Hellchick

12.22.03 :: my threat level has been raised to "ultraviolet"


So I get to fly tomorrow when the nation's security level has been raised to orange, or "high", which means I get to wonder if terrorists will be eyeing John Wayne Airport as a good way to make another statement. (Twitch, twitch.)

I'm a blog reader. There's something I find fascinating about reading the ordinary details of ordinary people's lives. It's the same fascination that drives me to genealogy as a hobby. I'm not into finding out if I have any famous people in my lineage, although that's certainly interesting. What I love most is learning about the ordinary people who were related to me but lived at a time far before mine — what they did for a living, what they did for fun, what they were like.

It's the reason I like blogs. I think everyday people are far more interesting than celebrities or remarkable people in history. I like the idea of collecting lots and lots of blog entries and comparing them as some kind of mass database to see what society is like at this given time. Of course, an argument can be made that you shouldn't be using the Internet to gauge society...that's a terrifying thought.

One blog I've been really enjoying lately comes from a guy I used to work with at GameSpy, Jamie Madigan. Jamie was always one of the top three in the list of funny people that I personally know (I'm pretty sure he's still funny, so I'll keep him on the list) but even beyond that, his blog is just a good read. He's been covering a lot of stuff lately about books he's read with some interesting insight into them, as well as a very interesting post about racial categories in job applications (something that has to do with his work). But best of all, he had a great post recently that talked about the prevalence of ignorant asses on the net and what it's like to watch them interact with others publicly. Here's what he had to say: "It's like watching a gifted ballerina, except she's projectile vomiting with every pirouette." Check out the site.

It seems like I manage to finish up a knitting project right when I need something to work on when traveling, so tomorrow I'll have to decide what to take with me: Fair Isle sweater or a new shawl. I think I'll go for the new shawl as it's more portable and doesn't require me to take as much yarn with me.

Hope you and yours have some wonderful, food-filled and stress-free holidays.