MALA | | Page 16

1 July 2005
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Shopping for a new phone

I love gadgets. Especially hi-tech, hi-speed, wifi gadgets. Especially when they’re shiny and sleek and slim and take photos and videos and keep your calendar current AND make phone calls.

Today’s cell phone companies manufacture products with an endless list of features.

You can purchase a cell phone that – in addition to providing caller ID, conference call capabilities and voicemail (Duh) – will:

– Make calls over a Wi-Fi VoIP Connection
– Shoot photos
– Capture short video clips
– Surf the web
– Check Email
– Send short messages or use an instant messenger
– Listen to music by using MP3 and AAC files
– Play Tetris, Solitaire and Pacman
– Watch TV like CNN news segments, short clips from shows like The Daily Show and music videos
– Watch original programming (with a service like MobiTV or V Cast)

And that’s not all…. now Orange, a cellular carrier in the UK, is providing cell phone users with the option to Etch-a-Sketch.

I mean, seriously… when will phone companies produce an inexpensive phone that will work in all 50 states and abroad?

I need to replace my cell phone and fast (the casing cracked and retrieving voicemail is an uphill battle). I’m looking at Sprint’s Samsung IP-A790 but cringe at the $400 price tag. Unfortunately it’s the only phone I know of that is unlocked – so it can use foreign SIM cards (unlike it’s Verizon counterpart) – and will place calls on PCS and GSM frequencies.

If anyone knows of a less expensive alternative, I’m all ears.

30 June 2005
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The road home

At 5:00 p.m. sharp tomorrow, I’m going to walk over to Budget and pick up my car. I love driving on an open road.

Only, the road won’t be so open. It’ll be clogged with bumper-to-bumper traffic. And I hate driving in the equivalent of a parking lot.

I needed a plan.

I’m driving to Massachusetts with my buddy John. He gets home from work at 6:30 p.m. – which ruled out the possibility of leaving on Friday night.

“So what time do you want to set out on Saturday?” he asked.

“Well… how about getting up extra early and leaving at 5:00 am?” I said.

“That’s good…” I could see calculations form in his mind. “But won’t everyone else who doesn’t leave Friday night have the same idea? Won’t we all hit the highway at the same time?”

“Hmmmmmmmm…. well anytime on Saturday will be bad. And heading out on Sunday is just too late. We’ll miss most of the weekend.”

“I was thinking of hitting the road at 2:00,” he said, cocking an eyebrow.

Bloody brilliant. Leave in the dead of night. I could drive all night and pull into my parents’ driveway at 10:00 a.m. Saturday latest…. counting caffeine and bathroom breaks.

So that’s the plan. For the long holiday weekend. Hang out with my niece. Go shopping with mom. Head to the beach. Grill with dad. Fireworks in Newport.

One big family affair.

What are your plans for the Fourth?

27 June 2005
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Time

Back in 2001, I changed fields completely… went from working for the housing and construction industries to working in science.

The toughest concept I learned – in addition to getting a crash course in just about every discipline out there (archaeology, astronomy, biology, chemistry, genomics, nanotechnology, proteomics, etc) – is that there are no absolutes.

Now, I thrive on absolutes, on guarantees, on infallibilities…. like knowing for certain that 100 cents makes one dollar or that 1+1=2 or that dogs bark and cats meow or that Friday is payday or that there are 24 hours to a day.

I get a little upset when ALIAS moves from Sunday to Wednesday nights, when my brother changes his email address and forgets to inform me, when the Euro starts to bitchslap the US dollar, when I finally understand that time is a constant (it does not pass – we pass through it).

Quantum Physics my friends – the multiple worlds theory. For a quick introduction, rent What the ^@!&@# do We Know?

So now, almost five years later, absolutes no longer exist in my world. And, I think my life is better for it, though it’s been a long process.

And it’s got me thinking…. IF this many-world view of reality is a possibility and IF some super-genius at MIT figures out how to travel between these universes and IF I could afford to travel in time (because we all know it’ll be ludicrously expensive when it’s first commercially available), then where would I want to go?

10. Participate in a druid ceremony at Stonehenge in 1500 BC.

9. Tour the Great Library of Alexandria in 100 BC

8. Visit Alexandria, Egypt during Cleopatra’s reign in 51 – 30 BC

7. Witness the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776.

6. Menlo Park in 1879 when Thomas A. Edison invented the lightbulb.

5. Stroll the decks of the Titanic on the day of her launch on April 10, 1912.

4. Cape Canaveral, Florida, on July 16, 1969 for the launch of Apollo 11.

3. Hear JFK’s Inauguration Speech on January 20, 1961.

2. September 1499 for the return of Vasco da Gama to Lisbon, Portugal, during the reign of Manuel I.

1. Florence in 1480 to pose for Leonardo da Vinci.

If you could travel in time, where would you go?

23 June 2005
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When I grow up……

If I could go back in time and prepare for a different career…. I’d want to work for the CIA. I know, I know – that just sounds stupid.

But bear with me here.

I have some compelling evidence that – at the very least – my studies and training exercises would have kept my interest.

