The Days are Just Packed
Yesterday Erik Stolterman gave a talk on one of his HCI philosophies. I enjoyed the talk, but felt immense pressure to ask a good question. When I go to colloquia, say in Cognitive Science, I expect the graduate students in CogSci to ask good questions. They are the ones at the forefront of the field, and they are the ones with the crazy ideas. I always find it depressing when no one asks hard questions.
So, I was really psyching myself up to ask him something worthwhile. I think I did an OK job, but it was hard. I didn’t really feel my ideas coming together very quickly. The trouble is Erik thinks at such a high level that the concepts he suggests are very slippery. Any attempt to situate and then evaluate the ideas is hard because when you try to nail them down, they just slither off in a slightly different direction.
But it was an interesting talk, and somewhat provocative. I can’t say I really understand what it means though.
After the talk we went to the GPSO Garden Party, which was fun, but I always get a little bit of a creepy vibe at those things. It’s hard to nail down exactly what it is that causes this feeling.
We went to Carmen. It was nice. The sets were beautiful, and I kept thinking back to other shows I’ve seen here… The sets are always beautiful. They must have some set designing master on the faculty.
The Opera itself was OK. Lately I haven’t been very wowed by the operas I’ve been seeing. Not sure what’ll pull me out of that funk.
This morning was driveway hockey. Good times, a competetive spirit without being too high strung.
And the weekend just won’t die: I’m going back to Jeff’s for his (catered!) party, and then to Jesse’s for a 70’s themed dance party. Tomorrow I am going up to Indy to have Easter brunch with the Fricks (which will be immensely entertaining I’m sure) and then Sunday Dinner.
And, uh… my work? It’s going to have to squeeze in where it can. There’s Spring to enjoy.
I feel exactly the same way about the sets, and not just for the operas. It didn’t take long after I got season tickets to the theater shows for me to realize that the principal perk of seeing every show of the season was the chance to see what they cook up in the scene shop. I love it because sometimes they have grandiose buildings, waterfalls, or ferris wheels, but equally often they go the alternate route and display an excellent command of the suggestive power of empty space and well-crafted lighting. I tip my hat to them on a regular basis.
As for the weekend that just won’t stop, after you guys left Jeff’s we switched to Karaoke Revolution and wine, and though some of it has been captured on tape for blackmail purposes, I’m sorry you missed the live version, because I’d put good money on your ability to bring home a stunning rendition of Material Girl when placed in command of an avatar in bobby socks.