Touch 'n Go thoughts - Day Five

Moving from my iPod video 60 Gig model to an iPod Touch 16 Gig has been a real paradigm shift. Yes, yes, I know, it's a fairly obvious thing to say.

Here's some of the things that have struck me as I've lived with it for the last five days.

1. Stanza. How have I ever tolerated not having something this amazingly useful on my media player? And I can get books from free wireless? Do I need/want a Kindle now? No?

2. No disc mode. That's a little sad, b/c most of my portable apps live on my 60G. Ah well, 16 G really doesn't leave me with room that I'd feel comfortable throwing portable apps on anyway.

3. No click wheel. I understand that this was a selling point - See this really cool touch interface! But when I was listening to a playlist, or shuffle mode, and ran into a song that I wanted to skip, it was the work of a moment to reach down and hit the right side of the click wheel. Likewise, if I'm walking around the house and someone wants to talk to me, it used to be very quick to hit the Play/Pause at the bottom of the wheel by touch alone, while it was still in my pocket. No problem. Now, I absolutely have to have my eyes on what I'm doing, because there's no tactile feedback to what I'm doing.

4. Smaller size is not necessarily a bad thing. This is a fairly new thought to me. The fact that I now have an iPod that is about 1/4 the size of the one I was using means I have to be a lot more selective in what gets on it. Yes, it's still over 1k songs and hours of video, but compared with the space I had before it's a real shift. But that means that I'm a lot more focused on quality now, and particularly on rating the songs that come up. It's easier to get my head around the collection the way it is.

5. Apps are fantastic. For example, last night I was entering all my GutCheck weigh-ins into "WeightBot", a neat little app that tracks and charts weight loss, figures BMI, etc. (hat tip here to Download Squad). At once I was interested in seeing the progress I've made, and at the same time a little incensed that I seem to have really plateaued over the last month. Evernote keeps me synced with bookmarks, to-do lists, clips, quotes, etc. And all my devices need some form of Sudoku. (Though I wish the one I had selected had an option for entering custom puzzles and a solver mode, in case I wanted to take today's paper sudoku puzzle on the go - maybe in the next update?)

6. Wireless is a real battery-drainer.

So far, I wouldn't go back, but it's been an adjustment, no question about it.

Today's Project - The Positivity Playlist

I know, I know. I'm Mr. Optimism, right?

Sure I am.

Talking with My Sweet Honey's Grandmother last night, I showed her my iPod touch. (yes, by that standard, it was a very good Christmas) We got to talking, and I was showing her the books I've put on the "Touch 'N Go". Yes, it's a blatant Schlock Mercenary reference. She was amazed when I told her that books were a lot smaller than music. Thanks to Baen's Free Library, and Gutenberg, there's a lot of books on there.

As I explained that books were a lot smaller than songs, I got a weird thought - Music is naturally more information dense than pure text. I could put three David Drake novels in the space of one mp3. And music speaks at a more basic level than text. You have to learn to read. But put on Canned Heat, and your body just starts moving naturally. So, why not put that natural power to good use?

Now, as I've somehow become the guy that manages to find the black cloud that goes with every silver lining, I've been looking through my music for good tunes to lift the occasional dismal mood. Jumped on Twitter, and have gotten a lot of good suggestions.

So, here it is - my Positivity Playlist as it currently stands. Got any suggestions? What have I missed?

1. Accentuate the Positive - Perry Como, from "Today and Yesterday"
2. Nothing from Nothing - Billy Preston, from the "Elf" soundtrack
3. Jump Jive An' Wail - Brian Setzer Orchestra, from "The Dirty Boogie"
4. Prime Mover - Rush, from "Hold Your Fire" (anything can happen...)
5. Pennies from Heaven - Louis Prima, also from "Elf" (Shoobie Doobie!)
6. New World Man - Rush, from "Signals"
7. Radio Ga Ga - Queen, from "Classic Queen"
8. Energy - The Apples in Stereo, from "New Magnetic Wonder" (I got this free from Amazon)
9. Fa-Fa-Fa - Datarock, from "Datarock" (I need a shot, I need a shot of ambition)
10. Things Can Only Get Better - Howard Jones, from "The Best of Howard Jones"
11. Starchild - Jamiroquai, from "Dynamite" (Yeah, that's right. Not "Canned Heat")
12. That's What You Get - Paramore, from "Riot!" (Obligatory Rock Band 2 song)
13. History Repeating - Propellerheads & Shirley Bassey, from "Decksanddrumeandrockandroll" (She sang "Goldfinger")
14. I Should've Been After You - Rooney, from "Calling the World" (I think they're channelling Queen.)

