I've been thinking a lot about how the last four to five years (the dot-com era) prided itself on zany and out of the box thinking, recalling that breaking the rules was the norm. But zaniness was simply a cover for immaturity, and what was labelled out of the box thinking was merely a lack of business acumen. True paradigm-shifting, revolutionary thinking is rare and hard to come by, and most folks just aren't that smart. Instead, people did whatever they wanted, whatever felt good, and labelled it a new way of doing business. And everyone else agreed.

The Exploratorium (here in SF) is running an old Charles and Ray Eames exhibit called Mathematica:
A World of Numbers and Beyond through May 2002. The purpose is make abstract mathematical concepts more real through demonstrations including, "light bulbs and plastic balls that express complex concepts in math." Sounds fun, and if you've ever seen the Eames' film Powers of Ten, you know they can take the word "obscure" out of mathematical concepts.

We took our first pilgrimage to the new Krispy Kreme last night. It was a mob scene, with security guards directing traffic and a line for the Drive-Thru that looked like the start of the Indy 500. Inside, a snaking line led customers past the Konveyor belt (I don't know if they spell it that way but they should) where we watched mounds of dough get formed into rings, ride up and down as they flowed through a heated rising unit, stared as the now-plump dough dropped into vats of oil and floated down stream, flipped, and finally passed beneath the sugar waterfall. Coated, plumped, and warm, they finished their journey down the final stretch of the conveyor belt, into a box, then into our tummies. They simply melted in our mouths.

And breaking news!!! Next door to the Krispy Kreme, under construction? You guessed it, another one of California's favorite spots to pack on the pounds and clog the arteries: an In-an-Out Burger. Daly City, you're my hero!

OH!!! How did I forget to tell you this? There's a new Krispy Kreme in Daly City. Just opened! I saw it last night from the freeway. From the KK site:

Daly City, CA! The HOT Light Is Now On!

Daly City, CA – Now serving HOT doughnuts in Daly City. We are located at 1575 Sullivan Avenue (off Hwy 280 at Washington & Sullivan). Call us if you need directions 650-985-5612.

Store hours:
Sun – Thurs 5:30 am to Midnight
Fri – Sat 5:30 am to 1:00 am
Drive-thru is open 24 hours a day

A quick maps.yahoo.com lookup confirms my joy: 6.6 miles from my house. Approximate travel time: 16 minutes. Anyone for some donuts?

Can this be the source of my troubles? I just noticed this Business 2.0 Web Guide has me listed as "Megan." Though it's from an old interview, perhaps people are still finding it? Suggested new tag line for Biz 2.0: "Our fact-checking is short on facts."

Several people have written to commiserate about the name thing. Seems there's a lot of us out there that like to be called by the names or nicknames we chose for ourselves. Makes sense.

Home. Sweet. Home. After being away so long, it seems strange here. Sticky and humid. Soft, in a no-hard-winter, no-leaves-to-rake, no-crisp-autumnal-air way. And worst of all? My kitty doesn't even seem to remember me. 🙁

Perhaps it's because I'm tired. Perhaps it's because I just want to be home in California. Perhaps it's because I'm uptight or picky or demanding. I don't know. What I do know is that this "Megan" crap continues. If you don't know what I'm talking about, read the about page. If you email "Megan," don't expect a reply from me. I have no idea who she is.

Wouldn't you know it, I'm still in Boston. And while it continues to be sunny, it's gotten quite a bit colder and I'm wishing I had a heavier coat with me. Some additional meetings have caused me to postpone my return until mid-week.

I've posted my presentation, Weblogs as Peer-to-Peer Journalism from the O'Reilly P2P & Web Services Conference. The slides are rather sparse but you'll get a sense of what I was saying. It's (of course) much better in person. 🙂

Oh no. An American plane crash this morning in Queens. I've flown American twice in the past week, and am scheduled to fly again. I feel badly for American employees, they have been so nice and so thankful on my recent trips and over the phone when I've rescheduled my ticket. They just keep saying, "thank you so much for flying American, we really appreciate your business." No matter what caused this crash, it's another terrible blow for American, and for all of us.

I saw a commercial tonight for Out Cold, a movie written by a friend of mine from high school. It's coming out (at least here in Boston) on November 21 (I think that's what it said). I can't wait to see it, even though it loooks like a silly flick about snowboarders. But Jon Zack (the writer) is so g-damn funny, I'm sure it'll be great.