Today is the last day of the year, and I want to dedicate this post to that fact.
Amazingly, we are one twentieth of the way into the not-so-new century XXI.
Thinking back to the year 2000, I realize these past years have brought radical change to my life. The disquieting part is that I can't say if my life is better now or then. I realize this means it is probably both. Though I have not traveled society's mainstream lifestyle since my childhood, I was pretty close to it around 2000. Many things were good, but I now realize I was heading in the wrong direction. Today, things are still not perfect, but at least I can see where I am headed, and it is a better place.
May the next twentieth of a century bring peace and happiness to us all.
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Inkblot
A few days ago, I saw Peter Jackson's King Kong. The movie was very good, no question about it, though not quite as memorable as I was expecting. But what I found most incredible, were many of the critic's reviews. At least two or three of them talked about the hinting at sexual tension between Kong and the girl. At least one of them went on to "explain" how it was a clear message about interracial sex, society's taboos, etc., etc. Since I admire Peter Jackson's work, I was looking forward to see how he had accomplished this aspect of the movie. I was sure it would be done in a tasteful, subtle, and enlightening way. Therefore, I paid close attention to all interaction between Kong and Naomi Watts. I found absolutely no hint whatsoever of any sort of sexual tension. Nada, zippo, nothing. There was however, a very intense affective relationship, which was masterfully done -and which, at times, found Watts' acting outdone by Kong's -a CGI animated character (but that is a whole other discussion).
Getting back to the original point I wanted to make, I can't help but wonder; what goes on in the minds of these people, -who make a living at accurately conveying the key points of movies- who see sexual innuendo where there is absolutely none? I think Hermann Rorschach may have had something to say about that...
Getting back to the original point I wanted to make, I can't help but wonder; what goes on in the minds of these people, -who make a living at accurately conveying the key points of movies- who see sexual innuendo where there is absolutely none? I think Hermann Rorschach may have had something to say about that...
Friday, December 30, 2005
The Others - Part 1
On the third land out from the light-of-life, there lived a simple people. They thought of themselves as “the makers of things”, or sometimes, “the thinkers of ideas”; but for simplicity’s sake, they just called themselves “the people”.
The people were, for the most part, quite happy. Not so much because they had found an excellent source of fulfillment, but simply because they saw no reason to be unhappy; so they just went about their business.
The people liked to know things. Most of them liked to know how; many liked to know why. Thus they slowly began to amass a body of knowledge shared and agreed upon by all of the people. The people thought this was a good thing, and it made them happy because it was the one thing that they could always agree on .
On occasion two or more of them would enter into conflict, with unpleasant consequences. However, they knew that there was a common bond beneath the disagreement. They knew how their opponents thought. They knew that they were motivated by the same basic interests, and most importantly, they knew that they could eventually see things the same way. They called this common bond, “reason”.
The people took reason for granted. They assumed that it was a natural part of life, just like air was part of the sky or hair was part of their bodies. It was also their most powerful ally. They used it with great success in their thing-making, in their knowledge-finding, and in their interactions with each other. The people were simple, but did not lack sophistication. Their growing body of knowledge allowed them to make magnificent things and to cast light upon their own minds. And so the people grew in knowledge, and power, and wisdom, and were content with their lives.
Then, the Others arrived.
The people were, for the most part, quite happy. Not so much because they had found an excellent source of fulfillment, but simply because they saw no reason to be unhappy; so they just went about their business.
The people liked to know things. Most of them liked to know how; many liked to know why. Thus they slowly began to amass a body of knowledge shared and agreed upon by all of the people. The people thought this was a good thing, and it made them happy because it was the one thing that they could always agree on .
On occasion two or more of them would enter into conflict, with unpleasant consequences. However, they knew that there was a common bond beneath the disagreement. They knew how their opponents thought. They knew that they were motivated by the same basic interests, and most importantly, they knew that they could eventually see things the same way. They called this common bond, “reason”.
The people took reason for granted. They assumed that it was a natural part of life, just like air was part of the sky or hair was part of their bodies. It was also their most powerful ally. They used it with great success in their thing-making, in their knowledge-finding, and in their interactions with each other. The people were simple, but did not lack sophistication. Their growing body of knowledge allowed them to make magnificent things and to cast light upon their own minds. And so the people grew in knowledge, and power, and wisdom, and were content with their lives.
