April 2004 Archives

April 01, 2004 — Although I've forgotten much of what I learned in school, there are a few random things that stick out. An interesting theory I once learned in a psychology class states that you like a person better when he asks you to do him a favor. That's right -- when SOMEONE ELSE asks YOU for help. I found this interesting because most people would expect the opposite.

I've been testing out this theory for the past few years and my research leads me to believe it's true for a few reasons. First, it feels good when you can help someone out. Some of that goodness gets directed towards the other person for giving you the opportunity to help. Next, it's somewhat flattering that out of all the people they could have chosen, they chose you. This works especially well when it appears that they chose you because they respect your abilities in a certain area. I'm personally a big sucker for when someone asks for help proofreading their writing or choosing songs for a mix tape.

There's no better example of this than asking strangers to take your picture (if you've explored this website, you'll see that I have extensive experience with this issue). You can find the meanest, grumpiest, bitchiest looking person out there. If you stop them, hand them a camera, and ask them to take your picture, 9 times out of 10 they're turn that frown upside down. They'll encourage your group to sqeeze closer 'like you like each other', ask you to say cheese or something else they think is funny, and probably make some observation about these high tech gadgets -- "what will they think of next?"

So now that I've let you all in on my secret, you should try it out and see how it works. Start asking everyone for help (but not necessarily me). Just keep in mind what you ask for. Asking someone to pull the hairs out of your brush or scrub your toilet might night work so well.

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April 05, 2004 — I'm a big fan of birthdays. It comes from the fact that I'm a big fan of people and birthdays are a good way to celebrate people. Even if you've lost touch with someone, a birthday is a great excuse to call them up and see how they're doing. Plus, it always impresses people when you remember their birthday. And it makes you feel good too.

With that incredible introduction, I'd like to introduce the latest feature of smandel.com -- the birthday alert system. This new feature displays upcoming and recent birthdays in the upper right corner of the page. It's all automated and birthdays remain listed for seven days before and three days after. Now I'll never forget another birthday -- unless I forgot to load it or I don't like you. I think people will really enjoy this new feature. There's no better way of saying I really care about you than with a Perl script that queries a MySQL database.

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April 07, 2004 — Today I reached the yellow tissue. You see, all the tissues in the box are white except the ones at the end. They're yellow so you know that you're getting close to the end. When I first figured this out, I thought it was an ingenious idea. You have plenty of time to prepare for the end.

But the more I think about this, the more it bothers me. Sometimes I don't want to know I'm on yellow. Sometimes it's better to not know the end is near until it's arrived. When given the opportunity to over prepare, I will.

The problem is that just seeing that first yellow tissue makes me change modes. All of a sudden my liberal use of tissues to do such non-nasal-hygiene activities such as wiping my dry-erase board or cleaning spills changes dramatically. And my usual generosity toward "Hey, Seth, can I have a tissue?" changes as well. "I'm sorry, I can't issue a tissue – I'm on yellow." It's not that I like doing this, but that's just how I act when I know the end is near. I feel pressure to cherish and savor each remaining tissue rather than just taking it for what it is. It's a freaking tissue, after all.

Sometimes you just need to live your life without knowing when your tissue box is going to be empty. Sure, someday you might end up sneezing, hands over your face, full of snot, with no where to turn. But in the meantime, your dry erase boards will get erased, your spills will be clean, and all your friends will have dry and clean nasal passages.

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April 12, 2004 — I've posted some new pictures from recent events: Gia/Steve's Wedding and Departure of Hendrix (DOH!)

I also made a change to the random images on the left so that the gallery images now link to the actual image instead of just the album.

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April 14, 2004 — I walked into my office today to see that I'm all out of tissues. Somebody had the nerve to take my last tissue. Now, I realize that not everyone reads smandel.com so they might not know about my yellow tissue thing. Fair enough. But how can someone in good conscience take my last tissue? Whoever it was better have had at least six inches of snot hanging out their nose when they did this. And they better have been on their way to a job interview or something -- and not wearing a shirt that was already yellow/green because otherwise it really wouldn't have been an emergency that necessitated stealing my last tissue.

Am I wrong here? I feel like maybe I am. I've always followed the universal rule that you can't take the last of something.* If someone is giving out gum and hasn't taken a piece for themselves yet, you at least say "go ahead, dude, it's your last piece." Is this not correct? I feel like this is basic decency and respect. I'm a very generous person but if you only have one thing left, I think it's polite for others to confirm that it's OK to take your last one.

* Does not apply to almonds on the plane. In that situation you first take care of yourself, then your people, then everyone else gets whatever is left.

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April 14, 2004 — It's Spring Carnival at CMU this weekend. Let's reflect on Carnivals gone by: 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003.

Based on previous experience, I predict it will be a good time this year. Unfortunately some key people won't be back and they will certainly be missed. For those who will be around, there are festivities planned (of the pizza nugget, soft pretzel, etc. variety) so if you need details drop me an email. Hope to run into you at PHI and go back inside, sit down, have a few drinks...

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April 19, 2004 — But I probably will.

It turned to be an amazing Carnival. Good weather, good people, good times. Here are the pictures.

