[June 29, 2000]
Malodorousness on the web With a number of people recently blogging foul odors, I can't say I am in any hurry to add this technology to my computer. [June 28, 2000]
Another difference between men and women Or at least between my wife and me. When I was getting ready to eat breakfast this morning, I noticed that I got a bowl, then a spoon, and then the cereal and milk. In other words, I grouped the items according to function. My wife would have gotten the bowl, then the milk, then the spoon, and then the cereal, because that is how our kitchen is laid out. She's all about efficiency. Or maybe she's more linear, and I am non-linear. I guess that's why I like the 'net... 
New iMacs at the MacWorld Expo? I have no insider information here, just an observation of the low-end Blueberry iMacs, and high end iMac DV SE's on display, waiting to be purchased (for $949, and $1449, respectively) at my local Costco. It's not the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but this usually portends something new from Cupertino. I'll let others speculate on exactly what it portends.
Camp Out You may remember that my daughter and I camped out in my parents' backyard for her eighth birthday. Now I have proof. [June 27, 2000]
Good-bye MacOS Daily I think I will miss the Steve Jobs videos the most.
Seen on a street corner A homeless man carrying a cardboard sign saying, "Running for President - will accept donations for my campaign fund." I wanted to make a donation but I was in the wrong lane. [June 26, 2000]
Congratulations Greg! A new baby boy - bet you can hardly sleep!
Where have I been? It's been over a week since I have posted anything, and I am still getting visits to the site. I love you guys! So I took a week off from work to run the games at our church's Vacation Bible School. I figured I'd check in a couple of times over the week and blog a bit, thus no warning that I'd be gone for awhile. Instead I just spent time with my wife and three girls. And you know what? The internet is still here, and no better or worse for me not blogging. Yeah, Derek threw in the towel on his blog (what does that say about his role at Pyra?), but he would have done that anyway. And Apple's stock split, but again, that was happening anyway. I'm glad I took the time to spend with those that matter most, the ones I spend real life with. It saddens me to read that Patti got too caught up with the 'net and some of her relationships suffered as a result. I think I'll take that and Derek's questions about why I blog as a reminder to spend the time on what is really important. FWIW, I blog because I enjoy it. When I cease to enjoy it I'll stop. I like the daily exercise of writing, and I hope this informal, personal narrative of parts of my life will help me become a better writer overall. So, anyway, I'm back. [June 16, 2000]
Getting a Handle on Laptops A nice little article on iBooks by Dan Willis at the Daily iMac.
Wozniak is recognized for his inventive genius Steve Wozniak and six other inventors will be added to the National Inventors Hall of Fame in September. Go Woz go!
Do you IM? I don't (I already waste too much time on the 'net), but here are some interesting articles on the chatting phenomena. [June 15, 2000]
New iMac is hard to hate Self-described "PC Curmudgeon," John P. Mello Jr., waxes poetic about the iMac DV SE he recently took for a tour. Favorite line: "These people are going to give support a good name," in reference to his experience calling Apple tech support.
Propel™ So I'm drinking this new drink "From The Makers Of Gatorade®." And it leaves this taste in my mouth that I normally associate with diet soft drinks. I hate that aftertaste. I checked the label, and there it was - after sucrose syrup, but before any of the 6 added vitamins - aspartame. The stuff that they've linked to brain cancer. There's more aspartame than the prominently advertized vitamins! Fitness Water indeed. [June 14, 2000]
A hint of things to come As promised, more is being revealed.
Flag Day It's Flag Day in the States. So I thought I'd make a few changes around here. And 15 years ago today I started dating my wife. Wow. [June 13, 2000]
An entirely other day He makes me laugh. And think. And laugh some more.
In the earbuds Jars of Clay, Much Afraid. I remember seeing these guys play in a park before their first CD came out. They blew the audience away. I helped Dan Haseltine set up the product booth. I bet he doesn't do that anymore...
Face to face networking The other day I met my neighbor across the alley behind our house. He was taking his garbage out, and I was pushing my kids on the swings in our back yard. We talked for awhile. It was nice to remember that I don't need a computer and an ethernet connection to meet someone new. Topic of conversation? Linux and related operating systems. Sick. I know.
Johnny Appleseed There's a seed of an idea germinating in the fertile soil of my imagination. More will be revealed. Soon. [June 12, 2000]
We're all getting older, you know I'm sitting in the waiting room at the x-ray lab. They're going to look at my neck. It could be degenerative arthritis - not good in someone who's only 33. I remember when I was in college and overheard some older gentlemen talking. Their conversation revolved around what ailment they were seeing the doctor for that week, and whether or not the mail came yet. I remember hoping that my life never came to that. Now here I am telling you about x-rays, and Zeldman has another virus, and Lance is talking about getting old. And I wonder if I got any interesting email over the weekend. Imagine what the posts on Kvetch, or the stories at the Fray will be like in another 10 years!
Active cultures I've been on a bit of a yogurt kick recently. The weird thing is that up until now I couldn't get the stuff near my mouth. They say tastes change as you get older. Next thing you know I'll be eating sushi or something...
