Lament for Ballard

The brutality of the climate is becoming apparent on the commercial streets of my neighborhood. Every week another store seems to be closing up. From consignment shops, to camera shops (likely on its last legs for a couple of years), to book stores. Abraxus and Epilogue, both used books shops (with a limited selection of new), are closing. I am told the former is moving, which is what I was told about the latter as well, but that was a false rumor, as they wanted to stay in Ballard. While I didn't ask, I can only surmise that some increase in rent must've been their death knell, as a year or two ago they were forced to shrink the size of their space. Perhaps another pet shop will open up, making three within a year to open up, though I didn't realize we had enough pets in the area to support more than a single shop (which we have had on Ballard Ave for at least 3 years), the new-comers being big and bright and chains.

More than anything, I think the lament is for the variety, as now, we will have but a single bookstore in Ballard to complement the library, and that bookstore's focus is children. I see no reason for them to expand, as they have worked ever so hard to specialize and build that audience. If there is something good to say, it is that at least at one point they took special orders.

It was a grey day today, so grim news like another book shop closing wasn't perhaps unusual. I now have another book to read, and will have to stop in again as they reduce their inventory.

May the 4th be with you.

Starting with a bad pun from someone's Facebook status may not be the best way to begin, but it is there... done. Titles for these things have become increasingly difficult to create, though if perhaps I managed to find something witty to write in the body, then something witty might emerge for the title. Whatever. It has been a week of wonder. Wondering what I am doing here, and why I haven't decided what it is I want to do next, though this latter wonder may actually be more focused to the last several days, but as it is never far from my thoughts currently, I might as well toss it here.

It seems I need to write more letters. I think I just need to write more, and disregard any concerns about what format, but letters would probably be a good thing. I really haven't written any in ages, or at least since January, as I think that is when I wrote a quick letter to Mom. It seems that right now I am doing a superlative job at doing nothing, and it has occurred to me that I should probably change this situation, but I haven't quite figured out what to do when I stop doing nothing, and, of course, what to do when you aren't doing "nothing" is a very important decision.

Why not mention that is it Thursday

Why not? I mentioned several of the other days of the week this week. Amazing, that I have four days running on here, and nothing to say. Actually, I think Americans are pretty good at running at the mouth while not saying a great deal of anything, if we weren't there wouldn't be nearly as much talk radio as their is. We had another really nice day, and I managed to get myself in gear and hike the loop trail over at Discovery Park. I still need to get better about getting out of the house on nice days. I mean, yes, I got out of the house, but I didn't manage to get myself in gear to do so until 3 p.m., but considering I did some job search and unemployment stuff today, I can't beat myself up too much. Tomorrow I still need to send off those resumes, which even though I looked at stuff today, I tend not to do until Friday. Sometimes, that is a good thing, because in rereading the notices, I discover that something is part time rather than full time. I am sure I would have discovered that at some point, but best to not be taken by surprise on something that significant.

Wednesday, by golly

Wednesday and a pandemic in imminent according to WHO. I am pleased that I don't have any plans on a trip to Mexico, though I am planning on riding the bus to go to some GLBT networking event, which means at some point I should probably create some personal contact cards, but I am not quite at that stage yet, and I am not quite sure what information would need to be on them. Anyway, as much as anything else, I need to get out of the house, and this is a fine excuse.

I have actually come to a few conclusions this week, but only time will tell if I manage to keep up on the follow-through. Conclusion number one, is that job hunting has to go a lot better when you feel pretty good about yourself, and currently, I am feeling rather sluggish and out of shape, so if I can improve that, then I should be able to improve how I feel about the former, as I don't really want things to get to the panic point, where I am out for any job I can get, because I simply need money.

The second conclusion is that I need to find activities that get me out of the house, because too much time looking at these same walls will eventually get me down. Also, if I get out and do things, I will hopefully have a better chance at finding that serendipitous opportunity that leads to a job that I enjoy. (And that means I could just have a brainstorm while out walking, or I could meet someone who has a need for transportation/logistics skills.)

And of course during all of this, I am reading Camus' "The Rebel" and actually looking forward to reading some of the letters exchanged between him and Sartre after this book was published, as Sartre took great exception to it, and their friendship broke up because of it.

Tuesday's bit of something

And bit of something is about the best description I can possibly come to regarding today's stellar activities, or lack thereof. Aside from laundry, and some push-ups and sit-ups, today's big accomplishment was making brownies. Inexplicably, IE7 on my desktop decides that it really needs to crash on a regular basis, and does so, normally while I am trying to do the job search thing. It did it this morning, and I managed not to go back and work on the job search thing any more today, though I did make some progress in reading Camus' "The Rebel," which is so far rather interesting as he analyzed the works of several writers/philosophers (Sade, Dostoevsky, and Nietzsche) and the effects of their works on the twentieth century. Not really just the effects on the twentieth century, but his interpretation of their works, then how others interpreted them (particularly Nietzsche) after their publication. Next he is moving to regicides, which the touched on with Sade, and how in killing the French king, ruling by divine right, the French also could be construed as having killed God. It is something to get my mind working, and no matter how much I may enjoy Lord of the Rings Online, reading is a bit better for me, so I need to spend more time reading, less time playing the game.

such a beautiful day

April has been anything but showers this year. Gorgeous mild and sunny weather seem to have been the predominant theme, though maybe that is just the last two weeks, and I have conveniently forgotten the early part of the month. It doesn't really matter, as right now I am sitting on the balcony typing away, trying to think of something interesting. The whole job thing is more depressing because I am not sure what field to look in. While sending out resumes is required, there isn't much heart in what I am sending out. Oh well, that is just the way of things I guess, and since I don't make the rules, at minimum I need to follow them if I want the benefits.

Ugly sort of job thing

I honestly think the only reason the "Employment Security Department" (Washington state's unemployment office) really expects you to send out resumes and such is so that you can see, on a weekly basis, how few new jobs are posted in your field. Maybe I am being too cynical, as I know there is a good reason to make sure people stay actively searching, though the problem is that one can easily throw up their hands and call it poo. The harder part of the job thing, at least for me, is determining what it is I care to continue doing. I fell into a job in a familiar field and I did it. The funny thing was, I found it and accepted it after spending time looking for something that I thought would be more interesting. This should be the ideal time to look for what I want, at least after I figure that out. I think Dave is right and perhaps I should write more, as it does a marvelous job of sorting things out, though I don't know if he thinks I should blog, journal, or try something in the creative vein.

Weekly Chores

Winter seems to finally be over, and the wonderful dampness of Spring has arrived. It also seems that Thursday is my day to finish up stuff for the unemployment thing, as I have managed to get my jobs applied for and my electronic form submission done today. I guess I should be happy that it is now that I get to do it, and not the old fashioned find the unemployment office and go there sort of thing. Coffee and job search are a nice combination, or at least an adequate one. I doubt I could ever get organized enough to do things on specific days and have my life compartmented like that, but I can sometimes be envious of those who manage it. For me, I think I just need to be busier, as I seem to get more done when I have less of what is perceived as free time. Oh well, someday I will learn the trick.

