I haven't posted a journal here in almost three years, because I couldn't find the button to start a new entry. ...yeah, it turns out that it's at the bottom of the page.

So... hi, Slashdot. I used to be really active here, but now I mostly lurk and read. I've missed you.

I'm digging G+ more and more. Feel free to add me to your whatever circles. I have a "/.ers" circle.

my g+ profile

I did have teh lulz...

Slayer goes to church

Governor Martin O'Malley
100 State Circle
Annapolis, Maryland
21401-1925

Dear Sir:

Now that both Arizona and Utah have named official state firearms (Colt Single Action, and John Browning's immortal 1911, respectively), I think it's time that the great state of Maryland upstage these upstart also-ran states -- more like territories, really -- by officializing an official firearm as well. After all, Maryland has what is truly the most martial of all state songs. Citizens of what other state are enjoined to "remember Howards warlike thrust," or "avenge the patriotic gore that flecked the streets of Baltimore"?

Further, as a born Marylander, I have a gun in mind that reflects well the government of Maryland's view of citizens' right to carry arms for their own self defense and in the defense of liberty. Please consider any of the options from this entire line of products.

Of course, in light of modern circumstances in the Old Line State, the actual gun chosen should be locked up and behind glass, rather than out endangering the children.

Cordially,

Timothy Lord

Gripes:
- Some municipalities set arbitrary trick-or-treating times that differ from dusk-and-later-evening of the 31st of October. That's stupid.
- Some kids don't even say "trick or treat!"

Plans (as candy giver, short of a full-fledged haunted attraction):
- Sound effects
- Kids should be (mildly) scared in exchange for the dispensing of candy
- The stench of sulfur (or at least smokebombs)
- Candy should be a surprise -- in a black fabric bag or something, maybe something that feels gross (but quite hygenic, etc)
- Strobe lights
- rocking chair with no one in it
- hissing air
- bubbling cauldron
- maniacal laughter in the background

One day I'd like to find my detailed notes from many years ago on this topic ...

I just received mail notification that a fellow user has bought me a gift subscription to slashdot. I'm already friends/fans with the person but his email address isn't visible so I can't thank the person off-/. (wimp, change your privacy settings and deal with the spam! :P )
 
Not sure what I did to deserve it, but I thank you!
 

Dreamed I was in law school again, but it was more like business school (and not necessarily Temple, or Philadelphia), in that for one of my classes, there was a giant project made in cooperation with 3 or 4 others. One of them was Ryan L., a high-school classmate. In my dream, which took place near the end of a semester, but before the start of finals, I got an anxious call from Ryan, who had just put some finishing touches on our group's project. He was unsure whether it was truly ready, but the time to submit was upon us. I assured him that it was fine -- he and I had done most of the work on it, and his work in particular was very good.

Then, I went to class; I arrived later than I usually do, and so took a seat at the back. I hadn't brought my computer, but did have blank paper on which to take notes. The professor (who I think was just made up for the dream) announced that he wanted to use the class that day as a debate exercise, on the topic of so-called "smart guns." I remember thinking something like: "This is like having a detailed discussion about the number of angels on the head of a pin -- skipping over the more important question of whether there's any such thing to start with."

I immediately started writing down a few thoughts on my note paper, a list that read like:
- Doesn't exist
- Doesn't work
- Laws bind the law abiding
- hundreds of millions of plain old guns already
- 2d amdt

I noticed that in the back of the classroom (basically, right next to me), there was a giant plastic beachball, some sort of advertising tchotscke; I noticed that it was printed with the name of a local Volvo dealership, in particular. It was blue and white patterned, and 4 or 5 feet in diameter. I wanted to have a sharpie, in order to write down some arguments, and then just start tossing the ball forward.

20100709-crazy-dreams

1) Dreamed that I posted an innocuous message of good cheer / hello to the facebook profile of A. Promptly received cease and desist / stay-away order from her lawyers, which arrived in the form of two email messages. Boggled me.

2) Seemingly separate dream, with that one above as backstory:

a) Broke out, "V for Vendetta" style, from an alleged mental hospital that was actually a prison for political prisoners, in which the prisoners (me among them) were kept sedate through drugs and intimidation. An elaborate plan of distraction, revenge, and escape gained me my freedom.

b) I was lying low in or near NYC, and by chance met up w/ A, and actually had a pleasant and nice conversation over coffee, did some up-catching for a while, was pleased to hear of her life's successes. I hoped to be on her good list, or at least off the bad list, definitely a higher priority (at least for that time) than my ongoing evasion of the human authority figures.

