I will be off to Europe for a month. My first quest is in Croatia.
Read more about Razumijen to find out why I am going.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
20/20 by 2020
I started a new political initiative-based blog based on an idea I first socialized to people from Environment California, recently to Steve Patton of BaySolarPowerDesign, to my friends, and in fact to anyone who will listen.
20/20 by 2020.
20/20 by 2020.
- 20% wind power.
- 20% solar power.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
In a New York State of Mind
Oh, some days I miss the New York City weather. I especially miss the sound of the cicadas in the trees in the summer and the sound of the waves crashing on the sand in Rockaway Beach.Celebrating NYC
In the great city summer when everyone sweats
Rocking in the lurching buses and noisy subway seats
When who's for the Yankees and who's for the Mets
Determines vox populi politics counting victory and defeats
Where Frank Sinatra and Billy Joel eternally sing epic urban duets
Covered by the Post, the News, the Times and the Village Voice
Joined by Duke Ellington in heaven and the Radio City Rockettes
Imagine John Lennon in Strawberry Fields? Say, "Amen! Rejoice!"
From the massive Metropolitan to Times Square and Broadway
From the Yonkers border to the Perth Amboy bridge
From the heat of the sidewalk in Brooklyn on an August day
From the heart of Queens where there's always ice cream in the fridge
That's the city that never sleeps and never dies
That's the city that I grew up in and I'll never leave behind
The lesson is clear no matter how much time flies
I'll always have New York in my heart and on my mind
Written extemporaneously when Tatiana Tejada reminded me of home, and while listening to Billy Joel's Piano Man.
23 March 2006
Since then I have gone and come back from New York. It was a great experience!
-Peter Corless.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Happy Birthday Apple!
Happy Birthday Apple Computer, Inc! It's 30 years since April Fool's Day, 1976.
I was 11 years old. I'd grew up on Apple Computers. I never got my hands on an Apple I, but I saw one of the original ads from those days of Sir Isaac reposing under a tree. He was about to be bonked and would change the world.
Centuries later, Wozniak & Jobs would guarantee to change the world as well. With a twist of Yankee ingenuity and California cool.
I remember the Apple II, the Apple III, the IIc, the Lisa - upon which I created my first commercially-sold graphics for Carnegie Mellon University.
And of course the Macintosh.
I fell in love with Alice. It was poetic we could see her through the looking glass of black-and-white pixels.
After college I bought a Macintosh Plus. It was stolen out of my Astoria, Queens apartment. So I bought a Mac II.
Yet no sooner had I plunked down my $7,200 for a fully-tripped-out system (4mb of RAM at the time alone was $2,000!) than I moved from NYC to Silicon Valley.
1989. I read The Macintosh Way on my way over on the plane. I intended to have a great trip to the SF Bay Area.
I met Guy Kawasaki (who had moved on to ACIUS) and shook his hand. To thank him for writing the book.
I got a job at ComputerWare, the best Mac dealer in the Bay Area at the time, until 1991.
Apple had indeed changed my life.
I had a wonderful stint at the Apple System 7 AnswerLine 1991-1992. A magical moment. I moved on to Cisco, though, where I fondly watched from afar.
Many folks might not remember this, but Cisco was a Mac shop in those days. At least in Customer Service c. 1992-1994. Windows 95 knocked them off the desktop. (The engineers were, of course, hard-core Unix and Open Source wonks.)
So, fast forward through my era of having to put up with mockery of others with Windows95. I kept my six-color-blood until the logo turned blue.
I had a PowerBook early in my Cisco stint, and went through many different machines: 680x0s, G3s and G4s.
Now dual-core Intels? iPods? Cool!
Huzzah & Happy Birthday!
I was 11 years old. I'd grew up on Apple Computers. I never got my hands on an Apple I, but I saw one of the original ads from those days of Sir Isaac reposing under a tree. He was about to be bonked and would change the world.
Centuries later, Wozniak & Jobs would guarantee to change the world as well. With a twist of Yankee ingenuity and California cool.
I remember the Apple II, the Apple III, the IIc, the Lisa - upon which I created my first commercially-sold graphics for Carnegie Mellon University.
And of course the Macintosh.
I fell in love with Alice. It was poetic we could see her through the looking glass of black-and-white pixels.
After college I bought a Macintosh Plus. It was stolen out of my Astoria, Queens apartment. So I bought a Mac II.
Yet no sooner had I plunked down my $7,200 for a fully-tripped-out system (4mb of RAM at the time alone was $2,000!) than I moved from NYC to Silicon Valley.
1989. I read The Macintosh Way on my way over on the plane. I intended to have a great trip to the SF Bay Area.
I met Guy Kawasaki (who had moved on to ACIUS) and shook his hand. To thank him for writing the book.
I got a job at ComputerWare, the best Mac dealer in the Bay Area at the time, until 1991.
Apple had indeed changed my life.
I had a wonderful stint at the Apple System 7 AnswerLine 1991-1992. A magical moment. I moved on to Cisco, though, where I fondly watched from afar.
Many folks might not remember this, but Cisco was a Mac shop in those days. At least in Customer Service c. 1992-1994. Windows 95 knocked them off the desktop. (The engineers were, of course, hard-core Unix and Open Source wonks.)
So, fast forward through my era of having to put up with mockery of others with Windows95. I kept my six-color-blood until the logo turned blue.
I had a PowerBook early in my Cisco stint, and went through many different machines: 680x0s, G3s and G4s.
Now dual-core Intels? iPods? Cool!
Huzzah & Happy Birthday!
Monday, March 13, 2006
Kevin Sites in Chechnya and I Killed an Ant
I have been following the Hot Zone now for some time. This week Kevin Sites is reporting from Chechnya.
My thoughts, prayers and well-wishes to all those in war-ravaged situations or who have suffered because of such violence and trauma. I grew up playing wargames. Yet I always saw the cost of war.
Maybe it is time for other forms of socio-political games that don't necessary take the world to such desparate depths. Designing a "peacekeeping game" sounds intriguing to me now.
In fact, I'm in the R&D phase of this already. I am going to design a game to help explain how we can solve some of these problems using game theory.
Already I contacted another game publisher with more traction in the board game industry, and they liked the idea. I'll design it, and they can sell and market it through their channels.
Some day, I will present to you what I have planned. First I'd like to get the complete prototype put together.
I proposed this game even before the death of Slobodan Milosevic. It was in my head when I spoke to folks at the Shield Conference in San Ramon in February. I have to thank Chris Salander for the recommendation he gave me regarding taking the idea to the next level. Chris has odd and quirky ideas about wargames. After all, this is the fellow that wrote the miniatures army lists for prehistoric man.
Yes, from the dawn of time we have been fighting, killing each other and dying. We are simultaneously fascinated and disgusted with the idea.
For my own part, when I was doing research for this the other day at Hobee's, reading the articles about the death of the former Serbian leader, an ant was crawling upon my page. I was very careful about it, but it kept crawling under the page and back on it, and all over the place right where my arm could brush over it and kill it.
Now, this might sound odd, but though I have killed a lot of ants in my day, accidentally and on purpose, in this case, for whatever reason, I saw this ant not as a pest, and not even as a pet, but simply as a fellow living creature. Perhaps reading about genocide will make me care more for other living creatures.
As I sat there drinking my tea and getting my head around the timeline, tragedies and turmoil, I wanted this ant to live. Sadly, I then interceded in its life, trying to get it from being squashed accidentally under my arm.
My intercession, however, was indelicate. When I tried to put it down, I think I dropped it from too far a height. When I deposited it onto the place where I wanted it to be safe, it was crippled. I felt terrible! Nooo!!! I was trying to help. I didn't mean to hurt it!
I felt like Lenny Small from "Of Mice and Men." I pet it too hard.
I eventually put it in a planter outside, yet I realized that I had done too much to it. The poor thing was dead or near dead regardless of my intentions to help it out and protect it. What was utterly ironic was that, had I left it alone and not tried to move it, it probably would have fared far better.
In the overall karmic scheme of things it is, of course, "only an ant," and they eventually die anyway. Yet I felt how I caused it to suffer, against my intentions and cautions. Conversely, imagine how easy it could be to kill things if that was one's conscious intent? "It is only a Muslim." "It is only a Serb." "It is only a Croat." The division that led to such real-world disaster made them less than ants. They were "the enemy." There was a conscious plan to exacerbate the situation and alienate the enemy.
So today, while a man who never apologized to anyone for the death and suffering he caused to millions is mourned by loyal supporters who really didn't mind that he ordered or tacitly supported the commission of genocide, I feel remorse after killing an ant accidentally.
My proposition is that we can get our species to act less barbaric than our prehistoric ancestors. If we can evolve ethically as much as we have technologically, then humanitarian disasters can be minimized because of human policing against the most grevious of excesses of malice and violence.
As a game designer, my challenge is to create a game where peacekeeping, ethics, and morals are reinforced. At least for the basic game. In the "advanced" version, the players could be given the roles of those who are oppositely inclined: those motivated by power, domination, and darker passions.
For now, I'll keep the rest of the plan under wraps. It's something I'm thinking about in odd hours when I am not working or doing school work.
I'll be off to the GAMA Trade Show (GTS) in Las Vegas this week. Tuesday-Thursday. I'm hoping to get back in touch with folks I haven't seen or spoken to in some years. The last thing to report is that I've been in email contact now with Steve Gilbert, who I collaborated with back at West End Games on "Me and My Shadow Mark IV," for Acute Paranoia. It was great to hear from him again!
My thoughts, prayers and well-wishes to all those in war-ravaged situations or who have suffered because of such violence and trauma. I grew up playing wargames. Yet I always saw the cost of war.
Maybe it is time for other forms of socio-political games that don't necessary take the world to such desparate depths. Designing a "peacekeeping game" sounds intriguing to me now.
In fact, I'm in the R&D phase of this already. I am going to design a game to help explain how we can solve some of these problems using game theory.
Already I contacted another game publisher with more traction in the board game industry, and they liked the idea. I'll design it, and they can sell and market it through their channels.
Some day, I will present to you what I have planned. First I'd like to get the complete prototype put together.
I proposed this game even before the death of Slobodan Milosevic. It was in my head when I spoke to folks at the Shield Conference in San Ramon in February. I have to thank Chris Salander for the recommendation he gave me regarding taking the idea to the next level. Chris has odd and quirky ideas about wargames. After all, this is the fellow that wrote the miniatures army lists for prehistoric man.
Yes, from the dawn of time we have been fighting, killing each other and dying. We are simultaneously fascinated and disgusted with the idea.
For my own part, when I was doing research for this the other day at Hobee's, reading the articles about the death of the former Serbian leader, an ant was crawling upon my page. I was very careful about it, but it kept crawling under the page and back on it, and all over the place right where my arm could brush over it and kill it.
Now, this might sound odd, but though I have killed a lot of ants in my day, accidentally and on purpose, in this case, for whatever reason, I saw this ant not as a pest, and not even as a pet, but simply as a fellow living creature. Perhaps reading about genocide will make me care more for other living creatures.
As I sat there drinking my tea and getting my head around the timeline, tragedies and turmoil, I wanted this ant to live. Sadly, I then interceded in its life, trying to get it from being squashed accidentally under my arm.
My intercession, however, was indelicate. When I tried to put it down, I think I dropped it from too far a height. When I deposited it onto the place where I wanted it to be safe, it was crippled. I felt terrible! Nooo!!! I was trying to help. I didn't mean to hurt it!
I felt like Lenny Small from "Of Mice and Men." I pet it too hard.
I eventually put it in a planter outside, yet I realized that I had done too much to it. The poor thing was dead or near dead regardless of my intentions to help it out and protect it. What was utterly ironic was that, had I left it alone and not tried to move it, it probably would have fared far better.
In the overall karmic scheme of things it is, of course, "only an ant," and they eventually die anyway. Yet I felt how I caused it to suffer, against my intentions and cautions. Conversely, imagine how easy it could be to kill things if that was one's conscious intent? "It is only a Muslim." "It is only a Serb." "It is only a Croat." The division that led to such real-world disaster made them less than ants. They were "the enemy." There was a conscious plan to exacerbate the situation and alienate the enemy.
So today, while a man who never apologized to anyone for the death and suffering he caused to millions is mourned by loyal supporters who really didn't mind that he ordered or tacitly supported the commission of genocide, I feel remorse after killing an ant accidentally.
My proposition is that we can get our species to act less barbaric than our prehistoric ancestors. If we can evolve ethically as much as we have technologically, then humanitarian disasters can be minimized because of human policing against the most grevious of excesses of malice and violence.
As a game designer, my challenge is to create a game where peacekeeping, ethics, and morals are reinforced. At least for the basic game. In the "advanced" version, the players could be given the roles of those who are oppositely inclined: those motivated by power, domination, and darker passions.
For now, I'll keep the rest of the plan under wraps. It's something I'm thinking about in odd hours when I am not working or doing school work.
I'll be off to the GAMA Trade Show (GTS) in Las Vegas this week. Tuesday-Thursday. I'm hoping to get back in touch with folks I haven't seen or spoken to in some years. The last thing to report is that I've been in email contact now with Steve Gilbert, who I collaborated with back at West End Games on "Me and My Shadow Mark IV," for Acute Paranoia. It was great to hear from him again!
Friday, March 03, 2006
The Overnight
I am marching in The Overnight this coming summer. It is a march for suicide prevention. During college, the woman who sat next to me in my illustration class committed suicide. For Molly's memory, and moreso, for her surviving family and friends, and for all the Molly's of the world who we can be there for in the future — to restore to their life hope and joy — please give generously.
-Peter.
-Peter.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
In the Heart of Silicon Valley
I'm sitting here in Panera Bakery in Cupertino, on Steven's Creek Boulevard not far from Apple Computer and De Anza College.
This place is WiFi 802.11B enabled. Hi-speed wireless. But today I am posting "lo-tech," in relative terms using my Sprint Treo phone. Yes. There are many ways to the Web. Information superhighways and spiderholes and capillaries.
In Panera with me are a pair of gentlemen who are planning to wire the world one cafe, one business, at a time. It reminds me of that original Apple pledge to get a computer to everyone, one person at a time.
Around me are no less than three laptops. And there are a few other people who are "computer-free." A busy high-tech professional. Oh! Wait! There's his own Treo hiding behind a paper bag and a bunched up napkin.
And in front of me an older woman has a casette recorder and an earbud. Even if she's not digital overtly, here's a woman who is plugged in. Ah. Now I see. A blue zipped-up bag. Laptop-shaped.
This place is WiFi 802.11B enabled. Hi-speed wireless. But today I am posting "lo-tech," in relative terms using my Sprint Treo phone. Yes. There are many ways to the Web. Information superhighways and spiderholes and capillaries.
In Panera with me are a pair of gentlemen who are planning to wire the world one cafe, one business, at a time. It reminds me of that original Apple pledge to get a computer to everyone, one person at a time.
Around me are no less than three laptops. And there are a few other people who are "computer-free." A busy high-tech professional. Oh! Wait! There's his own Treo hiding behind a paper bag and a bunched up napkin.
And in front of me an older woman has a casette recorder and an earbud. Even if she's not digital overtly, here's a woman who is plugged in. Ah. Now I see. A blue zipped-up bag. Laptop-shaped.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Musicians Needed!
Irene Kwok is a talented musician studying for her Masters in Music at Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) in Belmont, California. She is looking for more singers and an additional musician to help her put on a classical music recital to be held at St. Jude's Episcopal Church in Cupertino, California on the 20th of May, 2006.We met through our interactions in the St. Jude's choir. Michael Morris, the musical director, passed on the following via email from Irene.
Irene and I just spoke tonight. My voice is very hoarse this week because of my cold and my speaking for the whole weekend at DunDraCon XXX (which I will cover in another post), so it will be another week to let my voice heal before Irene can listen to my range and consider whether she'd prefer me to sing tenor or bass. She was very enthusiastic about getting another male singer to go with the others already assembled, and is looking for a few more singers, male and female!
In total, Irene is looking to recruit 16-20 people. She has 13 already. If you are interested in having an opportunity to perform some marvellous music, or if you are simply interested in attending a free, open recital of some marvellous classical music, please read on! (I've updated some of the information based on Irene's latest information).
_______________
Dear musicians,
I am a music graduate student looking for singers and a couple of instrumentalists to help perform a recital that I need to conduct as part of my graduation. If you have some time, would like to help me out, and would enjoy the repertoire, please read on.
