2005-12-29 
 

trippy dots

This optical illusion is new to me. (thanks to Bart for pointing it out)

The human mind is a wonderful and strange thing.

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, random review

* posted by me at 11:18 PM

(1) comments



2005-12-26 
 

merry

Had a pretty wonderful long weekend, just me and G and a Christmas tree.

Noticed a lot of unrest during the preceeding holiday season. Folks upset about the commercialism and obligation of the holidays. I have to admit, I just don’t get it.

Okay. I understand that the holiday has transitioned over many years from a day of purely religious significance to a Vegaslike Extravaganza with bells and whistles and too many lights….but that’s just what they’re selling. You don’t have to buy it.

Christmas for me is still about remembering that peace should be our ultimate goal, spending time around a decorated tree with the family…oh and that guy who walked around 2000 years ago suggesting we all be a bit nicer to each other. Not his followers or those that came to interpret his words afterwords. Just him and a message of peace.

I moved out to SF before my extended family imploded,and in many ways I’m lucky for that. Going back for the holidays after the family tree trunk had been split was a bit more stressful than I would’ve liked with the new scheduling challenges, but I didn’t get to see any of them very often so it wasn’t very different than visiting during the non-holiday season.

It's also true that these days Christmas leaves a bittersweet taste in my mouth, but that’s because my faith in eventual peace for this planet is a lot less solid than when I was a child. Somehow, back then, it was easy to believe that the crowd of people standing around me and singing Silent Night while holding slowly dripping candles truly believed in the underlying message of hope and joy. I guess I’m lucky that my family kept focused on that side of things instead of concentrating on the gifting and RECIEVING.

I’ve since been introduced to cynicism and keeping up with the Joneses. Slowly I came to realize that not every one who complained about the season was truly a Grinch or a Scrooge. They were overcome with the stress of trying to see everyone all in one day so that no one felt slighted….and some people assumed an OBLIGATION to give gifts. That’s not fun! I like giving gifts. I wish I had more money to do it with, but I somehow avoid the feeling of guilt if all I can do is send someone a card. Like I mention above, my parents always made it very clear that Christmas meant hope, love and joy. That it really wasn’t about the presents at all. That lesson stuck.

Now it’s true, my adult self recognizes that sometimes a Grinch’s heart will stay just the same size, and that Scrooges have been known to die miserly and alone. In a twisted way these facts make my clinging to hope more relevant. These people need the rest of us to keep believing that change can happen, they need to see the rest of us acting a bit nicer to each other if we’re ever going to convince them that there’s another way to be.

Sure it should last all year through and many people do try to remember that. But if for some it’s only about a month each year where they try a bit harder to be kind to one another amidst the flashing neon signs selling sales, I’ll take it. Maybe it’s some of them we ought to be helping. Help them let go of what they think Christmas needs to be.

What it boils down to is that the holiday is what you make of it. I happen to like Christmas trees, with simple lights and handmade decorations. So that’s what we do. G likes cutting down our own tree. So we do that too. I’d never cut one down before meeting him, but it’s tradition now, because we decreed it as such. It’s that easy. If you don’t like Christmas traditions…or Hanukah, Kwanza or Solstice traditions for that matter, change them into something more relevant to you and your world. The message this time of year, as much as any other, should be one of hope for what could be and joy for that which we already have.

Remember your power to decree your own traditions. If you decide that Christmas ought to be about expressing your artistic side through a house covered in lights, go for it. If you decide it’s only about calling out to a few special folks, then forgo the gifts, cards and trees, it’s really okay. Even if you decide it’s about nothing at all, that’s your choice too.

Just don’t ever tell me that my Christmas is wrong because it differs from your ideas of what it should be and tends to be inclusive instead of exclusive. There’s a little kid in me still hoping for peace and I’d like to keep him alive as long as possible.

Merry holidays everyone!

Labels: dose of mikey, g, writing

* posted by me at 4:11 PM

(0) comments



2005-12-22 
 

odd twin sets

I've begun to notice odd sets of twins in the periphery of my life.

The man in the mailroom today looks exactly like yesterday's Muni bus driver, with the only difference being a prominent scar on the left side of his face. A woman passing me by on the street with frizzy red hair is the mirror image of the Starbucks barista with a brunette bob.