Then, the Others arrived.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Dulce de Leche
What can I say, it is my version of Nutella ;)
I am really starting to like this blog idea. Reading my good friend Cecilia's blog, and the comments posted there by others, it feels like a conversation, only without the limitations of time and distance. Perhaps this would be a good medium to conduct online forums... I have to give this idea some more thought.
original | easy
I am really starting to like this blog idea. Reading my good friend Cecilia's blog, and the comments posted there by others, it feels like a conversation, only without the limitations of time and distance. Perhaps this would be a good medium to conduct online forums... I have to give this idea some more thought.
original | easy
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Christmas
Merry Christmas! For those who celebrate this time of the year, it is a special season. I remember with some nostalgia the holiday atmospehere where I grew up. Because it takes place at the beginning of summer, it is doubly special. The days are long. Most people try to take their time off at this time, and most students are off school. After a long, cloudy, and stormy cold season, winter clothes are no longer necessary. The sun shines most days, beaches fill with sunbathers, and the coastal resort towns come to life. Like walking into Galadriel's forest, you can tell that you have stepped into a different kind of time. There is a happy, relaxed mood in the air. People stay out late into the night, you can see them in the streets and parks enjoying the warm air and clear skies. In a city where most people don't greet strangers, suddenly everyone greets each other with a "Feliz Navidad" (Merry Christmas) and "Feliz Año Nuevo" (Happy New Year).
Friday, December 23, 2005
Earth
I have wasted countless hours flying around the Earth, like Apollo in his chariot, from continent to continent, zooming in and out, looking at old homes in familiar streets. In spite of the birds-eye view of rooftops and treetops, I have managed to find every place I've ever inhabited, they’re all still there. Yet I have spent even more time looking at places I gave never visited. From Greek beaches to African lakes, from canyons to mountaintops, from cities to jungles, from Buenos Aires to Bangkok, from Usuaiah to Reykjavik and on and on while the minutes turn to hours. Help, I am addicted to Earth
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Murphy
After working as contractor for different IT companies, I have discovered some interesting patterns. When you want to take time off, contract offers will come to you, unsolicited. When you want to work, all opportunities will elude you. If you only have one contract offer, it never meets your requirements. The lower the number of requirements met, the less likely it is to have alternative offers. When there is more than one offer, the best contract offers are never confirmed until the least appealing deadlines to accept it, expire. If you turn down the least appealing contract in favor of the more appealing ones, the latter will always fall through. However, if you do take the least appealing contract -and as soon as it is too late to back out- you will receive a phone call with a definitive confirmation for one of the contracts that did meet all your requirements.
This seems like another manifestation of Murphy's Law: "if something can go wrong, it will". The truth is, there is no such thing. The real Murphy's Law is that when things happen as we expect, we don't much remember them. In the highway of our memory, it is the occasional bumps on the road that stand out, while we barely register the long, uneventful stretches of good road.
This seems like another manifestation of Murphy's Law: "if something can go wrong, it will". The truth is, there is no such thing. The real Murphy's Law is that when things happen as we expect, we don't much remember them. In the highway of our memory, it is the occasional bumps on the road that stand out, while we barely register the long, uneventful stretches of good road.
Monday, December 19, 2005
Blogging
I am a tinkerer. Sometimes I just can't leave things alone. In the case of blogs, when I see old postings I always catch something that I need to correct, improve, or change in some manner.
I've found some bugs in the built-in spellchecker; sometimes, instead of replacing the whole word, it inserts the corrected word inside the old word, making it worse than before. Also the apostrophes are sometimes replaced by strange characters. I guess I should go and recheck everything, but perhaps I'll just leave it alone for now ;)
I've found some bugs in the built-in spellchecker; sometimes, instead of replacing the whole word, it inserts the corrected word inside the old word, making it worse than before. Also the apostrophes are sometimes replaced by strange characters. I guess I should go and recheck everything, but perhaps I'll just leave it alone for now ;)
Dreams
Prologue: I have resisted my initial temptation to name this posting "Earth", or "Air". Instead, this is a posting inspired by another, old blog of mine. Since it's been called to my attention that I haven't posted anything for several days, I will make this one extra long to make up for lost time. You'll notice that I did not record my dreams most days... unfortunatey I have no DremerID so I don't know whose dreams I missed ;)
Dreams
My dreams never make much sense. As a matter of fact, they are usually utterly ludicrous. I envy those people whose dreams are almost like movies, and they actually reflect believable situations. A few years ago I learned that some people have lucid dreams, that is, dreams where one is aware of the dream, and can control what happens in it. I also learned that one can train oneself to do this. Thus, my Lucid Dream Project blog was born. The idea was to record my dreams immediately after waking up, to become aware I had dreamed -most dreams are not stored in long term memory and we completely forget about a few minutes after waking. After doing this for a while, one is supposed to start becoming more aware of the dreams until eventually becoming a proficient lucid dreamer. I did not finish this project, but I did find this forgotten blog recently, so I am copying the dreams I recorded into this post.
