Silly, silly amazon

I like amazon. They've never let me down, and recently I've been really impressed with their stats. Things like "83% of the people who viewed this item bought a cat scratching post" are adding so much value to shopping online. It's good to see a wonderful, seamless application of some nice data mining.

The customer feedback and reviews are my main resource when trying to buy something as complicated as headphones, (I settled on these and am delighted with them), when there are literally hundreds of results, and until recently, I took note of the recommended items.

This morning I got an email from Amazon, not something that happens very often, but never the less, excitement set in - I like to think what the algorithm really thinks I would like.

The title was:

Amazon.com recommends "Discipline in the Secondary Classroom: A Positive Approach to Behavior Management (Jossey-Bass Teacher)"

How thoroughly disappointing. It's a tragic artifact of buying Madeline a million books for her teaching credential program. I've just found that I can "Improve my Recommendations" but it's not the same. You don't tell a best friend what things to consider from your personality before they buy you a birthday present. I want the algorithm to be my best friend.

I know it's late when my parents are on skype already

Tonight, Madeline and I went out with some friends for a very nice French meal, (no Le Frog, but nice none the less) and a club near our house. I had rabbit pate (borderline tasteless, but I guess it's meant to be subtle) followed by the veal, and Madeline struck gold with a big old steak, done to perfection.

The club was fun, the company was excellent and we are now at home in a state where I'm able to type and, fingers crossed, we won't feel like death tomorrow.

It's been a good week, although reasonably stressful. My classes are surprisingly challenging, but it's good; I'm learning a lot and it's a good thing keeping me busy. Going to do some stuff for Yahoo over the weekend, but no other big plans. Maybe brunch on Sunday with pals, but other than that, just preparing for Mel's visit. Exciting times!

Travel plans and middle age

Last night, Madeline and I went to the gym. She spent an hour doing weights and cardio. I spent an hour doing yoga, thinking about my breathing and getting frustrated how hard I find it to get my heels to the floor in "downward dog" - I blame it on years of rugby.
Today I noticed that I'm wearing only earth tones, and am sipping on peppermint tea. I fear I'm a cardigan away from a demography I haven't arrived at yet.

Met up with Madeline for coffee this afternoon (she had no work so was enjoying distracting me). We strolled to Starbucks and spent a little time chatting about our travel plans for next summer. I think this will be a point of discussion for quite some time but currently I'm pushing for Iceland, Sweden and Russia. Madeline sent me this in response:

"Russia is not a tourist friendly country, as reading this document will show. Limit your touring to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Although Russia is a country of glorious landscapes and unique culture, it does not provide a travel environment that makes tourism either easy or enjoyable."

I'm not sure she's convinced. This sounds more like a challenge than a warning to me.