There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.

I stopped at Pavilions this morning to buy a salad for lunch, and saw Dog the Bounty Hunter loading groceries into his car.

I lead a charmed life.

Since a number of friends have asked, here's a micro-review of my new Droid (Motorola A855).

Preface:
The Droid is my first "smart" phone, so I can't say much in comparison to iPhone, Palm, Blackberry, etc. I've been using it now for a week and a half - enough time to get a feel, but not long enough to start hacking it. These are just my general (and quite personal) opinions.

The Good:
- The screen is absofuckingly amazing: 3.7in (94mm), 480 x 854 pixels, 16:9 widescreen. These are some of the tiniest pixels I have ever seen.
- Contact integration from Facebook and Gmail. This works remarkably well, although you might have trouble finding someone's phone number if you happen to have hundreds of Facebook friends. Importing the contacts from my old phone wasn't too bad, I had to save them out as a CSV file and then import them to my Gmail. From there, the phone automagically synced.
- Gmail, POP email & Facebook built in.
- A real web-browser, which means the full, real internets, not that little sliver that my old phone gave me. Walking around with Google in my pocket has... well, it has changed me.
- Google Navigator. Buh bye dedicated GPS units. Turn by turn directions, with voice synthesis & speech recognition, semi-real-time traffic and Google search. Built in. For FREE.

The Bad:
- My bank (Chase) doesn't have an Android app. The ability to do online banking from my phone, was one the reasons I bought a smart phone.
- Occasional crashes. The Droid (unlike the iPhone) allows you to run multiple apps simultaneously. Since most of the apps are developed by 3rd parties, there's no guarantee that they'll play nice together (or even by themselves). This isn't a big deal, rebooting the phone always clears things up... it *is* a computer after all.
- The battery cover comes off in my pocket at random times. There could be a number of contributing factors; including the fact that I ride a motorcycle most of the time and my jeans aren't exactly loose.
- Size. It's a bit on the big side compared to my past phones. I can put it in my back pocket, but I can't stuff it into my corset when I go clubbing (yeah, corset, what of it?). I'm sure I'll get used to it. Overall, it's roughly the same size as the iPhone.

The Unsure:
- The keyboard. Don't get me wrong, I really, really like having a physical, slide-out keyboard. I can't find any specific fault with it. However, it's taking me longer than I had expected to get used to it. I'm currently typing about twice as fast as I did on my old, non-smart, non-qwerty phone. I suspect that this will improve with time. (The phone also has a virtual keyboard, but I type even slower with that).
- Battery life. My old phone could go for a few days without needing a charge, whereas my Droid can't make it through the day. To be fair, this is completely *my* fault. I can't put the damn thing down; I'm constantly looking things up, surfing the web, checking my mail, etc. New toys get played with the most. The battery life will probably improve when the novelty wears off.

Conclusion:
I like this phone. No, I *REALLY* like this phone. It is not an overstatement to say that it has changed my life. I find it hard to believe that, a mere two weeks ago, I walked around without the Google, without my entire art portfolio, without an overhead satellite view of my current location (with traffic!), and without Facebook (for the love of God!)... in my back pocket.

While we were on holiday, I had time to work on some art (yes, I brought my laptop with me... yes, I know I said I wouldn't... "Bad Lars!").  In any case, here they are:

( NSFW, as usual )

Back from holiday. Long update to follow.

Smoke and fire map. Fun.

Drove up to Seattle to see my sister.  2530 miles in 5 days (43 hours of road-time, round trip).  Not too shabby, considering first 700 miles or so were on Highway 1, up the California coast.  A beautiful drive, the Pacific Ocean on the left, miles and miles of forest and farmland on the right.  Lunch at a small, quiet restaurant tucked into the woods by the ocean.  Across the Golden Gate Bridge and more coastline.  A plunge into the redwoods, winding canyon roads, the deep, green darkness of ancient forest, old magic... up, over and through the mountains.

Good to get away, to spend time with my sister, to morn with her over the loss of Eli, her little baby boy.  Tears, hugs, and quiet, thoughtful conversation.  Tears again at writing this, and again at reading it.  A forest walk with her beautiful children.  Some insights into our family, and my sometimes awkward place in it.

A bit of guilt at not contacting any of our amazing Seattle friends while in town.  The trip is about family, no time/energy to socialize.  I'll make it up to you later.

The long, monotonous drive back to Los Angeles, down Interstate 5.  Angie asleep in the passenger seat.  An impromptu detour to visit our tattoo artist at his new shop in Berkeley, CA.  More thoughtful conversation.  Hours of road time afterward to meditate on (re)surfacing ideas, to reconsider priorities, and contemplate new paths. 

Up the Grapevine, through the high mountain pass.  Used to go camping up here, when I was a kid.  When was I ever a kid?  Always so mature, always so responsible.  The burden of the eldest son, of a dedicated, hard working father.  Down the mountain and back to all too familiar territory.

Home.  Work email is waiting.  It will wait.  A quarter of my life spent working there, it will wait.

Sleep.  Wake.  Return the rental car.  Walk back home, in early morning silence.

Breathe.  Breathe in the air.

This was our Monday night. It was cathartic, to say the least.