An end to April.
April is a blur. April is - what did I do? There were many meetings. These were meetings outside of work. Meetings with the groups I volunteer with. My kayaking club, my church. There have been challenges, in person, in email, in meetings.
People. Managing people seems to be the common thread, at work and outside of work.
Money. I've been fantasizing about spending money. Buying a proper bed, and perhaps a desk. A digital camera, an iPod, or perhaps waiting to get an iPhone later in the year, or a Kindle, or even an Asus EEE PC. Vacation. Saving money.
Applications. I haven't looked at Stern in weeks; I've kinda given up on that, since I didn't get into NYU's SCPS, and I consider that to be the lesser program. I did finally get in my CUNY app and have high hopes. I still kinda wish that I'd just stayed in Tulsa and blindly applied to mediocre law schools to become a mediocre lawyer.
No, not really.
I've met someone new, and that is going well.
I do a lot. I don't know why it never feels like enough, even though sometimes it feels like too much.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
The Commute
It's chilly out. I'm glad I wore my vest underneath my coat.
You know, these shoes are actually very comfortable, despite the heel.
Oh look, here comes the train!
Man it's early.
Hey, there's an email from our consultant. Good news!
Awesome, a seat. I live in an awesome city with awesome public transportation.
More emails, but they're all just automated alerts. Delete, Delete Delete.
Maybe I'll read my book.
I'm glad I'm wearing these shoes. These shoes are awesome.
I like my bag. It has all these compartments. Like the one with my book.
This story is so sad. I relate to all the characters.
Man, how long is this? Two, four, six . . .wow, a dozen more pages.
Well I won't finish it this morning. I'll read till I get to another stopping place.
Is this Times Square already? No, just Seventy-second.
I'll put away the book. I want to think about work, get my head in the game.
My shoes are so awesome.
Oh yeah, I've got to email that guy.
Wouldn't it suck to work in Times Square? I hated it.
I hate it when creepy people stand in front of me.
That was Times Square.
Will I get out at this door or the one on the other side?
Excuse me.
I hope my shoes don't get scuffed on the stairs.
I wish they would just decide which door to block off. Sometimes right, sometimes left.
I hate the lobby monitor, he's a jerk to everyone he works with.
The nearest elevator is the open one. Awesome.
You know, these shoes are actually very comfortable, despite the heel.
Oh look, here comes the train!
Man it's early.
Hey, there's an email from our consultant. Good news!
Awesome, a seat. I live in an awesome city with awesome public transportation.
More emails, but they're all just automated alerts. Delete, Delete Delete.
Maybe I'll read my book.
I'm glad I'm wearing these shoes. These shoes are awesome.
I like my bag. It has all these compartments. Like the one with my book.
This story is so sad. I relate to all the characters.
Man, how long is this? Two, four, six . . .wow, a dozen more pages.
Well I won't finish it this morning. I'll read till I get to another stopping place.
Is this Times Square already? No, just Seventy-second.
I'll put away the book. I want to think about work, get my head in the game.
My shoes are so awesome.
Oh yeah, I've got to email that guy.
Wouldn't it suck to work in Times Square? I hated it.
I hate it when creepy people stand in front of me.
That was Times Square.
Will I get out at this door or the one on the other side?
Excuse me.
I hope my shoes don't get scuffed on the stairs.
I wish they would just decide which door to block off. Sometimes right, sometimes left.
I hate the lobby monitor, he's a jerk to everyone he works with.
The nearest elevator is the open one. Awesome.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Do You Hulu?
OMG. Hulu is awesome.
Hulu is a new website by NBC Universal and Fox. It is, as the New York Times describes, like a 'YouTube Pro' for conventional media outlets to obtain advertising money on current and existing series. They're got everything from Fox's The Riches back to every episode of the old Battlestar Galactica, as well as dozens of movies.
It is awesome. I've been able to revisit some childhood favorites and see just how dated they seem. In an early episode of Buck Rogers, for example, one of the leads has to convince a room full of Speak 'n' Spells to stay the execution of our hero. I was also reminded that, to my six-year-old brain, the show was really more about two women catfighting on an interstellar level over the affections of Buck - vampy trampy Princes Ardela vs prim and proper Colonel Wilma Deering.
