Big Talk

The Charmer by The Family Grove Company
[audio:http://www.archive.org/download/fgc2007-05-27.shnf/fgc2007-05-27-t09_64kb.mp3]

So I went to my cousin’s wedding this weekend. Turns out I don’t like weddings all that much. I should clarify: traditional weddings. Formal affairs with lots of things done for no reason other than they have been done for years and years. Silly.

Anyway, today I was considering the reception, where I met a lot of people who may/may not be related to me. I talked to a lot of them, and forgot almost everything they said. I’m not big on small talk. Finding out what people are doing, how they are, how their mother is, just doesn’t interest me. I don’t care. So I don’t ask those questions. When people ask me, I tell them that there isn’t much happening. My answers aren’t longer than a few sentences. And its the truth. I’m not doing much this summer. But what got me thinking about this was a guy named Mike.

I think he was a friend of my cousin, but I’m not sure. Anyway, he talked to a lot of people at our table, and was really pleasant. A good guy to talk to. Why? Because he asked, and listened, and responded relevently. Simple. But everything that he was talking about falls into the category of small talk. I was thinking about how he could possibly be interested in these things in the lives of people he doesn’t even know.

I find people I don’t know facinating, but not because I don’t know what they’re doing, but because I don’t know how they think. Everyone has a different philosophy on life, and that is what I like to take from any conversation I have with someone I’m just meeting.

What prompted me to write this blog post was the biography on Mister Rogers I read last night. He did the same thing Mike did, but on a much larger scale. Mike and Mister Rogers reminded me of a lot of the principles from Dale Carnegie’s book How to Win Friends & Influence People. If you haven’t read it, I would suggest it.

In Praise of Idleness

All hail BoingBoing for bringing these links to the light of day.

First, In Praise of Idleness, which is an excellent, if a bit lengthy, essay defending doing nothing. I may reread this article for the rest of the week so I can be sure to absorb everything he has said.

Second, a more recent article which looks into what people who hang around towns during work hours are actually doing. I really wish I could just camp out on a city block for 24 hours, and see how the world around me changes. I may do just that in the future. You can thank this article for that notion.

Lastly, an episode of This American Life which also explores the Secret Life of Daytime. The episode is an hour long, but all five acts are extremely interesting, and very worth listening to. If you find yourself short on time, just listen to act one, but do yourself a favor and make time for the rest of the show later.

While all of those links are in my linkroll, they were so incredibly cool and interesting that I thought they deserved special mention. It is rare that so many good things appear on the internet at once. So it shouldn’t surprise you that I have one more link to share.

Bonus, from Neatorama (which for those of you who don’t know, is like BoingBoing in its subject matter, but has a different, and in my opinion more appealing, way of presenting it). The Strangest Disaster of the 20th Century. This doesn’t have anything to do with the aforementioned links, but is a damn good read.

That last story is from one of Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader series, which are amazing. This story is proof. If you need more, I have several editions in my bathroom, which I’ll would gladly share. If you want them.

Spore

So, I realize I have not updated since I got back in the states. I’ve been out enjoying the real world. It’s nice.
So I come back to the digital world only to discover that there are still many worlds awaiting me.
fl0w is one of those. This is very similar to what the first stage of Spore will be like, so if you’re as anxious as I am, enjoy it.
If you’re not, here is some music:
[audio:http://www.execulink.com/~sixgeraghtyz/Breakerz/Beats/Eric%20B%20and%20Rakim%20-%20I%20Know%20You%20Got%20Soul.mp3]
I Know You Got Soul by Eric B. and Rakim

ps: iPhone is too sexy.

Last.fm

Conference Call by Conference Call
[audio:http://www.joefonda.digitalspace.net/sounds/confcall_final.mp3]

So it seems that there are still people out there who do not know about Last.fm.

More than ten million times a day, Last.fm users “scrobble” their tracks to our servers, helping to collectively build the world’s largest social music platform.

Last.fm taps the wisdom of the crowds, leveraging each user’s musical profile to make personalised recommendations, connect users who share similar tastes, provide custom radio streams, and much more.

You can see my user page at last.fm/user/somjuan. If you’re interested by this service, sign up, and add me as a friend. I’m always interested in seeing what other people are listening to.
And if you’ve already signed up for Last.fm and haven’t yet added me as a friend, this is your time to do so.

Phish

This is mostly just a couple links I don’t want to lose.

http://www.cosa.com/esther/index.html
http://www.mockingbirdfoundation.org/setlists/1994.html#07-08-94

If you’re a phan, you may understand each of those. If not, I don’t really care.

Why Geeks and Nerds Are Worth It…

Originally from craigslist

In the wide world of dating, there are many options. Do you go for the flashy guy with the smooth smile, or the dude in the corner typing away on his laptop? The following are reasons why I think my fellow females should pay more attention to the quiet geeks and nerds, and less attention to the flashy boys.

