8.04.2005
fact and fiction
I know I haven't posted much recently: it's not that I'm getting lazier (though I am), and it's not that blogging is getting to be a chore (it's not): it's that I'm bored. I mean, if anything fun would happen, I'd throw it up there on the blog. But not much is happening, so there's not much to share with the world. I feel kind of silly just having one experience and throwing a single, sad-looking paragraph up here. I should probably do that rather than hold it all in and hope that my little bits and pieces of a blog entry form a coherent and understandable storyline or thread.
I went to church on Sunday down in Cambridge: lovely place. A few years ago, I was working a summer job in a Christian social services organization, and one of the pastors at CCFC (Cambridge Community Fellowship Church) really helped me out. I've been talking to her for a couple of years now, and each time I come back I seek her out to say hi and let her know that I'm doing OK. She has, unfortunately, since resigned her position as a pastor in order to go back to school for a masters in psychology. She'll be fantastic when she comes out and I wish her all the best.
Yesterday, Diana and I played hooky and didn't go to work. Well, to be fair, *she* didn't go to work. I don't really have work in the traditional sense, though to be sure, I have work to do. We went mini-golfing and walking around Cambridge. I had forgotten exactly how bad I am at mini-golf. So much so that I wasn't actually that bad at all. ;) I think the last time I was mini-golfing was with my friend Ray on the boardwalk at Atlantic City. Strange... I shot a two over par: Diana had a rougher outing. Fun, however, was had by all. :)
While we were in a book shop yesterday, we heard a conversation between the two desk clerks. I should explain that this was not your typical book shop: it had much more of that hippie sensitivity that one finds in a traditionally independent bookstore. The question from one clerk to the other: should the South Beach Diet book be filed under fiction? I couldn't resist: I offered that it should be filed under humor (I know; behold my astounding wit). Good question, though. With both of my parents at Canyon Ranch for those few days, I had some time to contemplate health and the illusion of it. National Public Radio ran a commentary from a physician about whether the president should actually undergo a yearly physical or whether he, and the rest of America, might be more effectively served in having risk screenings and illness-specific care. Some days I wake up and I feel awful. Other days I wake up and I feel fine. But is health all in one's head? Additionally, there was that report last week that echinacea does nothing against colds. Another story on NPR evaluated why some people have a hard time believing science when it contradicts their personal experience. So is your health best left to you? I shudder to think what my health would be like if I disregarded science altogether.
Finally, some relaxing thoughts from the world of technology. (How many times could I possibly say that, really?) Today's New York Times has two related articles in its circuits section. A Technology Special Edition page devoted to the digital student had some salient points thrown in among all of the funny garbage. I was amused considering that I am someone who has recently entered (in my case, re-entered) the ranks of student. When I went to college, I bought a desktop into which Apple Computer had kindly installed a faulty ZIP drive. It erased most of my high school documents in a flash. I bought a different one from a friend of my parents and used that for a couple of years. I still have it: it's old and almost entirely useless now. Then, summer before Junior year, I bought a tangerine iMac. During Senior year, I bought a G3 Powerbook. I used those two machines (and, in fact, also the Power Mac from 1997) until I left my apartment in New Jersey last summer, bolstered by a Mac G3 Cube which was lent me by the P. school and a Dell Latitude which was also lent (but in actuality forced on me in an unsuccessful attempt to get me to change from Macs to PCs). I bought this delightful G4 Powerbook last summer: it's served me well and it's gorgeous. Only one small problem, and that was with the screen not closing properly.
So today's article, Packing for the 'net generation, was amusing all around. But especially noteworthy was a tidbit inserted at the very end. My youngest brother will be attending Dartmouth College after a gap year, so this applies to him most of all. Dartmouth has something called "Laundry View": a program which allows users on the network to see what laundry machines or laundry rooms are busy and even to reserve specific machines online. This, of course, harkens back to the days of the very first webcam: the Trojan Room Coffee Pot, now sadly offline (it was unplugged for good in 2001).
Also, check out this technology profile of the über-pampered and über-wired (indeed, they are usually synonymous) students across the country. Particularly gawk-worthy is one Eddy Leal, who utilizes 3 computers and records his lectures on his iPod. I mean, I never ran three computers at once. Ever. I just can't bear to part with them, that's all.
I've been stealing my younger brother's CDs. Or, rather, what CDs of his I can find. With the invention of the iPod and iTunes software comes the eventual demise of the hard CD collection. Mine are in two nice glass cases because I'm a bit scarily anal retentive about certain rare things (an alphabetized CD cabinet is one of those things). His are scattered in his car, two CD wallets, one of those clear CD spindle-packs, and all over his room. I'm always pretty surprised when I reach for his U2 Joshua Tree CD only to find that the disc itself is nowhere to be found. Different world, I guess.