The Lucid Dream Project
05.14.02
This is my first attempt at recording my dreams. I went to sleep thinking that I had to remember my dreams. When I woke up, at first I remembered nothing at all. I did not move and kept at it, and then it came to me, with a feeling that I just had had the dream seconds before.
A ship of some sort -It seems this ship is an enemy of sorts- is damaged or destroyed and the crew (made up of dogs?) dies or escapes, except for one. I am on board, and hide one of the dogs because he is my friend. The body count comes short by one, so my dog friend is suspect. Later I am part of a clan/team/family (that is somehow connected to the ship/organization of the previous part of the dream. Team members are my father, Mara Jade (the Star Wars character), and 2 or 3 others. We work together distributing something unknown. We use cars for the job. I see five cars sitting on a lawn. We must be moving to a new location, because one of the team members has a short-range vehicle and I point out that it cannot travel that far, and there is no room to carry it in one of the cars –this remains unresolved.
05.15.02
Didn't write it down right away. Most details are forgotten.
It had to do with some sort of therapy.
05.16.02
Takes place in some generic corporation. They are implementing a new type of computer/operating system. The computer looks like a small console and has no monitor, instead, it generates some sort of hologram when the keys are pressed. I am new (or a candidate) in the company, and my ability at quickly learning this new system gives me extra points with some guy who appears to be in charge of the implementation. For some reason many of the employees find this new ridiculously easy system extremely difficult to grasp and abandon the company (or are not recruited) I find it very easy to master and I know I will land the job. I am also very excited because I know this new system is really advanced and fun to use, even though I donÂ’t really see much of it in the dream.
05.17.02
As usual most of the details are gone. I was in some sort of academy or institution, and I run into some girl. We knew each other from some other place and we strike a conversation. She has nowhere to go, or has to kill some time, and we decide to go to a park or neighborhood with a nice view. We get on a fighter jet (I'm not sure if it belongs to me or the academy) and I fly vertically for an amazingly long time. I seem to have trouble following the vertical line, and later I wonder why I didn't use my instruments. I keep dodging suspended power cables, which is completely odd, and some part of me wonders what are the power cables doing this high up in the sky, not to mention how can there be a place to land -a part of town, no less- several miles high where we can land and watch the view. Nevertheless, I do land in a meadow-like place with a view of the ocean. (I will point out here the obvious fact that we couldn't possibly breath at that altitude, nor see the view from a perspective relatively close to the ground. Nevertheless, everything appears perfectly normal.) We talk about the city and the view. Later, I am looking for a payphone in a building nearby. Some guy helps me find it. I think the girl I was with needed to make a call. She doesn't know how to use it because there is a coin slot and she says that she's never used a phone with a coin slot before. I find this odd. Later I am in a house. At first it appears to be a church.Then it turns out that the house has five stories and 4 girls live in each floor. I know someone in this house, but I am not sure if is the same girl from the first part of the dream, or someone else.
05.17.02
No dreams recorded on this date.
05.18.02
No dreams recorded on this date.
05.19.02
No dreams recorded on this date.
05.20.02
I remembered this dream for a while but I didn't write it down, and now I've forgotten. What I do remember is that I was just a spectator.
05.21.02
I am with some relatives, and we are driving around, sightseeing. I am bored, and when asked if I'd like to continue I say that I'd rather go home. Back at the house, there is some kind of dinner party going on. Later I am in what used to be my bedroom, and I feel nostalgic. One of the walls is covered by a poster which is in part a cityscape, but the center of that poster looks like a scene from SW. I think to myself that I'd never noticed before that it was a collage. I can see through the blinds in the adjacent window, but I don't recall what I see outside. Later I find myself in some empty hallway in a mall/hotel, on some errand, and I run into a girl I am supposed to know but I don't remember from where. I pretend not to see her, and she slips a business card into my pocket as she walks by. Then she seems to change her mind and comes back and says hi. She is an ex girlfriend, but I still can't remember any details about her. I think about trying to talk her into staying in touch; she seems to know my thoughts and she shows me her business card as a manner of explanation. I see she is a therapist. She explains she found a good job back home, and now she can go back, therefore she can't stay here and get involved. She seems to be very happy, but with a slight touch of regret at the same time. She gives me one last look, and I don't say anything. She leaves.