15-minute nap (no pillow, low carpet, hot)

1) Real-life anime style terrorist attacks in my dream; the sides were neatly uniformed in their colorful future clothing, and everyone knew who were the bad guys, who were the good guys. My view of the action was cinematic, changing in perspective and composition every few seconds. Commandos in (red? or purple) overwhelmed the terrorists (in red? or purple) who were just seconds from launching their attack. A short shooting battle; after seconds, a few bodies on the ground on both sides, the others involved either disappeared on in pursuit.

2) Followed by: on a fairly fast train, daytime, going somewhere between Portland and Vancouver, BC, (or, I thought, This might be London) with a view out the large windows onto what I somehow knew to be the area west of the train, from which I could see only the buildings nearest to the train's path. Beyond that, and creeping between the buildings, was a thick grey-white fog. I was in a small compartment of my own, cognizant of how dream-like it was, but within the dream thinking how it would make a good setting for a science-fiction story, and yet mentally wishing into existence various buildings and other features, which resolved themselves as I imagined them into being. Complex buildings with swooping extensions of polished metal, others with elaborate lights. The buildings I saw I knew were mostly commercial or industrial, but they were well-kept and appeared to have been designed with aesthetics in mind.

(A multi-day omnibus)

3d July: Blake Family Reunion in New Market, TN. Guesstimate, 65 people in attendance, all descended from John Blake of South Carolina in some way, 6 or 7 generations back from me. Food, and the fun coincidence of discovering that a cousin of mine (Paul Blake) is a game designer who works for a company that licenses plush Monty Python toys. "Oh, ThinkGeek sells those," I said. Some fun boggling ;)

Plentiful food and delicious babies, or the other way around. A very different kind of atmosphere than the reunion I'll be at in August. At the Blake reunion, not that everyone actually knows their identifier offhand, everyone at the Blake reunion who is a blood-line descendant (rather than married in) has a numeric code associated which indicates their place in the tree. There's also a formal "business meeting" aspect to the gathering (for the announcement of births and deaths), a signing book, nametags, etc. Some very interesting folks there, but in truth I don't know many of them except by sight. Talking w/ Paul, his wife Diane, and Sharon Blake (widow of Cleland Blake) was excellent -- best choice in seating I could have made, with 10-month-old Emily Blake presiding from the head of the table, too.

However, no fireworks, after there were apparently some complaints from milquetoast complaining types from the church on whose grounds the reunion annually takes place. I suspect this means my dad did not clean up the mess after he brought them in my stead last time. (And today might have been bad for it, anyhow; at least as the reunion was getting started, there was a funeral underway elsewhere on the church grounds.)This is too bad, because kids should have a chance to learn that fireworks are a fun, reasonable, appropriate thing to use, but they need to be respected -- careful of fingers, eyes, other people, flammable surroundings, and with plenty of water on hand. Thorough cleanup afterward, too, esp. at a place like the old Caledonian Presbyterian church in New Market. I don't want every kid to grow up to be complacent about idiot laws restricting their use, just like I don't want them to grow up thinking that guns contain their own malice aforethought.

Did some yard work, which felt good.

Independence Day:

Fireworks in Knoxville -- quite a good show, esp. considering that some of the best views of the show (right by the bridge on which sits a city fire truck) are from completely uncrowded spots. Took some pictures -- I'm happy with how good some of them came out, even with my 4-year-old, AA-powered pocket cam. Show was only 19 minutes long; I wonder if it's because I just read (thanks to Ruthy Scotty pointing out the article) that fireworks shows are tending to be shorter, or because it's the case, that it seemed shorter than the two other times I've seen the city's display.

Afterward, we touched off just two fireworks: 1 was a plastic finned rocket (nice height, but the "burst" was pretty anemic), and the other was a "Color Me America" 20-shot square cake, perhaps 6 inches on a side, which was *excellent.*

5th July: Oak Ridge, TN. We visited the Museum of Energy at Oak Ridge -- well worth seeing. Replica of Little Boy, as well as (and this is the highlight) historical displays about the creation of Oak Ridge as a secret city ("Secret City" is a tag on all sorts of things around town). Many of the exhibits, as I remembered from the last time I was there more than 20 years ago, are oriented toward kids, but that's fine. I wish there was some higher-level content as well, and that some of the displays were better labeled, but I found no shortage of things to look at. Life inside the city during the war must have been very strange -- residents were pretty much there for the duration, and only after the war was its presence allowed on maps, etc. Interesting to see that even in this Federal microcosm, state segregation laws were in effect for housing and employment.

