If the desktop version of Google Wave is "experimental but not without function," the iPhone edition does two and only two things. It shows you your inbox:

Cool. Waves with fresh content are up at the top. Those icons represent users and gadgets that are contributing to the Wave.
 
And then when you tap on a Wave to see its content, Wave for iPhone does its second thing:

Yes, it amuses you. Which is more than many apps do so: Win!
 
(Still experimenting but having lots of fun.)

"Unfortunately, we're very good at making great demos," Google explains. This is still very alpha stuff. Witness the error message, which I bet will be changed when it goes into beta: "Wave is about to explode. If you don't want it to explode, click the refresh button." (paraphrasing, but you get the idea.)

 Still in progress, stay tuned.

I'm crunching on a major book deadline and taking what is really the only kind of break I can get away with: the sort where I'm still seated behind the keyboard and looking at a screen. Honestly, I'd kill for a real break that involves stepping outside to breathe some fresh air. But I've so much work to do that if I swung the front door open for even a moment, I'd probably just keep on running until I reached a Catholic cathedral where I could claim right of sanctuary.
 
iTunes is on Shuffle Play and a few minutes ago, a Dresden Dolls track came up. Which inspired me to Google the group, which led me to a SPIN Magazine article about a joint reading/performance with Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer, which contained the information that the Dresden Dolls singer used to perform in Harvard Square as a living statue. And that Gaiman once...
 
Wait. Amanda Palmer was a living statue in Harvard Square?
 
I once came across a great living statue in Harvard Square...a performer whose presence was engaging and thought-provoking. You don't suppose...?
 
I checked my Flickr feed for a couple of photos that I'd shot years ago (with only my second or third digital camera).
 

 

 
Another Google Search, this time in pursuit of a good, head-on image of Palmer. 
 

 
I've been tabbing between those two windows over and over again, comparing. Hmm. Yyyyyes. Yes. I'm not 100% sure, but I'm willing to bet that this is...
 
Oh, right. I could probably just Google for "Amanda Palmer Bride," couldn't I?
 
Aha!
 
http://www.brainwashed.com/amanda/
 
Cool. I'm pretty sure she even emailed me once. Yup, I even blogged about it back in 2001; she had replied to a blog post from 2000 in which I recollected having seen her in 1999:

http://www.cwob.com/yellowtext/yellowtext0801.html

(Aside: and this, ladies and gentlemen, is why we blog. I might not be able to find the title to my car without a deep search of the house, but the answer to a question like "Did I ever hear from The Bride Of Harvard Square? And when?" is always just a few keystrokes away.)

Now I'm doubly-glad that I put a couple of dollars in her pitcher. The Medici family were patrons of Michaelangelo, Galileo, Raphael, and Brunelleschi, sure, but where were THEY that day in Harvard Square? Probably off at John Harvard's Alehouse getting pranged while artists like Amanda Palmer were standing right outside, going unpatronized.

Well, don't worry, folks. On that day, Ihnatko was there to take up the slack.

My BFF John has just posted his photos from the San Diego Comicon. I was all set to join him, up until about a couple of months ago. But then (I think it was on a Tuesday) a flash of purple, otherdimensional lighting arced through the room and a man who looked exactly like me appeared. He seemed to be about two months older than me, and had suffered much. From behind haunted, distracted eyes, he managed to achieve and maintain mental focus only long enough to grab my shoulders and scream at me.
 
"DO NOT go to Comicon just two days after spending two weeks in Asia!" he said. "You'll be crossing 15 time zones in 72 hours! You have a big chunk of a book due the following week! And you're already spending a small fortune on incidental expenses associated with China and Japan and Korea!!!"
 
Then he started laughing until he started to cry, and then he cried until he vomited, and then the purple lightning reappeared and took him back to wherever he came from.
 
I called John and cancelled. I probably would have gone ahead, but as I was cleaning the bile stains from the rug and the scorch marks from the ceiling, it occurred to me I hadn't tied up any non-refundable money in the Comicon trip and I had no speaking or coverage commitments, so pulling out would be harmless. And whoever that dude was, he had a point.
 
Plus, thanks to John, I can experience the show vicariously through his Flickr feed. His Comicon photoset:
 

 
 But I want to call your attention to this one photo in particular:
 

 
She got Frank Cho (one of the top pinup artists at the show) to sign her left breast. She got Joe Linsner (another top pinup artist) to sign her right one.
 
On that basis...she simply HAS to have an Adam Hughes (THE top pinup artist on the planet) autograph on her somewhere.
 
You don't suppose...
 
...
 
...That does it.
 
1) I'm booking my hotel room for 2010 right now.
 
2) And I have exactly 12 months to become a famous pinup artist.

I'm branching out my business, sensation-seekers, to include commentary, punditry, and thumbs up/thumbs down box reviews on matters of faith, spirituality, and moral guidance.

 (Actually, "thumbs up/thumbs down" has been trademarked by Ebert. Suggestions for a replacement? I need something that will translate into a catchy little icon for my little capsule segments on "Access Hollywood." I'm thinking maybe "Shield of Joan of Arc/Severed head of John the Baptist" if we can resolve clearance issues with the respective families.)

 First up, a Moral Hypothetical for you to ponder on this Monday:

 Let's say that you are an internationally beloved technology columnist and regarded as Something Of An Expert on tech matters. Moreover, you have written a best-selling iPhone book, with a third edition on its way.

 You have shown up for a Monday appointment at 3 PM. However, you were expected at 2. The person you were scheduled to meet with takes out his iPhone to double-check his calendar, as do you.

 Do you:

 1) Sense that it's no big deal to either one of you; shrug it off as a "these things happen" sort of thing and commence with the meeting;

 2) Admit that you might have entered it into your iPhone incorrectly;

 3) Say "Well, it's easy to sometimes set the wrong time when you create a new appointment; sometimes when you flick the Hour wheel with your finger its 'momentum' carries you over to the next digit."

 The implication of course being: "Like HELL it was me. I'm an internationally beloved technology columnist and regarded as Something Of An Expert! Moreover..."

 Answer printed below. Turn your screen upside down and hold the Magic Answer Spyglass up to the shaded purple text. Magic Answer Spyglass can be found in the current newsstand issue of "Family Circle"; replacements may be obtained for a nominal handling fee care of this newspaper.

Like the Queen's barge rolling down the Thames or a customer service representative returning to her post at the DMV after a coffee break, I continue to make slow and stately progress through my MacMania 9 photos. Just to give you an idea of the scale of the project: this latest Flickr set takes us as far as checking into my hotel in Beijing.
 
Sorry.
 
More photos coming. They're more interesting, too. But then, they'd sort of have to be, wouldn't they?
 

Easing my way back into the American way of life with a diner breakfast that has the word "cake" right in it. Do other cultures start off their day with what is essentially a dessert item?

Sent from my iPhone