| Reflecting on Adoption Responses |
[Oct. 1st, 2008|11:04 am] |
Hi,
Last week, I announced that we were approved for the adoption waiting list.
I also wrote all of my extended family (for whom I had e-mail addresses.)
Many thanks to everyone who commented and wrote back... even your simple “congrats!” was really heart warming and awesome--seriously--having my inbox fill up with cheers from family and LJ-friends was thrilling.
This post shares some of the more elaborate or interesting comments, for my memory and so we can refer back to them, and for your entertainment, as some of them are funny.
The letter that I sent my family is also appended beneath, for you rabid information addicts, and also so I’ll be able to refer to it years from now. This is a journal, after all.
( A Sampling of Responses and the Letter I Sent to Family )
Current Conclusions
Things have been so busy that I am still processing. Of course, that's a life-long activity.
Every day seems to bring a thousand adventures, and I am continually surprised by both the universe of feeling within myself and the universes I catch glimpses of in other people.
Our souls’ complexity and simultaneous simplicity is a startling paradox, perhaps nature's most surprising masterpiece. |
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| One Small Hitch... |
[Sep. 30th, 2008|11:18 am] |
I picked up a hitchhiker today and drove him from Colchester village to Winooski. He was a 26-year-old roofer headed to Burlington on his day off. He was kind of shy, smelled faintly of Camels, clearly had a lot of Italian in him, and made polite conversation but wasn't very good at it. He makes $13 an hour as a roofer. He had a really nice backpack and clearly walked or depended on rides a lot. We didn't exchange names or specific details about our lives.
Hitchhiking, and picking up hitchhikers, can be dangerous. And that sucks.
Non-Dangerous hitchhiking is one of those things that I would design into my perfect world, were I given the powers to make the world better.
Other things I would add:
- spontaneous group sing-alongs on subways,
- community cookouts,
- one-shared-truck-per-ten-households-that-all-drive-economy-passenger-cars,
- no more makeup (except for costumes or special occasions),
- more sushi,
- cuddle parties wouldn't be creepy, they'd be normal,
- instead of unsustainable economic expansion from 1950 to the present, we would have achieved a four-day work week instead,
- instantaneous space travel to any star system,
- Red Rover, Red Rover would be safe,
- ...and no more wars. Ever.
I know, I know, my list goes from somewhat possible to ludicrous. So sue me.
What would you add to the world? Mass transportation? A garden in every back yard? More clotheslines? Paprika? Bring back soapbox races?
-Douglas
P.S.
If you hit on a really good idea, you might give this a try:
http://www.project10tothe100.com/ |
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| Free |
[Sep. 29th, 2008|04:51 pm] |
The best things in life are free.
...which is good, because the economy is terrifying.
I blame Rosh Hashana.
And circus peanuts.
And that dork Edward Cullen. I'm sure it's his fault.
Today was the worst 1-day drop in the markets in the past 21 years. Douglas's stock portfolio dropped about 10%. Also, I didn't win the lottery.
But the best things in life are free.
hugs,
D |
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| Giving Away |
[Sep. 28th, 2008|05:18 pm] |
Quick Note:
I have a stack of awesome VHS tapes, including many of my favorite movies of all time. Really great stuff. If you have a VCR plugged in somewhere, and you would like them, and you can come to Colchester and pick them up, please let me know. |
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| Uncloseted News |
[Sep. 25th, 2008|11:08 am] |
Uncloseted news, all at once, this week:
- Clay Aiken (Vocalist) Comes Out (link): "I cannot raise a child to lie or hide things." Answering rumors in 2003: "I don't really feel like I have anybody to answer to but myself and God and the people I love."
- Linsay Lohan (Miscellaneous Famous Person) Comes Out (link): "[We have been together] a very long time," replied 22-year-old actress Lohan, who has been living with the 30-year-old DJ since May."
- Ian McKellen (Gandalf/Magneto), who has been out for a while, talks to school kids about tolerance and minorities. (link): "I've been busy at quite a few schools recently. I went to a wonderful co-ed faith school in Harpenden. They were Christians and absolutely determined that their pupils did not discriminate," he said.
