Sunday, January 27, 2013

Ramblings -- Some in Context, Some Not






Guy Lillian, via Facebook: 
"Began re-re-reading One Fearful Yellow Eye, a John D MacDonald Travis McGee novel, while waiting for my car in Dallas this morning. Made some notes, to wit: Something about John D makes you suddenyl more observant, inquisitve (his word) -- and compassionate. You look at people. You wonder mabout their stories. You eavesdrop. You notice expressions and you extrapolate from them. A girl's happy smile means she knows she's loved. A woman talks and talks and her tablemate says nothing. Other people come alive. You do too. Such is the effect of an intuitive writer."

My response, same venue
I love the Travis McGee series. I was reading A Purple Place for Dying in the hospital waiting room when Billy Bones was escaping the womb.

One thing I noticed - on virtually every page a color is mentioned. (Not just in the titles.) The style appeals to the senses, bringing it more alive.

Dang it, now I have to find those dogeared paperbacks and read them again.



Optimists are more often disappointed than pessimists. If pessimists are wrong, they can be happy with what happened. If optimists are wrong often enough, they become pessimists.

McCain has his line memorized. "The American people has a right to know." He has substituted saying this frequently for any form of rational thought.

Hey Supes, In this day of facial recognition software, you MIGHT need more than just nerdy glasses and some acting ability to maintain your secret. Think about it next time you settle down with a beer in the Fortress of Solitude.

The quarantine of Earth from galactic civilization has been extended another year. Unfortunately that is not an Earth year.

Cynicism is the natural state of those who accurately observe the universe. 

Adam-Troy Castro, via Facebook: 
"...Point: it occurs to me that Dr. McCoy's frequently gratuitous anti-Vulcan comments in Spock's hearing, and Kirk's amused tolerance of same, may have been considered a fine way to treat a minority co-worker in 1966, but would never, ever be tolerated by a halfway decent HR Department today. McCoy's not irascible about this; he's talking about Spock's species, and it's not hard to see as potentially very offensive...!"

 My response, same venue:
Spock of course, is the tolerant one. He recognizes the love (strictly straight and based on respect) that Bones has for him. Spock is amused by it; it is not a problem because it does not create a hostile workplace.

Remember, Spock has a remarkable
stealth sense of humor. He mocks himself and the crew whenever he takes numbers out to ridiculous lengths beyond the significant figures. Since he is logical he knows that carrying calculations beyond the significant figures is absurd and is just waiting for someone to call him on it.


Come hear 
Unca Pogo's Band



Remain childlike without being childish.

If you find yourself angered if I called you out for posting something I questioned:
  • Remember that I love you even if I hate the lie.
  • Research the facts around the lie I have challenged.
  • Rethink your position if you arrived at it without knowing the facts.
  • Reject believing what you are told to believe or what you want to believe. 



The optimist thinks the glass is half full.
The pessimist thinks the glass is half empty.
The design engineer thinks the glass is twice as big as needed.

Lastly:

See you later, Space Cowboy.

 

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Here We Go . . .

Using the western calendar, the year 2013 Anno Domini has begun. Of course the Mayan calendar New Year began nine days ago, at the Winter Solstice. The Mayans did not predict the end of the world; they just ran out of stationery stone.
Grammar check just completely missed two run-on sentences in above, but insisted that “new year” be capitalized. (If the two words are enclosed in quotes, it allows it.) Spell check does not recognize "Anno" but does get "Domini". Go figure.

Picture is our deck from February 2010.

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Music lovers among you may have already heard me talk of my enjoyment of Pandora and their music selection algorithms that are about quarter past amazing. In a related matter, experimental data indicate that it is possible to sleep in a recliner listening to Heavy Metal on uncomfortable headphones with a cat sleeping on one's left shoulder. 
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As for my resolutions, they depend on which computer or monitor(s) is/are in use at any given time.
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Interesting email I received today from Cyberguys, a company with some nice products. Text of my reply follows: 
Subject: Happy New Year from Cyberguys!
Date: Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0800
Keycode: NYE2013    expires: 12/31/2012 at 11:59 PM PT 
Tell me you didn’t mean to send out a special keycode for a sale exactly one second after it expired.
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Social Security Benefits are earned, not an entitlement. You paid in, without having a choice (unless you are/were in Congress). If unions raid pension funds it is a crime and a scandal. If the government raids pension funds it is business as usual.
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