An Answer to a Burning Question on American Airport Security
That's right, Intellectual Poison is breaking the story (as reported by SFGate).
What do security people do with the stuff they confiscate from travellers? That is, after they've thoroughly ruined the traveler's day and emotionally scarred him forever.
Why, they auction it all on on Ebay! Don't believe me? Read the story here. Although there is no direct link to airport security confiscation auctions, I think you can just do a search on that and you'll find them all. Or maybe not.
That's right, Intellectual Poison is breaking the story (as reported by SFGate).
What do security people do with the stuff they confiscate from travellers? That is, after they've thoroughly ruined the traveler's day and emotionally scarred him forever.
Why, they auction it all on on Ebay! Don't believe me? Read the story here. Although there is no direct link to airport security confiscation auctions, I think you can just do a search on that and you'll find them all. Or maybe not.
:: posted by Erik at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comment |
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Another Step along Getting Out Lane
I just put up my ad, Seabright Room to Sublet, on Craigslist so its really official now. Though I'm now rethinking that last post, do I really want to rant about an irritating housemate right below the post about the room? Probably not a great idea but I'm gonna leave it anyway, no reason to sugar coat the housing situation. It'll help weed out those people that are just lookee loos.
Anyone know someone who needs a cool house to live in? Drop me a note as soon as you can because not only do I need to find someone but I also think there will be a fair response to the ad. I'm also posting a few up at Java Junction, our local coffeehouse.
And this weekend? More eBay auctions! Oh boy!
And maybe a trip to Ikea is on our near future as well. We need a kitchen table, some chairs and a few other accoutrements to fill out our joyous little crib. And, to that end, I've just updated the heck out of my Things I Want/NEED page with Ikea's sano-goodness. Have a look and spend like the spending's going on someone else's credit card!
I just put up my ad, Seabright Room to Sublet, on Craigslist so its really official now. Though I'm now rethinking that last post, do I really want to rant about an irritating housemate right below the post about the room? Probably not a great idea but I'm gonna leave it anyway, no reason to sugar coat the housing situation. It'll help weed out those people that are just lookee loos.
Anyone know someone who needs a cool house to live in? Drop me a note as soon as you can because not only do I need to find someone but I also think there will be a fair response to the ad. I'm also posting a few up at Java Junction, our local coffeehouse.
And this weekend? More eBay auctions! Oh boy!
And maybe a trip to Ikea is on our near future as well. We need a kitchen table, some chairs and a few other accoutrements to fill out our joyous little crib. And, to that end, I've just updated the heck out of my Things I Want/NEED page with Ikea's sano-goodness. Have a look and spend like the spending's going on someone else's credit card!
:: posted by Erik at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Simple Things that People Still Cannot Seem to Do
I'm happy I'm leaving this house, happier on some days than on others but still happy. Today or this morning is one of those days. And this may seem like a stupid thing to harp on but I'm going to anyway and you can decide for yourself later.
I share a big house with three other guys. The guy who lives on the top floor is the youngest of us all, still in party mode and all that crap. But does that mean that he can't do something as basically fucking simple as closing the doors in our house? Apparently that's just too much for his over taxed brain to deal with.
This morning, not one but two doors to the outside were open. One on the second floor that leads to the stairs to his room and the front door to our house was left open. Ummm, what in the fuck is wrong with these fucking people? Its not just Scot, its his friends too, none of them seem to be capable of grasping the fact that its cold outside and this isn't a goddamned barn (or any other kind of barn). I've talked with him about it, asked him to be a bit more mindful but nothing seems to penetrate.
I'm happy I'm moving out today. And happy that I don't have to be the one to deal with this ridiculousness anymore. Why complain about high electricity bills when its you who are wasting the heat and leaving lights on all the time. Turning off the cable box and leaving the tv on. Generally being wasteful without regard for the people he lives with. Which just means to me that he has no respect for anyone he lives with. And if I were staying for any longer period than I am, I would tell him he absolutely must get his act together or he's out.
But as it is, I'll leave that to the next administrator when I"m finally off the books here. And that will be a huge weight off my shoulders. As for Scot, he needs to get his head straight and recognize that life is not solely aout fucking and drinking and lifting. Or, if it is then you're missing out on much of life. But then, he's young, maybe he'll figure it out before he's old and bitter and stupid.
I'm happy I'm leaving this house, happier on some days than on others but still happy. Today or this morning is one of those days. And this may seem like a stupid thing to harp on but I'm going to anyway and you can decide for yourself later.
I share a big house with three other guys. The guy who lives on the top floor is the youngest of us all, still in party mode and all that crap. But does that mean that he can't do something as basically fucking simple as closing the doors in our house? Apparently that's just too much for his over taxed brain to deal with.
This morning, not one but two doors to the outside were open. One on the second floor that leads to the stairs to his room and the front door to our house was left open. Ummm, what in the fuck is wrong with these fucking people? Its not just Scot, its his friends too, none of them seem to be capable of grasping the fact that its cold outside and this isn't a goddamned barn (or any other kind of barn). I've talked with him about it, asked him to be a bit more mindful but nothing seems to penetrate.
I'm happy I'm moving out today. And happy that I don't have to be the one to deal with this ridiculousness anymore. Why complain about high electricity bills when its you who are wasting the heat and leaving lights on all the time. Turning off the cable box and leaving the tv on. Generally being wasteful without regard for the people he lives with. Which just means to me that he has no respect for anyone he lives with. And if I were staying for any longer period than I am, I would tell him he absolutely must get his act together or he's out.
But as it is, I'll leave that to the next administrator when I"m finally off the books here. And that will be a huge weight off my shoulders. As for Scot, he needs to get his head straight and recognize that life is not solely aout fucking and drinking and lifting. Or, if it is then you're missing out on much of life. But then, he's young, maybe he'll figure it out before he's old and bitter and stupid.
:: posted by Erik at 8:03 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Feb 27, 2003Like this post?
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The New Rage in Japan? X-Ray Panty Printed Skirts
This is a forward from Adnan and details the latest fashion rage in that wacky island nation of Japan.
What you see are not see-thru skirts. They are actually prints on the skirts to make it look as if the panties are visible and is the current rage in Japan. And yeah, I can see this catching on over here.
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This is a forward from Adnan and details the latest fashion rage in that wacky island nation of Japan.
What you see are not see-thru skirts. They are actually prints on the skirts to make it look as if the panties are visible and is the current rage in Japan. And yeah, I can see this catching on over here.
||
:: posted by Erik at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Intellectual Poison Site Update News
Added a few more reviews to the Reviews page and will try to get some more work in on it later on tonight, tomorrow or over the weekend. I think I want to break it down more so that there's a movie reviews page, a game review page and a book review page to start with. Maybe a random review page for my rants against products or other things that don't quite fit the aforementioned profiles.
Maybe a food reviews page as well, that would be kind of cool, perhaps.
Also, I updated my Intellectual Poison Heritage Appreciation Page to reflect both of my family crests. Some day I'll get the history pages linked up as well
Added a few more reviews to the Reviews page and will try to get some more work in on it later on tonight, tomorrow or over the weekend. I think I want to break it down more so that there's a movie reviews page, a game review page and a book review page to start with. Maybe a random review page for my rants against products or other things that don't quite fit the aforementioned profiles.
Maybe a food reviews page as well, that would be kind of cool, perhaps.
Also, I updated my Intellectual Poison Heritage Appreciation Page to reflect both of my family crests. Some day I'll get the history pages linked up as well
:: posted by Erik at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Relocation Update Bulletin
Well, I'm not quite sure how it worked out this way but it has so I'm just going to take Paula's advice and go with it as it stands.
Because they are still doing some final work on the new place and other, much more obtuse reasons, we are not going to be able to move into our new spot until the 7th or 8th of March. Which is fine really, the upside is that we're saving several hundred bucks in rent for the month, the downside is that my room in my house right now is really just too small for us so we'll have cramped quarters for the next week or so.
But that's alright, I can live with it. And Paula's been working overtime to get the phone and DSL transferred over. We're lowering our DSL bill and doubling the throughput speed. And that's what we call a win/win situation.
She and I are going through the process of learning how to live with each other and its kind of cool. We both have our strengths and our weaknesses. But they are complimentary and we create a stronger and more unified front together than we could apart.
We went out for a bike ride last night after work, I wanted to get another look at the place without the pressure of trying to get it anymore. We pedaled around the house checking windows, lighting, neighborhood traffic and everything else. We even went around back and checked the patio door and, since it was unlocked, slipped inside to get a peek into the kitchen. Basically, we've got alot more space than we thought we might have. And that's a good thing. Outdoor space protected by a tall fence but not so tall that plants won't grow well back there. Big dining room area, nice kitchen set up. I'm quite stoked about the whole thing.
Now all I have to do is wait for another full week to pass before we can really start to get things moved over and in. And I get a bit more time to find someone to take my room at the old house. I'm still unsure about how much to sublet my room for. Paula thinks I'm asking too much but its a master bedroom a block and a half from the beach, has its own private deck and two walk in closets as well as a vaulted ceiling. Its a great room really and I'm hating having to give it up but its for a bigger and better purpose so I'll be fine with it. I'd like to get someone into the house who was mellow and a little older. I'll write up an ad for Craigslist later on today and then type up something to post at the coffee shop as well.
Well, I'm not quite sure how it worked out this way but it has so I'm just going to take Paula's advice and go with it as it stands.
Because they are still doing some final work on the new place and other, much more obtuse reasons, we are not going to be able to move into our new spot until the 7th or 8th of March. Which is fine really, the upside is that we're saving several hundred bucks in rent for the month, the downside is that my room in my house right now is really just too small for us so we'll have cramped quarters for the next week or so.
But that's alright, I can live with it. And Paula's been working overtime to get the phone and DSL transferred over. We're lowering our DSL bill and doubling the throughput speed. And that's what we call a win/win situation.
She and I are going through the process of learning how to live with each other and its kind of cool. We both have our strengths and our weaknesses. But they are complimentary and we create a stronger and more unified front together than we could apart.
