Departing and arriving

(Ooh, I am so pissed at YouTube for disabling embedding of this one video. I spent all day thinking up a bit about it. I’ll explain later in the week if I can’t figure out how to do it the way I want to.)

So I had to burn something like five hours in an airport on Friday. That wasn’t entirely my plan going into the trip but while Kansas City is conveniently located in the center of the nation almost no one ever flies there directly. Thus I had a choice of getting a convenient flight and being redirected through Atlanta or flying directly and I chose the direct flight since it would take roughly the same amount of time. That still meant I had an afternoon to burn in an airport.

I probably should have asked for advice before the trip as to how to kill that much time at an airport. Now as an experienced traveler I am pretty accustomed to spending a lot of time sitting and waiting. I of course explored the airport bar, which sadly was not nearly as exciting as it should be. First off, I had the worst Miller Lite I think I have ever tasted. This is quite disconcerting given that it was a bottle. It must not have aged well or something because this was just awful. Plus, I had to sit there and watch ESPN coverage of Brett Favre (retire already, jerk) and that wasn’t making things nicer.

Since I figured that I should try something different I did eat at a Chick-Fil-A for the first time ever. My verdict: it is a chicken sandwich. I have yet to understand the great praise that I have heard for the franchise. Yes, it was tasty and surprisingly good for fast food but the lines I’ve seen at the drive thru would seem to indicate that the sandwiches possess some sort of magical qualities. As if the secret of life is hidden in between the buns. Maybe it has something to do with the pickles. I really can’t tell you.

I did finish the book I was reading, “Then We Came to the End”. It is a rather interesting read and I had heard a lot of praise for it, which I understand but that doesn’t mean I enjoyed it. The book is about an advertising office during corporate downsizing, so obviously I was relating very well. It was funny and insightful but what makes the book a critical darling also made it a very challenging read. The book is written in the royal we. Meaning there is no narrator per se, just someone saying we and us all the time. As a result there is no central character and while there is a consistent point of view you can’t really identify with it. In terms of writing craft it is an astounding piece of work. But as a reader I could really have done with a focal point.

With that said I am desperately searching for more books to read. Please send some suggestions my way. Anything and everything is fair game but I am really looking for some new fiction to read. Nothing too deep or heavy but I could really do with a few new authors.

Best of 120 Minutes: It’s Sunday so I might as well post The Sundays. Sigh. I could listen to Harriet Wheeler’s voice all night.