Wow, Heather's right: almost a month with none of my senseless posts. That's probably part of the reason for the silence: senselessness. I apparently have less and less to say, so I've been slacking off.
Experiment #1: normally I tell my RSS reader to only deliver geek news. I spent one day, however, receiving feeds from CNN, BBC, and Fox News. Absolutely nothing I needed to know, updated way too bloody frequently for my productivity to survive intact. I would really like to be an informed citizen of this blessed democracy, but 24/7 news services provide too much information (too much pointless information). Maybe I'll try reading a newspaper or a weekly magazine like Time.
I started reading The Golden Compass. I'm only on chapter 3 (I read very, very slowly) but I'm enjoying it so far. Pullman is a very good writer. I suppose that I'll reach a point where my religious sensibilities get offended (but then again, maybe not). A co-worker who went to the film last weekend didn't find anything objectionable. Is this another case of hype getting ahead of reality?
I've also started working my way through watching Twin Peaks. TP was, back in its day, my favorite television show (a title it has forfeited in recent years to Firefly). It's weird, because everyone on the show looks so young (15+ years and now I'm older than most of them!) Still, it's as quirky, creepy, and well-directed as I remember.
Well the C----mas season is upon us (don't want to offend anybody out there by making reference to any particular deity that may be associated with this celebration). Strangely, I find myself thinking less about the holiday this year and more about the baby. There's more of a mystery there than the standard "hero born of a virgin" story. Mostly because he didn't grow up to be a typical hero (nor even a typical wiseman). Like a zen koan, the mysteries of this particular Western faith invite contemplation without complete solution. It's like my good friend the Dolly Llama says, "Baby Jesus is the bomb, dude!": a small package that will unleash fiery power upon an unsuspecting world.
Whine #1: I'm getting really, really tired of being a computer geek. Sure, I like it, but I'm getting tired of it. Does that make sense? Sometimes I wish that I only knew Windows, and just enough to get my work done. I have no reason to dabble in operating systems, programming languages, artificial intelligence, artificial life, computational math, and a host of other topics I am neither qualified to discuss nor paid to learn (and consequently, I only half-learn, at best).
On the other hand, I am paid to know more about cataloging standards, copyright law, and theological research and writing than I actually know. If you hit forty and don't know what you want to be when you grow up, you'll end up being nothing. (Not that I'd claim to be a nothing. No, that's claiming too much. Ah, if only I could a genuine and for real nothing...)
Oh, well, a very delightful day to all of you (about 1.5 readers left, by my survey)!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Reading & Watching
I recently finished Rudy Rucker's latest, Postsingular. Like all of his books, it was a wild ride through far out ideas. It was also very well written. I dropped a line about the book on amazon.com (my first, and perhaps only, time writing for them).
I'm currently reading Joe R. Lansdale's The Bottoms. I picked this up last year at a used book store, because I've like the little Lansdale I've read. He's an author from East Texas and writes a lot about East Texas. Since my dad and his whole family are from there (and fled back there after sojourning in the Midwest long enough to sire my siblings and I), I have some kind of weird (but sadly explicable) fascination with the place (Dr. Freud can stop reading now!)
I've put off reading the thing for so long because, quite frankly, it's a horror-mystery violent murder kind of story. My stomach for this genre has been gradually fading over the years. It's a good read, just dark and disturbing in places. I'll be glad to be done with it.
Other items tossed around my apartment with bookmarks in them: The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design, The Nature of Number, and Devices of the Soul. I know, sad, sad taste in recreational reading.
I've also downloaded Richard Dawkins's 1991 Royal Institution Christmas lectures. This is a series of lectures given by scientists in the UK for children. It started with Michael Faraday back in the day (19th century, I guess). Anyway, Dawkins has made his lectures available online. It is amazing to watch an Oxford professor trying to connect with a lecture theater filled with children. It is disconcerting to watch him tell them that there is no creation in the universe until late in its history (i.e., after we arrive and start creating). It's rather like telling a room full of children that there is no Father Christmas (only worse, if you happen to believe in God, like, say, I do). This is the same man who says labeling a child "Christian" or "Hindu" is akin to child abuse. I've only watched the first two of the five letures, and a sense of fairness compels me to finish them (that and, despite his rabid atheism, he is a charming and engaing communicator), but scientism (as opposed to science) seems to be the order of the day.
On more mundane viewing, my friend Patti has kept me supplied with tapes of The Office, so I am current on one TV show! That's probably enough (although I'd really, really like to be seeing Heroes in real time).
Well, enough snore-fest trivia of my doings and happenings.
PS - I just checked out four more books while I was here at the library posting this. I think I may have a problem...
I'm currently reading Joe R. Lansdale's The Bottoms. I picked this up last year at a used book store, because I've like the little Lansdale I've read. He's an author from East Texas and writes a lot about East Texas. Since my dad and his whole family are from there (and fled back there after sojourning in the Midwest long enough to sire my siblings and I), I have some kind of weird (but sadly explicable) fascination with the place (Dr. Freud can stop reading now!)
I've put off reading the thing for so long because, quite frankly, it's a horror-mystery violent murder kind of story. My stomach for this genre has been gradually fading over the years. It's a good read, just dark and disturbing in places. I'll be glad to be done with it.
Other items tossed around my apartment with bookmarks in them: The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design, The Nature of Number, and Devices of the Soul. I know, sad, sad taste in recreational reading.
I've also downloaded Richard Dawkins's 1991 Royal Institution Christmas lectures. This is a series of lectures given by scientists in the UK for children. It started with Michael Faraday back in the day (19th century, I guess). Anyway, Dawkins has made his lectures available online. It is amazing to watch an Oxford professor trying to connect with a lecture theater filled with children. It is disconcerting to watch him tell them that there is no creation in the universe until late in its history (i.e., after we arrive and start creating). It's rather like telling a room full of children that there is no Father Christmas (only worse, if you happen to believe in God, like, say, I do). This is the same man who says labeling a child "Christian" or "Hindu" is akin to child abuse. I've only watched the first two of the five letures, and a sense of fairness compels me to finish them (that and, despite his rabid atheism, he is a charming and engaing communicator), but scientism (as opposed to science) seems to be the order of the day.
On more mundane viewing, my friend Patti has kept me supplied with tapes of The Office, so I am current on one TV show! That's probably enough (although I'd really, really like to be seeing Heroes in real time).
Well, enough snore-fest trivia of my doings and happenings.
PS - I just checked out four more books while I was here at the library posting this. I think I may have a problem...
Friday, November 02, 2007
CSI Lincoln
"Damnit, Wren, that was evidence," the sergeant barked.
I looked up from my half-eaten Krispy Kreme. Sure, this kitchen was a crime scene, but it was obvious the victim had not died because he had eaten a poisoned donut. The bloody body with the detached head (87.5 cm away from the severed neck, I had measured it) suggested that, maybe, decapitation was the cause of death. That or explosive gas pressure, but that was too horrible to contemplate. The UV blood sniffers didn't detect any blood on the closed box of donuts (let alone inside said box). The victim, one Mr. Samuel E. Perkins, age 47, lived alone. The donuts were going to go to waste, which would have been the second crime committed on these premise in the past twenty-four hours. And besides, I had skipped breakfast. Again.
"I dunno, Sarge," I began, between bites of my Chocolate-Iced Creme-Filled delight, "I think finding a large, sharp object covered in blood might be evidence. This, this is just a little taste of heaven." I held the box out to him, "Want one?"
I looked up from my half-eaten Krispy Kreme. Sure, this kitchen was a crime scene, but it was obvious the victim had not died because he had eaten a poisoned donut. The bloody body with the detached head (87.5 cm away from the severed neck, I had measured it) suggested that, maybe, decapitation was the cause of death. That or explosive gas pressure, but that was too horrible to contemplate. The UV blood sniffers didn't detect any blood on the closed box of donuts (let alone inside said box). The victim, one Mr. Samuel E. Perkins, age 47, lived alone. The donuts were going to go to waste, which would have been the second crime committed on these premise in the past twenty-four hours. And besides, I had skipped breakfast. Again.
"I dunno, Sarge," I began, between bites of my Chocolate-Iced Creme-Filled delight, "I think finding a large, sharp object covered in blood might be evidence. This, this is just a little taste of heaven." I held the box out to him, "Want one?"
Monday, October 22, 2007
John Kemeny
The BASIC programming language gets much grief from the hacker elite who dream in C++, Java, C#, and other object-oriented monster languages. The truth is that many of the computer professionals of today cut their teeth on some version of BASIC. Indeed, Microsoft's Visual Basic is arguably the most successful language in the world for hobbyists as well as numerous Windows consultants.
BASIC was born on May 1, 1964, at Dartmouth College. The brain child of John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz, two math professors. Tom is still alive, but John Kemeny died back in '92. Both names were, perhaps, mentioned in my old high school data processing class (circa 1983), but "mentioned" is as far as it went.
John Kemeny was a Hungarian immigrant to the US. He worked for Richard Feynman during the development of the bomb at Los Alamos (this was before Kemeny had even finished his undergrad degree). While in graduate school at Princeton, he was the mathematics research assistant to Albert Einstein. After co-creating BASIC, he went on to become a President of Dartmouth (but insisted on being allowed to teach a couple of classes each semester). Kemeny was the leader of the commission that investigated The Three Mile Island accident. He died on December 26, 1992, at the age 66 of unexpected heart failure.
Why share an outline sketch of a life that passed so many years ago? I think because I stumbled across the following when doing some research on the history of programming languages, and it made me want to remember. After John Kemeny's death, this was written in the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine: "The newspaper said John G. Kemeny, 13th president of Dartmouth College, died of heart failure. Clearly this was a mistake. John Kemeny's heart never failed anyone."
Further research confirmed that this man, who is mostly known for a maligned product, but whose intellectual biography is as impressive as any in the 20th century, was remembered by those who knew him as someone who's "heart never failed anyone." That line haunts me, maybe because I know that when my life is over it will not be true of me. But perhaps, like Scrooge, there is still time to redeem the life that remains.
Postscript - What did Kemeny think of himself? When he handed over the office of president of Dartmouth to his successor he made this comment: "History alone will be able to judge whether my presidency was good or what my record is worth, but there is one thing I do know for certain: I'm one hell of a good teacher."
BASIC was born on May 1, 1964, at Dartmouth College. The brain child of John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz, two math professors. Tom is still alive, but John Kemeny died back in '92. Both names were, perhaps, mentioned in my old high school data processing class (circa 1983), but "mentioned" is as far as it went.
John Kemeny was a Hungarian immigrant to the US. He worked for Richard Feynman during the development of the bomb at Los Alamos (this was before Kemeny had even finished his undergrad degree). While in graduate school at Princeton, he was the mathematics research assistant to Albert Einstein. After co-creating BASIC, he went on to become a President of Dartmouth (but insisted on being allowed to teach a couple of classes each semester). Kemeny was the leader of the commission that investigated The Three Mile Island accident. He died on December 26, 1992, at the age 66 of unexpected heart failure.
Why share an outline sketch of a life that passed so many years ago? I think because I stumbled across the following when doing some research on the history of programming languages, and it made me want to remember. After John Kemeny's death, this was written in the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine: "The newspaper said John G. Kemeny, 13th president of Dartmouth College, died of heart failure. Clearly this was a mistake. John Kemeny's heart never failed anyone."
Further research confirmed that this man, who is mostly known for a maligned product, but whose intellectual biography is as impressive as any in the 20th century, was remembered by those who knew him as someone who's "heart never failed anyone." That line haunts me, maybe because I know that when my life is over it will not be true of me. But perhaps, like Scrooge, there is still time to redeem the life that remains.
Postscript - What did Kemeny think of himself? When he handed over the office of president of Dartmouth to his successor he made this comment: "History alone will be able to judge whether my presidency was good or what my record is worth, but there is one thing I do know for certain: I'm one hell of a good teacher."
On Finding an Empty Plastic Bag Where I Really Expected to Find a Soul
What colour the little scream,
that proceeds all day from my heart,
as silent as a tomb and as large as the universe?
astral ball bearings,
greased lightly with faux mirth,
falling through the web of self-lies and forgotten stories.
madness claims each tomorrow,
a dark sun rising over an infinite jest.
that proceeds all day from my heart,
as silent as a tomb and as large as the universe?
astral ball bearings,
greased lightly with faux mirth,
falling through the web of self-lies and forgotten stories.
madness claims each tomorrow,
a dark sun rising over an infinite jest.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Scanner Vote
Anyone have any input on which would be a better replacement for a dead Minolta PS 3000 scanner: ether a Plustek Omnibook 3600 or an HP Scanjet 5590?
Restroom Story: You've Been Warned
So, I notice this guy on campus, an undergrad student, wearing a t-shirt with a picture of Buddha that read "Rub My Belly for Good Luck." Ok, yes, Buddha would think it's funny, especially on a conservative Bible college campus. I wanted to say something when I first saw him, but something in me said "wait." Since that's the same something that keeps me from sticking my finger in the spinning blade of a fan (well, there was the one time that sense failed me... but, another story, another time), I opted for listening to it. As Buddha would have it, ten minutes later this student was standing at the next urinal over. I turn and say, "I'm sorry, but this really doesn't seem like the time or place to reach over and rub your belly." I'd like to say that rendered him speechless, but he fires back "I appreciate that." "Still," says I, "wearing Buddha on a Bible college campus, that's pretty gutsy." "Uh-huh," he returns. "Well, have a nice day!" I smile. The student then left the restroom fairly quickly.
I'm not sure whether this story is more Funny, Creepy, or Pointless. But it's been forever since I've shared any bathroom humor on this site... (and too long since I've posted anything. If this is what I'm reduced to, I may as well close this blog now).
I'm not sure whether this story is more Funny, Creepy, or Pointless. But it's been forever since I've shared any bathroom humor on this site... (and too long since I've posted anything. If this is what I'm reduced to, I may as well close this blog now).
Monday, October 08, 2007
The Night Before...
Tomorrow, at long last, is the open house for the remodeled library. One more day and all of this madness will be over. It's been... hmm, well, not exactly fun. But the place looks great! (Note to self: post pictures for the terminally curious).
On a completely different note, a conversation today brought forth the phrase "theoretical drunkenness" which I thought was a Grand Idea. I googled the phrase, and it came up with no hits! Ok, it's too cool to go to waste, so I'm going to make an otherwise empty blog just to capture the phrase. If you're truly terminal in your curiosity, check out Theoretical Drunkenness (actually, please don't).
On a completely different note, a conversation today brought forth the phrase "theoretical drunkenness" which I thought was a Grand Idea. I googled the phrase, and it came up with no hits! Ok, it's too cool to go to waste, so I'm going to make an otherwise empty blog just to capture the phrase. If you're truly terminal in your curiosity, check out Theoretical Drunkenness (actually, please don't).
Monday, October 01, 2007
Can't Stop Me Now
This weekend my brakes failed. Not totally, just mostly. I was in traffic. In Bloomington. I had the kids with me. Not fun. Thankfully, we made it home in one piece and my car is at the mechanic's.
On the positive side, we found 1 GB usb drives for $10 at Office Max, so I was able to make some amends for the techno-woes of the week before.
We're in full force here at the library, moving towards an Open House on the 9th. All of which to say, I need to get back to shelf construction...
Oh, I caught disc 1 of season 2 of "My Name is Earl" last night. Fun!
On the positive side, we found 1 GB usb drives for $10 at Office Max, so I was able to make some amends for the techno-woes of the week before.
We're in full force here at the library, moving towards an Open House on the 9th. All of which to say, I need to get back to shelf construction...
Oh, I caught disc 1 of season 2 of "My Name is Earl" last night. Fun!
