Saturday, March 29, 2003
any of you with geekish tendencies might enjoy downloading the lynx browser, if you haven't already...
i recall using the lynx browser in the early days of the internet. i downloaded it today as part of a project i am doing for a class i am taking. good way to test for site accessibility (partly) and actually a speedy way to read blogs...actually seeing my page in it pointed out one minor change i should do to make my site more accessible. i've known about this, but seeing the page in lynx sure makes it obvious....
i recall using the lynx browser in the early days of the internet. i downloaded it today as part of a project i am doing for a class i am taking. good way to test for site accessibility (partly) and actually a speedy way to read blogs...actually seeing my page in it pointed out one minor change i should do to make my site more accessible. i've known about this, but seeing the page in lynx sure makes it obvious....
on a happier note, i just ordered tickets for the dave matthews band and norah jones
both are outdoor shows at different venues, so pray for nice weather in late june/early july - btw - pavillion seats for the dmb were gone about 20 min. after they went on sale - wow!
my wife loves the dmb; i like them, but probably would not go to see them on my own...
norah jones, on the other hand, i am excited and interested to see. my hope is true to her jazz roots, she extends herself and goes beyond merely recreating her record live
both are outdoor shows at different venues, so pray for nice weather in late june/early july - btw - pavillion seats for the dmb were gone about 20 min. after they went on sale - wow!
my wife loves the dmb; i like them, but probably would not go to see them on my own...
norah jones, on the other hand, i am excited and interested to see. my hope is true to her jazz roots, she extends herself and goes beyond merely recreating her record live
Friday, March 28, 2003
i am combining several comments of mine from karen's site and extending them, to form my first, and i hope, last post about the war.
THIS war, under THESE circumstances, represents, for me - on many dimensions - a failure - a failure the entire international community must take some blame in...one could argue that all war represents a failure and that is correct - this one seems sadder, however, because it appears to me that it didn't have to happen this way - even if the resolution ultimately ended up as an armed conflict, it didn't have to be under these circumstances. it does not leave me feeling very hopeful about the future.
the bush administration has bungled every aspect of this, from failing to present a convincing case (in a very literal sense - it was not convincing. who, outside of the USA and tony blair, did he convince?), to alienating our allies with divisive talk, to being unrealistic about the ease of the outcome
i certainly have no love for saddam - in general, the world would be better off without him- removing him in this manner, however, will create a new set of problems which may even exceed the benefits of removing him...and at what cost...
bush has screwed this up royally...
know that i also have issues with the way the french/russian/germans handled the issue as well - their open-ended approach to inspections made it seem they were not taking the threat of saddam seriously.
now one could say that the US adopted their stubborn attitude because of the stubborn attitude of the french/german/russians - or vice versa - one would hope with the stakes so high, the governments of the world would not act like children and instead figure out a way to work together to get the job done. but they haven't - they failed us - every one of them - they failed the world. they failed every innocent person who will suffer directly and indirectly from this war.
why do i focus on bush then? he is my elected representative - he is directly accountable to me (and everyone else in the US)
reports which seem ominous to me are coming in about potentially syria and iran assisting iraq - given the way bush has handled the crisis so far, i shudder to think how any new issues will be handled...
THIS war, under THESE circumstances, represents, for me - on many dimensions - a failure - a failure the entire international community must take some blame in...one could argue that all war represents a failure and that is correct - this one seems sadder, however, because it appears to me that it didn't have to happen this way - even if the resolution ultimately ended up as an armed conflict, it didn't have to be under these circumstances. it does not leave me feeling very hopeful about the future.
the bush administration has bungled every aspect of this, from failing to present a convincing case (in a very literal sense - it was not convincing. who, outside of the USA and tony blair, did he convince?), to alienating our allies with divisive talk, to being unrealistic about the ease of the outcome
i certainly have no love for saddam - in general, the world would be better off without him- removing him in this manner, however, will create a new set of problems which may even exceed the benefits of removing him...and at what cost...
bush has screwed this up royally...
know that i also have issues with the way the french/russian/germans handled the issue as well - their open-ended approach to inspections made it seem they were not taking the threat of saddam seriously.
now one could say that the US adopted their stubborn attitude because of the stubborn attitude of the french/german/russians - or vice versa - one would hope with the stakes so high, the governments of the world would not act like children and instead figure out a way to work together to get the job done. but they haven't - they failed us - every one of them - they failed the world. they failed every innocent person who will suffer directly and indirectly from this war.
why do i focus on bush then? he is my elected representative - he is directly accountable to me (and everyone else in the US)
reports which seem ominous to me are coming in about potentially syria and iran assisting iraq - given the way bush has handled the crisis so far, i shudder to think how any new issues will be handled...
friday five
1. What was your most memorable moment from the last week?
tie: wednesday's long skate & thursday, getting out of the library and reading half of jakob nielsen's designing web usability. i was familiar with nielsen's ideas, but never read this book before - a classic.
