4 text messages. 0 replies.

I guess that says it all.

EDIT: by bedtime, I received 2.

Tonight is New Year's Eve. What does that mean to me? It means I've been working all day coding new pages for Geek Niche (4 new Niches--still to be approved by the full board). It means I did the dishes, and need to fold the laundry. It means I should be upgrading to the new WordPress 2.0.

In other words: It doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot to me.

I've never really understood the fascination with the new year. It's nothing special. It's just the flip of a digit on the calendar. But then I don't understand most holidays. I just can't get into the concept that one day is any different than any other day just because of some number on the calendar. I don't love someone more on February 14th, I'm not more patriotic on July 4th, I'm not a year older on my birthday, and I'm not more thankful on the 4th Thursday of November.

I will not be staying up until midnight (unless I happen to get really wrapped up in coding and don't realize how late it is.

To quote U2: "Nothing changes on New Year's Day". I'm just a day older, the country isn't any better, I'm still single, I've still got bills and responsibilities, I'm not any richer (unless I win the lottery tonight--I did buy a ticket), my friends are still my friends and my enemies are still my enemies.

So, while the rest of you are waiting for the clock to tick past some arbitrary point in time, I'll be curled up in my very comfortable bed (with a cat tucked behind my knees), thankful for the things I have, and not worrying about the things I don't have.

I am who I am, it is what it is, and we will be what we will be.

(And I'll be writing the wrong date on my checks for about a month--so New Year's does affect me a little)

Law curbing sales of violent video games is blocked

There's a couple points in this article (and, more broadly, the entire notion of restricting access to any media).

A new tool parents have, [Douglas Lowenstein, ESA president] pointed out, is controls installed in new video game consoles, like Microsoft's Xbox 360, that limit what types of games can be played.

A really old tool that parents have is being a parent!

That's right. I actually expect you to be a parent. This means paying attention to what your children are doing. It means actually exerting some effort. It means you need to stop plopping your kids in front of a TV or a game console and expecting it to babysit them.

"Oh no! My kids are playing violent video games!"

Is that so? Gee... who bought them the TV the games are view on? And the cosole they're played on? Who let them have access to the console and TV? Oh, yeah. That's right. It's you--their parents.

You know what? They're your kids. Take some damn responsibility for them. Stop expecting everyone else to do your job for you. It's not my responsibility to make sure your kids don't play violent games. It's not the shop owner's responsibility. It's yours. Period. End of statement.

You want Uncle Sam to be your nanny and prevent your kids from being exposed to "naughty" things, but you throw a shit-fit when he tells you your wife can't give you head. "Keep my kids from playing bad games, but don't you dare tell me what movies I can watch."

Pull your head out of your ass and realize that having children means you have to actually pay attention to them; you have to actually be proactive.

If you don't want your children to play violent video games, then don't let them. Stop being a whiney bitch and be a parent.

Last night I dreamt of .

But it wasn't the type of dream you might think (considering it featured a beautiful young lady).

Sunny was leading a small group of militant women who were holding me and a few other men hostage in the cottage where I used to live (the cottage has since been destroyed and replaced with a monstosity). I'm not exactly sure what the women wanted, but they were both looking for something and settling in as if expecting a seige.

Throughout the dream I was standing up to the women (and getting beaten with various implements for it); acting as a sabotuer, talking back, laughing and taunting them when they'd make a mistake (such as their utter inability to get the water pump working), openly attacking on ocassion (and, of course, they'd gang up on me and beat me down with billy clubs), and turning them against each other (there were 3 distinct factions who hated each other, but had teamed up to acheive whatever the goal was).

I have NO idea where any of this came from. But all week, I've been having the most vivid and bizzarre dreams. And the idea of Sunny being a hard-core militant terrorist lesbian has got to be the capping climax of bizzarre. Though I must say, Miss Sunny.... you *did* look awfully nice in those combat boots.

A compilation album I have includes Cassandra Wilson singing the blues classic Time After Time. Her voice is in the traditon of Ella Fitzgerald and Billy Holliday.

Her biography starts with this line:

The voice is more visual than audible; shaded, iridescent, tangible, substantial. It seems to flow from her effortlessly.

If you understand the blues, I recommend giving her music a listen.

Sailor Jim!

Your prayers just *might* be answered.

