Today's Lunch

There are a variety of things written about on any random blog. Just spin the random blog wheel if you don't believe me. The topics vary from the very important to the mundane. I usually write about what's important to me, but that might not be that important to anyone else. The point is that I write for myself and all the clichés about whether anyone else cares apply.

But right now, I'm gonna spend a post talking about something completely mundane, even to me. I want to post pictures of what I had for lunch today at the Chinese buffet.

Photo from Popug.com User Jer86gn^*

Photo from Popug.com User Jer86gn^*

Aren't you impressed with my presentation? The first plate there inspired the need to photograph these morsels. Note the way that the chilled shrimp are arranged so nicely on my plate? Yeah, that was completely random. I grabbed the first shrimp and threw it on my plate and then after grabbing a second one, I noted how completely symmetrical they were right next to each other. It looked like a commercial. So I wondered (aloud, and in earshot of strangers) if I could get the third one to line up the same way and without another thought I put a third one on my plate. My coworker, Jeremy G., was impressed enough (and goofy enough) that he decided to snap a shot with his camera phone at my urging. Minutes later, he did the same thing with my bowl of ice cream. Little did I know that moments after he snapped the pictures that they would automatically be sent to a website and shared with unknown strangers across the internet. These folks could post comments and these would be sent back instantly to Jeremy's phone via text message. Apparently, someone watching the pictures even complained to Jeremy, I'd guess because they were getting hungry. It all happened so smoothly and quickly and seemed almost normal.

And I guess the interesting part of this uninteresting story is the technological angle, weak as it is. I mean, I do find it interesting how the communication on the web is so tightly woven in everyday life. Something so small and so revolutionary and yet stupid at the same time is happening every day. Cameras, phones, ice cream, web sites, online world wide communities and chinese food all consumed in one lunch hour.

Lisa's and my new cell phones that we got each other for Christmas do take digital pictures, but I've not really used it much. Perhaps it's time that I started. I do post the occasional photo on my Flickr page from my digital camera, and I could do that from my cell phone.

Note: I do want to apologize ahead of time because the Popug.com website mentioned above is rife with pop-up ads and other flashy annoyances. Thankfully, I just blocked them all one at a time in Firefox, and it's not a problem.