|
|
Saturday, January 26th, 2008
| |
9:15 pm - Que Milagro!
|
I've been dating a guy for eight weeks now. For me, this is a Long Term Relationship. I have every expectation that it will continue, even if rough times are ahead: He is in the military and he is deploying to Iraq in May.
He is also a Christian who feels that God is a personal presence in his life. I've already told him I don't share his belief in a personal God, and I don't share his interpretation of Christianity.
I guess God works in mysterious ways.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, November 28th, 2007
| |
4:54 pm - Droning. . . Droning. . . Gone!!!
|
So I've managed to complete a 10 month assignment at MS without getting fired and without getting any food thrown at me in the cafeteria. I consider this quite an accomplishment.
Despite a rough patch, I've done a good job and my group's manager and my contracting agency are happy with my performance. So on Friday I begin my 100 day break. I will probably contract at MS again -- it's easy money -- but I'm looking forward to the time off.
I am exploring linguistics and I want to move toward academia. Linguistics is a good fit for a word geek, but I cannot fund a full time education, so it may take me a long time to complete a graduate degree.
I imagine I will spend much time at Vivace, in its waning days, and muse on the passage of time.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
| |
11:03 am - Nothing cheers me more
|
Than coming into the office and seeing so many grim and cheerless faces drones.
For some reason, it makes me feel more alive.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Thursday, August 30th, 2007
| |
1:35 pm - What happens when . . .
|
|
| Monday, August 6th, 2007
| |
3:11 pm - I'm not a cynic! I'm a realist!
|
Yes, even I occasionally defend myself with that sad comeback. But it's true: I have a personal failing. I am a cynic.
At least, everyone says I am. And I tend to agree with them. And since truth is merely what everyone agrees to, I guess that also makes me a (filthy dirty) pragmatist.
*Sigh*
But look on the bright side! Cynicism is the fertilizer I wallow in, hoping that it grows my bilious humor!
(Funny. I don't hear anyone laughing.)
*Sniffle*
But look on the bright side! I just found an online sanctuary! Alas! I truly belong in ancient Athens. Antisthenes could have been my friend. . .
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Saturday, August 4th, 2007
| |
11:07 am - Espresso Vivace
|
One of my favorite places in Seattle, on Capitol Hill, is Espresso Vivace.
Alas, for in the name of progress, this fine and stylish coffee shop will be demolished for a light rail station. This greatly saddens me.
As well, two fine baristas, Tricia & Mary, are soon leaving Seattle to pursue higher education out East. I know I am not the only one who will miss their skill and cheer.
Please visit this establishment often in its waning days: fine atmosphere and fine coffee are treasures to be enjoyed.
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, July 25th, 2007
| |
12:26 pm - Dread Words on The Field
|
When I read the words "Blue Badge Required" my heart quails and I recall Rosa Parks, who refused to move when she sat in a seat where colored folk were not allowed.
And when I wander about and look into eyes and peer into faces glowing with pride—some, faces, but not all—faces glowing with a colorful pride: the pride of privilege: the plastic blue token of the blessed caste.
And I sigh and think: we have learned nothing. And I look forward to February.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Friday, July 20th, 2007
| |
1:24 pm - Past, Present, and Future
|
Long ago, before I became a contractor, I applied for a full time Perl development position here at Microsoft and I was offered the job.
I turned it down.
Yes, I could've been an FTE, bypassing the contractor "stepping stone" (aka: eat-your-dog-shit-and-enjoy-it) phase.
Oh, well. I was offered the job too soon after my stint at Amazon and I was feeling major burn out. Do I regret my decision? Not much. I needed the time off.
But today, as a Contingent Staffer (aka: slacker temp) I feel pigeon holed and underutilized.
But I guess that's my fault, huh.
I'm a really good Perl programmer. For a time, I was the Perl guru at Amazon. Those were the days when I *really* enjoyed technology.
I still enjoy technology. I really do. Just not Microsoft technology. It's too complicated. After my current contract is up, I may explore returning to Perl development.
Hmm. . .
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Monday, July 16th, 2007
| |
12:58 pm - The Source of Meaning
|
The source of meaning are the roots of words. Here are three roots that I love to play with.
Logos | Mythos | Theos
To speak of Christian mythology is not blasphemy. Mythology informs and explains that which logic cannot.
