klea paid srm a surprise visit today, here on business. she chatted briefly with eliza hoover and i, then left. she's stopped by srm for various reasons before in the pasts, but this was her first time upstairs at srm's secret sweat shop floor. also today was mark's first day, the new it guy. rose brought him around the office introducing him to everyone. unfortunately i couldn't give him a warmer welcome, i was very busy with work.
busy with work but not so busy that i couldn't go out running in the cold (high temperature today was 44 degrees) with eliza jones. i've been itching to go out running all week. monday i wanted to go but i had too much work, tuesday eliza and i were going to run but once again work was interfering with our schedule. finally today it happened for real. both paula and barbara expressed some near future interest in coming with us - not to run but to rollerblade besides us. how much energy do you expend when you're on rollerblades versus actual running? anyway, eliza and i went out to stretch. once again, a study in contrast, she in her patriotically colored layers, i in my seasonally inappropriate running shorts. i gave her my sad look when she started to talk about the orthopedic supports in her shoes. so we ran, not too fast, a brisk pace, i didn't cramp up, i didn't feel tired. when we first started out we were a little worried because it began to drizzle a bit, but it didn't bother us once we started running, and i think at one point it stopped. i didn't check the watch but i'd say we did 3 miles in 30 minutes or less. at two points during the run eliza had to stop and stretch. i stretched as well but i didn't know what i was doing, i could've very easily been pulling the wrong muscle group. eliza tried to run on the grass whenever possible, her theory being that it's better for her feet*. i'm personally not a big grass runner because it's all bumpy and you get dirt all over your sneakers. i'm all about the traction control of the smooth pavement/sidewalk. we chatted between gulps of air, each spoken sentence timed between inhales. afterwards, i got lunch at au bon pain. eliza waited out front for me then went outside. i waited in line 5 deep to pay for a chef's salad with peppercorn parmesan dressing. when i got out, eliza was nowhere to be found and i thought maybe she went back to the office, but instead she was waiting by the side door (luckily i checked, i was all ready to run back to the office with my lunch).**
today yet another cd delivery went out. i'm not getting those post-delivery highs that i use to get. maybe because we have at least 2 deliveries every week, i'm started to get jaded, it's become routine. i can't believe tomorrow's thursday. this week has gone by pretty fast.
when i went home it was raining. i know rain and electronic equipment don't mix, but i love to take out my digital camera when it rains at night, the landscape all glistening, the streets become reflective rivers of light.
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i finally packaged up my broken nikon 950 for repair. now all i have to do is to mail it. this box which i will have to carry on the bus with me tomorrow morning, all suspicious looking in its badly wrapped packaging. i didn't say bomb, don't put words in my mouth! i wonder how much it's going to cost to fix it? i hope it won't be too bad. i really like that camera. nevertheless, i already have my eyes on my next camera: the canon powershot 330, just introduced at the 2002 CeBIT.
i mentioned this to amanda rawson: is aim conversation the same as real conversation? on the surface aim appears to be a form of social interaction, but it still feels cold, distant. 
at least with a telephone, you can hear the person you're talking to, that's natural. when you aim, all you see are the person's thoughts written down through words. you don't actually see the person. it feels weird, empty almost, unnatural. the best thing about aim though is the ability to save your conversations, to have transcripts of talks with friends and coworkers, a snapshot in time.
interesting, watched walking with prehistoric beasts on the discovery channel. the fact that our australopithecus ancestors' increased their consumption of meat actually made them smarter. meat contains certain nutrients that help in the development of bigger brain size. you can see this in nature, predators are always smarter than their prey. so what does that say about vegetarianism? they can always argue, "we don't need to eat meat anymore, our brains are developed enough. besides, whether i eat meat or not is not going to upset the forces of evolution."
*eliza told me today: "btw, not that i read your web log or anything, but running on grass (or soft asphalt) is better for your _knees_ than running on hard cement" 020314
**eliza suggested during our run that i should have my own running exercise motivational video. i'd get someone to run with me and tape everything i say, words of wisdom, inspirational tidbits to keep you going. as an added bonus, the better you do, the more revealing outfits i'd wear, until finally in the end, when you're running 7 minute miles, i'm wearing nothing but mesh. 020314