Dan Duties

Top Songs of 7th Grade

2008-11-19T11:49:00.000-08:00

I was sick earlier this week, which gave me a lot of time to surf the internet. One of the things I discovered is that the Billboard website includes a listing of the top songs for every week going back to 1958. Looking over the lists from the 1980s I found so many songs that I loved from my childhood. My musical tastes got quite a bit more specific by the time I reached junior high school, but the songs listed up until about 1992 got me feeling really nostalgic. Here are the #1 songs from the year I was in 7th grade (1991-1992), including the song title, artist, the peak date, and how long the song was at #1.

Unbelievable / EMF (7/20/1991 - 1 week)
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You / Bryan Adams (7/27/1991 - 7 weeks)
The Promise of a New Day / Paula Abdul (9/14/1991 - 1 week)
I Adore Mi Amor / Color Me Badd (9/21/1991 - 2 weeks)
Good Vibrations / Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch (10/5/1991 - 1 week)
Emotions / Mariah Carey (10/12/1991 - 3 weeks)
Romantic / Karyn White (11/2/1991 - 1 week)
Cream / Prince and The New Power Generation (11/9/1991 - 2 weeks)
When a Man Loves a Woman / Michael Bolton (11/23/1991 - 1 week)
Set Adrift on Memory Bliss / P.M. Dawn (11/30/1991 - 1 week)
Black or White / Michael Jackson (12/7/1991 - 7 weeks)
All 4 Love / Color Me Badd (1/25/1992 - 1 week)
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me / George Michael and Elton John (2/1/1992 - 1 week)
I'm Too Sexy / Right Said Fred (2/8/1992 - 3 weeks)
To Be With You / Mr. Big (2/29/1992 - 3 weeks)
Save the Best for Last / Vanessa Williams (3/21/1992 - 5 weeks)
Jump / Kris Kross (4/25/1992 - 8 weeks)
I'll Be There / Mariah Carey (6/20/1992 - 2 weeks)
Baby Got Back / Sir Mix-a-Lot (7/4/1992 - 5 weeks)

Vacation!

2008-08-25T00:17:00.000-07:00

I think sleeping in today was totally okay, considering that Melissa and I:

are not churchgoers
didn't get home last night until about 1am
are laid-back people who don't need to get up early every frickin' day of the week

Besides, sleeping in is one of the luxuries of being on vacation. And since I just finished class for the quarter on Friday, and have a whole month before I have to be in class again, I consider myself to be very much on vacation. Of course, I do still have to work full time. Two years ago, I don't think I'd have considered a normal work week to be "vacation", but being in grad school has changed my perspective a bit. Coming home after a day at the library and not having to worry about readings or homework feels just about like paradise.

Some of the things I did this weekend which made it especially fun/relaxing include:

Flatiron steak at Asado to celebrate finishing my first year of library school
Seeing good friends Jennae (visiting from New York City!), Stina, and Maggie
Starting the second seasons of both Deadwood and Dexter
Having lunch with Grandma Jeanne, Aunt Beth, and Tessie in Bummertown
Driving the scenic route to Indianola
Conveyor-belt sushi at Blue C in Fremont
Hanging out with an adorable one-year-old (and not having to live with one)
Picking huckleberries in the rain
Listening for hours to my dad and step-mom's stories about life in law enforcement
Not thinking about copyright law

Dan's Weird Dreams: #1

2008-08-20T23:07:00.000-07:00

I don't always remember my dreams by the time I'm fully awake in the morning, but the dreams I do remember are usually pretty fucking weird. Like last night's.

I dreamed that there was some kind of spore from outer space that was infecting people on Earth. And I was in Manhattan when people started getting it. (I've never been to NY in real life, by the way.) Nobody knew what to do about the contagion; it spread quickly and there was no cure. And basically it turned people into brainwashed drones who you'd want to steer clear of. But in the terminal phase of the infection, people's heads would melt. Martial law was put into effect to contain it. But then it became clear that the national guard or the army or whoever it was were just brainwashed too, and I had to run away into the countryside. I went into hiding, and it turned out that the whole thing had been set in motion by aliens to weaken our resistance when they came to invade. Their spaceships started landing, and I realized that Earth was pretty much fucked, and then I woke up.

Still though, the thing I remember is watching people's heads melt. Everything between the ears and above the jaw would just spontaneously liquefy... Can't really get that image out of my head. Gross.

