Yesterday I saw the bright side of the apocalypse. I'm always sad when I think, yeah, the times I'm living in are alright, but I'll bet the future is going to be cooler, even if flying cars continue to be a mirage for a while. And yeah, current technology is pretty cool, but then pretty soon it'll be old hat, and within my lifetime it'll already be quaint and antique. I find myself increasingly feeling like a technology defeatist: whenever a particular good or service is expensive or difficult, rather than considering it precious or a cutting-edge challenge, I just think it would be nice to fast-forward to the time when this costs a negligible amount or takes 2 minutes.

But if the end is near, then not only do you have the honor of seeing it, but that means things won't actually get any cooler after you die, you get to see the zenith. To me that's pretty nice. Of course you also have the privilege of knowing that no one else got to see more than you did, that no one can dishonor you after you go, and other related narcissistic advantages. So maybe this is why people continue to engage in the seemingly high-risk, no-reward game of eschatology. They're just hoping for the best.

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When I was young my dad would always try to get me to go outside and play by saying "there aren't going to be too many more days like this you know!", meaning such nice days this season. I always found this strange since, barring early death, to me there was a practically infinite number of these days remaining. Who cares if I experience them this season or next? My feelings on this have since changed, but only because I dislike winter so much that every time it's unseasonably warm, I feel like I've gained a point in an ongoing war. And I do relish engaging in some activities (mostly walking around) while it's warm that would become miserable trudges in the cold.

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My company is about to move uptown a bit, and our new neighborhood of Riverdale/Kingsbridge (depending on how honest you want to be or how fancy you want to make it seem) is full of interesting characters. The other day four of us were on our way to lunch and a man walking the other way suddenly stopped in front of us and exclaimed "You guys are in step! That's good! I like that!" before continuing on.

But by far the most reliable source of amusement is the clientele of the OTB right next door. Tonight while we all inspected the results of our own paint job (of the floor), an overweight man with a cigarette hanging from his mouth opened our door and stuck his head in with a grin. He then pretended to be a robot by sticking his arms out and trying to walk into the door, while saying "BEEP BEEP BEEP." Coworker Steve interpreted the act as an impression of a character from Battlestar Galactica.