My current and mostly normal obsessions

How often must something occupy your mind before it becomes an obsession? Two times? Ten times? Who designates this obsession threshold? My obsessions consist of a lot of strange things, most of which you probably care nothing about like Belgian waffles, stegosauruses and crafting the perfect sentence. But what about things normal people care about? What do you care about? Music, apps, books? Good. Read on my normal friends. Here are the latest and greatest things I can't stop thinking about. I'll save my stegosaurus and sentence-loving stories for another day.

Album

Yellow & Green by Baroness

Baroness Yellow & Green music

Yellow & Green is an oddly majestic metal album with a glimmer of indie rock. Think of the wistful vocals of Fleet Foxes and then pair it with infectious, schizophrenic sounds of metal. While distinctly different from Baroness' previous albums, it's one of the few two-disk albums out there worth the ambitious 75-minute listen. And then a few more listens after that because it's that damn infectious. With a melodic and smart guitar sound, writing while listening to this album is truly sublime. Fun fact: This band was the inspiration for Beer Baroness, a Tumblr documentation of my craft beer adventures.

App

Solar : Weather

Solar weather app

As a self-proclaimed weather fanatic (I blame my family's incessant Weather Channel watching), acquiring attractive new weather apps is a favorite pastime of mine. Freud would probably say my app collection is my way of compensating for unfulfilled sexual desires or something equally wild, but I just think it's fun. It's like a modern-day stamp collection awaiting me inside my iPhone! Solar has quickly become my go-to favorite weather app. It offers the ability to manipulate the vivid and radiant colored backgrounds with a drag of your finger and animates all forms of precipitation. At $1.99, this simplistic and magnificently designed app makes even an overcast day in Lancaster, Pennsylvania seem beautiful.

Web

BrainPickings.org

Brain Pickings website

I felt like I was living under a boulder when I first discovered BrainPickings.org. It is likely the most creative and inspirational compilation of ideas I've ever stumbled upon on the internet. The website touches on everything from music and literature to science and anthropology. Here you'll uncover Bertrand Russell's 10 commandments of teaching, explore David Ogilvy's 10 tips on writing and so much more. Maria Popova and the team of contributing writers at Brain Pickings always seem to trigger such rich thoughts. If you're not already reading the site, you should be.

Book

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

A quick adventurous read about code-breaking, data visualization, mobile ads and a touch of romance. This insta-geek classic, tells a story of an enigmatic bookstore and a cryptic code that spawns a quest for immortality. It reminds you of all the reasons you love the intimate, papery feel of a book between your fingers. Plus, the book's cover glows in the dark serving as a great guide to the kitchen in the dark of the night. What more could you want?

Sandy brings unity to Long Beach Island

It was like Waterworld, but much much worse (if you can imagine that). Image after image of devastation. The New York and New Jersey coasts were annihilated. But nothing compared to watching clips of Long Beach Island. After countless summers and long winter weekends on the island, half of my heart is buried in its sands. Paralyzed by the b-roll, I couldn't help but cry.

Maybe it had a bit to do with four canceled flights and my rattling displacement in North Carolina. Try watching nothing but decimated homes and interviews of people without a place to sleep. Even the Shack was destroyed. After that, pretty much anything would've made me weepy.

No dunes :(

The moment I could, I scrambled to donate money to Red Cross. Still feeling helpless and determined to DO something, I discovered a beach-wide community clean up effort. I rallied my dad and Katie, my co-worker, rounded up a few of her friends. Next thing I knew, we were raking yards full of pine needles, tearing down water-logged, moldy wood paneling and hugging strangers (well, I did some stranger-hugging at least).

Saturday's effort on Long Beach Island drew about 1,000 people and raised money for the firefighters of Beach Haven who haven't left the island since the storm hit. While my efforts might be only a small dent in a long road to recovery, it was great to see people come together and witness flickers of hope for an island that feels more like home than my real home.

