Citadel of the Blogs The Inbox of the Internet (really)

I often read the <a href="http://www.blogd.com/">Blog from Another Dimension.</a> This time round, the writer is journeying in China. I quote this verbatim since it needs no alteration:

<em>For example, how Chinese males cool off in the hot and humid weather. In Japan, you rarely see a shirtless man, but here in China, they are fairly common, which makes sense; I don't see how Japanese salarymen survive humid weather in the 90's in full business suits.

Anyway, in China, some men will take off their shirts, but others will do something that can have a comical effect:</em>

<img src="http://www.blogd.com/images/00funnytummy.jpg">

God, how ugly trends are. Just imagine it through reverse culture eyes (hip hop baseball caps on sideways, pants down so you can see the guy's underwear, cities like my home where "everyday is dress-down day". Oi vey.

Part of me enjoys moving. When I lived in Montreal, I moved into a new apartment practically every year I lived there. It was good practice for coming to Japan. I came here with bags and I'm going back with boxes, true. But it is not all mine. I successfully compressed and compacted six years of life here into three boxes. I'm happy about this because life ought not to be measured by the amount of stuff one acquires. Hard to convince others about this in a materialistic society, but it is something I truly believe: stuff takes over your life.

Mostly I have a penchant for buying books and CDs. After that it is clothes. And recently, I'm interested in computer stuff and other technology (video camera, mainly). But I find my tastes still go toward the compact range: iPod, digital camera, notebook computer, slim compact printer to complement the notebook, etc.

I have a good eye for surveying what I own and classifying it into what is essential (as in, what goes back to Canada with me), and what isn't. God, so much isn't!

On-line Olympic journal of American swimmer <a href="http://www.goldblatt.info/olympicjournal.htm">Scott Goldblatt.</a> Just adds a different take on the whole Olympics for me.

For a swimmer, he writes well enough (though I gotta chuckle outta "for all<em> intensive</em> purposes"). Hard not to say that without sounding snotty. But I'm an English lit. major, what can I say?

Another life that seems very TV-like to me. Full of high school romance, collegiate drinking parties that actually lead to sustainable relationships later in life (heaven forbid!), and all that family-connection jazz I juz don't know about.

So I's not so snotty, now, is I?

I was gazing at the Canadian coins I still have and was primarily struck by the dates. 1974 and 1983 were familiar to me, as I have seen them numerous times while in Canada. But what I didn't expect was my reaction to others, like 1999 and 2001. Staring at their raised edges, the dates actually communicated with me: these are years I do not associate with Canada since I wasn't there. This is a new sensation for me: the years on the coins have no association with the country.

We have wildlife and nature images on our currency. Beautiful country, as all Japanese agree. Here in Japan, they don't put politicians or military figures on their currency. Rather, the space is reserved for writers or intellectuals. The allusion to the national pacifism in high profile public space is not lost on me.

Moving home: so yeah, coins are weird.

Okay. So I'm a Mac freak who does not worship at the altar of Jobless Steve. But iPhoto developers…c'mon. Get off yer Windows pedestal. Yes, it is a virtually flawless graphic app that any one can use.

<strong>BUT</strong>

two things:

1, to disable automatic boot when your camera is connected you have to actually start another app (Image Capture) and render the preferences accordingly.

and

2. to disable sending e-mail through the Mac Mail program, you have to open that app and render the preferences accordingly.

So how intuitive is that?

Answer: IT IS NOT!!!!!!!!

So get off your Windows' high horse and put those options in the goddam iPhoto preferences where they rightly belong.

/end of sermon/bitch about Jobless Steve's aging encroachment on Windows business praxis.