July, 2003: 60 posts.
Style Changes2003Jul01
Pulled Army Times Editorial2003Jul02
This Army Times article critical of the administration and congress was pulled. Nefarious forces are implied, but even if that’s not the case, it’s an interesting piece of reporting and editorial.
via rc3
Hanging in Little Italy2003Jul03
I suppose that’s the James Bond effect at work. We know the rules of a Terminator movie, and so it has less effect. But as far as the time travel paradoxes plausibility issues – it’s true that when anything is possible, nothing is interesting.
I must say though, that I was thoroughly entertained, and enjoyed the sense of humor of the picture. It’s got some extraordinarily grisly moments though. These are thankfully brief though.
It’s the night before Independence Day. I’m chilling out here in Little Italy, feeling very introspective. I wrote a long email to my folks and sister about how things are. Lots in flux at the moment. And I needed some catharsis. Clear the decks and ONWARD. Some things that have been bottled up and wanted out of my psyche. Needed out.
Housing is in flux. The gig is in flux. Money is in flux. No details specifically, but things may be quite different in 2 months. We shall see. I’m not detailing them here as the quantum theory holds some sway these days — more observers to these events and the events risk too much change.
Perhaps that’s my natural recoil from being too specific here. It’s always a risk to do that, and I don’t want to expose so much of myself that I lose my sense of my private life as belonging to me.
And I’m acutely aware of the paradox inherent considering I’ve been journaling in public for so long, and sharing myself online for, what, 7 years give or take? Out of a life of 33 years? One fifth of my life?
Interesting, that.
So.
It was a nice sunset tonight. I took a picture, and so did Leah, from Utah. It was a little thing we could sort of do together. Making that connection psychologically. Subtle, symbolic. I miss her. And I know she’s having a wonderful time with her kids and brothers and sisters. She’ll be seeing her parents for the first time in a while. She’s looking forward to that. They mean a great deal to her. Likewise, I’m looking forward to seeing my own parents and sister soon as well. It’s a heckuvan interesting summer already. And it promises to be fun.
Soon I’ll be leaving this cafe — the It’s a Grind coffeehouse. Get on a bus and head home.
It’s been a good day. Pleasantly refreshing physically, psychologically, and emotionally and spiritually. The four legs on which my psyche sits.
And it’s been far too long since I’ve said…
…
…
… ONWARD
Loosely Joined2003Jul04
Big notice for San Diego Blog, the local newspaper the U-T has got blogs now, and they have linked, and even trackbacked that fledgling blog. Read the whole scoop there!
Speaking of social software, which I mentioned the other day. I wrote (read that: rambled) about that on the websandiego list today.
And on a personal note, I got a great note from Mom today. Things are cool. Feeling so lucky and relaxed today. It’s great to be independent.
I hope you’re all having a great 4th of July. Read this:
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed.
Have a great fourth. I’m off to the beach.
on->word
I Walked From Pacific Beach To Old Town2003Jul05
but seriously… I had a culturally fascinating evening. I went to the beach (walked from Garnet and Ingraham to Crystal Pier). The water was choppy, but not bad for sunset. Then I walked south along the boardwalk, watching in turn the Sea World and Ocean Beach fireworks. My camera is acting up I fear. The display failed. I think my media card died or something. I saw tourists. Irish accents. French accents. Cute girls. Bikinis. Families with infants in strollers. Lots of litter. Drunken mustachioed stoners in their 40s. People lighting fireworks. Drunkenness. Rudeness. Extreme friendliness. Real camaraderie. Wishes for a Happy 4th. A mini-rave. LOTS of traffic. So much traffic the buses were barely moving. So I decided to walk all the way to Mission Beach. I actually passed a bus on the way! So my foot speed is maybe what, 3 miles per hour or something (don’t quote me on that please) and I was beating the bus.
And I just kept walking. When I hit Mission Beach, I just kept walking. I thought I could make it to the Tower Records across the street from the Sports Arena. Again, the traffic made this kind of a reasonable thing to do.
There is a problem with doing this much walking though. You need to protect your feet. And I was wearing my beat up old white shoes. And the KEY MISTAKE: I didn’t wear socks.