There are two choirs singing at the recital and the choir I’m recruiting for will sing the following pieces:
- Mendelssohn’s “He, Watching Over Israel” from the oratorio Elijah.
- Mozart’s “Lacrymosa” from his Requiem – this will be accompanied by a string ensemble and hopefully a timpanist! (still needed)
- A contemporary piece by Brant Adams “Down by the Riverside” (4-part version) which mixes gospel rock, jazz, blues, swing into a single piece.
There are 8 practices offered. Depending upon the need of the group, some of these may be sectionals for those who need it (i.e. others don’t need to attend). The dates are:
3/20, 3/27, 4/3, 4/10, 4/17, 4/24, 5/1, 5/8. Location is my home in Cupertino.
Dress Rehearsal – Sat. 5-6:30pm on 5/13/2006:
Everyone needs to be present for this combined practice with another group that practices at my university (Univ. of Notre Dame de Namur, Belmont), and also to rehearse with string ensemble.
Recital – St. Jude's Episcopal Church — Sat. 6:00 – 8pm on 5/20/2006
For Performers: 6:00 is call time. Recital begins at 7 pm. Everyone is invited to a reception afterwards.
For Attendees: Doors open 6:50 pm.
Need:
• 1 soprano
• 3 altos with rich warm round tones
• 1-2 tenors
• 1 violist
• 1 percussionist (for wood block and timpani)
Requirements:
• Can read music independently and quickly
• Some chorale experience
• Pitch accuracy
• Dependable
If you have interest, email me (Irene) at kwoksmusic@yahoo.com. Thank you!
___________
Practice, Practice, Practice!
If you are interested in practicing, either with Irene or even on your own, you might want to peek at the MIDI practice files for He, Watching Over Israel. You can even find the score (with markings) for all the parts online at the University of Kansas.
For Mozart's Lacrymosa, you can get the first two pages online for free, and the entire score for $1.50. I found the lyrics online:
Lacrymosa dies illa, qua resurget ex favilla judicandus homo reus.Finally, for Down by the Riverside, by Brant Adams, sheet music is available online for $2.05.
Huic ergo parce Deus, pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem! Amen!
I'm sure Irene will arrange for music for everyone participating. The links above are for those interested in pursuing their own similar parallel or subsequent musical paths.
Hope to see some of you in rehearsal. Hope to see more of you in May.
Enjoy!
-Peter.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Want to Live Near Me?
The Chiquita Palms apartment where I live, 360 Chiquita Avenue, Mountain View, California, has a studio apartment available.
The pool is a great place to sit and relax beside. I love to listen to the hummingbirds in the trees, and the squirrels playing chase up and down the palms in the central court. I've lived here for more than a decade.
If you are interested in walking, you can easily reach downtown life or public transportation. The Chiquita Palms apartments are eminantly walkable to downtown Mountain View's Castro Street. It's a brisk but decent walk to the VTA Light Rail or Caltrain station in the morning. It would be a terrible drenching in the rain, but otherwise, it's good exercise. It's also walkable to El Camino Real, where you can take the 22 bus up the peninsula to Palo Alto's University Avenue for a stroll or to Stanford. You can also head southeast to Sunnyvale or downtown San Jose. It's also walkable in the other direction to Hobee's Restaurant at 2312 Central Expressway, just across the Caltrain tracks at Rengstorff Avenue, catty-corner to Rengstorff Park.
We're close to the Shoreline Amphitheatre and the Century Cinema 16. There's a lot of high-tech businesses in the area, and the city has very good live theatre at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts.
If you like to walk, ride bicycles, or otherwise get outdoors, this is a good, healthy town to do it in.
The Chiquita Palms apartments are a modest 12-unit place to live. They are not like the huge complexes. We have singletons (like me), couples and small families.
I'm looking forward to meet my new neighbors this year. Maybe it will be you? Never know!
-Peter.
The pool is a great place to sit and relax beside. I love to listen to the hummingbirds in the trees, and the squirrels playing chase up and down the palms in the central court. I've lived here for more than a decade.
If you are interested in walking, you can easily reach downtown life or public transportation. The Chiquita Palms apartments are eminantly walkable to downtown Mountain View's Castro Street. It's a brisk but decent walk to the VTA Light Rail or Caltrain station in the morning. It would be a terrible drenching in the rain, but otherwise, it's good exercise. It's also walkable to El Camino Real, where you can take the 22 bus up the peninsula to Palo Alto's University Avenue for a stroll or to Stanford. You can also head southeast to Sunnyvale or downtown San Jose. It's also walkable in the other direction to Hobee's Restaurant at 2312 Central Expressway, just across the Caltrain tracks at Rengstorff Avenue, catty-corner to Rengstorff Park.
We're close to the Shoreline Amphitheatre and the Century Cinema 16. There's a lot of high-tech businesses in the area, and the city has very good live theatre at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts.
If you like to walk, ride bicycles, or otherwise get outdoors, this is a good, healthy town to do it in.
The Chiquita Palms apartments are a modest 12-unit place to live. They are not like the huge complexes. We have singletons (like me), couples and small families.
I'm looking forward to meet my new neighbors this year. Maybe it will be you? Never know!
-Peter.
Friday, February 10, 2006
No Dog Tags Allowed
The Mountain View Voice reported on how "Council rejects war memorial" in their 10 February 2006 edition (Volume 14 No. 7).
"Council members Laura Macias and Matt Neely backed the project, but their colleagues said they were concerned about approving any form of free speech that could not get a permit under existing city policy."
So, hanging Christmas lights on city trees is alright, even though that violates the following code:
The real issue is the undo influence of "the small number of active and former service members who decried the plans as an anti-war protest masquerading as a memorial." Council member Tom Means was quoted as saying "The group doesn't have much credibility... Just go to the Web site."
Alright Tom, let's do that. The group organizing the memorial was Mountain View Voices for Peace (MVVP.org). They have links to:
Sadly, Cindy, there have been now 20 more since your t-shirt was printed. But apparently simply advertizing the truth and asking a three word question is considered a "protest" sufficient of arrest.
For those, such as Ken Girdley, who believe this constitutes "anti-war, anti-military and anti-administration" activities, and that hanging dog tags from a tree might "taint the service of those who are putting lives at risk every day," I say this: get over your paranoia.
Americans are not holding violent riots teetering on revolt in the streets as they did in the Civil War or even the Vietnam War, violently outraged against the draft. Americans are asking hard questions about how we got into this war, the reasons why we are fighting it, and how we can extract ourselves from it with the least harm to our own forces and reputation in the world.
Our nation has incurred $238.9 billion in costs to fund this expedition. With a projected US population as of this moment of 298 million, this means the war in Iraq has cost each US resident, including each resident of Mountain View, $804.69 each as of this writing.
The final projection for the cost of war is now expected to exceed $600 billion, and some project, with veteran's benefits, the cost of war could be $1 trillion in the long-run. Regardless, let's just deal with present-state figures.
With a city population of 72,200, the collective cost of the war to the citizens of Mountain View, California, has been $58,098,642.08 as of my typing these words. The number is increasing. The actual number will, in the long term, either double this value or be four times this value. In other words, this war in Iraq will cost our community somewhere between $100 - $200 million dollars.
However, the City Council could not find it in their hearts to scrounge up "an estimated $1,400 worth of city resources and permission to leave the display up for a month."
We could recount the names, ranks, and dates of death of those from our city who have fallen, including those assigned to the 351st Civil Affairs Command, based out of Mt. View.
The deaths per total US population due to the war in Iraq are 1 in 131,610. Mountain View, with a population of 72,200, had about a 50-50 chance of avoiding any casualties. Yet our own resident 1st Lt. Kenneth Ballard was killed, and at least two others from the 351st stationed here.
These people deserve to be remembered. This city owes it to every man and woman who has died over there in Iraq to give them their due. Not just one day in November. Because these people are over there 365, 24 x 7. And many have been over there for two or three tours of duty.
The people who say that this would "taint" our beliefs about those who are serving overseas are utterly contemptible. I don't care if they did serve in the military. We owe it to the hundreds of thousands of people serving in CENTCOM to say,
"We're Mountain View, California. And regardless of whether we support the war, or are against the war, we acknowledge what you are personally risking on our behalf. We shall consider your sacrifice for a whole month, as a sober reminder of your daily, year-round duties. We grieve for your losses. We worry about you. We will hold civil discourse about the course our nation is on, airing both the good and the bad, in hopes for a progressive engagement about where we should be this time next year, and whether we can do anything to help ensure your survival and speed up your return to your loved ones. We hope to minimize the cost to your precious lives and to our economy, to minimize the damage to our true national security and to our prestige in the world."
If Mountain View, California, cannot summon up $1,400 to consider this proposition after we have collectively already forked over $58 million to fund the war in the first place, if we cannot spare $0.019 per capita—less than 2 cents per resident to put dogtags in a tree for a month—then what in the world are we doing tossing tens of millions of dollars as a community to fund the war in the first place?
Is it a "sin tax?" Something we can pay off so our collective minds can simply carry on with their daily lives without worrying about the pain and suffering being borne by our military servicemen and women, civil contractors and selfless workers for NGOs?
I am highly disappointed in Mountain View's City Council. Ashamed, in fact. We should be expressing our collective viewpoints much as there was the Witness Tree during the dawn of our city's founding on the property of Benjamin Bubb. It was a cherry tree, like in the apocryphal story of George Washington, who was not supposed to tell a lie.
We are not telling a lie. We are merely making a sin of ommission by not giving formal attention, as a city, as a movement of 72,200 US residents, to acknowledge the good, the bad, the ugly, and the very, very real events of and people serving and surviving in the war in Iraq.
It matters less whether we individually agree or disagree with the war. Each of us is entitled to hold an opinion on the topic, much the same way that everyone who attends a wake or funeral may mourn or celebrate a life in their own way. I am sure that if there were respectful ethics regarding what should or should not be permitted when in the witness of the dog tag tree that people would for the most part respect it. I know a woman whose son is serving in the special forces in Iraq. She could not even look at the iCasualties page without bursting into tears worrying about the fate of her son.
We are all touched by this war. Even those of us who have not, do not, or could not serve in it. It is an ever-growing low-grade fever undermining our local and national economy. So far, $58 million and one resident dead. Others stationed here also dead. I don't have figures of wounded or emotionally scarred. I know I ran into a recent veteran who was angry at a drugstore on El Camino. The price of a greeting card was outrageous, in his opinion. He paid for it, fuming, then stalked away. His apologetic relative winced that he had just come back from the war even as he stormed off. It was obvious to all that he is already suffering PTSD.
If we cannot even spend $1,400 now as an artistic community work to consider what this war is doing and has done and will do in the long-term to our community, then years later we apparently accept to cough up whatever the true costs of the war will be. Perhaps by avoiding this as a community we can feign surprise, shock and disbelief when the full costs are tallied and when our veterans return in various states of mind, body and spirit.
For my opinion, literally for my own $0.02 as a Mountain View citizen, I'd have preferred if the city had backed the project and showed a little backbone. It would have been good to show some of the fearlessness that is being shown overseas by our military and civilian personnel at risk in Iraq, and as each Iraqi citizen must feel in a war-torn nation. They have to enter a warzone each day. For a month, we can be a sister-city to an Iraqi town of similar size, even if was simply to count our blessings, pay due heed to the survival and well-being of our native sons and daughters, and consider the survival and well-being of the sons and daughters of the nascent democracy of Iraq.
If the city itself will not permit this art display, I respectfully suggest that someone with a decent tree, lawn, and spirit of community offer to host the dog tag tree on their own property.
-Peter Corless.
Resident
Mountain View, California
"Council members Laura Macias and Matt Neely backed the project, but their colleagues said they were concerned about approving any form of free speech that could not get a permit under existing city policy."
So, hanging Christmas lights on city trees is alright, even though that violates the following code:
SEC. 32.10. Attachment of wire, rope, signs, etc., unlawful. No person shall place, apply, attach or keep attached to any street tree or shrub or to a guard or stake intended for the protection thereof any wire, rope, sign, paint or any other substance, structure, thing or device of any kind or nature whatsoever. (Ord. No. 175.659, 4/10/61.)But apparently hanging dog tags in memory of the fallen dead of the United States of America would suddenly trigger this provision. We're apparently only allowed to have "happy trees."
The real issue is the undo influence of "the small number of active and former service members who decried the plans as an anti-war protest masquerading as a memorial." Council member Tom Means was quoted as saying "The group doesn't have much credibility... Just go to the Web site."
Alright Tom, let's do that. The group organizing the memorial was Mountain View Voices for Peace (MVVP.org). They have links to:
- CostofWar.com. That's the factual budget that the war costs. $239.8 billion as of tonight.
- iCasualties.org. That's the factual list of those killed and wounded in this war so far. 2,265 military and 310 contractors killed as of tonight (and 16,653 wounded).
- IraqBodycount.net. That's the best-guess anyone's yet been able to tally of total casualties (including innocent civilians) for the war. Somewhere between 28,000 - 34,000 people dead.
Sadly, Cindy, there have been now 20 more since your t-shirt was printed. But apparently simply advertizing the truth and asking a three word question is considered a "protest" sufficient of arrest.
For those, such as Ken Girdley, who believe this constitutes "anti-war, anti-military and anti-administration" activities, and that hanging dog tags from a tree might "taint the service of those who are putting lives at risk every day," I say this: get over your paranoia.
Americans are not holding violent riots teetering on revolt in the streets as they did in the Civil War or even the Vietnam War, violently outraged against the draft. Americans are asking hard questions about how we got into this war, the reasons why we are fighting it, and how we can extract ourselves from it with the least harm to our own forces and reputation in the world.
Our nation has incurred $238.9 billion in costs to fund this expedition. With a projected US population as of this moment of 298 million, this means the war in Iraq has cost each US resident, including each resident of Mountain View, $804.69 each as of this writing.
The final projection for the cost of war is now expected to exceed $600 billion, and some project, with veteran's benefits, the cost of war could be $1 trillion in the long-run. Regardless, let's just deal with present-state figures.
With a city population of 72,200, the collective cost of the war to the citizens of Mountain View, California, has been $58,098,642.08 as of my typing these words. The number is increasing. The actual number will, in the long term, either double this value or be four times this value. In other words, this war in Iraq will cost our community somewhere between $100 - $200 million dollars.
However, the City Council could not find it in their hearts to scrounge up "an estimated $1,400 worth of city resources and permission to leave the display up for a month."
We could recount the names, ranks, and dates of death of those from our city who have fallen, including those assigned to the 351st Civil Affairs Command, based out of Mt. View.
The deaths per total US population due to the war in Iraq are 1 in 131,610. Mountain View, with a population of 72,200, had about a 50-50 chance of avoiding any casualties. Yet our own resident 1st Lt. Kenneth Ballard was killed, and at least two others from the 351st stationed here.
These people deserve to be remembered. This city owes it to every man and woman who has died over there in Iraq to give them their due. Not just one day in November. Because these people are over there 365, 24 x 7. And many have been over there for two or three tours of duty.
The people who say that this would "taint" our beliefs about those who are serving overseas are utterly contemptible. I don't care if they did serve in the military. We owe it to the hundreds of thousands of people serving in CENTCOM to say,
"We're Mountain View, California. And regardless of whether we support the war, or are against the war, we acknowledge what you are personally risking on our behalf. We shall consider your sacrifice for a whole month, as a sober reminder of your daily, year-round duties. We grieve for your losses. We worry about you. We will hold civil discourse about the course our nation is on, airing both the good and the bad, in hopes for a progressive engagement about where we should be this time next year, and whether we can do anything to help ensure your survival and speed up your return to your loved ones. We hope to minimize the cost to your precious lives and to our economy, to minimize the damage to our true national security and to our prestige in the world."
If Mountain View, California, cannot summon up $1,400 to consider this proposition after we have collectively already forked over $58 million to fund the war in the first place, if we cannot spare $0.019 per capita—less than 2 cents per resident to put dogtags in a tree for a month—then what in the world are we doing tossing tens of millions of dollars as a community to fund the war in the first place?
Is it a "sin tax?" Something we can pay off so our collective minds can simply carry on with their daily lives without worrying about the pain and suffering being borne by our military servicemen and women, civil contractors and selfless workers for NGOs?