One of my favorite things: part of the museum (reached by descending an outside staircase from the 2d floor) is a reconstructed "Flat Top" (type B-1) house, one of the pre-fab housing types that filled up the city as it boomed to 75,000 residents. It's small, but seems to be a livable little unit. Says the sign outside, it's actually based on a plan from the TVA (gub'mint run amok), which had built similar ones for workers during dam construction in N. Carolina.

Later that day, we stopped for Korean food at a place I'll give a happy 2.5 stars, called Kaya.

On the way back, we stopped at the Fireworks Supermarket on exit 407 for a few sundries, incl. another "Color Me America," because that (it turns out -- oh happy day) is the "free gift" that a promotional sticker gets.

6th July:
Brief stop at Bush Beans's new visitor center; the "country store" pretensions aside (plastic, sterile, overpriced), the small walk-through museum attached is free and well-done; historical exhibits about the company, but also about the modern history of canning, showing how certain labor-intensive jobs have been made easier, etc.

But the real destination was the Tennessee Museum of Aviation in Sevierville. If I had more of an aviation background, I'd like this place even better, but even in my state of ignorance I find the planes and other artifacts worth several hours of fascination. Migs (17 and 21), a few helicopters (incl. a Bell 222, which I would like to have for myself, thanks), jet cockpits which you can sit in, a Mustang (no Spitfires at the moment), a replica Wright Brothers glider ... worth the $12-13 (less for older, younger folks). No comparison to the StratComm museum near Omaha, or the Smithsonian's Air & Space museum, but that's OK. As a regional museum goes, this is a real winner.

7th July:
Today is a work in progress. Working on Slashdot; later, will do some yard work. Talked w/ B&N rep. about the Nook I've got to play with, finally figured out where something I downloaded to the device disappeared to. I'm slow to the whole e-Book world, but am fairly impressed with the thing.

Dandridge, TN - this entry to be supplemented w/ some mile-marker notes not presently to hand.

Arrived TN Wednesday, shortly before noon, after a stop at Pappy's Smokehouse in St. Louis and another at the a Fireworks Supermarket in Missouri (and several rest stops). While the sales tax was only a hair lower than in TN, I decided to stock up for the 4th there -- sucker's game, but worth the playing.

Now in a small town east of Knoxville, from which I will later in the month depart for the Mid-Atlantic. Playing a bit today w/ the review-unit Nook I've got on hand; a neat device. Displays are tough: the e-ink of the Nook (and Kindle, and similar) really is impressive, in most circumstances, for reading text (as they're meant for). But I wish they were (optionally?) transmissive as well, so they could be used for reading without much environmental light. Yes, you could use a headlamp or a clip-on lamp, but that's awkward, and I'm dreaming the impossible dream. Excited about the now-available Pixel Qi screens; they're not as power efficient as the current e-ink, but I'm sure they're working on that aggressively, and a tablet-sized, general purpose computer with a daylight screen mode that's at least *pretty* efficient would be great. I'd be very happy to find something the size and weight of the iPad, but with something more like a Pixel Qi screen and a free / open source operating system.

Upcoming events:
- Oak Ridge's Energy Museum, and a museum about Appalachian life in Clinton, TN.
- Family reunion (my descent designator is 0534312)
- Fireworks on the 4th
- A visit to Knoxville's best bookstore, McKay's
- The Warbirds Museum in Sevierville, TN
- Some BBQ
- Perhaps an Orange Julius-style drink from Nan Denton's.

What else should I do in E. Tennessee?

Big Trip 2010: No. 6

20100628 Monday:

Been a fantastic couple of days in Bellevue, NE. Relaxing, inspiring to see how well and happy are my relatives here -- a model family. Saturday, ate delicious enchiladas at local restaurant La Mesa, saw the "Bodies" exhibit in Omaha (Bellevue is essentially a suburb of Omaha, despite its separate identify), and had afterward with custard with blueberry and peaches. Yesterday, country-road exploring, and a too-short visit to a small local museum with artifacts and well-made displays about this area's history and culture.

