PLEASE NOTE: Introspection closed with the final entry below, on 15 July 2007,
ironically talking about when updates would next be posted.
Storey Clayton's NEW blog (StoreyTelling) can be found here!
15 July 2007
-Leaving for a week in Oregon this morning to show Em
my old hometowns & celebrate our anniversary. We will tour the coast, Portland, & Multnomah Falls. Very
exciting! I'm going 'net-free for a week (I know I was letting updates lapse here for awhile anyway), so updates from
there will be posted upon return.
14 July 2007
-Watched an atrocious movie last night ("Running
with Scissors") & now have a day to catch up with things & goof off before our trip. As much as I would've
liked to attempt to spend every minute of our nine days off in Oregon, I have to admit that the idea of putting bookend days
at home was a much better approach.
-Hypothetically, I was going to use this day to catch up on things, but I actually
just played all day. Tennis & cards with Gris & Anna (& tennis with four kids & eventually their mom
from the neighborhood near the park where we were playing), a couple of leisurely meals, & a few errands including the
procurement of my third lifetime wallet. As far as the Blue Pyramid & its updatedness status, the newly discovered
momentum-vs.-direction question just has to be addressed. Upon return from this trip.
13 July 2007
-I was telling one of my bosses today that the time in
a marriage seems to speed up... the first year took quite a while, but two, three, & four have piled up faster. At
the same time, it feels like it's been more than four years. He noted that pretty soon I'll be saying that 18 years
piled up fast. I really get nervous when people say things like that... I want my time to pass more slowly.
-Got
through the day with an abnormally easy Friday... & now I'm off for nine days! Other than Christmas, I haven't
taken a legitimate week-long vacation since coming to Glide, so I'm pretty excited.
-Thank you, Ichiro, for this
anniversary present!
12 July 2007
-The BP is going through another huge revival phase,
& I wish I were being diligent about new content to keep up with the interest. The CQ2 has been pushed back time
& again, not to mention more publicity for the upcoming August Challenge for OMBFP & this page being updated &
everything else. Ah well. This is notable because midsummer tends to be the worst time of the year for website
traffic, & yet the quizzes have seemed to find a whole new audience, plus a bunch of reposters. Today one of my two
new supervisees said she has felt like she knows me from somewhere & in the course of the conversation, it came out that
the BP might be the source. That kind of thing makes me pretty happy.
11 July 2007
-Saw the midnight show of the latest Harry Potter film
at the Grand Lake, even though no one would go with me. To be fair, about 900 people went with me as they sold out (or
very nearly did) the main downstairs theater in said location. The movie disappointed me, though not severely.
It's very strange to have the longest book be one of the shortest movies, & the lack of detail really showed.
It also just seemed to take itself less seriously than most of the HP movies, which was really unfortunate given the
grave nature of the fifth plot. My opinion seems in marked contrast to many others', however, so a second viewing would
be welcome to see if I can distance myself from initial expectations. As always, they did do a great job of staging
scenes exactly as one pictures them when reading... but I think Rowling writes quite cinematically.
-This job continues to
exhaust, but I can start to see the light at the end of the week approaching...
10 July 2007
-In truly one of the most ridiculous moves which proves
the existence of curses, the Saturn had another window breaking this morning. & it was the most blatant
since the Seneca kids, & another windshield smash. Less than a hundred feet from our front door, the front
windshield was squarely kicked in the center of the glass, shattering the whole thing but leaving it just intact, so no one
even was able to actually break in. There were footprints all over the hood. While it seems like a possible
revenge for being able to track down the person who broke in about 36 hours prior, it seems quite a stretch that he'd be able
to trace us that far. Still, it's a bit of a chilling way to have glass broken. So, for those of you scoring at
home, this is the eighth broken window on this one car in our possession (ninth overall in car history), the second smashing
of the front windshield, & the sixth stranger-initiated action (seventh overall). Basically nothing else has ever
gone wrong with the car. In case of Saturn, break glass.
-Ah, the ever-approaching Brave New World. My favorite is the person
who thinks antidepressants are 50% under-prescribed as the leading prescription in American "medicine". As
long as there are people who aren't on the happy pills, our objective of making everyone live with a miserable life &
have no motivation to change will not be achieved!
-What a ridiculously great All-Star Game! Ichiro MVP, Putz
getting runs out of his system, & by far most importantly, the announcement that Ichiro will be almost definitely
re-signing with the Mariners for 5 years! This year I decided I wanted to get a Mariners jersey, but I was trying to
decide between Johjima & Betancourt since Ichiro was certainly going to become a free agent with Bavasi's mismanagement
of the team & their ongoing losses. But suddenly they've turned things around & this convinced Ichiro to stay!
Not only can I get a jersey now, but the M's can count on being in the race & drawing more talent for the next
half-decade. So great. & if they get there, of course, the M's can host the Series.
9 July 2007
-The new AA took over today, so I can finally stop doing
two jobs at once! She seems highly competent & motivated & will be learning a lot quickly since we only have a
week until I take off for vacation.
-So... many... meetings!
8 July 2007
-Mariners 7, A's 3. The M's wrapped up a
wonderful series in Oakland that lifted them to 3-1 in my presence this year & is really convincing me that they have
erased everything that was wrong with the team last year. We went with a bunch of friends who've been coming to the
Saturday baseball games & I had the pleasure of being the only active Mariners fan in our section when a bench-clearing
brawl erupted after a bases-clearing double by Raul Ibanez. In any case, it's been a fantastic baseball weekend &
things are looking way up in the AL West.
-As great as the game was, it was less than stellar to emerge in the parking lot
& discover that someone had, once again, broken glass in the Saturn. This marks the fifth time it's been broken
into by strangers in our possession (the sixth overall) & the seventh window breaking (eighth overall), with the two
lovely windshield smashes courtesy of the Seneca clients. Breaking the streak of only the triangular back windows &
windshields, however, this was the front driver-side window, leaving just three original pieces of glass intact in the
nine-year-old vehicle. In an actual surprise, several digital photographs were taken of the break-in by someone living
nearby who seemed to have a personal vendetta against the breaker. The guy tried to pry the stereo out, but either gave
up upon realizing the face-plate was detached & not in the vehicle or just found it too difficult. He did a nice
job of jacking it up, though. So this marked the fourth time of five break-ins where nothing was taken, though the BART
police officer noted that usually they don't take incidental stuff that might link them to the crime, even if it has some
value, if they miss the big prizes (the stereo or the whole car). Nifty.
7 July 2007
-Skipped the M's game today to play baseball
(with a tennis ball) as the second game in this summer's series in the park. We had another great turnout despite some
concerns about who would show, & even increased the number of folks coming from my work. My team lost 23-17, but we
played a full nine innings for perhaps the first time ever. I'm not sure I've ever won one of these games (I think I
did exactly once), but I am elated that these are becoming enough of a phenomenon to field full teams of nine & get
everyone into it. If only all the people who've moved since last summer were still here... with Fish, Stina & Dav,
Zimmy, & Kevin & Natasha, we'd almost be able to field three teams!
6 July 2007
-Mariners 7, A's 1. This was looking like
another fantastic & close game before the M's just kept piling on. Adrian Beltre, who has decided to precisely
trade places with fellow 2005 free agent signing Richie Sexson, went 5-for-5 with a couple homers & the M's cracked open
a game that proves this team has come a long way from last year. I enjoyed standing for nearly everything in the game
except the national anthem & watching the generally atrocious Jeff Weaver hand the third loss of the year to perhaps the
best starter in the AL (one of the other two losses was to the M's as well). This is starting to look like a really
exciting year for baseball. In the pregame, I was within about a half a foot of Felix Hernandez during batting
practice (I was right over the bullpen), but again forgot to bring a Sharpie despite having my glove there. I would
then promptly have had to retire my glove, though, & we're playing tomorrow...
5 July 2007
-A's 3, Mariners 2. Sometimes one gets
great seats & they are squandered on a pretty marginal game for one's team. Tonight was one of those nights, with
my best lifetime seats (in the majors), just five rows behind the M's dugout. Sometimes one has to admit that a game of
baseball was great despite the final score. Tonight was one of those nights, with a close game from start to finish,
where neither team was ever out of contention & every play seemed to matter. & so it goes as the M's lost again
in Oakland, but seemed like a much better team than last year. Watching the M's live is less of a luxury than it was a
couple years ago before my MLB.TV subscription, but is more of a luxury given the seats I can now afford. At least the
losses don't feel as monumental this year in a season where we're contending & it doesn't feel like my last chance to see
them for a long time. After all, I'm coming back tomorrow.
4 July 2007
-Here's the Mep Report's controversial & much-discussed latest video, wishing
you all a stellar fourth of July! This is our country, my friends.
-Nice to have a day off, even if it's for
this reason. A Wednesday off is just about an ideal break in the week... it's nice to have a three-day weekend, but
there's something about a mid-week break that's really great. Em & I didn't really plan our un-American party idea,
so we just spent a chill day together & went to the Public Market, which was somewhat surprisingly open.
3 July 2007
-Well we did most of the work on our latest video
before, & now finally it will be ready for launch tomorrow. It feels like this one has to be huge, but at the same
time, it might just make a bunch of people angry. Stay tuned...
2 July 2007
-Goodness, am I glad this week is bifurcated by a day
off. Whole lot of shaking going on.
1 July 2007
-July? Really? If only the year had an
All-Star Break like the baseball season. The Mariners would certainly make my all-star team for 2007, along with the
work promotion (maybe... if I get a new AA soon...), & OMBFP (especially if I were better about updating it). I
wish I had more in the writing column, but when hasn't that been the case?
30 June 2007
-Went up to Six Flags with Gris & Anna on our last
day to use our bring-a-friend passes (the June ones, at any rate). Gris was surprisingly un-participatory about many
of the rides, but still went on a couple & we got to see all the animals & had plenty of popcorn. The swings,
my absolute favorite theme park/fairground ride of all-time, were closed & this dampened my experience a fair bit, but
overall it was still a great time. We then hit a Chinese place on the way back & went to "Ratatouille"
at the Grand Lake, which was great fun. Suffice it to say that this was a pretty full fun day.
29 June 2007
-My entire attitude about life went from about a 12 on
the old 100-point scale to a 92 in a five-minute timeframe. We've been working on this reapplication that's due
tomorrow in Sacramento for a key contract for our program's funding. The FedEx drop-off point is supposed to be open
till 5:00 & I had an interview that ran till 4:45, leaving me 15 minutes to lock up & get there. When I did,
the guy told me they'd come at 4:30 & that was it. He redirected me to the Flood Building, where I was supposed to
be able to find a drop-box with a later pick-up time. I put the critical package in the drop-box I found there, but it
caught on the lip of the door, which prompted me to double-check & discover that it was a USPS box, not a FedEx.
Horrified, I was just able to retrieve the package before dooming it to being actually lost or discarded. I ran
into the Flood Building & asked a security guard if there was a FedEx box around the building. "Around the
building or in the building?" he asked. I said in front of the building. He said there wasn't one there.
