Phone

I got myself a new cell phone. I know I said months ago (on this blog) that I wanted one with all the bells and whistles. What I actually got was the new version of the phone I already had.

It might have some sort of GPS application that's new.

I'm only just realizing how portable the college-age generation considers communications to be. No matter what they seek in a given moment, they expect it to be available with a few finger flicks. Directions, data, trainings, quotes—-I can't imagine what stepping into a library must feel like in an era when primary-source research seems almost unknown.

Anniversary

Today is my and Vic's 18th anniversary. We had a lovely meal and came home to the Patriots' game. The team had better do well.

Ooh, they just scored a touchdown!

Epochs

Another cool video, courtesy of the Daily Dish, via 3Qd: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwOA8AfeHM4

The decline of empires should cover a much longer time frame, of course, and should incorporate the growth of new empires. But, isn't it fascinating to see what happens in the 1960s?

Is it that the Sixties represent a change of mind in the way that the Enlightenment did? Is it the rise of disposable plastics? I just think it's fascinating.

November Glass

On Thursday morning this week, I went glass picking. I hit my favorite beach on Rocky Neck. I could only spend 20 minutes, but I collected a good bit of glass. Not much of it was great, but some of it was kinda nice.

This morning, Vic and I glassed for about 2 hours. We took the dinghy over to Ten Pound. Lots of fat old and interesting pieces! We each found a partial bottle top in blue. Vic found a bright pink shell, which is visible in the colander.

Dance

I mean this when I say it: I cried when I watched this video. Not in sadness, and not in joy. More at the spirit and the infectiousness of dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao4DkbGbxl0
(Thanks to the Daily Dish for bringing the video to my attention.)

I know from my friends growing up that it sucks to mature as a "different" sort of person. That the guy in pink has not only come to terms with those difficulties, but also brought the simple happiness of self-expression to his fellow citizens in this way... "Hurry up, and bring your juke-box money!"

Hair

I got my hair cut on Thursday. I wanted a particular style. I printed out three pictures of other people wearing it. I brought with me three old pictures of myself wearing it. I found online instructions for hairdressers to create this cut and printed those out, too.

You know what this paragraph is going to say. Of course, I did not get exactly the cut I wanted. The hairdresser didn't even read the instructions. What I got is, it seems, the haircut that Patricia Arquette now has, on Medium. Not a bad haircut. Just not the one I wanted (and not the one I did everything imaginable to pursue).

I did not realize at the time that it wasn't right because, just as at the end of any haircut I have ever gotten, the hairdresser poofed and producted and blew my hair dry. I don't do any of that at home. At the end of the appointment, I appeared to be Hilary Clinton when she stopped wearing headbands and ponytails and went with the starched head look.

Forms

I just created a survey form using Google. It was unbelievably easy, and I can see that software publishers aren't going to be happy. Many of the forms that Google offers are the whole reason why applications were developed.

The document underlying my survey form is a spreadsheet, rather than a database (a database could use memo fields). That could be a problem; I don't know if there's a size limit on a spreadsheet cell. We'll have to wait and see.