Monday, September 24, 2007
Save the Cheerleader, Save the World
I've caught the Heroes bug. A friend of mine loaned me the DVDs and I watched all seven discs in the space of a day and a half. My favorite character is Mohinder Suresh (followed by Charlie and Molly). I don't want to talk plot because spoilers are bad. Am I the only one who sees this show as seriously addicting?
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Techno Woes
One expected, one not (the latter one being, predictably, my fault). Firstly, my notebook died. Well, strictly speaking its video died. It was to be expected. I paid $75 for it a few years back (obviously used). Unfortunately, it died while I was giving a presentation in a class. Typical.
The other woe... well, let's skip to the lesson learned. USB drives (thumb drives, flash drives, whatever you choose to call them) do not survive the laundry very well. Always check the pockets. I know that, but I got lazy. Now in the space of four days I'm two toys short of a full box.
On the other hand, I have moderately ok health, better than average working conditions, and good friends and family. I have Internet access, a roof over my head, enough of a weight problem to be able to claim "well-fed," and access to almost any book I could ever want.
On Zaphod's third hand, oh, wait... he's not real (never mind).
The other woe... well, let's skip to the lesson learned. USB drives (thumb drives, flash drives, whatever you choose to call them) do not survive the laundry very well. Always check the pockets. I know that, but I got lazy. Now in the space of four days I'm two toys short of a full box.
On the other hand, I have moderately ok health, better than average working conditions, and good friends and family. I have Internet access, a roof over my head, enough of a weight problem to be able to claim "well-fed," and access to almost any book I could ever want.
On Zaphod's third hand, oh, wait... he's not real (never mind).
Friday, September 14, 2007
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Bullet Points
- I read The Flight of Peter Fromm this past weekend. It's about a young fundamentalist who attends a liberal seminary. It's an older book, but an amazingly great read! Highly recommended to anyone who's been to seminary, might go to seminary, believes in the Christian faith, or knows some one who believes in Christianity (does that cover most everyone?) It does not come out on the side of conservative faith, but I still found it very affirming. If you read (or have read) it, let me know what you think (unless it destroys your faith, and then, I apologize in advance... but it really did pull me closer to faith in Christ, which is strange, given the story...)
- I've watched some of the bonus features on the Serenity Collector's Edition. And I've found a lot of cool Serenity stuff on cafepress (now, if only I could afford to waste money on cool stuff at cafepress).
- Palm announced that, after all the hype, they are not going to make their Foleo (kind of a sub-notebook that's not really a notebook but would work really well for me), which means I have one less item to covet (that's a good thing, right?) Still, it was a sweet little piece of vaporware...
- Our library is functional but still not finished... even my office is in a state of semi-disrepair. It's not an altogether bad place to be, though.
- I have my kids this coming weekend (very good!) and then, on the following weekend, a visit to the homelands to be reunited with my comrades from high school (also very good!) Another plain glass bottle of the local root beer, eh, Morgan?
- I also watched the $5 Walmart Batman the Movie DVD. You know, with Adam West (the real Batman). I was just going to pass it by, but when I saw the audio commentary was West and co-star Burt Ward, I knew I really, really wanted to experience it. Funnier than you'd think, but not as funny as I had hoped. Still, Frank Gorshin's Riddler always makes me laugh.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Blatant Advert
StarOffice, Sun's commercial version of the runaway open source office suite OpenOffice, is now available for free (for Windows users) via Google's Google Pack. Google Pack is an amazing selection of free software lovingly selected by the always cutting edge cats at Google to provide Windows users with the best software money can't buy. If you're looking for an office suite and have not jumped on the OpenOffice bandwagon yet, give StarOffice a try.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Looking for... what?
How has escapism helped? Is reading fiction escapism? Is dreaming escapism? Is hope? Does fantasy have a place in the life of a critical realist? How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? How many demons can run in the memory of a server? What does "I'm peachy" mean from someone who doesn't like peaches? What, ultimately, isn't natural? Are some foods supernatural in origin? If McDonald's isn't natural, does that make it supernatural? McManna? Natural vs. Supernatural or Natural vs. Artificial. Unless you're eating outside off the carcass or the vine or branch, some human artifice has likely been involved. Supernatural - God's artifice. Artificial - human artifice. So what's natural? When God and humans stay out of it? If you believe in God, how can anything not be supernatural? If you don't, how can humanity be anything but natural? Wishing you were all here...
Monday, August 13, 2007
Stardust and Other Quick Tidbits
Stardust the movie was different from Stardust the novel. Usually, that means the movie was bad ("I can't believe how they ruined such a great book!"). In the case of Stardust, however, we have a great movie loosely based on a great book, and they both are very good for what they are!
In other movie news, the collector's edition of Serenity is coming out this month. Bloody marketing departments...
Bookwise, William Gibson has released Spook Country, so I need to get my name on the public library list asap. Gibson's 1984 debut novel Neuromancer won three major science fiction awards (as well as introducing the word "cyberspace" into the English language). While there was cyberpunk fiction before Neuromancer (both actual cyberpunk like Rudy Rucker's Software, as well as proto-cyberpunk, like John Brunner's Shockwave Rider), Neuromancer provides a highly visible successful starting point for framing the cyberpunk movement (Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash is, arguably, the last great cyberpunk novel. It was published in 1992).
Elsewise, the remodeling nightmare continues to become more and more Freddy Krueger-like. I'm still emphatically hopeful that come Halloween, we'll have a Very Pretty library... otherwise, I hope the library slashes me sooner rather than later. Well, it's not really as bad as all that (but some moments it feels that it is ;-)
White Wolf's Changeling the Lost is due out this week. The first version of Changeling was (as I've mentioned before) my favorite rpg that I never played. However, I've heard very bad things about White Wolf's reboot of their World of Darkness, so I will admit to being a bit afraid of what Changeling will look like this go-round.
Oh, and speaking of gaming, another bit of my childhood dies. As of issue 359, Wizards of the Coast has decided to end the publication of Dragon magazine. In my early days of pre-Internet gaming, Dragon is what connected me to the wider world of D&D. While I know monthly dead-tree pulps are no longer the primary source of news for hip young wired gamers, I will confess to having felt a bit of sadness at the news. Call me a dinosaur if you will (and "velociraptor" if you please), but I still like flipping through magazines.
Well, beyond my old man's aches and pains, I got nothing more, so... later, gang!
In other movie news, the collector's edition of Serenity is coming out this month. Bloody marketing departments...
Bookwise, William Gibson has released Spook Country, so I need to get my name on the public library list asap. Gibson's 1984 debut novel Neuromancer won three major science fiction awards (as well as introducing the word "cyberspace" into the English language). While there was cyberpunk fiction before Neuromancer (both actual cyberpunk like Rudy Rucker's Software, as well as proto-cyberpunk, like John Brunner's Shockwave Rider), Neuromancer provides a highly visible successful starting point for framing the cyberpunk movement (Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash is, arguably, the last great cyberpunk novel. It was published in 1992).
Elsewise, the remodeling nightmare continues to become more and more Freddy Krueger-like. I'm still emphatically hopeful that come Halloween, we'll have a Very Pretty library... otherwise, I hope the library slashes me sooner rather than later. Well, it's not really as bad as all that (but some moments it feels that it is ;-)
White Wolf's Changeling the Lost is due out this week. The first version of Changeling was (as I've mentioned before) my favorite rpg that I never played. However, I've heard very bad things about White Wolf's reboot of their World of Darkness, so I will admit to being a bit afraid of what Changeling will look like this go-round.
Oh, and speaking of gaming, another bit of my childhood dies. As of issue 359, Wizards of the Coast has decided to end the publication of Dragon magazine. In my early days of pre-Internet gaming, Dragon is what connected me to the wider world of D&D. While I know monthly dead-tree pulps are no longer the primary source of news for hip young wired gamers, I will confess to having felt a bit of sadness at the news. Call me a dinosaur if you will (and "velociraptor" if you please), but I still like flipping through magazines.
Well, beyond my old man's aches and pains, I got nothing more, so... later, gang!
Friday, August 10, 2007
panic
the pounding of my heart
is strangling me.
harder to breathe,
to think,
to see and hear and touch...
each beat
and my head goes
blank,
i feel nothing but panic:
ice cold
and sweating.
i swallow a lungful of air,
and then...
another heartbeat.
i want to run,
to scream,
to explode,
to hide,
to faint,
(my hands won't stop shaking)
everything seems
a million miles away:
the sounds,
the sights,
every thing is fleeing,
everything except the fear:
i feel it
with every nerve,
all too close,
possession,
the demon of adrenaline
has me body, mind, and soul;
i smell its
overpowering stench,
my stomach is twisted and tight,
like my fists,
white-knuckled and clenched
(when they open, they keep shaking)
i cry,
breathing in sobbing gasps,
and then...
another... damned... heartbeat
is strangling me.
harder to breathe,
to think,
to see and hear and touch...
each beat
and my head goes
blank,
i feel nothing but panic:
ice cold
and sweating.
i swallow a lungful of air,
and then...
another heartbeat.
i want to run,
to scream,
to explode,
to hide,
to faint,
(my hands won't stop shaking)
everything seems
a million miles away:
the sounds,
the sights,
every thing is fleeing,
everything except the fear:
i feel it
with every nerve,
all too close,
possession,
the demon of adrenaline
has me body, mind, and soul;
i smell its
overpowering stench,
my stomach is twisted and tight,
like my fists,
white-knuckled and clenched
(when they open, they keep shaking)
i cry,
breathing in sobbing gasps,
and then...
another... damned... heartbeat
Monday, August 06, 2007
Quick Update
Out sick... county fair weekend with the kids (and rain)... finished HP7 and a re-read of Stardust and almost finished with The Dawkins Delusion?... the re-modeling will not likely be finished before the students get here... took XP off my machine at home (so now it's 100% slack)...
Laughing, singing, walking... dizzy, delighted, delirious... Wandering and wondering, not so much waiting as being (maybe...)
Laughing, singing, walking... dizzy, delighted, delirious... Wandering and wondering, not so much waiting as being (maybe...)
Unsuffer Me
A song from Lucinda Williams' most recent disc, West. No particular reason I'm posting it, except that I like the lyrics. Like most good love songs, this could be the soul's cry to God.
Unlock my love
and set me free
come fill me up
with ecstasy
surround my heartbeat
with your fingertips
unbound my feet
untie my wrists
come in to my world
of loneliness
and wickedness
and bitterness
Unlock my love
Unsuffer me
Take away the pain
Unbruise unbloody
Wash away the stain
Anoint my head
With your sweet kiss
My joy is dead
I long for bliss
I long for knowledge
Whisper in my ear
Undo my logic, undo my fear
Unsuffer me
Unlock my love
And set me free
come fill me up
with ecstasy
unsuffer me
Take away the pain
Unbruise unbloody
Wash away the stain
surround my heartbeat
with your fingertips
unbound my feet
untie my wrists
come in to my world
of loneliness
and wickedness
and bitterness
Anoint my head
With your sweet kiss
My joy is dead
I long for bliss
I long for knowledge
Whisper in my ear
Undo my logic, undo my fear
Unsuffer me
Unlock my love
and set me free
come fill me up
with ecstasy
surround my heartbeat
with your fingertips
unbound my feet
untie my wrists
come in to my world
of loneliness
and wickedness
and bitterness
Unlock my love
Unsuffer me
Take away the pain
Unbruise unbloody
Wash away the stain
Anoint my head
With your sweet kiss
My joy is dead
I long for bliss
I long for knowledge
Whisper in my ear
Undo my logic, undo my fear
Unsuffer me
Unlock my love
And set me free
come fill me up
with ecstasy
unsuffer me
Take away the pain
Unbruise unbloody
Wash away the stain
surround my heartbeat
with your fingertips
unbound my feet
untie my wrists
come in to my world
of loneliness
and wickedness
and bitterness
Anoint my head
With your sweet kiss
My joy is dead
I long for bliss
I long for knowledge
Whisper in my ear
Undo my logic, undo my fear
Unsuffer me
Monday, July 30, 2007
What I Won't Post
A strange dialog between Daria Morgendorffer and Eric Cartman pretty much wrote itself as I was staring at an empty Notepad document. Unfortunately, Cartman got a little crude (as usual) and I really feel it necessary to censor the post. Basically, it was a post-breakup discussion after Daria dumped Cartman (yeah, I know, I know... how could it have ever been in the first place? That was answered as well).
In other news... well, there is no other news. You may return to your life, completely unaffected by what you haven't read here.
In other news... well, there is no other news. You may return to your life, completely unaffected by what you haven't read here.
Monday, July 23, 2007
What Do Other People Really Think About You?
The conversation between myself, one of my sisters, and my children, as the kids and I were taking off after this past weekend's visit down to Southern Illinois:
Me: Well, we're not going to go straight to [the kid's mom's house]. I'll probably take a few side trips along the way.
Sister (to my kids): Is your dad adventurous?
Kids (with more than a hint of exasperation ): Yes!
Son: Dad's like a cross between Peter Pan, a monkey, and a mad scientist.
Sister: Well, I can see Peter Pan and a mad scientist, but I don't get the monkey.
Me: You know, Darwin.
Sister: Oh, right, the monkey from the Wild Thornberry's. I can see that.
Me: I meant Charles Darwin, the theory of evolution?
Son: No, I meant Dad acts like a monkey.
Me: Well, we're not going to go straight to [the kid's mom's house]. I'll probably take a few side trips along the way.
Sister (to my kids): Is your dad adventurous?
Kids (with more than a hint of exasperation ): Yes!
Son: Dad's like a cross between Peter Pan, a monkey, and a mad scientist.
Sister: Well, I can see Peter Pan and a mad scientist, but I don't get the monkey.
Me: You know, Darwin.
Sister: Oh, right, the monkey from the Wild Thornberry's. I can see that.
Me: I meant Charles Darwin, the theory of evolution?
Son: No, I meant Dad acts like a monkey.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
St. Jude
No, not the patron saint of lost causes (although that would be terribly appropriate for me), but Jude Milhon, known far and wide in the geek communities as "St. Jude." A talented programmer and counter-cultural icon, she is attributed with coining the terms "cypherpunk" and, more famously, "hippie." (At least so claims the Wikipedia). Although a native Midwesterner, she was definitely part of her adopted California culture (can you say "Berkeley"?)
Today marks the fourth anniversary of her death. She is missed by those who knew her, as well as those of us who only knew of her.
Quotes (again, lifted from Wikipedia):
"Hacking is the clever circumvention of imposed limits, whether imposed by your government, your IP server, your own personality, or the laws of physics." — St. Jude
"If we can't have sanity, we can fake it with humor. Humor gives you the same distance from the situation, the same metaview, only laughing is easier than sanity and possibly more fun." — St. Jude
Today marks the fourth anniversary of her death. She is missed by those who knew her, as well as those of us who only knew of her.
Quotes (again, lifted from Wikipedia):
"Hacking is the clever circumvention of imposed limits, whether imposed by your government, your IP server, your own personality, or the laws of physics." — St. Jude
"If we can't have sanity, we can fake it with humor. Humor gives you the same distance from the situation, the same metaview, only laughing is easier than sanity and possibly more fun." — St. Jude
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The Sermon I Need to Hear Today
"...the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom."
---Koheleth
Why am I so stupid? Probably because I haven't traveled very far down the path of wisdom. In fact, it's safe to say that I usually take a couple initial steps down the path, and then I turn back and follow more comfortable paths: the path of reason, the path of self-reliance, the path of pleasure, the path of despair, really, any path but the one that will actually get me somewhere that I want to be.
It's not that the path is hidden. God Almighty has spoken His Word, incarnated His Word, and sent His Spirit. Humility. "Islam" means submission, which would be a great name for a religion. Submitting humbly to the Creator and Ruler of the Universe, the One whose holiness judges you and whose love redeems you. Sounds easy. Why do I always flee from that path?
