Ten Random Musings on a Lazy Sunday
February 15th, 2009 by Michael Kwan
The mind is a terribly mysterious thing and it can be nearly impossible to fully understand.
Over the course of any given day, my mind will jump through a series of seemingly unrelated topics, ranging from the secrets of the universe to what I’m going to eat for lunch. To offer you a brief glimpse into the mind of this professional freelance writer, I thought it may be interesting to list off ten random musings that have crossed my consciousness in the last week or so. It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these kinds of posts, after all.
- How is it possible that I still haven’t decided on my next smartphone? I’ve been playing the waiting game for far too long. Will it be the Nokia E63/E71, the HTC Fuze (Touch Pro), or a BlackBerry Curve 8900?
- Will Twitter ever become as mainstream as Facebook and instant messengers? It’s still a very geek-oriented tool, but since so many mainstream media outlets are using Twitter, does that mean that the masses will soon follow?
- It’s amazing how this 25 Things meme on Facebook has become such a big thing for non-geeks to talk about. The concept of a meme is far from new, so is it just because it’s on Facebook?
- I can’t wait for Street Fighter IV. A lot of people don’t understand this obsession, since Street Fighter IV isn’t that different from all the other Street Fighters that preceded it. Oh well. I still want it.
- If monkey see, monkey do, why aren’t more monkeys live-blogging from their iPhones?
- While more girls are into gaming these days, how many are as “into” the Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3 as they are into more traditionally feminine hobbies like shopping and Hollywood gossip?
- I knew that whole Michael Cera flipping out thing had to be a spoof. I just knew it! He’s too innocent and kindly to freak out like that.
- Navigating the mobile Twitter site is impossible when following so many users. I wonder how apps like Twitterberry and Twitterfon handle that kind of information overload.
- There are a lot of cardboard boxes in my home office. Reviewing the latest gadgetry is a pleasant perk to what I do, but oh boy does the clutter accumulate quickly!
- Given my obsession with lists and numbers, it really is quite amazing that I didn’t end up pursuing a career in accounting or something.
Feel free to leave your own random comments using the form below. You could be the top thinker of the month and win some fabulous prizes!
Filed under Stuff.
Okay, good list! Here I go:
1. Why doesn’t the 4 year old listen?
2. I’d like to get a Bold, but it’s a money thing.
3. Doesn’t the Sheriff in SC have better things to do than go after Michael Phelps?
4. Why didn’t we have a Dor Com Pho video from the last week the 7th?
5. What do I have to do to get my blog to get more hits so that I can monetize it?
6. Where am I going to get my next consulting job and how do I do cheap marketing?
7. My wife is a great mother!
8. My kids are great and the joy of my life.
9. I wish we had more good Sushi places here in Sarasota. I’m jealous of all the folks in Vancouver.
10. I’m glad that I have a loving family.
Well that was a rambling of what I’ve thought about this past week. Oh, I forgot, #11: I’m gonna win the top thinker!
Re: #2 – I wouldn’t mind a Bold either, but I tend to be pretty indecisive about these kinds of things.
Re: #4 – You can blame Ed Lau. He was supposed to put it together and never did.
Re: #5 – You are nowhere near alone on that one.
Re: #10 – That’s the most important thing in life, isn’t it?
RE: #10 – Completely spot on Michael. I see kids at the school I work at everyday that are from a single parent household. It breaks my heart and makes me see more clearly the gift that I have in my family.
Ok, here’s a couple:
The Blackberry Storm looks pretty cool, perhaps I should consider getting one of those sometime in the future.
Am I ever going to get time to get my apartment clean again
Am I ever going to get time to figure out the things I need to get figured to launch the site I have in mind
I wouldn’t go for a Storm because it doesn’t have WiFi. That is a complete killer for me. If I’m going to pay for a new phone, it has to do more than what my Curve does now and let me have the same WiFi access as an iPhone.
Fair enough…although, they make you get the data package and you could just as well use that as WiFi for MOST things, and I’m guessing it can be tethered to a computer for the times you have additional things that would need to be done.
I was going to grumble about not having enough money to pay for my current cheap-o cellphone, let alone the next Really Cool Toy, but you know what? I’m getting tired of grumbling.
I’m going to do 10 Random Things I’m Grateful For:
1.) My cat (who is staring at me over the screen of my laptop right now)
2.) My other cat and the two dogs – I am especially blessed in my household critters.
3.) My husband, who only got third place because he’s across the table from me, writing his own emails and not staring at me over the screen of my laptop.
