vanderwal.net

Back and Digging Out

Coming back from six plus days of being untethered from the net I found I had 1117 unread RSS feeds. This is worse than my personal e-mail stack, which was just over 550 (I get to my work e-mail stack tomorrow, which averages about 80 e-mails per day). The RSS feeds really threw me as I was not expecting it to have snowballed like that.

There were a few things I was wanting to follow that I knew may pop their heads up while I was away so I followed these on my Treo 600 on Google News and del.icio.us aggregator. I was able to find most of what I was looking for and do a quick read and then e-mail an annotated link to one of my personal e-mail accounts. I did find some things on del.icio.us that I just copied into my del.icio.us bookmarks so I could come back to them later.

I got far less done on the writing front as my son was along for the vacation, which made it a real family vacation and not the usual working vacation with the laptop on my lap on the front porch when I am not playing in the waves. No, I would not say I am rested, but I do have more wonderful memories of a great summer get away. Our time schedules shifted to a 10 month-old's eating and sleeping schedule. When we drifted to our normal shore vacation schedule we had a cranky kid, which only took two days to convert to a vacation fully focused on the kid. We met many wonderful new people, stayed in a different B&B, and found a new restaurant to add to our favorites.

I am now ready for the last two days of the week and to start responding to e-mail tomorrow. I am also ready to tackle my writing assignments that are well over due. My laptop is also fully updated with OS and software updates that make it really sing, too bad Windows updates never make the machine perceivably faster.

It is Okay to be Quiet

Things will be quiet here for a few days, unless I post from the mobile, as I will not have the usual connectivity. I may try and find wifi, but the goal is to relax, write, and read. Those that want to say hi can use my mobile e-mail, if you have it. Gmail will also work using my normal moniker when I post about the web. Untethering is tough, particularly when there is cool stuff going on that I want to stay on top of.

Profiled at InfoDesign

I am the current InfoDesign Profile - Thomas Vander Wal. This was harder than I thought it would be an many alternate answers ran through my mind, but I finally narrowed it down as much as I could. Peter has many other wonderful profiles and interviews at InfoDesign Special. I have been inspired and found new resources from these glimpses into other designers lives.

Thinking about Thinking

This past Saturday morning I finished the Steven Johnson book Mind Wide Open. I really enjoyed the book and may go back and pull out parts to store in my own notes.

But, there is one thing that kept niggling me as I read past the section on neurofeedback, which was used to improve concentration and attentive focus. I kept wondering if I am pulling all this information in, how it gets synthesized. The book did bring out some answers as many often focus on differences from what is already stored in the mind. I completely agree with that and I often work in that mode. But, as I read, my mind drifts to memories or to related items. This drifting is where it seems to get stored in memory and I will pull out the information weeks, months, or years later. This drifting is also where I often find unique answers and view problems or current solutions and find improved was of doing the same thing. This is also why I tend to read broadly across topics as well as deeply in areas I am passionate about.

The problem with improving focus is how would my synthesizing take place. Do others read in the same way? In college I had an office hours discussion with a professor complaining that I often had to reread paragraphs and pages as I had found my mind drifting, which was inspired by what I was reading. The professor and his office mate felt this drifting was a very good thing as it lead to better examination of what is known to one's self as well as fostering creative solutions. All more to think about.

Le Tour 2004

It is Le Tour time again and we are following Oskar's Tour updates and his Tour links. Here in the U.S. we are following the Tour on OLN. It may finally be time we got Tivo so we don't miss a bit of the peddling.

The summer is the time we turn our focus to Europe to watch the tennis Grand Slam's of French Open and Wimbledon (these were the calming influence when we had horrible reverse culture shock in 1988). But, it is the Tour that brings back memories of Hinault, LeMond, Roche (watching him ride into Paris in person), Indurain, and Armstrong. Le Tour is summer as it has been since the 70s in our memories. It is always a reminder how little we are on our bike, even the years we were putting well over 2,000 miles under our peddles.

Good Bye Grammer

In loving memory

Kind Wishes and Prayers Needed

I am hoping on a plane back out West tomorrow as my grandmother is not doing well. She has taken a turn and is in much pain. I will be gone a few days. The doctors says this may be the last few days. Please send your best to help her ease the pain and may the blessing be returned upon you in your times of need.

Peace

The Car is Gone, Long Live the Car

As mentioned previously I have been nearing the end of the lease on my car. I had wanted to keep the car as I really have enjoyed the car over the past three years plus. It brought me back from Pittsburgh with Joy after September 11, 2001. It was a great car for road trips with Joy. It was a blast to drive and was amazingly engineered and designed. The one downside was it was not great on family outings as there was little back seat leg room and it did not have a great trunk for more than two people on a trip.

I had hoped for the next size up in the same car line, but the U.S. exchange rate had foiled that attempt, or so I thought. Things had been so bad on the exact model I was looking at they had insane lease deals, as is the current practice for nearly every non-U.S. car right now (particularly European cars). Well I have ended up with exactly the car I had hoped for what seems to be a reasonable price.

Best of all it has XM Radio, which is flat out amazing. The quality of the broadcast is crystal clear and wonderfully matched to the sound system. It has local (to Washington, DC and many other major metropolitan area) traffic and driving on 24 hours a day and up to the minute. I have been like a kid in the candy store with all the listening options. I now have NPR, local news, and XM Radio as options on the radio dial. I wish KFOG was one of the options as I miss the music and DJs, but the options are great. The one thing it truly needs is heads-up display as looking down to the radio to read is just not safe.

