I dislike describing music immensely. Rather than painfully watching me stumble over words AIM, my friend Johnny decided to Google my newest musical obsession, Cat Power. The search yielded an interesting Urban Dictionary response… with an ad for that new online Star Trek movie on the side.

I will say this much about Cat Power. Her music doesn’t reference any paritcularly talented felines, and in fact it has nothing to do with cats at all. She (being Chan Marshall, a completely human and talented singer) never erupts into choruses of meows or anything. But it’s still fun to shout “CAT POWER!” as if advocating feline rights…

Although we all know I’m still very much a dog person.

So… Star Trek… What happened here? The trailer made me giggle. Okay, I’m way too exhausted to giggle. It made me snicker. The shirts-flying-off, stuff-blowing-up attempt to make Star Trek edgy… well, they failed. At least on me. I possessed no interest whatsoever in Star Trek ten minutes ago, and still have no interest in it. As of now, I’m just scared. I know this particular incarnation is independent and blah-blah-blah, but… I don’t know. It’s like trying to make Barney appealing to teenagers. There are some things you just don’t attempt.

On to new business. I absolutely love Google Maps… I’ve wasted many a valuable study hour mapping out trips I probably won’t take for ten years. I also like to go back and map out trips I’ve taken…This, for example, is the mammoth Discovery trip I took with the entire Teaching Fellows Entering Class of 2007 (498 of us roamed the Old North State in dress clothes for a week…)

View Larger Map

Also, any North Carolinian who just can’t quite take the Old Crow Medicine Show… But still has some attachment to this place… Check out Against Me!’s cover of “Wagon Wheel.” YouTube it yourself. I’m sleepy.

Yeah, I know, no updates for… months? I don’t even know. I’ve been extremely occupied being freezing cold and absolutely exhausted up here in the mountains. We’ve had highs in the low thirties all week… And a good chance of a nice snow tonight! I here y’all might get some, too. Strange weather, so… wintry.

And that’s the bulk of my news.

p.s. The Culbertson family is up to 8 dogs now. Spike, the American Bulldog/Boxer/Something Big mix, Leo the Toy Poodle, Max and Angel the Shih tzus, Muffy the Mutt, Snowflakey the Cocker Spaniel, Jesse the Wheaten Terrier, and Scruffy the Schnaunzer-Something who lives at my Grandma’s.