Silences

At the moment, I'm the only one coming to Saturday taiji practice. Largely because of this, I think, Don's agreed to teach me the taiji saber form. It's not a Cheng Man-Ch'ing form, but it's interesting. It's also weird that some of the moves feel like I'm remembering them from somewhere else... I have no idea if that actually means anything, but I'd like to think it means I was, say, a samurai or some such in a former life. The katana isn't quite the same as the saber (some pictures and links here), but they're both curved and single-edges, so I'm sure there's at least some overlap in usage.


The house is too quiet. Jacques was(?) the most vocal of all the cats. Best case scenario, someone took him in. It's unlikely that happened the night he went missing, though. It would have been between 10 pm and 4 am. So that entails the assumption that he got himself lost, then got taken in. We checked at the pound yesterday. No luck. When I was driving around through the nearby alleys and streets, I saw a yard with a cat trap, so I started to hope that he'd just gotten himself trapped and impounded.

The thing that I notice is that I'm still functioning. I wasn't really after Grandma died. It was something like automatic pilot at that point. Things needed to be done, and they got done, and I have little memory of how.

I just keep expecting to come home, and find him in the garden or on the porch... *sighs*

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Ranting

Item 1: I hate meetings where everything that we really need to know is already written down...and we spend two hours going over it anyway.

Item 2: Apparently the Virginia Tech incident has resulted in some odd policy changes regarding doors. All rooms must easily unlock from the inside. So the doors must not only open from the inside, they must unlock. Which seems okay...except that the one on the Math 108 center cannot now be closed and stay locked. If you close it, it unlocks. Thankfully, the other door does not have this unsecurity device on it, as it's a keypad lock. Supposedly the entire physical science building will be getting these unsecurity devices at some point. Hopefully they figure out how to make the things stay locked when necessary by then. Random thought: such doors may violate insurance policies on computer labs...


Item 3: Jacques is missing. He wanted to play Wednesday night, so I went to bed. He never came and meowed at the window to be let in. I haven't seen him since. I have no idea what happened to him. I've driven up and down all the streets around here, checked at the pound and left a picture and phone number. There's not a whole hell of a lot else I can do (except get him microchipped if he ever makes it back, along with all of his sibs and mom). *tries not to punch a hole in the desk*

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Bugs at Bruneau

I found myself wondering if I would have seen as many bugs up there if there hadn't been a lake at the bottom of the dune. Certainly, there wouldn't have been dragonflies. Either way, they made for some nice pictures:


That plant looks for all the world like a spindly juniper, except I don't think that there are any junipers with pink flowers. Also, I didn't get a rash when I brushed against some that were a bit close around part of the trail at the lake. So... I'll call it a juniper-like-shrub-with-pink-flowers. Rather Quirmish name, innit.




Beautiful dragonfly. Most of the ones up there were huge black ones, maybe with white markings.



I nearly walked right into this guy's web. It was near the lake, built between two tall stems of grass. I didn't see the web until after I was nearly nose to nose with the spider. From behind, he actually looked a lot like the spiderman logo. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the camera to focus on him from that angle.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Bruneau Dunes

On Thursday, my mom had an Excel workshop in Twin Falls. I tagged along, because that got me most of the way to Bruneau Dunes State Park, and I've been wanting to go there ever since I heard of it. It's about another hour and a half from Twin to the park. Overall impression: HOT. Admittedly, I was there at the worst possible time of day (10:00 am to 2:00 pm). If I go there again, I think I'll plan on going down in the evening, camping overnight, and then going up the dunes the following morning. Still, it was enjoyable to play on a giant sand dune. This has to be my favorite picture:

Explanation and more pics below the fold.

Those are the impressions left in the sand from my hat. It fell off when I stopped to rest on my way up the dune. ^/^




It's that way! This was when I finally cleared all the shrubs and things around the lake below the dune and could see the main path up to the top. It doesn't look that bad, does it? Probably wouldn't be at, say, 7:00 am.




Here is the view from just below the top. It took me roughly an hour from the previous picture to get to this one. Walking/climbing in that thick sand is rather interesting. It's a lot like walking in deep snow. I already knew that the trick for going down was to act like I was walking down a staircase and dig in my heels at roughly a ninety degree angle. That works beautifully in sand. For walking up, I tried the inverse of that: digging in the toes at a ninety degree angle as if going up a staircase. That does work if you get your toes dug in far enough. Unlike going downhill, gravity doesn't help you out. It's an exhausting way to walk, particularly in full sun.




And here's the view down the other side of the dune. Some interesting features that I might have been interested in exploring...had going down there not necessitated climbing back up.




I fell in love with these little grass-sand-circles. It looks like, when the wind blows, the grass tips contact the sand and make arcs as they go back and forth. There were lots of these where there was grass growing in the sand. Absolutely beautiful. Random fact: the sand where there were plants growing tended to be more solid, harder to dig my feet into, than sand elsewhere. I don't know if that's because there was more water in it, or more of a certain type of sand/soil, or what.




Those are my footsteps coming down the side of the dune, criss-crossed by another set of prints that look hoofed to me. Deer, maybe.




And here we have something that reminds me of crop circles. Clearly aliens have been using these dunes as a landing strip and the government is covering it up. Or, more likely, something about the wind flow and the shape of the dune and landscape results in oddly flowing air currents... `/^

EDIT: For more on treating sand as snow, and the presence of aliens and flamingos, click here. (Lots more pictures!)

RE-EDIT: Another good gallery here.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

A Blessing

I found this as a card at the Paper Store in Estes Park. After I saw it, I'd hoped to find it as a magnet (also the source for the image), but they only had the card. I love the sentiment expressed in the blessing, and that it works for anyone, regardless of their particular religious leanings (or lack thereof). The magnet's slightly pricey, but if it's as large as the card (5 inches by 5 inches), that's not a huge surprise.

I bought the card while I was there, and put it up on a magnet board anyway. ^/^

EDIT: Erm, that link is for a journal with the blessing pic on the cover, not for a magnet. Which also explains the expense. I didn't read carefully enough. Here it is as a magnet. Smaller, but about the same price I paid for the card.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Marlene Winell

I'm resisting the temptation to just steal this post. Much of it I could have written myself, though I likely would have been less eloquent. Also, I would not call myself an atheist or a theist, either one. I object to that language as much as I object to traditional language and descriptions of the divine. It's one of those useless "there are two kinds of people" gambits, a false dilemma. Anyway, I resisted the urge to steal the whole post, and just took this one part (with attribution):

There is no religious description of “god” that matches the grandeur of the universe as it is – elusive, ever-changing, impossibly mind-boggling. And this includes us. We are part of the fabric; there is no separation. If this is believing in god, then by all means, a hundred times YES! But I’m still not drawn to the language.

~Marlene Winell

Inquire Further

Relinquish

CrackerGate - Finale?

I haven't posted on this before now, but I thought that since at least part of the original issue has now been resolved, this would be a good time. Over at Greg Laden's blog you can read a summary of the decision.

If you have no idea what CrackerGate is, well, you must be a bit blog-isolated. Short version: Through a strange series of circumstances, Cook wound up leaving a Catholic service with a consecrated wafer. He was charged with disrupting the service and a few other things (more detail at the link) and threatened with expulsion from his university. Then PZ weighed in and, well, the loonier side of Catholicism surfaced, complete with death threats. If you want a good discussion of PZ's actions, try Thoughts in a Haystack. I mostly agree with Pieret's position.