I am highly disappointed in Mountain View's City Council. Ashamed, in fact. We should be expressing our collective viewpoints much as there was the Witness Tree during the dawn of our city's founding on the property of Benjamin Bubb. It was a cherry tree, like in the apocryphal story of George Washington, who was not supposed to tell a lie.
We are not telling a lie. We are merely making a sin of ommission by not giving formal attention, as a city, as a movement of 72,200 US residents, to acknowledge the good, the bad, the ugly, and the very, very real events of and people serving and surviving in the war in Iraq.
It matters less whether we individually agree or disagree with the war. Each of us is entitled to hold an opinion on the topic, much the same way that everyone who attends a wake or funeral may mourn or celebrate a life in their own way. I am sure that if there were respectful ethics regarding what should or should not be permitted when in the witness of the dog tag tree that people would for the most part respect it. I know a woman whose son is serving in the special forces in Iraq. She could not even look at the iCasualties page without bursting into tears worrying about the fate of her son.
We are all touched by this war. Even those of us who have not, do not, or could not serve in it. It is an ever-growing low-grade fever undermining our local and national economy. So far, $58 million and one resident dead. Others stationed here also dead. I don't have figures of wounded or emotionally scarred. I know I ran into a recent veteran who was angry at a drugstore on El Camino. The price of a greeting card was outrageous, in his opinion. He paid for it, fuming, then stalked away. His apologetic relative winced that he had just come back from the war even as he stormed off. It was obvious to all that he is already suffering PTSD.
If we cannot even spend $1,400 now as an artistic community work to consider what this war is doing and has done and will do in the long-term to our community, then years later we apparently accept to cough up whatever the true costs of the war will be. Perhaps by avoiding this as a community we can feign surprise, shock and disbelief when the full costs are tallied and when our veterans return in various states of mind, body and spirit.
For my opinion, literally for my own $0.02 as a Mountain View citizen, I'd have preferred if the city had backed the project and showed a little backbone. It would have been good to show some of the fearlessness that is being shown overseas by our military and civilian personnel at risk in Iraq, and as each Iraqi citizen must feel in a war-torn nation. They have to enter a warzone each day. For a month, we can be a sister-city to an Iraqi town of similar size, even if was simply to count our blessings, pay due heed to the survival and well-being of our native sons and daughters, and consider the survival and well-being of the sons and daughters of the nascent democracy of Iraq.
If the city itself will not permit this art display, I respectfully suggest that someone with a decent tree, lawn, and spirit of community offer to host the dog tag tree on their own property.
-Peter Corless.
Resident
Mountain View, California
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Getting to the Top
Event Review
Stanford Alumni Career Services - Seminar Series
Getting to the Top
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
Bishop Auditorium
This was my first business networking event of 2006. It had been a while since I attended these sorts of things and in the past, they were often afforded by a generous salary due to Cisco Systems, Inc. But in 2006, I'm my own "CEO." This was a foray back into the world of high-tech, top-dollar schmoozing.
I certainly got my money's worth. First and best of all, I got to see Tom Herbst from Cisco Systems, Inc. He got to show off his daughter's pictures. For me, and for him, it was great to talk about something other than geeky standards. He talked about pearl bracelets and raising his daughter.
I saw another Cisco business card on the table. It was like a Homecoming to see the corporate logo. Without really thinking about it, today I had even donned my own "Cisco IOS Technologies User Centered Design Team" sage green long-sleeved button-down. I have tons of old Cisco corporate heraldry in my wardrobe.
Some people never wear their old corporate heraldry. But this week, I was seen in a Celebrate History red shirt (c. 1998-1999), an Apple System 7 Answerline shirt (c. 1991-1992), and my roommate/houseguest Kate was sporting her own Green Knight Publishing t-shirt (c. 1999-present).
Which, as many people know, is actual corporate heraldry. "On a field vert, a chevron argent." I was always proud of the design. The holly leaves are a rather unique element, which is something like a verdant mantling with berries for miniscule supporters. I've always wondered how to properly describe it in the formal, ritualistic language of heraldry. Certainly met me know how you could describe it.
Anyhow, tonight I was in "business stealth mode." No business cards to hand out, though I was prepared to collect some and to pass out my email address. I was there to listen and learn, though I did ask a few salient questions (one before the audience which got a good laugh) and made impressions nonetheless.
Tom Herbst was the best contact I made, or re-made. I've known Tom for a long while from Cisco. Not the astronomer Tom Herbst, though I'm pretty sure he's cool too. I mean the Tom Herbst, gadfly and grand old man of IETF meetings. It's amazing you can still see the attendee list from a decade ago, eh?
We spoke about Cisco's present state and challenges. Surprisingly (or nit surprisingly), it sounds quite similar to the state and challenges of when I left in 2001. Names are changing though many are the same. The corporate rotations of who is in power and who is out continues unabated. The reorganizations are shades of the false attribution to Petronius Arbiter.
I'll probably call in to say hello to a few Cisco folks in coming days. Today I called and left a message for one of my fellow Advanced Customer Systems (ACS) fellows from years ago today. Just to say hello and thanks.
Getting to the Top. Quite a feeling. I kept thinking "I know what that feels like." I was there in Cisco. At the forefront. On the cutting edge. While at times we groused things could be even better, for a long while I have to say — we had it really good. So for me, tonight was about "getting back to the top."
Rich Mironov & Midcourse Corrections
Rich Mironov was the speaker who invited me. I ran into him near the door on the way in, even before I ran into Tom. He was also re-introduced to another old acquaintance from a life long past at iPass, a charming woman named Minty Sidhu. She told me about the time she had been spending with her family. And how her husband works at Cisco in Internet Business Solutions. She and Rich spoke about the days they had shared. I was not alone in knowing greener pastures in days before. All of us were poking our noses out of our houses to see whether it was safe to go back into business fields that we once loved. Indeed, it seems the time is very ripe. Quite a marked change from the nervous looks of 2000-2004.
Rich wanted to learn the origin of the term "mid-course correction" (also "midcourse"). He was proposing the term was only coined for the space age. I was wondering if it might have been an older nautical term, from the age of steam or sail or before. As far as I can see, it was mentioned in the "M" section of the 1st Edition (1965) of the Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms as "midcourse guidance" and in the Forward as "midcourse correction." Certainly Mid-Course Corrections (MCCs) were conducted multiple times even in a single Apollo missions, such as Apollo 15, which flew in 1971.
Certainly Merriam-Webster's has a definition which does not date the etymology precisely yet infers it is a space-age derivation: "being or relating to the part of a course (as of spacecraft) that is between the initial and final phases."
So apparently Rich is right on that part, as far can be shown. I'm still curious about the origin the etymology of the expression, and would still anticipate there to be a nautical term pre-dating Sputnik. Certainly let me know if you know something about this.
More to Come... The Talk Itself
I've got more notes on the talk itself. However, it's half-past two in the morning. I'll get to the details in a future update. Also, more about the post-talk talking. For now...
Onwards — to slumberland!
-Peter.
Stanford Alumni Career Services - Seminar Series
Getting to the Top
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
Bishop Auditorium
This was my first business networking event of 2006. It had been a while since I attended these sorts of things and in the past, they were often afforded by a generous salary due to Cisco Systems, Inc. But in 2006, I'm my own "CEO." This was a foray back into the world of high-tech, top-dollar schmoozing.
I certainly got my money's worth. First and best of all, I got to see Tom Herbst from Cisco Systems, Inc. He got to show off his daughter's pictures. For me, and for him, it was great to talk about something other than geeky standards. He talked about pearl bracelets and raising his daughter.
I saw another Cisco business card on the table. It was like a Homecoming to see the corporate logo. Without really thinking about it, today I had even donned my own "Cisco IOS Technologies User Centered Design Team" sage green long-sleeved button-down. I have tons of old Cisco corporate heraldry in my wardrobe.
Some people never wear their old corporate heraldry. But this week, I was seen in a Celebrate History red shirt (c. 1998-1999), an Apple System 7 Answerline shirt (c. 1991-1992), and my roommate/houseguest Kate was sporting her own Green Knight Publishing t-shirt (c. 1999-present).
Which, as many people know, is actual corporate heraldry. "On a field vert, a chevron argent." I was always proud of the design. The holly leaves are a rather unique element, which is something like a verdant mantling with berries for miniscule supporters. I've always wondered how to properly describe it in the formal, ritualistic language of heraldry. Certainly met me know how you could describe it.
Anyhow, tonight I was in "business stealth mode." No business cards to hand out, though I was prepared to collect some and to pass out my email address. I was there to listen and learn, though I did ask a few salient questions (one before the audience which got a good laugh) and made impressions nonetheless.
Tom Herbst was the best contact I made, or re-made. I've known Tom for a long while from Cisco. Not the astronomer Tom Herbst, though I'm pretty sure he's cool too. I mean the Tom Herbst, gadfly and grand old man of IETF meetings. It's amazing you can still see the attendee list from a decade ago, eh?
We spoke about Cisco's present state and challenges. Surprisingly (or nit surprisingly), it sounds quite similar to the state and challenges of when I left in 2001. Names are changing though many are the same. The corporate rotations of who is in power and who is out continues unabated. The reorganizations are shades of the false attribution to Petronius Arbiter.
I'll probably call in to say hello to a few Cisco folks in coming days. Today I called and left a message for one of my fellow Advanced Customer Systems (ACS) fellows from years ago today. Just to say hello and thanks.
Getting to the Top. Quite a feeling. I kept thinking "I know what that feels like." I was there in Cisco. At the forefront. On the cutting edge. While at times we groused things could be even better, for a long while I have to say — we had it really good. So for me, tonight was about "getting back to the top."
Rich Mironov & Midcourse Corrections
Rich Mironov was the speaker who invited me. I ran into him near the door on the way in, even before I ran into Tom. He was also re-introduced to another old acquaintance from a life long past at iPass, a charming woman named Minty Sidhu. She told me about the time she had been spending with her family. And how her husband works at Cisco in Internet Business Solutions. She and Rich spoke about the days they had shared. I was not alone in knowing greener pastures in days before. All of us were poking our noses out of our houses to see whether it was safe to go back into business fields that we once loved. Indeed, it seems the time is very ripe. Quite a marked change from the nervous looks of 2000-2004.
Rich wanted to learn the origin of the term "mid-course correction" (also "midcourse"). He was proposing the term was only coined for the space age. I was wondering if it might have been an older nautical term, from the age of steam or sail or before. As far as I can see, it was mentioned in the "M" section of the 1st Edition (1965) of the Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms as "midcourse guidance" and in the Forward as "midcourse correction." Certainly Mid-Course Corrections (MCCs) were conducted multiple times even in a single Apollo missions, such as Apollo 15, which flew in 1971.
Certainly Merriam-Webster's has a definition which does not date the etymology precisely yet infers it is a space-age derivation: "being or relating to the part of a course (as of spacecraft) that is between the initial and final phases."
So apparently Rich is right on that part, as far can be shown. I'm still curious about the origin the etymology of the expression, and would still anticipate there to be a nautical term pre-dating Sputnik. Certainly let me know if you know something about this.
More to Come... The Talk Itself
I've got more notes on the talk itself. However, it's half-past two in the morning. I'll get to the details in a future update. Also, more about the post-talk talking. For now...
Onwards — to slumberland!
-Peter.
Super Bowl XL
Is it any coincidence that Super Bowl XL ("Extra Large" and/or "40" depending your reading of Roman numerals or clothing sizes) was won by the Pittsburgh Steelers?
What a game! I fell alseep not long thereafter, pleased and exhausted after a long week.
I've been a life-long Steeler fan ever since Bradshaw. I also like the NJ Giants, the Green Bay Packers, and the SF 49ers. Any "good old fashioned" football is nice. I'm not a huge fan, and have no big-screen TV. I listened to the game on the radio and watched the play updates on the gridiron on Yahoo Sports.
It was good because I was also getting caught up on schoolwork. It felt "old school" to be listening to the big game on the radio. I called a college friend from CMU half-way through the game just before half-time to celebrate a particularly awesome reversal for the Steelers. They called them the "Stillers" in Pittsburgh with their regional accent. For whatever reason, I keep seeing Jerry and Ben Stiller in uniform now.
Meanwhile, back to work. I'm going to have great dreams this year. Odd ones, probably, of Ben Stiller in a football jersey with that ludicrous moustache like he wore in Anchorman with Will Ferrell. Just a suggestion: no Will Ferrell movies after midnight, okay?
In more positive dreams—well, not even dreams, but actual walking, waking life, like the American dream—there's a few companies out there that are plugging me into their creative and technical projects. If you have an opportunity, let me know about it. I'd love to help.
More news as it happens!
-Pete.
What a game! I fell alseep not long thereafter, pleased and exhausted after a long week.
I've been a life-long Steeler fan ever since Bradshaw. I also like the NJ Giants, the Green Bay Packers, and the SF 49ers. Any "good old fashioned" football is nice. I'm not a huge fan, and have no big-screen TV. I listened to the game on the radio and watched the play updates on the gridiron on Yahoo Sports.
It was good because I was also getting caught up on schoolwork. It felt "old school" to be listening to the big game on the radio. I called a college friend from CMU half-way through the game just before half-time to celebrate a particularly awesome reversal for the Steelers. They called them the "Stillers" in Pittsburgh with their regional accent. For whatever reason, I keep seeing Jerry and Ben Stiller in uniform now.
Meanwhile, back to work. I'm going to have great dreams this year. Odd ones, probably, of Ben Stiller in a football jersey with that ludicrous moustache like he wore in Anchorman with Will Ferrell. Just a suggestion: no Will Ferrell movies after midnight, okay?
In more positive dreams—well, not even dreams, but actual walking, waking life, like the American dream—there's a few companies out there that are plugging me into their creative and technical projects. If you have an opportunity, let me know about it. I'd love to help.
More news as it happens!
-Pete.
MBA 500 Behind Me, MBA 520 Ahead
Today I'm starting my new MBA 520 class with a whole new group of people. The MBA 500 course has wrapped up. It will be interesting to see the threads of participation as we hop from class to class.
I'm just reading the bios of the new folks, and will post my own biography to them in a bit. I haven't posted it on here yet, but likely shall to share with you all more of who I am and what I have been up to of recent.
For now, I have a good amount of reading to do, and work, and a few events that require me to change my space-time coordinates to attend.
-Pete.
I'm just reading the bios of the new folks, and will post my own biography to them in a bit. I haven't posted it on here yet, but likely shall to share with you all more of who I am and what I have been up to of recent.
For now, I have a good amount of reading to do, and work, and a few events that require me to change my space-time coordinates to attend.
-Pete.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Flowers in the Cracks, A Poem About My Death
At the San Francisco Zen Center, Gretel Ehrlich led an all-day seminar about Making Beauty with Beginner’s Mind. Since much of what I am doing is now beginning again, I wanted to experience the beginner's mind once more. During the seminar we were asked to write a poem about our own death. This poem is not about suicide, but about the death of ego. It is about the death of the limits that I have operated under for a decade or perhaps more. Perhaps these limitations have been there all my life.
Yet recently, I surrendered to the muses and to God. Not in a bitter desparate surrender. Instead, it is a glad surrender. An opening of the gates to allow the triumphant parade of creativity to return to my life. The siege is over. Let love reign!
Here then, is the poem I wrote extemporaneously on that day. The only word altered from that burst of writing was the name "Euterpe," who is herein properly credited as the Muse of lyric poetry. I'm sure the sisters are giggling at my mortal mistaking of one for the other.
I also gave the poem a more suitable and specific subtitle. Because I predict many poems this year and possibly many years hence will be related to the project of Flowers in the Cracks.
For now, this is a poem about my death and rebirth. The Green Knight is dead. Long live the Green Knight!
Yet recently, I surrendered to the muses and to God. Not in a bitter desparate surrender. Instead, it is a glad surrender. An opening of the gates to allow the triumphant parade of creativity to return to my life. The siege is over. Let love reign!
Here then, is the poem I wrote extemporaneously on that day. The only word altered from that burst of writing was the name "Euterpe," who is herein properly credited as the Muse of lyric poetry. I'm sure the sisters are giggling at my mortal mistaking of one for the other.
Flowers in the Cracks, orThe line above was an actual fold in the crinkling rice paper we wrote upon in graphite pencil. The original title was "Flowers in the Cracks," the overall theme for the project I began this year with Ilona Lieberman.
