Bus broke down. Only got home 5 minutes late. How’s that for efficient public transit?
Category: field notes
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Is trying to catch the 4 o’clock bus.
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someone’s cellphone is ringing in the other office… answer it, please.
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back at the office… why was the guy on the bus trying to sell passengers a stolen credit card? Idiot.
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listening to Morphine play over The Drip’s house stereo system
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making final revisions to a childrens book that is supposed to go to press today
Overheard @ The Dripolator
Barrista: So you like spending money on higher education? What, you like got your degree lit… and… now it’s like sweet, I can’t get a job anywhere.
Overheard @ Pritchard Park
“I lost my rune stone…”
U.S. Gas Prices
U.S. Gas Prices
A heat map visualization via Gas Buddy
Tumblr. – The Documentary.
The ubiquitous Wikipedia
…the Wikipedia site was listed among the top three Google hits 100 percent of the time.
Michael Petrilli. Link.
Weekend review
Another reason not to visit Disney: Fingertip biometrics at Disney turnstiles
Open society: largest data breaches
If it looks like a moleskine: “stylish little pocket notebook”
And finally, from Seth Godin:
“So, there’s plenty of bad economic news floating around. From the price of oil to Wall Street to bailouts to the death of traditional advertising.
Which is great news for anyone hoping to grow or to make an impact.”
Quote: Modern art is a disaster area…
(via Room 116) Link
Biltmore Village Under Construction
(photo by Coffeehouse Junkie)
Call me a snob, but really, we’re a nation of dunces
“The shrinking public attention span fostered by video is closely tied to the second important anti-intellectual force in American culture: the erosion of general knowledge.”
“I thought Europe was a country”
“Ms. Jacoby… said, something different is happening: anti-intellectualism (the attitude that “too much learning can be a dangerous thing”) and anti-rationalism (“the idea that there is no such things as evidence or fact, just opinion”) have fused in a particularly insidious way. Not only are citizens ignorant about essential scientific, civic and cultural knowledge, she said, but they also don’t think it matters.” Link “I thought Europe was a country”
Letting go
Two things happen when you let go of something; you feel the pain of its absence more acutely or you feel the freedom from the weight it once possessed in your life.
“Inspiration is for amateurs. I just get to work.”
From 43 Folders:
[Chuck] Close talks about evolving his method of working to overcome his own personality.
“I’m a nervous wreck. I’m a slob. I have no patience. And I’m rather lazy. All those things would seem to guarantee that I would not make work like I make. But I didn’t want to just go with my nature.”
So instead of painting overwrought, expressive things when the mood struck, he committed to making his epic, close-up portraits by breaking the work into tiny pieces and hewing to a grid. Not only did the grid make technical sense, it forced a lifehack on Close that would help him deal with his own tendencies. It helped get the work done…
Link.
Coffee, gotstahavit
From Unclutterer:
Coffee beans you aren’t going to grind and brew within two weeks can be kept in the freezer, but they should not be stored in the refrigerator. Moisture isn’t good for coffee, well, unless you’re actually in the process of brewing. Don’t believe me? Here are a few insights from people much more informed than I…
Link.
And loosely related, from The Point:
…it’s not surprising that studies have shown caffeine is an effective aid…. For caffeine to be most effective, however, regular users need to minimize their caffeine use so that when they need it, caffeine will give them a boost.
Link.
Poetry blogosphere rawk star
Holy Shoot! About.com’s poetry blog listed and linked to my list of 7 things you should know about being a poet.
Crazy, right? Does this make me a poetry blogosphere rawk star? No. It means I spend way too much time blogging when I should be working… er… writing… like poetry or something.
Okay, so, About.com visitors, thanks for visiting. If you want to actually read schtuff that was published (poems, essays, etc.) follow this link. To read a weekly column I used to write go here.
Confessions : 08
01. I still have not purchased a Christmas Tree…
02. and I am not going out this weekend to purchase one.
03. So, there will be no Christmas tree this year.
04. Something about the holiday consumerism confuses me…
05. and depresses me…
06. and oddly I am grateful because book sales for the publishing imprint I helped launch is more than 20% better than projected.
07. I’m still sleeping in the living room.
08. I will not explain #7.
09. But I will explain #10.
10. My entire library and art supplies were moved to the garage.
Confessions : 07
01. Homemade chocolate chip cookies taste really good at 10 p.m.
02. I’ve been sleeping in the living room since October.
03. This photo of the Burnsville Town Square reminds me of a weekend I didn’t have to work.
04. It also reminds me of how many days I missed chasing this illusion called a career.
05. I have $3 in my wallet…
06. and it has to last until payday.
07. I have not bought a Christmas tree yet…
08. because it costs more than $3.
09. And I don’t want a tree that has to be senselessly cut down and kept on life support until it slowly withers and dies around January 18th.
10. An Alpine Spruce is nice and will be decorated, watered and planted outside facing west when the time is right.
11. Also, I’m wearing a pair of Ugg boots a family member bought me nine years ago. They are comfortable, do not need repair, look great and make my other shoes jealous.
Confessions : 06
01. I got less than five hours of sleep last night.
02. Three poem sketches were written due to this insomnia.
03. The first time I’ve written poetry since the writers residency in July.
04. I’ve been developing other people’s books for publication,
05. and neglecting my own literary efforts.
06. I am supposed to be writing regularly column for The Indie, but I haven’t submitted anything in two months.
07. I am supposed to be doing something important right now…
08. but one spreadsheet looks just like all the others…
Confessions : 05
01. I did not attend Bele Chere, Asheville’s biggest party of the year.
02. I wanted to.
03. No I did not.
04. I only wanted to attend the Kenny Wayne Shepherd concert.
05. My urban garden looks pathetic.
06. I am supposed to be writing regularly column for The Indie, but I haven’t submitted a story in over a month.
07. I am supposed to be contributing original street/citizen-journalism writings to a city blog called Asheviller. (If you are familiar with Gothamist and Seattlest then you get the idea of Asheviller.)
08. I designed and launched a new website, Coffeehouse Junkie, as a beta version, but haven’t had time to develop the individual pages.
09. I’m listening to Vanessa Boyd’s Unkept Woman on iTunes.
10. My laptop’s battery is at a critical depletion point and I need to rejuice the MBP.
Coffeehouse Junkie 