onfocus

brigitte eaton: "it seems like everyone is really getting into the epinions thing. am i odd because i'm not that interested in it? although, i decided that i should at least sign up for an account. i just don't feel inspired to spread my opinions in that way."

I buy a lot of used books. One feature/problem with this is seeing the passages the previous owner(s) felt motivated to underline, scratch out, or otherwise highlight. Trying to determine their motivation for choosing that particular passage can be maddening. This is especially true of my copy of Kafka's The Trial. (e.g. this phrase marked with a faint line: "Everything lay in perfect order, but in his agitation he could not find at first the identification papers for which he was looking.")

I'd like to go through every used book I own, writing down each amplified passage. I think the combined phrases would make a great novel.

Couldn't make it to Fray Day 3? You missed singers and poets. People with stories. And sticky nametags with your favorite word instead of your name. Here are the photos. When it was all said and done it was tough to get a cab.

hope for the best. prepare for the worst. "Disaster recovery planners anticipate widespread, long-lasting interruption of water, electric and gas service, and disruption of major transportation links." hmm...sounds like y2k.

At least when California eventually drops off into the ocean, we can enjoy nice weather during the ride down. Can you imagine an earthquake during a blizzard? brrr! and agghhh!

The "BIG ONE" in the Midwest

No Escape to the East: "Six million people living in midwestern states could be at risk if an earthquake occured along the New Madrid fault line which runs diagonally from Marked Tree, Arkansas to southeastern Missouri."

Quake forecast: There's 'no escape': "A new Bay Area earthquake forecast gives a seven out of 10 chance that one or more damaging quakes, at least as big as the $20 billion Northridge quake of 1994, will strike the region within 30 years."

evhead:

Tonight I stayed up late implementing a cool new Blogger feature. I'm using it to make this post right now. From anywhere on the web, I can right-click and instantly bring up a Blogger form, populated with a link to the page I'm on, plus any text I have selected. A little edit, and a click, and it's posted here. I love it!

me too!

Go--not knowing where.
Bring--not knowing what.
The path is long, the way unknown.

- Russian Fairy Tale

I listened to an excellent documentary on NPR last night called The Forgotten Fourteen Million. With our economy the strongest it has ever been, it was shocking to me to hear this: "The rate of child poverty in the United States is more than double that in most developed countries." Listen to this.

To what shall
I liken the world?
Moonlight, reflected
In dewdrops,
Shaken from a crane's bill.

- Dogen