There's been a few things on my mind - or rattling around, coming and going, like a wave - and I figured I'd get out what I can here. In no particular order:
My iPhone
I was extremely skeptical to give up my Blackberry (and the hard keyboard) but a co-worker convinced me it was "worth it" and that there was a little learning curve but that once I got used to it, I would love it. Many friends and other co-workers echoed this idea - it would take some time to start thinking like Apple thinks (agh! That's alarming!) but then it would all become easy. I wasn't sure to say "great" or "shoot me now."
I was initially confused by "apps" and why one would want them, but then after my first week trying to struggle through basic operations - I'm always reluctant to learn a new piece of technology, trite but true - I took some time last weekend to browse the app store and found some things I quite liked. So far, it's been nothing more than a voice-to-text program (Dragon), utilitarian apps like Yelp, Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, etc, a moon-phase app (very cool), Instagram (because I've read the reviews and I love the filters, as, I learn, everyone does), a meditation timer (easy, customizable, and has optional backgrounds: Silence, Forest, Ocean, Stream and River), and, my one real guilty pleasure, Magic Piano - more on that in a moment.
So, OK, I am starting to get how useful this little machine can be. I worry that I'm, you know, kind of letting the devil in the door - within days, I found myself reaching for the smooth, bright, shiny thing over and over, more frequently than I reached for my Blackberry. It seemed exciting. It seemed like exciting things could be on there, if only I could find then. It seemed like it could make me happy.
It's true, I really like the feel of the screen - so smooth and sensual, very pleasant to the touch. And it allows for a lot more detail - as in Outlook (I can access all my active folders, for instance, rather than just my Inbox) - which really does help in my job. I have a very busy, active life, and a device like this is proving very useful.
But I see some red flags already. I've always have this issue of buying something or reading something or talking about something, instead of DOING something. I want to meditate more, but I don't have time, so I buy a book about meditation (which has an added kick of being purchased, which every good consumer delights in). I want to do more crafts, so I look at books about crafts - which are sometimes very inspiring, so I pretend it's all part of the process - the process which usually does not actual produce anything.
So I can buy an app about the tides or the phases of the moon and this will help me be a better pagan magician. I can buy an app about meditation and I *will* meditate more. I'm certain of it. (Well, now that I mention it, I bought the app about a week ago and have I used it yet? That's right - I have not). And I'm still on the fence a little - will it actually help me have a better life, or will it just make me think I could have a better life if only I could use it properly. The jury is still out.
OK
I've been re-watching The West Wing lately - a show I just absolutely adore - and I find myself once again admiring their "okays" which they (the cast, the characters) all say in really unique and sometimes funny, sometimes brilliant ways. They can really place an okay. And it's a good, useful phrase. No matter what someone says to you - something so weird, or uncomfortable, or inappropriate - you can almost always get away with an okay, because it can be said to mean almost anything. It's awfully versatile and also almost universally understood.
A Really Great Costume
It's been Halloween this weekend - at first, I thought it would be a bummer, to have it on a Monday, but it turns out, it just means the entire weekend can legitimately be holiday-related. We had a Halloween Gathering here at the M House, and it was costume-filled. A sexy pinup sailor, a rap singer, two people with just funny wigs, two Star Trek officers (what can I say, we're that kind of household), and me, Father Guido Sarducci.
Now, as you can see, I actually make a pretty good Father Guido Sarducci. It was one of those costumes that you conceive of and immediately think, "Hey, if this works out, this will be GREAT." Only you don't know if it's going to work. If the elements will come together. If you can pull it off.
With this costume, I was really excited because I thought it might be a great costume, and I started to put the different elements together - the jacket, the glasses, the hat - I had to order some things online - and, of course, the moustache. It wasn't until right before the party on Friday that I put the whole thing together for the first time, and it was amazing. As my partner said, "You really look exactly like him considering you don't look anything like him." I wanted to go the whole way and have a little routine, but he's *really* hard to do, actually - you think he'd be easy but it's not, it's very subtle (and in fact, Don Novello, the actual guy, basically has the Guido accent in his regular speech patterns, only less exaggerated). It's easy to sound stupid trying to sound like him, but the accent got much better once I put on the full outfit. I was able to do a few good moments of stand up, and it was okay. It's so weird, but I really make a good man.
Oh, there was more to say but my battery is dying, so we'll have to discuss pumpkin farms later.
