Time to Decompress...

I drive a lot. My commute is 75 miles in each direction. And though I only work in the office three days a week, I still spend at least 500 miles on the road each week. Add in the other miscellaneous driving I do, and I'm putting well over 2,000 miles on my car each month.

(For reference, I snapped this picture on January 2nd and I've gone over 3,000 miles since. This means I get a lot of oil changes.)

Typically, I spend about 100 minutes driving into work and 80 going home, since there's less traffic when I leave the office.

That's a lot of driving for anyone, but I have gotten used to the commute. I don't love it, but I can't say that I actually hate it, either. That drive home, spacing out as I maintain a certain cruise control speed in the fast-lane is peaceful alone time—the majority spent listening to the music, NPR, or audiobooks—does wonders for my post-work psyche.

Now, I don't have a stressful job. Sure, some days are busier than others, but it's nothing like a fast-paced, Crackberry, newsroom environments from my past gigs. Heck, even working at the travel agency caused more stress, since I was in charge of everything. Mostly, I do my thing, do it well, and leave it behind at the end of the day.

But for me, I still need that time in the car to decompress from my day. I use it as a transition from "work mode."

What's work mode? Work mode is how I get when I'm on task. It can happen in the office, at my real job, or when I'm banging away at the keyboard at home. As a guy, I can only handle one task at a time. I'll focus on that one thing and ignore everything else. This makes me a delightful conversationalist while I'm in work mode.

"Mmhmm... yeah, whatever."

"Uh, what'd you say?"

"(Dead silence)"

Yeah, I'm not that much fun in work mode.

The problem with work mode is that it takes me some time to work my way out of it. I can't just instantly leave the office and feel my brain turn to back toward my real life. Nope, it requires some coaching, some telling myself not to think about work stuff, and a lot of zen-like emptying of the mind. Not that I'm meditating while I'm driving... More likely, I'm just not thinking of anything.

And that part's great. I'm much more social and relaxed when I get home.

I don't know why I'm telling you all this. I was just thinking about it the other day and I wondered if anyone else has a "work mode?" Or is that purely an annoying Nagel trait?

(Yes, as you can see from my odometer, my Toyota Camry is the definition of a high-mileage car.)

Aristotle on Knowledge and the Soul...

"Holding as we do that, while knowledge of any kind is a thing to be honored and prized, one kind of it may, either by reason of its greater exactness or of a higher dignity and great wonderfulness in its objects, be more honourable and precious than another, on both accounts we should naturally be led to place in the front rank the study of the soul."

- Aristotle, "De Anima (On the Soul)"

Motivation to write...

From Paulo Coelho...

"I think the only advice I can give you is this : seat down and write - anything that comes to your head and keep going. At first you may feel stuck, but with time, if you continue on your quest of storytelling, you will see how the first barrier was only an illusion."

I have to say that I both agree entirely and also ignore this truth completely.

Bad Mike, bad!

Live Blogging the Obama Inauguration

Work's letting us watch the swearing in and speech for Obama, so I'll live blog it and then post a transcript after the fact. What fun!

11:38 am - Signed into CNN.com to watch their live report. Got this error message. Looks hauntingly similar to the "virtual waiting room" I sit in every time time the Sox release new batches of tickets.

11:41 am - Allowed in, but need to update my Adobe something or other. At this rate, I'll be able to see the 45th president's inauguration.

11:42 am - Lots of pictures of people on the Mall. Not a port-a-john in site. Hope all of DC's holding it!

11:44 am - The President-elect was just introduced as "Barack H. Obama." That noise you heard was a unified body of rednecks screaming "Barry HUSSEIN" at the TV. Oh wait, nevermind, they don't have cable.

11:46 am - CNN is showing a Facebook status feed. Um, Twitter much? FB status is sooo 2007. So much for Hope and Change.

11:49 am - Scattered applause for Rick Warren and his Purpose Driven Prayer. Surprised he's wearing a tie and not his traditional Hawaiin shirt.

11:53 am - Good prayer. Inclusive, yet definitely Warren-esque with the Lord's Prayer and multiple pronounciations of Jesus.

11:54 am - Aretha Franklin's wearing a bow that looks like it was made for a battleship. Seems fitting.

11:56 am - This begs the question... if McCain had been elected, would they have asked "Boot in Your @$$" Toby Keith to sing "God Bless America?" I say yes.

11:58 am - Joe Biden's orange spray-on tan rocks. I'd like to have a beer with the VP. I bet he makes a mean margarita.

12:05 pm - Sorry for the short break, had to use the potty (probably from the port-a-john reference) and move over to the big office viewing area. Somewhere, six dozen guys are gathered around a national monument, doing the same thing.

12:06 pm - "Barack HUSSEIN Obama... repeat AFTER me, dang it!" - Chief Justice John Roberts.