4.) That I have a really cool house to live in.
5.) The 100-year-old oak tree out front.
6.) Having had the honor and privilege of knowing my friend who died last week.
7.) A nice, warm sweater.
8.) Being able to do the work I love, which is writing, even if I’m barely scraping by. It’s still better than slowly dying doing something I hate.
9.) Warm pig slippers.
10.) All the friends who came out to support me when my other friend died. I even got a sympathy card. I am so blessed!
Here’s to animals and big old trees
Sounds like you are a very grateful person which is a great trait to have. Sorry to hear about your friend though.
RE: #10 – We never know how many friends we really have until we need them.
I’ve often wondered the same thing about Twitter going mainstream… I think it still hasn’t hit its full potential.
As for the 25 random things on Facebook, that thing is going viral! But I still won’t do it, just like the e-mail surveys I’ve always avoided.
I’ve also avoided doing the 25 things meme, but have had fun reading the ones that some of my friends have done.
While I agree and don’t think Twitter has quite hit it’s full potential, I think that it’s well on it’s way and it won’t be much longer before it will be considered mainstream.
I heard on CNN today that there’s a surgeon in the U.S. who has his staff Twitter during surgery to educate anyone that’s interested. lol
Found the link and video to the CNN story lol
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/17/twitter.surgery/index.html#cnnSTCVideo
Wow, that’s pretty crazy! I guess it’s getting to be more mainstream than I thought.
Yeah, no kidding. I’m glad that the surgeon himself isn’t updating on Twitter, but an assistant. I was scared when I first heard it. haha
I wonder what the legal aspect of this is? With the HIPPA laws and I don’t see anything in the article that the person under the knife gave permission. I can see malpractice suits coming from this.
I’m no expert on HIPPA laws, but I would think that if they were simply talking about the process and not the patient that it wouldn’t be a big deal. Also, even though the article doesn’t explicitly state it, they probably do get patient’s authorization before doing it.
Michael,
I enjoyed reading your musings!
Here are mine:
1. Why is Affiliate Marketing success (Pay-Per-Click) so difficult to achieve without the expenditure of massive amounts of money?
2. What is the secret to happiness?
3. How to keep cheese from getting hard in the refrigerator?
4. Why do we have a loud-mouth guy on our tv commercials?
5. If I started my own oil company, how long before it would be profitable?
6. Where exactly is the oil kept before it is discovered? (possible joint venture if you can answer..)
7. Can I find a reliable internet service provider?
8. Why do internet service providers always upgrade or back-up their servers, while I am still using them?
9. Is the weather in Canada ever going to warm up?
10. California would like to request some of your snow, ours is too shallow, and we really need our showers in the summer, really!
Respectfully,
Nicholas Chase – (missed meeting you at Affiliate Summit West 2009).
http://www.twitter.com/nachase
re: #4 One of those loud mouth guys, Billy Mays lives in Tampa, just 50 miles north of me.
Why do people complain? It does not make the situation better?
Why can’t there be peace on earth?
Why has there been 15 shootings in BC in the last month?
I don’t think it’s about complaining. It’s about what is on your mind. While complaining doesn’t make things better, I write draft emails to people all the time to complain then delete them after I’ve gotten it out of my system.
I’ve heard of this technique before and while I’ve only tried it once or twice, I must say that it works and makes a person feel better even though the message is never sent.
In response to #2. Someone – I think it was John Chow – posted on either FB or Twitter and included a quote:
Facebook is for the people you already know; Twitter is for those you have yet to meet.
Paraphrased, of course. But in context it makes sense. You need to keep growing your community of followers and in order to do so you have to extend past the people you already know. Maybe both services will be popular in their own rite…
I agree. I tend to have less people on my Facebook account than on Twitter. It’s just so hard to keep track of everything going on through Facebook. Photos, status updates, events etc. The less people I have on my list, the better.
Twitter on the other hand, I invite everyone to follow.
The scrambled ramblings of a mad woman constantly echo in my head. The rhetoric can be quite scary sometimes, especially if hormonal fluctuations are factored in!
Regarding your thoughts on facebook, and THAT meme, I feel that facebook is an ideal vehicle to get people more web-savvy, and more importantly, getting them to participate.
I’ve never really thought of Facebook in that manner, but you make a very good point…
After this week’s debacle with the Facebook terms and their flip-flop on the issue, I think a lot of people are going to be staying away from Facebook. At least for the time being.