As for Cook, he's been cleared of most of the charges. There's still some stuff to be decided, but it seems that what really happened was that two church watchdogs overreacted to a perceived attempt to leave with the wafer, scared the hell out of him, and then he really did leave with it. Catholic hysteria ensued, with charges being brought by someone not even in attendance at the service. More details here (same as first two links).

From the comments at Thoughts in a Haystack:

I held out hope to the end that PZ would come up with some clever way to "abuse" the host(s) without actual harm and then return them to some church or to the moron-in-chief, establishing, if not necessarily his moral superiority, at least his greater maturity.

This, I think, is the most entertaining idea I've seen. Seriously. If PZ's goal was to show up the irrationality of the Catholics, that would have been beautiful. Instead, he descended to their level, aiming for the much easier goal of enraging them. Oh, they would have been enraged either way, but PZ's point would have been crystal clear.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Why?

Via John's comment on the post below, I started thinking about the "Why are we here?" question for a bit. This was, roughly, my mental process:

Why am I here? : Er, where else would I be? This is where I am.

But what is the purpose of my being here? : Purpose? You mean like a function, like a mop or a broom or something?

No, no... What's the purpose of LIFE? : It's life, so you live it. What more do you need?

But surely it all must mean something!: Ummm... It just is... why does it have to mean anything? Seriously. What is the meaning of a coffee table? Sure, it was made for a specific purpose, but is that its meaning? Does it have a meaning? Sure it does. *sets a vase of flowers on the coffee table* There, see?

What does that have to do with anything?!?? : Tables are for setting things on. Life is for living. The only trick is to pay attention. Otherwise, you're not really living.

But why? What's the point? : Weren't you paying attention?

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Scientific?

I've started reading a book discussing probability theory: Chances Are: Adventures in Probability, by Kaplan and Kaplan. So far I'm enjoying it. It's intended as a lay introduction to probability, but I'd say the minimum pre-req thusfar is Math 108. That's not what inspired me to post.

Since they're discussing statistics, they bring up the question of testability, and what is a scientific question vs. a non-scientific question. Their example of a non-scientific question is, "Why is an apple sweet?" Er, sorry, but WHAT?!??!. I'm going to generously assume that they have no background whatsoever in biology or anything remotely related. In fact, that is a scientific question, and one to which I can think of several correct answer, depending on exactly what you mean.

If you mean, "What is it in the apple that makes it taste sweet?", then the answer is "sugars." If you're going a bit deeper and wonder what makes these things called sugars taste sweet, it gets more complicated, but the evolutionary answer is, roughly: "Sugar contains nutrients useful to mammals, thus it is advantageous for its taste to appeal to us. We describe this appeal as 'sweet'". Maybe you mean, "Why should an apple contain things that taste sweet to us?" Answer(1): We've bred and cross-bred apples over the years to give them an appealing taste. Answer(2): Having a taste that appeals to animals helps the apple's seeds propagate.

I think that, maybe, what the authors really mean is that "Why is an apple sweet?" is not a question that we can answer with numbers, and since numbers are the focus of the book, the question is not of interest to them. But to proclaim it's not scientific is pure nonsense. I'm trying to think of a non-scientific question that is not, well, just silly. Pretty much, as soon as you make a generic claim across any sort of class, you've made a scientific question. An exception might be: "Do all apple trees like the color blue?" or something equally bizarre. Even then, I can think of ways of testing it, and so that's still a scientific question, even if it's a strange one. So... "Are all apple trees in contact with an invisible dimension that we cannot detect in any way, shape or form?" Okay, that one's completely untestable by nature and hence unscientific.

Another way of creating a non-scientific question is to put it in terms of a particular circumstance or individual, particularly concerning something that happened in the past for which inadequate records exist. For example, I've hated boiled egg yolks for as long as I can remember. I love the whites, but I cannot stand the yolks. Why? I have no idea. I can tell you what I hate: the texture. I've tried getting over it, as it seems wasteful to throw away half the egg*, but as soon as I get more than a tiny amount of boiled yolk in my mouth, I want to throw up. Asking "Why does Qalmlea hate the texture of boiled egg yolks?" is not scientific because we have no good records of my reactions to food before I started remembering them. I can speculate that maybe I choked on something with a similar texture, or became ill, etc., but with no means to test that, it isn't a scientific question. We can make a general case that is scientific: "Do infants who experience negative reactions to a particular food retain an aversion to that food later in life?" That is something science can test and answer.

So there is one very simple way of reformulating their question to make it unscientific. "Why is this particular apple sweet?" If it's already been picked and we have no idea from which tree it came, this is not a question for science. If we do know which tree it came from, we can run tests on the tree to see if consistently produces sweet apples and even examine the chemistry involved. I suppose it's possible that this is the question they had in mind, but mathematicians should know better than to use poorly defined statements as counter examples.

Back to the book, I expect the Kaplans are paying blind homage to N.O.M.A. as it's sometimes formulated: "Science answers the how; religion answers the why." That's always seemed like a false dichotomy to me. Consider the case of the apple again. Apples that tasted sweet were more likely to be eaten by animals and have their seeds propagate further from the original tree, so sweet apples would have a better chance of producing offspring that produced more apples, which were more likely to be sweet, which were more likely to be eaten and have their seeds propagated far enough from the parent tree ... Why? Natural selection. How? Natural selection. I don't see a meaningful distinction between 'how' and 'why' in this instance.

*Now the cats get the yolks, so it bothers me less.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Bale Before Batman

The first movie in which I encountered Christian Bale was the 1990 TNT version of Treasure Island. It is by far my favorite cinema version of the book. In part, I like it because it stays closer to the book than most other versions. But it also has the best cast of any Treasure Island movie I've seen. Sadly, TNT has not released it to DVD. It was released on VHS ... and at the moment there is exactly one copy available from a seller for $90.

As it's been a while since I've seen it, my memory is almost certainly rusty, but Christian Bale was exactly the right age and temperament for the role. When I first saw this, I was thrilled to see that they'd left in the scene where Jim Hawkins (Bale's character) has to move the ship by himself. I don't know enough about old-time ships to say how accurately the scene was done, but it looked good to me, at least. Also, the recently deceased Charlton Heston was the best (as in worst) Long John Silver I've ever seen. He was perfect for the role. He had the disarming charmer turns to cold-blooded killer bit down pat. Christopher Lee also did a nice job as Blind Pew. In fact, I can't think of a single performance that disappointed me in the movie.

The problem with the other live-action versions I've seen is that they invariably want to cutesify it. In the Disney version, for instance, Jim Hawkins is ridiculously young, and Silver doesn't have the right aura of menace. The TNT version, imo, captures the characters as they are in the book, and that is very, very rare for a movie-adaptation from a book.

So while I'm hoping this one will make to to DVD, I was rather pleased to see that the entire thing seems to be up on YouTube in 10-minute increments. Here's Part I:


How long it will stay up is anybody's guess. I figure that if TNT does decide to release it on DVD, the first thing they'll do is pull down any web-versions, but, hey, I can enjoy it while it lasts! Oh, and the permalink to the video's page is here, and links to Parts II through XV should show up as well.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Good for Something After All

Orac has discovered the one thing that Bush is good at: alienating people from the Republican party.

