On the Orient, North
(10-19 August 2002)

19 August 2002
[from Clovis, California]
-My resume doesn't look so bad, especially given what I'm looking for.
-A heavy day.

18 August 2002
[from Clovis, California]
-Any news is good news.
-How many more "breakthroughs" must I make on American Dream On before I actually fully write the darn thing?
-Lifetime personal record for Ms. Pac-Man tonight, at Blackbeard's, a mingolf place with an arcade.

17 August 2002
[from Clovis, California]
-Spiders.
-Riding around on the model trains at Bitter Creek Western Railroad was about the most fun I've had in some time.  I said before that Em's Dad gets to play with trains for a living (& build them... see for details), but I definitely got to just play today!  So much fun to ride - just like Disneyland on a one (long) ride loop... free.
-It still seems like a very big family.

16 August 2002
[from Clovis, California]
-After spending the night in Needles, the last vestige of civilization from the AZ/CA border to Barstow, we had to forgo LA for the time being & head up here.  Met the last of the Garin love interests (Em's younger sister, Holly's boyfriend) & saw all the old crew.  Em's niece (Megan) has converted from a baby to a little kid.  Or small child as I should say, since I hated being called a kid just after her age.  At that time, I was equally shy to her too.

15 August 2002
[from Flagstaff]
-Finally got outta town with Dad's computer & errands completed to the best of their ability.  REI's wares were quite disappointing, so Em is sadly still hatless.  The road out here featured five-minute lateness at opportunities to see buffalo & petrified wood goods.  But we made good time.
-Em likes Flagstaff in all its funky glory after all.  Dinner at the Grand Canyon Cafe wasn't quite Martan's, but green chile omelettes will be missed.

14 August 2002
[from Albuquerque]
-Clayton/Garin def. Kunkel/Pettersson 2820-400 (2-0 [2-0, 2-0]).  We had posted 1860 unanswered points before they got on the board, & Kunx himself described this as a "drubbing".  This all happened last night, when I saw Kunx for the first time in a solid year & Eliaii for the first time since last winter.  'Twas fun, & now it's just about time to move on, maybe to not see DK till NEXT summer.
-Luke's got some humorous commentary on names (see his link from BP People), including a very astute observation about Sacagawea.  I guess Ariela (sadly, only one "l", contrary to Luke's I'm sure inadvertant misrepresentation) finally let him know her feelings on her name, which sadly (again) isn't her real name, but her middle name that she pawns off as her real name.  Ah well.  I remember I felt robbed when I discovered this fact.  Also, Luke's right... I do sort of like the nickname "Historicus" as oddly representative of me in a way that my true name may not fully convey.  Not that I necessarily want everyone calling me that, as it is orally unwieldly.

13 August 2002
[from Albuquerque]
-Eastern Washington University Press wins the prize for best publishing house ever (so far) for their receipt of manuscript confirmation note.  Hopefully, as they say, there will be "detail as soon as possible".  But this beats the pants off of Random House.
-I know no one will believe this, but last night marked the 4th (fourth) bowling episode in 1 (one) week.  I was bad, but so was everyone, to a degree.  Still fun, though, & I'm beginning to feel that Albuquerque is slipping from me already with one day to go.  I hope Kunx will be in town later today & I need to hang out with Eliaii as well (hopefully at the same time).  The number of other things I have to do seems monumental as well.
-I'm beginning to believe that I don't see eye-to-eye with a certain apartment in NYC.  But this time, Lauren (linked from BP People above) is less personally & more argumentatively disagreeing.  I won't go into point-by-point response (I think that what one believes going into this debate is what one will tend to take out of it), but I will expand on the arrogance point for fear of it being misunderstood.  The following quote from a page Lauren links to:  "we should proceed with the assumption that it is the destiny of the biomass of Earth to spread life to the rest of the galaxy with Homo Sapien engineering as an enabler" strikes me as arrogant, not of any one given person, but of humanity in general.  I'm not accusing the author of the article to be arrogant or Lauren or anyone else who believes as they do, but that those people represent a view that is arrogant on humanity's behalf... that we're IT in some way in the universe.  In my opinion, the capacity of humans to understand the universe at large is so minimal that to make any sweeping scientific conclusion that would apply to any realm outside our solar system would be nonsense.  The assumption that what we see from here equals what is universal truth everywhere (i.e. that science here is science EVERYwhere) seems irrational, especially in light of our admittedly quite rudimentary understanding of even local science, which changes its mind daily.  I also have real qualms with the randomness of sentience from a scientific perspective, that discovering rationality is somehow a lucky break, &, so the corresponding implication goes, there is no meaning in anything, because it's all just random.  I think that's what really bothers me about this view... it says that most of the time, we create meaning where there is none.  She (the author, not Lauren) says our desire for meaning is derived directly from our need to survive, but fails to explain why we have sentient thought & the vast other fauna classified as "prey" are considered irrational, & do not seek meaning.  Finally, while some things said in the article about stats are fine, the #2 example from Lauren's page (about the two dead twins in Norway) illustrates my problems:  how can it POSSIBLY be an irrelevant fact that the two dead elderly men were twins with a history of (alleged, if you must) intuitive links?  You might as well say the statistically relevant question is:  "What are the odds that two people die on Earth on any given day?" & run with that.  But I join Lauren in encouraging folks to read the article, if only to generate thought on what we both (clearly) find to be an interesting issue.
-Em's job interview later today.  Wish her luck.
-Speaking of Em, we're getting married in exactly 11 months.  13 July 2003.  Save the date.

12 August 2002
[from Albuquerque]
-The Archive (linked above) has been completely overhauled & made much more user-friendly.  This goes with the 6 new archive pages that have been created.  So this whole experience has been streamlined for your reading pleasure.  Check it out if you like.
-Many errands to run & things to do... & I only have about 36 hours left 'round here till it's all California all the time.

11 August 2002
[from Albuquerque]
-Dubious article from the NY Times Mag (my parents get the Sunday times here), regarding coincidence vs. meaning issues.  Though they frame it in a conspiracy context.  Lisa Belkin is part of the arrogant faction of humanity that believes that humanity is the only intelligent/rational entity in the universe.  Silly people.  How irrationally selfish is it to think that humans are the result of random chance & represent the greatest extension of critical thought in history?  Bleh.  I don't see how that's seen as the "scientific" view by so many.  The article is littered with straw men & unconvincing counters to the good arguments there are.  Also, if she represents statistics the way statisticians actually see them, then stats is some kind of busted science.  Maybe I can track down the link to this article online so you can all have some idea what I'm talking about.
-I knew this was going to happen eventually.  A matter of time.  Nothing in life is altogether easy.  But I'm sure it will be weathered.
-I need to archive.  Badly.  I think 72 days on the page at once may be a record.
-Gris got in & we bowled yet again, giving me a 453 series, though that meant a losing 3rd game after twin 164's in the first 2 games.  It did feature dueling whistlers, however, so I guess it's all worth it.  Also, on a 3-2 (2-1 bowling/1-1 Ms. Pac-Man) decision, I am morally better than Gris.  Even if he is moksha.  Also, Em's getting much much better at bowling, though she didn't top her personal-high 157 from a few days back.

10 August 2002
[from Albuquerque]
-Better & worse.
-I miss slideshows.  I didn't miss having headaches, however.
-Mesco tells me "Not to say your website isn't cool, but you're less cryptic & less green!"  I suppose she's right, but only just.

Introspection, My Worst Friend* (Current)
Ye Olde Archive (Past)
The Blue Pyramid (Source)

Tell me this is not the end...*


*-lyrics from an as-yet unreleased song, "The Same Old Frontiers", by SWClayton.