So some months ago I had all four of my wisdom teeth out.

I have put up photos to commemorate the event.

Kynn replies to Steve E’s comments

I’ll not be the pivot point for this discussion anymore. It’s simply not that interesting to me to choose sides or righteousness on the Middle Eastern conflict. It’s lots of innocents surrounded by opportunists, idiots, suicidal manipulators. And that’s both sides. That anyone sees a side worth supporting astonishes me.

Thanks for the interest. I’ll keep posting my own thoughts. But I’ll not post more comments from readers. There are no comments on this blog for a reason. It’s not a public forum for debate. There are far better fora for that. I’ll add that blogs which espouse a certain point of view are often less interesting than fora which instead try to find common ground among divergent opinions.

Lest you think I’m too much a politician, or that I shy away from strong opinion, here’s a rerun of a link to PhilG’s essay on Isreal.

Though recent events in the Middle East certainly are hopeful. Who would believe a commitment to a Palestinian state on the part of the Isreali leadership?

Cool breezes on a Sunday Morning, whilst getting through stuff I’ve been meaning to mention. It feels like… getting things done.

In other news, the engine behind music artist Stew’s new journal is me. Check stew says, and watch the url closely.

I also put together a Wiki for an online group I take part in, and I’m pretty proud of that.

Oh, and the other day I did make those cookies, so I got that going for me.

I finished reading A Confederacy of Dunces last night. Raucous, bizarre, funny book. John Kennedy Toole was a remarkable fellow. That he was a suicide the year before I was borne, at the age of 32 is very sad. I want to go looking for other information about him

So yesterday I got a haircut. I went to my usual place – a one room, one barber joint that’s been there awhile.

I go to a barbershop I guess for the culture of it. It’s a typically male experience.

So when I get there there’s already a fellow in the chair. A man in his sixties or seventies. So I sit in one of the two “waiting” chairs. These themselves are barber chairs, though I’ve no idea when the last time someone used them that way. I peruse the reading material — what do we have? Maxim with Monica Belucci on the cover, last month’s Playboy, and a sportsfishing magazine whose title I don’t recall. There was a fourth, too — maybe a gambling magazine?

For a long while, I refused to come to go to this establishment. The main dude is a likable fellow, but occasionally, as older men are wont to do, particularly older white men, he spouts a joke or comment that’s just too off-color, or racial for my taste.

For about six months I refused to come to this guy because of one particularly egregious comment. I’ll not detail it here, but it made me a little sick.

Even sicker, I found myself at a loss as to how to react. I think I weakly said something like “well come on now man, that’s not true what you’re saying” … and then let it go. Had this been a friend or family member, I’d have pressed the issue. As it is, I voted with my feet and simply didn’t patronize the establishment for a long while.

I rationalized my lack of backbone by saying that I’d done what capitalism says I should do — punish poor vendors by not buying from them.

Another part of me thinks — why does it matter? — this is a man who is old, and part of a generation with archaic views. They will soon enough die, and those with (supposedly) more progressive views will be left.

And yet another part of me thinks of that line — “all it takes for there for there to be evil in the world is for good men to do nothing.”

Then again, do I really want to challenge the beliefs of someone who is holding very sharp implements next to my head? Is that the moment to say “I object to your archaic worldview” — how smart would that be, in a Machiavellian sense?

So I didn’t use him for several months.

But now that I lack a car, I can’t go to the shop I like in Clairemont, at least not easily. This leaves me with things close to work. And this barber is close to work.

What I want to type here is that there is a great lesson here, or that I made a bold move of some kind in defense of the melting pot, and I am a great champion of diversity. The truth is, I’m just a guy who gets his hair cut. There are worse things I guess.

Anyway, yesterday the thing that was most interesting was the music selection whilst I was in the chair, getting my hair cut. It was Edith Piaf. Singing her melancholy, beautiful French song to the older gentlemen in attendance. (Population: me, the barber, and another older fellow).

I found it incongruous and delightful simultaneously to be exposed to some Edith Piaf. I was delighted further that when one song ended, another began! The guy who was in the on-deck-circle inquired about it. Asking what tape it was. Turns out it was handcrafted by the barber. My quasi-racist throwback of a barber knows how to make a mix tape! I couldn’t help but be impressed.

For some reason I felt my trip was worthy for that reason alone.

Bonus: the haircut is pretty good. Short on the sides, slightly longer up top.

Postscript: I’m flirting with the notion of reviving my goatee. We’ll see how long it lasts.