I feel theology and mythology have a closer relationship than theologists want to admit.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Friday, July 13th, 2007
| |
1:11 pm - Thirty years ago today, the lights went out
|
I was five years old living in Staten Island New York when the lights went out. This feature at New York Times online is a tribute to the great New York City blackout of 1977. I don't remember what I was doing at the time, I was only just under five years old, but I remember how my family spent that time in darkness: playing cards by candlelight.
It's almost surreal to think that the phrase "30 years ago today" has meaning for me. Time travels so quickly and, statistically speaking, I'm already past middle-aged: the average lifespan for men on this planet is 64 years.
Having survived cancer, I often muse on mortality. I am all too keenly aware that this beautiful light of consciousness is barely a spark in a surrounding eternity of darkness. I do not believe in an afterlife, but my lack of belief does not lead me to despair. Instead, I try to constantly look upon the world with the curiosity and awe of a newborn child.
For children are blissfully unaware that, one day, the lights will go out.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Monday, July 2nd, 2007
| |
10:57 am - Sometimes I wonder
|
Sometimes I wonder why I do this, scribbling on ether. I think some of my fellow drones read it. I know some of my friends read it. But few people talk about it. At least to my face.
If I occasionally amuse, then I have accomplished a goal.
If this isn't perfectly obvious already, let me state it clearly:
I am gay.
And I am single.
...
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| Friday, June 29th, 2007
| |
11:16 am - Apple versus Microsoft
|
I admit it, in general I strongly prefer OSX to any Windows operating system. But there are some times when some of Microsoft's products actually surprise. As regular readers know, I have problems with repetitive stress injuries. That is one of the reasons why I like to keep my distance from technology. In an effort to relieve the pain that toiling for Bill causes my forearms, my boss Kelly suggested that I try Dragon Naturally Speaking, a surprisingly effective voice recognition application.
I've tried a similar program for the Mac but Dragon far surpasses anything that I've tried for my Apple. It's a huge step in the right direction, but it is still isn't as easy to use as I'd like it to be. But it's not that the voice recognition software is difficult to use, it's that the underlying applications and operating system still don't make things easy enough for someone who just wants his computer to function without hassle.
My definition of operating system: the layer of software that obstructs your work.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, June 27th, 2007
| |
12:00 pm - The disgruntled contractor
|
The disgruntled contractor is a persona I play for amusement. Here at Microsoft, surrounded by geeks who worship at the altar of technology, I walk about in a state of indifference to all the technology that surrounds me.
Computers are still very difficult to use. And because they have not gotten easier, I shun them. Computers are tools: they are means to an end not the end in itself. But it seems that most people who work here at Microsoft don't see it that way.
I also choose to shun technology for a simple reason: after so many years of working with it, my body has suffered accordingly. I have poor vision, repetitive stress, and a visceral dislike for the overly complicated. So I choose to walk these halls not really paying attention to what goes on about me, but with the desire to do an excellent job, nonetheless. I enjoy what I do and I take pride in my work.
And I dream that in the future, computers will be easier to use; so easy that I will again approach them with joy.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Thursday, June 21st, 2007
| |
2:23 pm - In the Garden 17
|
(Todd, Robyn, and Eve stumble upon each other)
Todd: What are you two up to?
Eve: Looking for Satan. What are you doing?
Todd: Geting away from Adam.
Eve: Did he hurt your feelings?
Todd: He's a little self absorbed.
Eve: Tell me about it.
(Todd notices the dictionary)
Todd: Oh, no. Is she going on about that, that sin thing again?
Robyn: It's not a sin! It's a dictionary!
Eve: It's not a dictionary! It's God!
Robyn: It is not God!
Todd: I thought you said earlier it was a sin or something.
(Robyn increasingly agitated)
Eve: Wait a second. God! What's a sin?
God: Nothing!
Todd: See! A sin is nothing. But she's still obsessed with it!
Robyn: It is not a sin! It's a book!
Eve: God just said a book is nothing.
Todd: I thought a book is a sin!
(Robyn shrieks)
Robyn: It is not a sin! A book is a synonym for this!
(Robyn, in frustration, whacks Todd on the temple with the dictionary. He falls as Adam enters.)
Adam: Hey. What are you all up to?
(God thunders)
God: What hast thou done!