2. What one person touched your life this week?
same as every week: my kids
3. How have you helped someone this week?
i would hope i help all my students EVERY week. this week, in particular, i think i've helped a few specifically
4. What one thing do you need to get done by this time next week?
i'm putting on a presentation wednesday - but really, just want to make a couple of small changes - and then actually present it - so to answer the question - really nothing special - just normal everyday tasks - which is the first time i can say THAT for a while (see prev. post w/comic strip)
5. What one thing will you do over the next seven days to make your world a better place?
be the best dad, husband and teacher i can
1. What was your most memorable moment from the last week?
tie: wednesday's long skate & thursday, getting out of the library and reading half of jakob nielsen's designing web usability. i was familiar with nielsen's ideas, but never read this book before - a classic.
2. What one person touched your life this week?
same as every week: my kids
3. How have you helped someone this week?
i would hope i help all my students EVERY week. this week, in particular, i think i've helped a few specifically
4. What one thing do you need to get done by this time next week?
i'm putting on a presentation wednesday - but really, just want to make a couple of small changes - and then actually present it - so to answer the question - really nothing special - just normal everyday tasks - which is the first time i can say THAT for a while (see prev. post w/comic strip)
5. What one thing will you do over the next seven days to make your world a better place?
be the best dad, husband and teacher i can
Thursday, March 27, 2003
classic issue of the onion
one subtle thing i like about this is how they are imitating some aspects of the look of cnn's site...
one subtle thing i like about this is how they are imitating some aspects of the look of cnn's site...
Wednesday, March 26, 2003
while spring has come to these parts and it's too warm for my new parka, it still can be a little nippy in the morning/evening - too cool for my denim jacket (which i love) - i was just thinking that i could use a new spring jacket - well, there are many rewards to being an educator, but much disposable income is not one of them. so i decided to take out the lining of my parka to see if i could wear it without lining for a while - well lo and behold, the lining is a thin jacket- perfect for spring - which fits the bill perfectly - how friggin' cool is that?
stolen from sharon This or That Tuesday:
1. Poetry or prose?
prose - preferrably non-fiction
2. Funky modern art or the older, "classic" variety?
funky modern art - as george clinton said, on a related issue, "make my funk the p-funk, i wants to get funked up!"
3. Sculptures or paintings?
paintings
4. Theatre: exuberant musical or serious drama?
paintings
5. Ballet or modern dance?
ballet
6. Movies: major studio or indie?
depends on the mood
indie movies can be less predictable and non-cliched - but "indie's" have almost become a cliche in themselves...
and as far as mainstream movies - sometimes you just want a big vat o' popcorn and watch superheroes fly thru the air...
7. Authors: Shakespeare or Dr. Seuss?
seuss
8. TV: PBS or A&E?
pbs (can i write in tlc? - last saturday, it was sooo sweet - a woman went ballistic becaus they did her room brown in trading spaces (i thought it looked great) then there's this new show where these fashion experts rip on your clothing - the woman on their was a good sport and gave it right back - but the experts were brutal - it was horrible - hehe)
9. Music: Beethoven or Beatles?
beatles
1. Poetry or prose?
prose - preferrably non-fiction
2. Funky modern art or the older, "classic" variety?
funky modern art - as george clinton said, on a related issue, "make my funk the p-funk, i wants to get funked up!"
3. Sculptures or paintings?
paintings
4. Theatre: exuberant musical or serious drama?
paintings
5. Ballet or modern dance?
ballet
6. Movies: major studio or indie?
depends on the mood
indie movies can be less predictable and non-cliched - but "indie's" have almost become a cliche in themselves...
and as far as mainstream movies - sometimes you just want a big vat o' popcorn and watch superheroes fly thru the air...
7. Authors: Shakespeare or Dr. Seuss?
seuss
8. TV: PBS or A&E?
pbs (can i write in tlc? - last saturday, it was sooo sweet - a woman went ballistic becaus they did her room brown in trading spaces (i thought it looked great) then there's this new show where these fashion experts rip on your clothing - the woman on their was a good sport and gave it right back - but the experts were brutal - it was horrible - hehe)
9. Music: Beethoven or Beatles?
beatles
one of my most important personal discoveries is the connection, for me, between physical activity and mood. now, i know i didn't discover this - but this was just one of those things, like dorothy and home, that i had to feel for myself, before it made any impact. a few years back i was overweight, out of shape, living an extremely sedentary life which got more sedentary by the day. i was also frequently anxious and depressed. any phys ed i had as a kid confirmed the notion that athletics was for athletes - not for me - how badly i was misinformed. when i took my wife's suggestion to sign up for a yoga class to get out of my duldrums (i had practice some years before), no wonder i took to it like a duck to water. yoga taught me it feels good to move. since then, i've tried other activities - most notable skating - and i learned to swim - and in the futute i plan more (did some trail running last year - plan to do more and after a taste of xc skiing this year, that's in my sights as well). now, i would by no means call myself an athlete - i am still a bit overweight, calling myself "in shape" might be a stretch, but at least i'm up an active as often as i can be. and best yet - far less frequently depressed and anxious.
