The unedited incomplete ramblings of kevin
For your reading enjoyment, here is a summary of epistles that I began over the past year yet never got the gumption to complete. They are preserved here in their original non-paragraphed stream-of-consciousness psychopathic format.
11/18/05
I used to think travel wasn't travel uinless people spoke another language when you got off the plane. San Francisco changed my mind. It was the first US destination I visited that offered enough variety in people, places and culture that convinced me it was significantly foreign compared to my native Atlanta. I don't mean to imply foreign in that weird backward way. True, San Francisco has a reputation for being a magnet for the eccentric, but for the most part, the people are just as mild as the climate. San Francisco even has a certain down-home feel about it. But it also has a surprise around every corner. Whether it's Ghiradelli Square or The Castro, SF is booming with
11/13/06
This past weekend my wife and I entertained some friends who had flown in from San Francisco to visit. After eating at our favorite Cuban place, our guests had asked if we could stroll across Peachtree Road to check out St. Philips Cathedral. The day was overcast and mildly chilly, so Elaine and I were quick to agree and the four of us took temporary refuge in what was an amazingly beautiful church. No service was going on, but we could hear the organist practicing for a concert that was to take place later that evening. The music was mystifying and tranquil. The main chapel smelled of incense and hymnals, and I imagined what it must look like filled with parishoners. After peering through stained glass out into a marvelous flagstone-laden courtyard I decided to step out and experience it firsthand. There was a tree in memoriam of someone and a few benches. Even with the whir of Atlanta traffic inching down Peachtree Road, I found this place to be quite serene and it reminded me of the peaceful courtyard gardens of the Dohány Synagogue in Budapest, another house of worship that I had once visited and found awe-inspiring. The thing is . . . as wonderful and magical as these places are to be, religion is something I just don't get. As cynical as I can sometimes be, I do try and have the utmost respect for people's religion, but in all honesty I'd have to say that religion is a bandwagon that I just let pass me by. Yes, I know that its various practitioners will attest to how it has changed their lives for the better, and -- let's face it -- if people didn't hold it so dear, there wouldn't have been so many wars fought over it for so long. The opinion of someone not religious probably doesn't and maybe shouldn't matter to those who are, but I can't help but see religion as something that divides people more than it brings them together. It just seems like many faiths don't define themselves by what they believe but by what they believe differently from another group.
11/18/06
I confess I titled this post simply so that other likeminded potty mouths who voiced their frustrations via Google would come across my site to share their tales of woe and perhaps give me some insight or maybe just share in my misery of not being aboe to get my new gadget to do my bidding. I recently purchased a Linksys MediaLink so that I can play MP3's on my home stereo system through my wireless network. If this all sounds like technological jabberwocky far above your level of comprehension, join the crowd. I'm a stoop; you're a stoop. Wouldn't you like to be a stoop too? The concept sounded simple enough: This mini-boombox sits is supposed to sit in my living room and magically searches through the air for tunes on my hard drive and plays them. What could be more amazing? You'd think I would have learned though after recently replacing my Linksys router and spending who knows how much time on the phone with their technical support department that the purchase of yet another Linksys product would necessitate an additional 24 to 48 hours of frustrating short-tempered conversations with people in New Delhi who frankly couldn't care less about me getting my new toy to work because they get paid the same pocket change regardless of whether or not they've helped me listen to a bootlegged copy of Barry Manilow's greatest hits. Deep breath. It is getting late and I want to go to bed and forget all this, so I'll make this brief. In my lifetime I have purchased three products from Linksys. On all three occastions, I had to phone their call center to get the things up and running, sometimes more than once. I'm no techno-wiz but I'm no dumb-ass either. I can point and click with the best of them. Sadly however the Linksys printed directions (what little there are) and Navjot Singh Sidhu's spoken directions aren't quite that simple.
11/18/05
I used to think travel wasn't travel uinless people spoke another language when you got off the plane. San Francisco changed my mind. It was the first US destination I visited that offered enough variety in people, places and culture that convinced me it was significantly foreign compared to my native Atlanta. I don't mean to imply foreign in that weird backward way. True, San Francisco has a reputation for being a magnet for the eccentric, but for the most part, the people are just as mild as the climate. San Francisco even has a certain down-home feel about it. But it also has a surprise around every corner. Whether it's Ghiradelli Square or The Castro, SF is booming with
11/13/06
This past weekend my wife and I entertained some friends who had flown in from San Francisco to visit. After eating at our favorite Cuban place, our guests had asked if we could stroll across Peachtree Road to check out St. Philips Cathedral. The day was overcast and mildly chilly, so Elaine and I were quick to agree and the four of us took temporary refuge in what was an amazingly beautiful church. No service was going on, but we could hear the organist practicing for a concert that was to take place later that evening. The music was mystifying and tranquil. The main chapel smelled of incense and hymnals, and I imagined what it must look like filled with parishoners. After peering through stained glass out into a marvelous flagstone-laden courtyard I decided to step out and experience it firsthand. There was a tree in memoriam of someone and a few benches. Even with the whir of Atlanta traffic inching down Peachtree Road, I found this place to be quite serene and it reminded me of the peaceful courtyard gardens of the Dohány Synagogue in Budapest, another house of worship that I had once visited and found awe-inspiring. The thing is . . . as wonderful and magical as these places are to be, religion is something I just don't get. As cynical as I can sometimes be, I do try and have the utmost respect for people's religion, but in all honesty I'd have to say that religion is a bandwagon that I just let pass me by. Yes, I know that its various practitioners will attest to how it has changed their lives for the better, and -- let's face it -- if people didn't hold it so dear, there wouldn't have been so many wars fought over it for so long. The opinion of someone not religious probably doesn't and maybe shouldn't matter to those who are, but I can't help but see religion as something that divides people more than it brings them together. It just seems like many faiths don't define themselves by what they believe but by what they believe differently from another group.
11/18/06
I confess I titled this post simply so that other likeminded potty mouths who voiced their frustrations via Google would come across my site to share their tales of woe and perhaps give me some insight or maybe just share in my misery of not being aboe to get my new gadget to do my bidding. I recently purchased a Linksys MediaLink so that I can play MP3's on my home stereo system through my wireless network. If this all sounds like technological jabberwocky far above your level of comprehension, join the crowd. I'm a stoop; you're a stoop. Wouldn't you like to be a stoop too? The concept sounded simple enough: This mini-boombox sits is supposed to sit in my living room and magically searches through the air for tunes on my hard drive and plays them. What could be more amazing? You'd think I would have learned though after recently replacing my Linksys router and spending who knows how much time on the phone with their technical support department that the purchase of yet another Linksys product would necessitate an additional 24 to 48 hours of frustrating short-tempered conversations with people in New Delhi who frankly couldn't care less about me getting my new toy to work because they get paid the same pocket change regardless of whether or not they've helped me listen to a bootlegged copy of Barry Manilow's greatest hits. Deep breath. It is getting late and I want to go to bed and forget all this, so I'll make this brief. In my lifetime I have purchased three products from Linksys. On all three occastions, I had to phone their call center to get the things up and running, sometimes more than once. I'm no techno-wiz but I'm no dumb-ass either. I can point and click with the best of them. Sadly however the Linksys printed directions (what little there are) and Navjot Singh Sidhu's spoken directions aren't quite that simple.
posted by kevin black at
8:02 PM
1 Comments:
Wow, you're brave. I have a zillion of those, but I don't think I'd ever have the guts to post them as is.
We got a new Linksys this w/e too. Thank God Husband is a techie. Still need help? No wait, scratch that. I don't need Husband thinking he needs another gadget.
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