Just shy of 55 minutes of positive, happy, upbeat music. I'll be the first to admit it needs some tweaking. So, what am I missing? What doesn't belong? What do you do to escape the blues?

What I'm grateful for this Christmas.

First, I'm grateful for the fact that I still have some hair.

And of course, I'm grateful to be a husband to a wonderful woman, and a dad to one of the best kids I know.

She really is. Because of where I live and go to church, I'm around an awful lot of kids, and Queso's one of the brightest, sweetest kids I know.

Here's hoping that 2009 is better than 2008, that the obstacles we will inevitably face will lead us to better paths, to stronger abilities, and to humbler hearts.

Merry Christmas!!

NaNoWriMo wrapup

Well, it was a week ago that I won NaNoWriMo, with 50,101 words. The problem is, the book isn't finished. I've got about five chapters to go before it's done.

That's the first problem, I suppose. The second one is that there are a plethora of ready excuses that I can pretend are keeping me from writing. For example, this being the holiday season, there's so much family coming through, it's difficult for me to turn around in a circle, let alone sit down at a computer and write. (Never mind the fact that I'm writing this blog post. Pay no attention.)

Also, while it's not necessarily eating into my evenings all that much, work has been insane over the last few weeks.

And I've started reviewing video games over at Tech Talk for Families. Which is pretty cool.

The fact of the matter is that the challenge of NaNoWriMo provided me with some much needed motivation. I suppose the thing to do at this point, is do something to regain it, and then push forward. I need about a week of writing to get it done.

As always, the book is sitting on Google Docs - here.

Progress! (after a fashion)

I think my book has turned something of a corner.  Last night, as I started writing, I was having trouble getting going, couldn't focus, didn't know where to take the plot. That might have had something to do with the fact that I was trying to write in the living room while the family was watching Kung Fu Panda.  Maybe.

I took myself back into the office, put on some music, and got to work.

And things started to flow.  I thought I was going to have a hard time finishing my 1700 words.  I got down over 3000.  I'm looking forward to sitting down with it tonight and moving the plot further forward.  I have no idea what obstacles are about to come down.  There have been a few things that surprised me already. 

The weird thing - the music I put on? Hymns. Not typically the kind of music you write a sci-fi/fantasy Hong Kong Kung-Fu action epic to, eh? 

So, current word count is at 17640.  And it is still published here.

Congratulations, Mr. President-Elect

It's a historic night.  To those who supported Barack Obama for President, I offer my sincere congratulations.  I don't think many people would have predicted this a year ago.  It was a well-run campaign, and your man won.  I'll raise a can of Cherry Coke Zero to his health tomorrow. 

To those who may be disappointed or dismayed at this outcome, realize two things. First, no matter how you slice it, you have to admit it's a pretty impressive thing. And we can be proud of a country where we've come so far past slavery and segregation that we can elect this man to the highest office in the land.

Second, Conservatives have to walk their talk.  We talk a great game, but when a purported conservative introduces such things as prescription drug benefits and willy-nilly bailout packages, all the talk in the world can't justify those kinds of actions as truly conservative, but our opposition will hang it around our necks like a noose. We must actually be the kind of people we claim to be. Government, I believe, is best when it is out of the way.  All I ask is roads and national defense.

For the next four years, we've got to find better candidates.  Maybe some of those regular, Joe-Sixpack kind of people will get motivated, get educated, and get into a race themselves.  We've got to get behind good, sharp people, and make our case.

Tomorrow, I celebrate what an impressive country we have.

And then... well, though I realize this little corner of the internet gets little attention from pretty much anyone... I suppose I'll try my best to articulate what I think is right, improve my game as best I can, and make my case.
God Bless America!

NaNoWriMo cruises right along

Four days in, 7367 words.  I'm not removing anything, but I've marked some things for later excision.  Also, I've gone back and added some more language early on.  I've got to admit - at this point my main character doesn't seem very compelling.  I'm not exactly sure what to do about that.  I've got to make sure he's got interesting flaws, but that he's also sympathetic.

Anyway, as always, it's posted. I'd love to get feedback, but let's give it to the fifteenth. 

Taking a Twitter-cation

I'll be off Twitter for at least the next week.

If anyone needs me, a DM will send me an e-mail, as well as a text to my cell phone.

Also, you can hit me via Skype. My profile name is zricks.

Rockin' and Rollin' on the NaNoWriMo so far...

Two days in, and I'm over 4,000 words. I still don't have a title, I'm hoping it comes together.  I'm pretty happy with it so far. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's definitely a first draft, and will need some significant re-writing, but at least it's getting down.  So... if anyone wants to follow along, I'm posting it as a google doc, and it's available here.