Another interesting difference between men and women... When I talk to my wife about people that she doesn't know, I seldom tell her their names. Instead I describe things about them like what they do, etc. I suppose that is because that is how I, as a man, relate to people. When men meet for the first time the first question is "What do you do?" Somehow we have tied identity to activity. It seems easier for me to keep track of job titles, rather than names, at least until I have a face for the name. My wife (see, there I go again - referring to her in relationship to her role/function), on the other hand, prefers to know names. And I don't think she cares too much what a person does, but is more interested in who a person is, whether or not she has a face to go with the name. I think women tie identity to personality. That's a good thing, considering I have had three distinctly different jobs in the last eleven years - not to mention I am only at my job 8 hours a day. I really am not what I do. I can't help it, though. No matter how hard I try not to ask about someone's job when we first meet, it always comes up - usually because he asks me first! [June 11, 2000]
Busy, busy, busy Not much of an excuse for not posting, but things have been pretty busy for me and the family, in real life. I'll try to make up for it Monday. [June 8, 2000]
The Grand EFFIE Congrats to Apple and TBWA/Chiat/Day for taking home the Grand EFFIE for 2000! (At least I think that's a good thing, with a name like EFFIE you never can tell...) [June 7, 2000]
Camping in the backyard My daughter and I set up the tent in my parents' backyard and spent the night. We roasted mini-marshmallows over a candle, and made mini-s'mores. She took me on a "hike" through the backyard (I forgot how much fun it is to make believe in the "rooms" created by low hanging tree branches). She showed me the secret place where she keeps the treasures she finds in Grandma and Papa's yard. Her most special eggshell she found months ago was still there. We read knock-knock jokes to each other by flashlight. Sleep eluded me much of the night due to the hardness of the ground (mental note: bring an air matress next time). I wouldn't trade last night for the world. Happy birthday sweetheart.
EOD Read it. Now. I hope Greg likes bugs... [June 6, 2000]
Good Night Time to go home and enjoy an evening with my daughter, celebrating her 8th birthday.
Apple technology strikes again This has got to be the coolest application of AirPort base station technology (and ingenuity) I've seen yet (Scroll to the "Working Wireless" article).
In the ear buds The 77s, Sticks and Stones. I discovered these guys in January of 1985. On vinyl. Yeah, I am that old. They quickly became my favorite band. I remember that day very clearly. Heidi was a girl in our high school youth group. She had come down with spinal meningitis and was still recovering in the hospital. I had visited her several times, performing magic for her at her hospital bed. This particular day was a Friday. It was grading day for the teachers, so there was no school. Our soccer team was supposed to travel south to Nogales for a game that afternoon. I had planned to go buy some music to listen to on the trip, and was getting ready to leave when I received a phone call (from my future mother-in-law, but I didn't know that then). She told me that Heidi's brother Larry had died the night before in a freak accident. His neck had broken when he got twisted up in his blanket and fell off his bunk bed. It was only by the grace of God that this family endured through these trials. So I went to the record store. I bought the 77s LP and a music track cassette that I sang with a couple of days later at the Sunday evening service at our church. "Love Crucified Arose" by Michael Card. Several people told me later that they couldn't get that song out of their minds when they heard about Larry's death. They thanked me for singing the song. I remember crying in the arms of my pastor at the memorial service. Heidi went on to attend Brown University. I wonder what she's up to now? We'll have to wait a bit longer to see Larry again. Funny how music can trigger a flood of memories.
Happy Birthday! My oldest turns eight today. She woke up this morning and told me how she felt much more mature as an eight year old. Mostly because the age ranges on her puzzles and other toys are from 3-7. "The ages 8 and up ones require more matureness," she said. Don't be in such a hurry to grow up, honey! [June 5, 2000]
Print 2000 The latest Keeper of the iBook article. Just for you.
It hit me like a wave All I know is I was extremely thankful for Immodium at about 11 pm last night. [June 3, 2000]
Lost My daughter woke up earlier than usual today. She came out and asked me for a piece of paper, any paper. It was urgent. I gave her some scrap, and she took it with a pencil. A couple of minutes later she showed me this:Lost, by JoShe turns 8 on Tuesday.
I'm Baaaack! Didja miss me? [June 2, 2000]
Bloggus Interruptus Still unable to update. And after all the nice things I said about them...
Eeww! I just saw a piece of my blog. It was just hanging there, torn from the page. You can see it too. At Les' site.
AAAAARRRGGGHHH!!!! Of course, by the time you read this, the problem will be fixed. But in the meantime Apple has managed to render my index.html file unreadable, and this little corner of cyberspace unusable. Maybe they found a copy of this in the iDisk office.
iBook, iMac, iBlog, iFAQ iKnow, iKnow...
Archive Because 63K was just too big. [June 1, 2000]
I love the Internet Not the physical network of computers, or the World Wide Web, or e-mail, but the whole concept and what it means for opening up communication. I love that highschoolers like Les and Mark are on equal ground with older guys like me or Zeldman. I like that I can read about Fiona, and other great, personal, stories from Patti or Ben Brown or Lance Arthur or Derek Powazek or... It's great to get encouraging e-mail from Alaska, to Michigan and Massachusetts, from Canada and the United Kingdom to New Mexico. I can help those who want to learn, and learn from those who want to help. I know that you don't really get to know the whole person just by reading their writing, but I love that I can feel like I know a little about someone by reading their blogs. I'll probably never make it to SXSW or a frayday, but I do appreciate that the Internet has not just been a medium to publish my writing, but has served to encourage me to put bytes to the word processor, so to speak. Mostly, it has been gratifying to know that people actually show an interest in what I have to say. As much as I am for the independent content creator (artists, writers, poets, commentators) I am also glad for the commercial side, that necessary evil that keeps the Internet going (and allows me to post my sites for free on Apple's servers, for instance). I hope that more people learn about the independent side of the Internet, and take the proper time to get to know and enjoy it. I'll be quiet now... Mark Newhouse is the Web Designer for the public outreach arm of the National Optical Astronomy Observatories in Tucson, AZ. He has been using Macs for over a decade, and sometimes gets Distracted. |
MetaMore Blogs:
|
iBlog Copyright © 2000, Mark Newhouse, all rights reserved
The iMac image is courtesy iStockPhoto. Icons courtesy the Iconfactory.