International icebreaker
I am not even twelve hours into the Italy trip and it is clear that the iPhone may be the surprise social lubricant of the journey. People are unabashed about asking about it, wanting to hold it, play with it. And I am of course obliging.
The great thing is that being wowed by the iPhone has nothing to do with language. It is visual and tactile and immediate. An Italian at O’Hare and an Indian in Milan (where I am now) were flicking through my kids’ photos in no time flat. A great conversation-starter.
For what it’s worth, the phone works great over here and EDGE isn’t too bad either.
Hi, I’m John Tolva!
Views From The Tank
Clowns at the circus
Gravid With Decay
Short recommendations, reviews, and cautionary tales about horror in fiction (mostly movies). Read through the archives and subscribe here.
Marginalia
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Answer: barely, with a few modifications.
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Some behind-the-scenes of my work life.
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The All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club!
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"Hell's Aquarium"
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"Before we rolled out through the gate, I’d tell myself that I didn’t need to worry, because I was already dead. The only thing that mattered was that I did my best to make sure everyone else came back alive."
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"The problem wasn’t that Sisyphus had to roll his boulder up a hill forever; it’s that he had to roll it alone."
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Same with me, clowns, same with me.
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I'm here for the needless politicization of tennis versus pickeball.
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Biomimicry meet reclaimed waste product.
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"Cities are where we see each other. People who don’t want to see hate that."