revjim.net

November, 2007:

Yesterday’s Tweets

  • 07:48 awake. nose stuffy. need coffee. hate work. want play outside. #
  • 12:49 I have another mtg in 10 minutes. ugh. #
  • 18:53 Going for coffee with friends. #
  • 01:01 bedtime #

(Cooked up Fresh and Juicy just for you by the fine folks at LoudTwitter. Text “follow revjim” to 40404 on your mobile phone to follow all day long.)

Daily 11/30/2007

Give One, Get One: Laptops for Developing Nations

  • Through the end of December, for $399 you can purchase TWO XO laptops — one for you and one for a child in a developing nation. The XO has been built to function in environments with little to no technology. It even can be charged by solar panel or hand crank. - post by revjim

Yesterday’s Tweets

  • 05:25 awake. working. busy day. #
  • 19:15 Heading out to see some friends. #
  • 22:59 Home. Debating if I should edit photos or go to bed. #

(Cooked up Fresh and Juicy just for you by the fine folks at LoudTwitter. Text “follow revjim” to 40404 on your mobile phone to follow all day long.)

Daily 11/29/2007

Automatic projector calibration

  • So it may not sound that cool but, once this video gets started, the technology being displayed here is actually quite incredible. – post by revjim

Regular Everyday Normal Guy — Rap

  • A rap song and video about a guy who’s nothing but average. – post by revjim

Harder Better Faster Stronger // With Bodies

  • A clever video to the Daft Punk song using the human body and written word. – post by revjim

Harder Better Faster Strong // With Fingers

  • Inspired by Harder Bodies Faster Stronger, here’s another take on Daft Punk using hands. – post by revjim

lib-er-tar-ian: Ron Paul?

  • All this talk about Ron Paul and I had no idea who the guy was until now. Turns out, he’s a Libertarian wearing a Republican name tag. – post by revjim

Oh No! I missed my Exit.

  • By far the best way to recover from accidentally missing your exit. – post by revjim

Where Your Scar Is by Anne Heaton

  • A beautiful new song by Anne Heaton which will be included on her CD due out next year. – post by revjim

Yesterday’s Tweets

  • 05:38 awake. going to Irving office today. #
  • 06:36 showering #
  • 07:54 Driving to work. Left about 15 minutes ago. #
  • 08:51 at irving office now. Ugh. That commute felt like forever. #
  • 11:15 Anyone up for lunch? #
  • 11:31 Going to lunch in farmer’s branch with Sheridan. #
  • 12:59 Damn that was some good pizza. #
  • 14:17 working another big issue. hot and tired already and it’s only 2:17pm. #
  • 15:00 @sivatonight: I want some milkshake! The kind that brings all the boys to the yard! #
  • 15:02 @sivatonight: ya damn right, it’s better than mine. #
  • 15:18 ugh. too much work. someone kill me. or, if you won’t, at least distract me. #
  • 15:43 Twitter is not very smart. It’s own documentation says "add MOBILEPHONENUMBER" will invite a new person to the service. This so doesn’t … #
  • 15:55 I hate twitter. #
  • 15:57 @droybal: I think so. I love it so much that when it fails I hate it. And now I hate it. Stupid Twitter. #
  • 16:04 @FarrisGoldstein: Yeah yeah. Sush! #
  • 16:37 Math Prob: For big issue, I took on 33 bits of manual labor. I’ve done 23 bits in 2h19m. At this rate, when will I kill myself? Solve for X. #
  • 16:56 @droybal: You answered: 2 hours ago. You are…. CORRECT. DING DING DING! Johnny, tell him what he’s won! #
  • 17:00 Anyone feel like Sushi tonight in the Carrollton, FB, Irving area? #
  • 17:28 Leaving work. 2hrs to kill b4 class. Change clothes and take photos, shop, eat dinner alone, or get coffee? Hard choice #
  • 18:03 At Cafe Brazil eating dinner, drinking coffee and catching up on all of the Internets. #
  • 19:03 Leaving cafe Brazil. Heading to class. #

(Cooked up Fresh and Juicy just for you by the fine folks at LoudTwitter. Text “follow revjim” to 40404 on your mobile phone to follow all day long.)

