We Could be Happy Always

"We could be happy always if we always trusted God".

That's what I read last night in Jan Karon's "Home to Holly Springs". It hasn't been the best month for me ... or for the world. Work is depressing, there was an appalling earthquake/tsunami/ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan, and the world just got past unrest in Egypt before becoming embroiled in Libya's civil war.

Still, I am trying to keep a positive outlook despite an increasingly heavy heart. And words like those comfort and help me to hope that everything just might work out ok in the end.

Doonesbury Makes a Point

Doonesbury is my least favourite of the comic strips The Gazette runs, but I generally read it anyway. And yesterday I was particularly glad I did because it made particularly good points. In a nutshell, a character was talking (to an alien, it turns out, though that's not especially relevant) in what looked like a radio studio. He talked about how, nine years ago, the U.S. was attacked and 3000 people died. As a result, the country has spent trillions of dollars on waging wars abroad and implementing homeland security measures. However, during that same nine year period, 270,000 Americans have been killed by gunfire within the U.S. The response? Weaker gun control legislation. When the alien says "Fail. Cannot comprehend", I can sympathize. It's utterly illogical. Guns may not kill people, as they say, but people with guns sure do. And people without guns don't - at least not in such staggering numbers.

Guess What I'm Doing?

This is my first ever blog entry written from ... wait for it ... an iPad!!! I borrowed one from school and it's going to be soooooo hard to return it. I must admit I did have trouble at first connecting to our wireless network, but after fiddling for awhile I went out for a walk and now that I'm back, it's miraculously working out just fine. Typing on the keypad takes a little getting used to, but I'm surprising myself with how fast I can actually go. I want one, I want one, I want one!!! I know to wait for generation 2 and not to even think of torturing myself with a tiny iPod touch. But this is such a nice middle ground between a touch and a laptop. It's so light and portable, the screen is so clear (and the rumours are that the next version could actually be twice as sharp), there are all those apps - not to mention the whole wide web - it's wonderful. Bring on the iPad 2 ASAP!!!!!

Time's Up

Sadly, the one thing no ipad, ipod, or even supercomputer can do is create more time. Sure, they may speed up certain tasks, but in the long run every new device you bring into your life is a negative benefit time-wise. Even relatively low-maintenance products still need occasional updates, charging etc. My simple mp3 player is wonderful but I do need to plug it in sometimes, and of course if I want new music I have to find it, rip/download it to my computer, and then put it on my player.

The real downside, of course, is that with every new device come new temptations. New apps, new software, new games - you want to try it all, but it all takes time. I can download a magazine or book in a minute, but it's still going to take me hours to read (and I'm a super fast reader - tested at up to 800 words per minute!). Currently I have dozens of books and magazines I haven't read, want to read, but quite possibly never will. The almost limitless opportunities of our digital world are definitely a boon ... but I'm still very much a human. Along with all the opportunities will come the requirement to prioritize, to make careful choices about what I will actually consume. Even with so much out there to have, I can't have it all. Nobody can. It's just not possible for me or anyone else either.

Ipod/Ipad/??? - What's a Girl to Do?

Yesterday I got all excited when I saw a  Futureshop deal to get an ipod touch for $50 off (and they never go on sale) if you trade in any old mp3 player. For awhile I considered just giving up the wait for the next version of the ipad (or some similar tablet like the Motorola Xoom - best of show at CES). I envisioned myself flipping through ebooks, browsing the web, flicking my fingers at games. I even felt entitled: All the other kids at school have one! I can afford it! Then sober second thought (dash it all anyway!) kicked in. Do I really need it? (Of course, does one really need anything beyond basic sustenance?) Would I really use it? I don't want something to be gathering dust in a drawer somewhere ... kind of like my old palm pilot; even my Sony mp3 player which I really love doesn't get all that much use. Would I even like it or would it be just too tiny and frustrating to use? Would I still want an ipad anyway and end up never using the ipod?