Excerpt:

It turns out that my friend, who had been more conservative than I for longer than I, had come to the same conclusion as I: That George W. Bush is the worst, the most incompetent President that either of us could remember and that the invasion of Iraq was the biggest foreign policy fiasco in either of our lifetimes, and arguably in the last century. Indeed, he may have been even harsher on the whole misadventure than I was, pointing out how it's bankrupted our nation, strained our Army and Marines to the breaking point, and diverted the attention of our military from where it should have been all along, namely Afghanistan, the nation from which al Qaeda had launched the 9/11 attacks against us. This war had resulted in the deaths of thousands of our best and bravest young people in the service of, it turns out in retrospect, doing Iran the biggest favor any nation has ever done for it, remembering that we both came of age during the Iranian hostage crisis in the late 1970s, and that was the crucible that forged our political orientation.

Not exactly related: what does it even mean to "pledge allegiance" to a flag? If we actually take this literally, then placing an American flag decal on any item makes it something we owe allegiance to. I'm suddenly imagining a Monty Python sketch where people follow the person wearing the most flags (decals, embroidery, whatever), and the process of politics consists of trying to remove opponent's flags and add to one's own. *pauses* Sadly, that's not an unreasonable metaphor for the current state of politics.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Idaho Falls Waterfall

water tumbles, gushes, roars
over, under, between the rocks
when will canyons form?

Yesterday, my mom had to go to a presentation in Idaho Falls and I tagged along. While she was freezing at the meeting, I wandered IF, but eventually I got bored and stopped at the waterfall that I think gave Idaho Falls its name. I'm not entirely sure, but it's a waterfall that's in Idaho Falls, so my guess makes sense. It's a small waterfall in terms of height, but it's massively wide. I didn't walk along the the whole width of it, but I'd guess it's at least a quarter mile wide.

Hmmm... turns out it's not a natural falls (but my guess at the width was close):

Idaho Falls in the city of the same name is created by a man-made diversion dam used for hydroelectric power. Before the dam was created, this was just a bunch of small rapids. Now, the Snake River makes a drop of about 20 ft. or so over a width of 1200 ft. It is an interesting location, and there is a beautiful walkway along the river here, so one can stroll along the whole length of the falls. ~Source.

There are some pictures of the actual falls available, but I chose the one above (from Portland's Japanese Garden) because, until I saw these falls, I didn't quite understand why they thought the arrangement of bushes looked like a waterfall. When I saw the falls, this image came immediately to mind, and I understood. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me, so I couldn't try to capture the feel myself. ^/^

Inquire Further

Relinquish

If it's shaped like a duck, and worn like a duck...

Am I the only one who's never heard the term "trucker hat" before today? I ran across it, and had to go searching to figure out what the devil it was. As far as I'm concerned, it's a particular species of "baseball cap." Giving it a different name serves no purpose. We had several of these so-called trucker hats when I was growing up. Most of them said "Bass Pro Shops" on them, and we wore them for fishing, but, if asked, we called them baseball caps. The basic shape is almost identical, except that the foam goes up straighter on the "trucker" version. Essentially, this is like saying a tanktop with mesh sleeves and a foam front needs a name other than "tanktop". (images from here)

Oh, and apparently despite my never having heard of them, they are now going "out" as a fashion statement (????) ... Er, sorry, but that's as ridiculous as saying "T-shirts" are a fashion statement. Add a descriptor to that and it becomes somewhat meaningful. For instance, "hard rock cafe T-shirts" were "in" when I was in high school. I never really fathomed why, but at least that's a meaningful statement.

Anyway, here are my rules for fashion:
(1) Clothing that fits. Oversized is okay if it serves a semi-useful purpose (showing underwear does not count).

(2) Clothing that I like. I don't care if puke-brown and girly-pink combos are in (common in stores maybe 2 years ago). They look awful to me, like someone threw up all over a Barbie house. Likewise, if I don't like what's currently "in", I will not wear it.

(3) Clothing that does not make me ill. I can't wear any artificial fabrics. A mix with 10% or less of, say, spandex seems to be okay. I can't wear anything with big plastic designs on it. I can't wear anything with metal decorations on it, whether as metallic thread or just little metallic discs glued on. So far, I can tolerate a metal zipper in something, but I try to get plastic zippers if there's a choice. Lesser of two evils.

(4) Clothing that will last. The vast majority of women's clothing costs more and is less durable than the vast majority of men's clothing. There are exceptions in both directions, but, in general, if I can find a near-identical item in the men's section, it will be cheaper, made better, and last longer. Presumably this is because fewer men see clothing as a commodity to be traded out when fashion changes.

(5) Clothing that is comfortable and that I can move in. (1) takes care of part of this, but stuff can fit and still be miserable to wear. Pretty much, if I can't do at least 90% of the taiji form in it, I'm not interested. 100% is better. Dress clothing I might put up with 80% if I particularly like it, but that's my limit.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Music to Write by

I had an odd experience as I was leaving the theater after seeing Dark Knight. First off, I saw it at an afternoon matinee, and it was extremely bright when I got outside. It really seemed brighter than I thought it should. Also, I was feeling very agitated, restless, maybe even a touch panicky. I didn't want to go home, but I couldn't think of anywhere I did want to go. I wound up driving by stored on that side of town and finally stopping at Ross. If nothing else, it would be darker and cooler inside.

I went inside, was bored almost immediately, and wandered back out. I sat in my car for a while, AC blasting, trying to ignore the brightness, and trying to figure out what was going on. I'm still not really sure. But suddenly the thought of "writing" popped into my head, and that gave me motivation to head home. I got home and started working on a bunch of stuff that I'd ignored for nearly a year, and it was going well, and I was enjoying it.

Whatever the effect was, it seemed to start wearing off the next day. So I went out and bought The Dark Knight soundtrack, loaded it onto my computer, and that was enough to restore the writing bug. Something about that music woke up my desire to write. Admittedly, the stories had started creeping into my head again of late, so I think it was ready to be woken up, but either that movie or its music or some combination of both was the final trigger.

Incidentally, that soundtrack doesn't work for every scene. I got stuck in one spot and finally switched over to the Pirate's 3 soundtrack, and then back when I'd finished that scene. But it seems that, for the moment, music is the key to getting myself to write.


Incidentally, my best guess as to what I was experiencing is some form of Panic Attack, but either it was comparatively mild or I didn't develop the "feedback loop" described in the article. The restless agitation fits with the "fight or flight" theme of trying to escape, but it was more...like I had too much energy and didn't know what to do with it all. So maybe a mega-adrenaline rush that triggered some symptoms similar to a panic attack without actually inducing panic? *shrugs* It was...weird. Oh, and I have no qualms about returning to the theater; the article mentions that people who have had panic attacks often feel aversion towards the places/events surrounding them.

Anyway, I'm happy to be writing again. Ironically, this seems to mean I've been writing less on the blog. ^/^ Ah well.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

GF Tips: Chain Restaurants

There are plenty of good guides to these, and the lists seem to be growing. Here's a site that lets you search for gluten free restaurants by city and state. It's not complete, but it's a starting place. Here's another that is alphabetized by the chain's name, and has a brief review of each. And yet another that mainly links to "allergen lists" for each restaurant. When traveling, it's useful to know these names so that, given a choice, you can choose a restaurant that you know will have edible food.

Prior to my Colorado trip this year, I went looking for restaurants that accommodated gluten-free, and found a big surprise: Wendy's actually has a list of gluten-free products. Unlike most other fast food places, the list does not consist of "Order X without the bun." The chili, several salads, and the frosties are all gluten-free. The fries themselves are gluten free, but in some places may be cooked in the same grease as things that contain gluten, so ask. Oh, if you try to order one of the Chicken Salads, and they ask you what kind of chicken, tell them grilled. That may or may not be one of the mentioned options, even though, theoretically, that should be the default option, but anything else (American or Spicy were the choices offered my mom) will be breaded.

