So last Thursday I got a chance to dust off the cross-country skis and go with Ali to Finger Lakes Community College (4355 Lakeshore Dr., Canandaigua) and spend some time on the trails in the woods. Each of us fell at least once and almost always due to freaking out about going downhill even at slow speeds. On Friday my friend Peri stopped by to talk about repairing a fried stereo amplifier. After chatting for an hour or so, we stumbled upon this kernel: if you think your life is easy then you have more sympathy for the plight of others. The opposite — believing everyone else has it easy — just makes you bitter and resentful. I'll have to key into that more ... maybe make a list of aphorisms someday.

Friday night I went to The Dryden Theater at George Eastman House (900 East Ave.) to see Black Gold, a documentary about the imbalance in money between Ethiopian coffee growers and Western coffee shops. The movie makes you think, but it didn't seem complete. I mean, given the seemingly fertile land, why don't Ethiopians farm their own food? If the teat of world trade delivers poison, why keep sucking on it? I couldn't avoid thinking the members of the The World Trade Organization (WTO) were pompous, self-serving, money-grubbing dishrags — I'd like to see a depiction of them in positive light somehow. I doubt that's possible, though.

Saturday Ali and I met at O'Bagelo's (165 State St.) a bit later than I'm usually there. Afterward we stopped by The Memorial Art Gallery (500 University Ave., near Goodman St.) because her employer is sponsoring free admissions for employees and their families. Anyway, I was glad to have checked out the Willie Cole Anxious Objects exhibit. He uses found objects — particularly clothes irons, womens shoes, and hair dryers — to make social commentary pieces. It's really fascinating and worth checking out.

On Sunday I was goofing around with the household appliances, using my Kill-A-Watt to calculate how much each uses. I was curious which takes more energy to heat a cup of coffee: the microwave or the coffee maker hotplate. The hotplate averages about 100 watts to heat the carafe and it takes 15 minutes to heat the coffee, so that's about 25 watt-hours. The microwave uses 1600 watts for 90 seconds or about 40 watt-hours — about 60% more. I was kind of surprised by that. Hmmm.

Anyway, I went to Peri's for her anti-Superbowl party — no television at all. We played a card game with friends but then I was off to Ali's family's pro-Superbowl party. Like last year, I was disappointed by the advertising turnout. I mean, I really don't care much about the game, so I really watch for the commercials which are the most expensive slots for any advertising on television. I am hoping that the Budweiser ad slapping-people-in-the-face catches on — the ad noted that the "fist pump" is out for a greeting, but that slapping is in ... it would sure beat that "wazzup" shit from a couple years ago.

On Monday my night terrors that usually start around 4 a.m. didn't arrive until 7 so I ended up getting depressed about stuff — mostly the hypothetical evil enemy who will ruin my life because my house isn't painted, or my business isn't zoned correctly, or that I'm using a lot of gas lately ... stuff I can get through if it comes in due time. Speaking of which, though, Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E) (89 East Ave.) recently billed me for the past 5 months. I realized recently that I hadn't seen a bill for a while, and I have "automatic payment" ... well, I called them and finally got a bill: $515, although no late fees. Basically something went wrong reporting the usage to the energy supply company and they billed me $11,415.59 — which was thankfully never deducted from my bank account. However, it took 5 months to clear up and I'm still not sure what I should have owed.

In other news, though, I seem to have "gone into the black" on JayceLand — much of my bill at Dreamhost is covered by referrals, and the $100 or so I make on the Google advertising means I actually make money on it. My brother is still struggling with his business in Denver — CityLife Networks — which offers some nifty ways to search for nearby resources (i.e. "where can I get a Guinness" or a "where is the nearest mailbox") and a really quite reasonably-priced wireless internet service. I think his argument against "free WiFi" is valid: what incentive is there to improve or maintain a service that you earn no revenue from? And if you do get indirect revenue — from, say, selling demographic information about users — then it's not really free, is it?

However, I'm still in the hole because I spent some bucks on a Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon. In concept, this is a test-bed for a project to improve gas mileage in cars. At the very least, it will be the chariot that will convey Ali and I to Burning Man and back later this year. I bought it at North Star Auto Sales (1127 Waterloo-Geneva Rd., Waterloo), and largely on faith. I never put down a deposit but basically agreed to have business-owner and station-wagon-aficionado Fred do any drivetrain repairs to ensure it'll last for a while. After talking with him I decided he was an honest guy (note the "I got a woody at North Star Auto Sales" sticker) and I was willing to do a handshake deal on the thing. So now I have 4,300-pounds of Detroit iron with a fuel-injected V-8, posi-traction 3.23:1 differential rear-wheel drive, seats for 7 passengers (including the two that face rearward), and an estimated 23 miles-per-gallon on the highway. It's twice the weight of my Civic, twice the power, half the gas mileage, a full foot wider, 10 inches taller, and 5 feet longer. It's an entirely different beast to drive.

That night Ali and I drove it to Zebb's (1890 S. Clinton Ave.) for dinner. I had the same experience I remember having in the past: visiting again after several years, I remember it being very good but finding it to be acceptable, and being disappointed in the toppings bar. It is what it is. At least the burgers are made with good quality beef and prepared well.

Tuesday I had an idea and I want to start a new trend. Every single piece of junk mail with a prepaid envelope should be sent back. At a minimum, just drop the envelope in the mail. Preferably, enclose all the included materials that don't include your name. The idea is that we need to make bulk junk-mail not profitable. If everyone sent back every envelope, it would become ungainly to try and open it all for such a low response rate. Without a prepaid envelope, though, the number of people who would respond to an offer drops a lot (in theory) so even sending out junk-mail becomes not effective. The result: less junk-mail.

In theory.

Anyway, that night Ali came by and we had a nice dinner at The Old Toad (277 Alexander St.) Be wary of those barley wines and specialty stouts as the get pretty strong. Sometimes you even say offensive things and actually try to defend them. Seriously: if you're going to hit the hard stuff at the Toad, don't say mean things. I assure you from personal experience that it's the best thing to do.

• Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (at The Little) - Not to ruin the surprise, but it's a black man — to a white-family's dinner, and he's getting married to the white daughter.
• Venus (at The Little) - A couple old actors get united with a young girl and a typical story about youth and age unfolds.