Doom

Have Americans given up on the economy? - By Daniel Gross - Slate Magazine: "There was a time, not so long ago, when a company like Circuit City would have stuck it out by filing for Chapter 11. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing gives companies breathing room from creditors in order to regroup and relaunch. Circuit City started down this path in November, but in mid-January it decided that rehab was too tough and threw in the towel. Sharper Image, Linens 'n Things, retailer Steve & Barry's, and the department store Mervyn's all filed for bankruptcy with the intent of reorganizing."

Shorties

• 23:11 "Taking Chance" - decent flick #

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I Wonder...

Ellipses...

I am thinking of getting a crew cut... Wow, the news this week is real grim. Not so much shattering, just kinda all bad... I might be getting old, or at least Republican... I'm going to rename my folks cat: Lurker Von Fuzzybutt... Can't really commit to Dollhouse... PAGE TWO (RIP Paul Harvey)... BSG was cool, really have to keep your 8's straight this week... Wesley Crusher really put an end to the Kindle "read aloud" arguement. Be nice if people noticed... Getting ready to head out to Vegas and looking for plans, got any? Let me know... Upon further thought, pre-apocalyptic science-fiction might be harder to pull off than post-apocalyptic. At least after you have the possibility of being uplifting, before: less so... Smokey Bones isn't a bad lunch... Wondering a lot this week about institutional mission. Seems with tough times organizations ought to shrink back to their mission... I had a Shamrock Shake today, green flavored goodness... The floor of my home office needs a mop, damn cats... Late at night I am blazing through the final season of The West Wing. There's quite a bit there I don't recall... The Pittsburgh Mills Mall is still kinda odd. I never would have thought you could have a mall without really selling anything... My new boss made a good impression out West. That's a good thing... Still really just hovering at like 60%, but it's starting to get old... For reasons I do not understand I have migrated almost totally from NPR to Sports Talk... Coming around to the conclusion that clutter is a real debilitating factor in my life... Getting to be the time of year to be thinking about summer work. Nothing could be further from my mind...

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Shorties

• 11:24 Studiocraft - CAD: minsert, point, node, divide, measure, & wblock #
• 14:16 Thought about a half day, but caved #
• 14:33 @PunkyPicc like the punctuation, or the organ? #
• 17:50 Some things just bring out the Gordon Ramsay in me #
• 23:17 Dumpling House might actually be better as take-out #
• 01:28 Only three episodes left. Frak. #

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20 Possible Battlestar Galactica Endings, All of Them Hideously Depressing

Topless Robot: "11) The ship runs out of algae. Order breaks down as the remaining humans turn to cannibalism to survive. Adama is forced to eat Roslin, and cries while eating her. It is revealed that the only difference between humans and humanoid Cylons is that the Cylons have a delicious 'ranch' flavor."

Shorties

• 12:00 Basic PTM - Stage Management #
• 17:08 Green Page - Top Five: tinyurl.com/az2rbo #
• 17:09 @ninaksimon inside voice #
• 01:54 up too late, again #

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Where Has All the Blogging Gone?

If you've been reading for a while (and thanks so much if you have) you've probably noticed things dropping off quite a bit of late. While much of that has to do with just general lethargy and my ongoing family situation I actually do think there are a few other influences that have had a significant impact. In the naute of blogging I thought maybe you'd like to know what they are.

1. iPhone

Blogging for me usually turns out to be a late in the evening thing. Since I got a smartphone and can check my email without even lighting up a computer I've found myself sitting in front of this screen less and less. Less computer time is just going to translate into less blogging posts. I haven't done a blog post from the phone. I guess if I make that happen it might start to be less of an issue.

2. Facebook

So this hasn't been as big an issue as I suppose it could be. But, without argument the other site has nuked out a couple of more regular blog posts: the "link of the day" and the meme. More often than not now if I do a meme or if I see a site or an article I want to make people aware of I post it to my facebook wall. So if you miss those kinds of posts you should friend me inside Facebook's little walled garden. If you never liked them in the first place - well you probably don't miss them then, even if it has made for less overall posting.

In that same vein, Twitter and LoudTwitter have impaced things a little too. I think sometimes the Twitter feed steals some of what eventually might have wound up in "ellipses..." posts; even even though it all eventually works its way onto the site, it's not really the same. Sometimes I consider dumping the "Shorties" posts from LoudTwitter - but lately it feels like that would leave nearly nothing at all.

#3 Civilization IV - Beyond the Sword
I've always been a fan of the Civ game series. Actually my favorite was Alpha Centauri, but they haven't released that for a contemporary OS. I've got it down to where I can play a complete game in less than two hours. Still along with that, I often don't feel like going on to spend time writing. It's a lame excuse, but it's true: blogging has taken a backseat to gaming more often than once.

There's also the small problem of XenoTactic, which you might be familiar with if you follow the Twitter feed. Having been pretty much stymied by level six I haven't spent as much time with that particular diversion as of late. But it has taken a toll.

But not as much as this next thing.

#4 RSS Feeds - Google Reader

So, back in the day you'd have a few blogs you followed and once a day or so you'd blow open the page and see what was up. No more. Now most pages have feeds that you can set to all accumulate in one place and check in a feed reader. Whenever they update the piece is there automatically, no checking day after day and finding nothing. Maybe a week ago, if I left my feeds alone for 24 hours they would pile up north of 2000 entries. Even jamming through without looking that carefully, 1000 stories takes for-f'in-ever. So last week I ruthlessly culled through the subscriptions and cut it down significantly. Now I think on a normal day we're at about 600-700 stories and I can go through like 300 in a half hour or so. It's gone from being like slave labor to like reading the paper - but it definitely takes time away from the blogging.

Still, I certainly miss the blogging. So maybe there will be some re-balancing over time and the posting will pick up again. At least I hope so.

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Shorties

• 16:03 office - email, feeds, page, you know: churning #
• 20:10 sometimes you just can't get away with masonite - even in theatre #
• 21:20 Unos, waterfront. Waiting. #
• 00:11 Not twittering the Top Chef winner for those who might be time shifting #
• 00:12 @mipow we should talk after #

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Shorties

• 10:18 Sunday morning interviews #
• 11:49 looking at scans, photos of drawings on a computer screen is a new and interesting challenge - can't see "hand", need a scale reference... #
• 13:33 Mad Mex Monoeville #
• 20:46 Booking Vegas for Spring Break #
• 20:47 @aerdin it's only a bath*room* if it has walls and a door #

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