Is it just me, or can the Holidays be really difficult sometimes?
posted 10:27 PM | link

Random stuff that defines the environment, both immediate and not-so immediate, in which I write this:

• I'm listening to More Light by J Mascis. It's funny; I remember being a quiet teenager, plighted by quiet teenager problems, and Dinosaur Jr's Green Mind would always provide a strange comfort. Now I'm older, a bit more outspoken, with problems that reflect those changes, but I can always come back to the music of J Mascis and it will be comforting, like the companionship of an old friend.
• Earlier, the people downstairs were watching The Perfect Storm so loudly the reverberations of thunder shook my living room's walls and I could discern what Marky Mark was saying each time he screamed.
• I just finished reading All The Pretty Horses. The book was all around difficult and sad and so much more than just a love story. Cormac McCarthy rocks; I'm finding I'm quite curious to see how the movie goes; though the plot line is fairly straightforward, I have a feeling something... intangible... will be lost in the cinematic adaptation of this novel. I wonder what it will be.
• Amazon.com is still trying to sell me stuff by David Sedaris. Enough already.
• Oh, if I don't talk to any of you again before it actually happens, Happy New Year :)

Okay, you can go back to whatever it was you were doing.
posted 10:23 PM | link

Do you remember that Simpsons from last year? The one in which Homer has to run off to his father's old farm with his family in tow because he gets into a duel with that Southern Gentleman? And while Homer is at said farm, said Southern Gentleman sets up camp in front of the Simpson Residence with his young buxom wife and his RV, awaiting Homer's return? (Yeah, the Glove Slap episode.) And the bumper sticker on the Gentleman's RV reads:

Honk if you demand satisfaction.

Well, today that bumper sticker pretty much sums up my mood.

See, so someone hit my car this morning. Overall it wasn't too bad, but whoever did it knocked the drivers side mirror clean off. And considering my car was parked, and I was in my house, most likely fast asleep, this can in no way be construed as being my fault. And that jackass didn't leave a note or anything. I hate it when my stuff gets wrecked because of other people's carelessness.

But unfortunately, we no longer live in a society that depends on dueling to resolve matters of personal scorn and insult to one's honor. So, in an effort to stem the tide of the bad mood I can feel welling up inside me, I'm going to do the adult thing and change the subject. Specifically, I'm going to link to an appropriately obscure Word of the Day at dictionary.com:

The word manse.

But I don't know. I guess I took extra pleasure in the word because I've been brought up Presbyterian, and though I'm still in the midst of Spiritual Growth (also known as Indecisiveness), I do feel a certain definite connectedness to the traditions and beliefs (as well as vocabulary) of the religion.

Okay, now I'm feeling a bit better :)
posted 8:59 AM | link

I know. You've heard it many times before. But I really, really, really, really like XML.
posted 1:26 PM | link

From the Doc Searls Weblog: this is probably one of the most hilarious "enhancements" of the Presidential Office the Bush administration could implement. All it needs is a programmable horn that can play "La Coucaracha."

Yep, that would scare the shit out of any potential enemies of the United States.
posted 11:16 AM | link

If you were to ask me the question "So, Greg, what's in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, anyway?" I don't think I'd have a suitable answer.
posted 1:39 PM | link

I remember last year around this time, we lost Curtis Mayfield. Yesterday it was Pops Staples. I'll be putting "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" on repeat this evening, and going through the ritual mourning; what will you be listening to?
posted 9:59 AM | link

More email stuff, this time from Amazon:

As someone who has purchased items by David Sedaris in the past, you might like to know that his collected works are now available as an audio boxed set. You can order your copy of "The David Sedaris Box Set" and save 10% by following the link below.

Curious bit of marketing strategy. Not that I think it's necessarily a bad idea - it's just that sometimes paranoid fantasies about omniscient corporations bent on control of the masses are not always totally unfounded.
posted 9:28 AM | link

Okay, so I've been wanting to post something about this bridge collapsing in Milwaukee. I've just been waiting for the right introduction/context. Finally, I think I've found it.

Found in email:

I've been following the Hoan Bridge news. That bridge never stops embarrassing the city of Milwaukee. Bad welds, my ass, that bridge just wants to die.