As if the world ran out of extras to walk through the background of my life and needs people to double up on roles.

Labels: dose of mikey

* posted by me at 12:32 AM

(0) comments



2005-12-20 
 

santa in my lap

Lunched with a former coworker who left the company after having her second kidlet. Too cute! She had him in a tiny Santa suit made out of cozy fleece.

He’s one of those babies that smiles at about anything, and I was more than happy to keep him in my cube while she visited with coworkers. Later I carried him down the street while she gave his almost 4 year old brother a bit of attention.

I was rather young, but I do remember vaguely how annoying it was when Dude would get all the attention just for being his cute little self while my wonderfulness went largely ignored by others in the room. Made sure to send some of the ‘how cute are you’ comments to the older brother and pointed out after lunch that he’d get to drive WAY ahead of the baby. This seemed to please him, but there was also a toy frog in his line of site so I won’t take all the credit.

Labels: dose of mikey, memory lane

* posted by me at 10:21 PM

(0) comments



2005-12-15 
 

lesson learned

When first stepping from the shower, it is not a good idea to grab the razor and vigorously wind the cord around it in order to clear space at the sink. That plug packs quite a punch.

Ouch.

Labels: dose of mikey

* posted by me at 9:12 PM

(0) comments



2005-12-12 
 

screen with envy

My vintage monitor kept going blank all weekend and would refused to turn back on. I suspect it heard me talking about that flat screen I'd like to get for Christmas and kept itself off out of spite.

G figured out a workaround, so I'm back for now. Thing is that I anthropomorphized the screen so much over the weekend that I'm semi-convinced it'll figure out away to thwart the workaround. Doesn't it realize that'll only make me crave the flatscreen more? Silly screen.

Labels: dose of mikey, g

* posted by me at 11:24 PM

(0) comments



2005-12-10 
 

spell check

Long story short, I sometimes use the Blogger interface as a spell checker when I'm typing in other web pages. I thought it would be funny to start saving each of these random strings here as a draft and eventually publish them.

I might be very wrong, but here they are:

I'm very good at covering dirt with flowers. Metaphorically speaking.

So I'm a happy pagan...or a virtuous pagan or something to that affect. Doomed to a peaceful sadness. That pleases me in an odd way, but I'm a little skeptical.

Unless they're wearing some stereotypical matching outfits that consist of too much gold lame, then the bad fashion cancels out the cute.

Waiting for the person in front of you to finish bagging up before you start scanning is not efficient at all and causes unnecessary stress to the person in front of you since you're standing there staring daggers at them while they do a bad job of packing up their groceries.

you didn't mention the helicopters flying overhead until well after midnight...those added to the general cacophony and gave the neighborhood a cozy wartime feel

All that being said, ties are a tool of the devil and should only be worn as headbands during serious air guitar sessions.

that being said, the flying car article rekindled the almost dead embers in my heart that used to rage for Jetsonian innovations

The opening "mirror" shot of the Thames and the semi-cultured notes made me feel as though this must be worthy television because it was British. Only later did I make the connection that Benny Hill shared the same distributor.

Labels: dose of mikey, writing

* posted by me at 12:33 AM

(1) comments



2005-12-05 
 

warm room

I have a confession. I love hotel rooms.

Especially hotel rooms paid for by someone other than myself. Now, I've stayed in some of the more upscale places in New York, Chicago and other major cities, but my favorite is still the Westin in St. Louis. A former warehouse, it's only 7 floors total, but the rooms are huge, COMFORTABLE, and decorated stylishly.

I'm here for only the second time and only for a night, but it's almost worth the five hour plane ride just to be surrounded by this feeling that all is right in the world. Only thing missing right now is G to snuggle up with on the heavenly bed.

And no, I haven't hit the mini bar yet. It's just a nice hotel.

Labels: dose of mikey, g, random review

* posted by me at 7:47 PM

(0) comments



2005-12-04 
 

partially cloudy

A mini depression front settled on top of me yesterday. Nothing I could quite put my finger on, but life suddenly seemed rather pointless. There'd been no harbingers warning me of the approaching darkness, but there it sat. Resting uncomfortably above me all day long.

