Dionysus

The Train of Life

2007-09-12T14:55:22Z

A lot of what comes into the ol' inbox can be a waste of time. But thanks, Bob and Mom, for this one, which is what I need to hear right now. I'm posting it here for reference whenever I forget to take life by the reigns and in case the small central Washington town of Lind ever decides take it off their Web site.
____

Some folks ride the train of life
Looking out the rear,
Watching miles of life roll by,
And marking every year.

They sit in sad remembrance,
Of wasted days gone by,
And curse their life for what it was,
And hang their head and cry.

But I don't concern myself with that,
I took a different vent,
I look forward to what life holds,
And not what has been spent.

So strap me to the engine,
As securely as I can be,
I want to be out in the front,
To see what I can see.

I want to feel the winds of change,
Blowing in my face,
I want to see what life unfolds,
As I move from place to place.

I want to see what's coming up,
Not looking at the past,
Life's too short for yesterdays,
It moves along too fast.

So if the ride gets bumpy,
While you are looking back,
Go up front, and you may find,
Your life has jumped the track.

It's all right to remember,
That's part of history,
But up front's where it's happening,
There's so much mystery.

The enjoyment of living,
Is not where we have been,
It's looking ever forward,
To another year and ten.

It's searching all the byways,
Never should you refrain,
For if you want to live your life,
You've gotta drive the train.

< Back and Next >

2006-09-16T00:08:49Z

Okay, here's a nit. Have you ever wondered about those standard software wizard buttons: Back and Next? If you're an editor, you've surely spent hours discussing them with your peers over email and many cups of tea.

Back is a noun, a place, but Next is an adjective, modifying the understood Page or Action. The opposite of Back is Forward, right? I go back and I go forward. I don't go next. And, the opposite of Next is Previous, right?

So why the mismatched choice of Back and Next?

- Maybe it's a layout thing. The balance of two four letter words looks nice (in English at least).

- Maybe usability testing revealed that Back is a more intuitive and natural word than the fairly high-fallutin' word Previous. After all, we're American, not English.

- Or maybe the original programmer who came up with it didn't give much thought to grammar, it slips past the QA team to ship with the product, and as the wizard is born these words Back and Next simply become a natural pairing.

I don't know the answer. A 10 minute web search yielded nothing for me. That's probably about all the time this trivial history is worth, plus the time spent writing this pointless blog entry. But I am still curious.

I wouldn't be surprised if it were the third reason, but I'd place my bets on the second. After all, if it's a choice between grammar rules and making your audience feel more comfortable, I know which one I'd choose.

Whoa, powerful sermon!

2006-09-04T08:35:22Z

Thanks for the reference, Sal.

"The Christian Paradox: How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong", by Bill McKibben.

I especially like this phrase:

It's hard to imagine a con much more audacious than making Christ the front man for a program of tax cuts for the rich or war in Iraq. If some modest part of the 85 percent of us who are Christians woke up to that fact, then the world might change.

It almost makes me want to become a Christian again.

<digress>
But then no, I remember how I feel that the whole thing could easily be a con. The Gospels I can swallow. But Peter and Paul, I dunno, they're too preachy and egocentric. I also remember how modern church leaders label the socially responsible non-Christians as secular humanists. The intention might be to send home the message that it's not enough to do good but you need to believe in Christ as well. But all it does is set Christians apart from a group of truly good intentioned people, demonstrating yet again the divisive tendency that is built into the logic of Christianity. Listening to Pat Robertson on the 700 Club talk of humanism in the 80s, he made it sound like an instrument of Satan, as if it were a bad thing to be concerned about the humanity of the world. And, today's prophecy interpreters seem to feel the same way about almost any kind of peace process. After all, according to Revelation, world peace is a sign of the antichrist. So, who was the smart guy who left pen and parchment with that crazy old coot on Patmos. ;-)
</digress>

But.. anway.. ya. That Bill has got us totally pegged, most of us Americans and our Christian churches. It's a way cool read and not as politically charged as that one quote above might lead you to believe. It's just good "Jesus" teaching (as opposed to Christian).