Other chain restaurants that I have been to and tried their gluten free menus:
Beau Jo's: pizza place; in Fort Collins, at least, the GF menu is simply a page in the regular menu.
Chili's: Decent selections; ask for the "allergen menu".
Pier 49: Most locations. So far, there doesn't seem to be an official GF menu, but the one in Pocatello posted "gluten free crusts available" on its sign. Hopefully they'll go one better and get a list of guaranteed GF toppings soon.

As for the two "big" fast food chains, last I checked, Burger King did not acknowledge the existence of celiacs in any way shape or form. Please boycott them. McDonald's has the typical "Order X without the bun" guidelines, with an oddity. McDonald's French fries apparently contain either wheat or an ingredient made from wheat, but independent testing has found no traces of gluten in them (sorry for no citation, but I can't remember where I found that). I still will not eat them, at least in part because I don't go to restaurants where the assumption is that everything will be served on a poisonous bun, but I thought I'd pass the info along.

GF Tips Index

Inquire Further

Relinquish

From Comedy to Farce

As I was walking Buster this morning, I stopped by my mom's house with him. Much to my surprise, she was awake. Normally on days when she doesn't work, she prefers to sleep in until 11 or so, and it wasn't even 10 yet. At any rate, she asked me if I'd help her get a file cabinet into the choir room at church if she went and bought one. I shrugged and agreed to help, so I drove back over after getting Buster back to Dad's house. Then we went back to Dad's house to get the pickup, and I followed in my car as Mom went to Office Max to get the file cabinet. So far so good. Soon after, the farce began.

Mom picked out the cheapest, large cabinet, and went up to pay for it. I asked her if she wanted me to wait for her or meet her at the church. A light dawned in her eyes. She'd forgotten to grab keys to the church. So she sent me back to her house to get the keys, or at least the briefcase containing the keys. Since we were short on time, I then headed directly over to the church to wait. And wait. And be puzzled. Unfortunately, my cell phone was nearly dead and the charger was sitting on the entry table at home. I tried to call her anyway, and apparently she could hear me, but I couldn't hear her, so I still didn't know what was going on. When she tried to call me back, the phone died for good.

So I waited some more. Finally I got fed up, dug the keys out of the briefcase, and decided to find a working phone. I lucked out on the keys: the first one I tried opened the back door. Then I had to find a phone. Back when I was still going to the church, there had been a public phone just outside the fireside room. Nope. Bare wall. I wandered back, and spotted a phone in the Oelwein room (don't ask me why it's called that; it just is. Mostly it's used to serve coffee and cookies). This phone did actually work, so I called Mom again.

She was still at Office-Max. It turns out that the model of filing cabinet she'd chosen was due to be "updated", so they didn't have any in boxes and were extricating the floor model for her. The good part about this was that they gave her a $50 discount. The bad part was that we weren't going to have time to deliver the thing before her dentist appointment. So I went home and let Mom know that her briefcase and keys were in the passenger seat of my car.

The rest of it isn't particularly farcical, unless we were in the episode with the neighbor desperately trying to sleep. After the dentist appointment was done, we made it over there, located a handtruck, and I took the cabinet down the steps into the choir room. It boomed on every step, as Mom needed to hold a door open at the bottom and couldn't also steady it down each step. But it's in the choir room now.

It seems to me that if we combined my yesterday and today into a single episode, with the calls to help with the filing cabinet coming at the worst possible moments in the muffin-making, we'd have a fairly typical disaster-sitcom-episode. *wonders what genre tomorrow will be*

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Life as a Sitcom, with Zucchini

Well, zucchini's coming ripe again. I've made the zucchini casserole from last year, and decided I much prefer it with mozzarella instead of cheddar. Today I made zucchini muffins. That's when the sitcom started. Let's see, how many things went wrong...

(1) I had already put the eggs in the stand mixer when I realized I had neither walnuts nor pecans, and I much prefer nutty zucchini bread.
(2) After lunch, I had all the ingredients, got the eggs mixing again, and somehow got it into my head that it needed 2 cups of oil instead of 1. Naturally I had them both in before realizing there was a problem. So I had two choices: throw it out and start over, or double everything. Throwing it out seemed like a waste, so I decided to double the recipe.
(3) This was already a large recipe, so I wasn't entirely surprised to find that it was going to overflow the bowl on my stand mixer. Then I had to figure out what to do about it. I dug out my largest mixing bowl, one that's been used exactly once before, and, by a complicated series of exchanges, managed to transfer the batter to that bowl and keep something under the stand-mixer's beaters the whole time. Of course, the new bowl wasn't made for the stand mixer, so I had to keep a close eye on it and rotate it, etc. But it worked.
(4) I knew that the batter would probably overflow my muffin pans (even with an extra one borrowed from my mom), so I put a third of a cup of batter in each one instead of the usual quarter of a cup. This filled the muffins cups to capacity (with the paper liners in them, anyway). Any more, and they would have overflowed.
(5) I got the first batch of 12 muffins in the oven and realized that I had neglected to redouble the cinnamon. "Redouble" because technically I usually use twice as much as the recipe calls for. The first batch taste good, even without the extra cinnamon, but the latter batches taste even better.
(6) The muffins on the bottom rack of the oven wound up burnt on the bottom (likely I should have moved the rack up a notch), while the ones on top weren't quite done. The burnt ones I'm just dealing with. The top ones I just left in the oven for quite a while after I'd turned it off, and they seem to be done now.

Anyway, it's not quite sitcom worthy as is, but it isn't hard to imagine working that into one of those panic-stricken sitcoms. There would need to be a deadline for the zucchini bread, of course. Also, a few more disasters with the potential of destroying the house would be required. For instance, the sparklers my dad found in a shed and gave to me recently would have to have been so close to the stove that they ignited. Of course they would burn the (party|wedding|funeral) dress that I had promised to fix, so that I would have to fix it again and creatively hide the burns... Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

At any rate, the muffins turned out to be edible and tasty, in spite of it all.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Estes Park

raven
in the dumpster
cackling

*Kept meaning to post this while still in Colorado... Finally got it done now.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

there is no 'I' in 'me'

There was a good post over at Greta Christina's while I was wandering around in Colorado. She discusses her reason for not believing in the soul. I agree with many of them. At some point along the way, I realized I could no longer accept the traditional view of the soul as some unchanging thing that makes people who they are. Below is my analysis of what's left.

Now, the most common arguments against the soul use examples of brain injuries radically altering personality. The problem is that there's an immediate counterargument, that the soul is the software and needs properly functioning hardware to completely express itself. I'll be the first to admit that this approach has its own problems (e.g. if someone is born with a brain defect, his/her soul will never be able to fully express itself; is there then any point to that person living? -- not to mention that it seems to be completely untestable as a hypothesis), but it is an answer. At any rate, brain chemistry and injuries are not the reason that I have to reject the more traditional notions of a soul.

Still, it is the "unchanging" part of the definition that I have the most problem with. See, brain injuries or not, a person's personality continues to develop and change throughout life. Sure, some people get to a certain point and just stay there for the next umpty-nine years, but that seems to be the exception. I'm not the same person I was a year ago, or two years ago. I'm certainly not the same person I was twenty-five years ago, when I was all of six years old. Some basic preferences have remained the same. Others have changed radically. Now, you can argue that this is the "soul" coming to express itself fully as the body/mind matures. But then where did the earlier preferences come from? Were they mistaken? Were they from the body itself, needing to be tempered by the soul? Okay, that might be workable, but...

