Sunday, May 25, 2003

A few quick things

I had a great day yesterday. The furniture factory was up and running, although if I never have to saw anything ever again it will be too soon. My family made me a wonderful dinner, and they were very nice to me. My husband buys me the most thoughtful gifts--things that are so perfectly calibrated to who I am. It's really neat.

A high note, or at least a funny, synchronistic one: the quote for the day for my birthday on Refdesk was:

"When all else fails, read the directions."

.....and related to that quote, pls. ignore the 5/23 post--it's a defective duplicate. Try as I might, I cannot get it to go away. When and if I ever seek help--either from a person, or *gasp* by reading the directions---it will disappear.

Friday, May 23, 2003

Update and *new feature*

The big day: well in truth it was very big, in ways both hoped for and not predicted (and some, yet to be implemented). Kind of a 'sweet and sour' experience. Overall, whether you knew it or not, your wishes made a difference, a very positive difference. Thank you.

Sort of, kind of related to this, I would like to propose a very counter-cultural approach to change (personal and otherwise)--pointilism. Yes, a' la Meurat and etc. Ponder it if you so choose--and then think about the the movie "What about Bob?" (Richard Dreyfus, Bill Murray). Then recall, if you can, the title of Dreyfus (the shrink)'s best-seller......... Perhaps this film was a source of deeper wisdom than I ever imagined. It (pointilism) is kind of digital, too. Think about it.

And on to the *new feature:* a short list of my current fixations.

1. Musically, I am blown away by Angelique Kidjo's new album "Black Ivory Soul," especially the tune "Afrika." It is purely outstanding. I would also like to recommend Citizen Cope. You can stream his entire album from his Web site.It's mesmerizing, soulful, and catchy, too. After listening to it, see if you can refrain from repeating the lyrics over and over and over ("$200,000 in counterfeit fifty dollar bills" being an example of such a lyric.)

2. I am reaching the point of formal addiction to Haagen Dasz Macadamia Nut Brittle Ice Cream. I don't want to be cured--but I do think it would be better for my personal aesthetics if I could cut down to three nights a week of HDMNBIC consumption, from the current (egregious) frequency of seven nights per week.

3. I am very enamored of all my new computer equipment, which has amazing capabilities. I am just kvelling.

Also, tomorrow is my birthday. I love that I was born in May, one of the nicest months of the year (although not currently...) but I never know what to do with myself. It's an awful lot of pressure on a person, since it's just one short day.

Enough for now. Basta!!

Wednesday, May 14, 2003

Big day today

I have a big day today. Hope I'm ready; hope I can do it (do what? This, I ask myself). I want to be my best self--every day, actually, but today is especially important. I'm awash in anxiety, excitement, fear, hope, memories, pictures of an imagined future, and lots of facts. Wish me luck!

Friday, May 09, 2003

Placeholders

1. PC Forum, Day Three (ok it took place 6 weeks ago, but I have a good memory....).
2. My inadvertant launch of an iTunes server at the office today (I didn't even know I'd done it--but I'm still impressed with myself).

PC Forum, day 2.5: Will Wright's speech

Will Wright is, of course, the creator of 'The Sims'--including Sim City and its many spinoffs. The main things I remember:

1. I thought, to myself while he was speaking "Wow, he's really bright. How refreshing." The reason I thought this is that he seemed to understand that paradigms (as the word is used in Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions) are not right or wrong. That is, they are not binary--each has its virtues and its failings. They represent a range of choices, each with its own implications. They are in some ways interchangeable, like a set of clothes....except that when you 'change your clothes,' so to speak, you change your reality.

2. Speaking of clothes, I really liked the dress I was wearing. It definitely improved my reality, even if the PC Forum photographic team, in a momentary lapse, neglected to take my picture. (Thematic note: refer to 1/13/03 for more on the parallel paradigms of computing and clothing...).

Saturday, May 03, 2003

I took a break

....Not that I intended to. April just got away from me; it was a flash in the pan. And now it's May, just about my favorite month of the year. What's new: actually, my computer is. I have a new Mac G4 titanium Powerbook, the 12" model. It is a very cool item on all fronts: power, speed, beauty, style, etc. I got it last Wednesday and am still getting to know it. In the mean time, I am shuttling back and forth between the G4 and my trusty 'old' G3 Powerbook. Since the old one uses OS 9.2 and the new one uses OSX (10.25), and some of my software doesn't work on the new one, I set up a little wireless network right here in my living room. I am very proud of myself, since I am not a 'computer person' (whatever that is), but I manage to figure out how to do things using my little noggin.

Topics in my writing "to do" list: Sims creator Will Wright's speech at the PC Forum dinner, Day three of the PC Forum, movies, esp. Standing in the Shadows of Motown--to name just a few. Stay tuned!