Monday, July 30, 2007
Brain Binging
I'm sure there's a better term for this -- and Ted, if you know, do tell -- but for now, I'll call it Brain Binging. (I also considered Info Imbibing and Sagacity Sprees. None sound all too articulate.)
It's when I'm overcome with a desire to learn about a subject, usually out of the blue, and can't stop myself from spending hours getting face cancer from the screen of my computer. I scourge the internets -- if I had any sense of drive, I'd get to the library too -- for wikipedia articles, how-to pages and well-crafted blogs, acquiring every opinion on the thing.
I can't even count how many times I've been through this. Some Regulars are books, knitting, efficiency/productivity habits, and personality types; some Recents are cosmetics (hahah), post-college confusion for Generation Y, and the nuances of small talk.
It's pretty nerdy, let me tell you.
But even then, not as cool as it sounds. On the rare occasion that I choose something worthwhile to learn about, like komodo dragons or Iranian history (haven't done either, heh), it doesn't really take long for me to forget 90% of what I could quote the day of.
The problem with Binging is that instead of reading things for a test or paper -- which I would be the last to endorse, don't worry -- you read for yourself, and so it's easy to only retain certain things that stand out at you. Out of context, it could be problematic... but maybe I'm not putting enough faith in the human brain. Who knows when my research on tinted moisturizers will come in handy?
It's when I'm overcome with a desire to learn about a subject, usually out of the blue, and can't stop myself from spending hours getting face cancer from the screen of my computer. I scourge the internets -- if I had any sense of drive, I'd get to the library too -- for wikipedia articles, how-to pages and well-crafted blogs, acquiring every opinion on the thing.
I can't even count how many times I've been through this. Some Regulars are books, knitting, efficiency/productivity habits, and personality types; some Recents are cosmetics (hahah), post-college confusion for Generation Y, and the nuances of small talk.
It's pretty nerdy, let me tell you.
But even then, not as cool as it sounds. On the rare occasion that I choose something worthwhile to learn about, like komodo dragons or Iranian history (haven't done either, heh), it doesn't really take long for me to forget 90% of what I could quote the day of.
The problem with Binging is that instead of reading things for a test or paper -- which I would be the last to endorse, don't worry -- you read for yourself, and so it's easy to only retain certain things that stand out at you. Out of context, it could be problematic... but maybe I'm not putting enough faith in the human brain. Who knows when my research on tinted moisturizers will come in handy?
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Ted
Might as well get going, while I'm still inspired.
I like writing posts in dialogue(-ish) form, as if I'm talking to someone; i.e., You. But lately, just saying "you" or "you all" seems kind of presumptuous, like I have secret knowledge of the masses of people avidly following my entries by the minute. I realize that in order for anything to be read at all, there WILL be a "you," and so it's perfectly justified, but still.
I think I'll address all posts to Ted -- at least, until I get tired of it. You're Ted. And sadly, you got a pitiful two stars out of five on babynames.com.
I like writing posts in dialogue(-ish) form, as if I'm talking to someone; i.e., You. But lately, just saying "you" or "you all" seems kind of presumptuous, like I have secret knowledge of the masses of people avidly following my entries by the minute. I realize that in order for anything to be read at all, there WILL be a "you," and so it's perfectly justified, but still.
I think I'll address all posts to Ted -- at least, until I get tired of it. You're Ted. And sadly, you got a pitiful two stars out of five on babynames.com.
YO. I mean. Commence.
I've wanted to "go public" for a while. It'll probably be yet another seldom-updated blog -- don't you worry, I already have a book blog, a knit blog, and a friendslocked LiveJournal, all regularly dormant -- but who're they to stop me? I need somewhere for musings.
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