Archive for category rants

Last night a long feline life of 17 years came to a peaceful end as my friend Mehitabel sat in my lap and breathed her final breath. Here’s a short slideshow of photos of her:

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Meeting my neighbors and/or getting to know them better.

Enjoying lovely Fall weather.

Spending time with my son. (Now his second annual canvass.)

Checking out the variety of door styles and various porch architecture in my neighborhood. 

Getting some exercise.

Beating Richard Burr!

(Things I’m feeling thankful for this morning.)

…saying what’s on my mind in more than 140 characters.

…family members who are fun to be around, have impeccable taste, take great care of my son, and make it possible to see each other more than once a year.

…awesome music on my headphones, like Mosadi Music which makes me smile and dance and learn.

…cheap coffee and free buses.

…the opportunity to see a wonderful dharma teacher like Therese Fitzgerald tonight.

Photo: http://dharmafriends.org/?page_id=251

What a difference some context makes. I few months ago I came across this video of four young men doing some amazing dancing on a street corner (via a link on Twitter, natch). The dancing style is like a fusion of ballet and breakdancing, I’d never seen anything like it, and the rainy streetcorner setting and minor-key soundtrack made the scene particularly otherworldly and melancholy.

Today a friend IMed me a link to an article on Oakland’s TURF dancing that explained it all, and the story makes the video even more fascinating.
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I just came across these words of wisdom from Caterina Fake, co-founder of the completely-awesome Flickr.com, who says that “Working hard is overrated.”

Much more important than working hard is knowing how to find the right thing to work on. Paying attention to what is going on in the world. Seeing patterns. Seeing things as they are rather than how you want them to be. Being able to read what people want. Putting yourself in the right place where information is flowing freely and interesting new juxtapositions can be seen. But you can save yourself a lot of time by working on the right thing. Working hard, even, if that’s what you like to do.
- http://www.caterina.net/archive/001196.html

Since when does Facebook actually give a hoot about protecting me (from myself)?  

The fact is that I have acessed FB from this browser (on my WebOS phone) hundreds of times, not to mention: since when am I not allowed to log in to FB from new locations??? What kind of web-based service is that?

In 7 weeks Brian and Izzy and I will be visiting my dad and stepmother in London! I haven’t been there in a few years and of course it’s Izzy’s first trip so we’re very excited.

The last time we were there, I started a Google Map to keep track of places I wanted to go so that I could visually see the geographic implications and proximities. Since then, Google has added much more detail including accurate transit stops and tons more commercial and cultural destinations. Just now I was looking at the location of a cool bookstore we visited, and noticed that there’s a bar called Ruby Lounge around the corner. I might have to check that out if we get back to that neighborhood.

This year I’m feeling brave so I’m opening up the map for my friends (and whoever the rest of you are) to add items to the map. I’m especially looking for stuff that a 1 -year-old might enjoy. Please add your suggestions!

View London in a larger map