Eclectic Like Me: February 2011

Friday, February 18, 2011

Visualize This

I have been researching data visualization at work recently, and I really like word clouds. Just for fun, this is a word cloud of my Facebook posts from the last year. (Click image for a larger version.) Some of it made me chuckle. What do you think? Any surprises?

Random Things About Me

I don’t like talking on the phone.
At some point in school I had to read “To Build a Fire” by Jack London. I hated it. Ever since then, I have disliked all books/movies/TV shows about cold, snowy places.
Sometimes I use pivot tables in Excel. I don't know whether to be proud of this or ashamed (because it means I use Excel way too much!).
I don't like mangoes.
In the course of talking through a problem with another person, I often have that “aha!” moment when I answer my own question. In order to waste less of other people’s time, I keep a rubber ducky, named Johnny Mustang, on my desk, and I talk through problems with him instead.
When I get cravings, it’s most likely for one of the following foods: chocolate, onion rings, cheese, or buffalo wings.
My father and both grandfathers all have names that start with E: Eldon, Emory, and Elias.
I think the spread of cell phones has introduced a whole new way for people to be rude to one another. If cell phones weren’t so incredibly useful, I wouldn’t have one.
I love to laugh. A lot. I’ve never laughed so hard I peed my pants, but if I did, I would probably laugh about it.
I defined my own “Hierarchy of Cleanliness” for assessing which guests my house is clean enough to host. The categories are: (1) me, (2) family and close friends, (3) acquaintances and strangers, (4) hot date, and (5) the president. To date, the cleanest my house has ever been is level 4. I hope one day to achieve level 5, but as presidential cleanliness is about so much more than just getting rid of dirt and clutter, I have my doubts.
Most of the best cakes I've ever eaten were cakes I made.
I can't bring myself to wear black and khaki together even though I think it looks fine (even good) on other people.