"They invited me to come and give prizes to 13-year-olds in front of the parents and to talk, partly, about being gay. I said that we were all part of a minority group - be it for being short or tall or fat or thin, or having red hair or whatever. I said, 'Hands up who thinks they are part of a minority group,' and all the hands went up.
"I had Gandalf's sword with me and I knighted a pair of children 'Sir Minority' and 'Dame Minority' and it went down very well. It is essential to talk to 12- and 13-year-olds because they absorb what's thrown at them, whether it be homophobia or tolerance - and we have to make sure it's positive stuff."
It was the Ian McKellen story that caused me to make this post. What an awesome man.
Speaking of Awesome, George Takei (Sulu, Hiro's Dad) got married to his long-time partner recently. Set phasers on STUNNING! (that's a quote from SNL.) Anyone who hasn't watched the first season of Heroes really should... just ignore the first episode (pilot). The rest is awesome.
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| What's Wrong With the World Episode #284: Milk and Not Honey |
[Sep. 24th, 2008|10:44 am] |
What's Wrong With the World, Episode #284
Cheap prices at Walmart require someone, somewhere, to live in poverty. This is something ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) darthlara has talked about before, but it is difficult to really grasp the hard details.
NPR yesterday: As China’s standard of living has risen, it has begun outsourcing labor to Vietnam and other less-developed nations. Do you get it? Instead of working for 12 cents a day, Chinese now demand 24 cents. So the shoe-making factories have to move again in order to support the continued economic expansion.
The only way our prices stay low and our products stay consistent is if our products are made by people living in poverty.
If the factories don’t move, they have three other choices: 1) raise prices, 2) lower quality, or 3) cheat. All three of these are happening. Our cheap, Walmart products are getting more expensive as China develops. And the furniture is getting shoddier. And as for cheating: we are starting to see more lead paint and poison-in-the-milk scandals.
You haven’t heard about the poison in the baby milk? Well, 54 THOUSAND Chinese babies are sick (13 thousand hospitalized) so far, so pay attention.
Here's How it Works:
- Problem: It has been getting harder to produce baby formula cheaply.
- Solution: Some Chinese businessmen started "watering down" the milk formula.
- Problem: If you water-down the formula, the protein content drops, and the milk doesn’t pass inspection.
- Question: How can you pump up the protein content in watered-down formula?
- Solution: ADD MELAMINE!
- Unintended Consequence: Melamine causes kidney problems. And sometimes kidney stones, in babies, are deadly. Four children have died so far.
Besides the effect on 54 THOUSAND babies, the stores in China are short on formula, and what they do have is imported. Which means poorer Chinese families can’t afford it. So a lot of babies are suffering... the very babies who (for whatever reason) already have the disadvantage of not being breast-fed. So, look at 54 thousand babies and say, "Nyah nyah! Not only are we not giving you the boobs you want, need, and deserve, but we're going to poison your substitute! And then pull everything off the shelves so you go hungry!" Imagine a few HUNDRED MILLION angry Chinese babies...
Click for Pictures and Descriptions
Caution: Upsetting. Also, a couple weeks old.
The story gets worse.
Rumor says that this has been a problem for over a year. Various Chinese officials have known about this problem, but they’ve kept it quiet. Sure, they want to save their own shirts... but there is a good chance that China’s government has looked the other way until now because of a major global marketing campaign event that took place this summer. This major marketing event is also know as the Olympics.
There was no way a food-related scare was going to reach the press before the end of the Olympics. More children may have suffered longer because China needed to protect its brand.
Do you want to get mad at the Chinese? Sure, go ahead! Some of them put poison in their baby formula and then some of them (probably) kept it quiet!
But remember, China makes policy decisions and puts pressures on its businessmen because they NEED TO SURVIVE in a crazy global economy and because they need to pull 1.3 billion people out of poverty and into the 21st century.
And their road to doing that? Our $4 refrigerator at Walmart. Our $59 dining room table. Our shoes. Our plastic toys. This problem isn't really about the Chinese being immoral or not loving their children enough. This problem is about scale, national identity, and the fallout from a troubled global economy. If money makes the world go 'round, people get hurt.
