A twelfth random thing you might not know:
12. In tenth grade, I organzied a reunion of sorts for my fifth grade elementary class at Emily Liadakis’ house.
Thanks to the magic of Facebook, there’s a healthy number of Woodhome Elementary folks lurking in my circle, and the itch is starting again. Think it over, world…
I’m still trying to figure out where blogs and such fit in the overarching plan of history. It used to be that in order to make your point known to a lot of people, you had to put it in print or be savvy enough that people would listen if you spoke at them (and usually, both were needed). That is no longer the case, of course; we’ve made it so even peons like me can get a word or two out there, ruminating on the nature of history and the world from time to time.
But what am I really adding? What will live on past me? Right now, there’s a healthy (or perhaps unhealthy) portion of me invested into the cloud of information that is The Internet. Three and a half years in this blog/site alone, not to mention* time spent on websites prior to this blog, nor my high school days of BBS** wandering.
What happens if facebook melts away? If sunspots wipe out my blog’s server? If Amazon forgets what I’ve purchased in the past? There’s a LOT of me hanging out there in various guises, and it won’t have anywhere near the same impact if I take it and print it out for posterity (presuming the ink doesn’t fade).
This is where my mind goes when I’m up too late.
*an odd construct, don’t you think? I mean, I’m mentioning it RIGHT THERE.
**kids, ask someone older than 30, but younger than 55 or so.
From a meme floating around Facebook. I didn’t want to do it there. The “Number” was either 16 or 25, depending on who I decide to copy from, so given THAT subjective nature, the number of things here shall be totally arbitrary.
1. I had two of my elementary school teachers at my wedding.
2. The teachers mentioned above chipped in and bought me the microwave for my dorm room after high school graduation. That microwave is right behind me, still functional, as I type this.
3. I failed one quarter of one course in all of my education: third quarter AP Calculus, mostly because I didn’t like doing the homework.
4. If I could pick my career, I think I’d still like to teach, preferably at the undergrad level.
5. I used to be a kick-ass Magic: The Gathering player, having placed tenth in a two-state tournament in Germany at one time (eighth and higher went to German nationals, so I barely missed the cut). I still think I could do pretty well, but you’d have to give me the deck. Creation was not my forte.
6. Favorite movie: Hudson Hawk.
7. Favorite game: Uno.
8. I’m organizing a company volleyball team.
9. Despite being a trash-brained trivia whiz, I actually read very little, bookwise, at least. I read most everything that’s not a book, though, like the backs of cereal boxes.
10. I couldn’t tell you how much money I make in a given paycheck.
11. One Defining Moment: In high school, I was rehearsing for a play (Of Mice And Men), and my acting was pretty flat. My director asked me what it was my character wanted at that moment, and I failed to produce an answer. He LAID INTO ME, telling me that if I didn’t know what the character wanted, I should get off the damn stage. Yeah. That had an impact I still feel.
Enough for now, I think.
Today seems to call for more than an update to a Facebook status. I give credit to CNN.com for making THAT task even more of a no-brainer than it usually is; you could update your status (and view the status of everyone else) while watching the video feed of the inauguration today.
Personally, I don’t feel very different today compared to yesterday. The real culmination of the Obama saga — at least, as it stands today — was back in November. In November, we made the choice. Today is just the consequence of that groundbreaking decision.
Surely it’s not all written out yet, and there’s more, maybe even better, to come. Today was just going through the motions.
Excellent questions at the Baltimore Sun Education Blog, on a topic I’ve recently struggled with myself.
So I took the dive and added myself into the deep pool of interconnectedness that is Facebook today. Two factors played into this: peer pressure, and my desire to work technology to my advantage in trying to get the JC-Baltimore alumni club working well.
At least, that’s my rationalization, and I’m sticking to it.
So now you can look me up. “Friend” me, or something.
Cool jazz. Buy it if you’re able.
Games that have very recently come into my possession in the past two weeks or so:
Holy hell, people. It’ll take me a month to dig out from this bounty (and this is ignoring the fact that Julz left Die Macher here too).