My Death at the Feet of the Muses
Oh Calliope!
Oh Clio!
Oh daughters all of Mnemosyne!
Urania! The stars are where I shall return!
Terpsichore, I loved you so.
Dance with me at Heaven's Gate.
Polyhymnia, sacred Muse, take me to the altar.
Marry me, dear Muses all.
Make me your lover
Your master
Your slave
Your glad servant
Today, I die.
Yet never mourn
For in Eos' smile I am reborn.
There! Euterpe approaches.
And to rhyming couplets she now coaches
Euterpe, lyric gentle woman possess me
As you did Lennon, Dylan, Yeats and Marley
Take me to the river along with Talking Heads
Lay me down to sleep with nine women in nine beds.
Nine parts of desire still fill my heart
And the tenth, your mother Mnemosyne, reminds me of your arts.
Mortal mind fails and I am dead
Here is the line of mortality past which I have lost my head
_______________
Ah! Now I am free to admit all I never said.
Free of law and limit to infinitely wed
Not just the nine Muses but every woman, man and beast
Marry God himself and ever iota in the least
And in the stillness of it all find a flower in the crack
Give it to my brides and accepted turn my back
For my love was chaste, and consumed in the thought
Of how swiftly forty one years came and went
During which I swerved and fought
For each quatrain of joy and now it's all been spent
But horse is here and dog and flower and a tree
And these are all one needs in God's eternity
To carry on forever and to hunt and sniff and rest
Perhaps I haven't married because that was for the best
For Malthus would approve and Edward saint confessed
Yet there's so much beauty I should put unto the test
Aphrodite you eluded me when I forgot your name
And in my lapse of mind when I was quite insane
You got married and divorced in a worldly hell inane
With a lame and cruel smith who forged an iron claim
He put the bond upon you, and enslaved me at a desk
Yet now it is time to pause before teacher starts to pesk.
I am dead.
I can stop.
I also gave the poem a more suitable and specific subtitle. Because I predict many poems this year and possibly many years hence will be related to the project of Flowers in the Cracks.
For now, this is a poem about my death and rebirth. The Green Knight is dead. Long live the Green Knight!
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
The Overnight
The Overnight
I brought this up for awareness with my pastor, Rev. Mary Blessing at St. Luke's Cupertino, and with others in my life. I just need a clear full hour to sit down with my thoughts about how to garner formal support for the event. I am walking a few miles every day, and I am walking more and more each day. It feels great.
I saw a shooting star last night under the feet of Orion. I made a wish!
Feel free to make one too.
This helps save the lives of others. Of course, it is always the individual's choice whether they wish to live or not. Each day they feel hope in their own heart, faith in their own lives, they will choose life over death. Sometimes the memory of one really good day keeps people alive for a century.
This Overnight is also good for my own heart. I am 41. I may see 82, and possibly 123 if I am so lucky.
I see each spirit with great possibilities. So many young men and women lose hope and faith in themselves and the world. Many of them are looking for reassurance. It is true: life can be better. Life can always be better. What we each want is to live life as best as we can. And to take comfort and find joy in whatever life we have.
I'd like to invite you all to also walk under the stars. Every night that the spirit so moves you. Under the beautiful canopy of heaven. It's free. To point out Orion and Ursa Majoris and the planets and each constellation as it rises. To celebrate the music of Urania. Or under the sun. Take a walk on a sunny Sunday morning. Perhaps to celebrate the ways of Socrates, or to take the quite sensible implicit advice of C.S. Lewis in the Screwtape Letters. Or any other thinker of the past. Or be your own great thinker.
I remember taking my first 10 mile hike on Staten Island with the Boy Scouts a long time ago. I was amazed that I could walk 10 miles, but it wasn't so bad at all. In fact, it was good. I liked it. It wasn't as far as I thought it would be. I remember walking over a hill and coming down to a residential intersection. It wasn't a "hike" as if it was off in the wilderness. It was basically just walking through neighborhoods. Oh. Alright. I can do that.
Here's a shout-out to the Boy Scouts of Rockaway Beach, past and present, and future, and everywhere. Girl Scouts too. Church groups. Community groups. Parents and uncles and aunts and grandparents. All the people that get kids out under the stars, out in the sun, into the wilds and neighborhoods of the world. If we did more walking we'd know more about our neighborhoods and our neighbors. We might fear them less and love our communities even more.
I once marched 20 miles over 2 days with a full suit of Roman armor in the summer sun. It was quite a hike. It was with a full 50-pound pack of wooden pilum — stakes (I had to set up the stakes to protect the camp). It was a few years ago with a group called Legio Deci Fretensis (Legion X Fretensis, LXF, or the 10th Legion). His son, Anthony, I believe, also marched with us that summer.
We came across a vineyard and there were grapes growing in the summer sunshine. Like a flock of birds our little column of marchers swooped in. We were gentle and took only a few, but those were the best grapes I ever had in my life! We had marched in the sun all day and those grapes were magnificent!
The watermelon we had carried was just as good. You could really taste the fruit, through all the dust of the California central valley. The taste put aside all the smell of the sweat and the leather and oil residue of our gear. That was a good hike. It was a march. I even got paid in an ancient Roman coin at the end. Robert Garbisch does these sorts of things. He's Captain of Company G, the 20th Maine. I just missed their Fort Point event. I'm quite interested in what else Robert's been up to since the last time I took the march with him.
He once made an entire scale model of the Forum of ancient Rome. This guy knows his stuff. If you are ever fortunate enough to meet him, you'll remember him forever.
I also did the New Year's walk/run a few years ago in San Francisco with a friend and her dog. It was a way to get my spirits up after I broke up with a girlfriend. It was drizzly all night. I loved that walk. We even jogged a bit of it.
If we are blessed this year, we'll have clear skies. Even if it rains and thunders, I am hoping to do my walking. Just as we were in the rain that night on New Year's with the dog and the llama and the people of all walks of life. I'll bring an umbrella.
This is the first time I am walking for others. As a service. I am a life member of Alpha Phi Omega, national service fraternity. I pledged to it in the year following the death of my friend Molly at Carnegie Mellon. Though once I was considering doing work on the national organization, for years I fell away from the A-Phi-O way, except for some friends who were also in Kappa chapter at CMU.
I reaffirmed my pledge to those ideals — leadership, friendship, and service — at Saint Timothy's in Mountain View this Sunday. Leadership. Friendship. And Service above all.
I am looking forward to this walk. Even if something happens to me and I come up lame. Whatever happens. I'll do what I can to be there. I remember when my mother sprained her leg at my graduation day. She still showed up for me.
For Molly, I will be showing up for the Overnight, and for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). You're invited to help contribute to my personal participation goal, or, if you feel so moved, join us for one night in your life you'll always remember.
I brought this up for awareness with my pastor, Rev. Mary Blessing at St. Luke's Cupertino, and with others in my life. I just need a clear full hour to sit down with my thoughts about how to garner formal support for the event. I am walking a few miles every day, and I am walking more and more each day. It feels great.
I saw a shooting star last night under the feet of Orion. I made a wish!
Feel free to make one too.
This helps save the lives of others. Of course, it is always the individual's choice whether they wish to live or not. Each day they feel hope in their own heart, faith in their own lives, they will choose life over death. Sometimes the memory of one really good day keeps people alive for a century.
This Overnight is also good for my own heart. I am 41. I may see 82, and possibly 123 if I am so lucky.
I see each spirit with great possibilities. So many young men and women lose hope and faith in themselves and the world. Many of them are looking for reassurance. It is true: life can be better. Life can always be better. What we each want is to live life as best as we can. And to take comfort and find joy in whatever life we have.
I'd like to invite you all to also walk under the stars. Every night that the spirit so moves you. Under the beautiful canopy of heaven. It's free. To point out Orion and Ursa Majoris and the planets and each constellation as it rises. To celebrate the music of Urania. Or under the sun. Take a walk on a sunny Sunday morning. Perhaps to celebrate the ways of Socrates, or to take the quite sensible implicit advice of C.S. Lewis in the Screwtape Letters. Or any other thinker of the past. Or be your own great thinker.
I remember taking my first 10 mile hike on Staten Island with the Boy Scouts a long time ago. I was amazed that I could walk 10 miles, but it wasn't so bad at all. In fact, it was good. I liked it. It wasn't as far as I thought it would be. I remember walking over a hill and coming down to a residential intersection. It wasn't a "hike" as if it was off in the wilderness. It was basically just walking through neighborhoods. Oh. Alright. I can do that.
Here's a shout-out to the Boy Scouts of Rockaway Beach, past and present, and future, and everywhere. Girl Scouts too. Church groups. Community groups. Parents and uncles and aunts and grandparents. All the people that get kids out under the stars, out in the sun, into the wilds and neighborhoods of the world. If we did more walking we'd know more about our neighborhoods and our neighbors. We might fear them less and love our communities even more.
I once marched 20 miles over 2 days with a full suit of Roman armor in the summer sun. It was quite a hike. It was with a full 50-pound pack of wooden pilum — stakes (I had to set up the stakes to protect the camp). It was a few years ago with a group called Legio Deci Fretensis (Legion X Fretensis, LXF, or the 10th Legion). His son, Anthony, I believe, also marched with us that summer.
We came across a vineyard and there were grapes growing in the summer sunshine. Like a flock of birds our little column of marchers swooped in. We were gentle and took only a few, but those were the best grapes I ever had in my life! We had marched in the sun all day and those grapes were magnificent!
The watermelon we had carried was just as good. You could really taste the fruit, through all the dust of the California central valley. The taste put aside all the smell of the sweat and the leather and oil residue of our gear. That was a good hike. It was a march. I even got paid in an ancient Roman coin at the end. Robert Garbisch does these sorts of things. He's Captain of Company G, the 20th Maine. I just missed their Fort Point event. I'm quite interested in what else Robert's been up to since the last time I took the march with him.
He once made an entire scale model of the Forum of ancient Rome. This guy knows his stuff. If you are ever fortunate enough to meet him, you'll remember him forever.
I also did the New Year's walk/run a few years ago in San Francisco with a friend and her dog. It was a way to get my spirits up after I broke up with a girlfriend. It was drizzly all night. I loved that walk. We even jogged a bit of it.
If we are blessed this year, we'll have clear skies. Even if it rains and thunders, I am hoping to do my walking. Just as we were in the rain that night on New Year's with the dog and the llama and the people of all walks of life. I'll bring an umbrella.
This is the first time I am walking for others. As a service. I am a life member of Alpha Phi Omega, national service fraternity. I pledged to it in the year following the death of my friend Molly at Carnegie Mellon. Though once I was considering doing work on the national organization, for years I fell away from the A-Phi-O way, except for some friends who were also in Kappa chapter at CMU.
I reaffirmed my pledge to those ideals — leadership, friendship, and service — at Saint Timothy's in Mountain View this Sunday. Leadership. Friendship. And Service above all.
I am looking forward to this walk. Even if something happens to me and I come up lame. Whatever happens. I'll do what I can to be there. I remember when my mother sprained her leg at my graduation day. She still showed up for me.
For Molly, I will be showing up for the Overnight, and for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). You're invited to help contribute to my personal participation goal, or, if you feel so moved, join us for one night in your life you'll always remember.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Holy Chocolate!
Mar Tome was founded by Father Stan M. Smith, of the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Church of the East to combine two great loves: a celebration of God and an enjoyment of His great gift, chocolate.
Many of us love chocolate like God loves us. Unconditionally. In all its forms, shapes, and creations. Much as God loves all life. Much as God will take us into His kingdom when our day comes, we take chocolate into us. We love chocolate's warm, nourishing richness much as God loves when we live a warm, nourishing rich life.
Mar Tome is from the Latin, literally "Sea Book," or "Sea Volumes." So as you sip your Holy Chocolate, consider the peace and calm of the sea. Consider curling up with a good book. Or even the Good Book. Just keep from spilling your Holy Chocolate on Deuteronomy.
Enjoy!
Mar Tome was founded by Father Stan M. Smith, of the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Church of the East to combine two great loves: a celebration of God and an enjoyment of His great gift, chocolate.
Many of us love chocolate like God loves us. Unconditionally. In all its forms, shapes, and creations. Much as God loves all life. Much as God will take us into His kingdom when our day comes, we take chocolate into us. We love chocolate's warm, nourishing richness much as God loves when we live a warm, nourishing rich life.
Mar Tome is from the Latin, literally "Sea Book," or "Sea Volumes." So as you sip your Holy Chocolate, consider the peace and calm of the sea. Consider curling up with a good book. Or even the Good Book. Just keep from spilling your Holy Chocolate on Deuteronomy.
Enjoy!
We Can be Heroes
David Bowie KFOG is singing his anthem.
Speaking about drive them away, yesterday I got a ride down to St. Luke's, which launched a major change of my life. From there I went again to St. Timothy's for ETC. I got a ride back from Mary Blessing up to St. Timothy's and she dropped me off at the door. So I'd gently correct David and say we can drive "them" away by driving each other around a little more. Who'da thunk it? Carpooling.
You can chat. You can listen to the music. You can get to know each other.
Before, during and after that I had a great experience. I became a hero to a new friend. Although late again for the start of mass, the universe had its reasons for that. I got a lift to church and sung in the choir. Thanks, Kate! I counseled a young woman who is as talented as any movie star you've ever seen to go to Carnegie-Mellon and join Scotch and Soda so she can get both her psychology degree as well as express her inner dramatic talents. I got to be a squad leader for a team searching for "Where's Waldo?" I got to be a "coach" for a bunch of young men and women tossing basketballs at the rim. And then I came home and got my life a bit more straightened up and let someone crash at my place. All before sundown.
Win! Win! Win! Win! Win!
We can all be heroes. I pledged yesterday to renew my life-long commitment to Leadership, Friendship and Service, which I had taken in Alpha Phi Omega.
I also decided to roll my Hospitality passion on the character sheet of my life, and I made a Critical Success. I let a new friend crash at my place, with her two dogs. It's been a long time since I've had dogs in my life. Yesterday I let my lifelong commitments come home to roost, and I also let a few dogs in the front door.
My sofá es su sofá!
I love KFOG. They are playing an audio news clip about Elvis' death. The King of Rock and Roll is dead. But Pete Townsend sings in my mind in refrain, "Rock is dead. Long live rock!"
Now there's on to the 1977 hit "I Couldn't See The Light." Couldn't get it right. Couldn't get it right. I suppose that was the problem with a good few things with Cisco, Green Knight, and my own balance. I suppose you could say I see the light better now.
Now Steely Dan is singing "Peg." This is my big debut. It's like a dream come true.
"Touchdown Raiders!" "John Madden's grin is ear-to-ear!" "The Raiders are closing in on the Superbowl Championship!" I suppose somewhere there's a crowd cheering that there was a change yesterday.
Now K.C. and the Sunshine Band is rocking out. I'm Your Boogie Man. Doing what I can. Doing my own little boogie through life, I suppose.
Oh, KFOG! You really are plucking the heart strings! 10cc: The Things We Do for Love. Not only do we do things for romantic love, we do things for chaste love, for friendly love, for familial love, for universal human love. Yesterday for love, I let a stranger become a friend, and a friend become a house guest. It felt great.
The hits from 1977 are incredible. It brings me back to that time between Operation Sail in the summer of 1976 to the time just before the release of Star Wars. Just before I realized I was a young Jedi-in-training-for-life. Ah yes! And here it comes! The Star Wars Disco Theme! Lasers! The drum beat! Thoughts of R2D2. The Cantina. It was like Rick's Cafe of the mind. You could almost see Humphrey Bogart off in the corner. Just after Luke and Obi-Wan left with Han Solo, Ilsa walked in and took off her head scarf and gazed eye-to-eye with Rick Blaine. "Of all the gin joints in all the galaxy..."
Buzz-buzzzz! That's tune number 10! That will fire me up for the rest of the day.
If I heard correctly, Some Other Time, from I Robot, by the Alan Parsons Project won the set.
When you have a few blogs and a lot of people wondering how you're doing that might occur to you naturally. If you believe in God, you know there's already the Eye in the Sky, the Eye in the Pyramid, who has the best CCTV security system in the universe. I have a hat with the Eye of Heru upon it. I bought it at the Martin Luther King, Jr. event in San Francisco. I call it my "Super Visor" cap. Thinking with the third eye in mind. Gotta be good for grandma, you know. Show some hospitality for the glory of good King Arthur.
