hazybluedot

I really like libraries. The concept and the physical entities themselves. There is something awe-inspiring about walking through shelfs holding thousands of books, most of which you will probably never read. It is also somewhat overwhelming if you're trying to find something to read but not sure what. I wish there was a better way to browse and preview books, like how on iTunes you can watch movie previews before renting (I have spent way too much time watching movie previews, and have you noticed how all movie previous are so ridiculously silly and cheesy, regardless of the quality of the film being previewed?) I spent today searching for a new book to read. I don't really care what genre, but I focused my searches on sci-fi because it was easy to search for yet broad. I did some google searches and found a few lists of recommended sci-fi, then searched for availability at the campus library (unfortunately the town library is closed today). Only a few of the books/series I searched for are at the campus library, and of those one or two were actually available. I settled for a book called "Gateway" by Frederik Pohl. It was written in 1977 and got some good reviews. Sometimes the more "classic" sci-fi annoys me if they try to be technicall because they more often than not miss the mark and date themselves pretty horribly with references to advanced computers and machines that still use the likes of analog magnetic data storage. Not that I'm expecting anything like that, it was just a random thought. Another random thought related to that is that Isac Asimov writes in such a way that doesn't fall into those potholes, which is good.

Anyway, I'm getting a bit off topic. I originally was going to focus on the broader concept of libraries, books and reading. I do think that eBooks and eBook readers are the future of books for better or worse. I really like the idea of having a single device that can hold hundreds of books and has access to a hundred thousand more (and climbing) like Amazon's Kindle. However, I think possibly the best thing about "traditional" books is the ability to lend or give one to a friend to share some great story that you just read. It would be great if eReaders could implement some kind of peer-to-peer lending scheme like you can do with real books but unfortunately I don't think Amazon has any motivation to do something like that as they are mostly interested in book sales.

I also don't like the idea of missing out on the experience of visiting an actual brick and mortar library. Yes, it is far more convenient to simply search for, purchase and read a book on a small electronic device in the comfort of your own home, or wherever you might happen to be, but there is something to be said for walking through stacks of books, breathing in that old book smell, searching for that call number you scribbled down onto a scrap of paper. Perhaps, in a way, this experience can be maintained in the eBook world with the ever advancing and more popular virtual reality programs. Second Life comes to mind as probably the most well known. I haven't logged on in a while but from what I remember it did a fairly decent job of creating an immersive environment given the limitations of computer hardware. Skip ahead 10 years or so when 3D graphics cards are spitting out photo quality renderings at 30+ frames per second and 3D displays or goggles and haptic gloves are as ubiquitous as the optical mouse is now and one can certainly imagine browsing a virtual library complete with picking random books off the shelve to flip through and checking out any hot academic type guys browsing the same stacks. It might still be missing the old book smell unless someone comes up with a good way of generating odors electronically.

First of, I have conflicting emotions saying "home". I haven't lived in this area in over 3 years now, all the faces at the local coffee shop are unfamiliar, there are new stores that I don't recognize and others that no longer exist. Even my parents house smells differently, and the fact that I notice it smells at all is good enough indication that it is no longer home. I do enjoy seeing the bits of family that I haven't seen in a while, but honestly, and this is no reflection on them, but I really only need a day or two for that. It's probably mostly because my life has been relatively boring from their point of few for the past year, the last time I saw them. They ask e what I've been up to and all I can say is "the same stuff I was doing last year". Sure, I could go into details about the conference I went to and the new experiments we're doing with the hydrophone array but as soon as I start adding details I feel like people loose interest. Either that or they never had interest to begin with and are just being polite by asking what I've been up to.
That's not really fair to them. They are interested in what I've been up to, but still there is only so much detail I can actually give and most of it is the same as last year.
It would be nice to touch base with local friends and what not, but every year I'm back it seems there's less of that. Granted the days after the 25th are kind of hectic to make plans with people who are back for the holidays, many of them leave the 26th or so, some of them have other plans. It's now the 27th and I still haven't seen anyone but family. I have plans to go into Boston tomorrow and see people out that way, so maybe then I'll feel like this trip was justified. Next year maybe I'll only spend a few days up here instead of a week. Since I plan to be flying both directions then it shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

I dunno, I almost would like to just stay in Blacksburg over break, of course that wouldn't be much better since the majority of my friends leave Bburg for the holidays as well. In some ways I can't wait until I'm out of the college atmosphere and people are more permanent. In some ways I dread that inevitability.

Really the only reason I'm up here this long is that usually we do something kind of family-like on the 24th or 25th and then we have a New Years dinner at my aunt's which is were I see a larger chunk of family. This year though, it was hard to notice that anything out of the ordinary was going on at my parents' house on the 25th. I practically had to beg to get the singing mugs taken out and there was no table cloth under the plats of crepes for breakfast. Not that I'm really complaining. Or maybe I am. It's not like I have great expectations about how the solstice season should be celebrated, but the fact that it's just another day makes it kind of not worth the effort to travel up here for it. I could have just another day in Blacksburg much easier. I could even make crepes.

Today I finally made the trek out of Leverett, the land free of broadband and annoying cellphone coverage, to Amherst hoping to finally re-connect and find some people to re-unite with. It doesn't help that I only stay in contact with a small handful of them. It also doesn't help that I didn't even call some of them because last year they were out of town by this time, and even if they weren't my only option to actually see them would be at night at the Moan and Dove and we all know how I feel about nights at a bar. Maybe I'm just really getting old, but I'd much rather be at home at 9 or 10, having some ice cream, reading a book, or doing something else relaxing before going to bed. What's so bad about getting lunch with people during the day? Why is everyone so obsessed with these bar things? I don't get it.

So anyway, I came into Amherst with Jerome who had to go to the gym, and I stopped by my uncle's place first to help him with his MP3 player and hear stories about how he helped a buddy of his by moving a few kilos of weed across state lines for him back in the day. This guy had a really sophisticated taste in music and wine though, so you wouldn't even assume he was a drug dealer. Haha, actually, it reminded me of Weeds but I didn't say anything because I didn't want to risk making the conversation any longer than it had to be.

After that my plan was to go to Rao's (the over-priced equivalent of Bollo's), get a pot of tea, make some phone calls and dilly dally online while waiting for return phone calls to work out plans for either today or the trip to Boston tomorrow. My plan was foiled when, after purchasing my pot of Moroccan Mint, I found that Rao's had no WiFi, either any more, or at least at that point in time. The public network was far too weak to be usable there, so I ended up using my phone so that I could be doing something on my computer while sipping my tea since otherwise I'd just be there alone, creepily staring at people. On the plus side, it had started snowing outside and it looked right pretty like. A quintessential New England college town in the winter at its finest. Anyway, after that I searched out the public WiFi and made my way to the library. Of course, here, it's inappropriate to use my cellphone. Not like anyone is calling me anyway.

Ok, I realize this is rambling, but honestly, I have nothing else to do. I am definitely looking forward to flying back home on the 2nd. I'll be meeting my new roommate too! And hopefully most or all of the floors upstairs will be done and it will be super nice!

That's all for now.