Swelling up to the meet the ocean before the brunt of the storm hit, the surge from the bay seemed to cause the worst of the damage. North Beach took a hard hit and Holgate was still closed on Saturday. Other parts of the island with more substantial dune systems fared better, but a lot of people are still displaced and without power. And trust me, you don't even want to hear about the scary 30-foot pile of trash outside of the Acme.

LBI Barnegat Beach Walkway

The infrastructure of the New Jersey barrier islands needs some significant changes. Here's hoping Hurricane Sandy is a wakeup call.

Oh yeah. And long live the Shack.

25 things I haven't outgrown on my 25th birthday

Yesterday was my 25th birthday. Having thoroughly celebrated during my weekend-long birthday bash, I don’t mind at all that my gift was to sit on a train bound for New York City. I'm actually excited to escape the office and attend two Google seminars this week. The first one starts this morning. I thought of writing about 25 things I'm grateful for or 25 things I've learned to honor my birthday, but neither seemed quite fitting. Instead, I stumbled on this post by the Everywhereist. (After I wrote this, I went back to really read the rest of her post, and it turns out we have a bit in common.) Anyway, I figured I'd share 25 things I have yet to outgrow at the age of 25. One might argue I've barely had time to outgrow anything at the crisp age of 25. Well, go ahead and argue. I'm telling you anyway.

1. The Muppets.
2. Licking the cake batter off the mixer beaters.
3. Halloween.
4. Bond, James Bond. Looks like I'm not the only one.
5. Writing.
6. Cheesecake.
7. Everything and anything Bill Murray.
8. Getting lost in an unbelievably good book.
9. Eating popcorn for dinner. (Thank you mom for the deliciously unhealthy habit.)
10. Traveling everywhere and anywhere that's new and fascinating.
11. Tormenting my little brothers.
12. Staying up late and watching movies. (Except for the insomnia part.)
13. Card games.
14. The internet. (Let's hope I never grow tired of this.)
15. Eating my dad's pancakes on a Sunday morning.
16. Roasting marshmallows over a bonfire, especially while camping at the beach. Nothing beats moments like this.
17. Drawing things with sidewalk chalk.
18. Football.
19. Running. The feeling of all your stress melting away is amazing.
20. Music older than I am – think B.B. King, Buddy Guy, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.
21. Creations like X-Men, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and ThunderCats.
22. Laughing at inappropriate times, often at inappropriate things.
23. Hiking through the woods.
24. Playing Mario Kart on Super Nintendo.
25. The magic of Christmas.

And of course, I can't forget to mention my great friends and family! Thanks for putting up with me and being so wonderful.

A thing of beauty

I vividly remember receiving my cousin Becky's high school graduation announcement in the mail. Her picture sat on my grandmother's forest green Wurlitzer piano for at least four years. Natural enemies of photographs like sunlight, sulfur compounds and high humidity never managed to degrade her spirited smile. Even with an aggressive case of metastatic melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer, biting at her ankles, she continued to  radiate strength and positivity. Recently, Becky received news that the cancer had spread to her brain. Her resolve is astonishing. To be faced with such adversity only to strike back with even more strength is downright inspiring. Her Facebook updates always include phrases equivalent to "but I'll keep fighting" - squashing any lingering notion of surrender. It certainly makes me take a step back and treasure life a little more.

I might not know her favorite flavor of ice cream. I might also live 2,784 miles away. But that's the thing about family. Those small details are insignificant. We share a familial connection - our paterfamilias. Two of the truest and most intelligent men I know. Plus, our moms? Together, they have a knack for beer pong. All of this is more than enough for me to support her as best as I can - through this post or simple encouraging comments on Facebook. We're family.

Do yourself a favor. Don't use tanning beds. Wear sunscreen. The nebulous threat of cancer isn't worth it. Seriously. Please send whatever positives thoughts and prayers you have to Becky and her family. We all appreciate it.