|
Thursday, March 4, 1999
One year ago: Cacophonous
I went to work today, but I wouldn't say I got a lot done! Most team members aren't coming in until next Monday, so the halls were ghost-empty. Tomorrow I swear I'll buckle down and stay on task.
Because of the 520 bridge closure, I did decide to invite myself over to Jack's place instead of fighting terrible traffic to get home. On my way over, I stopped at Ben Franklin Crafts. (Interesting! it seems that any Ben Franklin store is free to put up its own web site, since each is independently owned. Tough to get a catchy URL for your own store, though!) There are so many things that appeal to me at craft stores, along with lots of stuff that seems like totaly ugly junk.
I'm still amazed by the growth of the Scrapbooking hobby. I guess it appeals to people in a lot of different ways, and combines a lot of different skillsets -- calligraphy, rubber stamping, collage, painting. Add to that, the perennial appeal of photo albums. I'm pleased by the emphasis on archival-quality materials. It's a shame to see craft projects, art pieces, or photo albums that people have done in the past, that are crumbling away now because of the nature of the materials used.
Waterfalls and fountains for your table or desk are also popular now. I'm dubious about the ones that emit a cloud of mist -- what's in that mist?
Of course the fake flowers were tempting. They always look very appealing when abundant, but less so when you get them home. Good stuff for the solstice parade (me in the solstice parade) or other festivals, though! They had some larger-than-life roses that I really wanted, but they cost too much, and I don't know what I'd actually do with them.
* * * * * * * *
At Jack's house, we had a simple dinner of frozen pizza and some salad, then watched two episodes of James Burke's Connections 3 tv series. Jack bought these tapes last Sunday, after I left him at the shopping center. He'd had to special-order the book version, then found the tapes at the "Channel 9" store where they sell all the accoutrements associated with public broadcasting productions.
Jack is a fan of Burke, and I like his stuff, too, but these newest ones aren't as compelling as his earlier work. Am I just used to him now? or did he use up all the good connections? I seem to remember that in his earlier series, each item really caused the next to occur, instead of only being connected coincidentally. The popularity of cornflakes didn't cause research into resins used to make carborundum adhere to a grinding wheel, though corn is involved in both. (More Burke writings)
Jack was so tired, though, that he was dozing off by the end of the second tape, and slept through Frasier and Just Shoot Me. After that I forced him to go to bed, although it was very early for me! So I listened to Talk of the Nation until I fell asleep.
| 
