Henson has recently fallen ill. He was on some medicine recently that had a 0.5% chance of causing liver failure in dogs, and unfortunately he was in that 0.5%. Earlier this week he spent 24 hours at a vet hospital on an IV because he wasn’t able to keep any food down.

This doesn’t necessarily mean he’s done for. To the contrary, the liver is one of the most regenerative organs in the body, so there is certainly a chance that with the right medicines and treatment, he’ll be back to normal soon. He’s certainly gotten a lot better since his visit to the hospital. But it’s not a done deal, and we’re still getting more information from his vet as they do blood tests.

Please keep him and us in your prayers as we may have some hard decisions coming up. I’ll keep you all posted. This has been harder on me and Steph than I expected. When I take a photo of him, like this one, I find myself thinking, “Make this one good.” It’s certainly making me more thankful for the time I have with him.

<rant>

I’m so sick and tired of people who hand me my change with the bills on the bottom and the coins on top. As soon as they plop coins on top of bills in my outstretched hand, the effort to get my money back into my pockets becomes a balancing game, where one possible outcome is that my money will go flying everywhere. This problem is only augmented at drivethrus, where I’ve got a window through which to navigate my elbow, and getting out of my car to pick up my dropped cash could be really difficult.

If you are ever in a position to give someone change from a financial transaction, be it goods or services, please give them the coins first.

</rant>

At a stoplight today, Steph and I spotted a bumper sticker with an American flag that stated “We’re proud to be an American.” Apparently the passengers in the car were only able to combine their forces to become one American. But hey, at least they’re proud. Maybe it was from the National Schizophrenic Marines organization or something?

Steph retorted, “…where at least we know I’m free.”

I just made a quick list of all my five-star songs in iTunes and sorted them by play count. Note, these are only the number of times I’ve played these songs since Spring of 2006 (when I lost all my previous metadata). Still, this probably is a pretty good reflection of my favorite 100 songs, even if the ordering may be a bit off. (The fact that there are exactly 100 is coincidence.) Enjoy. Discuss. For bonus points, criticize my devil-may-care choice of a <ul> instead of a <table>.

They’re listed like this: Song Title / Artist Name / Play Count

• Cubicle / Rinôçérôse / 34
• From the Morning / Nick Drake / 31
• Comfort Eagle / Cake / 28
• Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger / Daft Punk / 28
• Pink Moon / Nick Drake / 28
• Qué Onda Guero / Beck / 27
• Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois / Sufjan Stevens / 27
• Digital Love / Daft Punk / 24
• Place to Be / Nick Drake / 24
• E-Pro / Beck / 23
• Future / Cut Copy / 23
• Casimir Pulaski Day / Sufjan Stevens / 23
• Clap Hands / Beck / 22
• Elevator Music / Beck / 22
• Feel Good Inc. (Album Crossfade) / Gorillaz / 21
• Shake Your Coconuts (DFA Mix) / Junior Senior / 21
• Why, When, How (Bonus Track) / Justin Timberlake / 21
• Black Tambourine / Beck / 20
• The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song / The Flaming Lips / 20
• BAD CARTRIDGE (E-Pro) [Remix] / Beck / 19
• Let Go / Frou Frou / 19
• Jacksonville / Sufjan Stevens / 19
• GHETTOCHIP MALFUNCTION (Hell Yes) / Beck / 18
• Get Real Paid / Beck / 18
• One More Time / Daft Punk / 18
• Hide and Seek / Imogen Heap / 18
• GAMEBOY/HOMEBOY (Qué Onda Guero) / Beck / 17
• Loser / Beck / 17
• Emerald City / United State of Electronica / 17
• Fire Coming Out of the Monkey’s Head / Gorillaz / 16
• Quiet / John Mayer / 16
• Dear Mr. Supercomputer / Sufjan Stevens / 16
• The Henney Buggy Band / Sufjan Stevens / 16
• (My 1st) Big Break / Cut Chemist / 15
• Lion Song / Harrod and Funck / 15
• Search and Destory / Iggy And The Stooges / 15
• SexyBack / Justin Timberlake / 15
• Ghostbusters / Ray Parker Junior / 15
• They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh! / Sufjan Stevens / 15
• City of Blinding Lights / U2 / 15
• The New Pollution / Beck / 14
• Novacane / Beck / 14
• A Lack of Color / Death Cab for Cutie / 14
• Señorita / Justin Timberlake / 14
• Chicago / Sufjan Stevens / 14
• Hotwax / Beck / 13
• Where It’s At / Beck / 13
• Aerodynamic / Daft Punk / 13
• Lion Song / Harrod and Funck / 13
• Such Great Heights / The Postal Service / 13
• The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us / Sufjan Stevens / 13
• Irene / tobymac / 13
• It Is On! / United State of Electronica / 13
• Intergalactic / Beastie Boys / 12
• Don’t Panic / Coldplay / 12
• I Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You / Colin Hay / 12
• Title and Registration / Death Cab for Cutie / 12
• Bigger Than My Body / John Mayer / 12
• Vertigo / U2 / 12
• Chain Reaction / Beck / 11
• Hollywood Freaks / Beck / 11
• Sissyneck / Beck / 11
• Daughters / John Mayer / 11
• Let Me Tell You About My Boat / Mark Mothersbaugh / 11
• A Million Parachutes / Sixpence None The Richer / 11
• She Blinded Me With Science / Thomas Dolby / 11
• Good Vibrations / The Beach Boys / 10
• Readymade / Beck / 10
• High 5 (Rock the Catskills) / Beck / 10
• Queen Bitch / David Bowie / 10
• Do You Realize?? / The Flaming Lips / 10
• No Such Thing / John Mayer / 10
• Move Your Feet (Radio Edit) / Junior Senior / 10
• Rock Your Body / Justin Timberlake / 10
• Brand New Colony / The Postal Service / 10
• Beautiful Day (Live From Boston) / U2 / 10
• Get It Together / Beastie Boys / 9
• Mahna Mahna / Cake / 9
• Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1 / The Flaming Lips / 9
• Samba Tranquille / Thievery Corporation / 9
• Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows / The Beatles / 8
• Sexx Laws / Beck / 8
• Tropicalia / Beck / 8
• Lord Only Knows / Beck / 8
• Water Runs Dry / Boyz II Men / 8
• Motivational Speaker / Cut Chemist / 8
• Your Body Is a Wonderland / John Mayer / 8
• J Train / tobymac / 8
• Baba O’Riley / The Who / 8
• Dry The Rain / The Beta Band / 7
• Video Killed the Radio Star (Single Version) / The Buggles / 7
• Fight Test / The Flaming Lips / 7
• Worn Out Welcome / Harrod and Funck / 7
• Newme / Jamie Lidell / 7
• Neon / John Mayer / 7
• Starry Eyed Surprise / Paul Oakenfold / 7
• Space Walk / Lemon Jelly / 5
• With Or Without You / U2 / 4
• Hands Of The Potter / Caedmon’s Call / 3
• The Tower of Learning / Rufus Wainwright / 2