I watched the clock behind him change from 5:00 to 5:01. I asked if there was one in the building. He
smiled & said there wasn't. Why the hell would he ask me about in or around the building then?! I
dashed out of the building, but realized that with the time passing past 5:00, I pretty much had to eat the package &
perhaps drive it to Sacramento the next day. Oh disaster. I began dejectedly tromping down Market Street, on my
way to Chipotle & the ballgame, with nothing to do with this essential contract in its shiny Saturday-delivery envelope.
I was halfheartedly looking for another office supply place with a pick-up, knowing full well no one picks up after
5:00, when I stumbled across a Copy Central that said "UPS/FedEx" on the door. I stumbled in to see a box by
the door that said... choir of angels... last pick up: 5:15! Triumphant but hesitant, I asked the swamped
woman behind the counter if they'd come already (I had no sense of time at this point). She said she didn't think so.
I hesitated while fingering the door. I told her it was important. She said she definitely hadn't seen them
& it was before 5:15. I couldn't restrain an enormous grin as I dropped the envelope in the box & sauntered off
to my reward of crispy tacos. Life is good.
-Diamondbacks 4, Giants 3 (10). Another extra-innings
heartbreaker brought my mood back to Earth, especially after it had skyrocketed even further with the lifting of Barry Bonds'
750th career homer. Suffice it to say that the Giants need bullpen help in the worst way & are probably not headed
for great things (aside from the career home run record) this season. We did get pins in honor of #750 after the game
& got to see the All-Star cable cars posted outside, but this is little consolation for such desperately close losses in
our Friday night package with Gris & Anna.
28 June 2007
-It's tough to have an off-day from baseball after such
a great series. I again have to thank MLB.TV for putting the M's back to front-&-center in my summers. &
someday I will figure out how to be productive in my free time & be a baseball fan at the same time...
27 June 2007
-I am becoming flippant. While this seems to
amuse many of my co-workers, it's probably not a good overall policy. I am sensing patterns from my time at Seneca
re-emerging & it's not ideal. Approaching 14 months here, which would put me at October '04 at Seneca... when
things were not much improved post-camp & I was opening up with people enough to not really conceal my frustration.
Breaking cycles & not making the same mistake twice are key.
-Now that's more like it, Mariners!
Sweeping the best team in baseball! You can putitontheboard... yes!
26 June 2007
Happy Birthday to Mom
-Okay, things have to start getting better now. Everything's coming back into place. & I'm
getting flack for working too hard again. Hopefully this means other people will be doing work too.
25 June 2007
-Frustration... rising! On the scales weighing
oblivious against malicious, the latter is starting to eek out a victory over the former. As Bob Dylan would put it,
oh no no, I've been through this movie before. & it's not like that, but it's still obnoxious. I need
some time off. But first, I need an assistan.... oh wait.
-At least some people are doing their job.
24 June 2007
-& the great thing about playing baseball on
Saturday (we mostly played on Sunday last summer) is having a full day off thereafter. I'm not sure I could work that
well with this degree of soreness anyway. Hopefully that will fade if we get going on a schedule of playing every
fortnight as we discussed yesterday.
-I'm not entirely convinced I'm ready for the week ahead.
23 June 2007
-Reinaugurated our baseball in Ohlone Park tradition
with a massive crowd... I think we actually had nine on each team at one point this afternoon! We got the summer
started a little late, but the weather hasn't really hit the full stride of summer until recently. We played seven full
innings, my team barely lost, & lots of folks hung out afterwards at Triple Rock & then playing Mafia at our place.
A fantastic time & a really good sign of summer to come!
22 June 2007
-After ruling the APDA Forum for a fortnight, The
Witches of Parliam Village, an online game of Mafia/Werewolf, is done. It has established itself as the longest thread
in APDA Forum history (eclipsing several games from last summer) & seemed to be enjoyed by most. While that was a
blast, it was awfully time consuming for something purely recreational. & yet I have so many game design ideas for
further experimentation...
-In follow-up news, the Camry has been recovered! No worse for the wear, it was found by
police & returned to Gris & Anna!
21 June 2007
-One of my favorite things in the world has to be being
blamed for miscommunication when someone else overinterprets what I'm asking, jumps to conclusions, & makes assumptions
before asking me to clarify when they were unclear on what I said. That's the best. Additionally, if I hear one
more time about politics internal to the organization, I am going to scream. I don't want to learn how to play
politics. I work in non-profits precisely because I don't like the compromises, baby-kissing, & utter nonsense of
the political landscape. If we have to navigate that here, what good are we really doing?
20 June 2007
-Well I thought we were going to go to Oregon the week
of the 4th, in part to save vacation time by having a day built-in to the middle. But it looks like a couple weeks
later will have to suffice instead. So it goes. This will also give me a chance to have an AA in place at FYCC
before I cut out for a week, which seems like a much better practice overall.
19 June 2007
-I'm not entirely convinced that I'm cut out for all
this. I'm just saying.
18 June 2007
-Today is my first official day at Glide as the Youth
and Family Development Division Information Systems Administrator. Yes, that really is my title. Yes, it is quite
a promotion. I will now be someone's boss... supervising two people who will be Administrative Assistants in the two
departments covered by the division... one of which is my old department (FYCC) & one of which is our department aimed at
slightly older kids & young adults seeking jobs & high school diplomas or GED's (TAES). I am elated at this new
challenge & all that goes with it, but less so about doing my old job, new job, & covering for one of my bosses'
upcoming vacations all at once while we seek a new AA for FYCC.
17 June 2007
Happy Birthday to David
Gray
-Gris' celebratory birthday dinner became a mourning ceremony for the beloved &
much worn '91 Toyota Camry, which was stolen from their street either today or yesterday. This is no way to spend a
birthday. The Giants lost too. We all hung around & told stories of the Camry while trying to keep Gris from
getting too depressed.
16 June 2007
-Just when it looked like the Mariners were going to
have the best season since the 116-win year of 2001, we go on a crazy losing streak against... the NL Central?
Oh disaster. Not auspicious.
-It is so frustrating to have such disparate perceptions sometimes.
15 June 2007
-Returned to work today & things seem much
improved, & I got the one piece of paper that I found to be most important. This is a big relief, though it does
not entirely erase the sting of Wednesday's series of events. I still question peoples' motivations & have to
wonder what's going on, but I'm starting to get enough control that it might not matter. I wish I could be less vague,
but there has to be some reason that people would buy a memoir of mine a decade or two hence when this site is available on
the net for free...
14 June 2007
-So sometimes one can make a series of assumptions
& intentions that all make sense at the time, but then end up in a place that seems inexplicable. It's that whole
A to B, B to C, C to D concept where each of those steps seem perfectly logical & then A to D looks crazy. I think
that's a very meaningful & important concept in this world, although I have to recognize that today there was a bit more
of a visible moment of truth. In the end, with all that's been said & done, I know it doesn't actually matter.
But I still feel a little weird.
13 June 2007
Happy Birthday to John
Schneider
-Well today was one of the most frustrating days in history. Certainly
the most frustrating I've spent at Glide. I wound up talking about it far too liberally on the Mep Report, so I guess
plenty of information can be read between the lines, but suffice it to say that I do not feel good about the way I've been
treated at work & all of my assumptions are starting to come crashing down around me. There was a brief comeback at
the end of the day with another staff member offering support that gave me a fair amount of cause for hope, but it was
looking really ugly there for a bit. & I'm still fuming. Thank goodness I have jury duty tomorrow. I
really don't think I could stand to go back there the way I feel today without some cooling off.
12 June 2007
-I love articles like this. Despite a study that
"discovers" the blindingly obvious fact that killing people professionally is likely to lead to self-doubt,
depression, & suicide, the person running the study notes that he would not say that the study proves that military
service itself results in an increased risk of suicide. Even though, you know, that was what the study was setting out
to examine &, uh, it found that twice as many people commit suicide from the military end of things. Huh.
It's not quite like saying that military service overall doesn't make you more likely to die, but it's close. I'm
sure that study is being developed now. "Life is too complex," says the researcher. Maybe everyone killed in
combat was about to fall out a window & military service saved them! Amazing!
-How about these Mariners.
How about them! 5 straight wins, this one in the 13th, none of them by more than 2 runs! What a
great era for MLB.TV.
11 June 2007
-A neat little OMBFP surge, in large part due to a post
at crooksandliars.com, is getting me excited all over again. I will have to sleep sometime, though, presumably.
-I
gotta say, this M's team is looking more & more like the Refuse to Lose squad of 1995. Four straight one-run
comeback wins? Whoo!
-Feeling a little hopeless about everything else, though.
10 June 2007
-Had a great, if somewhat slackery, day hanging out
with Gris, then joined by Anna, then joined by Em. There was baseball, food, & reading at the beach of Alameda,
before it just got too cold.
-I AM LIVING BY MOMENTUM AND NOT DIRECTION. THIS, MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, NEEDS TO
CHANGE.
9 June 2007
-Communication wards off most everything. But I
suppose not everything. At least I started to begin to catch up with the rest of everything.
-The Mariners just
can't stop coming back against the Padres. & the whole of MLB. This team is good! I can't tell
you how much more fun life is when one's baseball team isn't just a gaping hole of terrible.
8 June 2007
-So much limbo. I'm going to put up a limbo stick
in my doorway at work.
-So much fun is this Werewolf game. A little too much fun, perhaps. So it
goes.
-A's 5, Giants 3 (10). For most of the game, this one was one of the best baseball games I've ever
seen, or at least the most interesting. Then the A's got ahead & put it away, & it was way worse. But it
was still great to see not only extra innings, but a game where Pedro Feliz (3B) debuted as a catcher, Randy Winn (OF) played
at third base, & Noah Lowry (SP) played in right field! Utterly surreal, but all for naught when the Giants lost.
'Twas also a night of high frigidity & Em just wasn't feeling well at all with an extremely rare headache.
7 June 2007
-The APDA Werewolf/Mafia game, The Witches of Parliam
Village, has begun. Check it out. This is
going to take a fair amount of my time over the next few days, but should be tremendous fun & offer a chance for me to
freestyle some writing in a new context.
-Zabu Zabu is a great little place, but I fear they're just not going to make it.
I think they fear this too.
6 June 2007
Happy Birthday to Paul Garin
III
-Everything is in order, just in case. I feel strangely less apprehensive than
I normally do on this day, which of course feels in some way like a bad sign in itself. But the mind can drive itself
completely crazy. I'm not an Abraham Lincoln fan, but I have always loved this quote: "If I am killed, I can
die but once; but to live in constant dread of it, is to die over and over again."
5 June 2007
-Surrealist limbo mixed with bouts of crazy. This
will all be over soon.
-Remember last year's crazy obsession on the APDA Forum with the game Werewolf (same as Mafia)?
I've been aggravatedly playing the latest one here.
I'm going to be running one starting early next week (or late this week), & I will post the URL here so you can
follow along with the craziness & my storytelling. I have a feeling my game is going to blow people's minds more
than most.
-Maybe I shouldn't play poker while watching M's games...
4 June 2007
-Came back up with a friend of Gris & Anna's last
night, hit the Mexicali at Em's request, then headed home. The last few weekends have been great, but I'm also looking
forward to one just spent at home.
-Work is in a somewhat surreal kind of limbo lately. At some point, I might be
able to talk to everyone more thoroughly about it, but for now it's just... limbo.
-What a comeback by the Mariners!
All with two outs! Four games over .500! Best team since 2003! Wooooo!
3 June 2007
[from Clovis,
California]
Happy Birthday to Nikki Hay
-Worst. Lunch. Ever. Nothing exacerbates bad moods like food that comes 60-80 minutes late.
I don't complain at restaurants, but if I did...
-Grizzlies 3, Isotopes 1. Didn't come that close to a
foul ball from out behind the screen, but we got plenty of sun in another lackluster performance for Albuquerque. I did
reflect, however, at the difference in my mood between watching the 'Topes lose back-to-back & what it would have been
had it been the M's. For example, after these two games, I am still fit to be around other people...
2 June 2007
[from Clovis,
California]
-Came down here late last night, bringing friends for the first time.
Something oft-discussed but never realized until now. Giving Gris & Anna the full tour from the inside has
been strangely entertaining.
-Note to self: La Posada puts meat in almost everything. Always ask!
-My new
strategy got shellacked in Puerto Rico (Anna won handily), so I now am coming to the conclusion that this game, more than
perhaps any other, requires moment-to-moment adjustments & shifts in strategy to be successful. A test of
flexibility.
-Kaitlin remains one of the most amusing children of all-time. Even if she did try to watch
"Bambi" by herself at age 3, only to find that this was not such a hot idea.
-Grizzlies 8, Isotopes 2.
This was a great, close game until Fresno exploded with a 6-run 7th that seemingly never ended. We had fantastic
seats (it's Minor League Baseball!) behind home plate, though the screen kept us from any foul balls. Apparently Em's
parents hadn't been to a ballgame since the 1970's, so I'm glad we rectified that.
1 June 2007
-7 billion souls on this lonely raft. I think we
all have a secret (or not so) solipsistic streak, if for no other reason than it can be overwhelming to contemplate how much
cognition & comprehension really exists here. But one of the only things that consistently gives me hope is the
awareness that everyone has access to the same tools of observation & learning. If we choose, we could all get a
lot done in a hurry.
-Wrapped up a week & taking off again for the weekend, this time for Fresno with Gris & Anna
in tow. Updates perhaps from there & if not, then from here.
31 May 2007
-"Pirates 3" was great fun, but not quite as
witty as the first film in the series. There were moments, mostly early in the movie, that I was truly worried it was
going to be awful, but the ship got righted in a hurry & most of it ended up being very enjoyable. Recommended
overall.
30 May 2007
-I am so good at scheduling myself right up to the hilt,
without ever scheduling other projects or time. At some point, maybe not soon, I will have to change
that.
-Y'know... I'm just not sure it's a team sport. Which may seem obvious, but hey.
29 May 2007
-Beat Mesco, Afsheen, & Em at Puerto Rico with a new
strategy, got about 3 hours of sleep, got on a plane, got another hour of sleep, got off a plane, got on a BART train to
work, went to work, & now came home. It's been a whirlwind, but such a good one. Thank you wonderful LA
friends for a great weekend!
28 May 2007
[from Los
Angeles]
-Somehow Russ & I have been friends for ages, but much about my life
history has never been discussed between us. Catching up was quite an experience, all at once. Good (if intense)
times.
-Unending board games! & I finally get a win, in Settlers.
-Mariners 12, Angels 5. What
a fantastic way to break my streak of watching the M's lose live, which had gone back to late 2005! Jake, Russ, Em,
& I all enjoyed the drubbing, though Russ was trying to get himself kicked out of the game with his constant taunts of
the Angels fans. They were remarkably suggestable, clapping when the "make some noise" signs were on, but
then immediately ceasing when such signs went off. In any case, Beltre & Sexson combined for a baffling 3 homers,
Ichiro continued his hitting streak, & I got to stand up & clap countless times... so satisfying.
27 May 2007
[from Los
Angeles]
-Landed, ate, & promptly got some FIFA underway. Good
times. Leaving Saturday instead of Friday just made a ton of sense in making for a non-stressed trip
opening.
-Venice Beach is almost exactly what I had pictured from Ray Bradbury's late novels. What a weird,
half-dead, but somehow beautiful place.
-Spent the day today with the whole crew (Jake, Russ, Mesco, Afsheen, Em, & I)
playing board games, then going to a park, & then to eat. "Pirates" never quite materialized, nor did any
real traction for me in the games. But much fun.
26 May 2007
-Scrambling to get everything caught up & updated
before we head down to LA for a 3-day jaunt, sure to include video games, board games, & baseball games. & at
least something that's not a game... maybe. Updates posted upon return, or maybe from an LA computer, or perhaps on the
weekly cycle I seem to be lapsing into.
25 May 2007
-Potentially exciting developments on the old work
front. Not that there weren't indicators of something like this coming along, but it's still neat to get confirmation.
I will provide more details once things are actually in place.
-Rockies 5, Giants 3. A classic
heartbreaker of the first order. Matt Cain barely lost his shutout in the 7th, then the Giants bullpen just melted
down. If you put the M's lineup & bullpen on the Giants, or the Giants starting staff on the M's, you'd have a
World Series caliber team. Instead, we have two .500 teams. But while the Giants bullpen unraveled, it just
wasn't complete till Benitez came into the 9th in a 3-3 tie & promptly surrendered two runs. Only his 2nd loss of
the year, but we have plenty more Giants tickets. Watching the M's drub the Royals on the scoreboard was the only
consolation, but that was over before the SF meltdown as well. Fireworks were some consolation as well, I suppose,
though they had a decidedly American slant. Silly Memorial Day. So it goes.
24 May 2007
-The M's were down 12-4 & came back to lose 13-12.
They'd been on a roll & should've swept Tampa Bay, but their pitching was just worse than TB's today. I had
predicted that about 22-23 runs would be scored in this game & just missed. This team feels like they're about 15
small breaks away from being the best team in baseball, but instead are 21-22...
-So my headache book that Russ gave me
(can you believe this is my 2nd non-fiction book in the same year, after reading perhaps one in the prior five years...) says
that seemingly chronic recurring ear infections can be caused by migraines. This caught my attention for obvious
reasons, even describing how antibiotics won't work on these "infections," because they are derived from the
headache mechanism. This would be much more compelling if author Dr. Buchholz didn't also blame about 405 other
physical maladies on migraines, as well as two World Wars, global warming, & the extinction of the dinosaurs. I'm
exaggerating slightly, but only just slightly. & while he could be right - maybe everyone in the world does
suffer from some level of misdiagnosed migraine - it's hard to suspend disbelief after a while when the guy implicitly
advocates replacing all hospitals with headache specialists advocating his "Storey starves" diet. Ah ha! you
may say... if it's a Storey-starves diet, then clearly he's on to something, since Storey gets terrible migraines!
Maybe. But he also advocates things like the complete elimination of caffeine (in a book saying you need to
"control" your headaches) & yet coffee is the only thing that's ever given me any level of control over
migraines. The months-long headache I had in high school may have lasted the last 10 years had I not coincidentally
started drinking coffee. His analytical critique of caffeine is pretty dubious as well, admitting that it constricts
the swelling that is the entire cause of migraines, but warning that it leads to ever-escalating cycles of consumption &
bad headaches when one misses the caffeine. While he's somewhat right about the latter (but he also advocates taking
certain medicines & refraining from certain foods... & the missing of either of these protocols will
also lead to bad headaches!), he couldn't be more wrong about the former in my case. As I've studied my
eleven-year relationship with coffee & migraines, I've learned to regularize the intake of coffee & it has never led
to some apocalyptic spiral into a coffee IV. So with this as a fundamental baseline, it makes me skeptical of the rest
of the diet. Though there are interesting key triggers that I've always found horrendous, such as alcohol &
bananas. Is there some part of my consciousness that knows these would be horrible migraine triggers & has thus
always avoided them? More likely I just hate so much food that there are bound to be things I love & hate on any
list that bisects the total foods of the world. In summation of this rather lengthy analysis, the book has talked
saliently about some things & even taught me a bit about cumulative rather than specific triggers, but I don't think it
has all the answers, & it really stretches its own credibility by claiming this approach as a cure-all for
humanity.
23 May 2007
-I woke up this morning convinced that it was Friday
& was eventually able to talk myself back down into it being Thursday. I never quite found the handle on it being
Wednesday. Strange.
-Two all-ins into higher pocket pairs in the big blind? That's just
unlikely!
22 May 2007
-Days when I can just sit down & crank out the
FYCC Current, the monthly newsletter for our center that I created, are really good days.
21 May 2007
-The difficulties & aggravations of the April/May
season are starting to subside a bit, which is nice since they've been rather intense this year. Maybe I can just coast
out the end of this one. With a nice trip this weekend (that will test my ear/sinus adjustments with a brief plane
flight), hopefully everything's back on track.
20 May 2007
Happy Birthday to Stina
Robison
-Em walked Bay-to-Breakers & made it sounds like an entertaining enough
venture that perhaps I should've been on the sidelines. Her mom, brother Will, & his friend all joined in, though
some of them actually ran. The entire concept of a race, run or walked, is about as anathematic to my personality as
one can get, but I guess there's just enough silliness in this "race"... including people dressed up as salmon who
run the race in the wrong direction. Afterwards, we went with Em's fam to the same Indian restaurant I'd been with Zim
about 16 hours prior. I'm impressed at the lack of weird looks from the wait staff.
19 May 2007
Happy Birthday to Guen
Mesco
-Spent the day with Zim-Zim as he's got just 10 days left in the Bay Area &
we're headed out of town next weekend. We talked life & his future & saw "Fracture", which was quite
entertaining despite a somewhat dubious ending. Still well worth it along the way. Zimmy again impressed me with
how much he's matured & progressed from the sophomore transfer student I met in 1998. Reading that, it might come
across as a silly & obvious statement, but ... well we all know my perspective on this issue. He will be missed
'round here.
18 May 2007
-Fridays often seem to be the most difficult days at
work here & I can never quite discern why. Part of me wonders if it is related to enjoying this job & actually
not liking the end of the week, but I think that's too deeply buried & unlikely an explanation. It's not like I
still don't see this as a job, & don't still enjoy free time. Maybe it's just trying to clear my plate before the
weekend, & somehow there's more to clear? It's just a quirky aspect of this particular employ.
-Drove into the
City a couple hours after work with Em, Will, & their parents to visit a favorite restaurant of Will's. I had
perhaps the best vegetarian soup in history, a spicy cous-cous soup. Then a bookstore closed on us.
17 May 2007
-This year, for the first time in my 15 years of Mariner
fandom, I've gotten into M's blogs. I'm beginning to think I prefer Lookout
Landing to USS Mariner. It's funnier & not quite as achingly negative.
Both of them, though, have that strange internet disease of griping taking over for everything else. Not that it
hasn't been a very gripey time for the M's these past few years (& much of it is well-placed at Bavasi), but... I dunno.
Reading too much general shlocky commentary from internet users leads to a malaise with life for all the wrong &
unnecessary reasons.
16 May 2007 15 May 2007 14 May 2007 13 May 2007 12 May 2007 11 May 2007 10 May 2007 9 May 2007 8 May 2007 7 May 2007 6 May 2007 5 May 2007 4 May 2007 3 May 2007 2 May 2007 1 May 2007 30 April 2007 29 April 2007 28 April 2007 27 April 2007 26 April 2007 25 April 2007 24 April 2007 23 April 2007 22 April 2007 21 April 2007 20 April 2007 19 April 2007 18 April 2007 17 April 2007 16 April 2007 15 April 2007 14 April 2007 13 April 2007 12 April 2007 11 April 2007 10 April 2007 9 April 2007 8 April 2007 7 April 2007 6 April 2007 5 April 2007 4 April 2007 3 April 2007 2 April 2007 1 April 2007 31 March 2007 30 March 2007 29 March 2007 28 March 2007 27 March 2007 26 March 2007 25 March 2007 24 March 2007 23 March 2007 22 March 2007 21 March 2007 20 March 2007 19 March 2007 18 March 2007 17 March 2007 16 March 2007 15 March 2007 14 March 2007 13 March 2007 12 March 2007 11 March 2007 10 March 2007 9 March 2007 8 March 2007 7 March 2007 6 March 2007 5 March 2007 4 March 2007 3 March 2007 2 March 2007 1 March 2007 28 February 2007 27 February 2007 26 February 2007 25 February 2007 24 February 2007 23 February 2007 22 February 2007 21 February 2007 20 February 2007 19 February 2007 18 February 2007 17 February 2007 16 February 2007 15 February 2007 14 February 2007 13 February 2007 12 February 2007 11 February 2007 10 February 2007 9 February 2007 8 February 2007 7 February 2007 6 February 2007 5 February 2007
-As much as I loathe driving into the City (& it
certainly put on a show last night), it was well worth it for an evening with a couple work friends last night. I think
the whole City/East Bay divide has thrown up a lot of the roadblocks to my really developing outside-work friendships with my
co-workers at this job. That may finally be starting to change...
-It's a remarkably positive thing to sometimes
have a task that one wants to put off at work. If there's something on the to-do list that one wants to avoid, one is
suddenly inspired to do everything else on the to-do list that's small or been put off in the past. By comparison,
these needling little things are great, because they're not doing the big task one wants to put off. & then if one
has done everything else, one has to confront the big thing. The point is that without these occasional big boppers,
one would never clear out the needling stuff, & thus that would always get left behind, which is bad.
-I think they have a message for us. If I had to inhabit
the oceans in their current state of abuse, I think I might try to swim to a nearby seat of the abusers' power as well.
-Gris & Anna wound up coming home earlier than their
landlords expected, only to find that the latter had torn up the former's bathroom! & a bathroom is a remarkable
portion of the reason to have an apartment. So they're hanging here whilst their landlords scramble to put the place
back together. An unenviable position for them in the wake of returning from a whirlwind trip...
-Life is just
always better with a good book. Period. No wonder I want to write.
-I feel overwhelmed, though thankfully not exhausted, as
I face this new week. My goal is simply to make sure the sinus problems & complications are not spilling over into
something larger that will again require medical attention. My frustration with this multifaceted ailment clinging on
to another week would be mammoth. If I can get over that, everything else will be gravy.
-Hello Sweden! Today
is on pace to be the biggest day of 2007 for traffic, in large part due to the enormous contributions of Swedish bloggers
discovering the quizzes. Welcome!
-Made a somewhat abortive trip to Six Flags today,
realizing too late that my sinus headache has extended to a second day & gotten worse. Luckily we have now both
procured season passes (Em got hers on an earlier trip with her family), so we now do not have to commit a whole day to going
up there & have lots of coupons to take friends up as well!
-The times when I am truly enthralled by a book are some
of the best, though like anything, the book seeps into my consciousness & dreams when I'm that focused on it. The
book at this point is Sophie's Choice (apparently everyone in the world knows its plot except for me & I'd like to
keep it that way for the next few hundred pages, thank you...)... I've never encountered a writing style quite like Styron's.
I don't know exactly what I find so remarkable about it; perhaps the sweeping effortlessness of such a wide-ranging
vocabulary. Though by page 150, I notice a repetitiveness to some of the verbosity that I didn't see at first (the word
freighted seems to dominate his diction, for example). & yet there's just enough that I can't stand about
the protagonist that I'm not even sure I like the book, as much as I am captivated by it. There's also just enough mood
of impending swirl of doom-laden plot (reminiscent, most recently, of The Time Traveler's Wife, the best book I've
read in years) that I think it still may end up being one of my classics. It's also nice to have something to focus on
in the midst of the skull-shattering feeling of a sinus headache. The early exit polls have sinus headaches being more
tolerable than migraines, if only because they still allow me to read & focus.
-So this is what a sinus headache is like.
Tremendous. A full week after mostly recovering from my sinus infection, it looks like something residual is
still lodged there. & now I get to compare & contrast sinus headaches with migraines, or maybe even (joy of
joys) experience both at once! I somehow thought I just wasn't one of those people who had sinus problems... this has
seemingly turned rather rapidly.
-Saturday is by far the most wasted day on the calendar these days. All of my
recent optimism is well due to be cautioned until I can steer out of the April/May morass. How is this time so laden
with joyful anticipation & energy by the rest of the world? So few tidbits of collective wisdom share my almost
alien loathing of mid-Spring.
Happy Birthday to Megan
Dean
-Sweet blessed Friday. I am proud of myself for rebounding to work a full 40
after having so little energy at the week's outset, but am still ready to crumple in a heap at the day's end. Oh, the
exhaustion!
-What a gem by Washburn! Shutting out the Yankees! I'm glad we're throwing two lefties at them
this weekend, since the entire lineup is lefties. This is one of the only reasons the Yankees are so good... too many
righty pitchers in the AL. It doesn't hurt that our lefty also shut down A-Rod, the notable exception. I think he
may be truly rattled in Seattle.
-The extent to which I hate Jeff Weaver cannot really be
fully expressed. I wrote several e-mails about this today to Greg & Russ, since I subjected them to earlier
rantings in our pre-Mep yesterday. Suffice it to say that he has established an incompetence at pitching baseballs
unseen in the modern era. Without him, the M's would undoubtedly be in first place, perhaps substantially so.
-The
Mother's Day event we held at FYCC helped remind me why I take such joy in working at this particular branch of Glide.
While my role was one of those behind-the-scenes troubleshooting & technical support roles this time around (&
only called for at the last second when logistics were discovered to be running behind), it still felt great to be part of
something so heart-rending & pivotal for so many families. It remains to be seen as I recover from this illness
& strive to make another real drive at setting up a proper literary routine whether I can strike all the right balances,
but it still seems clear that this position offers me the best chance at said balances of anything I can be doing right now.
There are more extreme measures optional in each direction, but only this road for balances. & I am eager to
give those balances a fair shot. My health & attitude may have to delay this effort till June 7th at this pace,
however. Earlier would be great. In the meantime, there was really something special tonight in FYCC's basement.
I should get Pete to put his Mother's Day Movie on YouTube & then you can all see a piece of what I'm talking
about.
-Doing a Mep Report after so much ravaging of my voice
& energy was an interesting & tiring experience, but ultimately good on my road to recovery. I'm starting to
rebuild my crumbled routine after two weeks in the hole.
-Also a satisfying M's game to watch... it's nice when they're
not close in the right direction. & how about that Baek!
-I managed a migraine last night & tonight have a
different one, given that it's flipped sides. This is an inauspicious start to what is theoretically my first week of
health in the last three, but so it goes.
-It's nice to watch as much baseball as I have been lately, & makes me
wonder whether I would leave myself no choice but to buy season tickets were I to actually live in Seattle. Games like
tonight are frustrating, though, & I have to wonder whether Horacio Ramirez would not stand out as the worst starter on
any club were Jeff Weaver not doing so abysmally.
-Just slightly more optimistic than yesterday as I face
actually going into work this morning. Some year, I will figure out a proper buffer for April/May, but until that time,
it's best to schedule 60 days of hopelessness each year...
-Spent a miserable day exhausting myself with more
errands & chores, while terrified of how far behind I am on everything, how overwhelmed I feel, & how utterly
incapable of reconciling my exhaustion with work or a normal routine I feel. I am drowning.
Happy Birthday to Aaron
Harper
-Fifteen days of being sick, but I'm almost over it. Feeling a lot better
today, & ended up going out a couple times. We walked up to La Cascada & bought a Go set at Games of Berkeley
(though I needed a 3-hour nap after doing all that), then later went out with Gris & Anna. Almost feeling human.
But sooo tired.
-Maybe getting a bit better, & the appetite seems to
be coming back. I'm able to be awake for a few hours at a stretch. There's even hope that I might be able to get
enough rest this weekend to feel human by Monday.
-I can basically stay awake for an hour or so, plus the
Mariners game on MLBTV these days. Everything else is restless sleep, draining & coughing away. Something's
gotta give soon.
-Went to a different doctor today ("my" doctor
has been on vacation this whole time) who wound up being great, diagnosed me with a sinus infection with upper respiratory
complications, & gave me a new antibiotic. He also said I couldn't go back to work until Monday, which is
starting to feel about right. Hopefully I won't hack up a lung before then.
Happy Birthday to Afsheen
Family
-Really feeling miserable, & I feel like I'm getting worse. My
antibiotic ran out last night. I'm just overwhelmed, & pretty much only have energy to sleep. I also have no
appetite, which seems like it could be a problem.
-Feeling worse, & my work was again angry with me
for coming into work today. I stuck out the whole day, but have committed to not coming back tomorrow & maybe not
the next day either. This is really the longest I can remember being this sick in over a decade.
-Got to have breakfast with Mesco & the Family
boys at Sconehenge, followed by some Puerto Rico (Em ran away with it). That was more than enough to wipe me out for
the day, coughing & sniffling all the way. I've been sick for 8 days now & just don't seem to be getting
better.
-Doing nothing but sleeping, but I just don't seem to
be getting any better. I am falling behind on all of my projects, & have no energy for anything. Sigh.
-About the same as yesterday, & I can't wait for
the weekend so I can rest & finally kick this thing.
-Feeling better today, though still finding it
exhausting to move around & am barely over 50%. But I have a lot to catch up on, need to get out the Current
(our newsletter), etc. So I'm toughing it out.
-Tried to go back to work today & my co-workers
sent me home after half a day. I feel like I have to go on Wednesdays, but I really wasn't ready. Maybe
tomorrow.
-So I was in some of the worst pain of my entire life
on the plane ride last night, with my ears exploding from the altitude changes flying into both Houston & Oakland.
I could hear at 32,000 feet, but not at any lower level, & especially not on the ground in Houston or at home.
Went to the doctor this morning & they diagnosed the expected ear infection & gave me antibiotics, but I am now
feeling much worse than I was on the other coast. As though I weren't missing enough work...
