David Seruyange: Snippets

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:30:35 GMT

Cast Off Day

It's been five years to the day that my cast was taken off after the long odyssey of tearing my achilles and having to undergo surgery. Even though the details are becoming more vague in my memory, I think the experience really changed my life by becoming a line of demarcation between being "young" and being "old" in physical terms. It's a reminder to be happy that I can walk, fetch my own groceries, drive with my right foot, and experience life without asprin every two hours. It's a reminder that health problems are much worse than job, people, or life stress because the problem is inside of you. It's a reminder to be kind to the people I know that have an uncooperative body - the best relief in times like that for me were people who sympathized and helped.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 17:44:02 GMT

4 Generations and a Waterbuffalo

This is a short film by Robert Thompson about the web leading people to find ways to express compassion. The story is told in the film so I won't be redundant but in the context of the present I wonder how often we spend our efforts trying to get poor people technology when we can give them something we consider plain and outdated, and yet completely change their lives.

I posted on phoDak a while back about a world with idealists and this is what I meant; instead of being captive to a focus on the dark side of human nature, freeing ourselves to be optimists even when we know the odds might not be favorable. Sometimes when I feel my inner curmudgeon taking control, I look to things like this to help me believe the best in people and the world around me.

I guess that makes me an idealist of sorts, some of the time.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 01:18:16 GMT

Citizen Engineers

Writing about Tim Berners-Lee together with the fact that today is the anniversary of the Wright brothers' inaugural flight conjures up this thought in my mind of the citizen engineer: a person who goes beyond the normal patterns and responsibility of life in order to build something, and although this sounds grandiose you can't come to any other conclusion when considereing things like air flight or the internet, for the betterment of people.

Where would we be if everyone approached life with the minimalist attitude of doing the least amount necessary to get on? Where there was no excitement of a new idea, a progression, of change?

I have to admit that the wind is knocked out of my sails quite often but on days like this I am aware that the engineers always win: our world is malleable to their ideas, and the technology forces us to change.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 04:26:13 GMT

Have a Coke and a Smile

No, really - keep smiling. As long as you have no idea what's really happening, it's all good.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 12:40:15 GMT

Blech

I'm a huge Anglophile. It must have developed in childhood with Enid Blyton, but is largely fostered by a love for castles, gray weather, BBC Radio One, Emma Thompson's accent, the medieval, pop music... let's just say there are a lot of things that make me fantasize about visiting the United Kingdom one day.

For all those things, however, the food scares the Dickens out of me.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Thu, 31 Aug 2006 04:59:49 GMT

The Day is Done

For a while I've wanted to post this poem. It's approaching midnight and Longfellow always echos my heart when I'm turning in:

The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.

I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me
That my soul cannot resist:

A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.

Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.

Not from the grand old masters,
Not from the bards sublime,
Whose distant footsteps echo
Through the corridors of Time.

For, like strains of martial music,
Their mighty thoughts suggest
Life's endless toil and endeavor;
And to-night I long for rest.

Read from some humbler poet,
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears from the eyelids start;

Who, through long days of labor,
And nights devoid of ease,
Still heard in his soul the music
Of wonderful melodies.

Such songs have power to quiet
The restless pulse of care,
And come like the benediction
That follows after prayer.

Then read from the treasured volume
The poem of thy choice,
And lend to the rhyme of the poet
The beauty of thy voice.

And the night shall be filled with music
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.

Good night.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 05:01:13 GMT

The Wonga Coup

In January last year I wrote at length about a failed attempt at a coup d'etat in Equatorial Guinea. It's good to know something I thought was bookworthy was pursued to that end; a new book based on the events, The Wonga Coup, has been written by journalist Adam Roberts.

Adam was on the NPR program Fresh Air today being interviewed about his book - a nice short version if you don't have time for the entire book. You can listen to the audio here.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 09:29:46 GMT

Insomniac Poetry

It's been a while since I was in the special club of people who are awake at 4:00 am because they can't sleep. Luckily my insomnia has to do with rabble rousing neighbors making noise as opposed to the health problems¹ that used to keep me up at night. This poem came from a mailer for Poetry Magazine and just might convince me to subscribe for a year.