Another Echo

I wonder, truly wonder, just how much that we expect from main stream media will still be there at the end of 2009. With cities and towns losing their newspapers, just what is Google going to compile on their news service? This is just one change, I can't help but hope that AIG and the banking sector get transformed as well. It is quite obvious Detroit is getting a makeover. One thing though, can anything be done to aid those out of work? For every journalist out of a job, there are pressmen and custodians and secretaries that also go when the newspaper closes. For every factory that closes, in addition to the blue collar, there will be white collar jobs lost--as well as design and engineering. Somehow and some way, we will get through this year, but I hardly think the country will be the same, though I also believe that it is too early to tell if the change will be positive, though retraining all those out of work isn't likely to be done in a year, and shipping them overseas to fight in a war the administration is trying to end is also not a good solution. Change is inevitable, but considering how quickly it is happening now, there is no reason to figure out what is next, because next might be different in twenty-four hours.

Not much really

I have spent the day doing little things, scanned craigslist, deposited my unemployment check, and caught up with some folks on Facebook, including a few of my favorite teachers. I guess I shouldn't expect instant knowledge as to my next move, and to be honest, I think most of these posts will be on the dull side as I ask questions out loud, only to answer them. After three months of inactivity, I can hardly expect any peanut gallery will be there to comment, but all sorts of surprises happen.

Oddly Detached

Having been laid off a bit over a week ago, I have made the odd realization that I don't much care. The income was nice, but I really didn't like the job. Make sure that is clear, I didn't like the job, though I did enjoy the camaraderie of my colleagues, as they were a great bunch. Now that the Seattle phase may be over, I am having trouble deciding what is next. When I moved out here, it was to be for five years and then a decision was going to be made as to whether I should stay or go. I am a few months shy of that five years, but nothing has presented itself yet as to my next destination, nor has a compelling reason been given to me to stay here. I think in truth, where I go is less important than what I decide to do, but I do believe there is some connectedness between the two. [Dave tells me I need to write more.]

Instant Topic

Well, as long as I can't seem to get pictures to load on this, I have an instant, if repetitive, topic of conversation. Actually, I also think it would probably become a dull topic--really, how many different ways can one expound on the situation. It isn't a matter of blaming one or the other, since I don't know if it is my laptop or blogger that is having the issue. The combination of the two definitely doesn't work. I guess I could go to my windows machine, but that isn't nearly as comfortable as typing while curled up on the sofa.

The work week is finished, and I was very ready for it to be done, even striking up pointless conversations during the last half hour of the day, because the business at my desk was just not calling loud enough. Now I have to figure out the weekend, but that generally works itself out, though dinner tonight is my immediate concern. If I follow up on my thoughts, it will end up being the fourth night in a row I go find food outside of my kitchen. Ah well, the stomach is growling, so before this devolves further and further into what my appetite would like me to write, I will wrap it up.

Yet Again...

Another day that blogger is just not agreeing to accept photos. Oh well, aside from that, there is a fear that is rapidly being realized here, that of having nothing to write. Yes, I could lament the sun being down by 4, or that I haven't found the perfect gift for all those who need gifts this season, but that all seems so trivial. Not to mention, problems here don't always need to reflect problems facing the general populace, besides, aren't gift cards the end all be all of don't know what to give you gift giving. Aside from a general belief that those things aren't always great for everyone, I like to try and think some gift giving out, and keep that status of best gift giver that I somehow have managed to attain with my sister's kids.

The water is about ready for tea, so this is a good pause point. (Moroccan Pomegranate Red, if you are curious.) While Fred Meyer has the Celestial Seasonings Teas on sale 10/$10 this week, this purchase was not made as part of that. I bought a few, but do to limited space in my cabinets, I opted not to purchase more than a couple.

I guess that is about it for the night. The lack of fodder, as who really wants a continual update of the inanities of work, is the biggest deterrent on getting the magical 100 posts, which of coarse is just magical because I have decided it is. I could try for eleventy-one posts, but since there aren't that many days left this year, it would involve a several days with multiple posts, and with nothing to write about once a day, then my blog could well become Seinfeldesque in its coverage of nothing, which is of course better than nothingness, but that is Sartre, not Seinfeld, though the two are probably affiliated, perhaps with some L. Ron Hubbard thrown in.

Will I hit 100 this year

In January, I had hoped to do better than last year in quantity of blog entries. At some point, I had a good chance of doing it without going into overdrive at the end of the year. Now of course, too much screwing around with video games, I need to go into overdrive, though I am not sure that I am all that gung ho to do such a thing. I am a little irritated that blogger & tiger don't seem to get along well, or perhaps it is some other aspect of Apple's software that blogger doesn't like.

Tonight, I uploaded some pictures from a bit ago, and was going to upload one for the top of this, but it just didn't want to upload. Amazing how that is my re-occurring problem here, and, even more amazing, is that is isn't happening when I am using Vista. I don't think I have written any entries here on my Vista enabled PC, though I do know I have written about my Vista experiences. Consider this my complaint about Apple software post, though, more accurately, it may be a complaint about blogger/Google software, since their stuff seems more aimed at the Microsoft market, because Apple users have no need for internet based word processors.

Superfluous in Words

Only today did I read the comment on my October 29th post, and I wonder, is it that what is said about me is dull, or is it that I am just superfluous. It could be that I just don't fit. Odd, though, is the feeling, lately gaining momentum, that I don't have much of a place nor much of a focus as to where in the world I should go. Now, I am being edited out of places in other's writings. Hardly do I take offense, though I find it funny that several people found me to be the extraneous element in places the author identifies with me. On the other hand, if I find out that I am edited out of Sovata or the All-Saints' Day Bus ride to Targu Mures, then I will know the Purdue English Graduate Program Staff has it out for me, and intends to excise me from all my best friend's writing efforts.

(I can't say that Ozzy Osbourne did justice to the Beatles' "In My Life.")

Now that those things I hadn't intended to write about have been written about, I guess it is time to figure out what I planned to write about today, but it is too late. Thoughts have vanished, and I should take Twain's proposed advice to Fennimore Cooper, but I haven't always been known to take good advice. Actually, I managed to spit out a journal entry today, and I don't transcribe them, for some reason, the electronic and the written tend to stay in their separate stacks. If I can merge the electrons and the ink molecules, perhaps I can create something, and if I toss on a bit of paint, perhaps I will dub it Cubism for the 21st century.

What I really need to merge is my attention and focus, as they wander where they will generally taking my time with them, all over the place, but one thing they don't take is production or creation, and that is what is bothering me, but paint, write, or some other of the muses' blessings, it doesn't really matter, just do something.

