time travel. October 28, 2003

i graduated from college with my undergrad degree a little over ten years ago. my focus was comparative literature and my favorites were books by female novelists. … i digress. tonight i had a chance to watch the lover. i had read the book in ‘92 and saw the film when it came out in ‘93. i feel old. i could remember the class in which i read and discussed the novel, the movie theater in which i saw it with my then aspiring architect boyfriend, and the interesting piece of art he had made for me based on the orginal cover of the book.

as to whether or not i liked either. yes on the book. and in the words of another imdb fan, i’m odiously conflicted by the movie.

b.

preach it michael. October 23, 2003

i’ve been feeling the same way the past few days as i see a few references here and there to the last flight of the concorde. i’m sad i never sucked it up and took out the second mortage to give it a go at least one time. i wanted to break the sound barrier. i heard once that as it broke the sound barrier a blue light moved through the cabin letting passengers know. there were also fresh orchids in the bathroom along with oak paneling.

i hope it comes back someday. that this isn’t some sort of regression of progression.

b.

new favorite web forum. October 22, 2003

if you like phones like i like phones then you will love the hofos on phones. howard chui is just about one of the coolest kids on the block and his site is indespensible for talking with other phone enthusiasts (happy to know i’m not alone in this).

a good companion site is rich brome’s phone scoop. he has the latest news and all the good reviews nice and early. he and howard also point folks to a lot of the online retailers who carry some of the harder to find phones for us u.s. folks.

i have one of these puppies ordered to show up soon. only big problem is i’m a t-mobile customer (and fan) so not sure if i’m going to switch to att. they have a 30 day return policy though so i figure i’ll get to take the smartphone through it’s paces. i’ll keep you posted on the outcome.

b.

indiana!!! October 22, 2003

one of the signature flicks of my childhood, raiders of the lost ark, has come to dvd and i happily plunked down my $49.99 for it and the two others in the series. i hate feeling old. watching the film, seeing harrison ford and karen allen looking younger than i do now made me have a bit of a third life crisis. but i have to say the new version of media center rocks! we watch all our dvds on the hp media center and even though i feel old, at least i can run out a buy a dvd at a moments notice, driving my own car, buying a bottle of pinot noir to go with it, and staying up way past my bedtime.

age has its benefits.

b.

101 reasons why i love October 22, 2003

scout mccloud. ok so maybe not 101… but at least 1. he’s the reason i was able to get my masters in curriculm and instruction. i did my masters thesis on alternative forms of literacy: audio and visual using cd-roms (do i date myself), graphic novels, and books on tape. scott’s book understanding comics was a huge life saver as he defined and confirmed much of what i believed going into the project. the timing couldnt’ have been better either because his book had come out just before i began my research.

i saw scott speak last week at the friends of o’reilly thing down in sebastapol and i think he was the highlight of the weekend for me. he illustrated (pun intended) the natural evolution of comics and graphic novels as they transition to the web as a medium and in a way get back to their roots. i taped the talk and need to find out from scott and tim if they would object to me posting some highlights. some of what was said has me still noodling.

i recommend taking a long look around his site and even ponying up a quarter to download his latest work, “the right number”. it’s well worth the cost.

b.

lord have mercy. October 15, 2003

i am one overwraught failed blogger. it’s not that i don’t have tons of things i want to write about and share with the universe (as if). it’s just that my current job/life/task list is not cooperating. ok ok blogging should be like that quick phone call you make to let someone know you are running late. but even that 2 minutes it takes seems to be too long to actually stop and make the call. that’s how i’ve been feeling about blogging. probably since august or so when things at work began to kick into high gear. it seems like when i’m finally ready to sit down and get some thoughts into digital – i’m also ready to crawl towards a clean/unfolded laundry covered bed surrounded by unread books and mismatched shoes. i really am that pathetic at the moment! i am, however, going to do what i’ve done a few times in the past… which is at least list the things that have been top of mind for me so that i’ll eventually write about them rather than let them drift off into the ether.

foo camp recap
new sony aibo (ordered!!)
z600 (purchased!!!)
best 17″ laptop case ever
scootering to the bus
disco robot party
swg addiction
why my webcam is currently not working
why i heart bluetooth
my new favorite web forum

stay tuned!

b.

going oof to foo. October 9, 2003

for you acronym loving folks… i’m going to be out of office tomorrow flying down to sebastopol for the friends of o’reilly campout. thanks to chris pirillo for putting on the great gnomedex fest back in june i met tim and really hit it off with him. hoping to have a fabulous time!!

b.

i thought i had found everything in the world that could bring me happiness. October 9, 2003

and then i found this.

b.

julie asks you to vote! October 7, 2003

miney. October 6, 2003

saw lost in translation on friday. wow. this may be too much information, but i cried off and on through the whole thing. not sure why. maybe because both characters seemed so sad, so lost. maybe because it’s been almost a year since i was in tokyo and i do want to return soon, possibly permanently. i thought of the word sublime. not sure if it’s the best description for the film. but i was awed at the power of the fragility of human relationships. of all sorts. the soundtrack also included music by kevin sheilds (a cd i’ve been listening to since i bought it immediately upon leaving the theater) which can also be described as sublime. no matter the case… the movie… the music… it has stuck with me over the last few days. and that’s well, sublime.

b.