Although my position might not be so cynical about this specific structure, this city does seem to have issues with poorly thought out (and implemented) architecture in general.
posted 9:08 AM | link

From an email I just sent to a friend:

Believe it or not (you can check the headers of this message if you don't :) I'm writing this message deep in the bowels of a power transmission company, located just east of Madison. I'm in a control room, full of ethernet cables, old monitors, new Cisco Routers and high-powered Digital UNIX Machines that make very unfamiliar noises and have scary looking monochromatic GUI displays. There are network administrators all over (at last count I think there were five), all of whom dress, talk and present themselves in the same manner, even though before this project I don't think any of them knew each other. Or I just knew none of them.

It's sort of funny. As the Web Guy, I think I'm being marginalized. I mean socially speaking.

I know, it seems a bit narcissistic and lazy. But then I have to run in a second, and I love updating my site in weird places.
posted 12:00 PM | link

From Sun Microsystems' Digital Library Toolkit:

Often users do not know what alternatives could be made available to them and thus they don't know what they are missing. They may be satisfied, but not realize that more is possible. The same is true for library staff who may well be doing a sterling job with the resources they have, not realizing that alternatives are available.

I'm finding this situation in many ways defines my experience developing websites for people.

Oh, and I found it at The Argus Center for Information Design, which is one of the most awesome resources for Information Design on the web.

Secondarily (is that a word?), I've just made an executive decision regarding long quotes posted on this site: not only will the paragraphs be padded 10px on both the left and right, but the text will also be italicized.

And yes, I am aware how much it's going to suck to implement this change site wide.
posted 12:15 PM | link

Dana Atchley, digital storyteller, died yesterday.
posted 11:23 AM | link

Okay, so it's finally over. And of course, Gore's concession speech is probably the best one I've heard him make.

It makes me wonder, in a very intuitive, insupportable way, if he was running for president, not because he truly wanted to be in the office, but because it just seemed like the thing to do.
posted 10:43 AM | link

So, I've been playing around with Google's new toolbar (IE 5+ for the PC only), and am finding it really pretty neat. Much more functional than Yahoo's equivalent, and without all the hassle of becoming a member of their services (though the Google's privacy statement did make me stop for a second before going ahead with the installation).

What's especially neat is the Page Info function, which allows you to see how your site is cached from the last time they crawled.

(I'll not mention the irony of how they chose to crawl on exactly the same day I restarted this site.)
posted 5:25 PM | link

Oh, before I forget again, this holiday season marks the first year in which I did all my gift shopping online. The experience was generally stress-free, and it was definitely a relief to know I wouldn't have to deal with the armageddon-like stress of the suburban strip mall mobs and the horrific traffic jams that typically surround them. But now I have to deal with the stress factor that no one cares to mention: a guarantee that my gifts will make it here by the 25th.

I know, I read the shipping guarantees, and chances that everything will get here on time are definitely in my favor. However, it just isn't the same as just physically having it here. You know what I mean?

And finally, sticking with the whole ecommerce them that appears to be characterizing this verbose post, this past weekend I had one of the most streamlined, clearly laid out, and enjoyable online shopping experiences I can remember: Bed Bath & Beyond. Their site officially rocks.

Unfortunately, it also made me realize just how unfurnished and non-accesorized my home is. Too bad I feel so broke.
posted 10:56 AM | link

Just stopping by to correct some horrible editorial mistakes.

Oh, and this one's from my dad:

The word portend.
posted 8:20 AM | link

A very tough, unproductive, snowbound day today. One of those days that makes me really look forward to the weekend and spending time with friends and family.

Too bad it's only Monday.
posted 9:57 PM | link

This morning is an Incidental Music morning.
posted 9:39 AM | link

Earlier, I mentioned something stupid about Studs Terkel. I'm actually reading Working right now, and am finding it fascinating.

From Preface III: The Mason:

Stone's my life. I daydream all the time, most times it's on stone. Oh, I'm gonna build me a stone cabin down on the Green River. I'm gonna build stone cabinets in the kitchen. That stone door's gonna be awful heavy and I don't know how to make a stone roof. That's the kind of thing. All my dreams, it seems like it's got to have a piece of rock mixed in it.

And that is just one miniscule moment in which it becomes so clear just how much this guy, Carl Murray Bates, likes his career. The book spans from this type of tale to ones depicting absolute misery. No blinders, no focus on just one class of people. No one is safe, but in the same sense everyone is allowed to honestly shine. And Studs has this incredible ability to reveal the awful, beautiful truth of the human existence. This is one of those books that is genuinely making me rethink my perception of human beings, which is something I think I need right now.