I need to go somewhere. I get to my car. It is the same one I have in real life. I am running late for something but I have to go slow. To save time, I drive the wrong way at some point, and then the police is chasing me. I flee and cross an intersection with a red light, hoping that I won't collide with anyone and the police won't be able to follow. I make it past the intersection, and it appears that I've left the police behind, but there is some sort of event, and there are cops stopping traffic. I think about taking a detour but then I figure these other cops doing crowd control probably don't know I am being chased. I see a couple, they are going to my same destination, so I offer them a ride, thinking that will throw off the cops because they are looking for only one person in the car [in the dream this appears to be an intelligent thing to do.] Then we get to an intersection where the police is stopping traffic, but I feel safe because of my passengers.
There is some interaction with a cop, but I can't remember any details except that the cop is female and is wearing one of those British police hats with a checkered band, except we are supposed to be nowhere near the UK. Then we are on our way.
05.22.02
No dreams recorded on this date.
06.03.02
OK, I have been bad. No dreams recorded in a week.
But, last night, a breakthrough. I woke up and fell asleep again. I have noticed that I often wake up and fall back asleep several times before fully waking up. During these on and off periods, I seem to have many short dreams. I think during these periods, my dreams and lucid states come closer to each other. Not entirely lucid, and not entirely dreaming. Last night -last Sunday morning actually- I remember waking up and thinking that I should become aware of my next dream. And then, during my next dream, I actually became aware that I was dreaming. I remember little about it because I didn't write it down right away. I was in indoors, and there was another person with me. I didn't do anything dramatic like flying, and I didncreateeat a whole new scenario -or if I did I do not remember- and I think I woke up very shortly after that. But I least I know I can do it now. I can't wait to have a real lucid dream... imagine that! I can almost see myself exploring the Jupiter system in my very own spacecraft, maybe making contact with exotlifeformsrms in the oceans of Europa. But that's probably too sophisticated for a first dream. I'll probably pull out my lightsaber and jump into the middle of some fight...
06.03.02
Last night found me exploring what looked like an underground facility. I was part of a military outfit.
I haforgottenten most of the details, but I do remember a lot of interesting things took place.
06.10.02
I was in Africa, on a train. I met this guy who I believe was the engineer. I wanted to talk him into converting Christianity, or Catholicism, but he was not interested. Later, something happened that demanded some work on the train or the railroad, and I volunteered. At the end of the trip he approached me and said he would try Christianity for a year, but at the end that time, if he was not convinced, he would abandon it. This was unexpected, but someone I met on the trip said I shouldn't be surprised, apparently the engineer was impressed by my work during the problem with the railroad, and he felt he owed me fit. On another dream that seemed to be connected to the first, I had arrived at my destination. I am not sure what the destination was. I was in a city that was very old. I was wandering its streets, and I run into someone who I knew, possibly from the train. He told me I was not supposed to be there, and offered to be my guide. The most remarkable thing about the city were its walls, which were incredible high, and the city was built vertically. I didn't realize how high I was until my guide took me to the edge of the city, were I could see outside.
Dreams
My dreams never make much sense. As a matter of fact, they are usually utterly ludicrous. I envy those people whose dreams are almost like movies, and they actually reflect believable situations. A few years ago I learned that some people have lucid dreams, that is, dreams where one is aware of the dream, and can control what happens in it. I also learned that one can train oneself to do this. Thus, my Lucid Dream Project blog was born. The idea was to record my dreams immediately after waking up, to become aware I had dreamed -most dreams are not stored in long term memory and we completely forget about a few minutes after waking. After doing this for a while, one is supposed to start becoming more aware of the dreams until eventually becoming a proficient lucid dreamer. I did not finish this project, but I did find this forgotten blog recently, so I am copying the dreams I recorded into this post.
The Lucid Dream Project
05.14.02
This is my first attempt at recording my dreams. I went to sleep thinking that I had to remember my dreams. When I woke up, at first I remembered nothing at all. I did not move and kept at it, and then it came to me, with a feeling that I just had had the dream seconds before.
A ship of some sort -It seems this ship is an enemy of sorts- is damaged or destroyed and the crew (made up of dogs?) dies or escapes, except for one. I am on board, and hide one of the dogs because he is my friend. The body count comes short by one, so my dog friend is suspect. Later I am part of a clan/team/family (that is somehow connected to the ship/organization of the previous part of the dream. Team members are my father, Mara Jade (the Star Wars character), and 2 or 3 others. We work together distributing something unknown. We use cars for the job. I see five cars sitting on a lawn. We must be moving to a new location, because one of the team members has a short-range vehicle and I point out that it cannot travel that far, and there is no room to carry it in one of the cars –this remains unresolved.
