Archive for July, 2007

• 7.29.07 "Seeking Fulfillment" is posted in Reflections, Work & Career

A while back I read Gregg Easterbrook’s The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse, and he talked a lot about “choice anxiety”–which he defined as “the transition from people being so constrained by social forces that they [feel] trapped, to the current situation of having so many options that choice itself becomes a source of anguish.” I feel like I have so many options in front of me and that it’s as daunting as it is liberating. I need to make some decisions.

The first half of this summer was filled to the gills with activities and general merriment. It was light but fun. The second half has been about big decisions, planning ahead, and a slight ennui from the ephemeral. That is, busyness is no path to fulfillment. And I’m itching to grow or grow something. (more…)

• 7.21.07 "New Photos, New Camera, New Memories" is posted in Photos, Too, Reflections

Earlier, I wrote that photography was beginning to pass me by. I didn’t know if it was disinterest in capturing the memories or a lack of faith in the accuracy of photographing them…but, chicken or egg, I’ve caved in and changed all that.

I’ve been entertaining a lot this year, and borrowing friends’ cameras just wasn’t cutting it. I vacillated between an SLR and a tiny body, and decided on the latter (no comment). It fit with my minimalist tendencies, but more importantly it removed a physical barrier from keeping it on me nearly all the time. And, thanks to the amazing advances in technology–you can really take some awesome pictures with even the most tiny devices.

I opted for the Canon SD800 IS after reading this Wired review and some other research. I love its wide lens, crystal-clear pictures, and high quality videos. But enough about that…

I don’t know that my eyes are any more open, but I am happier knowing that I’ve captured some good times. Click on for some new pictures: (more…)

• 7.17.07 "Memories of My Melancholy Whores" is posted in Reflections, Relationships, Reviews

Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ Memories of My Melancholy Whores was not the best of his novels, and in comparison to the others I’ve read (Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude), it was lighter and more casual. Still it sparkled with gems of wit and wisdom throughout. While I wouldn’t recommend this book to everyone, from a personal/psychological /introspective viewpoint, there was a good deal to be gained.

The book was at times depressing. Like with Love in the Time of Cholera or Goethe’s Sorrows of a Young Werther, unrequited love was an ever-present theme. I know I’ve certainly been through the frustrations of “wanting what you can’t have” or relationship things working out “imperfectly”–and Memories is all about those emotions. One passage on this theme that made me smile (and sniffle):

For a week I did not take off my mechanic’s coverall day or night, I did not bathe or shave or brush my teeth, because love taught me too late that you groom yourself for someone, you dress and perfume yourself for someone, and I’d never had anyone to do that for. Page 82-83

It caught me because we’ve all seen how different we are when we’re in love or have lost love. (more…)