Even after 10 at 10, Trey Anastasio's song "Shine" blazes forth in audio rays of light and color straight to my skull. Annalisa's speaking about the Rock of Ages. Perfectamundo! The perfect world.
It might not be a perfect world yet, but it's looking better every day. So welcome, Kate, Meadow and MacKenzie. And thanks again, KFOG. To everyone tuning in — Rock is dead. Long live rock!
Rock on!
-Pete.
David Bowie KFOG is singing his anthem.
I had a great day yesterday on Sunday.Though nothing will drive them away
We can beat them, just for one day
Speaking about drive them away, yesterday I got a ride down to St. Luke's, which launched a major change of my life. From there I went again to St. Timothy's for ETC. I got a ride back from Mary Blessing up to St. Timothy's and she dropped me off at the door. So I'd gently correct David and say we can drive "them" away by driving each other around a little more. Who'da thunk it? Carpooling.
You can chat. You can listen to the music. You can get to know each other.
Before, during and after that I had a great experience. I became a hero to a new friend. Although late again for the start of mass, the universe had its reasons for that. I got a lift to church and sung in the choir. Thanks, Kate! I counseled a young woman who is as talented as any movie star you've ever seen to go to Carnegie-Mellon and join Scotch and Soda so she can get both her psychology degree as well as express her inner dramatic talents. I got to be a squad leader for a team searching for "Where's Waldo?" I got to be a "coach" for a bunch of young men and women tossing basketballs at the rim. And then I came home and got my life a bit more straightened up and let someone crash at my place. All before sundown.
Win! Win! Win! Win! Win!
We can all be heroes. I pledged yesterday to renew my life-long commitment to Leadership, Friendship and Service, which I had taken in Alpha Phi Omega.
I also decided to roll my Hospitality passion on the character sheet of my life, and I made a Critical Success. I let a new friend crash at my place, with her two dogs. It's been a long time since I've had dogs in my life. Yesterday I let my lifelong commitments come home to roost, and I also let a few dogs in the front door.
My sofá es su sofá!
I love KFOG. They are playing an audio news clip about Elvis' death. The King of Rock and Roll is dead. But Pete Townsend sings in my mind in refrain, "Rock is dead. Long live rock!"
Now there's on to the 1977 hit "I Couldn't See The Light." Couldn't get it right. Couldn't get it right. I suppose that was the problem with a good few things with Cisco, Green Knight, and my own balance. I suppose you could say I see the light better now.
Now Steely Dan is singing "Peg." This is my big debut. It's like a dream come true.
"Touchdown Raiders!" "John Madden's grin is ear-to-ear!" "The Raiders are closing in on the Superbowl Championship!" I suppose somewhere there's a crowd cheering that there was a change yesterday.
Now K.C. and the Sunshine Band is rocking out. I'm Your Boogie Man. Doing what I can. Doing my own little boogie through life, I suppose.
Oh, KFOG! You really are plucking the heart strings! 10cc: The Things We Do for Love. Not only do we do things for romantic love, we do things for chaste love, for friendly love, for familial love, for universal human love. Yesterday for love, I let a stranger become a friend, and a friend become a house guest. It felt great.
The hits from 1977 are incredible. It brings me back to that time between Operation Sail in the summer of 1976 to the time just before the release of Star Wars. Just before I realized I was a young Jedi-in-training-for-life. Ah yes! And here it comes! The Star Wars Disco Theme! Lasers! The drum beat! Thoughts of R2D2. The Cantina. It was like Rick's Cafe of the mind. You could almost see Humphrey Bogart off in the corner. Just after Luke and Obi-Wan left with Han Solo, Ilsa walked in and took off her head scarf and gazed eye-to-eye with Rick Blaine. "Of all the gin joints in all the galaxy..."
Buzz-buzzzz! That's tune number 10! That will fire me up for the rest of the day.
If I heard correctly, Some Other Time, from I Robot, by the Alan Parsons Project won the set.
Like a mirror held before me
Large as the sky is wide
And the image is reflected
Back to the other side
Could it be that somebody else is
Looking into my mind
When you have a few blogs and a lot of people wondering how you're doing that might occur to you naturally. If you believe in God, you know there's already the Eye in the Sky, the Eye in the Pyramid, who has the best CCTV security system in the universe. I have a hat with the Eye of Heru upon it. I bought it at the Martin Luther King, Jr. event in San Francisco. I call it my "Super Visor" cap. Thinking with the third eye in mind. Gotta be good for grandma, you know. Show some hospitality for the glory of good King Arthur.
Even after 10 at 10, Trey Anastasio's song "Shine" blazes forth in audio rays of light and color straight to my skull. Annalisa's speaking about the Rock of Ages. Perfectamundo! The perfect world.
It might not be a perfect world yet, but it's looking better every day. So welcome, Kate, Meadow and MacKenzie. And thanks again, KFOG. To everyone tuning in — Rock is dead. Long live rock!
Rock on!
-Pete.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Dreaming is Free
Last night I slept heavy!
I have been doing a lot of walking lately, and so when I sleep, I have gone FLOOMPF! down on my bed.
I've been waking up earlier and more energetic, though.
I've been doing a lot of walking to downtown Mountain View. A lot more since the New Year than I had done in ages. I walked all over Manhattan while I was there. From 71st Street to the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
I remember I used to do a lot of walking in New York City when I lived there. I stopped walking pretty much when I came to California in 1989. The car was facile, but it was also unhealthy.
In the past year, I lost ~33 pounds (245 —> 207). I'd like to get down another 10-15.
In my walks, I have been using my new Palm Treo, from Sprint PCS, to call my business associates. I have been using it as a camera to take pictures for my creative photo-poetry project. I've also been using it to take pictures of my friends — without using the nasty developing chemicals I can still smell in my nostrils and delayed development time.
In a way, my walks are my office. Outdoors in nature. In the quietude of a stroll, an idea comes up. I call my friends, my family, my business associates. We laugh. It is like they are strolling with me, and we're walking to the goal together.
It reminded me of the scenes near the end of Farenheit 451 where everyone is walking around speaking the memories of the books they are. Only we have ear buds and are chatting to a friend in another place in the world. It's not a fixed, perfected book, but it is the book of our collective works we are co-authoring. A collaborative novel played out in earbuds and strolls.
This seems to be the way of the future.
All I know is that since I started walking and talking more naturally, or supernaturally, I sleep deeply, have great dreams, and wake up far more refreshed.
-Pete.
Last night I slept heavy!
I have been doing a lot of walking lately, and so when I sleep, I have gone FLOOMPF! down on my bed.
I've been waking up earlier and more energetic, though.
I've been doing a lot of walking to downtown Mountain View. A lot more since the New Year than I had done in ages. I walked all over Manhattan while I was there. From 71st Street to the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
I remember I used to do a lot of walking in New York City when I lived there. I stopped walking pretty much when I came to California in 1989. The car was facile, but it was also unhealthy.
In the past year, I lost ~33 pounds (245 —> 207). I'd like to get down another 10-15.
In my walks, I have been using my new Palm Treo, from Sprint PCS, to call my business associates. I have been using it as a camera to take pictures for my creative photo-poetry project. I've also been using it to take pictures of my friends — without using the nasty developing chemicals I can still smell in my nostrils and delayed development time.
In a way, my walks are my office. Outdoors in nature. In the quietude of a stroll, an idea comes up. I call my friends, my family, my business associates. We laugh. It is like they are strolling with me, and we're walking to the goal together.
It reminded me of the scenes near the end of Farenheit 451 where everyone is walking around speaking the memories of the books they are. Only we have ear buds and are chatting to a friend in another place in the world. It's not a fixed, perfected book, but it is the book of our collective works we are co-authoring. A collaborative novel played out in earbuds and strolls.
This seems to be the way of the future.
All I know is that since I started walking and talking more naturally, or supernaturally, I sleep deeply, have great dreams, and wake up far more refreshed.
-Pete.
Friday, January 20, 2006
ETC at St. Timothy's
Tonight I went to St. Timothy's in Mountain View. There was youth program called "ETC." Episcopal Teen Community. There's a larger ETC organization across Santa Clara County.
It was a rather good experience to speak to the kids, play games with them, doe a few thoughtful exercises, and then speak with them to find out how creative they are.
One young woman wrote a psalm. A young man wrote his own rap and poetry. Another young woman was into art and writing, and published her own fan fiction. And a brilliant young man enjoyed reading the Bible though he was somewhat embarrassed to admit it. A few folks had come over in Carter's car from Santa Cruz. I began the story of the Green Knight. I'll have to catch up with part two another time. And a large contingent came up in Mary's van from St. Jude's in Cupertino.
The evening was filled with running around too. I am wearing a pair of glowing purple and orange bracelets. If you want to know what those were for, you can come next time and find out for yourself!
My thanks to the folks who gave me a root beer float. Yummy! Finally, my thanks to Katie who dropped me off afterwards.
Onwards to adventure!
-Peter.
Tonight I went to St. Timothy's in Mountain View. There was youth program called "ETC." Episcopal Teen Community. There's a larger ETC organization across Santa Clara County.
It was a rather good experience to speak to the kids, play games with them, doe a few thoughtful exercises, and then speak with them to find out how creative they are.
One young woman wrote a psalm. A young man wrote his own rap and poetry. Another young woman was into art and writing, and published her own fan fiction. And a brilliant young man enjoyed reading the Bible though he was somewhat embarrassed to admit it. A few folks had come over in Carter's car from Santa Cruz. I began the story of the Green Knight. I'll have to catch up with part two another time. And a large contingent came up in Mary's van from St. Jude's in Cupertino.
The evening was filled with running around too. I am wearing a pair of glowing purple and orange bracelets. If you want to know what those were for, you can come next time and find out for yourself!
My thanks to the folks who gave me a root beer float. Yummy! Finally, my thanks to Katie who dropped me off afterwards.
Onwards to adventure!
-Peter.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Beth Orton — Comfort of Strangers
Plus Our New Orleans.
Today, Dave Morey and KFOG had another song for me. More than one, of course, but this one was most special for us all today. This is the one that moved me most. Conceived.
They are also playing a wonderful cover of the Pointer Sisters' Yes We Can. It's a version for a benefit for the Gulf Coast. KFOG is always incredible.
You can pre-order Beth Orton's CD and the Our New Orleans benefit album off the KFOG site. Good stuff! I just put in my pre-order for Beth Orton. She's worth it.
My sister went down to New Orleans to help out. She walked the walk and talked the talk and went to help out. Me? I am humbled. I am doing little more than buying a CD. Maybe that's why I am doing more walking these day. Playing catch up, you could say.
Put these on your shopping list:
Beth Orton ~ Comfort of Strangers [Limited Edition]
Pre-order CD - Est. Release Date 02/07/2006 - Price: $17.98
Various Artists ~ Our New Orleans: A Benefit Album for the Gulf Coast
New CD - Price: $14.98
Plus Our New Orleans.
Today, Dave Morey and KFOG had another song for me. More than one, of course, but this one was most special for us all today. This is the one that moved me most. Conceived.
They are also playing a wonderful cover of the Pointer Sisters' Yes We Can. It's a version for a benefit for the Gulf Coast. KFOG is always incredible.
You can pre-order Beth Orton's CD and the Our New Orleans benefit album off the KFOG site. Good stuff! I just put in my pre-order for Beth Orton. She's worth it.
My sister went down to New Orleans to help out. She walked the walk and talked the talk and went to help out. Me? I am humbled. I am doing little more than buying a CD. Maybe that's why I am doing more walking these day. Playing catch up, you could say.
Put these on your shopping list:
Beth Orton ~ Comfort of Strangers [Limited Edition]
Pre-order CD - Est. Release Date 02/07/2006 - Price: $17.98
Various Artists ~ Our New Orleans: A Benefit Album for the Gulf Coast
New CD - Price: $14.98
Flowers in the Cracks
Ideal
The Flowers in the Cracks
Express the joy of renewal of our spirits
With beauty, truth, and love
Real
"The Flowers in the Cracks"
Is a cultural arts program
Celebrating the renewal of our spirits and communities
At the wake of my grandmother I ran into my childhood friend, my sister's friend Ilona Lieberman. She is a professional photographer in New York City. She's photographed emerging musician Martha Wainwright, who sings "When the Day is Short."
Tonight Ilona and I conspired to create a project called "The Flowers in the Cracks." It will be a project that looks at the world in a new way and yet a very old profound way. A celebration of the present. And a hint of a future way forward. It will focus on the emergence and triumph of beauty, love, and truth, producing joy. Platonic love. Creative love. Ideal and real values.
Pythagoras, Aristotle, Plato, we hope to do you all honor and homage!
Mnemosyne and your daughters, the Muses, we pray they will be pleased!
Yet it should also go beyond these to Abelard, von Eschenbach, and St. Catherine of Sienna. It should have the levity and wit of George Carlin, the gentleness of Bill Cosby, the wry chutzpah of Bugs Bunny, the satire of Al Franken.
Apollo! Aset! Buddha! Jesus! Sophia! Guan-Yin! Wonkatonka! All celebrations of the divine shall be upheld. We are not the first and we shall not be the last to proclaim this. Obviously this goes back to ideals of Pythagoras' universal harmony, Platonic ideals, Aristotelian logic, and hopefully beyond these too. Many people speak about the growth of Faith in Our Present and Future. We are all together in the boat.
On the day commemorating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we celebrated the Dream. He proclaimed he had a Dream. The Saturday before I created a flower arrangement, inspired by both Zen Buddhism and Christian heritage, celebrating also in hidden ways the Arthurian and Romantic traditions, naming it "The Passion of the Dream."
We now all have a Dream. It is a collective dream. It is all of ours, and it is truly the property of none of us. For the Dream is Free. The Dream is Free, and it lives and breathes as surely, or more surely, than any mortal form. It is ideal. It is perfect. It is eternal.
Our so-called waking lives are where we damage the Dream. Where we enslave the Dream. Where we hurt each other and are hurt in return. And so we let the Dream die.
Once I was told each blow upon our hearts is to shatter our illusions of love. Not to damage the heart, but, if the blow is correctly interpreted, to chip away the hardness that builds up around our hearts over our lives. To whittle it down so it can beat, and circulate our blood, and even bleed if need be. So it can express tears and blood, like the water and the blood coming from the side of Christ. So it can be pure and clean, in touch with the heaven above and the earth below.
From the cracks in our cold and hardened hearts, a flower can grow. Only by the hammer blows of an Invisible Hand can we be forged into the swords of logical insight, into the plowshares of natural growth, into the rings of gladly-bonded love, into the needles of right livelihood and industry, into the jewelry of pure beauty. We are forged in pain to become pure, and polished, like metal. Gold and silver. Spiritual Alchemy.
Yet we are growing things. We are creatures that need to have the sun removed from us. We need a balance of fire, water, earth and air. Wood and stone. Meat and bone. Plants and animals all around us.
So Ilona and I have pledged to begin this project. She from New York City, New York. Me from Mountain View, California.
We will each bring our artistic spirits to the project. Our hope is to highlight different, already-existing truths and loves and beauties at first. For there is so much good work around us already that can be celebrated. So often we overlook the good deeds around us. So often we miss an opportunity to join in ourselves into existing works.
In our initial phase of the project, we are going to see what people, what communities, already are out there. Like Santa and Mrs. Claus, we are going to look for those who have been nice, and reward them with attention. We will be witness to their good deeds, and we will celebrate how they have been able to bring the Flowers from the Cracks. We will also look for those who are in serious need, and who have quite somber, solemn, grieving moments. For not all is well in the world, and this cannot be overlooked.
Tonight I spoke to Ilona for hours. We talked and talked and talked and talked. It all had great meaning, and it was all having to do with this project, our lives, our love of life, and our future. It was a conversation like the double-helix of DNA, yet it was an ideological dance. It was a dance of IMA — Interpersonal Memetic Art.
IMA is when two people collaborate on an artistic idea, and the different contributions come together like chemical pairs. Ideas that fit together. Some are rejected. Some are stubbed out. Others fit perfectly, and the chain builds and builds in mutual collaboration.
We did a lot of collaboration tonight. We have a very strong IMA strand.