Someone talk me down from the Crazy Tree...

So, currently we see the U.S. economy in something of a tailspin. Yet for some odd reason, oil prices have been dropping. Whether this is due to oil-producing countries trying to help the US Dollar reach a floor (remember, their own currencies are pegged to the dollar... currently...), or due to Joe Sixpack deciding to drive less (the answer to high prices is... high prices...), or some combination of those and other factors, there are some (maybe unintended) consequences.

First, low oil prices and current politics means we don't go after our own resources. In order to make it financially feasible to go get oil in the shelf or in shale, those prices need to be pretty high. Low prices keep us dependent on foreign sources. In all honesty, I think this is an intended consequence.

However, low oil prices also destabilize other countries that depend on those high oil revenues to
keep themselves afloat. I'm thinking offhand of Venezuela, Iran, and Russia - just to name a few at random. Now, if I was in those countries, and wanted to raise the price of oil, I might consider a few options. I might hold wargames with a historical adversary to the US, in the hopes of raising some tensions there. I might invade a neighboring country (which happens to be building a natural gas pipeline). Or... I might either actively assist, or block the actions of others who are trying to prevent, someone on their way to developing nuclear technology and the means of delivering nuclear payloads to places in oil-rich regions. I might shield someone who has said
something about making another country "disappear in a flash of light". (Pay no attention to how one action may lead to the other there...)

Now, let's say I'm a country that doesn't want to disappear in said "flash". I might do some things myself, but my options are rather limited because I'm not that big/powerful a country, and I seem to be scapegoated for all the world's ills.

In desperation, I wind up making a pre-emptive strike against a neighboring country who may be developing nuclear technology. Which has the effect of, not destabilizing, but revealing the lack of stability in the region. Which blows up the price of oil.

And then, let's say that I'm a former stalwart ally of this aforementioned small country not wanting to disappear. Maybe I take this opportunity to jump on the bandwagon and score some political points by blaming the small country for rising oil prices. "Our economy was on its way back! We had the bailouts! They were going to work! Moreover, we were willing to let the political/diplomatic process work. But those cursed (insert name here), they were paranoid, jumped the gun, and NOW look what's happened."

And that's how the U.S. withdraws support from longstanding ally, Israel. And the weird thing about that for me isn't that it's possible. I suppose it's always been possible. The weird thing is how... likely it seems, all of a sudden.

That's one way that it could work out. And frankly, it's the one that's less scary for the U.S. The other possibility (and you know how far out I am on the crazy tree - this is hanging off the top of it), is that the government does something so far removed from the will of the people that it becomes that generation's Intolerable Acts, prompting some yahoos to draft a 2nd Declaration of Independence, and shatter the country. Maybe it becomes an actual shooting war, maybe not. Either way, we take ourselves out of play.

Okay, so there it is. Someone please tell me I'm an idiot, and show me where I'm wrong.

Whose test is it, anyway?

Had another odd dream last night, which is prompting this.

There are a lot of voices out there. It's no wonder the media is sometimes called the "chattering class." Having said that, while there are a number of voices I read and listen to, there are a few voices I trust.

I lost one yesterday. As a fan of "Chowdah" - his fun, snarky writing and his occasional guest stint for Hugh, I'm going to miss him. Not as much as his family, and loved ones, of course, and my thoughts and prayers go out to them.

... but that's not really my odd thought this morning. No, last night, I dreamt I was having a discussion over dinner with Bill Whittle.

Now Bill is, in my humble opinion, no less than the single greatest essayist currently living and working in the United States. I've said it before and I'll say it again - the Silent America essays are... powerful, humbling, hopeful, inspiring. I'm particularly fond of his piece on Magic and magical thinking.

Mr. Whittle and I were at dinner, discussing recent events on the campaign trail - in particular, a certain Vice Presidential candidates rather dire predictions regarding an upcoming "test". And you know what? Joe Biden and I agree on this one. A test is coming.

But it's not necessarily a test of the new President.

Oh, sure, it will be perceived as such, and he'll either rise to the occasion or fail, and there'll be a lot said and written about it. But in a very real sense, the President can only do so much. And the test that I was talking about, the one that I see coming, isn't a test of our political will (although you could interpret it as that) or our military or financial power.