Explaining Quiet

Things have been a little busier than normal so far this month. Having folks in town, speaking at STC's 51st Annual Conference in Baltimore, reviews at work, expanding the team at work, Will changing his bedtime for later (crawling everywhere), and having a car nearing the end of its lease have had more of an impact on my time that I thought they would. I do try, well have to post my Quick Links as that is how I get back to reading the content I have been finding in my hour at night or half hour of reading in the morning. I guess it is also a way for the readers to catch snippets of interest.

I am going to be burying in writing this weekend to get some promised assignments out of outline format and into a longer format. I have two that are really pressing, so it will be coffee and quiet with me and my laptop this weekend.

Accounting for Abscense

It is good to be back in our house, but a large part of me has not quite caught up as it is still out West, home. We had a great trip visiting family in Washington and California and some friends in the San Francisco Bay area. The only thing that would have improved it would have been more time to see more friends and better soak in the community. We were very happy to see our friends and family that we did and we wished we could see them more often.

The trip was a great trek with Will, who turned seven months just before we left. For a relatively little guy compared to us adults he sure has a lot of stuff. He was a real trooper on the plane flights out West, then to California (he seemed somewhat amazed at what he could see looking down outside the window as we flew over Mount Shasta as he was look left stare down and press his head to the window then spin 45 degrees right and do the same), and then back East. He seemed to make everybody smile in the airport and on the streets has he practiced his waving and smiling every chance he got.

When we got to California it was just plain hot. It was in the mid-90s in the Central Valley and we were sweating and dreaming of the cool San Francisco air. When we arrived in SF (after lunch in Oakland at Zachary's Pizza for a fantastic deep dish) it was still 91 degrees. I only had heavy jeans, dress khakis, and heavy cargo pants. I was so disappointed in what the locals called amazing weather. As soon as we checked in the hotel and got Will napping I headed out for some lighter pants or shorts. We had a great location in a wonderful hotel in the Financial District, the Park Hyatt was a great place to stay with Will as the staff went out of their way to be accommodating and we had nearly every amenity right out our door in the Embarcadero Center and surrounding streets.

We became more awake the longer we were out West as Will took quite a while to adjust to the time and kept us waking on East Coast time until Thursday. We took advantage of staying in the heart of the City by walking up through Union Square on Wednesday and then saw my old neighborhood and had lunch at Cha Cha Cha after cruising Noe Valley, which provided my old Spinelli blends from Tulley's.

Our way back to the Central Valley we stopped at St. Mary's College to take a very quick peek at the changes, cruised through Walnut Creek to see the catalog outdoor mall it has become, and to Lafayette for dinner.

Back Soon

Things should start picking up around here beginning tomorrow, once I return home and get settled back in.

Short Quiet

I will have limited e-mail and instant message access until Monday. My e-mail on my cell works for those that have that and need to get in touch. Monday I return to some what normal life.

Until then, peace

I am Reading Comics Again

In the past week I have found two new comic strips to follow. I have not had a daily comic strip I liked since Calvin and Hobbes went away. Thanks to Anil and an excellent article in the New Yorker, I now am a fan of The Boondocks.

The second comic strip is Frazz, which has some frighteningly similar traits to Calvin. Eric Meyer has the Calvin and Frazz conspiracy theory posted on his site. There are some great links and theories. I am not so sure they Mallett and Waterson are two different people, but none-the-less I have a new comic strip to follow.

Brands and the Bambino

It has been a big few days for Will. He started crawling today. He learned to mimic tapping on the floor. He will jump up and down like a mad man (boy). He learned to clap his hands. He can grab a filled spoon and put it in his own mouth (cleanly I might add). He can pick up put Cheerios in his own mouth (not with the first finger and thumb just yet). He can crawl backwards and sit himself up and stay balanced for long stretches. He knows the TV, Satellite, and On button row and the proper time to press them (hit that row first) on his own dummy remote.

But yesterday's trip to Whole Foods market it all sunk in. It was our first family outing to the market. He was very attentive to all the people and all the items. He was fascinated with the light fixtures, as he is everywhere. But, in the dairy aisle I stopped the cart and tried to help Joy find the item she wanted. When I looked down Will was had his arms stretched out of the cart toward a large display of Cheerios. He knows brands. He knows HIS brand. This really amazed me. He has really been paying attention, it sinks in, and he remembers.

Be Kind to Kind Kids

I am in line to get my salad at lunch. A little girl about four is standing in front of me. I am intently reading news on my Treo. We start to chat:

Her: I accidentally got my fingers nails painted today.
Me: They do look nice.
Her: Are your nails painted?
Me: Excuse me? What did you say? (I really did not hear)
Her: Take your hand out of your pocket. Why is your hand in your pocket?
I take my hand out of my pocket.
Her: Your nails are also painted
Me: [abruptly] My nails are not painted!
Her: Let me see them. Sure they are painted. Mom, his nails are painted.
Salad chef: Your usual?
Me: I do not paint my nails
Her: But they look nice.
Me: [Thinking help her with manners and politeness] Why thank you. That is very kind. ... Yes, my regular salad.