Saturday, March 17, 2001

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

What is it about the Irish folk culture that finds a warm place in so many hearts, a tear in so many eyes and a smile on so many faces?

A simple and yet convoluted and sometimes contradictory outlook on life's joys and troubles, it's a blending of opposites into a complex patchwork pattern. It's about finding the good in the things that matter most, the simple and the grand, the things that make living an art. It's about life, honor, good cheer, friendship and most of all, it's about love.

An Irish Blessing

May you see God's light on the path ahead
When the road you walk is dark.
May you always hear,
Even in your hour of sorrow,
The gentle singing of the lark.
When times are hard may hardness
Never turn your heart to stone,
May you always remember
when the shadows fall—
You do not walk alone.
10:31 AM ::link::

Friday, March 16, 2001

Friends of Forrest, an organization devoted to the Confederate general, Nathan Bedford Forrest, is concerned over the relocation of a monument in Selma, Alabama. They are worried that the orientation of the statue, facing east into a cemetery, may give the false impression that Forrest is buried there. While the cemetery is thought to contain a number of mass unmarked graves, Forrest is actually buried at Forrest Park, in Memphis, TN.

Lacking any formal training in military tactics, Forrest learned his trade quickly during the Civil War and became one of the South's most capable generals. His place in history is tarnished by his association after the war with the Ku Klux Klan.
10:52 AM ::link::

The wire fence of the Southern Michigan Correctional Facility surrounds a small cemetery, leading many to believe that this is a burial plot for the unclaimed bodies of prisoners. A sign in front tells another tale of the Pease Cemetery, which is actually a family plot with faded tombstones from the 1850's. Predating both the prison and the Blackman Township, the graveyard is a resting place for early settlers of the area.

10:34 AM ::link::

Thursday, March 15, 2001

I'm usually not too enthralled with those lists of questions things that seem to pop up from time to time. If I see one via e-mail, it triggers an immediate "delete button" response. This one didn't, perhaps because I think quite a lot of the one that sent it to me. Strangely enough, I enjoy reading other folks answers to them and so I figured "What the heck, once can't hurt anything."

1. LIVING ARRANGEMENT?

Inner city rowhouse that is older than my wife and my combined ages.
Quarters shared with dog (cute but stupid) and cat (friendly but always hungry)

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
and
All Tomorrow's Parties by William Gibson

3. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?

Steam Locomotive, circa 1850, from B&O Railroad Museum

4. FAVORITE BOARD GAME?

Trivial Pursuit

5. FAVORITE MAGAZINE?

Web Techniques

6a. FAVORITE SMELLS?

There's one step on the stairs in our house that puts your nose just at the level of the downstairs ceiling. The smells from whatever is cooking in the kitchen hit you full force when you descend to that step. Cookies in the oven tops the list for food.

Other than that, it would have to be a fresh salt ocean breeze at sunrise.

6b. LEAST FAVORITE SMELLS?

stale beer

7. FAVORITE SOUND?

Lots of those... camera shutter click, the "Happy Mac" sound at start up, waves lapping against the hull while sailing, rain on the skylight

8. WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD?

Knowing a friend is hurting and not being able to do a damn thing about it.

9. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING?

Let dog out, coffee, check e-mail and web server log file (I need a life)

10. FAVORITE COLOR?

deep blue

11. HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOU ANSWER THE PHONE?

1 if it's close at hand, more than 4 and the machine's got it.

12. FUTURE Child's NAME?

Wife keeps threatening something like "Rowena"

13. WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IN LIFE?

Love and respecting other, doing what you can to help make life better

(no changes made here from the answer supplied by the one that sent me the e-mail, I think they nailed it.)

14. FAVORITE FOODS?

Italian: Veal Saltimbocca
Chinese: Moo Shi Shrimp
Japanese: Sushi - Yellowtail is my fave
American: Cheeseburger, medium rare

15. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA

Dark and sweet is a treat

16. DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST?

Mellowed some with age but I do know what the pedal on the right is for.

17. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?

Does having the cat and dog in bed after dinner count?

18. STORMS - COOL OR SCARY?

Bring 'em on!

