just another confused pilgrim

I HATE moving

2006-12-19T05:57:50Z

I HATE moving. It doesn't matter that this is a relatively small move, because i've been traveling light for the last two years (since i only ever expected to stay in WMass for 5 months). It's still a pain. So much flotsam and jetsam that reminds me of how much junk i accumulate and how little of it matters. Arrrgh.... life is fleeting and i'm wasting it accumulating scraps of paper that i can't let go of.

(Cross-post like everywhere. If you weren't aware i was moving but cared enough that you wished you had known it, see my real blog.)

hey, i have a blog

2006-10-08T18:44:51Z

Periodic LJ post.... blog was having all sorts of trouble on the old server but it's mostly reconstituted now, godblessthefreaks.org.

Also, one of the Cobleighs (I suspect, although I have no way of proving they're the culprits) set up a helpful LJ RSS wrapper at godblessfreaks.

In my best automated phone-voice, Please make a note of it. NOW, DAMMIT!

so good i had to cross-post

2006-01-19T15:39:46Z

This is really an ad for my "real blog" at http://www.godblessthefreaks.org/philip/. Visit me there. Read überfascinating content like this recent entry:

On the way back from the gym, i caught part of a fascinating show on Valley Free Radio on the topic of ADD. Memorable quote (paraphrased of course): “In the world of ADD, there are only two times: ‘now’ and ‘not now’.”

Word Press

2006-01-02T16:47:36Z

OK, I've got a new WP-powered blog installed at http://www.godblessthefreaks.org/philip/ , and I think i'm going to use that for most of my blogging. Stuff that i consider not suitable for wide distribution may still end up here. Now i need to figure out how to publish an RSS feed.

Sic semper tyrannis?

2005-12-21T02:57:06Z

As you listen to your local self-imagined "conservative" give an apologia claiming it's all right for the President to help himself to powers denied by the Constitution, because after all it's just keeping us safe in the "War on Terror", consider this: F.B.I. Watched Activist Groups, New Files Show

So Greenpeace or PETA or whomever can be lumped in with the terrorists. Doesn't matter because it's just a bunch of pinko liberals, and besides, we can trust the nanny state to keep us safe. Freedom? To paraphrase Sen. Cornyn from TX, who needs civil liberties when you're dead? (The Founding Fathers must be welling up with pride.) It's baffling to me, because I remember actually being afraid that Clinton was using Executive Orders to take away our liberties. And it's like these so-called "conservative" sheep have totally lost the plot, totally forgotten that truly conservative defense of liberty requires extreme jealousy (in the original sense), extreme suspicion of anyone who would dare interfere with that liberty. But apparently now all you have to do is say you're Christian and that you talk to God, and the whole Christian Right is willing to sell its birthright for a bowl of red stew.... well, at least for the promise of stability and safety.

So yeah, enough of that rant. Me? Things are going well. I have a great job, even though it's a bit disorganized at times. Things are developing with a wonderful long-distance romantic interest. Christmas is coming. I have an adorable niece that's a little over 4 months old, and i'm going to get to see my family in Connecticut. Life is good.

grrrr and grrrr

2005-12-05T22:10:56Z

More evidence of the wonderful fruits of the Bush Administration's policy of embracing torture.

On the day of his release, the prison's director, who Masri believed was an American, told Masri that he had been held because he "had a suspicious name," Masri said in an interview.

I really wish I were making this up. And I wish it weren't my country doing this, and who voted for those responsible for this kind of thing.

And in more personal news, i'm very very pissed off at Best Buy, who fucked me out of $600. If you're considering making any Christmas or other holiday purchases at Best Buy, i strongly urge you to reconsider. I'll explain the details when i feel up to it.

Since i never blog....

2005-11-06T16:42:26Z

I'm in Maryland at the moment. Here's why.

