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What I was thinking while driving around this weekend…list of links

December 13th, 2004 · 4 Comments

$%#@&**&!!!

No, I try not to swear, with my mouth or with my mind. But I did feel rather frustrated driving around this weekend, wondering why I had decided to run errands on a precious December Saturday. I saw plenty of trees strapped in pickup trucks and plenty of driving manuvers that asked for accidents.

Adam Curry once mentioned (was it on this day’s show?) that he was thinking about something, a particular aspect of podcasting or ipodder, I forget which, while in the shower that morning. I was reminded of a former boss. For my first job after college, I worked for a professor who believed that one should think of research in the shower; it should be that intense and integrated into life, that it bubbles in your mind as you soap yourself…

Anyway, I have not found the shower to be a productive time for me. I usually have two thoughts. I wonder whether the kids are awake. And I wonder whether I ‘ve gotten all the knots out of my hair. Exciting.

But I have discovered that driving time can be a good time for me to think and meditate. If I am driving somewhere familiar, I can spend some mental energy elsewhere. The girls often like to listen to a tape, so they are occupied, in their seats and happy hearing their songs. So then I can think…

and here’s what occupied my mind when I wasn’t trying not to curse at the traffic 😉

  • Fun with Google Suggests (“julie leung” and “julie leung blog” appear!)
  • Lisa Williams’ Reading to Rowan net-based radio show: A podcast for kids! I think it’s a great idea! If only we could listen to it while we’re driving around in holiday traffic – then everyone would be happy!
  • Happy Birthday to Betsy Devine who has been escorted by a Prince and enjoyed many other fantastical adventures as her husband received his Nobel Prize. Thanks for posting, Betsy! I hope Tony invites you back to the studio to share more (morning) stories…!
  • John Perry Barlow’s time in jail: vivid description of his experience with police and prison
  • Jeffy’s review of Real Live Preacher’s book: sounds good! (I too have been reading books by bloggers…reviews to come!)
  • When I came home, I relaxed from the traffic by listening to Eric Rice’s interview with Chris Pirillo while he was driving (and moving) to Seattle. It was fun to hear them discuss my hometown, how green it is here, the fact that there is traffic at certain times and not others (I’m not sure that is that true) and the traffic webcams. Chris was sure to mention that he is not coming as a Californian Uh-huh. Just be sure to remove those license plates ASAP. I speak from experience…as one who moved up here…and as one who grew up here…but welcome!
  • Werner Vogels posted some lovely pictures of the Northwest too…

    Too bad it’s not too fun to drive around and look at the views this time of year…but if I have some reading in mind, literally, and some pleasant thoughts to think, perhaps the traffic won’t seem as intolerable…

  • Tags: blog

    4 responses so far ↓

    • 1 Katherine // Dec 13, 2004 at 11:20 am

      Google suggest doesn’t do anything special for me – it works exactly like normal google (nothing pops up or whatever it’s supposed to do). I don’t know what setting I have wrong on my browser…oh well. It sounded neat.

      I think of things in my shower quite often.

    • 2 Lisa Williams // Dec 13, 2004 at 8:08 pm

      I liked the Chris Pirillo interview too. I liked how enthusiastic he was on his new home, it was like it was good in part just because he was going to it; I think if he moved to, I dunno, Gdansk, he’d be a Gdansk booster. That’s a good quality in a person, being able to find and be happy about what’s out there to be happy about, rather than focusing on what’s different or lacking compared to their old situation. There’s plenty to appreciate in Seattle, and he’s clearly primed to appreciate it.

      Someday I gotta visit. It sounds so nice. And foreign.

    • 3 Julie // Dec 15, 2004 at 11:57 pm

      Katherine…I don’t know why Google Suggest wouldn’t work for you. I think you must be more efficient in the morning than I am!

      Lisa…yes, please do come visit: then it won’t feel foreign. And it is great to be able to be happy about a new situation. Of course, moving to Seattle, at least for me, was one of the easier changes to enjoy…:-)

    • 4 Chris Pirillo // Dec 22, 2004 at 12:13 pm

      My girlfriend says: “If only they knew how much I complained every day.” 🙂

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