The title of many of my blog posts start with "Wednesday"

Lately, Wednesday might as well be any other day of the week. Too many days for me are becoming inter-changeable, with the main difference in being where I choose to eat dinner. Tonight was The Peoples' Pub, yesterday the Old Town, and Monday, well, then I went to Zayda Buddy's, where I can happily say they now have an 8" pizza which works for one. I do with that more than dinner differentiated my days, but that is what things have been reduced to. The passion of youth burned up in charging to the moon and paying off that trip before I hit 35. The next round of passion and energy just doesn't seem to have arrived, and life is holding onto the the steady drone of bi-weekly paychecks and regular hours, all the while making me wonder what I have done wrong. How can people not remember the passion of youth, when the world was going to change and the greatest minds of our generation were not going to stare blankly in the mirror wondering what happened, but were going to create that something, and maybe they have, but instead of poets and artists the greatest minds of this generation are coders and entertainment people, if this is the case, then they have succeeded in refocusing the gaze of the masses in ways which would appall the artists, not of old, but of 40 years ago. Life's zest denied by debt and then silly perceived necessity of maintaining a job.

Not even trying

to post a picture today. I am not really in the mood for it. I don't know why, but tonight my mood is pretty wretched, and it wasn't a bad day at work, that was yesterday. Oh well, sometimes life is just like that, and it tells me that what I need to do is add more things to my life, but not acquire more things because this things is activities not physical objects. Truly, I doubt I need many more of those things in my life, though other things it might be nice to add. Oh, the variety of things out there is truly amazing, and if I am lucky, perhaps I can add a few of those things to my life, but not the other things, which I have too many of already.

Facebook has been an interesting new toy, as I have found some people I had lost contact with. Some actually use Facebook, and others, I am sure, joined because someone told them that they had to. Either way, it can be interesting. It also has the ability to become a nightmare if you are truly paranoid. Look at all this information they have, they know who I know, etc. Yes, there is the potential for that information to be misused, but, in everything, there is that potential.

Pictures aren't go, unlike Thunderbirds

I do with I could figure out why Blogger accepts pictures somedays with no problems, then on others it just goes on uploading for an eternity. I am sure there is a very good technical reason, but when it doesn't work, I don't really care what that reason is.

It was another really nice autumn day here, sun and temp in the upper 50's lower 60's, I think. Like yesterday, I decided that staying in the house would be a bad idea, so I walked the loop trail at Discovery Park again. Unlike yesterday though, Kip came over and we tried our beer, which like the first batch, is pretty darn good. Someone at work once said that homebrews tend to smell skunky, and I have to say, neither of our batches have had that odor, and while the first had a better nose, this one has a slightly stronger flavor.

A really nice day

Really, you would think that Ballard Blandmark wouldn't be the best name for a building, but this fabulous new thing is indeed that, unless, of course, that fancy "B" in the middle is supposed to stand for Ballard.

Today was a great day. I enjoyed it tremendously, as I got out of the house and walked over to Discovery Park, seeing a sea lion at the locks looking for meals. Imagine my delight in discovering that at Discovery Park there is a 2.8 mile loop trail. While I doubt that I will be taking a 45 pound pack there to get a work out, the fact that I can walk there and do a loop, and by the time I get home, I would have covered over 5 miles is a good thing. Today's walk in the woods was nicer than thirty minutes of cardio any day, though I am sure I never quite got the appropriate heart rate and such.

I have been putzing around in Facebook lately, and it is interesting to see who I know and don't know. It is also nice to reconnect, electronically at least, with some who I have lost contact with. Those I never lost contact with, but who have been negligent in calling, well, it is nice to harass you as well.

Keeping the flow going

Hey, it is time for the really have nothing to say post that I am posting because, well, I have the urgent need to fill in the space. Filling in the space. Making sure the gaps between entries this month are few and far between, which of course means, in the predictable nature of making such comments, that I won't be typing any more this month here, though I could, but it could only be once or twice more. Conversely, not Nikely, I could spew way too much pointless dialogue that does not reflect positively on my mental capabilities, but then again, I am more of a lemming than a maverick. All that being said, tonight is the beginning of my three day weekend, which seems to be the nature of things for the foreseeable future, at least until the strike ends, and no one is predicting that until later this year, or perhaps January. What's a lemming to do?

A little something before bed

I think I mentioned sometime in September that they were installing this public art along the overpass leading to the Ballard bridge on 15th, and if I didn't mention it, I meant to. All of these have lights that shine up the middle, so there is a glowing sort of effect. If I went out at night and took pictures, some of these might make more sense, but there is a nice bit of enigma with them and the daylight.

One more day of work this week, but the high muckity-muck is over-reacting (his mantra sometimes seems to be why react when you can over-react), and a flurry of directives was issued regarding the purchasing department today, so it remains to be seen if there will be more work days next week. The most disconcerting thing that happened is that people who don't know what my job is assigned someone else the responsibility of doing that which I spent two weeks doing after we turned off outstanding orders. Of course, there was a trigger for it, and part of that trigger had to do with parts we wouldn't have stopped anyway because no directive existed to stop them until possibly yesterday, after they had already been returned to us. If I am lucky, perhaps my boss will get me working on whatever project he assigned last week but has yet to explain or detail, which he said he would do near the end of work last Thursday.

Distractions and such

Something about trying to type an entry, chat, and listen to Tom Waits and his gravelly stories that makes this difficult. I managed to be on the mostly story disc, causing me to listen rather than type. It normally doesn't take me quite so much time to come up with something, but today, I can't remember what I was going to say, aside from my fingers vacillating on the "put in cart" button for complete Appalachian Trail maps.

By the way, politics and Wall Street will play out the way they will. In truth it is so absolutely perverse I am sure some creative novelist will write some sort of greed porn out of the whole thing. The election is coming up, and I will do what I can then to create change in Washington, since regime change (at least Bush) is certain, since he isn't running. Exasperation and absurdist acceptance is my general feeling. I am trying to understand the macro-economic reasoning behind the whole thing, though because of the continued idiotic behavior by those being bailed out, there is no sympathy, rather I would like to see some hefty tax audits.

That pleasant directional feeling

If you have ever made a decision to do something difficult, but something which holds some allure to you, for whatever reason, then used that decision-momentum to get you through the following months until the decision becomes a reality of action, then you will probably know what I feel like. It is sort of like the decision made in October or November of 2001 when I decided Peace Corps would be my next move. Of course, that decision, unlike the similar one that is likely to be made regarding the Appalachian Trail, had outside influences that determined whether or not I could do it, such as the requirement of an invitation, so in the paperwork filled out, things became a bit more of a reality as each bar was passed. Here the same thing will likely happen, though some other things need to happen as well. Each and everything on a list that doesn't yet exist has to be evaluated and acted on, or not. Many things need to be done by March, and the planning of the whole thing is only just begun. I can't really answer how I feel, but I know it is good to be in motion again. Seattle has been a slothful time. While a pretty place, it just hasn't been terribly fulfilling. Maybe I will find that perspective I need while away, or maybe I will find something different, and discover that I need to be someplace else, east of the Mississippi, or else perhaps Portland. (Goodness, there seem to be an awful lot of ifs, maybes and perhapses.)

