...if I wasn't so damn lazy:

• learn French
• learn to play the piano at a decent level
• put in a lot of work to get decent at math
• get in shape (like I told myself I would about 10 years ago), so that I could run for 120 minutes straight while playing soccer
• read a wide selection of literary classics
• practice public speaking
• get into psychology, my supposed second choice major
• read history books

The top ones tend to be at the top of my list, otherwise the order is arbitrary.

Well, it's not really the latest because it's been around for at least a decade. Recall the moment you first heard about "intelligent homes"? As you come home, there are sensors in the walls which identify you and maintain a physical atmosphere just the way you want it to be, by tuning the temperature of the room, the humidity, the level of daylight (and lighting as a whole), displaying your favorite painting on the digital canvas, playing your favorite music in the background and so on and so forth. Now, in order to not be too absolute, I can imagine there is a niche market for these solutions and there may be a small group of people who've already had this for 15 years. But for the rest of us, we're nowhere near there and it's not gonna come for at least a decade.

Meanwhile, whenever a new scientific idea is announced, journalists love to jump on the bandwagon to declare that our future holds a whole new world for us. Most recently, Teknisk Ukeblad broke the news saying that the future is not in IT, it's in "instruments". Indeed the translation is unfortunate, what they meant is that we expect all kinds of instruments around us imminently, in the form of signal processors and alike, which will rule our world. This also includes the much maligned Third Generation (3G) cell phones and other consumer electronics keeping us online and up-to-date at all times. To say nothing of 3G and the fiasco that it has been so far for lack of interest on the market (except in Japan where they are way ahead of us as usual), it hardly seems plausible that there is a monumental change coming anytime soon, given how consistent these voices have been over the years, while the "electronic evolution" has in comparison been quite modest.

The point is that one new technology, one new bright idea, does not change the world by itself. It takes years of development and refinement, not to mention a market prepared to include these new products, to actually make a change. And so it annoys me that whenever someone makes an exciting technological discovery, a lot of people are ready to prophetize that the Star Trek era is imminent.

At a time like this I really should remember the source (all the better perhaps, embarassing to remember someone's name but then get the quote wrong), but it escapes me which comedian said the following (not an exact quote): "A joke exists in space and time, when playing to an audience, if you tell a joke at the precise correct moment, and you tell it exactly the way it should be told, you will make them laugh. But if you mess it up and make a mistake, you will not get a second chance."

Cometh the punchline: the same is true for blogging. A blog entry is an idea, in fact it's more like an idea for an idea if you will. If you blog while the idea is fresh, you can make it work. This implies starting with a piece of raw material and completing the idea as you go along. But if you try to develop the idea first and then blog it, you can't get it right. No, it's not exactly like comedy, but it's similar, so I stand by the opening analogy, because a blog also exists in time. If you have an idea and you don't blog it within a day is gone, it's over, you can try but it won't be any good and you won't be happy with it because the thoughts behind the idea, fuelling its evolution as you blog, are no longer with you.

This is why putting off an idea is difficult. If you have to, write it down but don't think about it. Pick it up when the time is right and then try to get up to speed with your line of thought. Don't try to remember what you were thinking, go back to square one and brainstorm. In most cases it doesn't work and it's no good, so beware.

Entirely too lazy to describe and discuss its many, many levels, strong ties to "1984" and the "Matrix", so I will only say: go and see the best movie you've seen this year!

And lots of points for the unpredictable ending! :star:

It is said that the Japanese say one thing and think another. They will never embarass each other in public, their form of expression is very polite, regardless of what looms below the surface. While the message is encouraging, the meaning may be reprimanding. I've heard that said about Norwegians as well, they will never criticize you, yet they will fire you if you don't cut it, citing any plausible reason except the truth. And you'll never know, unless you know how it works.

Regardless of how true or false the above stereotypes are, I seem to have adopted some parts of that culture. You can achieve much more with encouragement than a reprimand, in fact I've applied that principle successfully in the little world I created and I can vouch for it. But when it comes to personal matters, I avoid confrontation like the plague. Don't have the stomache for it. I wish the problem would go away and I wouldn't have to face it. It even applies to minor things. If I'm bothered by a small matter, I hesitate to mention it. I guess because if I do, and I declare that it bothers me, I don't know what the response is going to be, it may not necessarily be sympathetic. It is opening oneself to a blow, I don't enjoy vulnerability. I don't enjoy announcing that I'm weak, I know it myself, but I would rather keep that to myself.

Ironically, I've actually encouraged others to do what I don't, let me know if something is bothering them, thought I would understand and I would handle it well. I think in some cases I did, not always. But I don't practice it. It feels like a big step and I'm scared to take it. Finally, bringing up an issue is admitting that it bothers you, and some things seem so small and so insignificant that it embarasses us to admit that we even notice them. And that's not all, if you raise a small issue, you send a signal. I'm bothered by this, small problems are enough to trigger a response. Do it often enough and people will hate you for complaining about every little thing. Not do it and you suffer for lack of courage by not fixing something that maybe you could fix.

Crucially, it scars. Even if I bring it up and I get the response I'm looking for, it doesn't end there. It weighs on the mind for a while, sometimes quite a while. And noone is saying it but both are thinking about it. It's like a red flag, it's an alert. Pay attention for future reference. To what? This was just one thing, how am I supposed to know what else there could be?? It makes no sense. But if I don't take it seriously, I expect similar things to happen and it's gonna be messy, it's gonna escalate.

It's a dilemma.