It'll be a test of the American People. One which we will either rise up to or fall and fail. I hope, when it comes, that we're as ready as we can be. I hope that we put our shoulder to that proverbial wheel and push, man, Push! I have the feeling that when it happens, whoever the President is will need our support. I'm optimistic. Whenever we've faced these sorts of challenges in the past, (and we have) we as a people have gotten up, gotten moving, and beat the tar out of it. But I am also reminded of the words of one of those dead white guys we don't seem to hear much about these days, unless he happens to be the source of an award winning HBO bio-miniseries. Luckily enough, this one is. Just for kicks, one of these days, go google the following string. "John Adams Constitution inadequate".

Anyway, the idea I was expounding over an imaginary dream dinner to someone whose work I genuinely admire was to step up. That test is out there, and it's coming. (one calls to mind, ever so briefly, a particular scene in Tombstone). It'll be painful, and tough. And, in a very real sense, good for us. In the song, "America the Beautiful"... aw heckfire. I'll just post that one.

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

You know how gold is refined, right?

A truly fantastic dinner

We just found a new sushi/hibachi place in North Austin, where 183 and 620 cross.  In the same parking lot as the local Home Depot and Walmart, behind the Schlotzsky's and the IHOP, impossible to see from the road, is Momiji Hibachi & Sushi.

They've only been open a few weeks at this point, but holy cow! That was good.

I tried really hard not to go overboard, but by the end of the night, I had...
Edamame.... Miso soup... 2 sushi rolls, and (shame on me) a fried banana. Tempura style. With whipped cream on top.

MSH shared the Edamame, helped with the sushi, but ordered the Seafood Udon.  I haven't had noodles that good since we left Portland, OR.

Queso was the adventurous one. While I ordered a spicy tuna roll and a sweet potato roll, Queso ordered a Spider Roll (soft shell crab), and a Caterpillar roll.  That one bears special mention.  Eel and cucumber inside the roll, and slices of soft avocado formed around the outside so that when it came out, it looked like someone had chopped up a caterpillar and served it on a plate.  The picture really doesn't do it justice.

Meanwhile, the fried banana also bears mention.  Battered and fried tempura-style, it was as though I had encountered some kind of Platonic Ideal Banana. Das Ubernana. Served with whipped cream, a raspberry, and some kind of Deluxe Pocky.  Again, the picture hardly does it justice.


So, we had an appetizer, 4 sushi rolls, MSH's Udon & Lemonade, and two desserts.  Luckily, because they put the sushi on 1/2 price Sun - Thurs (at least during this Grand Opening season they're still in) it was pretty darn reasonable. 

If you're in the area, I highly recommend it.  I know we'll be going back soon.

Good morning!

Greatest breakfast tacos in the world.

Two Princes

Everyone knows the song, right?

Good. If you're following me on twitter, you would have seen me riffing off JC Hutchins' "sponsor my novel" idea.  Now, while I can get behind the whole idea of patronage, having people vote on content strikes me as a bad idea, and I tried to express the thought by threatening to start a meme to force JC to write a Jane Austen-style romance.

(which, incidentally, he told me later he'd love to try.)

And because I couldn't leave it alone (is anyone surprised?) I immediately added lasers, dinosaurs, cyborgs, and a post-apocalyptic setting.  And, dagnabit, all of a sudden it started sounding like a good idea.

It just started flowering in my brain - an idea about a society which had undergone some kind of great shakeup, leaving technology in some places, perceived barbarism in others, forcing a more rigid social structure... it just sort of unfolded like a fractal.

Now, despite threatening JC with having to write it myself, and naming my protagonist Chet Awesomelaser! (yes, the exclamation point is part of the name) it sounds like a project that would be a lot of fun to write. "In a post-apocalyptic future, brave dinosaur-riding, laser-wielding cyborgs seek true love in a rigid social society."

Trouble is, I already have an idea for NaNoWriMo. Something I think is a really good idea. In fact, long time twitter followers have seen me float the idea for its sequel at least once. And when I compare the two of them... my original idea wins. Hands down, just wins. Now, thanks to the discussion earlier, the first story's love story will be deepened a little, twisted a little. (and may benefit from the awesome addition of dinosaurs - it'd work). 

The point is, you have to write the story that speaks to you. And the story of Bit's journey - coming to an understanding of his heritage, the burden it places on him, his attempt to redeem it, and his move into a larger world... it's singing to me. The opening is in my head, clean and crisp as the snow that surround the opening action. The climactic battle at the end is there, and the consequences of saving the day will be heavy, indeed.

So, cyborg Victorian romance/farce (I think I could play this pretty straight... maybe it'd be funnier that way) will have to wait. 

One More Week!!!

Pushing

I've been aware of NaNoWriMo for a while. I purposely did not join last year, reasoning to myself that I didn't want "hype" to overcome "substance" in my writing. End result - I didn't write a book last year.