Hamma Hamma Hamma Hamma Hamma Chameleon

2008-08-17T16:46:00.000-07:00

The main Dan Duty for this weekend was camping. Melissa has been itching to get out into the wilderness ever since our stay on the Wenatchee River at The River Spot last month, so even though I had homework to do this weekend (or maybe because of it), I was like, "Sure, let's go".

Not to say I was initially all that enthusiastic. I had a big homework assignment due this weekend, so I was being pretty grouchy. Luckily, Melissa knew it was nothing personal--she ignored all my stubborn whining about pretty much everything--and we got on the road as soon as I'd finished my online meeting with my group from class.

That was a pretty late start, about 4:15pm. To be honest, I was now worried that since we were leaving so late, we would never find a spot. Our plan was to go to Staircase campground at the far end of Lake Cushman. But as we're on the road, I'm thinking how it's like the hottest weekend of the year and there's no way there will be any spots available. I also managed to take a wrong turn and we were in McCleary before I realized it--so I was extra pouty because now I'd delayed us even further. I passive-aggressively manipulated Melissa into taking the wheel since I was all mad and didn't want to drive any more. She was happy to do anything to help me just chill.

So we finally got to Hoodsport, where the sign indicated that Staircase campground was full. Dang. Well, we decided to just continue on up Hood Canal to the next closest campgrounds, along the Hamma Hamma River. Of course, I was already certain we wouldn't find anything, but Melissa was cheerfully single-minded in our venture, and I wasn't about to go any further in expressing my mood than just being generally surly. Well, we got to the first campground along the Hamma Hamma, and it was full. So was the next one. We turned around. At this point, I think Melissa was also feeling a little defeated. We were talking about just turning around and going home. It was almost 8pm and we were probably out of luck.

But on the way up, we'd seen a few pullouts along the river where people had parked to either fish or camp by the river. As a last-ditch effort, we decided to try one of these empty pullouts and see what the deal was.

The result was an awesome campsite. We were right on the river in an area that must be a rocky shoal during the spring floods; but this time of year, it was high and dry. No longer facing the certainty of having to return home after several hours on the road already, my mood was immediately lifted. We pitched our brand-new tent on a sandy area and set up our beds. A little exploring up the river led us to the framework of a makeshift shelter (fishermen probably throw a tarp over the top when it's raining), and luckily for us there was a crusty old grill basket hanging from a nail on one of the posts. We started our fire, packed our pre-made hobo dinners into the basket, and watched the food cook as darkness fell. After scalding the roof of my mouth on a delicious meal, we settled in by the fire, watched the full moon rise, and finally turned in.

This morning we took a dip in the river (f.y.i., the Hamma Hamma is colder than the Wenatchee River), had some yogurt with Melissa's homemade granola for breakfast, and packed up and left for home. I kept thinking about how much better I felt on the way back home. Being cut off from the internet, not having to worry about bathing, peeing wherever is convenient, doing nothing but watching fire for hours on end... These are all things that are good for us. They far outweigh the hassles involved. Usually.

Here is a list of hassles involved with camping. They're the things that might make me balk at the very idea of going camping, but which I get over once I'm out there.

Finding a tent (even if you own one, you probably lent it to someone else at some point)
Gambling with the weather
Forgetting to pack something important (like something to cook your food on)
Figuring out what to do if the campground is full
Being dirty
Obnoxious rednecks in the next campsite over
Biting insects
Having to poop in some shitty public restroom, a shittier outhouse, or the wilderness

What are "Dan Duties"?

2008-08-15T23:49:00.000-07:00

That's a good question.

First of all, I'm Dan. And "Dan Duties" is a term coined by my girlfriend of many years, Melissa, to describe the various undertakings (some mundane, some obscure) which I feel compelled to occupy my free time with.

I don't quite feel up to writing much narrative on my nascent weblog yet, so I'll start off with a list of some things that are definitely not Dan Duties:

Sports of any kind
In-depth political analysis
Chick lit
B movies
Gardening
Celebrity gossip
Financial planning
Reality television
Fan fiction
Plans for world domination

If you're hoping for any of that stuff, you'll want to look for it somewhere else on the World Wide Web. Not making any promises, but I might blog about some of the following:

Stuff I watch on Netflix
Vacations around the Pacific Northwest and in the Greater Toronto Area
Food I eat
Library issues
Puget Sound history
News stories that strike me as interesting (including my favorite: stories about dumb criminals!)
Middle-earth
Critters of all kinds
Whatever I might be reading
Indignation over traffic transgressions of Washington drivers

So, I dunno. I guess this is my first blog entry. Yippee.