Blog

On Ray Bradbury 11 years ago
One time, Kiki and I were talking about neon tubes and the usual standard of using a piece of paper to judge if the tubing had reached the annealing temperature. And both of us recited 451 degrees Fahrenheit as the ignition temperature of paper, at which point Christian pointed out that it's not an…

Almost Unchanging obsessiveness 11 years ago
If you go into the things I was obsessed with while younger, it was something like this: Science Fiction Music and audio electronics Art and photography Computers and electronics Space and aviation These days, the list is something like this: Science Fiction Music and audio electronics Art and…

Surviving the Survivor Mud Run 11 years ago
I've been training to run the Mud Run since mid January. And I guess I have to call it "training" because 90% of it wasn't really the sort of fun that going on an aimless biking ride that happens to go up a mountain or two is. And I recognize that becoming the sort of person who trains for an…

Some good news about the world... 12 years ago
The control of information is critical to embedding questionable thoughts in a person's brain. Make somebody feel like the world is screwed up and going in the wrong direction is a great way to scare them and therefore shove your fascist beliefs down their throat. I tend to be cynical on the short…

A few words on Prop 8 12 years ago
I understand that the people who say these things are well within the throes of cognitive dissonance... a cognitive dissonance that they have been manipulated to by people who do not consider a 'pious lie' something other than a fancy excuse for what is still a lie. But you have a whole lot of…

On white women or bicyclists being where they shouldn't 12 years ago
Even though I'm not part of the 1% that's being bandied about of late.... I come from a decent amount of privilege. I'm a white male. I'm interested in women. I come from a middle-class lifestyle. I happen to be pretty good at a subject that allows me to work in a job where I can make a decent…

Going forward from here ...or... flickr uncertainty and ennui 12 years ago
The latest round of flickr layoffs , some chats, and some obsessive hacking a few weekends ago has caused a few thoughts to come to the forefront. I took most of last year off on posting things. I am, by the way, uncomfortable about the things people think I believe because I am often too good about…

A quick note in lieu of blacking out my site 12 years ago
I'm going to charitably assume that I don't need to actually black out my site and that all of my readers are well aware of the SOPA/PIPA bills going through congress at the moment . If you don't... Your average congressperson knows very little beyond what lobbyists have paid to tell them. So if…

Bare-ly running. 12 years ago
I'm not one for running. Especially on a treadmill. History has shown that, if given a choice between a treadmill and getting fat and depressed, I will choose to get fat. And I do like that my present state of fitness means that I can casually run a mile and not regret doing it, but I haven't…

The 1984 Regan election in a red state 12 years ago
The first presidential election I remember was when Regan, already the president, won in 1984...