Buster Butterfield McLeod posted a photo:

bustermcleod: Playing guitar hero for the first time. Ouch.

Buster Butterfield McLeod posted a photo:

Buster Butterfield McLeod posted a photo:

bustermcleod: Kellianne's talking to her mom with a Delaware accent.

bustermcleod: Google maps should estimate cab fare when it gives directions.

Buster Butterfield McLeod posted a photo:

bustermcleod: Why is Flickr in Italian for me this morning?

McLeod Residence Photobooth posted a photo:

The McLeod Residence photobooth in Seattle, WA.

McLeod Residence Photobooth posted a photo:

The McLeod Residence photobooth in Seattle, WA.

McLeod Residence Photobooth posted a photo:

The McLeod Residence photobooth in Seattle, WA.

McLeod Residence Photobooth posted a photo:

The McLeod Residence photobooth in Seattle, WA.

It would be interesting to create a social network that used a constraint like personal space to determine what rank they were.  I wanted to create one a while ago that was all about who you've taken to the airport or helped move, as those are two activities that restrict your friend group to a pretty limited set.  Unlike myspace or LJ, you can't just add everyone as friends... unless you have taken everyone to the airport and helped everyone move.  But, this game sort of makes me a jerk because I don't have a car so most of my relationships seem to be one-sided.

But personal space is a little fairer.  There are 5 zones of space according to this book I'm reading on body language:

1. Public Zone: This space doesn't belong to you at all, and it's where any old stranger can be without you feeling threatened.  On average, it's about 12 feet away from you.
2. The Social Zone: Somewhere between 4 and 12 feet, this space is for people that we could potentially interact with.  Plumbers working on our sink, waiters, etc.
3. The Personal Zone: Between 1.5 and 4 feet, this is for friends, coworkers, family, and people you trust.
4. The Intimate Zone: Between 6 and 18 inches.  This is the one that feels the most wrong when violated.  This is your space, and is reserved only for people who are emotionally close to you.  There's a sub-zone called the Close Intimate Zone which is even more restrictive and is 0-6 inches... which is used as you might expect.

I think that the distances here are, strangely, for faces.  People can come closer to their allowed zone as long as their faces stay the right distance away.  Haha.  Do you think that's true?

People who enter the Intimate Zone without permission are interpreted as intruders and possible attackers.  You have physical reactions to that violation, like increased heart rate, adrenaline, etc.  Strange that we have all these rules about space... the more I think about them the more complicated it all is.  Just think about how you react to each gender differently, and to people who are higher or lower on the status totem pole to you.  And what different social situations do to change the personal space math (like elevators, movie theaters, buses, airplanes, concerts, etc). 

So, maybe on Facebook or myspace or LJ we should say how close we've been to each of the people on our list.  It would be funny.  And possibly scary.  Maybe it's too much information.  But at the very least it would allow you to create a tiered set of friends that was somewhat objective and accurate to some strange formula in our heads.

erikbenson posted a photo:

erikbenson posted a photo:

Everyone in the city is on rotating baby duck duty

Erik Benson went to this event.

Winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi reads from her new memoir, Iran Awakening. A law school graduate of Tehran University, Ebadi was the first female judge in her country, serving as president of the Tehran city court from 1975. With the advent of the Islamic republic in 1979, she was forced to resign. She went on to establish a law practice defending intellectuals, the rights of women and children and refugees. With Islam as her starting point, Ebadi is known for promoting peaceful, democratic solutions to serious problems. Presented with Elliott Bay Book Company. Free, no tickets required. Call 206/386-4636 or visit "www.spl.org":http://spl.org for more information.

Erik Benson went to this event.

Lisa Randall studies particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University, where she is professor of theoretical physics. Her research concerns the fundamental nature of particles and forces and how matter's basic elements relate to the physical properties of the visible world. Prof. Randall has worked on a wide variety of ideas for what might lie beyond established particle physics and cosmological theories, including grand unified theories, supersymmetry, cosmological inflation, baryogenesis, string theory and, most recently, extra dimensions of space. Her new book, Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions, specifically addresses this last idea. Presented with University Book Store.

Holy saba vaca, dodgeball.com was bought by Google. Very cool. I love dodgeball. LOVE! I was going to make a version of dodgeball that didn't require you to register a location but just used Yahoo's Local Search web services, but integration with Google's Local Search and Maps is certainly not too far around the corner is it?

Erik Benson added an entry regarding paint my wall blue:

I want it to be a big blue wall. Maybe with a huge avocado painted on it, or maybe with a huge persimmon, or maybe just blue. The blue I am thinking of is the blue of this restaurant in Capitol Hill called El Greco… it’s a strange bright (but not annoying) blue. I just called a painter guy today to see if he can come by and give me an estimate. I have a $500 gift certificate to Lowe’s so I wonder if that will come in handy for buying the paints.

In addition to the main blue walls (there are a few actually), I think I may want to paint one small area somewhere bright pink. Is that crazy? I think it might be fun to have a little crazy pink wall hiding somewhere. Maybe in the closet.

So this story is complete. Now for my favorite part: revision.

Anyway, so I have this problem with hang-nails. I know, gross. But today I decided that I would focus on my hang-nails at every opportunity. Feel the ugliness. Be conscious of it at all points of the day. And so there was this nice, textured, thought in the frontest room of my attention all day, and it was one of the most comforting things I’ve ever done.

I sat in meetings, thinking about my fingertips. Everything else became more real. How often do we keep that front room of our attention empty, void of visitors? That, I am now convinced, is the cause of our stupidity. How can you think about anything when you’re using the back rooms of your attention to entertain all your guests? No, bring them to the front room, the one that has the view of the present, that lets you step into the now and be conscious wholy of one thing: your guest. It is a transforming experience.

So I took the Personalization job. I feel very good about it. Doesn’t pay much more than I’m making now ($37,000) but I think it will be much more rewarding. Aren’t you shocked that I told you how much I’m making. Honesty is a result of living in the frontest room. I weigh 160 and am 5’11”-6’0” tall. I have hang-nails. Gross.

Also, I discovered Napster for the first time—well I’d heard about it but didn’t really think it was so cool as I do now. Downloaded “You’re the one for me, Fatty.”

I have a new idea for a website. It will take a long time to make, but with all my new ego that I’ve gotten from new jobs and up-coming wedding and first draft of story, I think a long solid project will do me good.

DJ Erik Benson