Listening problem (2) Apr 26, 2006
I think I have a listening problem.  I've been noticing lately that my mind wanders during conversations.  Just yesterday, I was talking to a guy I work with.  I asked him a question about a project, and about two minutes into his explanation, I realized I hadn't heard anything he said.  I was off in my own little world, thinking about rainbows and unicorns or whatever it is I normally think about.  I had to rely on my "keen intellect" to put together the pieces of his explanation based on what he was currently saying.  Then I faked my way through the rest by pretending to know what he was talking about.  Life would be a little easier if I actually listened to what people were saying instead of just pretending to listen. 

"Not talking" doesn't mean "listening". #psychology
Website causing problems (3) Apr 25, 2006
I read a story a little while ago about a guy named Christopher Monks who was turned down for a teaching job because of his website.  Part of his website consists of his semi-stalking fan letters to Star Jones.  I say "semi" because they're totally meaningless and done in "good fun".  He doesn't actually mail her the letters; he posts them on his website.  He calls it a hobby; just something he does as a stay-at-home dad. 

When he went to an interview for a teaching position, the interviewers Googled him and were a little disturbed by the contents of his website.  He tried to explain everything to them, but they didn't really listen.  He didn't get the job.  This story is a little like Heather Armstrong, who lost her job because of the contents of her website (though her website's contents were "objectionable and negative" and directed towards her boss and co-workers). 

I read these things in the past and laughed.  For anyone to take the intraweb seriously, they'd have to be pretty dumb.  But then that got me thinking:  What if my employer Googled me?  Would I lose my job?  What if I try to get a different job in the future?  Will I be rejected because a large part of my private life is available for 6 billion people to read? 

So I sometimes consider ending my website and deleting all its contents.  Sure it would still be available through the Internet Archive and Google cache, but normal people don't know about that.  And I think (and hope) I could convince a would-be job-ender that my website is relatively harmless and doesn't contain much, if any, incriminating information about myself, my employer, my family, or my acquaintainces.  I guess we'll see. #technology
Media Apr 25, 2006
As I was thinking of things people could buy me for my birthday, I noticed something interesting:  Everything I was asking for was some form of media [1], whether it was CDs, DVDs, video games, books, etc.  That got me thinking:  Everything in life basically revolves around these things.  We watch shows on TV, then talk about them with our friends.  We watch movies, then we play video games based on these movies.  We read books, then watch movies based on these books.  We save up our hard-earned money so we can buy these forms of media.  We even save up our hard-earned money to invest in bigger and better ways to display or transmit these forms of media.  We buy big TVs so we can watch hi-def movies.  We buy stereo systems so we can hear music in surround sound.  We wait in line at electronics stores to buy the newest and greatest video game systems.  All for what purpose?  To entertain ourselves.  To waste a little time.  How futile.  Yet how fun. 

[1] Some may call it entertainment.  Others, communication.  I call it media.  Either way, it's a method of transferring information in the form of speech, ideas, music, etc. from one person or group of people to another. #entertainment
Stain Shield Apr 25, 2006
If you've ever microwaved tomato sauce in a regular old plastic container, you know how much it sucks:  Tomato sauce stains everything.  Permanently.  What a jerk. 

Miraculously, Wendy and I received Rubbermaid Stain Shield plastic containers (don't call them Tupperware; that's a brand name) for our wedding.  It actually wasn't that miraculous; we asked for them.  But little did we know they would change our lives forever.  As I sit here writing this, I'm eating pasta with spaghetti sauce out of a Stain Shield container that I just microwaved.  All I can do is marvel at how totally awesome this thing is.  Awesome enough to be written about in Popular Mechanics.  Stain Shield containers completely resist stains.  That's because they're made from a different material than most plastic containers.  Not only do they resist stains, but they're also dishwasher safe and freezer safe. 

If you've ever flipped out because you can't clean the stains out of your plastic containers, invest in some Stain Shield.  You'll never flip out again. 

(Mr. Rubbermaid, feel free to send me money for unashamedly advertising your product to millions tens of readers.) #products
Basketball (1) Apr 25, 2006
My favorite sport to play is basketball.  I don't exactly fit the mold of a stereotypical basketball player (i.e. I'm short and white ... oops, was that racist?), but I still like to play.  The reason I like it is pretty simple:  It's pretty much the only sport you can play by yourself.  With baseball, you need someone to pitch to you.  With football, you need someone to catch your passes.  With soccer, you need someone to defend the goal.  With tennis, you need someone on the other side of the net.  Sure, there are ways around this, such as using a pitching machine or one of those tennis ball shooters, but it's not quite the same.  Basketball requires only one person.  Though you can't play 1-on-1 with only one person, you can do pretty much everything else. 

Basketball is therapeutic for me.  I like to play to relieve stress and unwind.  I also use it as a way to exercise.  I can only run and/or bike around my neighborhood so many times.  I need something different, and basketball is great for that.  So basically, basketball is a very selfish thing.  It's my thing.  My time.  It's all about me. 