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April 22, 2004 — Apologies for the recent lack of updates. Until I have a chance to write something, here are some random thoughts that have been on my mind.

• I really need to get it in my mind that "gonna" is not really an appropriate word. I use it all the time in emails and spell check always catches it. It suggests "gonad" as a replacement and the last thing I need to do is say something like "You gonad come?"
• Sometimes I send emails to distribution lists that I'm on. As soon as I click send, I get the indicator that I have new email and I get excited. I wonder who just emailed me? You'd think I would learn.
• Did you ever really stop and think about the laugh track on sitcoms? They play recordings of people laughing to make you think something is funny. This is like when you tell a joke that makes no sense and conspire with your friends to laugh to see if you can get someone else to laugh. Now THAT is funny.
• Do you know they make travel size dental floss? Have you seen the size of full size dental floss? Are people really not able to fit this in their travel bag?

That's all I got.

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April 26, 2004 — Yesterday was the second time this week when I opened a chopsticks package to find a lonely, single chopstick. Next time, I should "stick" with it and eventually I would end up with a pair. In addition to being a great "what are the chances?" moment, I mention this incident because there are two very funny things I think of when I think of chopsticks: Jerry Seinfeld's commentary and Monzy's spelling, grammar, and typography critique. The incident yesterday happened at Yum Wok and they are still using the same packaging that Monzy references. That's absolutely glonous!

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April 28, 2004 — I believe you can really tell a lot about a person by looking at their random T-shirt collection. Such a collection consists of the ridiculous number of T-shirts that one accumulates over the years through participating in events and activities, receiving the benefits of promotions, and shopping for irresistible bargains.

Here's a rare and revealing (although not terribly surprisingly) glimpse into Seth's World, via my T-shirts:

• I've worked at a camp, a Web site, The Tartan, and a consulting company; I've received multiple degrees from Carnegie Mellon; and apparently, I once drank lots of Southern Comfort on Halloween.
• Ever since 1993, I've been a sucker for those bootleg T-shirts sold outside of concerts – particularly of the Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen varieties.
• I'm a varsity member of the JAM team.
• I've been known to attend a technical job fair or two and take whatever free stuff I could get my hands on.
• Money that could have been spent on giving me a raise has instead been spent on a plethora of recruiting, community service, and team building activities – all of which require their own T-shirt.
• One of the musicians on my bar mitzvah T-shirt has a strange resemblance to Michael Bolton (and this time I do mean the no-talent ass clown).
• I hang onto shit forever.

Going through your random T-shirts is a good way of reflecting on where you've been and trying to figure out where you want to go. It also helps you realize that nobody's T-shirt collection is any better than anybody else's -- they're just different. In fact, there's probably no one else out there that has the same random T-shirt collection as you. And that's part of why meeting and getting to know new people can be so exciting. You can connect based on what you do have in common while also getting to know all about the things you don't. Before you know it, you may end up with some new shirts you never would have expected to accumulate. Or, you may just realize you have no room for all this crap and just throw away all these stupid shirts that you never wear anyway. Either way.

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April 29, 2004 — Do you remember Jello Pudding Pops? I do. I haven't had one in a really long time. I don't think they make them anymore. That's unfortunate because they were really good. I loved the variety back (vanilla, chocolate, and swirl). My favorite was swirl because I could never decide between vanilla and chocolate. One of the coolest parts about them was there was this ice coating around the outside. I used to carefully crack it with my teeth and then slide off the ice with my tongue and eat it. I was really good at that. If I had one today I wonder if I would still be good at that.

Speaking of frozen delights, I had Cold Stone Creamery yesterday for first time. It was really good. The medium was a little too big. Even though I didn't want to, I threw some away when I started getting full. It was so hard to do that, but I knew if I ate more I would be in pain. You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.

Ever notice that certain food make you think of things? Whenever I eat chocolate, chocolate chip ice cream I think of that game show the $100,000 Pyramid. It's because when I was a kid I had this routine when I would eat chocolate, chocolate chip ice cream and watch that show. Sometimes when I eat this ice cream, I can't help but try to describe it without using "chocolate, chip, ice, or cream": cold, refreshing, doubly delightful, smoothy, crunchy.

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April 30, 2004 — As I've mentioned before, I never throw stuff out. This applies to physical things like old T-shirts, the centerpieces from my bar mitzvah, and notes from school. It also applies to data like old emails, digital photos, and random documents.

So it shouldn't be surprising that I can't bring myself to remove people from my AIM buddy list. There are people on there that I haven't spoken to in years and really can't envision myself ever writing to again. Still, it just feels wrong to remove people unless I absolutely need to.

A while back I devised a solution for this dilemma -- I created a category called "Obsolete." I ignore the people in that category but it's there, just in case. Just now am I realizing that this is a little bizarre and well, kinda mean. I know I wouldn't want to be on someone else's "Obsolete" list.

The alternative is this -- I organize my buddy list like I organize my friends in my head. In tiers. People fall into tiers 1 through 3. Tier 4 could be used as a euphemism for "Obsolete." I think I will do this.

Anyway, I'm still SethatCMU so if you're afraid you're on the obsolete list, send me an IM and I'll consider upgrading you if I still like you.

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