[from New York
City]
-Not feeling a whole lot better, but going to try to relax today.
-Had a fun
breakfast with Greg & then played some PS2 baseball at Drew's apartment with Drew & Greg. The time passed
quickly & suddenly it's time to head home...
[from Poughkeepsie, New
York]
-I hate agonizing break-round decisions...
-Four 3-2 quarterfinals.
What a close field!
-The best 'Deis performance at Nats since Zirkin & I in 2001...
-But no better.
Even if they should've won.
-I would never have expected to give a floor speech at Nats 5 years out, but the moment
struck & I think I carried it off well. Em told me I didn't really connect the dots on where the whole speech was
going, but I guess I'll have to wait till the video to see if I concur.
-& another close decision!
-Ah, team
dinners... though this one couldn't quite compete with last year's, it was still great fun. I've been awfully
debilitated by the illness being ongoing, & that's made the whole trip a bit more disappointing than I expected because
I've mostly been recovering rather than enjoying. & I'm realizing that it might be about time to hang up my APDA
hat, at least having this active a role. But I'm very glad I did this. I'm satisfied without being overjoyed.
Mostly the sickness making that difference.
[from Poughkeepsie, New
York]
Happy Birthday to Elias-Axel Pettersson
-Oh no. Getting sick.
-Really very sick.
-Being sick, probably with an ear infection, on the
marathon day of running Nats is... way less than ideal. Especially when a sore throat (though not the worst one ever)
is prominently involved. But we triple-checked everything & I can be pretty sure there are no tab errors after
white-sheet-checking every ballot for 3-3's & up.
-The Nats banquet was utterly surreal, though I was quite moved by a
couple senior speeches, especially Marisa Maleck's. She spoke about APDA with the reverent love that I felt in my soul,
but it seemed so few people have room for when saying goodbye to the circuit. Not to say that APDA is flawless, but a
community centered around debate is, flaws & all, to be loved. For a lot of the banquet, I felt very old &
almost out of place, mostly due to the late arrival with the tab staff & trying to balance my tab role, my team role,
& my old-folks role. When Mark & Joel broke, though, my role became pretty clear for a while & I went back
to help them case before nearly collapsing with exhaustion & illness.
[from Poughkeepsie,
New York]
-Came up on the train this morning along the Hudson, & now am hitting
the ground running with running a tournament! How I miss this scene...
-Hand tab rules the day!
-As expected, the
balance of time is in tab & running the show, leaving little time to hang out or help prep the team. But this is
still a blast.
-Never hurts to triple up in a brief stint at poker.
[from New York
City]
-Got into Newark early this morning & ate at a nifty diner in the airport.
Barely caught our bags before they got hauled away, then met up with Drew near his place in the city after a train ride
in. All the travel on this trip has been pretty smooth after a close call on making the flight in the first place.
I forgot that Drew lived with Newman, but recalled quickly. Drew & I went out to lunch nearby & caught up
while Em napped. Drew is freer now than most people may ever be.
-Spent the rest of the day at the comedy club with
Drew & Clea, where Em & I were the only people in a crowd of 10 not performing stand-up (I almost went up there at
the end, not to be left out). While it was neat to see Drew & Clea perform, I was reminded mostly of why I hate
comedy. We then headed out to an Indian place & hung out with Clea before Greg picked us up at Drew's apartment
& drove us back to Riverdale. I finally have seen the inspiration behind "Eagle" Studios.
-The problem with this whole reaction to the shootings
is twofold: (1) The obsessive focus on the shooter has gotten in the way of ridiculing the theoretically sane president
of VT for not locking down the campus. (2) It's leading to another round of believing in pre-emption of the rights of
people who seem weird, sad, or "disturbed". I fear a time when anyone who writes a somewhat dark story or
poem or seems a little antisocial is suddenly thrown into a cell with forced medication. I'd really like there to be a
more full disclosure of the mental health's system interaction with this individual, because I bet it pushed him closer to
the edge.
-Mmm technical difficulties.
-Heading out to Nats around 1:00 in the morning, with stops before & after
in NYC. I'm extremely excited about the whole thing, getting to run a tournament, & the zillions of great people
who'll be there. Updates from the east coast most likely upon return to the west coast.
-So I sort of stopped keeping the migraine log after
2006, so I'll just say... ow.
-All the hype this year about Felix Hernandez is warranted, but I've been telling people
it's mitigated by the fact that Jeff Weaver is on the team. Jeff Weaver, I hate you. You & your 7 earned runs
per game. I haven't hated a Mariner like this since Ryan Franklin. But already, after two completely predictable
shellings, Jeff Weaver is the new Ryan Franklin. How many starts will it take to shelve him & call up Cha Baek from
AAA? That's the only hope we'll have of keeping first place this year.
-Taking another shot at this. If so inclined,
please Digg now our latest effort to spread the word about
OMBFP!
-At this point, I may end up archiving the whole Kurt Vonnegut era at once. Timing, eh?
-Timing
indeed.
-I don't know if anyone before today could've said what the largest shooting in US history was. But now
everyone will remember this one. Less than several daily death-tolls in Iraq, but still extremely sobering. Also,
it makes me extremely glad that we've practiced our lockdown policy at FYCC, though sad that a college president couldn't
figure out the same thing.
-It's good to have time.
-You can now get OMBFP merchandise! I'm very excited about this. I'm also excited
by how much easier the CafePress interface seems to use now than it did when I started... I think there will be a lot more
BP gear in just a little bit...
-"The Reaping" was about two-thirds of a good movie, then opted for shock-n-awe
rather than intellectual curiosity. So it goes.
-It's amazing what can be done by posting good content
in the comments of other peoples' blogs. The degree to which extreme outreach is possible these days is almost
unfathomable. The world is more disparate, but almost conquerable through this strange series of tubes.
-Don't look
now, but the M's are in first place!!
-Was a little weary at work yesterday, but still had
very little to do. I may never had a week like this again, but it was well-timed this time around. If this were
the norm, however, I don't think I'd like it much.
-The video is chugging along, though it seems I exaggerated the power
of Boing-Boing earlier. So it goes.
-Now I'm sleeping too much.
Happy Birthday to Colleen Garin
Happy
Birthday to Clea Wilson
-Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1922-2007). The passing of one of my
favorite authors of all-time was a sad shock. So we had no choice but to pull an all-nighter & compile a serious
video tribute to the legendary literary genius. Please Digg it & check it out here. You may just cry.
-PS: Our video is
already on the front page of Boing-Boing, the #1
blog in the world (according to Technorati). We win.
-I think half my time at work today will be some sort
of special event or celebration. This week is standing out as the calm before the summer. This may be the most
balanced job I've ever had with high-pressure & low-pressure times balancing to an average of 50. I like
it.
-So many emotions. I'm not sure anyone ever intends anything personally, but so much is taken that way.
-This week has been on cruise-control. No
complaints here.
-Gris & Anna joined us for some veggie posole, Giants baseball, & Puerto Rico to celebrate Em's
new job, which starts tomorrow. In case you haven't heard, she's going to be working for the California Labor Federation as their Public Policy Coordinator. This is just slightly
a big deal. I edged Em in Puerto Rico & Benitez nearly blew the Giants game.
-I don't think I'm doing my own
Tuesday Topic this week, but if you look here, you will see some
great responses.
-Back & not quite ready for work. Lots of
projects to catch up on, but it's nice to see how many people signed up for OMBFP while I was gone!
[from Atlanta]
-The post-reception foosball with the happy couple & others was also not to be missed.
-Mesco's
friends from bizzaro-Brandeis (we always joked about going to different schools given our vastly separate circles) are
actually pretty cool. Where were these people? Sadly we didn't take an AA or 'Deis photo, which we only would've
done to lampoon the concept.
-One last Waffle House, a quick stop by the Carter Library (actually going in this time),
& we're off! It's been a fantastic whirlwind trip, & remarkably relaxed given the tightness of time.
[from Atlanta]
-Ah, there's the jet lag.
-Congratulations to Mesco & Afsheen! Their wedding was tremendously
fun & a joy to watch. Many jokes were made by friends from all walks of Mesco's life about her not tripping,
falling over, or otherwise being off-balance during the ceremony. Though scheduled outdoors, we were mercifully
reshuffled inside, given the literally freezing weather (in April in Atlanta, setting record lows!). The reception
featured some beef council food (apparently Afsheen has fallen off the veggie-train), but otherwise fantastic accommodations,
including cupcakes, coffee, & some fun dancing. 'Twas also great to hang out with Lisha hours before her departure
for Malawi.
[from Atlanta]
-Somewhat tired after a red-eye into Atlanta filled with Spring Break revelers. We decided to drive
into SFO & park, which made everything exponentially easier. Finding a Waffle House after landing, however, was
about the hardest thing ever. You might think that finding a WH in Atlanta is roughly as easy as hitting water when
falling out of a boat. We have 45 minutes of frustration (followed by simply getting on the freeway east until we saw a
sign) that disagree. We did have the best service ever when we finally found one, though.
-Whale sharks! &
they even had a video of how UPS transported the whale sharks in 747's (for free in exchange for promotion). The
Georgia Aquarium proved vast & almost overwhelming (given how tired we were). But we took our time, made frequent
pauses, & saw the sea turtle, penguins, & of course the three whale sharks, who are just babies at 17-22 feet long
(on their way up to 40-60). We actually spent over an hour all told watching the whale sharks, including some time in
the amazing tunnel underneath the tank. Emily was completely enthralled with the leafy seadragons, tiny creatures who
look completely unreal & magical. One of the best aquariums ever, & I am becoming completely obsessed with
whale sharks!
-Stopped by CNN Center, but just didn't have the energy to do the tour (there was a 2-hour wait involved).
So... sleepy...
-Surreally, we are staying at the hotel complex where I last stayed in a hotel in Atlanta, some 11
years ago for the Emory debate tournament. I have been to Atlanta many times since, but always stayed with Jake or not
spent the night. This is really quite amazing. This is also where the wedding will be held tomorrow.
-Have I ever mentioned that I hate Digg? As in...
really hate Digg? You can read all about it here.
-I really should start eating lunch at
work at some point... but I get so engrossed in things like today's statistical report! Ah well, it's vacation
time!
-Exit Emily & I, stage Atlanta. There will be Waffle House, whale sharks on a plane, & the biggest day
of Mesco's life! Updates from Georgia upon return...
-It's OMBFP Virtual Rally time! You can help out
by clicking here & "digg"ing the
article (just click digg) about One Million Blogs for Peace. (You may need to register or sign in). Even
if you're not part of the movement, I would greatly appreciate your support in this effort to get the word out about the
project. We'll know in 24 hours whether this thing is about to really take off... only diggs cast today will really
make that difference.
-TMR has released yet another new video. This one remarkably takes the cake for weirdness.
It also, being predominantly Russ' project, is extremely Yankee-centric & involves one of those obscure songs that
only Russ would come up with. Regardless, it's still highly amusing & demonstrative of our increasing prowess at
that niche media that is clipshow-video. I love the interwebs.