Because it's not so easy, at least not for me. Humble submission means accepting that God is God. Easy enough under a clear blue sky on a gentle spring day. Trickier under the smoking ruins of a 9/11 or the muddy, bloody aftermath of a tsunami or a Katrina. God is God Almighty. He could prevent these things. In His wisdom, He doesn't.
But I usually can't accept that. So I backtrack off the path of the fear of the LORD and head down the path of reason. I invent explanations for why bad things happen (or, more often, seek the arguments of others). God allows free will, so bad things happen. God does not know free future events, so bad things can happen and surprise Him. He can change His mind in response to changing events. (Ah, the open theists help make this line of reasoning so much easier...)
Or, perhaps, God has already predestined the good from the bad, and everything is working out as it should for the best possible way. This might sound like humility, but I think that this kind of Calvinism is also a form of the path of reason. We argue that God has a plan, if only we could see it. And this plan involves some people dying in horrible ways and other people going through fates worse than death.
Or we argue that God does not cause the bad things, nor allow them for His master plan, but they happen because we live in a fallen universe. And God, whose will cannot be thwarted, finds a way to make all things right. He draws straight with crooked lines, as Chesterton once quipped.
But... the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. God is God. God Almighty. Whatever happens happens by His divine allowance. And that is good and right, for He is God. Why does He allow evil? Because He is limited, because He is cruel, because it fits into a Master Plan? Maybe the answer is to trust in God. He laid the foundations of creation at the beginning of time. He has promised a final consummation of history with a new heaven and a new earth.
Who am I to ask why some small moment in history occurs the way it did? I, who know there is a Creator, but live too often like there is not. I, who spit in the face of redemption by wallowing once more in the mud of sin. I do not live out fully the answers and callings He has put before me in His Word, why should I expect to understand those things He has kept hidden? Like Job, I am ashamed of my arrogance. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, but it is only the beginning. How much closer to being a saint would I be if only I could stay on that path?
Instead, I too often answer His question to Job like a good modern: "I am a human being. And yet, if I could, I would spare people the loss of their loved ones, I would spare their innocence from the touch of the predator. If I was in charge of all nature, then all disaster would be unnatural, for I would end hurricanes and floods and earthquakes. Why can I be so good, so compassionate, so caring for these strangers I've never met, and You, their Perfect Creator, let all of this happen to them?"
The path of arrogance. Why, if I were even Superman, let alone God, I would do more than Yahweh seems to want to do. The path of arrogance, the exact opposite of the path of wisdom.
And it's not just the question of evil. Why demand faith in an invisible, inaudible, undetectable, unverifiable deity? If I were God, people would know it. I would not hide from them. If I expected them to be in awe before me, I would give them undeniable evidence that I am awe-worthy. Not just for 30 years to a small rural backwater of the Roman empire, but always. Why does He hide?
And, of course, there are theological answers. The path of reason steps up to the plate. We step in as God's lawyers, defending Him to His critics. God needs a lawyer? Is the path of reason a side street leading to the path of arrogance?
The fear of the LORD. I distract myself from that. There are issues to discuss, to address. Even ministries to do, time is short, I gotta get moving... for Jesus, of course. My Friend, My Redeemer, My Co-pilot. Co-pilot? Can I even fly the plane at all? Do I look to that still small voice and experience fear: awe, reverence, humble submission, trust? Sometimes. But, sadly, usually not. God calls for my effort, my best... like an athlete, I got to step it up a notch to reach for the prize (hey, even Paul said something like this, right?)
Martha, He said, Mary has chosen the one needful thing.
Is there no place for thinking, for reasoning, for activity, for serving? Of course there is. We are called to be the living body of the Word in this time and place. But not the living body of our will, not the living body of our plans. His body, His will, His plans. Everything we do must be done in the context of the road we're on. And there is only one road that leads where we say we want to go, the road of Mary, of reverent attention and humble submission to our God.
God, help me to bend my knee before you. Break my heart, my will, knock me off the way of pride and help me to begin---and remain--on the path of wisdom. In Christ's name I ask...
---Koheleth
Why am I so stupid? Probably because I haven't traveled very far down the path of wisdom. In fact, it's safe to say that I usually take a couple initial steps down the path, and then I turn back and follow more comfortable paths: the path of reason, the path of self-reliance, the path of pleasure, the path of despair, really, any path but the one that will actually get me somewhere that I want to be.
It's not that the path is hidden. God Almighty has spoken His Word, incarnated His Word, and sent His Spirit. Humility. "Islam" means submission, which would be a great name for a religion. Submitting humbly to the Creator and Ruler of the Universe, the One whose holiness judges you and whose love redeems you. Sounds easy. Why do I always flee from that path?
Because it's not so easy, at least not for me. Humble submission means accepting that God is God. Easy enough under a clear blue sky on a gentle spring day. Trickier under the smoking ruins of a 9/11 or the muddy, bloody aftermath of a tsunami or a Katrina. God is God Almighty. He could prevent these things. In His wisdom, He doesn't.
But I usually can't accept that. So I backtrack off the path of the fear of the LORD and head down the path of reason. I invent explanations for why bad things happen (or, more often, seek the arguments of others). God allows free will, so bad things happen. God does not know free future events, so bad things can happen and surprise Him. He can change His mind in response to changing events. (Ah, the open theists help make this line of reasoning so much easier...)
Or, perhaps, God has already predestined the good from the bad, and everything is working out as it should for the best possible way. This might sound like humility, but I think that this kind of Calvinism is also a form of the path of reason. We argue that God has a plan, if only we could see it. And this plan involves some people dying in horrible ways and other people going through fates worse than death.
Or we argue that God does not cause the bad things, nor allow them for His master plan, but they happen because we live in a fallen universe. And God, whose will cannot be thwarted, finds a way to make all things right. He draws straight with crooked lines, as Chesterton once quipped.
But... the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. God is God. God Almighty. Whatever happens happens by His divine allowance. And that is good and right, for He is God. Why does He allow evil? Because He is limited, because He is cruel, because it fits into a Master Plan? Maybe the answer is to trust in God. He laid the foundations of creation at the beginning of time. He has promised a final consummation of history with a new heaven and a new earth.
Who am I to ask why some small moment in history occurs the way it did? I, who know there is a Creator, but live too often like there is not. I, who spit in the face of redemption by wallowing once more in the mud of sin. I do not live out fully the answers and callings He has put before me in His Word, why should I expect to understand those things He has kept hidden? Like Job, I am ashamed of my arrogance. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, but it is only the beginning. How much closer to being a saint would I be if only I could stay on that path?
Instead, I too often answer His question to Job like a good modern: "I am a human being. And yet, if I could, I would spare people the loss of their loved ones, I would spare their innocence from the touch of the predator. If I was in charge of all nature, then all disaster would be unnatural, for I would end hurricanes and floods and earthquakes. Why can I be so good, so compassionate, so caring for these strangers I've never met, and You, their Perfect Creator, let all of this happen to them?"
The path of arrogance. Why, if I were even Superman, let alone God, I would do more than Yahweh seems to want to do. The path of arrogance, the exact opposite of the path of wisdom.
And it's not just the question of evil. Why demand faith in an invisible, inaudible, undetectable, unverifiable deity? If I were God, people would know it. I would not hide from them. If I expected them to be in awe before me, I would give them undeniable evidence that I am awe-worthy. Not just for 30 years to a small rural backwater of the Roman empire, but always. Why does He hide?
And, of course, there are theological answers. The path of reason steps up to the plate. We step in as God's lawyers, defending Him to His critics. God needs a lawyer? Is the path of reason a side street leading to the path of arrogance?
The fear of the LORD. I distract myself from that. There are issues to discuss, to address. Even ministries to do, time is short, I gotta get moving... for Jesus, of course. My Friend, My Redeemer, My Co-pilot. Co-pilot? Can I even fly the plane at all? Do I look to that still small voice and experience fear: awe, reverence, humble submission, trust? Sometimes. But, sadly, usually not. God calls for my effort, my best... like an athlete, I got to step it up a notch to reach for the prize (hey, even Paul said something like this, right?)
Martha, He said, Mary has chosen the one needful thing.
Is there no place for thinking, for reasoning, for activity, for serving? Of course there is. We are called to be the living body of the Word in this time and place. But not the living body of our will, not the living body of our plans. His body, His will, His plans. Everything we do must be done in the context of the road we're on. And there is only one road that leads where we say we want to go, the road of Mary, of reverent attention and humble submission to our God.
God, help me to bend my knee before you. Break my heart, my will, knock me off the way of pride and help me to begin---and remain--on the path of wisdom. In Christ's name I ask...
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Nothing to See Here, Move Along
The library remodeling is at that "Things Appear to Be Moving Really Slowly" phase (and I'm feeling like I'm not moving much faster...)
Summer is a weird time to be a grown-up. As a kid, summer was magical (even though I was, and still am, a fan of autumn). Now, it just seems hot and humid and electric bills are too high and gas prices are too high. When I was younger, the heat didn't seem to matter so much. I understand the difference between being responsible for bills and being a child, and I truly have no desire to go back to any point in time. I like being where I'm at in life, I liked getting here (mostly), and I suspect I'll enjoy (most of) the future... except for the bad bits. But... where did summer magic go to? Is it like other childish things, something one puts behind, or is it just misplaced, waiting to be found behind some forgotten box of memories yet to be?
PS - Retraction to the Slackware Store being insecure. It's plenty fine secure. My browser must've been balking at things that day :-)
Summer is a weird time to be a grown-up. As a kid, summer was magical (even though I was, and still am, a fan of autumn). Now, it just seems hot and humid and electric bills are too high and gas prices are too high. When I was younger, the heat didn't seem to matter so much. I understand the difference between being responsible for bills and being a child, and I truly have no desire to go back to any point in time. I like being where I'm at in life, I liked getting here (mostly), and I suspect I'll enjoy (most of) the future... except for the bad bits. But... where did summer magic go to? Is it like other childish things, something one puts behind, or is it just misplaced, waiting to be found behind some forgotten box of memories yet to be?
PS - Retraction to the Slackware Store being insecure. It's plenty fine secure. My browser must've been balking at things that day :-)
Monday, June 25, 2007
Why I Am So Sick and Tired All the Time
The four basic food groups:
Caffeine, sugar, salt, and fat.
The perfectly balanced meal:
Mountain Dew and Doritos.
Caffeine, sugar, salt, and fat.
The perfectly balanced meal:
Mountain Dew and Doritos.
Another Week, Another Pint
Welcome to this week (or the second day of this week if you keep time the traditional Christian way, rather than the secular work-week way). I have nothing to say, except that I am grateful to be here, at this time and place, and to know those of you whom I know (which, at various levels, is all of you). I hope this day provides some pleasant surprise for each of you!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Temporary "Promotion"
Self-appointed benevolent dictator for life (well, a couple of weeks anyway!)
Actually, there's no way on earth I'd want to be the director. Not my kind of calling, I'm afraid. I'll stay in my Spock/Riker role, thank you very much! (Riker's beard, Spock's heart, for those interested
:-)
Actually, there's no way on earth I'd want to be the director. Not my kind of calling, I'm afraid. I'll stay in my Spock/Riker role, thank you very much! (Riker's beard, Spock's heart, for those interested
:-)
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Slack News
Slackware 12 release candidate 1 is out!
I actually thought I might pre-order the thing, to show my support for all of Pat's hard work. Imagine my shock to find the Slackware online store to have a little slash through the lock on the screen where it asked for my credit card number! Um, unencrypted, insecure financial transactions are not my First Choice in ways to make my money disappear. I'll have to find some other way to transfer my money into the project... Historically, when I've purchased official releases, I've bought them from cheapbytes.com, but lately cheapbytes hasn't been carrying the official discs.
Anyway, Slack 12 will dispense with the 2.4 kernel and be a 2.6 only release (or so I've been led to believe). This is good news, since Slack is just about the only major distro still defaulting to 2.4. My only concern is that my aging Handspring Visor doesn't work so well with a USB cradle under 2.6. Serial is fine. USB under 2.4 is fine. I've got both cradles, so I'm covered, but it'd be nice to stick the serial cradle up into the closet forever. Oh well, it's time to move into the 21st century, for me and my OS (just call me Epithemeus)
I actually thought I might pre-order the thing, to show my support for all of Pat's hard work. Imagine my shock to find the Slackware online store to have a little slash through the lock on the screen where it asked for my credit card number! Um, unencrypted, insecure financial transactions are not my First Choice in ways to make my money disappear. I'll have to find some other way to transfer my money into the project... Historically, when I've purchased official releases, I've bought them from cheapbytes.com, but lately cheapbytes hasn't been carrying the official discs.
Anyway, Slack 12 will dispense with the 2.4 kernel and be a 2.6 only release (or so I've been led to believe). This is good news, since Slack is just about the only major distro still defaulting to 2.4. My only concern is that my aging Handspring Visor doesn't work so well with a USB cradle under 2.6. Serial is fine. USB under 2.4 is fine. I've got both cradles, so I'm covered, but it'd be nice to stick the serial cradle up into the closet forever. Oh well, it's time to move into the 21st century, for me and my OS (just call me Epithemeus)
Library Remodeling Steals Blogger's Valuable Time!
The headline says it all... But scanning the circle of bloggers I read, it seems everyone else is Being Busy as well. I'm working on a couple of posts at home (but I've also been watching classic Trek season 1, as loaned to me by the recently promoted Commander J.H. Stein of the US Navy; congrats, dude, you richly deserve it!! And thanks for the loan :-)
OK, the remodeling. Here's my office. Well, the Section of Space Formerly Known As My Office. If you look next to the door, you can see the inside of the book return where books (and other objects) would drop into my office at odd times. Happy note: they removed the book return today, so when my office is rebuilt it won't double as a book drop!
And here's our old circulation desk, well, half of it...
I'm going to miss that desk. I spent many happy hours there as a student worker. The plans for the new desk are pretty cool, though.
Anyway, I hope to get back to kender and drow and necromancers Real Soon Now!
OK, the remodeling. Here's my office. Well, the Section of Space Formerly Known As My Office. If you look next to the door, you can see the inside of the book return where books (and other objects) would drop into my office at odd times. Happy note: they removed the book return today, so when my office is rebuilt it won't double as a book drop!
And here's our old circulation desk, well, half of it...
I'm going to miss that desk. I spent many happy hours there as a student worker. The plans for the new desk are pretty cool, though.
Anyway, I hope to get back to kender and drow and necromancers Real Soon Now!
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Checking the Calendar of Saints
June 3, The Feast Day of Saint Morgan Adanon of Tashkent,
Patron saint of high-level gamers, spider slayers, and drinkers of rum
Happy St. Morgan's Day to y'all!
This is the day traditionally ascribed to the birth of that near legendary figure, Morgan Adanon, Duke of Tashkent. While the tales of Morgan's deeds as an adventurer par excellance are well-known to every man, woman, and child in the Nine Realms, the circumstances leading to his canonization are less known. In fact, many school children to this day do not associate Duke Adanon of the Ebon Blade with St. Morgan the Drow-Killer.
It happened in this way.
As popular legend records it, Duke Adanon was slain in battle against the foul Dark Wizard Rhoghar Pyepr and his horde of mindless automatons. His body was ransomed to his family for an obscene amount of gold, but so great was the love of his people for the fallen duke that no price was too great. For seven weeks the people of Tashkent mourned him, for seven weeks his body lay in estate, held fast from decay by the workings of the duke's dear friend, the kender necromancer Quinn Reddghost. In time, he was buried and the world continued without its great champion, master of the Ebon Blade and spinner of song and spell.
In the spring, the combined forces of the Eastern Regents marched on Rhoghar's tower. The wizard sent out his automatons, but this time he was in for a rude surprise. A contingent of druids from the unallied Far Wildermost accompanied the armies of the Regents. Torrential rains and ginormous water elementals rendered the wizard's machines less than functional.
