Moving to LiveJournal

It seems that many people I want to connect with are on LiveJournal, so I'm making the switch from Blogger. I've decided to leave these entries here and start fresh. Hope to see you there! http://modholly.livejournal.com

Dear Thief Who Stole My Partner's Purse Last Weekend:

Yes, we were naive to think that because we had eight people at our table that our stuff would be safe.

Yes, we were foolish to have left the purse on a chair seat instead of hiding it or hooking it under a chair leg.

Yes, you really needed the $60 cash and the $40 of cigarettes and Doritos you bought at the Hasty Market with the credit card less than an hour later.

Yes, it was just a purse and i.d. that could all be replaced. It wasn't like you shot her or anything.

Yes, we've managed to live in Toronto for 12 years without getting anything stolen.

But no, we didn't have spare money to replace her cell phone, monthly transit pass, journal, keys, and purse.

No, we didn't have extra time this week to replace all of her i.d. and to ensure that her identity can't be used in the future.

No, she didn't feel so great about a stranger reading her journal.

No, it's almost worse that you probably just took the credit card and cash and chucked the rest of it in the garbage somewhere.

No, stealing that purse didn't solve all of your problems.

No, you aren't going to sleep well for some time.

No, it wasn't our fault. It was yours.

Do you have a SecondLife?

Lately I've been hearing a lot about SecondLife, so I decided to try it. If you haven't heard about it yet, it's an online world where users create that world. More or less.

It has big implications for marketing and advertising, as well as for governments, because in the SecondLife virtual world people spend real money on virtual goods and services. And the people who make those virtual goods and services make virtual money that can be exchanged for real money. Marketers and advertisers are trying to figure out how to get their products placed or sold in the virtual world and governments are trying to figure out how to tax people who make real income in a virtual economy.

It makes my head hurt.

But it also makes my pulse race. So far I've created my avatar, learned how to walk, pick things up, change my appearance, fly (yes, fly!), zoom in and out on things, and talk to others. I've met people from Italy, Belgium, and Denmark. But all of this has been done within the safety of the Orientation and Help Islands (the geography of the SecondLife world is that of many user-built, theme-based islands). I have yet to step out into the "real" world.

If you already have a SecondLife, I hope to see you there!

I won't be Woebegone

I believe that everything a person sees, hears, smells, touches, or tastes affects the brain (and, potentially, behaviour) in some way. There's been some support for the idea that violent media has a negative effect on youth. And that emotionally-charged images are better remembered – and reinforced over time – than emotionally-neutral images.

Well, I prefer not to take chances. So I chose not to go see Woebegone: Pets and the Darkness of the Human Psyche. Tiny portaits of maimed pets painted on piano keys. Creepy oil paintings depicting abuse of a cat and greyhounds with their ears cut off.

I guess it's important for the artist, Dana Holst, to memorialize these animals (or their real-life equivalents) and to point out our primal nastiness. But is it important enough for us to add it to the data in our brain?

Happy birthday to you!

'Tis the season for birthdays in my life. I know at least six people born with Sun in Scorpio. And three of them (myself included) are partnered with someone with Sun in Capricorn. Seems a bit strange to me. If only someone would do a scientific study of my theory. Any more of you Scorpio-Capricorn pairs out there?

Eat cheese and help save the world

A new cheese shop has opened on Roncesvalles, called Thin Blue Line. Nothing up on their site yet, but we went in on the weekend and bought a tasty goat cheese called Pepato Secco. They have a great selection of organic and vegetarian cheeses. As a vegetarian, it's hard to find unusual cheese that doesn't have rennet, pepsin or lipase in it. One of their main suppliers is Monforte Dairy near Stratford. I didn't know it when I bought the cheese, but the dairy gives 10% of their income to Médécins sans Fronitères/Doctors without Borders! Great cheese and a great cause.

Marketing is everything is marketing

I must start this post by stating that I work for a marketing company. So maybe I'm just a little too surrounded by it daily. Or maybe it's my hormones, or lack of sunlight, or that I have a cold.

And my point is...

Sometimes people create things because they want to create them. Because they have a need to get something out. Lately it seems that every blog, website, podcast, video, etc., has to somehow be able to be "monetized" or it's not worth anything. If it's not picked up by large media outlets, drawing sponsors, or bought by Google, it's crap. (And by linking to those pages I've just fed the machine.)

I hope that this perceived trend doesn't intimidate people from creating whatever they want to create for whatever reason.

Okay, time for some sunlight.

Isn't that a type of oatmeal?

So I took an online "what faith are you?" quiz and apparently my religious beliefs are a 100% match with those of the Quakers. I knew nothing about this faith — I immediately pictured women in bonnets and men driving carriages. Amish? Mennonites? I wasn't prepared to give up high-speed internet access. Ever.

From some quick Googling it seems that Quakers (they call themselves the Religious Society of Friends) are similar to the Amish and Mennonites in that they value simplicity and peace, but like their internet access as much as the next person. Phew.

I've always considered myself a loosely-defined Christian ("Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestant" was an 88% match). Time to do some more reading...