Last night, I was blindly looking at the thousands of books stacked throughout my apartment and noticed a pattern:

1/4 are spy thrillers
1/4 are world history and civilization
1/4 are languages
and the rest are a random mix of biographies, literature, science, and reference books.

Okay. Not quite sure if I could succeed undercover with what I’ve learned through books, but there is no denying an interest in the field of international intrigue.

Then I looked over my VHS/DVD collection. No one would ever accuse me of liking chick flicks. I’d say 75% of what I own are spy thriller-action/adventures like:

Now I do realize (I really do) that having an intense interest in espionage as entertainment, like ALIAS, is completely different from dealing with the reality of day-to-day spy work.

But – if I could go back – whenever some pesky adult would ask, “So what do you want to be when you grow up?” instead of answering “Lois Lane,” I would reply, “a spy.”

And instead of dropping Chinese, I would have worked harder to learn it…. and Russian and Arabic – and maybe supplemented my bazillion writing and political science courses with some computer-tech-surveillance-stuff.

Instead of dropping track once I hit college, I’d make an attempt to improve my endurance and running times. Oh – and most important – instead of aerobics, I’d find the nearest martial arts studio and sign up for Krav Maga and Kali.

Then who knows…. instead of being a communications specialist who travels on the side, I could have been an international spy leading a life of intrigue and world-saving adventures.

It could have happened.

So what did YOU want to be when you grew up? And are you there yet?

16 June 2005
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Bag Ladies of DC

Look around and you’ll find them everywhere.

Women who ride the metro, walk down the sidewalk, climb into cabs, share the elevators, while carrying two, three, sometimes four bags.

I’ll admit, I’m guilty. I’m a bag lady.

Every morning I sling an oversized black bag over my right shoulder as a small purse swings from my left arm.

But even I stop and gape in awe when I notice a relatively normal-looking female wrapped in an oversized black bag, a gym duffle, a laptop case, and a small purse while gripping a Starbucks paper bag filled with what I presume to be lunch.

Why are we compelled to live like nomads?

I need most of the things stored away in the trendy purse – house keys, metro pass, pen, lipgloss, mobile phone, wallet, digital camera.

But why do I insist on carrying a large black bag around with me daily? Will I ever really need any of the things I stuff in there?

Let’s see (dumps contents of bag on floor):

Dell laptop, Nike sneakers, Filofax, one paperback novel by James Rollins, one collection of short stories by Carol Shields, kleenex, two silver barrettes, Kate Spade shades, five different shades of Lancome juicy tubes, TDK Mojo mp3 player, three AAA batteries, four bandaids, last week’s issue of The Economist, an issue of The New Yorker, suede case filled with three Cross and Caran d’Ache fountain pens, one red leather blank journal, businesscards, two Advantage chocolate peanut butter lo-carb bars, a black spiral notebook, a bottle of Advil, a pedometer, two pads of post-it notes (one hot pink, one yellow) and $2.89 in loose change.

Hmmmmmmmm……..

What’s in your bag?

13 June 2005
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Just call me Tia

My beautiful niece decided today was the day she’d come into the world.

Last night, as I stepped out from the air-conditioned movie complex into the humid night air, I was startled to find eight messages waiting in my voicemail.

And then I knew.

My brother’s voice sounded steady as he reported that he’d just checked the mom-to-be into the hospital. It would be at least a few hours. Then my mom called three times, leaving sing-song messages (she is REAL excited about becoming a grandmother). Next came a message from one of my cousins (and my brother’s neighbor) complaining about the vending machine selections. Then another message, from another cousin, telling me more of the same. Followed by my mom, again, this time wondering out loud where could I possibly be (watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith) during this momentous occassion and why wasn’t I answering my phone and could I call her as soon as I got her message – if not sooner. The last message was my brother, still sounding remarkably calm considering his life was about to change forever, giving me an update.

Baby decided to join the festivities twelve hours after they entered the hospital at 5:24 a.m. today. Everyone is healthy and well.

All except me! I feel so far away and have to wait til Friday to meet her. I’m feeling uncharactistically morose and anxious about missing almost everything!

Almost everything in the sense that thanks to cameraphones and wireless technology, my brothers and parents and cousins and aunts and uncles are inundating me with photos. So I guess I don’t feel as badly as I could be.

Stay tuned for real pictures of the little princess next week.

1 June 2005
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Writer’s block

I make lists of current events and things I do day to day, things to blog about, but then I power on my laptop and stare at the keyboard. I’ve got nothing.

I wait for inspiration and the writing gods just laugh at me.

In April I traveled to Lisbon, Portugal – a buoyant city of immeasurable beauty. I’d like to live there someday.

But in the meantime, I’m going to give up on the muse and scorn the gods.

“If you wait for inspiration, you’re not a writer but a waiter.” ~ Anonymous

16 April 2005
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Smelly memories

I was walking down M Street when I caught a whiff of a distinctive scent – the smell of 2×4 wooden boards. Instead of standing on a busy sidewalk, I was transported back to the lot in Massachusetts where my dad and five other men framed our home…. and to the dim stage where 25 actors stood poised to help build a set.

The memories were vivid because of that wonderful aroma of fresh lumber.

There are other scents that never fail to bring back memories for me, like: