Last week I did my official “removal of the ice scraper from the car for the warm weather” ceremony. Yup, chucked that hunk of plastic right into the back of the coat closet. “No need for you any more this year!”

Last night as I wiped the three inches of snow off of my windshield with my coat sleeve and chiseled the ice away with my finger nails after getting out of work, I couldn’t help but think back on my twelve years of driving and how I always, without fail, regret putting the ice scraper away. No matter how late in the Grand Rapids year. I then drove home in blustery white-out conditions, deftly avoiding huge swaths of black ice as the salt trucks showered my car with chunks of salt.

Seriously…

Always nice to see a big corporation with a sense of humor. Check out the directions on this link, and specifically point 23. Atta boy Google.

I’ve been digging LCD Soundsystem’s newest album release like nobody’s business. The Sound of Silver is ridiculously good and should be purchased immediately if you have any interest in melodic-groovy-electro music. I do have an interest in this and have been looking forward to this CD since first hearing LCD’s eponymous release in ’05. This is easily my album of the year so far. My only regret is that Pitchfork has already latched onto this one and, given LCD Soundsystem’s already proven penchant to commercialize, it’s only a matter of time until these tracks are saturating Grey’s Anatomy and Clear Channel radio.

“Someone Great” (song 4, you might remember this one from a good chunk of the Nike+ release) is probably the best song on the album, though really there aren’t any particularly glaring weaknesses. For the moment though, “All My Friends” (song 5) is winning the playlist battle on my car stereo. A song about growing up and figuring out your priorities and realizing that really all you want is to have fun and be with your friends, mistakes and all. Check out the whole album here. Go listen. Go now. Or sneak a peak below (shhh though, it probably won’t be up long – 10 MB stream).

I know rain and cooler weather are in the forecast and really it’s probably only a matter of weeks until we’re already hitting the muggy, buggy season here in mosquito paradise, but the weather the past couple of days has been perfect. Spirits have been raised, outdoor chores have been vanquished, windows have been opened, trails have been run. Right this second the dogs are sprawled out in the back yard, panting with their lips caked in dirt. Copacetic. I need to purchase a new bike soon. Or maybe just a stuffed tiger, a flag, and an explorers hat.

It’s funny though. In spite of the goodness in the air (I also just found out I’ll be heading up a hiking trip to Montana with the kids at work this summer), I can’t help feeling pangs for what we had at the end of last summer. I feel the sun here and it makes me want to feel it reflecting off of the ocean as I bob up and down, watching otters watching me. Salt-flecked face. Neck chafed from pivoting inside neoprene. Beaten and happy. I mean, look at the header image at the top of this page. Undeniably gorgeous coast. We were right there watching whales swim and spray on the very day that that picture was taken. It’s tough to go back when you’ve seen something higher.

Then again sometimes you just have to wish for a sandwich…

Speaking of Entourage, if you’re at all interested in checking out the series and don’t have HBO, I just stumbled on this link today. The video quality is pretty rough and I can’t imagine this is being done with the happy permission of HBO (so stream before the inevitable copyright hawks bring the cease and desists), but good enough for a taste. Or I suppose you could just Netflix/purchase the DVDs.