October 2004 Archives
There is a film that falls over the eyes and distorts what one is able to intake. It is less a glossing over than it is a failure to recognize the circumstances that led us to that path in the first place. We can faintly recall a turn at one crossroads, followed by another, and yet another and so on until we have fairly crossed over the original crossroads and wind up lost. We look around and see nothing but the trunks of the grandest trees stretching up to raise their broad boughs across the outer reaches of our immediate universe. The beacons we look to to guide us home shrink away, seeking their solace beyond the fallen canopies, stoically watching us, a pinpoint on a spinning satellite, somewhere beneath a blanket of low lying haze. It is here, in the most dubious of places, that we are forced to make our best decisions -- often because there is little there for us to choose from.
Suppose you had the forethought, or happenstance, to include in your original journey the priceless commodity that any explorer worth their salt considers a third arm. What could the luxury of a compass afford you when you have failed to chart the coordinates of your departure point? There isn't enough to be said concerning the fortune one carries if in the birthing of curiosity they have the wherewithal to plant the seed of forethought in their breast pocket. In hindsight, that fortune is meek.
Paths are a phenomenon of time. An artifact of custom. Tradition. Often their arrival is coincident with the ease of their formation. They are the decisions of our ancestors. It is this weakness in the root that leads us to the most effective antidote. Throw something in the way of a path and the powers of creation, ingenuity, and adaptation take hold. Thus, forethought becomes only a tool in the gamut that is our journey. We must take with us something besides knowledge, forethought and, as has already been shown, something more than the ability to adapt. We have decided that we must know where we come from and where we stand, even if we don't know exactly where it is we are headed. Therein lies the environment of temptation and fear.
Paths are troublesome. They present a predicament. There is a limited reason to pathos. It is framed by the fences we construct. One must have the ability to see through these fences, to break the film, if one is to gather their senses. Fences are constructs - and can be deconstructed.
And one must know how to construct their URL paths if they are to merge their blogs. AMEN.
I just uploaded a buncha new pics to Flickr -- as I continue to discover ways to free up disk space. This is the only Moses photo of the group -- but there are plenty of others to divert your attention from tasks at hand.
This here laptop (mine, not yours) is rapidly losing disk space as a direct result of being used as a mobile studio for bandnight some months back...
I've been weeding out the archives -- chopping bits and pieces here and there and organizin' the mp3s into keeper folders and trash bins. The keeper folders are gonna be burned and sent down South. The trash bins will be burnt as well -- as data cds -- as there is a lot more trash in the archives than songs to bob your noggin to.
One of the interesting aspects of all this is coming across conversations picked up on the mic that I never really sat down and listened to. There are definitely some stellar moments that I have let slip into the land of Nod -- and I am clipping and packaging those as well. If there are particular humorous phrases uttered between songs - they get their own file and are deleted from the mother mp3. If there is just a lot of nonsense or some really crummy warm-ups or some unnecessary overextended soundchecking -- it's all being mixed together into one mp3. The latter is turning out - to my ears - to be a rather interesting compilation - but it is a small dosage of the former I'm gonna share here.
This smile file is a mix of two instances on two different nights. One was during a heated debate -- the other was after rockin through a rendition of Uncle Tupelo's New Madrid. I put 'em together because they work - and in this case - one file is better than two. So, in what may be the start of some continuous mp3 uploads, I present the first, very brief:
[Sicemomyeah.mp3 ](57k - Right Click, Save Target/Link As)
- It's extremely tough to convince a puppy with a broken leg it needs bed rest - especially when it's so fun to get down on all fours and hide your face from him so that he continuously tries to burrow and pry his wet nose between your arms and the side of your head.
- There's a guy in my database class that is Nick Burns. His condescending attitude boils my blood.
You know...on second thought...maybe I'm Nick Burns...
This morning Moses paid a visit to the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University. It is one of the toppermost of the poppermost when it comes to vet ed. It was to be the fourth and final diagnosis. (The 1st visit to the vet in Alaska doesn't count -- since they didn't get a chance to look at the x-rays...)
What follows is the final diagnosis of Curtis W. Probst, DVM Diplomate ACVS. Professor, Orthopedic Surgery. (typos due to my inability to decipher handwriting)
Diagnosis Or Findings At Time of Discharge: Chronic Salter II Fracture of the distal femur.
Surgery Performed Or Treatment Rendered:
You are all getting refunds.
Just to further clarify --
We've been getting some cash donations and offers for checks in snail mail as well -- That's great! If you don't trust Paypal --- just contact Mark (a.ka. willi) by email or leave a comment on his website -- which automatically sends him an email -- and he'll be happy to let you know where to send that.
I'd like to thank Barb and Mel for their generous donation. We've got a little mason jar over here with some of the cash handoffs from relatives -- and Mark has added a list to that jar to keep track of all the individual donations...And I just noticed your names...Thanks...
Thanks as well to Estee in New York. Your name is now etched thereupon as well.
An update on Moses: Today he did the cutest thing. Unfortunately I was at the library when it happened -- but I was told that the reason he was wet and smelling so lovely was because he had found some doo-doo in the back yard and rolled around in it. The family was unable to determine with finality the source of the doo -- be it cat or deer, but the end result was nevertheless predetermined - being a quick bath for the black beast. Isn't that sweet? I've heard in Dog language that that's supposed to mean he was trying to bring a present to us -- much like a cat dropping off dead things by your door. I thanked him as he hopped around my legs when I got home.
