Blocked from writing; the opposite of Writers’ block

It’s a great thing when you’re so busy that you have plenty of things to keep you occupied, but generally, that means the blog falls into the abyss.  Unlike other times, when I’ve actually been struggling to find topics, I actually have a dozen drafts in here of topics I’d like to flesh out (including my trip to see Andrew McMahon in concert last week), but unfortunately time has been limited.

Tuesday’s post is one I missed that was written but didn’t actually post for some reason.  I’m hoping to catch up this week!

PSY attempts to be a “Gentleman”

PSY, who came to fame from an absolutely absurd left-field hit, “Gangnam Style,” has officially released the follow-up, “Gentleman,” seen above. The song is more straight-ahead than the previous single, but has another catchy beat, easy-to-learn dance moves, some humor and some English lyrics for people to hook on as well. Continue reading

Required viewing: Hank & Cupcakes’ “Ain’t No Love”


I love them live
. I love them in person. I love spreading the word about them. And it doesn’t hurt that one of Hank & Cupcakes’ catchier tracks, “Ain’t No Love,” now has an awesome new video to accompany it.  It caught the attention of MTV Buzzworthy; check it out!

Required listening: Annie’s “Animal”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtrKEO7NxgA

iTunes’ weekly song picks have many times borne fruit over the years, but there’s the occasional selection that, even years, later, still resonates.  Annie’s debut album, “Animal,” is one of those selections. Continue reading

Required listening: Dido’s “Girl Who Got Away”

I’ve had a bit of a love-hate relationship with Dido ever since she hit the scene in the late 1990’s. She’s had some massive hits, and those are the ones I struggle the most with; I’m not particularly enamored with “White Flag,” for instance, and never really have been. Yet I’ve always loved tracks like “Hunter,” which featured on her debut “No Angel.” Continue reading

Marriott Rewards: The holy grail?

I’ve been writing about loyalty programs pretty much as long as I’ve been blogging: MyPoints, Plink, and even credit card rewards. (An upcoming post will talk about whether all this stuff is worth it, but for now…) My latest foray began only a year ago, when after years of my father’s insisting, I joined Marriott Rewards. Continue reading

Required listening: Ariana Grande’s “The Way”

I listened to this the first time purely because it had reached iTunes’ top ten singles and I hadn’t heard of it before.  It sounds like a Mariah Carey song from about 10 years ago… how is it that a newcomer can do Mariah Carey better than Mariah Carey?  Continue reading

Bad Metro-North reporting, bad handling of follow-up

https://twitter.com/FairfieldDV/status/312595576946561024

Having worked at newspapers for a good chunk of my life, I certainly take the business of journalism seriously, and especially the slow and steady march to online journalism (although, having done page production, it makes me a bit sad that layout may go away at some point).

As a technologist, I applaud unique efforts on websites, and as a former copy editor I cringe at bad missteps.  Today, a series of steps led me to a cringe-worthy moment, and a potential ethical issue. Continue reading