From tomorrow onwards and for the next few months, I'm mounting a big push in the interest of furthering my academic career (perhaps I should say, in the interest of acquiring an academic career). In doing so I'm trimming down my life to its bare essentials, which will mean no posts on here for at least a month or two. Wish me luck.
Phew. I am not alone. It turns out Virginia Heffernan is also addicted to the inspirational website hosting talks given at TED (the annual Technology, Education and Design conference).
Once you start watching TED talks, ordinary life falls away. The corridor from Silicon Alley to Valley seems to crackle, and a new in-crowd emerges: the one that loves Linux, organic produce, behavioral economics, transhistorical theories and “An Inconvenient Truth.” Even though there are certain TED poses that I don’t warm to — the dour atheist, the environmental scold — the crowd as a whole glows with charisma. I love their greed for hope, their confidence in ingenuity, their organized but goofy ways of talking and thinking.
Yesterday's photos were a disappointment, so I'm offering you something by someone much more talented. Check out this extraordinary 100 meter long photograph by Simon Hoegsberg. Truly inspired. (Thanks Richard!)
Two diverting bits of aftermath (all the more diverting when you're supposed to be marking!):
The Big Picture's typically high-quality round-up of photos from the big day.
The NYT's analysis of two little (huge) things Obama mentioned in his speech. I too am particularly curious about why Obama didn't mention Iraq or Afghanistan in that refrain.
I apologise for the prevalence of self-portraits, but since Laura is away and I'm in marking seclusion for a week or so, it's just the easiest subject. I swear I'll choose something else tomorrow!
I recently upgraded my camera (when the old one snuffed it), and for this and other reasons I've decided to try producing at least one half-decent photograph every day. I may post these from time to time. Here are the daily photos from the past four days...
Stumble It!