Mark's Notebook


	And this is the simple truth - that to live is to feel oneself lost. He who accepts it has already begun to find himself, to be on firm ground. Instinctively, as do the shipwrecked, he will look around for something to which to cling, and that tragic, ruthless glance, absolutely sincere, because it is a question of his salvation, will cause him to bring order to the chaos of his life. These are the only genuine ideas; the ideas of the shipwrecked. All the rest is rhetoric, posturing, farce. - Soren Kierkegaard

Shrug

Tuesday 27 December 2005, 3:43 pm
Keywords:

"Learning to shrug is the beginning of wisdom."
- Fortune from Ho Chow, where we ate last night

Yesterday we went to after-Christmas sales at Valley Fair in Santa Clara. The shopping center might have another name now, but for those of use who've been here since the 1950's, it will always be Valley Fair. Mary didn't want to go into Nordstrom or Macy's, where we probably would have found the best sales.

I did buy this little USB-powered keyboard vacuum cleaner just because it was half price and my keyboard has lots of food in and on it. The verdict is out so far ... it cleaned the top of the keyboard just fine, but I think I'll still have to take all the keys out to get to what's underneath. There is an attachment that looks like a one-inch piece of flexible heat-shrink tubing, but it won't reach between the keys.

The mall wasn't as busy as we expected it to be. I brought Mary in the secret back entrance and we parked on the street because the lines to get into the parking lot were too long.

Since Mary didn't want to go into Nordstrom, I didn't get to shop at the half-yearly men's sale. Will have to go back there later this week. Like many others, I shop for others before Christmas, for myself after. But since we won't see my brothers or sisters until next weekend at the earliest, there is still time to shop for them ... it has happened before (getting them something at after-Christmas sales, that is).

Mark's Notebook

Shrug

Articles