13 August 1997: Writing 'Bout Reading

Wednesday, 13 August 1997:

Writing 'Bout Reading

Welcome to Wednesday the 13th!

(No, I will not make this joke every month. Fear not!)

Work was a bit more hectic today than usual: As I said yesterday, we're reaching the end of our release cycle, which means more deadlines get hit (or missed, if we're not lucky). For really bizarre reasons, all our deadlines are at 8 am - yes, in the morning. In theory this is because people can work overnight, come hell or high water, to make the deadline. If I wanted to work that way, I'd still be in grad school (where you can pick your own hours - you can work any 80 hours of the week you want).

I'm a big believer in finishing things by the end of the day, and it was quite a rush to get things done today. But get them done we did. I think this may be our best release in a year or so (for my team, anyway; I can't speak for other teams).

I spent much of the day at work listening to Paula Cole's album This Fire, which is a lot better than I'd first thought. I'm not too big on "Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?" (Sarah Maclachlan lite, IMO), but I really like "Me" and "I Don't Wanna Wait". If her songwriting tightens up more on future albums, then she has a lot of potential.

So tonight my comics guy gave me the bad news I'd been closing my eyes to: As long as the UPS strike goes on, comics will arrive at least one day late each week. He said this week's shipment should be in tomorrow "if everything goes as planned". Gack.

I listen to a lot of public radio, and pick up many interesting tidbits from All Things Considered. Today I learned that UPS has been around for about 90 years, that they are far and away the largest parcel carrier in the nation (which is why other carriers have had so much trouble picking up the slack), and that the US Post Office mainly handles packages as an afterthought; first class mail (i.e., letters and such) make up the majority of their business and is where most of the money is for them.

So instead of comics, I came home and read the new Baseball Weekly and Comics Buyer's Guide. If we both keep up with this journal (you and me ~~and the street lamp~~, that is), you'll probably hear me whine more than once about what a slow reader I am. The truth is that, although I think I am below-average, I spend a lot of time reading comic books, magazines, newspapers, and the Internet rather than good old books. I read a daily local paper; Isthmus, Madison's weekly alternative paper; The Onion, a bi-weekly humor paper; CBG; BBW; The New Yorker (all three of which are weekly), and Comic Relief (monthly). Not exactly the pinnacle of modern cultural education, but who cares?

Oh, yeah; and more than one person has theorized that I have better retention of what I read than your typical speed-demon.

Well, I'm now a member of Open Pages. Turns out there's also a mailing list for members. Hmm. I rarely join mailing lists unless (1) They've very low-volume, or (2) I plan to contribute. I guess I'll check it out and see what it's like.

I know a few folks have been reading my journal over the last week (which was a bit surprising since I'd only told one person about it, but I don't mind). Now we'll see if they keep reading...

Michael Rawdon (Contact)