The Clockworks Project Archives


5/17/94, ? A.M.

It went off sometime this morning (the display said "Secret Data"), but I didn't hear it. Taking a shower? Playing the stereo?

5/18/94, 10:24 A.M.
Walking home from breakfast. Wondering how much reverb I'd need to use to make the ref phrases match the ones I'd already done. Thinking I should have R. mark the most important ones. I heard the beeping and thought it was coming from the house I was passing, then realized what it was. It took me a while to remember what I'd been thinking right before it went off. When I put it back in my pocket, the little computer interface connector cover (I call it the butt plug) fell out. I bet I'll lose it before long.

5/18/94, 1:07 P.M.
Sitting at work waiting for Mosaic to finish displaying an endless list of World-Wide Web servers. I couldn't stop the display because sometimes that crashes Mosaic and screws up my system. Not sure what I was thinking. Just staring blankly, impatiently, at the screen.

5/18/94, 10:17 P.M.
Sitting in front of the computer at home adjusting the contrast control on the organizer, when it started beeping. I was getting ready to delete my company's entry in the phone list, because when I downloaded the file, that entry had bogus fields I couldn't edit out. I deleted it and typed it in by hand from the text file.

5/19/94, 3:39 P.M.
At Computer Literacy in San Jose, playing hookey from work. Reading 2600 Magazine. It had an article on how to hack health club machines - reprogramming the text messages, tricking the machines into giving you more time, etc.

5/19/94, 7:20 P.M.
At home, playing Paul Simon's "An American Tune" on piano. Vaguely wondering if my new neighbor could hear it. I was playing the "dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly" line when I started beeping unexpectedly.

5/21/94, 2:26 P.M.
At home, getting ready to finger myself. Um, that is, I was in the middle of typing "finger earl" to review my bio. I forget what if anything I was thinking, as well I why I was doing this in the first place. I guess I was about to edit it to include a pointer to my new www home page.

5/22/94, 10:44 A.M.
Getting a haircut at an Asian hair salon and videodisk store. They were playing videodisks of popular songs from the '60s and '70, like "Blue Bayou" and "I Started a Joke," with unrelated scenes of women dancing in meadows or couples holding hands by the seashore. When the beeper went off I was listening to "Me and You and a Dog Named Blue" and thinking about a rhythm guitar pattern.

5/22/94, 6:45 P.M.
Doing a global search and replace on an .html file for a WWW version of the "Awesome Possum" environmental quiz. Don't know what I was thinking.

5/23/94, 9:26 P.M.
Reading Marianne Mueller's WWW home page. I picked it out from a list of Netcom home pages, probably because it was about the only entry with a female name. I downloaded her picture by the beach. Not thinking anything in particular. I wonder if I think any more.

5/24/94, 6:18 P.M.
I just quit out of Lynx, after checking the changes I'd made in the bird sounds directory. Then I did a directory and got beeped. A pattern is emerging here. I think I'm spending too much time in the web.

5/25/94, 9:25 P.M.
Playing "Forget That Girl" on piano, rehearsing it for my Monkees cover band. Singing the line about "She's in love with him..."

5/26/94, 10:48 A.M.
Sitting in front of my computer at home writing a note to myself to find Michael Joyce's Storyspace hypertext story, "Afternoon" on America Online.

5/26/94, 3:12 P.M.
Listening to _The Very Best of Moby Grape_ and reading the liner notes (specifically, the part about "He didn't say anything until we got in the car, when he suddenly announced 'I can sing anything up to high C and play like a motherfucker. What can you do?'") The clerk I bought the CD from this afternoon said it was ironic - Skip Spence lives next door to him and asks him for change all the time.

5/27/94, 7:08 P.M.
At home, logged into Netcom, reading a post about homeopathy in sci.med.

5/28/94, 11:50 A.M.
In my kitchen, drinking a glass of water. Thinking I should mention in my WWW home page that people are encouraged to contribute links for my online Museum of Conceptual Art.

5/28/94, 6:48 P.M.
At home, getting ready to import into HTML.edit the first of many text files for the hypertext version of my dream about dreaming.