Got some free tickets to see the San Diego Padres tonight with friend David and Leah. It was pretty cool, actually. Though San Diego lost. We left when the Tigers pulled ahead.

I’m tired and irritable. Too many irons in too many fires or something.

It’s important to remember when I feel like this to try and put things in perspective, to identify where the feelings come from, feel them, and get to the business at hand when I can. Life can be so tiring sometimes.

Then again, if life were easy, what would be the point?

Okay, nite nite. Onward.

Lots of stuff going on. Good things mostly. But not writing it here for the most part.

More this weekend.

Working on updating my portfolio. Using the Gallery software to do it. I’ve worked on lots of stuff.
Yesterday went wardriving with a friend. Very very cool. Next step? GPS unit. Then we lunched at D.Z. Akin’s. Awesome morning!
Went looking at a place to live yesterday. Considering moving, possibly with multiple roommates.
May be about to get a job offer from current gig. Not sure what terms I need here. Many questions.
Saw Topsy Turvy with Leah the other night. She liked it. That movie is climbing up my list of favorites.
Took back the car I was borrowing from my G’parents yesterday. It was great while it lasted. Back to public transportation for a while.
Made some mix CDs for an old friend yesterday. It’s been about 7 years since I did that. I hope he’ll dig them. Lots of catching up to do there.
I saw another classmate from my graduating high school class (Class of 1987) at Uni the other day. What’s it mean that all my high school classmates who I see downtown are lawyers? Granted it’s only 2 of them. But both lawyers? Isn’t that suspicious? What aren’t I a lawyer?
I’m at a loss now. Time to shower and get to work.
Onward

It’s been 7 years since I made a mix for the friend in question. But I’ve tried to keep active making mix tapes and CDs for a while.

maybe not fun, but mildly interesting…
SDSU_Wireless
SDBay
BeNice
defaultsuck
Gaslamp
gateCrasher
katatonic
parkloft
Praise Our One True Lord
shesheshe
skyriver
snowhound
SoCalFree.net
TRAINDEPOT
UniversityPolice

Also interesting, of the 263 total, 204 had no WEP, 59 had WEP.

Admittedly, not that interesting.

A record maybe?

Lyric of the moment:

Close my eyes
She’s somehow closer now
Softly smile, I know she must be kind
When I look in her eyes
She goes with me to a blossom world

Sometimes the Beach Boys hits the spot.

Hey. Let’s see. Long time no blog. Project Updates Follow.
Stew Sez, which I put together for Stew, has some wonderful wierdness on it.
SanDiego Blog has some more interestingness in it. Want to write for San Diego Blog? Contact the editor (me). ANYONE CAN DO THIS.
In the lab, Batch File Rename By File Extension in Unix was updated.
I made my own Wiki, but it’s only for me, because it’s all private and such. WebSanDiego.org now has its own Wiki for members, and even a fork for Web405
San Diego Bloggers keeps chugging along. New blogs regularly.
My pal Chris Greazel has added more images to his portfolio area
I’m (very very slowly) working on a portfolio area of my own as well, using the same software.
As of today, there’s a new header for this here blog, too. More old headers here.

iChat AV rocks hard. Talked to my very own sister tonite from thousands of miles away. Super-freaking-awesome! Of course, I don’t have a microphone, but her genius boyfriend said I could use a pair of headphones as a Mic. I did. It worked. And we all talked!

Currently you can only talk one on one, don’t know if that will change.

There were some technical glitches talking to her laptop, but to her boyfriend it was smooth as silk (despite talking into headphones).

I really love my sister. Lucky to have her. And my Parents, who recently celebrated their 35th Anniversary.

I’m a remarkably lucky man.

But my pop hiatus was less the result of a serious minded young writer’s quest for depth and more simply a complete misunderstanding of how the game worked. I learned that the musical limitations placed on what we call pop are precisely the point of the music. That is why when geeks start talking about their favorite new songwriter who “stretches the genre” i start reaching for that manure filled sock that Woody talked about – then earplugs.

I known and observed writers who’ve tortured themselves trying to be original, using weird personal tunings, a special combination of guitar effects, writing lyrics that don’t rhyme, songs with choruses that only happen once (if at all) and (the worst offenders) those that infuse their pop with virtuosity in an effort to raise it above the “common.” Its all very boring and serves little more purpose than allowing geeks to pat themselves on the back for being clever enough to connect the pointless dots. These folks think they are raising the genre but actually they are lowering the rim and pretending they can slam dunk.

