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A bridge is needed to nowhere, everybody is going
This guy and his wife are sitting behind W. and I on the ferry to Mackinac City from Sheplers on Mackinac Island. I hear him talking with her about the Mackinac bridge and how amazing it is that such a thing could be built.
I recall books and television specials on building the Mackinac Bridge. An amazing thing, five miles long. I think about the men who hauled load after load of cement to build the pillars that support the bridge. What would it have taken? Weeks? Maybe months of repeated trips to the cement mixer.
Experiencing even a little of life on an island, you’re reminded you’re on an island. Maybe it’s the smell of fresh road apples and the clomping of horses at all hours of the day. Maybe it’s the absence of cars. Look close you might see a different time. No cars or motorcycles. A time gone past being forced to blend in with today. I saw three electric carts, the Amigo kind, gliding down the street piloted by the old or disabled.
Network hungry people are showing up to spend money on the island. There are some cool bars, some interesting shops. Then there is the guy who brings his laptop, looking forward to playing some Halo with his buddies at night. But alas, the connection only works outside the office. So he sets up camp there, on a bench, out in the cold.
He is wearing a nice set of headphones and bright light fills his lap. I ease closer to see what he’s playing and notice he’s in the middle of a serious battle. He doesn’t notice me. A woman sitting next to him looking bored glances my way. I turn and get into the elevator. My friend asks about the weirdo. I explain how he’s somewhere else at the moment. All he knows is “Boom! Boom! Booom! Zap zap! Chicacaca Kpow..Rat-dat-dat-dat…whooOOoosh KaBLAM!!!”
The next day, distracting myself from the torrential downpour of slush and tiny bits of ice which threaten the minivan my friend is piloting toward Gaylord, we start talking about Facebook. They noticed us taking pictures with my phone and heard us talking about uploading them. So I get all worked up talking about how “everything is miscellaneous” and how near perpetual connectivity and social networking were leading to these interesting emerging dimensions of social involvement…! They were polite, letting me go on for awhile.
Our friends work in an environment where computers are means to an end. Storing patient information, crunching numbers, coordinating business. Using a computer for anything other than task completion seems a waste of time. Then there are people that think a computer is more like a conduit to something, someone, somewhere.
I think about technology as a bridge that can connect people. I think about this as I silently marvel at the Mackinac bridge with the guy behind me.
Some pictures from our trip this weekend. Thanks for reading.
The crossroads of elevator stink
There’s nothing like getting into an elevator after someone has found that passing relief. Better yet, get into an elevator with four complete strangers for a nasal party of the worst kind; sharing affluence of someone who had steamed cabbage for lunch. Perhaps a bowl of baked beans. The silent wondering, furtive glances, and shallow breathing followed by an unnaturally hasty exit from the metal box of reek, and no looking back. Remember to be the last one in to be the first one out. A lesson to ponder.
Had a good meeting this evening with a couple classmates who bring to the table unique and solid qualities. Dissimilar enough to challenge that balance yet aware enough to find it again. Outlook is promising.
As the days get colder and winter approaches, I can’t help but think of how fast things change. Sure, much stays the same, but is it really the same? Don’t the patterns that repeat signify something by their repetition? Reaction, assertion, position, opinion. These things find their place by circumstance. And though circumstances are similar, they’re never really the same. It keeps things interesting.
Heading north this weekend to the great turtle. W. and I are going to spend some time incognito with some friends. Promises to be a stitch.
Image: Took this tonight when I got back to my car in the parking garage. Something about parking garages fascinate me. So austere and cold. I’m just happy to get out without backing into a concrete pillar.
It’s about the fall
There are no classes next week so I’m not worrying about having to do much homework over the next 10 days or so. Sure, final projects lurk, and I meet with a couple peeps this Sunday, but otherwise I’m taking a fall break.
My DRAT class this morning was so much like work it was eerie. Besides the fact that I hardly know the people I was creating work for, it was very similar to what I’ve been doing for the last few years. But overall we kicked out a pretty cool project in just over two hours. Not bad for a bunch of relative strangers collaborating on Perl scripts, database population, and sexy cosine similarity calculations.
I’m already half way through the semester, if you can believe it. Seems like it just started. But then again…I remember feeling that way when golf league just started and that was in the spring. I guess I can’t trust those memory receptors. This is all we got. What to do with these memories then?