What about changes that come about due to bodily chemistry? It doesn't even need to involve the brain directly. Take gluten intolerance. In a nutshell, it's an auto-immune disease where the immune system attacks the intestinal walls in the presence of gluten. Shortly before figuring out I was gluten intolerant, I was the "I'll try nearly anything once" type ('nearly' in case something really grossed me out). Now, I'm the "It's poison until I can see a full ingredient list" type. Fresh unseasoned veggies or fruit? Fine. Anything else? Probably poisonous. You could argue that this is simply an attitude change, but it has affected my personality, and it seems to be independent of the soul. Or could my particular soul only be born into a gluten-intolerant body so that the appropriate personality would develop? Then we get into "If the soul needs a particular kind of body, then what's the point of the soul anyway?" Isn't it supposed to exist and be what it is independent of the body?

Then there's the existence of "muscle memory." This is partially connected to the mind, but has a great deal to do with the muscles themselves. The more we repeat a particular movement, the easier it becomes, and the more automatic it becomes. This is the point of repetition of martial arts forms: to get the basic movements into muscle memory. Anyone who's done any sort of martial arts will understand the sentiment: "I know that in my head, I just can't get my body to do it!" Then once it's been practiced enough: "Wow! I just did that without thinking about it!" See, these things are dependent on the body itself. Without the body, they have no meaning. Part of my identity is "taiji player." Without a body, the "player" part is meaningless. Where is that stored in the "soul"?

The first time I encountered the sentiment that there is no mind, or there is no self, I resisted it. It made no sense to me. Now that I've spent some time meditating, I think I know what it means. The more I explore my "mind", the more that I find that there is nothing of substance in that which we call "mind." There is nothing permanent. Likewise, there is nothing permanent in that which we call the "self." The only constancy is what I've heard termed "continuity of consciousness." There is a sense of things coming before, and that we have experienced those things, and an expectation that this will continue. Everything else rises up for a time and then disappears.

So to me, the notion that the soul is some repository of our true personality is nonsense. It's wishful thinking projected on the world by an ego terrified of ceasing to exist. But even the ego's permanence is illusory. The 'I' who began this blog a few years back is not the same 'I' now writing this article. We share the same body, and many years of the same memories, but to claim that we are the same person with the same personality, the same motivations and desires is nonsense. Sure, there's overlap. But not identity.

What's left? Consciousness. Awareness. Pure and simple. Might these one day have material explanations? Sure. I don't see that as any particular threat. I believe it was Carl Sagan who said something like, "Man is the matter of the cosmos, observing itself." [Note: Can't find the quote I'm thinking of; closest is "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."] That is the point of existence. We are here and it is now. We are aware here and now. That is the most profound truth that I can imagine. Why? Because that awareness links us with all-that-is.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Dark Knight

First response: WOW!!11!

First off, the plot was beautifully crafted. One of the problems with Batman and Robin was the sheer number of characters vying for screen time, and a big part of that problem was that there was no real connection between most of those characters and their "creation stories". There were close to the same number of semi-major characters in Dark Knight, but all the plotlines connected. It worked. I will say that I preferred Katie Holmes as Rachel, but ya can't have everything.

There is very little chance of me spoiling anything, because to explain any one part of the plot would require explaining two or three others, ad nauseum. It's that interwoven. The music is still brilliant. I read a critic describe it as "black on black" for Batman Begins, and that is largely followed in Dark Knight as well. There was one spot towards the beginning where an unexpected bit of melody distracted me, but otherwise the bits of melody were well-placed.

There is an overall theme for the movie. You could almost subtitle it "Dark Knight vs. White Knight." The idea is that, well, wouldn't it be nice to have a hero for Gotham who (a) shows his face and (b) works within the law? There's an amusing irony in (a), which would only be a spoiler to anyone who isn't familiar with the name "Harvey Dent." Of course, there's a Joker in the deck, too.

It is a pity about Heath Ledger. Seriously. I can't imagine anyone matching his performance as the Joker. A sequel isn't as strongly implied at the end of this one as it was at the end of Batman Begins, but there are certainly hints that one is possible. And, well, very mild spoiler: The Joker is alive at the end of the movie. What they'll do about him for a sequel... *shrugs*

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Discworld Quiz

Which Discworld Character are you like (with pics) created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Lord Havelock Vetinari You are Lord Vetinari! Supreme ruler of Ankh-Morpork! Cool, calculated, and always in control. You graduated from the assassins guild, but failed a course on stealth and camouflage, because the professor never saw you there (even though you attended every class). You always seem to know what everyone is thinking, and after a conversation with you, people feel that they have just escaped certain death. Lord Havelock Vetinari 88% The Librarian 75% Commander Samuel Vimes 63% Carrot Ironfounderson 63% Death 50% Greebo 50% Rincewind 38% Gytha (Nanny) Ogg 31% Cohen The Barbarian 25% Esmerelda (Granny) Weatherwax 25%

I find this result quite amusing, though I'm not sure I agree with it. I suspect Granny Weatherwax is so low because many of the questions were about her physical characteristics rather than her outlook on life.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

John Running, Stories in Stone

I said I'd bought some rock art. Just now I went looking for more info on the artist, John Running. There are several people named "John Running" involved in various kinds of art (or else he is extremely prolific), but adding "stories in stone" to the search produced two very good links. The first describes itself as "frags", presumably meaning "fragments." The next is "Artwork", and clicking on home takes you to the homepage. The piece most similar to the one that I bought is under painted rocks, this one. I don't know if that is the original from which the mold was made or not, but I do know that mine is painted differently:



*sighs* The flash made everything look a bit bluer than it really is, but my hand just wasn't steady enough for the non-flash pictures. The colors are fairly subtle, but beautifully applied. Hmmm... a closer look at the little pamphlet suggests that John Running himself did not do the painting, but that someone named "Magda" painted it, with John Running's permission. This is probably why I could afford it. ^/^

The other design I considered was a cast of this one, but the turtle just didn't speak to me the way the horse did. When I looked at the turtle carving/painting, I saw a turtle. When I look at the horse one, I see "freedom."

*ADDENDUM: I just came across a few of these available on e-bay. An unpainted one has a "buy it now" price that is higher than I paid for a painted one! I'd suggest avoiding these auctions and trying to find a reputable art dealer instead. Seriously, prices in Estes Park are most often higher than elsewhere.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Akron: The Lighthouse Inn

... aka "The Crestwood" to every long-time resident of Akron, Colorado. Even if the name-change lasts (as it likely will until the current owners decide to sell it), I would bet solid money that fifty years from now, you'll still hear some people in Akron calling it the Crestwood. Not everyone, but some people. This is the third owner since Grandma moved to Pocatello, and decided that she didn't want to show favoritism by staying at one particular friend's house over another. Ergo, hotel. Also, a wee bit more privacy. Grandma's gone, but we keep coming.

The first owner was an older gentleman with an apparently senile dog who would wander semi-randomly through the parking lot. He knew Grandma from when she lived in Akron, and we were VIPs since we were with her. The next one that I remember was a woman probably slightly younger than my mom. She had the hotel for several years, but under duress. Apparently her no-good brother had promised to help her run it and promptly disappeared once she owned it. Now it seems to be a family running it. The guy at the desk said he was helping his mother-in-law with it. I caught a brief glimpse of a puppy behind the desk, and one young kitty came out to greet us. Very cute and friendly, and also an efficient fly-trap.