We went out for a bike ride last night after work, I wanted to get another look at the place without the pressure of trying to get it anymore. We pedaled around the house checking windows, lighting, neighborhood traffic and everything else. We even went around back and checked the patio door and, since it was unlocked, slipped inside to get a peek into the kitchen. Basically, we've got alot more space than we thought we might have. And that's a good thing. Outdoor space protected by a tall fence but not so tall that plants won't grow well back there. Big dining room area, nice kitchen set up. I'm quite stoked about the whole thing.
Now all I have to do is wait for another full week to pass before we can really start to get things moved over and in. And I get a bit more time to find someone to take my room at the old house. I'm still unsure about how much to sublet my room for. Paula thinks I'm asking too much but its a master bedroom a block and a half from the beach, has its own private deck and two walk in closets as well as a vaulted ceiling. Its a great room really and I'm hating having to give it up but its for a bigger and better purpose so I'll be fine with it. I'd like to get someone into the house who was mellow and a little older. I'll write up an ad for Craigslist later on today and then type up something to post at the coffee shop as well.
:: posted by Erik at 9:52 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Feb 26, 2003Like this post?
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State Farm Won't Replace Your Car in the Event of a Nuclear Attack
Got my Morning Fix this morning (nice when it works that way instead of at like four in the afternoon) and was greeted by this article SFGate: And No Deductible For Nuclear Winter.
Basically, State Farm sent out mailers to their customers in California that their vehicles aren't covered in the event of a nuclear attack. Um, not sure but I think I'm going to have one hell of a lot more important things on my mind if the US is hit with a nuclear weapon than getting my 22 year old car back on the road.
But State Farm did wish everyone well in the event of a nuclear attack although I've no idea what that means really. What? Die in the initial blast or die slowly of radiation poisoning like Jason Robards in "The Day After" though I enjoyed watching Steve Gutenberg die in the movie, not sure why really. But State Farm hopes you survive to buy more insurance from them in the post apocalyptic world.
A Morford Quote
Because I so like his writing I'm quoting Mark Morford directly here "In increasingly jaded and numb America, ya gotta go for shock. The biggest. The scariest. The wildest. The dumbest. The most sugary or fatty or creepy or quadruple beef triple bacon double cheese chiliburger with deep-fried cheese sauce only 99 cents while supplies last. It is all about excess, violent and deadly and mean. And apparently, it is what we are (still) all about." He sums up much of what I feel about the Extreming of America. Unless you're going balls out, buck naked down a ski hill with your butt hair on fire, its just not enough to warrant anything more than a yawn from the over jaded fat masses of America. Thanks Mark, for putting into words those things I already thought.
Crass Blog Plug
I'm starting to ramp up posts to my newest blog, The Spammies in which I'm posting the dumbest, funniest or most disgusting spams I'm getting on a daily basis. More and more will be added to the site, like how to piss of spammers, how to get off lists and how to hunt down spammers and eat their livers with some fava beans and a nice chianti. I'd love some feedback on the site and input or suggestions for spam to highlight.
Got my Morning Fix this morning (nice when it works that way instead of at like four in the afternoon) and was greeted by this article SFGate: And No Deductible For Nuclear Winter.
Basically, State Farm sent out mailers to their customers in California that their vehicles aren't covered in the event of a nuclear attack. Um, not sure but I think I'm going to have one hell of a lot more important things on my mind if the US is hit with a nuclear weapon than getting my 22 year old car back on the road.
But State Farm did wish everyone well in the event of a nuclear attack although I've no idea what that means really. What? Die in the initial blast or die slowly of radiation poisoning like Jason Robards in "The Day After" though I enjoyed watching Steve Gutenberg die in the movie, not sure why really. But State Farm hopes you survive to buy more insurance from them in the post apocalyptic world.
A Morford Quote
Because I so like his writing I'm quoting Mark Morford directly here "In increasingly jaded and numb America, ya gotta go for shock. The biggest. The scariest. The wildest. The dumbest. The most sugary or fatty or creepy or quadruple beef triple bacon double cheese chiliburger with deep-fried cheese sauce only 99 cents while supplies last. It is all about excess, violent and deadly and mean. And apparently, it is what we are (still) all about." He sums up much of what I feel about the Extreming of America. Unless you're going balls out, buck naked down a ski hill with your butt hair on fire, its just not enough to warrant anything more than a yawn from the over jaded fat masses of America. Thanks Mark, for putting into words those things I already thought.
Crass Blog Plug
I'm starting to ramp up posts to my newest blog, The Spammies in which I'm posting the dumbest, funniest or most disgusting spams I'm getting on a daily basis. More and more will be added to the site, like how to piss of spammers, how to get off lists and how to hunt down spammers and eat their livers with some fava beans and a nice chianti. I'd love some feedback on the site and input or suggestions for spam to highlight.
:: posted by Erik at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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They Can't Do This To Us
I just checked in on my favorite infowaif, Ms. Layne and read that she's on hiatus until the end of March to try and catch up on all her work universe. Understandable but then I realized that Amy over on intellectual properties is also about to disappear for her trip to go trekking in Nepal (of which I am extraordinarily jealous). So, all of a sudden, two of my daily reads are going away and I'm going to be left with the horror of actually trying to work when I'm in the office.
Or I'll just look around more and find some other fun spots to read, there will always be the guys over at the Fabulous Mint 400 (right guys?) and that should help and there's Gudy and Ryan and The Texas Kims (though they need to be writing a bit more often or I'm gonna start thinking they're not doing anything these days and I know that's just not true). And there's Carlene's Stilleto Philosophy who dropped me down some mad props today for my chat about war, murder and religion (danke, schone madchen, with an abject apology to Herr Delange, my high school German teacher).
So I guess things aren't that bad but still, first I lost MecaWilson and now Amy and Layne? I'm just glad that we found our place to live.
Oh and my Phat cruiser's rolling again (broke the chain yesterday, don't ask how). Always love the days I can pedal along the river banks on my way into work.
I just checked in on my favorite infowaif, Ms. Layne and read that she's on hiatus until the end of March to try and catch up on all her work universe. Understandable but then I realized that Amy over on intellectual properties is also about to disappear for her trip to go trekking in Nepal (of which I am extraordinarily jealous). So, all of a sudden, two of my daily reads are going away and I'm going to be left with the horror of actually trying to work when I'm in the office.
Or I'll just look around more and find some other fun spots to read, there will always be the guys over at the Fabulous Mint 400 (right guys?) and that should help and there's Gudy and Ryan and The Texas Kims (though they need to be writing a bit more often or I'm gonna start thinking they're not doing anything these days and I know that's just not true). And there's Carlene's Stilleto Philosophy who dropped me down some mad props today for my chat about war, murder and religion (danke, schone madchen, with an abject apology to Herr Delange, my high school German teacher).
So I guess things aren't that bad but still, first I lost MecaWilson and now Amy and Layne? I'm just glad that we found our place to live.
Oh and my Phat cruiser's rolling again (broke the chain yesterday, don't ask how). Always love the days I can pedal along the river banks on my way into work.
:: posted by Erik at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Feb 25, 2003Like this post?
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And Now This: Finally Good News
We got the call we've been waiting for an entire week for. The call from our prospective new landlord/lady about the apartment that we want to move into.
And yes, its good news. We've been approved (oooooh, validation!) and might be able to move in this weekend because they're finishing up some work in the next couple of days. But the best part is the intense feeling of relief, we know where we are going and that is just such an excellent salve for us both.
Now we can get through the next few days easily and then move our lives over this weekend, hopefully. And probably as that's the start of the new pay cycle.
And now I've got to start looking for someone to sublet my room in the old house. Oh boy! Anyone need a great room a block and a half from the ocean with its own deck, vaulted ceilings and not one but two walk in closets?
Drop me a note and let's talk about it.
We got the call we've been waiting for an entire week for. The call from our prospective new landlord/lady about the apartment that we want to move into.
And yes, its good news. We've been approved (oooooh, validation!) and might be able to move in this weekend because they're finishing up some work in the next couple of days. But the best part is the intense feeling of relief, we know where we are going and that is just such an excellent salve for us both.
Now we can get through the next few days easily and then move our lives over this weekend, hopefully. And probably as that's the start of the new pay cycle.
And now I've got to start looking for someone to sublet my room in the old house. Oh boy! Anyone need a great room a block and a half from the ocean with its own deck, vaulted ceilings and not one but two walk in closets?
Drop me a note and let's talk about it.
:: posted by Erik at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comment |
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More Bad News from the Family
The shitty luck my family's been having seems to be continuing into the extended family.
My uncle, Bunker, went into a coma last week and is, at this point, unresponsive and dependent on a ventilator to live. His supercedent medical condition, kidney failure, was caused by years of alcohol abuse but the cause of the coma is unknown, possibly bacterial or something else. It doesn't look good though and I know that my family is dealing with another heavy emotional burden again.
I think I'm gonna send an email to my cousins and let them know that their dad is in my thoughts and hope that he pulls through.
Sucks though.
The shitty luck my family's been having seems to be continuing into the extended family.
My uncle, Bunker, went into a coma last week and is, at this point, unresponsive and dependent on a ventilator to live. His supercedent medical condition, kidney failure, was caused by years of alcohol abuse but the cause of the coma is unknown, possibly bacterial or something else. It doesn't look good though and I know that my family is dealing with another heavy emotional burden again.
I think I'm gonna send an email to my cousins and let them know that their dad is in my thoughts and hope that he pulls through.
Sucks though.
:: posted by Erik at 1:26 PM | Permalink | Comment |
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Register Your Opinion on the Pending War with Iraq
A forward from my housemate's father, Adnan, regarding a phone line to the Whitehouse that's open for Americans to call in and let Shrub know exactly where you stand on the Oil War against Iraq. Its not specifically set up as a comment line for Iraq but is the main comment line for the Whitehouse. I verified the number on the Whitehouse Contact Page. But have not actually called yet myself as I'm in the office and that's just inappropriate in my mind to use work time for it. I'll call from home likely.