More Andrew Sullivan

2005-10-25T16:31:00Z

Bush: Torturer-in-Chief

I can't state enough how much Sully has saved me from absolute despair on this issue. Even when it looked like all Republican "conservatives" had taken leave of their morality, he was one pro-war libertarian-conservative who stuck to his guns. Now we have McCain standing up on this issue too, and the rest of the 90 (i.e. 45 Republicans, i suppose). But as noted in that link, the administration is trying furiosly to water down the bill and to stack the SCOTUS with friendly sycophants.

Anyone have any ideas how i can help people in general, and Christians in particular, see this as a serious issue?

happy

2005-10-19T22:20:05Z

I shouldn't get so excited over a material object, but it's still really great news....

College Pro Computers of Hadley, MA, was able to fix my laptop for $275. Earlier Best Buy had diagnosed it as not worth fixing ($750).

Needless to say, if you have any computer problems, I don't suggest you take it to Best Buy. I only went there because they were a nearby HP Authorized Service Location. BBY and HP are both going to be hearing from me, andit's not going to be positive. Your local computer shop may charge more per hour, but all it takes is a $275 fix versus scrapping the computer to make it worth it.

Weirdest. Company. Ever.

2005-10-10T15:24:20Z

I'm the office early-bird by virtue of getting here at 10:00. Well, unless you count the owner who was sleeping on the couch. It's 11:25 and i still don't hear anyone around.

I love this place!!!

Doing well, but no 'puter

2005-10-06T00:37:56Z

Things are going well in my new contracting job, although i'm not yet to the point of getting paid. It's definitely more of a "creative"-friendly environment than most places i've worked. (It's pretty cool that they come up first in this Google query, indicating that they know how to rise up the Google charts.)

My laptop sadly is having problems, so i won't be online nearly as much when i'm not at work. It's probably healthier for me this way. :-D

At the moment i'm using Northampton's library.

Things are GREAT

2005-09-29T03:27:38Z

I'm really doing well. I explained a bit about why at my public blog.

My crazy life

2005-09-23T20:47:17Z

Well, i'm still at my temp job, but winding it down. That's because the contracting job, the Web development one, is basically a go. I worked in their office two days this week, and i think it's at the point where going in full time is the way to maximize the probability that I get enough work. So next week i was planning to basically resign from my temp job on Monday (when my boss comes back) and maybe negotiate a transition if they want to.

But wait, that's far too simple to end the story there. Yesterday i got a call from a recruiter, and told him that i was very close to giving a commitment for the contracting job. He was seeking to fill a full-time position, and he managed to arrange a phone screen for me today leading to a job interview next Monday! So I'm going to come in to my temp job, discuss transition, and then head to Boston for this interview.

So yeah, i should be in a great mood, but instead i feel sooooo worn out. Must have been the 100-lb rolls of vinyl i was trying to weigh at my temp job. :-)

Busy... but it's a good busy

2005-09-16T23:16:11Z

I've been working on the project mentioned in my previous post. It's not yet finished -- actually turned out a bit bigger than expected, don't they always? -- but they seem pleased with my progress.

So i'm an even worse LJ friend than usual, and if you see me on IM, tell me to get off and go code!

World gone insane

2005-09-07T15:58:05Z

More WTF fodder from Katrina...

Navy Pilots Who Rescued Victims Are Reprimanded (NYT via Andrew Sullivan)

Frustrated: Fire crews to hand out fliers for FEMA (Salt Lake Trib via DailyKos, also linked by Sullivan) - Utah firefighters went to help out in NO, only to be told they'd be on public relations duty for FEMA.

Now, I realize the party line is that this is no time for the "blame game", that there's never any time for accountability. If there's one thing Republicans believe with all their being, it's that personal responsibility is only for the lazy, defined as those who don't make six figures a year.

This is stunning

2005-09-03T05:57:42Z

http://www.redcross.org/faq/0,1096,0_682_4524,00.html#4524

Especially bullet point 2:

The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.

WTF?

Typical ADD kid....

2005-08-25T01:08:53Z

I forgot to post the other entry.

