Unfortunately, today will be my last day at Siggraph; I'll have to make it count.

My very favorite exhibit in Emerging Technologies was "Globe 4D," put together by some whip-smart Netherlanders at the Universitat Leiden. In the middle of the display is a an ordinary globe atlas; surrounding it is a lazy Susan sort of device that allows one to track changes the occur, or occurred, or might occur, over a matter of time. (That is, one can historically track what has happened with continental drift, and which tectonic plates will be crashing against each other in the future—and therefore what continents will be merging in the next few million years. Or one can simply look at the effects of light on Earth, by tracking the days and seasons. Or one can look at what could happen if water levels rise. [Hint: Florida and Holland could be in trouble.)

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You're the best stalker a girl could ever have.

The last component of my birthday gift arrived a few days ago: a small martini shaker, a light-up pen, a few bottle openers that didn't sport the names of gins on them (vodka and rum respectively), and could well have been thrown in by the packager.

And when I misplaced my shades the other day I wore the Tanqueray Arnold-style wraparounds.

I looked beyond cool.

For both of you who still read this blog, I'd just like to announce that Hell Week is over on the volunteer front, and I can go back to the more normal insanity of juggling clients.

That means that I might blog again someday soon.

Especially if I am able to make it out to Siggraph. I hope I can: I missed it last year. Wrong coast, and all that.

Of course, this year may require that I be in two places at once: Los Angeles, working at a magazine client's digs, and San Diego, celebrating pop culture and the fusing of art with technology.

It can't be that hard. Lesser people do shit like that all the time. Or so I hear.

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So I got something cool, but not quite the heart's desire: it's light and pretty, but it doesn't have a qwerty keyboard, so I'm not sure how I'm supposed to send people text messages (not that I do it that often, anyway--but I feel like I ought to be able to).

Before I had to worry about the Impending Car Replacement Project I think I was leaning toward the Sidekick (or maybe even a Treo), but I can always get one of those later. The one feature this phone has that my old one doesn't, is that there is supposedly a calandar in it somewhere. (So I might not need a smart phone or even a PDA before I can ditch my paper agenda. We'll see. BTW, did you know that my pocket calendar is gay? It came out to me right after I brought it home from Office Depot. No one else knows, though, so please don't talk about it.)

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I never used AOL, but I had friends who told me that it was awful—that people kept bugging them, wanting to chat.

Google might be turning into something similar. I mean, as a Mac user, everything seems fine. But when I log into my gmail account from work, using Internet Explorer, Gmail wants to tell me what everyone is doing—based on nothing other than the fact that I've sent them e-mail in the past. People like my colleague at the nonprofit, who is a fellow night owl. And bloggers whom I would never presume to send notes to for any frivolous reason: Gmail wants Windows users to know whether they are at their machines at any given hour of the day or night.

It's kind of creepy. I understand that it's supposed to facilitate chat, but do I really want to chat with everyone I know? Do I want them to be able to chat with me?

And is chatting efficient anyway?—isn't there a certain amount of sitting around while the other person types? And having them wait while I type, producing lines that contain [cough, cough] typographical errors?

Hm. I don't know if I like this Brave New World. I think I want the old one back.

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It's so true.

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our toaster is dying. Sometime in the next month, I'll have to go out and buy one. Basically I want a Williams-Sonoma model for Wal-Mart money. As usual.

Thoughts?

My mother found a cool Oster with the features I like, so I might try to get a four-slot version of hers.

And don't be saying, "you killed it with those nonstop toaster waffles." We already know that. We're contrite, and stuff. Well, we aren't really contrite, but we're willing to play it on TV.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 09:59 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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It feels so good to write this all out. It's clarified my thoughts tremendously, and made me see that my problems aren't insurmountable.

Now—how do I post this?

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I think no matter where we stand on the political spectrum, or how we feel about the war, we can all agree that zombies are cool.

"I'm not a monster,
Well—technically I am.
I guess I am."

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. . . bringing the Newton back.

Of course, it's possible this is an eensy step up from the Newton . . .

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The Popular Mechanics CES blog.

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Excuse me. I meant, Pete's sake.

H/t: Darrell. As he points out, this is a perfectly legitimate use for RFID.

I'm a bit staggered by all the negative comments: turns out there's a huge anti-sake lobby out there! My feeling is, almost any wine that is served hot is good. And red wine is better than white not just because of all the interesting tannins and whatnot, but because it's served closer to room temperature.

Those of us with a high surface-area-per-volume have an interest in such things . . .

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. . . gets into everything.

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Good idea: "inadvertantly" destroying the chip.

Thank you, Wired.

And thank you, Sean Hackbarth.

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You've seen the pictures, right? Here's the backstory: it sounds like one of those "why didn't someone think of this before?" moments. Walkers and runners will be especially happy about it.

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"Twenty thousand is kind of a lot of mail to have in your 'in' box. You might want to throw some of it away."

But if I throw it away, that'll guarantee I'll need it soon—no?

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"Empty out your trash bin every once in a while. You have 200 items in there, including pictures, videos, and applications."

I was very hurt by that. But then, I'm sure the tough love did me good.

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Ford Motor Company just bought an ad from me. And it's started . . . well, it started a blog. With word entries and video updates about its efforts to go green and turn the company around. It makes me want to buy a Mustang—one that runs on ethanol, of course.