i'm sure i've said all of this before, but i was reminded of this again today as i took a long skate - longest of the year, so far. on the road there was no saddam hussein, no george bush, no usama bin laden, no papers to grade, projects to work on, nor bills to pay. only the hill, my form and focusing on the moment. some may say this is running away from my problems. well, first of all, everyone's entitled to get away once in a while - and secondly, i feel that thru activities like this and especially yoga - one learns to really live in the present - which is critical in learning how to deal with the good and bad life...
note to self: re-read this later tonight and see if i feel the same way as i'm taking ibupropen and icing my knees...
;-)
i'm sure i've said all of this before, but i was reminded of this again today as i took a long skate - longest of the year, so far. on the road there was no saddam hussein, no george bush, no usama bin laden, no papers to grade, projects to work on, nor bills to pay. only the hill, my form and focusing on the moment. some may say this is running away from my problems. well, first of all, everyone's entitled to get away once in a while - and secondly, i feel that thru activities like this and especially yoga - one learns to really live in the present - which is critical in learning how to deal with the good and bad life...
note to self: re-read this later tonight and see if i feel the same way as i'm taking ibupropen and icing my knees...
;-)
ok - i was a good boy today. i set goals of what i wanted to get done and stayed on campus in my office until i was done although given the fairly nice weather was killing me. now i have until 6 or 6:30 to goof off with a clear conscience before i have to be back for my pm class...
Tuesday, March 25, 2003
as implied in my response to stina's (link on left - "kristiv" - to lazy to code it) comments on my previous post, i have tons of work to do, which i really don't feel like doing. so i am doing what everyone does - procrastinate - do a bit of it - check for blog comments - make a cup of tea, etc... )i should have stayed at the office - less ways to goof off - more motivation to buckle down, do your work, so you can go home) when the coldplay cd finished, i had to pick a new cd - that took about 10 minutes staring into my cd closet. now, in a closet full of random cd's i should have been able to find something to listen to quicker - let alone cd's I BOUGHT!!! yet nothing felt right - after realizing this blatant attempt to delay work was indeed fairly sad, i settled on the best of the doobies and vowed to get back to work
right after i finish this post
i suck.
right after i finish this post
i suck.
_monk:the comic strip
inspired by karen (one of my favorite bloggers1) and her debate via comic strip with barcode king, i have decided to create a comic strip about one of MY favorite topics...
see the first installment: cheese sandwich
1please, fortune (or any one else), do not call me names because of this statement - i love you all - in equally glowing terms
questions from jen
1) what is your favorite foreign film?
hmmm. depends on how you score foreign movies - if crouching tiger, hidden dragon is a foreign movie, then that is it hands down. other nominees, in no order (apologies for spelling) - cinema paradiso, delicatessen, strictly ballroom, amelie, mediteraneo, trainspotting, run lola run, la femme nikita, scent of green papayas (note to self - rewatch this one - been too long), ciao professore
2) how old were you when you started to use computers?
funny, i was just thinking about this. i am pretty sure i was a junior in high school - that would make it 1953 ;-)
seriously, that would have been fall of 1976 - i was 16 - which means i've been a programmer for 26+ years
thanks for making me feel old
3) did you ever have a pet other than a cat or dog? What was it?
parakeets, fish
right now, in fact, we have a small pond in our backyard that has ten or so koi (as my friend call them "goldfish from the suburbs"). our young, dumb cat is frequently plotting their demise - almost like a sylvester cartoon - come to think of it - that cat looks like sylvester. last year during a power failure we were sitting on our deck in the dark cooking a frozen pizza on our gas grill (aren't we wacky - it was delish, though) when we heard all kinds of splashing-like noises - when we turned the flashlinght in the pond direction, we saw the young cat walking away from the pond completely soaked trying to look all cool like nothing happened - was very funny
that's two questions
4) How many states have you visited? Which ones that you haven't been to would you like to visit?
OK: Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, Maryland, Minnesota, DC, Florida, Georgia, N Carolina, S Carolina, W Virginia, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, California, Louisiana, Texas (only on a layover), maybe New Jersey - i think that's it...
want to visit: not to appear sycophantic, but the southwest - new mexico or arizona - plus maybe utah
that's also 2 questions ;-)
5) What yoga posture do you need to practice the most?
ah, that's easy. as my yoga teacher says, the one you hate most is the one you should practice most - both from a physical perspective and from a mental one - for me, it would be the deceptively simple suptapadangusthasana (note:why is it that i can spell these sanskrit terms perfectly, but sometimes english words are puzzling...)
