c_carol_again

I have lived in this ridiculous state for my entire life, you would think that I would eventually stop being surprised by the weather. But no. How are you supposed to cope with a day that is 27 F at breakfast and 70 F by mid-afternoon? How are you supposed to _dress_ for a day that starts in January and ends in April? There is a giant heap of dirty road-snow beside my mailbox and it is shirtsleeves weather. NC, I love you but why are you like this?

Today we gave up a work day, in the middle of the busiest time of year, for the big annual interdepartmental conference. We rent a nice event venue, have a decent-but-boring catered lunch, watch a bunch of presentations, and get given a company-branded novelty pen or something. It's probably more fun than a regular work day, but honestly, not by a lot.

This year's theme was 'Creativity and Curiosity'. The big boss did a piece on famous Creative and Curious people from history. Then the keynote speaker was someone from a famous entertainment company, who gave an actually quite nice presentation about the Power of Storytelling. The other presentations were by departments in the organization, congratulating themselves on their applied Creativity and Curiousity over the last year. These ranged from 'pretty fun' to 'how are you so boring', as you might expect. The usual stuff.

The last presentation before the wrap-up was by a Microsoft rep, there to sell us on the wonderful creative possibilities of Copilot. I came _so_ close to standing up and walking out. I stayed mainly to find out if the presentation was really as sickening as I thought it would be. Surprise, it totally was. I was speechless with fury by the time I left, stomping my way back to the car and writing furious blog posts in my head.

How, for heaven's sake _how_, do you organize a day-long event dedicated to Creativity and Curiousity, to the power of the human mind to change the world for the better, and then end it with a quarter-hour commercial for soulless AI slop and instant extruded Creativity-Like Product? How do you proudly showcase the work of the graphic designer who made our nice new logo, and then try to sell people a machine that will do all your 'graphic design' for you at the push of a button? How do you praise the power of authentic storytelling, and then outsource all your thinking and invention and judgement to of-all-places Microsoft? How do you people not see anything wrong with this?????

So, The Reality War, ( Read more... )

Just finished watching "The Interstellar Song Contest"...( Read more... )

AND ANOTHER THING! ( Read more... )

Here, have some reactions - - I hesitate to call them "thoughts" - - about Doctor Who "The Well"... ( Read more... )

I like to get these Instant Reactions posted right after I watch the episode, so that they really are _my_ first reactions, not influenced by everybody else's. But last night I was not feeling up to writing, not even in choppy bullet-list form. I'm not feeling a whole lot sharper now, to be honest, but I'm gonna try to get _something_ down for Posterity. ( Read more... )

Thanksgiving-themed homebrew Pictionary challenge, 3 words, any guesses?

Problem: (1) hungry (2) tired (3) empty fridge

Options:
(A) Drive to grocery store. Choose and buy food. Cook. Eat.
Pros: Cheap, healthy, responsible grownup thing to do
Cons: Takes time and effort, hungry _now_.

(2) Fast food.
Pros: Easy. Tasty. Does not require getting out of car.
Cons: Will feel vaguely guilty about it afterwards. Also health?

(iii) Lie on sofa failing to make a decision.
Pros: Easiest. Does not require putting on shoes.
Cons: Still hungry.