No, I'm not blaming Americans for 54 thousand sick babies. But my demand for cheap Nikes has an effect on the global economy and the resultant global quality of living. We need to pay attention.
Articles About Formula Scandal and Related:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94953540
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94748565
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_china_elite_foods
Love them or hate them, Wikipedia is tracking the story in a sporadic but detailed manner:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_baby_milk_scandal |
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| In the Mail Today... |
[Sep. 19th, 2008|06:28 pm] |
"It has been determined that [Jana and Douglas] are able to furnish proper care to an orphan or orphans as defined by section 101(b)(1)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act."
That's it.
Everything is done.
On Monday, the official "wait" begins.
(We are told to expect a 10 to 18 month wait.)
My fingers are shaky. |
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| IMs From a Portrait Photographer |
[Sep. 18th, 2008|04:20 pm] |
IMs From a Portrait Photographer
It is odd to stare at a frozen face
for an hour or a day
and smudge away each and every flaw
until the face is honest and bright
a song of youth and of knowledge
keen eyes in black and white
suitable for the masses
the flickering clicks and dabs
years of torment shuttered nicely
the ink jets paint only what they see
red eye covered by a dark black dot
(inspired by A. Parent) |
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[Sep. 18th, 2008|12:52 pm] |
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| Childhood Games |
[Sep. 17th, 2008|10:04 am] |
What was your favorite childhood game?
I am beginning to think this is the secret of our entire psychological profile.
I liked Freeze Tag, Duck Duck Goose, and 7 Up the most. And I know why; and I think I knew why then, too.
For starters, the players touch each other in each of those games. You reach out to someone and touch them. Touch is taboo, as adults, and that taboo honestly starts pretty early. For some kids, it starts being "not cool" to hug a friend in first grade. But in some versions of Freeze Tag, you have to crawl between your teammates legs to unfreeze them! I sorta liked Red Rover Red Rover for the same reason, snapped wrists and all.
Like almost everyone else, I always felt unpopular and excluded. I was one of the weird nerdy kids. It was wonderful to play a game where touching someone and being touched was an essential part of things. I could pretend that Pretend was my favorite game, but I think that was only because you could play it by yourself pretty well.
I also liked marbles, because it peeked my collecting/sorting/classifying/hoarding propensities. Collecting and playing with Marbles was Pokemon before there were Pokemon. Marbles was World of Warcraft for seven-year-olds. I also liked dodgeball, because I was good at it. Don’t get me wrong: it was terrifying. But I was good at dodging, good at watching my opponents. For the kid who is always picked last for basketball or whatever, that was pretty sweet. I was also good at tug-of-war, for no earthly reason I can think of (I was a scrawny kid). I didn’t mind kickball, since it was at least hard to strike out, but I generally disliked anything where I felt unpopular or alone.
It wasn’t until highschool that I discovered I liked long-distance running. I would never be able to sprint or overpower my peers, but I could out run them by refusing to stop! It was wonderful. Cross-country was the perfect sport for the dorks and nerds. Made us feel manly.
I remember hating Hide-and-Seek... because no matter what part you played, you were alone. If you are hiding, you live with the fear that someone might find you and the secret fear that no one will find you.
If you are the seeker in the game, you mimic the greatest peril of life... wandering around our lives, looking for a friend, and we might not find anyone. We are looking for someone to love, but they are carefully hiding themselves, wrapped up in their day-to-day worlds, shielded against our hungry eyes.
Hide-and-Seek is a truly foundational game. We are still playing it. We are still hiding and seeking. We want to be found, we don’t want to be found. We worry that we might not find anyone.
When I asked Jana what her favorite childhood game was, she answered Hide-and-Seek immediately. But it wasn't because she liked being alone or was so supremely confident that loneliness wasn't scary.
Jana liked Hide-and-Seek because she would hide around the corner of her house and SCARE THE UNDERPANTS OFF THE SEEKER AS THEY CAME AROUND THE CORNER, and then run and tag safe while they were having a heart attack. That's my wife. She would do this over and over and over again.