5a) Is this the most eclectic set of questions you've ever seen?
this is the second most eclectic set of questions i've ever seen...
so was #5
1) what is your favorite foreign film?
hmmm. depends on how you score foreign movies - if crouching tiger, hidden dragon is a foreign movie, then that is it hands down. other nominees, in no order (apologies for spelling) - cinema paradiso, delicatessen, strictly ballroom, amelie, mediteraneo, trainspotting, run lola run, la femme nikita, scent of green papayas (note to self - rewatch this one - been too long), ciao professore
2) how old were you when you started to use computers?
funny, i was just thinking about this. i am pretty sure i was a junior in high school - that would make it 1953 ;-)
seriously, that would have been fall of 1976 - i was 16 - which means i've been a programmer for 26+ years
thanks for making me feel old
3) did you ever have a pet other than a cat or dog? What was it?
parakeets, fish
right now, in fact, we have a small pond in our backyard that has ten or so koi (as my friend call them "goldfish from the suburbs"). our young, dumb cat is frequently plotting their demise - almost like a sylvester cartoon - come to think of it - that cat looks like sylvester. last year during a power failure we were sitting on our deck in the dark cooking a frozen pizza on our gas grill (aren't we wacky - it was delish, though) when we heard all kinds of splashing-like noises - when we turned the flashlinght in the pond direction, we saw the young cat walking away from the pond completely soaked trying to look all cool like nothing happened - was very funny
that's two questions
4) How many states have you visited? Which ones that you haven't been to would you like to visit?
OK: Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, Maryland, Minnesota, DC, Florida, Georgia, N Carolina, S Carolina, W Virginia, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, California, Louisiana, Texas (only on a layover), maybe New Jersey - i think that's it...
want to visit: not to appear sycophantic, but the southwest - new mexico or arizona - plus maybe utah
that's also 2 questions ;-)
5) What yoga posture do you need to practice the most?
ah, that's easy. as my yoga teacher says, the one you hate most is the one you should practice most - both from a physical perspective and from a mental one - for me, it would be the deceptively simple suptapadangusthasana (note:why is it that i can spell these sanskrit terms perfectly, but sometimes english words are puzzling...)
5a) Is this the most eclectic set of questions you've ever seen?
this is the second most eclectic set of questions i've ever seen...
so was #5
Monday, March 24, 2003
me and dozens of people worldwide, including, i believe kathryn lively's husband and most likely petit pinson's whole family, will be tuning in to global extremes tonight...
tonight, i believe is the costa rica wrap up show before they move to iceland...perhaps stina can give us a preview...
tonight, i believe is the costa rica wrap up show before they move to iceland...perhaps stina can give us a preview...
the razzies are to the oscars as the anti-bloggies are to the bloggies
feel free to nominate me - even for a negative award (say: MOST LIKELY TO HAVE A CHEESE SANDWICH award) as someone (samuel goldwyn?) said, there's no such thing as bad publicity...
the one category i think i could be a contender in would be the MOST "FIRST TO POST" COMMENTS, or perhaps the DUMBEST TITLE or even CHRONIC REDESIGNITUS
thanks to kelly for the link
feel free to nominate me - even for a negative award (say: MOST LIKELY TO HAVE A CHEESE SANDWICH award) as someone (samuel goldwyn?) said, there's no such thing as bad publicity...
the one category i think i could be a contender in would be the MOST "FIRST TO POST" COMMENTS, or perhaps the DUMBEST TITLE or even CHRONIC REDESIGNITUS
thanks to kelly for the link
i caught (literally) 2 minutes of the oscars and it included michael moore's speech - i suspect - regardless of your views - it was the highlight....
also, finally, someone with perspective
;-)
also, finally, someone with perspective
;-)
Sunday, March 23, 2003
we all need this
"Shiny happy people laughing
Meet me in the crowd
People people
Throw your love around
Love me love me
Take it into town
Happy happy
Put it in the ground
Where the flowers grow
Gold and silver shine
Shiny happy people holding hands
Shiny happy people laughing
Everyone around love them, love them
Put it in your hands
Take it take it
There's no time to cry
Happy happy
Put it in your heart
Where tomorrow shines
Gold and silver shine
Shiny happy people holding hands
Shiny happy people laughing"
-REM
ok - finished the last weekend class. finished a bit early today - already had a nap - still am real tired...
this week should be relatively easy - biggest obstacle - a gigantic stack of papers from the weekend class
no alias tonight and i am also skipping yoga - that'll give me a bit of down time before the week begins....
this week should be relatively easy - biggest obstacle - a gigantic stack of papers from the weekend class
no alias tonight and i am also skipping yoga - that'll give me a bit of down time before the week begins....
