Fuck Lance Armstrong

I'm right now watching TED talks I've downloaded with Miro. Watching Tony Robbins from 2006 give his talk. Now, I'm not one who would ever have, by choice, listened to Tony Robbins. He's talking about emotional strength, and comes up with Lance Armstrong. And, you know what? Fuck Lance Armstrong. I don't need to be told that people can do anything. I don't need to be shown that people can do anything. And I don't need some man to be fictionalized for me in order to do that. And I'm not saying that Lance Armstrong is a falsehood, or that Lance Armstrong is a lie. I don't believe that at all. What I mean by saying fictionalized is that he has been made a story. And not in the "news story" sense of story. I mean in the sit-down-and-read-a-book sense of story. Not that I have any kind of problem with a good story, but I'd rather read a story I haven't heard before. And I really don't need to hear about a man overcoming adversity to become an outstanding specimen. Not another one. I'd much rather hear about a man committed to his work who then excels at it. Which is his story, but not one we get to hear, not one we're shown. I can listen to a recording of Glen Gould to learn that people can do anything. I can watch Cirque du Soleil to learn that people can do anything. And I don't need to know anything about the person who is performing for me other than what they tell me in that particular performance. So, fuck Lance Armstrong, the story.

Good to see, wish you could too!

Out on the outside of my house today, I ventured twice! On these ventures I encountered, tried to photograph and failed at photographing with my phone some lovely little political action. Posted on the little orange garbage can affixed to the bus stop sign: "Notice: Your greenhouse gasses impact on the environment." It was written on a green post-it note by hand. It was lovely, understated and well in-place. There was also a sign that was made not to be at all unlike one of those homemade signs advertising a service: the top part was large script and the bottom section had repeated little tags that were cut so they could be easily torn off. The top half said, "FREE TAKE ONE," as the bottom tags said "This coupon entitles the bearer to have a good day." These things made me smile, and that makes them good.

Notes for a Future Essay

Avatars in Second Life. My first introduction to the word Avatar was through a very low level "Religions of the World" type course where it was used to refer to the, now I'm stretching back in the memory a bit here, Hindu(?) belief in Godly manifestations in human forms. That we use it to talk about graphical stand-ins for internet users seems...a little harsh. I miss the grandiose in language.

Ask me about it in a few months

Neighbour and I are shootin' it this morning, talking about our various office-communication writing projects when this comes up again. We collectively wonder whether or not doing the whole Oresteia (because no-one needs to hear about Oedipus again) with language like that would get people to watch it. I doubt it, personally. I figure that audiences today can't connect with characters that have real problems. Now, if Agamemnon had forgotten Iphigenia at her softball practice and came home without her...people would be really worried. This doesn't mean I won't end up writing it. Notes for if this happens: it has to be performed in the style of a grade 10 drama class project: complete with bedsheet togas and honest-to-goodness-badness in acting.

I'll have to find the name and SLURL later

Intrepid Explorers went on an outing at my request tonight...yayy for having such power! Leila took us to...somewhere (I'll insert the name and SLURL it here later: Midsomer Isle I have found it!). Lovely gardens, interactive musical instruments, flowers, dances. Good stuff all round. I particularly enjoyed the ambient sounds: crickets, birdsong, etc. A good place for laid-back SLunkies. I think it's probably the largest build I've been to so far. My favourite part: the rain particles in the graveyard-y dead gardenish area. Worth a look at midnight, for certain.

Also, I'm remembering now that I kept seeing Kyle Beltran pop up on my Multi Gadget proximity alarm scripty doo-dad...must ask him about it at his next show (now that I remember the name of the place)

Scotch and Soda...though not at the same time...

Having a very nice Glenlivet 12 out of a not-so-nice panda-painted mug. Luckily, I did dishes today, so the mug is clean, and that is the most I can ask of it. Had a Dr. Pepper earlier today, too. I so often forget how much I like the taste of some pop. Fortunate side effect of rarely drinking the stuff, I suppose.

Let's get Posting!

Okay, the profile and other important bits are coming. Started my other, more important blog project today: ProductCo(R)(P). The goal is to get one up there every day...watch this space to see how long that lasts. It shouldn't be too hard as long as I can build up a bit of a back log of work for the formatting and what-nots. The ultimate goal for ProductCo(R)(P) is to tell a story using only the communications that might be found in a very thorough employee file. I may let myself slip some other things in there, but I hope not. The protagonist, who penned the first letter, will remain nameless, the world will be just as concrete as it has to be, and his job will make about as much sense realistically as all of ours do cosmically. So, with that all laid out, it's time to get to ignoring it.