The following morning, the armies entered the wizard's now undefended tower. Expecting some resistance, Lord Kyle was perplexed that no magical traps, summoned demons, or other magics slowed their progress up to the tower's top, to Rhoghar's chamber. Upon entering the room, the party found the wizard dead, his throat sliced, a broken bottle of Captain Morgan's Dark Rum on the floor. Pardoo, Lord Kyle's confessor, was with that first group to find the wizard. He reports that the entire area was tinged with divine magic, and that the apparent suicide was the work of a god. The only question was, which one?
[Editor's note: this is all patently absurd. The implication that Morgan came back from the dead as some kind of lesser deity/saint-like entity is nonsense. The man is obviously not dead, even if he blogs less frequently than I. Nevertheless, I had to wish him a happy birthday somehow, and I, uh, forgot to get a card. Happy birthday, comrade Morgan!]
Patron saint of high-level gamers, spider slayers, and drinkers of rum
Happy St. Morgan's Day to y'all!
This is the day traditionally ascribed to the birth of that near legendary figure, Morgan Adanon, Duke of Tashkent. While the tales of Morgan's deeds as an adventurer par excellance are well-known to every man, woman, and child in the Nine Realms, the circumstances leading to his canonization are less known. In fact, many school children to this day do not associate Duke Adanon of the Ebon Blade with St. Morgan the Drow-Killer.
It happened in this way.
As popular legend records it, Duke Adanon was slain in battle against the foul Dark Wizard Rhoghar Pyepr and his horde of mindless automatons. His body was ransomed to his family for an obscene amount of gold, but so great was the love of his people for the fallen duke that no price was too great. For seven weeks the people of Tashkent mourned him, for seven weeks his body lay in estate, held fast from decay by the workings of the duke's dear friend, the kender necromancer Quinn Reddghost. In time, he was buried and the world continued without its great champion, master of the Ebon Blade and spinner of song and spell.
In the spring, the combined forces of the Eastern Regents marched on Rhoghar's tower. The wizard sent out his automatons, but this time he was in for a rude surprise. A contingent of druids from the unallied Far Wildermost accompanied the armies of the Regents. Torrential rains and ginormous water elementals rendered the wizard's machines less than functional.
The following morning, the armies entered the wizard's now undefended tower. Expecting some resistance, Lord Kyle was perplexed that no magical traps, summoned demons, or other magics slowed their progress up to the tower's top, to Rhoghar's chamber. Upon entering the room, the party found the wizard dead, his throat sliced, a broken bottle of Captain Morgan's Dark Rum on the floor. Pardoo, Lord Kyle's confessor, was with that first group to find the wizard. He reports that the entire area was tinged with divine magic, and that the apparent suicide was the work of a god. The only question was, which one?
[Editor's note: this is all patently absurd. The implication that Morgan came back from the dead as some kind of lesser deity/saint-like entity is nonsense. The man is obviously not dead, even if he blogs less frequently than I. Nevertheless, I had to wish him a happy birthday somehow, and I, uh, forgot to get a card. Happy birthday, comrade Morgan!]
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
One More Sign of the Coming Apocalypse
The end of the Dewey Decimal System??? One more of the meager skills in my wretchedly pathetic skill set is becoming obsolete... the end of the world, or at least my world, is at hand.
On other fronts:
On other fronts:
- Tomorrow's scheduled release of Fedora 7 will drop the "Core" from the name (and end the distinction between "core" and "extra.") Good move, Fedora. I'm looking forward to trying Fedora 7 (yes, Uncle Slacker is looking for a new distro... not because Slackware isn't great, but because having many, many packages of ready-to-run software is very good :-)
- Speaking of Linux, the Linux-sponsored car in the Indy 500 smashed big-time. Still, seeing the penguin on a car on ESPN was cool!
- The Open CD is a great collection of open source software for Windows users. Sure, you could search the web and gather it all yourself, but ISO images and broadband Internet can save the time for more World of Warcraft (or, with this crowd, MySpace ;-)
- I took the kids to see Pirates 3 on Monday (since it was a holiday, does it still count as opening weekend?) I'll forego a review as to not spoil anything, but if you haven't seen it, and you do go see it, stay around until after the credits. I think you'll be glad you did. (Even my six year old daughter, who loves Pirates but hates staying for credits, was glad she stayed this time!)
- My son joined Rob and I for our last game of Settlers of Catan, since Rob is leaving to start a new job in Northern Indiana. My eleven-year-old evil genius whooped both of us (laughing maniacally the entire time... cute, annoying, and disturbing all at once.) We played a second game to eliminate the "beginner's luck argument" and the boy genius didn't fare so well. Still, he enjoyed it enough that I think I may have to buy a copy.
- My favorite gaming system that I have never played is getting reincarnated! Of all of White Wolf's World of Darkness games, I loved the setting of Changeling the Dreaming the best. When White Wolf rebooted their World of Darkness, Vampire, Mage, and Werewolf came back immediately, but Changeling didn't seem to be in the cards. Now there's an August release for Changeling the Lost! I think that while I've resisted D&D 3.5, Serenity, and the hilarious (Insert Your Favorite Gaming System Here)
for Dummies books (which seem like unconscious parodies to me!), I won't be able to resist the new Changeling. Well, everybody needs their own follies (I just happen to have more than my fair share.)
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Random Song Quotes
"Port Royal to Tortuga, all the strumpets he would woo, a cross between Keith Richards and that skunk Pepe Le Pew" --Luke Ski, "You Don't Know Jack"
"Not much happening here, nothing ever does" --Bob Dylan, "I and I"
"When you touch me, when you hold me, when you kiss me, it's just like Novocaine, I don't feel anything" --Alice Cooper, "Novocaine"
"I just want to be a lover, not a red-eyed screaming ghoul" --Blue Oyster Cult, "Black Blade"
"Just as I am, I am stiff-necked and proud, Jesus is for losers, why do I still play to the crowd?" --Steve Taylor, "Jesus is for Losers"
"Are we figments of our gin, are we long-lost orphan kin, or the mad descendants of our writer's pen?" --Escape Key, "Girl That's Never Been"
"Take my love, take my land, take me where I cannot stand" --Firefly theme
"No good deed goes unpunished, no act of charity goes unresented" --Wicked soundtrack, "No Good Deed"
For what it's worth, the last one is my current ringtone. And, no, there's no hidden message in here, unless you're John Nash, and then, go for it!
"Not much happening here, nothing ever does" --Bob Dylan, "I and I"
"When you touch me, when you hold me, when you kiss me, it's just like Novocaine, I don't feel anything" --Alice Cooper, "Novocaine"
"I just want to be a lover, not a red-eyed screaming ghoul" --Blue Oyster Cult, "Black Blade"
"Just as I am, I am stiff-necked and proud, Jesus is for losers, why do I still play to the crowd?" --Steve Taylor, "Jesus is for Losers"
"Are we figments of our gin, are we long-lost orphan kin, or the mad descendants of our writer's pen?" --Escape Key, "Girl That's Never Been"
"Take my love, take my land, take me where I cannot stand" --Firefly theme
"No good deed goes unpunished, no act of charity goes unresented" --Wicked soundtrack, "No Good Deed"
For what it's worth, the last one is my current ringtone. And, no, there's no hidden message in here, unless you're John Nash, and then, go for it!
Life at the Moment
Um, end of the semester, sick kids, crazy remodeling plans at work, general craziness at work, wardrobe gradually falling to bits, sleeplessness, weird dreams, headaches, old age, kid with detention, too many borrowed books and movies, a sinking realization of my own total depravity (damn Calvin!)
Blue skies, spring breezes, kids laughing, new sneakers, blackberry jelly, hawks on road signs, trees and trees and more trees, long walks, music, lifelong friends, a grateful and growing awareness of the gift of grace and freedom (thank God!)
Blue skies, spring breezes, kids laughing, new sneakers, blackberry jelly, hawks on road signs, trees and trees and more trees, long walks, music, lifelong friends, a grateful and growing awareness of the gift of grace and freedom (thank God!)
Friday, May 04, 2007
What's This?!? A Post???
Long time, no blog, eh? But a scan of y'all's blogs reveal I'm not the only slacker 'round these parts. Maybe you've moved your net lives to MySpace, or maybe Real Life(TM) is actually more interesting than swapping electrons with virtualities? I hope that whatever is going on, that everyone is healthy and happy and full of rainbow bliss (just shoot me now, I've got that damned rosy-eyed optimism thing happening at the moment... 'Had a good day.' 'You had the Alliance on you. Criminals and savages. Half the people on this ship have been shot or wounded, including youself, and you're harboring known fugitives. 'Well, we're still flying.' 'That's not much.' 'It's enough.')
Generic life update: not much happenin' here (well, actually, that's almost 100% false, but let's just let sleepin' dogs lie, shall we?) The semester careens madly towards its inevitable end, Yet Another Graduation. The relative calm of summer is only mildly threatened by those not-so sleeping dogs that we shall continue to tip-toe around. "Work" is, as my Uncle Trapspringer use to say, a completely different word than "play" (actually, my uncle never said that since there is no word for "work" in the kender language. The closest we get is the phrase "involuntary action with pain and/or boredom." Gnomish. on the other hand. has twelve different words that translate to "work" in Common.)
My reading's been all over the place. Most recently, a little book by Peter Kreeft titled Prayer for Beginners. Kreeft, a philosophy professor at Boston College, provides a clear and engaging introduction to prayer that is of value even if you've been praying for years (especially if, like me, you've been at it for years but still feel like an amateur!) I am, of course, biased, as Dr. Kreeft is my favorite living philosopher, but for a book weighing in at 124 pages, it is the work of a few hours (less for some of you) to devour.
I see Twin Peaks season two everywhere, but I can't seem to find season one sitting around in stores. I'm still debating whether I actually want to own that show or just re-visit it. Quark is still not available on DVD even though EVERYTHING else is (hello, Dungeons and Dragons the Animated Series, complete with edition 3.5 stats for those wretched brats! As a former valley elf, "gag me with a mace!" and get Richard Benjamin's greatest role onto disc already!)
Generic life update: not much happenin' here (well, actually, that's almost 100% false, but let's just let sleepin' dogs lie, shall we?) The semester careens madly towards its inevitable end, Yet Another Graduation. The relative calm of summer is only mildly threatened by those not-so sleeping dogs that we shall continue to tip-toe around. "Work" is, as my Uncle Trapspringer use to say, a completely different word than "play" (actually, my uncle never said that since there is no word for "work" in the kender language. The closest we get is the phrase "involuntary action with pain and/or boredom." Gnomish. on the other hand. has twelve different words that translate to "work" in Common.)
My reading's been all over the place. Most recently, a little book by Peter Kreeft titled Prayer for Beginners. Kreeft, a philosophy professor at Boston College, provides a clear and engaging introduction to prayer that is of value even if you've been praying for years (especially if, like me, you've been at it for years but still feel like an amateur!) I am, of course, biased, as Dr. Kreeft is my favorite living philosopher, but for a book weighing in at 124 pages, it is the work of a few hours (less for some of you) to devour.
I see Twin Peaks season two everywhere, but I can't seem to find season one sitting around in stores. I'm still debating whether I actually want to own that show or just re-visit it. Quark is still not available on DVD even though EVERYTHING else is (hello, Dungeons and Dragons the Animated Series, complete with edition 3.5 stats for those wretched brats! As a former valley elf, "gag me with a mace!" and get Richard Benjamin's greatest role onto disc already!)
Friday, April 13, 2007
Some Books and Not Much Else
Stumbled across an unexpected treasure in our local public library: Cory Doctorow's short story collection Overclocked. I've read the first two stories, much geeky SF fun! "When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth" is such a great tale of apocalyptic woe that I'm still smiling. I'll probably re-read that story (after I finish the rest in the collection) at least once before I return it. Find and read already!
It appears Fate has opted to control my reading. My mentor and friend Dr. Castelein left a book for me to read (and I just finished Factoring Humanity, the previous book he lent me). This time a non-fiction work of techno-history called Masters of Deception. Looks good, but there's just not enough time to read EVERYTHING on my stack (I still have a copy of Eragon, loaned from a relative, staring guiltily at me. I refuse to rent the DVD before I read the book.)
Life is basically good. There's much weirdness (no, no tremors in the Force, nor any fevers, either) just weirdness. I find myself singing on the sidewalk more than usual (be thankful for your geographical remoteness from that particular experience.) I'm also sending a telepathic message to the resident of Logan County who has "The Maltese Falcon" checked out: RETURN IT!!! (please...)
I hope that you all have a wonderful Friday 13th and a great weekend! (I've got house cleaning and, likely, grading. Oh joy! The end of the semester approaches...)
It appears Fate has opted to control my reading. My mentor and friend Dr. Castelein left a book for me to read (and I just finished Factoring Humanity, the previous book he lent me). This time a non-fiction work of techno-history called Masters of Deception. Looks good, but there's just not enough time to read EVERYTHING on my stack (I still have a copy of Eragon, loaned from a relative, staring guiltily at me. I refuse to rent the DVD before I read the book.)
Life is basically good. There's much weirdness (no, no tremors in the Force, nor any fevers, either) just weirdness. I find myself singing on the sidewalk more than usual (be thankful for your geographical remoteness from that particular experience.) I'm also sending a telepathic message to the resident of Logan County who has "The Maltese Falcon" checked out: RETURN IT!!! (please...)
I hope that you all have a wonderful Friday 13th and a great weekend! (I've got house cleaning and, likely, grading. Oh joy! The end of the semester approaches...)
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Cinderella and the Geek
Just finished watching Cinderella III with my daughter. I've never been a big Cinderella fan, but I actually enjoyed the movie. I'm not saying I fell in love with a Disney character (especially since Tink would be really jealous), but I found both Cinderella and the Prince to be much more interesting characters than I remembered from before. Musically, the movie wasn't as good (to my sensibilities) as either classic Disney nor the best of the new Disney tunes, but the story and characters more than made up for it, for me anyway.
Geek news: Debian Linux finally released version 4.0 this month. May 1 is the release date for OpenBSD 4.1, but the biggest news, for my money, is the flurry of activity in the Slackware -current changelog. Whether the next release is 11.1 or 12 only Pat knows, but there are several major upgrades, including the gcc 4 series for the compiler tool chain and no more 2.4 kernels! So much for all those trolls who claim Slackware is "the bleeding edge of 1995." While the new book from No Starch Press about Designing BSD Rootkits is a tempting call to join the FreeBSD camp, Slackware still continues to deliver an operating system that feels like home.
In other news... I've been thinking about "childhood friends and the dreams we had." Dreams. I'm not sure that most of my dreams were terribly realistic (I'm not sure any of my current ones are, either). One of you bloggers has talked about seeing what's in front of you. C.S. Lewis talks about how going backwards is sometimes the way to make progress (like if you've gone down a wrong path, you have to go back to where you've went amiss to get to the right path). I'm not saying that I've gone down a wrong path (but I have, of course, made my share--and then some--of mistakes), but sometimes looking backward is the way to see what's in front of you. Maybe. Like River, "I don't know what I'm saying, I never know what I'm saying."
Geek news: Debian Linux finally released version 4.0 this month. May 1 is the release date for OpenBSD 4.1, but the biggest news, for my money, is the flurry of activity in the Slackware -current changelog. Whether the next release is 11.1 or 12 only Pat knows, but there are several major upgrades, including the gcc 4 series for the compiler tool chain and no more 2.4 kernels! So much for all those trolls who claim Slackware is "the bleeding edge of 1995." While the new book from No Starch Press about Designing BSD Rootkits is a tempting call to join the FreeBSD camp, Slackware still continues to deliver an operating system that feels like home.