12:06 pm - Round of applause in the office for the 44th President. How cool would it be to have the military band play "Hail to the Chief" for you? Even if you weren't actually becoming president, it'd still be awesome. I'd pay cash money for that.

12:07 pm - They're showing a whole lot of "young people" in the crowd. What's the over/under for drunk people in a crowd of 2 million? I'm saying it's at least 200,000 (or 10 percent).

12:09 pm - Obama thanks Bush. Definitely a golf clap.

12:10 pm - Starting off talking about the war and the economy (and crappy energy consumption). Hope-O-Meter plummets.

12:11 pm - Bringing the hope back with, "On this day we gather because we have chosen hope over fear."

12:12 pm - "The time has come to set aside childish things." A dig at Pres. Bush? Ba-zing!

12:13 pm - Other than the swearing in, he hasn't made a single vocal gaffe or even uttered an "um." He rocks as a speaker, no doubt about it. My keyboard is the only sound in the office. You could hear a flag-pin drop.

12:17 pm - "Restore the vital trust between the people and their government."

12:17 pm - Eight minutes in and we get the first mention of national security (without using the word "terror"). Therein lies the difference between the Democratic and Republican party for this past election. He does mention "co-operation," though.

12:20 pm - One co-worker is holding a box of tissues. Pass 'em around (no matter who you voted for). The entire crowd's hanging on every word.

12:20 pm - "As the world grows smaller, our common humanity will reveal itself, and the United States must become a distributor of peace." Or something like that. He said it better. Great quote. Can't type fast enough... trying to be quiet.

12:24 pm - "Tolerance and curiosity" nice juxtaposition. He's talking about the truths and integral American qualities that have always defined us.

12:25 pm - "Why a man whose father, less than 60 years ago, could not be served in a restaurant, can now stand before you and take a sacred oath."

12:27 pm - He just finished speaking with the requisite, "And God bless the United States of America." Interesting speech... he didn't deviate from any campaign themes. Definitely called for Americans to stand behind him, like we're in a fight for survival. We'll see if that bodes anything for the first 100 days in office.

12:28 pm - G.W. looks genuinely happy to be done. Whether or not you like him, can you blame him? Eight years in the world's most stressful position has to be a crushing weight. Clinton had a heart attack afterward and Reagan lost his mind (to put it frankly).

12:29 pm - Hello, America. Here's what poetry sounds like. It does not involve Lil' Jon, windows, walls or sweaty testicles.

12:33 pm - I'll get reamed for saying this, but it sounds like Fat Albert is giving the benediction. "Hey, hey, HEY!"

12:33 pm - Watching a live news event WITHOUT anchors' commentary is amazing. Why can't they shut up more often and let viewers think for themselves? We don't always need Wolf Blitzer's beard's input.

12:35 pm - Hey, that guy on the left looked just like Kelsay Grammar! How's Fraiser get front-row seats? And where's Oprah?

12:37 pm - The glare on the TV is making it hard to distinguish faces, but it looks like Bush Sr. shot a bear last time he was up in Kennebunkport, ME and wore it today.

12:38 pm - "And when the Blue Man Group can not be known for their color but as the Cool Jam Crew." (Okay, that was lame on my part.)

12:40 pm - I could make a Family Guy-esque joke about seamen being all over the platform, but it's during the National Anthem, so I won't.

12:40 pm - I think the incoming President should be able to pick his exit music. I'd have gone with, "For those about to Ba-rack, we sa-luuuuute you!" (And the hits just keep on coming).

12:41 pm - Handshakes, congratulations, high-fives, and Hillary looking like she bit into a lemon right before someone goosed her. Time for lunch!

Get On Your Boots

In case you haven't heard, but that big band from Dublin just released their new song. You can listen to "Get On Your Boots," the first single from No Line On the Horizon at U2.com. Check it out here.

I listened to it twice and liked it. It's not "Vertigo," but it's along the same vein. It's a catchy piece of pop rock that's hard enough to maintain credibility, but light and upbeat enough to garner some serious radio play. Of course, if the Edge wanted to play fart noises through a cardboard tube while Bono read off a Campbell's Soup label, they'd still sell 18 bazillion records.

It's good to be U2.

While I'm at it, here's the track listing:

1. No Line On The Horizon
2. Magnificent
3. Moment of Surrender
4. Unknown Caller
5. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
6. Get On Your Boots
7. Stand Up Comedy
8. Fez - Being Born
9. White As Snow
10. Breathe
11. Cedars Of Lebanon

And I'll also share my requisite U2 story and say that I saw them, live and in-studio, on Saturday Night Live when they played Vertigo and I Will Follow and brought the house down. Yeah, you're jealous. Heck, I'm jealous of the 2004 version of me.