Again, though I can't say for certain it is the answer, I do think it is a good goal and a real possibility that by this time next year I will either be at Katahdin, or at least tried to get there. I was over at trailjournals.com earlier, and it is interesting reading, though I really wonder just how people update that, unless they do it in bunches during their town visits.

Another Tuesday, though Monday for some

Well, week two of our reduced schedule at work commenced today for those who have Mondays off. I am sure the schedule will change again, though no decisions are likely to be made until next week. I am really hoping they manage to justify the reduced hours we are currently on, because if they cut them more, I don't know if my savings level will hold steady or decline. Currently, it won't grow by much, but I don't think it will decline.

Oh, for some reason Blogger doesn't like my pictures today, so maybe tomorrow...

Using Christmas Presents

Last year for Christmas, I received this nifty headlamp, which at the time I had no idea what I would use if for. Mom, who chose it, thought I could come up with a use for it. Considering that, I can't see how she would disagree with my potential decision to hike the Appalachian Trail--a decision, much like that of Peace Corps, which becomes more concrete the closer it becomes to being possible, and the more I take it seriously as a possibility rather than something I can't do because of my experience or because it takes too much planning. I do think trying to plan weekly mail drops is a bit extreme, and would cause me to consider stock in the USPS. It would also be a decision that would drive my sister and brother-in-law both crazy, as they have volunteered to do the mailing. Oh well, it is just another detail that will be figured out later on. With luck it is something that will fall in place as time progresses, as I don't know if I want to carry a month's worth of foodstuffs, but somewhere between a week and month makes sense, because towns and general stores aren't too far off the path.

Still Saturday

It is still Saturday, and it is very autumnal, with the wind blowing these little yellow leaves everywhere, at least when they aren't stuck to the ground from the rain earlier today. As can be expected, I was at the Old Town earlier today, caught up in the thoughts that have been occupying me lately. Next year's decision, and I don't quite know what it will be, would do well not to follow the mistakes of the past, though those mistakes seem to follow upon re-integration, rather than the decision itself being wrong. Going back into the business world after Peace Corps is an example of this, though in doing so, it has opened another opportunity for me to figure out what the right thing is. Again, the right thing may only be right for a certain period of time, but capturing it during that time is the goal.

Someday, I will

actually have what I want to say here planned and perhaps somewhat thought out. That day is not today. Today is one of those mornings where it has been raining all morning, and when I woke up, I thought, great, another day in the house. Lots of house time has become a bit tedious, and, just as the weather is turning, and finances are tightening, I get cabin fever. What is a world traveler with a soon to expire passport to do? The passport thing shouldn't be a big deal. Interestingly, the dollar, after falling to pathetic levels this spring and summer, is now back to where it was last November when I went to Paris and the lowlands. I don't say that to imply international destinations are on my list, as I haven't really considered any lately. I also haven't really considered much US travel, though I have a friend who has a fabulous apartment for another month or so in San Francisco. The sun is trying to break through the gloom, and I guess that could be a metaphor right now to describe my life, though I think that angst is supposed to be burned through as an adolescent.

Decisions to be made

Today is the first Friday I am off based on our current strike schedule. I am not totally sure what to do with the time, but did decide to finally update my voter registration with my current address, of course, tomorrow is the deadline. Since I don't have a car, I am not sure how I would have gotten to Woodinville to vote. Other than that, my thoughts have been on next February and March, and what I am going to do then, and the answer right now is that I really don't know. There are always challenges out there, but choosing the right one for the right time can be difficult. We are having typical misty rain sort of weather here, and while I was out earlier, a smile crossed my face recalling the occasional walk in the rain during university, when I just needed to get out of the dorms and away from people. It didn't really help me make a decision, but the smile gave me a reason to think about what is next. I should live in the present, and I do frequently, but it is also necessary to plan some things for the future. Living now doing nothing because you plan on doing it when you retire is stupid, because there is always that proverbial bus.

Post-Non-Bailout Reflection

Not being an economist, it is a bit difficult for me to know why the Wall Stree Bailout needed to be immediately, if not sooner. The spiral has been going on for how long? The government chose to do nothing, or very little, for how long? I can understand the need to keep money moving and banks in business, but I really think it should be done on terms the people footing the bill can live with. I have read where in order to successfully perform the bailout the government would need to pay more than the distressed assets are worth? In other words, we are paying premium for garbage? All while someone on Wall Street is still getting a nice check? Truly, this is a mess, but Congress needs to take a bit of time to come up with something. If another bill that is unacceptable to Congress gets put up to a vote, the same thing will happen, and this, I would bet, would be worse than no vote at all. Anyway, even though the Dow went down over 700 points yesterday, it does appear to have regained half of that, making me wonder if those numbers really have any bearing to anything.

Fear 101

While I am sure there was a good reason for the Feds to seize Washington Mutual, there were a conspiracy theorist's concoction of unusual bits about it that raise doubt as to whether or not it was warranted. Perhaps the most glaring is that seizing banks traditionally is a Friday afternoon affair, rather than something mid-week. The other sort of odd thing is that Washington Mutual's management didn't sound terribly involved. Personally, I think it was a way of getting Congress to act, in Treasury's favor, by pulling this off just before the vote on bailing out Wall Street. Of course, the downside of all this is that now I have to move my money, as JP Morgan Chase (First Chicago, Bank One, etc) is not an institution I care to do business with, because from my experience Bank One/First Chicago were more interested in billing people to bank with them, then providing decent services to their customers. The less money you had in their bank, the more you paid the bank to handle it. Considering Washington Mutual's collapse was due to mortgages to people at the lower end of the monetary spectrum, I don't have high hopes they will be able to keep their homes. In addition, I would be the Feds also planned to buy all the bad stuff from JP Morgan as soon as they could, allowing the new owners of Washington Mutual a really cheap expansion opportunity. Remember, the legislation Treasury & the White House are clamoring for includes no oversight and no questions about the propriety of the purchases my with the tax-payer money.

All that being said, I doubt Washington Mutual needed to be seized yesterday, but that it happened to scare law maker's into action and tax-payers into asking fewer questions. If the Bush administration hadn't done this sort of thing before, remember Colin Powell's UN testimony, perhaps I wouldn't be so cynical, but I think they are just trying it again. And again, it is to the disadvantage of the american people. If Congress and the tax-payers fall for it again, then to paraphrase our future VP, Americans are exceptional (exceptionally stupid). I really hope that exceptionally scary lady does not become VP.

