Out with a whimper. Just in the NyQ of time.

Tonight I start fully anticipating to fall asleep before I finish. I may finish writing this abbreviated post but put I probably won't finish the movie I'm about to start. The book that inspired the movie is actually the first book I read on an e-reader (of sorts). The reader was a Palm Tungston and the book was Last of the Mohekans.  I really liked that PDA. It had my calendar, notes, contacts, and even books.  I read Mohekans because it came free and preloaded on the device. I do say that free books are still my preference and the ones I spend my time with.

Like tonights  movies likely fate I never finished the book.  Not for a lack of desire to finish thought, the book was lost in a crash event that was never resolved. Maybe I'll pick it up again in a paper form factor so as not to lose it to corrupt data and after getting some sleep so as not to lose it to slumber.

Trouble with the cube

Sure he look like a smart guy on paper. The sabermetrics guys get a little woozy when they imagine what he could do as the lead off for their development team. But put him against a skilled word smith and he's instantly schooled in Scrabble or Words with Friends. And let's not even mention the classic 3D logic toy that has amazed and puzzled millions. To put it kindly we can just say he's got trouble with the cube.

Redemption Best Served

Earlier this month I wrote a lament about the loss we all suffered as Hostess closed the magical doors on its magical pastry factories. My regret centered around a lost opportunity and with it lost hope.  Tonight I learned that redemption is a dish best served in 8 individually wrapped packages, purchased on the internet. I am so happy that my some day to be sister in law heard my cry and took the occasion of Christmas, a perfect foreshadowing of the renewing joy that Easter brings, to make my dessert eating joy complete.

Pince-nez

As it turns out pince-nez are the type of glasses that have no ear supports but rather "pinch the nose" which is where the name comes from. Pince-nez are also a perfect example of why I love reading on an e-reader and, as a related matter, why I love Wikipedia. I owe much of the successful posts over the last year to both of the previously described dearly beloved resources.
I do still read paper books and enjoy them for their delightful ability to be enhanced by the available light rather than possibly obstructed. I also enjoy paper for the angst that I don't feel when in my hands while traveling via certain corridors on public transportation. I also appreciate that they can be read during any stage of a commercial flight and that they never run low on batteries. I like being able to hold my finger on one page as I continue to march through the rest in order to go back to it. I like fanning through the pages when going back through to find a  particular passage. I like that the words are always in the same position of the page (this can be a particular problem when reading on a kindle).
There are many reasons I still love paper but I may love even more holding my finger on a word only to have the entire universe of knowledge connected to that word available for instant perusal.  I have always been a well intentioned reader. Bracketing interesting sections for follow up or additional research. Underlining interesting  words to look up. But I seldom if ever returned with a dictionary or additional library time. That's one thing that I really love about the e-reader. My good intentions have seamlessly transformed into well employed actions, and my reading is all the better for it.

Lewis on CAD

“Yet the circle is not less round than the sphere, and the sphere is the home and fatherland of circles. Infinite multitudes of circles lie enclosed in every sphere, and if they spoke they would say, For us were spheres created. Let no mouth open to gain say them. Blessed be He!”

I only wonder what implications this will have on a modified worflow in Creo that favors internal sketches rather than pure and independent parent sketches. I guess Lewis covers this as the relationships work in all ways and in all directions.

We'll really find out when we are in the midst of implementation. Hopefully we won't look for what is right or wrong but rather have our mindset ever fixed on a harmoniously parametric modeling experience that strikes a balance between design intent and user experience.

I love being on vacation!

Hugo

As it turns out Hugo isn't such a bad movie. I'm not sure what qualified it for all the awards but I'm not always sure how most movies rise to the ranks of the "best".

The only downfall for me in Hugo was that once we actually found out what the movie was about we learned that its biggest role was as an extended PSA for film preservation in specific and the film industry in general. Perhaps I was viewing it from too cynical of a position but Scorsese's involvement in both of those efforts colored  my view of the films intentions like a black and white film painstakingly tinted for additional effect. However, where the tinting effect was revolutionary in its time these blatant strokes of the modern film activist stuck out as an unnecessary "improvement" to an otherwise effective film. 

Perhaps the wider audience accepts Scorsese's imagery of the preservation of the film allowing for the preservation of the man. I just found it to be a little heavy handed especially considering the careful attention to detail and steady hand required for a skilled clock maker, magician or storyteller. 

Dressed in the dark

When my chosen wardrobe lacks coordination I often blame the fact that I got dressed in the dark. Often timesthis is true as I get dressed and leave the house before anyone else is up. On those days I leave as many lights off as possible in order not to disturb anyone still asleep.  of course I also have a very high tolerance for looking horrible so my remarks are partially in gest  as well.

It is hard to imagine really performing tasks, challenging physical tasks, in complete darkness. Tonight I've been reading a fictional acount of an ascent through a cave completely isolated from light. The character was described as well, if seen by an outside observer, as taking incredible risks at times and at others being extremely curious. All of these apparent decisions made in ignorance were made without the visual data that would have normally been available to the character.

It could be Perry cool to do a climb like this in the dark but for now I'll just keep putting my pants on one leg at a time like anyone else. In the dark.