June 2004

Some people have deep introspection when they turn 30. That never really happened for me last year. What seems to be the big moment (or lingering series) has moreso been the anniversary of the month I moved to Boston ten years ago. Everything changed May 1994 when I landed here. Some good, some not so fabulous … all interesting. I’ve been wanting to write about the related observations, changes, etc but haven’t really taken the time to do so yet. While poking around my pal Frances’ poetry archive, I found this little gem of a poem that does an excellent job summing up part of my “ten years in Boston” restrospective.

Fox news reviewed Michael Moore’s new film ‘Fahrenheit 9/11‘ yesterday: “As much as some might try to marginalize this film as a screed against President George Bush, “F9/11″ — as we saw last night — is a tribute to patriotism, to the American sense of duty  —  and at the same time a indictment of stupidity and avarice.”

I’ve been wanting to have some sort of Nebraska-themed BBQ/picnic with East Coast pals for a while. Thanks to the Internet, you can not only have Runza ship you their sandwiches but you can also (!!!) order Dorothy Lynch salad dressing (made in Columbus, NE), too. Excellent!

The clock is ticking for the 24 Hour Dotcom. [via Gregor]

A friend sent me an invite to create a Gmail account and I was hoping I would be able to grab the username “sooz.” Unfortunately it needs to be at least six letters so I had to add a few zeros. You can send me notes, iBook naming suggestions, etcetera to sooooz@gmail.com. (That’s four lowercase o’s in the middle.)

So, as of late last night, I thought my iBook was dead. After only having purchased it on May 30th, this was quite sad. I went to the Apple Store tonight with a sigh and a hopeful smile. Surely they’d just give me a replacement since it had been less than two weeks and it had already died. They were very nice. Listened to my blathering story and obvious sadness. Then I turned on the computer. And it booted up just fine. That was curious. Brian, the tech at the “Genius Bar“, said he recognized my email address and thought he may have been to my website via a link on Adam Gaffin’s Boston Common. Fun! He suggested that I not run File Vault since (as far as he knew) I’m not in the FBI or CIA. Apparently that application can act up. Who knows if that’s what was going on when it went into its coma. Oh, and he’s got a weblog, too. Fun! It’s over at recently.rainweb.net that he runs with his conspirator, Jake.

Now I just need to come up with a suitable name for the computer. The last one was Zippy. Something that starts with “Z”?

Jay McCarthy posted a list of Ben Franklin’s “Goals of Virtue” the other day. Good tips, overall!

In other news, I got a new computer and the new computer died after 12 days. I’m not all that amused and hopeful that when I return it on Saturday that they’ll exchange it for a new one and not expect me to wait for it to be sent in for a checkup. Twelve days! I suppose it’s better it happened now and not the day after its warranty is up. At least not having a computer around at home means I’m getting all my stuff unpacked in the new place. I’ve been reminded of what life was like before I got online.

Shmuel wrote an article about the transit of Venus that is happening right now. He provides some useful (and humorously written) tips regarding what not to do.

We’re putting this before the section on how you can view the transit of Venus, because it’s important. Do not look at the Sun. Repeat: do NOT look at the Sun, whether during the transit of Venus, or at any other time. Do not look at the Sun while wearing sunglasses. Do not look at the Sun through exposed film. (Color film doesn’t protect your eyes. Properly prepared black-and-white film containing silver does, but a lot of modern black-and-white film does not.) Do not, for Pete’s sake, look at the Sun through binoculars or a telescope. Do not look at the Sun through a camera. Do not look at the Sun through polarizing film. Do not look at the Sun through CDs or other computer media. Do not look at the Sun.

Happiness is leaving work two hours early, catching the Fung Wah Bus from China Town to New York City, eating a fabulous meal with Josh and Jesse at Good World (mmm Swedish food — spectacular Swedish meatballs and a perfect chocolate martini) and then wandering a bunch of blocks to The Living Room to see Rose Polenzani and her band perform. And hey, it’s only Friday. That means 1.5 more days of curious adventures.