April 2003 - Belmont Park - Mission Beach

May, 2003: 36 posts.

Back From Root Canal, A Stream, Dada?

I feel ornery.
But not bad.
Only one moment of horrible pain.
They re-dosed me with the injected anesthetic at that point.
Aaaaah.
Work good this week. Good developments there lately. Slightly more job security in the temp role.
Deliberately vague about that, as usual.
Leah brought me home.
But first, we went to the North Park Farmer’s Market.
Snarfed up some hummus.
Some strawberries too.
I like that chick.
In news so huge I have no idea how to say it…
My roommate is in the hospital now.
Trouble with the discs in her back.
Terrible pain.
Makes my tooth pain seem trivial.
I wish her well.
It would once again be so nice to wave a magic wand and remove all suffering. Alas.

This is not the way things work.

Please, have a thought for those out there in pain and turmoil.

Some of us are lucky and only have a little pain.
Many have so much pain it’s overwhelming.

This was stream-of-consciousness.

And yes, I’m behind on email.

I’m ornery, but I’ll get over it.

and again I say… *Onward*

New Link Dump! Then Off To Work!

What is Dada?

A Year Like No Other

So it’s been a year since the separation began that shook my worldview to its foundations. I was not what I thought.

Everything changed.

My marriage collapsed. In that time I’ve lost 85 pounds. I’ve fallen in and out of love. I’ve discovered I am weaker than I thought I was. I’ve discovered I’m stronger than I ever thought I was.

I discovered that anything is possible.

Onward.

Web Programming as Cop Shows

As my pal Matt Lee (Sassy) says:

We are dorks.

Read it

Links for a Monday Evening

Leah, Rocking

So tonight I was the reflector-holder for Leah. She’s doing photography for the new magazine for North County – the northern part of San Diego, North. northcountymag.com was supposed to be the domain, that’s what’s published, but it looks like it got taken away from them. That’s a bummer, but things are looking up – I’ve perused it and it’s a quality product looks like. Not just because Leah did pictures for it. Ha!

She was photographing yummy food and I was literally the guy to hold a reflector. Look for it in an upcoming issue of North.

You can see the pix Leah did from the magazine in leah’s photo area. Very nifty.

Also, her new column is up at writer’s monthly – and it’s another funny one. Check the older one too.

And other Leah news? Monday we went and saw the documentary Rivers and Tides together, on the cheap (read: free), and visited Off The Record (we bought nothing!). We both really enjoyed the film. The artist portrayed, Andy Goldsworthy, is remarkable and really gifted. I’m normally very skeptical of artists who do installations or location-based art like a Christo, say, but this fellow I really found sympathetic. He really seems to care about his work, and did not strike me as snobbish in the least. The documentary is worth a look if you are a fan of art.

I suppose that’s it for now. Things are mellow and good for me. Not so much for many others I know.

And that’s all I have to say for now. Good night!

Filing

Jenny and I should file for dissolution tomorrow.

Tonight played racquetball. I’m real tired.

My roommate’s still in the hosipital.

Leftover chinese for dinner.

Chilling.

It’s Link Time Again!

New Stew Lyrics Transcribed

An artist for whom I have a profound respect:

Check this bit:

well i had to wake up sometime from
this dream of being real
they put me here exposed to the world
and expect me not to feel
so if you think your life’s not going anywhere
please consider me dear friend
out here in the fog with the tourists and the dog
while you’re indoors again
while you’re indoors again

I’m a fan.

Laugh And Be Happy

More lyrics transcription. Well, I did this one a little while ago. But I’m putting them up lately: Laugh and Be Happy by Randy Newman

News of the Day

Bacon burrito for breakfast.
Tiger’s Milk Bar and a Banana for lunch.
Filed for Divorce from Jennifer, with Jennifer.
Got a filling in my tooth.
Took ibuprofen.
Leah bought me a wallet!
I felt strange about it.
I’m cool now.
Shared a crêpe with Leah.
Veggies and Hummus from a farmer’s market for dinner.
Fascinating to observe my feelings and emotions about everything.
There’s always something to learn.
Watched Friends with Leah.
Tried the Apple Music Store. Bought a Zappa cover (Sofa No. 1) by Michael Hedges, then If I Had No Loot by Tony!Toni!Toné!
I am impressed by what they did with it. It was a good day.

Eminem, Ha!

News of the Day

Impossible to say precisely what the new news means.

It’s going to be a week of reflection.

Tomorrow, racquetball, and later a Mother’s Day thing for my Grandma.

Galleries!

Today, I installed Gallery for myself, but the first photos to be showcased are my best pal Vince’s photos as well as fellow RT Bobby Hedge. Check the photos area.

It’s pretty good open source software, in PHP.

Tom Bickle

Tom Bickle, one of my few faithful readers, now has a blog.

(Imagine me saying it like a 1970’s era Steve Martin doing a pseudo French accent): I blame myself.

Who’s Blog?

Douglas Welch, columnist for ComputorEdge, has a blog.

Phrases Of The Past Year

You’re doing great.

and

Be gentle with yourself.

And I must remind myself to listen to them.

From Steve E – Useful Middle East Links

Thanks Steve!

Check this site out:
http://www.danielpipes.org/
http://www.danielpipes.org/biblio_ai.php
http://www.danielpipes.org/biblio_me.php

Try reading:
Bernard Lewis, The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years A survey of Middle Eastern history by the person who knows more about the region – and can explain it better – than anyone else.
I watched a 3-hour interview with Lewis on c-span a few weeks back. Illuminating.

Thanks again!

Word of the Day

Transit Fun

Did you know you can Take your bike on the San Diego Trolley? Also on many buses? Cool.

Pity I don’t have a bike.

Quote of the Day

If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world, and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.