-Had a tough day at work today. This took place two feet off of the
block where we're located. Much of the morning was tense as we dealt with the misinformation & rumor that was going
around about the identity of the victim... most of the early reports stated it was a teenager or even a younger child, which
turned out to prove the flaws of eyewitnesses, but at the time simply made us fear it was another of our clients. (A
four-year-old on a sidewalk was killed on his way to our Center last summer). Even though it proved not to be one of
our clients, it was a pretty overwhelming note to the day. We all walk these sidewalks five days a week, & we all
cross those streets constantly with green walk signals or even the flashing red hand. Any bus, any vehicle, could
miscue & take us away any time. There's a reason that "I could get hit by a bus tomorrow" is a cliche to
indicate the fragility of our residence on this planet. Coming face-to-face with it, seeing the body in the street, is
sobering.
-I don't even have a context for the news I just heard. I have a feeling this will dominate my thoughts
for a long while, once the shock wears off.
-Wrapped up a solitary weekend in Tracy last night with
most of Em's fam. We played Puerto Rico twice, after having the game & letting it sit on the shelf for roughly two
years. It's up to the massive hype surrounding the game, & everyone should start learning & playing it
posthaste! It's a quick one & a nerve-wracker, & I got worse from the first game to the next, after getting
beaten by a point the first time around. The rest of the assembled are going to Six Flags today while I work, but given
how much I goofed off this weekend, it all comes out in the wash.
-A solid day, easing back into another 4-day
week.
-I wanted to get a lot done this weekend. But I
settled for relaxing & bracing. In the end, I think it needed to happen this way. But sometimes I have a hard
time accepting myself.
-Or others.
-The US is going to have to work very hard to stay out
of a war with Iran at this point. I don't think they're up to the challenge. This is a somewhat daunting &
overwhelming reality to face.
-"Premonition" is solid. Well crafted.
Happy Birthday to Matt
McFeeley
-The calendar says March. But it's April already.
-'Twas nice to have
the day off, but it feels like the weekend is already slipping away rather quickly.
-I was reading over a 64-page draft of a disaster
response plan at work today when I ran across this sentence: "Establishing a routine helps to give us focus and
control over our lives." Like a thunderbolt, it struck me as completely absurd. I'm not sure there's
anything that I feel is less reflective of control over my life than the presence of routine in it. Routine is, in
fact, the embodiment of the absence of control. When a routine is established by others (most routine is), it
demonstrates obligation and the extent to which others dominate one's life. When a routine is established by oneself
(rare), it reflects ceding control over one's life to some sort of autopilot. Rather than letting our thought &
agency decide something, routine suppresses choice by making something automatic. This process innately stifles a
sense of freedom or control over one's actions and often leads to the terrifying thought that we are all merely observers on
a predestined freight train labeled as life. Are there really people out there who believe that routine gives us
control over our lives?!?
-Giants 4, Mariners 0. Was great to get to see the M's in San Francisco, but not
much else about this game was notable, other than fun times hanging out with Gris & Anna. Washburn looked like his
typical mediocrity in giving up 5 consecutive 2-out hits, but then settled down, only to yield another 2-out rally toward the
end of his outing. The game was also absurdly fast, lasting just over 2 hours. At least this one didn't count.
Season starts next week!!
-When I envisioned Emily's last day at PIRG, it somehow seemed much more joyous than this
one turned out to be. This might take a while.
-I would like to invite everyone to participate in
One Million Blogs for Peace's first Virtual Rally! All the details
are on the Virtual Rally page, but the basics are that we're trying to get on the front page of Digg in a week's time.
This will hopefully be the first of many such united online efforts, so stay tuned...
-Going to miss Miss Etta.
FYCC's institution, our receptionist of ~3 years (& a Glide employee for over 16), retires tomorrow. Her
goodbye party was today. & don't let the "Miss" fool you... she's a great-grandmother!
-A relatively breathable day.
-The OMBFP Tuesday
Topic this week is about convincing people to change their mind about the war. Though I love debating & am almost
obsessed with convincing people of things, I don't think I've directly changed anyone's mind. I feel like a lot of my
friends toughen & brace their stands on political issues when discussing them with me, in part so we have a fiery debate
& in part just to fend me off (or perhaps because they think I'm so crazy). Regardless, my hope is that I've
indirectly changed a lot of minds through media like "Duck & Cover" or some of the subtext of some of the
quizzes. It seems unlikely that there's been a huge impact in this manner, but I get the feeling these days that minds
are better changed under the radar than over the top. Like many of my friends, I think people toughen their opinion
once it's formed & spend more time fending off than listening in a discussion of issues. I'm sure I do this as well
(it's hard to be a good LO in parliamentary debate without an ability to do this easily). So it's going to be on the
margins of subtlety that hearts & minds are changed... where people start turning their opinion when they aren't thinking
in an opinionated way, or even a mindset where opinion is relevant. This is starting to sound sneaky, & that's
close to coercion, which is not a viable way of changing minds. So I don't have the answer of how this is going to
work. It's probably why I asked the question in the first place.
-I actually woke up at 1:55 this morning, ready to
face the day. It was one of the oddest moves my sleep cycle has made in a long time. I chose to reject the offer
& return for a couple more hours, which featured the plot of a potential sci-fi book called The Keyper, wherein
time is controlled by a series of doors. It was going to be brilliant in the dream, but what I've pieced together since
is only moderately interesting, so far.
-Our new receptionist is in & seems ready to learn quickly & take over
some work! Very exciting news on the get-head-above-water front.
-Today could've been handled better, but at the same
time I needed some sort of reset-button of relative seclusion & inactivity. There were plans here & there, but
mostly we had to solidify Em's long-term plan & get me feeling like I was not going to get plowed this coming week.
We'll find out.
-Maybe there's a reason to believe.
-Played some
excellent tennis with Fish, Gris, Anna, & Em, though the last of these wasn't feeling so great for much of the time.
Then we returned for some Oh Hell, which Gris nipped me in on the very last of twenty hands when we were tied going
into it. Almost a Barton-Winona State worthy comeback.
-Tom, get your plane ride on time.
-If you do
nothing else in a movie theater this spring, go see "Reign Over Me". Phenomenal cinema. One of the most
emotionally honest movies that I can remember. It just rings true. But maybe, also, because I see myself in this
film.
-I've gotten into the strange & difficult habit of
late of believing my dreams more than reality in the early morning hours. I have been having many somewhat stressful
dreams about work or other life situations where I must urgently do or work on something. When the alarm goes off &
I am exhorted to get up, I have literally explained to myself (& almost attempted to explain to Emily) that it is
important for me to get back to sleep in order to finish the work I was doing or problem I was solving in my dream
reality. Of course, I really need to wake up fully & realize that whatever I'm worried about in the dream isn't
a worry at all, because it isn't real. I was extremely relieved to make this realization this morning, but it came
nearly half an hour after first returning to sleep to wrestle with this fake problem, & diving back into sleep
repeatedly.
-Another long slog, with seven minutes outside of the building, but getting a great deal done. If
anything ever gets to me here, it's going to be internal politics. But even those aren't going to be too bad just
yet.
-Pure exhaustion.
-Attended an epic groundbreaking for the two new
housing buildings that Glide is building today. It was my first time in-person to see the mayor, & I'm not sure
I've ever seen so much media gathered in the same location. I must admit slight disappointment, however, that it was
not the actual first breaking of ground, as there was already a good big of digging underway. Nevertheless, it
definitely felt like being part of something truly great to be there. It also made me think about how long two years
(the estimated building time) really is.
-Mmmm... green chile....
-Some ridiculously exciting basketball game finishes,
but I continue to be annoyed by Ohio State's death-defying antics. At least Kansas is in. & the teams I
really like play tomorrow.
-Congratulations to Gris & Anna for getting into local schools & deciding (in all
foreseeable likelihood) to stay by the Bay!
-Enter Fish, stage Chicago via Sacramento. Going
to be fun to have him around for a bit... seems like old times!
-Definitely liking how quickly the Blogs for Peace are
ramping up & getting involved.
-It's good that people are looking out for me. I often have the inclination to
fight off people trying to protect me, especially when it's from getting overwhelmed, but in the end I know they're right (or
close to it) & I appreciate it.
-Went to the only Eritrean restaurant with a Miss Pac-Man table that I've ever seen.
The food was solid, but the Miss Pac-Man was stellar. Vests were not lost.
-I am extremely pleased to announce the official
launch of One Million Blogs for Peace! Please note the addition of Tuesday Topics, a weekly blog post prompt designed to provoke thought & discussion around
the concepts relating to the War. 217 blogs are on board already... just 999,783 to go!
-I don't know if I'm going
to get in the habit of posting my own responses to the Tuesday Topics here or not, but I can refer people to my posts from March 2003 for context on how I felt at the war's outset. Needless to say, it's
been bothering me for a long time.
-One Million Blogs for Peace
launches at midnight... get in on the Inblogural train before it leaves the station!
-So many meetings, so little time to
actually get the rest of the work done!
-My last trip to Pismo wrapped up with an epic poker
tournament where I exited in the second (!) hand, losing with an ace-high flush to a straight flush. The man knocking
me out played 6-8 of spades to a raise & hit a 7 & 9 on the flop, with a 5 on the turn. I even asked him to
"show me your straight flush" at the showdown. Needless to say, I didn't really expect him to. But I of
course stuck around to run the commentary & deal as the 15 players were whittled to the same champion from last
year.
-If I could erase today, I would.
[from Oceano,
California]
-Came down here with board games late last night, to the longest-running
game of Settlers on record (we almost eliminated everyone from contention by running through the development cards &
blocking routes). Today, there was basketball, featuring (as usual) more people & less time than expected.
Though we had very well-matched teams that ran 6-on-6 three times. We lost the two out of three, but I got hot
the third game. As always, I yearn for basketball on a regular basis.
-Following one's own principles is sometimes the most
difficult & important thing we can do in life. Here I try.
-I need a pause button.
-Stayed two hours over at
work to complete a grant submission of vital importance, electronically & hours before deadline. I know that all of
you who accept exempt positions will scoff, but I was not designed to work for ten straight hours with no food & no
break. Don't tell HR. But we got it all done. The drama that preceded it... there's nothing to be done
about that. But it's the reason for the delay.
-Maybe I should start taking lunch a little more
seriously.
-I can't believe how quickly days are moving these days. With age, the shortening of the years is
starting to reach a critical mass. I'm almost glad when time seems to go by slowly even if it's dull or I feel like I
want to be doing something else, because at least these are minutes I can cling to that still feel like minutes, not blippy
seconds shooting past me.
-NCAA tourney starts tomorrow, which is quite exciting, then Pismo over the weekend, with the
launch of OMBFP on Tuesday. With two big trips in April, which is surprisingly soon. Woo-hoo-woo-hoo-hoo.
-Seven solid years of Introspection. I don't
know if I could've predicted this. I'm glad I didn't think about it too much before diving into the project.
-So
Russ, Greg, & I have packaged another of my ideas into a viral video on YouTube... this one makes fun of Vonage. Check it out!