The problem with this is that other people don't agree with me.  Almost every time I play basketball in a public place, people ask me if I want to join their game.  It's weird having to figure out a way to say no.  "No thanks" tends to work, but it causes an awkward moment:  A bunch of guys see me playing by myself, and they need another guy to even out the teams, so they invite me.  A "no thanks" doesn't make any sense to them.  Why wouldn't I want to play with them?  It's not like I don't know how to play.  It's not that I'm incapable of playing.  So there's usually an awkward pause as I turn back around and continue playing by myself.  Sometimes I'll give in just because they're persuasive.  "C'mon, just a few minutes."  That's usually a lie and I know it. 

But sometimes it's good to play with other people.  That's when I realize how incredibly basketball-socially-awkward I am.  It's similar to a person living in a locked cell for an extended period of time.  When they get out, they have some social problems because they're not used to interacting with other humans.  When I play basketball by myself all the time, it's difficult to join a game because I don't know how to interact and I'm not used to someone trying to take the ball from me.  So I usually just flip out and knife people.  Actually, I just lose every skill I had previously learned and I revert back to how I played when I was 8.  It's ugly. #sports
Positive news Apr 24, 2006
The Great News Network and Happy News are two sites that report positive things that are going on around the world.  Their objective is not to ignore all the newsworthy and often negative things in current events.  They merely believe that the traditional media have a tendency to report a disproportionate amount of negative news.  So they're trying to balance things out.  This is an answer to my call for positive news from August 3, 2005.  Thanks for listening to me, Mr. Website-Reading News-Gatherer.  (via Digg) #entertainment
Peeps (5) Apr 23, 2006
Peeps are great.  That's all I really need to say, but I'll go on. 

Most people feel pretty strongly about Peeps.  Either they love 'em or they hate 'em.  And the people that love 'em feel strongly about how they should be eaten.  Should they be eaten head first?  Should you eat the beady little eyes first?  Or should you do it like Wendy and eat their butts first?  Another point of contention among Peep lovers is aging:  Are Peeps better when they're fresh or after they've been "aged" for a few weeks?  I'm a strong proponent of aging.  It's like a fine wine:  A well-aged Peep is infinitely better than a fresh Peep. 

Last Saturday, I was handing out Peeps at a supermarket with people from church.  The event was meant to act as an invitation to an Easter egg hunt for the little 'uns.  It was kinda funny to be bringing people to God through the Power of the PeepTM.  It was interesting to hear people's suggestions for eating Peeps.  One lady said to microwave them.  I've heard that before but never tried it.  Another lady said to freeze them.  That brings a whole new dimension to Peep eating. 

It's funny to think that a little chicken-shaped marshmallow covered in yellow sugar can cause so much commotion. #food
Pie crust Apr 21, 2006
One time, I ate a whole pie crust in one sitting.  It was the best experience of my life.  I'm not sure why, but I absolutely love graham cracker pie crust.  It's like a drug to me; I can't get enough.  Sometimes I want to shovel the cake or pie out of the crust so I can eat the crust by itself.  Is this bad?  Eh, I don't care.  I love you, pie crust. #food
Gas or brake (1) Apr 21, 2006
I committed the cardinal sin of driving yesterday:  I confused the gas and brake pedals.  Just the other day, I heard something on the radio that was talking about requiring old people to retake the drivers' test every few years because too many old people make this same mistake (and kill people in the process).  I was thinking, "Yeah!  Stupid old people!  They shouldn't be allowed to drive!"  And then I end up doing the same exact thing.  I'm not sure how it happened.  I was driving home from work at the end of the day, and I was kind of spacing out.  I was going around a bend and my brain said, "Engage thinking process.  Driving too fast.  Engage foot-on-pedal process.  Driving faster now.  Error."  It took me a surprisingly long time to figure out what the problem was.  After I pressed a pedal, I noticed that not only was I not going slower, but I was in fact going faster.  A few seconds passed, and then I realized it was because I was pressing the wrong pedal.  And this happened right as I was driving past the security guard on my way out.  He probably wasn't even looking at me, but if he was, he might've been a little scared by a crazy person accelerating towards him.  Oh well.  You can't win 'em all. #travel
Time in class Apr 20, 2006
I actually wrote about this before, but it came up again, so I'm writing about it again:  Time spent in class is time wasted.  I can't even pretend to try to waste my time in class and get something useful out of it.  I'm currently taking a single grad class that meets for two and a half hours on Wednesday evenings.  It's not that much of a commitment.  But I get absolutely nothing from the class.  It's completely worthless.  If all the notes and assignments are online, what's the point in going?  Maybe if the professor taught something, I could try to squeeze some information out of the class.  But here's how it works:  He talks for two and a half hours about how to model and simulate things on a computer, then he gives us assignments that have virtually nothing to do with what he talked about.  The only conceivable reason I could formulate for attending the class is to ask him questions about the assignments, but even that's a stupid idea.  The only time to talk to him is after class, and there's just no way I can sit around for two and half hours to ask this guy a question.  I hate school, and I only have one class per week. #education