But I've only just begun. Hulu is great because it is free. It's like a limited Tivo that spans decades in terms of content. The only price is, like television, having to watch ads, but they are under a minute long - not the epic, interminable three or four minute ad spaces on TV. Hulu remembers your que, allows you to email clips from the shows, has excellent playback quality at all screen sizes, including full-screen, and has a fast and simple search utility. It's a great interface experience and the content is only going to grow.
I could be cynical about the goals and business model, but I won't go there. Hulu is media time-shifting done right. Get Hulu on a PMP like the iPod Touch or Archos series of media players, and you'll see a whole new model of distributing media.
Hulu is a new website by NBC Universal and Fox. It is, as the New York Times describes, like a 'YouTube Pro' for conventional media outlets to obtain advertising money on current and existing series. They're got everything from Fox's The Riches back to every episode of the old Battlestar Galactica, as well as dozens of movies.
It is awesome. I've been able to revisit some childhood favorites and see just how dated they seem. In an early episode of Buck Rogers, for example, one of the leads has to convince a room full of Speak 'n' Spells to stay the execution of our hero. I was also reminded that, to my six-year-old brain, the show was really more about two women catfighting on an interstellar level over the affections of Buck - vampy trampy Princes Ardela vs prim and proper Colonel Wilma Deering.
But I've only just begun. Hulu is great because it is free. It's like a limited Tivo that spans decades in terms of content. The only price is, like television, having to watch ads, but they are under a minute long - not the epic, interminable three or four minute ad spaces on TV. Hulu remembers your que, allows you to email clips from the shows, has excellent playback quality at all screen sizes, including full-screen, and has a fast and simple search utility. It's a great interface experience and the content is only going to grow.
I could be cynical about the goals and business model, but I won't go there. Hulu is media time-shifting done right. Get Hulu on a PMP like the iPod Touch or Archos series of media players, and you'll see a whole new model of distributing media.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Good Samaritan
Yesterday morning I was headed to work after an early morning doctor's appointment near NYU. As I approached 6th Avenue, I saw a man fall. Two students offered to help. One went in and got some napkins. We all offered to make phone calls but he declined.
He said he felt fine, but there was quite a lot of blood. I think his first inclination was to keep going to work and clean up, but it was clear that the napkins were getting more and more soaked. He said he'd go to St. Vincent's, and I offered to accompany him since it was on m way.
When we exchanged names, he said he was a doctor.
What's the protocol here? When does on call 911? At first he seemed like an elderly man who had stumbled. On closer inspection he wasn't that old, in his fifties perhaps, and he was responsive and aware of his surroundings.
This event just underscored last week's encounter with the frail Mrs. Mitchell. New Yorkers are seen by many as abrupt and unfriendly, but we're practically tripping over each here. We do respond when someone seems to be genuinely in need.
He said he felt fine, but there was quite a lot of blood. I think his first inclination was to keep going to work and clean up, but it was clear that the napkins were getting more and more soaked. He said he'd go to St. Vincent's, and I offered to accompany him since it was on m way.
When we exchanged names, he said he was a doctor.
What's the protocol here? When does on call 911? At first he seemed like an elderly man who had stumbled. On closer inspection he wasn't that old, in his fifties perhaps, and he was responsive and aware of his surroundings.
This event just underscored last week's encounter with the frail Mrs. Mitchell. New Yorkers are seen by many as abrupt and unfriendly, but we're practically tripping over each here. We do respond when someone seems to be genuinely in need.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Tipster Julie
I tipped off Gawker to this reference in the NYT today:
http://gawker.com/5004431/newspaper-to-self-all-is-well-all-is-weeellll
Got the email to prove it and everything.
http://gawker.com/5004431/newspaper-to-self-all-is-well-all-is-weeellll
Got the email to prove it and everything.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
The Human Condition
While I was eating lunch today, there was a cry for help. I ran out into the hallway. One of the old ladies who live on my floor had fallen.
Altogether half a dozen of my neighbors responded. We brought her pillows and recovered her dignity (her blouse was loose, and her wig had slipped). Two other old biddies came out and were giving her a hard time about walking about on her own and not having Life Alert. She had only gone downstairs to get the mail. They shut up when her age was revealed. She was 93. "I thought I was the oldest on this floor," said one of the biddies. Both of them were merely in their eighties.
Three of us neighbors are women in their twenties and (ahem) thirties. I suppose for some, old age is disturbing, a glimpse of what is to come. But really, does this sort of foreshadowing make a difference? I think we all know and accommodate aging into our lives. It happens, and it can be prepared for.