05.15.02
Didn't write it down right away. Most details are forgotten.
It had to do with some sort of therapy.
05.16.02
Takes place in some generic corporation. They are implementing a new type of computer/operating system. The computer looks like a small console and has no monitor, instead, it generates some sort of hologram when the keys are pressed. I am new (or a candidate) in the company, and my ability at quickly learning this new system gives me extra points with some guy who appears to be in charge of the implementation. For some reason many of the employees find this new ridiculously easy system extremely difficult to grasp and abandon the company (or are not recruited) I find it very easy to master and I know I will land the job. I am also very excited because I know this new system is really advanced and fun to use, even though I donÂ’t really see much of it in the dream.
05.17.02
As usual most of the details are gone. I was in some sort of academy or institution, and I run into some girl. We knew each other from some other place and we strike a conversation. She has nowhere to go, or has to kill some time, and we decide to go to a park or neighborhood with a nice view. We get on a fighter jet (I'm not sure if it belongs to me or the academy) and I fly vertically for an amazingly long time. I seem to have trouble following the vertical line, and later I wonder why I didn't use my instruments. I keep dodging suspended power cables, which is completely odd, and some part of me wonders what are the power cables doing this high up in the sky, not to mention how can there be a place to land -a part of town, no less- several miles high where we can land and watch the view. Nevertheless, I do land in a meadow-like place with a view of the ocean. (I will point out here the obvious fact that we couldn't possibly breath at that altitude, nor see the view from a perspective relatively close to the ground. Nevertheless, everything appears perfectly normal.) We talk about the city and the view. Later, I am looking for a payphone in a building nearby. Some guy helps me find it. I think the girl I was with needed to make a call. She doesn't know how to use it because there is a coin slot and she says that she's never used a phone with a coin slot before. I find this odd. Later I am in a house. At first it appears to be a church.Then it turns out that the house has five stories and 4 girls live in each floor. I know someone in this house, but I am not sure if is the same girl from the first part of the dream, or someone else.
05.17.02
No dreams recorded on this date.
05.18.02
No dreams recorded on this date.
05.19.02
No dreams recorded on this date.
05.20.02
I remembered this dream for a while but I didn't write it down, and now I've forgotten. What I do remember is that I was just a spectator.
05.21.02
I am with some relatives, and we are driving around, sightseeing. I am bored, and when asked if I'd like to continue I say that I'd rather go home. Back at the house, there is some kind of dinner party going on. Later I am in what used to be my bedroom, and I feel nostalgic. One of the walls is covered by a poster which is in part a cityscape, but the center of that poster looks like a scene from SW. I think to myself that I'd never noticed before that it was a collage. I can see through the blinds in the adjacent window, but I don't recall what I see outside. Later I find myself in some empty hallway in a mall/hotel, on some errand, and I run into a girl I am supposed to know but I don't remember from where. I pretend not to see her, and she slips a business card into my pocket as she walks by. Then she seems to change her mind and comes back and says hi. She is an ex girlfriend, but I still can't remember any details about her. I think about trying to talk her into staying in touch; she seems to know my thoughts and she shows me her business card as a manner of explanation. I see she is a therapist. She explains she found a good job back home, and now she can go back, therefore she can't stay here and get involved. She seems to be very happy, but with a slight touch of regret at the same time. She gives me one last look, and I don't say anything. She leaves.
I need to go somewhere. I get to my car. It is the same one I have in real life. I am running late for something but I have to go slow. To save time, I drive the wrong way at some point, and then the police is chasing me. I flee and cross an intersection with a red light, hoping that I won't collide with anyone and the police won't be able to follow. I make it past the intersection, and it appears that I've left the police behind, but there is some sort of event, and there are cops stopping traffic. I think about taking a detour but then I figure these other cops doing crowd control probably don't know I am being chased. I see a couple, they are going to my same destination, so I offer them a ride, thinking that will throw off the cops because they are looking for only one person in the car [in the dream this appears to be an intelligent thing to do.] Then we get to an intersection where the police is stopping traffic, but I feel safe because of my passengers.
There is some interaction with a cop, but I can't remember any details except that the cop is female and is wearing one of those British police hats with a checkered band, except we are supposed to be nowhere near the UK. Then we are on our way.
05.22.02
No dreams recorded on this date.
06.03.02
OK, I have been bad. No dreams recorded in a week.