About halfway through the walk I developed a nasty callus on my left foot. It hurt and still hurts. And I had no band-aids with me. Instead, I actually used some gluestick to secure the raw flap of skin down. The logic here is to just seal the darn thing up and keep walking. It worked marginally.
Anyway, I kept on walking, faster than the traffic leaving the beach areas. Eventually I slowed down, and traffic picked up. I eventually got to Tower Records on Sports Arena Blvd. I hung out there for a little while – a respite. An aside, I hear that the parent company of Tower Records is going out of business. Can anyone verify this?
And I kept on walking. I got a burger at In-N-Out at Rosecrans and Sports Arena. That tasted so good to me. Difficult to describe how good that was. I know it’s just the context of being tired and hurting, but it may have been the best burger I ever ate.
After that it was a quick walk to Old Town, and onto the Trolley, then a connecting bus home.
Lickety split.
The fireworks over OB were cool. The Sea World fireworks were AWESOME. I can see why people brave the idiotic traffic.
I doubt I’ll be doing that next year.
Next time I attempt to walk more than I think I can, I’m gonna wear socks.
I just ran the numbers on a map. I walked 6.2 miles.
It is nice to know that I can do some darn walking if I need to. Even if I have to limp a bit.
I saw so much. More than I can write. But it’s time to sleep.
Sleepy Missing2003Jul05
Right now the main thing I’m doing is missing Leah.
Marginalia2003Jul06
Why?
Well, it was stuck in other locations, and it needed to move.
Today I’m doing what Leah calls puttering, not really work per se, but useful things nonetheless.
Great Thoughts2003Jul06
One of the Funniest Web Sites Ever2003Jul06
*chuckle* … Liftoff … heh.
San Diego Spots Domain2003Jul06
Blogs added since February, San Diego Blogs, by Date of Addition:2003Jul07
- 2003-02-02 – sd homies (xml)
- 2003-02-04 – Star Lady Speaks
- 2003-02-04 – JWalk Blog (xml)
- 2003-02-04 – A little bit bad
- 2003-02-04 – a jaunty little blog
- 2003-02-04 – lisa violet’s diary
- 2003-02-04 – MastersTrack.com (xml)
- 2003-02-07 – Search Engines: Cranky Guru
- 2003-02-07 – Primary Main Objective… (xml)
- 2003-02-07 – Cranky Guru: bits on organizations
- 2003-02-07 – Cranky Guru’s Thoughts
- 2003-02-12 – this.that.the.other.thing
- 2003-02-12 – The Daily Strick
- 2003-02-12 – Vista Seeker
- 2003-02-19 – Joh3n’s RANT! (xml)
- 2003-02-20 – verbatim@tim.murphy.name (xml)
- 2003-02-20 – dancing at errant.org (xml)
- 2003-02-20 – Lago at errant dot org (xml)
- 2003-02-24 – photote: emese’s blog (xml)
- 2003-03-01 – Coach’s Corner
- 2003-03-09 – Chris Adams (xml)
- 2003-03-10 – Voz37’s Journal
- 2003-03-11 – HoyStory.com
- 2003-03-12 – Cybrarian
- 2003-03-24 – Pervasive Computing News (xml)
- 2003-03-31 – San Diego Has It
- 2003-04-12 – Boredom to Insanity
- 2003-04-12 – Philosophistry
- 2003-04-24 – The Martini Hour
- 2003-04-24 – dansBlog / Website Design
- 2003-04-24 – Ms. V’s uJournal
- 2003-04-30 – rotten ryan (xml)
- 2003-05-10 – CiX22 Bloggin’
- 2003-05-17 – Jessica’s Journal
- 2003-05-24 – San Diego Blog (xml)
- 2003-06-06 – picklechick
- 2003-06-17 – Delirity (xml)
- 2003-06-26 – San Diego Poetry Guild
- 2003-07-04 – Disembodied Brain
- 2003-07-04 – RL’s Remote Control web log
- 2003-07-06 – Bill’s Bloggy Goodness
- 2003-07-06 – Jim Coyer’s Weblog
- 2003-07-06 – java-geek.com
- 2003-07-07 – My Life As A Fischer
- 2003-07-07 – SD4Dean
See the whole list at sandiegobloggers.com
Want to be added? Drop a note to me.
