a Rut versus a Groove

Do you know gadget people? You know, the people who always have new stuff. Especially stuff that plugs in or needs to be charged. Gadget people live to be the first to have this, and the first to have that.

We are not those people.

I still haven't gotten a Wii, and even though Chris works for the Kingdom of the iPhone, I still use a Blackberry, and I got my first MP3 player for Christmas.

The whole MP3 movement is conflicting for me. I'm an avid computer user -- perhaps even an addict -- and love the convenience of the MP3 download. But, honestly, if it were up to me, I'd still be playing vinyl. I love the somewhat-staticky-sound that it makes as the record goes around and around.

Reminisce with me. Remember pulling a record out of its cover, laying it down on the turntable, and then watching the arm slowly pick up, move to the right, set down, and begin to play.

Until the dreaded scratch. Where the needle would stick and that small section of sound would play over and over and over again. Grating. And everyone would wait for it to move on or for someone to pick up the needle and move it to a different spot.

I relate to the dreaded scratch right now. If I had to describe my life, it would be in the midst of a scratch. A rut. With the same blip of sound going on and on. The same routine over and over. Get up, go to work, come home, play with ChellBell, watch whatever the Tivo picked up for the day, log on to the computer, work some more, maybe blog, go to bed. Start over. o-o-o-over (hear the scratch!?).

I need to get out of my rut. In a bad way. Spice it up, so to speak.

Becca's Blog over at Texas Darlings has inspired me tonight. She's put together a list of things to do to get to know her new city. And I think that's exactly what I need to get out of my rut. A list of new things to try right here in my own beloved city of Dallas.

So my homework for the weekend is to put together the funnest things to do in the Metroplex that I still haven't done and the best places to eat. I'd love any suggestions you have.

And I feel the needle slowly being moved over even now...