Forwarded Email Follows:
The Bush White House has an "opinion" line for you to call. So, if you oppose the proposed war in Iraq, give a call. The line only accepts calls from 9-5 EST. Monday thru Friday. Note that the weekends phone lines are Closed. Just call the White House at 202-456-1111.
A machine will detain you only for a moment and then a live operator will thank you for saying, "I oppose" or "I approve." It will only take a few minutes.
The President has said that he wants to know what the American people are thinking. Let him know! Time is running out. Please forward this to at least 5 people you know right away.
Tell them what you think: 1 PHONE CALL EQUALS 10 - 20 PEOPLE WHO DID NOT CALL!
End forward.
A forward from my housemate's father, Adnan, regarding a phone line to the Whitehouse that's open for Americans to call in and let Shrub know exactly where you stand on the Oil War against Iraq. Its not specifically set up as a comment line for Iraq but is the main comment line for the Whitehouse. I verified the number on the Whitehouse Contact Page. But have not actually called yet myself as I'm in the office and that's just inappropriate in my mind to use work time for it. I'll call from home likely.
Forwarded Email Follows:
The Bush White House has an "opinion" line for you to call. So, if you oppose the proposed war in Iraq, give a call. The line only accepts calls from 9-5 EST. Monday thru Friday. Note that the weekends phone lines are Closed. Just call the White House at 202-456-1111.
A machine will detain you only for a moment and then a live operator will thank you for saying, "I oppose" or "I approve." It will only take a few minutes.
The President has said that he wants to know what the American people are thinking. Let him know! Time is running out. Please forward this to at least 5 people you know right away.
Tell them what you think: 1 PHONE CALL EQUALS 10 - 20 PEOPLE WHO DID NOT CALL!
End forward.
:: posted by Erik at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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War, Religion and Capital Punishment
intellectual properties has a thread going right now about Christianity and murder and the sixth commandment that's worth a read. My own beliefs are pretty straight forward.
I believe there are crimes that are and should be punishable by death. It is definitely possible to commit such heinous acts that you forfeit your right to live.
I don't believe in God or Gods. I believe in a process of evolution that some might attempt to misconstrue as God but it is not. The difference is that there is no will, no directive personality behind evolution. It is cause and effect, experimentation and success gets to go on to the next round.
The very simple application of Occam's Razor ("Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate" or "plurality should not be posited without necessity." which is generally further interpreted as, the simplest answer is usually the most correct.) indicates to me that all of this extra-dimensional personages, heaven, hell, God, the devil and all the other after life is like trying to explain 1+1=2 with quantum physics. Its just not necessary.
War is a natural human condition but not the massive assaults we currently wage. I don't really have time to get into it as much as I could here (hey, I gotta work sometimes) but basically, war is a part of our cycle, war culls the weak, the unfit, the parasites of a society. It introduces new blood into the gene pool (before our open borders of today captured prisoners were one of the only ways for new blood to come into a tribe). Animals war with each other for territory or mating rights or both. And we're just another set of animals doing our thing.
Animals do not murder though. Humans murder for sport, profit or religious reasons. Murder is the willful and unjustifiable killing of another human being. Justifiable in the larger sense of the word and not a personal justification otherwise anyone could kill anyone at any time for any reason (Thomas Hobbes' State of Warre). Justification in the societal sense, i.e. this person's continued existence poses a serious and lasting threat to society by virtue of his or her actions. Is war murder? I can't even begin to tap that barrel right now. Maybe in a future post.
intellectual properties has a thread going right now about Christianity and murder and the sixth commandment that's worth a read. My own beliefs are pretty straight forward.
I believe there are crimes that are and should be punishable by death. It is definitely possible to commit such heinous acts that you forfeit your right to live.
I don't believe in God or Gods. I believe in a process of evolution that some might attempt to misconstrue as God but it is not. The difference is that there is no will, no directive personality behind evolution. It is cause and effect, experimentation and success gets to go on to the next round.
The very simple application of Occam's Razor ("Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate" or "plurality should not be posited without necessity." which is generally further interpreted as, the simplest answer is usually the most correct.) indicates to me that all of this extra-dimensional personages, heaven, hell, God, the devil and all the other after life is like trying to explain 1+1=2 with quantum physics. Its just not necessary.
War is a natural human condition but not the massive assaults we currently wage. I don't really have time to get into it as much as I could here (hey, I gotta work sometimes) but basically, war is a part of our cycle, war culls the weak, the unfit, the parasites of a society. It introduces new blood into the gene pool (before our open borders of today captured prisoners were one of the only ways for new blood to come into a tribe). Animals war with each other for territory or mating rights or both. And we're just another set of animals doing our thing.
Animals do not murder though. Humans murder for sport, profit or religious reasons. Murder is the willful and unjustifiable killing of another human being. Justifiable in the larger sense of the word and not a personal justification otherwise anyone could kill anyone at any time for any reason (Thomas Hobbes' State of Warre). Justification in the societal sense, i.e. this person's continued existence poses a serious and lasting threat to society by virtue of his or her actions. Is war murder? I can't even begin to tap that barrel right now. Maybe in a future post.
:: posted by Erik at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Feb 24, 2003Like this post?
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Stupid Busted Commenting System
Well, I've no idea how long that's been broken but apparently my comments have been buggered for a few days. Think I've got it sorted out again now but what a pain!
Maybe with Google's acquisition of Blogger, they will incorporate a good built in commenting system instead of relying on third party solutions. Though, don't get me wrong, I like the Klink Family's BlogOut but it would be nice if they could all be included like in other blogging systems like Movable Type. I should note that it is not any coding error on the Klink Family side, its a template recoding error of Blogger's. I don't know why it does it but the system will cheese code if you screw around with the templates very much. Bit of a drag.
But we're back up and running again.
Well, I've no idea how long that's been broken but apparently my comments have been buggered for a few days. Think I've got it sorted out again now but what a pain!
Maybe with Google's acquisition of Blogger, they will incorporate a good built in commenting system instead of relying on third party solutions. Though, don't get me wrong, I like the Klink Family's BlogOut but it would be nice if they could all be included like in other blogging systems like Movable Type. I should note that it is not any coding error on the Klink Family side, its a template recoding error of Blogger's. I don't know why it does it but the system will cheese code if you screw around with the templates very much. Bit of a drag.
But we're back up and running again.
:: posted by Erik at 3:10 PM | Permalink | Comment |
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Gratuitous Booty Link
This is not for those who don't like looking at fine, tanned buttocks or for those on dial ups unless you're gonna take a nap while this page loads up but for those that are on broadband and enjoy fine viewing of female backsides then I present to you the Reef Girls.
I think my favorite pic is this one but then I like the style of the pic as much as the subject matter. This one is also pretty damned good too.
Thanks to Big Daddy CT for this linky.
This is not for those who don't like looking at fine, tanned buttocks or for those on dial ups unless you're gonna take a nap while this page loads up but for those that are on broadband and enjoy fine viewing of female backsides then I present to you the Reef Girls.
I think my favorite pic is this one but then I like the style of the pic as much as the subject matter. This one is also pretty damned good too.
Thanks to Big Daddy CT for this linky.
:: posted by Erik at 2:32 PM | Permalink | Comment |
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More Corporate Evilitry
New Product May Curb Corporate WhistleBlowing and its made by the root of all internet and computer evil, Microsoft, surprise, surprise.
And yes, that is a new word up there in the subject line. Evilitry - the act of continued and unrepentant evil doing, i.e. Microsoft's long history of stomping out competitors or buying them so they can mothball better products that would eat into their market share.
I can see how a company would want to protect its digital property and documents and have no leaking of information outside company offices. But on the same token, corporate whistleblowing is how the scumbag execs at Enron, Adelphia and Worldcom got busted. Its how Martha Stewart got caught insider trading (oh sorry, allegedly used insider information to save $100K but eventually saw her empire lose $600 million). Its like telling the American people that all the phone lines into the government are no longer going to work and we'll have no voice in how our country is run (not that we get much of a voice, heck Shrub snubbed the Governor's this morning). Tighter controls over the embezzlers and crooks we call CEO and Chairman means that they can steal more millions before they get caught and that injures all of us.
Perhaps this new digital lockdown should be accompanied by automatic checks and balances to make sure that the John Rigas' of the world aren't stealing the candy store while the blinds are drawn.
Local Nutter News
SFGate: Drunk in Santa Cruz details the story of the dumbass carpenter who got drunk and then spent his evening cutting Christmas lights all over our downtown area. He's plead guilty and gets to pay $3500 in reparations. Nice work, dimwit. And Morford gets him right with his description of what this idiot was like in high school.
Spam Award Candidate
I think I'm going to start a new award called the Spammies in which the worst spam gets lauded for its utter stupidity. And here's the subject line from my first nominee (just as it is so you can get a real sense of the genius behind this marketing plan) "Proficient maniacs mastrubate when they show their victim a gun" and sent from Bijou Welch from some domain called Lactometer.com (no joke). Might have to start a whole new blog for the Spammies though because the nominees are going to be damned long. Also, the new "kewl" way to spell sex (and get past some neanderthalic mail filters) is to spell it "seks", yeah baby! You so seksy! HAHAHA!
Note, I've now created The Spammies web log dedicated to spam idiocy. It'll be added to my links soon and the site will grow and flower. I'm very open to suggestions, input and spam submissions. Heck, if someone felt like designing a Spammie award then I'd love to see it.
New Product May Curb Corporate WhistleBlowing and its made by the root of all internet and computer evil, Microsoft, surprise, surprise.
And yes, that is a new word up there in the subject line. Evilitry - the act of continued and unrepentant evil doing, i.e. Microsoft's long history of stomping out competitors or buying them so they can mothball better products that would eat into their market share.
I can see how a company would want to protect its digital property and documents and have no leaking of information outside company offices. But on the same token, corporate whistleblowing is how the scumbag execs at Enron, Adelphia and Worldcom got busted. Its how Martha Stewart got caught insider trading (oh sorry, allegedly used insider information to save $100K but eventually saw her empire lose $600 million). Its like telling the American people that all the phone lines into the government are no longer going to work and we'll have no voice in how our country is run (not that we get much of a voice, heck Shrub snubbed the Governor's this morning). Tighter controls over the embezzlers and crooks we call CEO and Chairman means that they can steal more millions before they get caught and that injures all of us.
