I bet you would, Panama Red

I have plenty of opinions, until it counts. I'm supposed to come up with some topic find an article on and write an analysis of it. The problem is that while if you you were to bring up a topic I would talk about it all day. Left to my own devices, however, and I find that nothing is important enough or significant enough to take my time and resources. I can write about nothing, and mean it with all my heart and soul, but I have trouble finding something meaningful to discuss. I'v decided that this is not my fault. It's obviously TV. Real life is not as dramatic or sexy and so reality has begun to pale in comparison with such iconic figures as Homer, that CSI dude and that chick from Bay Watch. I'm starting to get scared about my C++ class. Apparently it's very easy to abuse the memory and crash the OS. I was comfortable with Java, which didn't allow such shenanigans and other goings on during it's watch. In related news, one of my other professors claimed to be one of the original hackers. He was working for one of the companies on the original Arpanet. At the time, it was easy to say you'd seen the entire Internet. It was only 40 or so computers. I'm not sure that's something to be bragging. It kind of makes me want to wipe his hard drive for him. Try 'hacking' without an OS, chump. I'm glad the sun came back. It made for some nice photos of the mountains. I'll put some up tomorrow. The snow was blowing off the peaks and creating a real nice effect. This was in contrast with the green grass and t-shirt weather in the valley. Toby status: Full belly and fuzzy ears. You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste death?

I don't care if Monday's blue.

The crap has finally lifted from the valley and the sun can now be seen. That usually makes folks feel human and alive. So compared to last week it's pretty up-beat around here. I’m still not going to open the drapes in the office, though. I likes it dark. Besides, too much light will disturb the bats. I’m going to start toting my camera around a bit more. I’d like to start posting a few pics now and then. I come across some really fantastic scenes of the Wasatch mountains on my way home from class. Speaking of, I’m off to class now. Toby status: sleeping on the couch. Must be tired from all that sleeping last night.

Hickory dickory dock...

I love old clocks. There's something almost magical about them. We inherited a grandfather clock from Heather's grandma and we just got it home and set up yesterday. Now there's a chime every 15 minutes. And if you're reading in the living room, the soft -tic-tock as the pendulum does its job. Toby likes it, too. He has to stop dead in his tracks and listen to it every time it strikes the hour.

Perfecto

I have to tell you about the new CD I bought. I picked it up yesterday and it's only stopped whilst I was sleeping. If you like House or Trance Techno, then look for Perfecto Greatest Hits. Paul Oakenfold is easily my favorite DJ and Perfecto is the label he started. All good things.

A priest, a rabbi and a nun...

Today is Friday. Yay Friday! No class till 10 this morning. Normal people would get to sleep in under those conditions. I have a beagle, though. He gets lonely. I went downstairs to let him outside and after he came back in, I went back to bed. He just stayed at the little gate at the bottom of the stairs and barked. I cam back downstairs and curled up on the couch and he did the same. He didn't even need me to pay attention to him; he just wanted someone to be in the same room. I picked up Perfecto Greatest Hits. A lot of great trance and house DJs such as Paul Oakenfold, BT, PPK and Timo Maas. Recommended.

Lightning has struck my brain...

I got home from class today and sat here wondering what to post, when I realized that there was no post. Once you realize that there is no post, it is not you who write the post, but the post expresses itself through you. So now that you’ve had two moments of Zen in 24 hours, I assume you watched the Daily Show last night, we can move onto other things. I’m doing a term paper for my PoliSci class on a book by Thomas Frank. The title is What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America and it’s some very interesting and funny commentary on how traditionally Democratic states changes sides and went Red the last two elections. It appears that people have been voting for where a candidate stands on one or two issues, most moral issues, rather than their policies. The things that touch our day to day living. I mean, as important as it is, I’ve only known 2 people who’ve ever even considered an abortion. Now I’m very much undecided about a lot of it. “Pro-Choice” makes sense. “Pro-Life’ makes sense. But the point is why should I vote for someone who seems to have that all figured out, but they’re an idiot with economics? Or someone who is very clear on gay marriage, but can’t come up with a decent policy for Iraq? Or, even better, why would I vote for someone who attends church and claims to ‘love thy neighbor’ but takes money away from veterans and seniors on Social Security? Traditionally the social support plans of government have come from the Democratic left, taking those away and/or privatizing them have been the Republican right. So why do the people who have the most to loose when those programs go away, the people who have to most to gain when those programs are taken care of and run correctly vote for the people who want to do away with them? Toby status: Wagging tail, sniffing my pocket for gum.

What hope....