I’m Joe Crawford, Your Official Transit Greeter2003Jul08
San Diego Transit should totally hire me.
I love this guy!2003Jul08
I love that kind of obsessive competence!
Celebrity Moblogging – From idea to reality in 1 week2003Jul09
- Have a phone cam…
- And spot a celebrity…
- And take a picture…
- You can now put them online…
Find out more at Andy’s site
(No pictures yet. But give it time.)
I’m not bowling.2003Jul10
Had a chance to bowl today. Didn’t. Glad I didn’t.
Going to the WebDesign Meetup tonight to geek-net-work. Should be jazzy.
I mentioned Leah is back right? That’s cool.
Also, more pix online at Miscellany.
Gotta go hop a bus!
Decision.2003Jul10
I think I’ve decided to play with some python.
My folks are coming into town really soon, and I’m looking forward to them!
Goin’ Out, with my baby2003Jul11
Can’t hardly wait!
Wow.2003Jul13
Who was great.
I was nervous about my folks meeting Leah, but things work out well, I come to find out.
More evidence that I lead a charmed life, today was.
When the world is running down…2003Jul16
But it’s all gonna work out
My parents are in town
Comic-con is this weekend
Big beach party this weekend
Sister coming soon
Helping Leah move
Laundry to do
Bills to pay
New place to find
Work is okay
Blogging not done
Racquetball missed
Taking time off
Haircut gotten
Lunches with colleagues
Trains to take
And more
And more
And moe
Must remind myself: this is all doable.
Comic-Con To Go!2003Jul17
You can talk about it over on San Diego Blog if ya want.
I see my favorite comics blog, The Comics Journal’s Journalista! is taking a hiatus while Con is on. That site (Journlista I mean) keeps up with comics news better than anybody. As an addition, it has COMPREHENSIVE (all caps) links out to great comics blogs, news sites, message boards, and individual people in comics with blogs. Rad!
I don’t read him, but Wil Weaton is going, I was turned onto this fact by a Shawn of Textamerica.
TextAmerica, incidentally, has set up a San Diego Comic-Con Moblog — whether and how much it will be used, I have no idea. I don’t (yet) have a mobile camera. But I dig the concept like crazy.
I’m going to the con with zero expectations. I’ve only glanced at the program, and will decide what to see when I get there.
It’s possible I’ll see some people I know, notably Kynn, Daniel. Now that I have a cell phone that coordination will be much easier. You can call my regular number — 619-516-4550 and leave a message if you want me to call you back on my cell. Just in case you’re interested in getting together at Con this weekend.
One other thing, I won’t be attending Saturday, as far as I know. I have a big beach party to go to. Well, I may attend late in the day, but no guarantees.
Otherewise, I should be there for maximum time today, Friday, and Sunday.
In other news, Leah and I think we found a nice place to live last night. Won’t be till mid-August. But it feels good to have a first and second choice.
Okay, off to Con! Geek out!
Back2003Jul17
Coolness: there’s a killer pic on San Diego Blog from a 1970s Con
Let me chill. Will I blog now, or at the end of Con.
Dunno. Too tired to think.
Bad Boys 2 Sounds Astonishingly Bad2003Jul19
The rest of Bad Boys II, which runs on for an unfathomable, unforgivable 2-1/2 hours, is like being cornered by a drunkard at a party who insistson yelling unfunny jokes in your ear, complete with sound effects. In the past, Bay’s movies sent you out of the theater feeling like you had been beaten up. Bad Boys II is the first one, though, to send you home thoroughly depressed.
…from this miami herald review
Woke Up2003Jul19
More later.
Tomorrow?2003Jul20
Things I Have Learned At San Diego Comic-Con So Far2003Jul20
Dean Yeagle is an older fellow who does some great work as well.
The Mighty Heroes is the name of the cartoon featuring a bunch of peculiar goofy super-heories I remember as a kid.
TwoMorrows Publishing does a nice job with their books (like Mark Evanier’s collected columns) and magazines (especially Comic Book Artist). I picked up The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore, which is good so far.
This book: Concept Design, is impressive but prohibitively expensive (to me). It reminds me of Syd Mead, pioneering visual futurist, but it’s by multiple artists.