But, last night, a breakthrough. I woke up and fell asleep again. I have noticed that I often wake up and fall back asleep several times before fully waking up. During these on and off periods, I seem to have many short dreams. I think during these periods, my dreams and lucid states come closer to each other. Not entirely lucid, and not entirely dreaming. Last night -last Sunday morning actually- I remember waking up and thinking that I should become aware of my next dream. And then, during my next dream, I actually became aware that I was dreaming. I remember little about it because I didn't write it down right away. I was in indoors, and there was another person with me. I didn't do anything dramatic like flying, and I didncreateeat a whole new scenario -or if I did I do not remember- and I think I woke up very shortly after that. But I least I know I can do it now. I can't wait to have a real lucid dream... imagine that! I can almost see myself exploring the Jupiter system in my very own spacecraft, maybe making contact with exotlifeformsrms in the oceans of Europa. But that's probably too sophisticated for a first dream. I'll probably pull out my lightsaber and jump into the middle of some fight...
06.03.02
Last night found me exploring what looked like an underground facility. I was part of a military outfit.
I haforgottenten most of the details, but I do remember a lot of interesting things took place.
06.10.02
I was in Africa, on a train. I met this guy who I believe was the engineer. I wanted to talk him into converting Christianity, or Catholicism, but he was not interested. Later, something happened that demanded some work on the train or the railroad, and I volunteered. At the end of the trip he approached me and said he would try Christianity for a year, but at the end that time, if he was not convinced, he would abandon it. This was unexpected, but someone I met on the trip said I shouldn't be surprised, apparently the engineer was impressed by my work during the problem with the railroad, and he felt he owed me fit. On another dream that seemed to be connected to the first, I had arrived at my destination. I am not sure what the destination was. I was in a city that was very old. I was wandering its streets, and I run into someone who I knew, possibly from the train. He told me I was not supposed to be there, and offered to be my guide. The most remarkable thing about the city were its walls, which were incredible high, and the city was built vertically. I didn't realize how high I was until my guide took me to the edge of the city, were I could see outside.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Fire
I recently saw a documentary about firefighters. When I was a child I was fascinated by fire. When camping I was always feeding the bonfire. At home I would secretly and impatiently wait to be alone so that I could engage in my forbidden passion. I didn't see substances, or materials, or the occasional, doomed insect -I saw fuel. Everything was fuel waiting to burn in different and fascinating ways. One of my favorite things was to turn all the lights off and then trace circuits of alcohol across a large marble table to see the flame follow the path. Back then the little lab sets for kids had both sulfur and carbon... Salt wasn't hard to find in the kitchen cabinet. My first explosion was blind luck; I had no idea of how to make black powder. I never burned the house down. I don't know the origin or cause for this fascination with fire, but even today I like to see things explode, and the attraction isn't fading. Perhaps I would have been a much happier person if I had been a firefighter. Neil Young said: "it's better to burn out than to fade away" I agree -as long as the burning out doesn't last more than a second or so, otherwise it might get uncomfortable.
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Water
Another beautiful blue winter day. I went for a bike ride again. Not far from where I live, there is a park on the shores of the lake. There is a beach, grass, and marshlands. A boardwalk making its way through the marshlands allows visitors to observe the environment without damaging it. On the beach side, a pier leads well into the lake, and is wide enough for a bike. I like biking on that pier, it feels like I am biking in the lake -technically, I guess am biking in the lake.
Whenever I find myself in front of a large body of water. I experience calm, peace, a certain change in the perception of time. As if all worries were made smaller, less significant, dilluted.
When I am on a ship I like to spend most of the time outside -the bow, preferably-, just staring at the sea. For some reason I cannot get bored nor tired when I do this.
But summer is best, when the air is warm, and sun, sea, and sky paint each other with fiery color, and the breeze carries the scent of the ocean.
Whenever I find myself in front of a large body of water. I experience calm, peace, a certain change in the perception of time. As if all worries were made smaller, less significant, dilluted.
When I am on a ship I like to spend most of the time outside -the bow, preferably-, just staring at the sea. For some reason I cannot get bored nor tired when I do this.
But summer is best, when the air is warm, and sun, sea, and sky paint each other with fiery color, and the breeze carries the scent of the ocean.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
My day
I've noticed that most of my posts have to do with ideas or thoughts not, rather than specific events of my life. Possibly a reflection of my personality; perhaps an indication of what my focus is. In any case, I want to make this entry a little different.
Yesterday I realized that I need more socks. Not enough socks translates into having to do laundry too frequently. A great number of "finer" clothes require ironing or dry cleaning, those that can be washed will exchange dyes, thus rendering them inappropriate for use in public. Others will shrink, rendering then unwearable. Others yet cannot be dried in a home drying machine. One would expect that in this day and age, clothing shouldn't be such a hassle. How come we can send robotic probes to other planets, yet have such backwards clothing industry? To be fair, there have been a few advances, such as stain-proof and wrinkle-free fabrics, but there's still much to be desired.