This is just a repost of something i posted yesterday on an ADD forum site. I don't actually feel this way at the moment, and in fact i realize that the way i'm made is a blessing, not a curse, but nevertheless:

Why can't I have a "normal" disability?

I know this is really awful, and I'll probably regret posting this, but it's how I feel right now.

Days like this I almost would rather have a "normal" disability. I understand that I'm blessed not to be blind, to have full use of my body, not to have another sort of LD, etc. But it seems in the case of other disabilities, there's at least some element of empathy and willingness to accomodate those who suffer. In my case, people think, "You're intelligent, and obviously just lazy, so why should we cut you any slack?"

If I could just turn off my brain and be mediocre, I'd probably get through life with a lot less effort. In theory I might not be as happy being mediocre, but mediocrity has a hell of a lot to recommend it over eccentricity.

Something i jotted down at work the other day

2005-08-24T22:18:10Z

I'm going to make a pair of entries right now. This one is something i scribbled on paper at work the other day....

I am a frustrated...

... artist*.
... writer.
... politician.
... visionary.
... idealist.

*Not in the sense that you might think of a "frustrated artist" as someone who spends time making paintings he can't sell or some such; more in the sense that i think i have a creative side that has very little opportunity for expression.

Web pages that suck

2005-08-22T14:22:56Z

This image belongs in one of those "Web Pages that Suck" books to tell aspiring Web designers what not to do:

http://www.nwpca.com

I'm an uncle!

2005-08-18T15:57:31Z

Can't believe i forgot to post this. My sister's daughter Mason Elizabeth was born Monday afternoon. I'll try to post some pics when i get them.

Easthampton, Alabama

2005-07-31T02:19:26Z

A few weeks ago i noticed this sight when driving through the charming nearby town of Easthampton:

(Globe article)
Notice anything odd that doesn't fit in Easthampton MASSACHUSETTS? Hmmmm?

Apparently this made the Today show, although i didn't see it. My 'rents also said it was in the paper there so I can't wait to see the article they saved. The stories seem to indicate that not many people noticed; and they think we Southerners are supposed to be slow on the uptake!

I was driving through there today (coming back from the Flywheel) and they had the boring squares up. I still have Alabama plates -- I'm still driving their car! -- so i thought it would be fun to pretend i had come back for the signs, but i don't know if anyone would have gotten my joke.

so much to say....so little of interest

2005-07-21T22:30:09Z

Last night i went to an interesting event at the Flywheel. The featured performers were two writers named Al Burian and Jessica Hopper on a tour where they're reading some of their own work. Apparently they're somewhat known in the indie-snob-underground-whatever scene, having written for Punk Planet among other 'zines. I'd never heard of them. But they were both pretty talented, and listening to them read made me wonder what would happen if i ever nurtured my dreams to somehow write. But then i think, what would i write about?, and realize i have very little worth saying, and that which is worth saying seems to be of such narrow interest and on topics strewn to the four corners of the earth, so that my writing ends up on various kinds of message boards and blogs, unedited, unfocused, unloved.

But yeah... that's another thing i'll never really be passionate enough about to do.

Speaking of strewn-out writing, i've been neglecting some of my blogs. I might post something at FThisJob on career stuff. Or I might not.

Something great on AndrewSullivan.com that's NOT about US torture

2005-06-10T21:42:49Z

By the way, thanks for all the kind words yesterday -- I'm feeling much better today. Maybe being in Boston is doing that for me, not sure.

EMAIL OF THE DAY: "I couldn't agree more with your comment on 'secularism gone nuts,' and hope nobody complains about my Virginia license plate. It reads 16 EZK 49 for the Biblical definition of the sin of sodomy (Ezekiel chapter 16, verse 49): "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy." Who knew so many Republicans are sodomites??"

(here)

Sign of the times

2005-05-12T14:30:24Z

*sigh*

OK, this theocracy thing isn't funny any more....

2005-05-11T21:03:46Z

http://www.bushfish.org/index.html