19. WHAT TYPE WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?

1974 Honda Civic. One of the early models, it was light enough to pick up with a few friends help.

20. MEET ONE PERSON DEAD OR ALIVE?

No way to narrow it down to just one:

Buddha, Christ, Mohammad, etc. for some answers;
Leonardo DaVinci for some genius;
Ken Kesey for a dash of crazy.

21. FAVORITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK?

Single Malt Scotch whiskey

22. WHAT IS YOUR ZODIAC SIGN?

Virgo

23. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI?

Only if "disguised" by sauce, cheese, or blended in with other vegies

24. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB YOU WANTED WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Captain of a charter sailboat in the Caribbean.
I had it when I was too young and stupid to realize how great it was.

25. IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY COLOUR?

Never. I worked too hard for all the gray.

26. EVER BEEN IN LOVE???.....

In so many different ways, at so many different times, and it was all grand.

27. IS THE GLASS HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL?

Half empty, until I can reach the Scotch bottle.

28. FAVORITE MOVIES:

Casablanca

29. DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS?

I use two fingers, maybe three on a good day and must watch the keyboard carefully.

30. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED?

Dust foxes, grown fat with consumption of dust bunnies.

31. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUMBER?

7

32. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH?

rock climbing

33. SAY ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU.

Should have been in the answer for number 20.

34. FROM THE PEOPLE YOU EMAILED THIS TO-WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?

I'll put my money on Robin, she can't resist goofy stuff like this. She should have been in answer for 20 too, but I'm counting on July working out.

6:33 PM ::link::

Wednesday, March 14, 2001

On a day like today, I'll take any little victory I can get. Something easy to do with immediate results can pull my day right out of the toilet. I guess I'm not too demanding when it comes to finding some sunshine or else I'm ready and willing to grasp the tiniest of straws to maintain my sanity.

Between a work week with ever increasing amounts to do, (Not just your basic disgruntled worker bitching here. I've been keeping records and there's been a better than 100% increase in both number of courses supported and raw number of PDF files cranked out in the past two years.) and a school week filled with such interesting delights as a 300 slide PowerPoint presentation on the ethics of Barbie dolls (conclusion: Barbie and Mattel are minions of Satan.) well, lets just say that my physical, intellectual and all other assorted energies were emulating the DJIA's recent plummet.

Toss in a few days of nail biting waiting for the SXSW to finally update their web site and even the boost from the eventual announcement wasn't quite enough to overcome those dreaded words from my wife, "John, I think there's something wrong with my computer."

One of her external SCSI hard drives wasn't mounting. No problem, we'll just check all the connections, verifiy that there's no ID conflicts, restart and it'll pop back up on the desktop. Simple enough fix, even late at night after a dog tired day. Until it doesn't work. Okay, step two... let's check the driver software. Nada, gone, vanished, no trace of it. Good thing in a way. One possible cause of the problem found. Now just have to find the driver software disk and re-install.

Yeah... right.

My wife and I get along great. I love her and she loves me. One reason that we get along is a shared lax attitude towards organization. I use the PHD (Piled Higher and Deeper) filing method, where her stuff is stored carefully in folders... many folders... strewn across the entire house. Think I have a chance in hell of finding that disk? At 11:00 p.m. after a day from hell at work? I was ready to turn the house upside down and deal with it right then and there but was persuaded to leave it until the next day.

And you know what?

I found that little sucker!
Install, restart, and voila!
Hard disk mounts and is accessible!

Like I said, it was a tiny one but it was good enough for me.
6:18 PM ::link::

Just a few short days to get your entries on to Randy's haiku contest. Writing the little suckers can be fun but can also be habit forming. Anyone can do it, it's only 17 syllables... how hard can it be?

Tell tales of great joy,
Or let your heart weep sadly.
The words are all yours.

2:05 PM ::link::

Tuesday, March 13, 2001

Now this is really great news!

Our prayers and thoughts are with you and your dad, Patti.
3:27 PM ::link::

Patience be damned!

