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Showing posts from December, 2010

Merry Christmas

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Loss

At first, it may seem that nature treads within a circle that even if a man could live forever he would only see things over and over again death could be felt without pain And of seeing a death, and a birth we could be glad of another death But here is a hint Loss changes us sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse It is better to work toward the truth even if that truth is elusive and colorless than to allow yourself and your soul to be dyed with the color of your thought Because that which is invisible can kill us and that which we cannot see can be deadly living for an eternity will be a journey of loss and every seven years, rebirth but life is for the living and the laughter of small children guides us, each by single and small steps at first and finally running into the shadow of the cross where light is born and gives warmth and life can grow from darkness the memory of loss fades as the memories of life begin to glow like LED at

Colorless Venn Diagrams

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I thought this was kind of useful. I will personally refuse to place myself on this diagram. Ahem. * Cough Noise *

The Old Senate Chamber

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The senate meets here in the old chamber, tomorrow. This is presumably so they can debate behind closed doors - on a nuclear treaty. It's a really cool place. Given the fact that these guys have passed major reforms to healthcare, prevented a full-on depression, reigned in wall street gambling addict culture, boosted the housing market (and I might add, made a big boost in my own personal situation as a result), passed groundbreaking civil legislation by nuking DADT, and passed laws that are now creating whole industries of green economy companies (hint: replace your AC and heater now, with an effecient one - while you still get a tax credit) - somehow all of this just makes sense that tomorrow they're going to close the hardest working congress in my living memory - with a session in the old senate chamber to work on a nuclear treaty that's been around for nearly a half a year.... They're actually getting as much work done as the old senate. They deserve it. The

Make it with Japanese Twins...

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Still haven't checked that one off....:)

Warcraft

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I played Warcraft again last night. Some people hit the bottle. Others, will light up a cigarrette. I play Warcraft. I like my coffee like I like my women. Hot. Dark. And Steamy. I played until four AM. Mr Coffee patted me on the back. He said, son - I'm glad you're back. Have another cup of Joe. Coffee works. Who needs sleep, anyway. I am pretty sure I could play this game with a nutrient tube stuck in me but I don't want to try that. Not at least until healthcare reform passes in full. Too dangerous to try to get the claim processed if the feeding tube gets infected. Trust me on that point. I am no more addicted to Warcraft than I am to heroin. I realized long ago that I will not have any more veins left if I keep popping it in my arm, so I shoot up in interesting places. It's an escape. A real escape. Kind of like drugs, sex, and rock and roll. Ok, maybe it's more like sitting home alone in a dark room staring at a computer screen. But so what.

Ben Lerner | The Lost Browning Tape (A Poem)

My work is about identity. There is some blurring at the center. The primary subject is found matter. In the 80s I made whole sink units out of the bones of Chinese prisoners. You kind of had to be there. Eyeballs on stalks are very political. My period of withdrawing something from something is over. Looking at pictures should be like shooting a wolf from a helicopter: subsidized. The problem with revulsion at materialism is that revulsion is material. Like I told van Doesburg: the secular equivalent of the Pietà is the market value of the Pietà; forget grids. I see my work as forgetting grids. The goal is not provoking any response whatsoever. Filmmakers are children who think the innate conservatism of science can be overcome by charisma. Blue wash is the consequence of scaling up. I could say the words blue wash forever. But that’s what they expect you to do, to keep making Brice Marden pictures because you’re Brice Marden. Marden is a wolf in helicopter’s clothing. He’s stuck in s

I Am The Highway - Audioslave/Final Fantasy [AMV]

Dustbunny

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I pulled a dustbunny off my jacket today and as it fell it did something surprising. It stopped mid-air, and took a right turn and shot across the room straight towards the jacket I had just removed it from. I dropped it again and the same thing happened, but as the static electric field was fading off my jacket - the arc was flat and it just barely caught the hem of my jacket at the end. I've been thinking alot lately about the central problem of the net. It's not the tons of data. After all, everything generates tons of data. Its the fact that nobody seems to know what is worth knowing anymore. Alot of it isn't on the net at all. Courage. Honesty. Physical Strength. Intelligence. The net is too simple a place to hang out - to acquire these skills. We learn physics, for example - by doing math. It's easier to do it on the page than to type the equations or try to draw the integral signs with a mouse. In network engineering, we sometimes refer to the internet as

Dance Dance Revolution

Charming. Really.

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Emma Roberts has said that she would go to the wedding, underneath the arm of Prince Harry. Speaking personally, I don't think I would have a problem with her as a date. There's a certain look in her eye that I find wonderfully undefinable.

Cell Phone Batteries

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When I first started using rechargeable batteries, the prevailing tech was Nickel Cadmium - and they had a memory effect. You know, the thing that happens if you charge them only half way - they will learn to become half power and get stuck in an operating limit that is half their charge. Lithium Ion batteries, the kind in your cellphone - do not have that effect. You can charge them as much as you want. However, you still have something of a memory life effect - you need to try to limit the total amount of charging that's going on with your phone, because the action of charging a Li Ion battery causes deposits within the battery that over time destroy the battery. The battery responds to heat. If you're trapped in the wild and your battery dies - you can get off one SOS call by taking the battery out and heating it. You will likely have enough electricity to make one more call. But if you're using your phone on a daily basis, don't drain it all the way down. Tr

Nude but not Naked

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In part six of a continuing series on how kink is woven into the fabric of the universe, I am going to discuss punishment. Not the kind of punishment you get for not showing up on a saturday night half-date that was never really planned out - or skipping a cub scout meeting. The kind of punishment that you can feel... Punishment teaches, and fosters growth. If a given punishment is too severe, the result could be fear or resentment of the dominant. If it's too soft, it can create indifference to the dominant's rules. It should not damage self esteem or cause permanent injury. A submissive should always know what he/she is being punished for and any punishment should include a discussion of what was done, why it was wrong and how to avoid it in the future. However, a dynamic tension can be struck within that chord of a possible range of activities for which punishment is warranted. The sure knowledge of wrongdoing is the quickest way to draw down reprisal - however, the n

Review

I just got back my grant application review. Shot down. I want to commit suicide by eating a dozen fresh hot krispy kreme doughnuts and two hot cups of coffee - driving myself into anaphylactic shock in the inevitable system crash to follow. Dying with a glazed look in my eyes. And of course, since this is my first round - I'm telling myself that I can file an amendment and go for it. But the work is daunting. I am going to lay out a full year before I try again. My primary problem with the application I submitted is that I didn't know that the approach I had taken in the first part of the research (which we submitted before everyone figured out how to do it) had been adapted by industry and is now industry standard. Doh. But the second part of my approach wasn't even recognized - which gives me hope for the future. I wrote at length about how to divide speech up into segments and how to recognize those segments in a way that meaningfully decreases the confusion of

Black Swan

Hey - The Pixies

Lunch at My Desk

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It was something you said and how you said it it burned into my memory like a cold fire I wanted to know more so I stayed in the office to have lunch at my desk and surf the web I remembered your words even though we'd never met they were drawn like soft pencil on strathmore in my mind's eye You and I went out against the sky like a patient etherized on tylenol 3 with codeine The crunchy green pickle and sandwich at my desk and potato chips in a clear plastic bag The cold water from a styrofoam cup disappear like the darkness that falls over night on the cage of a hamster with a pawprint on the water bottle Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from God As I write , an air raid siren sounds early warning if we ever get hit by a bomb or a tornado or a meteor At least I'll know what's coming A tasty lunch But now You have to find the last paw print that's the third clue And put it in your notebook &