Just got back from my second double red cell donation, which was full of all kinds of new bells and whistles. Before we even started I got a red rubber wristband. I was overseas (and watching the Tour de France on TV) while the wristband craze began, matured, and metastasized stateside, so this was like getting a fragment of culture that had been lost in the mail, only delivered moths later. They used a new machine, one that sat up at abound head height so I could listen to the strangely soothing hum of the centrifuge and watch bags fill up with dark red fluid and think, "Hey! That's mine!" For those unfamiliar with the procedure, a double red cell donation involves taking double the normal whole donation out, separating the red blood cells, and pumping half of the remaining juice back in. This means there are alternating cycles were you can watch the ruby-colored rope coming out of your elbow pinken and eventually go to clear as outgoing blood is replaced by incoming saline. The coolest part is that the saline is room temperature; about twenty degrees colder than body temp. You can feel the difference up your arm and into your heart, and there's something thrilling about feeling cold in the deep plumbing of your body.
I impulse-bought a copy of Lessig's Free Culture in the bookstore a few days ago, so I brought it with me and read a few chapters. I'll post about that a bit more when I've had some time to digest it. Lessig was actually one of three speakers at a talk on IP and open source my roommate went to today wile I was donating, and maybe I can relay some comment from him.
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