In other news... I've been thinking about "childhood friends and the dreams we had." Dreams. I'm not sure that most of my dreams were terribly realistic (I'm not sure any of my current ones are, either). One of you bloggers has talked about seeing what's in front of you. C.S. Lewis talks about how going backwards is sometimes the way to make progress (like if you've gone down a wrong path, you have to go back to where you've went amiss to get to the right path). I'm not saying that I've gone down a wrong path (but I have, of course, made my share--and then some--of mistakes), but sometimes looking backward is the way to see what's in front of you. Maybe. Like River, "I don't know what I'm saying, I never know what I'm saying."
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Engagement! You're All Invited...
...to a wedding, exactly one year from today! Last week I met the most wonderful woman: she's smart, funny, liberal, spiritual. We knew within fifteen minutes that we were meant to be. Oh, she's also rich (which helps considerably) and cute (which never hurts!) The wedding will be held somewhere near Area 51. Did I mention that she's half-Native American, half-Irish, and half-Transylvanian? Pretty cool mix. Oh, and she's an honorary "queen" of some small country that used to be part of the British empire. Yep, one year from today, I'll be marrying April the First! I hope y'all can make it!
But Seriously Folks...
The kids have next week off for spring break, so I'm taking it as vacation time. Since work is my only net access at the moment, I'll probably be more or less silent for the next several days (I know, this differs from my current track record how?) For those who appreciate: a blessed Easter to you! For the rest, welcome to Spring!
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Where the Heck Have I Been?
Well, whether you wondered or not, I'm going to answer the question. I've been moving my ex-wife out of town (against my heart's --and my back's-- fervent wishes) and moving a ton of my kid's stuff into my smallish apartment. I've also been caring for a puking kid, being a single parent (for all of one week now!), and trying this weekend to figure out what "everything in its place" means in this new environment (the kids are with their mom on the weekends for the next couple of months.) And then there's work (which has its own stories, that I won't bore y'all with, but suffice to say it adds to the stress.) Unfortunately any other activities have been Seriously Neglected (thus my absence here... :-(
One thing I did take time to do was go see our campus production of My Fair Lady last night. It was a lot of fun! The cast did a great job and I found myself laughing at the antics of Alfred P. Doolittle, Henry Higgins, and the incomparable Eliza. While out Eliza was neither Audrey Hepburn nor Julie Andrews, I'd say she held her own very well. She brought a presence and passion to the role that made you want to weep for her by the end. This is the first time in a long, long, long time that I've gone to any kind of stage production. I'm glad I did and I think that maybe I may keep my eyes open for other opportunities around here (summer's approaching, and with it the Illinois Shakespeare Festival up in B'town-Abnormal!)
Today I was on the road running Stuff(TM) to various New Places for it. I saw a beautiful hawk at the beginning of the trip and another one (slightly smaller) near the end. I'm all for interpreting this as a Good Omen. Regardless, I'm always glad when a bird catches my attention and I watch it fly. Maybe I'm just a wonder junkie, but it never fails to make me feel a little better about life, etc.
I hope each of you are finding a bit of wonder in the midst of the busyness of your lives!
One thing I did take time to do was go see our campus production of My Fair Lady last night. It was a lot of fun! The cast did a great job and I found myself laughing at the antics of Alfred P. Doolittle, Henry Higgins, and the incomparable Eliza. While out Eliza was neither Audrey Hepburn nor Julie Andrews, I'd say she held her own very well. She brought a presence and passion to the role that made you want to weep for her by the end. This is the first time in a long, long, long time that I've gone to any kind of stage production. I'm glad I did and I think that maybe I may keep my eyes open for other opportunities around here (summer's approaching, and with it the Illinois Shakespeare Festival up in B'town-Abnormal!)
Today I was on the road running Stuff(TM) to various New Places for it. I saw a beautiful hawk at the beginning of the trip and another one (slightly smaller) near the end. I'm all for interpreting this as a Good Omen. Regardless, I'm always glad when a bird catches my attention and I watch it fly. Maybe I'm just a wonder junkie, but it never fails to make me feel a little better about life, etc.
I hope each of you are finding a bit of wonder in the midst of the busyness of your lives!
Monday, March 12, 2007
Exhibit B: A Lame Post
Too long without anything, so we'll do a little update...
My ex-wife got the job south of here. Her first day is March 26, and she's moving the weekend of the 17th. I'll have the kids through the week starting March 19 and going through their last day of school on June 4. She's planning on having them during the weekends during this time. After that, she's thinking we go back to me getting them every other weekend (and, because of distance, obviously not seeing them during the week. That'll suck!)
Elsewise, life goes good. Medication still keeps me sane, I still have a job, and I'm enjoying the (relative) warmth of spring's pre-dawning. Reading's been kind of crazy: some Bart Ehrman and a re-read of Dragonlance Chronicles (don't roll your eyes, Lisa! I'm still trying to get into the Francis Collins book, but he's not as much fun as Richard Dawkins).
The existential question of the nanosecond is "have I grown up or am I still wondering what I'm going to be when I grow up?" Some of you are young enough that the question is fair for you to ponder, but I'm forty (in a few months) and I probably should be looking at life as "well, this is it" rather than a "gee, what do I want to do now?" I get too curmudgeonly lately, and too resigned. I don't want to be a dwarf! A kender, sure. An elf, that would rock. A black robe mage, without a doubt. But a surly dwarf... just feed me to the dragons already.
Oh well, maybe spring will help with some of this! Anyway, this is, for what it's worth, a post.
My ex-wife got the job south of here. Her first day is March 26, and she's moving the weekend of the 17th. I'll have the kids through the week starting March 19 and going through their last day of school on June 4. She's planning on having them during the weekends during this time. After that, she's thinking we go back to me getting them every other weekend (and, because of distance, obviously not seeing them during the week. That'll suck!)
Elsewise, life goes good. Medication still keeps me sane, I still have a job, and I'm enjoying the (relative) warmth of spring's pre-dawning. Reading's been kind of crazy: some Bart Ehrman and a re-read of Dragonlance Chronicles (don't roll your eyes, Lisa! I'm still trying to get into the Francis Collins book, but he's not as much fun as Richard Dawkins).
The existential question of the nanosecond is "have I grown up or am I still wondering what I'm going to be when I grow up?" Some of you are young enough that the question is fair for you to ponder, but I'm forty (in a few months) and I probably should be looking at life as "well, this is it" rather than a "gee, what do I want to do now?" I get too curmudgeonly lately, and too resigned. I don't want to be a dwarf! A kender, sure. An elf, that would rock. A black robe mage, without a doubt. But a surly dwarf... just feed me to the dragons already.
Oh well, maybe spring will help with some of this! Anyway, this is, for what it's worth, a post.
Friday, March 02, 2007
The Law of Fives
If you've read the Illuminatus Trilogy, then you're familiar with the Law of Fives. Basically, while many numbers comes up in life, five comes up more often than others.
As an example, take my previous post about the spelling bee. My fifth grade son was sitting in the fifth seat on stage. There were 5 rows of seats between where I was sitting and the stage. My son missed his word on the fifth letter. The date of the bee was the 27th (the difference between the digits of 27 being 5), but originally was scheduled for the 14th (1+4=5). Finally, even the phrase "spelling bee" has a letter differential of 5 (8 letters in "spelling" 3 letters in "bee").
Oh, and I just noticed that today is 3/2!
fnord
As an example, take my previous post about the spelling bee. My fifth grade son was sitting in the fifth seat on stage. There were 5 rows of seats between where I was sitting and the stage. My son missed his word on the fifth letter. The date of the bee was the 27th (the difference between the digits of 27 being 5), but originally was scheduled for the 14th (1+4=5). Finally, even the phrase "spelling bee" has a letter differential of 5 (8 letters in "spelling" 3 letters in "bee").
Oh, and I just noticed that today is 3/2!
fnord
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Spelling Bee
Today was the county spelling bee (postponed from the Valentine's Day blizzard). Nate placed 5th out of thirteen, which is cool. On the practice round, 10 out of the 13 messed up, so if that round had counted, he would have been in the top three! Anyway, it was fun and now we can stop spelling for a while :-)
Thursday, February 22, 2007
The Next Shuttle For Parking Lot A-17 Will Be Departing in 5 Minutes
Tweedledum and Tweedledee agreed to have a battle; for Tweedledum said Tweedledee had spoiled his nice new rattle
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
My Favorite Song for This Week!
Profanity warning: the word "God" and the word "damn" appear adjacent to each other in this song (just once, otherwise the song is very much G rated :-)
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Oh, Joy!
"Laissez les bons temps rouler!" (or so my Googlefied French comes out!) Happy Mardi Gras, gang!!! Ash Wednesday tomorrow and the Lenten season. If you're Christian and liturgical, you find your mind's eye looking towards the cross. Sin, repentance, the death of the old self and the new birth of the new. But tonight... maybe some jambalaya and laughter!
Monday, February 19, 2007
On Dogs and Wasps: An Argument for Naturalism
Most of us in the Christian West are not opposed to using flyswatters to, well, swat flies. In fact, swatting flies, smacking mosquitoes, squashing roaches, and gassing wasps are all common behaviors. However, most of us would be horrified to see a driver swerve her car to intentionally run over a stray dog. Why? Assuming, for a moment, that the dog was not someone’s pet (so that the argument doesn’t invoke property rights), why are we upset over someone who kills a dog that’s hovering around them, but not a bug?
Let me first point out that it is not Biblical Christianity that makes the differentiation. The “Creation Mandate” does not distinguish between insects and mammals, humankind has dominion over both. An annoying wild dog is just as much a nuisance as an annoying wild wasp.
As a clue, let me also point out that when we’re saving aquatic life, it is most often dolphins and whales, not fish that we are keen to save.
Dolphins, whales, and dogs, like us, are mammals. On the continuum of the genetic code, they are more like us than, say, hornets are. One thing about mammals: we like each other. It helped us survive when we were tiny rodents in a world of big reptiles. Our genes want to survive, which means, for many mammals, a herd instinct. This is mostly for our own species, but not surprisingly for members of other similar species.
True, mammals eat each other. That’s part of the circle of life, but we also get along rather well. Cats and dogs and horses and even pigs bond better with us than snakes and fish and spiders. Closer relation in the evolutionary tree, rather than anything in the Genesis account, explains this bond.
Well, you might say, dogs and cats are smarter (i.e., more advanced nervous systems) than, say, spiders, so we care more about them because they can suffer more. True, but the Bible is pretty clear that humanity is the special kind of creation that is made in God’s image, all the rest of the creatures are made like each other. The Bible would suggest that dogs, spiders, wasps, and ponies are more like each other than any of them are like us. Evolution would suggest we are closer to, and feel more kinship with, other mammals.
I don't necessarily believe this argument, but it is one of two arguments for naturalism that came to me this weekend. Please feel free to, literally, knock the hell out of this argument! ;-)
Let me first point out that it is not Biblical Christianity that makes the differentiation. The “Creation Mandate” does not distinguish between insects and mammals, humankind has dominion over both. An annoying wild dog is just as much a nuisance as an annoying wild wasp.
As a clue, let me also point out that when we’re saving aquatic life, it is most often dolphins and whales, not fish that we are keen to save.
Dolphins, whales, and dogs, like us, are mammals. On the continuum of the genetic code, they are more like us than, say, hornets are. One thing about mammals: we like each other. It helped us survive when we were tiny rodents in a world of big reptiles. Our genes want to survive, which means, for many mammals, a herd instinct. This is mostly for our own species, but not surprisingly for members of other similar species.
True, mammals eat each other. That’s part of the circle of life, but we also get along rather well. Cats and dogs and horses and even pigs bond better with us than snakes and fish and spiders. Closer relation in the evolutionary tree, rather than anything in the Genesis account, explains this bond.
Well, you might say, dogs and cats are smarter (i.e., more advanced nervous systems) than, say, spiders, so we care more about them because they can suffer more. True, but the Bible is pretty clear that humanity is the special kind of creation that is made in God’s image, all the rest of the creatures are made like each other. The Bible would suggest that dogs, spiders, wasps, and ponies are more like each other than any of them are like us. Evolution would suggest we are closer to, and feel more kinship with, other mammals.
I don't necessarily believe this argument, but it is one of two arguments for naturalism that came to me this weekend. Please feel free to, literally, knock the hell out of this argument! ;-)
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Snow and Rain
I'm grateful for the two days of deep snow and bitter winds. Winter... the kind you can trudge through knee-deep (or more!) snow, where temperatures are prefixed with a minus sign. Raw elements sort of put the melodrama of human "angst" in the background. Maslow's pyramid: physical survival trumps moody self-absorption (thank God!) But the winter has passed, and now it's just cold again. I pray the fire of love burns freely and fiercely in your souls, my friends.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
"Calling Dr. Bombay"
Nothing here but a quick check-in (remember back when I blogged daily, and the entries were full of creativity and wit... or maybe nostalgia makes things look sweeter than they really were; let's just pretend that's how it was, ok?)
A former student worker dropped off the first two seasons of House, so I can finally begin watching this show that everybody keeps telling me I'll love...
My son won the school spelling bee today. Next week, on Valentine's Day, I'll be going to watch him at the county spelling bee. I felt so glad for the little geek when the entire school was applauding for him today! The winning word was refugee.
Speaking of Valentine's Day, I'm not. So there! I wish all of you love and all that other crap, but I'll keep working on my first draft of Celibacy for Dummies.
Bookwise, the stack at hand (not to be confused with the books at home with slips of paper marking my spastic progress) consists of Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for the Common Ground Between God and Evolution (Kenneth Miller), Mythical Trickster Figures: Contours, Contexts, and Criticisms (ed. Wm. Hynes and Wm. Doty), and Ubuntu Linux for Non-Geeks: A Pain-Free, Project-Based, Get-Things-Done Guidebook (Rickford Grant). OK, I actually am a geek, and a committed Slackware user, but the book looked like a fun browse, so I've borrowed it from Governor's State University (interlibrary loan has to rate as one the greatest human inventions of all time!)
In the name of health, I'm attempting to consume some water each day (any amount would be, literally, infintely more than I typically drink). I also worked in a walk last weekend. This was the first time in too long, and it was bloody cold! Still I felt better at the end of that day than I do most days, so there must be something to it.
I'm trying to wrap my brain around something that I can fire off an ill-tempered rant against. Until then, here's a nice British version of the PC versus Mac debate. The comments are worth reading if, like me, you love pointless religious debates. Yeah, Brits are so much more civilized than us colonial rebels.
A former student worker dropped off the first two seasons of House, so I can finally begin watching this show that everybody keeps telling me I'll love...
My son won the school spelling bee today. Next week, on Valentine's Day, I'll be going to watch him at the county spelling bee. I felt so glad for the little geek when the entire school was applauding for him today! The winning word was refugee.
Speaking of Valentine's Day, I'm not. So there! I wish all of you love and all that other crap, but I'll keep working on my first draft of Celibacy for Dummies.
Bookwise, the stack at hand (not to be confused with the books at home with slips of paper marking my spastic progress) consists of Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for the Common Ground Between God and Evolution (Kenneth Miller), Mythical Trickster Figures: Contours, Contexts, and Criticisms (ed. Wm. Hynes and Wm. Doty), and Ubuntu Linux for Non-Geeks: A Pain-Free, Project-Based, Get-Things-Done Guidebook (Rickford Grant). OK, I actually am a geek, and a committed Slackware user, but the book looked like a fun browse, so I've borrowed it from Governor's State University (interlibrary loan has to rate as one the greatest human inventions of all time!)
In the name of health, I'm attempting to consume some water each day (any amount would be, literally, infintely more than I typically drink). I also worked in a walk last weekend. This was the first time in too long, and it was bloody cold! Still I felt better at the end of that day than I do most days, so there must be something to it.