The game is you (and everyone else) are dealt a certain amount of flowers. The trick is to arrange those flowers – those same f*cking flowers that everyone else has been dealt from Robert Johnson to Avril Lavigne – and come up with something that transcends the limitations. I used to feel hemmed in by the restrictions. Now i see that rules is rules. It’s more fun than coal mining and less complicated than bridge so why complain?

I love that. Let the limitations guide what you do. If everything is possible, then nothing is interesting. I think that’s another quote.

Love that Stew

• About online games… How to Hurt the Hackers: The Scoop on Internet Cheating and How You Can Combat It
• Pringles Antenna Redux
• Leann Rimes is cute
• One of the funniest Onions Ever
• I thought I coined this, but I didn’t: It’s not rocket surgery
• Al A is cool. Listen to him!
• David Snow has redesigned!…a remarkably talented fellow!
• The Web Developer Extension for Mozilla Firebird is a great tool for web developers like me.
• Mind you, Mozilla was already good at debugging websites
• Read about Stew in this Village Voice article.

Still much catching up to do on the link front. Thanks for your patience!

• Now, this is a really peculiar site. (Not for the faint of heart)
• Gibson on Orwell, or, The Road To Oceana
• How’s the Iraqometer doing?
• I intend to read: Netscape’s JavaScript
• What Politech thinks is worthwhile other reading
• US ‘Negation’ Policy in Space
• Woo hoo! Add Telnet to .NET! — two insecure tastes that go great together
• A cool idea to fight spammers (for system administrators) RMX Records
• A post I made to nettime about some blog tools
• This movie: Painting With Fire, about Frank Frazetta, looks wonderful. And check it on IMDB
• Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac
• NetworkView is a great tool for Windows to map out your local LAN.
• Killer App: Google Toolbar 2.0 (windows only) – includes popup blocker and a blogger tie in
• Google on NPR
• ExactAudioCopy and dbPowerAMP are two MP3 rippers for Windows. On my home machine I just use iTunes

Blogger has upgraded their backend software for free blogs. It’s much faster, and so far, much more stable. I’m quite glad I’ve stuck with Blogger. I think using a tool made by Google is part of it. But more, I think Blogger is a company that’s doing the right stuff.

The RIAA Radar Bookmarklet

Back and blogging. I wish Spinhead only the best, as he’s having a not great year. Why? Marital strife. Go go gadget go!

you make me shiver
i feel so tender
we make a pretty good team
don’t get exhausted
i’ll do some driving
you oughta get you some sleep
get your instructions
follow directions,
then you should change your address
maybe tomorrow
maybe the next day,
whatever you think is best
burned all my notebooks
what good are notebooks?
they won’t help me survive
my chest is aching
burns like a furnace,
the burning keeps me alive
try to stay healthy
physical fitness,
don’t want to catch no disease
try to be careful
don’t take no chances
you better watch what you say

– more obscure lyrics to Talking Heads’ Life During Wartime

Well, not new. Actually it’s from last August. Doing some spring cleaning right now. Leah is on a road trip to see family with her kids. A long drive that’s not through. And I’m waiting for the “I got in fine” phone call.

In the interim, I’m doing the archeology thing: New poem in words — never enough.

Got the call. She’s made it where she needs to be. I’m sleepy now. G’nite!

Savoir-Faire makes this great, small notebook that’s very small, about the size of a wallet or a box of cigarettes. I had bought one very early last year.

I never really used it until Jennifer left, and I had need to keep phone numbers and random information as things were changing rapidly for me. It’s been super-handy, and I’m on my 3rd one now. I have a fourth ready to go when I use this one up. I find it nice to be able to keep ephemera, books I want to check out, movie ideas, “to-do” lists and such in it.

I sometimes joke that it’s “my palmpilot” because I use it in a very PIM way. I like that I don’t need batteries for it, and it fits in my pocket nicely.

I had originally purchased it at The Art Store in Little Italy, which is a great store as well.

Why am I posting this? Mostly because I want to be able to remember where I got this if I want another one some day. There aren’t many notebooks with the right size and quality out there. And cheap too. Only 4 bucks and it has held up well to being sat on by me — so that tells you they’re good!

It’s a beautiful day. I started it with racquetball. Now doing some cleaning. This afternoon I’m going to be looking at rentals. Time to move. Time to see what the next living space will be.

There’s a movie about indie cartoonist Harvey Pekar called ‘American Splendor’ and there’s a movie about They Might Be Giants called ‘Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns).’

In other news, today was a mild day. I missed Leah though. But it sounds like she’s having fun with her family and kids.

I for one welcome our cute branded gaming Big Brother^tm!

Sony EyeToy = 1984 Telescreen