Reading on the Road

Everyone wants to read more. At least, I've never heard of anyone who wants to read less. I think deciding to read more has to be the second most popular New Year's resolution—right after trying to lose weight, joining a gym and making sure I have to wait 10 minutes to get on any machine for the first 21 days of every year.

As you know, I don't really like making New Year's Resolutions, but I always do try to make a conscious effort to read more. Lately (and by "lately," I mean the last three years), I haven't been reading as much as I want. Earning a MFA actually kept me from burying my nose in books. I worked, I went to class, came home, pretended to do work, went to bed and then repeated the process. There wasn't room for much extra-curricular activity there. And when there was, I didn't read anything.

But, lately, I've been doing my best to crank through some books. I'm just finishing the Lord of the Rings trilogy for the first time (spending a lot of time in Mordor). I fell in love with "The Alchemist," Paulo Coelho's classic. In fact, I liked that one so much, I not only learned his name, but I also subscribed to his fantastic blog. I've joined a nerdy reading group, where we're going through Thucydides' and Aristotle's original works and discussing them on a monthly conference call (in between Dungeons and Dragon sessions and smoking pipes).

But most of the "reading" I've done lately has taken place in my car. Those of you that know me, probably aren't that surprised—you know how much emailing/texting/Twittering I do from the highway's fast lane. But I'm not talking about actual reading, I'm talking about audiobooks.

Three days a week, I spend anywhere from 3-4 hours on the road. I have a 75-mile commute, about 20 of which take place in busy, rush-hour traffic. It's a good way for a man to go insane. So I had to find some way to occupy myself and provide distraction from ramming my Camry head-on into some jerk's BMW. So, I visited my local library and started picking up audiobooks.

Being a visual person, I didn't know how I'd do. But it's turned out to be a great success. After just a minute or two, I find myself completely engrossed in listening to the book. I still pay attention to driving, of course, but my brain doesn't really wander otherwise. And it makes those 75 miles just whip by, even when I'm just doing 4.5 miles an hour and drifting leaves are making more progress. Thus far, I've "read" Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea" (every word counts), David Sedaris' "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" (classic Sedaris, and always funny), Augusten Burrough's "Running with Scissors" (delightfully depressing), and the Ken Burns' audiobook companion for the Mark Twain documentary (surprisingly good). Considering the lengths of the books, I've made pretty good progress over the past two months or so. Right now, I'm halfway through Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," which has given me an opportunity to get through a book that I probably wouldn't have otherwise read.

So, while this has been a boring blog post for you to read, I did want you to know that I'm enjoying myself. And, perhaps, encourage you to find a way to read a bit more... even if it has to be an inventive way. Just, for the love of all that's good, don't become the girl in front of me at the gym, reading Cosmo while she barely pedals the stationary bike.

Mikey's a Double Uncle...

I won't post pictures (yet), because I haven't gotten approval from my brother, his family, and gotten the signed signature of a certain 7-pound bundle of gums, tears, and swaddling cloth. But I wanted to let y'all know that my niece, Allison Renee, was born this past Monday.

Babies are a funny thing. They terrify me. No because their eyes are glazed, they claw at nothing and are as loud as all get-out (whatever that means). But because I don't know what to do with them.

First off, I have no idea how to hold them. Their heads just flop around if you don't support them—at least that's what I've been told. So I make my arms into some sort of basket, have someone drop (gently) the infant into the cavity, then cock my shoulder up. That tilts the basket upwards, and sort of supports the child's head and neck. But, boy, does it give me a crick in mine.

Then, once I've got the baby, I have no idea what comes next. I can kind of bounce them by lifting my shoulder up and down. But that just makes me look like I'm doing the "What is love?" dance from SNL... "Baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me... no more!" Plus, the movements are pretty jarring to the kid, who'll immediately start screaming.

While they're bawling, I try to distract them with delightful running commentary. For example, when I held Allie (my new niece) for the first time, I explained to her the wonders of Velcro, how it works with miniature hooks and loops, and that it's made in the great state of New Hampshire, which is also known as The Granite State. She just cried some more. Then, I explained she was wrapped up like a burrito and I regaled her with the wonders of meat, rice and beans tied up in a tortilla. She quieted up a bit then.

So I sat there, neck getting sore and florescent lights glowing off the tile floor, holding a baby that really did look and feel like a warm burrito. I was totally unsure of what to do, so I yammered on about nonsense. Until she opened her eyes.

Her lids flickered, sleepily (it's hard work being born). Then they opened halfway. The big, blue orbs looked up at me. Probably, she couldn't see anything. Maybe she saw a shadow. But I saw her; I really saw her. And I stopped yammering. She wasn't crying anymore. It didn't matter how I held her. Just the fact that I did.

Yeah, I can do this uncle thing. It's not so scary after all.