Well, let's think about what I'd really like to do with a (semi at least) portable device:

READ - books and magazines especially would be better with larger screen real estate (although the touch does have the advantage of its stunningly clear retina display). But the next ipad is still a mystery - its screen could be amazing too - even better if they've done something about the glare.
SURF - again, bigger is better; many sites don't display right on the touch. Even the ones that do would require a lot of scrolling. Something that could run Flash pages (i.e. not an Apple device) would be best of all.
WRITE -  emails for sure and, say, this blog. The ipad's keyboard is tiny enough; I think the touch's could just drive me crazy.
HAVE FUN - in this case meaning play the odd game and watch the odd video. Small is definitely more portable but I have to come back again to the idea that bigger is better.

So I guess it's solved then: ipad - or the equivalent - for me. Hey, I've already saved $300 by not buying the touch. So, in theory it's only going to cost me $250 or so. Now if I can just have the patience to wait a few months longer! I love my laptop and it's only five months old, but I sure am itching for something new!

CES 2011

Last week was the big Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I'd been quite looking forward to it, hoping to find the tablet of my dreams, but in the end it was, disappointingly, disappointing. Actually, I don't even know why it's called a "consumer" show, when so few of the products are ready to go to market. Maybe smaller, ancillary products were ready for sale, but far too many of the hyped items were still painfully unready. I can't really understand why companies will spend thousands and thousands of dollars designing, building and staffing booths and then stock them with bare-bones, barely functional products that visitors can't even test properly. This was supposed to be the "year of the tablet" but most of the tablets at CES won't be in stores for six months to a year - if then. A surprisingly high number of CES prototypes never even make it to the market! Maybe a developers' or investors' show, but consumers'? Hardly.

Huckleberry Finn is In Again

"The difference between the right word and the almost right word

is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."

                                                                                                                 - Mark Twain

Despite being published almost 130 years ago, Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is still generating controversy. The latest is over a new edition that will replace all the instances of the "n-word" with "slave". The rationale is that this new, politically correct, version will be permitted into more schools and libraries and thus read more widely. I suppose there is some logic to that view, although I'm not in favour of banning books (certainly not from the high school level up; restricting - or at least shaping - young children's reading might have some merit). And I'm certainly not in favour of rewriting them. Authors are craftsmen who choose their words with care and are inevitably influenced by the prevailing culture and mores of their times. Twain was a serious wordsmith and even back then he would have been aware of the controversial nature of his choices ... but he made them anyway. And he would surely - and quite rightfully - resent any alterations. "Slave" is not a synonym for the "n-word". How much better it would have been to leave the word there, perhaps with explanatory notes on the historical context of its use, and then to have rich and meaningful classroom discussions. And what a shame to not be exposed to such an important book just because of one word. What about some modern books that are filled with expletives? I find those offensive and feel they detract from the story too. Anyway, the debate will go on but the new edition will be published. I only hope enough people read the original story as Twain intended it to be read ... but sadly it probably won't be those people who need it the most.

The King's Speech

It’s been called “a master class in acting”. Not being an actor, I can’t comment on that, but as a movie, The King’s Speech is compelling, engrossing and thoroughly enjoyable. I'd heard nothing but good reviews from people, but still I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. But when it ended, I was astonished to find that two hours had passed; I could easily have sat for more (and I'm a restless person). Actually, I was rather  disappointed that it was already over; I was expecting to see more of the King’s life and speeches during the War.  (Perhaps someday there will be a sequel ... or perhaps this is a once-in-a-lifetime self-contained little gem that should maybe stay that way.)

It’s a simple story, really; a human story, the story of an already reluctant king with the additional hurdle of a serious stuttering problem. But with the help of unorthodox Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue (who ultimately became a cherished friend) King George VI was able to tame, if not completely overcome, it well enough to provide the series of wartime speeches that so inspired, sustained, and endeared himself to his people.

