May 31, 2005
Capital C
if i had to describe myself in a single word today, it would be exhausted. life in general seems to be coming right at me at travelling around 186,282.4 miles per second. work continues to build up adding to the stress and i remain as focused as a beam of light shot through a prism, and not nearly as pretty to look at. days like this i wish there were a plug i could uncork that would just relieve all the pressure, even if just for a few hours.
one thing i really miss is sitting at the arena watching the sharks play hockey, that was always a nice outlet. playing was also a good distraction. neither are happening right now. feh!
May 28, 2005
Word Association, Week 121
far from forgotten, below is this weeks word association.
- Crowd:: ed House
- Hamburger:: Fudruckers
- Choker:: chain
- Lights:: camera, action
- Tinsel:: town
- Testament:: old
- Best part of the day:: is the part i don't remember
- Election:: presidential
- Clarinet:: woodwind
- Cake or death:: how about a little of each?
May 27, 2005
USA 37
i don't collect stamps, but i am glad to see the postal service honor richard feynman and three other great scientists.
of course i'm late finding out about this, apparently they were available starting may 5th.
for those not familiar with feynman, here are some links: feynman online, what wikipedia has to say, and here are a bunch more links from amasci.
Brilliant!
with google moving into portal space with IG, they are putting pressure on yahoo to be more innovative and the red and purple clad yahooligans are rising to the challenge with mindset. a slider allows you to bias your results towards commercial and non-commercial results, or as they call it "shopping" and "research". to quote those python-esque characters in the beer commercials... brilliant!
Big Brother is watching
last week or so i wrote show me your papers which simply expressed my concern over national id cards and the real value of that post was reference to bruce schneier's post on the subject.
today reading jwz's blog, i find two more things that make me feel that the big brother era is rushing towards us quickly.
In Colorado's Most Mesa Ridge HS, the yearbook has a black mark under one student's picture covering up a phrase that caught the attention of the secret service. [see the sfgate article]. the phrase? "most likely to assassinate president bush". ok, i'll admit it has questionable taste and is less than funny given the state of world affairs (partly due to mr. bush, but that is another matter), but how did this get past the people that produced the yearbook? surely someone might have asked if the caption was appropriate. in my kids school, just saying you are going to kill someone will get you sent to the office, be it in jest or otherwise. and who reported this to the secret service?
wearing a mask in public is illegal??? i'm going to link to jamie's post on this one. in a nutshell a virginia man was wearing a grinch mask and was arrested because wearing a mask in public is illegal. there are apparently exceptions. i do see some rational behind the law, but in light of our civil liberties eroding it just bugs me.
Smith said wearing a mask or hood in public is a misdemeanor under [Virginia] state law, punishable by a fine of up to $500 or up to a year in jail, or both. Children up to 16 years old can wear masks. Traditional Halloween masks, safety gear used in occupations, theatrical productions, civil defense or protection from bad weather also are legal.well, this keeps the nike goalies safe, i think. so can guy that is a clown for a kid's party safe to wear his makeup to/from the party? could he have been wearing it if it was raining? bad weather, that is vague... maybe 70 degrees with the sun shining is considered bad for this fellow. gets sun-burned easily. heh. and a 16 year old can wear a mask, but a 17 year old can't. wtf is with that?
i remain optimistic that they will continue to enforce the law reasonably, but my fear that crap on the books like this can and will be abused continues to rear its ugly head and will do so from time to time.
Everyone Lies
everyone. don't think you do? think again.
Everybody lies ... every day, every hour, awake, asleep, in his dreams, in his joy, in his mourning. If he keeps his tongue still his hands, his feet, his eyes, his attitude will convey deception. -- Mark Twain
i recently read Natural-Born Liars in Scientific American Mind (June 2005). And while much of the article was either citing less than interesting research, a number of interesting points came to the surface.
- everyone lies, men and women equally.
- not just humans, even plants and animals
- we tend to remember the lies of others more than those of our own
- we often lie to ourselves... convincingly
May 20, 2005
A Pair of Candles
two years ago today, i started this blog.
i didn't think it would last this long and yet, at the same time, i never thought it would end. for today, i leave you with this offhand aphorism:
In physics the truth is rarely perfectly clear, and that is certainly universally the case in human affairs. Hence, what is not surrounded by uncertainty cannot be the truth. -- Richard P. Feynman
May 19, 2005
Six Feet Away
oy! some random ramblings tonight as i wait to watch six feet under...
so i'm starting to watch the fourth season of six feet under in anticipation of catching the final season when it debuts later in june. so far, season four has started off better than season three, but there are still plenty of episodes left. we'll see. still a promising series with room to finish off very interesting. i hope to catch an episode or two tonight.
said to me the other night at the dinner table:
k: dad, bxxxx is touching axxxx in her genital area
what?!?
b: wtf?
a: no! i said general area, not genital.
whew.
i listened to the saturday night fever soundtrack today. that my friends is a mighty fine soundtrack. next i'll have to relisten to the streets of fire soundtrack. speaking of music, i have nearly 9,200 songs in my iPod and 26.6 days of continuous listening pleasure.
ob starwars:
now this is what i call a light sabre (nsfw), link found via zawodny's linkblog. perhaps it should be called the princess playa edition?!?
i'm reading yet another feynman book, this one has a touching intro written by his daughter michelle. i wish i could find the time to just sit down and read this thing from cover to cover. no such time. :-( there are several others i am eyeing including the expensive one with his artwork in it.
i haven't seen a good movie in a while. saw white noise on tuesday. disappointing. maybe i was just expecting too much. i do that sometimes. ok, i do that a lot. ok, ok, a whole hell of a lot.
and now i can end this post.
