The Knacks: February 2004 Archives

Some pics from the snowstorm we got not too long after the Superbowl this year. We had fun making a Janet Jackson-inspired snowperson. I'm glad we took pictures the first day, because she was in pieces the following morning.

Posted 02/27/2004 14:00 by Fritz | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, February 18, 2004

PLEASE READ

Just a gripe about email, at least the work-related variety. Or maybe it's just something about the culture at my place of employment.

Doesn't the sending of an email imply that you want someone to read it? I get at least two messages a week these days with subjects of the format <real subject> -- PLEASE READ. Note that "real subject" is a fairly generous description on my part, as "update", "status", and "followup" [sic] all qualify.

Here's what set me off this time. I just received an email with the subject ACTION REQUIRED - Communication Message. Now, I'm not sure sure how one communicates without a message of some form, and I'd probably argue that anything non-destructive one can do with a message is some form of communication with someone somewhere sometime. And isn't an email itself a message?

All right, so let's set aside that redunancy for the moment. What's left is simply a lie. There is no action required. It was simply a request for everyone to update their travel profiles. In my case, I don't even travel. I went on two trips a couple of years ago, I don't foresee any others, and I couldn't tell you if I even have a travel profile to update.

Here's what the subject should have said: "Travel Profile updates requested by Feb. 28." Travelers read the message and respond appropriately; I delete the message unopened and move on. How tough is that?

Update 2/18/04 14:00: OMG. I just received another copy of the message forwarded by my grandboss with instructions at the top telling the travelers to be sure and update their profiles. Note that the original distribution included everyone from his grandboss on down.

Posted 02/18/2004 11:28 by Fritz | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Saturday, February 14, 2004

Well, isn't that interesting?

Scientific prediction of whether a marriage is going to last. Nothing's certain, of course, but here's an interesting article.

Problems arise when partners in a marriage have mismatched styles, Swanson said. The divorce-destined couples fell into two camps, each with a validator husband paired with either a volatile or conflict-avoiding wife. Other combinations probably never make it past the courtship stage, she said. [Emphasis added.]

There's another article with more interpretation and commentary.

Superficial interpretation: What has passed was destined (without intervention), but the future looks pretty good.

Posted 02/14/2004 09:55 by Fritz | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, February 13, 2004

bricoleur

I stumbled across this word in one of the regular newsletters I receive:

Somehow it is not surprising that a journal titled Postmodern Culture would find a home on the Internet, which itself is a bricoleur of many different forms and styles, akin to the very notion of postmodernism.

Nice sounding word, pretty clear in the context, but I wanted a more precise definition. Google almost failed me.

I say "almost" because the define: functionality gave me no hits. Googling on just the word, then confirming that I only wanted English results—I guess it's roughly equivalent to "builder" in French—yielded a definition and entymology which, while it may not exactly match the use in context, still may have its uses.

Posted 02/13/2004 10:07 by Fritz | Comments (0) | TrackBack