Saturday, with Rain

I am not sure if my thoughts of going to the Fremont Octoberfest will move into actions, as the day is overcast and rainy/drizzly in a fashion that makes drinking beer outdoors a less than ideal way to spend the time. I have been playing around with Facebook, though I can't really determine if there is any point in it. Incredibly silly things like giving people plants of pixels, then raking their pixel garden-- all of this in order to save rainforest. Yeesh, I don't know who comes up with these things, but the price is right, so it is easy to spend time mindlessly doing such tasks, designed to appear that you are doing favors for your facebook friends, some of whom you may know.

Fine day for a bit of Gloom

I live in Seattle and work for a company that makes aircraft parts. It was only a matter of time before the strike at Boeing trickled its effects down to us, much faster than Reagan's economic policy at any rate, which I believe those of us who have not had the benefit of getting paid handsomely to run a company into the ground are still waiting for. Aside from my feelings about corporate leaders who are only following the herd to big pay packages and platinum parachutes when concrete shoes might be more appropriate, there were other things that were discussed today at work. Boeing's machinists have been on strike for two weeks, it seems that Boeing's engineers have a contract that expires in December, and that there are those out there that believe the two unions will form a league of interests, perhaps giving the machinists cause to hold out until then. This is of course rampant speculation, as I don't believe I know anyone in either union at Boeing, unless of course it is in the sense of knowing someone but not what their occupation is. Gray, overcast days are the best sort for companies to warn of potential lay-offs, so who knows, perhaps I have a vacation later this year. I probably won't worry about that right now, and, to be honest, I don't really know how such a thing would affect our department. Generally we seem to be understaffed, but only last week it was mentioned that we were "overhead." If all we are is that, then we will be decimated fairly quickly if they do staffing reductions.

On the brighter side of things, yesterday as I was leaving the Jolly Roger I bought a growler of the Imperial IPA, and today I am drinking it.

Wednesday-- just about over...

Our friends over at Boeing have made life at work all sorts of fun with their strike. The last day and a half I have been really focusing on the pixels of my computer at work determining what we can and can not accept. No complaint about the speed of the day, though by the end of it, I am more than happy to have a break from computer screens. Today's break entailed some mini-burgers and a dry-hopped red ale at the Jolly Roger. That was after work, as for some reason if I were to decide to go there or Hale's during lunch and imbibe the pleasures of the tap, I am sure the bosses wouldn't look highly upon it, though since I don't operate heavy machinery, nor have a car to drive back from those establishments, they probably couldn't do much.

I am going to try and get some pictures of the new public art along the Ballard bridge. They are replacing lamp-posts with this stuff, so I may have to make it out one night as well as one day.

not terribly important

Having had this going now for quite a while, though I don't think I have managed to hit the 200th post just yet, though that may happen sometime this year, though not at the rate I have been going over the summer. It would be nice to say something new and different on there, but with politics the way they are, and isn't everyone pleased about the options, and work just that, no better or worse than two months ago -- the new, interesting, and erudite perspectives just aren't there. It may just be the time of year, or it may just be that I am so sapped after work that I don't feel like making much effort on anything. I really need to get the paints out and putter about with those as well, but that is a mess I only recently thought about breaking into, but in my moment of, "that sounds like a good idea," I was also planning on bottling beer that night, and after Kip got here and we started the bottling thing, then started the let's go eat dinner and have a few more beers, it was way too late to paint when I got home, and the inspiration had vanished by Saturday.

Now it is not that late, but I am tired. Because of that, I am calling it a night, as rambling doesn't really add much.

Friday before the bottling

While I am not relaxing and having a home brew, I am relaxing and having a Bridgeport Hop Czar. Come to think of it, I should buy one or two for christmas gifts, as I know several people who like hoppy beer.

The company I work for is affected by the Boeing strike, and those effects are gradually rippling through, so as long as the strike goes on, life should be interesting. If it last more than 4 weeks, we get 32 hr, 4 day weeks, which I wouldn't complain too loudly about, though it would likely dent what I could stash aside into savings (translation: next year's slush fund). As I try to decide what next year will hold, I am doing my best not to go buy a larger computer monitor or anything totally foolish. If my current monitor dies, I will replace it with a larger one, but I am not going to buy a larger one just because....

Well, if I am lucky, perhaps Kip will prove a sounding board of ideas on what to do when so many options arise.

Future Reflections

Or reflections on the future... English is really sort of fun. With all the world open to me next spring, though at an unfavorable exchange rate if I go abroad, I am really beyond puzzled as to what to do. Too many things seem to be some sort of escape, which is something that just avoids rather than confronts the issues. But then, I also probably need to decide the issues to be confronted rather than escaped, because otherwise I am making no progress by staying here, either.

Oh well, tomorrow is bottling night, and that allows me a bit of stuff planned, as well as running 50 bottles through the dishwasher with heated drying so I know they will resemble sterile, even if they technically aren't (or maybe they are since I don't know either the standard for sterility or how close the dishwasher gets, if it doesn't exceed it. Dryers on high heat exceed it, I believe, but my neighbors would surely frown upon brown glass bottle shards in the dryer.

Funny?

If the attitudes expressed (click the title link) weren't something that could conceivably happen, perhaps I would find this funny, rather than frightening.

Mid-September already

Amazing how fast time passes. It has been almost a month since my last post, and if I had been off doing something of great interest, like hiking the Appalachian Trail, perhaps that would be excusable. Rather than that, I have been having a less than delightful time at work, and trying to work out what February holds, since I can't justify it holding a commute to Woodinville on a regular basis.

Whatever next year holds, an extended vacation is not really in the plans, as anything chosen will still be some sort of work, relocating involves the work of moving and the work of finding a job, but why would I want to move somewhere else just to start back up with the daily 9-5 monotony, though it might be someplace more enjoyable.

I have been working my way through Danube, and found a nice passage yesterday while either waiting for or eating my gumbo at the Old Town, but today I can't find it, so suffice to say, it was around section four, "Cafe Central." The last 2 days someone has been doing laundry when I arrived home, which is why I was out yesterday, because I couldn't really do that which needed to be done at home, though today, I am doing laundry. I would like to use it as an excuse for unusual topic breaks, but that is rather lame, and the topic switches just have to stand on their own, with the internal logic of creation as flow rather than creation through revision. I can't really say that one is better than the other, but the phone rings...

And I have a conversation about beer and bottling and fun things like that. Friday, the second round of beer will be bottled. There was a bunch of over spill during the initial fermentation, and I am hoping that is not a problem, but only a few weeks will tell, after the bottles have been capped for 2-4 weeks.

just something to add

So people don't think I have totally abandoned this, I am adding something, though not really much of anything. It is nice outside, and here I sit messing about with my computer. Such is life in this modern age-- perhaps in another time I would be scribbling in some notebook or else working 70 hour weeks for little compensation. This is really only an improvement if I manage to do something with the extra time. Creative things have not been flowing from me, which is no doubt one reason my mood has been so foul. I would like to blame it on a lot of things, but the truth of the matter is I am just not putting any effort there. All creation requires work, and we live in an age of relaxation. Why would I want to work any more than I already do to pay my bills? The answer, in theory, is so that I can do something I enjoy in order to pay the bills, rather than something I do just to pay the bills. That's it for now, more work about the house, which I was doing before launching into this.

