HAL says...

HAL9000: "I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do." (Clarke, by way of Kubrick, by way of Quotegeek)

I punch the scrabble board into Quackle and ask it to analyze... apparently, it is pulling CPU resources across dimensional boundaries and unfolding space and time in the process. Either that, or Apple fucked up and doesn't know what 100% means. (oh wait... is this what they mean by "giving 110%"? Damn, that's some hard-working software)


And just... for the record for anyone I might be playing an online game of Scrabble with now or in the future, I swear (cross my heart and hope to endo) that I commit my play before I consult Quackle or anything else. Really, I swear. I just want to know what I'm missing. I can quit any time, I just like the taste.

it makes me greedy and lazy

This wave of virtual information that is immediately accessible and constantly on - free WiFi, Wikipedia, Google, video on demand in a browser window... it's so one-sided. Conditioning myself subconsciously to expect instantaneous results. That every whim can be indulged with a click of a mouse and instant response (if not instant satisfaction). If only it went the other way as easily. That the idea, the project, the result were instantly translated from a want to reality, through the power of a fingertip. No effort, no thought, no struggle, no work.

From the mouth of Sir Ben Kinglsey in The House of Sand and Fog:

Do you understand? Do not feel bad. Americans they do not deserve what they have. They have the eyes of small children who are forever looking for the next source of distraction, entertainment, sweet taste in the mouth.

ah yes... to recalibrate reference, to re-set expectation. Re-see priorities and make conscious choices. This is my hope. It's what I want for a New Year's present for myself.

vaporlock

So long without a post, I feel like I've abandoned some...thing. Some idea. Some what. Well, there were these big notions that felt like huge essays, and the formidableness, formidability, formidity, form of them got in the way of saying anything." That mountain is sooo high to climb, I can't possibly finish it today, so I might as well not even start now." Yes, this is problematic thinking. Whatever.

Expect musings ... on the question of very large people in very small places (obesity, airlines, and the "rights" of everyone involved). ... on the problem of vision and utility (how abstract desire gets in the way of effective results, and how effective results gets in the way of abstract desire) ... on the question of "peace vs. annihilation" (and how we take a pinch of each to create equilibrium and structure, just like the chickens and gorillas).
But in the meantime, just remember... no matter how fringey and immune to counter-culture shock you think you are, the person walking down the street with the pink mohawk will always catch your eye and prove that there's always someone fringier. (this would be the equivalent of "no matter how badass you think you are, there is always someone out there who can kick your ass" OR "if you think you're a hot-shit fast bike racer winning races all the time - upgrade a category and then think again")

it... comes in cans!

oh, delicious...

traveling leftovers

In the airport on the way back from California...

The Bizarro-World effect of hearing "If I were a man, I would wear a tie with the Constitution on it" in that weird everything-sounds-like-a-question sorority girl voice coming from a very caffeinated 20something woman talking to her friends. Hear it in your head "If... like... I was a man, I would, like, TOTALLY wear a tie, with, like, the Constitution all OVER it". I'm happy that young people embrace the Constitution and such, but it's surely weird to hear that in such a voice.
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And on the TV at the gate a little while later, Wolf Blitzer interviewing people on his jumbo-tron regarding the financial implosion and layoffs in the auto industry: "What jobs are safe?"

My question for Blitzer - exactly what kind of question is that? I mean seriously... there is no such thing as job security. And it's not like people are going to change careers based on today's CNN broadcast, so really the question and answer don't inform, theey just instill fear that the people in jobs not listed *aren't* safe. But since they can't do anything about it in the moment, all they can do is tune in to the next Blizter broadcast to find out, with breathless anticipation, whether the next danger has passed. Vicious cycle, indeed.
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On the plane - they're charging $1 for coffee, $2 for bottled water/soda, and $7 for cocktails... at what point does someone realize that the lack of sales (no one was buying anything from the refreshment cart) means that simply carrying the weight of the cart and containers of beverage on the plane is a money-losing proposition? That is, the amount of fuel that is required to keep that extra 50-100 lbs aloft in flight costs more than the profit from the sales from the cart? Just give it up... clearly people can do without tiny portions of non-food, so just give it up. I'd rather have the ability to walk to the bathroom down an aisle not blocked by a cart than have the option to buy a $2 coke.

puke

In another fascinating entry from the "so what if _____ ..." file:

If police/military use nausea-inducing incapacitation as a method of crowd control/non-lethal weaponry/chemical agent ... would it be possible to take anti-nausea meds first, and then not be affected by the nausea inducement? Like, say, if you're the protest-ey anarchist type, inclined to march in the streets and not disperse and that kind of thing. If you're expecting to get nausea-gassed, will anti-nausea drugs work as a prophylactic?