Like I said: childhood games = the secret of our entire psychological profile. |
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| Numbers and Science Don't Matter |
[Sep. 16th, 2008|09:02 am] |
Reading my blog, you probably have liberal leanings.
Having liberal leanings, you probably think that the push for more domestic offshore drilling is not such a great idea.
How about some nice hard numbers about whether or not they will help?
(Created by Hank Green)
Unfortunately, to most humans, numbers and science are kind of an after thought. |
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| Foreclosure Fun |
[Sep. 15th, 2008|10:19 am] |
Updated, Again: In case anyone missed this tidbit: In August, 1 in every 416 American homes was "foreclosed upon." That's a new record and a 27% increase in filings from August last year (when things already sucked.)
Sometimes foreclosures just mean a hasty refinance or sale of a home. The homeowner gets deeper in debt, or loses equity, but they can come out of things without being completely devastated.
The final stage of a bad foreclosure is when the bank seizes the home. Bank seizures have more than doubled this August (compared to last August).
(Read an Article with Details)
I don't really know what can pull us out of this spiral. My instinct tells me we need to stop looking to the service-based economy to save the day. My instinct is we need to go back to being a country that makes something... be it energy, media, or technology. We've been busy exporting all the production tasks, and people are reduced to working at Walmart, flipping burgers, trading stocks, or somehow "servicing" industry as opposed to creating it. That's not sustainable.
Oh yeah: and we need to stop buying things we can't afford. And by things, I also mean wars.
But I'm an amateur at this stuff. Anybody else have any ideas? |
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| BAC buys MER |
[Sep. 15th, 2008|08:38 am] |
Bank of America is going to buy Merrill Lynch. (BAC, MER)
Most of you probably could care less. It's just a bank merger, right?
Some comparisons, for perspective:
BAC buying MER is like General Motors buying Toyota. McDonalds buying Friendlies. Microsoft buying Apple. ABC buying CBS. The Yankees buying the Patriots.
It’s pretty darn nuts. Merrill Lynch has been around since 1914. They are the largest financial management company in the world. They manage 1.8 trillion dollars in assets. And they are being bought.
I happen to own some stock in both companies.
In a normal economic climate, I would expect BAC’s stock to drop today and MER’s stock to shoot up (to around BAC’s purchase price, give or take.) That’s usually what happens when one company buys another, and that would be fine with me. I own more MER than I do BAC.
However, this is not a normal economic climate. Lehman Brothers is declaring bankruptcy. Banks and brokers around the world are FREAKING OUT. Anything could happen, including the deal going south, or the deal improving, or both companies losing massive amounts of stock value, or unicorns replacing the bull as the Merrill Lynch insignia. ANYTHING could happen.
For the past 12 months, I’ve felt a little bit like the poker player who has made all the right decisions, but ended up losing based on information they couldn’t have known. (Namely, the turn and the river.) I’m still breaking even on my own decisions, but I was doing a lot better a year ago. But I'm doing fine. All my bills are paid. Some of my investments have done really well. And really, this is just a hobby for me, right?
But last night at 6pm when the New York Times sent a news alert about the merger (I was watching "Heroes" on DVD and tapping away on my pocket Mac), my brain reeled.
It’s like Verizon just bought AT&T.
Like Pepsico just bought GE.
Like...
(Article, Article, Article)
Updated: Okay, the market is responding to the turmoil in a textbook fashion. Everything in my portfolio is red today, except MER. BAC is currently down 11%, MER is currently up 31%. So, that's the typical reaction. The next few days/weeks could bring... anything. A few more pieces of bad news could send the whole ship south for a while, whereas good news would lead to stability, with MER climbing to $30 a share and BAC leveling off around the same price. |
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| Imagine a Gadget... |
[Sep. 11th, 2008|12:53 pm] |
An E-reading device that:
- is huge (8.5x11!), suitable for magazines, newspapers, text books, comic books, and easy reading of literature
- has a touch screen
- has an onscreen, touch-screen keyboard for entering notes and marginalia
- weighs one pound, rest it on your lap in bed, give it to your grandmother loaded with ebooks and the font size turned up...
