Spacing Out

I know Slate produces original video content, but it's not often I seek it out. For some reason, I've watched two videos on Slate V today. The first was a take-off on MTV's Cribs called Cubez which uses the same format to profile a start-up's workspace in San Francisco. It was surprisingly entertaining in an uber-predictable sort of way. The second was a couple's experiment at spending the day never venturing farther than 15 feet apart. Again, doesn't sound particularly engaging and yet somehow, it was. And I learned a new word. Mundanity:

"The hardest part, I think, is the recognition of the mundanity of you own life. It's all very well to have a mundane life when you're just living it yourself. The fact that you want to get up and Xerox something; the fact that want to go grab another cup of coffee, and that's fine when you're doing it in your own mind. But when someone else is observing you doing it, you realize, what a waste."

Just so you know, the videos have pre-roll ads which I despise almost as much as - if not more than - Sarah Palin.