Book Thingy

2006-09-04T06:54:24Z

Tagged by Inca Runner 6

Do this:
Grab the nearest book.* Open the book to page 123. Find the fifth sentence. Post that text and the following three sentences, along with the stuff below on your blog, along with the instructions.

[*] ‘nearest’ means you can’t rummage around for a ‘cool’ or ‘intellectual’ book. Really, whatever your hand falls on first.
_______

To freeze a sprinter, the shutter must open and close before the image of the runner perceptibly changes position on the camera’s image plane. Therefore, the faster the subject runs, the faster the shutter speed you will need to stop the action and avoid a blurred image.

A second factor affecting the final image is the camera-to-subject distance.

One elevator door was half-open on an empty shaft, from which drifted hissing wind. The door was coated to look like wood, but a dent at kneel level showed it was black metal. While he squatted, fingering the edge of the depression, something clicked: a second elevator door beside him rolled open.

“Hey, good-lookin’!” the blond driver yells, her hair flapping in the wind. “Don’t go! I think I love you!” Laughing, her friends pull her hat off.

Several people put their arms around me and said keep coming back!

Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794), the revolutionary leader, was himself executed in July 1794. This destruction came not from outside the system; it was produced by the system. As in the later Russian Revolution the revolutionaries on their humanist base had only two options–anarchy or repression.

In a large skillet brown meat, half at a time, in hot oil. Drain off fat. In a 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker combine undrained tomatoes, beef broth, onion, jalapeno or serrano peppers, garlic, cornmeal, chili power, brown sugar, oregano, cumin, and black pepper.

Let anyone who will not believe it, go thither and inquire for himself. There was once an ass whose master had made him carry sacks to the mill for many a long year, but whose strength began at last to fail, so that each day as it came, found him less capable of work. Then his master began to think of turning him out, but the ass, guessing that something was in the wind that boded him no good, ran away, taking the road to Bremen; for there he thought he might get an engagement as town musician.

The bus company? They got another one. Line coach Douglas Fowlkes recalled that the media wrote about the losing streak so much that it was always at the forefront of the players’ minds: “When are they going to win?”

There are also V-shaped dividers that are smaller than the frames; these go in front, to allow a deeper decolletage. In 1958, with the sexual revolution only a few years off, some of the customs inherited from the nineteenth century still survived. Despite the fact that most women now wore girdles, there were still corsets being worn — and not simply by a few elderly ladies, since Mademoiselle Etienne;s handbook contains instructions for making children’s corsets.

Roxane: Les roseaux fournissaient le bois pour vos épées…
Cyrano: Et les maïs, les cheveux blonds pour vos poupées!
Roxane: C’était le temps des jeux…
Cyrano: Des mûrons aigrelets…

Darwin's ideas are so much a part of our world view that we take them for granted, so much that we actually read the Origin, it does not seem fresh and iconaclastic, but dreary and derivative.

The androgynous beautiful boy has an androgynous sponsor, the male born Uranian Aphrodite whom Plato identifies with homosexual love. While the Archaic kouros is virgorously masculine, the early and high classic beautiful boy perfectly harmonizes masculine and feminine. With the Hellenistic tilt toward women, prefigured by Euripides, the beautiful boy slides toward the feminine, a symptom of decadence.

Praxiteles registers this shift in his ephebic Hermes (ca. 350 BC), which misaligns the elegance of classic contrapposto.

I tag Towse. Ha!

______

My living room chair is right beside my bookshelf. I couldn't see the books, but the thickest, most colorful, most licentious book came immediately to mind. I couldn't resist. >:->

gregarious gary

2006-06-28T03:47:35Z

what happened to that guy?

Friends say that they enjoy conversations with me because I have an interesting point of view, always providing contra. They indulge me, I think.

