A Long Held Dream

More than 10 years ago, I bought a paper organizer. I did not have the money for a laptop, or even a PDA, but I wanted to get more organized. I used to print out pages for it, I bought special papers, and all sorts of stuff. It was the medium size, using pages that were approximately 6.75” x 4.25”. Overall, it is a little smaller than a hardback novel. I really enjoyed it.

It was at about this time that the first eBooks were coming out. I don’t even remember their names, and I am sure that they would seem terribly primitive today if compared to the Kindle or the Sony Reader. Thinking of these eReaders, and that paper organizer, an idea started to form for a combination electronic book and organizer.

I love the idea of an eBook, and I truly believe that they are the wave of the future. In another 50 years, paper books will be a luxury that most people will not be able to afford. Most of us will be reading off some sort of electronic screen. I am not saying that paper publishing will entirely disappear, but as more and more people read off a screen, books will sell less and less. Especially, if anyone ever figures out how to actually put a library online, where for some sort of nominal fee you will be able to check out a book onto your eReader.

But, I already have too many electronic devices. I have a cell phone, a PDA, a TABLET (Samsung Q), a portable (Dell XPS 1530) and a desktop. I do not believe that we will ever get it down to one, but I am already trying to figure out how to reduce the number of devices I have around. The first two to converge into one will be my cell phone and PDA. My next cell phone will be a smartphone, if I can figure out a way to pay for the data plan (I already pay too much for three cell phones in my family). I am not sure how many of the others I will be able to compress into one, but I intend to work on it.

So, I think that is a long enough aside, so let me get back to that device that I dreamed out 10 years ago (or it may have been closer to 12).

My paper organizer (though the organizer itself isn’t paper, you get the idea, I hope) is 8 ¾” x 5 ¾” x 1 ¾”. I felt, and still feel, that this is a very good size. Small enough to carry about, though it won’t fit in a pocket, small enough to hold in your hand and take notes on, and yet large enough that you can read easily.

My idea was that you open the organizer, and there are two LCD screens. When you want to read a book, it looks like a book, two pages at the same time. When you “flip” a page, you go from the bottom of the right screen to the top of the left screen to continue reading, just like a real book. At the time, I was fascinated with the version of Microsoft Encarta that came with Office 95, and I imagined reading through a encyclopedia article, clicking on a hyperlink and having it open on the opposite page of my electronic organizer. I imagined reading a book, and clicking on a word and being able to open a dictionary on the opposite page, or even write notes or add annotations. Imagine a book where the footnotes would be hyperlinks that would open on the opposite page.

It was a wonderful dream. Since them, I have owned three portables, two PDAs, and several desktops, but none has ever filled in completely for that electronic organizer that I dreamed of. I own a Samsung Q1U, which I like very much, but it does not do, or at least not easily, what I envisioned in that electronic organizer. I love my PDA, but the screen is really too small for a lot of what I would like to do. The Samsung Q is a little too clumsy. It is a little too large to wrap my hand around comfortably (I am a big guy, and I can do it, just not completely comfortably), and it is too clumsy to carry around all the time and jot down notes on.

Over the years, I had sort of forgotten that dream. I have looked at dozens of Tablets and Netbooks and they all have flaws. If I had the money, I might try one of the smaller tablets, like the Viliv S5, but I don’t really think I am going to have the money anytime soon. Some of the smaller Netbooks are a great size, and the folding design makes them a little easier to carry about, since you do not have to worry as much about damaging the screen, but they are just tiny laptops, and being a big guy, I prefer a big laptop. I would rather use a touchscreen then a tiny keyboard.

But, Tuesday everything changed, when Microsoft announced Courier. Go watch the video. The software involved is pretty cool, but it was the hardware design that got me excited. Here, more than 10 years later is what I dreamed of, and from the demo, they seem to understand the value of the device as an organizer.

I want one.

How I Found Funky

Monday is my TV night, but you might be surprised. Now, considering the time of year, you might think that Monday Night Football would be on the agenda, but no, that would be way too simple. Back many months ago, I discovered Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Now, across last summer, I began to follow it nearly religiously. I say nearly because I cannot get religious about anything on TV.

But, my Monday night goes beyond Triple D. The night starts off with Alton Brown’s Good Eats. Alton Brown’s take on a cooking show is unique. You do see him actually do see him cook, but cooking is only part of his show. Good Eats is about teaching. Most cooking shows show you how to make a recipe, but they don’t really teach. Alton Brown takes the time to teach you about cooking, while still teaching you several recipes. It is no accident that one of the lead-in teasers has Alton saying, “There’s a lesson here.”

