hard copy

Over the weekend, I was flipping through a parenting magazine left by my cousin. I came across an article in which the writer complained about how she had written a journal on the computer during her maternity leave, and it accidentally got irretrievably erased. I thought, if she had written that in a blog instead of just her own hard drive, that wouldn't have happened.

But even assuming that a web-based journal is always up and running, never crashed, you still need Internet access, electric power, and a computer to read it. There's a certain satisfaction I get from ink on smooth, pretty paper -- one of the advantages that a handwritten letter has over an email. It would be really cool if there were a service that could publish a weblog as a bound book. This wouldn't be too hard with a monologue-type format like Diaryland has. A LiveJournal, on the other hand, is inherently interactive and would be challenging to print in an easily readable format. If it could be done, though, I'd want one.

Changing the subject entirely...
I happened to notice in my websurfing today that of the top ten plants for cleaning the air in your building, at least seven are poisonous to eat and not plants to keep in the same household with pets (or babies) who nibble on things.

I have interview questions, so I'll be answering those shortly.