Queen Elizabeth II is the only reigning monarch I’ve ever known, so my knowledge of the era was pretty sketchy. I hadn’t realized how important King George’s wartime inspiration was, and just how much he meant to the entire Commonwealth that heard and drew strength from his talks. I knew the Queen Mother was beloved, but I thought it was mainly for her cheery disposition, but there was so much more behind it. And I didn’t actually realize this was a true story until I saw the end notes when the movie finished.

What a story it is!  An elder brother, born and groomed to be king, sacrificing it all ... supposedly for love, but probably also because he didn’t have the courage, maturity, or sense of duty to take on the role. And a younger brother who certainly didn’t want the job either (few would, I think, who realize the gravity of it) but had the sense of service and duty that ultimately made him the far better man for the position. A simple story, told simply – the bulk of the screen time was the King and Lionel struggling to make progress. And we were all there with him, rooting for him to just get one word out after another, and cheering (inwardly at least) when his inaugural BBC radio speech as King was successful. What a treasure of a movie, and what a privilege to learn more about this remarkable gentleman’s amazing story.

Go Canada Go!

Tonight I am passing the quintessential Canadian evening: watching hockey. And not just any hockey game; tonight is the gold medal match of the World Junior Championships. For the tenth year in a row we made it to the finals, and, with a 3-0 lead over Russia after the second period, we're well on the way to winning. Nothing seems to be able to unite this country as much as a good hockey game; the arena in Buffalo is an absolute sea of red and white - and has been for the entire tournament. We even outnumbered Americans in the semifinals - against the U.S.!

As for me, I am not the biggest fan ... but I couldn't miss the game either. I'm sitting here happily surfing in my official Team Canada toque (it's a little too warm for my Canada mittens), glancing up at regular intervals and whenever there's a rise in noise from the audience. I even had a heady sip of Dan's beer (enough to give this non-drinker a happy little buzz).

Eighteen minutes to victory...but oh no, the Russians scored:(
TWICE :( :(
THREE ... FOUR ... FIVE GOALS
What happened to our guys? They just fell apart. Maybe they thought they had it in the bag. Probably they just got stunned when the Russians started catching up and simply didn't know how to respond. They are still really so young.

Go Canada Go! We're Number One in so many ways but it seems that for tonight we'll have to settle for second best in junior hockey!

Mired in The Shallows

I meant to write earlier this afternoon - right after I finished reading Nicholas Carr's The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains ... but I didn't finish it until suppertime because I was too mired in the shallows myself! I was way too "videopated" (Dan's term) browsing my favourite sites and playing my current favourite game: Fishdom.

Anyway, it was a very interesting and thought provoking book. Hopefully the internet hasn't addled my brain so much that I'm incapable of doing it justice. The basic premise, of course, is that the internet - computers in general, really -  is definitely changing our brains ... and not necessarily for the better. I've known that pretty much forever in my own life. It's taken a long time to get to the point where I can write fluently on the computer. It's always been great for editing, but somehow the words still seem to flow easier with pen and paper. I'm sure that if I were writing this entry in my paper journal it would be different. Not necessarily that much better, but different. The ideas would come out in different ways and I would probably express them differently too.

Reading - or concentrating in general - are sometimes more challenging after a long period of computer use too. Again, I'm getting better at it, but I still find myself a little agitated and antsy after too much screen time. And that's one of the things Carr mentions in his book. He also points out that, despite access to more information than has ever been available in history, we are not becoming smarter. We instead use it very superficially; the abilities we once had to analyze, synthesize, draw inferences, and create novel thoughts are actually deteriorating. We're turning into lazier, less innovative thinkers than before! In the past we read deeper, we memorized things, and in so doing consolidated the thoughts and ideas in our brains (there are actually demonstrable physical and chemical changes that take place in the brain). Afterwards, we were better able to connect them and to generate new constructs.

Now computers aren't going anywhere; if anything they'll be even more ubiquitous that they already are. Even in my own life, I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of Ipad 2. But, as with most things, it's all about moderation and how you use the tool. If I - we - can balance the virtual and real worlds, the quick and superficial with the deeper and more substantial, hopefully we'll find that magical happy medium where we can take the best of everything and become in turn the best people possible.