I'm trying to wrap my brain around something that I can fire off an ill-tempered rant against. Until then, here's a nice British version of the PC versus Mac debate. The comments are worth reading if, like me, you love pointless religious debates. Yeah, Brits are so much more civilized than us colonial rebels.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Waiting for Franz Kafka's Love-Child
Is the country ready for another President Clinton?!? Well, we had another President George Bush, and look how that turned out. Yeah... how about that Obama? He seems like a nice young man. Hello, republicans, do you have anybody to run this time?!?
My cheap notebook, sold off because my employer didn't even think they could get any use out of them, is sitting here reminding me there's only a couple of days to the "official" full moon. Looking out my window, it's full enough for my reckoning. Computers are funny things. Take this notebook I'm writing on. It came with a 30 gig drive, which promptly died. It's cool, ny friend in the IT department set me up with another from a notebook too dead to sell off. Well, that one died. So I scrounged around and came up with a 10 gig drive. 10 gigs, and I'm feeling a little cramped for space. Good grief, when I first started this job my work PC was a 486 with a 210 MEG drive. Now a ten gig drive is too small?!? And it's not like I'm running XP here (let alone Vista... let's not even go down that road!) Nor am I running one of those "everything-and-the-kitchen-sink" linux distros. A simple Slack 11 install with a few "essential" additions (mono, dosbox, Adobe Reader, OpenOffice.org, and a couple other little things). Admittedly, I'm not out of space yet, but I look at my desktop
machine: an 80 gig drive for XP and a 160 gig drive for Slack. That seems like abundance (maybe too much abundance?) Did I really just ramble on about hard drive sizes? Something is terribly wrong here.
A note to my sister who may be checking this blog out for the first (and possibly last!) time: you should have visited one of my earlier blogs, back when the creative juices were flowing like the waters of the mighty Embarrass during storm season. This blog is basically a place where you can tell I'm still breathing, but that's about it :-) Oh, and "hi, Sis!"
Full moon. That bodes well (for something, don't know what... yet!) OK gang, it's late and I'm thirsty and tired. Later (and if, by some miracle, I resist posting before the weekend, may y'all enjoy the Bears whooping up on the Colts ;-)
My cheap notebook, sold off because my employer didn't even think they could get any use out of them, is sitting here reminding me there's only a couple of days to the "official" full moon. Looking out my window, it's full enough for my reckoning. Computers are funny things. Take this notebook I'm writing on. It came with a 30 gig drive, which promptly died. It's cool, ny friend in the IT department set me up with another from a notebook too dead to sell off. Well, that one died. So I scrounged around and came up with a 10 gig drive. 10 gigs, and I'm feeling a little cramped for space. Good grief, when I first started this job my work PC was a 486 with a 210 MEG drive. Now a ten gig drive is too small?!? And it's not like I'm running XP here (let alone Vista... let's not even go down that road!) Nor am I running one of those "everything-and-the-kitchen-sink" linux distros. A simple Slack 11 install with a few "essential" additions (mono, dosbox, Adobe Reader, OpenOffice.org, and a couple other little things). Admittedly, I'm not out of space yet, but I look at my desktop
machine: an 80 gig drive for XP and a 160 gig drive for Slack. That seems like abundance (maybe too much abundance?) Did I really just ramble on about hard drive sizes? Something is terribly wrong here.
A note to my sister who may be checking this blog out for the first (and possibly last!) time: you should have visited one of my earlier blogs, back when the creative juices were flowing like the waters of the mighty Embarrass during storm season. This blog is basically a place where you can tell I'm still breathing, but that's about it :-) Oh, and "hi, Sis!"
Full moon. That bodes well (for something, don't know what... yet!) OK gang, it's late and I'm thirsty and tired. Later (and if, by some miracle, I resist posting before the weekend, may y'all enjoy the Bears whooping up on the Colts ;-)
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Boondoggle
Ex-wife went down for an interview about 3 hours south of here. If she gets it, I won't be seeing the kids through the week like I do, which is depressing me a bit (and if she doesn't get this one, she'll keep trying. The new job puts her significantly closer to her boyfriend's home. gag!) The kids don't know the details of the where of her interview. I really don't want to leave this job, but I don't want to miss out on my kids' lives, either. Damn.
Elsewise, I now have a small glass bottle with a bit of sulfur in it sitting on my desk. It's a combination of an object lesson from our dean and a bit of perversity on my part. Incidentally, does anyone know if inhaling sulfur is bad for you?
I've been reading, but I can't remember what at the moment (sulfur? nah, just stress.)
I hope y'all are doing well out there in the RealWorld!
Elsewise, I now have a small glass bottle with a bit of sulfur in it sitting on my desk. It's a combination of an object lesson from our dean and a bit of perversity on my part. Incidentally, does anyone know if inhaling sulfur is bad for you?
I've been reading, but I can't remember what at the moment (sulfur? nah, just stress.)
I hope y'all are doing well out there in the RealWorld!
Friday, January 26, 2007
expectations
forty plus hours of meetings and desk work,
and I'm expected to know all the latest in
theology,
philosophy,
technology,
cataloging,
current events,
current literature,
and
anything else
anyone might want me to know
no time for hands-on with the technology, but I'm expected to
troubleshoot,
configure,
recommend,
step-in,
and explain why things are the way they are--
don't spend time with it,
but be responsible for it;
let IT handle it,
except when they can't act as quickly
(or as psychically)
as we'd like;
remind me
(without words)
that I'm a failure for not being able to fly with it
my house is a mess
(and my apartment's none too tidy, either)
my health report has my real age about six years
older
than my birth certificate
six years
closer to dying, closer to crying
my house is haunted
but the ghosts are all gone;
the spirits,
the faeries,
the gremlins,
the dryads,
the elves
...all gone
what do you call a haunted house
that's no longer haunted?
where again is that living water
where is that bread
that wine
that view of the world where
everything
just fits?
and I'm expected to know all the latest in
theology,
philosophy,
technology,
cataloging,
current events,
current literature,
and
anything else
anyone might want me to know
no time for hands-on with the technology, but I'm expected to
troubleshoot,
configure,
recommend,
step-in,
and explain why things are the way they are--
don't spend time with it,
but be responsible for it;
let IT handle it,
except when they can't act as quickly
(or as psychically)
as we'd like;
remind me
(without words)
that I'm a failure for not being able to fly with it
my house is a mess
(and my apartment's none too tidy, either)
my health report has my real age about six years
older
than my birth certificate
six years
closer to dying, closer to crying
my house is haunted
but the ghosts are all gone;
the spirits,
the faeries,
the gremlins,
the dryads,
the elves
...all gone
what do you call a haunted house
that's no longer haunted?
where again is that living water
where is that bread
that wine
that view of the world where
everything
just fits?
Monday, January 22, 2007
Hair Thair Be Dragons
On a whim I got my haircut over lunch today. The young lady asked "how short do you want it?" I thought for a second and said "Well, not buzzed. Something like an insurance agent or a Republican." So now my shadow no longer has cool hair that whips in the wind. Oh well (it grows back. right?!?)
Talking to the hair cutter, I discover she's a sci-fi/fantasy person working on a screenplay for a fantasy tale about dragons. Here, in Lincoln. Go figure.
OK, Winter, I think this post is MORE boring than yours was! ;-)
Talking to the hair cutter, I discover she's a sci-fi/fantasy person working on a screenplay for a fantasy tale about dragons. Here, in Lincoln. Go figure.
OK, Winter, I think this post is MORE boring than yours was! ;-)
Just Another Manic Monday
On the road to Bloomington this weekend I saw a red-tailed hawk perched on a speed limit sign on my side of the road. Hours later on the return trip I saw what appeared to be the same hawk again on my side of the road (roughly the same stretch of interstate). I guess I'm pre-scientific enough to take that as a good omen. At the very least it made me smile.
You Suck. No, not you personally. You Suck: A Love Story is the title of Chris Moore's latest novel, a sequel to Blood Sucking Fiends: A Love Story. No, I haven't read the new one yet, but Real Soon Now.
On the reading front, I'm waiting for my son to deliver book two of A Series of Unfortunate Events into my hand. I finished Moore's Coyote Blue (which just leaves Fluke and You Suck to read and I'll have read all of his novels!) I'm skimming a book on C# published by Microsoft Press (the first MS Press book I've ever read, I think), and I'm about two-thirds through the Blamires book.
I made another trip to the local used bookstore that's closing and picked up a few more items (yes, Dodo, a couple of them made it into your box!) One crazy thing I picked up was a book on assembly language for the Commodore 64. Good times, 8-bit computing. I'll probably never actually use the book, but the collector gene kicked in.
A friend tossed me the discs for the first two seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Not a show I'd recommend to everyone, but it has its laugh outloud moments. Enough folks have talked to me about House that I'm feeling compelled to start renting the first season of it (and I suppose I should take the plunge and start watching Numb3rs).
Words are cool. We've talked in this blog circle about words before. I wonder why certain words appeal to certain people. For instance, I like the word "brimstone." I couldn't tell you why, and I doubt that it's a universally appealing word, but I like it.
Well, obviously I'm just rambling, so I'll let you get back to your lives. Thanks for stopping by!
You Suck. No, not you personally. You Suck: A Love Story is the title of Chris Moore's latest novel, a sequel to Blood Sucking Fiends: A Love Story. No, I haven't read the new one yet, but Real Soon Now.
On the reading front, I'm waiting for my son to deliver book two of A Series of Unfortunate Events into my hand. I finished Moore's Coyote Blue (which just leaves Fluke and You Suck to read and I'll have read all of his novels!) I'm skimming a book on C# published by Microsoft Press (the first MS Press book I've ever read, I think), and I'm about two-thirds through the Blamires book.
I made another trip to the local used bookstore that's closing and picked up a few more items (yes, Dodo, a couple of them made it into your box!) One crazy thing I picked up was a book on assembly language for the Commodore 64. Good times, 8-bit computing. I'll probably never actually use the book, but the collector gene kicked in.
A friend tossed me the discs for the first two seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Not a show I'd recommend to everyone, but it has its laugh outloud moments. Enough folks have talked to me about House that I'm feeling compelled to start renting the first season of it (and I suppose I should take the plunge and start watching Numb3rs).
Words are cool. We've talked in this blog circle about words before. I wonder why certain words appeal to certain people. For instance, I like the word "brimstone." I couldn't tell you why, and I doubt that it's a universally appealing word, but I like it.
Well, obviously I'm just rambling, so I'll let you get back to your lives. Thanks for stopping by!
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Interesting Thought
I was reading while eating my biscuits and gravy this morning and came across a sentence that made me stop and think:
"Your beliefs, as a Christian, are not yours in the sense that you have rights over them, either to tamper with them or throw them away." --Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind
I don't get to define what being a Christian means ("well, this is what being a Christian means to me..." NOT!) Christianity (Christ) defines me, or else I'm just another heretic. Of course there is an element of subjectivity and interpretation, but there is also a reality outside of me (or, more to the point, a Reality). I wonder how much of who I am is me baptizing what I want to be rather than truly wrestling with what a real God wants me to be.
"Your beliefs, as a Christian, are not yours in the sense that you have rights over them, either to tamper with them or throw them away." --Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind
I don't get to define what being a Christian means ("well, this is what being a Christian means to me..." NOT!) Christianity (Christ) defines me, or else I'm just another heretic. Of course there is an element of subjectivity and interpretation, but there is also a reality outside of me (or, more to the point, a Reality). I wonder how much of who I am is me baptizing what I want to be rather than truly wrestling with what a real God wants me to be.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
The Fruit of My Aging
The older I get the more I come to believe that:
- I don't know hardly anything
- grace is the most valuable "thing" there is
- I am no better than the worst criminal
- no one will ever know how old the universe is
- loneliness sucks
- life is difficult, and there aren't always ways to "fix" the difficulties
- there is a real universe out there, even if we only know it through the interface of our individual thoughts, feelings, and sensations
- there's too much to read (even if no one ever wrote another word again)
- there's too much noise (in the world and in my soul)
- pencil and paper bring a type of happiness that I can't get with a computer
- much of what I believe may well be wrong
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Not with a Bang, But a Wimper
Well, maybe this isn't the end of this blog, but it sure has seemed slooooooooow (for the record, I hate repeating vowels to make some kind of emphasis. The word should be 'slow' ...I'm a moron). 2007, the year I tried to blog but everything came out stupid.
This may be partly attributable to the constant sharp pain stretching from my elbow to my knuckles on my right hand. I'm guessing an RSI of some sort. It hurts all the time, no matter what I do. Any suggestions? (Beside the obvious: go see my doctor).
This may be partly attributable to the constant sharp pain stretching from my elbow to my knuckles on my right hand. I'm guessing an RSI of some sort. It hurts all the time, no matter what I do. Any suggestions? (Beside the obvious: go see my doctor).
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
What, It's the New Year Already?!?
Those who are the self-appointed gatekeepers of the blogverse point out that "no one cares what you had for dinner" by which, of course, they mean that you shouldn't post about the crappy little mundanities that make up the bulk of your life. To which I say, "foo!" Not every post can be a deep commentary on some wayward aspect of our existence in this vast cosmos. And besides, I *like* hearing what's going on in my friends' lives. Yea, verily, even what they're eating these days :-) So, while I won't describe my own current culinary adventures, I *will* provide a brief recap of my Christmas break.
Working in academia has some advantages (great salary not being one of them), such as Christmas break. From December 22 through January 1 I was off work! The best part wad that during that entire time I had my kids (except for two nights and one day when they were at their mom's). That's really enough to say: it was a good break :-)
I finished reading The Looking Glass Wars, Frank Beddor's reworking of the Alice in Wonderland material. The writing is not literary quality, and I've read a couple of negative reviews, but, overall, I liked it. Give me a good Alice story any day. Admittedly, there were things I didn't like about it (like dissing on Lewis Carroll) and some things were corny (like the AD52, automatic dealer, shooting 52 razor sharp cards a second!) Hatter Madigan, the queen's bodyguard and "original" of the Mad Hatter, was my favorite character (and, I'm guessing, most everyone else's as well... thus the spin-off comic book series Hatter M, eh?) If you like fantasy, the book is worth a quick read, but maybe not worth you're $18 (unless you're kind of a freak collector of Lewis Carroll related stuff... not that I know anybody like that!)
Santa delivered the kids' goods to my place this year. Everyone was happy and got way too much Stuff. My six-year-old daughter and I played soccer one afternoon. Neither of us have a clue how to play, but we had great fun anyway. Her mom had gotten her a soccer ball for Christmas, and then sent it to my place to stay. Same for the chem set she got for my son. It's cool, though: I colored my hands blue with a splash of a "minor skin irritant." I miss the glass test tubes and alcohol lamps of my childhood chemistry set. These new things are too safe for mad science. For the record, my daughter beat me 10-4 and is anxiously awaiting a rematch to trounce me again.
My son finished the Lemony Snickett books and is insistent I read them, so... it looks like I know my next fiction reads. I've also picked up Rucker's latest collection which I'm eager to get started.
Moviewise, I've re-watched movies the kids wanted to see: The Tenth Kingdom and The Little Vampire among the better titles. We also watched Superman Returns (I know, it was about time!) and last night I watched a Jason Lee movie I'd never heard of called Drop Dead Sexy, which was weird and funny and twisted and borderline necrophiliac (all of which could be said of The Corpse Bride, even though the movies have nothing in common). I've had a few people tell me to get to a theater and see The Nativity. Anyone out there seen it?
Well, it's good to be back online. Here's to 2007, may you find more wonder and delight and joy than you ever dreamed possible!
