Things I enjoyed this week (March 23)
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  By George Mandis <george@mand.is>
  https://george.mand.is/2014/03/things-i-enjoyed-this-week-march-23
  Saturday, March 29th 2014

<p>In what I'm hoping can be a regular writing topic I offer a summary of enjoyable and/or interesting things I learned, found or otherwise discovered.</p>
<ul>
<li>Spring is decidedly here in Portland. That means rain, but that also means warmer breaks between the cloudbursts. The weather has been kind enough over the past week to visit <a href="/2014/03/belated-birthday-beginning-spring-secret-coffee-place/">my secret coffeeshop</a> off the <a href="http://www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/finder/index.cfm?action=ViewPark&amp;PropertyID=679">Springwater Corridor</a>. It also means celebrating (belatedly) <a title="Belated birthday, the beginning of spring, my secret coffee place" href="/2014/03/belated-birthday-beginning-spring-secret-coffee-place/">my brother's birthday</a>.</li>
<li>I went to a BBQ on one of those super-sunny days. I saw old friends from high school, people I hadn't seen in 14 years as well as a shooting start while standing next to a fire pit.</li>
<li>March Madness is here, which is fun for a basketball junky such as myself ((Though I don't really like college basketball that much. I do like the chaos of the tournament format, and slightly-shitty, non-professional basketball is always better than no basketball.)) and my good friend. <a href="http://www.quickenloansbracket.com">I didn't win a billion dollars</a>.</li>
<li>I discovered a new TV show. There is only so much basketball you can watch, even in March. My friend, who probably has a higher basketball-watching tolerance than I do, introduced me to a dumb TV show called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impractical_Jokers">Impractical Jokers</a>. I... I love it. It's beautifully, intentionally dumb, but has a little heart ((The premise is four, life-long comedian friends dare one another to do stupid things in public. They're fed lines and cues through an earpiece, generally enough to establish a ridiculous situation that the comedian will then have to talk his way out of or otherwise run with. Where it becomes likable is when one of them chickens out, showing a shred of decency.)) which makes the four guys kind of endearing. They rip-on and tease one another like only four, lifelong friends could, and the absurdity makes me genuinely laugh out of loud at least a few times every episode. Perhaps that says more about my (im)maturity.</li>
<li>Continued running a bit, despite <a title="Alas, no NYC Marathon for me this year. Unless…" href="/2014/03/alas-nyc-marathon-year-unless/">not getting selected for the NYC marathon draft</a>, going to yoga and generally trying to <a title="Squirrel food, running and Istanbul" href="/2014/03/squirrel-food-running-istanbul/">stay healthy</a>. Looking forward to my next run at the <a href="http://www.terrapinevents.com/bridge-to-brews_info.htm">Bridge to Brews</a> event next weekend ((Oh shit that's soon!))</li>
<li>I got a lot of work done, and more than simply discovering <a title="Nearly full-screen web pages for mobile Safari" href="/2014/03/nearly-full-screen-web-pages-mobile-safari/">how to make better, semi-full-page webpages for mobile Safari</a> or  <a title="iTunes-style color schemes for WordPress" href="/2014/03/itunes-style-color-schemes-wordpress/">how to generate iTunes-style color schemes for WordPress</a>. That's boring to write about, but good for me. This year has been rough in many ways and I'd be lying if I said it hasn't affected my work. I've had no shortage of projects but have had trouble with productivity. Made something of a breakthrough on that front this week, possibly in-part due to the breakthrough in the weather.</li>
</ul>
<p>Looking at my calendar for the upcoming week it looks like there will be plenty of other things to like soon.</p>