Veritrope-colored Lightshow as the ConEdison Substation Explodes

It’s certainly been a crazy week here in New York, dealing with Hurricane Sandy and her aftermath: My neighborhood was spared, suffering nothing more than a few downed trees and brief flickering of our lights when a power transformer down the street exploded. But just a short distance away from here, the storm surge did tremendous damage. Many people lost power, heat, water, and in some cases their homes.

I had planned to run another contest this week but, given the circumstances, I didn’t really feel like it.  We’ll do it once things start feeling normal again — hopefully in a few days. In the meantime, would you please consider giving a little something to one of these fine groups?

Evernote AppleScripts Update

A quick code-related update — Many people have been asking if there’s been any progress on fixing the AppleScripts which were broken by Evernote “sandboxing” their app.

Evernote recently announced a completely rewritten Mac app which is now in beta testing. Once it’s released, I’ll continue working on the AppleScripts for Evernote. One side benefit for all you early adopters — since the beta is being distributed outside the Mac App Store, many of the broken AppleScripts seem to be working again.

Feel free to send me a message on Twitter or on App.net if you want to let me know how the new Evernote is working for you.

Excelsior, My Friends

I can’t remember when I learned that the state motto of New York was “Excelsior”1, but it’s a nice word for us New Yorkers — everyone really — to keep in mind during difficult times.

Perhaps not coincidentally, it’s also the title of a Walt Whitman poem which, when it originally appeared in the second edition of Leaves of Grass, was called “Poem of the Heart of the Son of Manhattan Island”.

Like a true New Yorker, Walt couldn’t help but brag a little.
Okay — a lot:

Who has gone farthest? for I would go farther,
And who has been just? for I would be the most just person of the earth,
And who most cautious? for I would be more cautious,
And who has been happiest? O I think it is I—I think no one was
ever happier than I,
And who has lavish’d all? for I lavish constantly the best I have,
And who proudest? for I think I have reason to be the proudest son
alive—for I am the son of the brawny and tall-topt city,
And who has been bold and true? for I would be the boldest and
truest being of the universe,
And who benevolent? for I would show more benevolence than all the rest,
And who has receiv’d the love of the most friends? for I know what
it is to receive the passionate love of many friends,
And who possesses a perfect and enamour’d body? for I do not believe
any one possesses a more perfect or enamour’d body than mine,
And who thinks the amplest thoughts? for I would surround those thoughts,
And who has made hymns fit for the earth? for I am mad with
devouring ecstasy to make joyous hymns for the whole earth.

I’ve lived in Brooklyn for a dozen years now and I’ve come to believe that this “Nobody has it better than us” attitude is some of what gives my brawny and tall-topt city its resilience. Whitman’s poem — and New York swagger itself — perhaps isn’t so much boasting as it is a wish for happiness to everyone who lives here.

So let me sign off for now with this wish for you — No matter where you live or what kind of week you’ve had, I hope you are able to look ever upwards and smile.

1. Often translated from the Latin as “Ever Upward” [↩]