Oh The Places You’ll Go!
Those of you who follow my Twitter stream know that I’m headed to San Francisco to attend Macworld Expo this week. It’s a business trip, inasmuch as a trip to Macworld for a Mac nerd can be a business trip and not a vacation.
Anyway, the reason I’ve squeezed my laptop into the space between my ample belly and the seat in front of me to write this post is to note that I always seem to meet the most interesting people on my travels. Once, I met a co-founder of the Samuel Adams brewery after striking up a conversation about her WGBH bag. I’ve flown with CEOs and celebrities, but this time I’ve gotten a special treat.
Today, I’m seated next to two members of Stanford University’s women’s gymnastics team, on their way back to Palo Alto from a meet in Cancun. This is rather fortunate for me, since being the large man I am, air travel is usually a frustrating and uncomfortable experience. Sitting by gymnasts gains you the same advantages of sitting by children, but gymnasts are less likely to cry or puke on you. (It should be noted that this is my first experience sitting next to gymnasts on a plane, but so far so good!)
I’ll post a few more times about my Macworld trip, but I expect to be pretty busy next week, so don’t hold your breath.
- Kept on the mantle for maximum shock value. Never read it.
- This was given to me as a gift recently. I guess I mentioned to someone that I liked post-apocalyptic fiction of the “I Am Legend” sort, and so this came along. Unfortunately I have no time for fiction in my life right now, so it’s been sitting on my shelf since whenever it was given to me.
- (Mine’s autographed!) Prof. Lessig (of Stanford) spoke at UTA on intellectual property and how our current copyright law is making the creation of new content increasingly impossible and costly. At one point I wanted to be a lawyer (I might still go to law school), and I had wanted to focus on public interest law. Then I found out that it costs more than my house cost to go to law school, even to some of the bad ones, and decided that if I did it I’d be better off becoming a slimy corporate lawyer type.
- A treatise on how the next industrial revolution (it’s in the title, see?) will be one that helps the planet instead of taking advantage of the planet. It includes lists of specific companies and upcoming technologies to watch. I’ve only read the first chapter or so, but I could tell right away that it wasn’t really what I was hoping it would be. I wanted ideas and inspiration, instead I got “Go see these guys for product X.”
- David (no relation, that I know of) is a coauthor of “Affluenza,” a book I also haven’t read and a movie I haven’t seen. Jenna has seen the movie (during a Sustainability class at UTA), and said I’d like it. I don’t think I’ve even read the first sentence in this one, but what I’m hoping to get is affirmation that living simply and ignoring the pressures of “Mother Culture” to consume and waste is good for me and the planet.
- Priorities, man! Which is more important? I mean, REALLY more important? How much money do you need to have those things and people that are really important to you in your life? I’ll bet it’s a LOT less than most people think. There was 
, since I fancy myself a budding Apple Systems Administrator. Surprisingly, I only recommend these books for their overview value. They’re really not particularly good training tools.
, 
, and 
- I’ve actually read every word in all three of these, but you wouldn’t know it if I sat down to play poker with you, so I suppose it’s the same as if I hadn’t.
already…