Today I sat down at an old iMac that was tucked into the corner of the teacher’s lounge at Steph’s school because I wanted to find out what continent Turkey is technically on. (It turns out it’s Eurasian. The Sea of Marmara is generally used by geographers to divide Europe from Asia, and that sea is within Turkey.)

When I began using the iMac, I noticed the version of Mac OS X they had on it looked old. Like, really old. Pinstripes and no-Command-tab-bezel-window-with-big-app-icons old. I wasn’t surprised: there’s no better place to find outdated technology than in a school. (I found a working Apple II in an elementary school in 2001. I told the teacher she shouldn’t let kids play with it because it was probably worth something by now and should go to a museum or something.) Anyhow, I brought up the “About This Mac” panel on this old iMac to sneak a peek at the OS version. It was Mac OS X 10.2.8.

That wouldn’t have much significance to most people, but here’s the tie in: I worked on Mac OS X 10.2.8. I’ve had my fingers directly in the Software Update pie since about 10.2.2 if I recall correctly. That was late 2002. And suddenly it hit me that I’ve been doing this awhile. Quite awhile.

Man, I feel so old. And I had to hear it from Mac OS X 10.2.8.

Well, it has happened. I’m officially a Californian Wimp now. I just went across the street to get a soda at the little store there (which I call the “Food Museum”, but that’s another entry), and on my way back home I was struck at how incredibly freezing cold it was outside.

When I got back inside, I reveled in the comfy warmth, and looked at the temperature outside. I was certain it was absolutely freezing cold.

It was 42 degrees outside.

I’ve been used to dealing with zero degrees in mid-January in Minnesota. Heck, -20. Why not? Apparently it takes about five years for that tough outer layer of cold resistance to wear off completely once it’s no longer being used.

A couple weeks ago it was a typical rainy December day in Cupertino, and I was sitting in my office getting work done. Suddenly I noticed the smell of wet dog, coming out of nowhere. I thought it odd since Apple doesn’t allow dogs on campus, but I mostly ignored it. I just set my iChat status to, “It smells like wet dog in here,” and forgot about it.

An hour or so later a friend and coworker of mine (who happens to be black, which is a pertinent fact in this entry) pinged me telling me that my status message was the funniest of mine that he’d ever seen. I didn’t think it was quite all that funny, and I asked him to explain. He paused, and then proceeded to send me a link to a series of blog entries which contain the answer I was searching for. You’ll have to search for the phrase “wet dog” on that page to find it, but the gist is this: unwashed white people, when wet, smell like wet dog. This is something that is apparently only noticed by non-white people.

At first I didn’t believe him, even with the blog post. But now Steph has independently confirmed noticing the smell during rainy days with no dogs around, wondering what it was. I’ve even found entire books on the subject. So I guess it’s true.

More than anything else, though, I’d like any non-white readers to confirm they’ve noticed this. Even better… how long has this belief been around? It seems like it’s everywhere now that I’ve opened my eyes to it. Has this always been around, or is it something that has only been noticed more recently? I can’t imagine it’s new, but it’s new to me.