And that's why I would want him as a grandfather :)

Secondly, I feel I should mention this: as condusive to personal story telling as the web may be, no one has been able to develop such an amazingly textured, humourous, intellectually and spiritually heightened resource of human beings just simply talking about themselves as Studs has with his books.

Seems we still have a lot to learn. But I think that's good.
posted 9:39 AM | link

Saw two movies last night: Gladiator and Princess Mononoke.

It was the second time I'd seen Gladiator, but there wasn't any of that boredom or looking-for-contintuity-errors that tends to define my experience of seeing movies twice. So that's kind of neat. Also, it's more than I can say for some movies.

Princess Mononoke was such a very engaging tale, the animation was really captivating, and I don't think I've been this fascinated by a full-length animated tale since Watership Down.

However, I feel I should note that I liked Watership Down as a book better.
posted 9:38 AM | link

Also, the word obfuscate. I'm just full of words today.
posted 2:59 PM | link

The word effete. Specifically, the second definition.
posted 2:56 PM | link

You know, growing up, I never really saw my grandparents all that much. Maybe like twice a year or so. They lived in upstate New York, and I lived here, in the Midwest. When I did see them, they usually scared me, either because they were overly affectionate or because all they ever did was glower at me. And by the time I graduated high school, they had all passed away.

Not that I want to complain about how I'm missing something from my life because I never felt close to my grandparents; but, if today I were given the opportunity to have any grandpa in the world, I know exactly who it would be.
posted 3:40 PM | link

This is just a reminder to myself to read this. And this. I don't have time to do it right now.

But if you want to read either of them, and send me a report, that would be neat. I won't even grade them or anything.
posted 9:03 AM | link

Ouch. Why Radiohead is just not good.

Actually, I was complaining outright the other day about how foolish and absorbed-in-their-own-groovelessness this band is. I do not, however, advocate any sort of physical violence against them.
posted 11:59 AM | link

You can't subvert a hierarchy until you build one.
posted 8:26 AM | link

Oh, please don't hate me if I owe you email.
posted 3:11 PM | link

The word malfeasance.
posted 3:05 PM | link

Update Template... Now!
posted 1:32 PM | link

Jason Kottke pointed to something interesting: The 50 Greatest Moments in Simpsons History (okay, so he actually only pointed to the top 10, but for now lets nevermind that detail). This cryptic post of mine is a quote from number 30.
posted 11:36 AM | link

What in the name of Sulzberger?

From Ironminds: We've Been Hacked!:

"When someone goes through the trouble of attacking your site, you’re reminded that people are paying attention, that what you’re doing matters."

Right on.
posted 11:27 AM | link

From Wired News: 'Web' Band Goes Bust:

"After years of hype surrounding the power of the Internet to level the playing field for independent bands hoping to circumvent the major label regime, the first results are in, and they don't look promising. Early sales figures for the debut album True North from Universal/Farmclub.com artist Fisher -- widely considered the first band to get signed, in part, due to its popularity on the Internet -- have been sluggish at best. First week Soundscan figures, from the late-November release, report that the band has sold only 2892 CDs."

At least superficially, it seems like there was a point missed here: if there is any potential power in web-based music distribution, it lies in the de-commodification (if that isn't a word, sorry) of intellectual property. By linking the artist directly to the audience, (and vice-versa) artists have the opportunity to enrich the lives of those who truly love their music, rather than producing stupid, middle-of-the-road products that make the largest amount of people reasonably happy.
posted 11:19 AM | link

So last weekend I saw Unbreakable, and thought it was pretty puerile, convoluted, and generally stupid. I guess Jon Katz's review sheds a bit of light on what was happening in the movie, even though it still doesn't change my original opinion all that much.

And just for the record: I don't like Jon Katz's writing all that much, either.
posted 11:08 AM | link

You know, we Americans love fast food. Deep-fried, salty, and so, so easy. We love it, even in spite of all the stories. Those stories that really should have us rethinking our diets. The stories may come as a news report or as a playground myth, but what always ties them together is the contemtuous, horrifying lack of regard for even the most clear-cut and sensible health ordinances. And if finding a chicken head in a wing box in Virginia won't stop us, nothing will.

Uck.
posted 10:12 AM | link

Happy December.
posted 8:21 AM | link