5/28/94, 7:32 P.M.
Went off again while I was editing another .html file for my dream about dreaming.

5/30/94, 2:29 P.M.
I'd just gotten off the phone to G., talking about her trip to Portland. I told her I didn't want to go see _Four Weddings and a Funeral_ because I hated weddings and funerals weren't much better. I got off the phone and headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Thinking I should hurry up and get my story written.

5/30/94, 4:32 P.M.
Lying on my back, looking out the window, lost in thought. Trying to work on my story.

5/31/94, 5:02 P.M.
Answering email, explaining how to set up a WWW site. Getting ready to upload my personality test story.

6/2/94, 2:44 P.M.
At Lyon's restaurant in Milpitas. Listening in on a conversation between two middle-aged men. "You're not going to pay with your Elastic Card, are you?" He got his credit card back from the waiter before it was processed, because it would've been refused. I tried to remember what I'd been thinking, but the distraction of taking out the organizer and turning it off made me forget.

6/2/94, 7:02 P.M.
Just got home. Poking my hand through the cat door thinking the cat was right outside, saying "Little Quinn."

6/4/94, 8:18 P.M.
Eating chicken/shrimp/vegetable fried rice at a Chinese restaurant, listening to some Asian kids talking about how much various people weigh - some kid who weighs 29 pounds, a sumo wrestler who weighs 500 pounds, etc.

6/5/94, 4:44 P.M.
In a bookstore in Saratoga. Looking at a book called _Culture of Complaint: The Fraying of America. Thinking that people should send balls to politicians that don't have any.

6/6/94, 10:36 A.M.
Eating breakfast at a small cafe. Reading an article about the U.S. veterans parachuting into France for the 50th anniversary of D-Day. My eyes get moist, which is not unusual when I read the paper.

6/9?/94, 1:36 P.M.
At work, reading a book.

6/10/94, ??
It went off sometime today, but I didn't hear it. Maybe I was driving or something.

6/11/94, 4:27 P.M.
Writing notes to myself about the story I'm working on.

6/12/94, 10:22 A.M.
I finished breakfast at Baker's Square. Reading the paper. "Judge lets teen halt life-prolonging drugs."

6/12/94, 7:29 P.M.
In the kitchen, wearing a t-shirt and no pants. Taking 2 acidophilus tablets. I'd just finished saying out loud to myself, "You're telling me I'm out of acidophilus?" Then I saw the bottle on the counter. "No, I just forgot to put it back [in the refrigerator]." I thought, but didn't say aloud, "But I'm going to run out soon."

6/13/94, 5:00 P.M.
Sitting at the computer, working on the third sentence of the sixth rewrite of my story. So far, it consists of an open quotation mark.

6/15/94, 2:37 P.M.
Talking to a composer about a new sound system.

6/15/94, 2:49 P.M.
Walking into my office, eating a bag of Ruffles Choice Potato Chips, with 40% Less Fat, but Not a Low Fat Product. Getting ready to try a tutorial for an authoring system.

6/17/94, 8:50 P.M.
Driving away after eating at a Chinese restaurant. Thinking maybe I should leave a message for a co-worker suggesting he return the 14" monitor and get a 2-page, since he'll need to have lots of windows open at once.

6/18/94, 5:42 P.M.
Just finished eating a burger for dinner. Reading an article in the paper about O.J. Simpson. "Counselors see familiar abuse pattern."

6/21/94, 8:18 P.M.
Talking on the phone to G. We'd had a fight earlier. She refuses to make backups of her floppies, and I called her stubborn. When she got mad, I said, "I'm sorry I spoke the truth." This did not qualify as an acceptable apology. So I apologized for lecturing her. We made up, pretty much. But she is stubborn.

6/23/94, 3:23 P.M.
Cleaning out my hard drive, dragging the Net Graphics Files folder to the trash after archiving it on Syquest.

6/24/94, 2:05 P.M.
Sitting at the computer at home, reworking the opening of my story.

