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I started at IBM on Monday. It’s quite the corporate behemoth, and a very different work environment than I’m used to. With the team that I’m on, though, the general feeling is kind of like being on a Federation starship: you’re part of something huge and fairly bureaucratic, but your immediate group is a bubble of relative autonomy. There’s an extremely collaborative atmosphere. Everyone’s been really helpful to me so far, while I’ve been acclimating. It’s a really good group of people.

I’ve enjoyed the work itself too. I think I like editing more than writing, as it turns out. I’m off to a modestly decent start, and everyone seems pretty pleased with my work so far.

It seems like everyone I meet there asks me, “Have you ever worked for IBM before?” I’m starting to see why that’s such a common question; they do some things in kind of peculiar (or at least special) ways. They rely very heavily on Lotus Notes, for example (which is probably not so unusual for a company this size, but I swear that island in The Odyssey didn’t use this much Lotus. But then, it is IBM’s product after all). I guess it’s a testament to their organizational consistency that “working for IBM” is its own skill set.

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I got a contract job at IBM. I’ll be on a team of editors working on their developerWorks site. I’m excited about it, I’m sure I’ll be learning a lot. I start next week.

In other news, my 15th high school reunion is coming up. I haven’t been in touch with anyone from my high school at all, pretty much since graduation. That’s mostly because I expect that a lot of these people probably still think of me as a doughy, spoiled, somewhat judgmental prude. And sure, I’ve probably just been mostly paranoid about it anyway, but it hasn’t been worth it to me to find out. To the extent that this opinion of me was based on anything real, I would feel embarrassed to be around these people, and to the extent that it wasn’t, I would feel indignant. Either way, it’s meant no class reunions for me, at least up to now. But when I look at myself and how much I’ve changed since high school, and realize that everyone I knew back then could very well have changed as much, that does make me kind of curious. I can’t go anyway because the timing is bad with the new job, but I do have the chance to get in touch with some old classmates, so I am. If I don’t even give them a chance, I’m the one who’s being unfair.

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (the film)

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Stop what you’re doing and go see this movie right now. I’ll be here when you get back.

I’ve been a fan of Douglas Adams since about 1983, when I first read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in novel form. At one point, years ago, I could recite the radio series in its entirety from memory (before there was a Tertiary Phase :P), and I could probably still get through quite a bit of it today. This is my context; I am a fan. I adore the story and the way it’s told, even while recognizing that it hasn’t been told the same way twice in any two of its pan-media manifestations.

So it was an effort to keep my expectations in check when I went to see this film. But it rose to them with weightless ease. It was gorgeous and very entertaining. I suspect it might be a bit too anti-formulaic to achieve blockbuster popularity here in the States, with the narration breaking things up as it does. This is an essential part of its charm, though, and what makes it so faithful to the whole Hitchhiker’s œuvre. If you enjoy having your mind blown, you’ll love this movie. Plenty of brain food to gorge yourself on over multiple viewings.

Spoilers here (and not the kind that Lazlar Lyricon might put on a star buggy along with his infrapink lizard emblem). Even if you know the story already, beware. This means you, Lawrence. :)