5.56pm
Tuesday
8 November 2005

you could travel for a lifetime
and still stay where you are
you could wait until the right time
resolve to make or mar
people tell you what they know
mostly wrong from the word go

--under the surface, bettie serveert

The plans for moving to NYC are now in the works with huge grandness and momentum, in a way that will make them very difficult to reverse. I haven't done anything absolutely irreversable quite yet, though I'm gearing up to do so, and getting unbearably excited.

• × • × • × •

A reassuring thought: it is about programming, but applies to lots of different aspects of life in which you might need someone else's input.

Respect every person's time and balance it against your own. But realize that asking someone a question accomplishes far more than just receiving the answer. The person learns about you, both by enjoying your presence and hearing the particular question. You learn about the person in the same way, and by carefully framing your question, you may learn more than the answer you seek. This is all usually far more important than your original question.

—Robert L. Read, How to be a Programmer

• × • × • × •

mix cd of songs that make me cry or—if I'm listening to them at work, my main no-crying-allowed zone—catch my breath with emotion:

"Books Written For Girls," Camera Obscura
any version of "Sweet Jane"
"Hold On Magnolia," Songs: Ohia
"More Than This," Roxy Music
"Backdrifts. (Honeymoon Is Over.)," Radiohead
"Los Angeles, I'm Yours," The Decemberists
"Baby, I Know What You're Thinking," The Mendoza Line
"Staralfur," Sigur Ros
"As Cool As I Am," Dar Williams
"God Only Knows," The Beach Boys

• × • × • × •

I've been ever so much more on-task lately, but it makes me feel a little like an automaton—it makes me think how nice it would be to lie on the sidewalk, stare up at the sky apathetically, and scream if anyone attepted to talk to me. And then I realize that they would not then all fall over and fade out with me, they would just get more worked up and annoying. Maybe I'll work on my screaming.

<<< ||| >>>