Half of the time my contrary point of view is just plain depressing.

Life lesson #23: Know when to stop analyzing everything, grab a beer, and just enjoy the game.

"Go Broncos." --Stan Marsh

a day

2006-06-15T04:10:33Z

i sent the book to translation. i took a break outside with a new friend. the sun was shining. i am happy.

driving from work i noticed a lone leafless tree atop a hill of dry grass. she was beautiful. further on in the opposite direction, i took in the beauty of the hills covered with trees, filled with shadow from the setting sun.

can you tell i'm a visual person? the stimulus was good today. all of it. i am happy.

.

Cosmos, science, myth, and perspective

2006-05-24T03:25:13Z

In the final episode of Cosmos, Carl Sagan summarizes the tale of how we evolved from "star stuff." Unlike other tales of creation, the good doctor puts his scientific tale into perfect perspective, with his final words of the broadcast:

These are some of the things that hydrogen atoms do, given 15 billion years of cosmic evolution. It has the sound of epic myth. But it's simply a description of the evolution of the cosmos as revealed by science in our time.

Note the use of that final qualifier he is not afraid to put upon science: in our time. In other words, in another time, different evidence may prove this evolutionary tale to be hogwash. And that would be okay. He mentions earlier in the program how science is constantly correcting itself (unlike a particular religious leader, also mentioned in the broadcast, who would be happy to correct all things but himself). Dr. Sagan goes on:

And we--we who embody the local eyes and ears and thoughts and feelings of the cosmos--we've begun, at last, to wonder about our origins: star stuff contemplating the stars, organized collections of 10 billion, billion, billion atoms contemplating the evolution of matter, tracing that long path by which it arrived at consciousness here on the planet earth and (perhaps) throughout the cosmos. Our loyalties are to the species and the planet. We speak for earth. Our obligation to survive and flourish is owed not just to ourselves, but also to that cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we spring.

I love this guy; he doesn't seem to care much for organized religion, for good reason, yet he has a deep love for every aspect of the universe. Do you think Jesus would care that he's agnostic? He's clearly the kind of guy that would capture Jesus' heart. I'd have to leave that to the theologians to debate. But I sure wish they wouldn't.

ecto

2005-09-12T03:29:35Z

hmm...

Do you see a pattern?

2005-07-16T06:05:20Z

This might not be in the best of taste, but it sure had me ROTFL.

I went to http://en.wikipedia.org, where they had tomorrow's selected anniversary dates listed.

July 16:

622	Beginning of the Islamic calendar.
1918	Russian Revolution: Bolsheviks executed Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family at Ekaterinburg.
1945	Manhattan Project: "Trinity", the first nuclear test explosion, was detonated near Alamogordo, New Mexico, United States.
1979	Saddam Hussein took over as President of Iraq, succeeding Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr.
1994	The planet Jupiter was hit by fragments of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet

They missed one:

1988	My ex-wife and I were married.

Conditioning

2005-07-15T07:30:19Z

I don't cook. I don't have time. I work too much. For what purpose? I honestly couldn't tell you.

I don't exercise. I don't have time. Yet I live a mile from a train station that could take me to work and give me some exercise. I drive instead. Everywhere.

I don't read. I don't have time. Although I watch TV. And I cannot tell you two days later what I watched. Is it really so interesting to take up 5 hours of each day in my life?

I don't recycle. Yep.. that time thing again. You gotta separate and wash the food off the plastics, ya know. But, I'm supposedly a member of the Green party. That's what it says on paper, at least.

I believe I'm a have, rather than a have-not. Well, sometimes. I live alone--in my two bedroom town home complete with garage. Is there a Consumer party? That seems to be where my real loyalties lie. It seems fairly easy to become a have-not in this gotta-have-now party. So I work even more. Go GNP!

It was so easy to criticize our leaders when I was a have-not. I said, "If I were a have, I would put it to good use and not let things go to pot like these guys do." Really? That's what I said about gaining weight, too.