We agreed that it should not just be "win-win" thinking. It should be "Win^∞+1" — Win raised to the power of the infinite plus one more for show! Now, that's a tall order, yet one's ideals should ever be raised as high as possible. We might indeed burst into fusion reactions and lasers and forge order and energy from pure void. We'll also have realistic and modest goals. Step by step we'll climb Jacob's Ladder. Just as they sang at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Spiritual.
I thought back to the spoken words that the Glide singers professed. Some words stuck in me like pure shafts of light.
IMA is a form of levity and gravity both. It is hypothesis, arsis and thesis and synthesis. It is science and art and engineering and craft and philosophy and religion all conjoined. It is the purest form of communications possible between people as creative principles (doings) and creative principals (beings). It is a praxis of perfect harmonious ideals and real progress.
In the darkness and the light I walked around and around and around the paths and grasses at Rengstorff Park talking with Ilona. If people saw me out there, like the jogger with the two big dogs who barked at whoever it was out in the darkness in the middle of the field, they probably wondered why I was talking to myself.
I had an open mind to the voice of God and to Ilona and to so many things tonight. I had an earbud that allowed me to hear Ilona's voice 3,006 miles away in Rockaway Beach, New York. We indeed spoke of cabbages and Kings, literally, since I had used a cabbage blossom in my flower arrangement for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Passion of the Dream." And I was living it.
It was a Wonderland conversation, and we did indeed peek after Alice to see how deep the rabbit hole went.
The baseball field was squishy from the rain. The sky was clear and brilliant. Orion gazed down at me. A bat flew around chirping in the darkness. There was light from all around but I was in the middle as far from the light as possible, yet able to see the clear light of the stars above me. Betelgeuse. Bellatrix. Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka. The Orion Nebula. Rigel and Saiph. I didn't know the name of Meissa until I just looked at the chart again. I suppose his club had never hit me between the eyes until now.
Tomorrow, because of Ilona's photographic work on a NYC civic project, she has the opportunity to pitch "The Flowers in the Cracks" with no one less than Hizzoner Himself, Mr. Michael Bloomberg. At a prior opportunity she had a photograph taken with her sister's young baby. Any Mayor that stops to have a photo with a baby is a smart man. That's as old school politics as you can get! He also sounded like he genuinely enjoys kids. According to his official NYC.gov biography, he clearly supports the children of homeless families, as well as widows and orphans.
For our project, I gave her the "elevator pitch."
My own self? I wish to take the same story, and put the case before Mr. Gavin Newsom of San Francisco, who is looking to revitalize the Tenderloin and other challenged neighborhoods, and Mayor Galiotto of Mountain View. Not all at once. Step by step.
I even began to think about the fund raising opportunities for some non-profits. Use the project to frame their work, and donate of proceeds from artworks to support these programs further. A sort of "ad council" work.
We're going to start for now with some conceptualizations of how the project will actually pan out. I want to leave some creative surprises for you all to experience. I also cognitively give a nod to my own mortality. I will only get to experience, record and celebrate so much during my life and times. The rest will come from those who wish to be part of this all. To carry on the work to the next higher level.
Tonight, a dream was born in the darkness and limnal light. It was not even ours, really. Others have spoken about the Flowers in the Cracks before us. The trope and visual imagery have been around since the first time a natural flower poked its petals out from between two rocks, even long before humans laid down the first sidewalk or stone pavers. Our ideas and thoughts came to life under the stars, in a park, as dogs ran by happily baying, friends spoke deep truths and made each other laugh, and as bats whistled a cheery tune. Also, in our minds, there was a park bench, the sunshine, a seagull calling, the sounds of the sea crashing gently in the distance, and a dandelion pushing up from between the cracks in the sidewalk. It was all true, and it was all good.
The waning gibbous moon was swinging back earthwards from its apogee. The first call began at 7:15 pm. It lasted over two hours. The next call began at 9:31 pm Pacific Time. For me, the waning moon was just rising above the horizon at 9:32 pm in the east. For Ilona, it was half-past midnight. We spoke on and on until it was just after 3:00 am her time.
Our project began as a possibility of dreams, and Ilona went straight to bed. Straight to dreaming. I wonder what sort of dreams she'll have tonight. Good ones, for sure!
Meanwhile, it's 2:34 am for me. I still have some good work ahead of me for the web site I'm working on. Scheduling, project plans, and getting alignment on priorities.
My experiments on Joomla and Apache continue. I did indeed get the Xcode Tools, and even WebObjects, installed on my Macintosh. Another green dot on my checklist of things accomplished.
In the winter, the days are short and the nights are long.
Ideal
The Flowers in the Cracks
Express the joy of renewal of our spirits
With beauty, truth, and love
Real
"The Flowers in the Cracks"
Is a cultural arts program
Celebrating the renewal of our spirits and communities
At the wake of my grandmother I ran into my childhood friend, my sister's friend Ilona Lieberman. She is a professional photographer in New York City. She's photographed emerging musician Martha Wainwright, who sings "When the Day is Short."
Love me tonightShe also photographed Lasse Hallström, who reminds me of my Life as a Dog. Tonight I took myself for a walk around the park. My life tonight was a dog. I was sniffing out all the sidewalks and flowers.
and I'll be alright
I'll be alright
I'll be alright
Until tomorrow night
Tonight Ilona and I conspired to create a project called "The Flowers in the Cracks." It will be a project that looks at the world in a new way and yet a very old profound way. A celebration of the present. And a hint of a future way forward. It will focus on the emergence and triumph of beauty, love, and truth, producing joy. Platonic love. Creative love. Ideal and real values.
Pythagoras, Aristotle, Plato, we hope to do you all honor and homage!
Mnemosyne and your daughters, the Muses, we pray they will be pleased!
Yet it should also go beyond these to Abelard, von Eschenbach, and St. Catherine of Sienna. It should have the levity and wit of George Carlin, the gentleness of Bill Cosby, the wry chutzpah of Bugs Bunny, the satire of Al Franken.
Apollo! Aset! Buddha! Jesus! Sophia! Guan-Yin! Wonkatonka! All celebrations of the divine shall be upheld. We are not the first and we shall not be the last to proclaim this. Obviously this goes back to ideals of Pythagoras' universal harmony, Platonic ideals, Aristotelian logic, and hopefully beyond these too. Many people speak about the growth of Faith in Our Present and Future. We are all together in the boat.
On the day commemorating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we celebrated the Dream. He proclaimed he had a Dream. The Saturday before I created a flower arrangement, inspired by both Zen Buddhism and Christian heritage, celebrating also in hidden ways the Arthurian and Romantic traditions, naming it "The Passion of the Dream."
We now all have a Dream. It is a collective dream. It is all of ours, and it is truly the property of none of us. For the Dream is Free. The Dream is Free, and it lives and breathes as surely, or more surely, than any mortal form. It is ideal. It is perfect. It is eternal.
Our so-called waking lives are where we damage the Dream. Where we enslave the Dream. Where we hurt each other and are hurt in return. And so we let the Dream die.
Once I was told each blow upon our hearts is to shatter our illusions of love. Not to damage the heart, but, if the blow is correctly interpreted, to chip away the hardness that builds up around our hearts over our lives. To whittle it down so it can beat, and circulate our blood, and even bleed if need be. So it can express tears and blood, like the water and the blood coming from the side of Christ. So it can be pure and clean, in touch with the heaven above and the earth below.
From the cracks in our cold and hardened hearts, a flower can grow. Only by the hammer blows of an Invisible Hand can we be forged into the swords of logical insight, into the plowshares of natural growth, into the rings of gladly-bonded love, into the needles of right livelihood and industry, into the jewelry of pure beauty. We are forged in pain to become pure, and polished, like metal. Gold and silver. Spiritual Alchemy.
Yet we are growing things. We are creatures that need to have the sun removed from us. We need a balance of fire, water, earth and air. Wood and stone. Meat and bone. Plants and animals all around us.
So Ilona and I have pledged to begin this project. She from New York City, New York. Me from Mountain View, California.
We will each bring our artistic spirits to the project. Our hope is to highlight different, already-existing truths and loves and beauties at first. For there is so much good work around us already that can be celebrated. So often we overlook the good deeds around us. So often we miss an opportunity to join in ourselves into existing works.
In our initial phase of the project, we are going to see what people, what communities, already are out there. Like Santa and Mrs. Claus, we are going to look for those who have been nice, and reward them with attention. We will be witness to their good deeds, and we will celebrate how they have been able to bring the Flowers from the Cracks. We will also look for those who are in serious need, and who have quite somber, solemn, grieving moments. For not all is well in the world, and this cannot be overlooked.
Tonight I spoke to Ilona for hours. We talked and talked and talked and talked. It all had great meaning, and it was all having to do with this project, our lives, our love of life, and our future. It was a conversation like the double-helix of DNA, yet it was an ideological dance. It was a dance of IMA — Interpersonal Memetic Art.
IMA is when two people collaborate on an artistic idea, and the different contributions come together like chemical pairs. Ideas that fit together. Some are rejected. Some are stubbed out. Others fit perfectly, and the chain builds and builds in mutual collaboration.
We did a lot of collaboration tonight. We have a very strong IMA strand.
We agreed that it should not just be "win-win" thinking. It should be "Win^∞+1" — Win raised to the power of the infinite plus one more for show! Now, that's a tall order, yet one's ideals should ever be raised as high as possible. We might indeed burst into fusion reactions and lasers and forge order and energy from pure void. We'll also have realistic and modest goals. Step by step we'll climb Jacob's Ladder. Just as they sang at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Spiritual.
Oooo.... Oooo... Oooo.... Ooo-hoo... Ooo-hoo...I looked up at Orion and I can close my eyes and see Orion. Maybe he's not wielding a club. Maybe that starry man is climbing his own ladder. Maybe he's on his own Faith Walk in the heavens. Questing.
We are climbing Jacob's ladder
Children of the Lord
We are climbing higher and higher
We are climbing up
We are climbing up
I thought back to the spoken words that the Glide singers professed. Some words stuck in me like pure shafts of light.
God is in this place.And there I was under Orion. Under the Orion Nebula. And like the formation of the stars in a distant crucible of pure energy, Ilona Lieberman and I created a new light between us. And it was good.
This is God's house.
This is the Gates of Heaven.
IMA is a form of levity and gravity both. It is hypothesis, arsis and thesis and synthesis. It is science and art and engineering and craft and philosophy and religion all conjoined. It is the purest form of communications possible between people as creative principles (doings) and creative principals (beings). It is a praxis of perfect harmonious ideals and real progress.
In the darkness and the light I walked around and around and around the paths and grasses at Rengstorff Park talking with Ilona. If people saw me out there, like the jogger with the two big dogs who barked at whoever it was out in the darkness in the middle of the field, they probably wondered why I was talking to myself.
I had an open mind to the voice of God and to Ilona and to so many things tonight. I had an earbud that allowed me to hear Ilona's voice 3,006 miles away in Rockaway Beach, New York. We indeed spoke of cabbages and Kings, literally, since I had used a cabbage blossom in my flower arrangement for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Passion of the Dream." And I was living it.
It was a Wonderland conversation, and we did indeed peek after Alice to see how deep the rabbit hole went.
The baseball field was squishy from the rain. The sky was clear and brilliant. Orion gazed down at me. A bat flew around chirping in the darkness. There was light from all around but I was in the middle as far from the light as possible, yet able to see the clear light of the stars above me. Betelgeuse. Bellatrix. Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka. The Orion Nebula. Rigel and Saiph. I didn't know the name of Meissa until I just looked at the chart again. I suppose his club had never hit me between the eyes until now.
Tomorrow, because of Ilona's photographic work on a NYC civic project, she has the opportunity to pitch "The Flowers in the Cracks" with no one less than Hizzoner Himself, Mr. Michael Bloomberg. At a prior opportunity she had a photograph taken with her sister's young baby. Any Mayor that stops to have a photo with a baby is a smart man. That's as old school politics as you can get! He also sounded like he genuinely enjoys kids. According to his official NYC.gov biography, he clearly supports the children of homeless families, as well as widows and orphans.
For our project, I gave her the "elevator pitch."
"It is great to see you again, Mr. Bloomberg. What you have done with this city is remarkable. What all New Yorkers have done to revitalize this city over and over again is tremendous. My new project will be a celebration of the enduring spirit and constant renewal of this city, and the world which it touches and transforms daily. It's called 'Flowers in the Cracks.' I'm working with Peter Corless, an author from California, on the first stages of the project. With your support, we can celebrate the great work unfolding all around us."He could probably speak about any of his twenty favorite charities. And there are so many more in NYC alone that could use praise and recognition.
My own self? I wish to take the same story, and put the case before Mr. Gavin Newsom of San Francisco, who is looking to revitalize the Tenderloin and other challenged neighborhoods, and Mayor Galiotto of Mountain View. Not all at once. Step by step.
I even began to think about the fund raising opportunities for some non-profits. Use the project to frame their work, and donate of proceeds from artworks to support these programs further. A sort of "ad council" work.
We're going to start for now with some conceptualizations of how the project will actually pan out. I want to leave some creative surprises for you all to experience. I also cognitively give a nod to my own mortality. I will only get to experience, record and celebrate so much during my life and times. The rest will come from those who wish to be part of this all. To carry on the work to the next higher level.
Tonight, a dream was born in the darkness and limnal light. It was not even ours, really. Others have spoken about the Flowers in the Cracks before us. The trope and visual imagery have been around since the first time a natural flower poked its petals out from between two rocks, even long before humans laid down the first sidewalk or stone pavers. Our ideas and thoughts came to life under the stars, in a park, as dogs ran by happily baying, friends spoke deep truths and made each other laugh, and as bats whistled a cheery tune. Also, in our minds, there was a park bench, the sunshine, a seagull calling, the sounds of the sea crashing gently in the distance, and a dandelion pushing up from between the cracks in the sidewalk. It was all true, and it was all good.
The waning gibbous moon was swinging back earthwards from its apogee. The first call began at 7:15 pm. It lasted over two hours. The next call began at 9:31 pm Pacific Time. For me, the waning moon was just rising above the horizon at 9:32 pm in the east. For Ilona, it was half-past midnight. We spoke on and on until it was just after 3:00 am her time.
Our project began as a possibility of dreams, and Ilona went straight to bed. Straight to dreaming. I wonder what sort of dreams she'll have tonight. Good ones, for sure!
Meanwhile, it's 2:34 am for me. I still have some good work ahead of me for the web site I'm working on. Scheduling, project plans, and getting alignment on priorities.
My experiments on Joomla and Apache continue. I did indeed get the Xcode Tools, and even WebObjects, installed on my Macintosh. Another green dot on my checklist of things accomplished.
In the winter, the days are short and the nights are long.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Installing Apache & Joomla
In progress on my work for a client, I am installing Apache & Joomla today on my own test box. I want to see how easy it is. I want to have "walked the walk" for them, so that their own installation can go easy, and so that I can do this myself for other clients.
In fact, I installed Joomla last night on my test box. That was really darn quick. But then realized I had forgotten to install a web server. Talk about scatter-brained?
So today I'm getting straightened out.
In the past, I worked with fantastic systems administrators, including some of the best Unix SysAdmins you'd ever hope to meet. John Stewart, Mike Fuller, and all the folks in Advanced Customer Systems at Cisco Systems, Inc. John is that smiling guy in the right-hand of the photograph. Also the folks in the rest of Cisco IT and Engineering Computing Services (ECS). Back in my heyday there. Wow. I was standing amongst the giants.
I still run into them now and then. I am humbled when I realize I don't know a hundredth of the specialized knowledge they know about how to really make a box shine. Then I realize why I have always liked a Macintosh — because it did not force me to know everything about how a computer worked to get some utility value out of it. And I always liked Unix and Linux because once you got under the hood, you could monkey with just about anything, including kernel patching. That sort of flexibility allows you to make Ford Tauruses, Toyota Corollas, Saturn Station wagons, sporty VW rag-tops or custom-built crazy cars.
So is it any wonder that I use a Macintosh today, even now, in the year 2006? It is the Mac, for my artist/writer creative head, and it is Unix for my technogeek head.
SysAdmins need your love. I would often hang around and bring them cokes. Listen to how they did their jobs. The "High Priesthood of Computing" I'd call them. To whom we all bowed when the really big miracles needed to be performed.