Perhaps this new digital lockdown should be accompanied by automatic checks and balances to make sure that the John Rigas' of the world aren't stealing the candy store while the blinds are drawn.
Local Nutter News
SFGate: Drunk in Santa Cruz details the story of the dumbass carpenter who got drunk and then spent his evening cutting Christmas lights all over our downtown area. He's plead guilty and gets to pay $3500 in reparations. Nice work, dimwit. And Morford gets him right with his description of what this idiot was like in high school.
Spam Award Candidate
I think I'm going to start a new award called the Spammies in which the worst spam gets lauded for its utter stupidity. And here's the subject line from my first nominee (just as it is so you can get a real sense of the genius behind this marketing plan) "Proficient maniacs mastrubate when they show their victim a gun" and sent from Bijou Welch from some domain called Lactometer.com (no joke). Might have to start a whole new blog for the Spammies though because the nominees are going to be damned long. Also, the new "kewl" way to spell sex (and get past some neanderthalic mail filters) is to spell it "seks", yeah baby! You so seksy! HAHAHA!
Note, I've now created The Spammies web log dedicated to spam idiocy. It'll be added to my links soon and the site will grow and flower. I'm very open to suggestions, input and spam submissions. Heck, if someone felt like designing a Spammie award then I'd love to see it.
:: posted by Erik at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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The Sunday Relocation from San Diego to Santa Cruz
I'm not sure how much I'll end up writing about yesterday's move as its something that just about everyone's done at some point or another. But the day does deserve at least some high level descriptions.
First, we packed until 2:30 in the morning on Sunday, filling just about every square inch of the 10 x 10 cube van and then just about every inch of Paula's car with her life in San Diego.
Bed at 2:30, asleep by 3, up again at 5 (let's do that math, 3 from 5 equals a whopping 2 hours of sleep) to finish packing and aim for a 6 am departure. Which ended up being 7:45 but the apartment was clean, everything was packed and we were rolling. Paula in her car with her cat and me in the truck with the cab full of plants and computer stuff. Like I said, every square inch.
The drive up wasn't bad at all really, just long and who in their right mind doesn't put cruise control in a moving van? What the fuck are they thinking?
Anyway, we stopped in San Luis Obispo for lunch and then pressed on. Making the entire trip, about 498 miles all told, give or take, in just over 8 hours with the stops included. Nearly ran out of gas south of Santa Barbara but limped into a station just in time. We paid a total of about $130 in gas for both vehicles with the vast lion's share going into the big V8 powered truck.
Two hours of emptying the truck out and we had to drive back down south to Monterey to return the truck (because Santa Cruz doesn't warrant an after hours drop site) which is an hour or so each way. And we were more or less done the first part of the move by about 8:15 last night. That's nearly constant motion for 15 hours after sleeping for 2 and doesn't even take into account the six or seven hours of packing on Saturday evening and then the three or four on Friday. It is understatement in the most extreme to say that we slept well last night.
Bummer thing is that we haven't gotten word about the new place yet so we had to unload the truck into my dining room and garage. We should find out about the apartment today but that still means we have to load all her stuff up again and move it as well as move all of my stuff too. But if we get the place then it'll be all worth it, sort of.
Anyway, lots of fun from the trip, good fun down in San Diego and I'm happy to have Paula here now. With me and with her stuff and cat and everything. Its just another tiny step on this journey we've embarked on but we're moving forward again and that's the good part. Now we need to get things into the new place (the one we're waiting on or the next one we find) and get our lives settled down some. Maybe I'll write more about the drive later but for now I've gotta get some breakfast in me and then get to WORK! Super big thanks to the makers of Red Bull without which I would have fallen asleep at the wheel and become a highway statistic.
Cool Props to Mr Jobs
Today is Steve Jobs birthday, he's 48 years old today and is largely responsible for the continuing success of my favorite line of computing products. And amid all the nay saying speculation about Apple's imminent demise over the last fifteen years, the company has branded itself beautifully and is creating some of the most exciting and usable technology products in the industry. My Ipod has won more Mac fans than any other single product of theirs.
Today's Quote
Tough times never last. Tough people do. - Robert Schuller
I'm not sure how much I'll end up writing about yesterday's move as its something that just about everyone's done at some point or another. But the day does deserve at least some high level descriptions.
First, we packed until 2:30 in the morning on Sunday, filling just about every square inch of the 10 x 10 cube van and then just about every inch of Paula's car with her life in San Diego.
Bed at 2:30, asleep by 3, up again at 5 (let's do that math, 3 from 5 equals a whopping 2 hours of sleep) to finish packing and aim for a 6 am departure. Which ended up being 7:45 but the apartment was clean, everything was packed and we were rolling. Paula in her car with her cat and me in the truck with the cab full of plants and computer stuff. Like I said, every square inch.
The drive up wasn't bad at all really, just long and who in their right mind doesn't put cruise control in a moving van? What the fuck are they thinking?
Anyway, we stopped in San Luis Obispo for lunch and then pressed on. Making the entire trip, about 498 miles all told, give or take, in just over 8 hours with the stops included. Nearly ran out of gas south of Santa Barbara but limped into a station just in time. We paid a total of about $130 in gas for both vehicles with the vast lion's share going into the big V8 powered truck.
Two hours of emptying the truck out and we had to drive back down south to Monterey to return the truck (because Santa Cruz doesn't warrant an after hours drop site) which is an hour or so each way. And we were more or less done the first part of the move by about 8:15 last night. That's nearly constant motion for 15 hours after sleeping for 2 and doesn't even take into account the six or seven hours of packing on Saturday evening and then the three or four on Friday. It is understatement in the most extreme to say that we slept well last night.
Bummer thing is that we haven't gotten word about the new place yet so we had to unload the truck into my dining room and garage. We should find out about the apartment today but that still means we have to load all her stuff up again and move it as well as move all of my stuff too. But if we get the place then it'll be all worth it, sort of.
Anyway, lots of fun from the trip, good fun down in San Diego and I'm happy to have Paula here now. With me and with her stuff and cat and everything. Its just another tiny step on this journey we've embarked on but we're moving forward again and that's the good part. Now we need to get things into the new place (the one we're waiting on or the next one we find) and get our lives settled down some. Maybe I'll write more about the drive later but for now I've gotta get some breakfast in me and then get to WORK! Super big thanks to the makers of Red Bull without which I would have fallen asleep at the wheel and become a highway statistic.
Cool Props to Mr Jobs
Today is Steve Jobs birthday, he's 48 years old today and is largely responsible for the continuing success of my favorite line of computing products. And amid all the nay saying speculation about Apple's imminent demise over the last fifteen years, the company has branded itself beautifully and is creating some of the most exciting and usable technology products in the industry. My Ipod has won more Mac fans than any other single product of theirs.
Today's Quote
Tough times never last. Tough people do. - Robert Schuller
:: posted by Erik at 9:04 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Feb 22, 2003Like this post?
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A Politically Incorrect Blog
From the good guys over at the Fabulous Mint comes the Tard Blog. And while its not my work, I do feel like I should give some warning about the site as Savage Henry did.
Riti Sped (one of the two writers to the blog) phrased it as such:
"It's not as if we just seek out opportunities to make fun of retarded kids. I just report what I see them do. That is it. No cruel jokes, no embellishment, nothing. Well, maybe a few jokes, because it is funny, but nothing cruel. I love my tards."
With that said, read on and enjoy it but don't really take it too seriously or, if you do, don't yap at me about it.
From the good guys over at the Fabulous Mint comes the Tard Blog. And while its not my work, I do feel like I should give some warning about the site as Savage Henry did.
Riti Sped (one of the two writers to the blog) phrased it as such:
"It's not as if we just seek out opportunities to make fun of retarded kids. I just report what I see them do. That is it. No cruel jokes, no embellishment, nothing. Well, maybe a few jokes, because it is funny, but nothing cruel. I love my tards."
With that said, read on and enjoy it but don't really take it too seriously or, if you do, don't yap at me about it.
:: posted by Erik at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comment |
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Time for Other Inquiries
Because I'm awake and Paula's still very much not engaging in the world outside her eyelids, I'll take advantage of the time and tap out a post or two. Got my headphones on, some rare old No Doubt blasting away and I've got my lists of post topics to consider.
We had a sushi party last night, amidst the debris and moving boxes. Now, sushi's hard enough to prepare under the best of circumstances but take away the tables and take away the chairs and you find yourself using any flat surface to store ingredients or the rice flats that we've taken to using. Maybe I should explain that a bit more as its not especially clear.
I don't know how many people out there have made their own sushi before but we've done it a few times now and are starting to develop our own techniques. They may not be the best techniques but they work for us and that's really the most important thing for now, eventually I plan on taking some culinary arts classes to learn more. What we do is take the cooked and now cooling rice, scoop some into a shallow bowl and cut in the seasoned rice vinegar (the directions say someone fanning the rice at this point will result in a better luster on the rice). Once the rice has been sushi-fied, it's laid out flat on a movable surface. Last night we used these disposable cutting board things that were really nice, sturdy, non stick (VERY important when working with sushi rice). Anyway, the rice is laid out flat and then we used a plastic bag that the produce came in to lay over the top of it and flatten the rice more (the thinner the layer of rice, the smaller the diameter of the rolled product). Another cutting board on top and we start to create a stack of rice flats. And having the rice already laid out, cooled off and ready to peel up and use in a roll is much faster and neater than doing each roll by hand. But hey, do it your way and have fun.
We'd started the process of making the sushi while still loading up the truck so there was lots of movement around, boxes and belongings being packed, marked and stacked in the truck (we did score the curbside parking space! super cool). As was inevitable, some of the things we needed to cook with got packed away and we had to make do without. We started the packing and rice cooking with those alkie pop Skyy Blue's which are training drinks if I've ever seen them. It'd be no trouble to get teenagers to drink those things, they're like alcoholic candy.
