Chris's Thing Blog

You know, I really wish I was an activist of some kind. The kind of person that gets out there and makes a difference – goes to soup kitchens on Sundays, builds homes in undeveloped countries, that sort of thing. Truth of the matter is that I’m not. I don’t get off my ass to go save the world. Instead, I read, ride my bike, play video games and watch movies, and generally contribute solely to my own selfish entertainment. I’m not unique – I’m pretty average in that sense. About the most I’ve done to really help the world is to pay my taxes and donate money to charities and causes. I’ve given money to a number of great organizations that really could use it – but that’s about it. For all intents and purposes, I’m not an activist.

However, I somehow feel as though I’ve contributed a lot of my efforts towards making the world a better place. I’ve participated some Facebook campaigns to “spread the word”. I’ve bought fair-trade products before in an effort to be socially responsible – and I was thanked on the label for doing so. But in truth, I haven’t really done anything at all. And I’m not alone! This sort of faux-participation is called slacktivism, and its numbing effect on the world is the little sister of the constant greenwashing to which we are exposed on a daily basis. In this day and age, we’re surrounded by constant advertising that tells us that certain products are good for the environment – the same kind of rubbish that retailers have used for years when describing how much money you can “save” when spending money on a product.

Even in writing this post, I am participating in slacktivism. Because I am firmly rooted in my chair, not organizing real people to do anything, I’m just making myself feel a little better by writing about it. But I’m not actually doing anything. There exists a very tiny chance that in the few people who might read this, I might inspire in them some urge to actually make a difference – but apart from that hope, I am ultimately wasting my time, just like so many other slacktivists.

Perhaps I’ll try to get people to ride their bikes to work!

Alright, so it’s not entirely without merit. WiMax is a great technology that allows broadband speed (up to 10 Mbps) wireless connectivity over great distances (3-10 miles from broadcaster). However, Clearwire’s 4G marketing campaing is dumb as hell. “Play an online game while waiting in line for a pretzel” ? Seriously? Stream an HD movie to the kids in the back seat while making a business call and texting so-and-so?

How anti-social are we? Or rather, how over-social are we?

I like to see friends every so often. I like to see them pretty often, actually. But, there’s only one person on the planet I don’t mind seeing every day, and that’s Becky. Other than her, if I see you in person more than once a week, you’re either a store clerk, a coworker, or a really close friend. When I’m online, I usually keep to myself with the exception of a brief message here and there. But, I really, really like to disconnect from people every so often.

I have noticed a trend that has dramatically increased as the cost of telecommunications has decreased – something I’ll call “social virtualism”. It’s the idea that once you’re old enough to establish a set of pretty consistent friends, the advent of cheap telecommunications enables you to remain close to those friends in a way that stretches the relationship in a way that has been impossible until the last 15 years or so. Because most friends are just a click away on Facebook, Twitter, Google Talk, Skype, or any of a thousand other social media networks, “catching up” becomes unnecessary, since every mundane detail of most people’s lives can be relived vicariously online. As such, many individuals find that they are spending a fairly decent amount of their daily lives staying connected to these people (who can live thousands of miles away), and end up ignoring the world right in front of their faces.

That’s the reason that many cities are passing into law texting ordinances, which prevent drivers from texting and driving. Seriously, is driving so boring that you have to spend half the time staring at your thumbs? Probably not – but you do it anyway because texting has risen in importance from casual convenience to de facto lingua franca. if your girlfriend texts you that she’s angry, you sure as hell had better respond right away – isn’t that right? If someone tweets about this awesome new video by Beyonce (best video of all time, amirite?), it’s considered good etiquette to watch and respond within a minute or two.

I think that this is a load of crap. I use the internet as an informational tool and occasionally try to reach people through it for the convenience. But, most of the time, I live a real life and unplug. Doesn’t anyone have hobbies any more?

I’m 6′3″ (190.5cm) and weigh roughly between 140lbs and 150lbs (63.5kg to 68kg). I’m kind of a thin dude. I have long arms and a fairly thin chest. It’s hard to find good clothes that fit and aren’t either custom made or ridiculously overpriced. Anyone have this issue?

This is the bottle with a light bulb in it

I forget which day it was, exactly, but I went downtown to visit Becky for lunch. After eating, we went to the Hideout to get some drinks – an Orange soda (pictured above), and a cedar something-or-other beer thing. I think it was Birch Beer. I can never remember these fancy-schmancy kinds of drinks, because in my mind there’s only one kind of soda out there: Cream Soda. After returning to work, I recall not wanting to throw this bottle away because it looked pretty neat. So, I just left it on my desk, day after day, until inspiration struck.

On a rainy Monday, I went on a crazy mission to replace one of the tail lamps in Becky’s Smart car. It took me a couple hours to finally pinpoint the correct style of lamp to plug in, but after I found it, I felt absolutely triumphant. In order to locate the correct part, I had to remove the burned-out bulb from the tail lamp housing and carry it around with me. After making the replacement, I found that I had this cool glass and metal object just clanging around in my pocket. So, while at my desk, I decided to just stick it in the most logical place: the mouth of the soda bottle.

I recently got a comment from a coworker about how much she liked my little piece of art – it’s really nothing special, but it’s something fun to look at when three computer displays get a boring. The picture I took is super lame, but then again, the object isn’t that fancy either. So, that’s the story of my bottle with a light bulb in it.

So, what is a thing?

Things are physical manifestations of ideas that we have in our heads. For example, the paper clip is a manifestation (well, realization) of someone’s idea that there should be some way to temporarily bind sheets of paper together. We are surrounded by things every day; we sleep in beds, dress ourselves in clothes, use computers, and sit on toilets so frequently that it’s sometimes hard to comprehend just how many things there are that are necessary for us to live the lives we are so accustomed to

This Thing blog is an exploration of some of the things in my life that may take on additional meaning beyond being a mere manifestation of someone’s dream – perhaps they carry a sentiment or extend my abilities in some way. Some may be critically useful, others may be purely aesthetic, and a few might be completely pointless. But in any case, I’d like to see just how many things I can explore here.

If you ever wish to communicate with me directly about the things in my life, or would like to suggest some things that are worth mentioning, just click on the “Contact” tab at the top of my blog for the best way to reach me. I hope you enjoy reading what I have to say!

An example of how the Corbetian looks on an average day

This is a clichéd, obligatory first post that I’m using to test if this install of wordpress is behaving. I hope it is!