Thursday, February 4, 2010
Google and the NSA
Google's teaming up with the NSA to investigate the cyber-attack that prompted Google to cease operation in China. Maybe it's just me, but I find any article with Google and the NSA in the same sentence unsettling.
An old dog
Is it possible to be a "diary person" despite having never regularly kept a diary? I may not have succeeded, but I've had at least a couple compelling failures.
In December 1993, I bought a one-year diary. It had 365 pages (marked Jan 1, Jan 2, etc.), and I was excited to fill them all.* By most accounts, this effort was a failure. Within a year, fewer than twenty pages were touched. I accepted the failure, but refused to accept that the irregularity of my entries condemned the diary. 16 years later, I'm still filling it in. Nothing more ambitious than a few entries a year, but it's become valuable to me.
I appreciated Diasporatic; the name, the people, the shared history. What I really loved about Diasporatic was that, for a time, the blog represented the commitment to stay close as our lives diverge. Some of you are better about communication than I am, but I was born an old dog. New tricks come slowly, and the fact that I posted on a blog at all was huge first step.
Apparently, Diasporatic is dead. I don't suppose that I did much to help. I haven't written an entry in eight months, and haven't actually posted one in twice that time. Still, now that it's dead, I miss it. So I'm going to give this new, unfortunately-named blog a whirl.** If I post too little, cut me some slack - I'm not a diary person. If I post too much, you asked for it bitches.
*For you film buffs, my first entry ("bye bye 1993") was a review of one of the great movies of our time: Beethoven 2.
**Seriously, name change anyone?
dilettante (plural dilettanti or (rarely) dilettantes)
In December 1993, I bought a one-year diary. It had 365 pages (marked Jan 1, Jan 2, etc.), and I was excited to fill them all.* By most accounts, this effort was a failure. Within a year, fewer than twenty pages were touched. I accepted the failure, but refused to accept that the irregularity of my entries condemned the diary. 16 years later, I'm still filling it in. Nothing more ambitious than a few entries a year, but it's become valuable to me.
I appreciated Diasporatic; the name, the people, the shared history. What I really loved about Diasporatic was that, for a time, the blog represented the commitment to stay close as our lives diverge. Some of you are better about communication than I am, but I was born an old dog. New tricks come slowly, and the fact that I posted on a blog at all was huge first step.
Apparently, Diasporatic is dead. I don't suppose that I did much to help. I haven't written an entry in eight months, and haven't actually posted one in twice that time. Still, now that it's dead, I miss it. So I'm going to give this new, unfortunately-named blog a whirl.** If I post too little, cut me some slack - I'm not a diary person. If I post too much, you asked for it bitches.
*For you film buffs, my first entry ("bye bye 1993") was a review of one of the great movies of our time: Beethoven 2.
**Seriously, name change anyone?
dilettante (plural dilettanti or (rarely) dilettantes)
- An amateur, someone who dabbles in a field out of casual interest rather than as a profession or serious interest.
- A person with a general but superficial interest in any art or a branch of knowledge. (Sometimes derogatory.)
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Verily
I eat my peas with honey.
I've done it all my life.
It makes the peas taste funny,
but it keeps them on my knife.
Hello!
The plea
"Diasporatic, alas, is dead. The only person who is still subscribed to it is Sarah Stuntz. She is also the only person who has posted anything on it with any kind of regularity. God bless her for that. BUT I AM NOT DAUNTED! I would like to try this again. I have started a new blog which I hope can be a sort of forum for us. I am determined to bring this group of friends into the 21st century. I will not ask you all to get Twitter accounts, but please subscribe to this blog and contribute whenever you can!
I think the failure of Diasporatic might have been that we set the bar too high for what is worthy of posting. I would like this new blog to be far less formal. You needn't write an essay (although feel free to do so!) You dont have to be sharing monumental, life-changing news in order to post. Rather, please feel free to post about anything and everything! Read an interesting article? Post a link and tell the group what you think! We will discuss it! Heard a particularly entertaining new song or seen a funny youtube video? Throw it up there and let everyone enjoy it together! And if you ever feel like writing an essay, God bless you - please do!
