Story Archive - January 2009

People Everywhere are Nice (01/25/2009)

Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God. - Bokonon (Cat's Cradle)

I have travelled a lot throughout the US and the world. Not as much as those people who make traveling a lifestyle, but a lot more travel than those who do it casually. I'm often asked after getting back from India, Australia, England, France, Ohio, Tennessee, etc. "were the people there nice?" The answer has always been yes. Always. If you ever listen to people talk about traveling through countries one of the compliments you tend to hear from them is "the people there were so nice."

So I've come to a conclusion in my travels and in listening to people talk about thiers: people everywhere are nice. Really though, isn't that how it should be?

Thankfully I Will Outlive OSC (01/21/2009)

He seemed not to know the uses of silence. - Heather LeLache (The Lathe of Heaven)

I recently finished reading "Ender in Exile" by Orson Scott Card. If you were ever a young boy, you've probably read "Ender's Game" at some point in your childhood and loved it. I've stuck with OSC a long time. I went through the entire Ender series including all the books in the Shadow series and even reading some other ones such as "First Meetings: In the Enderverse."

I didn't enjoy any as much as "Ender's Game" and I got more and more annoyed and frustrated by the Shadow series as it went on. When "Ender in Exile" came out I decided it would be the very last book in this world that OSC would get out of me. Something terrible has happened. I really liked this book. OSC focused the book once more on the personality of Ender and wasn't trying to play games of military strategy. I suspect very much OSC was once a young boy. I suspect very much OSC was never a military strategist.

So if he gets around to publishing one more book in this world, I'll think about. I'll have a long and hard staring content with the book at the bookstore. We'll see who wins. I think, chances are, that I will talk out of the store with yet another Ender book.

Crunchy Gold Paths (01/19/2009)

Autumn's the mellow time. - William Allingham

There is this one brief moment that happens every year when the leaves all change color and the wind blows through for the first very hard time. The leaves fall to the ground and coat the walkways. Within just a few hours people have kicked the leaves aside, but in the first moments of morning, if you can catch it, you have a grand autumn carpet rolled out in front of you leading you where you want to go. It feels almost like walking on a path of golden flower petals. Gorgeous.

A Path of Leaves Outside

Slumdog Violence (01/11/2009)

Guns never solve a problem they didn't first make worse. - Sarah Jane Smith (The Sarah Jane Smith Adventures)

A lot of the time when I'm going on a traditional date (i.e. "dinner and movie") after a some sort of nummy delectable downtown, I take her to whatever happens to be playing at the independent theater in Palo Alto. This has always worked out well, since the place only has two screens and always tends to have one excellent indy playing. This allows me to see excellent indies (which I enjoy) and appear somewhat cultured and pretentious. Everyone wins.

A few weeks ago I followed the method and went to see "Slumdog Millionaire" with someone. Each time there was an overly violent scene she would start be covering her eyes and eventually stand up, push past the couple next to us an go to the bathroom or buy tea or something that involved not actually being in the theatre. The third time this happened, I knew it was over. I grabbed her purse and went to join her in the lobby.

"Do you think it will get less violent?" she asked me. "I can't imagine it will." "I think we should go back in. It's good." "You're leaving at a rate of once every ten minutes, I can't image it's going to get better." So we left to go make cookies. Which was a good happy option.

A week later I went with other friends to see the movie. Two important things happened. First, I found it was an amazing movie. I think it helps if you have spent time in India as more than a tourist; in fact, this entire group of friends had been to India. This group of friends was also far more desensitized to movie violence. The whole movie I kept waiting for the dance routine and I'm happy that the movie didn't disappoint.

Seeing it the second time, I told my friends the story of the first. I especially liked the comment one made: "Really? That is a terrible date! In that situation, I would keep burying my head in my date's arms or maybe say, ‘just let me look at your eyes. I can't stand the violence and I want to look at something beautiful.'" Well said.

You know what other movie I'm excited about? "Chandni Chowk to China" Combing Hong Kong Kung-Fu Glory with Bollywood Glory? Wow. There better be a dance routine that involves wirework or I didn't get my money's worth.

"Hello" IMs and "Thank You" e-Mails (01/10/2009)

Time has value. Money does not. - Patrick Rhone

I have these two pet peeves in the new digital world: the "hello" IM and the "thank you" e-mail.

