yesterday i celebrated 31 years on planet earth. just 2 days before said birthday, one of my favorite bands, elbow, played a show in atlanta. when you combine those 2 things, magic happens. the stars did, in fact, align and we (christen and i) were able to escape for a couple days to experience elbow live.

for quite some time, i’ve been a relatively outspoken proponent of public education. quite frankly, i wish it was the only system of education we had (for many and varied reasons). my feelings have only grown stronger over the last month as lucy—our oldest child—has started pre-K.

one of the things i’m keenly aware of—relative to my advocacy of public schools—is that the public education system isn’t healthy. for various reasons, i certainly think it’s healthier than private or home school alternatives, but nevertheless, it’s a long way from where it should and could be.

throughout the year, i’ve been blogging about derek webb’s ongoing project called democracy vol. 2. fans were able to cast votes for up to 10 songs that they wanted webb to cover. then, the 10 songs receiving the most votes would be covered by webb for the album. the collection is being recorded over the span of 2011, with 1 track being recorded and released each month. from march to december, webb has/will release 1 track each month. for those who would like to catch up, here’s links to each month’s blog posts so far:

1. cee lo green: f**k you
2. bon jovi: livin’ on a prayer
3. the beach boys: god only knows
4. u2: one
5. traditional: be thou my vision

yesterday, we found out august’s track: simon & garfunkel’s bridge over troubled water.

ok, so i’m sorta into breaking bad…

yes, long-time (or even short-time) blog readers (as well as my twitter followers) know that i’ve got what doctors call an “obsession”. in all seriousness, week in and week out, breaking bad is a show that continues to compel me and draw me into this incredible story of walter white and the spiraling world around him.

prior to the start of this season (season 4), writer and producer vince gilligan talked candidly about how this was the season that walt would finally (completely) turn the corner from a heroic father to a self-focused monster. certainly, we’ve slowly seen that unfold in the first half of the season. as walt’s paranoia toward kingpin gus grew, we saw him begin to embrace violent and illegal means to his ever-growing power hungry ends.

ward cleaver has become scarface.

dr. jekyll has said farewell to mr. hyde.