May 16, 2005
Word Association, Week 119
wow! it has been a long time since i have done word association. why now? why not!?!
- Grandma:: gone
- Pet:: rock
- Desolate:: area
- Backspace:: delete
- Common ground:: agreement
- Storm:: clouds
- Dark:: quiet
- Water bottle:: hockey
- Training:: grounds
- Dot coms:: risk
May 14, 2005
Words to use
i quipped today that narcissis was my new word to use. i had to chuckle again when i came across an article entitled mixing oil and water and like anything else i read it wondering how or if it applied to my life and recent times in particular. it's a good article, read it.
anyway, it makes me feel a bit like a hypochondriac now wondering just what PD or PDs i am. so many to choose from. sure, it's not a PD until it effects your life, but... but.... yeah, so what PD am i? lol once upon a time i took one of those silly on-line personality disorder tests (results) and it showed that i was avoidant (guilty!) and to a lesser but still high degree paranoid, schizotypal, histrionic, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive. how it pegged me as histrionic i'll never know (maybe because of this blog *snicker*) and i really don't think of myself as particularly dependent.
so for grins, i took the test again today. ironically, now i'm pegged as schizoid.
| Disorder | Rating |
| Paranoid: | High |
| Schizoid: | Very High |
| Schizotypal: | High |
| Antisocial: | Low |
| Borderline: | Moderate |
| Histrionic: | Low |
| Narcissistic: | Moderate |
| Avoidant: | High |
| Dependent: | High |
| Obsessive-Compulsive: | High |
-- Personality Disorder Test -- -- Personality Disorder Information -- | |
i will not be paranoid about this. i will not be paranoid about this. i will not be paranoid about this. i will not be paranoid...
Jonesing
i've mentioned before how i'd like to upgrade my 40gb 3g iPod to a new 60gb 4g iPodphoto, but that is hardly the end of my jonesing. with my palm vx on the fritz and my nokia 6620 not quite as nice as i'd like, enter the treo 650 from palmone. when i flew to san diego earlier this year, the fellow next to me had the treo 600 so i got a good up-close look at the device. the only shortfall of this device is its lack of wi-fi which is supposedly going to be addressed, so i'm likely to resist the impulse to get one. the price tag also makes that a bit easier.
the more great photographs i see, the more i want to get a quality digital slr camera and see what i can come up with. high on my list are the offerings from canon. ignoring the 1-Ds line because $5000 for a camera is insane unless you are a photograph (or have lots of money to burn), the 20D looks great on the high end and is of course what i would like to get. the camera body itself is a little over $900 and then there are lenses to think about. which means i might have to settle (a word i don't care for much) for a 10D. canon introduced a rebel xt which looks interesting and depending on its price, may be a good compromise. needless to say, in this area i'll need to do some solid research to make sure i get something that will give me the features and quality i want. my coolpix 990 just doesn't cut it anymore.
talking with a co-worker the other day, geocaching popped up and reminded me how i'd like to give that a whirl. but that means i'd need a portable gps. now the treo can probably do that with an add-on (like most palm devices), but i'd probably want to go with a seperate device for this one. that way i wouldn't have to risk breaking my phone. hmmm, that reminds me... protecting something like a treo-650 has to be considered. i have a nice hardcase for my palm vx that doesn't add to the device's bulk, but the treo... hmmmm. anyway, mark me down for a decent handheld gps that would work well for geocaching. and if i had a new iPod, i could listen to all my music as i trapse about and of course need a good camera to take pictures of where i've been. and yeah, i best have my phone with me for emergencies (or to brag about the awesome view).
oh, and there are plenty of other things on the list -- ones (sadly) more practical:
- washer & dryer
-
refrigerator - dishwasher
- hotwater heater
- ...
i'll stop there... i'm depressing myself now...
May 09, 2005
Show Me Your Papers!
President Bush is expected to sign an $82 billion military spending bill soon that will, in part, create electronically readable, federally approved ID cards for Americans. The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the package--which includes the Real ID Act--on Thursday.
news.com
i'm not so opposed to the idea of having a federally approved id cards so much as my concern that it is being promoted under the idea that it will make terrorist activities more difficult to carry out in the u.s. i have one question -- if this was in place as proposed, would it have stopped 9/11, the anthrax scares, or the oaklahoma city bombing? i could be wrong, but i don't think it would. terrorists are getting more sophisticated in their ability to hide and carry out attacks and unless this effort significantly raises the bar and would have clearly stopped past attacks, i think they need to go back to the drawing board.
update: bruce schneier (as usual) says it much better and more complete.
