Now, some people use the term “exciting” in reference to the high-profile activities that they’re involved in, like pop starlets who say they’re “so excited” about their latest album. 

For the rest of us, maybe not so much… Hmmm...... True or False?

Partly because of the hype surrounding it, the latest installment of the Harry Potter series triggered huge waves of excitement in the fans and news media.  The release of the iPhone, Xbox 360, Wii, and Playstation 3, had the same effect.  The much anticipated release of the games consoles caused so much excitement, in fact, that people created all kinds of inventive ways to acquire one (many of which, did not include paying for said products).

The same probably goes for the excitement involved in extreme sports, like, for instance, flinging oneself out of a moving aircraft and not opening the parachute until the ground is only a couple of hundred feet away, or leaping into a huge sink hole in South America, again, with minimum use of a ‘chute, or crawling through tiny crevices deep underground, or setting off in a snow-storm, on foot, to cross a frozen tundra in Antarctica, or even scaling the north face of Mt. Everest.

These forms of excitement are great for a while, but like a drug, they soon wear off and then we’re left looking for the next buzz.  Why?  I don’t know, could it be because those forms of excitement are based on external stimuli that cannot penetrate the surface of our real selves, or fix the problems of who we are as people?  Again, I don’t have the answer, maybe you do.

All I know is that, I can allow myself to be excited at the little things in life, (and I don’t mean, doing cartwheels on the beach, kind of excited) just a calm enjoyment of practical things, like the opportunity for just enough quiet time to write a few lines of a story idea, or getting a project completed, or waking up early from a good night’s sleep… Practical things, that don’t necessarily gain or require any reward.  No life-threatening activities and no metaphysics need be involved, as such, here.  But, if I were to take that route, then in the simplest terms I’d say that life is exciting just because it’s there, and, as a man of knowledge once said:  It’s far too short!

I had never experienced the smell of brimstone before, but during a particularly explosive thunder storm last night, lightning struck so close to the house that I was able to smell the burning air.

At first, I thought it was a gas leak somewhere.  I did the standard checks only to discover that the strange aroma was coming in through the open window.  It was still pretty strong when it occurred to me that I wasn’t smelling escaping gas, at all, but something else.  Freshly laid tar? No… No road works going in the very early hours.  I realized it was brimstone.  Very weird.

Technology is the new soul of man, or so it seems…

If you want to see more, you can check it out here.

Technology is the new soul of man, or so it seems. 

We turn on the television, the radio, the computer; check the internet for news, read our emails, while the coffee maker produces a drinkable brew to help us get through the day. 

We download some music to a portable player, text message a friend on the way to our job, school, the unemployment office… Driving a car that tells us which way to turn.  Riding a bus, on which we must have the right change or tokens to drop into the slot.  Taking a subway train, onto which we shuffle in rank and file, while trying not to think about the other bodies pressing against us.

Sometimes we might wonder just who we really are, for a fleeting moment we seem unsure, then we dismiss that thought as trivial nonsense and continue on our journey along the road.

Technology feeds us, body, mind and soul, carries and protects us, educates us, categorizes us and tells us our worth.  Our mentality depends on it, without it we’re lost.  Like survivors on a deserted island, we would wander, mumbling incoherently, wondering what happened to the subliminal causal effectual stimulants that controlled our being. 

But are we missing something more important?  No-one knows, or cares, it seems, that we’ve been lulled into a digital slumber.  Ah, whatever!

I’m out of here…

One to beam up!

While us storage hogs are waiting for blu-ray external disk burners to hit the shelves, LaCie has announced its new high capacity Big Disk Extreme+ desktop hard drive.  It’s available in three capacities starting with 1-terabyte, at $349.99 1.5 terabytes at $599 and 2-terabytes at $849.

LaCie Big Disk Extreme+

Features the classic Neil Poulton d2 chassis in brushed gray with the blue programmable on-touch button on the front.  The Extreme+ comes with two Firewire 800 ports, a Firewire 400 port and one USB 2.0 port and some useful software for both Macs and PCs.  Phat!!