Everything contains some
silence. Noise gets
its zest from the
small shark's-tooth
shaped fragments
of rest angled
in it. An hour
of city holds maybe
a minute of these
remnants of a time
when silence reigned,
compact and dangerous
as a shark. Sometimes
a bit of a tail
or fin can still
be sensed in parks.

Kay Ryan
Shark's Teeth

posted in [home], [snippets]

¹My gall bladder was removed one Christmas Eve.

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 05:03:06 GMT

Freakanomics, Blink Blogs

A long time ago I saw a post on Design Observer that piqued my interest in a book called Freakanomics. The book puts an economist's perspective on lots of things like what (not) to name your child. I just discovered the blog which was listed today with a story on why beautiful women marry unattractive men. Sorry, the "car as phallic symbol" is not the answer ...

Not sure if I mentioned it but Malcom Gladwell, wildly popular author has a good blog too.

Aggregate or Die.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 04:44:54 GMT

Work Friendly

For those of us working in environments with a decided want for privacy here is a better way to look productive while multislacking. Check out what Reddit looks like in there.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 14:47:18 GMT

Jogging Nearly 31

The old lady is slowly coming down the hill to the bike path where I'm running with motions that resemble a wounded animal.

"Don't overdo it!" she calls out.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Sun, 30 Jul 2006 13:29:20 GMT

NY Times, Slate Made Easy

It was the best of times and the worst of times when I'd wake up on Sunday morning and get the New York Times Sunday edition delivered to the foot of my door. I loved the paper but would go through a cycle of excitement at the chance to read it to feeling overwhelmed when I realized that it I'd never have a chance to read everything to recalcitrant about throwing it away.

But now there's a better way to read the NY Times. There's a popular site called Reddit, used to track stories and links on the web. The gnomes behind Reddit have applied their concept to the NY Times. It's simple: anyone can vote a story up and down, and the stories that have the most votes show up at the top.

They have also done the same thing with the Slate as well. I haven't regularly checked Slate for some time, but this will be a big improvement over wading through the content over there as well.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Fri, 28 Jul 2006 18:44:08 GMT

Calling Out

I haven't been doing a good job of maintaining phoDak of late. So I'm calling out Justin for a little trade off.

phoDak vs Moalos

The tradeoff will be mashed up. Details forthcoming...

posted in [home], [snippets]

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 02:13:51 GMT

Visual Understanding

Ever since I learned about Richard Saul Wurman and his conference TED (Technology Entertainment Design), I've wanted to go. A sampling of what you can experience at TED is this presentation by Hans Rosling, a professor of international health at Karolinksa Institutet in Sweden.

Give yourself 15 minutes to understand the world like you never have in a visual sense.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 12:29:13 GMT

To My California Friends: Earthquakes, Traffic, or You

... and anyone else who is interested, the gnomes at Caltech have an online earthquake simulator that lets you view Southern California earthquakes 45 minutes after they happen. What might also be interesting is the frequency of earthquakes in the area (have a look at the dates from the Most Recent section).

Here in the middle west, where tornados, ice storms, and blizzards are standard fare, people are terrified of earthquakes: "I could never live in California!"

Maybe it's the traffic though, not the earthquakes. Or maybe it's you; you're a crazy bunch - we'll let you invent the future from a distance.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Wed, 28 Jun 2006 17:13:03 GMT

My Sentiments on ESPN announcers

Already written in an open letter here. A petition worth signing...

What's sad is that Fox Sports World has some excellent announcers that would have probably jumped at the opportunity to do a World Cup. At least there is Univision.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Thu, 22 Jun 2006 22:35:57 GMT

Radiohead and US Soccer

"You do it to yourself, you do, and that's why it really hurts...
You do it to yourself, just you, you and no one else... "

Special shout out to all the announcers on ESPN blaming officiating for disappointment. To quote a good article:

"Of all 32 teams in Germany, the U.S. will finish No. 32 in terms of shots on goal with four. The next worse is Trinidad and Tobago with seven. Iran have 19. England, 21. Germany lead the pack with 27."

posted in [home], [snippets]

Sat, 03 Jun 2006 04:01:37 GMT

JPod Review

One of my favorite living authors is Douglas Coupland. His latest novel, JPod, is favorably reviewed on Slate. A lot of what I'm reading says that it shares the flavor of the book of his I like most, Microserfs¹. There is an audio interview from his publisher here (save target as).