- makes the Kindle (one of my favorite gadgets, currently), look like a toy
- reads dozens of file formats, including your Microsoft Excel and Word documents, for checklists, project management, or basic tablet-based computing
- is still e-paper, meaning that the battery life could be WEEKS. Literally.
- uses USB for loading files, (will probably support WiFi before launch)
Very, very cool.
Video Link,
More Info |
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| Why You Don’t Need to Be Depressed that John McCain is Our Next President |
[Sep. 10th, 2008|11:25 am] |
Why You Don’t Need to Be Depressed that John McCain is Our Next President
The latest polls rank the candidates neck and neck, or with McCain pulling a slight lead. On top of that, I believe that polls (and the media) traditionally sway Democratic. I believe in closeted racism. I remember how voter registration problems ganked Florida in 2000. I remember that half the country voted for the worst president in history twice, and I know that McCain is a stronger candidate than Bush ever was.
I’ve said it before and I’ll stop saying it now: Obama is a long shot.
But I’ve decided I’m okay with that.
I believe that truth will out and good will triumph. I believe that the human race is evolving socially. I believe that in the next two or three hundred years, we are going to find a new way to exist as humans and a new way to relate to one another. Change may not happen as soon as I would like, but it will happen. It is already happening.
And there is no guarantee that Barack Obama would help that change better than John McCain would. Oh, sure, Obama seems like a more moral man, a man with stronger principles. He seems less likely to turn to war and death as a solution to our nation’s fear. He seems more likely to entertain innovative and game-changing solutions to our ongoing problems. To me, the vote is obvious, and his candidacy has filled me with hope.
But the changes we need don’t happen because one man encourages them. The shepherd guides the sheep, but even he can’t make them grow wool any faster.
One grumpy man can not stand in the way of progress, either. No matter how terrible a leader is, he can not alter humanity’s destiny. Only humanity can do that.
Here’s my resolution. It isn’t new or special, I’ve been grinding on it for some time, but it is the last shred of hope I hold onto for my country, given Obama’s slim chances of being elected:
Politicians are not going to save, or damn, the human race.
Maybe It Doesn't Matter as Much as We Think
Our leaders are a reflection of ourselves. These two candidates, all of Washington, even your boss and his bad habits... all of them simply reflect who and what we are. Bush is a lazy, impulsive, cowardly president, and I believe he was elected because 50% of the time we are lazy, impulsive, and cowardly.
In 2000, we were lazy. In 2004, we were very frightened. So (about) half of us voted for the laziest man who waved the biggest fear stick. Until we rise above that, our leaders will not improve. Don't just look at the isolationists, the intolerant, the red states-- look at the parts of yourself that carry this problem. You can't change the minds of FOX news. The only mind you can change is your own.
Rising above fear doesn’t just mean ending the war on terror by refusing to be terrorized, though that would be a start. Rising above fear means loving our enemies. And I’m talking about Ed in the next cubicle, not an Iranian, though the same principle applies.
Maybe Love is the Answer
The same impulse which gives you road rage, or makes you detest your neighbor for habits that are not all that worse than yours, is the same impulse that put George Bush in office. If we want change, if we never want to see another George Bush in office, we should vote for Obama, certainly. But that’s only a tiny piece of humanity’s puzzle. If you want real change, mow your neighbors lawn for him. And forgive your colleague for failing to respect your PowerPoint presentation. Look within yourself with honesty, forgive yourself for your failure to love, and then change.
Here’s the kicker: McCain would make a better president than George Bush ever could. If he brings his A-game. If he stops pandering. If he makes moral decisions. (And he’s capable of making moral decisions. I will never believe Bush capable of choosing lunch, let along leading our country.) But more importantly: even under McCain, we American citizens can make a better populace than George Bush was ever given to lead, if we bring our A-game.
We are the ones who will change things, not Johnny or Barack. We are the ones who need to stop squandering, stop sitting on our asses, and stop letting fear dominate our decision making.
I believe a change in leadership could help us, I really do.
But no matter who is elected, I know deep down that Barack is just one man. The rest is up to me and my fellow 300 million American citizens... and my fellow 6.7 billion global citizens. |
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[Sep. 10th, 2008|11:05 am] |
It was (bizarrely) more difficult to rhyme Kristin with things than Andrew. Maybe I need more coffee.
