I drew this on my iPhone. It was pretty much an attempt to capture a moment where I felt like no one would understand. I subsequently had a chat with my brother and felt better, but I thought I would share it anyway.
I sometimes wish I could just use twitter as a blog. I can rarely maintain concentration long enough to get a thought to the point it is worthy of sharing. I guess I can call that the greatest joy of A.D.D. I have lots of little big thoughts, but I can never get them long enough to not just Tweet them. I enjoy sharing stuff and seeing what comes back. Whether it is here or facebook (my blogs here get imported onto Facebook). Anyway, this is mainly just an explanation for why the blog posts from me are rare these days. Maybe someday this will become a more active place.
It has been a long week. I shut down earlier this week and only finally got enough sleep to feel alive again last night. I’m reading and writing again, but I’ve got a lot of catch up to do. I need to figure out a healthier way to work. I need to write about 40 to 50 pages in the next week and a half, and I’m still not done all the research I need to do for these papers. However these papers are interesting enough that I might be posting some thoughts here in the next few days.
On 06.29.08, In Technology, Whiny, By Liam
It pains me to say this, it really does.
I won’t be getting an iPhone. I was looking forward to retiring a few items I would be replacing with my iPhone. Things like my rather antiquated iPod, my cell phone, even my Nintendo DS. I thought, given the plans everywhere else in the world, that maybe Rogers would offer a decent plan. I was wrong. I’ve spent the last few days trying to convince myself that purchasing the iPhone would still be a good idea, but to be honest even the cheapest (mandatory) plan doesn’t include enough of what I need to justify the purchase. It isn’t even data I really need but a decent amount of text messages and call display, both of which just become added expenses on an already expensive plan.
So here is what I’m hoping: So far all the evidence seems to be pointing to a massive dissatisfaction with what Rogers is offering. I hope that people, even apple freaks like me, realize that we’re being screwed and don’t buy the iPhone. If demand is slack rogers will be forced to rethink their strategy and reprice.
If that fails I have another hope. This is that when the ongoing spectrum sale by industry Canada comes to an end we will see the emergence of another national carrier with GSM capability. Heck, I even hope Bell gets in on the action. Only when there is real competition will prices go down, but I’m not holding my breath.
My only consolation is that by 2009 there will hopefully be a newer, better iPhone. An iPhone with plans I can afford.
Some links that brought me to this conclusion.
iPhone in Canada: iPhone pricing incurs Internet Revolts
Matthew Wingram: Rogers iPhone, Get a Second Mortgage
Update: Commenter Roger has a post where he breaks down some of the numbers here, also encourages people to sign a petition here. I should mention that this petition is also pointed to by iPhone in Canada as well.
On 08.13.07, In A.D.D., Dangerous thoughts, Leadership, Lewis defnitely didn't write this, Navel Gazing, Whiny, By Liam
This was supposed to be a book but I don’t have the attention span.
I started writing about this last summer, but Brant Hansen reminded me of it today a few days ago with this post, (though why this one didn’t do it I’m not sure).
Perhaps we’re not all supposed to be leaders. I for one have noticed the trend that there are a lot of books about leading, leadership, being in charge, getting it your way, being a tyrant… ok, that last one may have been a bit extreme. My personal pet peeve is servant leadership. We talk a lot about how Jesus modelled servant leadership, and how that is to be our model. This seems to become yet another way of justifying leadership positions without much thought into the whole servant part of it.
Interesting fact, the phrase servant leadership doesn’t appear in the bible… ever. The idea of service, helping others, appears lots. It seems that the idea “Jesus was a leader therefore I’m supposed to be a leader too” is a bit skewed. Jesus was (and is) God on earth, and even he was willing to get down on his knees and wash his disciples feet. He was willing to touch the lepers to heal them, not send money, not say a prayer as he walked past, but actually put his hands on their (let’s be honest here) pretty gruesome bodies to help them.
So where am I going with this? I’m not sure. A friend of mine had this quote on his facebook profile and it is startling in its pointedness.
“If we were to set out to establish a religion in polar opposition to the Beatitudes Jesus taught, it would look strikingly similar to the pop Christianity that has taken over the airwaves of North America.”
- Tony Campolo
This, for me, is what the problem is. We want the blessings of the beatitudes before we have the attitude. We want and demand the privileges of leadership like Christ had, before we take on Christ’s character. We even go so far as to avoid, ignore, and even deny the hardships Christ faced to justify our privileged and comfortable positions. Some do it to justify the fact that they look a lot less like new testament pastors and apostles and more like old testament kings.
To a great extent I’m revealing my own hypocrisy here, I’m not much of a Christian or follower of Christ. On the other hand, I don’t claim to be a leader. I’m still working on the servant part, still learning to follow.
So here’s a question.
How do you take a band that is currently in 176th place in a competition and get them up into the top 10?
I have until May 10th to figure that out. That is when voting for the Cornerstone Festival New Band Showcase ends. If you’re reading this and have ideas for how we could get our name out there. Let me know. If you want to vote for us, go here. It is simple to register and simple to vote.
Plus you get to hear new, and good (at least I think so) music from my band.
It’s win-win.
UPDATE: We are now in 185th place. Not doing so good.
I promised I wouldn’t write whiny posts but I can’t help it sometimes. Today I was walking home from my class and this very pretty girl with a very cute beagle was walking towards me on the Rideau Canal. The beagle stopped by me, I reached down to pet it and it skitted away. We shared a laugh and I… didn’t… say… anything. Was there a spark? Probably not, but I’m getting tired of wondering what could have come out of these moments.
Every time this happens I promise myself that next time will be different. But I guess I have to admit it. Pretty girls charm me right out of my ability to think. I get nervous that all I’ll end up saying is something along the lines of, “Uh… I … Uh, like your face. Woops, I mean your dog”. So clearly I’m a doofus when it comes to girls. It certainly explains a lot.
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