Sometimes I fall into that slough of self-examination where I feel as though I have accomplished nothing with my life. Or, when compared to Person X, I am found wanting. This often happens when I’m not currently working on a creative project, as they tend to define me and give me purpose.
So I think it might be helpful to recollect the things I have achieved. Not in a boastful, resting on my laurels sort of way. But to remind myself that I am the same person who did all of those things. Try it yourself when you are feeling somewhat less than. Read the rest of this entry ยป
As with JoCo, it seems that going to see Mike Doughty has become a yearly ritual. This time he dropped by the soon to be closing Cactus Cafe on the UT campus. Entering the sleek, hip student union made me pine for college and youth.
This was the first time I had seen the Question Jar show, where he answers written questions from the audience between every few songs. He kept the answers pithy and amusing. It was a typical Doughty set, with a few Soul Coughing tunes and stuff from the new album thrown in. I hadn’t realized how similar the guitar riffs were on about half of his songs. It created a perpetual anticipation: Which song is this? Is it going to be Circles?
He played Looking at the World From the Bottom of a Well and Tremendous Brunettes, but no Gambler cover and no Pleasure on Credit. Can’t have everything.
Legend of the Seeker, based on “The Sword of Truth” novels, is an archetypical (that is to say, cliche) fantasy show on par with Xena, full of sketchy special effects and cheesy dialogue. But I have a huge crush on Kahlan so I’ve decided the show is awesome and I’m going to watch it. So there.
Something I like to do: Make random widgets in Photoshop.
Does anyone know why Banks won’t process many transactions on the weekend or on holidays? Most of the time everything is completely run by computers. Whenever I speak to a bank employee, they is often “nothing they can do about it” because “the system won’t let me.” Computers don’t sleep. So what can’t I make a payment today just because it is President’s Day?
I went for a walk in the Greenbelt area with my friend Kristina. Initially the day promised sunshine and clear skies, but by the time we arrived it had turned cold and windy. Tons of people, Valentine’s Day couples mostly, were moving along the trail with their dogs. Beautiful spot, just wished it were warmer.
Near the falls someone’s canoe had tipped over and they were slowly making their way back to shore. A Labrador made a brave attempt to rescue the paddle that got whisked away downstream, but returned to shore wet and paddle-less. These waters are cold in the summer. I shivered just watching this guy wading through the chest-deep water.
Afterwards we sought out the warmth of a sushi restaurant. Hot miso soup was just the thing.
The little red light on top of my projector came on. While not quite as alarming as the Xbox’s red ring of death, the light is indeed a dreadful harbinger. The lamp has surpassed 1800 hours of use and needs replacing. Of all the material objects I possess, my projector is one I actually have attachment to. Without it, there would be no movies, no video games. The projector makes everything go. Without it, my PS3 is just a wedge-shaped hunk of (questionable) modern art.
Every month it seems that there is some event, some newly awakened need, which siphons away whatever extra money I might have. This month it will be the projector lamp.
This is getting ridiculous. Someone needs to write a compelling narrative which makes a case for how all of these social media widgets integrate in real life. These whatzits just appear on the internet and everyone starts using them because they are the new thing. Are they useful or are they answers to questions no one is asking?
I need to take some time and think about what it is that I want. How do I want all this information to be managed and what level of interaction I want with other people. By default it feels like there’s a fire hose of data. I want a single method of parsing that data down to the most granular level. I want to know about this person’s updates, but not this other person’s, but I want to have access to both of their contact information.
Time to give Facebook and Twitter another close examination. See what switches need to be flipped.
I finished The Wire season 2 tonight. I never really thought much about cop shows, but I really like this one. It’s one of those character driven shows where there are 6-8 story arcs happening through the season. The characters have true depth and facets. The good guys aren’t completely good and the bad guys aren’t completely bad.
Unless the quality takes a serious turn in season 3, I’m in it for the duration.
Yesterday I thought I was just tired from lack of sleep and travel, but I was up at random times coughing up foam. Today I felt wretched. Called in sick, went back to bed, had some proper rest and food. It was one of those days where I wished there was someone else around that could go to the store and get food or say soothing things to me. Sigh.