6/26/94, 3:57 P.M.
Reading "Rejection and Betrayal" in _Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature_. "But that is precisely what is sought by those individuals who provoke rejection. That is, that they should be allowed to give full expression to their shadow, and that they should be loved for the punishment which it inflicts-- they feel that only then will they experience true acceptance and love." Thinking that this fits me, or at least that it has at times.

6/27/94, 5:06 P.M
Looking at the Extensions Manager on the new Mac at work, seeing which things were enabled.

6/27/94, 7:01 P.M.
Staying late at work. J. is talking about some live sex show he saw in Germany with a transvestite and some guy that does the hunchback of Notre Dame on a rotating stage.

6/30/94, 9:42 P.M.
Spooning canned cat food into a bowl. Thinking I'll have to remember to get some tomorrow.

7/3/94, 2:11 P.M.
Lying down, resting, thinking, semi-awake. As often happens, the hassle of turning the beeper off made me forget what I was thinking.

7/4/94, 10:46 A.M.
Reading the WELL topic of feedback about the Grateful Dead shows at Shoreline.

7/4/94, 5:34 P.M.
At a friend's party. I forget what was happening when it went off. I wasn't sure if I was hearing it or not because of the music. Someone's kid came over to see what was causing the beeping. I didn't explain about the Clockworks Project.

7/4/94, 6:17 P.M.
At a friend's party. Someone is offering me chicken and/or hamburger.

7/5/94, 11:55 A.M.
At work, freeing up some space on D.'s machine so I can unzip some files.

7/5/94, 5:02 P.M.
At work, running MacCheck to find out why trying to play a huge PhotoCD file in MoviePlayer crashed the Quadra 650 such that it won't reboot. (It corrupted the finder.)

7/6/94, 2:02 P.M.
At work, looking at a map where employees have used push-pins to plot a distribution of where they live. I'd just said to myself, out loud, "Someone lives in Pajaro."

7/6/94, 5:33 P.M.
At work, trying to figure out why the DSP keeps feeding back. (Even after I turn the power off!)

7/7/94, 6:07 P.M.
At work, looking at MandleAcid, which I'd just downloaded from America Online. I had it set to: HypnoVision / Oil-Slick Tie Dye / Mutate.

7/12/94, 12:08 P.M.
Looking in an arcade game coin door to see if the key was inside.

7/12/94, 1:40 P.M.
Logging into the Vax to look for some files.

7/12/94, 2:38 P.M.
Doing a 'copy crash1*.* b:' on the PC at work.

7/13/94, 11:38 A.M.
Walking back to my office after another fruitless search for sealing tape with which to seal up the squealy leaks in the big piece of cardboard I taped over the air conditioning hole in the ceiling to keep my office from freezing me to death.

7/13/94, 8:45 P.M.
Sitting at a Chinese restaurant, waiting for my food. Listening to KOIT playing "Just My Imagination (Running away with Me)," I assume the original Motown version, which I wasn't familiar with. The vocals had more subtlety and richness than in the Stones version on _Some Girls_. Thinking, am I going to die?

7/14/94, 2:33 P.M.
Driving back to work after lunch. Wondering whether the junk mail I'd sent out earlier was too sarcastic. It said: Apparently certain job descriptions include the use of heavy-duty industrial-strength chemical stench agents to render entire hallways uninhabitable. I am no longer at the stage in life where I view getting paid to sniff glue, paint, ammonia, sterno and PCBs as a great perk. While these chemical warfare experiments are no doubt vital to the success of the company, I would appreciate it if, whenever possible, they could be conducted well after hours or on weekends.

7/14/94, 7:24 P.M.
Lying down, semi-awake. I can't remember what I'd been thinking.

7/15/94, 3:28 P.M.
At Sizzler, reading _Wired_. The waiter is asking what kind of salad dressing I want. I'm distracted with getting the beeper out of my pocket. He volunteers, "Oil and vinegar?" I say yes.

7/16/94, 2:27 P.M.
At home watching the video of _An American Werewolf in London_, the scene where he meets his dead friend in the porno theater.

