:: quick facts for friday, november 21st -- the procrastination edition

that's right, it's friday and i'm procrastinating. i've gotten a good bit of work done, but there is much more to do. i think i have a problem focusing on something for too long. that doesn't mean i have a problem focusing. i sat at this computer for about and hour and a half and read and summarized an article about the stress that combat exposure places on military personnel and how those individuals deal with the trauma in both health and unhealthy ways. that takes some focus. but i think my problem, and perhaps the problem of our generation, is that there seems to be too much fighting for my focus. it's hard to stay tuned into one thing. i noticed the other day that i constantly watch tv and browse the internet simultaneously. i listen to music and read. i think this has become more and more common as we've discovered the need to multi-task. we've gotten so busy that we need to do two things at once just to get everything done. we can't focus on one thing, because it seems so unnatural and like such a waste of time. 

i've commented to several people this week that i have this "spot" in the library where i have to sit because there is very little distraction there. it has windows, but you can't see much activity through them. there are very few people here now. if anything more interesting is presented, i'll be distracted from working. that's why i'm blogging. so, let's get this distraction out of the way and get to the quick facts...

current time :: 12:06pm

current location :: my "spot" in the library. 3rd floor reference section.

current atmospheric conditions :: from my window it looks deceptively warm. but i was just outside and i know better. the temp is 41°F, though it feels like 35°F with the 16mph shearing winds...

currently listening too :: the sound of silence (not the simon and garfunkel song, the actual silence. it sounds like my computer humming).

current rambling thought :: "i might have to write a whole 'things i don't understand...' article on beyonce and her crazy cyborg hand..."

current song stuck in my head :: "a kiss is not a contract" by flight of the conchords.

current price of a gallon of gas in starkville, ms :: $1.86

current number of days 'till thanksgiving :: 6

current number of day in the year :: 40

current number of days 'till pres. bush leaves office :: 59 (22 hours, 41 min, 40 sec)

today in history :: 

• judas maccabaeus restores the temple in jerusalem in 164 bc. now jewish kids everywhere get presents on 12 days instead of one...
• the plymouth colony settlers sign the mayflower compact in 1620. apparently they didn't read the fine print, where it outlined the freezing cold winters and how more than half of them would die within a few years...
• the dow jones industrial average closes above 5,000 for the first time in 1995. now, it looks like we're heading back there again...
  

born today in history ::

• voltaire 
• josiah bartlett
• steven curtis chapman
• björk
• troy aikman
• ken griffey, jr.
• michael strahan
• chris moneymaker (he's a poker player, not a porn star)

today's obscure holidays ::

• world hello day
• world television day 

(hmm, these two seem to be working against each other)

video of the day :: 


more to come...