Photographic evidence of my misspent youth.
Thought this was an appropriate photo to go with the hellish heat we are living through at present. I’m going to go stand with my head in the freezer. See you later.
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Word of the day: tendentious
Saw “Planet of the Apes” yesterday – pleasant surprise. It had been panned so much in reviews I was trying not to read, my expectation level was low. Turns out, it was much scarier and more intense than I expected, and held my interest throughout. Tim Roth is amazing as the head general villain. The plot and characters are negligible, but if you want plot and characters, read Anna Karenina – don’t go to a summer movie with “Apes” in the title. It’s exciting and fun, things many summer movies attempt but few achieve. Also, great cameo by – well, see the movie yourself.
I can hear the Outlook “new mail” noise from miles away. If I’m in the shower, I can hear it. If the dishwasher is going, I can hear it. I can hear it if I have headphones on. When it happens, my ears perk up like a terrier hearing a dog whistle. This is clearly a sickness.
Dave Winer, that infamous internet curmudgeon, recently linked to an essay he wrote last year about Transcendental Money. He says a lot of things I’ve been thinking lately, ever since I’ve been living hand-to-mouth as a freelancer. Most people, when asked how much money they would need to make to be satisfied, generally quote a figure about twice what they are currently making. This ratio holds for every income level.
As for me, this year I’ll probably make half what I earned last year. I’ve found that now that I’m not getting that serene, steady paycheck every two weeks, my need for “new stuff” has waned considerably. It’s easier now to see the real cost of things, not only in money (or credit), but in taking care of them, storing them – not to mention making time to use them. Now, every time something leaves the apartment – in the trash, to St. Vincent’s, to a friend – I feel a sense of relief. Not that I’m going to go off and join a Buddhist monastery or anything. But it’s a refreshing change.
Three book recommendations:
Culture Jam by Adbusters editor Kalle Lasn. Totally plugs into my anti-consumerist attitude. A passionate argument for getting off the consumer train that’s just about to slam into the wall.
The Age of Missing Information, by Bill McKibben. Written 10 years ago, this indictment of the pervasiveness of TV culture is, if anything, more relevant today. I still love TV, but I do look at it differently after reading this book.
On Writing, by Stephen King. Part autobiography, part writing class, King lets us in on his process in a consistently entertaining spin through the world of putting words on paper. This book changed my view of King from a talented hack to a thoughtful, interesting writer who also knows how to teach it.
Got my review today from the (now infamous) Weblog Review site. I got a 4. I would return the compliment and say that their site is “intresting”.
Had an illuminating discussion with my brother while in CA over the weekend about my weblog. He knew I had a web site, sort of, with only the vaguest idea of what that even was. (He’s an attorney and quite a bit smarter than me, but still had to take the mandatory “Introduction to E-mail” class at his office three times.) Then I explained that it’s sort of like an online journal, with new entries pushing older ones to the bottom. Many people use them as personal diaries, although I don’t, and you can get to know people pretty well through their daily writings, I told him. He found this not only strange but sort of perverse.
“Well, if you had a friend who kept up one of these sites, wouldn’t it be interesting to read?” I said.
“I would never have a friend who did that,” he said, with a mix of incredulity and distaste.
I realized that because so much of my life and work revolves around computers, it blinds me to the fact that for the general population, an ATM machine is about as close as they will come to a computer in their daily lives. This isn’t good or bad, just different. But I wouldn’t give up what I’ve gained from computers and the web for anything.
Pop culture truth: Catherine Zeta-Jones is a much bigger star in her own head than she is on Entertainment Tonight.