Those alkie pops disappear quickly so I had to make a quick run to the store and get some Mike's Hard Cranberry Lemonades that are a bit less sweet but still candy alkie pops. But they are tasty and go down like soda and that six disappeared quickly as well. This is still during the preparation phase of the sushi party too, still light out, still packing the truck with Paula's stuff.
Once the rice had cooked, first time we'd used the huge rice cooker she bought, it seriously holds like six cups of uncooked rice and makes a virtual boatload of cooked rice. We spread the rice out onto the sheets, stacking them seven high in total. And then jumped into the prep work on the other ingredients, fresh ruby red ahi from Henry's (and I had to hear Paula tell me how much she's going to miss that store again, part of the deal, she can reminisce as much as she wants), some flaked crab meat (probably pollock actually) and shrimp. Veggies included green onions, carrots, peppers, avocado, cucumber (no seeds) and no jicama or daikon root though I like the crunch of both. I wonder how thinly sliced radish would work, bet it'd be really good. And my personal favorite ingredient in any sushi, macadamia nuts, heck they would make mud taste good. The only hard part is bashing them up some so you get pieces instead of whole nuts that mess up the rolls.
With gin and tonics and vodka tonics (hey, why does gin need the "and" and vodka doesn't?) in hand we finished up the extras, the sauces for the ahi sashimi (Paula's really got an excellent sauce worked out), the cooking sauce for the shrimp, a good sized ball of wasabi (no design for this ball this time but I learned a cool rolling technique to make a cone shape), dishes with seasoned rice vinegar to be used in damned near every aspect of the process, lots of nori, by mistake we got an untoasted version and it did have a slightly more present odor to it, not bad by any means and only noticeable if your attention was called to it.
We also had Henry's wasabi peas and honey sesame sticks out along with some freshly cooked and seasoned edamame (salt and lime juice) from Trader Joe's. And then we added some hot sake and proceeded to have a great time with several of Paula's neighbors, Geno, Rich and Anna. Good fun and they had fun actually putting together the rolls and creating their own foods, Geno was actually really quite good at rolling, eschewing the use of the bamboo cheat mat.
So, um yeah, it turned into a great dinner, served on borrowed low tables, but great fun. An hour or two into the dinner itself, after much of the eating had ceased and the drinking had picked up pace, other folks swung by to say goodbye to Paula. I was beat and ended up falling asleep on the couch before it had been turned back into our bed. Paula and the others went out for a bit, not that more libation was needed, she's been feeling a need to spend as much time with her friends and neighbors while she can. I'm going to be with her all the time so its totally cool. They went walking in the surf, and I plan to get some ocean time in today. But we're thinking about hitting Sea World or the Zoo today, there's a great place for breakfast in Balboa Park that I saw on Food TV and want to try as well.
And then more packing and an early departure tomorrow morning for the long drive up north. The bummer deal about the move now is that the application for the apartment won't be completed until Monday at the earliest. The girl who was working on it doesn't work on Fridays and then needed to verify my employment, not like I haven't been there all week but whatever. Now we have to unload the truck into my house and then move all of it again with mine when we do get a place. It looks like we may end up getting the one we want but we won't find out until the woman finishes the background check. So fingers are still crossed.
But I think I'm going to grab a cruiser, unplug the iPod and go for a pedal along the beach.
Because I'm awake and Paula's still very much not engaging in the world outside her eyelids, I'll take advantage of the time and tap out a post or two. Got my headphones on, some rare old No Doubt blasting away and I've got my lists of post topics to consider.
We had a sushi party last night, amidst the debris and moving boxes. Now, sushi's hard enough to prepare under the best of circumstances but take away the tables and take away the chairs and you find yourself using any flat surface to store ingredients or the rice flats that we've taken to using. Maybe I should explain that a bit more as its not especially clear.
I don't know how many people out there have made their own sushi before but we've done it a few times now and are starting to develop our own techniques. They may not be the best techniques but they work for us and that's really the most important thing for now, eventually I plan on taking some culinary arts classes to learn more. What we do is take the cooked and now cooling rice, scoop some into a shallow bowl and cut in the seasoned rice vinegar (the directions say someone fanning the rice at this point will result in a better luster on the rice). Once the rice has been sushi-fied, it's laid out flat on a movable surface. Last night we used these disposable cutting board things that were really nice, sturdy, non stick (VERY important when working with sushi rice). Anyway, the rice is laid out flat and then we used a plastic bag that the produce came in to lay over the top of it and flatten the rice more (the thinner the layer of rice, the smaller the diameter of the rolled product). Another cutting board on top and we start to create a stack of rice flats. And having the rice already laid out, cooled off and ready to peel up and use in a roll is much faster and neater than doing each roll by hand. But hey, do it your way and have fun.
We'd started the process of making the sushi while still loading up the truck so there was lots of movement around, boxes and belongings being packed, marked and stacked in the truck (we did score the curbside parking space! super cool). As was inevitable, some of the things we needed to cook with got packed away and we had to make do without. We started the packing and rice cooking with those alkie pop Skyy Blue's which are training drinks if I've ever seen them. It'd be no trouble to get teenagers to drink those things, they're like alcoholic candy.
Those alkie pops disappear quickly so I had to make a quick run to the store and get some Mike's Hard Cranberry Lemonades that are a bit less sweet but still candy alkie pops. But they are tasty and go down like soda and that six disappeared quickly as well. This is still during the preparation phase of the sushi party too, still light out, still packing the truck with Paula's stuff.
Once the rice had cooked, first time we'd used the huge rice cooker she bought, it seriously holds like six cups of uncooked rice and makes a virtual boatload of cooked rice. We spread the rice out onto the sheets, stacking them seven high in total. And then jumped into the prep work on the other ingredients, fresh ruby red ahi from Henry's (and I had to hear Paula tell me how much she's going to miss that store again, part of the deal, she can reminisce as much as she wants), some flaked crab meat (probably pollock actually) and shrimp. Veggies included green onions, carrots, peppers, avocado, cucumber (no seeds) and no jicama or daikon root though I like the crunch of both. I wonder how thinly sliced radish would work, bet it'd be really good. And my personal favorite ingredient in any sushi, macadamia nuts, heck they would make mud taste good. The only hard part is bashing them up some so you get pieces instead of whole nuts that mess up the rolls.
With gin and tonics and vodka tonics (hey, why does gin need the "and" and vodka doesn't?) in hand we finished up the extras, the sauces for the ahi sashimi (Paula's really got an excellent sauce worked out), the cooking sauce for the shrimp, a good sized ball of wasabi (no design for this ball this time but I learned a cool rolling technique to make a cone shape), dishes with seasoned rice vinegar to be used in damned near every aspect of the process, lots of nori, by mistake we got an untoasted version and it did have a slightly more present odor to it, not bad by any means and only noticeable if your attention was called to it.
We also had Henry's wasabi peas and honey sesame sticks out along with some freshly cooked and seasoned edamame (salt and lime juice) from Trader Joe's. And then we added some hot sake and proceeded to have a great time with several of Paula's neighbors, Geno, Rich and Anna. Good fun and they had fun actually putting together the rolls and creating their own foods, Geno was actually really quite good at rolling, eschewing the use of the bamboo cheat mat.
So, um yeah, it turned into a great dinner, served on borrowed low tables, but great fun. An hour or two into the dinner itself, after much of the eating had ceased and the drinking had picked up pace, other folks swung by to say goodbye to Paula. I was beat and ended up falling asleep on the couch before it had been turned back into our bed. Paula and the others went out for a bit, not that more libation was needed, she's been feeling a need to spend as much time with her friends and neighbors while she can. I'm going to be with her all the time so its totally cool. They went walking in the surf, and I plan to get some ocean time in today. But we're thinking about hitting Sea World or the Zoo today, there's a great place for breakfast in Balboa Park that I saw on Food TV and want to try as well.
And then more packing and an early departure tomorrow morning for the long drive up north. The bummer deal about the move now is that the application for the apartment won't be completed until Monday at the earliest. The girl who was working on it doesn't work on Fridays and then needed to verify my employment, not like I haven't been there all week but whatever. Now we have to unload the truck into my house and then move all of it again with mine when we do get a place. It looks like we may end up getting the one we want but we won't find out until the woman finishes the background check. So fingers are still crossed.
But I think I'm going to grab a cruiser, unplug the iPod and go for a pedal along the beach.
:: posted by Erik at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Feb 21, 2003Like this post?
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Early Start to a Busy Weekend
This will be a low post day as I'm down south in San Diego right now at Paula's soon to be old home. We're packing up the cube van with all of her stuff, hoping to hear back about the new place and looking forward to creating a new home together.
There's all kinds of things going on in the world right now and its pretty cool. Baseball season is just around the corner, I've signed up for two fantasy teams already, one with Yahoo and one with Sandbox. By the time the season comes around I will likely have four teams again. And I'm not quite ready to give up on going to some spring training games in Arizona but money's gonna be tight for the next short term as we ramp up to the new place.
But we're off to breakfast now and then a day of packing and loading. Luckily, I've got my iPod and heavy NorCal beats to keep me happy (gangsta rap anyone? Come on, Layne, drive fast, swerve and take chances, baby!).
I'll try to tap out a note or two as the day goes on but for now it'll have to be this. My belly's grumbling so its a-breakfasting we will go.
This will be a low post day as I'm down south in San Diego right now at Paula's soon to be old home. We're packing up the cube van with all of her stuff, hoping to hear back about the new place and looking forward to creating a new home together.
There's all kinds of things going on in the world right now and its pretty cool. Baseball season is just around the corner, I've signed up for two fantasy teams already, one with Yahoo and one with Sandbox. By the time the season comes around I will likely have four teams again. And I'm not quite ready to give up on going to some spring training games in Arizona but money's gonna be tight for the next short term as we ramp up to the new place.
But we're off to breakfast now and then a day of packing and loading. Luckily, I've got my iPod and heavy NorCal beats to keep me happy (gangsta rap anyone? Come on, Layne, drive fast, swerve and take chances, baby!).