Remember the home-brew...

Well, it has been bottled and aged appropriately. If the pour is done correctly, it is a very nice beer with an appropriate amber color, and a light head. The flavor is better if you don't allow the bottle dregs into the glass during the pour, as they change the flavor just enough. I should write more, but Kip is here (though he is on the phone right now), and we are enjoying the libations of our labors.

Found while browsing at work

Reading Dave's blog, and his highlights on the Declaration of Independence highlighting a couple of Georges, brought to mind this really cool image from Chip Kidd submitted for an exhibit in Florida. More on the exhibit can be found here and here. (The second is from the New York Times, so hopefully the link won't change.)

Lousy work week

Warning... if you actually venture to speak with me, do not ask about work, for I am afraid if you do, you will get what happened to Kip, which was a rant of frustration. I believe that the leader's in D.C. have infected everyone with the attitude of give me a report I like, rather than the much more uncomfortable truth. Yesterday I was basically told to put in bogus due date information in the computer so that all concerned parties would need to look in the system to see where the problems are, rather than a report which is pulled up in a manager meeting, but makes the boss look bad when the colors are raging red, and it seems everyone in the company is Pavlovian to see that red is bad, even if they can write it all off to a problem, the red itself is problematic.

To vent is nice, to job hunt is a better solution, though.

from "Sanatorium under the Sign of the Hourglass"

We all know that time, this undisciplined element, holds itself within bounds but precariously, thanks to unceasing cultivation, meticulous care, and a continuous regulation and correction of tis excesses. Free of this vigilance, it immediately begins to do tricks, run wild, play irresponsible practical jokes, and indulge in crazy clowning. The incongruity of our private times becomes evident.

--Bruno Schulz

Try it, you' ll like it.

THE BPA 'TOE JAM' FEAT. DAVID BYRNE & DIZZEE RASCAL

pictures out?

hmm... doesn't like my pictures today.  (Perhaps, it is a clue to get outside and enjoy the evening.)

beautiful day & new bike

Do I really need to say more?  The day was gorgeous, and I spent part of it biking around here.  The pic is from Discovery Park, and the beach in the distance I had visited earlier in the day.

going with the crowd

In what seems like an endeavor to merge with the fitness thing surrounding my friends, I went to the gym and ran a couple of miles on the treadmill--not real fast, but it is a start.  (I am thinking about buying a bike, too.)

Briz Brews

After much talking about it, Kip and I finally got together and brewed some beer.  It is supposed to be an Amber, so we will see how it goes.  Overall, we think it went well, despite the boil over that made a mess of my stove.  The beer is now in the fermenter fermenting and becoming something other than some sort of grain tea.  The initial part didn't really take that long, though having a carboy in my kitchen right now, as I thought during the first few days of intense fermentation, I might as well leave it there, moving it Sunday or Monday to someplace a little less inconvenient.
The day here is supposed to be gorgeous, and the morning certainly is, but I am doing a bit of laundry now, so I don't scramble tomorrow to accomplish that same bit that will still need to be done.  (The apartment has that peculiar fermented odor, though I hope to have that gone when I finally remove the overflow jar.)

I don't have anything specific planned for the weekend, which should hopefully allow me to get out and do something, as long as it doesn't have the negative effect of allowing me to do nothing.  I guess I could take a few more pictures of the beer fermenting, though I am thinking my reader might liken that to watching paint dry, though the chemical process here is absolutely remarkable, remember, this is beer.

For the record, I didn't do much reading last night except the recipe, over and over again, wondering if I was going to mess it up.  Messing up the first batch is a concern of mine, partly because if it isn't very good, I wonder if there will still be enthusiasm to make more.  Kip has had this equipment since sometime last year, and brought it over in March or April, so it has been a while it getting all the pieces to fit.  Hopefully, it won't take us as long to find time for the bottling.

**Update** I just got off the phone with Kip.  It seems the biggest concern is the age of the ingredients we used.  It seems this was a concern of Kip's though it had never crossed my mind.

Merge with previous?

I am very glad that no one recommended Windows Vista to me.  As I said earlier, it isn't very cooperative for me.  I tried restoring it to several points prior to when I began experiencing problems, but none of those points worked, so I threw my hands up and sent it back to the beginning and restored factory settings.  How many hardware & peripheral device companies does Microsoft own stock in?  I have a great big hard drive on the pc, but having wiped it twice in two months, I am not anxious to put anything on it because I don't really want to continually replace it.  With truth I can say I do not ever recall having this many problems with a computer that was less than six months old.  If Dave hadn't been having similar nightmares with his Vista laptop, perhaps I would say the combination of things on my computer was to blame, but there are way too many reported problems for me to lob the blame on a lemon of a computer.  All of the time tonight post dinner has really been spent trying to fix the stupid computer, prior to giving up at 8, and deciding it just needed to be restored to factory settings.  I can't honestly believe that Microsoft thinks Vista is an improvement over any aspect of XP (aside from financially, due to sales).  Microsoft's already spotty OS reputation has to be in tatters now, as I haven't found one good review of Vista, and even Steve Ballmer admitted it was a work in progress.  Between them and Vista and Boeing and the 787, the Seattle economy is doomed.

Vista Idiocy

I am honestly beginning to believe that Windows 3.1 or 95, perhaps even Me is better than Vista.  As an operating system, one would hope it would work, at minimum, more reliably than that which it replaced.  Is there anyway to get a class action suit against Microsoft for releasing garbage to the public?  Really, is there much more idiocy than a program that repeatedly tells you that it had made a critical error and shuts down.  None of the repair modules have worked, and I am wondering why I even have a hard drive that is larger than the absolute minimum Vista requires, because I will likely have to wipe the thing and return it to its original factory condition, meaning any pictures, music, and whatnot will be lost.  I have had the machine since April, and this is the second time I have had this problem.  The last time was immediately after an update, and I have a little updates available icon showing, but my computer shuts off to fast for me to make any use of it.  Microsoft really makes crap product and I am very happy that I bought a MacBook, if for no other reason than I can use it to figure out how to fix my even newer desktop.

More parade and other observations

Flying Spaghetti Monster anyone?  It is nice that he is flanked and escorted by pirates in a parade that also had unicorns. 

One other observation is that I have only had one month with more posts than this one, back in January.  This is not a new leaf, since I am finally posting material previously written, but it is something.  Readable, dull, boring, unremarkable... haven't a clue, as I am not going for any of those, just putting stuff down.  Again, with a single reader, I don't much worry about those things.  All I hope is that with lots of visual stimulus, the reader keeps coming back.  All that said, as I close so many of these things, it is time to find something to eat, though dinner is in the oven with a few minutes left to cook.

