Too Many Interests
I've got a week between travels and I am thinking about the problem of being interested in too many things. It's only a problem because time is, alas, all too limited. I have to just keep telling myself that it is better to be too busy than not busy enough.
On the plus side, it means I have plenty of things to write about here.
Traveling and Not: United Airlines had a five or so hour computer meltdown Friday night, which shut down their operations. It seems I chose a good weekend to stay home. I was, however, rather annoyed with people complaining about the infrequency of their tweets. Is there really any particular value in spending the time to keep tweeting "still dead, working on it"?
Celebrity Death Watch: I am very far behind on this, but want to note a few important deaths. Rosalyn Yalow, who was the second woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, died May 30th. She was also notable for being from the Bronx. (And she went to Walton High School, though was some years older than my mother.)
Jack Kevorkian died June 3rd. Whatever one may have thought of "Dr. Death," it can't be denied that his actions led to more open debate on the subject of euthanasia.
Lilian Jackson Braun died on June 4th. I've been critical of her later books, which suffer from significant plot holes and could have used a lot of editing, but the earlier books in her "The Cat Who ..." series were much stronger and have lots of charm. Even in the weaker volumes, the cats never behave in un-catlike ways.
Finally, Kathryn Tucker Windham died on June 12th. Much of her fame as a storyteller was for her ghost stories, but I preferred her personal stories, especially those about her career as a reporter. She was a feisty lady and a real inspiration. I'll miss her Southern voice and her attitude, which gave the lie to all those claims of delicate Southern womanhood.
Notes to Myself: This seemed cryptic at first, but I figured out that "Sunday: 105C or 107C" referred to classes I was considering at a knit and crochet conference. I decided not to go to the event, which is just as well because I really need to spend some time at home.
What is even stranger is that I think I know what a note from nearly two years ago reading "details of the 4 feet" means. I believe it had to do with robotic refueling for spacecraft.
Job Change: Starting date at my new job is the 27th. In order to ease the burden on other folks, I had my going away combined with that of another person from my group. The "official" gifts were a clock and the organization coin. (Challenge coins are a subject that would be worth an entire entry. Or, possibly, a doctoral dissertation in sociology.) I also got a cube puzzle from the weather guys and, best of all, a game from the other person who was going away. I haven't played it yet, but Literati Challenge requires creating a story with five words you draw from cards. It looks right up my alley. By the way, I gave her a book of Shakespearean insults and accompanying buttons.
I still have a ton of things I want to finish in the remaining week. And I need to clean out my office. Any story I create about the latter would have to include words like "aargh" and "gack."
Entropy: I am losing the battle against entropy.
On the plus side, it means I have plenty of things to write about here.
Traveling and Not: United Airlines had a five or so hour computer meltdown Friday night, which shut down their operations. It seems I chose a good weekend to stay home. I was, however, rather annoyed with people complaining about the infrequency of their tweets. Is there really any particular value in spending the time to keep tweeting "still dead, working on it"?
Celebrity Death Watch: I am very far behind on this, but want to note a few important deaths. Rosalyn Yalow, who was the second woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, died May 30th. She was also notable for being from the Bronx. (And she went to Walton High School, though was some years older than my mother.)
Jack Kevorkian died June 3rd. Whatever one may have thought of "Dr. Death," it can't be denied that his actions led to more open debate on the subject of euthanasia.
Lilian Jackson Braun died on June 4th. I've been critical of her later books, which suffer from significant plot holes and could have used a lot of editing, but the earlier books in her "The Cat Who ..." series were much stronger and have lots of charm. Even in the weaker volumes, the cats never behave in un-catlike ways.
Finally, Kathryn Tucker Windham died on June 12th. Much of her fame as a storyteller was for her ghost stories, but I preferred her personal stories, especially those about her career as a reporter. She was a feisty lady and a real inspiration. I'll miss her Southern voice and her attitude, which gave the lie to all those claims of delicate Southern womanhood.
Notes to Myself: This seemed cryptic at first, but I figured out that "Sunday: 105C or 107C" referred to classes I was considering at a knit and crochet conference. I decided not to go to the event, which is just as well because I really need to spend some time at home.
What is even stranger is that I think I know what a note from nearly two years ago reading "details of the 4 feet" means. I believe it had to do with robotic refueling for spacecraft.
Job Change: Starting date at my new job is the 27th. In order to ease the burden on other folks, I had my going away combined with that of another person from my group. The "official" gifts were a clock and the organization coin. (Challenge coins are a subject that would be worth an entire entry. Or, possibly, a doctoral dissertation in sociology.) I also got a cube puzzle from the weather guys and, best of all, a game from the other person who was going away. I haven't played it yet, but Literati Challenge requires creating a story with five words you draw from cards. It looks right up my alley. By the way, I gave her a book of Shakespearean insults and accompanying buttons.
I still have a ton of things I want to finish in the remaining week. And I need to clean out my office. Any story I create about the latter would have to include words like "aargh" and "gack."
Entropy: I am losing the battle against entropy.