My brother and I were talking the other day about recordings of our parents' voices. Apparently this is something he's had on his mind too. He's got a few recordings of Dad's voice on answering machine tapes, but he hadn't found any recordings of Mom's voice. I could tell from his voice that this was really bringing him down, as he's probably ( Read more... )

Several years ago, after I was let go from a good career-level job, I fooled myself into thinking my downward spiral was a conscious choice, that I was just willingly taking it easy for the better part of a year before picking up and carrying on. I was unemployed for a long time ( Read more... )

When I was a kid, my dad bought his-and-hers Suzuki motorcycles for himself and my mom. They both had these white Bell full-faced helmets with matching red pinstripes. His bike was a 650cc model (a little more power), while hers was a 250 (I always considered it a "ladies' bike ( Read more... )

So I've got an iPhone ( Read more... )

So I get to Oakland a little early for my smog test, so I can plug in the computer to make sure I don't have any trouble codes, and make sure readiness is set. I've got one trouble code (instant fail) and two of the readiness codes have been set to "fail" (you're only allowed one failed readiness code ( Read more... )

I was just thinking "how long until Twitter gets completely over-run with spam-bots and bullshit techno-opportunists?" I know there's not much to fear, since I don't have to follow anyone I don't want to. But I've already had two or three spam-bots (or, at least, accounts that really seem to be automated) sign up to follow me. I got two or three ( Read more... )

I was listening to WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show today, and they had a feature about the Radiohead "pay what you think our album is worth" thing. Brian had a guest on the show, some dude who supposedly was a market analyst and had some valid points to make. Brian asked him if he had downloaded the album, and if so, how much he had paid ( Read more... )

When I was eleven, my mom was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, and her prognosis was grim. The doctors gave her, at best, six months to live. Her response was to rally. To get serious. Along with chemotherapy and radiation, she began to meditate, turn inward, and fight her disease from within. Her meditations included visualizing in a way ( Read more... )

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