A lot of people send me that initial "Hi" or similar IM message. I'm really not sure what do with it. It comes from co-workers a lot and it comes from friends at all hours of the day. I read it, look who is sending it, what time of day it is, and then judge if I'm going to respond or not. These days I tend to be online only during working hours, so the chance of me responded to a phishing IM is very low. I always cut to the chase with my initial IM by asking the question or making the statement is as simple as "Hi; Nothing in particular; I'm bored, how are you doing?" Isn't that better?

I have this set of coworkers who respond to any e-mail I send them with "thank you." I know what you're thinking, "that is very polite of them." I see it as a waste of their time to send it and a waste of my team to have to delete it. I get a lot of mail. So why waste people's time? If I wanted a confirmation you go the mail I would have asked for a read-receipt. I didn't ask for one, therefore, I don't care if you got it. If you never sent that back I wouldn't think you're a bad person.

The Bruce (01/05/2009)

"I'm as happy as any director who's tormented by everything they had to change. - Bruce Campbell

"Bruce, my mother was suppose to come with me tonight, but she cancelled at the last minute. Will you call her and make her feel bad for missing tonight's show?"

Bruce didn't even hesitate, "Absolutely!" He pointed his finger at the audience menacingly, "but this is the only call I'm making tonight. No one else ask me to do this." He wanders over to the man who had asked, "okay. Dial her number into your phone." Bruce asked the name of man, Andy, and his mother, Sarah.

Bruce hit the send button and waits. "Hello. Is this Sarah? Do you know where your son Andy is? Do you love your son? Well, if you ever want to see him again stay near the phone and don't call anyone." *Click* Bruce starts over-the-top laughing. It's clearly put on laughter, but still hysterical.

"Okay. Okay." He says. "She is totally freaked out right now wondering if you're alive or not! Let me call her again so she doesn't have to worry. I need to borrow someone else's phone so that the caller id is different." Someone else in the audience hands her phone to him. Bruce dials the same number again.

"Shhh… It's ringing." He looks very gleeful. "Hello. Is this Sarah? Sarah, I'd just like you to know you're never going to see your son alive again." *Click* Bruce starts slapping his knee and doing more over-the-top laughing.

"Okay Andy, call you mom and tell her you're not dead. I probably just committed a bunch of felonies, but she is totally going to regret not coming with you tonight."

Bruce, You Are a God

Is it any wonder that Bruce is one of my heros??

Sand Again (01/04/2009)

Footprints in the sand again. Waves come up. Waves go down. I saw you standing there again. Sun comes up. Sun goes down. The light is not as bright again, as it was not long ago. Cross it out and try again. Guess that's why I told you so.

MacWorld Guess (01/03/2009)

And I think we all have a story inside we want to tell and here's a chance to finally be able to do it. - Phil Schiller

Every year I start a pool with my friends for what we think is going to be announced at MacWorld. Clearly Steve has gotten annoyed enough with the expectation that he announce a new product right after the big holiday buying season that he is not going to even bother attending MacWorld anymore. This year, the last year, he isn't giving the keynote; it's one of his lackey's. So here is the question? In this year of phasing out, will the announcement be bigger than normal or smaller? I'm guessing they are going to announce something cool and I will buy one immediately.

So this Tuesday, here are my current craziest guesses ranging from unlikely to absurd:

Making Time to Make (01/02/2009)

Most of us are naturally inclined to struggle against the restrictions our friends and family impose upon us, but if we are so unfortunate as to lose a loved one, what a difference then! Then the restriction becomes a sacred trust. - Jonathan Strange (Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell)

On Thursday morning, the first day of the new year, we wake up at the various locations where our bodies had chosen to fall at the end of the party. We start to breath in the air around us, and while it's only one morning later than the previous, it's a new year, and we all know it. We all feel it with the new breath. The fog has rolled into the city and someone asks, "how did we wake up in Santa Cruz?"

As we are eating our breakfast, everyone is wishing everyone a happy new year, and the expected subject of resolutions comes up. We make the normal banter about how we want to exercise more and manage our finances better, but most interesting to me is the talk of making. Someone brings up the long dead writing group and suggests it's resurrection.

I'm too far from the group to easily participate in reading and discussion, but the idea intrigues me. I like that we all want to make time to make. Whether the output is a drawing, painting, writing, knitting or anything else, the real resolution is just about finding the time to do it.

I haven't really been creating since I commuted on the train and had a two half-hour blocks of time where I was free of any distraction other than a blank computer screen or blank notebook. So I haven't figured out the exact formula yet, but there my resolution is making time to make. It might be one hour a week, but hopefully it will be more. I'll see how it rolls.