Bud Plant Comic Art rocks.
SQP sells lots of pinup art.
Comic Book: The Movie looks wild. (But not in a Girls Gone Wild way)
PMBQ studios does some really cute and appealing anime.
I saw a line of pinups signed “Baron” — turns out these large (paintings? prints? posters?) were by one Baron van Lind. They’re in an older style, and seem almost pre-aged to me.
BoltGallery.com — these guys are NUTS! The obsessive level of craftsmanship and detail mark these guys as masters of welded sculpture. They have an amazing one of a battle droid.
I’ll have more to say about the very talented and very nice Ronny Vardy
R Stevens, of Diesel Sweeties, too.
I watched some footage (abut 5 whole minutes) of a CG Appleseed movie that looked really cool. All action, mind you, but it looked great.
That was Thursday and Friday. More today. Yesterday was BEACH PARTY DAY with my family. It rocked. But Leah got sunburned (or is that spelled sunburnt)… oh, either spelling is okay. (sunburnt | sunburned)
Up up and away!
Excelsior!
Onward!
What a Weekend2003Jul21
This morning I’m cleaning and listening to Bruce Sterling on NPR from January. He’s talking about the future. And he’s charming, funny, and insightful as usual.
At the moment I’m just trying to clean up my room after a busy weekend.
Beachtime, Familytime2003Jul22
My grandparents have a tetherball pole. Leah and I played tetherball yesterday. It was very competitive. To spare any bad feelings, I’ll not communicate who won. But we’re the same height, and vaguely similarly physiques, and it was a good match.
On the housing front, Leah and I got a new place. It’s closer to downtown. We’ll move in late next month. I’m excited.
Comic-Con Article and Photos2003Jul22
Ronny Vardy2003Jul22
For the last several years, when one did a search for “ronny vardy” on google, like this, you got my fansite: artlung.com/fansite/ronnyvardy, well, now that she has her own site at ronnyvardy.com, you really should go there!
I met her on Friday. I had seen her work at comic-con before. I saw when she had shirts made by Hot Topic. I’ve followed her work around the net, all of which got posted to my fansite, but now I really do think, her official site should be the number one link!
I was intimidated to meet her. Here’s this person whose work I have admired for years now, and I have the #1 hit for her name, and I beat out her site in the search results. I told her this and her response was you’re that artlung guy!, which I thought was really cool. She extended her hand and we shook hands. I bought a print and a girl-t-shirt from her and we chatted a bit. I’m really excited that she’s on the net with her site, and wish her only the best! I think her work displays great artistry, a sense of humor, and a fun sexiness, which is why I felt the need to put up a site in the first place. I mean, here’s this great artist, but she has almost ZERO profile on the net! Well, she belongs here on the net, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of her great work!
Waiting for the man2003Jul23
Today’s Wrap Up2003Jul23
Brunch at D.Z. Akins, same crew: check
Home to recuperate with a hot bath: check
Bus to grandparents, then racquetball with dad, an uncle and two aunts: check
Trip to sign papers and give deposit for new house rental: check
Home, get food, eat food, blog about the day: check
((Then, Joe Collapsed In A Heap))
Tomorrow: Back to work.
Family, Clots, TV, Worktime!2003Jul25
Went to the University Heights Farmer’s Market yesterday. Leah got some of this roasted corn that was awesome. Then we relaxed and watched Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, not the one on NBC, the real one, on Bravo. We like this show, despite the amazingly hyperbolic over-the-top hype. It’s a reality show that’s based in reality. When they remake your shoddy dishevled room, they use your own bedspread. They use your chair. The repaint your tables. They don’t do what most of those re-making shows do, which is provide an entirely new space for you. This basis in reality is the key to the show’s success. The humor may be based in gay-jokes, but the show works because it seems actually helpful.
Also talked about a possible project with a buddy. Might be some nice work for me. Hope it works out for all.
Yikes! Time to get ready for work!
Debunking Paintballs and Nudity: Media Scammed2003Jul26
Well, I do. Here, they debunk Hunting for Bambi, which got reported (via Reuters) on CNN!