My iPhone
I was extremely skeptical to give up my Blackberry (and the hard keyboard) but a co-worker convinced me it was "worth it" and that there was a little learning curve but that once I got used to it, I would love it. Many friends and other co-workers echoed this idea - it would take some time to start thinking like Apple thinks (agh! That's alarming!) but then it would all become easy. I wasn't sure to say "great" or "shoot me now."
I was initially confused by "apps" and why one would want them, but then after my first week trying to struggle through basic operations - I'm always reluctant to learn a new piece of technology, trite but true - I took some time last weekend to browse the app store and found some things I quite liked. So far, it's been nothing more than a voice-to-text program (Dragon), utilitarian apps like Yelp, Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, etc, a moon-phase app (very cool), Instagram (because I've read the reviews and I love the filters, as, I learn, everyone does), a meditation timer (easy, customizable, and has optional backgrounds: Silence, Forest, Ocean, Stream and River), and, my one real guilty pleasure, Magic Piano - more on that in a moment.
So, OK, I am starting to get how useful this little machine can be. I worry that I'm, you know, kind of letting the devil in the door - within days, I found myself reaching for the smooth, bright, shiny thing over and over, more frequently than I reached for my Blackberry. It seemed exciting. It seemed like exciting things could be on there, if only I could find then. It seemed like it could make me happy.
It's true, I really like the feel of the screen - so smooth and sensual, very pleasant to the touch. And it allows for a lot more detail - as in Outlook (I can access all my active folders, for instance, rather than just my Inbox) - which really does help in my job. I have a very busy, active life, and a device like this is proving very useful.
But I see some red flags already. I've always have this issue of buying something or reading something or talking about something, instead of DOING something. I want to meditate more, but I don't have time, so I buy a book about meditation (which has an added kick of being purchased, which every good consumer delights in). I want to do more crafts, so I look at books about crafts - which are sometimes very inspiring, so I pretend it's all part of the process - the process which usually does not actual produce anything.
So I can buy an app about the tides or the phases of the moon and this will help me be a better pagan magician. I can buy an app about meditation and I *will* meditate more. I'm certain of it. (Well, now that I mention it, I bought the app about a week ago and have I used it yet? That's right - I have not). And I'm still on the fence a little - will it actually help me have a better life, or will it just make me think I could have a better life if only I could use it properly. The jury is still out.
OK
I've been re-watching The West Wing lately - a show I just absolutely adore - and I find myself once again admiring their "okays" which they (the cast, the characters) all say in really unique and sometimes funny, sometimes brilliant ways. They can really place an okay. And it's a good, useful phrase. No matter what someone says to you - something so weird, or uncomfortable, or inappropriate - you can almost always get away with an okay, because it can be said to mean almost anything. It's awfully versatile and also almost universally understood.
A Really Great Costume
It's been Halloween this weekend - at first, I thought it would be a bummer, to have it on a Monday, but it turns out, it just means the entire weekend can legitimately be holiday-related. We had a Halloween Gathering here at the M House, and it was costume-filled. A sexy pinup sailor, a rap singer, two people with just funny wigs, two Star Trek officers (what can I say, we're that kind of household), and me, Father Guido Sarducci.
Now, as you can see, I actually make a pretty good Father Guido Sarducci. It was one of those costumes that you conceive of and immediately think, "Hey, if this works out, this will be GREAT." Only you don't know if it's going to work. If the elements will come together. If you can pull it off.
With this costume, I was really excited because I thought it might be a great costume, and I started to put the different elements together - the jacket, the glasses, the hat - I had to order some things online - and, of course, the moustache. It wasn't until right before the party on Friday that I put the whole thing together for the first time, and it was amazing. As my partner said, "You really look exactly like him considering you don't look anything like him." I wanted to go the whole way and have a little routine, but he's *really* hard to do, actually - you think he'd be easy but it's not, it's very subtle (and in fact, Don Novello, the actual guy, basically has the Guido accent in his regular speech patterns, only less exaggerated). It's easy to sound stupid trying to sound like him, but the accent got much better once I put on the full outfit. I was able to do a few good moments of stand up, and it was okay. It's so weird, but I really make a good man.
Oh, there was more to say but my battery is dying, so we'll have to discuss pumpkin farms later.
I visited a friend out of town this past week, and while I was there he got a hand-me-down iPhone from one of his friends out there. That was that. The rest of the time he was tinkering with that thing non-stop.
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