Friday, 13 Dec 2002

tv :24, reruns: Drew Carey Show, King of the Hill, Spin City, Seinfeld

Friday, 13 Dec 2002

I always dread the xmas holidays. xMas feels to me like the time that people are supposed to demonstrate financially how much people mean to them, or the time that people are supposed to make people happy by choosing just the right gift(s). What are the messages drilled into our heads “If you love someone get them the very best”, “If someone loves you they will get you lots of stuff”, “If I get the material things I want I will be happy”, etc. I wish I could just boycott christmas celebrations altogether. Thanksgiving is my idea of a _good_ holiday. In theory at least focused on being thankful for what we have in life instead of xmas focusing on things we don’t have and WANT. Thanksgiving for _me_ at least is always a family holiday, reconnecting, checking in -etc. I don’t like the gift aspect of xmas at all. Part of it may be due to not having as much as I would like to spend on my kids (dichotomy anyone?) but even when I had more money I don’t recall _enjoying_ that aspect. For a few people it’s fun - when you KNOW something they will like that I can afford, but for the others whose lists and tastes are either to expensive or impractical or whom I just don’t know what the person really wants it saddens me. Perhaps because I feel that I don’t know people as well as I _should_, e.g. “If I knew people better I would have a better idea what they would like”. Maybe I don’t like the holiday because I end up feeling bad about my lack of knowledge and involvement in other people’s lives.

Friday, 13 Dec 2002

Children tried to suppress what they saw

But as adults recognized the inherent flaw

in a system that favored forgiveness

over the effects of this sickness

Now the archbishop is out of a job

[story]

Thursday, 5 Dec 2002

I don’t know exactly _why_ certain things just make me smile, but as I was getting out of the car thinking about how the 4″ of snow that had fallen (and was still falling) was SO light that you could almost blow it off of the car - a light bulb went off - why not use the leaf blower to blow snow? It worked pretty well, though it could have used some directional aiming capabilities. I was smiling as I blew powdery snow all over myself and the rest of the driveway. It probably even took longer than shovelling but it was a LOT more fun. Ah well… the simple pleasures in life - the fun of using power tools to do something I could do manually probably quicker and simpler.

Tuesday, 3 Dec 2002

“In another early simulation, Jackson and Regelous watched as several thousand characters fought like hell while, in the background, a small contingent of combatants seemed to think better of it and run away. They weren’t programmed to do this. It just happened. “It was spooky,” Jackson said in an interview last year. ” Such are the wonders of programming artificial intelligence - computer generated characters become more and more human like - the software used to create the massive battle sequences in The Lord of the Rings movies (coincidently called Massive appears to be breaking new ground in this field.