This is a side note and utterly random, but his Canadian lilt seems to have a Norwegian style inflection to it; it's english but he ends his sentences going up, like each of them is a question. Yeah, that was random.

posted in [home], [snippets]

¹Okay, I admit I've got special feelings about Miss Wyoming but saying that isn't as cool

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 02:15:54 GMT

Boiling Water

You know you can't cook when you find yourself at Google with the following query: "How to chop onions."

Motivated in part by curiosity, in part by Bravo's Top Chef, and by the need to make at least a few things well I did make some special pork chops over the weekend. K said they were good but she's not one to kick a man when he's down.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 02:41:33 GMT

Waiters, Character

A great article on USA Today (no less!) draws connections between the way we treat waiters and what this says about character. Especially from the vantage point of the many CEOs quoted, it was interesting.

I'm personally bothered when I find myself out with a person who siezes the opportunity to be a lordling at any service person who waits upon them. Intuitively I knew this was indicative of things but the article has some great quantifiers of this kind of behavior. Probably the biggest connection is that our approach to treating those who serve us is rarely learned or unlearned; rather it is indicative of how one is brought up and their internal values.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 02:22:44 GMT

The Bravery of Hollywood

Of late I've been feeling, more often than not, out of touch with the movies¹ I see on the big screen. It's not the typical "values" stuff alienating me (though I think that's considerably out of touch as well), it's little things like people not having jobs but having money, simplistic big budget narratives, and memoir-ish stuff that cannot relate to my experience (as a human being).

Eric S. Raymond, of How to become a Hacker² (amongst other things) fame posted a few ideas of films that would be truly brave. Libertarian streak notwithstanding, I think many of his recommendations are controversial and yet thought provoking.

posted in [home], [snippets]

¹My last disappointment was V is for Vendetta. Intellectually weak (read 1984 for the real statement on totalitarianism) and thinly veiled (the story about the gay girl imprisoned had me in tears, it made me think of gay marriage³ and Republicans right away).
²I visit this How To every so often. I'm scoring more points as time passes -
³Email me if you really want my opinion, which isn't fully formed, but developed beyond the point of contrived story telling.

Thu, 06 Apr 2006 02:43:12 GMT

Thoughts on 30

A strange feature of being 30 is that I feel like I'm learning many things I thought I knew over again. My understanding seems to have a new window through which to look at things. Now I realize more who my parents are instead of just "Mom" and "Dad." I understand why adults used to be tired. I can see my weaknesses more clearly. When a kid asks me if I ever played basketball, I smile to myself the way I used to see older people smile to themselves when I'd ask the same question - my response, just like theirs is "a little." Among friends I'll start a "back in college... " story but instead of becoming more excited telling it I usually fall off a bit and get contemplative, wondering at those years of my life.

I keep thinking of the things that I "learned" before that come back to me so often and as they start to make sense it makes me wonder if I was just too immature to understand. I wonder when the next cycle like this will happen. Maybe I'll be 50 someday and learn over the same lesson and wonder whether I was "mature" enough for it at 30.

I'm going to post this before I delete it.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 01:15:53 GMT

Challenge Accepted

Maybe it was the picture of the surfer that set him off, but J challenged me to post a photo each day in April that was taken on the day that it is posted. He is doing the same on his own excellent photoblog.

I decided to start just east of the Elkton exit of Interstate 29, with a welded train on the prairie.

If you haven't been there in a while, you can look at the phoDak archive to see what you missed.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 02:37:05 GMT

It's Always Worth It

The timing means I get only 5 hours of sleep tonight but seeing UCLA beat Gonzaga was priceless.

There is no sport like college basketball and no tournament like The Big Dance.

posted in [home], [snippets]

Wed, 15 Mar 2006 01:32:39 GMT

On10.net vs KEXP

KEXP, one of my favorite stations to listen to online just got a treatment from On10.net. Check it out.

If you're still listening to commercial radio, it's time to free your mind.