slapnose.com

Quotes that come to mind lately:

"The world is a fine place, and worth fighting for." - Ernest Hemmingway

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin

From time to time I say something that I think is worth remembering. Maybe I should keep a list.

I received Trey's new album today, and listened to it about 3 times. I love it. Of course that's probably no surprise to anyone who knows me, but I still believe I have some form of objectivity about his music, if not quite as much as about other music, and I think it's smokin'. The songwriting on the slower tracks is quite beautiful, and he's delved into some serious R&B and funk too. I'm particularly into the track Push on 'Til the Day, it makes my ass sweat. I also love Flock of Words, Drifting, and Ether Sunday. Oh, and Night Speaks to a Woman grew on me fast as well. Which one don't you like, Anthony? None of them. I think it all boils down to an emmence respect I have for Trey as a musician and artist. It's like the Coen brothers, The Simpsons, The Beatles, and the other artists in my Hall of Fame. The enjoyment I get out of it is directly related to the joy they put into it. If I can feel their passion for what they're doing, I'll probably be infected by what they do, even when those works cover huge ranges of taste and style. This new album is beautiful because it's uncompromising. It might not be the Great American Album, or as good as this or that in some way or another, but it's an honest document of someone's vision and it shows. Unfortunately, this seems kind of rare these days, unless you count lust for money as a vision. On the other hand, there are hundreds, thousands, of examples of that kind of beauty. We need the sellouts anyway; they keep the lines short for the good stuff.

Something I read about The Beatles the other day comes to mind. "...they were among the few artists of any discipline that were simultaneously the best at what they did, and the most popular at what they did." You could say they were lucky, but I bet they'd disagree.

Here, have a listen.

Quick post. It's late and I gotta get me some sleep.

Saw NimprovYC's second big-time show tonight. They improvised a Shakespeare play for the first act, and the second was a bit more normal. The whole thing was great, Dave was particularly brilliant, as usual. Lots of fun. I managed to get in on the act a tiny bit, by reprising my role as human earmuff, and steering the story of the second act by calling Dave on his cell phone. (They had requested this, I'm not quite so bold as to do it unasked.) It's a great time, and I'm sorry that Dave is probably leaving town. It seems like this thing was just starting to take off.

In other news, Liz bought this on Saturday. Woo Hoo!!! I'm excited to have a car around to use and play with. First step, of course, is the stereo. She needs a name too, we're going to wait for one to come naturally.

I'm migrating all of our volleyball mailing lists to the slapnose.com mail server. Very cool. My new project is to make a web interface for these lists. Yay, new project.

That's it. Bedtime.

Home today because Interwoven is down at work. When this happens, I can't really do anything. If I was working on a different project, I could get something done, but my current project is entirely Interwoven dependant. All the better. It's already late because my computer crashed and I spent 3 days trying to fix it, but I'm not particularly concerned. These things tend to work themselves out. Hey, the worst that could happen is I'd get fired and thrust into the cold harsh light of reality.

Channel 61 played our first Big City Vollebyall match last night. We won the first game and lost the second and third. We were trying some new positions, setting from the right and having a middle hitter. I thought it worked fairly well, with a little practise (or a lot) we could be very effective that way. The captain role is getting a little frustrating, however. What we really need is a coach. Someone who can tell people to shape up or bench 'em. Someone who stands on the sidelines and watches the whole game, watching each of us. As it is now, everyone, myself included, has a lot of complaints about what other people are doing that makes it hard or impossible for them to play well. Basically, it feels like we've reached a sort of limit to how good we can get without some serious coaching or instruction from an outside source. Someone who doesn't have to be nice, who won't see us at work the next day. Someone who's only goal is to make us a better volleyball team.

That said, maybe some of this is better left for Block Island, our slightly more advanced team, and Channel 61 should be left to have fun. The problem with this theory is that we don't have much fun when we suck.

A few days ago I passed the 1000 days of no smoking landmark. I'm up to 1004 now.

Speaking of the quitter, one of these days, I'd like to enhance that baby a little bit. Add some email functionality. Oh yeah, to coredump too.

Ta ta.

10 days can really fly by. Most days I have some form of the thought, "I should really write some of this down. I'll never be able to capture the spirit of the whole thing if I don't do it soon."

Presented here for your consideration, the spirit-less facts.

My knee developed a nasty infection, and now I'm on antibiotics. I never trusted Australia. I think it's clearing up now though, I ripped the scab off the other day so I could clean it properly, and I think it's healing properly now. Gonna be a big scar. This past weekend Liz and I took a Wilderness First Aid class, and I used my knee as an example of what happens when you don't treat common abrasions well.

