Today was a delicious breakfast of smoked salmon and eggs, splendiferous rye toast, cinnamon toast, coffee, and excellent company.
The word for the day is “Bubweiser”
Last night watched a terrible movie and bed-and-breakfasted with friends in their place.
Best. Sleepover. Ever.
That is what I said. And I’m not moving far. Downtown San Diego.
So to those of you far away, sorry, I’m not moving near you.
And to those of you who are not far away (aka close), I’m not leaving.
Finished re-reading Snow Crash a few minutes ago.
It’s a beautiful day.
Perhaps some basketball with my lady today.
A job offer to consider this weekend.
Saw fireworks last night with buds. Awesome.
Rode in the back of a jeep in the cool night air. Awesome.
Watched Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women yesterday. It was awful. Awesome.
Played fetch and tug-of-war with a dog this morning. Awesome.
This week I: cleaned the bathroom floor. And: cleaned the kitchen floor. I didn’t think it was possible.
Now Playing: Black Napkins from FZ:OZ
Today I’m doing nothing. Awesome.
This: Making Over Mona, is an excellent example of using a viral game to market a product or service.
(via M. Romen of mromen.com)
It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back seared through my brain the year it came out. Lyrical density, noise and sound and multivariate references all over the place. I think I may have to add it to the playlist this week.
Meanwhile, Chuck D is still around, and kicks ass on Fox News (via Anil Dash)
I love the mixup which has “Bring the Noise” layered over M’s “Pop Musik.”
Black is back / all in / we’re gonna win / check it out / yeah y’all ya know / here we go again
I think Chuck D may be the first person I ever listed to who said that the media was there for the taking.
And I definitely listened.
Cool. A search for ronny vardy now includes a key result. Go Ronny!
For those who were wondering, the new Stew album, “Something Deeper Than These Changes” is slated to hit the shelves on September 23rd. I’m sure more details will be trickling in soon.
via the negro problem mailing list. more info at stewsongs.com
My laptop is temporarily out of commission, but when it’s back in biz I think this tool: RAPS Advanced Protection System Wrap, looks quite useful. It’s like a strong ultra-laptop-diaper!
GameLords.net is some kind of O.B. network gaming establishment. Interesting.
The Web Design Meetup Links Page linked to ye olde WebSanDiego.org, and hey, we linked to them too.
Doncha love reciprocity?
So.
Last year the sh*t hit the fan in my life.
My wife left me and everything turned inside-out and backwards and it all hurt like hell.
(Everything is healing nicely, thank you)
So when all that happened last year, something interesting happened. I kept blogging. I said:
I’m at a loss right now as to why I am sharing any of this here. I have not as of yet told my friends. Why make this most sensitive of topics available to anyone who cares to read it? The plain answer is that it feels honest to do so. I’ve been keeping this journal for over a year now, and this is something so earth-shattering that I can’t not put it in here.
That was May 5, 2002.
So I shared myself on the web. Real emtional stuff. I met new people, forged new relationships, and learned a great deal from it. The commiseration of many people meant a lot to me.
So I see my man Chuck of Howling Point (who has been in the ol SanDiegoBloggers listing for a while), he has gotten sick, as in he has cancer.
I feel some surprise. I feel like, hey, man, this is so serious, don’t put this online. Don’t waste energy blogging, save it for the therapy.
Then I laugh at myself a half-a-second later and think, of course, it’s exactly what you have to do. Express yourself. Put it all online. Be yourself. Share yourself. The net has a pretty big shoulder, man, and if you even get a few people commiserating with you — maybe this person knows a good doctor. Maybe this person has good ideas for alternative therapies. Maybe another has suggestions about nutrition. And more — there are probably folks who have gotten that very disease and can tell you there experience. I wish Chuck the best, and I’ll be cheering for you. Yeah, I’m an agnostic, and at times like these I wish I could let loose with an honest may God be with you. But I can’t. Instead I’ll preach a gospel of self-knowledge, and positivity. Attitude is so important in facing anything out there. Kick ASS! is the phrase I like best. Whatever challenge you have before you — go with gusto and find the strength inside you and kick that challenges’ ass!
So Chuck, hang in there, and KICK ASS!
And, dear readers, do you know anything about cancer? Have experiences that may be worthwhile? Read his blog, and perhaps you’ll have the notion to express yourself to him.
Peace to you all.
A wonderful, rambling series of suggestions for news organizations for how to use blogs to grab content from the public – moblogs, photoblogs, internal blogs, columnist blogs: Blogs have a place on news sites
Back on July 4, I noted that the Union Tribune started blogging
After they had a somewhat derisive take on blogs back in February: a penny for your blogs, see also blogroots
I would so love to work at a local news outlet and be their guru for all things blog.
Right now I’m listening to a band called Pylon. I am going through my CDs (I have many) and encoding them in iTunes onto my Mac. For 14 years I’ve been proudly displaying my CDs in whatever was my living room. In the new place, I’m less excited to do this. And more, having them out never served the function it was supposed to – to actually play my music. So I’m encoding it all and I look forward to many days of excellent “Shuffle” mode music in the new place.
