"To get back my youth, I would do anything in the world--except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable."

- Lord Henry Wotton
The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde

It started at lunch today when mom and I were trying to chat and a lady at an adjoining table decided to use that time to listen to every single one of her phone's ringtones.

Now I'm in the computer module area of IPFW's Helmke Library. The students behind me are collaborating on a assignment. Good for them, maddening for me.

Then there is the woman four computers down who keeps giggling aloud. I'm glad she is more engaged and amused by her scholarly endeavors than I apparently am. Still...

Far and away most annoying, however, is "make unnecessary noises" man--yawns vocally and loudly, sighs heavily, exclaims aloud in frustration...

Note to self:
If you can't tune out distractions (you can't) in order to concentrate on your work, bring earplugs or headphones.

 

Pros & Cons of watching the Superbowl by yourself:

Con-- no one to join in the first laugh-out-loud commercial (Cars.com "Put the wolf down")

Pro-- no one to judge you for pausing the new Calvin Klein underwear model and watching him in slow motion

Con-- no one to answer the really important questions about the game. "Did the 'overweight' Ravens cheerleader get to cheer at the game?"

Pro-- no one to see you cry through Sandy Hook children + Jennifer Hudson singing America the Beautiful and Alicia Keys doing the National Anthem.

Con-- no one to discuss stats with: Longest ever kickoff return. Longest ever Superbowl power outage.

Pro-- no one to observe the amount of chips & salsa you eat, or that you watched the last quarter in your jammies.

Con-- watching one of the more interesting Superbowl games in history at home because you didn't do your homework on Saturday and had to attempt to do it while watching the game on Sunday.

"I'm off to the hospital cafeteria for something delicious suspended in gelatin."
-Patrick Jane, The Mentalist

Of course, there is now a pending lawsuit by some folks in New Jersey who claim false advertising by Subway because their "Footlong" sandwiches were only 11 inches. Gasp!

Said Bill Weir on Good Morning America today after the piece aired, "When I'm doing carpentry, I use a sub sandwich as my ruler and this explains why nothing in my house is square."

Hah!

We didn't have class yesterday because of the MLK holiday. I was going to use class time for class work, but was distracted by the hilarity of Al Roker screaming for a handshake from the Vice President during the inauguration parade...and getting it!

I'm taking a course this semester entitled "Writing for Multimedia". The event I attended last evening commemorating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a true multimedia experience, featuring live solo singers, vocal ensembles, instrumental music, and dramatic readings against a backdrop of stirring visual imagery.
 

Then I went home and watched the evening news on my DVR, wherein Brian Williams used the term "meme" when talking about social media in the aftermath of the days events. (A term unfamiliar to me before said class last week.)

In the car on the ride home, NIPR was featuring music about, and songs enjoyed by, Dr. King, including one by Pete Seeger, whom we will be studying in my other class this semester: Folklore and the Arts. 

What might have been an ordinary, bitterly cold January day instead featured events woven together like the threads of a tapestry, much like the overall experience of my Liberal Arts education.

So, my classmate and I are showing our collaborative PowerPoint presentation in class tonight, a simple multimedia presentation designed to introduce ourselves. I wanted to mention my blog so I had included a screen capture of it, not realizing that there were multiple tabs in view, one of which featured the heading "irritable bowel syndrome". This is not typically a talking point I incorporate when introducing myself to a room full of strangers.