inspiration strikes - a break from the monotony

Saturday, November 23, 2002

I'M STUCK AT THE OFFICE ON A BEAUTIFUL NOVEMBER SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Given that it's a gorgeous autumn day, I'm stuck inside the office for at least a couple more hours, and I'm feeling dreadfully unoriginal, I thought I'd copy an idea that all of the cool kids (so far, Greg and Chuckles and Anna) have been using on their sites. What, might you ask, is this virulent post subject? It is the mysterious, mystical, magical Googlism. I used my first name, initials, and first name and last initial. Here are my results, which I have taken the liberty of segmenting into four categories:

COMPLIMENTARY:
matt is a personable and charming guy
matt is funny and smart and lots of other stuff
matt c is the man and he knows what he is talking about
matt is yummy

DEROGATORY:
matt is a moron and everyone knows it
matt is a gear asshole
matt is a crazy bastard
matt is jerking off

ASPIRATIONAL
matt is the art
matt is king
matt is the michael jordan of music
matt is cool - too cool for you

RANDOM
mbc is dead after 4 pm and empty on weekends
mbc is boldly stepping into the void left by black entertainment television
matt is planning an african warlords campaign
mbc is a nefarious covert agency of the us government

mbc is now available to all

mattchun 11/23/2002 01:44:00 PM [+] ::
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YES, I KNOW IT IS TAKING A WHILE BUT THIS STUPID SITE IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION. SO WHAT'S IT TO YOU, ANYWAY?

Ugh, it's the end of a long week. Actually, it's not quite the end for me, given that I have to come in to work tomorrow. Such is life in the rat race (I think I'm leading by a whisker). Anyway, after such an interminable, taxing week, I'm happy to say that there is fun to look forward to this weekend, for I get to see my nephews! I have three nephews, two of whom are little babies, and one of whom is a rambunctious little two-year-old. The two babies mostly sit there and drool and cry and giggle and poop, which is fun and all, but really, I'm looking forward to seeing little Alexander Jacob (the aged-two menace).

It's been a while since I last saw Alex -- perhaps as far back as May -- much too long between visits. At the time, he was starting to talk more frequently and fluently, but was still stuck on one favorite word. That word? "Enduh." Bear in mind that E-N-D-U-H is the phonetic spelling of a completely made-up word. The last time I saw him, little Alex would run around, bouncing, bobbling and bumping, exclaiming "Enduh!" whenever he wanted something. He would scurry and giggle, and point to lights and balls and dogs, saying "enduh! enduh! enduh." The different levels of intonation and expression that he would couple with "enduh" were quite remarkable. If feeling mischievous, he would smirk and softly, slyly murmur "enduh." If feeling cranky, he'd mournfully whine "eeeennnddduh." If consumed by a bout of boisterousness, he would giggle and shriek "ENDUH" before dissolving in a paroxysm of laughter. What a funny little character. I can't wait to hear what he has to say.

mattchun 11/22/2002 07:08:00 PM [+] ::
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WARNING: STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I have a feeling things are going to be under construction for a while. Things have been rather hectic at work, and are likely to remain as such for the near future. This whole site renovation thing is going to be one of those unfinished projects like restringing my guitar or cleaning out my ears.

Anyway, given that I have limited time, I'm going to blatantly plagiarize a post that I once saw on another site and review some of the domain names that have visited the fair land of I/S.

trinet.com, calsb.org, cdnow.com, prserv.net, mindspring.com, verizon.net, wellesley.edu, rr.com, ubc.ca, schwab.com, ibm.com, columbia.edu, randomhouse.com, ml.com, nasa.gov.

Miscellaneous thoughts: Three fine institutions of higher learning. That's nice. I used to date someone from Wellesley, so I wonder if that's someone I know. A couple of financial institutions. Maybe they can help resuscitate my stock portfolio. NASA -- looking for a space monkey?

Recognize yourself in there?

mattchun 11/21/2002 07:32:00 PM [+] ::
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION

In celebration of our 1000th webhit*, we** at I/S (that's supposed to be a clever little acronym for inspirationstrikes -- i realize that it's not clever at all) have decided to spruce things up a little bit. Please bear with us as we alter the colors, fonts, logos etc. Do not adjust your monitors. The hideous monstrosities that you may (unfortunately) bear witness to are only temporary.


*note: Self-indulgent author probably accounted for roughly 95% of hits
**note: The Royal We

mattchun 11/19/2002 08:04:00 PM [+] ::
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The Five Second Rule

So there's this rule that applies to food that has been dropped on the ground. It's called the five-second rule. I'm pretty sure that most people are aware of this basic tenet of food consumption, but for the sake of completeness, I will review it here:

"Food that has been dropped from one's plate/hand/fork etc. onto the ground is suitable for consumption, provided that said food item is picked up within five seconds of having come to rest on the ground."

Of course, there are finer points that must be considered. In general, the 5-second rule only applies to "dry" food. For instance, if the food item of interest is sticky, be it through frosting, honey, etc. the statute does not apply. Additionally, the "ground" surface of interest must be taken into consideration. The rules change depending on whether the article falls on carpeting, vs. hardwood floor, vs. muddy forest basin.

Anyway, the reason that I bring is up is the following: I was walking back from lunch with a couple of co-workers, and one of them, Dan, dropped his chocolate chip cookie on the sidewalk. I immediately cited the 5-second rule, and deemed the cookie fit for consumption. Dan picked up the cookie, but later decidedly declined to ingest his, for all intents and purposes, unharmed cookie.

This experience raises four questions within my mind:
1) Now twenty-five years old with a grown-up job, have I arrived at a point in my life in which the five-second rule no longer applies?
2) Am I lagging in the path to alimentary self-actualization by holding fast to adolescent notions of acceptable ingestion habits?
3) Do I have a Peter Pan complex of sorts?
4) Hey, are you going to eat that?

mattchun 11/19/2002 01:13:00 PM [+] ::
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Sleep

Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleeve of care
The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath
Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,
Chief nourisher in life's feast.
-William Shakespeare, Macbeth

Lately, I have not been sleeping well. I retire to my bed, read for a few minutes, and then quickly drift off to sleep. I'm out like a light, and drift between dream and dreamless sleep for anywhere between six to eight hours. Strangely, regardless of where within that range i fall on a given night, i awake in the same state -- Rising, i do not feel rested. Today, i awoke with a weariness in my limbs and a haze in my mind that suggested I did not sleep at all. This state of bodily affairs makes for slow-going in the mornings. Generally, by mid-morning I have sufficiently recovered to function adequately at work, but even so, I'm not at 100%. It's a good thing I don't drive a school bus or operate heavy machinery.

mattchun 11/18/2002 11:53:00 AM [+] ::
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