May 29th, 2006 Rachel
After four years of university, it would appear that I have quickly become a literature bulimic…in between required readings, essays, lectures, and all the other good stuff that comes with being a university student, reading "for fun" kinda fell off the to do list. Well, unless you count issues of People and Shape as ‘reading’ - for me it was more about *not* thinking in a way that did not involve a television set.
That might be it too - our decision to pass on cable at least for the time being has also changed our daily routines. Less TV = more walking, more conversation, more music. Now, the TV is still sitting out front as the centerpiece to the living room, but it’s not the center of what we do when we get home from work. DVDs have replaced the routine sitcoms and nightly news (okay fine, there wre way more nights watching sitcoms than indepth interviews about important issues…). Watching a DVD becomes a deliberate choice, not a routine.
The same goes with purchasing the content we watch - if you add up how much a $50 a mont cable bill is…that’s a lot of DVDs. That’s even more DVD rentals. We’ve started to compromise between the two, thanks to a genius idea by a co-worker (thanks Steph!). DVDs on eBay are extrordinarily well priced. Example:
Season 2 of the O.C. in the stores = 70 bux before taxes
Season 2 of the O.C. on eBay as a "buy it now" purchase = $30 bux with all taxes and shipping included.
Arrested Development so far is an even better deal. But the auction hasn’t closed yet, so I can’t say exaclty how good. But trust me, it’s worth it.
But anyway, back to the books. We went to Borders on Saturday and I immediately felt liberated and apprehensive about the whole thing. Where should I start? Best Sellers? Cultural Theory (I studied it yes, but I still love this stuff)? Business books? Bargain Bin?
I browsed and picked many a book up. By the time I left I had a nice heavy bag of five books, three of which were part of a "Buy 2, Get 1 Free" deal. I justified this kind of literary gluttony with the very true realization that I would have a hard time remembering the books I had found interesting the next time I came through…plus five books would last me a while, right?
Well, if this weekend is any clue, five books won’t last me a while. Curtis Sittenfeld’s book Prep was tough to put down mostly because it was so good, but also because it just felt so darn wonderful to be reading because it is pleasurable and not because it is a chore…not because it is required. I urge any girl who attended high school, public, private, prep or otherwise, who ever felt unsure or insecure to pick it up and see how easily you find it to put the book back down. Best of all, the book is not written in an adolescent voice - Lee is thinking back on her high school days from her late twenties. It makes the story read far more honestly and allows Sittenfeld to foreshadow and allude to the future in a way that keeps you turning the pages.
Less T.V., more exercise and reading. If this is California living, it’s agreeing with me.
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Posted in Books, Learning, Personal | No Comments »
May 24th, 2006 Rachel
Facebook has added a new feature - status updates.
I’ve got a few suggestions for custom answers:
I am wondering how specific I need to be…
I am not sure why this is useful
I am amused at some of the jokes ’status’ messages people have created
If you are on here this much and are taking this function seriously ("Oh cool!! So, before I shower I can say I’m in the shower…then when I go back to Facebook after my shower I’ll say I’m headed to work…then at work I’ll quickly change my status to working…if I get a coffee I’ll need to check Facebook again………) then it is time to close up the computer and step away. Get some fresh air. Recognize that it’s not really all that necessary for everyone to know where you are/what you’re doing/that you’re ‘out at a party’ (seriously this is a field - won’t most of your friends be at the party? are you trying to look cool? for who, the randoms who are stalking you without you knowing it? Sigh).
I can understand the IM status updates because it’s right there open all the time. This one just seems like a baramator for how crazily obsessed someone is with this darn website. I’m all about the stalker-y goodness and photo fun…but this just seems a wee bit overboard.
Posted in Facebook | 2 Comments »
May 24th, 2006 Rachel
Observe Exhibit A:
He’s cute, no?
I bring this up for a reason…you see, the adorable fluffball above who I lovingly refer to as Harley has got me thinking about some of the differences between walking around my new ‘hometown’ of Pasadena vs. a stroll through Aurora. Though not an attempt to generalize the difference between Americans and Canadians or Californians and Ontarians…I’m left intrigued.
You see, a while back I contemplated posting my thoughts on the difference between walking down the street with earbuds stuffed in my head or a bouncy little six pounder trotting along on the end of a leash. In scenario one, I’m pretty much asking to be left alone - don’t talk to me, I’m busy, I’m not even here…But with Harley it always surprised me how much easier it was for people to even say "Hi". The exchange would typically follow this pattern:
Dog does something cute (okay, really he doesn’t have to do anything…so we could just say ‘Dog is cute’)
Person notices
Smile forms as they look at dog
Eyes travel up the leash to meet mine
I smile
We both exchange Hellos
It’s friendly, it makes the walk fun and you get to know some names and faces of people around your neighborhood this way.
How is it so different here, you ask?
Well, for starters when we go for a walk, there’s typically at least twice as many people walking past. It’s busier on the whole, so I’d venture to guess that people are often busier, headed someplace, don’t have time to chat.
Wait, I should clarify that…they don’t have time to chat with me.
Now, I’m not taking this personally…I’m qualifying myself as being that person on the end of the leash. While before I got they routine questions ("What kind is he…she?", "Can I pet your dog?", "Is he a puppy?", "Will he get any bigger?") now people are talking to the dog and are perfectly content to pretend that Harley is walking down the street by himself for everyone to coddle and coo over. They stop, lean down, pet his little furry head, tell him how cute he is, and then continue on their way. I don’t need to be there, to them I’m not there, it’s all about the furball.
I’m gonna have to find a way to meet people instead of relying on my dog. He’s hogging all the attention.
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Posted in Personal, Pets | No Comments »
May 18th, 2006 Rachel
When you log into Typepad, it will show a little check box for them to remember your password. It looks like this:
Newsgator’s is different, it appears without a question mark:
And Gmail pinpoints what the real question is:
Yeah, you’re saying…lots of websites have those. But what interested
me is that Typepad includes a question mark. Having had a fairly extended
hiatus from writing here (There have been reasons…I think moving,
marriage, exams, new job responsibilites count. Or not having internet
at home). Do I remember Typepad? Debanter? Yeppers.
So here I am, back again, ready and reporting for blogging duty.
Hopefully a friend, reader, random passerby-er or two will also remember me too.
Posted in Blogging, Personal | 1 Comment »