The last owner did the best she could, but was pretty much on her own. So far, the new people seem to be doing a bit more upkeep. The doors all have fresh coats of paint; the plumbing works; the linens are all new; and there's a genuine wireless network. Oh, there are even itty-bitty soaps and shampoos in the bathroom ... which I can't use without a full ingredient list, but oh well. The new towels and shower curtain are actually a bit of a let-down. The last owner had clearly found her shower curtains on extreme clearance somewhere, as they were the most boisterous patterns in the gaudiest colors imaginable. Her towels weren't quite as interesting, but even blue stripes were nice after a week in hotel after hotel with white, white, white...

For a small-town hotel with all of maybe 16 rooms (some of which are likely occupied by the owners), it's quite nice. It could do with new mattresses and modern combined heater/AC units. I'm not as particular about mattresses as my mom, and I slept just fine, but just sitting on them, you can tell they've pretty much had it. As for the air-conditioner and heater, they are currently separate, noisy units. I have a sneaking suspicion that they'd save enough in power/gas bills by replacing them to make up the cost in a year or two. Pure speculation on my part, but I can tell you that when I replaced a forty or fifty year old furnace in my house, it cut my heating bill in half. These are likely that old.

Anyway, the latest thunderstorm seems to be breaking over my head, so I should probably log off. At least I'm not out in it this time. ^/^

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Miracle of Miracles...

Thar be internet access herrre!

But thar not be time to write much.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Tumbling Tumbleweeds...

This is likely the last night I'll have internet access for a while. We used to have a back-up for Akron, vis-a-vis a very mediocre dial-up connection, but I cancelled it last year as that was the only time it was getting used. It's been a good trip ... other than the cloudburst as I was trying to climb the stairs to the labelled highest point in the park. I might have kept climbing anyway, except the thunder was getting closer and closer, and it's a wee bit exposed at the top. Also it was hailing. As a result, I got drenched, and wound up buying a dry pair of shorts in Grand Lake, as I had shortsightedly left my clothing bag at the hotel. It is a quite nice pair of shorts, with lots of large pockets.

The primary things I wanted to find this trip were a new coat and some new gloves. Both goals are now fulfilled. At the Nepal-Tibet import store, I found a quite beautiful coat with a wool exterior and cotton lining. The sales clerk informed me that it was a Sherpa coat, and that it was quite warm and good in the wind. The wool is thinner than on the wool coat that I currently have, but the lining may make the difference. My current wool coat is apparently from South America, btw. I had someone in a store ask me where I'd gotten it, as he recognized the design (around Pocatello, that likely means he went on a "mission" to S. Am.). It's the warmest coat I've ever owned. My only complaint is that the buttons have a nasty tendency to come off.

Anyway. Gloves. I lost one of my good gloves this winter. I found a very similar pair at the Twisted Pine. Better yet, it was on sale. See, I can't wear polyester-lined anything. I can't wear Thinsulate. I can't wear any of the fake-fleece, etc., garbage that is easily found and cheap. I can wear leather, and wool, and rabbit. So I got one leather pair lined with rabbit fur and one deerskin pair lined with cashmere. As if to reproach me, there's a rabbit hopping around the parking lot right now... I would love it if there were a natural plant fiber that would (a) keep my hands warm and (b) stand up to hard work (shoveling, for instance). To be honest, the artificial fibers are pretty lousy at (a), though decent at (b), but I can't wear them.

From a few web-searches, I found out that there's a dedicated gluten-free store between Loveland and Estes Park. It's called Granny's Gluten Free Zone. Most of the brands I'd seen before. One that I hadn't is called "Outside the Breadbox" and is apparently based in Colorado Springs. I highly recommend their multigrain crackers. Hmmm... those must be new, as they don't show up on the product page. Anything not frozen is supposed to be available to order, though it looks like the ordering process isn't quite automated. Still, you might be able to find them here, at the company's site. While it's hard to describe them exactly, they remind me a lot of wheat-thins, only with better flavor. *shrugs*

Okay, I think it's time to stop rambling now, and try to figure out where (if?) I want to hike in Rocky Mountain National Park tomorrow.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Hotel Reports

Rawlins, Econolodge: Lousy. Wireless internet was not available in rooms. Might have been in the lobby, but I was too tired to check. Bathroom door did not close all the way. Claims of "recent renovation" amount to papering over mediocre decor, and doing it badly (EX: marble threshold in doorway; carpet laid over board in closet; half-inch gap revealing old tile between). Bathtub drained more slowly than the shower put out water, so that I was up to my ankles by the end of the shower. For, say, fifty bucks or less, this would have been tolerable. They were charging much more. Don't bother.

Fort Collins, Quality Inn on Mason: Awesome. Good internet connection. Very clean and new interiors. Spacious. Also a good location. Most hotels here require driving five miles out on Mulberry to get to them, and that gets old very quickly. For very slightly more than we paid for the Rawlins Econolodge, we have a room that's several thousand times better. ADDENDUM: Got to use a luggage cart, as our room was on the second floor and I didn't feel like making enough trips to get Mom's suitcases and the coolers up without mechanical aid. If you take one into a small elevator, do make sure that the wheels that turn are pointed at the door, NOT the static wheels ... or else do not turn it at all once it's in the elevator. Otherwise, getting it out is a major hassle, especially since the elevator gets impatient and starts trying to close the doors.

*I've stayed in Econolodges that I liked; this just wasn't one of them.

Estes Park: Travelodge. Pretty good so far. Slightly smaller than the room in Fort Collins, but everything's clean and works. The wireless network doesn't seem to reach into our room, and also requires a password. The network does work in the lobby, and I did acquire the password ... but I'm actually logged into some random open access network that reaches here. No clue to whom it might belong. This network did (sort of) reach into the hotel room, but wouldn't stay connected. Works just fine in the lobby. Oh, Highland Music now carries Native American flutes! And I now know exactly what my major Christmas present from my mom will be. `/^ Oh, I also found a nice piece of rock art. If I remember, I'll post a picture after I get home. The artist carves a master himself, on a real rock, then makes a mold for mass production. Very very nice.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Preparing

Too busy getting ready to go to Colorado to post much here, but I thought someone besides me might find this helpful. I have a Jeep JXTCR2 travel alarm clock, which I got because it was cheap and had automatic time-setting via radio. Two things that the user has to worry about setting: the time-zone and the time for the alarm. And the controls are the least bloody intuitive things I've ever come across.

So if you, like me, have misplaced the instructions, I just managed to figure both of these out.

Timezone: Hit "mode". Release. Hit "set" and keep hitting it until the correct timezone is marked. Hit "mode" again to get back to the clock-screen.

Alarm: Hit mode. Release. Hold "set" for about 5-10 seconds (too long and nothing happens). When you release the key, the alarm times should start flashing. Hit "adjust" to cycle to the correct hour. Hit "set" again to get to the minutes, then "adjust" to cycle to the correct minute. Hit "mode" to get back to normal functioning.

Anyone who stumbles across this, feel free to post questions in the comments if there's something else you can't figure out. Who knows, maybe it's something else I know how to do on the thing. '/^

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Choral Festival, Second Night

There were actually three simultaneous events for it last night. Mom and I went to the one at Stephen's performing art center, but there was one on lower campus at Goransen and one at the Blackfoot HS auditorium.

The first group to sing was from China. Very good. I would have liked to hear more, well, China, in the songs they chose. They were all by Chinese composers (this was the first group to provide a program of their songs), but most of the melodies would have fit right in to a European context. But that's a reflection on my expectations rather than on the performance itself.