WooooHooooo!
12:24 PM ::link::

Still awaiting any sort of news as to the results of the SXSW Web Awards. They said they'd be posting the winners on Sunday night after the awards ceremony but here it is over 40 hours later and I still have no idea of the outcome. It's not as if winning is going to make any big change in my life or in what I do here but I'd still really like to know, one way or another.

Yeah, I would have loved to have attended the festival but real life interferes sometimes with our little pleasures. It wasn't a hard decision to make, both time and money said loudly and clearly that there was no way to swing it. So I'm not regretting the decision not to attend, I just wish that the SXSW folks would update their freaking site sometime real soon now.

I entered the competition purely on a whim, with absolutely no expectations of even making it to the finals. Getting this far's been kind of fun, good for a little traffic, and maybe some small sense of self validation, even if it is for something "Weird/Extreme". Curiousity's getting to me now, though. The results are in and nobody has said a word on the SXSW site. The only award that I've heard of has been that Who WouldBuy That? got the best weblog award.

Maybe I need to take a little walk, step outside in the fresh air, and see if I can find a little patience.
12:18 PM ::link::

Interesting follow-ups to the Rosehill Cemetery property sale in Chicago, courtesy of the good folks at Grave-L:

The cemetery property in danger of being developed is part of the conglomerate, Service Corporation International (SCI). This company has been quietly acquiring local funeral homes and cemeteries and reportedly blocking competition. According to a 1999 report from the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs, SCI owned funeral homes may be charging up to 25% more than locally owned establishments. Since local funeral homes are not eager to reveal that they are owned by SCI, consumer has no way of easily determining if a cost comparison between establishments is being conducted on firms owned by this company.

Is SCI in your neighborhood?
8:11 AM ::link::

Monday, March 12, 2001

When I first stumbled blindly into this strange world of weblogs, journals, online diaries or whatever you want to call them (thank you, maggie, for pointing the way), I had some doubts as to whether it would be a short experiment, a minor sideshow or even less. I've never kept a journal "in real life"... whatever that may be, so the habit of writing on a daily basis is taking some time to settle in. Even after eight months, I'm still trying to feel my way towards what is right for me.

I do know that I have encountered some brightly shining stars, people who have made my daily life brighter in many ways. I've never met any of them, except through e-mail or AIM, and most of them, unless they are fanatical referral log checkers, probably have little or no idea that I am even among their daily readers. Yet, these people, these wonders behind the weblogs, have come to have an important place in my life. Through their shared words, they share the joys and the struggles, both small and large, that bring their lives to sharp focus.

Is it silly to worry about someone you've never even met, just because they haven't written in their journal for a week or so? Perhaps it is or perhaps just knowing that others are thinking of you can be a help. At other times, a short hiatus can mean that they are just too busy having a great time with a new found freedom and although I miss their daily words, I know they will be back.

So it seems to have turned out that the best part of this journal is not in having a place for my own silly ramblings but rather the many connections formed to the lives, hopes, and dreams of others who have been kind enough to share their words. The list of links on the right side of this page keeps growing, each one a wonder, each one a miracle, each one a person behind the page. Go meet them.
9:01 AM ::link::

Sunday, March 11, 2001

The suspense is killing me!
I wish I was able to get down to SXSW.
8:48 PM ::link::

I've been playing around a bit in PhotoShop, digital doodles and manipulations, combining and altering some of my photographs, hoping that something new will emerge from them in the process. I'll most likely continue with this, just for the fun and pleasure of it. I'm still not sure if the results belong here or not. Maybe as a small sidebar to the standard photos, maybe as a whole new direction. Your thoughts and comments are welcomed.

1:32 PM ::link::

Morgaana has a new set of photographs from her visit to the famous Hollywood Cemetery in Virginia. The black and white shots feature a number of the beautiful statues to be found there. She promises more coming soon, so keep checking back.
11:16 AM ::link::

One of Chicago's finest old cemeteries, Rosehill Cemetery, may be threatened by development as the owners attempt to sell of nonburial portions of the 350 acre property. One of the featured cemeteries in the book, Graveyards of Chicago, Rosehill is the resting place for at least a dozen mayors of Chicago, along with 200,000 other departed.
10:24 AM ::link::

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