Yesterday I left my town home to go grab something to eat down at Jack-in-the-Box or Quiznos. I couldn't decide. It was 90 degrees outside and it reminded me of when I was in the Philippines last summer. Man, that was a hot and humid place. I remembered seeing the families together outside in the heat: the father mending the fence made of scrap pieces of scavenged wood, a mother nursing a baby in her arms, and the chicken-chasing kids who raised their heads long enough to smile and wave at me with a loud "Hey, Joe!"

Then I thought about the corrupt Filipino government that keeps that country in such impoverished conditions. I thought about how when leaders do a lousy job they are usually dethroned somehow: civil uprising, economic takeover, direct war, or whatever. It's inevitable that the have, whoever the have might be, becomes the have-not (or be-not). I pondered this. Yes, I pondered this--just before I turned on the air-conditioning in my huge sedan and merged in with the rest of the traffic.

- Cypher of Dimension 12
"Why didn't I take the red pill?"

I'm somewhat rare

2005-07-11T04:27:05Z

80% of my IM buddies are professional contacts. The joys (or pains) of working in the SW industry, I guess.

I say...

2005-04-29T06:02:10Z

something soon.

Shadowed by the canon

2004-08-21T01:27:05Z

In response to the ever-popular John Ch 3 that someone posted to my Harry Met Sally quote:
http://www.deadjournal.com/users/arkadianriver/3125.html?thread=3637#t3637

So to sum it up: Nicodemus, a big shot who worked his way up through the system, approaches this upstart named Jesus, probably trying to get him to say something blasphemous like, "I'm God," or something. Nicodemus starts off by saying, "You must be a teacher of God, because you do all these miraculous things." Jesus ignores the bait by going into this born again and windy spirit metaphor, which is basically, "Dude, if you don't believe God sent me to save you then you're going to die. Face it, I'm the only way. If you don't believe it, then there's something wrong with you, or you must be hiding something from God." Later on, John, a fairly well-known teacher, confirms what Jesus had said by saying that he feels like a best man at Jesus' wedding. It's Jesus' time now. "If y'all don't accept his proposal for marriage, then you can hang up any hope of seeing heaven." Again, "Deny Jesus' birth right to God and you die."

Umm.. That's love? If it's really true, okay, maybe. But if it's not true, then it sounds like a bunch of men playing power politics.

I especially like verse 19 and 20. So, if the light hurts your eyes then it's your fault? The reason you wear sunglasses is because you don't want people to see your eyes? Maybe. And, if so, is it because you think your eyes are evil and you are ashamed of them? That's one way of looking at it (the famous guilt trip way). But, maybe you hide them because others might be offended by them, even though you're fine with them just the way they are. Or, maybe you just like wearing sunglasses. What's the harm in that? I love the logic of these holiest of scriptures. How they try to force this beautiful complex world into a black and white, good and evil little system.

Suppose it were written, "thou shalt not smile." I could see reasons for it. When you smile, it distracts you from doing your work, and not only that, but it's contagious. No smiling allowed. If smiling were immoral, I'm sure you'd see lots of comedy clubs next door to strip clubs and bars on the shady side of town. Kids would be sneaking into Disney movies, which would be rated R or worse, and they'd run away from home to start laughing clubs.

Silly analogy, but my point is: Duh! If you call something evil in your society, then of course people aren't going to want to expose it when they do it, even if they don't think it's evil. They'd be blackballed by all the sheep who are either stiffs who don't like to smile, or who themselves are hiding their smile and are afraid.

Further, if Jesus claims to be the messiah and the only way to eternal life, without any attempt at diplomacy, then, duh, of course he's going to make waves and probably end up dead, since he as one man had less power than the establishment. Yeah, c'mon everyone, let's be more like Jesus, "baa, baa," let's leave all the power in the hands of the rich and be happy that we're poor. We'll get our riches after we're dead. heh. If that's not the best con in the world, I don't know what is.