The class was all day both Saturday and Sunday. It was organized by Inner City Outings, a group of volunteers that take inner city kids out on camping and hiking trips and do other things that they would never be exposed to in the city. We went to an orientation meeting a couple of months ago, but have yet to go on a trip. There were several incredibly annoying adults in the class, but I enjoyed hanging out with the kids. It reminded me of my time at Kanner House, and how satisfying even the smallest interactions with kids and teenagers can be in the right context. It's easy to paint them all with the same brush when you don't spend any actual time with them, but providing a different kind of environment and example for them then they're used to makes a difference. I realized again how maleable kids are and how much they really want to be taught. The training was good too, we learned a good deal about what to do if someone gets hurt far from help. Invaluable skills. You need an improvised traction splint, you give me a call.

Backing up, on Tuesday we played our last Urban League volleyball match. We lost all 3 games, but I think we played better than we ever have before. Everyone played well, we fought hard, and the other team was just better. It doesn't feel bad to lose that way, and it makes me realize that almost all of other losses have not been that way. Usually we're very disappointed with ourselves, and with good reason. This time, though, we could be satisfied.

Wednesday night a big group of us went to see The Fab Faux. As expected, it was an amazing show. I'm never really quite prepared though, no matter how good it was the last time, for how good it is the next. It's a similar feeling I've had with Phish over the years. I can remember in my head that I had a great time and was moved the last time, but there's no way to really capture or recall the feeling, until I experience it again. The Fab Faux are an interesting thing, because you're half feeling that they're a great and, but then you realize that the great band behind the whole thing is The Beatles. These guys are very talented mimics, and of course great musicians in every way, but what really floors me is the songs. As Will Lee said, if I could write one song in my whole life that someone said, "Yeah, that's okay...", I'd be happy. I have to agree with them, that it's the best songwriting, some of the best music, period, in the last 100 years. It's hard to argue.

Thursday was the big .5 and we went out for a nice evening. Dinner, the Empire State Building, and a movie. As we were going into the Empire State Building, I realized I still had my pocket knife, not to mention a Swiss Army knife and a Leatherman in my backpack. They've stepped up security considerably, and there was a sign taht no sharp object of any kind are permitted. I figured I'd give it a shot, the worst they could do is turn us away. I dropped my bag on the x-ray belt, and sure enough, the guy asks me to come over, saying, "What's this?". I went over to the monitor, and it turns out he's pointing to my volleyball pump, a small hand bulb with a hose and needle. It kind of looks like some kind of sex toy. I laughed and explained what it was, but he insisted anyway taht it had a needle and should be turned over to the guy on the other side. I tried to explain that it's not a needle in the traditional sense, but he was a bit confused, so I just showed it to the other guy. He waved me on. The funny part of this story is also the disturbing part: I had no less than 3 knives of varying sizes and shapes in my backpack, and they didn't see any of them. Oh well, good thing I'm a good guy.

After a quick tourist dodge around the observation deck, we headed over to 34th Street to see a movie. A group of people about 8 rows behind us talked through the whole movie, ignoring all manner of hints, subtle and not, to shut the hell up. Towards the climax of the movie, they were not only chattering and laughing (also laughing during an execution scene, very tasteful), but one person, amazingly someone not in the same group, was talking on a cell phone. At one point here was even an usher in the theater, but he was too busy watching Halle Barry's ass to bother to do his job. I couldn't take it anymore and we walked out. Sometimes my temper gets the better of me. But really, this was ridiculous. I've said it before and I won't launch into this now, but I think it's terribly sad that people consider this acceptable. Ignorance, bad upbringing, or just simple jerkiness, it's a damn shame. Liz and I discussed at some length what the best way to handle it is, and I maintain that it's deportation.

Tech note:
Slapnose is now running on SuperBetty, an Athlon XP 1800+ with 512MB of RAM on a Soyo Dragon+ motherboard. Screamin'. I'm having some issues with the power supply, but I'll sort that out one of these days, when I have a minute. Oh, and I solved the mail server problem, it was a firewall issue, and now everything's fine. I have yet to do anything interesting with it, but one of these days, when I have a minute... Finished the photo album redesign as well, much better.

I'm writing a song, but it's slow going. One of these days, when I have a minute, I'll finish it.

I wonder about the thoughts I have when I'm intoxicated. There's the old argument between "it's what you're really feeling, unfiltered, unedited and truthful" and "it's small things magnified, out of proportion, exaggerated". I think it's a really hard question. During those times, I always (maybe not always) feel like it's all closer to the surface. My emotions and ideas are less bogged down with superficial concerns and my attention is turned inward, but at the same time, I'm missing the composure and organization to do anything with those thoughts but watch them go by. It's a cruel trade-off: You get to be enlightened, but you'll have to forget. Enlightenment won't be as certain as you think, enlightenment will only be the realization that you can never really be sure. It's not the answer you find, it's the understanding that there is no answer.

Lazy Saturday.. Why is it that sometimes I feel so singularly unmotivated? I have plenty of constrcutive to semi-constructive things I could be doing, but I'm not really doing anything.

And now the news.

