can u say hot?

Proof of Life

A headache knocked me out this afternoon; too much play between the light and the dark

Image by The U.S. National Archives via Flickr

created a conflagration inside of my skull. I took two, found a spot of sun on the couch, and cradled a Ray Bradbury book in my hands. The off-white pages acted as a reflector, angling the rays of sun that penetrated the wall of glass behind me, streaked over my shoulder, and bounced from the pages of the book into my eyes... deep into my soul.

There's more than one way to skin the dark cat--blind it with light.
(Revved up like a Deuce, another runner in the night)

The warmth of the light felt right. I skimmed the pages with my eyes and let my mind wander off to wonder about other things in my life. Because it wasn't forced to focus on these hurdles in the foreground, it was free to see them objectively, and in objectivity it always gains more perspective.

I love, love. I am always at its beckoned call. And, maybe that isn't the right place for me to be. If I walk away from the line between where you are and where I am, would you eventually cross the line to come looking for me where we're supposed to be?

I put my iPhone on my stomach. An intuition shouted that someone had something to say, though I knew not what it would be. When said, I wanted to be there to listen, not necessarily to respond. While my phone sat there on my stomach, the same sun's rays reflected from it onto the ceiling across the room; some symbol from a ancient language of love that stayed in constant motion, dancing on the white paint. I breathed and it moved back and forth with the rise and fall of my stomach. I held my breath, expecting it to be still with me, but it did not.

It pulsed, like the beat of a bass drum, a rhythm from none other than my heart. I am alive.

My intuition was right. The switchboard operators at The Network are doing their jobs well today. Now, if ony they could interpret the messages for me...

I guess that's my job as a writer, eh?

Should a new phone really make me that happy?

Image by The Pug Father via Flickr

This post has been on the back burner (and on my mind) for a few weeks now. The story that it reminds me of most in my own life has to do with all the words exchanged about whether the Palm Pre is/was a better phone than the iPhone.

Here's my take, "Who cares?"

I'll be happy with my iPhone and you be happy with your Pre, cool? Honestly, I'd hope that technology continues to improve itself and, in conjunction, improve our lives. If the iPhone didn't have competition... well, let's just say that Apple is good, but can't be relied upon for every technological advance to be made in mobile phone technology.

Right about the time I was secretly laughing at the arguments amongst friends about whether the Pre or the iPhone were "the best," Seth Godin wrote a blog post that really hit home; the objectivity and subjectivity that occurs in the world...

"The external world is remarkably consistent, and yet we blame it for what's going on inside of us. People who think the world is going to end always manage to find a new thing that's going to cause it to end. People itching to be bummed out all day long will certainly find an external event that give their emotion some causal cover. The thinking happens long before the event that we blame the thinking on."

So true. Half full or half empty? You are what you eat; you are what you tweet.

Seth then asks the question, "Should a new phone really make you that happy?" And, I answer, it depends on how long you waited to upgrade. :-) I got sold on the iPhone when I was sitting in the The Tune Inn on Penn in DC and remembered that I had to send an email to our membership base, some hundred thousand plus strong, when my friend turned his iPhone around on the table, slid it over to me and said, "Can you do it with this?" Oh yeah, cheeseburgers, beers and nothing like sending a political email blast from one of the greatest dive bars in America.

iPhone Sh1t

I want my iPhone to sh1t RFID tags & then track them... like in that cab where I lost my wallet... or like in that plastic bottle that I wonder whether it made it to the recycling plant... or like on my girlfriend's car keys so she won't freak when she's late and can't find them... you know?

iPhone Spell Check Cracks Me Up

Sent:
am i still on your lust of things to do today?

Intended:
am I still on your list of things to do today?

Hindsight:
They both sound dirty... whoops. Didn't mean it that way!

Backdraft Chicago

I came back to my friends' condo after the MU loss last night to hear a ton of sirens heading toward me from all different directions. All I had to do was step out on the balcony to see billowing smoke about 3 blocks from me. Threw the shoes back on and went to check it out... never imagined that it'd be a huge gathering of emergency services! Here are some iPhone pictures and my micro-blog of the event via Twitter (follow me).