Parade Picture and another old post never posted

My computer is saying there is a network called freeWiFi, but no signal, so here I go with writing first and uploading second. In one of those sparks of brilliance as my stomach growled on the bus, it occurred that perhaps I wouldn't be so poorly disposed to the TSA if I actually had a full stomach. Of course after I unpack (explode) my bag into three containers, because of shoes, laptop, quart bag of toiletries, jacket, and lastly my ball cap, my opinion of their job doesn't change, but the people in the uniform were nice, so it wasn't bad, at least here.

I am having one last Black Butte Porter before heading to the land of boring beer, as it boggles my mind to think there might be a good place for beer in Gatlinburg, TN. Really, I am not a beer snob, but not much can be said for Miller or Budweiser when it comes to flavor, though there are rumors of efforts at improvement, of which, Michelob Amber is the most concrete proof. With my 10:45 a.m. beer, I am having a burger and fries, and paying dearly for the privilege, but the atmosphere is better here than in the place down the way where I could get a 7" personal pizza for $8.

(A porter at this hour is nothing as I just heard someone order a Mai Tai.)

Perhaps because I seldom do "sit down" meals in the airport, I never noticed the switch to plastic. My burger came with a plastic knife, which I guess is to prevent someone from buying lunch and taking the silverware with on the flight to terrorize the other passengers, though in truth, if it is on a flight with food, the others would be jealous that this guy didn't have to use the ingeniously designed plastic airline utensils.

Gawain and the Green Knight

I am finally getting around to reading this poem.  I bought the Armitage translation back in December after reading good reviews.  It does seem that around the solstice is a good time to read it, though when Dave read it back in December would have been better, for that is the beginning of the tale.  Fitt the first has been incredible, and I am looking forward to the rest of them.

Written June 9th, posted today

Life has a way of letting things get lost in the shuffle. There have been a few things I wanted to be when I grew up, and none of them have come to fruition. The artist, whether writer or painter, well, the artist got lost in technique and practice. Unlike Van Gogh, I have not been driven to do either of them. I enjoy working at them, but if something distracts me, then I am likely to off and do that. Perhaps the worst thing about working that way is that nothing gets done--nothing more than a hobbiest painter or writer, and while some hobbiests can be quite good, the practice is still just a hobby.

Prompting this mess of self-reflection is a sick day and me trying to figure out what is going on. Too often I think I missed a boat somewhere or made the proverbial left when it should have been a right, though by no means has hilarity ensued.

My reading has been overtaken by the shadow of J.L. Borges. As I read Claudio Magris' Danube, I wonder if the books and authors he mentions are real. I feel a certainty the river itself and the cities on its banks exist, but books he mentions, are they real, and are they any less real because I know nothing of them. I am sure it is something that matters not, because if the books he mentions aren't real, there certainly must exist some book on a very similar topic, if not the exact same one.

I guess if I considered myself a painter or a writer, then I would do the respective activity, and that by not considering myself one, I curse myself to not doing the respective activity with any degree of regularity that would allow me to improve. Back and forth, at the mercy of a label, and of what you choose to call yourself, which makes me wonder how much self-determination is really involved in one's success. Does one make a labeling decision on one's own, or does one wait for the label to be bestowed? My guess is ones decides what one's label will be, then knows success has been had when others agree. Such profundities are the result of too little food & coffee.

Unicorn Sighting

Another collection of images from the Solstice Parade. I should probably put these in something online, but haven't signed up for any of the services.

Still need breakfast

I am adding a few more pictures from yesterday's parade, which was not totally free of politics, though it did seem very free of politicians running for election.  I don't know all the ground rules for it, but one is that combustion engines aren't allowed to propel the floats, which no doubt limits the number of entries, and I can't imagine a politician who would feel comfortable in a parade whose normal lead-off contingent is nude bicyclists and features some rather overt criticisms of the current government.  Regardless of the politics, the parade is a good time, and if you are going to be offended by them, you know in advance perhaps you shouldn't go.

The festival is still going on today, though I don't know if I will make it down there again, as nothing really caught my attention in the vendor area.  The sky is also gray, which doesn't really entice me to head outdoors for much of anything.

I should come up with something constructive to do today, but the only real pressing thing is laundry (no pun intended, especially as I don't iron).  I could do a bit of reading, but I am gradually working through "Gielgud's Letters" and finding it makes great meal-time reading because the brief nature of the letters makes finding a stopping point very easy.  While it shouldn't surprise me, hearing Olivier referred to as Larry gives me a giggle.

As I mentioned in the title, I still haven't eaten, so I will leave this here and find something to stop my stomach's growling.

Solstice Parade

While it refrained from raining, it was gray all day for the Solstice Parade, which made it tolerable outside because for some reason it was also fairly muggy, which is not that normal here.  The parade was fun, starting with the naked cyclist and continuing on through a variety of people.  I refrained from taking a picture of the guy with his crotch framed and "Cheney" as the title, but then it shouldn't really surprise me at this parade that someone would walk down the street with nothing but a picture frame on.  With the implosion of the gay pride festival, or perhaps just the duplication of the gay pride festival, with dueling parades & dueling post-parade activities (and no one really sure of the "correct" one to support), perhaps June here will just become the Solstice Parade, which would be nice because I can walk there.

One of today's participants was especially cool, though I didn't get a picture of her.  She went around with a basket of books & markers, stopping with the kids on the route and distributing pages to color on and markers to do the coloring with, giving them to the kids who were totally unsure of what was going on.  Later on, she came back, stopping at the locations where she had distributed paper earlier and picking it up.  On this second trip, one of the parade-goers asked if she was picking up trash and gave her some of his own.  To say this for the young lady, she did offer to take it with no visible qualms.

Sunday, Sunny Sunday

No, it wasn't hot enough to melt the barber shop sign, which no longer houses a barber shop, though there is one down the street, and contrary to frequent habit, I did manage not to visit the Ale House this weekend, though went to Zayda Buddy's Friday.  

Too bad there isn't much horribly exciting to report, though perhaps the fact little is wrong is something that might be exciting, if not exactly horribly exciting.  It is good to keep the excitement level to a reasonable, not quite fever, pitch, because excessive excitement may very well incite the neighbors, and they already get excited enough, or else they just wrestle frequently for the fun of it, the ones upstairs, at least.

Nice saturday... now if I could do something

This is not my picture, but it probably vanished off the owner's camera without a second thought.  The world is a ripe place for second thoughts, some good, some bad, but always present.  For example, I am writing here instead of painting or doing something outside on a gorgeous day, but then, I was thinking about this and ran with it; otherwise, there was a chance I would ruin my minimum once a month blog posting.  

(Ooh boy, Fiesta de la noche, by O-Zone, in some remix or other, giving me a repeat of the chorus, also the title, for the rest of the evening.)