Spent a few hours last night around the chiminea getting eaten by bugs, enjoying the fire, listening to fireworks all around the neighborhood (and it's not even July yet!). Tomorrow morning, heading out for TN by way of St. Louis, where I intend to stop at Pappy's Smokehouse for some takeaway BBQ. If I pass some other place first that looks as good or better than my (rather arbitrary) choice of Pappy's, that's fine -- I can stop there, instead. Or also. But St. Louis is famous for BBQ, and I intend to avail myself of it.

Today walked w/ Barry and Kay at the Riverfront Park, near the Con-Agra campus in downtown Omaha (where there was a great mini-display about the history of local restaurants), and then the three of us walked into Iowa over a pedestrian bridge. After this, a long time (never long enough) wandering through Bass Pro, looking at boats, tents, guns, bows, clothing, etc. Later, custard with (in my bowl) blackberries and peaches. Back home, for kimchi and rice, and just a handful of fireworks w/ Tanya and Sheena. Lesson: the big red stick labeled "BOOM STICK" is actually not silent. I thought it was labeled "Giant Smoke Stick" or "The Smoke Stack" or something similar, because my brain talked myself into that belief. However, after it turned out to be an alternative packaging for some quite-loud firecrackers, I (re)-read the tattered remains. "'Boom Stick.' Huh." The girls thought this was amusing, esp. after I had assured them of its silence, in keeping with the late hour.

Intent is to reach Eastern TN late Thursday or early Friday, depending on traffic, weather, energy, and whim. Driving at night this time of year is great, just for the fireworks that are going off near the highway. Plan: from Omaha area, south via 29 to I-70, and then east to St. Louis. From St. Louis, 64 east to Lexington, KY, where I will veer south onto 75; this will take me toward Knoxville, and I'll get onto 40 East.

20100625, Friday

m1493: Left Gabriel's place in Boulder after a fantastic few days of rest and good conversation, 7:15 a.m.

m1531: 8:15 a.m.: Still in Boulder, lost, inexplicably. I might, or might not, want to see the actual path I travel when this happens. I don't remember any gap in time, but somehow even traveling on what on a map look like straight lines on straight roads I get turned around, and sideways. Every which way but correct. In the end, I gave up on the shorter path I'd worked out on Google Maps (so simple, it needed no printing, just a few street names and right-angle turns jotted down), and followed the dumber-seeming, longer, rush-hour-style path that my GPS advised. It was dumb, long, and rush-hour jammed. On the other hand, I'm no longer circling Boulder punching holes into the roof of my car from the inside and exhausting my lifetime supply of profanity.

m1601 - Stopped for gas; had enough for probably 50 more miles, but my fuel light had come on (as it does at 1/8 of a tank). Had a Mad-Max / third-world / near-future experience when the first three gas stations I stopped at were bereft of gasoline. At the third of them, pinching myself and convinced this was reality rather than nightmare, I asked the clerk of the attached convenience store what was going on. Apparently the same fellow owns the ones I saw with no gas, and he had financial problems, so ... no more gas. The clerk directed me just a few more blocks to a Western station (doing gangbuster business), where I bought a tank of gas, and two 32oz bottles of PowerAde for $1 each.

m1628: Thought for a bumpersticker (is this already out there in the wild?): "The peasants are revolting!"

m1710: I-76 ends; I-80 begins.

m1757: Enter Central Time Zone

m 1791 - Wal-mart,N. Platte, NE: shrimp, rolls, shaving oil, shampoo, lemonade, ice, string cheese. Considered rotisserie chicken, gave up as too messy.

m1829: Gothenburg, NE: "YOUNG, SKINNY, WIRY FELLOWS. NOT OVER 18. MUST BE EXPERT RIDERS. ORPHANS PREFERRED." Hey -- an original stop on the Pony Express! A tiny thing (wooden cabin, moved from its original location for preservation in a park here); difficult to imagine what a job this must have been for the riders. Interesting to see how quickly the price of delivery on the Pony Express dropped; within the short (18 months) it was in service, mail went from $5 an ounce (and this was when U.S. money was worth something) to only $1.(The telegraph arrived in force.) Also, though I might have guessed that this was a private enterprise, I wasn't fully aware: the Pony Express was the endeavor of three men: Maddel, Russell, and Majors.

