Useless Blogging

Happy holidays to you and yours.

Notable gifts thus far include an i-dog and a full set of brand-spanking new golf clubs. Slowly but surely, all my excuses for stinking up a golf course are disappearing. I think I may be fond of a pair of pajama pants received today as well.

Emma got a buttload of art supplies, and Sara’s swimming in Dora Duplo blocks and Blue’s Clues-related items. Julie is the proud recipient of Spaceballs.

A fine day for giving and getting, and general family-related goodness. I hope you, the viewer at home, are experiencing similar fuzziness in that special place.

The COJ Homecoming was on the 23rd, and it was a blast.

Crowbars Of Justice was my first home for online gaming, and I played a lot of Team Fortress Classic circa 2001, and for no less than two years, I was quite proud to call that place home. The group migrated to Day of Defeat sometime in 2003, and I didn’t follow for very long. I found Network 42 (later known as Tactical Gamer and Natural Selection, and I rarely looked back.

But, having the opportunity to do so was quite the blessing. I remembered why I played there (even if I was one of the few who remembered the maps), and what made gaming great. A big thank you to everyone involved. I hope there’s another, and I hope that I can be involved once more.

Last night, I finished Rainbox Six. Of the eight or so books I’m in the middle of, that one was the largest, and is now in the “finished” column. Go me.

Please keep in mind: I don’t normally read books. So this is actually a blog-worthy entry of a very high order.

Bush admits he OK’d spying in U.S. – baltimoresun.com

I don’t often touch on politics in this space. I usually save that for discussion instead of soapboxes.

But then something like this crops up. Tangible evidence that everything is wrong, despite the desperate desire for it to be right. We seek to protect our way of life, and somehow, the process of doing so takes our way of life and fundamentally fucks it right the hell up. The philosophical side of government that’s supposed to be all about the rights of the individual strips away individual rights, one by one.

The worst part? All I can really do is sit and be outraged. Feeling angry about the absurdity of the situation is all I’ve got time in my life to do. I can hate the current administration in between work and playing Uno with my daughter; I’m appalled, but it’s not the point where it’s offending anything more than my sensibility (ie, my life is not in upheaval as a direct effect of this stupidity), and therefore I’m not at the point where you’ll see more do more than vent during a random blog entry.

But I care. I’m watching us spiral the bowl. For what little good it’s done me the past two elections, I still vote. Maybe the third time will be a charm, and common sense will prevail.

Sara’s done at Kennedy Krieger. A bittersweet time, to be sure.

Six months have had quite an impact on my youngest daughter. She laughs more. She cries more. She talks, she sings, she dances. She interacts.

She’s even a bit of a ham for a camera.

There’s another program quite like the one she just finished starting up at the end of January, so her early schooling is not truly done. I don’t think I have in my vocabulary the words to express my happiness and gratitude towards the teachers at Kennedy Krieger though, for helping us — me — unlock the little girl I knew was in there.

Sometimes the United States seems to me to be like a brilliant, privileged student, bragging about his C+ grades to a classroom full of disadvantaged failures. We may not be the best and brightest in that classroom, but we are capable of better and we are a long way from being evil. Can the U.S. truly be the answer to one’s dreams? For millions, it has been. Although I don’t think this is true for Midikula. Maybe I was the answer to his dreams, and instead I gave him a carnival doll.

I’ve been thinking about an old Irish prayer that reads, “God grant me the strength to change the things I can, the serenity to accept the things I cannot, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

It’s troubling that I have that wisdom that will haunt me most of all.

Fully reprinted below, in case the link ever changes. It’s worth keeping, at least.
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Emma, from the Xmas party at the American Legion over the weekend. I snapped this behind my back.

It rules.

Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years

Even if you’re not a programmer, a good read. This was recently added to the Hacker FAQ that I keep on my bookmarks for reasons just like, say, the inclusion of cool and interesting articles I’ve not read.

Some truths don’t matter. It might be a federal offense to take the tag off of a pillow before you buy it, but I doubt the FBI will be beating down your door should you go on a tag-ripping spree.

Some things are outright lies. The signs by exit ramps come to mind in this regard (except in Pennsylvania, where they’re more or less spot-on). 20MPH? Lies. You can take that ramp at 45 on a good day.

And then, there are things that are actually true, and matter. Like the Krazy Glue package claiming that the glue bonds instantly with skin. Believe that one. It’s true.