I think it’s interesting how few consequences Super Heroes deal with for their powers. I mean – if you think about it, wouldn’t the ability to fly via a giant set of wings on your back come with some pretty severe drawbacks? I think the power above presents some very interesting scenarios due to its limited scope of affect and myriad potential applications. What do you think?

Recently, I was asked what type of music I listen to. For most people, this question is pretty simple. Being me, however, I came to the music I listen to in a really round-about way. I started listening to music the same way I started drinking beer; I felt like I SHOULD be listening to it, so I started picking songs that sounded snazzy and finding copies of them. Seriously – before that, it was 100% books on tape. How lame was I?

Through this rather haphazard method, I picked up a truly eclectic taste in music. In the past month, for example, I’ve had the following songs stuck in my head:

• “Friends in Low Places” – Garth Brooks
• “What’s Going to Happen” – Scrubs: My Musical
• “Con Te Partiro (Techno)” – Andrea Bocelli
• “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning” – Smashing Pumpkins

This kind of musical ADD tends to confuse people, though – so I tend to answer “Arena Rock”. Hard to go wrong with Journey!

It’s been a long time, though, since I’ve listened to JPop. A chapter of my life slammed shut around three and a half years ago, and I seriously thought Asian dramas and JPop went with it. It’s funny how we gravitate to the familiar.

A friend mentioned she was watching a Korean series (The new Hana Yori Dango), and I found myself thinking, “Hm… I wonder what’s showing these days…” That lead to finding “Love Shuffle”, and today I find myself listening to Uematsu Hidemi’s “Dear My Friends” on repeat. So much for staying out of Japanese pop culture. Suddenly, I have a fierce desire to go back to Japan, and I’m left horrified at how much of my Japanese has deserted me.

Part of this is introspection. When things are tough, or when I’m making tough decisions about things, I tend to look inward and examine my choices. Not that it does me much good – I never have had a strong understanding of my self. My apartment is finally furnished, and I’ve been doing a lot of sitting in my armchair seriously considering what’s next. I haven’t been dating for a while now, but in the past six months so many of my friends have entered into serious, committed relationships or gotten married that I’m beginning to feel left behind. I’m also realizing that there’s a lot I want to do before I settle down.

In the past few weeks, I’ve been developing a friendship that could be heading towards something more. At least – it feels like all the other times things headed that direction. Even if I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to pursue that, I’m not really sure I will. I don’t want to go into a relationship without there being a possibility for something more beyond fun and sex, and I worry about all those things I want to do; all those mistakes I’ve yet to make. What if the next relationship DOES work out? Will I settle down? Will I miss out on all those experiences I want to have before I do?

That’s what ran through my head as the girl above asked me what type of music I liked last week. I thought about my tastes, and I wondered what type of man refuses to commit to someone because he worries he’ll miss out on something, and what that says about the person he’s refusing to commit to.

I tried to explain for a moment, then I answered, “Arena Rock”.

Contrary to the cynicism espoused by Tim, I am cautiously hopeful that something good will come of this change. It has been pointed out that Obama is by no means superhuman. He is not a savior, or the single solution to our problems. He is, however, a tool – a means by which America can, given a fierce desire to learn from the lessons of our past, and an unwavering resolve to fix a system that is most assuredly broken, return to the principles and ideals which defined our past and helped make us great.

I’m under no illusions about my level of oratory skill, but when, after I went to submit my e-mail address for “updates” on the new WhiteHouse.gov, I was prompted (yes – it’s required) to enter a comment I was forced to think for a moment about what I would say to President Obama if I could (and to put my thoughts in writing…).

In the end, I sent him this note:

Congratulations President Obama! You have helped a nation begin once more to hope. That’s a lot of pressure to live up to, but as long as you strive to be open and straightforward with us I think you will find that we will strive in kind to remember that you are a man, not a figure of history. As a man, all you can do is your best; that is all we have any right to ask of you. For my part, I hope that you will remember the same of us, and that you will ask the same too.

We are each of us human, and no one of us is ever going to be able to solve the problems of the rest. It is that realization, I have found, which forms the root of President Obama’s appeal to me. I tend to be centrist in my political leanings; I’m very conservative on some issues, and very liberal on others. Naturally, parts of President Obama’s agenda are at odds with my personal beliefs. I do believe, however, that the greatest gift of man lies in our capacity for ingenuity. I believe that America is great because, at the time of its founding, it attracted settlers possessed of a certain unbreakable spirit. It called to the adventurous, the entrepreneurial – those who firmly believed that all they needed was the right opportunity. America is built on the sweat of these men and women who refused to give in, refused to give up, and refused to accept the notion that something “could not be done”.

