goatee

'giddy-up

°2003.08.28.th | Habits

Nora has a great entry on this harrowing process of throwing one's self into the unknown. We've clasped hands and made a jump, though I suppose her uncertainty is greater than mine: I'm supposed to being going to NYU at least — though I won't get to take the key course I wanted, the PhD students were sort of forgotten, my paperwork has been lost, and at times I've despaired that due to some bureaucratic mistake I haven't even been officially admitted. But in a few weeks hopefully I'll be ensconced in some set of classes that are somewhat interesting and relevant to what I want to do.

In September I wrote, "So when I think about future uncertainty, I must remember that if life only presents to me what I anticipate, I've stopped living it to the fullest." Nora concluded, "I hope I have learned to take chances." We have, we've made the leap, now for the next stage: making the best of wherever we land.

°2003.08.25.mo | Riding

We mounted our bikes and set out to explore our new home. The weather was that perfect combination of a warm bright sun with a cool breeze. Redhook, DUMBO, and Brooklyn Heights shined a palette of green shade, red brick, and orange rust. Sunset stretched out for hours, a result of August days and a low horizon of water and distant cityscapes.

°2003.08.24.su | In the House ... In Brooklyn

The past two weeks have past in a blur of dusting, discarding, organizing, packing and then the same again in reverse order. We very much like our loft here in Carroll Gardens near Gowanus Canal. There's a couple cheapie stores for house supplies, an inexpensive grocery, and a health food store that's expanding! There's even a movie theatre that has $5 tickets on Tuesdays and Thursday nights. When we get tired of the gardened lined streets, we explore the industrial decrepitude of the canal. See this month's photos for more.

°2003.08.12.tu | Berserk

Giant Robots is the best punk song ever, and while I don't attribute much to Baltimore, the fact that it gave birth to the band Berserk in the early 90's is one its small greatnesses. Since I'm packing, I should throw away a bunch of old cassettes of stuff I already have or can get on another media... I wish I had an mp3 of Giant Robots. Perhaps I need to sample and encode it myself.

°2003.08.11.mo | Sounds of Summer

Woo.mp3 (281K mp3): a 25 second sound clip of the background music of my days at home including sprinklers, kids, an encouraging mom, and the flutist that visits the park nearly every morning.

°2003.08.11.mo | University Housing

My youngest brother's graduate housing experience at Temple was terrible. Relative to his experience, MIT graduate housing was wonderful. In fact, MIT also has couple and family housing, something which NYU does not have. Perhaps this is because there are more graduate students than undergrads at MIT.

In any case, even though I had few complaint's in MIT's Tang residence, college housing can be rather soul-less. (Undergrad housing can be fun, but that vibe seems absent in graduate housing.) I'm very happy to not only live off-campus, but outside of Manhattan. Now I just need to pack in preparation for our move on Saturday!

°2003.08.08.fr | Weathering the Storm

As part of the big move, I've already been though a few cycles of feeling a thrill of future (unknown) potential and anxiety over pending logistical hurdles. But this week as the goodbyes accumulate and the "last time I'll do this here" milestones pass, there's some sadness. But the only way to escape those grey clouds, and the upcoming storm of boxes and trucks, is for Nora and I to lash ourselves to the mast of busyness and hope that we'll land on a friendly beach with clear skies and gentle waves.

This trophy has sat on my desk at MIT for nearly six years; a colleague gave me the "Pantone Ocular Delights Shoe Award" for the colorful Doc Martin shoes I used to wear.

°2003.08.07.th | Napoleon Complex

Much is said of those with Napoleonic complexes stemming from insecurities interlaced with power. However, I was surprised to find (via A Word of the Day) that an insightful explanation is given by Napoleon himself:

"Those who failed to oppose me, who readily agreed with me, accepted all my views, and yielded easily to my opinions, were those who did me the most injury, and were my worst enemies, because, by surrendering to me so easily, they encouraged me to go too far... I was then too powerful for any man, except myself, to injure me." -Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France 1769-1821

°2003.08.04.mo | The Rest of Sturgeon's Law

Last week, Bob Stepno told me that Sturgeon's law isn't all pessimism. I typically use and cite the Jargon File, "Sure, 90% of science fiction is crud. That's because 90% of everything is crud." Bob said he believe a subsequent sentence alluded to the greatness of the remaining 10%; I can't confirm.

However, while researching this aphorism, I discovered a pre-existing statement akin to my thoughts on the Progress of Stepwise Stumbles and the 80/20 rule, in the 90/90 rule.

