Till Ringing, Singing On Its Way (Merry Christmas Friends!)

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

(Creche at the St. Paul Cathedral, MN.)

Turning Japanese

I was planning to give an update on my recent eye surgery. But, unfortunately, we had our first real snowfall yesterday. And as happens every first snow of the year, people around here forget how to drive. I'm not kidding. It's as if they've been hypnotized by some maniacal meteorologist and the falling snow triggers drivers into regressing back to an enraptured state. Mesmerized by the ice twinkles swirling around them, commuters everywhere were disregarding the task at hand and driving off the road; or into one another. There is no other explanation. But what does this have to do with the eyes? My follow-up evaluation with the optometrist was scheduled for yesterday afternoon. However, the thought of all those dumbstruck drivers operating their machines under the influence of...precipitation, caused me to re-think my plans and then re-schedule my appt.

So, with no office visit to write about, I gleefully take this opportunity to make note of the day that is December 22, 2006. Now, you're probably thinking to yourself, "Well duh, it's the Winter Solstice MT." Of course, you would be correct. And while that fact alone may make some folks' toes curl, this date also has another, equally rousing, distinction. For this day is the first ever, Global O For Peace Day. And when I say "O", I ain't talkin' about Oprah. The organizers, a couple from San Fransisco, say the goal of the O is: "to effect positive change in the energy field of the Earth through input of the largest possible surge of human energy, a Synchronized Global Orgasm."

Oh!

So my friends, on this day, I urge you all to think globally and peak locally. Get all Meg Ryan tonight and do your part(ner) for world peace. And yes, if you're wondering, even one person can make a difference.

Verbatim

One of my colleagues returned to HQ after a Dr. appt. today. She had a pretty funny story, with a picture to go along with it. A nurse at her clinic just finished graduate school and the office was hosting a little celebration in her honor. Someone had called up the local Byerly's bakery and ordered a personalized dessert for the event. This is the cake that arrived while Jana was there. She said the whole place was busting guts.

Fraternal

As I mentioned, I'm in Minnesota. I don't call myself a Minnesotan, but I live in the Cathedral Hill district of the Capitol city: Saint Paul. Originally known as Pig's Eye, St. Paul is half of the "Twin Cities". Of the pair, St. Paul is the calmer, genteel, more polite sibling. Opposed to the snazzy and stylized nipper that is Minneapolis. A lot more people get shot in Mpls. St. Paul is the well behaved one. I like that.

If it weren't for such a conspicuous moat (i.e. the Mississippi River) to divide "The Cities", I'm not sure there would be such rivalry. And believe you me, there is a rivalry between this twosome. Personally, I see the metro area as one big locale with a river running through it. But there is a seemingly perpetual squabble here over who's hot and who's not. There are St. Paulites who refuse to be anywhere in the vicinity of Nicollet Mall after dark and Minneapolitans who never venture East of the river. Never. This was surprising to me. Pitiable as well. Each city has much to offer, and when it comes down to it, are kith and kin. I guess families are like that some time.

Here are a few pictures I snapped with my cell phone while driving around town. Clockwise: St. Paul skyline from tower at Wabasha St Caves, Landmark Center, St. Paul Cathedral, Capitol bldg.

Yeah I want Cheesy Poofs!

I had a thought that kept me up last night for 2, maybe 3 minutes. We all know how much aliens like cows (& anal probes), right? Maybe this is just how they plan to get rid of us all?

Of Mice & Methane

I've been talking with friends who've recently watched Al Gore's global warming warning film, An Inconvenient Truth. It's been highly recommended and I'm eager to see it. It's in my Blockbuster mail-order queue already. Although, it may have been bumped down a few notches since Broken Lizard's Beerfest came out. Regardless, I will see it soon.

Its interesting that AIT was the topic of several conversations the same week the U.N. Food & Agriculture Organization released its report: Livestock's Long Shadow. It's a decided indictment of the cattle industry's contributions to global warming. Anyone heard about it yet? It actually says that cow emissions cause more damage to the environment than automobile emissions. That's right, I said more. For any of you Greenies out there (Ken, Karen, et al.) did A.G. mention the fact that bovine appear to be the chief provocateur in the warming of our globe? As noted in the Des Moines Register, "The report estimates that livestock production worldwide is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions". That's more than the entire transportation industry.

In actuality, it's a lot more complicated than "emissions". The report takes into account everything that goes into the livestock business: making feed, clearing land for pastures, processing fertilizer, etc. But cow farts do seem to be a big part of the equation. A big, smelly part. It's a stunning proclamation, a sobering fact and a subject of great consequence. Moo-Cow farts are devastating our planet. I crap you not.