This year, I've done a lot more writing than I did last year, but I'm nowhere near putting a book together.

And so, when I saw a bunch of the folks I follow on Twitter were signing up, and asking people to sign up and add them as writing buddies, I thought it over. When I saw that one of my heroes endorses NaNoWriMo, I thought it over again.

And if you're reading this at my blogspot address, you can see that I've gone and signed up.

Why do that now when I've been reluctant in the past?

Well, if GutCheck has taught me anything, it's taught me that having someone that I'm accountable to gets results from me. (I'm down over 20 pounds for the year.) And a system is a good thing to have. Moreover, if I can use November to get in the habit of writing, and keep it up, that will go a long way toward me actually getting books written and (maybe) published.

So, keep an eye out. I want to play fair, so I'm starting a new idea, not PRODIGALS, but a new secret project. (Sorry, mom!) I've got the idea. I've got a very rough idea of a three act structure, and a coda.

Now I just need to give it a name...

Because it's the weekend...

Perspective...

Watching the twitter feed swim by, I can't help but ask myself...

This is a presidential election, right? Do I really believe that the person sitting behind the big desk at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. can save us from our problems? From impending economic crash? From polarization and vitriol in the body politic? From reliance on foreign sources of energy?

Nope. And if YOU believe that, you're kidding yourself. No one in the government has a wand they can wave and make our troubles go away. Not even Ben Bernanke and his Magic Money Printing Press can make things better. Now, I do believe that whoever is there can surely screw things up royally for everyone else, but none of our Presidential candidates is exactly Superman. I also believe that whomever is sitting in that chair will need the support of the American people, and I'll be willing to offer my support, no matter who wins.

Meanwhile, the problems of economics, polarization, vitriol & condescension, energy dependence, etc. remain. And this is probably just the beginning. I figure we're in for tough times, folks. And in the words of the founding fathers, we all need to hang together... or...

Odd Thoughts at 7:00 AM

Yeah, nothing like being all hopped up on cold medicine to get a guy blogging. Or having weird thoughts.  Or both. 

So, this morning, I had a second sentence flashing through my head like a neon sign.

You cannot force another person to perception.

Now, let me explain that. I'm not saying that "my blue may not be your blue, who's to say what blue is".  I'm a firm believer in objective reality.  And the color analogy I've heard fails for the simple reason that color can be described in mathematical terms.  "Blue" describes a range of colors around a certain frequency of light.  I can't see that what you're seeing is what I'm seeing so we're both seeing the same thing. Wow that's circular (but it was so much fun to write).  I can describe Beethoven the same way - sounds of various frequencies and tenors played for x amount of time. 

Having said that, the Psychology B.Sc. rears its ugly head at this time.  "Yes, you can describe those kinds of things in that manner, but for someone to "see" or "hear" those things, the signals have to be received and interpreted by the brain.

To which I say... exactly my point.  I believe that there is an objective reality.  But I can't say for certain that anyone's perception of reality actually corresponds to it.  I think a lot of our current polarization in our lives (in so many different arenas) lies in the fact that people are interpreting and processing reality in fundamentally different ways.  And if someone doesn't see the the world the way *I* see it, then that person must be... stupid... evil... inhuman... crazy... other... etc.

Perception is filtered by the brain so that the person makes sense of the inputs they're getting.  It's one of the reasons why I never argue when someone hears something other than what I actually said.  I figure, that's how their brain interpreted the sounds coming out of my mouth. 

So, what to do?  As much as possible, listen to what those you perceive as your opponents are saying.  Ask questions.  It's all right to challenge assumptions, but be willing to have your own challenged, and be able to explain them as well.  Like one of my favorite radio guys says, and I'm paraphrasing horribly, I value clarity over agreement.  Agreement means nothing if we're not clear on what we're agreeing on.  If you can understand the viewpoint of the other person, you will find the things you have in common.  Grab on to those and hold on tight, and build from there. 

Politics, like many things, is an exercise in finding a compromise you can live with.  (That is, something that you can agree with on principle, even if it's not implemented the way you would prefer.)  Sometimes, you may be dealing with people who refuse to work with you on anything - who refuse to give you any ground, but insist you give all of yours.  In those cases, feel free to walk away. 

I was fascinated by this article that talks, among other things, about seeing things from new perspectives. 

So, when I come to a disagreement, the question is twofold - 1. What in the other person's perspective am I missing?  And 2. Can I explain my perspective to this person in a way in which they will understand it?  Because language is the only tool we have to work with.  We can find ways of talking to each other and build understanding.  We can reach out and find areas where we agree.  In most cases, those areas of agreement are much larger than the areas of disagreement.