I'll try to tap out a note or two as the day goes on but for now it'll have to be this. My belly's grumbling so its a-breakfasting we will go.
:: posted by Erik at 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Feb 20, 2003Like this post?
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Another Gem from Esther
Esther forwarded me this email earlier today about a new way to make teenagers look like idiots. Read on and sign up, if you like but I think you need to be in the UK. Still worth a laugh or two.
Here's the email pitch (note, Intellectual Poison does not, in any way, shape or form, endorse this company or their product, but we do think its funny):
Cunning Stunts Communications announce the launch of foreheADS� - the medium that alleviates student debt whilst bringing a
brand's message to the fore.
Cunning Stunts are developing a network of students to display brand logos or straplines on their foreheads.
Ads are placed using a temporary transfer.
Students must display the ads for a minimum of three hours a day in highly visible locations such as the student bar, local pubs and high street shopping areas. In return, they will receive �88.20 for a week's work. Participating students will have to provide photographic
evidence of the transfer in situ whilst out and about.
foreheADS� offers a highly targeted and truly innovative means of reaching the youth and student market, in a very eye catching way.
If you are a brand and would like to know more, please contact us on 020 7691 0077
If you are a student wishing to submit your details, please send an email to info@cunningstunts.net and we will respond with more information.
Esther forwarded me this email earlier today about a new way to make teenagers look like idiots. Read on and sign up, if you like but I think you need to be in the UK. Still worth a laugh or two.
Here's the email pitch (note, Intellectual Poison does not, in any way, shape or form, endorse this company or their product, but we do think its funny):
Cunning Stunts Communications announce the launch of foreheADS� - the medium that alleviates student debt whilst bringing a
brand's message to the fore.
Cunning Stunts are developing a network of students to display brand logos or straplines on their foreheads.
Ads are placed using a temporary transfer.
Students must display the ads for a minimum of three hours a day in highly visible locations such as the student bar, local pubs and high street shopping areas. In return, they will receive �88.20 for a week's work. Participating students will have to provide photographic
evidence of the transfer in situ whilst out and about.
foreheADS� offers a highly targeted and truly innovative means of reaching the youth and student market, in a very eye catching way.
If you are a brand and would like to know more, please contact us on 020 7691 0077
If you are a student wishing to submit your details, please send an email to info@cunningstunts.net and we will respond with more information.
:: posted by Erik at 4:18 PM | Permalink | Comment |
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Nice Work Pyra!
Blogger, the company that made my first foray into Blogging so easy and so cool to do has been bought. Read the news, Google Buys Blogger.
Pretty awesome and well deserved! Not sure what this means for the future of blogging via Blogger but it'll be good. I hope.
Blog Update News
There is now, down there on the left, a subscription box. It enables emailing of Intellectual Poison's new posts to readers instead of coming to the website. There is no cost involved and its kind of cool. I'm still tweaking the particulars but overall, I like the idea. And there's an IntePoi Yahoo Group now as well (well, there had to be otherwise the email thing wouldn't work). I'm curious to see if it gets used or not but I like the concept an awful lot. Drop me a note if there are any technical issues or if you think this is just a stupid idea. I'm game for arguments.
Blogger, the company that made my first foray into Blogging so easy and so cool to do has been bought. Read the news, Google Buys Blogger.
Pretty awesome and well deserved! Not sure what this means for the future of blogging via Blogger but it'll be good. I hope.
Blog Update News
There is now, down there on the left, a subscription box. It enables emailing of Intellectual Poison's new posts to readers instead of coming to the website. There is no cost involved and its kind of cool. I'm still tweaking the particulars but overall, I like the idea. And there's an IntePoi Yahoo Group now as well (well, there had to be otherwise the email thing wouldn't work). I'm curious to see if it gets used or not but I like the concept an awful lot. Drop me a note if there are any technical issues or if you think this is just a stupid idea. I'm game for arguments.
:: posted by Erik at 3:45 PM | Permalink | Comment |
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Big Days Ahead
With several big days in my very recent past, there are a bunch more big ones looming still. Lots of uncertainty, lots of doubt, lots of our lives being decided by people who don't know us and have no stake in our success or failure. Its a bit maddening to pace the floor wondering what will happen and knowing that the people making the decision have no vested interest in it and it could be something as arbitrary as flipping a coin.
But my fingers are still cross nonetheless and with some luck we'll be unloading the moving van directly into the new apartment. And nothing like only having to move stuff once! But we've got to secure the place first or keep looking, and though it would be a seriously crowded drag, it wouldn't be all that awful to share my place for another month. We'd save a ton of money which would be good but, on the other hand, I'm ready to break things off with the old house. I'm ready to settle down and create a home with Paula, I'm ready for our own space where there are no housemate's alarms going off (yes, AGAIN this morning), or coming home to a living room full of drunk strangers. And all of the other myriad joys that come from sharing a house with other people. I'm very much looking forward to all of it and more.
Other Blog Update News
I'm very close to creating a subscription set up to Intellectual Poison, no, not charging money, I know nothing I write here is worth charging for. Nope, an email subscription list that allows me to sign people up to send out copies of posts as they go live to the web. I should have something worked out in the next week or so, give or take. Not that I think there will be any huge number of people that want to get Intellectual Poison in their in-boxes but hey, its kind of cool to do anyway. Shame I lose the site visits but I think I need to turn down my freakish fascination with click throughs. No point in caring about people who's sole interest here is to find cheat codes, Joe Millionaire dirt or nasty pics of Yasmine Bleeth. Is there a support group for this?
Also, just added Intellectual Poison Reviews which is meager now but will eventually become my repository for all things I've reviewed, heckled or whatever. Not limited to movies, books and music, I will review damned near anything, as some of you already well know. But it should be a fun place to keep them. Might have to shorten some of them though or that page will take forever to load and its just text.
With several big days in my very recent past, there are a bunch more big ones looming still. Lots of uncertainty, lots of doubt, lots of our lives being decided by people who don't know us and have no stake in our success or failure. Its a bit maddening to pace the floor wondering what will happen and knowing that the people making the decision have no vested interest in it and it could be something as arbitrary as flipping a coin.
But my fingers are still cross nonetheless and with some luck we'll be unloading the moving van directly into the new apartment. And nothing like only having to move stuff once! But we've got to secure the place first or keep looking, and though it would be a seriously crowded drag, it wouldn't be all that awful to share my place for another month. We'd save a ton of money which would be good but, on the other hand, I'm ready to break things off with the old house. I'm ready to settle down and create a home with Paula, I'm ready for our own space where there are no housemate's alarms going off (yes, AGAIN this morning), or coming home to a living room full of drunk strangers. And all of the other myriad joys that come from sharing a house with other people. I'm very much looking forward to all of it and more.
Other Blog Update News
I'm very close to creating a subscription set up to Intellectual Poison, no, not charging money, I know nothing I write here is worth charging for. Nope, an email subscription list that allows me to sign people up to send out copies of posts as they go live to the web. I should have something worked out in the next week or so, give or take. Not that I think there will be any huge number of people that want to get Intellectual Poison in their in-boxes but hey, its kind of cool to do anyway. Shame I lose the site visits but I think I need to turn down my freakish fascination with click throughs. No point in caring about people who's sole interest here is to find cheat codes, Joe Millionaire dirt or nasty pics of Yasmine Bleeth. Is there a support group for this?
Also, just added Intellectual Poison Reviews which is meager now but will eventually become my repository for all things I've reviewed, heckled or whatever. Not limited to movies, books and music, I will review damned near anything, as some of you already well know. But it should be a fun place to keep them. Might have to shorten some of them though or that page will take forever to load and its just text.
:: posted by Erik at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Ghost Post
I don't know how I got this or who it came from but here's....Human rights watchdog Privacy International has launched a quest to find the World's Most Stupid Security Measure.
This is also a test so its not completely pointless.
I don't know how I got this or who it came from but here's....Human rights watchdog Privacy International has launched a quest to find the World's Most Stupid Security Measure.
This is also a test so its not completely pointless.
:: posted by Erik at 8:28 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Feb 19, 2003Like this post?
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More Joe Millionaire Dirt
Yeah, I can't help it but I can be sucked right back into the whole Joe Millionaire thing but when you come across Good Joe Dirt then you've gotta share.
Two castoffs talking smack about Evan (Joe) and how he was a loser anyways? Hmmm, I'll go a wee bit out on the limb and say "Sour grapes much, you gold diggers?"
Anyway, its good for a grin. And next week's the tell all where the others get to rip on Joe alot and say how they knew all along that he wasn't worth $50 million because they were soooooo smart and not because they lost. That ought to be entertaining.
Other Wacky Too-Much-Free-Time News
Thanks to Mark "You Are God if there is a God" Morford I have found yet another site that just makes me ask what in the fuck people are smoking to come up with Fasting for George W. Bush wherein people are exhorted to go without food to help secure Shrub's "holiness". And I don't think I even WANT to know how that works. But hey, sign up and send them notes saying that you tried to fast but were compelled out of a duty to Shrub's holiness to attempt to murder a whole race of people because you were hungry. Or not. What in the hell are people doing to come up with utterly stupid ideas like this? Please tell me its a couple of teenagers in the midwest who died because they were laughing so hard that this prank grew legs on them. Please?
New Reality TV LOW
Are You Hot? in which vacuous pretty people (the only kind we really care about in America, right?) show you and tell you how awesome and hot they are. Regardless of the fact that, if you've gotta tell people you're hot, you're not. I'm sure this show will do well because it'll feature visuals over substance and that's really what sells in America these days. Why learn anything when all that TRULY matters is that you're pretty, well hot. And everyone knows physical beauty is far more important than intelligence or personality (which goes to explain why these people on the show come across as being, well, bitches and assholes).
Tell you what, there should be two classes of people in America. Those that give a damn about the world and what's happening in it and those that are vain loser idiots who prize the transient physical beauty of the moment instead of someone you can actually hold a conversation with and like as a person, not just as a breathing sex toy.