My knee still hurts, but I think it's on the mend. If I don't shower for a couple of days, it should scb up pretty well. Yesterday I had it covered all day, but it healed to the "non-stick" pad, so when I ripped it off, it took all of my skin with it. Hurt like hell, started to bleed again. It's always the stupid injuries that last the longest and hurt the worst. Yes, I did this trying to be fancy on my rollerblades, doing some kind of weird disco move. I wish I could say I did it hopping onto a mean rail slide or a triple misty with a flying squirrel, but it just ain't so. It's a doofus injury.

Thursday night Oxygen had it's 2nd anniversary party. Billed as a star-studded event, it ended up being a fairly crowded party with an open bar. I have no complaints about the open bar, and actually none about the party in general. They kept all the famous people upstairs and us losers downstairs, but it was probably better that way. I got to hang out with my friends and drink (a lot) for free. The music was decent too, when I noticed it. India Arie played, and we got shushed by some of her fans. Oprah, Gerry and Paul Allen did make an appearance downstairs, up on the stage. Everyone clapped, and they probably felt popular and powerful, and well, they are. Then they went back upstairs.

Oh, Candace Bergen walked right by me (on her way upstairs) at one point too.I basked in her reflected glory.

I ordered the parts to upgrade Betty. Soon she'll be a screaming beast, sitting here doing mostly nothing. The plan is to later get some recording equipment to take advantage of her new found muscle. I resisted ponying up for Saturday delivery, so I should have the stuff Monday. Of course, given my level of activity today, maybe I should have ponied. Pony.

Or, I could be working on actually having some songs to record once the above mentioned setup is set up. But that wouldn't be my style.

**warning - geeky**
I installed a mail server on here yesterday and changed over the DNS stuff, but it's driving me crazy. It all seems to work, and I'm able to send mail, and, intermittently, receive it. The problem is in the receiving. Sending mail to [email protected] seems to work, the messages don't bounce or anything, but my server doesn't seem to do anything for quite a while. At first I thought it was only working once when the mail server started up, and then nothing. I restarted it, and it worked once, then nothing. Then I sent 4 messages and went out for a while. When I got back, the messages had been delivered, but the connections to my server happened almost an hour after I had sent the messages. I sent some more about 2 hours ago and nothing.

Ah ha!! A clue. I sent some messages from my oxygen account, and I just received "message delayed" mail. It says "last attempt failed because can't connect to host".. I wonder why that is. The server is running, sitting here listening for connections. It's possible it's a DNS issue, and the changes I made haven't fully propogated across the Internet yet. But that doesn't seem right, because if it got old DNS info, it would deliver it to the old server at register.com, which would then be forwarded to my hotmail account.

Oh yeah, it's frustrating.

**end geeky**

Sorry, that was mostly me just talking to myself. If anyone is a smarty mail serer type and knows what's up, let me know. But you should probably not do so by mailing [email protected] because who knows if I'll ever get it. Maybe I'll watch a movie.

Hi there. How ya doin'...

My knee hurts. Yesterday before work, Liz and I went rollerblading in the park. On the way up 13th Street, I was doing some kind of lame ass disco roller move, and I tripped over my own brake and fell. I think I forgot that I was on pavement. My sport of choice lately has been snowboarding, and though it's certainly possible to seriously injure myself doing that, most falls are no big deal. Pavement and shorts are a different story. So I skinned the hell out of my knee, and two days later it's still all wet and oozy. It hurts to bend it, and when I have pants on, which is often, it rubs against them and hurts. Here's a picture.

Kind of looks like Australia.

Speaking of Australia, I've been checking out the traffic for my site lately (some would say obsessively, I would merely say curiously) and I've had visitors from every continent except Central America. I know it's not technically a continent, but they way the stats thingie counts them it is, and they don't mention Antarctica at all. I figure it's a fair trade, where Internet users are concerned. Not too many web surfers in Antarctica, I would imagine. So, I'm waiting for that one Nicaraguan to come through for me. If you're out there, hit me baby.

Speaking of Nicaragua, we just got back from Arizona. Pictures to come soon.

Speaking of pictures, I'm redesigning my photo album. The look had been irritating me for some time, so I'm giving it a more up-to-date, contemporary feel. Like a big fat bagel.

Speaking of... okay, I'm going to stop that.

The big Oxygen Birthday party is tomorrow night; celebrities, rock stars, millionaires, and a bunch of geeky computer nerds. Should be very interesting, though I wouldn't be surprised if it's really dull. But I've never been to something quite like this, so I'm curious. I'm supposed to dress "party festive". If anyone knows what the hell that means, please let me know.

Luke is inspiring me to think about putting together a home studio to do some recording. I should probably write some songs first, but I'll probably do it the way I usually approach these things: buy all the gadgets, play with them for a little while, then lose interest and/or realize that it will require actual effort to really get anything done and move on to another expensive hobby.

Really, this time it'll be different.

It's been suggested that I provide a tool that alerts people, via email, whenever there's a new coredump post to read. Personally, I think if these people really cared they could just check the site every day or two, but it's not a bad idea nonetheless. To do this I'd have to have a mailserver, a project I've been considering for some time. So maybe I will. Isn't it all so wonderful, to be sure?