I accepted in principle a position with the company I’ve been contracting with. Paperwork should be signed in a few more days. All things equal, I should rejoin the land of the medical-benefits-equipped in a few weeks.
The Lullabies record is now available for purchase. Additional details (bios, sound clips, etc.) can be found at: www.thelullabies.com
(that band includes stew)
And be sure to check stew’s interesting journal, stewsez
And have you visited my stew/negro problem lyrics and links page?
Yes, as a matter of fact I do think stew is a genius.
Google Watch Watch – Who watches the watchmen, indeed.
Tuesday I started and finished (on the bus) reading something I bought back at comic-con this year: Pop Gun War Trade Paperback. I am left a little mystified by it, but it was moving. It is part allegory, part simple story, with really engaging and whimsical art. I liked it a great deal. Check it on Amazon.
It’s only the 6th and I’m already tired of this Month.
But tonight I’m catching up on things I’ve been behind on. Site corrections. Correspondence. The whole nine.
Right now I could use some serenity.
But I know it’s gonna be alright.
Onward.
I have a lot of: They Might Be Giants, Matthew Sweet, New Order (and all related: Joy Division / Electronic / The Other Two / Revenge / Monaco), Zappa (of course), Christina Aguilera, Steely Dan, Roxy Music + Bryan Ferry, Tori Amos.
More stuff done.
Feeling less surly.
Time for bed.
European Travel, Xtina!… no, actually even if I had the money I don’t think I’d do that with it.
Doc Searls comments on how talk radio and blogging could be synergistic (as opposed to antagonistic).
Raped At The Pump – people use phonecams to show terrible gas prices. (via bb)
Hey! Unsolicited link from Doc Searls — I talked to Doc briefly at the blogosphere thing and shook his hand. I particularly like his informal voice, and how he’s passionate without being a person who flames others. There are people it would be infinitely FUN for me to flame, but it’s not my style.
Still importing tonight. Latest imports include Digable Planets, Neneh Cherry, Motorhead, Mono Puff, Miles Davis, Bud Powell, more Tom Waits, and a lot of Mighty Might Bosstones.
Good day today. Productive work. I went to a used bookstore today and appreciated some old books on typography. Wandering and enjoying the phenomenon of downtown San Diego.
I’m thinking about a post for San Diego Blog – a nostalgia piece. Still not sure what shape that blog is taking. But that’s cool. What’s the hurry?
Next week: moving starts and continues through the end of the month.
Next week, websandiego.org is glomming onto the webdesign meetup. It’s gaining a lot of members. We’re (San Diego is)#5 worldwide. I want to do something interesting. Ideas percolating for something interesting. We’ll see if the idea germinates or remains a seed.
Things aren’t bad all in all.
More later this weekend.
Oh, so this is how we lose touch with reality about how women actually look
Check out these shots of a bikini woman — you see the “final” image when you first visit. Then put your cursor over the image to see what it looked like before digital processing: Bikini Girl.
If one is wondering how we develop impossible standards of beauty that give girls and women neurosis about how they look, perhaps it’s because we quite literally have imagery that is inhuman. Anorexia, botox, liposuction and many other ills seem to me quite intuitively linked to producing expectations in females that are not possible to obtain.
via kottke.org
This is interesting. A lookup for people (I think executives?) in business here’s me – I squeak by with two mentions for The Web Standards Project, and one from a conference I attended in 2000. But not for other companies I was a part of. It looks like it’s not using resumes, but rather using public statements found variously on the web.
(via evhead)
Blogger.com Help is up. I tell you, since its’ acquisition by Google, the service is better, faster, and more reliable.
I set up a demo blog for a colleague a few weeks ago, and with Blogger it was trivially easy. I was pleasantly surprised by how well it worked, and how quickly they could get in and participate in the blog, without any previous knowledge.
That said, TypePad seems like the service-to-beat. But then, they don’t have free accounts anyway. If you have no money for your blog, Blogger.com is still the way to go.
When I started my San Diego Blog I considered waiting for something better, or doing the Movable Type thing, but, feh, it still bugs me how it’s the default answer for setting up a complex blog. Here’s where I again wonder why there isn’t anything as slick as MT which is open source. Blog software is not hard to write, but making it as intuitive as possible, easy to learn, is an interaction design and UI challenge. And I suppose open source stuff still stinks at that.
Weekend is over.
Almost done importing music. Today listening to lots of Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music at work. Spoils of that manual labor importing mp3s into iTunes.
Only one link today: Jessie “The Body” Ventura” gives advice to Arnold Schwartzenegger
Brief Political Musing: I was against the recall (we have ELECTIONS to do what’s happening now); but is it possible this recall is more like democracy than our usual elections? People are confused and it’s all entirely chaotic. The field seems wide open, and with the person with the best name recognition leading the pack.
In this environment, perhaps political power is all about the Q Score.
Gail Zappa is also running for Governor (Gail is Frank’s widow)
The San Diego Union Tribune has yet another new blog: the hungry i: A Weblog dedicated to food, wine and the good life — you can see others here at San Diego U-T Blogs.
Go Union Trib!