No, today's monotheistic religions are simply man-made, psychological formulas for control. And, Christianity (a more hellenistic approach to Judaism) is one of the most well-crafted of all.

When controlling the masses, you can't please everyone. No matter what you lay down as law, some will be discontent. And as long as they can identify you as being the one in control, then they can always start an uprising against you. So how can you work around this problem? Well, what you do is write down all the ways that you want your society to behave, you claim that any behavior other than that is wrong. But, it's not wrong according to you, it's wrong according to a God.. the God who created them and can "offer" them eternal life. He's then the one who made the laws, not you. Ooh, nice trick, especially since psychologically, we all have had to face the fear of death at some point, usually as children when we first learn what it is. Simply pacify that fear in people with a promise that they won't have to face death if they believe in God (and honor his law, following the outlined acceptable behaviors, yada, yada). Death might "lose its sting," but its denial gives you the power you need.

But the people might say "I've never seen this God." So what you do is say that a whole bunch of other people did see him and can testify to it. But, of course, you have to kill him off and send him to heaven; otherwise, everyone will be looking for him to ask him questions and try to prove whether he really is God or not. Then you say stuff like, "Blessed is he who believes yet has not seen" so that instead of people feeling like a fool when they are questioned, they feel closer to God. And you say, "Doubt is of the devil." What you are doing is getting them, through this imaginary world of theirs, to govern themselves so you don't have to. And Christianity offers the idea of forgiveness and says, "You can't do anything right because you're born with at least one flaw--original sin of Adam. So, do your best, repent, and press on." It's a "co"-dependent relationship between someone with a low self-esteem and an imaginary enabling personality in their own heads. Give the Christian his weekly fix of Jesus and you can convince him to do anything, as long as you speak the language and remember to promise him God's blessing if he performs well.

It's the perfect scheme that has helped bring western civilization to the place of power that it has enjoyed to this day.

Constantine, worshipper of Apollo, must have known this when he and the leaders of the church canonized those 4 particular gospels, discounting as heresy the other 300 or so that were around at that time, having them all destroyed under threat of a painful death to any who possess them. Perhaps Constantine held the philosophy that a tame civilization for Artemis depends upon the power of her brother Apollo rising above the Dionysian. The dual nature of man, with spirit conquering flesh is not strictly a Judaic concept, but also a Hellenistic one. Constantine perhaps wisely stumbled upon the connection when it was his turn to rule the disparate Christian masses. And ruled we still are.

So what does this all mean? Do I hate civilization? No. But I wish we'd recognize that civilization is for mankind's benefit, not vice-versa. And, am I saying that Christianity was invented by a roman emperor? No. All I'm saying is that the bible is only as good as the men who wrote or selected the books to put in it. The new testament was written by men who lived in a time when all that they held dear, their centuries of Jewish tradition, was in upheaval and in risk of being destroyed. All of Judea, gone. They had motive to preserve their legends, validating them by fulfilling the prophecies. Second, Constantine was responsible for a huge unruly empire, with Christians believing a whole mess of different things. He needed some kind of order. Their motives were not necessarily to "enlighten" us as individuals.

Nevertheless, most of the writings are enlightening. But the authors were men, trying to do the best for their society. I'm not saying that they didn't follow an inner spiritual guide. Perhaps they did believe they heard things directly from God. But because they believed these things happened doesn't mean that they really did. When you hear voices and see visions today, you're called crazy. Paul might have been a saintly man, but he might have been crazy, too. Not that crazy people don't have as much access to God as anyone else does, but when you're listening to a crazy person's interpretation of reality, you have to take it for what it is: crazy!

