
Actually, I need a digital camera so I can put my own frappin' pictures on this thing.

What to talk about today? I know it's hard to believe, but there's not a whole lot that's interesting that I have to tell you about. I'm going to my first NASCAR race tomorrow in Charlotte, but I'd rather not talk/think about that. Okay, OKAY! Fine....gosh! (a' la Napoleon Dynamite....okay, nevermind that was dumb. I'm now annoyed with myself for thinking that). I know you all want to know all the gorey details about how I got roped into this but it's pretty darn anticlimactic in story form so I'll just break it to you now all at once: My company is paying for it, I don't have to drive, Jeffrey promises it's fun, so he and I are going. There you go. Jeffrey's been to one NASCAR race before in his life and seemed to enjoy it so I'm going to attempt to go and enjoy myself as much as will be possible wearing day-glo yellow earplugs and surrounded by beer-guzzling redneck racing enthusiasts in NASCAR commemorative hats and t-shirts. It'll be a stretch. I can't even watch this stuff on television without wanting to slam my face in a door repeatedly to stave off boredom. But darn it, I can be a good sport about anything and never let it be said that Melissa Sloan isn't up for trying out new things/experiences! Besides, I'm trying to look at it as a cultural experience. One that i'll try to forget later.

Jeffrey asked me to mention here, for reasons unknown to me, that he managed to knock his glass of water off the table at On the Border where we ate for lunch, covering his right leg and most of the floor next to our booth with water. The manager and one of the waiters was quick to clean it up but also quick to laugh at him about it, even bringing him a water refill in one of those plastic-lidded kiddie cups. Ha ha ha. Ha. What struck me odd and later made me laugh heartily for reasons not one of you is likely to understand, is that my first instinct when it happened was to reach over and casually dump the contents of my glass of tea onto the floor right next to where his cup landed. I don't know if this was an instinct to try to make him feel better or just to see how much beverage-dumping we could get away with in one meal but I'm pretty sure if I'd've done it, we would've been asked to leave the restaurant. Without my little styrofoam to-go cup of sweet tea, which is currently sitting to my right. I'm a tea addict, but that's another story for another day. Anyway, I don't know why this idea, once I realized it, made me laugh out loud, but it did and it still gets a chuckle when the thought occasionally crosses my mind. I know you don't get it, but you're missing out on a good laugh and that should make you sad.

I have to mention here, as well, and on a completely different note, that I just bought the Keane cd yesterday and the more I listen to it, the more I really, really like it. Everybody's probably heard their song "Somewhere Only We Know" by now (and if you haven't, you should feel appropriately out of the Loop)...it's the reason I bought the album, besides the fact that they're currently opening for U2 on this leg of their north american tour, and so far it's still my favorite song on the album. But following closely are "We Might As Well Be Strangers" and "Bend and Break". They sound like a combination of Coldplay, Radiohead, and Jump (Little Children), if you can imagine that. If you can, go get the cd because you'll really enjoy it. If you can't, go get it anyway. I promise you won't kick yourself.
I also have to say here that I'm developing more and more of an admiration for the music of Death Cab for Cutie. Having been a fan of The Postal Service for many months now, I was afraid that Death Cab wouldn't live up, but boy howdy, was I wrong. What I've heard of their last album, Plans, so far has taught me never to doubt Ben Gibbard, or any of his fellow musicians, ever, ever again. Their song "Soul Meets Body" is my favorite so far but I'm sure it'll get harder and harder to choose a favorite the more I hear of them. Nathan's going to go see them at the end of the month up here in Raleigh and I have to say I'm jealous for not getting in on that while I had a chance. As a result, I think we should all badger him for a blog posted concert review the day after the show. Look for it on October 28th.

Well...that's about it for now. Go ahead and breathe your inevitable sigh of relief. I'll just turn Keane up so that I won't hear you. Tune in next time when I'll tell you a riveting tale of Skoal, #3 bumper stickers, and hopefully, a good wreck or two.