°2003.08.04.mo | Standing on The Shoulders of Giants

Newton is often cited for the generous sentiment of acknowledging the contributions of his predecessors, but this magnanimity is suspect to historians of science.

Isaac Newton and Robert Hooke had a long standing disagreement, originally based in optics, that was disruptive to the Royal Society. Eventually, Newton was convinced by his peers to try to make amends, wherein he wrote a letter to Hooke that included the following statement, knowing full well of Hooke's insecurity about his short stature and hunched back: "If I have seen further (than you and Descartes) it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) from Letter to Robert Hooke, Feb. 5, 1675/76.

However, the reconciliation was short-live and Newton had the final word as described by Michon Scott:

"Hooke's passion for developing the best observational instruments, as well as his possessiveness about his ideas as a natural philosopher brought him into conflict with Isaac Newton. About the same time he built a telescope that rivaled any of Hooke's inventions, Newton submitted a paper on optics, which was given to Hooke for review. Hooke, perhaps smoldering over being upstaged, poured scorn on Newton's paper. Newton was so humiliated that he refused to try to publish the paper again until after Hooke's death. After Hooke died, Newton became president of the Royal Society of London. Newton saw fit to move the Royal Society to new headquarters, and among the many items to be relocated was Robert Hooke's portrait. During the move that Newton oversaw, the portrait simply disappeared. "

There's no known portrait of Robert Hooke today; instead his legacy is his fantastic drawing of the world, including many bugs, as seen through the eye-piece of his microscope.

°2003.08.04.mo | Mojo Needs a Home

Sadly, I'm allergic to cats and we did not plan on having a cat in New York as an arrangement — that has since fallen through — permitted him to stay in Boston.

NSBC (Neutered Single Black Cat), with some issues, seeks fun open individual with a safe and loving home. Enjoys romantic dinners at home, roaming around outside, long afternoon naps, and stalking bugs. Large yard and soft bed a plus. If you're a one-kitty-person, you might be the one for me!

Please help me out if you can give me a good home. Email Nora at nschadd@hotmail.com or give her a call 617.983.2985.

°2003.08.04.mo | Something To Do While Waiting

One of these belts has loops that have the present year encoded in binary: down is "1" up is "0"..

°2003.08.01.fr | Pundits and the Press

In answer to the question of where the blogger falls between the journalist and the pundit, it's depends on how the ego is spent. If anyone is going to spend their time on something it means they're investing a bit of their time and soul. In the Blogosphere, it's largely about one's reputation and readership. As a writer, are you more concerned with investing yourself in the fair and accurate portrayal, or in persuasion? Which would be worse, to say something that is later to be found incorrect, or to be considered unpersuasive? Would you be willing to admit to a fault in your argument if it undermines the argument? Of course, these are not completely unrelated variables, to appear to be willing to correct the rare mistake generally increases one's persuasive authority.

This is why I found it sadly amusing that when President Bush finally said he takes "full responsibility" for an error in the State of the Union address, yet he still hasn't answered the question of how the text came to be there. What exactly is he taking responsibility for then?

°2003.08.01.fr | Blogging and Politics

Over at the Berkman Center folks like Mike Walsh, Dave Winer, Chris Lydon are intrigued by what effect the bloggers, the proverbial "little guys", will have on the upcoming Presidential elections; their sites are focused on the approaching New Hampshire primaries.

Such an idea is central to Orson Scott Card's Ender series — with seven books published and at least one more expected. Two brilliant children, Peter and Valentine, create the Net pseudonyms of Locke and Demosthenes in order to shape world opinion to their ends.

(Phil has already noted that they probably would've used blogs.)

°2003.08.01.fr | Fafi and Rusty

Mimi wrote to tell me that one of my 2001 photographs from Tokyo is a piece by Fafi. It never occurred to me to think it had been done by a French female graffiti artist! After reading Fafi's site it appears that this was done during her 1999 Tokyo trip, and was in her "Stereotyped Girls" style; in this case, of the Yamanba girls:

Starting with the bleach-white hair and heavy tan of the ganguro girl, the yamanba adds white lipstick and eye makeup and sometimes blue contacts. The result is a caricature of a blond Caucasian woman.

Coincidentally, yesterday I discovered another female French graphic artist, Rusty!

[Update 03/08/05: Karl, who lives in Montreal, also has photos of Fafi graffiti from Japan!]

[July Archive]