Man, I had a good time last night. Yesterday as a whole, actually. I enjoyed some Hawaiian pizza and frosty beverages at Lexington’s Mellow Mushroom with Todd, Serge, Varma, Vinnie, Narron, Ildy, and Patrick. Good times, good times. Then I came home and Bella wanted to watch the Whedon masterpiece, Once More, With Feeling. Hehe

How to glorify the self and acquire power… The 48 Laws of Power Though ugly, it’s good to read these in a Defence Against the Dark Arts fashion, just to know when they’re in use against you. I will absolutely agree with Law 39, having been on the wrong end of it so many times. I allow myself to get so worked-up and emotional, ceding control to my opposition. As for the rest…IMHO, most make me want to vomit, and they’re quite possibly a one way ticket to Hell. Practices such as these are lifehacks against the fabric of society–using base human frailty to one’s advantage. Demagogues, Caesars, and Courtiers may practice them, but their power is only for a season. The true way is one of authenticity, truth, virtue, altruism, and love. ...

Link This would be awesome…give me a chance to catch-up on my reading to and from work, while paying < 1/2 tank of fuel per month for a bus pass. The tradeoff, of course, would be time: Probably 2 hours on a bus each day, compared to ~40 minutes now. Still…interesting that this is being considered.

We have one on Sunday :-D Jeff Roberts - Jul 2, 2008 We have one on Sunday :-D Yeah, I know, and I know I’m being… HarryC - Jul 2, 2008 :-P~ Yeah, I know, and I know I’m being ridiculous considering riding a bus for a 22-mile commute. I’d have to walk/bike/hitch a ride to the center of G’town, then hop on the bus down US25, likely, then get from the transit center back up to LXK. Then each evening, reverse the process. ...

Friday night, Whitney and I went on a date. Honest-to-goodness, dinner-and-a-movie evening together. We ate at Friday’s and went to see Hellboy II: The Golden Army. We even went to a theater that didn’t smell like urine this time! I loved the film. Loved it…it was relentlessly funny, beautiful, and fun. As the film opens, we watch a younger Hellboy watching Howdy Doodie with his father, who reads the overeager Hellboy a bedtime story about The Golden Army, a warrior race of 4900 indestructible Goblin-forged machines, commanded by the elf-king in his war against mankind. Though the Golden Army triumphs, the Pyrrhic victory fills the king with remorse: He has become the destroyer himself. To atone, he locks the Golden Army away and separates the crown that controls them into three pieces, one of which he gives to man. ...

:-) Well, we’ll see if like my foray into autocross (lifelong passion) or my obsession with SCUBA diving when I was 12 (yikes…bad memories…) I’ve signed up for the July 23rd, 26th, and 27th Motorcycle Safety Foundation course through Balance Dynamics. If I pass everything, I can go get my motorcycle license using their endorsement w/o taking the state test. :-) At least this way, if I ride Stu’s scooter, I won’t get arrested. Should be fun, and maybe a nice new hobby.

Richard Feynman and The Connection Machine Richard Feynman was an intellectual giant that prided himself on solving problems, getting at the heart of things, and making everyone smarter. He was right up there with the giants–Von Neumann, Einstein, Oppenheimer–but he never lost the common touch.

Feel like I got hit by a truck…no amount of coffee is rousing a single brain cell. I’m an interesting paradox (or collection of paradoxes): I hate stuff, yet I like stuff. I hate stuff in that it’s all just so much future yardsale junk–the shiny gadget of today quickly becomes the Sony Walkman cassette player marked at $0.50 in somebody’s yard. And yet…there’s usually some shiny new something that catches my eye that I want. Something I can’t have, or don’t really need, or that’s somehow lower on the priority list than everything else. And I talk myself out of it. ...

I read stuff like this and I have to admit it: Ford is in much better shape than any of the other domestics. Look at it: They’re not the Ivory Tower. GM is, for better or worse, still the face of American automotive industry. They take the flak. They killed the electric car. They build Hummers. Ford is an also-ran…they’re not haulling Mulally in front of Senate panels. They’re hauling-up GM CEO Rick Wagoner. Ford benefits from GM taking all this flack because it can quietly consolidate and grow without too much focus. ...