May 06, 2005
Flavor Of Pain
 |
i haven't written any verse in a while, but i felt i needed to write. i need to let my mind breath despite the costs in doing so.
somehow it always finds me |
May 05, 2005
Pivot Questions
over at asmallvictory in honor of bernard pivot's 70th birthday (i didn't know who he was either) it was suggested that people answer the infamous 10-questions typically posed by james lipton on actor's studio.
that sounds amusing enough...
- What is your favorite word?
while it can vary from time to time, if you were to bet on what my answer would be, i would highly recommend you pick either "kvetch" or "mishigas" - What is your least favorite word?
i tend to be more put off by phrases, so picking a single word is tough because they aren't in context, but for the sake of this question i will answer "her". - What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
media -- music, pictures, video, and writing. they all allow for intimate personal expression. - What turns you off?
close-mindedness. to quote aristotle -- "it is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - What is your favorite curse word?
i tend to be traditional and will have to say "fuck". - What sound or noise do you love?
there are voices/accents that i'm particularly fond of, but i'll go with a something non-human and say a slow running stream. - What sound or noise do you hate?
the sounds of frustration and superiority. - What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
the smartass in me says i should answer "i want to drive the zamboni", but criminal law is something i could get into. - What profession would you not like to do?
so many to avoid. food services, public relations, or anything else that requires too much ass kissing and interaction with people. - If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
w00t!
Cinco, Cinco, Cinco
it was idle chatter as we drove down the road. i said to her "so, today is cinco de mayo". "it is?", she responds, "i thought that was like on the 15th or something." it is moments like these that lol becomes quite literal. for my daughter being an extremely bright young lady, the remark was all the more shocking. sure, she elected to take french, but for goodness sake, we live in california!
"what's so funny?", she asks. "ya know a****, what you said is akin to saying that you thought the 4th of july was around the 14th or something". "i don't know spanish", she said justifying the faux pas. "i know", said supportively as possible and without breaking out into laughter again, "but still. i don't know spanish -- cinco. five. de mayo. of may. *sigh*". i snickered inside knowing this would be raised next time she makes fun of her sister for a similar remark.
May 04, 2005
It's Been A While
it has only been a week, but it feels like i haven't written here for much longer! i must admit that there have been plenty of times i have just wanted to write here, but for a number of reasons i've chosen not to. for the better? time will tell. just balancing out those good-feeling / bad-feeling curves that were described to me the other night along with the decrease in some sort of neuro-receptors. it wasn't quite a mind hacks explanation, but i was glad to see some scientific basis that adds some level of corroboration to my feeling that when good things happen i had best brace myself for an equal amount of shit to hit the fan.
on the music front, i have been happy with the new 3 doors down and weezer cds, but i am absolutely thrilled knowing a new foo fighters cd will be out on 6/14. with any luck i will manage to weasle my way into an early release copy.
movies! i've watched far less of them lately. i am beginning to wonder if it makes sence to have the blockbuster-pass or not. it sure makes renting easy, but at just under $25/month is it cost effective? right now, barely; however, many movies i'd have never rented on a pay-per-rental basis so i'm not so sure. here is a quick review since last time...
- Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason -- yawn. i'll say it up front, this rental was not my idea and after watching it... well, now i have a concrete reason for it not being on my watch list. frankly, it wasn't even a very good "chick flick".
- Word Wars -- interesting. this documentary-ish movie followed a handful of guys that play competitive scrabble. yeah, you read that right. they use timeclocks, study for hours every day, and if you are good you can make a few bucks. it is certainly a good movie to watch if you enjoy learning more about the lives of quirky people.
- Spanglish -- disappointing. i don't know what i was expecting out of this movie really, but i was disappointed none the less. sure, it had it's cute moments, but much too slow for my tastes.
- Birth -- abort. ok, that sounds mean. really, i liked the plot of the movie, but damn it was slow. they could have cut the movie in half and you wouldn't have missed a thing. well, except for some time staring at nicole kidman.
- Meet The Fockers -- good sequel. meet the parents was amusing and this is one of the few sequels that doesn't tank. they certainly had the cast to make it work and casting barbara streisand as mrs. focker (a sex therapist) made it all the more appealing. i could only see bette midler doing any better. i mark this one down as a must see.
- Finding Neverland -- excellent. i admit it, i completely expected this movie to suck. i got it for my daughter to watch and figured, hey depp is a good actor, i'll watch it myself before returning it. i am glad i did. i have no idea if they tried to be historically accurate, but it was interesting to see how james barrie turned his experiences with the davies into the play peter pan. i found this to be a good guy-friendly chick flick and would gladly watch it again.
- Closer -- boring. no, make that fucking boring. i could point to a few reasons i shouldn't have rented this film, but my daughter made a good call on finding neverland, i figured maybe she know something i don't about this flick as well. bzzzzzt! long, boring, and five minutes went by each time they changed time frames before i noticed. if i were in the editing room i'd have suggested we cut a lot of scence and perhaps add one with natalie portman and julia roberts in a heated lesbian encounter. if nothing else it would have been more interesting.
in the movie queue are two i have been trying to get for the past week -- suspect zero and darkness. of course, at my current pace, i'll say a little something about them in june.