Adam: What's going on? Do you still hate men?
Robyn: Leave me alone!
God: Silence! I cast thee out!
(Paradise dissolves as mortality grips Adam, Eve, and Robyn. Robyn drops the dictionary, which falls open on the ground.)
Adam & Eve: God! No!
(Robyn screams in pain and grabs her ankle. She falls by the dictionary as Satan rises.)
Robyn: Why did you bite me?!
Satan: I want to show you something.
(Satan gestures to the dictionary. Robyn reads aloud, in pain.)
Robyn: "Murder. To kill with intention. To cause someone to die." Wait. Did I just—
(Robyn dies)
Eve: Robyn!
(Todd, Robyn, the dictionary, and Satan fall to dust. Adam and Eve clutch one another, sobbing.)
Adam: Eve?
Eve: What?
Adam: I think I'm gay.
(End)
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, June 20th, 2007
| |
8:27 am - In the Garden 16
|
(Adam lounging, aroused. Satan rises.)
Satan: You look content.
Adam: I'm imagining what it's like with four. Hey. Have you met Robyn?
Satan: Yes. She seems confused.
Adam: I was thinking the same thing. It just doesn't make sense.
Satan: What doesn't make sense?
Adam: Not loving men. I mean, everyone should love men! I love myself, don't I?
Satan: Not if you can help it.
Adam: Stop kidding around! You know what I mean. I mean, why else would God create man first? I love myself, and I'm a man.
Satan: And Todd loves you, and he's a man.
Adam: Exactly! It makes perfect sesnse. I love men, and I came before Eve. And Todd loves me and he came before Robyn. Men come before women. . .
Satan: To their sorrow.
Adam: So everyone should love me! What? What did you just say?
Satan: Shh. I hear something.
Adam: What?
Satan: Discord.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Tuesday, June 19th, 2007
| |
10:17 am - In the Garden 15
|
(Adam and Todd, entwined)
Adam: I can't get enough of you.
Todd: Yeah, well, I don't know how much more of your appetite I can take.
Adam: Well, we can talk for a while.
Todd: Ok. What's up with the serpent?
Adam: Who? Satan?
Todd: Yeah, I guess. He says strange things.
Adam: We're not supposed to pay any attention to him.
Todd: I gathered that. Earlier, he said something strange that I didn't understand.
Adam: What did he say?
Todd: He said "God programmed me this way."
Adam: What way?
Todd: You know. . .
Adam: Oh! That way! Well, what else are we supposed to do? This is Paradise, after all.
Todd: At times, it seems that way.
Adam: How sweet. You know, I was thinking. If we convince Robyn that she likes men, then we can see what its like with four!
Todd: Do you have to ruin every special moment?
Adam: What do you mean?
Todd: Never mind.
Adam: I still think you talk too much.
Todd: I'm going for a walk.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Saturday, June 16th, 2007
| |
2:30 pm - In the Garden 14
|
(Robyn, by a brook, crying over the dictionary. Eve enters.)
Eve: What’s wrong, Robyn?
Robyn: Nothing! Leave me alone!
Eve: Is it the men? Did they upset you?
Robyn: No! Yes!
Eve: Don’t let them bother you. It’s not their fault they only think about sex.
Robyn: I don’t care!
Eve: You don’t care? About what? Sex?
Robyn: No! Yes!
Eve: You’re confusing me.
(Robyn cries out)
Robyn: Why does this place exist?
Eve: What? I don’t understand.
Robyn: Paradise! Why does Paradise exist?
Eve: Because God wants us to be happy.
Robyn: Do you actually believe that?
Eve: Of course I do.
Robyn: But I’m not happy.
Eve: Why not?
Robyn: Because of this!
(Robyn shows Eve the dictionary)
Eve: What is it?
Robyn: It’s a dictionary.
Eve: God—
Robyn: Oh, no.
Eve: What’s a dictionary?
God: I’m a dictionary! And stop asking me that question!
Eve: Yes, Lord! That was weird.
Robyn: What?
Eve: He’s never been annoyed before. Wait a second. You just said that that thing. . .
Robyn: It’s a book!
Eve: Book? What’s a book?
Robyn: It’s a synonym for this!
Eve: Wait a second. You’re confusing me. God! What’s a book?
God: Nothing!