I went to church on Sunday down in Cambridge: lovely place. A few years ago, I was working a summer job in a Christian social services organization, and one of the pastors at CCFC (Cambridge Community Fellowship Church) really helped me out. I've been talking to her for a couple of years now, and each time I come back I seek her out to say hi and let her know that I'm doing OK. She has, unfortunately, since resigned her position as a pastor in order to go back to school for a masters in psychology. She'll be fantastic when she comes out and I wish her all the best.
Yesterday, Diana and I played hooky and didn't go to work. Well, to be fair, *she* didn't go to work. I don't really have work in the traditional sense, though to be sure, I have work to do. We went mini-golfing and walking around Cambridge. I had forgotten exactly how bad I am at mini-golf. So much so that I wasn't actually that bad at all. ;) I think the last time I was mini-golfing was with my friend Ray on the boardwalk at Atlantic City. Strange... I shot a two over par: Diana had a rougher outing. Fun, however, was had by all. :)
While we were in a book shop yesterday, we heard a conversation between the two desk clerks. I should explain that this was not your typical book shop: it had much more of that hippie sensitivity that one finds in a traditionally independent bookstore. The question from one clerk to the other: should the South Beach Diet book be filed under fiction? I couldn't resist: I offered that it should be filed under humor (I know; behold my astounding wit). Good question, though. With both of my parents at Canyon Ranch for those few days, I had some time to contemplate health and the illusion of it. National Public Radio ran a commentary from a physician about whether the president should actually undergo a yearly physical or whether he, and the rest of America, might be more effectively served in having risk screenings and illness-specific care. Some days I wake up and I feel awful. Other days I wake up and I feel fine. But is health all in one's head? Additionally, there was that report last week that echinacea does nothing against colds. Another story on NPR evaluated why some people have a hard time believing science when it contradicts their personal experience. So is your health best left to you? I shudder to think what my health would be like if I disregarded science altogether.
Finally, some relaxing thoughts from the world of technology. (How many times could I possibly say that, really?) Today's New York Times has two related articles in its circuits section. A Technology Special Edition page devoted to the digital student had some salient points thrown in among all of the funny garbage. I was amused considering that I am someone who has recently entered (in my case, re-entered) the ranks of student. When I went to college, I bought a desktop into which Apple Computer had kindly installed a faulty ZIP drive. It erased most of my high school documents in a flash. I bought a different one from a friend of my parents and used that for a couple of years. I still have it: it's old and almost entirely useless now. Then, summer before Junior year, I bought a tangerine iMac. During Senior year, I bought a G3 Powerbook. I used those two machines (and, in fact, also the Power Mac from 1997) until I left my apartment in New Jersey last summer, bolstered by a Mac G3 Cube which was lent me by the P. school and a Dell Latitude which was also lent (but in actuality forced on me in an unsuccessful attempt to get me to change from Macs to PCs). I bought this delightful G4 Powerbook last summer: it's served me well and it's gorgeous. Only one small problem, and that was with the screen not closing properly.
So today's article, Packing for the 'net generation, was amusing all around. But especially noteworthy was a tidbit inserted at the very end. My youngest brother will be attending Dartmouth College after a gap year, so this applies to him most of all. Dartmouth has something called "Laundry View": a program which allows users on the network to see what laundry machines or laundry rooms are busy and even to reserve specific machines online. This, of course, harkens back to the days of the very first webcam: the Trojan Room Coffee Pot, now sadly offline (it was unplugged for good in 2001).
Also, check out this technology profile of the über-pampered and über-wired (indeed, they are usually synonymous) students across the country. Particularly gawk-worthy is one Eddy Leal, who utilizes 3 computers and records his lectures on his iPod. I mean, I never ran three computers at once. Ever. I just can't bear to part with them, that's all.
I've been stealing my younger brother's CDs. Or, rather, what CDs of his I can find. With the invention of the iPod and iTunes software comes the eventual demise of the hard CD collection. Mine are in two nice glass cases because I'm a bit scarily anal retentive about certain rare things (an alphabetized CD cabinet is one of those things). His are scattered in his car, two CD wallets, one of those clear CD spindle-packs, and all over his room. I'm always pretty surprised when I reach for his U2 Joshua Tree CD only to find that the disc itself is nowhere to be found. Different world, I guess.