Too many hours of navel gazing and random television programming turned the feelings from hopeless sadness to a dull grey ache and then I went to bed.

This morning I woke refreshed and full of an intense joy. Ready to conquer dragons and eager to face the world.

This emotional swing doesn't happen all the time, maybe once a month or so and I'm experienced enough now to know it's just a short matter of time before the intense depression lifts. Thing is, I'm also experienced enough to admit that there seems to be some connection between the extremes. Most of the time I live life in a contented hum. (Lately, way too stressed, but that's another entry for another time.) The days I'm hit with extremes are few and far between.

Thing is, the feeling of pure power I feel today seems dependent on knowing the antithesis of that feeling. Not sure I'm willing to give up the one in order to escape the other. Especially since over the years, I've learned how to mitigate the effects of the depression period and found tools that allow me to lengthen the days of joy and power.

In other words, look out St. Louis!

Labels: dose of mikey

* posted by me at 2:43 PM

(1) comments



2005-12-03 
 

an entry in two parts - part two

Wednesday night, as I typed in the preceeding entry, I had several lines interspersed throughout which owned that a certain religious ceremony played a part in my willingness to open my mind to new ideas. It mucked with the flow of the entry so I decided to take them out, but didn't want to lose the thoughts. I saved 'em in draft form and decided to publish them later. So regarding yesterday's take that the Tomorrow People helped pave the way for a SciFi passion...

I need to admit that this particular take on things may not be 100 percent accurate. In fact, at the time, I held an unshakeable faith in the very unscientific dogma of the protestant church, and much of the SciFi I came across did tend to challenge that faith or at least force me into a position where I'd need to examine it.

It was around the time of the Tomorrow People that I also began preparations to become a member of the church. It involved classes in the church's beliefs and a much deeper examination of religion than I'd been exposed to before.

It might surprise some to learn that I class the experience as quite positive. I had the good fortune to be led by a man who insisted that we truly examine our own faith to ensure that it was real without once standing above and claiming that he had the accurate interpretation of the whole truth. In fact, it was his admission that the bible was indeed open to interpretations and that he himself had questions about certain points that kept me a member of that particular congregation for so long. Long after I realized that the sect as a whole was decades, if not centuries away from considering intimate love between men as being a godly option in life.

As I look back there were many other factors involved in the expansion of my mind. Parents who insisted that I learn to think for myself, a particularly involved history teacher in 10th grade, and many others.

Darn. I thought I was having a relevation and it turned out I was just looking at my belly button.

Oh well, it's the thought that counts. Nostalgic masturbation aside, I truly appreciate those who gave me the opportunities and ecourougment to think. I'll let these entries stand as a minor thank you to all of them.

Labels: dose of mikey, memory lane

* posted by me at 1:03 AM

(0) comments



2005-12-01 
 

an entry in two parts - part one

Recently I've been going through the Tomorrow People DVDs in the Netflix library. (in order, of course)

I remember watching the series on Nickelodeon as a young teenager and how it marked a bit of a turning point for me. I had always loved fantasy, but until that point felt uncomfortable with SciFi because the sometimes frightening ideas and possible negative paths for humanity that the stories depicted followed laws and logic that I knew deep down could allow those ideas and paths to become realities.

It scared the shit out of me.

Then I found the Tomorrow People which showed a world with a bit of hope, where people chose to live a caring life because it felt like the right thing to do and not because there was someone standing above them enforcing codes written by a select few with oft skewed viewpoints. It was around this time when I went from being afraid of SciFi to craving it; precisely because of the challenges it presented. The frightening ideas turned into warnings and encouraged me to think of alternatives.

Alice's six impossible things before breakfast suddenly had quite a few variations that I'd never considered before.

Rewatching the series, I'm forced to admit that the acting wasn't always top notch and that the dialouge sometimes left a bit to be desired. All the same, I'm still completely sucked in as the 14 year old I was relives his wish to "break out". To share in the three T's of Telepathy, Teleportation and Telekenisis, and to rejoice in finding others who shared the dream of making the world a better place.

Labels: dose of mikey, memory lane, random review

* posted by me at 12:42 AM

(1) comments