Ballsy Bear

I'm hooked on the new Discovery Channel documentary, Everest: Beyond The Limit (Tuesday's at 9CST). What it takes to scale that mountain is incomprehensible to me. I'm fascinated. This one isn't as good as the series I watched last year, but it's astounding reality TV. Watching these mountaineers cross the Khumbu Icefall, using the same little aluminum ladder I can buy at Ace, is hair raising. To call this feat treacherous, is putting it mildly. 15 people have died on Everest this year. Climbers pass 41 frozen bodies on the North Face of the mountain. I actually have a Nepali brother-in-law who has a few Sherpa friends. I think he's trekked to base camp even. I'll have to ask him.


I enjoy this show so much, I started watching the repeat airing on Friday night. Part of Discovery's "Survival Fridays". That's where I was introduced to Edward Michael Bear Grylls and his show Man Vs. Wild. The show's intro sets things up nicely. Bear Grylls: adventurer, martial arts expert, former British special forces, and most importantly, survival expert. Bear is also the youngest Brit to ever summit Everest. He was 23. For what this guy does, you couldn't have any less impressive a resume. For Bear drops himself in the middle of the most inaccessible and menacing places on the planet with nothing but the clothes on his back, a flint, a knife and a bottle of water. Then he coaches us on how to make it out...ALIVE! Now, I know it's TV. I'm sure there are plenty of safety precautions and locations are scouted and stunts must be field tested before hand, but the show is compelling none the less. I like it for its Survivor Vs. Fear Factor factor. This dude does, and eats, some crazy nasty stuff. But you gotta do what you gotta do when you're lost in the mountains of Alaska or rain forests of Costa Rica. When I saw Bear, stranded in the Moab desert, remove his shirt, urinate all over it and then wrapped it around his head to stay cool; I thought: "Well that's something I never would have done. Thanks Bear! You are truly an educator." I saw the promo for the next episode and it's looking like Bear has some heady tips for us this week. He's stranded in the Kenyan Savannah. If I saw right, he shows us how to squeeze drinking water out of a huge pile of elephant poop. (I just gagged in my mouth a little.) Then he salvages what fresh meat he can find off a dead zebra carcass. Not exactly the stuff you'll see on the Real World, that's for sure.

Aspire

Bumper sticker on late 80's Honda 3-door in intersection of Kellogg & Robert, 55101, 11am: Remember Who You Wanted To Be

Are we there yet?

The place is glacial

It is 0 degrees this morning. Zero. 32 degrees below freezing. If you happen to be reading this anywhere else in the world, besides the US, that's -17 Celsius. Which, interestingly enough, is exactly how cold it feels in Fahrenheit when you factor in the wind chill right now. Studies have also shown that -17 is way colder than a witch's teat.

I guess they don't call this place the Icebox Of The Nation for nuthin'. Have I mentioned I'm living in Minnesota?

Stalk-eyed decapod crustaceans of the family Homaridae

I'm talking 'bout lobster. These ones are fresh from the shores of Massachusetts. (Thanks mom.) By the way, lobsters have no cerebral cortex. For humans, that's the part of the brain that processes pain. They don't have vocal cords either. Lobsters do not scream when you drop them into the pot.








They turn red because that's the only pigment not destroyed when they're cooked.

And...they are DE-LICIOUS!






How to crack a Lobster

One additional, and kind of gross, lobster fact: their teeth are in their stomach.

Acknowledgment

I've got comments! It was so cool to see that someone, other than myself and Ithinkearthisheaven, was reading. Especially because that first guy scared me a little.

My blog has gone interactive.

Slippery Slope

Anyone tried Line Rider yet? It's a little on-line Flash "toy" that has become a bona fide, world wide, phenomena. Supervisors across the country are cursing the day young Boštjan Čadež unleashed his class project on the masses. It's only been around for 2 months and already written up in Time. The idea is pretty simple: draw a line with a pencil from the top left corner of the screen to the bottom right. You're essentially creating a ski slope. When you think you're done, press the PLAY button. A little joyrider on a sled drops down and attempt to run the course you just created. It's a cute little time killer...at first. Then it gets serious. Then it becomes a compulsion. Go ahead, give it a try.

Now imagine coming up with something like this. That's serious physics folks. I have trouble keeping the little guy/gal from falling off a straight line.

As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly

WKRP Thanksgiving Turkey Drop

Meister Eckhart

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you", that would suffice."

Happy Thanksgiving.