I guess that's my question here - Am I missing something? And if so... what is it?

Odd thoughts at 4 AM

I woke last night about 4:30 am from a strange dream, with a strange, single thought in my head.

In a war of ideas, coercion is not an option.

It's a pithy little thought, isn't it? Simple, concise, incisive. Now, let's assume that's not just the cough medicine talking (today, I seem to be a dripping snot monster), and parse it out a little. Of course, it's not 100% correct, but it's close enough to be almost a truism. You cannot force another to change his mind.

1. What do I mean by a war of ideas?
Current events being what they are, it's easy to assume that I'm talking about politics, or about what (if anything) government should be doing about the U.S. economy. I could be thinking about the role of religion and morals in our society. And I suppose that in part, all of the above combined to spark the thought. But I believe it applies equally well to small-scale conflicts also. In short, any disagreement is, fundamentally, a war of ideas. Each combatant feels that he is RIGHT, by thunder, and he will MAKE the other person see sweet reason, OR ELSE. How familiar is that?

2. What do I mean by coercion?
Force. You cannot reach into someone else's head and manipulate their brain until they agree. And you can't beat someone over the head with your ideas and expect to get anything approaching within a country mile of a good result. My favorite example of this is something that actually happened to me over fifteen years ago, when I was serving a proselyting mission in the Philippines for my church. I and another missionary went to meet with someone we were teaching, and when we got there, a pair of missionaries from another faith happened to be there also. Now, my boon companion had been expecting just such an... opportunity, and we had prepared our remarks with the possibility in mind. We spent the better part of an hour delivering our message with great gusto, showing how the scriptures proved our point. At the end of which, those poor, unprepared ladies simply could not respond. We had won! And the next time we went to visit the person we were trying to teach, we were asked not to come again. No one had been convinced, no one's mind had been changed, and we had been dis-invited.

Now, there is one way in which force can and is used to win a war of ideas, and that is when you simply do not allow someone else to speak. See this linked video.

In the video, we see students at Columbia University forcing Jim Gilchrist, one of the founders of the Minutemen, off the stage. If you do not allow those with whom you disagree to speak, your idea wins the field by default.

I've found myself wondering what the appropriate response to the situation depicted above might be. Can you get your message across in this kind of situation? If not, what do you do?

Cookies for the Dark Side Lover in you!

NO BAKE CHOCOLATE OATMEAL COOKIES
Printed from COOKS.COM

2 cups sugar
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup Pet milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 cups oats

In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients except peanut butter and oats and cook over medium heat. Let boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and oats.

Spoon out quickly onto wax paper or aluminum foil. Cookies will harden as they set.

Submitted by: Hilary

Well, how do you respond to this?

Hacking into Sarah Palin's personal e-mail account and posting the private e-mail addresses and phone numbers of family members seems like a super mature and thoughtful thing to do.

And then putting it up at Gawker. That's class, man. Real class.  Well, it's easy to see that those people are mature, responsible members of society.

Why I am currently a fan of Sarah Palin...

There's been a lot of talk lately among people I (to varying degrees) listen to, about how scary/evil/dangerous/stupid Sarah Palin is.

While it is very tempting to go out and attempt to respond to every attack, and I do have a history of attempting to do just that (insofar as one can in 140 characters or less), I also think it's important to play offense as well as defense. What I've seen of Sarah Palin, I've liked.  I've liked it a lot. 

So... here's a few of the reasons that I'm excited about Sarah Palin.

#1. She seems to me to be someone who a) has some deep seated beliefs and b) is living them as best as she knows how. I say that because according to a report I heard the other day, 80% of babies who test positive for Downs Syndrome are aborted. It would have been very easy, understandable, even, for Sarah Palin to have had an abortion, and I don't think anyone would have blamed her.  But she didn't, and I think that says something important about her.

#2.  While she has deep seated beliefs, she seems to be someone who can be persuaded.  See the Bridge to Nowhere.  She may have been against it at the beginning, but she was the one who, seeing the enormous public outcry, thought "well, maybe this isn't such a good idea after all" and stopped it.

#3. She can speak clearly (thank goodness), and not just when she's on a teleprompter. 

#4. She defeated both a Republican incumbent AND a Democrat challenger, and as someone who isn't a big fan of either party's recent history, how can I not be happy about that?  Not only that, but she actually does have a history dealing with energy issues in Alaska, and she has an approval rating there as Governor that is greater than that of the current President and the current Legislature combined. Unless you think people in Alaska are just stupid or easily duped, I think reasonable people would agree that it's a positive indication of her abilities.