-Jake made an NCAA pool in
Facebook & now it's become the week of Storey getting roped into online networking sites ad absurdum. So if
you take that seriously (at least it isn't designed as poorly as MySpace), you can find me there too.
-Came back exhausted last night, with no downtime to
plow into the week.
-Massive day at work, where I barely had time to breathe during 8 straight hours. When one has
3 open positions & is responsible for coordinating the calls & interviews for them all, on top of normal duties, it
can get a little hectic. Especially since we're trying to move almost overnight on all of them. But I really
enjoy days like today, where I never quite get buried but am crazy-busy the whole time. Fun. Hopefully by the end
of the week, we'll be close to getting some new people to work with.
[from Clovis,
California]
-Came down here yesterday, hung out with Em's grandmother for her 96th
birthday celebration, & had a really amazing few moments as she watched digitized video of her from about a half-century
ago that Paul has saved from 8mm reels. Back at the ranch, everyone seemed distracted & unmotivated, so I watched
Oregon dismantle USC in the Pac-10 Championship (one of the coolest basketball games I've seen in a long time), proving to me
not only that the Ducks are great, but that they will win the national title this year. Em & I went to the Old
Spaghetti Factory while the rest of the fam went to a 1-year-old's birthday party for stark contrast to the 96-year-old's.
We eventually got in a board game with Paul (Railroad Tycoon, which I am becoming addicted to), lasting long into the
night.
-Today we had more Railroad Tycoon after some running around with the kids. Paul V is growing up fast, which
is good to see.
-We are all the stars in our own murder mystery.
I think that's a remarkable amount of what keeps life interesting... & keeps people fearful & apprehensive.
If we knew the culprit & could estimate the time of death, we'd all be a lot more focused... or a little less
engaged.
-Exit us, for 36 hours in Fresno...
-Today was just a day fading into another. Though
my patience is starting to fade with a certain pertinent subject on the nature of change & its timing. Suffice it
to say that there are certain things I don't feel I can discuss anymore without just going crazy.
-But I'll keep talking
about them anyway, won't I?
-Conducting interviews full-scale for the first time,
starting today. I'm not on my own (& will in fact be flanked by two co-workers), but the person in this position
will be taking over about a third of my current responsibilities, so it's a pretty big deal that we get someone competent.
Is it weird to feel nervous going into running the interviews?
-The emotional three bears.
-Maybe I've really made a place for myself here.
The idea of progress & positive change is always quite heartening to me. & frankly, I have to accept the
fact that I'm going to wind up leading or spearheading anything that I ever become involved in, period. I've resisted
this at times in the past because it can get overwhelming, but embracing it is much better.
-So many places to possibly
crack through... patience is a key challenge of life.
Happy Birthday to Thelma
Garin
-So many people have been asking me about the earthquake from a few days back...
they really feel routine very quickly. It felt a lot less severe than the smaller one in December (or was it January?).
The only thing is that when it first hits, you don't know if it's going to be a 9.1 or a 2.5.
-My discipline is
waning again. But these are the undulations of life, & in two weeks things are going to really keep me
focused.
-So I have jumped on the Uglytown Train that is MySpace. I actually got an account a while back for no
particular reason (& Drew found it), but now I'm going to take it (a little bit) seriously as an outreach tool for One Million Blogs for Peace. There's just no other good way to get through to all of the zillions of
people using MySpace Blogs, horrifically formatted though they may be. We need these people, so I am now there.
If you take MySpace seriously, feel free to drop a line my
way.
-Things are quite relaxed at work these days, though we
have some staffing to take care of before we settle back too far. Just storing up reserves of energy for the summer.
Like Seneca, we're really on a schedule to counterbalance the school year.
-I spent some of today considering (just
a little) getting into the stock market game, even though this is clearly a weird time to do so (& I've always been
skeptical of late of the economic bubble the US is perched upon). The fascination I have with this is clearly directly
related to my fascination with poker... the market is alluring for the same reasons, & probably even less of a sure bet.
But I'm not sure one can play the market game & try to avoid truly evil companies (& frankly, all the
corporations are evil), so I'd have to get over that aversion to play it properly. I don't know how I feel about that,
but probably not so hot. This is what I get for playing less poker.
-I continue to be pretty out of it, left over from my
tiredness yesterday. I certainly remember competing being this exhausting, but maybe it's the whole atmosphere of
debate. Not feeling particularly well, either, though...
-Played a little tennis & realized how completely busy
we're going to be for the next few weekends. Whoa.
Happy Birthday to Alisha Creel
Happy
Birthday to Martin Clayton
-Saw a couple interesting rounds last night, but was insanely
tired on the way back up from Palo Alto. Today things look blustery & nice, some of my favorite weather, & I'm
looking forward to a full day of good debate. Stanford's a small tourney this year (27 teams) & 'Deis had budget
issues & was unable to make it, but it's still fun, especially since we have a trifecta of old-timers including Zimmy
& Joel Jacobs.
-Stanford wound up being fun, though a little disappointing to not have the team there. I sat out
judging the final round to be able to give a floor-speech, but the round was such a farce by itself that no floor speeches
came to mind, especially funny ones. We went out to a shmancy place afterwards with the Stanford team & the Harvard
dinos who showed up, which was quite enjoyable. Now I'm just wiped out tired.
Happy Birthday to Anna
Geer
-Today will mark the first time since 2003 that I have tried to judge at the
Stanford tournament on the same day as working in an office. & that time didn't even work out, because of the
hitting of Em's old Ford Probe. I anticipate being a bit more tired than usual, but I'm excited about my first contact
with debate since Nats last year!
-Yesterday, leaving work, I couldn't believe that today
was going to be Friday already. Today, however, I almost can't believe that it's not the weekend already. But it
was roundly productive.
-Today was a very good day for OMBFP. Virality finally starting to take
hold...
-The way this week is unfolding, it's impossible
for me to predict what's going to happen or how I'm going to feel. Volatility. That's all I can imagine.
Change is the only constant.
-I guess video games are quite a constant as well.
-Turns out March officially begins today.
-The
landslide in SF was about a block & half from Em's office. Everything was fine & her office was unaffected.
Her SF workplaces still seem to be magnet for news & activity.
-Finally tore up my office sufficiently to get it
in working order. I moved some large objects (oversized file cabinet) that I had no business moving by myself, but so
it goes. I didn't injure my back & I can finally stop worrying about being buried in loose rubble in case of an
earthquake. This is a nice improvement & will make me feel like there's nothing hanging over my head... y'know,
literally.
-Walking through the rain today was somehow not quite as comforting as a few days back. Especially when
the rain was hail. But despite the cold, it was nice to examine how extreme weather impacts other walkers & feel a
certain camaraderie.
-The whole situation with our network at work is
starting to drive me nuts. They got e-mail & internet working after not too long, but then there was a struggle
with us actually getting documents from the server. This struggle lasted all day & required me skipping lunch to
attend to people whose computers were failing in one way or another. The problems were like intelligent diseases,
staying one or two steps ahead of anyone's ability to fix them. & everyone was getting frustrated, testy, &
strange.
-Today is just a terrible today. That... & I might need to talk to someone about my eating habits.
Crying in restaurants we frequent is not the best precedent ever.
-Perhaps the earliest fantasy baseball draft in
history turned out to be one of the best. I feel like I actually carried off what I intended to do, which is always
difficult.
-Re-enter Em! While she didn't love Santa Barbara, she won't have to return for a good long while.
-New graphic up top. I haven't gotten as much
done today as in the past few days, but I've been relaxing & I'll take it. Plus, I've still been having much more
productive weekends than in a long time prior. Lots of excitement seems to be the ongoing theme. Larger tasks,
like archiving this page or updating the horrendously backlogged QFG answers, still remain ahead.
-"The Number
23" was somewhat okay & somewhat disappointing. The remarkable thing was that the movie pretty much managed to
never be creepy, which a stunning accomplishment given that this was seemingly the whole point of the movie. A great
number of the things which were supposed to be scary evoked laughs, & while there was raw suspense at moments, it was
never ever spooky. As a big fan of moods in movies, having seen many films that expertly control the mood in this
genre, I was amazed at how much this one missed the mark. At the same time, the movie is not without point or
substance. It's just not creepy or spooky as you might hope.
-The downpour I walked in on the way back was one of
the most satisying rain-walking experiences I've ever had. I had anticipated it correctly, so I was suited up with hat
& parka, & thus was able to enjoy being in the downpour without actually getting soaked. If I lived in Seattle,
I would do that all the time.
-Today at work, our network was down for about 5 of
the 8 hours. This gave me an "opportunity" to clean out my office, which houses untouched files dating back
to 2000, from residents of the office several moves removed. I made a remarkable amount of progress, though it wasn't
quite what I was expecting when I went in to work today. I have been saying for months, however, that I don't have time
to work on it, so I said I needed time & I had time.
-While going to lunch, I was doing my usual routine of not making
eye-contact with anyone (it's just not a rewarding process). I instead made eye-contact with a large pile of human
waste. It actually took me about five full seconds to realize what it was because it was so strange to see in the
context of a regular sidewalk. This is life in the Tenderloin.
-I just lit a pilot light for the first time in my
life! They're remarkably easy (or at least ours is) & I feel a little sheepish for ever shivering while waiting for
a technician's schedule. Though natural gas is one of those strangely commanding things that has a magical intimidation
about it, so I think that's most of why people wait for the pros. It's silent, deadly, can heat, can cook, is almost
undetectable... it's the stuff of legend. It's a little creepy to think how much we let it into our homes. But
now I'm warm & very glad it's there.
-Exit Em, stage Santa Barbara. I haven't been
able to stop saying "You'll love Santa Barbara!" in the sarcastic circa-1993 tone all week.
-This is the most
relaxed time of the year at work... after the winter holidays, but before summer. There's still plenty to do,
especially when I have to get the Current (our newsletter of 9 months that I started) out, but it's nice to have a
slightly less hectic pace. & one of my co-workers today said she felt bad for how many different things I have to
cover & how much I have to do. I flatly told her that after Seneca, there is no such thing as stress in my
life.
-Must... spread... word... One Million Blogs for Peace!
-I am really impressed by the outpouring of calls
& e-mails yesterday. I think it was some sort of record. So even if everyone flees the Bay, no one's going
that far. Thanks, everybody!
