Wow!  I didn’t realize it until yesterday, but I don’t listen to music anymore.  I have been listening to only ESPN Radio, Podcasts, and Audiobooks for over a year.  I have had no more time than desire to listen to music radio or bought MP3’s.

Interestingly enough, one of my regular podcasts, This Week in Tech (TWiT), turned me on to a new artist by having him on this week’s show.  This has gotten me back into the music scene (at least for the time being).

His name is Jonathan Coulton.  He is a software developer turned musician.  He is not on any label you have heard of, because he is an independent artist and does most of his promotions via his website www.jonathancoulton.com.

Jonathan Coulton (or sometimes called “JoCo”) is a niche artist who has a cult following.  I would classify him as the “Dane Cook” of music in that he is very attentive and in touch with his audience and has built a fan base via that attentiveness.

Click on the Code Monkey to hear one of his songs.  Many of his songs tell stories and have interesting characters.  So interesting that many of his fans show up to his concerts dressed as these characters.  Like me, he is strongly against DRM and thinks the industry should embrace music sharing as it benefits the artists as well as the consumers.

This guy is just cool!

And there you have it

We were unable to get reservations to the campground that we have used in our past Moab trips as they were all booked up.  Brian found another site that is almost as nice and cheaper!!

So we are one step closer to the Moab trip… the cabins are reserved!

I wrote my first Wordpress widget today.

widg-et (wÄ­j’Ä­t)

- noun.  A small mechanical device, as a knob or switch, esp. one whose name is not known or cannot be recalled; gadget: A row of widgets on the instrument panel.

It was a fairly pleasant experience.  I was able to put together a reusable plug-in and convert it to a widget.  I am currently using it, check it out on my sidebar: “What I am listening to from Audible.com”.

I plan to write more, but not enough to be considered a Wordpress developer, which are job positions that I didn’t know existed.  Go figure.

In true DeCarlo fashion we purchased season tickets to something we had never been to nor heard about.  This time it was to Fernbank Museum of Natural History.  It is usually a coin flip.  If we go to this thing more than once, we will save money by getting the season tickets, but if we hate it…well we just overpaid for the single visit.

This was one of those “on the fence” scenarios.  We didn’t LOVE it, but we didn’t HATE it either.  I suppose I will take Daniel and/or Savannah and see it again, but the most impressive things there took about 10 minutes to wear off.

I was hoping the facility would be too large to cover in one visit.  That way a second visit was almost required, but that was not the case.

This place was definitely worth a single visit, but I am not so sure that a season pass should be in order.  If they rotate their exhibits often enough, then that may change my opinion.  Time will tell.

It is contract time for my cell phone again and I have some decisions to make.  On one hand, I have loved that I have a Windows Mobile phone that integrates seamlessly with my work email, but on the other hand… I just got through spending a few minutes toying around with Brian’s new iPod touch.  It makes me want to get the iPhone instead of the Tilt.

There is not an easy way to describe this device’s usability.  You really just have to play with one.  Watching this ad does do it some justice, but there is much more to it other than it shows.

You may be wondering why I have decisions to make if I am this “sold” on the iPhone.  There are two missing features that are holding me back.

• No direct Microsoft Exchange integration.  I realize this is a feature that we may never see, but it would be in Apple’s best interest to add it.  There are many corporate types that are not getting this phone solely because this feature is missing.  It would be nice if the email, calendar, and contacts all were synced from my Exchange account.
• While the Exchange integration is important, the deal breaker for me at the moment is Edge.  If the iPhone was 3G capable, I would have my decision made for me.  I hear rumors that it is supposed to be released in early 2008, but there are no official announcements that I can find.

Ho hum… what to do.