My information architecture course has really got me thinking. In a world where web applications and interactive interfaces are fast becoming the norm, information architecture is positioning itself as the profession which seeks to understand and help translate the complex interplay of things amongst programmers, graphic designers, and users. It is more than system engineering, more than software engineering, more than usability studies and research…it is about understanding, charting, and creatively directing the dynamics between user, content, and the context in which interaction happens. It is a discipline still trying to define itself. Much like myself actually. And likely you.
But I digress. I sit here this evening thinking about dinosaurs and the history of the earth. Watching a show this evening about how the oceans impact our planet, I’m reminded…yet again…that humans haven’t been around that long. Dinosaurs were around so much longer than thinking, writing, data gathering humans that it’s silly to think we’re significant. But it sure seems we are.
The rest of the week is going to be a blur as I engage the Waltzing Bear at work, see David Sedaris on Thursday, and work on a new side project that has stepped into focus. It’s what I got.
Image: Took this while sitting against a tree on central campus today during my break between classes. I popped in some earplugs and tried to read a chapter on information architecture from the O’Reilly book. I ended up just skimming it then heading back to the DIAD to tune people out listening to Johnny Lang and polishing the DRAT app from the morning.
Weekends are too short
Sometimes the weekends go by so fast I almost forget they were here. The last couple weekends have been like that. And the week days between them are consumed by work and school such that I’m lucky to catch a few breaths before I collapse into bed each night to recharge for the next day.
The greater part of Saturday was spent working on homework, running errands, going for a long walk around town, and watching some television late into the night1.
Sunday was spent working on homework in the morning then off to campus to meet on a project dealing with information architecture for a client that will probably never know we exist. Seems a waste, but I’m telling myself it’s a good exercise for this sort of thing.
And finally to this evening. Thankfully W. took care of buying groceries for the week while I was at my meetings. We hung out for awhile watching television, had dinner, then I retired to my office to work on homework write-ups. With those out of the way I’ll be able to focus on reading tomorrow night.
Halfway through the semester and I’m already feeling a little beat up. But I have to admit, the material gets my brain synapsing like crazy. I can see how it relates to so many things I’m working on. But not only to things I’m working on, but to projects that I know other people are working on. It’s all so related. Ah, the innerwebs.
I’m trying to appreciate the awesomeness of fall…with all the trees ablaze with color. Unfortunately we won’t be going up north for a couple weeks so I might miss the blaze of glory that is fall colors in northern Michigan. Oh well…there’s a good chance I’ll catch the next one. If not…I’ve seen it before.
Image: I took this while W. and I were walking through Dexter Saturday afternoon. The trees are so colorful as their leaves fizzle and die. And the temperature has been so mild. It’s hard not to love this time of year. But falls brings with it a sense of melancholy and sadness. Not sure why that is…maybe to prepare us for winter.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ I watched “Hitman” and appreciated how cool the actor made bald guys look. Plus he was just awesome. [↩]
Reporting on the Digital Order
Yesterday I gave a book report to my Information Architecture class1. While it can be difficult to judge if it made an impression on anyone in the class, I know that I enjoyed it. The ideas in this book thread our daily lives. They are the types of ideas and connections at which most people just nod and agree…like they already know it.
Which makes sense. I’ve seen this in people when talking about buddhist perspectives and the practice of living2. They hear what I’m saying and already know the truth of it. I see glimpses of enlightenment and zen-like understanding in people all the time…especially in children. But kids don’t jam on the heavier philosophical or analytical perspectives on truth and dynamics.
But when giving a book report on such matter that’s exactly what I get to do. And I only had 8 minutes to do it. And it was the last 8 minutes of class. Nobody was sleeping but I think most of them were just waking up because class was almost over and they had to shuffle off to dinner or their next class. Hard to say really. But I sure like talking about, exploring, building, and making connections in the way we use information and how it affects our daily lives.
And with this brain-dump of thoughts, I’m off to work it for awhile. Thanks for reading.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Well, myself and two of my classmates gave the book report. [↩]
- Funny to say it like that maybe, but living is a practice in a way. There’s a lot of repetition, progression, regression, learning, etc. Like what happens when you practice anything for a long time. [↩]