Yeah, I can't help it but I can be sucked right back into the whole Joe Millionaire thing but when you come across Good Joe Dirt then you've gotta share.
Two castoffs talking smack about Evan (Joe) and how he was a loser anyways? Hmmm, I'll go a wee bit out on the limb and say "Sour grapes much, you gold diggers?"
Anyway, its good for a grin. And next week's the tell all where the others get to rip on Joe alot and say how they knew all along that he wasn't worth $50 million because they were soooooo smart and not because they lost. That ought to be entertaining.
Other Wacky Too-Much-Free-Time News
Thanks to Mark "You Are God if there is a God" Morford I have found yet another site that just makes me ask what in the fuck people are smoking to come up with Fasting for George W. Bush wherein people are exhorted to go without food to help secure Shrub's "holiness". And I don't think I even WANT to know how that works. But hey, sign up and send them notes saying that you tried to fast but were compelled out of a duty to Shrub's holiness to attempt to murder a whole race of people because you were hungry. Or not. What in the hell are people doing to come up with utterly stupid ideas like this? Please tell me its a couple of teenagers in the midwest who died because they were laughing so hard that this prank grew legs on them. Please?
New Reality TV LOW
Are You Hot? in which vacuous pretty people (the only kind we really care about in America, right?) show you and tell you how awesome and hot they are. Regardless of the fact that, if you've gotta tell people you're hot, you're not. I'm sure this show will do well because it'll feature visuals over substance and that's really what sells in America these days. Why learn anything when all that TRULY matters is that you're pretty, well hot. And everyone knows physical beauty is far more important than intelligence or personality (which goes to explain why these people on the show come across as being, well, bitches and assholes).
Tell you what, there should be two classes of people in America. Those that give a damn about the world and what's happening in it and those that are vain loser idiots who prize the transient physical beauty of the moment instead of someone you can actually hold a conversation with and like as a person, not just as a breathing sex toy.
:: posted by Erik at 2:19 PM | Permalink | Comment |
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Time to Move On
And when you move on, move, don't keep your life bound to the life you're leaving behind.
Don't slowly sever those threads that bind you, use a machete to chop them all at once, break the ties cleanly, quickly and get the pain of the loss out of the way as soon as possible. I fear this post may descend into an obtuse barrage of statements connected by epithets and if so then I'll apologize beforehand.
I'm frustrated right now, living in a house where I'm not all that comfortable, where one of the evening's excitements is wondering what kind of bottom feeder's coming by to see my housemate this time around. Now don't get me wrong, these aren't bad people, they are polite and respectful when they're around. But come on now, its not too hard to figure out what someone does for a living when they have no job, spend money pretty easily and have a ready supply of drugs available to them. Ummm, I'll take street level drug dealers for $200, Alex.
With my pending move from the house I've lived in for the last 3 years and have been well associated with for the last 8 years, I'm depressed about the state I'm leaving it in. The last six months have seen a distinct change in the complexion of the house and I'm just sad that I'm going to be the last of the pals in the neighborhood to be there. Sucks.
There are so many angles and facets to go about detailing what's going on in the house but there's really no point in bogging down there. How about a highlight or two? I got woken up this morning at about a quarter to 7 by one of my housemate's alarm clocks going off at top volume. Not a big deal except said housemate didn't stay the night at the house last night. So this alarm would have kept going off all day if I'd let it. So I get up to go turn it off, out the side door, up the stairs and to his room. His door's locked so I go back down and get my key, it won't work, so I go back down to get my other key, it works and I finally get the fucking thing turned off a food twenty minutes after it had started going off. The isn't one of those little alarm clocks you can ignore, either, its a goddamned Bose Wave Radio (which, by the way, kicks ass in other uses) but this thing goes LOUD, LOUD, LOUD. And with his bedroom literally on top of mine, it was impossible to ignore.
Okay, so that's the latest. What else? How about leaving doors open, doors to the outside? My house is a strange configuration and has numerous decks, to get to the top bedroom its required to go outside and up an external set of stairs. There's a door there, it opens but for some reason it doesn't close. I can't even count how many times I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and that door is WIDE OPEN, which means my house is a flipping ice box almost all the time AND our bills are through the roof.
There are dozens of other incidents that I could write about, I could fill this page, the next page and ten more just like it with crap that's happened. And its not going to stop, it'll just continue until I do something about it. I hate having to be the guy in charge but I am so I'm going to have to deal with this shit. And if that means booting him just at the same time I'm moving out then so be it, shit happens and disrespecting one's house and housemates is the best way I know of to find yourself streetbound.
But I'm open to other ideas of how to deal with this situation. Anyone want to offer any up? And no, shallow graves don't work here, the ground is too sandy.
Speed Movie Review
Paula and I watched a movie I knew was going to be heavy before we even hit play on the DVD. It was called "The Laramie Project" and dealt with the aftermath of the Matthew Shepard (the foundation begun in his honor and the Matthew Shepard International resource guide) aggravated kidnapping, assault, torture and murder. It was a profound and moving movie, very well done, starring more hefe big name Hollywood types than most award shows (though I must say that Peter Fonda waaaaaaay over played his doctor's role).
It detailed much more of the events leading up to and surrouding Matthew Shepard's death than I'd ever known. And then showed some of the bullet headed in-bred stupidity that people possess out there in the world. Yes, he was gay, and yes, he was killed because of it. By a couple of ardent homophobes who beat him BEYOND recognition. By the way, to all you homophobes out there, the reason you hate gay people so much is because, deep down inside where you're scared to look, you're scared you ARE gay and so you throw up these barriers like hatred as an attempt to deny the fact that you may be what you profess to hate. Think about that for a moment, you hate what you might be and by denying what and who you might be you generate hatred for those who ARE brave enough to step out of the shadow and announce who THEY are and its scares you little narrow minded homophobes to the core of your being.
I would recommend Laramie Project to anyone who needs to have the light of a reasoned and very, very well done examination of the repercusions of hatred in a small community. That and the two buggers who killed Matt Shepard, or rather, the two buggers who played those parts in the movie, were incredibly creepy and very, very good in their roles. Scary good.
A well done but disturbing movie. The kind that makes you lose faith in humanity or think that we're on the long spiral downward as our culture topples over upon itself. And today's quote is quite appropriate too: Nature does not bestow virtue; to be good is an art.
- Seneca
My sole knock on the movie shouldn't be a knock because it was a part of the world that he lived and died in. The religious knocking that came down from all sides, how God was watching over him, how God hates queers, how God thinks homosexuals are a sin against mankind, yadda, yadda, yadda. It was wrenching to see and hear how narrowly people think, the wife of the state trooper was the most shockingly fucked up interview of the whole bunch. She was questioning how the accidental death of a state trooper could only warrant a small blurb in the paper when this gay man's death was international news. It made me almost physically sick to think that there really are people who think like that in the world.
Also, go read Layne today. She wrote about her weekend in New York with her Spanish lover and I could only read the first part this morning but it's one helluva an amazing start and I'll probably print out a copy to read offline at lunch. She is, as always, highly recommended.
And when you move on, move, don't keep your life bound to the life you're leaving behind.
Don't slowly sever those threads that bind you, use a machete to chop them all at once, break the ties cleanly, quickly and get the pain of the loss out of the way as soon as possible. I fear this post may descend into an obtuse barrage of statements connected by epithets and if so then I'll apologize beforehand.
I'm frustrated right now, living in a house where I'm not all that comfortable, where one of the evening's excitements is wondering what kind of bottom feeder's coming by to see my housemate this time around. Now don't get me wrong, these aren't bad people, they are polite and respectful when they're around. But come on now, its not too hard to figure out what someone does for a living when they have no job, spend money pretty easily and have a ready supply of drugs available to them. Ummm, I'll take street level drug dealers for $200, Alex.
With my pending move from the house I've lived in for the last 3 years and have been well associated with for the last 8 years, I'm depressed about the state I'm leaving it in. The last six months have seen a distinct change in the complexion of the house and I'm just sad that I'm going to be the last of the pals in the neighborhood to be there. Sucks.
There are so many angles and facets to go about detailing what's going on in the house but there's really no point in bogging down there. How about a highlight or two? I got woken up this morning at about a quarter to 7 by one of my housemate's alarm clocks going off at top volume. Not a big deal except said housemate didn't stay the night at the house last night. So this alarm would have kept going off all day if I'd let it. So I get up to go turn it off, out the side door, up the stairs and to his room. His door's locked so I go back down and get my key, it won't work, so I go back down to get my other key, it works and I finally get the fucking thing turned off a food twenty minutes after it had started going off. The isn't one of those little alarm clocks you can ignore, either, its a goddamned Bose Wave Radio (which, by the way, kicks ass in other uses) but this thing goes LOUD, LOUD, LOUD. And with his bedroom literally on top of mine, it was impossible to ignore.
Okay, so that's the latest. What else? How about leaving doors open, doors to the outside? My house is a strange configuration and has numerous decks, to get to the top bedroom its required to go outside and up an external set of stairs. There's a door there, it opens but for some reason it doesn't close. I can't even count how many times I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and that door is WIDE OPEN, which means my house is a flipping ice box almost all the time AND our bills are through the roof.
There are dozens of other incidents that I could write about, I could fill this page, the next page and ten more just like it with crap that's happened. And its not going to stop, it'll just continue until I do something about it. I hate having to be the guy in charge but I am so I'm going to have to deal with this shit. And if that means booting him just at the same time I'm moving out then so be it, shit happens and disrespecting one's house and housemates is the best way I know of to find yourself streetbound.
But I'm open to other ideas of how to deal with this situation. Anyone want to offer any up? And no, shallow graves don't work here, the ground is too sandy.
Speed Movie Review
Paula and I watched a movie I knew was going to be heavy before we even hit play on the DVD. It was called "The Laramie Project" and dealt with the aftermath of the Matthew Shepard (the foundation begun in his honor and the Matthew Shepard International resource guide) aggravated kidnapping, assault, torture and murder. It was a profound and moving movie, very well done, starring more hefe big name Hollywood types than most award shows (though I must say that Peter Fonda waaaaaaay over played his doctor's role).
