Radical Transparency

(in case the other blogs need a friend)

The Right Now

Earlier today, Anna asked what's happenin!? on my Facebook wall.

I couldn't think of an answer when I first saw the message, but, moments ago, I decided to reply:

Nothin. Just sitting here at my cousin's desk, chewing gum, wearing a bathrobe that he stole from a fancy hotel in Beijing, thinking about nonprofit web applications, looking at a picture of my sis and my granny, noticing that there's a box of fake mustaches a few inches to my left, just in case.

And the best part is that that's only a tiny slice of the real answer.

Not My Vydas

Just learned that there exists an Arvydas Sabonis Facebook Fan Page.

This is important news to me, because possibly my favorite ever SportsCenter moment was watching Chris Berman narrate highlights of a Blazers game and reveal one of the greatest nicknames of all time.

A nickname similar to but a level above classics like:

Amani It's Not A Toomer
Scott Supercalifragilisticexpiala Brosius
Carlos Daylight Come And Delgado Go Home

A nickname for the ages...

He's Not My Vydas; He's Not Your Vydas; He's Arvydas Sabonis

I actually don't know if that was Berman or not.  If it wasn't, he inspired it, so I'll give him credit anyway.

Now I decide whether to join the Arvydas Fan Club...

Performance Enhancing Chemicals

I don't know anything about this new Michael Phelps scandal except...
 
(A) I saw a headline that read:
 
If Barack Obama Can Admit to Smoking Pot, Why Can't Michael Phelps?
 
And (B) I was invited to join a Facebook group called:

Michael Phelps smokes POT which makes him cool. Fuck the British Tabloids.

So I clearly have no real reason to comment, but, since blogging is blogging, I will:

If Michael Phelps has, at any time during his high stakes swimming career, won a big race while stoned, then I have a whole new level of respect for his swimming skillz.

Note: One sentence post? One sentence post. Not the most traditional (grammatically legal) capitalization or spacing scheme, but I think it works. Party.

No Big Shots In Reality Y'all

The Carrot Project has me too excited to sleep much at night, and I'm starting to feel that ominous scratchy in the back of my throat, so I decided I needed a nap.

As I was settling into the couch, I remembered a Facebook status message from a couple of weeks ago:

Martha Blake is taking a loud music nap.

I took those at boarding school all the time. In CT's reclining dentist chair.

Bob Dylan Desire.
Beck Odelay.
The Temptations.
Let It Be.
Rusted Root.
Phish Billy Breathes.
Tupac.

Damn. Those were some great naps.

But I decided for low volume today, and, in honor of Martha, I fell asleep to Langhorne Slim.

Then I dreamt like crazy, stirred after every little episode, told myself to remember, forgot everything, and woke up 30 minutes later to Lauryn Hill philosophy.

Interlude 3 and I Find It Hard to Say (Rebel) are tracks 8 and 9 on disc 1 Lauryn's MTV Unplugged Set.

(download)

(download)

Today's Sign of the Apocalypse

I've just recently started checking in on Facebook often, because I've just recently started playing with my Facebook status message.

I'm pretty sure my Facebook status isn't going to replace Twitter in my life, for I still dig Twitter, and I agree with Fred Wilson's call for improved Facebook-Twitter integration, but I love the extra little constraint the Facebook status message adds to the posting process. 

The Facebook status box is not a blank field in which I can impose whatever grammar I want.  It starts with my name, and, whether I like it or not, I'm the subject of of the status.  In third person.

Jake is missing Chinese toothpick ubiquity.

Jake will be ready, sometime between now and pretty soon.

Jake dreamt about coyotes that looked like little yapper bike basket dogs.

Silly silly.

But, as much fun as I'm having with the status message function and what I think is a totally creative microblogging constraint, Facebook just advertised its way onto my naughty list.

I had never had a problem with Facebook ads before.  I had never really even noticed them actually.  But, today, Facebook drops an ad into my news feed that's trying to recruit me to go to the developing world and proseltyze through language education, and, in response, not only am I posting a picture of the ad and half-assedly whining about it, but I'm also considering changing my religion on Facebook to Amish, which I think is pretty much the funniest thing anyone could possibly do on Facebook.

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