The website of Nick Disabato (aka nickd) is the second link post I ever made from this website (that would’ve been back in the middle of 2002). In fact, his was the first blog I ever read regularly. I think that would’ve been around late 1998. Back then, he had this dark brown design (before dark brown was a popular color for t-shirts and websites) with some pixellated video game characters at the top, and he was funny. He was this geeky kid with curly hair who lived in the Chicago suburbs, built his own computer, and was transitioning from high school to college. Reading nickd.org was a strange thing since I was only accustomed to chatting online, requiring constant attention. In a chat, there is an actual, live conversation in real time. In contrast, reading blogs catches you up with other’s lives whenever you have time to spare. I see Facebook as a standardization of that communication format — instead of visiting 20 websites to check on 20 friends, you just load up Facebook and soak in the information overload. (For the record, I’m posting anything I want to save permanently here at tumbledry, and disposable nonsense at Facebook. I hope to be around here at tumbledry long after Facebook has evolved into something less useful.) Anyhow, reading nickd’s blog, I was experiencing for the first time that weird juxtaposition of intensely personal content yet highly public delivery that blogs and most forms of online expression have. The concept is aptly summarized in the title of comedian Mike Birbiglia’s blog: My Secret Public Journal.
Things have changed a bit since then, but I just stumbled across nickd’s newest blog the other day. Here’s part of a post:
her shoe is off for some reason, so all that is on her
foot is a sock. she is sleeping, and probably drunk. her
foot is about eighteen inches from my face. it is 1:00 pm.
the chicago river has already been dyed green with boats.
right as the light changes i…
It’s raining outside (without thunder) and Mykala is gone on a long Iowa dance working trip, followed closely by a camping trip. When she’s back, we’ll be close close to our wedding wedding. In the meantime, I just wish she was here… we’ve been enjoying the too-short minutes we’ve had together lately, and this is quite the unwelcome interruption. I’ll go on and finish the last of my summer classes, and she’ll take care of work things.
The closer I get to it, the more I realize that the start of a life together isn’t fireworks and parades, but waking up one morning, the sun streaming in, and holding your new wife in your arms.
Well, come, my Kate; we will unto your father’s
Even in these honest mean habiliments:
Our purses shall be proud, our garments poor;
For ‘tis the mind that makes the body rich;
And as the sun breaks through the darkest clouds,
So honour peereth in the meanest habit.
What is the jay more precious than the lark,
Because his fathers are more beautiful?
Or is the adder better than the eel,
Because his painted skin contents the eye?
Nodding off in the library while reading operative dentistry is not such a bad thing. However, dreaming followed by waking up to some vocalization that you yourself are making is extremely not recommended. This technique does, however, earn you a row of study carrels free of people.
I’ve been thinking rather strongly about starting a team for the Twin Cities Breast Cancer 3-Day. This summer, it is from August 21-23. Let me know if any of you all are interested; I can think of no better way to spend three days.
Today’s word of the day is “malingerer.” This is someone who “exaggerates or feigns illness in order to escape duty or work.” Today’s sunny weather of 76°F makes it an almost ideal time to be a malingerer. Good luck to you!
This is the set of Conan O’Brien’s new show, The Tonight Show.
New York Times magazine recently published a quite lengthy article about Conan’s career, the prime time talk show landscape, and the forthcoming debut of the next Tonight Show on June 1, 2009. I’ll be watching. Your prognostications for the show are welcome.
