digital words

Did you know how cool the Internet is? It's really amazing! I can send letters to people electronically without paying for a stamp! It's like magic! And did you know I can surf the 'Net and see pictures of places other people took -- people I don't even know! I even heard someone talk about chatting online with people all the way across the world! I can't believe it. It's hocus pocus, but I'm SO addicted. (I go to sleep at about 4 a.m. every night.)

Do you remember being like this? Unfortunately, I do. But as advanced as technology is these days, there are still times when I think to myself, "self, this Internet thing is pretty awesome." [CAUTION: this is the point where you want to stop reading; my geekiness is about to ooze. I WARNED YOU.] So, I've told the story to my students many times. I try to wow them with my love for research by telling about when I was writing my masters thesis. I could be found in the JFK Library, pushing a cart full of books around like a transient with a shopping cart, searching for that final source, the final point that would bring my whole thesis together. (I'm not sure I ever found it...) That was only three years ago, all that pushing a cart full of books business. How old fashioned.

Now, in 2008, I get frustrated if I even have to get up out of my chair and leave my apartment. It used to be that a person could find academic articles online, but books had to be found, touched, checked out, and carried away in a bag. Nowadays, I get those "Wow Internet!" moments when I search for a topic online and find myself looking through the pages of a book. A real, live, hard cover, full-of-pages kind of book. Here's an example.

Say I'm writing a paper on The Yellow Wallpaper, and I need to find the part that mentioned a certain word, say "arabesque" (I know, random). I'll head to everyone's favorite page, Google Books and search for the full version of the book. There, I did it. Once I'm at the about page, I just type in the word "arabesque" and it tells me which page it's on. Now I know what I wanted to know, and it took just a click, click, click. You probably noticed that you can download the whole book in .pdf format too. (Only old books can be found in full versions, but newer books often have limited previews.) It's crazy, some people work full time thinking about how digital media like this will change print sources.

Suffice it to say, I'm spoiled. I don't even go to the library anymore. But when I'm on campus, I go to the Information Commons (a library without books). It's funny how I whine when I have to go to the library and check out an actual book, but I'm now happy to trudge through the Chicago wind to sit in a building with computers -- computers that help me find things I surely could have found at home, sitting in my recliner with the laptop on my lap.

Shades

Here's our current desktop. If you don't know what you're getting into, you better stay away 'cause this girl's got attitude!

Zoinks

Man, spring in Chicago is so darn beautiful.

March Moustache Madness

Adam Morrison. Does the name ring a bell? A few years ago, he was one of the two hottest players in the NCAA (the other being J.J. Reddick from Duke who now rides the bench for Orlando). Morrison plays for the Charlotte Bobcats now; well actually, he too rides the bench but only because he needs surgery. Anyhoo, this is not a sports blog, so enough about all that. Let's talk about his mustache! When we lived in Spokane we liked watching the Gonzaga Bulldogs play, and it was after about a year that we noticed that Morrison was getting really good -- and really ugly. He let his hair go shaggy...there's nothing wrong with that...unless of course, you add to it a patchy, post-pubescent, make-me-wanna-wet-the-corner-of-a-hankie-and-wipe-it-off kind of moustache. Don't believe me? I wish you would because you don't want to see these pictures.

And now for some pictures of the lake from a few weeks ago. (I remember when the weather was nicer. And, don't forget: happy first day of Spring!)

Green Water

You were probably asking yourself, just now, how one goes about changing the color of a river. I was too. The answer? Lots of food coloring. I remember filling a squirt gun up with red food coloring and water when I was little. Apparently, food coloring stains. So don't shoot someone wearing a white shirt (which is of course what I did). Anyhow, here's a video and some photos from yesterday's festivities. (And here's the official greenriver page.)

Reality Check

I hate to state the obvious. But McCain really
doesn't
have
a
c
h
a
n
c
e.
I generally don't enter political discussions, so I won't discuss.
I'll just compare.

Google You

I've been online for something like 12 years now. I remember logging in on ancient library computers my junior and senior years of high school (using a 14.4 dial-up modem!). Since then, I've had a number of now defunct webpages and blogs, most of which are untraceable even by the Wayback Machine (look at Google way back when). I bring this up just to say it can be interesting to see what's out there in cyberspace about you. One thing I didn't realize, is that I was really good at football in high school! Also, someone mentioned a presentation I did last year on their blog...kinda surprising. Finally, I never knew I had any financial savvy or lived in Utah! (One of these links is not like the others...) Take a look, I bet there's something out there you didn't know about you!