Month: November 2015

I have no words. This is a horrible, immoral attack. There is no possible justification. The killers have no heart or soul or conscience.

Update: A lot of people are making the point that Beirut endured a terrible attack two days ago, and while it was reported on, they didn’t get the same out-pouring that France is getting now. It’s a valid point. I have ideas about why, but for now I want to add my love and sympathy to the people of Lebanon, and I’m sorry for being so late to express it.

World Trade Center One from my window, lit in solidarity with the people of France.

Ugh. I’m still swollen from dental surgery on Monday! I can’t believe I made it to choir practice the next night, but I was feeling better even though I looked terrible. I got a different antibiotic yesterday, and I look better. I think. I feel a little out of it and dizzy, but I read that this is among the side effects, and not any of the possible bad ones, so we shall see.

Finney and Bleeck kinda curled up together. I took this from across the room. I was too afraid that any kind of movement might spoil the miracle.

I noticed recently that Finney’s right front paw had collapsed, and it looks like he’s walking on … what seems like the equivalent of an elbow. I thought, ‘Jesus, am I the worse cat owner ever and I completely missed that he broke his leg or something??’ I googled it and it turns out this could be a symptom of diabetes, which Finney was diagnosed with last year. My vet confirmed this possibility, and if he doesn’t seem to be in pain and/or is limping it’s probably from the diabetes.

He doesn’t seem at all bothered by it, although his gait is a little lop-sided. PS: My floors needs sanding. And I love the bowl I got when Mobil moved to Virginia, with the Pegasus on it. I have two. I kick myself every once in a while for not grabbing more.

I’m home recovering from dental surgery, so UGH. I was going to go to choir practice anyway, because I need it, but my face is swollen and vanity may win out over my need to sing. I’m even embarrassed to go out and pick up the prescription I need!

A pretty sparkly dress in the window in Cynthia Rowley’s. This is not a dress I wish to possess, I don’t think it would look good on me, but it would look gorgeous on someone else. Can’t you see this at a holiday party?

If you get the New York Times home delivered, you can explore virtual reality for free (the Times sent out free headsets this Sunday), but even if you don’t you can get Google Cardboard VR headsets relatively cheaply. Then you can download the Times app for free and explore! There are more VR apps out there of course, but this is a very good place to start.

VR developer Chris Milk calls VR “the last medium.” Who knows what’s coming but for now, yeah. I’m in. That said, I agree with The Verge’s take, you learn much more from the article. But that said, you learn much more of a different sort from the VR documentary.

Milk is not a very good public speaker (sorry!) but I like the points he makes in this Ted Talk. You’ll see how right he is when you watch the VR documentary on the Times website, The Displaced.

So I want both. But I think this will replace books and print to a large extent in the end (although not at all completely), because this is what young people will want. The challenge will be how to provide as much information in VR that a book or article can pack in. I think this is very do-able. Even as I was watching the The Displaced, I thought VR would be a fun way to present and explore charts. It should be relatively easy to build in links and pathways to more information, and in equally fun and entertaining ways. More fun or interesting than a link I mean. It could be made to be part of the story itself.

The cats explore my headset.