Science and technology multiply around us. To an increasing extent they dictate the languages in which we speak and think. Either we use those languages, or we remain mute.
-- J.G. Ballard

 

Technolust Thursday, October 9, 1997 I took the bus to work today, since my car was once again in the shop. On the way home, I got off at Westlake Center downtown, and picked up some dinner to take home. Westlake Center is an ugly downtown shopping mall, half tone-y and half touristy. There were some new establishments in the third floor food court, including Bombay Walah, an Indian food stand. So I grabbed the daily special: chicken curry, saffron rice, and bread. I carried it home on the number 10 bus. The chicken and rice were great! I found a small object that I thought was a pistachio nut. I soon discovered that it was a cardamom pod, with a strange resinous flavor. Then I took a big bite of what I thought were carrots, since they were bright orange. I was surprise to find that the carrots were onions! Not the best thing to chow down on before dance class. So, since I was quite alone, I spit them out. Dance class was fun, and even the worst dancer I danced with last week had made progress. He could feel the beat of the music and keep with it. We learned a new move, which is done in closed dance postion. That's the traditional dance postion with the lead's arm around the follow's waist and the follow's hand on the lead's shoulder. (I'm using gender-neutral terminology because in our class there are males and females who dance both parts.) Most of the triple-time swing we are learning is done just holding your partner's hands. This new move of being pulled into close dance position then sent out again is the closest physical contact we have had in the class. Lots of class members will be coming to the dance tomorrow night. My guess was correct last month, that lots of people who attend the Friday night dances know each other from the classes. I also am getting a group together from work to go to the dance. We'll meet for pizza beforehand. I'm looking forward to it! * * * * * * * * When I filled out my member page on hotwired, they asked about objects of technolust. (Not online porn, but technology you wish you owned.) I said that I'd like to have a small laptop like Tracing's, so I could write my journal while riding the bus. But what I'd really like to have (in a few years, when they are perfected) is a wearable computer! I really think it would be fun to have one eyepiece that shows you the screen, and a twiddler input device that is a chording keyboard (pressing key combinations allows one-handed typing) and a three-dimensional mouse, both at the same time. Combine that with a wireless modem and you are connected, as much as you can be without a neural tap directly into your brain. The MIT guys who are into this are putting on a conference right now (or very soon). It will be interesting to see what they come up with. * * * * * * * * Oh, read my buddy Luke's description of riding the bus across the floating bridge. The view during stormy times make me realize why they liken waves to horses, with the spray as their manes. The eerie part is when it is very choppy on one side, and dead calm on the other. It's like you are driving along the boundary between the dimensions. Prev | BOD Index | Home | Mail | Next