I got a fantastic (but of need too short) tour of the Gothenburg Historical Museum, too -- saw only one floor (the main one), and too quickly, but it was nonetheless worth the trip. This tiny museum is just across the way from the Pony Express station, and at least today has more volunteer staffers than visitors. Gothenburg: Swedish founder; he tried to get lots of Swedes to move there (and was successful), but Germans owned much of the nearby land, dominated politics early. A very early town for electrification, esp. considering its distance from the metropolises of the east; it was electrified just one year after the White House switched from gas to electric lighting.

Nice touch: on the way out of town, I saw a custom license plate: PONY XP.

Here things get a bit worse for specifics, because I was suddenly driving instead of noting: My KOA spot in Gothenberg was flooded. RVs are still fine, but no tent spots now. Wish I'd known that an hour earlier, so I could have immediately checked in instead at the Holiday Park in North Platte, quite a ways west. As it is, I ended up taking the next exit, reversing, and zipping again in the wrong directions (theme of the trip, it seems) to check in at ... the Holiday Park in North Platte, quite a ways west. Theoretically, this park has internet. In reality, it doesn't work, and I'm on the MiFi. Except for that thankfully-sidestepped failing, it's not bad: just under $25 for a spot (meant for trailers, but I needed the electricity), after 10pct discount for AAA and a further 5pct discount for paying cash.

m1894: Where things stand. A mere 400 miles in the day, not fantastic, esp. because that doesn't represent 400 miles of net forward progress, but only about 300. Ah, well. Tomorrow will see my excellent step-brother-in-law-or-whatever (it doesn't matter) Barry, which I'm looking forward to.

Weather: Hot. 89 degrees at the airport, says wunderground.com. Even in Fahrenheit, that's a wee bit warm. Hopefully there will be some breeze as the evening goes on, by which I mean a wind strong enough to all but blow away my tent with me inside would be welcome.

Dinner will be shrimp cocktail and lemonade; first course (already in progress) is mozarella-and-carrot sandwiches on pumpernickel rolls with mustard and Old Bay. Some red onion, cucumber, mushroom or spinach would be nice, but bought none of these. Dessert: Boston cream donut. Fruit and nuts to follow.

Tonight: must write a postcard to my best-ever niece, and perhaps some to others as well. Plan to sleep deeply.

20100622 Tuesday

Mile 1367 of my trip; I'm in Cheyenne, Wyoming, less than 100 miles from Boulder. Travel with the new tires has been fine -- no problems noted, gas mileage seems as expected (or at least so close that I can't necessarily say there's anything wrong -- I am at 5000 feet after all, and climbing). Montana and Wyoming, both distractingly beautiful. Passed a Wall Drug bumpersticker, mildly regret not making it out that direction -- would definitely stop there if I was. In a few hours, I should have dinner with my cousin in Boulder, enjoying that city.

A few earlier notes-by-mile-marker:

m613:
Snow on craggy peaks south of I-90, make-believe clouds above. Hills just to the north, a golf course for giants. Blue sky to define blue.

m680: the Continental Divide!

m810: The CRAZY mountains

m927: Slept for several hours at the Christenson rest area, Montaina. Left after that nap, at dawn, 4:38 local time, beautiful sunset.

m963: Crossed the Little Bighorn River just as a train approached on the tracks to the south. A deer skittered across the road in front of me the same mile (slight brake, slight swerve, all was well).

m973: trotting coyote crosses the road ahead of me, 5:26 AM

m1006: Enter Wyoming!

m1034: Sheridan, WY; a big crennelated dome S. of the highway, with a set of bleachers next door. A school? Want to know more about this building -- I wonder if it's from the Monolithic Dome Institute.

m1087: Sign: "Middle Fork / Crazy Woman."

m113: Rest stop, napped for close to 2 hours. Remaining, 335 miles to Denver

m1149: My car's warranty expires (hit 36,000 miles)

m1254, road marker 117: trees i nhuge body of water -- a dam-formed lake? W
would like to go swimming in this right now.

m1295 - stop in Wheatland, Wy for groceries: grapes, yogurt, corn chips, tea, water ... had a coupon for shaving cream, but they didn't stock that variety.

m1287: Cross the Laramie River