John Stewart left for Digital Island. He looks darned handsome in this 1998 photo, don't you agree? If you want to know some of my own history, you can read John's views. I worked beside him and we often high-fived or shook hands or did a freaking victory dance when we got something nailed. He was a hero to me, and I always admired his style.
So today, for John Stewart, I work!
I am downloading Apache httpd-2.0.50-powerpc-apple-darwin7.4.0.tar.gz. Oh yeah! I can smell and hear the bits flying off the DSL connection. The download is from a slow mirror site, so it'll be a few minutes.
After revising some of the above, there we go! It's decompressing. Gotta love it. Hrm... A new update of Stuffit Expander. I'll have to take care of that later. For now... Apache is installed!
Err... Now, reading the httpd Project home page in search of documentation, it seems I downloaded the old revision. Apache HTTP Server 2.2.0 Released. The article's not dated. When did this come out? Hrmf. That shows me for skipping "Step Zero."
Moral of the story? Read The Fine Manual (RTFM).
Not a problem, though. Back to download. The first time I downloaded, I selected "Playboy" mirror on a lark. I thought it was humorous that the grand old bastion of porn was hosting Apache. What would my Aunt think? Anyway, I think it's better to chew up their bandwidth downloading Apache instead. Perhaps, in a way, Apache and the Internet is a bit related to porn. It's "instant gratification of knowledge." Hrm. At least they did not charge me for the download. Curious.
But the download was slow. It took minutes. This time, I chose "Seekmeup.Studio." They profess "Superior Creativity." Hey! Now that is far better. My aunt, who is a Dominican Nun, would approve of that. Trust in a superior creator is right in line with the best of teachings.
So let's download the latest and greatest Apache from there instead. Wow! That was fast. Like, two seconds. Alright. Next lesson? There is less resistance in the universe when getting something from Superior Creativity than the best of porn kings.
Compiling
Alright. So I got this far in the documentation:
Configure
I get the error:
configure: error: no acceptable C compiler found in $PATH
Well, um... Hrm. (Peeks under the hood. Sees no engine.) There should be some C compiler in Mac OS X, yes? Whazzup with that?
I might also need to install perl, and php. So do a "which perl", right? Right.
I have perl in usr/bin/perl, and php too.
So what's going on with my C?
Gah! I have no GCC! Where's my GCC for Mac OS X? You'd have thunk they would have given you that, and GDB (the GNU Debugger) before installing perl, ya think?
Wow.
For those of you not familiar with programming. GNU's C Compiler (GCC) is what Real Software Engineers™ use when they crank code. With my own eyes I watched them do it. It's fun!
Now it's my turn.
Apparently there's a toolkit for Mac OS X, called, Xcode 2.2, which includes GCC. You know, Steve Jobs, you could have saved me fair bit of time here.
Could you just have Apache installed along with Xcode (and thus, GCC) for OS X 10.5? It's not like you wouldn't have people doing a victory dance in the streets of Cupertino if you did so.
Pile it all in! It's free! You have the hard disk space for it.
Yes, install it, but just do not configure it or enable it without the user/sysadmin's permission. That would be sweet. Or have it as a stored-away package that someone could one-click to install.
Anyway, now I am registering for the Apple Developer Connection (ADC) to get access to the tools. Registration is free, and I am using the same account I have there for my peeking at their job postings.
You might not know this, but when I first came to California, I read the Macintosh Way on the flight over. I was so impressed that I found Guy Kawasaki and shook his hand. It was a great book, and it led me to earn a million dollars. Of course, I have to credit "The Cisco Way" for the real money I made out here. John Chambers was a heck of a boss' boss to work for.
And now I am here downloading GCC in great thanks to the Macintosh and to the great engineers at Cisco who inspired me. And all the programmers I have known since my days at Beach Channel High School (where I did my first punch-card program, which I had almost forgotten about) and Carnegie-Mellon University, where I learned Pascal and noodled with Unix and Macs for the first time.
So, back to the ADC. You might want to read the Terms and Conditions (PDF). Rather curious to actually read through as a contract.
Relationship with Apple. Use of Apple Trademarks, Logos, etc. Transfer Of Membership Benefits And Materials. Apple ID And Password. No Warranty. (Of course. I'll need to do my own debugging and troubleshooting. Self-service. Gotcha.) Confidential Information. Apple Pre-Release Software. (Oo! Nice.. Hrm... And dangerous too!) Third-Party Software & Information. (Right. GCC is from the GNU folks, not from Apple.) Free as in Freedom! It's amazing how I'll be using free software the day after I marched for freedom. I suppose I should have been wearing a GNU logo while I was up there. Most people would not have gotten the reference.
Onwards!
Six Dwarves and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Export. Hrm. I know about this one, but the list has changed. "Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria" are the "six dwarves" now. Which means that I'd not be allowed to take my install box to those countries, and that downloads would be prohibited to those nations. Or, if I wanted to, I'd need to get a special permission from the US government to do so.
Which means the US government is keeping Apple from helping those nations build up their programming savvy. There you have it.
Also under "export" is a curious term: "You also agree that you will not use these products for any purposes where prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, missile, chemical or biological weapons."
Huzzah! Readily agreed! I closest I ever come to that is in simulation games, such as NationStates. My country of Listeneisse (which I had almost forgotten about until reminded by my friend yesterday to check in on it) is the Grail Kingdom.
Would the Grail Kingdom ever need nuclear weapons if it was being invaded? Or can it rely upon spiritual defenses to save it from wrack and ruin at the hands of jealous and spiteful agents of darkness? Hrm. Well, if they can depend on faith in God, I suppose I can too.
So there! Yes, with a clear conscience, I can say that I will not work on Nuclear, Biological or Chemical weapons with my Macintosh. I might simulate "bad guys" in roleplaying games where the bad guys use nukes (or even good guys trying to fend off bad guys), but no real nukes. I'm a lousy scientist anyway.
It's a deal!
Next.
The Quick Brown Fox Jumped Over the Lazy Dog
Terms. Right. This is an agreement which is unilateral. Apple is granting me rights to cool stuff, so long as I play by their rules. Which they can change at a moment's notice. I'll just have to be a less-than-utterly-lazy dog that goes "Woof!" watching as they can quickly jump all over me.
Apple Independent Development. Gotcha. I might develop something using these tools, and Apple might want to use it. Unless I protect myself through Intellectual Property mechanisms, they can and will run with whatever I give them. Some things I'd be alright with. The Bits want to be Free!
Other stuff I might need to protect, so that I can pay my bills and so that I can keep an idea perfected and not see it dissolve by the dissection of nay-sayers. I've already filed a bunch of patented developments, but those ideas are owned by Cisco. It's been years since we've gone anywhere with them, but I am grateful to Cisco and the lawyers they could afford for me to have four numbers at the Patent and Trademark Office with my name attached to them. The ideas are actually owned by Cisco. That's fine with me. They are a powerhouse that can hopefully take them somewhere.
Meanwhile, Steve Jobs also wants my good ideas. Steve. Let's have lunch. I'd be glad to share some of the ideas I got. Otherwise, I'll put a small copyright statement in my code if I ever post it back to the ADC site.
Hardware Purchase Terms And Conditions. I'd love a discount. I've paid retail on enough Macs in my day. My first was a Mac Plus. That was stolen when I lived in Astoria, Queens. I came home one day, and it was missing. They had also tromped all over the game "World In Flames" laid out on the floor. I cried and picked up the pieces. It was so ironic. A world in flames. Whoever stole my Macintosh would poetically end up in Hell. Eternal flames for the sin of avarice and crime of theft. I cried and picked up the pieces of my game, and kissed my Mac Plus goodbye.
My next Mac was my Macintosh II. I got that when I was working at Chase Manhattan Bank, and did a deal for it at a steep discount with my elder sister for it. I wanted to give it to her, but I believe my mother wanted me to be fiscally responsible, and my elder sister too. She arranged for me to charge my own sister for it. I'll have to call my sister to see if she remembers what she paid for it. I recall clearly that it was about what? $7,200 or something like that. The RAM was something like $500 per megabyte alone, and I got 4 mb of RAM for it, for $2,000. It was as expensive as a year at Carnegie-Mellon University.
I kept that computer for less than a year, and then moved to California to be in the land of Macs.
Since then I've had a series of Mac, mostly laptops. The latest is a 1.67 GHz PowerPC G4. It's already a dinosaur as the next generation will be shipping with Intel chips. But I paid so very, very little for it in comparison to my old Mac II. Heady days of the late 1980s. And heady days to come!
Technical Support Terms And Conditions. Yes. I believe in paying for technical support. I was a technical support guy at ComputerWare. I opened my copy of Russia at War last night, and found an old faded business card from my fond alma mater. The first job I had here in Silicon Valley. Pierre Pellisier and Keith Redfield, Arnaldo and Dharma and Rose and Chris and Linden and Roger and Ugi — I loved working with you all!
From that, I worked at Apple Computer. I miss the laughter of Pam Boyman, and the wit of so many brilliant souls. It was there I learned the lesson, "Darwin got him." How to be that quick brown fox to jump over the lazy dog. It was also from there that I learned the expression, "Ask for 100% of what you want 100% of the time." A vivacious woman told me that. I smile at the memory of her daring freckled face.
I hopped again to Cisco, when Apple made clear it was going to move technical support to Austin. That was where I drifted away from Macintoshes after the company standardized on Windows. I mostly clung to the Unix systems, reading my email in elm or pine. But I missed QuickMail. I tried Windows mail systems, but ugh. Me no like.
Me have Apple's Mail now. Me have Thunderbird too. Me like.
I got down to primitives when I played "Mortalis Victus" this past year. It will be launching again in March-April of 2006, so stay tuned. You can play too.
Anyway, I love technical support. It helped me earn my first million dollars which has come and gone. It will be crucial for the earning of my next million. So I pay for good technical service and gladly. You should too.
More Terms and Conditions
Credit Application. When I need more than $3,500, I'll fill out an application. For now, I have money in the bank in excess of that. I also prefer to do things cash-and-carry as much as possible. With interest rates so low, though, it gets tempting to borrow. But the economy is going down, or staying about the same, which means that cash remains king. Thanks but for now, no thanks.
Disclaimer of Liability. I really do not like blaming people for things that go wrong, so long as there is not specific malfeasance in their behavior. "APPLE'S ENTIRE LIABILITY FOR DIRECT DAMAGES UNDER THIS AGREEMENT IS LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT YOU PAID FOR YOUR ADC MEMBERSHIP." Considering that's $0.00, that's all I can expect from Steve. Hrm. I actually believe there's other laws that can override these terms, but in principle, you know what? I'm in agreement. I cannot blame Apple if I use software and get in a pickle, and then point fingers. This is a "take responsibility for your own code" clause. I'm down with that.
Governing Law. Considering I live within a short ride of Cupertino, where I go to church at St. Jude's, I'd have to agree the same state laws apply to me.
Survival. We all want to, for as long as we can, to do the most good we can while we're here. However, like people and their memories, certain memories, truths and covenants will survive long after the termination or expiration of this embodied agreement.
Agreement in English. "Les parties ont exigé que le présent contrat et tous les documents connexes soient rédigés en anglais." So why did they throw in French? It must be some "Canadian content" tip-of-the-hat. Merci, Quebec!
No Waiver or Assignment. You know, I'm almost half-tempted to see if I can get a waiver. I'm not even sure what I'd want a waiver for. Maybe something on intellectual property rights. But I'll waver on the waiver for now. On with the work.
Complete Agreement. So far so good! This means I cannot try to add in any conjuctions with "And," "but," or "or."
License to Ill
Applicable Terms & Conditions. Prototype License Grant. This is a license. A grant of rights. Not an assignment of them. They can be withdrawn at any time. I can use this, but I cannot use Apple's tools themselves as a component of a product.
Though it would be a sweet service to set people up with developer stations. I can see how you could sell small businesses with Macs, Apache, Joomla, and these Xcode tools. It'd be darned easy to get them going on their own web sites. Darned easy.
Definition of Confidential Information. Nonuse and Nondisclosure of Confidential Information. Wow. I'll get some confidential information! Trade secrets I suppose? If so, I'll be good and keep quiet. Of course, Apple will have to properly mark what is confidential versus what is generally-knowledgeable information. For instance, GCC is no secret. It's defects and flaws on the Mac OS X platform are probably not covered under this either.
Storage of the Prototype. Why refer to it as a "prototype" and not simply as a "product?" In other words, this is a "work in progress." I wonder how long this program has been going on for? It seems real cool to get GCC on a Mac. You'd think they'd have a bit more confidence in the concept.
Verification of Compliance. Sure. I know where the software will be installed. Hrm. They might want to come over and inspect it? Err... I need to clean up then. (Sheepish glances.)
No Warranty. You get what you pay for, and I didn't pay at all, except in my time to download.
Equitable Relief. Sure, if I start going nutters using software Apple gave me, and they ask for me to knock it off, you have to knock it off. Got to be good.
No Export. We're back to the Six Dwarves and the WMDs again.
Term and Termination. They do not want this software lying around. It needs to be destroyed when the project is done. Which is somewhat silly, because you might come back to your work years later and need to pick up with the old tools where you left off. I'll agree to it. Yet I believe there are laws that protect software developers so that you cannot be forced to destroy software under certain conditions. In fact, large businesses can even force software develepment companies to hold their software, even their source code, in escrow in case something happens to the original developer. I don't know the specifics of this, but I believe I'd be able to keep an archival copy for historical purposes even with this term and condition.
No Waiver or Assignment. Right. I'm not supposed to turn this software over to anyone else. Yet how enforceable is this? What if I sell my business? Or my laptop? Ideally I should destroy the software, and make the next guy download it again. Few people do that, as it is simply inefficient and silly. But a deal's a deal, and this is the deal I was given.
Governing Law. Yes, we are still in California. Some of this is redundant. You'd think they would not have to repeat themselves.
Government End Users. Oh. The invocation of the FAR! Now here is a specialized language all its own. Fortunately, I am not a government end user. I'll quickly skip ahead.
Agreement in English. Yes. Again. In the future, the agreements will be written in C and XML.
Complete Understanding. Again, the echoes of the past, the reminder of the case. Yes. But do we really ever have complete understanding?
Hardware, Old and New
I like the hardware discount. I don't need a new computer now, but I'll consider one in the future. I still have one which had a hard drive problem I never sent off to DriveSavers. Soon, I keep promising myself. Soon.
It has my old Green Knight content, and my old Skotos folders for both Pendragon Online and Castle Marrach.
I had almost gotten everything transferred over to my new Mac when the thing went belly-up. R.I.P. I am sure the DriveSavers people will be able to get the rest off. I just have been working too hard to get my new life up and running to deal with the archaeology of the past four years.
Technical Support
"When requesting and receiving technical support, you will not provide Apple with any information, including that incorporated in your software, that is confidential to you or any third party. Any notice, legend, or label to the contrary contained in any materials provided by you to Apple shall be without effect. Apple shall be free to use all information it receives from you in any manner it deems appropriate."
Err... I'm not sure this is strictly enforceable. I understand why their lawyers are asking for it, but this could lead them to a major snit if they exploited this to unreasonable levels. "Appropriate" is the operable word here, which lawyers could go back-and-forth over for a long while.
Well, I have to get going now, so I'll agree to it. I'll just have to be the quick brown fox jumping over the lazy dog with Steve & Co. and trust that they won't abuse my own good will, nature and rights.
When I get back later today, I'll continue the saga of Apache, Joomla, Xcode, and GCC.
Onwards to adventure!
-Pete.
In progress on my work for a client, I am installing Apache & Joomla today on my own test box. I want to see how easy it is. I want to have "walked the walk" for them, so that their own installation can go easy, and so that I can do this myself for other clients.
In fact, I installed Joomla last night on my test box. That was really darn quick. But then realized I had forgotten to install a web server. Talk about scatter-brained?
So today I'm getting straightened out.
In the past, I worked with fantastic systems administrators, including some of the best Unix SysAdmins you'd ever hope to meet. John Stewart, Mike Fuller, and all the folks in Advanced Customer Systems at Cisco Systems, Inc. John is that smiling guy in the right-hand of the photograph. Also the folks in the rest of Cisco IT and Engineering Computing Services (ECS). Back in my heyday there. Wow. I was standing amongst the giants.