If America has fallen from the place we formerly occupied in the world, it is because we have become complacent. We have lost our reverence and respect for the spirit that forged colonists into citizens, and colonies into the United States. President Obama’s strongest appeal is not his disdain for Guantanamo Bay. It’s not his promise to spend billions of dollars to “fix” the economy. It’s not even his promise to end the “failed policies” of George W. Bush (a good many of which, I will admit, rub me the wrong way). It’s his willingness to admit to the American people that his kind of change is going to take hard work from all of us, and his ability to inspire faith and hope despite that harsh dose of realism.

No matter what any of us may think of his policies, we have to admire his politics. No one, no matter how naive, can claim that the American democratic system is what it should be; rather, it exists as an ideal which we move closer to and further from. If for nothing else than the chance for long-overdue change, the audacity to believe in the possibility that one man could be unwavering in his commitment to that ideal, I support President Obama and wish him all the best. For the first time since I can remember, I believe there is a chance for America to heal its divisions, cast off the shackles of a system that has failed to adapt to a new global and cultural reality, and to truly move forward into a new era built on the spirit that helped turn it from a rebellious colony into a shining beacon of hope and opportunity.

For now, however, I feel only the need to say that tonight America won a great victory. Let us hope that we have won the war, and not merely a battle.

Yesterday I saw Journey live in concert.

They were accompanied by Heart and Cheap Trick, a fact that only serves to heighten their awesomeness. Those are by no means small-time bands, after all. The concert was everything I could hope for, but was bittersweet for several reasons I’m no longer sure I can rely in a public forum. As usual, a woman was involved.

A little earlier, the Girl and I spent a day in Annapolis. We talked, we walked, and as usual things were ambiguous. Oh well – at least I got good crab cakes out of it. Also on the weird front – I met her mom. And she cooked dinner for us. Good times.

Various other things have popped up that vex and frustrate me… But I think I’m still processing them. So I leave you with some thoughts:

1. I am now, officially, middle-class entirely on my own. There’s a scary thought.
2. South Ossetians celebrated Russia’s support of their independence… By firing guns into the air. First – way to show your civilized nature, gents. Second – what goes up…
3. Of all the organizations that could use a few consultants, DC Metro probably needs us the most. Dear lord – a train stopped at Federal Triangle shut down the orange and blue lines in both directions, just about. Only they were turning back trains at Arlington Cemetary – WTF? Why not Foggy Bottom? Why not just bounce trains off the stations on either side and run buses to cover the gap? Zero coverage failure, minimal additional cost, hundreds fewer angry customers. Come on guys – this is a no-brainer.

Until next time~

“Here – here’s some stuff we’ve barely explained to you. Go figure out how to do it perfectly.”

I’m hoping some day I actually know what’s going on around here. Until then, I guess I’m glad people are so forgiving about my being perpetually clueless.

http://drhorrible.com/

It’s only up until Sunday at midnight, so HURRY!

UPDATE:

Too late. It’s gone. Buy the DVD…

… For the person watching, obviously. Not the person getting mugged.

And what is with the prevalence of “reach out to” as a substitute for “contact” or “call” or “e-mail”?

Basically, there’s a center at my firm’s HQ which is solely dedicated to state-of-the art as an art form. They update it quarterly so that the absolute latest gadgets and new technologies are there for employees to try out. For instance, they have one of the new iPods. They have one of those tables Microsoft showed off last year with a fully-touch interface. They also have other, less notorious technologies like adaptive multidirectional/monodirectional sensors.

Basically, it’s a whole room of awesome.

Incidentally, I got my first assignment today. I can’t really talk about orientation, etc… But I’m liking this firm. A lot. Here’s hoping I still like it when I actually get work to do.

Quick thought… Babylon 5 poses a powerful quandry to its audience. On the one hand, there are the Vorlons – bastions of order, embodied by the question, “Who are you?”; and the Shadows – sowers of chaos, who wish only to know, “What do you want?”

To the Vorlons, who one is cannot be answered by titles and affiliations, but only by truly understanding one’s place in the universe. That’s right, the only acceptable answer is, “I am a cog in the machine, a p

Boy – they wouldn’t be happy with the Japanese. Last I checked, it’s standard practice in Japanese culture to define oneself by organizations and affiliations rather than personal characteristics… Some champions of order the Vorlons turn out to be…