Lost Weekend

I've been taking a little break from blogging while I was getting my new computer. First, there was the endless time configuring (and reconfiguring) it on the Dell website till I was sure that I had the right stuff for the best price possible. After I placed the order, I obsessively tracked it on the UPS site as it made its way to Massachusetts. In the meantime, I had to burn many, many CDs to get my stuff off the old computer -- seven CDs for just the music, not to mention the fonts, clip art, and other junk. While all this was going on, I listened to the death rattle of the six-year-old Gateway and hoped that it would hang on for just a few more days.

The new computer arrived on Friday, and I spent what seems like the entire weekend setting it up. I think it took as much time to disassemble the old computer as it did to set up the new one. I now have empty boxes and old components everywhere. I have to figure out how to give some things away (old inkjet printer), sell some things (old speakers & subwoofer, external CD drive/burner) and recycle the rest. I have no idea how I'm going to get the gigantic old monitor downstairs and out of the house. How did I ever get it in here in the first place?

Now I know why I kept my computer for 6 years, my car for 13, and have appliances that are over 20 years old. This is a ton of work! But soon I should be able to turn my attention to having some adventures and blogging about them.

Grievous Angel

I had dinner with my pal Dan last night and got caught up on things. His daughter, Jessica Hundley, has just written a bio of Gram Parsons in conjunction with Polly Parsons, Gram's daughter. Grievous Angel: The Authorized Biography of Gram Parsons is due to be released in November.

Shasta Airflyte 1958

I'd love to have one of these.

Hello blogosphere!

Some of you might remember my old website, also called A Trailer Full of Tunes. It lived on the Hampshire College faculty/staff server. I put it up in 1996 after teaching myself html. I was righteously opposed to WYSIWYG programs back then, and virtuous about writing my own code in my Unix shell. But that was a lot of work, and the trailer fell into disrepair over the past few years. Its life is now about to come to an end, with Hampshire set to pull the plug on my account any day now.

But rising like a phoenix from the ashes is the newly-created blog version of the trailer. The blog will feature the same sorts of things: politics, music, movies, art, travelogues, links to interesting sites, etc. I may even be inspired to republish some of the best of the old trailer, like the story of the road trip to the twineball, if there's sufficient interest and if a long, cold winter keeps me indoors with time on my hands. Or perhaps I'll have some new adventures to write about. Stay tuned.