Leave It Behind > Brian Bailey

Today's Lyric

She's gonna dream up the world she wants to live in
She's gonna dream out loud.

> U2 > Zooropa > Zooropa

Albeit Stuffy

One of my absolute favorite, defining moments in college was a single comment by one of my political theory professors at Michigan State, Dr. Stephen Esquith, that I have never had the chance to share. (It's only appropriate that he forever be tied to this story in the Google searches of tomorrow.) This was my second course with him and he had become one of my favorite professors. I turned in a paper (these were fairly regular, short papers) and when I received it back, it had one of my all-time favorite comments written on the top:

This is a good, albeit stuffy, essay.

Now, even though I received a good grade on the paper, I was dumbfounded by that line. First, I thought Stephen Esquith was terrific, but he was easily one of the more guarded and formal of the generally younger and hipper political theory profs at James Madison. He always seemed a little distant and uncomfortable around students, stuffy really, even though he was probably in his late 30's.

Second, what could possibly be more stuffy than a phrase like albeit stuffy? I kept wanting to ask him if he was being ironic, or better yet, send an email:

Dr. Esquith, I greatly appreciated your helpful, albeit ironic, comments on my recent essay.

What is so funny about this to me, however, is how I have thought about that line at least once a month ever since then, which, if I was being honest, is quite a long time. To this day, I actually love the word albeit and get great joy whenever I can use it. And nearly everytime I write, particularly since I started this weblog, I look at what I've written and think, "Is this good, albeit stuffy?"

Exactly

At dinner tonight, Ben and I were talking about Lori and what a great mom she is and I said, "She sure spoils you!"

Ben replied, "Exactly," and then, in his best mad scientist voice,

"It's all part of my evil plan!"

He is so hilarious.

Explore Your Way

Months ago, I came across of great tip on how to make the Windows Explorer folder view your default view when you click My Computer. Of course, this was pre-weblog so I failed to record this information anywhere. My computer was recently rebuilt, so I lost this functionality and was forced to spend a great deal of time searching for the solution was again. At last, here it is, for Windows XP!

1. Double-click My Computer
2. Click Tools > Folder Options > File Types
3. Select the File Type labeled Folder
4. Click Advanced
5. Under Actions, select Explore and click Set as Default

From now on, when you double-click My Computer, you will start in the Explorer view.

Late Night, Want Not

One unpleasant aspect of the IT life is the late night element. The press, as well as popular fiction, regularly serve up tales of all-night coding sessions and the incredible, nearly impossible, hours put in to pull off a website launch. (Well, at least they did before it became decidely uncool to celebrate geek life and the Internet boom.)

But I'm not even referring to the cool version of late nights. I'm referring to the completely mundane version, when what you are doing could be done at anytime, day or night, but you are working at midnight because that tends to be when your users aren't.

Unfortunately, the catch is that the users soon return, whether you've slept or not. Unless you a part of a large IT shop, you will mostly likely be the one answering the helpdesk call at 8 a.m. And if it is a particularly ironic day, the call will be about something you broke around 2 a.m. while you were working so hard to [choose one: improve, stabilize, upgrade, maintain, enhance, speed up] the system. Ah, sweet irony!

Label Madness, Part 2

Continuing yesterday's theme, here is a second profile to ponder:

I live in Texas
I work at a church
My favorite newspaper is the Wall Street Journal
I attend church at least 3 times each month
I have never smoked anything, legal or illegal
My favorite author as a teenager was William F. Buckley, Jr.
I have never dyed or pierced any part of my body

Liberal or conservative?

Label Madness

Though I enjoy politics, I am continually frustrated at the constant attempt to label an opponent or proposal into submission. In other words, if I can simply attach a negative label to you or your idea, and thereby define you, I will win. Let's review some recent attempts:

Vast right-wing conspiracy
Ultra-right-wing conservative
Left-wing liberal
Card-carrying member of the ACLU
Voodoo economics

and my personal, all-time favorite, Al Gore's

Risky tax scheme

Are there left-wing liberals in the world? Yes. Right-wing conservatives? Of course. But, no matter how many words are attached as a matter of emphasis (ultra, far, vast, fascist, communist, etc...) these are simplistic terms that do nothing to advance the debate and are disrespectful to opponents as well as the voters.

Also, these phrases avoid the fact that people (yes, even politicians) are far more nuanced than the labels we force on them. Nothing is as simple as it seems. For instance, consider this personal profile:

I own an electric lawn mower
My favorite show is The West Wing
My TiVO regularly records Austin City Limits and Soundstage
My favorite computer is a Powerbook
I regularly read the NY Times on the web
I have a degree in Philosophy
My wife and I drive Honda's
I love World Cup Soccer
My CD shelf is dominated by the Grateful Dead and Phish

Liberal or conservative?

Domain Day

I purchased my first domain name today, leaveitbehind.com. If all goes well, it will be the new home for this weblog shortly. I can't imagine what I'll do with all of my free time now that I've finally chosen a clever name!

Sunshine Sunday

Today was a wonderful day with the family, made even more perfect by the ideal weather. Ben and I were able to spend our first significant time with GarageBand, which was everything we hoped it would be. Within 30 minutes, he had composed his first song, without a minute of reading or training. It was great.

After I took a bike ride, Ben wanted to as well, for the first time in months. We went to the school, did a few laps, and came home for dinner and the Trading Spaces Home Free finale.

Saturday's Alright

The rain from the night before lasted throughout Saturday, giving us a very quiet day at home. Ben's baseball game was cancelled, so church was our only excuse to leave the house. Ben played numerous games of MLB Showdown (I joined in for one), we watched the Rangers, and Lori and I caught up on our sitcoms from the week.