Personally, I believe that all that is and that happens in this universe is connected. So everything means something to everything else--usually not directly or noticeably, but it's connected somehow in the vast matrix in which we live. I tend to find revelation in symbols. I'm sure it's not for everyone, but it's my way of connecting to spirit. A revelation, however mild or extreme, can occur in me when a series of experiences or insights are triggered or amplified by a symbol and the space and time in which the symbol is encountered. What? Yeah. It's very personal, but immense and beautiful. Anything and everything can be a symbol, depending on whether you're in a state to receive a revelation. Like I said, I feel it's all connected and potentially meaningful.

So, yes, I do feel that how the bible came to be in its present form holds some significance. But I have to interpret its meaning personally from my own experience. I cannot accept another's claim that it is the infallible word of god. If I did, I would not be true to myself. And if you cannot be true to yourself, then what is the point of truth? It just doesn't hold up to it's claim of infallibility to me (a topic for another day). That's a huge hint that it is of man, rather than of God. Sure, it might be of man trying to understand God, but hey.. isn't that what a whole slew of people are doing? Heck, maybe I should write a book based on my manic experiences and call it God's infallible word. It must have been from God because it seemed so real. No, that's precisely what I should not do. I can write about my experiences, sure, but it's only fair to let you read and interpret them within the context of your own life, and with what you know about me.

I guess it all comes down to understanding not that which is canonized, but who canonized it and why.

I may not know what love is but...

2004-06-19T04:09:21Z

...I love so much about her.

I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out.

I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich.

I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts.

And I love that you're the last person I want to talk to when I go to sleep at night.

-- Billy Crystal, When Harry Met Sally

untitled

2004-06-19T03:25:04Z

I Am A: Neutral Good Gnome Bard Mage

Alignment:
Neutral Good characters believe in the power of good above all else. They will work to make the world a better place, and will do whatever is necessary to bring that about, whether it goes for or against whatever is considered 'normal'.

Race:
Gnomes are also short, like dwarves, but much skinnier. They have no beards, and are very inclined towards technology, although they have been known to dabble in magic, too. They tend to be fun-loving and fond of jokes and humor. Some gnomes live underground, and some live in cities and villages. They are very tolerant of other races, and are generally well-liked, though occasionally considered frivolous.

Primary Class:
Bards are the entertainers. They sing, dance, and play instruments to make other people happy, and, frequently, make money. They also tend to dabble in magic a bit.

Secondary Class:
Mages harness the magical energies for their own use. Spells, spell books, and long hours in the library are their loves. While often not physically strong, their mental talents can make up for this.

Deity:
Oghma is the Neutral Good god of knowledge and invention. He is also known as the Binder of What is Known, and is the Patron of Bards. His followers believe that knowledge reigns supreme, and is the basis for everything else that is done. They wear white shirts and pants, with a black and gold braided vest, and a small, box-like hat. All priests of Oghma are known as Loremasters. Oghma's symbol is a scroll.

Find out What D&D Character Are You?, courtesy ofNeppyMan (e-mail)

why am i here?

2004-03-29T09:24:32Z

i do like to roller blade, to hike in the hills, and to visit the beach when I have the chance. But...

the sky never has a cloud in sight--always blue, all the time, same damn boring temperature. every seven miles is a quaint little street that looks the same as all the other quaint little victorian style, town center streets. Each has its row of overpriced shops with overpriced cars waiting for parking out front. Prim-perfect nipped, tucked, and lifted window shoppers proudly prance their pure bred canines down the street for all to see. it's apollo's world down here and he's got all the people trained to drone back and forth on his civilized suburban highways between the overpriced house they're locked into and the at least ten hour a day job they will someday get layed-off from. So many are drugged up on effexor, et al., to help them cope with the burning question, "why do i feel so blah in such a happy and sunny place?"

"black hole sun won't you come and wash away the rain" of the ever-smiley, rarely-inspired, bay area drones of norcal.