I think tomorrow I may go the old fashioned route and start printing off some flyers for the walls of coffee shops...
Thanks again everybody.
Jonathan -- your testing succeeded -- the $1.00 is in the pot. Jonathan raised a good point -- some of you may have some questions ---
Question: Do we have to sign up with the Beta-dropcash-thingy to contribute? It's a little unclear and I want to assure everybody that you are trustworthy and safe fellows. Please get back to me so I can flow some dough. . .
My answer: The dropcash is just an intermediary between Paypal and ourselves. They don't get any of your info. They help making the setup process a little easier. Paypal is the same system you use to do E-Bay transactions...They had a coupla glitches over the past few days -- but ironed them out just in time. Security was never an issue for them. They're tight, yo. Just like us.
He also managed to prove the point that every bit helps!
Ok --
You've We've got to have a confirmed bank account to accept payments...
Just took care of that...But the process takes 2-3 days to confirm.
It involves Paypal making two small donations to your bank account which you then confirm --- so -- as soon as we confirm those you'll see that green band moving across the donations screen...
Remember -- every cent helps -- and is appreciated by Moses...
You just have to wait a coupla days for us to catch up to technology...
Blah.
Umm.
Ok... We've had a donation --- but that thingy isn't doing its job...It should be saying something like -- HEY! Moses got some lovin! -- but it doesn't...And that's just wrong...
Gonna have to figure out why.
But thanks for the lovin AB!
Oi.
It's been a coupla months since I've had one of these.
I went along with Willi last night to meetup with his old friends from our childhood neighborhood at cadieux cafe. They bought us food and stuff.
Upon my return I promptly broke one of the firmly established rules I had while in Georgia -- and sent out an email. Sorry, AH. I think I may have gotten a lil emotional...
At least I didn't use the phone.
That sound you hear is the wind rushing out from underneath the sails.
A weekend on the Internet probably isn't the best time to launch a fundraiser. Perhaps Willi and I will procrastinate long enough to push it till Monday -- although I have a feeling we'll get this puppy, no pun intended, up and running in no time.
Some of you may already be familiar with the story of Moses. If you haven't been keeping up, I'm not referring to parting Red Seas or saving the people. Moses is a little black terrier, estimated to be about 13 weeks young that my brother found clinging to a rock in Christmas River over a week ago. This little furball has found his way into our home despite having a fracture in his rear femur. Somebody had tried to dispose of this defenseless puppy - which deviates a little from the Biblical tale. Moses' mom was actually trying to SAVE him from the pharoah -- there was definitely an attempt at puppy murder here.
Anyhow -- as this page has become something of an obit column the past couple of days, I thought it might be good to let you chew on something of substance. Willi and I are working on building up a dropcash account to SAVE MOSES. Moms and Willi have already taken him to three different vets (well, a couple of vets, the humane society and the Michigan State University Veterinary School) and all of them put the figure for rebreaking the already healing leg and resetting it either close to or upwards of $2000. Amputation is a little less -- but still upwards of 1.5k. Of course -- going the other route is a drop in the bucket --- $100. But we don't much feel like killin this here dog.
Hopefully setting this thing up and getting a little free publicity via linkage and what not will add a little to the funding -- I mean - the candidates can't take your money any more -- so maybe you should think of throwing it towards this cause (I believe he's still an independent). I'm thinking we'll have everything going by tonight -- unless of course Willi has given up on the idea already and continues to sleep on the family room sofa because he is too scared to wake up and face down the waves of reality. (Reality is -- I'm not confident we'll see any change -- which - by the way -- donations of non-dollar amounts will be accepted) Again - sometime in the next 48 hours we/I plan to have something set up...
Until then -- get on with your lives. Feel secure in knowing that we're doing everything we can to keep Moses safe. He has a pillow he likes to sleep on. He only cries at night, as moms says -- for "only 45 minutes." He only hobbles when he moves (Actually, it's more like hopping). He loves dog food -- cause its not cat food. Keep Hope Alive! And Moses too! We'll be back later...
Stupid Alarm Clock.
Related:NPR Morning Edition: Campaign Security Screening Crowds for Doubters (Not that I really made an effort to get in.)
Quickly -- Bush made plenty of mistakes during the debate. Here, Mark Kleiman shines a light on two he thinks should be noticed. I think perhaps the most telling statement made by Bush during the debate was his godlike remark that "I just know how this world works..." How ignorant, boastful, egotistical and self-righteous is that?
Update/Debate 2 (10/09/04_9:09PM): "I know how these people think"
Bush is coming to the campus Wednesday during my database class (He'll be there from 2-4. Class is 11-3:30). Am I gonna be able to go to class without taking a loyalty oath?
This morning, after having finished up some work in the computer labs and heading home for lunch, I drove past several GOP buses that were parked on the grounds. Surrounded by cameras and white people in suits milling about, they were emblazoned with "Leadership Matters" and GOP.com as well as the necessary stars and spangles. I tooted my horn twice and extended my arm out the window to flash the thumbs down sign. I then looked over to my right and saw a man in suit and shades in an SBC truck sitting stonefaced, watching me drive by. I drove home, frequently checking my rear view mirror, then ate some lunch.
After lunch I headed to the Library to put in some volunteer hours in the ILL department. Earlier that morning the White House had called to find out if any acting President had ever visited Farmington Hills before. There was also an email distributed saying that the shrub would indeed be on my campus Wednesday afternoon.
Anybody know where I can get a Kerry shirt on such short notice?
update -- Here's a story that doesn't have OCC as the location as yet...