Tonight’s episodes were pancakes and waffles. Now, most cooks would not bother with a show on pancakes, unless they had a signature pancake that they wanted to demonstrate. Alton Brown teaches us how to make simple, plain pancakes. Well, he does add blueberries to them. I had seen the pancake episode before, that is where I learned that a whisk is the right tool for mixing pancake batter. I still don’t bother with making pancake batter from scratch, but I carefully follow some of the things I learned on the show to make my pancakes come out better. Well, I actually prefer waffles.

After two episodes of Good Eats, we get two episodes of Unwrapped. Unwrapped is not one of my favorite shows, but it is sometimes fascinating. I often go off and fix dinner, or do something else for an hour. Tonight it was dinner, and then making my usually bowl of popcorn to eat during Triple D.

But, finally we come to the star of the evening. Let there be no mistake, Guy Fieri is the star of the show. The restaurants are merely his stage. Now, that is not to say that he steals the shows. He spends most of his time showing off the food and the cooks.

For those who have never seen the show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives is a restaurant show, where Guy visits three restaurants during each half-hour episode, but there is always something different about that restaurant. What is different depends on the restaurant. They have done restaurants in auto body shops and gas stations. Often it is a restaurant where you can get something that you would not expect, based on the outside of the restaurant, like the fast food drive-in that serves prime rib. Sometimes, it is a type of restaurant in a location you would not expect, like the Mexican restaurant in Lincoln, Nebraska or the Chili Parlor in Seattle, Washington. And sometimes, it is the owner or cook who is unusual enough to draw Guy to the restaurant, like the metal sculptor turned restaurateur, or the….I don’t know what to call any of the others.

The show has become so popular that they now get lots of suggestions, and recently they did a show where all three restaurants were from viewer suggestions. They have done shows all over the country, including some out of the way places that you would not normally associate with great dining, like Salt Lake City, Utah and Boise, Idaho. There are a few things that are common to all the restaurants. The cooks and owners are enjoying what they do. They prepare food from scratch, and it isn’t what you expect.

Tonight’s restaurants were…

LoBello’s in Pittsburg, where they are making many Italian classics from scratch.

Pizzeria Luigi in San Diego, where a native Italian who learned in Chicago is making the best pizza in San Diego, in the words of his customers.

Pasquale’s in Baltimore, another Italian restaurant.

As you can see, I was busy for a few minutes, and I did not take any notes about Pasquale’s. Sorry guys.

They show two Triple Ds back to back, but the second is always a repeat, but since I have not seen them all, I sometimes get two that are new to me.

Then, the evening finishes with another Good Eats, and then they start repeating with the earlier episodes of Unwrapped and then Triple D. I usually don’t sit to everything twice, but I did tonight while I wrote this. I enjoy my Monday night lineup, and I won’t miss it until my beloved 49ers appear on Monday Night Football sometime late in the season.

Come join me some Monday night for the best night on TV.

Oh, and the title, “How I Found Funky”? One of the catchphrases of Triple D is, “If it’s funky, we’ll find it.”

I'm Back

I have been keeping a journal since 1975. I have about a dozen journals filled with my writing up until 1996. That is when I first got a computer and started keeping my journal there. Though, to be honest, I have several bound journals that I started since then.

I have written thousands of pages that no one will ever read. I doubt that even my son will ever care to read all those words and why would anyone else want to. The chances that I will ever do anything to make future generations remember my name are slim to none.

That last sentence caused an epiphany of sorts.

“The chances that I will ever do anything to make future generations remember my name are slim to none.”

Is this the answer to my depression? I often feel that my life lacks meaning as much as it lacks purpose. Is part of the problem that I feel like my life doesn’t make a difference? That no one will remember me when I am gone? I certainly have reached the age where people start to consider their legacy. Is my problem that I don’t feel like I have one?

The more I sit here thinking about it, the more I think it might be.

Now, I add this blog to that body of work, and still I wonder if anyone will want to read it. Of course, with this blog I add the worry about whether or not anyone will want to read it now.

But, if I have any loyal readers, do not despair. I am not giving up on this blog anymore than I am giving up on my journal. So, I am back, and once again, I hope to post here a bit more often. Let me know if you ever read this.