• watching and listening CFD go to town on a burning building. Chicago & Wolcott.
• lots of glass being smashed. 2 ladder trucks. Another line into bldg.
• ferverishly pulling more line into building. Looky-loos building. Can hear firemen giving updates over radio.
• Lots of updates about location in bldg over 2 way. More firemen going in.
• 4 story bldg. H&R block at ground.
• Lots of shit being thrown out of bldg. Heard over 2 way, "no fire here. Further investigate."

• Lots more window smashing. CFD don't play. Pumper trucks still pumping.
• Fire coming up from first to second floor (overheard)
• Longest non-truck ladder ever raised from ground to third floor now.
• More sirens approaching. Hmmmm. Gurney waiting at entrance of bldg.
• 8 trucks that I can see. 3 ambulances. Countless support vehicles.
• More first floor glass pummeled. More sirens approaching
• Female EMS-PIC Murphy using hose leak to wet towels.
• (radio) we're gonna bring her out the front door
• Big time smoke from first floor adjacent bldg. More sirens approaching.
• Another gurney. And the sound of power tools.
• Smoke turning from white to black. Glass getting smashed over and over.
• Master use of pole axe only before seen in Diablo video game.
• Firefighters yelling, "anyone live in this bldg?" girl next to me says YA

• Hugging and crying happening behind me. "I was dead asleep in there and barely got down stairs"
• Overheard: "I'm glad your alive"/ "thank you!"
• Overheard: I was a little bit awake and burned incense earlier and I looked out my window to see flames (cough) and holy fuck!
• Another line going in. 2 fighters coming out with oxygen tanks ringing. Expired.
• Real American heroes walking out of bldg and declining wet towels.
• Real American heroes getting new oxygen tanks and going back in.
• Guy on phone behind me: my car is parked right in the middle of the action.
• Holy crap. Just looked around. At least 30 vehicles here now.
• Overheard smoke so thick nine blocks away (bar: happy village?) that they closed.
• Overheard: they brought a girl out. No idea on status.
• Last microblog. When these guys come out someone else pours them some Gatorade. Props to the CFD.

Chicago "Bean"

Welcome to what my Chicago friends call "The Bean." Maybe if I get close enough, this thing will give me a shave.
From the underside of the Bean looking upward.
Kinda like a fisheye lens, eh?
Candid shot with my friend Shelley-Shelley.
I definitely have to go back to The Bean someday with a high res camera instead of the iPhone... some really creative stuff that can be done there. Loved it! Thanks, Shel!

The Birth of a Thunderstorm

A little before midnight, I was writing a brief for a colleague when I noticed that the sky was beginning to light up to the southeast. At first, one gets bummed when it's in the SE because about 99% of the storms here come from the west, southwest in summer and northwest in winter.

I paid no mind to the storm until I turned out the lights and went to bed. It seemed to be lighting up the room more than I would have imagined for a storm moving away. I got up to peer out of the window and found the entire southern sky flashing with a constant flickering light.

I grabbed a beer and headed out to the front porch where I was provided a spectacle of flashes as the lightning back-lit the billowing clouds. The entire southern sky, from east to west, was participating as if they were engaged in a competitive dance. From my parents' place, which sits up on a hill in the countryside, we frequently set aside all things to watch a storm roll across the sky and this was no exception. My stepdad came out to join me for a few minutes. The panoramic and unhindered view is exceptional at their place both to the north and the south.

I've downloaded the WeatherBug app on my iPhone because it allows me to quickly look at radar maps and get weather alerts. When I'd first looked at it, the radar had a tiny red dot over Clinton, MO. But as the night wore on, those red dots multiplied in a string from east to west... this storm was definitely spawning right in front of my eyes. Unfortunately, the iPhone camera isn't built to capture this type of brilliance.

The yellow and blue flashes kept my attention for almost half an hour; which is when the bugs started buzzing around my ears and I headed back in.

I didn't relent though, I pulled up a chair to my bedroom window and watched for another few minutes until I decided it was time for bed.