#5. Last, but not least, she's from a small town.  And as someone who originally came from a small town myself, I can't help but admire that.  She went from a small town, to Mayor of Wasilia (which despite its relatively diminutive size here in the lower 48, is still the 5th largest city in Alaska), to being Governor of the State, and now the VP nominee of the GOP.

Anyway, those are a few of the reasons that I find myself impressed by her, and am currently planning on supporting the Republicans this election season.

Wish I was at this place...

Instead of where I am.

What to do, what to do...

First, go to Stephanie Meyer's home page and read the August 28th Part II post.

Go ahead... I'll wait.

All right, back? Good. For those of you who decided not to do that, here's the quick and dirty. Stephanie's latest project is "Midnight Sun", a re-telling of the original Twilight book from the perspective of the male protagonist, Edward. She passed a couple of copies of her unpublished, unedited, first draft to a couple people. And it wound up on the internet.

Now, we all know what Cory Doctorow thinks about this kind of thing, but not everyone is Cory. And I can appreciate that it's tough to know how to respond to something like this, and that she's feeling horrible that her trust was betrayed.

It strikes me as interesting that this occurred within a week of Mur Lafferty's assault on Amazon (which as I recall was amazingly successful, putting her for that day at #19 on bestsellers, and #2 on Science Fiction and Fantasy - second only to Mrs. Meyer herself), and I think that Mrs. Meyer's response was altogether perfect. In fact, I'm thinking of writing her a letter. When I see Scott Sigler, J.C. Hutchins, Philippa Ballantine, Tee Morris and (insert genuflection here) Mur Lafferty's success with selling material that they initially released for free over the internet, I can't help but think that ALL this is going to do, is open new people to Mrs. Meyer's work, and make her next book even bigger. I hope that book is Midnight Sun, I really do. After seeing how much MSH and other people have enjoyed them, it would be a shame to keep them from their next fix, something that brings them so much enjoyment.

Here's an idea...

The WSJ is reporting that more artists are steering clear of iTunes. (h/t BNA) Not because of any kind of principled stand against DRM, or anything like that. Goodness, no.

Apparently, the argument is that selling single songs on iTunes in some cases is crimping overall music sales.

In other words, because people can get the individual "good" songs off iTunes, they don't feel it's necessary to get everything else that was shoveled onto an album.

Here's an idea.
Make more good songs.

I'm still in awe of what was, at the time, my favorite album in High School. Def Leppard's Hysteria. Looking over the list of songs, I think at one point or another they were all released as singles, with the possible exception of "Don't Shoot Shotgun", which is still a great song. In fact, I probably need to re-buy this, because my audio cassette of this is long gone.

But I can't do it at iTunes and I can't do it at the Amazon music store. Dagnabit.

Techdirt puts their own thoughts forward (they do this much more often than I do), and point to a trend that chills the very blood. The possibility that someone could pull a popular song from iTunes AFTER it's become popular, to see if it gets more people to buy the CD.

(sigh, headdesk) Isn't the answer more outlets? I thought technology was supposed to make things more convenient, not induce maniacal rage in your potential customers (which is exactly what a move like that does).

Case in point - I am looking for a legal mp3 copy of the soundtrack to the movie TRON. Anyone know where I can get that?

Yet one more reason I love my little white brick.

Dragon Ball DS trailer doesn't disappoint its audience - DS Fanboy

Holy Jumping Catfish! (Yes, I love my DS. Hey, at least it's one thing you can count on in the coming era of Hope and/or Change.)

According to DS Fanboy, DragonBall DS hits US shelves in November.

I said it was my birthday, Dagnabit.

Completing my set of released Donald Duck Disney Treasures sets. Yay!

A new do.

MSH got some kind of wild hair (heh) last night, and chopped off most of Queso's.

My geek is showing...

Saw a reference to today's WSJ Op-Ed from Senator John McCain, and in the blurb (thanks, Best of the Web), McCain makes the following statement.

We should work toward the establishment of an independent, international peacekeeping force in the separatist regions, and stand ready to help our Georgian partners put their country back together.

It's at this point that I say to myself... Hmmm... this sounds oddly familiar...

Ayup. Honestly, this is probably more a comment on my geek than a real substantive critique of Senator McCain's position, but still.

Book Binge!

Taking a break this week from my normal, video game playing, podcast listening ways, I have rediscovered these rectangular objects laying around the bedroom. I think they're called... "books"?
Yes, I've been binge reading. Three books in the last week. All of them finished within 24 hours of picking them up and getting serious about reading them.
I guess it's a defense against my wife's attempts to get me to read Twilight. Which, for the record, will never ever happen. ever.

