Letter Never Sent

A few

Here are some photos from Breen’s Graduation / Birthday / Getting-a-cool-job-right-out-of-school-and-moving-to-San-Francisco Party. I would’ve put them in my gallery, but it is busted at the moment, and I’m in no position to mess with it. It was a lot of fun and, honestly, we’re all really proud of Breen. He will be sorely missed.

Here is Breen, Rodney, and I, all current or ex-fedexers.

Here is Scott, Jody, and Gloria. Scott is my brother.

Here is Daniel and Sarah. Notice the little flags in Sarah’s hair. Ad hoc cuteness.

Personal — Comments Off
24
May 04

Lots of photos

I have a lot of photos from this weekend, but my gallery isn’t working properly. I made need to reinstall it.

Film and motion pictures / Personal — Comments Off
19
May 04

minutiae

I got a Netflix account recently, and this weekend I watched The Royal Tennenbaums again since I hadn’t seen it since it came out. It really inspired me to want to do more creative endeavors. Mainly during the parts of the movie involving all the little pet projects of the Tennenbaum children: painting, building model stage sets, writing, etc. Although I always seem to have an endless amount of work to do I have really missed my more creative side. Somewhere along the way I stopped devoting as much time to playing with pens and pencils, and I made drawing into something more like a burden or obligation, an activity where the expectation of a potentially dissatisfying outcome was foremost in my mind. But, I have missed drawing and making things. Making something can put you into a zen-like state. There are times when I’m drawing or doing something and I sit back in amazement at how the act of creation takes on a life of its own and how it can induce such a state of wordless wonder. Even if you have a particular vision of how things will turn out, the result is always a surprise. I think it is the talent for working with chance that makes an artist. You have to come to some sort of agreement with the medium that you will try to see things through even if the results deviate from your imagination. You have to be somewhat open and loose, receptive to a wide variety of possibilities. I think the importance of technique is in the expansion of possibility and the flexibility it lends to converting chance and possiblity into something surprising.

International Pol. / Military and defense — Comments Off
18
May 04

Fallujah: In The Hands Of Insurgents

From MSNBC:

The mujahed named Mohammed who detained us is a stocky, handsome man in his early 20s from a well-to-do Fallujah family. He had been studying foreign languages at Baghdad University when the U.S. military toppled Saddam Hussein last year, and he says he initially supported Saddam’s overthrow, but “the Americans should have left Iraq immediately [after the war].” When the Marines invaded last month, Mohammed was one of hundreds of neighborhood men and teenagers (including many former Iraqi soldiers) who answered the call to arms from local mosques. “How would you feel if French soldiers or Arab soldiers invaded your city, and killed your friends, your family?” he asks as he and his brother serve us kebab, pita and tea on the richly carpeted floor of a cousin’s spacious home. “We fought in the streets, in the houses, on the rooftops. Even the Marines’ tanks and helicopters could not stop us. My closest friends died beside me.” He says that his mother and his brother were shot dead by Marine snipers, and he scoffs at the portrayal of insurgents as “terrorists.” Mohammed and his comrades tell us that the prisoner-abuse scandal wasn’t a surprise. “We knew what was going on inside Abu Ghraib all along,” claims one young fighter with a badly burned hand. “You Americans can’t do anything good.”

Personal — 2 comments
18
May 04

Raccoon stakeout

The woman and I had the usual suspects over for grilling out last night. Phillip and Courtney rolled up on Phillip’s new motorcycle as we started the coals. After I was cajoled into it, he gave me a ride around the block on it, which is probably the closest I’ll ever get to driving a motorcycle.

We had hamburgers and beer and sat around outside with the cool breeze blowing on us as it became night. After Phillip and Courtney left, Sab, J, and I went and picked up a bike for her. I enjoyed watching her ride it around in the dark. It reminded me of being a kid again.

After awhile, I sat down in the driveway across the way where I could keep an eye on Sarah’s cat food in case the raccoons came back. I had my BB gun ready for them and sat there waiting for what seemed like a long time, listening to the night sounds. I thought I heard them a couple times chattering, but they never showed. I would’ve liked to have put a couple BB’s in them. They’re so impertinent and bold. I think that’s what annoys me most about them.

Personal — Comments Off
17
May 04

The weekend

This weekend went pretty well. Jody and I got the house mostly squared away and Saturday Sab, Jody and I went hiking down on the greenbelt, which was a lot of fun. I went swimming in Barton Creek near some little waterfalls, but no one else would get in. The water felt great. I plan on going again later this week if I can get off work early enough. I think summer is my season. I thrive on the sunlight and heat.

History — Comments Off
13
May 04

Discovery of the Library at Alexandria

Via BoingBoing, the Library at Alexandria has been uncovered! This is really exciting, although I doubt any of the missing books will be uncovered. I heard once that the Alexandrians would confiscate any books from visitors to the city to make copies of them for their own library. Piracy has a storied history! The Library at Alexandria was one of the earliest attempts to compile the complete knowledge and science of mankind.

Carl Sagan had good section about it in his book, Cosmos. I found that complete passage here.

International Pol. / Personal — 2 comments
12
May 04

Shots in the dark

I like making predictions to myself, which is especially satisfying due to my intense and general cynicism. Prediction: I think Israel will use the recent deaths of eleven Israeli soldiers as an excuse to step up the conflict and fully annex the Gaza Strip. This could also remove some attention from the US torture scandal.

Personal — Comments Off
11
May 04

Israel connection to Abu Gharib scandal

Interesting article: The Israeli Torture Template

the old stuff