217990 Curiosities served
Absolutes Scheisswetter
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There's just no other better way to describe today's weather. The wet, cold, and gray we had around here reminds me of the stuff I experienced regularly in both Kiel and Heidelberg, Germany. Didn't help the funk I was already in -- apparently sleep deprivation isn't a good thing after all.
Frustrating day at work with a screwy network printer and a "user" (I despise this word as it pretty much de-personifies(?) anyone it's assigned to) who is a little too anal to try a decent workaround. If I weren't writing this journal entry on a laptop, online, right now, I might say that technology, also, sucks. Pros and cons to everything, I guess.
Did make some time, however, to read Todd Oppenheimer's The Flickering Mind, a book about computers in secondary schools. Long story short: Mr. Oppenheimer believes that schools and government have, by and large, put much too much emphasis on spending for technology rather than the basics (teaching, teachers, teacher salaries, small class sizes, etc.) What I've read so far is shocking, but Oppenheimer backs everything up with facts and a solid bibliography/endnotes section that is about as long as the book itself.
Got out of the office to read the book. Wilson Library is a gorgeous building, and the entire second floor of it is dedicated to a rare books/study area. The central dome, held up at the corners by patina-colored marble columns, must be close to 50 feet high in the middle. Two rows of long oak tables span the length of the two wings, and gold metal table lamps provide light at each. Incredibly surreal to be surrounded by such opulence after sitting in a depressingly drap* computer lab for a few hours...
(*originally a typo, but now I'd like to pass it off as a nice portmonteau of "drab" and "crap.")
The wet walk home was actually good -- a calming stroll back to Carrboro down Cameron Avenue and the bike path that connects Chapel Hill with our little town. Along the way there are a couple of notable strokes of graffiti: On the bike path itself someone scrawled, in white spray paint, "This is ours." One fence, in the same hand and paint, sports "The end on other side." And finally there's an 8" x 2' rectangle outline (also in white) around the stenciled word "Whores" - fitting nicely into one of the bike lanes. I think maybe there's a story in there somewhere -- just need to wrap my noodle around that more.
Finally, Steffi and I also watched the first two episodes of 24 this evening. Well-done and quite suspensful -- but a modicum of disbelief suspension is essential. Very difficult not to try and watch the whole series (again the complete set borrowed from friends) in 24 hours!
Enough journal, enough TV. Time for a book.
Frustrating day at work with a screwy network printer and a "user" (I despise this word as it pretty much de-personifies(?) anyone it's assigned to) who is a little too anal to try a decent workaround. If I weren't writing this journal entry on a laptop, online, right now, I might say that technology, also, sucks. Pros and cons to everything, I guess.
Did make some time, however, to read Todd Oppenheimer's The Flickering Mind, a book about computers in secondary schools. Long story short: Mr. Oppenheimer believes that schools and government have, by and large, put much too much emphasis on spending for technology rather than the basics (teaching, teachers, teacher salaries, small class sizes, etc.) What I've read so far is shocking, but Oppenheimer backs everything up with facts and a solid bibliography/endnotes section that is about as long as the book itself.
Got out of the office to read the book. Wilson Library is a gorgeous building, and the entire second floor of it is dedicated to a rare books/study area. The central dome, held up at the corners by patina-colored marble columns, must be close to 50 feet high in the middle. Two rows of long oak tables span the length of the two wings, and gold metal table lamps provide light at each. Incredibly surreal to be surrounded by such opulence after sitting in a depressingly drap* computer lab for a few hours...
(*originally a typo, but now I'd like to pass it off as a nice portmonteau of "drab" and "crap.")
The wet walk home was actually good -- a calming stroll back to Carrboro down Cameron Avenue and the bike path that connects Chapel Hill with our little town. Along the way there are a couple of notable strokes of graffiti: On the bike path itself someone scrawled, in white spray paint, "This is ours." One fence, in the same hand and paint, sports "The end on other side." And finally there's an 8" x 2' rectangle outline (also in white) around the stenciled word "Whores" - fitting nicely into one of the bike lanes. I think maybe there's a story in there somewhere -- just need to wrap my noodle around that more.
Finally, Steffi and I also watched the first two episodes of 24 this evening. Well-done and quite suspensful -- but a modicum of disbelief suspension is essential. Very difficult not to try and watch the whole series (again the complete set borrowed from friends) in 24 hours!
Enough journal, enough TV. Time for a book.
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