There paramedics said her hip was dislocated. They did not say one way or the other that the hip was broken.
I hope she is alright.
Altogether half a dozen of my neighbors responded. We brought her pillows and recovered her dignity (her blouse was loose, and her wig had slipped). Two other old biddies came out and were giving her a hard time about walking about on her own and not having Life Alert. She had only gone downstairs to get the mail. They shut up when her age was revealed. She was 93. "I thought I was the oldest on this floor," said one of the biddies. Both of them were merely in their eighties.
Three of us neighbors are women in their twenties and (ahem) thirties. I suppose for some, old age is disturbing, a glimpse of what is to come. But really, does this sort of foreshadowing make a difference? I think we all know and accommodate aging into our lives. It happens, and it can be prepared for.
There paramedics said her hip was dislocated. They did not say one way or the other that the hip was broken.
I hope she is alright.
Tippecanoe (and Julie too)
In my kayaking class, I not only learned how to roll, but spent some time in a canoe.
Basically our lead coach needs to integrate canoe skills into his training program, so he used us (four of us, plus another coach) as guinea pigs for how to teach canoe skills. Picture, if you can, a large canoe, with two seats and room for four additional pasengers, in a swimming pool about 20*15 meters wide. Oh, and there are about half a dozen kayaking students blazing random trails across the pool, plus two large sea kayaks to practice the rescue techniques with.
Everyone is wearing life jackets, and we are not allowed to stand up on the floor of the 4-foot pool. We are practicing as though we are in open water. That is, open water with no current, lots of chlorine, and excellent visibility.
I worked with an English girl named Ellie. Ellie and I paddled around the pool pretty easily. The kayaking strokes that we know were developed from canoe strokes, so it isn't difficult. There isn't much room to go straight, so mostly we turn, and turn, and at one point practice a pivot, rotating in place.
Next step: capsize, and try to rescue ourselves.
We leaned over on the right, holding on to our paddles. With the boat full of water, we tried to figure out what to do. Kayaks tend to float, because they have watertight compartments and flotation material. The canoe just bobs in the water. I tried floating into the front and performing a sculling brace while Elle climbed in the back, thinking maybe we can paddle it full of water - it's been done in a kayak. We failed. We just kept diving like the Titanic.
We tried an assisted rescue with the kayaks, but I'll detail that in a bit.
The other team - Donna and Giselle - got a little coaching on how to self rescue. If a canoe is capsized, there is usualy a trapped pocket of air underneath. Ideally, the canoeists can swim underneath and talk to each other to coordinate their efforts. They rock the boat gently until they are ready to push and flip the boat over. We all understood the concept, but were unable to execute.
The assisted rescue was very involved and involved a lot of stage management. Basically, two kayaks pull up about a paddle's width apart. They reach their paddles across and hold on to the blades, forming a pole between them. The canoeists then push down on the far end of the canoe, still upside-down, and push up with the near, and the kayakers try to assist with lifting the canoe onto their paddle handles. The kayakers can then pull the canoe out of the water, using the paddles as a lever. With the canoe out of water, they can flip it and slide it back in to the water. They then keep the canoe in the water and hold tight while the canoeists climb over the kayaks and back into the canoe.
We also tried rescuing a kayak using the canoe. That was a little more tricky, and a deliberate challenge on our instructor's part. I was in charge, and while I was headed in the right direction, I didn't get it totally figured out. We also had a second kayak to help us out. I know how to to a kayak-to-kayak rescue, and an inkling on the canoe-to-kayak rescue, but the two together presented such an abundance of resources I that I didn't know what to make of them.
I ought to mention one more thing (golly, I did a lot on Saturday). I got a bad scratch on my forearm, plus a couple of little cat-like scratched, from doing a cowboy self-rescue. That's where you push down on the back of the boat and pull yourself up to slide into the cockpit. It's trick to maintain your balance, but I can do it pretty well. I think there was a rough plastic edge, or maybe a frayed cable, because something nicked me good but I didn't feel it at the time.
I love kayaking. It's my new passion.
Basically our lead coach needs to integrate canoe skills into his training program, so he used us (four of us, plus another coach) as guinea pigs for how to teach canoe skills. Picture, if you can, a large canoe, with two seats and room for four additional pasengers, in a swimming pool about 20*15 meters wide. Oh, and there are about half a dozen kayaking students blazing random trails across the pool, plus two large sea kayaks to practice the rescue techniques with.