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Censure_motion_introduced_in_House_over_1220.html#suckit

The Select Committee seeks to subpoena the President and other members of the administration in hopes of ascertaining if impeachable offenses have been committed. Sources close to the Judiciary Committee indicate they believe this is the only avenue left after having written repeated letters requesting answers on matters ranging from the Downing Street Memos to the outing of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson. HR 635, which would create the select committee, could potentially recommend articles of impeachment against both the President and Vice President.

... Where ever you are, and whatever your life has become, I just want you to know that I still love you.

Tony sent me a link to "Democracy 2.0".

It's a wiki project to create a new set of laws for the US. As an intellectual excersize, it's kind of interesting. As anything approaching reality.... well.... it isn't.

This project does nothing better than to point out just how much of a clue people don't have. The laws are laugable. Okay, some of the laws are obviously jokes ("You have to fight for your right to party"), but most of these people appear to be serious. I am far from being a political expert, and even *I* can see that these people have no clue as to how reality works. They are, alternately, setting the US up as the dictator of the world, or giving away everything we've fought for.

For example, one person proposes that all foreign goods must be made by companies which meet US standards for wages and working conditions. Can you imagine what would happen if the people in Afghanistan or India, where the average wage is $6 a week, started getting $6 an hour? That would be like your average US factory worker suddently getting $400 an hour. And these "lawmakers" think that this is going to make the world a better place--instead of wreaking economic havoc throughout the world.

These people are either blind or stupid.

While I can understand the concept behind many of these proposed laws, the wording (not to mention the practical repercussions) is so out of touch with reality that it's laughable.

Here's an example:

"Any/All law(s), and any portion therein, must apply equally to ALL citizens. Any proposed law, or portion, that only applies to a subset of citizens is null and void by default."

I understand that the author means to propose that no one is above the law because of wealth, status, or position. But what's written effectively abolishes most of our laws. Laws *must* apply to selective sections of the population. There are laws that apply to doctors. Those laws don't--and shouldn't--apply to bakers. There are laws that apply to government officials that don't--and shouldn't--apply to religious leaders. The way this law reads, veterans couldn't get special aid unless *everyone* got it.

One author wants to abolish all tariffs. Another wants to make all government communications immediately accessible to anyone. Another wants to move the national capital every 50 years. And, in a fit of absolute disconnect from reality, one author wants all laws to automatically terminate after 5 years unless they pass a vote by Congress. Does this person have any clue how many laws there are on the books, and how many of them have absolutely no reason to be revisited? Do we really have to reaffirm that murder is a bad thing? Or conspiracy? Or treason? Or kidnapping? Or any of a bazillion other things? Congress would spend all of its time rubber-stamping old laws, and would have no time to look over new laws.

There are several references to term limits. This is another one that baffles me. People seem to think that professional politicians are a bad thing. Why? Would you tell a surgeon that they can only operate for 8 years? Or a lawyer that they can only practice for 8 years? Or a professor that they can only teach for 8 years? Being a politician is the same as being anything else: the longer it's done, the more one knows about how to do it better. The implication that all politicians are corrupt is no different, in my eyes, than saying that all blacks are criminals.

And, as Josiah Bartlet stated on The West Wing: "We already have term limits; they're called 'elections'."

I, for one, am glad that there are professionals who are able to dedicate considerable time and resources to debating and constructing our laws. I may not agree with all the laws, but the ones put out by Congress have at least faces the light of day and full debate in a body that has a wide range of viewpoints and goals.

The stuff put forth on this wiki makes for a good comedic reading, but God help us if these people were actually allowed to rule the country.

My family has a few quirks. Okay, we have lots of quirks, but the ones I'm talking about are the little ones that outsiders might not understand.

My grandpa (my maternal grandfather) was the civil engineer for the town I grew up in (and in which I now live). He was an incredibly respected man here. There's even a small park dedicated to him.

My family is rather proud of Grandpa. And we keep him in our memory in ways that may seem rather odd to outsiders. The picture up above is one of those ways. That blue glass thing is an insulator from an electical power line. They don't make them like that anymore, but those used to be on every utility pole, keeping the electricity in the power lines from connecting with the pole.

In large cities, there's dozens of people in charge of each aspect of civil engineering. In Lodi, there used to be one man: Robert Carberry. Granpa. He was in charge of the power and the water and the gass. He was in charge of building and maintaining the roads. He was the building inspector. But more than anything, he was my grandpa.

In just under 2 months, it will be 19 years since he died. I miss him.