Many happy birthdays to my friend silverhill. May all your ice creams be Chocolate Therapy!
And now, a rap song:
Now please, stop, you have to listen,
happy birthdays in order for my friend Kristin,
Spells her name with an i, and not an e,
and please avoid Comic Sans most definitely,
With mad Adobe props she styles the world,
jiggle magic hair and it comes unfurled.
I get a feverous phage,
when she steps on the stage,
cause homegirl bustin’ moves like a theater mage--
Hey Kristin,
My eyes be mistin’,
Cause Adam you be kissin’,
on the dance floor like a piston,
playin’ games like whist and,
hey look, everybody, it’s Katrin and Tristan!
 
A birthday huzzah to both young lovers! |
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| Landoo Crazy illin' |
[Sep. 8th, 2008|11:05 am] |
yoicksandaway turns 36 today. In his honor, a poem.
Today is the birthday of my friend Andrew.
His smile is infectious and his attitude "can-do."
He's artistic and it's a joy to see what his hand drew,
He's cooler than Billy Dee, who once played Landoo,
He's more philosophical than Pooh Bear and Roo,
36 is divisible by 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 2.
If he and Kubla Kahn put on roller-skates, I'm sure they'd go to Xan(a)du,
And if you leave him out overnight, waiting in line for a new movie and/or major comic book release, in the morning he'll have...
...fan dew.
Hugs,
d-master b.
p.s.
I'm totally rapping this (and Wednesday's sequel) at the party. Stand back. |
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| What We Spend Money On |
[Sep. 8th, 2008|10:35 am] |
I love stuff like this.
Discretionary spending by country, organized geographically. Click on the different subcategories across the top.
Short version: Americans spend more than everyone on everything.
-d
p.s.
curiositykt points out that the graph would be better if it had more per capita data. That's a good point. The per capita colors they use are largely useless. It would be really interesting to compare the spending on clothes in Greece or recreation in Japan to ourselves per capita! The existing interactive graph is useful because it shows "where the money is" and where it goes in the global and national economies. It is useful for pointing out how much of each sector of the world's discretionary economy each nation is responsible for, but not necessarily a good measure of our individual (i.e., per-capita) habits and priorities. |
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| Being Male, Episode 284 |
[Sep. 5th, 2008|09:04 am] |
Being Male, Episode 284
When you are four, your daddy tells you he loves you, and you love hearing it.
When you are in Kindergarten or first grade, you sing songs about love with all your friends, to all your friends.
Sometime in 3rd or 4th grade, however, you tell your friend that you love him, and he punches you in the leg and says, “That’s gay!”
This transition will take place overnight, with no warning. “Love” turns from being a wonderful thing to express to a friend, to, “That’s gay!” followed by a sharp pain in your vastus lateralis. You learn to say other things besides “I love you,” such as, “Fuck that!” and, “I really like tits!”
This is one of the great tragedies of modern living. No matter how warm and open your heart was in 2nd grade, by 5th grade the instruction to your quadriceps femoris will have learned you good. Unless you have enlightened parents, you probably don't even know what gay means, but you know it isn't something good. It’s hard enough for any kid, and I imagine even harder if you happen to be gay. What a lovely introduction.
Even now, when I look at my friends and think about how much I love them, a stuttering pain reverberates through my leg. Sometimes I twitch.
I think this is why karate is so popular among gay people.
Also, fuck that! I really like tits. |
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| Today's Woonderment |
[Sep. 2nd, 2008|11:31 am] |
"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do."
-Olin Miller
Read More |
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| Google Chrome |
[Sep. 2nd, 2008|09:35 am] |
Google launches a new product today: Google Chrome.
What's a good way to launch a sexy new Google product for the nerds?
Get Scott McCloud to write a comic book about it, explaining the development process, programming architecture, and new features. Of course!
This is required reading for any nerd. 38 pages of fun.
http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/
UPDATE: Available for download now. Bah. I like the comic book better. :-) |
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| My Dad's Camera Collection |
[Sep. 1st, 2008|08:26 am] |
My dad is a photographer and a collector.
