Going back home

I’ve noticed that in the criminal absence of in-flight wi-fi connections, a lot of people are starting to write blog posts while they’re on the plane and then post them later when they get home. I’m doing that now as I sit on my flight between Phoenix (an airport with free wi-fi) and SeaTac (one without---get with it, Seattle!).

I’ve also just finished catching up on a good 3-400 blog entries. While I was stopped over in Phoenix I used Google Gears to pull an (apparently random) sample of blog posts down to my hard drive so that I could cruise through them on the flight.

So between Google Gears and TextEdit, I’m pretty well set up for the flight.

I also finished reading Steve Martin’s “memoir” Born Standing Up. It has an excellent title, and is a very easy read. I’m sure the traveling helps, but I don’t normally go through 200 pages in two days.

Steve Martin has been one of my favorite comedians, if not my favorite comedian, for a very long time. I am, however, a big believer in “passive research.” Passive research involves me sitting around and waiting for interesting fact to find their way into my head of their own accord.

Which explains why most of what I learned about Martin’s career and work in this book was completely new to me.

I won’t claim that I was any good at it, but I had a short-lived stint doing stand-up comedy in two or three coffee shops and comedy clubs. There are some things from his experiences that I find similar to my own, and plenty more that were completely alien to me. I found it fascinating, and if you have any interest in Steve Martin in particular, or stand-up comedy in general, I think you’ll find it a good read.

In any case, I’m rambling, which I assume is something that Just Happens on planes. I’ll be home soon, and it’ll be good to be back.