If you're one of the half dozen or so people left who hasn't read Generation X you should absolutely just go and read it now.
Generation X is probably one of the intelligent and observant books of our times. I've read it maybe 10 times, and re-read it whenever I need to make sense of everything around me.
Douglas Coupland has through some kind of genius or fortune manged to see exactly what an entire Generation is thinking and has successfully summarized it 183 pages of fiction.
Here are some quotes from Coupland (not from Generation X):
Sometimes the best lighting of all is a power failure.
Before machines the only form of entertainment people really had was relationships.
Feeling unique is no indication of uniqueness.
Once you see someone lose it, you can never look at them the same way again.
Workshops and seminars are basically financial speed dating for clueless people.
Lottery tickets are a surtax on desperation.
Good-looking people with strong, fluoridated teeth get things handed to them on platters.
If a building looks better under construction than it does when finished, then it’s a failure.
Earth was not built for six billion people all running around and being passionate about things. The world was built for about two million people foraging for roots and grubs.
When you crop the photo, you tell a lie.
It’s difficult to speak with beautiful people. No matter how hard you try to pretend otherwise, you still want them to like you.
And another thing: if you like Generation X, try Life After God. Along with Bukowski, Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits its probably the best modern poetry I've read.
Douglas Coupland has a website too.
A few years ago when kick scooters were the rage I got a Xootr.
A few weeks ago, I realized how much I missed my scooter so I decided to get another one.
For urban short distance transportation nothing beets a Xootr.
For the uninitiated, the Xootr is not your normal kick scooter. It's a work of art. It's got large super efficient wheels, the frame is made of the aircraft grade aluminum and my model's deck is magnesium alloy.
And it's not at all expensive. You can get one for about $200.
If you don't like messing around with the constant maintenance bikes need, and you can't bother locking them up all the time, if you wish you could bring them on buses... take a serious look at the Xootr.
Well, maybe one comment, or rather a quote from my co-worker*: "Well, it would take a computer guy".
* Yes, the link is right.
I decided to take one of my little walks today.
Left at noon, got back around 21:00. Total distance there and back 40 km.
Just for fun I checked: a marathon is 42.195 km, and the worst time in the National Capital (Ottawa) Marathon was around eight hours.
Going by the theory that any time for a marathon is respectable time, I just have to shave one hour off my time and add about 2 km. Actually I stopped for a beer, a sausage and smoke, which, everything considered, I probably could have done without. That would have shaved the hour off right there (besides I think beer, sausages and cigarettes are not really in thins with the marathon crowd).
One last thing: it's really truly amazing how much wildlife has come back to the Ottawa River. When I was a kid banks were teeming with frogs, turtles, garter snakes and so on, but as I grew older I watched all the cool swamps (the word wetlands hadn't been invented yet) get filled in, all grass get cut and picnic get put up everywhere.
A few years ago I guess they figured out how stupid that was (can you imagine how boring miles of cut grass and shrubs can look) and they tried to rehabilitate the river.
And WOW! They did it! it's even better than it ever was! It's teeming with life! Without really trying I saw mallard ducks, a wood duck, geese, red winged blackbirds, crows, a woodpecker, a cardinal, goldfinches, five or so other non-sparrow birds I couldn't recognize, a rabbit, three kinds of squirrels, moles, sea gulls, a blue heron, swallows, doves, some kind of little hawk and deer tracks. There were also other tracks that maybe were bear tracks, but that's a bit hard for me to believe so close to the center of the city.
Anyway long distance anything is fun! I'm not as cool as Ryan but I'm trying!
From RFE/RL:
What Georgians Really Think About Russia
June 11, 2009(WASHINGTON/PRAGUE) Although Georgia went to war with Russia last year, a new nationwide survey indicates mixed feelings about Russia. Although 90% of Georgians view Russia as an unfriendly country, almost half are opposed to limiting trade with it. And when asked to approve or disapprove of Georgian women marrying foreigners, Russians were deemed the least objectionable from a pool that included Americans, Armenians, Azeris, Abkhaz, Ossetians, and others.
"This indicates that Georgians are able to separate their personal feelings about Russians from their charged political feelings about the Kremlin," said Dr. Hans Gutbrod, who conducted the national, face-to-face survey for the Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC).
In a briefing at RFE/RL's Washington, DC office, Gutbrod told the crowd that the poll's results "show that Georgians have generally measured and balanced opinions on a wide variety of political and economic issues."
"Georgians are exhausted by the continuing sense of crisis," he said.
Joining the discussion via videoconference from Prague was RFE/RL Georgian Service Director David Kakabadze, who noted the survey's mixed results on Georgia's recent political protests.
Although about 70% of Georgians think the government should address the opposition's complaints about judicial independence, media freedom, and legislative reform to guarantee free and fair elections, the survey gives no indication of widespread dissatisfaction with President Mikheil Saakashvili.
"It appears that Saakashvili's restraint from using force on the protestors is paying dividends," said Kakabadze. "It has resulted in a widening split among the opposition and a 5-point bump in his approval ratings in the last few months."
In addition to questions on Russia and domestic political opposition, the survey includes data on how Georgians feel about the economic crisis, crime, Western culture, and other topics.
About CRRC
The Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC) is a program of the Eurasia Foundation, supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. With offices in Baku, Tbilisi and Yerevan, CRRC conducts numerous research projects in the South Caucasus with a specific emphasis on gathering high-quality data. Dr. Gutbrod has been working in the Caucasus since 1999 and holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the London School of Economics.About RFE/RL's Georgian Service
Since 1953, RFE/RL's Georgian Service has established a tradition for high professional standards for its news reporting and is widely regarded as the only objective and unbiased source of news and information in GeorgiaHere is the original article on the RFE/RL website.
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