The next group was from Spain. Very very good. They sang completely a capella, and did it beautifully. Most of their songs seemed to be Spanish folk songs. They wore beautiful, traditional Spanish garb, with the ladies all in long skirts, most with a shawl, some with an apron or apparent-corset instead (apparent because no one could sing in a real corset). The men wore knickers with a white shirt and dark vest, and either a kerchief or a hat.

The last group was a subset of Pocatello's Camerata singers. They have very good voices, and good energy, but I got extremely tired of their consistently religious repertoire. Many of the groups had a religious song or two, but the Cameratas... I can only think of two of their songs that were not religious. They had two spirituals, and normally I like spirituals, but I made the mistake of trying to make sense of the lyrics.

"Ain't Got Time to Die" is just creepy, especially when you remember that spirituals originated with slaves in the south. They ain't got time to die because they're busy "servin' my Jesus", "workin' for the Kingdom", and "servin' my master" on various verses. Now, if it were God/Jesus/etc they were serving, they could continue to serve him/it/them after death, right? So, er, yeah. In the context of slavery, it almost feels like a protest song, with a possible ironic casting of the "masters" as God. And that just creeps me out. But lacking that context, it just seems whiny.

The other spiritual falls into the trap that many in philosophy club accused stoicism of. Apparently in any sort of real world trouble you should shout praises to God. The subtext may be intended to read "and then God will come to your aid," but I got the impression it was more of a last act of desperation. It doesn't have to be. It could be a sort of ironic commentary, but, if so, the irony was lost in the performance. Then again, a lot of Zen and Stoic thought is concerned with accepting things as they are in this moment, and lots of people misinterpret that as fatalism, but it's really not. If you accept things as they are, then you, first off, know how they are, and might even know what you ought to do to improve them, keep them the same, etc. "Know" is entirely the wrong word for zen thought, of course. It's more that you're so in the moment that you act as part of that moment, and your action is exactly what is required. "Surrender to the moment." Praising the moment, on the other hand, requires conscious thought, which means that the moment is already lost. You can't be in the moment if you're thinking about the moment.

Apologies for not analyzing more songs, but most of them were in languages I don't understand. It's possible I would argue just as vociferously with them if I had understood the lyrics. `/^

Inquire Further

Relinquish

International Choral Festival, 2008

Pocatello seems like an odd place for an international anything, but it also seems an odd place to find one of the country's best acoustical theaters (at Stephen's Performing Art Center). Anyway, I went to the opening event with my mom. A bit too much talking and glad-handing from the sponsors at the beginning, but otherwise I quite liked it. There were four choirs performing.

The Brazilian choir was very good. They attempted to have the audience sing along with the chorus of a Portuguese song. That sort of worked. They had good energy and voices, and a very enthusiastic director.

The Lithuanian choir was awesome. If you only have time to go to one of the events, make it one where they're performing. Awesome voices. Spectacular energy. Their last song was the only one in English, and it was a compilation of Andrew Lloyd Webber bits. I recognized all but the very last bit. Oh, their luggage got lost, so they were performing in Festival T-shirts instead of in their native costumery. As my mom commented when they were done: "With voices like that, they don't need costumes."

The Taiwan children's choir was good, but a bit heavy on the pageantry and gadgets. Some of them had very good voices; some needed a bit of work. It was...cute, but it ran on a bit long.

Last was a choir from New Jersey. Good voices and diction; horrible facial expressions. They also needed a bit more expressiveness in their singing. I'm not sure why they only performed three songs. The other choirs all did maybe four or five. *shrugs*

I'm going to one more of the events tomorrow night. I no longer remember why I picked that night over Friday or Saturday, but I agreed to go to two of them with my mom. I think she's planning to go all four nights, but I know I'd be burned out on choirs if I tried that.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Someone Needs a Proofreader, Stat

On a hotel-booking site:

Children 17 And Under Are Free In Room With One Paying Adult In Existing Bedding.

Changing "Are Free" to "Stay Free" would help. Not sure what to do about "In Existing Bedding" ...

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Birthday Stuff

As usual, my dad gave me money, and it was just enough to cover two DVD sets I've had my eye on. Ancient Voices and Lost Civilizations. I haven't officially mentioned it on the blog, but I no longer have cable ... largely because I lost track of the bills at some point and they strangely objected to not being paid. I got home, saw a polite little note on the door informing me that it had been cut off, and mentally said, "Huh."

I suppose some people would have frantically rushed over to the office and begged or bribed them to turn it back on. I just shrugged and decided to see if I really missed it. Answer: not by much. I missed the few channels I actually watched: Discovery, History, HGTV mainly. I didn't miss any of the network programming. So I've just been getting myself a good documentary collection now and again and very much enjoying the complete and utter lack of commercials. Once in a while I do turn on the tv at my mom's house, and sort of recoil in horror from all the commercials, rather like I do when I have to use IE (no adblock). So that's $600 less of a drain on my income every year, with my mom's place as a backup should I desperately desire to imbibe of the boob tube. [Aside: that's a really weird sentence; I think I should go get some sleep.]

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Puzzled

Okay, I know I'm out of shape. I should be walking everyday, not just the three or four times a week I manage. I was reasonably certain that some of my breathing problems stemmed from being out of shape as well. Only, I made an 8.5 mile hike with 2200 foot elevation gain yesterday, and only the blister on my right heel is sore. My calves are a tiny bit stiff, and my hips twinged once or twice last night, but that's it. So I'm confused. Best guess? The breathing problems have made me feel more out of shape than I actually am. Which is good, I suppose.

The way down seemed shorter to me, as well, but my memories of that may be colored by the time that I got lost and wandered 6-8 miles extra. Then again, I managed to find the "shortcut trail" at the end that bypasses several of the switchbacks. I don't recommend it for going up, but it's useful for getting down. Also, what I've taken to calling the "nightmare pass" (a rather nasty climb to get from the non-motorized side to the motorized side of the trail) didn't seem quite so nightmarish. Unpleasant and tiring, but no where near as bad as I remembered. Again, I suspect my memories are being influenced by the time I had to climb the thing after wandering 6-8 extra miles.

A guide to avoiding that is below the fold.

The Right Way:

The Wrong Way:

The Sign:

The Confusion

Now if the sign were actually upright, it probably wouldn't be an issue. As is, it's a bit difficult to tell if the Gibson Jack arrow is pointing towards the small trail that climbs up or towards the wider, road trail.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Birthday Jaunt

For my birthday, I've decided to make the whole trek around Gibson Jack. So far my sole present is a Purple River Beech tree that I picked out and my mom got for me. It will be planted in the front yard so that (eventually) it can shade the house in the morning. Anyway, in lieu of a long, sleep-depriving post, here's a picture of Pouncer that came out rather well:



*UPDATE: I've now given myself blisters in addition to the tree. You'd think my hiking boots would ruddy well be broken in by now. *sighs*

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Random Triad of Links

Irony: McCain proves that "McCain = Bush" by throwing out a protester with a sign saying "McCain = Bush". Now how's about everyone making their own sign, plus a picture of the arrest, and heading out to each and every McCain rally, hmmm?

Cult? Religion? Fascist Underground? You Decide! Paraphrasing from this comment, "A religion is afraid its apostates will go to hell. A cult is afraid they'll talk."

