Category: people and relationships

I, Robot

Hello.  Good day.  A little quiet?I’m feeling a little blue myself.You know, A little anxious for no particular reasonA little sad that I should feel anxious at this age.You know, a little self-conscious anxiety resulting in non-specific sadness.The state that I call blue. – spoken by the narrator (“Man In Chair”) in the awesome musical… Continue reading I, Robot

Two Brazil short stories – The Galloping Vendors and the Patient Kindness of Strangers

The Galloping Vendors There had just been again weeks of violent unrest in the world, but I was quite a few countries away, together in a sprawling São Paulo street market with a colleague and our big happy-but-guarded driver.  The three of us were amiably ambling amidst a big, colorful, confusing, and crowded set of… Continue reading Two Brazil short stories – The Galloping Vendors and the Patient Kindness of Strangers

Provincial half-wits okay, but no Goddamned atheists!

In the marvelous The Week magazine (March 2007 edition quoting a USA Today / Gallup poll), it was disclosed that 53% of Americans wouldn’t vote for an atheist for U.S. President (and, unsurprisingly but just as sadly, 43% said they wouldn’t vote for a homosexual, either).  Barring a horribly worded poll question—which, I concede, isn’t… Continue reading Provincial half-wits okay, but no Goddamned atheists!

All "friends" aren’t created equal! (why we need better relationship marking in social networks)

I’m planning on quitting twitter.  Flickr—at least as a social site—is getting frustratingly unwieldly.  You know why?  Because pretty much all social sites like this treat all my friends, co-workers, acquaintances, online buddies the same, and it’s a big, stupid, completely off-putting mess! Sure, these services want to reduce complexity… they know that many folks… Continue reading All "friends" aren’t created equal! (why we need better relationship marking in social networks)

Second Life — Amazing, beautiful, compelling… and not for me

What if you could build a better world, from the ground up?  What if you could even start “yourself” over… You.v2 or even New You; a different hairstyle, thinner, maybe even a different race or gender?  What if you could escape the hellish aspects of our world whenever and for however long you liked?  Glamorous,… Continue reading Second Life — Amazing, beautiful, compelling… and not for me

What makes a blog a community? And are such communities indeed highly fickle?

I’ve spent much of this weekend dealing with my blogfeeds.  I have well over 200 (haven’t bothered to count ‘em exactly), and I’m tens of thousands of posts behind.  Some feeds I’ve just had to (often regretfully) unsubscribe from, others I’ve “reset to zero” (admittedly just masking a larger problem), but—most interestingly to me—I’ve become… Continue reading What makes a blog a community? And are such communities indeed highly fickle?

What do you do with thoughtless, clueless acquaintances?

Earlier this week, I got an e-mail from an acquaintance which basically started off… “Hey man, you know a lot about [x], right?  So would you recommend…” That in itself isn’t so offensive.  But when someone routinely takes and takes (advice, help, my time via his rantings, etc.) and never gives (a sincere “How are… Continue reading What do you do with thoughtless, clueless acquaintances?

Secrets to maintaining a full life and not going too crazy

I just had a very enjoyable and productive job interview, and the interviewer asked me an interesting question that I had not encountered before. He wanted to know how I manage to successfully juggle such a wide variety of disparate personal and professional tasks and responsibilities. The answer: It’s a combination of discipline, luck, support… Continue reading Secrets to maintaining a full life and not going too crazy

A Frustrated Hottie, a Temporary Satan Worshipper, and an Apparent Nympho

Just a little bit of lightness for this morning 🙂 I’ve taken dance lessons from this one very talented instructor, and I was a bit taken aback upon noting that her nickname in dance forums is “Hottie.” Though she’s certainly quite blessed in the looks department, I found this to be a rather odd choice… Continue reading A Frustrated Hottie, a Temporary Satan Worshipper, and an Apparent Nympho