Three things crossed my mind today. Well, more than three things crossed my mind, but these three in particular struck me so much that I made a note of them. With no further ado…
Item Number 1
Google. Google is amazing. Theoretically is makes sense, and when we use it almost without thought it is merely a convenient tool. But when you really think about what it does, it is pretty wild.
A user (imagine yourself as “a user†if you will) types in a combination of any number of disparate words and Google, with its wondrous mathematical magic, finds the page that statistically matches that combination best. The sheer possibilities out there are mind-blowing, and then consider the information Google presents after a .28493 second search of said mind-blowing possibilities, and that said information, derived through said search of mind-blowing possibilities, is applicable much more often than not; it becomes hard to keep one’s wits!
Real Life Example: This whole though process was de-thawed from one of my particular searches today. I was trying to find a painter whose work I had seen in the past, but his name and location eluded me. I did recall three things: I knew he made a painted entitled “Decemberâ€, I knew he painted much of said painting with a squeegee, and I knew that it was a painting. Search keywords entered into Google: “December†squeegee painting.
And B-A-M!! Google almost instantaneously presented a list of potential links, I clicked on one of the top two or three, and I ended up at a site discussing a show by contemporary abstract painters in Los Angeles, and Gehard Richter’s name was in a heading on the top 1/3 of the article. Gerhard Richter is the name I was looking for.
This observation might seem simplistic and silly to you, but to me, the amount of information that Google deals with and organizes is both awe-inspiring and terrifying.
Item Number 2
I got the ITCHIES!! NOT cool. Definitely not cool.
The Itchies is an unknown antagonist that descends upon my existence, in perhaps moments of bad karma, and incites my skin to rise up in a coup generating these tiny little wheals. (Wheal: an area of skin that is temporarily raised, typically reddened, and usually accompanied by itching.) And the definition is correct, the little bastards itch. Now, this is no resin rash (Some readers may remember that foul, face-eating thing I got in Japan.), but it has much more endurance. I have had on again off again bouts with this since last fall. I get these random little spots that itch like hell and once and awhile keep my awake at night. I repeat: not cool.
Now, my prognosis is that my skin is super sensitive (I have know this for years thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Sunburn-Rash.), my immune system is hyper (I have allergies to dust.), and these two pirates unite forces to muster the Itches.
But get this, and this is the mysterious part, the Itchies only seem to afflict me when I am here, in Greenwood, WI. My sinus allergies are also the most intense here.
Now I ask you: What’s up with that? Are my allergies geographically localized? Is my body just getting more allergic with age (This can happen!)? Or do I just get into something here in Greenwood that I don’t deal with anywhere else? (This is very possible, but I have been watching my routine looking for evidence and thus far have found nothing.)
Strange…strange and itchy.
Item Number 3
Do you ever dress in something particular when you are using your computer? Do you ever adjust your style for the use of your personal computing device? Does your style reflect your computer?
Yes, yes, and yes are my answers.
This was another realization I had today, albeit a somewhat simple one.
Briefly, the window above my desk faces west, so in the afternoon when I am frequently working on my computer I often find myself bathed and blinded by sunlight. I don’t have any curtains here (I am out the countryside and the natural world is good to look at.), and if I happen to be wearing a light-colored t-shirt, I get a glare reflected in my computer screen. This becomes highly annoying (and nearly debilitating) when working on photos in particular, so when I am in this position, I find myself forced into changing my t-shirt so I am wearing a darker tone, usually black. (I have to wear a shirt because my skin is so white the glared created by my body would sear my retinas.) Right now, I am wearing black because of this.
My computer helps dress me.
…
I really gotta go.
Ciao,
t