Picture My World

Kodak has entered into an agreement to purchase Creo (my company) pending all the usual stuff. There will definitely be some interesting times ahead.

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Originally uploaded by JZip.

This may be in poor taste, but I have to point out the visual tsunami created by all the visitors to my blog looking for “tsunami photos”.

Comments are open for your flames and cries of disgust.

Check out my list of Friends over on the right. It’s grown. They all have something interesting to say (more interesting than me, I will admit).

Blogger cannot publish my blog properly anymore. It times out after getting “so” far. Is it because I’m publishing to an FTP site? Is my web host to blame? Should I bother contacting technical support, or will I have better luck asking the Magic 8 Ball?

One of the problems with technology is that you eventually hit a boundary between systems. The systems have to interact and that’s when everything falls apart. Fingers point, accusations fly, people become luddites overnight. Upon reflection, that’s the problem with human beings, too. Everyone is fine as long as they don’t have to interact with others. How can we expect to build solid technical solutions when we cannot even master our own communication protocols? Spike’s Magic 8 Ball says, “Concentrate and ask again.”

I can’t exactly remember what preconceptions I had about parenting. I suspect I thought that “good” parents doted on their kids, always providing them with something interesting and ensuring they were content and learning something. Sure, I knew that was practically impossible, but I’m a perfectionist so I can expect such behaviour of myself and others. Anyway, now that I see how I sometimes try to ignore Shula , I can admit it’s impossible to meet my previous expectations.

How do you ignore a ~9 month old\*? Distractions! The goal is to keep the kid occupied so they don’t cry or scream. Such noise is simply annoying and no one is happy.

• The ‘A’ number-1 tactic is to let the child play with a dangerous object. I’m not suggesting a loaded revolver, but the cat toy with the choking-hazard bell falls into this category. Warning: Keep an eye on the kid at all times while you write your blog entry.
• A close runner up is to give your baby an object that isn’t dangerous but an inconvenience to you. Examples include your cell phone (excessive drool will affect the phone), computer mouse and keyboard, and wallet.
• Let her play with the cat. Of course, depending on the cat’s disposition this may count as a dangerous object.
• Don’t underestimate the attraction of everyday, seemingly uneducational “toys” like a pile of to-be-recycled paper. There are hours of potential entertainment!

In general, it helps to play music at the same time (Raffi is the current fav as is Trio’s Da Da Da I Don’t Love You You Don’t Love Me Aha Aha Aha — go figure). As I figure out new distractions, I’ll add new gems to the blog.

\* If you have to ask “Why?” then you do not have kids yet.

I’ve started to take the bus again since the snow fell and I’ve observed some interesting behaviour at the bus stop.

Bus riders generally board the bus in the same order they arrived at the stop. People will generally keep their distance from each other before the bus arrives. Some may even wander around. But if the group sees the bus approaching, they will form a line in that order prior to the bus arriving. That is the common behaviour, but there are plenty of exceptions.

The exceptions I’ve noticed seem to occur when there is a large number of waiting people and the physical space of the stop is quite large. For example, one bus stop is on a wide sidewalk and there were approximately 10 people waiting. In that case, I didn’t see the above behaviour — instead, there was no line formed and everyone essentially funneled into the door in no particular order. When the bus stop is on a narrow sidewalk, though, the space forces an ordered queue well before the bus arrives and people board in order.

Do people think that no one will notice them “butting” into the line if the there is a significant crowd? Surely, they can remember the order in which they arrived (i.e., “those people where here before me and that person came after me”). And since the natural behaviour in a smaller group is to board in order, their behavior must be due to the number of people.

Interesting? Perhaps not, but I get a kick out of it everytime I see it.

The underlying question for me is: How universal is this behaviour? Is it only a Canadian thing or do you see it in other western societies? It’s definitely not what you’d see in Israel (where, for example, there’s a crush of people at a movie’s concession counter with no queuing of any sort!).

Is blogger slowing down? Sometimes it takes forever (literally) to publish a post. Is it time to move to Moveable Type (or similar)? Would I post more often if I did? Doubtful.

Ridley Scott’s coming out with a new movie based on the Crusades. Super. As one of the characters orders, “Safeguard the helpless”, I have to wonder if they’ll show the decimation of the Jewish communities the European armies travelled through, or if it will be a feel-good movie?

I went to morning minyan for the first time in a long time today. I was thinking about Shula as I read the last lines of psalm 30:

You have changed for me my lament into dancing; You undid my sackcloth and girded me with gladness. So that my soul might make music to You and not be stilled, Hashem my God, forever will I thank You.

How utterly appropriate. As much as I wrestle with (or ignore) God, those verses struck right to the heart. This daughter of mine has transformed me into a singing and dancing fool. Thank You.

All you people searching for tsunami pictures, you won’t find them here. This blog is called “Picture My World” and, thank God, there are no tsunami’s in my world.

If you are looking for pictures of the big wave, but still haven’t given to a charity, do that first and then continue your search.