::This is from last Wednesday actually. I’m just lazy/busy::
I’m writing this from a train headed for Norwich (don’t pronounce the w). I’ve got a bit under an hour and a half on the train, so I’ve got some time to rest and collect some thoughts while being soothed by the sounds of the train and the three English businessmen to my right who frequently interrupt their friendly conversation to speak very forcefully to someone on their cell phone. I’m amused by this. Also, about 20 minutes into the trip, a kid ran into my car, stopped, and yelled back, “There’s another one coming this way!” Then he ran back through the door and another kid walked out real casual-like. He walked into the space between cars and disappeared around a corner until the conductor caught up with him. At the conductor’s instruction, he walked back up the isle and then back down again – this time followed by about 5 of his friends. Stow-aways. Sweet.
The flight on Air India was very bearable. Turns out, not a lot of people enjoy overnight flights so there was lots of space to stretch out (not to mention the extra airline pillows). I did manage to nod off for a bit in the middle of the flight, but otherwise I was kept company by a guy named Phil who was headed back to London after an extended stay with friends in the US. So we chatted for a while about travel and the differences between our countries and “What is that between the salad and the yogurt?” and “What in the world is going on with this Indian television they’re showing us?”
Side-note: We just passed between a water-treatment plant that looked exactly like one you might find in the US and a field of cows. Ah, home.
Categories: Culture · Personal · Society · study-abroad
September 12, 2006 · 1 Comment
In less than 3 hours, Apple’s Showtime media event will kick off. Already the iTunes Music Store is down for updates. And the German Quicktime site has apparently let some information slip early.
Apple
Sep 12, 2006 – 3 Photos
Categories: Apple · Movies
They say the world is growing smaller and smaller everyday. At the same time, our personal worlds are getting bigger. Our reach is expanding and we have more options for the news we hears, the products we buy, the people we talk to, the music we listen too… You don’t have to look far to find an article about the effects of having to sift through and process mountains of information, but what struck me this morning, is the difficulty of choosing a scope. This morning I sat in my bed and talked with my roommate before heading up to the living room and having coffee with a few housemates before they went off to a wedding for a couple in our church. At the same time I read a few articles in Relevant Magazine about the continuing genocide in Dafur, Sudan and a t-shirt campaign that’s just starting to go national in order to raise money for the founder’s friend who’s in rehab. I looked up and saw a dad walk by our front window with his son on his shoulders. The shift in scope that I experienced within the first hour after waking was a little shocking.
This isn’t an unusual experience though. This summer it’s been my job to manage the branding and marketing for a local store owned by a larger local company with a very different focus from the store’s. There’s a constant tension in my job between representing the international brand of the company who’s products we sell while trying to give my local store its own identity and personality. And of course I have to balance work against building and maintaining relationships while getting ready for a trip that will take me out of the country for four months.
I’m reminded of a line from the song “Great Are You” by downhere.
I’ll never hold a picture of the whole horizon in my view
There’s way to much to take in and to do. Some of it’s worthwhile and some of it isn’t and as much as I’d like to try, I can’t see the whole picture. So life becomes a problem of focus. I’ve got a roll of 32, a zoom lens, and only so much daylight. I’ll upload the results to Flickr when I’m done and hope for something that I can be proud to share.
Here are some links that make me think about scale and focus:
Categories: Culture · Personal
::This is from last Wednesday actually. I’m just lazy/busy::