It has been one of those odd weeks, one of those weeks when it was all I could do not to just up and give notice because the absurdity was almost beyond me.  Going to work and doing little but stare at a computer screen, alternating between spreadsheets to give the appearance of being busy, is really pretty much a waste of eight hours.  Good sense sort of eventually broke over me and I recalled that giving notice without plans for the future did not constitute a wise decision, especially with my passport in need of renewal.  (I really should get motivated and take care of that.)  The reason I don't enjoy giving my family lots of details about what I plan on doing is because that plan changes.  I still can't think of a reason to move east other than to be closer to them.  If I move, why shouldn't I go abroad again?

Oh well, whatever it is I decide to do, it will happen when it does because there is always a teaching position in Korea if I want it, though I saw an opportunity in Ukraine today, too.

Super Long Weekend...

and I am going from the American home of Volvos to something entirely different.  Oddly, I still have to pack, though a good amount of stuff is already laid out, and just needs to be deposited into my back pack.  Since it isn't Europe, I am debating on whether to bring the laptop, but it could be useful to burn pics to disc since there will be a bunch of digital cameras, and this will make sharing simpler.

I don't know if this weekend things here will be updated, or if they will just sort of stay here, with pictures of Volvos past to greet the stumblers who find it.  The rubble in the background used to be a derelict gas station, but has been in its present state for a good six months.  It has me wondering if the short little building which was to be built is actually going to be built.  The Googie style building not far from this above pile of rubble has apparently lost what little protection it has and will soon resemble this, without the vintage Volvos.  I do with the people in charge of buildings would look at things aesthetically.  While the Googie building is nothing truly special, what is taking its place, if the new neighbors are any example, will be worse.  One of these condo building built with some vision other than dollar signs would be nice.  Then again, the housing market going bust here about now might do the trick, too., though a boarded up Googie building, like we have now, won't be any sort of improvement, nor will a rubble pile.

Wednesday is it.

What it is, I am not sure, but by saying "it," I have made an incredibly authoritative statement, nearly on par with some of President Bush the second's, but then I am presuming too much on my wit or some such thing.  

I really don't know why I felt the urge to include the Bush-meister in the post today, but it felt right.  With the grey sort of skies, and much chillier, compared to last Friday & Saturday, weather, and the difficulty I am having uploading my image, it just compounds to become the perfect Busch time, though I am actually drinking a "Mothership Wit" from New Belgium.  (I like that, I mention a good beer, and the lovely girl loads up.)

This week has been trying at work, but that is most likely because I am thinking of the long weekend, such a nice long weekend.  Being the end of the month no doubt contributes its fair share of silliness to my mood, though in this case the silliness is of the frustrating sort.  Should I be including fabulous literary or philosophical ramblings here?  Probably not, as it would require me to come up with some, and that is just too close to something that takes effort.  Too long recently I have been living the effortless life of doing pretty much nothing.  It is amazing how easy that trap is to fall in here, with work a constant and my social life pretty non-existent.  Just shoot your computer if this veers into the whine, which I am not sure will make me feel better, but I would enjoy that more than if you shot mine.

End of Spring?

At the urging of my loyal reader, I am finally getting around to a May entry.  Here in Seattle, there has actually been gorgeous weather this weekend, with sunshine and everything.  The picture is of the last of the tulips at the Ballard Locks (which have another name, but I can't remember Hiram's last, so I won't mention it).  I thought it was a shame that I didn't have a picture of one of the most recent of what is passed off as architecture here, but why does anyone really need another picture of a brick faced vinyl sides clad building, even if it is 5 stories tall (or maybe 4 or 6, but you get the gist).  Truly, however ugly the buildings in Eastern Europe may be, there one true advantage is that people didn't put them up willingly, as they do in this country.  

Well, it is Sunday and I have work in the morning, so that is that, as I need to be off to bed.

Finally did it...

After finally tiring of watching movies on my desktop and laptop, I decided to buy a television.  The open space on my shelving unit is now full, or a vacuum, depending on one's perspective.  I can't really say I needed the television, and I don't know where the cable hook up is in this apartment, so I can't say that I will be moving in that direction any time soon, but I must say that my current dvd playback device does that exceptionally well, and when I tire of it in the living room, I can use it as a monitor for the desktop in the bedroom, since it has computer input.  I make no pretensions about what I will watch, but I have yet to manage to sit through a complete program, though I managed a little of several movies.  Technical issues are still present, as for some reason the audio won't play on my stereo, but that is a minor issue, since stereo blasting at me from 10 feet away and no doubt irritating my neighbors isn't the way for me.  Oh well, that's it, and I haven't been up to anything terribly exciting, if you are hoping for something a bit more salacious than what I have related, my apologies.

Let it play out

Just a short note, perhaps some pollster, somewhere, will latch onto it, and wonder how many others are of the same opinion.

The Democratic primary season should be allowed to continue.  I don't think Clinton should concede, especially as she does well in the bigger states, and there is at least one more of those.  If I remember correctly, the reason there were all the early primaries is because voters in the late ones felt disenfranchised, so they requested the primary earlier.  Here we actually have a situation where the candidates are close, and where voter opinion can say, and perhaps sway, the choice of candidate.  My impression is that is what the primaries were created for in the first place, so taking away the choice of the last few states to vote when the race is close, is violating the spirit of the primary.  The party will be unified in the fall, so let spring play out.  In truth, Obama isn't doing anyone favors by calling for Clinton's concession.  If anything, it sounds as if he doesn't want to take the chance that she will win more delegates.

The House did something right?

Of course, I may have misunderstood the article, but it looks like our House of Representatives is doing something sensible for once.  Rather than letting our beloved Bushie run roughshod over every single law of the nation, the House is not including a retroactive immunity clause in the revised surveillance bill, at least not just yet.  The one thing that strikes me as incredibly interesting is how the Republicans don't see the safe-guarding of the institutions that make up our republic as being very important.  It is the same shortsightedness that brought about National Socialism, where if it makes people feel good, they will ignore the real cost.  If the government had never asked the telecommunications companies to do something illegal, then they wouldn't need retroactive immunity.  I really hope the House holds the line on this, even if it means there is no compromise surveillance bill to be sent to our beloved Bushie.

Randomness is not accidental

Rather than be a great unknown in our lives, the randomness of thought is actually part of a greater order, as represented when you think to yourself, I think I need some cheese and salami, then, unexpectedly, have guests that you can serve said cheese and salami to, even though they weren't on the original list, nor the reason you thought you bought it.  That is just one example of seeming randomness actually feeding some more complex pattern.  The same sort of pattern you make by using the same vowel or consonant sounds over and over to create an overall feeling by the sound you are constantly recreating.  Just like colors and smells evoke feelings, so do sounds, and these sound patterns, especially those created by words, are the manipulated by poets to attain something beyond where the simple use of words would take them.  (Assonance & Dissonance might be the terms used, but those don't really interest me.)  In a blur of curious writing, the feeling is in the words that spit out, sometimes short staccato then long (and at 4 letters uses fewer than short but sounds as if it takes more time to say.... leave it to the "g").