Yesterday’s Tweets

  • 05:59 awake. drinking coffee. editing photos. starting the work day. 9am: mtg. 10am: Drs appt with Jess. Not too sure how I’m gonna pull that off. #
  • 10:06 Whew. The baby is head down and totally not grounded any more. #
  • 12:26 Just had lunch with Jess. Now back to work. #
  • 17:44 work is finally over. now it’s time to read all of the internet, edit photos, make dinner, get coffee, and still make it to bed by midnight. #
  • 19:06 Dinner time, I think. Then coffee… maybe? Just call me Mr. Uncertain. #
  • 20:08 watching heroes! Weee! #
  • 22:00 @FarrisGoldstein: I guess I should add Dexter to the list then. #
  • 22:40 ok. bedtime. for real. #

(Cooked up Fresh and Juicy just for you by the fine folks at LoudTwitter. Text “follow revjim” to 40404 on your mobile phone to follow all day long.)

auto-focus

At some point in the last 15 years, technology and the pressure to do more with less has led us to become a society where multi-tasking is king. It’s not uncommon for me, and many others, to be seen actively working on two or more major tasks at the same time. This is, of course, in addition to answering the eternal buzzing of our mobile phones, text messages, IMs, emails, and the like. Our minds drop into auto-focus as it sorts through the barrage of information being thrown at it every second.

In most cases, this is good. Just like it was intended, I find myself doing more things with less time; Accomplishing more work with fewer resources; Assisting more people in the same 24 hour day. However, while the the constant disruptions and mind-toggling may indeed lead to greater productivity, it leaves those things requiring more thought than action utterly stranded. Through repetition of this behavior I’ve lost all ability to truly focus all my attention on any one thing. I’m stuck in auto-focus and, as a result, am missing the details in the finer points of life.

Poetry, Photography, Programming, Reading, and deep thoughts regarding human nature, theology, and philosophy all get lost in the refocusing fueled by the endless beeping of electronic devices and scratching off of todo lists. I haven’t had a long telephone conversation with a friend or sat down with a good book in ages. I quit smoking almost three years ago and, more than anything else, I miss the excuse it gave me to just do nothing for fifteen minutes.

I need this part of me back. Either through mental, spiritual, chemical, or ritual means, I need to regain my ability to manually focus. With this I might once again dive deep into the core of my own being and celebrate that which makes us all so wonderfully human.

Yesterday’s Tweets

  • 07:34 awake. editing photos. need coffee. #
  • 09:59 On our way to service this morning. #
  • 11:42 My parents are stuck in DC and can’t get a flight out. So, we’re gonna go find some place for breakfast. #
  • 11:48 Looks like we’re doing cafe Brazil. Wanna join? #
  • 12:17 Pho. #
  • 13:30 Thinking about moving my office BACK downstairs. #
  • 16:25 Jess is making ricotta topped buttertarts. I’m making mushroom and onion stuffed tenderloin with a lemon butter sauce. #
  • 17:25 Beer is good. #
  • 22:06 Reading my feed reader, editing photos, listening to Sarah Jaffe, and catching up to start the work again tomorrow. #

(Cooked up Fresh and Juicy just for you by the fine folks at LoudTwitter. Text “follow revjim” to 40404 on your mobile phone to follow all day long.)

reflection or projection

It’s simple really: I’d much rather reflect than project. I’d prefer to be moved to emotion or insight by some external source more so than to enjoy myself doing something less than serious.

That isn’t to say that I don’t spend plenty of time being silly, or that I don’t relish the time where I can simply enjoy what’s been given to me. But, given the choice between a new, potentially upsetting, disappointing, life altering experience or another good time with good people, I’ll choose that moment of reflection over and over again.

It’s part of what makes me who am I. It’s both good and bad. It leaves both a curse and a blessing. It makes me both very unique and utterly common.

If that makes me overly-dramatic, prone to sadness, temperamental,  short fused, or unpredictable then so be it. Because, at the same time, it leaves me insightful, passionate, caring, prepared, and dependable. All of which are part of who I am.

If you don’t get that then you don’t really get me.

Yesterday’s Tweets

  • 12:29 Awake. Playing splinter cell. Seeing beowulf tonight. #
  • 17:21 Seeing 6:50 beowulf @WC imax. Anyone up for dinner around 9:00ish? No Mexican. I can still feel yesterday’s. #
  • 18:09 Woah. Very long line. An hour early may not be enough. We’ll see. #
  • 18:41 Movie starting in 10 mins. Going dark. Daniel … OUT! #
  • 20:52 Awesome movie. Loved it! Especially in 3D. #
  • 21:54 I need to get my tire patched soon. I’ve got a slow leak. Grr. Guess I’ll try to squeeze that in tmrw. Home now. #
  • 23:18 G’nite. Tomorrow service and then thanksgiving at my moms. #

(Cooked up Fresh and Juicy just for you by the fine folks at LoudTwitter. Text “follow revjim” to 40404 on your mobile phone to follow all day long.)