…or, What Theatre People Do in their Spare Time. Simple curriculum dies: Thursday night: Worked until 8:30 on spec due that day. Didn’t finish it. Grudgingly resolved to come into work on 4th of July. Friday: Up before dawn, work until 11am on spec. Finish version 0.2 and email. Return home, resolving to take daughter to Jackson for family fun. Recongize I’m exhausted and will probably crash into tree on return trip. Decide not to go. Take wife and daughter on excursion around Lexington, ending up at Fayette Mall around 6pm when torrential downpour hits. Walk through mall even though all mall stores closed, except JC Penny’s and Dillards. Chase wife through baby clothes section on 3rd floor of Dillards (“But these are so CUTE!”). Watch Romeo Must Die, have chortling good time watching Jet Li parroting English phrases like, ‘Right on!’ ...

Insomnia consists of the inability to fall asleep … Whitney - Jul 1, 2008 Insomnia consists of the inability to fall asleep NOT being consistently awakened by your husband snoring, jumping up and down, rolling on top of and smothering you, and hitting you in the back. Which is why I was pissed when I nudged you and asked you to roll over bc you were snoring and you told me to GET UP AND READ A BOOK bc that helps you when you can’t sleep and then followed me upstairs after I’d halfway fallen asleep and yelled at me. Yeah. I’d say most of America would be pissed. ...

Nothing like some hard numbers to support one’s anecdotal observations. More motorcycle licenses, yup. :-)

Honey, you’re not a monogamous shiny gadget guy; you’re a promiscuous shiny gadget guy. You’d buy it. You’d use it. And then you’d be done. Segue: I got to ride Stu’s Silverwing for a good half-hour. I LOVED IT. Wow, the wind, the smells, the feeling of oneness with the road. I enjoyed it much more than the last time–felt much more comfortable maneuvering the bike.

I’ve been noticing some changes here in the Ivory Tower/Crystal Palace parking lots–there are fewer cars, more newer small cars, and more motorcycles. Though of course the sample size is small and narrow (buncha engineers!), it seems clear that people’s habits are changing where they can, from what they drive to even if they drive. Some examples: More people carpool, meaning fewer cars total in the lot The new cars I’ve noticed in the lot are the new econo-class–Yaris, Fit, Scion, etc. ...

ROFL!!! hmmmmm…..usually you detest p… Whitney - Jul 2, 2008 ROFL!!! hmmmmm…..usually you detest people who make you look bad in public…..

Those guys at Edmunds have done it again–made it stupid easy to see how stupid you are: Try this out: Gas Mileage Savings Calculator. It’s essentially the same thing I did on my own with a Google Docs spreadsheet. The numbers aren’t pretty. ROI is 8-10 years moving up from my 25mpg Camry to something like a MINI or a TDI VW.

The calculation I keep trying to make is how high … Jeff Roberts - Jun 1, 2008 The calculation I keep trying to make is how high gas has to go before I switch from my 550cc motorcycle to Sandra’s dweeby 185 :-)

- “So, don’t you think that’s a requirement for being a software developer: Being detail-oriented?” - “Perhaps I’m a bad software developer, then.”

Well, I’m back. Whitney has several excellent Posts on our vacation. I enjoyed it, but I got overtired and fed-up with the whole thing. Sleeping-in doesn’t agree with me. Not working (that is, being aimless) doesn’t agree with me. Had some time away from computers and blogging, as well, and that’s got me thinking. I’m thinking that my blogging these days is full of crap. What I really think and feel and perceive about this world is frankly unfit for the light of day (any day), much less consumption by people I care about. ...

Sometimes, when I find someone insufferable, my wife does, too. Algorithm IS a latin word, but it’s a bastardized version of the original Arabic. Wood stain is like chickenpox for horizontal or vertical surfaces. I really like sushi. As in, if I had the money, I’d eat it every day for lunch. I can tan, much like a rump roast can cook: Eventually.