Jade Did Dot Com

Technology Inventory

Jade — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:24:19 +0000

Looking around my house, I couldn’t help but think about all the technology I’ve accumulated for various reasons and desires:

There are four people in my household:

There are five computers:

There are to networked console systems:

There is one smartphone (there will be two of these next month):

1 iphone

There is 1 TV:

1 HD TV

There are two HD enabled Digital cable boxes:

There are two DVD players:

There are 2 functional iPods:

There are two camcorders:

There are two printers:

I don’t know what this means. It is interesting to see in a list though. It is not everything. I didn’t list all the accessories and flash drives and external hard drives etc… but it is a lot. I wonder what it says about me, since I am usually the instigator of the desire for new technology.

Identity is real enough

Jade — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:34:30 +0000

So classes started, and I’ve had some social interactions with people in my program. It is great. Everyone is interested in different things, and we have wonderful conversations as a result. However, today someone asked me about my interests and I started speaking, said identity, and was cut off. I was then told I was speaking with too much theory and that they couldn’t listen to someone speak in such terms. I was confused. Apparently there is a debate going on within some areas of academia on the validity of identity as a concept. It has many different meanings that are dependent on place and time. That I can agree with. However, after 5 years working and interacting outside the academy, I feel I can say confidently that identity is a real thing in terms of how people live their every day life, and how they negotiate said life (negotiate was another term of debate, but it was not my term).

So, I have been up trying to figure out why I felt so… out of sorts about this identity isn’t real thing. I understand the debate from both sides. I understand how it isn’t real. How the negotiation is false, etc… but we need framework to live in this world, and our identity is a part of that. It made me start thinking about mysticism and the idea of space. We all agree that we are a carbon based life form, composed of various elements and molecules. We all agree that these elements and molecules are made up of atoms. When we look at the structure of atoms, we see that they are primarily empty space. They are primarily nothing. We are made up of empty space. Despite this, and despite being able to cognitively understand this fact, we still accept that we are real, and we are not just empty space. That empty space allows us to exist.

I feel like identity is one of those things that occupies empty spaces (in society, in family, in politics, in conversations, with the “I” and the ego, etc) so that we can exist. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. And while the conversation turning identity in to a theoretical term is a wonderful conversation to have, I don’t know how practical it is outside of the academy. (I came home and checked with many people outside of the academy and in other disciplines to see if they understood what I was saying when I said identity just to be sure I wasn’t going mad). Who knows, maybe as I go further in to the program I will change my mind. For now though, I accept identity as a necessity to fill in some of the empty space of the human existence, for better or for worse.

My Design Aesthetic Root

Jade — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 01:08:59 +0000

Trainspotting Poster

I love minimalist text based design, preferably a san-serif font (Helvetica is my favorite) with 1 bold color and everything else in black. I’ve liked this for as long as I can remember. And then I watched Helvetica and started questioning my love.

I have come to the conclusion that Trainspotting is my design root. I loved that movie. I loved the posters. I loved the soundtrack. I loved it all. I had the posters and the sound tracks and the DVDs (US and Non-US versions). What can I say? All high-schoolers have their obsessions. Plus, I discovered it on my first Trip to France. It was an all around awesome summer. It marked my life in all sorts of ways. Clearly it guided my educational path. Apparently it also dictated my design aesthetic. I’m cool with that though.

Random Brain Malfunctions

Jade — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:36:46 +0000

I think that is the best way to describe my life is the above title. I think I broke my brain, or maybe lack of sleep broke my brain. Maybe it was the lights? Either way, may brain seems to be on the fritz. Thank goodness for summer. It will get me time to organizing my cluttered mind.

I have been counting down days this summer with numerous countdowns. I think I need to stop. I am beginning to think it might be an unhealthy thing to do… I haven’t put my finger on why I feel that way, but I just do. However, I think I will keep the moving countdown.

I have been having trouble with words. I feel almost like I have DND… are maybe it is the sleep problems again. It is after midnight, so what if it is Saturday. Kids mean I don’t really have a night life anyway… not that I had a super active one before.

I pre-ordered the new iPhone and received it on Wednesday. I am happy with it. I had a 3G before, and it was abused. The video functionality is quite nice, and the display is amazing. Also, I can finally understand the person on the other line 100% of the time rather than a muffled conversation where I get the general gist. That calls for a thumbs up. Multi-tasking is taking a bit to get used to though. The reception thing is a big issue. Still, working phone. Yay!

I am currently watching Julie & Julia on Netflix. I find Amy Adams to be adorable and love food and cooking so this is good all around except for the lack of sleep. I used to watch Julie Child on TV with my grandmother. She is my food root. Can you guess which she I am talking about? This movie is making me not like this Julie person though.

I need a new tea. Off to Adagio.com

So I deleted everything…

Jade — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 03:33:23 +0000

and decided to start over. I felt like this site didn’t have a purpose and it was just adding more random noise to an already congested web. That is not to say that everything needs a purpose. But, when you create something and it doesn’t have a purpose to you, as was the case with this site, I am all for scrapping it. So I did.

Here is to a new beginning.