(Eve and Robyn, dumbfounded)
Eve: Nothing? That was weird. God knows everything. Wait a second. God! What is Robyn holding?
God: Nothing!
Eve: Nothing? Ok. Now I’m scared.
Robyn: Me, too! Maybe that serpent can help us!
Eve: I’m not so sure about that,
Robyn: Let’s go find him!
Eve: Ok! But be careful! God is watching!
Robyn: Yes, but he can’t see this!
Eve: Shh!
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Friday, June 15th, 2007
| |
11:28 am - Lament for the End User
|
If there is a system that I cannot figure out on my own, one of two possibilities apply:- I am a moron
- The system is poorly designed
After working with a myriad of systems for twenty five years—I started programming BASIC on a Radio Shack TRS-80—I have come to one conclusion: I am not a moron.
I have used Radio Shack TRS-80's and Color Computers, Apple IIe/IIc/IIgs/System 9/OSX systems, VAX systems, Digital UNIX, Solaris UNIX, BSD Linux, Red Hat Linux, and my least favorite: Windows Systems.
And after all that experience and all that eye strain and all that wrist strain, I still find myself, here at Microsoft, dumbfounded by many of Microsoft's systems.
Clearly, the reason is because I am a moron.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Tuesday, June 12th, 2007
| |
11:30 am - Dry Spell
|
I'm feeling creatively (drained / uninspired) of late. Maybe it's because of the sunny season, or because of repetitive stress, or maybe it's because of two old hobbies that I am returning to: martial arts and Spanish.
So please be patient in this period of quiet. I'm sure inspiration will return soon.
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| Sunday, June 3rd, 2007
| |
11:39 am - Hypothetically Speaking 8
|
(Dick and George, lounging at ease)
Bush: Great cigar, Dick. Cuban, right?
Cheney: Yes, George.
Bush: Please don't call me George anymore. It's too informal.
Cheney: Uh, yes, Mr. President. How was Monica?
Bush: She has some great oral skills! Even though it took her a little while to warm up to me.
Cheney: She resisted?
Bush: At first.
Cheney: Don't they all.
Bush: But in the end, they fall!
Cheney: Good one, Mr. President!
Bush: Thanks! Hey, listen to this. A little later, as she and I were getting Biblical, one thought kept banging through my head.
Bush: And what thought was that?
Bush: I will never be impeached for having sex with this woman!
Cheney: Good one, Mr. President!
(Adviser enters)
Adviser: Mr. Presdent?
Bush: What!?
Adviser: Mr. President, I feel that, considering the circumstances. . .
Bush: Oh, yeah. The apocalypse.
Adviser: Correct, sir. I'm sorry to interrupt, but I must point out that even though it is perfectly natural for one to seek out pleasures of the flesh in one's final hours—
Bush: How do you know these are my final hours?
Adviser: Sir, I regret to inform you that the flaming chariot of Jesus has left the remnants of Jerusalem and is once again on route to this location.
Cheney: Oh, shit.
Bush: Already?
Adviser: I'm afraid so, sir. And I shudder to think what will happen when our Lord arrives.
Bush: The flaming messiah will never get here.
Cheney: How can you be so sure?
Bush: Because New Delhi is nice this time of year.
Cheney: What does New Delhi have to do with anything?
Adviser: Sir, I've just been informed that Pakistan has launched a nuclear strike against India. New Delhi is destroyed.
Cheney: That was a weird coincidence.
Bush: Coincidence, my ass!
Adviser: Sir, I've just been informed that the flaming chariot—
Bush: Is on its way to Delhi!
Adviser: Mr. Presdient! How did you know?
Cheney: My god, he's right again?!
Bush: Worship me! I am omniscient!
Adviser: Sir, I think you mean you're prescient.
Bush: Damn right I'm president!
Adviser: Yes, sir, Mr. President. But it stands to reason that after our Lord arrives at Delhi, and completes whatever business he has there, he will once again resume course to this location.
Bush: And what's the flaming messiah's business?
Adviser: That has yet to be determined.
Cheney: Maybe he's gathering souls.
Adviser: Perhaps. But Mr. Vice President, there are a finite number of souls on this planet.
Bush: Yes, but there are plenty of cities left standing.
Adviser: I don't understand.
Bush: You shall, my son. You shall.
|
|
(comment on this)
|
|
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
scaro's journal