Chalk the coverage of this non-event publicity stunt to the general shoddiness of the mass media’s brand of “journalism.” Of particular note: this story featured violence and included video of topless women — which as it turns out is a good way to get on television.
The media does not seem to care if they are getting scammed.
Disgusting.
I Am Not Brett Jackson!2003Jul27
Brett is a kill Flash guy, visit his home, home on the web
1 Wedding Down, 1 To Go (This Weekend)2003Jul27
Today, another wedding, but this one closer to home.
In other news, good racquetball yesterday morning. But in sadder news, my folks and sister flew back east after a very successful trip out here. I’ll see them all again this year, so don’t despair.
I’m tired. Have bunches of email to catch up with. Maybe time to do some dishes as well.
In better news, my roomie got out of the hospital the same day she had the blood clots, for those of you concerned. I wish her well.
Okay, time to do some email.
liking my life2003Jul27
Robots ate my job!2003Jul28
Big Shamus in Big Controversy2003Jul29
Relaunch: URM Cargo2003Jul29
The old domain lapsed sometime last year, and it dropped off the radar, and it also got swept up by domain squatters, so it’s time to reclaim some space on the web for URM. It may not be up yet, but it will be soon.
SD .NET Group2003Jul29
Goodness2003Jul30
Sometimes, it’s about the simple things.
Now: bedtime.
I want to remember this2003Jul30
de Facto and de Jure, a meditation in File Formats2003Jul30
SVG, beaten by Flash
PNG, beaten by JPEG & GIF
yeah, this post for geeks only
A whole bunch of links and I think they all work and are current. But no promises.2003Jul30
- Environmental collapse with massive casualties?
- Moblogs Seen as a Crystal Ball for a New Era in Online Journalism
- Antiword _freeware Microsoft Word document reader/converter
- Engineer’s focus: accessible technology for all blind fellow and his extraordinary emphasis and unique perspective on accessibility
- Why Java Should Not Temper ColdFusionML Talents
- Open Source, Proprietary Code Quality Comparable
- Cool! and cool …people find my iTunes fixit howto useful
- League of Leagues I met this guy briefly at Comic-Con and bought his book. It’s obsessively cool.
- Alan Moore on NPR!
- Life: The Video Game brilliant parody
- Email of the rich and famous
- Punctuation! your special pal
- Stuff you didn’t know about King Kong (the original movie)
- To 10 Resume Mistakes
- Comics on the Internet: A Business Primer
- SnapNames claims to be able to jack domain names away from people who let them lapse. I’ve heard mixed reviews. It’s a roll of the dice. For your $60 fee, you get no guarantee of anything but that they’ll check it out for you.
- MacStumbler recently upgraded
- Read about the publisher O’Reilly
- US Media: SPINELESS … and yet we have such a great tradition of muckrackers. Why do they suck do bad?
- Interesting article about Netflix
- Why I forked Gentoo … the lesson is of course that there are politics everywhere. Interesting account.
- Captain of the Gravy Train
- Lizzie invents better way to do calculus awesome!
- George Orwell’s Six Rules – excellent tips on concise writing.
- Mark Evanier has a blog – news from me I like him. I mentioned him briefly before. I like his wit. I like that he’s a geek. He entertains me. And I’ll be checking out his blog.
I tell you. I’ve been busy lately. Some stresses looking forward to the move. Mostly money, but it’s all doable. The summer is winding up with a bang!
Party like it’s 1999?2003Jul31
Or am I misreading lush Flash presentations promising: Our purpose is to bring Venture Capitalists, Angel investors, and technology entrepreneurs & executives together in a fun and unstructured environment.
Hey, I’m all for success and business, but are there still Angel investors out there?
Rereading; 1 Year Ago2003Jul31
It is insightful, bawdy, violent, intelligent, mindbending, and funny.
I first read it when I moved back to California in about 1994. Damn. Have I been in California 10 years? What an amazing 10 years. Incidentally, I think this is the longest in a row I’ve ever lived in one state at a stretch.
…
August begins tomorrow. It will be my last month in this place.
Time passes.
What was I doing a year ago?
Wow: a year ago I was talking about comic con, depression, and my cousin’s suicide
Not sure what to say about that, other than to note that things change.
I guess it’s time to say …
…
…
Onward.