Everyone is wearing life jackets, and we are not allowed to stand up on the floor of the 4-foot pool. We are practicing as though we are in open water. That is, open water with no current, lots of chlorine, and excellent visibility.
I worked with an English girl named Ellie. Ellie and I paddled around the pool pretty easily. The kayaking strokes that we know were developed from canoe strokes, so it isn't difficult. There isn't much room to go straight, so mostly we turn, and turn, and at one point practice a pivot, rotating in place.
Next step: capsize, and try to rescue ourselves.
We leaned over on the right, holding on to our paddles. With the boat full of water, we tried to figure out what to do. Kayaks tend to float, because they have watertight compartments and flotation material. The canoe just bobs in the water. I tried floating into the front and performing a sculling brace while Elle climbed in the back, thinking maybe we can paddle it full of water - it's been done in a kayak. We failed. We just kept diving like the Titanic.
We tried an assisted rescue with the kayaks, but I'll detail that in a bit.
The other team - Donna and Giselle - got a little coaching on how to self rescue. If a canoe is capsized, there is usualy a trapped pocket of air underneath. Ideally, the canoeists can swim underneath and talk to each other to coordinate their efforts. They rock the boat gently until they are ready to push and flip the boat over. We all understood the concept, but were unable to execute.
The assisted rescue was very involved and involved a lot of stage management. Basically, two kayaks pull up about a paddle's width apart. They reach their paddles across and hold on to the blades, forming a pole between them. The canoeists then push down on the far end of the canoe, still upside-down, and push up with the near, and the kayakers try to assist with lifting the canoe onto their paddle handles. The kayakers can then pull the canoe out of the water, using the paddles as a lever. With the canoe out of water, they can flip it and slide it back in to the water. They then keep the canoe in the water and hold tight while the canoeists climb over the kayaks and back into the canoe.
We also tried rescuing a kayak using the canoe. That was a little more tricky, and a deliberate challenge on our instructor's part. I was in charge, and while I was headed in the right direction, I didn't get it totally figured out. We also had a second kayak to help us out. I know how to to a kayak-to-kayak rescue, and an inkling on the canoe-to-kayak rescue, but the two together presented such an abundance of resources I that I didn't know what to make of them.
I ought to mention one more thing (golly, I did a lot on Saturday). I got a bad scratch on my forearm, plus a couple of little cat-like scratched, from doing a cowboy self-rescue. That's where you push down on the back of the boat and pull yourself up to slide into the cockpit. It's trick to maintain your balance, but I can do it pretty well. I think there was a rough plastic edge, or maybe a frayed cable, because something nicked me good but I didn't feel it at the time.
I love kayaking. It's my new passion.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Roll, Roll, Roll Your Boat
I can roll.
Some of you may already be aware that I have been trying to learn how to roll in a kayak. It's more accurate to say 'right myself'. Basically, if I'm inverted, upside down in the water, I can swing the paddle and give a little kick to the side in order to come up. I'm not perfect, but I can do it consistently.
There are several ways to hold the paddle, but the basic technique is the same. All the techniques change is how far out the paddle swings. I do it best with the grip that is the longest, with one hand on the near blade. I'm working towards moving my hands more to the center, where they are usually placed.
After our self-practice, several of us gathered together with our coach to play with something new: a canoe. The certifying agency that covers our certifications is going to require canoe skills in addition to kayak skills, so we practiced moving around and trying to rescue (on our own, and with assists). It was fun.
Some of you may already be aware that I have been trying to learn how to roll in a kayak. It's more accurate to say 'right myself'. Basically, if I'm inverted, upside down in the water, I can swing the paddle and give a little kick to the side in order to come up. I'm not perfect, but I can do it consistently.
There are several ways to hold the paddle, but the basic technique is the same. All the techniques change is how far out the paddle swings. I do it best with the grip that is the longest, with one hand on the near blade. I'm working towards moving my hands more to the center, where they are usually placed.
After our self-practice, several of us gathered together with our coach to play with something new: a canoe. The certifying agency that covers our certifications is going to require canoe skills in addition to kayak skills, so we practiced moving around and trying to rescue (on our own, and with assists). It was fun.
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