I think this can work. I believe this because as a group we are in more-or-less constant gmail communication as it is. If we can channel some portion of those email exchanges through this blog instead, we will achieve certain advantages. Chiefly, it creates a far more permanent record of our interaction as a group. Emails are transient. They disappear from our minds as soon as they are pushed off our home screen by newer messages. For reasons which I will enumerate in future posts, I have become very conscious of the importance of preserving communications between friends and loved ones. Friendships are precious, and whenever friends take the time to sit down and write to each other, no matter how briefly, it is a monumental act. Interactions which seem trivial in the moment become priceless when preserved and read later. I am hoping that this blog can help us create a more-or-less permanent record of our collective discourse. I know you guys are busy, but this is important! Trust me!"
I think the failure of Diasporatic might have been that we set the bar too high for what is worthy of posting. I would like this new blog to be far less formal. You needn't write an essay (although feel free to do so!) You dont have to be sharing monumental, life-changing news in order to post. Rather, please feel free to post about anything and everything! Read an interesting article? Post a link and tell the group what you think! We will discuss it! Heard a particularly entertaining new song or seen a funny youtube video? Throw it up there and let everyone enjoy it together! And if you ever feel like writing an essay, God bless you - please do!
I think this can work. I believe this because as a group we are in more-or-less constant gmail communication as it is. If we can channel some portion of those email exchanges through this blog instead, we will achieve certain advantages. Chiefly, it creates a far more permanent record of our interaction as a group. Emails are transient. They disappear from our minds as soon as they are pushed off our home screen by newer messages. For reasons which I will enumerate in future posts, I have become very conscious of the importance of preserving communications between friends and loved ones. Friendships are precious, and whenever friends take the time to sit down and write to each other, no matter how briefly, it is a monumental act. Interactions which seem trivial in the moment become priceless when preserved and read later. I am hoping that this blog can help us create a more-or-less permanent record of our collective discourse. I know you guys are busy, but this is important! Trust me!"
A new trick
Is it possible to be a "diary person" despite having never regularly kept a diary? I may not have succeeded, but I've had at least a couple compelling failures.
In December 1993, I bought a one-year diary. It had 365 pages (marked Jan 1, Jan 2, etc.), and I was excited to fill them all.* By most accounts, this effort was a failure. Within a year, fewer than twenty pages were touched. I accepted the failure, but refused to accept that the irregularity of my entries condemned the diary. 16 years later, I'm still filling it in. Nothing more ambitious than a few entries a year, but it's become valuable to me.
I appreciated Diasporatic; the name, the people, the shared history. What I really loved about it was that, for a time, the blog represented the commitment to stay close as our lives diverge. Some of you are better about communication than I am, but I was born an old dog. New tricks come slowly, and the fact that I posted on a blog at all was huge first step.
Apparently, Diasporatic is dead. I don't suppose that I did much to help. I haven't written an entry in eight months, and haven't actually posted one in twice that time. If you've been unfortunate enough to subscribe to these posts, thanks for your willingness to read and my apologies for not actually writing anything. Now that it's officially dead, however, I miss it. So I'm going to give this new communal blog a whirl. Follow if you will.
Best,
Amar
*For you film buffs, my first entry ("bye bye 1993") was a review of one of the great movies of our time: Beethoven 2.
In December 1993, I bought a one-year diary. It had 365 pages (marked Jan 1, Jan 2, etc.), and I was excited to fill them all.* By most accounts, this effort was a failure. Within a year, fewer than twenty pages were touched. I accepted the failure, but refused to accept that the irregularity of my entries condemned the diary. 16 years later, I'm still filling it in. Nothing more ambitious than a few entries a year, but it's become valuable to me.
I appreciated Diasporatic; the name, the people, the shared history. What I really loved about it was that, for a time, the blog represented the commitment to stay close as our lives diverge. Some of you are better about communication than I am, but I was born an old dog. New tricks come slowly, and the fact that I posted on a blog at all was huge first step.
Apparently, Diasporatic is dead. I don't suppose that I did much to help. I haven't written an entry in eight months, and haven't actually posted one in twice that time. If you've been unfortunate enough to subscribe to these posts, thanks for your willingness to read and my apologies for not actually writing anything. Now that it's officially dead, however, I miss it. So I'm going to give this new communal blog a whirl. Follow if you will.
Best,
Amar
*For you film buffs, my first entry ("bye bye 1993") was a review of one of the great movies of our time: Beethoven 2.
Hi, Everyone!
Come on in! Make yourselves at home! I will be posting a couple of things shortly, but in the meantime, pull up a chair, get settled in, have a scotch and relax. Kick your shoes off, you are among friends!
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