I heard Radio From Hell DJ Bill Allred quote SNL's Tina Fey, whom I find one of the funniest people ever. The quote was in reference to Brad and Jen. She said. "If those two people can't stand having sex with each other, what hope is there for the rest of us?" So I played racquetball last night with some friends. I hadn't played for quite some time. And I haven't been able to hang out with some of the guys for a long time, either. I guess that's the deal when most of you are married and half of you have kids. No time for other things. I really admire people who are good parents, since they seem so rare, but I find that people who are nothing BUT parents set my teeth on edge. I worry about people who are nothing without their kids. Mostly I worry for the kids. When you as a person are defined wholly by any one else, you're not a real person. You're only as much a person with as much of a life as whoever you're dependant on allows you. I guess since I don't have kids that I shouldn't judge too much. I know that being married to my wife is part of who I am and helps define me, but it's not the whole of it. Perhaps when we have kids I'll feel differently about it, but for know I will remain slightly horrified. Not that any of my friends are like that. It just made me think about having kids myself. In other news, my beagle Toby is asleep on my feet under the desk. I wish my life were so simple.

Typers cramp

I'm working on a few essays for school. Yay. I have to learn the art of writing the 'summary/strong responce essay'. That's not as technical as it sounds. It's just English 1010. But using the long names for everything makes me feel a bit like Douglas Adams. And it makes me feel like I just might know what the hell I'm talking about. Anyway, between the 3 essays and the 200 lines of code I've written between my C++ and Java classes, my fingers are all cramped up. I find that funny, considering all the training I give them on IM. I find that I can type pages before I get tired fingers, but I can only write a about a paragraph by hand before I get tired hands. You'd think all the hours playing Final Fantasy, Rogue Squadron and such would have left a little muscle there. Alas, no. I'm starting a new reading list. Things to get through in between semesters or when I find myself with little or no homework. I have to start taking suggestions because otherwise I'll jsut reread things I already have. Not that rereading is bad. I love to revisit old and cherished books. They can be like coming back home after a long trip. But I really want to branch out more. Read something beyond the same group of authors. I have to confess that I am reading the Wheel of Time series again. I have to. The new book should be out late spring and I want to be able to remember what the hell is going on. That's one series where you need a notebook to keep track of everyone. Almost like that Russian novel, embracing more than 400 characters, taking place during the Napoleonic Wars. On a side note, I really wish I lived in New York or London. Someplace where you could walk a lot. I love city centers that promote pedestrian traffic. I'm an urban soul and the idea of walking to work really appeals to me.

Idle poetry

Endless summer days April morning dew Silent Winter nights I'm thinking of you Falling autumn leaves Skies of cloudless blue Emerald fields of grass I'm thinking of you Winking stars at night Springtime blossoms new Laughing mountain streams I'm thinking of you Rainbows across the sky Top of mountain view Freshly fallen snow I'm thinking of you Moonlight on the sea White doves softly coo Fields of butterflies I'm thinking of you So much joy in life Much to see and do Not a one compares I'm thinking of you

*cough*

It looks like I can't get into post anything right now. It was up and running a minute ago... But I can always email the post in, which is how I'm doing this. Google owns Blogger. I use gmail, which is also a Google thing. I have to say that the difference in service is astounding. Gmail has been rock solid for me. I've had the account for awhile and even though it's beta, I think it's better than any other free web based email service. Blogger, on the other hand, seems buggy to me. I get a lot of page errors when using the editor and doing any kind of admining on my page. Hey Google, when gmail goes live, can you move some of it's developers over to Blogger?

Why Han shot first....

For one of my last free weekends in awhile, I decided to watch the Star Wars Trilogy. I also watched the fourth DVD of documentaries and such. Very entertaining. But I realized that this whole time we've been using the wrong argument to prove why Han shot first and why it should not have been changed in the later versions of the movies. Previously, I've argued that Han was not a good person, his line of work questionable, and his sense of duty was nonexistent. In the Death Star when Luke found the Princess he tried to get Han to help him, saying "But they're gonna kill her!" to which the apathetic smuggler replied, "Better her than me". If you really think about it, that line is more disturbing than Han shooting first, especially in self defence. I've argued that making him shoot first diminishes the great change of heart he had during the fight against the Empire and his transformation into a truly good person. I've said that it's out of character. I've said a lot of things, but now I realize why the Star Wars Universe is upside down and why Han shot first. Vader. Yes, Darth Vader. I can't understand why George Lucas worries about the morality of Han Solo shooting someone in self defence, yet a Jedi-slaughtering, world-enslaving, Rebel-hunting, murdering Darth Vader can say he's sorry on his deathbed and all's forgiven. I know I've thought about this way too much, but rainy days make me think deep thoughts, not necessarily about anything important.

No time like now

So here it is. Blogging. I had a blog at one point but it succumbed to laziness. I have a lot of writing this semester and I've also found that I get more opinionated as I go through life. Who'da thunk? I'm guessing that either I care more about issues that affect my day to day living, or I just like to have a dissenting opinion that makes the majority angry. I'm sure it's a healthy bit of both. Anyway, the point is that I'm going to give this another try. You get to be my super secret journal that I pour my heart into every day. Oh, my! Did you see so and so in class today? Mmm, maybe not so much. Probably more like, Java is going well. C++ is harder. School is going well...you know, more like checking in with your aunt Lois at the holidays.

BTW, did you know that the spellcheck built into the Blogger editor doesn't like the word 'blogging'? Normally software companies have too much ego. Almost strange to see a timid one.