Hat tip: the folks at blogads, who let me know what a brave new world of corporate communications I entered earlier today when I approved that ad.

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Can someone give me the step-by-step? Can I do it from within Movable Type?

My readers are the awesomest.

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What constitutes art? How central is craft in true art?

And, whose work do you dig the most: 1) the old masters, 2) the impressionists, 3) Picasso/Kandinsky et al.?

Should art support linear thought or complement it?

Should it be representational, or abstract?

Should it delight the eye, or get one to think?

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1 I never understood what made something art. I think it's just anything made with the purpose of pleasing the eye. If it makes you think or feel, that just makes it 'good' art. I am a painter, though admittedly somewhat ameteur. Here's my latest, "Vineyard Mornings". It's reminiscent of Renoir, but as you can see I'm still not very good at paining clouds

Posted by: Kevin at July 07, 2006 12:33 PM (++0ve)

2 Oops! I linked to a funny Greg Gutfield post on Global Warming by mistake. Here's my painting. (jokes are less funny if you blow the timing, huh)

Posted by: Kevin at July 07, 2006 12:36 PM (++0ve)

3 Well, why cannot a painting delight the eye and set one to thinking? Personally, I've always felt that artists who were able to draw a horse before going in for abstraction had much better provisioned careers. Having said that, Attila Girl, please do go over and submit your "rapity-rape" poem to the post at Ace's place regarding another PW troll. Jeff's site has been down due to DoS, probably incited by the strange creature who threatened Satchel in the comments. Best, Dan

Posted by: Dan Collins at July 07, 2006 03:36 PM (SDhNB)

4 I think art should convey feelings. We look at something for an impression and a feeling. Too often I see art being used as commentary or political retoric. Sometimes I see what is aluded to as art which I am sure is artistic humor as they run to the bank. (Urinals as art) One thing we will not know for sure is what is really art today. Because true art withstands the detriment of time. It will still be art 100 years from now. So when you look at art think, in a 100 years which do you think will be in a museum.

Posted by: Jack at July 07, 2006 07:58 PM (XUJmE)

5 I like classical architecture, sculpture, frescos, mosaics and decorative arts. I like medieval gothic painting and sculpture and the same in Renaissance art. I appreciate neoclassical and romantic paintings from the 19th and early 20th Centuries and think mid-20th Century American painters like Grant Wood and Edward Hopper are great. Obviously I like physically recognizable subjects in art -- people, places, and things -- with allegorical or pensive themes. Art that pleases me most is that which opens my mind to reflections on the significance of human activity, self-perception of one's place in society, and difficult emotions such as loss, loneliness, alienation, and the occasional human triumph. Surrealist painters like Dali and Rene Magritte, who distort and manipulate conventional images to stimulate reflection and emotion, are also high on my list. On the other hand, I just don't get artists like Jackson Pollock and Alexander Calder. I'm more the balding old guy in Norman Rockwell's "Abstract & Concrete," who is looking at an abstract painting with an unknowable reaction, than I am what the old man is looking at. Hey, the colors are nice and aesthetically pleasing (sometimes) but WTF is the artist "trying to say?" So color me confused and unappreciative of most modern art, and if that makes me a Philistine or troglodyte, so be it.

Posted by: Redhand at July 07, 2006 10:41 PM (7G9b2)

6 There really are no "shoulds" in art. I believe this to be true no matter the form. We who are artists at heart leave the "shoulds" to the critics, then ignore them from a distance while we continue to pursue whatever definition of "art" strikes our fancies. The only "should" I would even consider would be that no one "should" be forced to endure municipal art that costs taxpayers tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars for the express purpose of making your municipality a laughing stock. Those responsible "should" spend the rest of their natural lives locked in the hoosegow.

Posted by: Woody at July 08, 2006 01:15 AM (e9FIN)

7 It should delight the mind and the eye.

Posted by: Sissy Willis at July 08, 2006 02:57 PM (FU1id)

8 Well, said, Sissy. Dan, I can't remember the "rapity rape" poem, except that I was making fun of people who assumed Darleen and I (and all Jeff's commenters) were self-hating women.

Posted by: Attila Girl at July 08, 2006 03:53 PM (4IuF2)

9 "Art. Isn't that a man's name?" A. Warhol

Posted by: Gregor Samsa Mendel at July 08, 2006 05:39 PM (Vw1om)

10 Sissy's post reminds me of another quote on art...just can't place it Paraphrase Art should be uplifting (enlightening?) otherwise, what's it for? Interestingly, Puffington Host just had an article about how it is so NATURAL that only liberals are creative and produce "art." sheesh

Posted by: Darleen at July 09, 2006 11:18 AM (rvX7J)

11 Also, they are the only intelligent people. At least, that's what they've been telling me.

Posted by: Attila Girl at July 09, 2006 02:24 PM (4IuF2)

12 Here. This is art. REAL art. http://myunclepepeksjournal.blogspot.com/

Posted by: k at July 09, 2006 04:40 PM (wZLWV)

13 I thought this would make a great meme- so I'm going to use your questions ( with linkback) and answer them. Great post!

Posted by: ilona at July 12, 2006 03:46 PM (nWCog)

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End of July/beginning of August.

I'll be travelling alone, so I'll consider any money-saving tips that don't involve either sharing a room or giving up internet access.

Why? Well, you know: it's hard to drop by if you aren't in the neighborhood. And how else would I see my friends?

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