Working in academia has some advantages (great salary not being one of them), such as Christmas break. From December 22 through January 1 I was off work! The best part wad that during that entire time I had my kids (except for two nights and one day when they were at their mom's). That's really enough to say: it was a good break :-)
I finished reading The Looking Glass Wars, Frank Beddor's reworking of the Alice in Wonderland material. The writing is not literary quality, and I've read a couple of negative reviews, but, overall, I liked it. Give me a good Alice story any day. Admittedly, there were things I didn't like about it (like dissing on Lewis Carroll) and some things were corny (like the AD52, automatic dealer, shooting 52 razor sharp cards a second!) Hatter Madigan, the queen's bodyguard and "original" of the Mad Hatter, was my favorite character (and, I'm guessing, most everyone else's as well... thus the spin-off comic book series Hatter M, eh?) If you like fantasy, the book is worth a quick read, but maybe not worth you're $18 (unless you're kind of a freak collector of Lewis Carroll related stuff... not that I know anybody like that!)
Santa delivered the kids' goods to my place this year. Everyone was happy and got way too much Stuff. My six-year-old daughter and I played soccer one afternoon. Neither of us have a clue how to play, but we had great fun anyway. Her mom had gotten her a soccer ball for Christmas, and then sent it to my place to stay. Same for the chem set she got for my son. It's cool, though: I colored my hands blue with a splash of a "minor skin irritant." I miss the glass test tubes and alcohol lamps of my childhood chemistry set. These new things are too safe for mad science. For the record, my daughter beat me 10-4 and is anxiously awaiting a rematch to trounce me again.
My son finished the Lemony Snickett books and is insistent I read them, so... it looks like I know my next fiction reads. I've also picked up Rucker's latest collection which I'm eager to get started.
Moviewise, I've re-watched movies the kids wanted to see: The Tenth Kingdom and The Little Vampire among the better titles. We also watched Superman Returns (I know, it was about time!) and last night I watched a Jason Lee movie I'd never heard of called Drop Dead Sexy, which was weird and funny and twisted and borderline necrophiliac (all of which could be said of The Corpse Bride, even though the movies have nothing in common). I've had a few people tell me to get to a theater and see The Nativity. Anyone out there seen it?
Well, it's good to be back online. Here's to 2007, may you find more wonder and delight and joy than you ever dreamed possible!
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Eighth Day Report
Thank GOD!!! the semester is over. The grading is done, the grades are turned in, and the slacker may be feeling a hint of burn-out :-)
Good things... my video game junkie son has put the DS down long enough to begin reading the Series of Unfortunate Events books. He's up to book eleven, which means we need to quickly lay hands on books 12 and 13. He likes puns and wordplay and is laughing out loud while he reads. It does an aged bookworm's heart good to see the old ways still being practiced by the young. (My kindergarten-age daughter reads a little, but mostly she demands stories be read to her. And since she likes fairy tales, I'm happy to oblige!)
Geek news: Bill Gates recently said DRM is too complicated. Just buy the CD and rip it. Bravo, Bill! I'd love to hear more like this from Mr. Gates in the coming months. Also, Linus Torvalds spoke out against making the Linux kernel not support binary-only drivers. He called such a move stupid and pointed out that it was motivated more by political than by technical considerations. You go, Linus!
Speaking of technical considerations, has anyone played with a Wii yet? My son thinks the motion sensitive controller sounds like an awesome idea. I'm a bit more skeptical. Without force feedback it seems more like an exercise in tai chi (not the worst thing that could happen to videogame junkies).
Well, Christmas is rapidly approaching. The season of gift-buying and giving, of wrapping paper and ribbons and cards and other paper products that will end up in the trash (or, in the case of many cards, in storage for a year). Of greed and gluttony and envy and more than a bit of pride and sloth. A season, in short, in need of redemption. Oh, for a savior to come into the world and deliver us from our worst selves into our better selves!
Good things... my video game junkie son has put the DS down long enough to begin reading the Series of Unfortunate Events books. He's up to book eleven, which means we need to quickly lay hands on books 12 and 13. He likes puns and wordplay and is laughing out loud while he reads. It does an aged bookworm's heart good to see the old ways still being practiced by the young. (My kindergarten-age daughter reads a little, but mostly she demands stories be read to her. And since she likes fairy tales, I'm happy to oblige!)
Geek news: Bill Gates recently said DRM is too complicated. Just buy the CD and rip it. Bravo, Bill! I'd love to hear more like this from Mr. Gates in the coming months. Also, Linus Torvalds spoke out against making the Linux kernel not support binary-only drivers. He called such a move stupid and pointed out that it was motivated more by political than by technical considerations. You go, Linus!
Speaking of technical considerations, has anyone played with a Wii yet? My son thinks the motion sensitive controller sounds like an awesome idea. I'm a bit more skeptical. Without force feedback it seems more like an exercise in tai chi (not the worst thing that could happen to videogame junkies).
Well, Christmas is rapidly approaching. The season of gift-buying and giving, of wrapping paper and ribbons and cards and other paper products that will end up in the trash (or, in the case of many cards, in storage for a year). Of greed and gluttony and envy and more than a bit of pride and sloth. A season, in short, in need of redemption. Oh, for a savior to come into the world and deliver us from our worst selves into our better selves!
Monday, December 11, 2006
Quickly Through the Sticky Wicket
* Walking down the sidewalk to my office this evening I heard music blaring from The Hole: Quiet Riot's "Bang Your Head." It's nice to know the children are still listening to classical music.
* Finally saw V for Vendetta. I liked it, even if Alan Moore didn't (and I read the stuff on the Internet, and I understand why Mr. Moore didn't like it, and I agree with his points, but I still managed to enjoy it!)
* My ex-wife gave me all of our Harry Potter books and videos this weekend. My liberal influence is wearing off, apparently... (but she assured me she wasn't passing any judgment on me if I choose to keep the stuff!)
* I've been trying to convince the science professor here that we all evolved from a common ancestor via natural selection. He's not buying it, but it's great fun!
* Life is weird. Just when you think that, maybe, you know, just maybe you're close to something called Normal, a change of perception and BAM! you're sitting on the edge again, spitting into the Abyss and waiting for something other than the echo of your own bloody heartbeat...
* Finally saw V for Vendetta. I liked it, even if Alan Moore didn't (and I read the stuff on the Internet, and I understand why Mr. Moore didn't like it, and I agree with his points, but I still managed to enjoy it!)
* My ex-wife gave me all of our Harry Potter books and videos this weekend. My liberal influence is wearing off, apparently... (but she assured me she wasn't passing any judgment on me if I choose to keep the stuff!)
* I've been trying to convince the science professor here that we all evolved from a common ancestor via natural selection. He's not buying it, but it's great fun!
* Life is weird. Just when you think that, maybe, you know, just maybe you're close to something called Normal, a change of perception and BAM! you're sitting on the edge again, spitting into the Abyss and waiting for something other than the echo of your own bloody heartbeat...
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Gum-on-My-Shoe During a Dark and Stormy Night
The Laffing Dragon was more or less empty. A couple of regulars bickering about politics and sports. One of Larry's girls working a couple of school boys who had wandered into the armpit of town. A local artist sitting at a corner table with his face in a plate of Al-Kazak's teriyaki potatoes (whether he was passed out again or just practicing his "performance art" was beyond my ken.) I was thirsty, like a dying lizard on the not-so-dark side of the moon, and so I made my way to where that rat-faced ex-mage Kaz poured the best Irish coffee this side of Amber. That's when I first saw her.
She was sitting at the bar, slightly slouched over an untouched drink, an angel meditating on the holy grail. As I slipped onto the stool next to her, I smelled the cheap vodka in the glass and more than a hint of ammonia (whether from the angel or the bar, I couldn't tell, and at that point, I didn't really care.) I noticed that she was picking her teeth with a straightened-out paper clip. She was a looker alright, from her shoulder-length greasy pink hair (with that wild, beckoning stripe of purple over her left ear) to her mud-caked Army boots (artificial dirt on designer-label ankle huggers, I have an eye for exotic footwear.) The smeared theatrical blood that framed her own deep brown cave-like eyes complimented the red fur-lined tank top she wore over her slight torso. Her spindly legs were covered in cream-colored thermal underwear, at least two sizes too big, and artfully ripped at the knees and calves. Over these she wore a red and white checkered tablecloth (Pizza Hut, unless I was mistaken), tied at her waist with a severed length of orange extension cord (the grounded plug hanging tantalizingly over her left knee.) Oh yeah, she was all that and more. Everything I had never realized I was looking for in a woman. The instant she turned toward me and our eyes met, I knew my heart was destined to be broken, even before she opened her mouth and began screaming.
She was sitting at the bar, slightly slouched over an untouched drink, an angel meditating on the holy grail. As I slipped onto the stool next to her, I smelled the cheap vodka in the glass and more than a hint of ammonia (whether from the angel or the bar, I couldn't tell, and at that point, I didn't really care.) I noticed that she was picking her teeth with a straightened-out paper clip. She was a looker alright, from her shoulder-length greasy pink hair (with that wild, beckoning stripe of purple over her left ear) to her mud-caked Army boots (artificial dirt on designer-label ankle huggers, I have an eye for exotic footwear.) The smeared theatrical blood that framed her own deep brown cave-like eyes complimented the red fur-lined tank top she wore over her slight torso. Her spindly legs were covered in cream-colored thermal underwear, at least two sizes too big, and artfully ripped at the knees and calves. Over these she wore a red and white checkered tablecloth (Pizza Hut, unless I was mistaken), tied at her waist with a severed length of orange extension cord (the grounded plug hanging tantalizingly over her left knee.) Oh yeah, she was all that and more. Everything I had never realized I was looking for in a woman. The instant she turned toward me and our eyes met, I knew my heart was destined to be broken, even before she opened her mouth and began screaming.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Snow Day, the Conclusion
Long story made only slightly shorter: power came back Saturday night. Saturday morning the apartment was freezing (slacker did not want to crawl out from under all of his covers...) Put the car off the road in the driveway to my apartment. It took three of us to get it back on the pavement and I dug a nice trench with my passenger side wheels (Winter, Professor Scott Jones was one of the three... fun!)
Despite the ice and the freezing and the off-road adventures, I managed to spend a good weekend with the kids (who slept at their mom's Friday, so they didn't freeze!)
Despite the ice and the freezing and the off-road adventures, I managed to spend a good weekend with the kids (who slept at their mom's Friday, so they didn't freeze!)
Friday, December 01, 2006
Snow Day
Thick ice, lots of snow and wind, and I've been without power since sometime in the middle of the night. Classes were canceled, the offices closed, so of course after a hike to Hardee's for breakfast, I chiseled out my car and drove in to read blogs :-)
Actually, my boss called this morning and said that we'd be working this afternoon (grading papers and getting ready for class next week), so my play time is limited.
Still, I love this weather. I had to use a hammer on my car to break the ice and pry open a door. Driving is treacherous, and if I don't get power soon I'll be less than happy, but right now I'm enjoying being a manic disciple of Jack Frost. Enjoy your weekends!
Actually, my boss called this morning and said that we'd be working this afternoon (grading papers and getting ready for class next week), so my play time is limited.
Still, I love this weather. I had to use a hammer on my car to break the ice and pry open a door. Driving is treacherous, and if I don't get power soon I'll be less than happy, but right now I'm enjoying being a manic disciple of Jack Frost. Enjoy your weekends!
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Mathematicians in Love
Well, Rucker's latest is finally in my sweaty little hands, so all other reading is being dropped until I get through Mathematicians in Love. That means a couple of books on Richard Dawkins, the Collins book (sorry, Lisa, but I haven't read it yet), The Left Hand of God (about liberal religion and politics), and The Greatest White Trash Love Story Ever Told will all have to wait (as well as any undead-related reading that I may, or may not, be starting this holiday season!)
Wishing I Was an Elf
For reason #23 why I wish I was an elf see the current Dungeon Crawl, Inc. comic strip (link in the right column!) Castor's closing line summarizes it well: "Damn elf mojo! How are regular guys suppose to score with you around?"
Apologies to those who are offended by the strip or the language of the quote or even the vaguely sexist implications of it, but really, the point is that chicks dig elves, I mean, "women people" not "chicks," oh, heck, humans dig elves. Is that any better?
Apologies to those who are offended by the strip or the language of the quote or even the vaguely sexist implications of it, but really, the point is that chicks dig elves, I mean, "women people" not "chicks," oh, heck, humans dig elves. Is that any better?
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Chance or the Dance?
[Note: this is a rather lengthy post about evolution, a topic that many of you who read this blog semi-regularly could care less about. It's ok, I don't expect it to be read. This is just a convenient place to store my thoughts as I work through the issue. If you want to chime in, great. If not, that's fine as well.]
Is this world and all its myriad of living creatures the result of random chance or is it all orchestrated by a Choreographer? Science tells us the answer is neither.
Contrary to popular misconception, evolution does not say that we evolved by chance. What it does say is that we evolved by natural selection, which isn't particularly random at all. There is survival of the fittest because the fittest survive. Fittest for what? For surviving in a particular niche in a particular time and place with particular neighbors (predators and prey, as well as vegetation, water, sunlight, etc.) And not just surviving, but reproducing before dying. As Richard Dawkins points out in River Out of Eden, every single living organism today is a direct descendant from a chain of ancestors who all mated at least once before they died. Those who survived long enough to reproduce propagated their genetic material. Those who didn't, well obviously, they didn't.
So, we have a process where some organism are able to reproduce and some aren't. Eventually the traits of the members of a species that contribute to survival/reproduction are dominant in the gene pool, and other traits are not. A change to the environment (migration to find new food, natural disaster, etc.) begins to favor new traits. Over a period of time, a new set of traits become favored. Given enough time, enough changes, speciation occurs: the changes become so pronounced that a group of the same species that migrated to look for food elsewhere can no longer interbreed with the (relatively stable, genetically speaking) descendants of those who remained in the original area.
Randomness does factor in during the infamous "good mutation" story. In this tale, an organism might have a random genetic mutation (don't ask me how, probably cosmic radiation, like the Fantastic Four) that creates a trait that gives it a greater chance for survival/reproduction, thus introducing new genetic material into the gene pool. Note, by our definition this new material will be favored by natural selection.
The problem with this tale is that almost all known mutations are harmful, many are fatal, and several lead to an inability to reproduce. The problem with this problem is that we've only been looking at mutations at a genetic level for less than 100 years! Even if you bought 100 lottery tickets, you still wouldn't have very good odds of winning the Big Jackpot. But if you, J. Random Player wouldn't have good odds of winning, the odds are pretty good that someone will win.
Given that there is a wealth of information in the DNA of any critter, evolution by natural selection says that those critters who have traits that are more conducive to surviving and reproducing will survive and reproduce more than those who don't. But this is all relative to the complexities of the environment, which may be more or less stable, but is also, more or less, always changing as well. At times, dice are tossed into the mix both by large scale environmental changes and mutations (of the latter, most are harmful, likely resulting in the immediate death of the organism, but some very few are X-Men-like).
This is why artificial life became such a big deal in the 1990s. A-life studies computer-generated "life." The archetypical example would be the cellular automata of John Conway's Game of Life. This creates a very simple environment with very simple rules (basically a spreadsheet of square cells with rules about when a cell is shaded in or not), but it results in a large variety of emergent behavior. "Species" of a sort emerge from combinations of shaded cells and rules, as does reproduction and symbiosis. This in no way approaches the complexity of even the simplest biological evolutionary scenario, but it is a sort of "proof of concept" that this kind of theory does play out in some scenarios (the admittedly simplistic digital ecologies of artificial life).
Are there problems with the theory of evolution? Of course. The details are not worked out. By way of comparison we still don't know some very specific things about quantum physics, and even gravity still has some mysteries for us. Mysteries do not mark the end of science, but its beginning. Science is the quest to explain the mysteries of the world around us in terms of natural explanations. Natural selection is a natural explanation. Divine intervention is not.
All of which is good and fine and dandy, but... what if there is a Divine Intervener who is out there? If there is, would we still not be able to put together the best naturalistic theories we can, and continue to refine them to deal with new evidence, and, essentially, be wrong? If there is, for instance, a Creator, then any theory of origins that denies such a creator would be wrong no matter how much explanatory power it had. The Ptolemaic system of astronomy had a certain explanatory power as well. It turned out to be wrong. Could all naturalistic theories of ultimate origins and destiny also turn out to be wrong? If so, how would a system that by design and definition can only see naturalistic explanations ever come to know this?
