As I posted on Twitter last night, I had every intention of posting this morning, when Ian called me from school telling me that he was sick and asking me to please pick him up. I’ve spent most of the day making sure he doesn’t sneeze swine flu on me (he probably doesn’t have it – he’s exhibiting the exact same symptoms that I did this previous weekend, so hopefully after a couple days of rest he’ll be back to normal). Oh, and I’ve made him several cups of green and chamomile tea with honey. Now he’s napping, so I figured it would be a fair time to blog.
So I’m not really that bad a person.
But I did achieve my goal yesterday of calling my alma mater to see if it would be possible to reserve rooms for wedding guests at Ian’s old fraternity house. Unfortunately, no one in their Special Events office seems to be in charge of that right now, so who knows how this will all work out? I figure it should at some point, as friends of ours who got married there two years ago managed the same deal. Oh, precedent.
Also, Pittsburgh is ready, riot-gear and all, for the G20. So are the protesters. Fun banners hang from the West End Bridge, and I still see military vehicles traversing the streets of my otherwise quiet neighborhood. Oh, and we’re in a downpour. That’s normal Pittsburgh in September!
But as we embark on this economic summit that will probably not mean very much to anyone except the “official” attendees and the chance for some protesters to get their voices heard by the media (and the others who are just trying to cause mayhem because they like it – I’m looking at you, whoever threatened to put poop in coffeeshop soap dispensers), let me just show you one excellent way to promote your message (initially found thanks to Ginny at That’s Church):
Now that’s how you do an effective protest. Not by being a jerk (it kinda negates the whole “I deserve to be listened to” kind of thing).
In other news, I have discovered the wonders that are iGoogle and Google Chrome. Sure, in about ten years Google will have become the next evil technological corporation, where people use their products not thanks to innovation but because there’s no other market choice. Unlike Microsoft, however, Google seems to be entering into the hardware business (they’re making netbooks, or really really tiny laptops that are primarily used for Internet access.) I don’t even have a smartphone yet (I could afford one, but I can’t afford the cell phone plan that comes with them!) So our phones are getting bigger again after they got smaller, and now we want computers that are smaller and can do less. I’d rather stick with a big but still portable laptop with lots of power (because when I can afford to waste $50 on The Sims 3 I TOTALLY WILL) and a smartphone that I can use to check my e-mail or browse for random information on Wikipedia so I can be a hit at cocktail parties, but that’s about it. I already carry enough in my bag that will give me back problems before I’m 30 (oh wait, I already have them, thanks to the 30-lb bag I carried around in middle and high school). I don’t need to add a computer to that.
But I do love Google Chrome. Much less wasted space and just as intuitively useful as Firefox. Plus compressed bookmarks toolbar! I’m having a great time with it. I must be in a really nostalgic mood or something, because I remember Computer Applications class in the 8th grade and taking forever to download pictures off Netscape Navigator. They were the pioneers for browser technology, but look how far we’ve come in those 10 years. I like being in this in-between space where I can remember when the Internet first became widespread, when Facebook began and it was just for college kids. Apparently younger people aren’t catching on to Twitter, but I love using it, and old people can’t figure out Facebook, but I was one of the original members. Maybe I really do “have it all”. It helps to have a mother who majored in Computer Science, too. I can’t remember a time when we didn’t have a computer in our house, although having MS-DOS be so freaking picky when I’m four years old and want to play my real-floppy-disk mini-golf game could occasionally be frustrating.
I haven’t had much luck with emulators in getting these games to work on my computer now, either. I would really like to play the old Interplay Lord of the Rings and Two Towers games (the most complicated games ever created when they first came out), but no emulator I’ve found has them work correctly (or comes with a manual; I can’t remember how to even open up the menu in those games!)
On a completely unrelated note, and hopefully one that will inspire much more productivity, I do have a goal tomorrow that relates to helping someone else out: One of my graduate instructors has asked me to write a letter for him talking about my experiences as a student while he seeks employment when he earns his PhD. He was definitely my favorite instructor and I learned the most from him out of everyone in my program, and there were a lot of qualified individuals. I will write the rough draft tomorrow, review it over the weekend and send him some copies of it early next week so he can be sure to have it for his own job search.
Stay safe during the G20, Pittsburgh folks!