Today it was nice and sunny, since I had the time, I went for a bike ride. I had not ridden a bike in cold weather for a log time, so as a precaution I wore four layers of clothing. It turned out to be total overkill, and I sweated profusely. The bike ride was enjoyable though, and it was good to get familiar with my newly tuned bicycle.
I had conversations with a few recruiters today. Working as a contractor has a good side and a bad side, as is the case with most things; however, lately I seem to be focusing mostly on the bad things. Perhaps it is time for a change.
I accepted an invitation to a meeting I did not want to attend. Why did I do this? I think mostly because of friendship. Indulging someone who I care about was more important than the time I am giving up. Do me a favor, if you're reading this and I ever ask you to meet, I beg you please, don't say yes unless you really want to.
Yesterday I realized that I need more socks. Not enough socks translates into having to do laundry too frequently. A great number of "finer" clothes require ironing or dry cleaning, those that can be washed will exchange dyes, thus rendering them inappropriate for use in public. Others will shrink, rendering then unwearable. Others yet cannot be dried in a home drying machine. One would expect that in this day and age, clothing shouldn't be such a hassle. How come we can send robotic probes to other planets, yet have such backwards clothing industry? To be fair, there have been a few advances, such as stain-proof and wrinkle-free fabrics, but there's still much to be desired.
Today it was nice and sunny, since I had the time, I went for a bike ride. I had not ridden a bike in cold weather for a log time, so as a precaution I wore four layers of clothing. It turned out to be total overkill, and I sweated profusely. The bike ride was enjoyable though, and it was good to get familiar with my newly tuned bicycle.
I had conversations with a few recruiters today. Working as a contractor has a good side and a bad side, as is the case with most things; however, lately I seem to be focusing mostly on the bad things. Perhaps it is time for a change.
I accepted an invitation to a meeting I did not want to attend. Why did I do this? I think mostly because of friendship. Indulging someone who I care about was more important than the time I am giving up. Do me a favor, if you're reading this and I ever ask you to meet, I beg you please, don't say yes unless you really want to.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Attitude
It's amazing to me to observe how much of how people react to us is a reflection of our own mood, attitude, and behavior. This thought led me to think about the following: 1) It is true that we cannot always be cheerful, happy, and fun; it is also true that action accompanied by a positive mental attitude usually translates into better results. To give a simple example, consider how, in general terms, an optimistic person with a positive attitude is less likely to give up before succeeding. The more you try something, the more likely you are to accomplish your goal -simple statistics. 2) Another known fact is that, as I mentioned before, our moods an attitudes tend to be influenced by those of others -comedy shows use this principle by having people, or recordings of people- laughing so that we will think their jokes are funny. 3) It is often commented upon by foreigners living in the US, how American culture has this expectation that people should always show a positive face -some may like this attitude, others may hate it, and all for good reasons- but most people agree that is one trait of American culture.
Given the above facts, I was wondering if the success of this country in so many areas, from science to economy could be the result some kind of massive-scale positive feedback effect. Not to say that other nations cannot succeed for many different reasons -the case of Japan, or Korea come to mind, and there are others- but I was just wondering how much of an impact this aspect of American idiosyncrasy has had.
So my basic question is this: is America successful because it thinks it is successful? If a society somehow decided to have "positive attitude" taught in school from an early age, indoctrinated by parents, and considered a key principle of behavior, how would it affect the culture, economy, and society? Would we see a quantum leap take place?
Too bad that this question will remain an intellectual exercise for the foreseeable future.
Given the above facts, I was wondering if the success of this country in so many areas, from science to economy could be the result some kind of massive-scale positive feedback effect. Not to say that other nations cannot succeed for many different reasons -the case of Japan, or Korea come to mind, and there are others- but I was just wondering how much of an impact this aspect of American idiosyncrasy has had.
So my basic question is this: is America successful because it thinks it is successful? If a society somehow decided to have "positive attitude" taught in school from an early age, indoctrinated by parents, and considered a key principle of behavior, how would it affect the culture, economy, and society? Would we see a quantum leap take place?
Too bad that this question will remain an intellectual exercise for the foreseeable future.