– E.B. White

Filled Chocolate Cookies Exxxposed!

Current Issues in Spam

There has been some great discussion of ‘the spam problem’ on politech lately: 1 2 3 4 5

Good Feedback on my Randy Newman Post

I just read your Randy Newman post. Two thoughts… First, you should check out Harry Nilsson’s brilliant “Nilsson Sings Newman” from 1970:

Second, you should take a listen to Loudon Wainwright III, another singer-songwriter who never seemed to break big like Randy Newman did, but who has the same wit and heart:

I recommend Loudon’s “BBC Sessions” to start.

Andy

Thanks Andy!

Many Excellent Braindump Links

Visitor Feedback

The Daniel Pipes link Steve recommended, Kynn decried it, MAS dug it. They both have fun web identities, and they’re both as opinionated as humans come.

Updates: Null

I had a great weekend.

I got to hear David Brin speak at an author’s event Leah took me to. He was smart and relatively articulate. I think he was speaking off-the-cuff. Some great ideas, but a bit unfocused. I suspect when polished it would be a great talk.

I went to a Writer’s Monthly.us event, also very nice.

I played racquetball on Saturday, and did well. I’m stuck weight-loss wise — backslidin’ a bit dietarily. I’m reclaiming the eye-of-the-tiger as of day-before-yesterday.

Leah and I continue to have a great time together. Tonight we’re going to go see the sequel to the Matrix. Everyone seems to be saying it’s disappointing, but it’s de rigueur to see it. So that’s the plan.

Today I attempted to shop for sunglasses downtown while taking a long walk. I like to make excuses to take long walks downtown. Sometime’s it’s a haircut. Sometimes it’s to take a photo or two. Anything to keep moving, you know?

My roommate has had nothing but drama. She will have back surgery tomorrow. I’m hopeful that it will be a good and useful and health-promoting thing! Wish Erin well!

And that’s the news. In brief.

Oh The Links You’ll Go

Excellent Middle East Feedback

Steve E. (who pointed me at Daniel Pipes in the first place) replies to other feedback on Daniel Pipes:

Joe, your approach reminds me of someone I once knew in grade school. While she was drawing a picture on a piece of paper, she would stop and press her finger firmly on the center of her paper and then spin the paper around the axis of her finger. When I asked her why she did that, she simply said she needed to see the picture from every angle. 🙂

Joe, I’ve done alot of research on the Middle East have travelled to both Israel and Egypt.

I’ve personally met Daniel Pipes and liked him.

Before anyone “decries” Daniel Pipes I recommend that they spend some serious time researching the issues.

A good place to start is the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting, http://camera.org/

“Founded in 1982, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America is a media-monitoring, research and membership organization devoted to promoting accurate and balanced coverage of Israel and the Middle East. CAMERA fosters rigorous reporting, while educating news consumers about Middle East issues and the role of the media. Because public opinion ultimately shapes public policy, distorted news coverage that misleads the public can be detrimental to sound policymaking. A non-partisan organization, CAMERA takes no position with regard to American or Israeli political issues or with regard to ultimate solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict.”

Then ask themselves a few questions:

“Whatever the root causes of the Palestinian-Israeli crisis, there are certain tragic cultural facts and differences that stand in the way of peace negotiations between the people of Israel and the Palestinians. No Israeli child has ever strapped a bomb to his back and gone off to kill civilian Palestinians, and yet the Palestinian leadership does too little to dispel the notion among its more extreme citizens that killing Israelis with a suicide bomb is the surest route to heaven. How can Israel deal with a population of parents that stand aside or even encourage their children to become martyrs?”

“How can Yassir Arafat, whom Forbes Magazine says is worth more than three hundred million dollars, claim to be a leader who understands and represents an impoverished people when he has become rich at their expense?”

“Is it too much to ask that the Palestinian leadership not sponsor terrorists? Is it unreasonable to insist that they stop killing innocent Israeli children before Israel jeopardizes her security and make concessions for peace?”

“Why do Palestinian schools have pictures of suicide bombers hanging up in the hallways of their schools or celebrate them as martyrs? Why do they name sports teams in the West Bank after suicide bombers? How can Israel make peace with the Palestinian people when their leaders instill a culture of terror against the Israeli people?”

“How can the Palestinian people end their impoverishment if their leaders continue to steal precious resources from them, which are then used to support terror?”

“Why has Yassir Arafat been in power for so long, and yet made so little progress towards a peaceful resolution? If he were truly committed to peace, would he not have made a sincere effort to achieve it by now?”

“When will the Palestinian people themselves have a voice at the peace table?”

Very good points. Thanks Steve!

And yes, I do like to draw on all points of view. I’ve been lucky to have great points of view to draw from.

SmorgasPronunciation

Smorgasborg has been updated with comments and a sound file from Andreas Brantmo. Thanks Andreas!

Who else gets cool Swedish web developers sending them pronunciaton .wav files?

I’m blessed.

Quiet / New Project

Latest project: SanDiegoBlog.

Beta. New. For San Diegans by San Diegans. Evolving daily.

People Are Posting

Good momentum on SanDiegoBlog. With luck there will be regular input from people. I’m pleased with the results so far.

Bizzy Bee

Dental appointment today. Very busy. New projects like crazy. A wiki. A journal for Stew. Nutty busy. Remind me to tell you all about them. Whee!

Onward

New Message Boards for San Diego Spots

I have added a message board to the San Diego Spots page I, Erin, and Jenny maintain. San Diegans past and present should check it out!

Cat Wrangler

This morning my roommate (still in hospital)’s cat will be going to the vet indefinitely. I’m rapidly running out of roommates!

But I did get to wrangle the famous, cantankerous Frida. This is Frida in 1997.

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