1.) While geeks and nerds may be awkward, they’re well-meaning 9 out of 10 times. That smooth dude with the sly grin and the spider hands? Wonder what HIS intentions are… plus, I’ve never had a geek guy not call me when he said he would. Score major points THERE.

2.) They’re useful. In this tech-savvy world, it’s great to have a b/f who can make your laptop, desktop, and just about anything else that plugs into a wall behave itself.

3.) They’re more romantic than they’re given credit for. Ok true, their idea of romance might be to make up a spiffy web-page with all the reasons why they love you, with links to pics of you and sonnets and such… but hey. It lasts longer than flowers, plus you can show your friends.

4.) Due to their neglected status, there are plenty to choose from. You like ’em tall and slender? There are plenty of geeks/nerds who are. You like ’em smaller with more meat on their bones? Got that too.

5.) They’ve got brains. Come on now, how can intelligence be a bad thing?

6.) Most are quite good at remembering dates. Like birthdates and such, especially if they know it’ll make you happy. Due again to their neglected status, they’re more attentive than guys who ‘have more options’. Plus, with all that down time without a steady girlfriend, they’ll likely have mental lists of all the things they’d love to do once they GOT a girlfriend.

7.) Sex. Yep. Sex. I’m not really familiar with this myself, but I’ve friends who’ve been intimate with geek guys and it’s raves all around. They say a virgin wrote the Kama Sutra… all that time thinking about sex, imagining sex, dreaming about sex, (they are male after all) coupled with a desire to make you happy? Use your imagination.

8.) They’re relatively low-maintenance. Most can be fueled on pizza, Twinkies and Mt Dew. No complicated dinners needed here, so if you’re not the best cook, eh. Can you order a pizza?

9.) Most frequent bars as often as slugs frequent salt mines. You won’t have to worry much about your geek guy getting his ‘groove’ on with club hotties because, frankly, he’ll be too busy rooting around under his computer wondering where that spare cable went. You won’t have to worry about him flirting with other women because, 9 out of 10 times, he’ll zip right by them in a perfect b-line towards the nearest electronics store. I’ve seen this happen.
Me: “Eww. Victoria Secret’s Models… They’re so skinny. How is that feminine? You can see her ribs!”
Geek Guy: “ooooooo…”
Me: “Hey!” *notices he is staring lustfully towards the computer store*
Geek Guy: “What?”
Me: “Never mind…”

10.) Although he may not want to go to every outing with you, you can arrange swaps, as in, you’ll go to his Gamer Con dressed as an elf princess if he’ll take you to the ballet. Plus, if he doesn’t want to go someplace with you, you won’t have to worry much about what he’s up to. You’ll probably come home to find him asleep on his keyboard in a sea of Mt. Dew cans with code blinking from the screen. It’s ok. He’s used to this. Just toss a blanket over him and turn out the light.

11.) His friends aren’t jerks. I can’t stress this enough. You’ll more likely get “Omg! A GIRL!! Can I see?!” than “Hey hot stuff back that ass up here and let me get some grub on…” They’re awkward geeks too and will, 9 times out of 10, treat you with the utmost respect and, more than likely, a note of awe. A cute girl picked one of their clan to date? It could happen to them! Hope! Drag some of your single girlfriends over, open up a pack of Mt. Dew, crack open the DnD set and get working. Nothing impresses geek guys more than a girl who can hack-n-slash (well ok maybe if she can code… a geek can dream).

12.) They’re rarely if ever possessive. They trust you, so you can be yourself around them. You like to walk around the house in a ratty t-shirt for comfort? He won’t care. He does too! They won’t get pissy if you don’t wear make-up or don’t want to bother primping your hair. If you gain a few pounds, they won’t try their best to make you feel like crap.

13.) They’re usually very well educated. Physics majors and the like. See #5. You won’t have to listen to him blathering on about his car (ok maybe a little), he’ll have loads of other interesting things to talk about. Politics, world events, how much the chicken burgers down at the local place rock, so long as you douse them in hot sauce…

14.) You’ll almost never have to hear, “Yaw dawg whazzap!!” plop out of their mouths. Unless it’s in jest. They spell properly, use correct punctuation, and are able to tell the difference between the toilet and the floor. They almost never get ‘wasted’, so you won’t have to worry about coming home to find him and his friends passed out on the floor amidst a pile of beer bottles. Mt. Dew cans, perhaps…

15.) And the final reason why geeks and nerds make great boyfriends: They actually give a damn about you. Not how you look (though that’s a plus), not how skinny you are, not how much make-up you primp yourself up with, but they like you for you. That kind of thing lasts longer than “DaMN baby you got a fine ass!!!” Believe me.

:D