Or, put another way: a shutterbug and a pack rat. *grin*
He has been reviewing and culling his collection... cleaning out the closets. Below is a photo of every camera he owns... other than the camera used to take the picture and one he couldn't find.
(larger image)
UPDATE: My dad chimed in: he took the photo with my mom's camera. The two missing cameras are one that was an unphotogenic duplicate and another was one he couldn't find. Also, as he has continued to clean, he has found two more cameras. Also, my dad loved all your funky responses in the comments. :-) |
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| Food |
[Aug. 28th, 2008|12:58 pm] |
"When you think about it,
most kinds of soups and stews are really
meat-flavored tea."
Mmmm. Meat tea.
With chunks! |
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| We Thought We Knew, a Quote |
[Aug. 28th, 2008|10:26 am] |
“When we discover what we really want,
we discover who we are.”
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| Another Joke |
[Aug. 27th, 2008|10:26 am] |
This was circulated at work:
FIVE BEST THINGS TO SAY IF YOU GET CAUGHT SLEEPING AT YOUR DESK:
NUMBER 5:
"They told me at the Blood Bank this might happen."
NUMBER 4:
"This is just a 15 minute power nap they raved about in the time-management course you sent me to."
NUMBER 3:
"Whew! Guess I left the top off the White-out. You probably got here just in time!"
NUMBER 2:
"Did you ever notice sound coming out of these keyboards when you put your ear down real close?"
NUMBER 1:
(Raising your head slowly) "...in Jesus' name, Amen."
...number 3 is my favorite. |
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| Frosted Mini Awesomeness |
[Aug. 27th, 2008|09:52 am] |
My box of Frosted Mini Wheats says that they are “CLINICALLY SHOWN TO IMPROVE KIDS’ ATTENTIVENESS BY NEARLY 20%.”
They don't need to tell me that. I'm already completely addicted to them. I have late night cravings for them. I want to give the little anthropomorphized-talking-Frosted-Mini-Wheat mascot a big hug. And then take him orally. Also, they are the least objectionable cereal that Costco sells (at around $1.60-a-box equivalency, I might add).
Amused, I read the research footnote, expecting something vague.
I find instead that Kelloggs hired an independent research firm that found, “kids who ate Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal had up to 18% better attentiveness three hours after breakfast than kids who ate no breakfast.”
I’m trying to imagine the research guidelines. You would have to prohibit kids from eating breakfast.
I mean, sure, maybe they surveyed and isolated data for kids who didn’t eat breakfast anyway... but otherwise, it creates an interesting mental image: “No poptarts for you, Tommmy!” “But mom, I’m hungry!” “You can be hungry for lunch! We need that $20 gift certificate for participating in the Man's crunchy, delicious research!”
I'm not offended or scandalized or anything. Because that might decrease my enjoyment of the succulently brittle wheaty awesomeness that is this cereal. FMW has the highest iron content of any popular cereal, and highest irony content, too. Mmmmmm irony.
UPDATE: Holy Cow! Some OTHER wordy talking dude on the internet wrote my post already! Instead of just chuckling into his sleeve, he explicitly breaks down the ludicrousity of the ad campaign. There is a man who loves his cereal! |
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| The Current Best Way to Read Books on Your iPhone or iPod Touch |
[Aug. 26th, 2008|02:05 pm] |
Lynne asked me how to read books, PDFs, or other larger documents on her iPod Touch (or iPhone). This is a new trend, yet there are already three or four competing methods. This post contains Douglas’s current thoughts on the best method.
Wait, Why Would I Want to Read Books or Papers on That Tiny Screen? Actually, it isn't that bad. There are some font settings and page-viewing tricks that make the iPhone a pretty nice reader. And if you ride the subway or have other long periods of uninterrupted dead time, it is nice to be able to carry a few thousand books on a device that is also your PIM, phone, camera, iPod, e-mail, and etc.
This is how to get started reading on your iPhone or iPod Touch:
( Click for the how-to. Sorry, no pictures or careful revision. I am not on the clock. ) |
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