7/16/94, 7:25 P.M.
At home, posting on the WELL an explanation of why people might not have heard the "Asparagus" line in the movie _Wolf_.

7/20/94, 11:19 A.M.
Eating breakfast at Baker's Square and reading the paper. So far they haven't found any trace of water vapor from the comet collisions with Jupiter.

7/20/94
(The beeper went off at least once more, but I purposely left it at home.)

7/21/94, 10:17 P.M.
Reading an alt.music.monkees posting about collectibles, including a ViewMaster reel.

7/26/94, 12:34 P.M.
At work, checking to make sure I had the latest Quicktime and Sound Manager extensions.

7/26/94, 5:32 P.M.
At work, reading the System Update 2.0.1 Read Me file.

7/26/94, 10:00 P.M.
Playing piano, the final "Ah bowa kawa"s from Lennon's #9 Dream.

7/27/94, 1:27 P.M.
Making backups of files from my word processing directory.

7/27/94, 6:06 P.M.
Just finished logging off the WELL. Stood up, grunting "uh" and "oh" as I straightened up. (I'd been sitting on my left foot.) Pondering whether to go home early.

7/28/94, 10:48 A.M.
Eating breakfast (I call it breck). Reading the paper. I learned, never feed a bear.

7/29/94, 11:24 A.M.
Waiting for breck. Reading a review of _The Mask.

7/29/94, around 10 or 11 P.M.
Watching _McCabe and Mrs. Miller_ at the Towne Theatre. I'd considered turning the beeper off before the movie started, but I thought, What the hell. It took me 15 seconds or so to turn it off, because I couldn't figure out how to open it in the dark.

7/30/94, 6:49 P.M.
Playing "Bessie Smith" (Danko/Robertson, from Dylan's _Basement Tapes_) on piano.

7/31/94, 11:35 A.M.
Eating beans at a Mexican restaurant and reading an ad in the paper: "Wish getting into a new home wasn't such a financing game?"

8/1/94, 3:59 P.M.
At work, doing an FTP file transfer.

8/2/94, 11:46 A.M.
Talking to B. about what kind of hard drive to get.

8/2/94, 1:18 P.M.
Listening to R. talk about some bug he was having.

8/3/94, 11:35 A.M.
Getting change from my payment for a hamburger.

8/3/94, 5:55 P.M.
Searching for the word "begin" to forcibly extract a recalcitrant uuencoded mail message.

8/4/94, 3:27 P.M.
Getting ready to copy a zip file.

8/5/94, 11:38 A.M.
After breck, reading a review of a restaurant in the Hayes center.

8/6/94, 5:30 P.M.
Working on my story. Scratching out my notes, "Opens the door and vomits into the abyss."

8/7/94, 1:56 P.M.
Working on my short story. Searching my "Dreams, old" file for the word "shard."

8/7/94, 5:43 P.M.
Reading the second paragraph of a printout of my story.

8/8/94, 11:34 A.M.
Reading vaxmail at work - 5.5" floppy drive for sale.

8/8/94, 3:31 P.M.
Finishing my veggies at Sizzler. Reading a story in Asimov's SF Magazine, wiping moisture out of the corner of my eye.

8/9/94, 12:42 P.M.
Deleting a sci-fi folder and sneering at the monitor when the available disk space didn't increase.

8/10/94, 12:07 P.M.
Eating a burger, reading the paper - "Mystery cloud hits SJ middle school."

8/11/94, 1:08 P.M.
Lying down watching G. go over my story with me.

8/11/94, 6:34 P.M.
Walking into my house after having gotten a massage. Thinking I shouldn't keep supporting a place that treats their masseuses poorly (pays them late, gives them bad checks, etc.)

8/17/94, 9:38 P.M.
Just finished urinating. In the process of shaking.

8/18/94, 6:27 P.M.
Logged in to the WELL, replying to email.

8/19/94, 7:47 P.M.
Laughing out loud at the thought of including a semi-nude shot of my neighbor, framed as if through binoculars, in my photo-documentary.


An Analysis of How I Spent My Time

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