Visually Correct

I had my eyes evaluated for Laser Vision Correction this week. I think we're both going to do it. In fact, when I give my name to the receptionist at check in, she says: "Oh, hi! I met your wife this morning. She was so nice. She already scheduled surgery, for both of you, for this Saturday. Hope your eval goes well."

I go through the battery of tests and examinations. My eyeballs were thoroughly poked and probed and rendered in 3D. But in the end, it did go well. The Doc said my eyes are perfect for the procedure. She gave me a 95-98% chance of 20/20 vision. Those are darn good odds to work with. Although, when I ask how many people end up with worse vision afterwards, she looks at me like she hasn't been asked that question before, and says: "Not many".

So, I'm back at the front desk to finish the paperwork and check out. That same receptionist is assisting me. She looks up and says: "There's a $100 deposit to hold your surgery slot. Your wife said you'd take care of that for both of you."

Thanks hon'. Who's your daddy?

Effectuation

I haven't exactly decided what I want this blog to accomplish. Update family? Keep in touch with friends? Discuss politics? Film? Computational Chemistry? Maybe I'll make it a revealing on-line diary that will allow me to confess the scintillating details of my life for the world to read; and then post feedback on. I don't think so.

Right now, what I'm actually leaning towards, is...Nothing. (I know, so Seinfeld.)

According to Wikipedia, as of this August, blog search Technorati was tracking almost 60 million blogs world wide. I'm pretty sure I don't have much of anything new to add to the Blogosphere. I might just post whatever I feel like, whenever the posting mood strikes. Hence that last little Jay-Z blurb. (My friend, Kenny Joel, sent that to me in an unrelated email and that was my response to him. That big hand just cracked me up.) I've already posted a lot more than I expected. And I have a bunch of unpublished notes that are waiting to be edited. I'll just have to see how things progress. Though, in all likelihood, I'll get bored with this in a few months.

Oh well. It's a fun little experiment for now.

Cristal Is For Poseurs.

What the hell is up with Jay-Z's gianormous hand? That's the biggest flipper I've ever seen. Jay has Sasquatch knuckles. I guess Even Rap Stars Get The Blues; except it's his whole hand. I bet that mungo paw has to be in his top 5 problems. Although, it probably comes in handy when he's slapping Beyonce's colossal rump! Who's your daddy?

No For An Answer

"Do, or do not. There is no try." I heard someone use this geeky Star Wars quote on the radio last week. Yoda voice and all. It caught my attention because I recently adopted a similarly geeky saying: "If the answer isn't yes, then it's no." It just helps everyone I communicate with. It's annoying to not get an answer. "OK, sure, that's good. Or we could...how about...maybe we should...but..." Uhg. Why's it so hard to say "no"? And if I don't really mean no, then how about: "Yes, I'd really like that". It's great to hear something like that. "Sure, I certainly can do that for you today." It's too bad I'm usually surprised by a response like that. "Umm, yeah, that sounds...'OK'". That really means "no" and we all know it.

This is another of my new life enhancements: Give honest responses to the people I'm talking with. Oh! And not be afraid to commit to an answer. That's a big part of why I hesitate and not answer honestly. I'm finding, however, it's harder to do than expected.

I think we, as message "senders" and "receivers" tend to miss things when we're trying to interpret a message. It's not one person's fault either. We have to interpret the message were getting. But things can actually get lost in translation. Or, we add things during the translation that the sender didn't intend. I might insert what I think the sender is "really" trying to say. Then I sometimes overreact to what I'm hearing. That's just as wrong. Either way, the message gets mucked up. And that can cause confusion with family, friends, co-workers, whomever we're communicating with. We need to make ourselves understood, but people need to hear the point we are conveying. If the answer isn't "yes", then it's "no". I know it's a little more complicated than that, but it's something I can repeat to myself when I'm in the middle of an interaction; whether I'm the speaker or the listener. I think it's helping. Although I've been saying it out loud to my wife and I think she's getting a little annoyed with it.

(PS: Reminds me of my 80's hardcore days.)

Ascending

I'm usually looking down at the activity on the Mississippi River and the Robert St. Bridge. That's my office, in the left corner, on the 8th floor. Lately, I've been trying to look up a lot more. I think it was Albert Einstein who said:

"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."


This morning, after I parked my car under the bridge, I was glad I looked up.

Inaugural

Today is the greatest day. The first day of the rest of my life, right? As clichéd as that sounds, it's totally true. And something's going on that has made me think about it each new morning for a while now.

"My future starts when I wake up every morning. Every day I find something creative to do with my life." - Miles Davis

So today, along with a few other, what I'm calling "life enhancements", I decided to start my own blog.