I still run into them now and then. I am humbled when I realize I don't know a hundredth of the specialized knowledge they know about how to really make a box shine. Then I realize why I have always liked a Macintosh — because it did not force me to know everything about how a computer worked to get some utility value out of it. And I always liked Unix and Linux because once you got under the hood, you could monkey with just about anything, including kernel patching. That sort of flexibility allows you to make Ford Tauruses, Toyota Corollas, Saturn Station wagons, sporty VW rag-tops or custom-built crazy cars.
So is it any wonder that I use a Macintosh today, even now, in the year 2006? It is the Mac, for my artist/writer creative head, and it is Unix for my technogeek head.
SysAdmins need your love. I would often hang around and bring them cokes. Listen to how they did their jobs. The "High Priesthood of Computing" I'd call them. To whom we all bowed when the really big miracles needed to be performed.
John Stewart left for Digital Island. He looks darned handsome in this 1998 photo, don't you agree? If you want to know some of my own history, you can read John's views. I worked beside him and we often high-fived or shook hands or did a freaking victory dance when we got something nailed. He was a hero to me, and I always admired his style.
So today, for John Stewart, I work!
I am downloading Apache httpd-2.0.50-powerpc-apple-darwin7.4.0.tar.gz. Oh yeah! I can smell and hear the bits flying off the DSL connection. The download is from a slow mirror site, so it'll be a few minutes.
After revising some of the above, there we go! It's decompressing. Gotta love it. Hrm... A new update of Stuffit Expander. I'll have to take care of that later. For now... Apache is installed!
Err... Now, reading the httpd Project home page in search of documentation, it seems I downloaded the old revision. Apache HTTP Server 2.2.0 Released. The article's not dated. When did this come out? Hrmf. That shows me for skipping "Step Zero."
Moral of the story? Read The Fine Manual (RTFM).
Not a problem, though. Back to download. The first time I downloaded, I selected "Playboy" mirror on a lark. I thought it was humorous that the grand old bastion of porn was hosting Apache. What would my Aunt think? Anyway, I think it's better to chew up their bandwidth downloading Apache instead. Perhaps, in a way, Apache and the Internet is a bit related to porn. It's "instant gratification of knowledge." Hrm. At least they did not charge me for the download. Curious.
But the download was slow. It took minutes. This time, I chose "Seekmeup.Studio." They profess "Superior Creativity." Hey! Now that is far better. My aunt, who is a Dominican Nun, would approve of that. Trust in a superior creator is right in line with the best of teachings.
So let's download the latest and greatest Apache from there instead. Wow! That was fast. Like, two seconds. Alright. Next lesson? There is less resistance in the universe when getting something from Superior Creativity than the best of porn kings.
Compiling
Alright. So I got this far in the documentation:
Configure
$ ./configure --prefix=PREFIXI get the error:
configure: error: no acceptable C compiler found in $PATH
Well, um... Hrm. (Peeks under the hood. Sees no engine.) There should be some C compiler in Mac OS X, yes? Whazzup with that?
I might also need to install perl, and php. So do a "which perl", right? Right.
I have perl in usr/bin/perl, and php too.
So what's going on with my C?
Gah! I have no GCC! Where's my GCC for Mac OS X? You'd have thunk they would have given you that, and GDB (the GNU Debugger) before installing perl, ya think?
Wow.
For those of you not familiar with programming. GNU's C Compiler (GCC) is what Real Software Engineers™ use when they crank code. With my own eyes I watched them do it. It's fun!
Now it's my turn.
Apparently there's a toolkit for Mac OS X, called, Xcode 2.2, which includes GCC. You know, Steve Jobs, you could have saved me fair bit of time here.
Could you just have Apache installed along with Xcode (and thus, GCC) for OS X 10.5? It's not like you wouldn't have people doing a victory dance in the streets of Cupertino if you did so.
Pile it all in! It's free! You have the hard disk space for it.
Yes, install it, but just do not configure it or enable it without the user/sysadmin's permission. That would be sweet. Or have it as a stored-away package that someone could one-click to install.
Anyway, now I am registering for the Apple Developer Connection (ADC) to get access to the tools. Registration is free, and I am using the same account I have there for my peeking at their job postings.
You might not know this, but when I first came to California, I read the Macintosh Way on the flight over. I was so impressed that I found Guy Kawasaki and shook his hand. It was a great book, and it led me to earn a million dollars. Of course, I have to credit "The Cisco Way" for the real money I made out here. John Chambers was a heck of a boss' boss to work for.
And now I am here downloading GCC in great thanks to the Macintosh and to the great engineers at Cisco who inspired me. And all the programmers I have known since my days at Beach Channel High School (where I did my first punch-card program, which I had almost forgotten about) and Carnegie-Mellon University, where I learned Pascal and noodled with Unix and Macs for the first time.
So, back to the ADC. You might want to read the Terms and Conditions (PDF). Rather curious to actually read through as a contract.
Relationship with Apple. Use of Apple Trademarks, Logos, etc. Transfer Of Membership Benefits And Materials. Apple ID And Password. No Warranty. (Of course. I'll need to do my own debugging and troubleshooting. Self-service. Gotcha.) Confidential Information. Apple Pre-Release Software. (Oo! Nice.. Hrm... And dangerous too!) Third-Party Software & Information. (Right. GCC is from the GNU folks, not from Apple.) Free as in Freedom! It's amazing how I'll be using free software the day after I marched for freedom. I suppose I should have been wearing a GNU logo while I was up there. Most people would not have gotten the reference.
Onwards!
Six Dwarves and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Export. Hrm. I know about this one, but the list has changed. "Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria" are the "six dwarves" now. Which means that I'd not be allowed to take my install box to those countries, and that downloads would be prohibited to those nations. Or, if I wanted to, I'd need to get a special permission from the US government to do so.
Which means the US government is keeping Apple from helping those nations build up their programming savvy. There you have it.
Also under "export" is a curious term: "You also agree that you will not use these products for any purposes where prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, missile, chemical or biological weapons."
Huzzah! Readily agreed! I closest I ever come to that is in simulation games, such as NationStates. My country of Listeneisse (which I had almost forgotten about until reminded by my friend yesterday to check in on it) is the Grail Kingdom.
Would the Grail Kingdom ever need nuclear weapons if it was being invaded? Or can it rely upon spiritual defenses to save it from wrack and ruin at the hands of jealous and spiteful agents of darkness? Hrm. Well, if they can depend on faith in God, I suppose I can too.
So there! Yes, with a clear conscience, I can say that I will not work on Nuclear, Biological or Chemical weapons with my Macintosh. I might simulate "bad guys" in roleplaying games where the bad guys use nukes (or even good guys trying to fend off bad guys), but no real nukes. I'm a lousy scientist anyway.
It's a deal!
Next.
The Quick Brown Fox Jumped Over the Lazy Dog
Terms. Right. This is an agreement which is unilateral. Apple is granting me rights to cool stuff, so long as I play by their rules. Which they can change at a moment's notice. I'll just have to be a less-than-utterly-lazy dog that goes "Woof!" watching as they can quickly jump all over me.
Apple Independent Development. Gotcha. I might develop something using these tools, and Apple might want to use it. Unless I protect myself through Intellectual Property mechanisms, they can and will run with whatever I give them. Some things I'd be alright with. The Bits want to be Free!
Other stuff I might need to protect, so that I can pay my bills and so that I can keep an idea perfected and not see it dissolve by the dissection of nay-sayers. I've already filed a bunch of patented developments, but those ideas are owned by Cisco. It's been years since we've gone anywhere with them, but I am grateful to Cisco and the lawyers they could afford for me to have four numbers at the Patent and Trademark Office with my name attached to them. The ideas are actually owned by Cisco. That's fine with me. They are a powerhouse that can hopefully take them somewhere.
Meanwhile, Steve Jobs also wants my good ideas. Steve. Let's have lunch. I'd be glad to share some of the ideas I got. Otherwise, I'll put a small copyright statement in my code if I ever post it back to the ADC site.
Hardware Purchase Terms And Conditions. I'd love a discount. I've paid retail on enough Macs in my day. My first was a Mac Plus. That was stolen when I lived in Astoria, Queens. I came home one day, and it was missing. They had also tromped all over the game "World In Flames" laid out on the floor. I cried and picked up the pieces. It was so ironic. A world in flames. Whoever stole my Macintosh would poetically end up in Hell. Eternal flames for the sin of avarice and crime of theft. I cried and picked up the pieces of my game, and kissed my Mac Plus goodbye.
My next Mac was my Macintosh II. I got that when I was working at Chase Manhattan Bank, and did a deal for it at a steep discount with my elder sister for it. I wanted to give it to her, but I believe my mother wanted me to be fiscally responsible, and my elder sister too. She arranged for me to charge my own sister for it. I'll have to call my sister to see if she remembers what she paid for it. I recall clearly that it was about what? $7,200 or something like that. The RAM was something like $500 per megabyte alone, and I got 4 mb of RAM for it, for $2,000. It was as expensive as a year at Carnegie-Mellon University.
I kept that computer for less than a year, and then moved to California to be in the land of Macs.
Since then I've had a series of Mac, mostly laptops. The latest is a 1.67 GHz PowerPC G4. It's already a dinosaur as the next generation will be shipping with Intel chips. But I paid so very, very little for it in comparison to my old Mac II. Heady days of the late 1980s. And heady days to come!
Technical Support Terms And Conditions. Yes. I believe in paying for technical support. I was a technical support guy at ComputerWare. I opened my copy of Russia at War last night, and found an old faded business card from my fond alma mater. The first job I had here in Silicon Valley. Pierre Pellisier and Keith Redfield, Arnaldo and Dharma and Rose and Chris and Linden and Roger and Ugi — I loved working with you all!
From that, I worked at Apple Computer. I miss the laughter of Pam Boyman, and the wit of so many brilliant souls. It was there I learned the lesson, "Darwin got him." How to be that quick brown fox to jump over the lazy dog. It was also from there that I learned the expression, "Ask for 100% of what you want 100% of the time." A vivacious woman told me that. I smile at the memory of her daring freckled face.
I hopped again to Cisco, when Apple made clear it was going to move technical support to Austin. That was where I drifted away from Macintoshes after the company standardized on Windows. I mostly clung to the Unix systems, reading my email in elm or pine. But I missed QuickMail. I tried Windows mail systems, but ugh. Me no like.
Me have Apple's Mail now. Me have Thunderbird too. Me like.
I got down to primitives when I played "Mortalis Victus" this past year. It will be launching again in March-April of 2006, so stay tuned. You can play too.
Anyway, I love technical support. It helped me earn my first million dollars which has come and gone. It will be crucial for the earning of my next million. So I pay for good technical service and gladly. You should too.
More Terms and Conditions
Credit Application. When I need more than $3,500, I'll fill out an application. For now, I have money in the bank in excess of that. I also prefer to do things cash-and-carry as much as possible. With interest rates so low, though, it gets tempting to borrow. But the economy is going down, or staying about the same, which means that cash remains king. Thanks but for now, no thanks.
Disclaimer of Liability. I really do not like blaming people for things that go wrong, so long as there is not specific malfeasance in their behavior. "APPLE'S ENTIRE LIABILITY FOR DIRECT DAMAGES UNDER THIS AGREEMENT IS LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT YOU PAID FOR YOUR ADC MEMBERSHIP." Considering that's $0.00, that's all I can expect from Steve. Hrm. I actually believe there's other laws that can override these terms, but in principle, you know what? I'm in agreement. I cannot blame Apple if I use software and get in a pickle, and then point fingers. This is a "take responsibility for your own code" clause. I'm down with that.
Governing Law. Considering I live within a short ride of Cupertino, where I go to church at St. Jude's, I'd have to agree the same state laws apply to me.
Survival. We all want to, for as long as we can, to do the most good we can while we're here. However, like people and their memories, certain memories, truths and covenants will survive long after the termination or expiration of this embodied agreement.
Agreement in English. "Les parties ont exigé que le présent contrat et tous les documents connexes soient rédigés en anglais." So why did they throw in French? It must be some "Canadian content" tip-of-the-hat. Merci, Quebec!
No Waiver or Assignment. You know, I'm almost half-tempted to see if I can get a waiver. I'm not even sure what I'd want a waiver for. Maybe something on intellectual property rights. But I'll waver on the waiver for now. On with the work.
Complete Agreement. So far so good! This means I cannot try to add in any conjuctions with "And," "but," or "or."
License to Ill
Applicable Terms & Conditions. Prototype License Grant. This is a license. A grant of rights. Not an assignment of them. They can be withdrawn at any time. I can use this, but I cannot use Apple's tools themselves as a component of a product.
Though it would be a sweet service to set people up with developer stations. I can see how you could sell small businesses with Macs, Apache, Joomla, and these Xcode tools. It'd be darned easy to get them going on their own web sites. Darned easy.
Definition of Confidential Information. Nonuse and Nondisclosure of Confidential Information. Wow. I'll get some confidential information! Trade secrets I suppose? If so, I'll be good and keep quiet. Of course, Apple will have to properly mark what is confidential versus what is generally-knowledgeable information. For instance, GCC is no secret. It's defects and flaws on the Mac OS X platform are probably not covered under this either.
Storage of the Prototype. Why refer to it as a "prototype" and not simply as a "product?" In other words, this is a "work in progress." I wonder how long this program has been going on for? It seems real cool to get GCC on a Mac. You'd think they'd have a bit more confidence in the concept.
Verification of Compliance. Sure. I know where the software will be installed. Hrm. They might want to come over and inspect it? Err... I need to clean up then. (Sheepish glances.)
No Warranty. You get what you pay for, and I didn't pay at all, except in my time to download.
Equitable Relief. Sure, if I start going nutters using software Apple gave me, and they ask for me to knock it off, you have to knock it off. Got to be good.
No Export. We're back to the Six Dwarves and the WMDs again.
Term and Termination. They do not want this software lying around. It needs to be destroyed when the project is done. Which is somewhat silly, because you might come back to your work years later and need to pick up with the old tools where you left off. I'll agree to it. Yet I believe there are laws that protect software developers so that you cannot be forced to destroy software under certain conditions. In fact, large businesses can even force software develepment companies to hold their software, even their source code, in escrow in case something happens to the original developer. I don't know the specifics of this, but I believe I'd be able to keep an archival copy for historical purposes even with this term and condition.
No Waiver or Assignment. Right. I'm not supposed to turn this software over to anyone else. Yet how enforceable is this? What if I sell my business? Or my laptop? Ideally I should destroy the software, and make the next guy download it again. Few people do that, as it is simply inefficient and silly. But a deal's a deal, and this is the deal I was given.
Governing Law. Yes, we are still in California. Some of this is redundant. You'd think they would not have to repeat themselves.
Government End Users. Oh. The invocation of the FAR! Now here is a specialized language all its own. Fortunately, I am not a government end user. I'll quickly skip ahead.
Agreement in English. Yes. Again. In the future, the agreements will be written in C and XML.
Complete Understanding. Again, the echoes of the past, the reminder of the case. Yes. But do we really ever have complete understanding?
Hardware, Old and New
I like the hardware discount. I don't need a new computer now, but I'll consider one in the future. I still have one which had a hard drive problem I never sent off to DriveSavers. Soon, I keep promising myself. Soon.
It has my old Green Knight content, and my old Skotos folders for both Pendragon Online and Castle Marrach.
I had almost gotten everything transferred over to my new Mac when the thing went belly-up. R.I.P. I am sure the DriveSavers people will be able to get the rest off. I just have been working too hard to get my new life up and running to deal with the archaeology of the past four years.
Technical Support
"When requesting and receiving technical support, you will not provide Apple with any information, including that incorporated in your software, that is confidential to you or any third party. Any notice, legend, or label to the contrary contained in any materials provided by you to Apple shall be without effect. Apple shall be free to use all information it receives from you in any manner it deems appropriate."
Err... I'm not sure this is strictly enforceable. I understand why their lawyers are asking for it, but this could lead them to a major snit if they exploited this to unreasonable levels. "Appropriate" is the operable word here, which lawyers could go back-and-forth over for a long while.
Well, I have to get going now, so I'll agree to it. I'll just have to be the quick brown fox jumping over the lazy dog with Steve & Co. and trust that they won't abuse my own good will, nature and rights.
When I get back later today, I'll continue the saga of Apache, Joomla, Xcode, and GCC.
Onwards to adventure!
-Pete.
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