this is not right...

Okay, this is going to be a short two-part post. Promise.

We had thunderstorms all evening. Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. We had THUNDER and LIGHTENING in the middle of JANUARY in CHICAGO! Apparently our high temp of 60 today broke a record that was over 100 years old. And we had thunderstorms. Lots of pretty lightening too, of course, but I just couldn't get into it since it is supposed to be wretchedly cold right now and snowing. Just so you know, it did basically go from 0 degrees to 60 degrees in about three days. That old saying "0-60" doesn't seem so odd now...

Part 2: This is completely unrelated but I just thought I'd share my new internet addiction for the week (or day I suppose since I posted the game last...) It is online radio at it's best - Pandora.com. If you are not familiar with this site, here's how it works. You type in the name of a song or an artist and the magic website makes you a whole radio station based on that song or artist, matching similar styles etc. So while I was at work today, I felt like listening to some music but didn't have any CDs with me. Eva had told me about Pandora so I logged on, typed in Tori Amos, and just started listening. They always play a song by the artist first so you can tell the computer whether or not you like that song (as a representation of the artist). After that, the computer just picks other related songs and you are given the chance to either give each song a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, further refining your "station." You can also add more information for the computer to work off of by giving more songs or artists. I did this by adding Joshua Radin, Loreena McKinnett, Indigo Girls, and Coldplay. Of all the songs that played, there were only 2 or 3 that I didn't like. You aren't required to rate the songs but I made sure to mark the ones I didn't like so the computer would know my preferences.

It is like having someone make you a really awesome continuous mix tape with a lot of people you've never heard of.

So if you feel like turning on the radio to listen to music, try the computer instead. The internet site is free but you can subscribe in order to stream music on cell phones and other wireless devices.

Have fun! I'm off to bed, hoping the thunder doesn't wake me up later...