It detailed much more of the events leading up to and surrouding Matthew Shepard's death than I'd ever known. And then showed some of the bullet headed in-bred stupidity that people possess out there in the world. Yes, he was gay, and yes, he was killed because of it. By a couple of ardent homophobes who beat him BEYOND recognition. By the way, to all you homophobes out there, the reason you hate gay people so much is because, deep down inside where you're scared to look, you're scared you ARE gay and so you throw up these barriers like hatred as an attempt to deny the fact that you may be what you profess to hate. Think about that for a moment, you hate what you might be and by denying what and who you might be you generate hatred for those who ARE brave enough to step out of the shadow and announce who THEY are and its scares you little narrow minded homophobes to the core of your being.
I would recommend Laramie Project to anyone who needs to have the light of a reasoned and very, very well done examination of the repercusions of hatred in a small community. That and the two buggers who killed Matt Shepard, or rather, the two buggers who played those parts in the movie, were incredibly creepy and very, very good in their roles. Scary good.
A well done but disturbing movie. The kind that makes you lose faith in humanity or think that we're on the long spiral downward as our culture topples over upon itself. And today's quote is quite appropriate too: Nature does not bestow virtue; to be good is an art.
- Seneca
My sole knock on the movie shouldn't be a knock because it was a part of the world that he lived and died in. The religious knocking that came down from all sides, how God was watching over him, how God hates queers, how God thinks homosexuals are a sin against mankind, yadda, yadda, yadda. It was wrenching to see and hear how narrowly people think, the wife of the state trooper was the most shockingly fucked up interview of the whole bunch. She was questioning how the accidental death of a state trooper could only warrant a small blurb in the paper when this gay man's death was international news. It made me almost physically sick to think that there really are people who think like that in the world.
Also, go read Layne today. She wrote about her weekend in New York with her Spanish lover and I could only read the first part this morning but it's one helluva an amazing start and I'll probably print out a copy to read offline at lunch. She is, as always, highly recommended.
:: posted by Erik at 9:46 AM | Permalink | Comment |
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Feb 18, 2003Like this post?
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What's Wrong with the World?
Bush Shrugs Off Anti-War Protest, that's part of what's wrong with the world.
Now I've gotta rush back to watching the clock slowly tick the moments, seconds, hours, days and months until that idiot is out of the Whitehouse and the USA can return to some semblance of respectability.
My thought for the day - What do you call a criminal dressed in Armani suits, wearing a $20K Rolex, $4500 Italian wingtips (or whatever's the fashion these days) and sporting a $500 manicure? A thief. Just because he's dressed nicely doesn't mean he's a good person, it means he stole alot and did it enough so that he got rich before he got caught.
Until there is some culpability for their actions, these CEO's, politico's and others will continue to disregard our laws (usually the same ones they were elected to uphold, hypocritical buggers) and make themselves ever wealthier at the average man's expense. Its descpicable really and I'd spend one of my three genie powered wishes on making them all pay for their crimes. Say $5 an hour until they've paid all the money and damage they've done back. See you in about 5,000 years, John Rigas.
Bush Shrugs Off Anti-War Protest, that's part of what's wrong with the world.
Now I've gotta rush back to watching the clock slowly tick the moments, seconds, hours, days and months until that idiot is out of the Whitehouse and the USA can return to some semblance of respectability.
My thought for the day - What do you call a criminal dressed in Armani suits, wearing a $20K Rolex, $4500 Italian wingtips (or whatever's the fashion these days) and sporting a $500 manicure? A thief. Just because he's dressed nicely doesn't mean he's a good person, it means he stole alot and did it enough so that he got rich before he got caught.
Until there is some culpability for their actions, these CEO's, politico's and others will continue to disregard our laws (usually the same ones they were elected to uphold, hypocritical buggers) and make themselves ever wealthier at the average man's expense. Its descpicable really and I'd spend one of my three genie powered wishes on making them all pay for their crimes. Say $5 an hour until they've paid all the money and damage they've done back. See you in about 5,000 years, John Rigas.
:: posted by Erik at 4:06 PM | Permalink | Comment |
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Validation from All Angles, Sides, Sites and Systems
Its become apparent to me that I seek my validations from other sources than normal, at least I think they're abnormal. Or slightly off normal as abnormal indicates some sort of failing. And I don't think I'm failing at all, I just look for approval differently than most.
Like my Site Meter counter, I know, intuitively and because I check referral logs, that these clicks aren't reading the blog, they're looking for dirt on Joe Millionaire, Japanese Nipple Scarves, pics of Maria Bartiromo or some other peculiarity that the internet breeds. But I can tell myself that they're sampling the page and getting infected with some aspect of Intellectual Poison has to offer. And then I'm forced to ask the follow up question, what DOES Intellectual Poison have to offer?
Is there something here that can't be gotten elsewhere? Are there things about this site that make it unique and clickworthy on and of its own? If not then why not, why can't I focus the scope of the blog into a narrow beam of writing and ride that beam as far as I can. I know why, its because I'm a cluttered mind, my brain has less structure than most. Which can be both strength and weakness. I think I need Ritalin sometimes, just to try and decrease the scope of my thoughts to a range that's able to provide me with some useful direction. Or maybe I should just exercise some mental discipline on myself and get it worked out.
But my validations come from all perspectives and I overlay them so that, if one returns an answer that doesn't float on the continuum, I'm able to point it out and call it the black sheep among the others. I use Hotornot to verify my physical attractiveness (sure, I use a good pic up there but so what, its still me) and I found my future wife there as well. I write my blog for two main reasons, the first is that I have an awful lot on my mind all the time and need to both vent and share it with the world at large, the second reason is because I like the feedback, I like hearing if what I'm thinking resonates with or against the populance reading me. I like knowing that I've made someone stop and think for a moment. I like thinking that, at this point right now, there are people out there pondering what I really meant by some statement I wrote.
This is all hypothetical because its been some time since I've gotten an email from a reader who was a fan and just wanted to mention that they found something particularly insightful or valuable or whatever. If I had my way, all visitors would leave a note, good, bad, indifferent, something to mark their passage. And that's the basic reason I like the commenting systems, the tag board (when it worked and didn't bog the page down too terribly) or whatever. I like feedback and encourage any and all readers to leave a comment if something I've written touches you, either good or bad. Criticism, while not much fun to take, is the best way to improve on one's ability to transmit the interior dialogues to the external world.
Its become apparent to me that I seek my validations from other sources than normal, at least I think they're abnormal. Or slightly off normal as abnormal indicates some sort of failing. And I don't think I'm failing at all, I just look for approval differently than most.
Like my Site Meter counter, I know, intuitively and because I check referral logs, that these clicks aren't reading the blog, they're looking for dirt on Joe Millionaire, Japanese Nipple Scarves, pics of Maria Bartiromo or some other peculiarity that the internet breeds. But I can tell myself that they're sampling the page and getting infected with some aspect of Intellectual Poison has to offer. And then I'm forced to ask the follow up question, what DOES Intellectual Poison have to offer?
Is there something here that can't be gotten elsewhere? Are there things about this site that make it unique and clickworthy on and of its own? If not then why not, why can't I focus the scope of the blog into a narrow beam of writing and ride that beam as far as I can. I know why, its because I'm a cluttered mind, my brain has less structure than most. Which can be both strength and weakness. I think I need Ritalin sometimes, just to try and decrease the scope of my thoughts to a range that's able to provide me with some useful direction. Or maybe I should just exercise some mental discipline on myself and get it worked out.
But my validations come from all perspectives and I overlay them so that, if one returns an answer that doesn't float on the continuum, I'm able to point it out and call it the black sheep among the others. I use Hotornot to verify my physical attractiveness (sure, I use a good pic up there but so what, its still me) and I found my future wife there as well. I write my blog for two main reasons, the first is that I have an awful lot on my mind all the time and need to both vent and share it with the world at large, the second reason is because I like the feedback, I like hearing if what I'm thinking resonates with or against the populance reading me. I like knowing that I've made someone stop and think for a moment. I like thinking that, at this point right now, there are people out there pondering what I really meant by some statement I wrote.
This is all hypothetical because its been some time since I've gotten an email from a reader who was a fan and just wanted to mention that they found something particularly insightful or valuable or whatever. If I had my way, all visitors would leave a note, good, bad, indifferent, something to mark their passage. And that's the basic reason I like the commenting systems, the tag board (when it worked and didn't bog the page down too terribly) or whatever. I like feedback and encourage any and all readers to leave a comment if something I've written touches you, either good or bad. Criticism, while not much fun to take, is the best way to improve on one's ability to transmit the interior dialogues to the external world.
:: posted by Erik at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comment |
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Humbling Blog Posts
I'm not on the program, not on the therapy track with my blog. I've not been using it as a foil for my venting, my angst repository. And that's not because I've been living a totally carefree life, I'm not. Things have been pretty good, Paula and I have enjoyed each other's company as always. There's some angst amongst us because we don't have a place locked down and ready to inhabit yet. But we're working on that and, fingers crossed, we'll be closing on a nice little spot not far from my old house. A cozy little 1 bed, 1.5 bathroom two story apartment place with good light, good storage and not so expensive that we'll have to leverage our future for our present.
But really, overall things are going well, I slipped up on my meds and allowed the cold sore to come back before it had fully gone away so I'm pissed off about that, there's a ton of bills to sort out and pay (though I
I'm not on the program, not on the therapy track with my blog. I've not been using it as a foil for my venting, my angst repository. And that's not because I've been living a totally carefree life, I'm not. Things have been pretty good, Paula and I have enjoyed each other's company as always. There's some angst amongst us because we don't have a place locked down and ready to inhabit yet. But we're working on that and, fingers crossed, we'll be closing on a nice little spot not far from my old house. A cozy little 1 bed, 1.5 bathroom two story apartment place with good light, good storage and not so expensive that we'll have to leverage our future for our present.
But really, overall things are going well, I slipped up on my meds and allowed the cold sore to come back before it had fully gone away so I'm pissed off about that, there's a ton of bills to sort out and pay (though I