Is it a coincidence? This morning I was listening to Leonard Cohen’s The Future with the ominous lyrics:
“I’ve seen the future, brother: it is murder.”
And later the same day I was reading media comments on LibraryThing.com, an online book cataloging site and one reviewer, Steve Cohen is quoted saying:
“I’ve seen the future of online catalogs, and its name is LibraryThing.”
Some people say that when strange things like that happen - there is a hidden message to be found….
There seems to be many misconceptions about thin people: that they don’t eat, that they are always starving themselves, that they don’t enjoy food, that it is okay to make fun of them (and yet it is not okay to make fun of fat people)….
I’m generally a size 0 (sometimes 2 depending on style and make) and well within the normal BMI - body mass index is a measure of body fat based on height and weight and it is important to be within the guidelines because it reduces your risk of serious health conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and diabetes. I most certainly eat and I eat well through out the day. I bring a purse full of food to work with me everyday making sure I eat a healthy and varied diet.
Here is what I ate yesterday, a fairly typical day:
Breakfast: a cheese whole wheat sandwich with mayo and lettuce and an orange
Midmorning: soya milk, nut mix (walnuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, apricot), apple
Lunch: mushroom soup, chickpea salad, lettuce and tomato salad, snow peas, biscotti
Mid-afternoon: yogurt, grapes, crackers
Dinner: mushroom soup, pasta (with sun dried tomotaos, olives, pine nuts, parsley) - I was going to make a salad but got sidetracked
Evening: soy milk
Well, I often have to do other things while I am eating which detracts from the pleasure, but I enjoy good food, I am gratified knowing I feed my body fairly well giving it the nutrients it requires, and I never go for a long period without eating so I certainly never starve myself. So let’s try to banish this prejudice against thin people.
Pew Breaks Down Tech Users reports on new research on the typology of American communiction and information technology users. It looks at the population and breaks it down based on their behaviours, attitudes, and other traits. In a nutshell 85% of American adults use the Internet or cell phones. Those who use technology can be broken down into three groups: elite technology users, moderate technology users, and light or peripheral users.
They broke the moderate tech users into two subgroups: mobile centrics who just live by their cell phones (and the only way to have a discussion with them is by calling them, no live meetings please!) and connected but hassled users who embrace technology but find it burdensome (when non-stop messages from work and kids makes any simple task a juggling act).
Some 31 percent of Americans fall in the elite category (the snob class) which can be split into 4 subgroups: omnivores, connectors, lackluster veterans, and productivity enhancers. Omnivores (yum, I’ll use anything I can get my hands on) use a wide range of gadgets and services, and spend a fair amount of time in cyberspace and Web 2.0 activities, and are the most likely to blog and run their own Web pages. Connectors (do you see a plug when you read connectors?) use mobile devices and Internet technology to access and work with information and use it for socializing and communicating. Lackluster veterans (sitting in front of the computer too much can make one grey and luckluster, I know) are heavy Internet users, but aren’t as keen on mobile phones and aren’t as likely to be excited about new communication devices. Productivity enhancers are very positive about how technology lets them, well… be more productive.
It is interesting to know how to categorize yourself and others based on habits. Yesterday I told someone I am a Web Specialist and she said I must be on the computer a fair amount. I nodded in agreement, thinking it was a good thing - but then she vented her rage on me - she said her husband was always in front of the computer and that something is missing from someone if they spend so much time in front of the computer. I asked her if he was working on the computer or just playing. He just works on the computer, no playing games or wasting time - he works hard so that she can have a good life - I could see she spends plenty of money on herself. It just goes to show that this may be an important category to consider when finding one’s soul mate or creating a match maker site ( I know two people who have considered making their own match maker site ).
The Toronto Freedom Festival took place yesterday at City Hall. It is an idea which has been developed in the hope of allowing for groups to expose themselves to thousands of forward thinking individuals. I did not go because 1) I don’t care to see people get intoxicated, and 2) there were more interesting things to do.
Today is No Homework Day. Well I have homework to do so I think I will cash in my Freedom coupon that I did not use yesterday and use it today to be free not to do no homework.
Maybe one day there will be a Freedom from Demands Day. What would your freedom day be like?
Are you glad May has finally arrived? Are you enjoying the milder weather and the opportunities to explore your corner of the world (or beyond if you are one of the lucky ones)? I get excited about May because of the Contact Photo Festival. It is a great opportunity to go exploring Toronto and see some exciting and thought provoking photographs. You may even see some of the photographs on your way to work (on the St. Patrick Subway Station Platform, or the Transit Shelters on Queen St. W - by Douglas Coupland!) or at a pub (the Drake Hotel). This year’s focus is on the fusion of practices that has transformed the nature of photography into a new hybrid genre - have a look at their site to see some intriguing samples. I love fusion, but that will be the topic of another blog post. Sometimes I just pick an area and go exploring through all the tiny galleries and it is really a lot of fun to combine the experience of exploring some old building, seeing new art (the exhibits change regularly), and not suffering from art overload - as I do when I visit the large galleries.
Here is a photograph I took of an abandoned house somewhere near Talisman:
Here I converted it to greyscale using a layer in screen mode to add depth:
This is the duotone version using curves to control the colour in highlight and shadow areas:
Powered by WordPress 