I don’t use any of the fink tools. So it’s time to remove them: how to remove fink. this post for OS X geeks only
Andy of waxy.org updated his Celebrity Moblogging posting with an active one: http://celebs.buzznet.com/cat/ — which currently has Randy Newman as the main phone-shot-pic. And interestingly, Andy had commented on my post about Newman some time back.
A wee bit of circuitous synchronicity for a Tuesday evening.
I added a FOAF file to the root of my webserver. Though I’ve not added any friends. Can FOAF even work? Can machine-based semantic web ever hope to approximate the nuances of human relationships, which change over time with subtlety?
Anyway, more about FOAF here.
Web Design Meetup, 108 members, 25 affirmative RSVPs. Nice. Should be awesome.
So my laptop is out of commission, so this is a post from one of the public and anonymous terminals at The Living Room. Meetup in half an hour. I hope the turnout is as good as the RVSP page seems to indicate.
Good stuff happening. Moving this week and through the end of the month. Leah is here too. Pretty awesome all around. Is this place going to hold all those people?
I guess we’ll see.
What a day yesterday! Too much to say. Gotta work. What a week!
Onwardness!
None yet. Stay tuned. Packing is happening in earnest. Today I started the new job officially. Just fine. Emotionally I’m good, though I wish more things were settled. I’m ready to be 100% in the new new place. But the change is going to be incremental. Sometimes that’s how life is.
Stay tuned. There’s lots more news coming here in August.
Thanks for your patience!
Moving phase 1 is complete. Leah’s stuff is at the new place. Phase 2 will be my stuff, happening through the end of the month. Broadband access will be at the new place on Monday. More to do than I can possibly say. Leah is doing GREAT.
QA fellow by the name of Thierry leaves this comment:
used this page to solve my problem (exactly the content of the page – I’m using PHP). The most relevant page I found.
Thanks !!!!
I love little notes like that! You’re welcome Thierry!
There is internet here. I’m stunned. I am incredibly achy though. Even more moving tomorrow.
Everything I have is in boxes. My pal John helped out a lot today.
Leah’s stuff is all here.
Leah made pasta tonight.
Even though much of what is here is in boxes, it feels homey.
I love Leah. This is home. This is a big change, and I was very emotional earlier thinking about what a change this is.
I am much more serene now than I was this morning, too. I got a lot done, but I was buzzing with stress too. The stress of packing every single item in your life into a truck. Well, almost everything. More tomorrow.
But tonight, serenity.
I’m up. I set up Airport/WiFi/802.11b just now. The technology works. We like it.
More moving today. Rock on.
Bruce Sterling will start blogging for Wired Magazine.
Color me intrigued.
I supposed Wired should have been blogging years ago though.
So I was so delighted that Cox had the cable here and working – both TV and cable modem – I thought finally, the cable companies get it right.
Well, turns out they’re idiots.
In addition to executing MY MONDAY ORDER to transfer service to me and my name for my new place; they executed another order.
The other was THE PREVIOUS TENANT’S ORDER to terminate their service.
Now, when I, diligent customer that I am, had them bring the property under my name, one would think that the person taking the order would say, “hey, there’s a stop order on that property, let’s not carry that out.”
Think again kids.
Someone had to come out because apparently they actually *cut cable* to terminate service on this property.
They’re crediting my account $20 and got it back up 24 hours later.
Nice of them, but — was this trip really necessary?
Still not entirely moved out of the old place
Love that we have an avocado tree in the back yard
Claw-foot tub
$1.07 shower curtain
Boxes galore
Scary crawlspace
High ceilings
Cool breezes
View of San Diego skyline
Big kitchen
No “designated” parking
Working-class neighborhood
Shared but good washing machines
Killer art room
Good fridge
Need more curtains
Loving it so far
16 minutes home from the time I get on the bus to the time I step in the door
Walking distance to Influx
Going there now
Onward
here’s my test journal: http://journals.aol.com/artlung/thoughts/
likes:
simple layout
rss by default
comments enabled (can be disabled)
easy to edit
very friendly
can all be done via the web
can have more than one journal
love: post via AIM
dislike:
limited customization
lots of AOL branding
slightly too long url
A mention on la casa de los jergs, eyunta.com.
Leah’s kids are here for the weekend. The new place is surprisingly scalable for having them over.
I have more to do at the old place today. The last of the “stuff” to remove, many small boxes, plus cleaning of the kitchen and the bathroom needs to be done. And nails to remove.
It’s going to be a full day I think.
For Sassy: A Law & Order Coloring Book!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
The move is done. We have evermore boxes. I am extremely achy, but I feel good to have it done. I still have some services I need to transfer (renter’s insurance, home phone) but things are good. Leah rocks, and her kids are here this labor day weekend. All in all, the whole thing has gone about about as well as could be expected, as Wallace and Gomit would say.
And I got word today that a new Stew Record: Something Deeper Than These Changes will come out later this month. By the way, his lyrical nearly incoherent musings on craft vs. formula are there on his journal, stew sez.
So, when’s Stew going to come to San Diego again?
Other notes: I borrowed a car this weekend from a family member and it has worked out stunningly well.
Okay, more unpacking.