*sigh*

I miss jogging on a path soft with pine needles through dark green redwoods covered in velvety moss. I miss having the gray clouds above, a shelter that brings out the richness of the beautiful earth and its people, rather than be constantly blinded by the proudly radiant sky that dominates most of the rest of the world. I miss the soft pacific rain on the roof that soothes you to sleep, the acceptance of a tattered grungy look as a sign of character rather than a brand of laziness, the eclectic and quality music found in any hole in the wall club (with still room to sit), the smoothness with which each drag of a cigarette can be enjoyed due to the atmospheric low pressure of the Sound, the appropriateness of wearing black even in summer, and let's not forget funkyMonkey1049.fm! I miss so much.

but, yes, whether in apollo's world or pan's world, one thing is true either way: it sucks to live in that world alone.

Don't give up, sis

2004-03-26T19:42:48Z

Re: "Give up?"

Blogging is a solitary experience. hmm.. it sure feels that way doesn't it? But, have you looked through your web server logs? I'm sure you'll find that many lurkers all over the world spend a few minutes hearing your thoughts.

And those are good thoughts. :-) Thoughts that enter the minds of readers and swim around a bit. Maybe they shake things up. Maybe they prompt action. Maybe they just make endocrinal juices flow to either enrich, enrage, or simply engage them. Whatever it is that they do, they do something. And maybe that's just enough to make it worthwhile, no?

For example, I haven't yet seen The Passion, but when I do I might actually talk about it with my sister. Why? Because I read her inspired thoughts in her 'blog.

Another cool thing about blogging is that it's a way to capture what's on your mind. The reason that's cool is that if something is on your mind strong enough to inspire you to write about it, then it means something to you. Even if it's stream of consciousness drivvel, the reader can still learn something about the personality of the writer. The reader could be someone else, or it could be yourself years later.

So, in some sense, your brother is a fan, AJ. I always have been. The little brother whom you played chinese checkers and giraffe with, watched Love American Style with while babysitting, and dragged with you from church to church: that guy. He thinks you're interesting. And when he's 3000 miles away, your 'blogs and MW posts are some of his few family connections. I guess he could call you. But who does that anymore? ;-)

ugh

2004-03-08T21:40:40Z

bring me chocolate,
or bring me death!

personal note: don't suck from the chocolate syrup bottle and put it back in the fridge. you might regret it weeks later.

eeexcellent...

2004-03-06T08:44:00Z

...he says in the same dry tone as Mr. Burns. Why? Because he found out how to surround direct links to web pages with frames. So, the code isn't mine, I don't care. I spent hours finding it and tweaking it, so I still consider it a personal triumph. View the source on my web site if you're curious.

Yep, I'm a happy guy. Now maybe I can attend to the other things in my life, such as sleep, friends, the yard, laundry!!!

up too late

2004-03-03T11:04:45Z

When you move around in your chair three or four times and your butt still itches, you've been there too long. Taking a walk to the bathroom and back isn't even enough to get the blood flowing.. you're dizzy halfway there, head moving side to side. So, why do you stay and type away at that damn computer? ..because it's not doing what you want it to do, that's why!! *grr*

And, this trance music doesn't help much either. Now I know why the kids dance three days straight to this stuff.. it keeps you going like a heartbeat, neverending. And, this song has to be one of the best. Hmm.. maybe I'm not so cranky right now.

Oh well, I give up.. I'm outta here. I'll figure out how to surround my direct links with frames another day. Soon I'll remember to bring my new O'Reilly book and get some use out of it.

the mundane

2003-07-25T00:07:13Z

the flow of work continues. release after release after release. the high of the presentation subdues into the monotony of the daily prosaicness. alone i sit in my office. the continuous flow of work before me. the aural company of shoutcast.com, the serene visuals on my desktop, the hip posters on my wall, and pictures of friends i pasted up to shelter my eyes from the supposed "natural white" flourescent light: without these, contentment would not exist in this prison cell of an office, a company, a city, a life.

arkadianriver @ 2002-08-07T00:07:00

2002-08-07T07:09:39Z

it's alive! it's alive !