The word of the week is imbecile, something I rarely bother to call people as they usually don't know what it means.
May 16 - Still waiting for a travel deal...
This week I worked six days in a row, not a large stretch by anyone's measure but to me, right now, it seemed to drag on forever especially with a 13-hour day tossed in there. I'm long overdue for a vacation; my next one is a month away, with a week in late June followed by two weeks in July. I've been scouring the 'net for deals for airline tickets to travel out to Calgary and from there on to Niagara, but so far it's been slim pickings. I'm hoping that by the time I'm ready to fly the first week of July that I'll have been able to find a solid deal, as paying full-price for airline tickets really sticks in my craw. Still, I'd consider it worth full price to see my sister and my friends again this summer!
May 17 - Seen it yet?
Every year, it seems there are a dozen( or more )movies that I don't get around to seeing that I add to my Must See list, ones that I don't even end up getting on DVD. The list has grown in fits and lurches as my time and memory permits, but I'm always open to seeing what other Must See lists have on them. Maxim just came out with The 300 Movies You Must See Before You Die list, which I think has a fair chunk of the ones I've got... though I've seen a lot of them, thankfully. Check it out and see if there's a few on there you may have forgotten about; I'll bet there are!
May 18 - It Was Andreas K's 65th Today
Those of you who know me well, know that I love Babylon 5. And in that show, there are two characters I enjoyed seeing the most: Londo Mollari as played by Peter Jurasik and G'Kar as played by the late Andreas Katsulas. The dynamic that these two actors brought to their characters was incredible to see: touching, dramatic, deep and humorous in equal measures. For Andreas, it was a role of a lifetime, one he came to embrace and be embraced for; he was loved by millions of B5 fans, something he continued to find incredible until the day he passed beyond the veil. Of all the things I have seen or read or heard, I find that the words of JMS that Andreas made his own through the mask of G'Kar to be among the truest and most moving performances I know of. Listen, and you may be moved:
May 19 - I Bought a Transformer!
Finally! For weeks now, I've been trying to land an ASUS Transformer tablet, but with no success - the things are sold out across North America for the next month or two until new supplies arrive. After scouring the 'net, I finally came across a genial fellow on the RFD forums who had bought both a Motorola Xoom and a Transformer, then decided he liked the Xoom better( here's a great comparison here of the top 4 tablets, including the iPad ). So after a little back-and-forth, it was a done deal ... I got the tablet AND the dock for the same price as I'd have paid retail, plus shipping. Considering the things are going for a fair margin above that on eBay and elsewhere, I'd say I came out ahead in the deal, despite the overall cost. I think it will be worth it; considering that the tablet by itself weighs 1/4 what my 2005-era laptop does with the same battery life, I'd say it will add tons of portability to my ability to write and work most anywhere I choose. I can hardly wait for it to arrive; since there was no word on the 3G version, I decided to simply jump in and upgrade later, when possible.
May 20 - The World, My Way
Now here's a great point about the way media controls us, and how WE can control the media - and why too much of either methodology is BAD for us. In a world of Facebook, RSS feeds, email and media streaming via the web, we can tune in and tune out at our pleasure. Similar to not watching the Buffalo Channel 7 News at night for the first ten minutes, you can tune out all the Bad Things like murders, war, fires and the rest and just focus on the nice things like singing cats and amazing survival stories. But if you tune all that out, aren't you really retreating to a fantasy world of your own creation, where little news of reality penetrates your sunshine-and-rainbow-coloured firewall? C|Net has a great article on just this topic, it's worth a read, if only so you can recognize the symptoms when you begin to tune out...
May 21 - The Day The World Didn't End, Again
Gosh, it's a surprise to be writing this today, considering that the world was predicted to end on this date. Unfortunately for those with crappy day jobs, no life and mountains of bills, that didn't happen... but overall, I'm glad we're all still here on this ball of rock floating in space. I'm also amused that many Canadians took the chance to poke fun at the doomsayers - some others decided to take advantage of the end of the world with special offers. Still others decided it would be fun to prank the rapturists... I think I like that last one best. Besides, we all know that if the world is going to end, it will not be with a bang, but a whimper...
May 22 - Directions, Decided
Today was a difficult day for me... a lot of things came to a head, in a carryover from last night. After a frank talk with my parents, I've set down a few things I need to do in the next year in order to keep my sanity, now that their situation is stabilized and they are almost self-supporting. One of those things is for me to go back to school, to finish my degree - this has always been a regret of mine that circumstances years ago forced me to choose between my education and my family. Along with my obvious desire to get a new job, these two things will be my focus for the next year in order to keep my mental balance up. I've felt that I've been treading water in many areas for over a decade and now that the end of the long swim is here, with land in sight, I have to pick where I want to come ashore and start discovering new landscapes. It should be an interesting remainder of the year, in many good ways, I hope.
It's been a long week; I have Monday and some of Tuesday off and I need that time to decompress. I hope everyone's having a good spring so far; I'll 'see' you all next week!
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