So I’m sitting here at work (tutoring) and since no students are coming in… I’m getting some work done. Well, was getting some work done until I decided to update my shit blog for the first time in over a month.

Anyway, so I’m reading up on the MAX5154 12-bit DAC chip that I’m planning on using for one of my labs and I decided to bust out my 80 GB Zune. The Zune, by the way, is a seriously underrated MP3 player; I like the interface better than the latest iPod. Also, the display uses a highly reflective screen background with white text, so even in the horrible glare fest that is a Texas afternoon, the display is perfectly legible.

Back to tutoring– the tutors sit at a huge 30-person conference table and wait for students to walk in and sign up. Even with only 20 people or so, the room quickly gets VERY loud.

So I queue up T.I.’s latest album (Paper Trails) and unroll my headphones. As I bring the buds up to my ears, the buzz of activity… tutors talking to students, some guy drawing on the whiteboard, and a few frustrated freshmen all instantly disappear… replaced by the phat production of ‘Paper Trails’ slamming into my eardrums at 761 MPH. I ceased to be part of the room.

I no longer have any ability to effectively interact with anyone else… all I can do is look around the room and imagine what is going on. Like watching a TV show… everything is so one-way and inaccessible.

After a few hours of listening to music… it’s time to leave. Popping the buds out of my ear, I return to being part of the world. Turns out the token stoner EE guy has been bitching about not getting a sandwich he ordered an hour ago from Jimmy Johns… and of course those frustrated freshman are 10% closer to switching their major to liberal arts.

And so for two and a half hours, I wasn’t part of their world. Nobody talked to me… I couldn’t hear them anyway. Their stories and interactions served as nothing more than a slightly-out-of-focus backdrop to my life while I starred at this screen.

I wonder if I really missed anything?