Perhaps the theistic evolutionists have the best position, affirming as they do aspects of both theistic religion and evolutionary science. But by affirming both, they also deny aspects of both, aspects that both scientists and the faithful are uncomfortable in denying. That is one thing naturalistic evolutionists and creationists often agree on: theistic evolutionists are wrong. Far from being a workable compromise, theistic evolution represents a third position altogether.
Where does this leave us? Well, it leaves me believing the bible and believing modern science (or, more dangerously, it leaves me believing that I believe the bible and believing that I believe modern science. But, and here is the scary part, maybe I don't believe one or the other or maybe neither, maybe I only believe that I believe them. How would one know the difference?) Anyway, none of this is intended as an assault on faith (I still believe in the triune God and salvation through the incarnate Son, at least I believe that I believe that :-), nor does is it a dismissal of the critiques of evolution by intelligent design proponents (I am open to the possibility that evolution could be wrong).
It's only in the last year or so that I've begun to think very seriously about evolution at all. I am not a scientist, but I'd like to understand why so many believe evolution is as true a truth as we know and why others reject it as being either a mistaken theory or a lie straight from the pit. Supposedly it's about the evidence and facts, about what we sometimes call "science," but there's also a lot of talk about theory and the nature of science. Science is rarely just about the facts, but is about explaining those facts (and often this means going to great efforts to collect facts which have never been collected). Is evolutionary biology a proper science? Who gets to decide and how are those decisions made? If it's not, why do so many say it is? If it is, why do so many say it's not?
Is this world and all its myriad of living creatures the result of random chance or is it all orchestrated by a Choreographer? Science tells us the answer is neither.
Contrary to popular misconception, evolution does not say that we evolved by chance. What it does say is that we evolved by natural selection, which isn't particularly random at all. There is survival of the fittest because the fittest survive. Fittest for what? For surviving in a particular niche in a particular time and place with particular neighbors (predators and prey, as well as vegetation, water, sunlight, etc.) And not just surviving, but reproducing before dying. As Richard Dawkins points out in River Out of Eden, every single living organism today is a direct descendant from a chain of ancestors who all mated at least once before they died. Those who survived long enough to reproduce propagated their genetic material. Those who didn't, well obviously, they didn't.
So, we have a process where some organism are able to reproduce and some aren't. Eventually the traits of the members of a species that contribute to survival/reproduction are dominant in the gene pool, and other traits are not. A change to the environment (migration to find new food, natural disaster, etc.) begins to favor new traits. Over a period of time, a new set of traits become favored. Given enough time, enough changes, speciation occurs: the changes become so pronounced that a group of the same species that migrated to look for food elsewhere can no longer interbreed with the (relatively stable, genetically speaking) descendants of those who remained in the original area.
Randomness does factor in during the infamous "good mutation" story. In this tale, an organism might have a random genetic mutation (don't ask me how, probably cosmic radiation, like the Fantastic Four) that creates a trait that gives it a greater chance for survival/reproduction, thus introducing new genetic material into the gene pool. Note, by our definition this new material will be favored by natural selection.
The problem with this tale is that almost all known mutations are harmful, many are fatal, and several lead to an inability to reproduce. The problem with this problem is that we've only been looking at mutations at a genetic level for less than 100 years! Even if you bought 100 lottery tickets, you still wouldn't have very good odds of winning the Big Jackpot. But if you, J. Random Player wouldn't have good odds of winning, the odds are pretty good that someone will win.
Given that there is a wealth of information in the DNA of any critter, evolution by natural selection says that those critters who have traits that are more conducive to surviving and reproducing will survive and reproduce more than those who don't. But this is all relative to the complexities of the environment, which may be more or less stable, but is also, more or less, always changing as well. At times, dice are tossed into the mix both by large scale environmental changes and mutations (of the latter, most are harmful, likely resulting in the immediate death of the organism, but some very few are X-Men-like).
This is why artificial life became such a big deal in the 1990s. A-life studies computer-generated "life." The archetypical example would be the cellular automata of John Conway's Game of Life. This creates a very simple environment with very simple rules (basically a spreadsheet of square cells with rules about when a cell is shaded in or not), but it results in a large variety of emergent behavior. "Species" of a sort emerge from combinations of shaded cells and rules, as does reproduction and symbiosis. This in no way approaches the complexity of even the simplest biological evolutionary scenario, but it is a sort of "proof of concept" that this kind of theory does play out in some scenarios (the admittedly simplistic digital ecologies of artificial life).
Are there problems with the theory of evolution? Of course. The details are not worked out. By way of comparison we still don't know some very specific things about quantum physics, and even gravity still has some mysteries for us. Mysteries do not mark the end of science, but its beginning. Science is the quest to explain the mysteries of the world around us in terms of natural explanations. Natural selection is a natural explanation. Divine intervention is not.
All of which is good and fine and dandy, but... what if there is a Divine Intervener who is out there? If there is, would we still not be able to put together the best naturalistic theories we can, and continue to refine them to deal with new evidence, and, essentially, be wrong? If there is, for instance, a Creator, then any theory of origins that denies such a creator would be wrong no matter how much explanatory power it had. The Ptolemaic system of astronomy had a certain explanatory power as well. It turned out to be wrong. Could all naturalistic theories of ultimate origins and destiny also turn out to be wrong? If so, how would a system that by design and definition can only see naturalistic explanations ever come to know this?
Perhaps the theistic evolutionists have the best position, affirming as they do aspects of both theistic religion and evolutionary science. But by affirming both, they also deny aspects of both, aspects that both scientists and the faithful are uncomfortable in denying. That is one thing naturalistic evolutionists and creationists often agree on: theistic evolutionists are wrong. Far from being a workable compromise, theistic evolution represents a third position altogether.
Where does this leave us? Well, it leaves me believing the bible and believing modern science (or, more dangerously, it leaves me believing that I believe the bible and believing that I believe modern science. But, and here is the scary part, maybe I don't believe one or the other or maybe neither, maybe I only believe that I believe them. How would one know the difference?) Anyway, none of this is intended as an assault on faith (I still believe in the triune God and salvation through the incarnate Son, at least I believe that I believe that :-), nor does is it a dismissal of the critiques of evolution by intelligent design proponents (I am open to the possibility that evolution could be wrong).
It's only in the last year or so that I've begun to think very seriously about evolution at all. I am not a scientist, but I'd like to understand why so many believe evolution is as true a truth as we know and why others reject it as being either a mistaken theory or a lie straight from the pit. Supposedly it's about the evidence and facts, about what we sometimes call "science," but there's also a lot of talk about theory and the nature of science. Science is rarely just about the facts, but is about explaining those facts (and often this means going to great efforts to collect facts which have never been collected). Is evolutionary biology a proper science? Who gets to decide and how are those decisions made? If it's not, why do so many say it is? If it is, why do so many say it's not?
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
No Spin on Video Games?
Ah, Morgan, your man O'Reilly here is takin' his shots close to home now, innit he? 'Course, I ain't sayin' he's all wrong now, not at all, at all. I'm just thinkin' things must be slow down in the old No Spin Zone. Oh well, they say it's a free country, so I guess it's alright then ;-)
Zombies for Scholars
Two new books for those who like to reflect on what the undead have to tell us:
- The Gospel of the Living Dead: George Romero's Visions of Hell on Earth (Baylor University Press)
- The Undead and Philosophy: Chicken Soup for the Soulless (Open Court Books)
Is It Plagiarism When You Steal From Yourself?
A friend of mine (who does not read this blog) has been asking me to write a more detailed email than "hi, how are you?" The exact request was for a novella. So I obliged by writing several screens of random junk. Being an exceptionally lazy slacker, I decided to lift a few paragraphs from my epic epistle on nothing and turn them into a post. So...
I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. My high school dreams of starving writer, Russian anarchist, or computer programmer are all pretty much beyond me now. Ditto on the elementary school kid that wanted to be a doctor. Actually, being a librarian who thinks too much isn't that bad. Eventually I may get off my lazy butt and do more work in philosophy, but until then... life's not so bad.
I drink too much. Caffeine, of course. In fact I usually tell people I run on caffeine and good intentions [editor's note: yeah, I cribbed this line from this blog. I'm lazy I tell ya!] It's more or less true (I also ingest disgusting quantities of sugar, fat and sodium). Oh, and the inside of my nose is sore.
I've been wondering about why certain things become important to us and other things don't. Why do some people like hockey and others don't? Why do I like vampires but not slashers? Why do I like mad scientists but not mad painters? Why is NASCAR an obsession for some, but others think it the most boring thing in all the world? Why do some things click with some of us, and other things with others? People are different. Sure, but why? What causes the differences? If I had a life maybe I'd stop wondering about these kinds of things.
Tangerine were the moths' heads, as fluttering and stuttering they sought the knights' fires, victims of uncertain meds, insect brains filled with lost desires.
White Christmas. Some kind of mythological event. Do we actually think the holidays will be less stressful with eight inches of white powder covering the land? Arctic lands look dead. Maybe that's the peace that White Christmas brings: the peace of the cemetery. Morbid? Not really, just wondering why we associate snow with the birthday of a kid in the Middle East.
Which is scarier: the thought that you may be crazy or the thought that you may be sane? For myself, I usually say I'm more afraid of being crazy. Sometimes I look at my thoughts, though, and hope that I'm not sane (because insanity would explain a whole lot...) The moon is waxing. It should be full around December 5. I guess that's what I'm thankful for. Full moons and internal combustion engines. Oh, and the letter "F" And, of course, my kids, my friends, my family, my acquaintances, the founders of our country, my ancestors, all modern technology (especially indoor plumbing), black and white photography, and Marie Osmond.
I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. My high school dreams of starving writer, Russian anarchist, or computer programmer are all pretty much beyond me now. Ditto on the elementary school kid that wanted to be a doctor. Actually, being a librarian who thinks too much isn't that bad. Eventually I may get off my lazy butt and do more work in philosophy, but until then... life's not so bad.
I drink too much. Caffeine, of course. In fact I usually tell people I run on caffeine and good intentions [editor's note: yeah, I cribbed this line from this blog. I'm lazy I tell ya!] It's more or less true (I also ingest disgusting quantities of sugar, fat and sodium). Oh, and the inside of my nose is sore.
I've been wondering about why certain things become important to us and other things don't. Why do some people like hockey and others don't? Why do I like vampires but not slashers? Why do I like mad scientists but not mad painters? Why is NASCAR an obsession for some, but others think it the most boring thing in all the world? Why do some things click with some of us, and other things with others? People are different. Sure, but why? What causes the differences? If I had a life maybe I'd stop wondering about these kinds of things.
Tangerine were the moths' heads, as fluttering and stuttering they sought the knights' fires, victims of uncertain meds, insect brains filled with lost desires.
White Christmas. Some kind of mythological event. Do we actually think the holidays will be less stressful with eight inches of white powder covering the land? Arctic lands look dead. Maybe that's the peace that White Christmas brings: the peace of the cemetery. Morbid? Not really, just wondering why we associate snow with the birthday of a kid in the Middle East.
Which is scarier: the thought that you may be crazy or the thought that you may be sane? For myself, I usually say I'm more afraid of being crazy. Sometimes I look at my thoughts, though, and hope that I'm not sane (because insanity would explain a whole lot...) The moon is waxing. It should be full around December 5. I guess that's what I'm thankful for. Full moons and internal combustion engines. Oh, and the letter "F" And, of course, my kids, my friends, my family, my acquaintances, the founders of our country, my ancestors, all modern technology (especially indoor plumbing), black and white photography, and Marie Osmond.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Busyness... we all have intimate knowledge of it
When is it busyness, and when is it being active and engaged? When is it finding peace and balance, and when is it sloth and idleness?
I saw a bumper sticker on the Internet: Don't believe everything you think. Really good advice for me, but as always YMMV.
I also saw a bumper sticker on a car on campus: So Mote It Be. Since that phrase comes from Freemasonry and is currently in use in dozens of Wiccan and other neo-pagan rituals, I find it interesting (to say the least...)
Finally, I was reminded today that in my youth I never expected to live past 25 (and apparently I'm not the only one with that delusion). Now I hope to see a century (but won't be too stressed if I don't :-) It's funny how time changes your perspective, but leaves the essential you unchanged. The ex-Infidel brought this to mind with his rechristening: Old Young Guy. I've often said that I don't feel any different than when I was thirteen. How does wisdom and experience factor into essence and consciousness? What changes, if anything, as we age?
I saw a bumper sticker on the Internet: Don't believe everything you think. Really good advice for me, but as always YMMV.
I also saw a bumper sticker on a car on campus: So Mote It Be. Since that phrase comes from Freemasonry and is currently in use in dozens of Wiccan and other neo-pagan rituals, I find it interesting (to say the least...)
Finally, I was reminded today that in my youth I never expected to live past 25 (and apparently I'm not the only one with that delusion). Now I hope to see a century (but won't be too stressed if I don't :-) It's funny how time changes your perspective, but leaves the essential you unchanged. The ex-Infidel brought this to mind with his rechristening: Old Young Guy. I've often said that I don't feel any different than when I was thirteen. How does wisdom and experience factor into essence and consciousness? What changes, if anything, as we age?
Thursday, November 09, 2006
I Don't Know About Where You're At...
...but it smells too good outside to be trapped in an office today! The temperature is perfect, the breeze is perfect, and the leafy smell of fall is perfect.
Births and (Un)death
Today my daughter turns six and my biological father turns... hmmm, I have no idea. It's a killer gorgeous autumn day. I'm armed with a glass of iced earl grey and woke up early enough to begin rebuilding my desktop computer (hopefully I'll leave it be for a while and just use the thing instead of playing tinker gnome.) Thor's day, Arthur Dent might not have ever gotten them, but I find them marvelous enough!
Currently pretending to read: Habits of the High-tech Heart by Quentin Schultze (he was on campus last week, a really nice and really smart guy) and Luck, Logic, and White Lies by Jorg Bewersdorff (I originally thought this might be a biography about me, but it's really a book on the mathematics of games, which is probably the more interesting of the possibilities.)
Kender necromancers... can you imagine the kinds of items they could pull out of their pockets? Speaking of necromancers, last month Dragon magazine ran a story on the cult of Vecna. Is it worrisome when a neutral evil cult begins to make sense? Necromancy is the biotech of a fantasy world, and like our biotech, raises the question "just because we can do something, does that mean we should?"
Currently pretending to read: Habits of the High-tech Heart by Quentin Schultze (he was on campus last week, a really nice and really smart guy) and Luck, Logic, and White Lies by Jorg Bewersdorff (I originally thought this might be a biography about me, but it's really a book on the mathematics of games, which is probably the more interesting of the possibilities.)
Kender necromancers... can you imagine the kinds of items they could pull out of their pockets? Speaking of necromancers, last month Dragon magazine ran a story on the cult of Vecna. Is it worrisome when a neutral evil cult begins to make sense? Necromancy is the biotech of a fantasy world, and like our biotech, raises the question "just because we can do something, does that mean we should?"
Friday, November 03, 2006
Choices
I suspect some of you are like me: there's more than one thing you want to be when you grow up, but you only have this one life. If you'd list the things you'd like to be and do, and then prioritize them, where on that list does your current set of life choices fall? What's preventing you from following the first choice on the list? The past is the past, and we all get to enjoy the good times and learn from the bad ones... but today is the present, the doorway to the future. Choose today, not based on where you've been or where you feel you have to be, but start planning for where you want to be. It's as easy (and as hard) as that (for the record, I'm a lazy coward, so I will not be taking my own advice; but for the rest of you, live boldly!)
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