This week I've blitzed my way through...
Grave Peril, by Jim Butcher
Valiant: Lost Fleet 4, by Jack Campbell
and Summer Knight, by Jim Butcher

Easy reads, quick. And guess what's next on the plate? Oh yeah, more Dresden.
Death Masks, by Jim Butcher

The terrible weekend.

So, I'm running late to work today because I turned off my alarm and went back to sleep.

And when I call in to say I'll be about ten minutes late, I find that my supervisor's husband had a heart attack over the weekend (he's okay, or as okay as can be expected - he's coming home from the hospital today).

And when I get here, I find that another co-worker's house was robbed over the weekend. Whoever did it had to have known the family, and (more to the point), known their large dog, who didn't stop the robbers. They took a PS2, Xbox 360 (left the Wii - guess they're not Nintendo fans), laptop, Blackberry, and... some guns and ammo. So, as a favor to my co-worker, I took a look at what Texas law has to say about that... currently it looks like it's a "State Jail Felony" (Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 31.03), punished by 180 days to 2 years in State Jail (Tex. Penal Code Ann. §12.35). Except... they burgled a habitation, which makes it a 2nd degree felony, punished by 2 to 10 in the "institutional division" (See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 30.02, and Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 12.33). Which sounds a lot scarier than "State Jail". And they're referred to that way in the statutes. Stupid kids.

And that's not all. Turns out that another co-worker who had a mole removed a couple weeks ago just found out it was cancerous.

Makes my life look like berries and cream, I must say.

Picking it up.

Posting earlier this week, I realized that I've missed blogging.

Missed it a lot.

I don't imagine the internet has missed my semi-coherent ramblings so much, though... all the same, a quick update is in order.

We'll keep it to big events... within the last year or so, I've...
passed the Texas Bar...
been hired as a regular employee at the e-discovery shop I've been working for...
and moved to an assistant project manager position there...
my podcast, Geek Survival Guide, is a finalist for a Podcast Peer award in the Comedy category, and has been nominated for TWO Parsec awards (Best Speculative Fiction Comedy / Parody Podcast and Best "Infotainment" Cast)
and I've lost over fifteen pounds (largely as a result of participating in my OTHER podcast... GutCheckCast)
My daughter, (The Queso Kid), is headed to the fourth grade. She was commended in both of her TAKS tests in the third grade (reading and mathematics)
And my wife has left her position with a charter school here in town. She's helping a friend who just gave birth to twins, and now has three kids in the house under three.
I've started (fitfully) writing a little, and have a couple of ideas for books. Of course, ideas are cheap. It's sitting down and writing them that's hard. But I've got a lot of world-building done.
And that's about it. Doubtless there's a lot of other things I could mention (my love of Glenn Beck... my continuing hair loss... my continuing fascination with Pokemon, and bunches of other games for my Nintendo DS...) but we'll save that for another post.

Now... if I could just get ScribeFire to do extended posts...

Want to see a professional at work?

Every now and then, I'll run across something that is just so cool, I have to share. And usually, the way I share is by hitting ping.fm, and updating my Twitter... Plurk...Facebook... Jaiku... Pownce... holy cow... okay, I have a lot of social networking accounts... part of the dangers of being a semi-active podcaster, I suppose.

But occasionally I'll run into something that just can't be summed up in 140 characters or less. So, I'm firing up the ScribeFire, and shooting off a quick note. (that will then be turned into a TunyURL and submitted via ping.fm to basically every place under the sun. 'Cause that's just the way I roll.)

Let's say that you, like me, are an aspiring writer. Let's say further that you've set a goal to actually get something written within the next year. Let's say still further that you would like to see how the professionals write. If all of the above is true, or even if just part of the above is true, then you'll want to check Brandon Sanderson's webpage, and in particular, his posting of multiple drafts for "Warbreaker". He's placed his very first draft, and multiple later drafts up for people to download and read under Creative Commons. The book itself comes out next summer in hardcover.

Wait a second... you don't know Brandon Sanderson? Well, maybe you've heard that they hired someone to finish Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series after Mr. Jordan passed away late last year (Oct 2007)? Guess who that lucky sap is? Ayup. Brandon. Personally, I'm going to be checking out his Mistborn series, and Warbreaker when it comes out. And can I just say that the chance to see the changes from first to second draft and subsequent seems to be an educational opportunity not to be missed? Particularly when one of the files he has up is a Word document that shows the differences between the first and second drafts?

Also, check out Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells at the "Writing Excuses" podcast (which is where I heard Warbreaker was available for download... though I never dreamed it would be this kind of an opportunity)

A test.

Just trying this out.