27
-I recognize that I'm an extremely picky eater. Vegetarianism alone is picky enough to utterly baffle
many people, but throw on top of that my tastebuds, & it's something that is understandably incomprehensible to the
average palate. Even if I didn't believe this myself, I have had years of friends making profuse fun of me, being
stunned by my proclivities, & just generally reacting to my opinion on food that has convinced me this is so. &
thus I try to live such that no one is ever in a position of having to adjust to (or anticipate) my tastes. I never
want anyone to cook for me. I like eating out, & strive to eat out every single meal. If this is impossible,
I try to have something simple & prepared that I can eat while others (like Emily's family) eat whatever they like to
eat. & under no circumstances will I let someone get food for me without a detailed, written list of instructions
& constant exhortations that it would be better & easier for me to just get something myself. But my boss
continually insists on trying to be in a position of procuring food for me. I understand why he does it & that it's
intended as a nice gesture. He's managerial by the book & management says that you periodically buy meals for
people, especially if you find out it's their birthday. Now this would all be well & good if I hadn't had an
extensive discussion with him the last time he tried to buy me lunch about just how picky an eater I am. About
how no one can anticipate my tastes & for that reason I was insisting on picking up the food instead of him going,
because someone's guaranteed to end up with something I find inedible if they try to order for me. I went into vast
detail about how fickle & unpredictable (to others) my tastebuds can be. But today, he insists on going, which is
somewhat fine, because he goes with written details about exactly what I order from a particular restaurant. But no one
could've anticipated that the restaurant would be out of falafel, & thus he returns with something laced with onions
(removable) & drenched with mayonnaise & mustard (irremovable). I don't think any of my regular readers will
need full-scale reminders of how many layers above most other deathly foods mayo is, for historical reasons. Suffice it
to say that I ended up eating roughly the middle 30% of this "lunch" (& the bag of chips) & feel both
hungry & unappreciated. I understand that it isn't his fault & in fact I should feel loved & appreciated by
this circumstance. But how can I convince people that really, under no circumstances, in any case imaginable, should
they ever attempt to buy food for me?
-Despite the issues above, I'm pretty happy overall this birthday. I always
seem to celebrate my New Year more around my birthday... it's close to the actual New Year & it always seems like the
best time to take stock of everything & sort out where things are headed. For the first birthday in a while, I'm in
a really good place. It doesn't hurt that my projects are where I want them to be, coming fast & furious. I
like my job, which I've had issues doing the last two birthdays. I'm getting comfortable with getting older &
things being on a wider trajectory. Getting. But overall, things are looking up & I don't have to spend my
whole turning of the year berating myself for things undone. Twenty-seven is looking like a good number to me.
-Basically celebrated my birthday today, with a
round of Ticket to Ride (I got shellacked), bowling (did much better), & dinner at Au Coquelet. Gris, Anna, &
Zimmy joined Emily & myself for the fun, & it occurred to me that all of my friends, already dwindling in this area,
could be gone by this time next year (or even earlier), as they are all applying to schools. Little makes me so
thankful in this world as the idea that I don't ever have to attend school again in my life. But little makes me so sad
as the idea that everyone is leaving the Bay. Regardless, we had one of the great debates, predominantly on the issue
of equating Israel's political behavior as a nation-state with the history of the Jews as a people. Zimmy, like so many
Brandeisians, is extremely left-wing on all non-Israeli issues, & to the right of Genghis Khan on all things Israel.
It makes for fun arguments.
-Slowly getting people signed up for One Million Blogs for Peace. Have you signed up yet?
-Just in case you didn't think I've put up
enough new content in the last 24 hours, the Blue Pyramid has just undergone its most comprehensive redesign
in history, to celebrate being around for five full years. Check it out & let me know what you think! The
rollover effects seem to take a little bit of time to load, but otherwise I'm pretty pleased with the result.
-The 1-31-07
ATHF/Boston video doesn't quite seem to have fallen off the radar yet, either. We made it to this article in the Boston Globe today.
We get a full paragraph on the second page of the article, buried underneath some other videos, but noted all the
same.
-Alexa has revamped their format & now tells me
(among other things) that I have the 3,493rd most popular site in Cuba. This makes me pretty happy. I wonder if
Fidel has taken the Country Quiz.
-I do wonder about their accuracy, however, because Sweden ranks high, while Finland
doesn't rank at all. & I have concrete proof through my scientific stat-trackers (Alexa is always a ballpark
estimation effort) that Finland should be way up there.
-I've updated the Exports page to shun some award-winning blogs to
Italics Purgatory & bring back Beth, who is back with a new blog!
-I am
very proud to announce the newest BP project: One Million Blogs for Peace! You can read all about
it there, but the basic idea is to get 1,000,000 bloggers united in a common movement against the Iraq War during the
upcoming fifth year of said conflict. It's ambitious, peace-oriented, & it's going to be a lot of fun. I will
also be running a separate, more traditional blog about the movement as it unfolds. I am very
excited about where this could go. In the meantime, please sign-up (if you agree) & tell everyone you know!
-Oh my goodness, they cheat at NASCAR?!
Next you're going to tell me that wrestling is fixed!
-I think a big part of the reason I'm never quite caught up
with all my website projects (QFG's answers, for example, have lapsed for months & the Search of the Week is not far
behind) is that I keep coming up with new ones. & now is no exception. Stay tuned for the upcoming launch of
perhaps the most exciting project yet. It's the things I can't stop getting excited about that really get fast-tracked,
as though my entire being suddenly united under a common will. This is going to be great.
Happy Birthday to J. Ariela
Maruri
-Woke up feeling a little sick this morning, but I think I've got it out of my
system. I haven't had a smoothie in 48 hours & this is my colossal fear with these things... that once your system
gets used to having those boosts, not having them will immediately throw your body into disrepair & illness. I'm
relieved that I don't think I'm actually sick, but worried that my main thought is to make sure to have a smoothie today to
throw things back into balance. Mmmm de facto addiction.
-Apparently the snow just doesn't stop in
Nuevo!
-I was prepared to post here about how the internet had solved the troubles with my scanner, because it recommended
I clean the glass & this led to back-to-back flawless scans (which hadn't happened in a long time). But this
morning, it failed again. Now I must admit that there was some mention on one of the forums about disassembling my
scanner into microscopic component pieces, cleaning each of them, & then reassembling it to functionality.
I don't know if I'm up for all that. For the record, it also makes no sense that the scanner can tell the
difference between imagery it scans & specks of dirt.
-I actually missed a train today... by about 30 seconds. I
think it's the first time I've been close but just plain missed it.
-The Mexicali Rose was giving out roses with dinner
tonight. I was stunned by the number of other people who chose that for their Valentine meal. It was just nice to
have Em in town for the day for the first time in our marriage.
-I don't think I have any friends who spend a ton
of time in Idaho, so it's probably a bit much to ask if this
article showed up in the print edition of the Idaho Statesman as well. But I'll take it... the Media section could
use the love.
-I'm not one of those folks who post a bunch of shuffle playlists, especially those going on for pages
(though any post would beat the post-rates of a lot of you folks out there... ahem), but this one I was offered by
Em's iTunes account was particularly interesting to me today... "Father of Mine" (Everclear), "Independence
Day" (Ani), "The Swing" (Everclear), & "Feelin' Groovy" (S&G). Basically a 4-song tour
through bitterness, detachment, reconciliation, & resolution. Not really relevant to today or earth-shattering, but
still an interesting musical jaunt. The patterns broke down thereafter, but these were the first four tunes it
offered.
-Uh, are we really still "searching for a motive" as to why a teenager would be shooting up a card
store two days before Valentine's Day? Really? I'd like to solve the puzzle. What is love?
-Thus embarks the last full week of me being 26.
I've been on a campaign to get myself used to being even older, so I've actually internalized it pretty well. The
number doesn't sound horrific, but I think that's mostly an aesthetic favoritism of sevens over sixes. I have a good
feeling about this year approaching, but it may be unfounded.
-Change is the only constant.
-We made up a to-do list for today & got a
startling amount done, though still way less that we'd hoped. Unfortunately, some of the most vital elements (tickets
for our two April jaunts east) are still unaccomplished. I did manage to get the APDA
Nationals 2007 site up, in the rose & gray of Vassar College. It's going to be a fun time, & hopefully I
can learn enough about modern APDA to properly assign judges & avoid the problems of yesteryear.
-Also on the debate
front, congratulations to 'Deis for breaking three teams at BU & Mark & Joel for making finals! I haven't heard
about the tournament from anyone directly yet, but I have this funny feeling that they flipped Gov & ran something
outrageously fun. Load up those Brandeis teams so I can see everyone this April!
-"Bobby" is a really disappointing
prelude to a great final 15-20 minutes. The movie feels nothing like 1968 & is filled with trite portrayals of
mostly bad people, right up till a closing scene that's incredibly well done & very '68. Bizarre. If you can,
watch a documentary of the year right before the last section of the film, instead of the rest of the film.
-Unfortunately, "Why am I here?" isn't
quite appropriate for a question for a question card at a big conference. I really would've enjoyed debating in that
hall though. & we mercifully were able to leave early, so it all ended well.
-It baffles me how much people are
willing to pay for parking in the city of San Francisco. After hearing a little about LA & NY rents, though, this
area still feels cheap.
-I can only be responsible for things that I know about.
-We pulled our Site Visit off like a charm &
with everything I knew about in on time. I was pretty proud to be representing FYCC today.
-More talk, less action! Or at least more
talk.
-A new idea that feels like a breakthrough: we need to do to drugs (alcohol, tobacco, psychotropics, & the
things this society actually terms "drugs") the same thing that has been done to racism, sexism, & so forth.
It is not illegal to be racist. It is illegal to deny jobs or housing on the basis, but the mere fact of being
racist is not a crime. When Michael Richards went on his insane racist tirade, no one came to lock him up. He was
not even brought before a judge on a community-service-yielding racism misdemeanor. For years, I have struggled with
the problems inherent to illegalizing any drugs & the disaster that was Prohibition in the face of the clear &
pressing need to deter & drastically reduce drug use to salvage humanity. This feels like the solution I have so
long looked for... to simply make it socially unacceptable. Create coalitions, hold marches, protests, rallies, provide
evidence of the insanity of mind-altering substances everywhere. I am now officially in favor of legalizing all drugs
& implementing the same tactics used to quell racism & sexism. I feel like a very small pilot of this has been
conducted with tobacco with remarkable evidence of its success. Strengthening that & implementing it on a universal
scale might just do the trick.
-The State Quiz was often fabled to check IP addresses rather than actually follow the path
of the quiz's questions. That's how accurate it can be. But this is the first documented case of the
same theory being applied to the 2008 Presidential Ticket Quiz!
-I got hit in the back with the Routine Stick this
morning, with it occurring to me how staid my weeks are in many ways. Any amount of predictability grates on me pretty
quickly, even if it's good predictability. I love my job, but I would do a lot to shake up routines like having to eat
& even commute. I can understand why my boss has declared Thursdays his work-from-home days. It's really at
the basic level, though... the showering & meals & such... where I start to feel like a robot. Oh look, I'm
just a food processor! There's really no way around things like that on this planet, & they have the slightly
positive impact of making me want to go jump into the middle of something unprecedented. Maybe I'm just bummed that our
video seems to have run its course. A lot more than 20,000 people would enjoy it, but so it goes...
-It is important
to always be reading a book which one enjoys, at least when commuting. Sometimes trying to slog through a borderline
book can make the train twice as long, or even actively annoying. Sailing through a well-written tome will make the
trip a destination of its own. At least when one gets a seat... which has been a challenge in recent mornings since
they've chopped a car from my regular route.
-Back from Fresno after the classic late night drive
up after the SuperBowl. It's hard to care about teams like Chicago & Indianapolis, but I liked the Blockbuster
commercial with the rabb