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3 releases today worth mentioning... Sarah Jarosz - Build Me Up From Bones CHVRCHES - The Bones if What You Believe Frankie Rose - Herein Wild I've been looking forward to two of them, and the third was a pleasant surprise to find out about yesterday.

I couldn't imagine going back. The improvements in functionality far outweigh any minor issues with the visuals, which I really like as a whole. My biggest issue is with Safari. When you click on a link, and then go back, you end up at the top of the page and not scrolled to where you left. Seems to be a well documented bug, so I'm sure it'll get addressed in a new update.

It is for me because I already subscribe to iTunes Match, so no ads for me!

I started with a little Neko Case Radio, and was pleased with the selection I heard. I will definitely be continuing to use it, though I don't think it will end up negating the need for something like Spotify for me. I really value being able to hear an entire album. I had hoped Spotify would save me some money, since I would avoid buying stinkers. Instead I have found a number of new artists, and while in theory I could continue to listen to them there, I feel the need to buy their stuff if I really like it. This has been quite detrimental to my wallet.

And just like that, iTunes Radio is back in my Music app, with no action from me. Weird.

Perplexing morning with iOS 7... Lost a bunch of album art, mostly from iTunes purchases. Nothing else worked, resorted to resetting all settings, turned iTunes Match back on and there they are. Unfortunately I need to re-download everything when I get home, which will take forever. But what's more, I would appear to have lost the iTunes Radio button in the Music app. I was hoping to try it out since I don't have any music downloaded to my phone, but it's disappeared. There are some limited search results on the web indicating I'm not the only one, but not enough to really know what might be going on. Oh well, back to Spotify. Other than that, very happy with the update. My favorite things so far... - Gesture for back in Safari - Spotlight access from every home screen - Unlimited pages in folders - Blank first home screen possible The Spotlight one is really surprising, since I never used it before, but it's very nice to launch apps instead of digging through the home screens and folders. And the blank first screen is cool because I can have my wallpaper visible and unencumbered. This used to be possible, but the next screen would migrate over after a reboot. Now it stays blank, which may not be a plus for most, but I'm pretty psyched.

Two I've really been looking forward to... I love the Chvrches EP and can't wait for their full-length. I've been really enjoying Chealsea Wolfe. Apokalypsis had only gotten casual listens on Spotify, but this is not really music that lends itself to casual listening. I've been able to dive into her newest, Pain is Beauty a little more and really, really like it. Not what one would call uplifting, but it is absolutely stunning. I'm going all in this morning... Apokalypsis Pain is Beauty

To my ears, Story of Us = mix of Felt Mountain and Seventh Tree I've seen some not-so-positive reviews, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Lexicon by Max Barry. I've enjoyed all of his books, but this is probably my favorite since Jennifer Government, though Syrup is still my favorite.

Finally got a few minutes to set up my Pebble. Very pleased with build quality, feel and function so far. I'll need some more time with it to really get a feel for it, but I like the simplicity of it. Today's Samsung Gear announcement only reinforces my desire for a pared down accessory like this.

Enjoyed a nap with Penelope... Paternity leave is pretty awesome!

A belated thanks to everyone. Lauren's water broke on my birthday, so I never got back to the thread. And while Penelope and I won't share a birthday, I'll always remember that this whole adventure started on my 37th birthday!

I received my Pebble last weekend, but haven't had a chance to even try it on or set it up. I'm pleased the push email update was just released, too.

Thanks everyone... Doesn't look like I'm going to be sharing my birthday, but I still had a great day! Walked into town for breakfast, and later in the day we got a visit from the folks and my dad wrapped up the railings on the new stairs. Just relaxing with Lauren for the rest of the evening. Turning 29 again wasn't so bad!

Yeah, Lauren was on the phone with her mom the last few mornings when Koshka will venture down from the loft. She makes such a fuss when she wakes up and starts moving around that her mom asked if our cat was dying!

A few cool updates... The bridge connecting Kittery, ME (where I live) to Portsmouth, NH (where anything of interest is) is finally open, after closing to vehicular traffic in July of 2011 and pedestrian traffic in November of 2011. There are other ways to get there, but this was the only one with pedestrian and bike access, and is a 15 minute walk to downtown Portsmouth. I was walking the pup at lunch Thursday when they had the ribbon cutting ceremony and opened it to pedestrians for 2 hours before opening it up to vehicles, which allowed me to stand in the middle of the road and snap this picture looking straight up the lift span tower... The other news is while preparing for Baby Bodwell to arrive, we realized we couldn't put off replacing the exterior stairs to our condo any longer. They were falling apart, and that's not something you want as your wife approaches her due date! But taking down the only access to your second floor unit is also something I wouldn't recommend as your wife approaches her due date. But we were able to stage and phase it so we could maintain access. Three days of hard work with my father got us this far, with nailing off the framing and deck, adding railings and cleanup still required. I'm exhausted, and the baby isn't even here yet!

Love seeing the happy kitty posts! Snapped this one of my 14 yo one-eyed cat, Koshka. I really liked the rim lighting. She's still ridicously affectionate, ridiculously loud, and ridiculously playful for a cat her age.

Sorry to hear it, Mike.

Au Revoir Simone - Still Night, Still Light Finally signed up with Spotify... Very fun to explore new artists and find new music w/out rolling the dice buying albums unheard.

Buffy isn't sci-fi. It's a coming-of-age drama/comedy wrapped in a supernatural/horror wrapper.

Amy Macdonald - Life in a Beautiful Light I'd be lying if I said I had some great story of how I found out about her. But truth be told, I saw her on an episode of Top Gear from last season as a Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, thought she was utterly charming, loved the Scottish accent and figured if she had sold enough albums to have gone through 3 different Audi R8's and to currently drive a Ferrari 458, she must be doing something right. The album does not disappoint...

Firefly marathon on the Science channel. I this show so very much. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

Glad you're finding some recommendations you enjoy... A lot of what I've listened to over the last 7 years is here. I'll try to take a look through the list and find some more recommendations. I don't even remember where I found out about Lanterns on the Lake. When I get bored I tend to go on a tear digging for new music.

I still really like Reanimation... Quite abut more than Hybrid Theory, actually. Almost every song is improved upon.

Lanterns on the Lake - Gracious Tide, Take Me Home And I just saw their new album has been announced for 9/9.