The longer I do this whole “blog” thing, the more I realize several things:

1. I can type what I’m thinking faster than I can write it
2. I can write what I’m thinking faster than I can say it
3. I think more clearly in my head than I am able to convey in a verbal fashion, yet
4. I seem to be reasonably able to put down what I’m thinking in a written format

The reason I think this is somewhat important is my ongoing nagging at how much better and more well-rounded this whole blog would be if I had a voice-activated recorder. I’m beginning to think that’s almost entirely incorrect for many reasons, the least of which is probably that I would be too damn lazy to actually transcribe the ramblings of the voice on the tape. I am given to this because I’ve tried lately to use my iPaq PocketPC to record my thoughts while driving, and later when I sit and listen to the recordings I realize not only how stupid I must sound to those of you out there, but also that the complete, coherent thought that I believed I was capturing - once transferred to audio - became utter trash.

Which leads me to believe that my lack of interaction with others on a personal level during my workday is starting to contribute to a sort of verbal atrophy. Eventually my entire vocabulary on an audible basis will consist of base grunts and vast hand gestures, all entirely incomprehensible.

I thought about that yesterday. Continuing that thought process, I started getting sort of philosophical with myself about the destiny of the human race, the end of the world, and the origin of the universe. (Keep in mind the entire thought process lasted only around 30 minutes, or the length of my commute from home to work.) I wonder if all humanity will migrate towards a more visual means of communication (a la the World Wide Web) based on the increased usage of such means of communication in these latter days.

Around the end of my commute, I finally realized that the whole thought process Re: Evolution was most likely spawned by the fact I was listening to the Shamen album, Boss Drum, most of which is sort of a mystical wandering about the metaphysical. On the forefront, the songs themselves sound fairly commercial and pretentious, but if you’re not paying attention, it’ll suck you in.

Speaking of which, whatever happened to The Shamen? I mean, they had that En-Tact album with the single Move Any Mountain on it, then Boss Drum, then…? They sort of fell out of the spotlight. Looking at their CD listing on Amazon, it looks like they had a couple more albums since then, but what happened?

That sort of reminds me of my other train of thought yesterday. I’ve started to realize that my world view is just slightly me-centric. Okay, maybe more than slightly, but that’s not the point here. The point is, when I’m “into” something, I somehow just assume that thing is popular. When I’m not into it, I assume it’s not (or no longer) popular. I guess the question that leads is: Do I get into (and, subsequently out of) something because of its relative popularity level at the time, or do I make these self-centered views and then impose them on the world? I suppose another option there is that I get into and/or out of things on their respective popularity cusps - I get into something I think is cool, and simultaneously several other people get into that same thing and, by proxy, it becomes cool. The same process in reverse for things becoming uncool.

I suppose that’s something to ponder on. From a philosophical standpoint, I guess that, pending on the outcome of that thought process, I may find that I, too, am merely a sheep manipulated by the media and its agents. Then again, I may decide that I, myself, am an agent of said media and perform my own manipulations on others. Somehow I think it’s probably a good combination of the two.

Topic change: I’ve got sneak preview tickets for tonight’s showing of Stealing Harvard, which looks like a pretty dumb movie, but since it’s free I guess I’ll go. I hope it’s good. I don’t feel like Tom Green can carry a movie on his own, though, so I think I’m going to be hard-pressed to like it. Maybe if I go in with reduced expectations I can emerge from the theater pleasantly surprised.