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Village
7,360 kilometers away as the crow flies, in the former land of the Vikings, lives a good friend of mine. Though I haven't seen him for the better part of four years, the sense of familiarity hasn't changed; and I keep in touch with him more than I do with others who live in my city. In our last chat, we exchanged some awful poetry with as much ease as if we were sitting across from each other at the local Stabucks. http://www.earthdrifter.com/tamepoetry.htm http://www.quyrx.com/writings
Another, closer friend, lives 11,240 kilometers away, in a corner of South America most people have never heard of -but he's just a keystroke away on my cell (OK, 3 keystrokes.) He's married and has a very busy professional life, so figuring out a good time to call is the toughest part of staying in touch.
This planet of ours is just a village; isn't it time we left it behind and went see what's out there...?
Another, closer friend, lives 11,240 kilometers away, in a corner of South America most people have never heard of -but he's just a keystroke away on my cell (OK, 3 keystrokes.) He's married and has a very busy professional life, so figuring out a good time to call is the toughest part of staying in touch.
This planet of ours is just a village; isn't it time we left it behind and went see what's out there...?
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Night
Humans evolved as diurnal animals. Perhaps for this reason the night has always been a time of magic, danger, and mystery. Some of us, if not quite nocturnal like cats, or vampires, are less diurnal than others. It is in this realm of darkness and quiet that our creativity seems to flow with the most ease; when we are most sociabe and in our best mood. Night is when we can see the stars in all their glory. When scary books or movies are truly scary. When music, whispers, and words are most meaningful.
Are you one of the less-diurnal beings that can relate to this post? If so, you know that we don't necessarily dislike the merciless rain of photons from the sun, or the clear blue skies of summer -as seen from behind our shielding shades- it's just that some states of mind can only happen when the sun is but a memory, and most people are dreaming with their eyes closed.
Are you one of the less-diurnal beings that can relate to this post? If so, you know that we don't necessarily dislike the merciless rain of photons from the sun, or the clear blue skies of summer -as seen from behind our shielding shades- it's just that some states of mind can only happen when the sun is but a memory, and most people are dreaming with their eyes closed.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Nieve
It's snowing slushy snow in Seattle -I can tell because it falls too fast. It melts completely as soon as it touches the ground. It will probably turn to rain soon as the temperature rises a bit. Snow is rare in here, maybe once or twice a winter the snow will make it to the next day, but it rarely lasts that long. I remember the elation felt when, back on the east coast, the first snowfall of the season fell. For some reason the white, slow precipitation brought a unique, good feeling that is hard to describe. The white-clad trees and roof-tops, the eerie silence, the luminous calm; this clear assertion of change by mother nature always brought the feeling of anticipation at the new season. And of course, the smiles. I don't recall a single time when upon announcing the first snowfall of the year, people didn't smile -and knowing that later in the season we'd be complaining about messy traffic and slippery stairs didn't change that fact. I wonder, do we smile because we welcome the winter snow, or because the snow is welcoming us into the season?
Well, it looks as if some of the snow is actually starting to build up... perhaps it will actually last.
Welcome, snow.
Well, it looks as if some of the snow is actually starting to build up... perhaps it will actually last.
Welcome, snow.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Start
Greetings!
This is yet another attempt at a diary. I have made a few short lived attempts in the past, but I guess that was not enough. Inspired by some fellow blogger friends, I will give this another try.
The name of the blog comes from my handle for a game I used to play long ago. The word is a mutation of "strafer"(pronounced stray-fer) , one who strafes. As defined by Webster's dictonary, to strafe: "to rake (as ground troops) with fire at close range and especially with machine-gun fire from low-flying aircraft" Or to shoot continuousy at a stationary target while on a relative tangential trajectory. The move I used in the game does not fit exactly the traditional definition because instead of firing perpendicular to the vector of motion from the side of the vehicle, you are moving sideways firing from the front of the vehicle, making continuous adjustmens to keep the crosshairs on the target.
Now, wasn't that worth reading!
Hasta la vista
This is yet another attempt at a diary. I have made a few short lived attempts in the past, but I guess that was not enough. Inspired by some fellow blogger friends, I will give this another try.
The name of the blog comes from my handle for a game I used to play long ago. The word is a mutation of "strafer"(pronounced stray-fer) , one who strafes. As defined by Webster's dictonary, to strafe: "to rake (as ground troops) with fire at close range and especially with machine-gun fire from low-flying aircraft" Or to shoot continuousy at a stationary target while on a relative tangential trajectory. The move I used in the game does not fit exactly the traditional definition because instead of firing perpendicular to the vector of motion from the side of the vehicle, you are moving sideways firing from the front of the vehicle, making continuous adjustmens to keep the crosshairs on the target.
Now, wasn't that worth reading!
Hasta la vista
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