Did I step on your trumpet?

Think outside the cup

I don't hate the environment, but I've never really gone out of my way to help it.

This morning, I made my regular ritualistic run to the hospital coffee shop. They were out of the little cardboard sleeves that protect your hand from the sometimes painfully hot cup. As I tolerated the pain on the way back to my desk, I thought to myself "I wonder if I have one from yesterday still in my cube. I could bring it back tomorrow in case they are still out". Then I thought, well, what if I just had one that wasn't disposable? Not only would it be more convenient, but it would be better for the environment. Given that there is nothing new under the sun, I assumed such a brilliant idea had already been birthed. So, with Google's help I found a couple companies that specialize in what are commonly known as "cupcoats". I ordered the one pictured in this post. It was about 14 dollars with shipping from http://www.cupcouture.com/, but http://www.cupcoats.com/ has them cheaper.

This is how to save the world. Make it convenient. If it's actually more convenient for people to do something environmentally conscious, they will be more likely to do it. Granted, some people may not see a non-disposable sleeve as more convenient than a disposable one, but I do. If you own a coffee shop, try stocking some cupcoats and "run out" of the disposable ones a few times. People will see the need. It also wouldn't hurt to give cupcoat users a discount. You're making a profit from selling them, and you're spending less on the disposable ones anyway. Individuals will never save the world, but perhaps Starbucks can.

Zantac for the soul

Many things can be like an antacid for your burning heart (not the anatomical one). Communication is one of them. I sometimes have a problem with emotional acid reflux, and it's nice to finally get some temporary relief. As it turns out, my paranoia has caused me some misery the last couple months that wasn't entirely necessary. I think there are two things I did wrong... First, I assumed everyone is able to communicate their feelings well via e-mail. Second, I assumed teenagers are able to communicate their feelings.

I wish I could say the entire situation was a misunderstanding and this relationship I've been alluding to over the last few weeks was as it always used to be. Unfortunately, the fact remains that my niece is a teenager now, and our relationship will never be the same as it was before.

But, thanks to a short conversation with my Dad tonight, at least I know she doesn't hate me... for now.

Twenty-nine

Today is my birthday. My mom brought cake to my office. It was very tasty.

Did you know wikipedia has numbers? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/29_(number)

Weird.

One rule to ring them all!

Check out this voicemail I got today...



Oh, and check out GrandCentral (by Google). It is simply amazing. Google has really outdone themselves (and I didn't think that was possible). There are 2 basic features I'm waiting on before I totally commit and start handing out my GC#, but I highly recommend you check it out and see what you think. Some of the features are simply amazing, for instance:

• One number rings ALL your phones
• Set contacts to only ring to selected phones
• Switch phones (while on a call)
• Web-based voicemail, just click play
• Custom ringtones/calltones, per contact
• Listen to voicemails live, answer if you want
• Record entire conversations, listen later on the web
• Gizmo integration, use your computer as one of the phones
• Many, MANY, more awesome features

The two things that are holding me back currently are text messages and a little thing Chuck thought about with the voicemails... what if you're "off the grid" and you miss a call? You'll likely have access to your phone way before you have access to your Grand Central inbox. How do you get those voicemails? I can't find anywhere that says you can dial your GC# and check your VMs, but surely that will be a feature soon. Thanks for the comment, Craig. So I'm just waiting on text messages!

In short, go ahead and reserve your number now. If you don't get accepted into the beta, let me know, I have a couple invites left.

http://www.grandcentral.com/

(Thanks to Davis C. for the post title, genius lol)

Haiku for Eric

My dear friend Eric

You are a Canadian

I don't understand

(image courtesy http://www.haikucanada.org/)

THE CONQUEROR WORM

Lo! 'tis a gala night
Within the lonesome latter years!
An angel throng, bewinged, bedight
In veils, and drowned in tears,
Sit in a theatre, to see
A play of hopes and fears,
While the orchestra breathes fitfully
The music of the spheres.

Mimes, in the form of God on high,
Mutter and mumble low,
And hither and thither fly--
Mere puppets they, who come and go
At bidding of vast formless things
That shift the scenery to and fro,
Flapping from out their Condor wings
Invisible Wo!

That motley drama--oh, be sure
It shall not be forgot!
With its Phantom chased for evermore,
By a crowd that seize it not,
Through a circle that ever returneth in
To the self-same spot,
And much of Madness, and more of Sin,
And Horror the soul of the plot.

But see, amid the mimic rout
A crawling shape intrude!
A blood-red thing that writhes from out
The scenic solitude!
It writhes!--it writhes!--with mortal pangs
The mimes become its food,
And the angels sob at vermin fangs
In human gore imbued.

Out--out are the lights--out all!
And, over each quivering form,
The curtain, a funeral pall,
Comes down with the rush of a storm,
And the angels, all pallid and wan,
Uprising, unveiling, affirm
That the play is the tragedy, "Man,"
And its hero the Conqueror Worm.

-Edgar Allan Poe

Crazy

Everyone is always worried about going crazy. "If x happens, I'll go crazy!" Yeah, you've heard it. I just decided something. I think I have gone crazy. It's kinda hard to tell, what with being crazy and all, but I think it happened. I think we all slip back and forth between sanity and insanity, but some tend to sway one way more often. Normal people look at crazy people and think "Man, I'm glad I'm not crazy". I doubt the crazy people are thinking "I wish I wasn't crazy". They're probably just laughing maniacally on the inside. If ignorance is bliss, insanity is euphoria.

It's not so bad.

The trick is how well you hide it. After all, you don't want people thinking you're crazy.

The Bottom of my Heart

The doctor called it "Premature Ventricular Contraction", but now I know what it really was. It started rather quickly, but then slowly tapered off. Some days I felt it only a couple times a day. It was a section of my heart dying, piece by piece. It was nearly a week ago that the rest of it almost went. Only a tiny piece remains, which is why I'm writing this now. I hope this will serve as a reminder to my brain what my heart will never feel again. Someday she may return and fill another portion of my heart, but it will never be the same...

It's even possible that someone else will come along and revive the pieces and fill this empty segment. It's happened before. But for now, from the bottom of my heart, comes nothing.

It's about time...