Finally, an intro to the science behind genetic family analyses, and how we can often trace the exact genetic lineage of an organism. Unfortunately, real genes are more complicated than cards.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Forbidden Kingdom

I dragged Fibonacci to see Forbidden Kingdom Wednesday. The primary plotline is, well, a standard one. Prophesied hero starts out as a bungling misfit, gets better as the movie goes along, and manages to save the day. So in that sense, there are no surprises. The surprises come in how well done it was. Also, it borrowed a great deal from Chinese myth, and I always find it refreshing to see non-Western sources utilized. Plus, it's the first movie ever to feature both Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

I encountered one person describing Forbidden Kingdom as "The martial arts version of the Wizard of Oz." There's a bit of truth to this, only Dorothy would have needed to rescue the Wizard from the Witch before she could go home. Also, no Toto. It can't be the Wizard of Oz with no Toto. But we do have a boy from our world magically transported to a mythical realm and needing to find his way home. He does wind up with three companions: a drunken scholar warrior, a silent monk, and an orphan bent on revenge.

The premise of the movie is that the Monkey King has been imprisoned by the Jade Warlord and has turned the Celestial Kingdom into a depraved tyranny. The only way to stop his reign of terror is to return the Monkey King's magical staff to him.

The Seeker, prophesied to be the one to return the staff, turns out to be a kung-fu-movie-obsessed teen from our world, who needs to learn real martial arts in a hurry. Though they were brief I was impressed with the training sequences. There was a bit of genuine taiji philosophy thrown in, and used "correctly": i.e. a beginning student would have very little idea what it actually meant. Also, they showed a standing meditation variant, with a much deeper stance than the one I've trained in, plus a bit of iron shirt style training (in this case, attacking bamboo both to strengthen muscle and to learn how to absorb force). Of course, I tend to remember the fabled words of a taiji master. "Yes, very useful ... if you're ever attacked by a stand of bamboo." ^/^

The timespan is difficult to judge, but as the Seeker's hair grows about 3 inches in the course of the movie, presumably the journey took a few months. That's not a completely unreasonable timespan to gain martial proficiency, particularly if that's about all that you do. It took Ben Lo either 1 or 2 years to become Cheng Man Ch'ing's best push-hands student: the one who fended off challenges to Professor Cheng. As far as I know, he was unbeaten. Someone (whose name I should remember) fought Ben Lo to a draw, and then Professor Cheng came out to face the interloper, who was quickly and soundly beaten, and immediately asked to become Professor Cheng's student. Anyway, back to the movie.

Two of the Seeker's companions embody two of the major religions in historical China. The Silent Monk (Jet Li) represents Buddhism. The Drunken Scholar (Jackie Chan) represents Taoism. Both schools emphasize a "middle path," but, by and large, the Buddhist path tends to lean more towards asceticism, and Taoist schools with more Buddhist contact tend to lean more that way as well. So we see a rather dour Silent Monk, and a very relaxed Drunken Scholar. Naturally when they first meet, there's a bit of a conflict, and there's a very nicely choreographed fight scene. They're pretty much evenly matched, and that fits the balance between the two schools that has developed in China over the centuries. There are some very famous, and very bloody, conflicts between the two sects, especially when Buddhism was first introduced to China.

Then there's the Jade Warlord. He supposedly rules under the Mandate of Heaven, but, by becoming a despot, he should have lost that mandate. That quibble aside, he represents the worst despots in Chinese history. A lot of Chinese thought was born in the Warring States Period. Despotic warlords were the norm. Life for ordinary people was chaotic, bloody and short. The Monkey King stands for someone who will stand up to the despots, and make them look like fools in the process.

The last of the major characters is Sparrow. The Jade Warlord murdered her parents when she was a baby, and her only goal is revenge. Revenge seems to define her entire existence; there's no room for anything else. That's not a healthy way to live in any philosophical system, so it's pretty clear that this will end badly from the start. I think Sparrow represents the bitterness and anger that can develop under a tyrant, as well as the self-destructiveness that they can bring.

In essence, then, Forbidden Kingdom can be seen as a microcosm of Chinese history. It can also be seen as just another quest movie, and most Americans will probably do just that. Either way, I thought it was a lot of fun. In particular, I liked that the prophesied Seeker would have been helpless without guidance from his native companions. There are certainly some corny bits, but, eh, no movie's perfect.

Oh, as far as I know, this tale is not one of the traditional Monkey stories, but it fits right in with the ones I have heard of. Just a few links for more information:
Illustrated Monkey Tales
Analysis of Journey to the West (often called simply "Monkey" in the west)
Just a touch of geography.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

Acid Update

Since starting on the acid-refluc-reduction regimen, my breathing has improved. It's not back to "normal" yet, but compared to needing 2 or 3 full doses of my inhaler each day, it's pretty close. Amusing but welcome side effect: I think I'm losing some fat as well. I've followed the recommendations here for the most part, as they're based on a fairly recent study.

So I've got the head of my bed elevated and I've been taking naps in the recliner instead of on the couch. I've switched my major meal to noon and made sure to get my smaller dinner eaten by 7:00 pm (preferably by 6:30 pm), with no food between then and bedtime. I'm pretty sure I've decreased the total amount I've been eating as a result. My evening meal is roughly half the size that it was, while my noon meal isn't a whole lot bigger than it was. I'm not really doing the "frequent small meals" thing, mainly because my hunger cycles don't work that way.

Oh, I've also started adding more yoga and qigong to my daily practice sessions. So it's the ol' "decrease calories, increase activity" "miracle cure." ^/^ Now the only question is whether I can maintain some semblance of this schedule once school starts again and I'm teaching evening classes. That's what got my meal schedule out of whack in the first place. *sighs*

Random sidetrack: You'll find lots and lots of "foods to avoid" for acid reflux, but the recent study found no consistent correlation between any of those foods and acid reflux symptoms. So any triggers are particular to the individual, not ones that you can really find on a list. I have determined that ice cream does not agree with my body. My mind is fond of it. My mouth rather likes the taste. My body ... gets sluggish, and wants more food after consuming anything with ice cream in it. So that one's a no-go for me. Amusingly, it's one that's on most of the AR lists, and also something that Deng Ming Dao recommends avoiding as part of a healthy, "Taoist" diet.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

A Starling

Shortly after I took the kitties out this morning, Dovienya sauntered into the yard with a bird in her mouth. I didn't think much of it until she let it go and it was still moving. I sort of assumed it would be wounded, and watched as the cats crowded in for a look. After a few minutes, it became clear that it was not wounded, so I gathered the cats back into the house and gently caught the little bird between my hands. It became very clear that its wings were functioning, but that it hadn't quite worked out flying yet. So probably a recent attempted fledge. I caught it again, hands cupped lightly around the wings this time, and set it in a grassy, shady spot, since I didn't really know what else to do for it.

It seems to be gone now. Whether something else caught it, or it finally figured out the whole flight thing, I'm not sure. But I suspect that it did figure out how to fly, and that it was the starling that lit on a line just above my chair when I went out this evening. It very nearly cackled at me and the cats. If my life were a cartoon, that would be the same bird. I could swear that it came back just to say "Nyah, nyah, na-nyah-nah." Yes, I'm probably projecting. But I'd like to think that the not-quite-fledgling made it.

Inquire Further

Relinquish

GF Tips: Pizza

If you want it quick and easy, you can use ricecakes as a "crust". If you're in the right part of the country, both Pier 49 and Beau-Jo's offer a gluten free crust. (Pier 49 has the better crust, while Beau-Jo's does a much better job with toppings, imo).

However, if you want a really good crust where you have complete control, you're going to want to learn to make a rising-yeast pizza crust. There are "quick crusts" that don't use yeast, and are easier, but they will not taste like "real" pizza crust. In The Gluten-Free-Gourmet Bakes Bread, there is a yeast recipe specifically for pizza crust that is decent. Not great, but decent. I find I get a much better crust by using one of the regular bread recipes and just spreading it out for a pizza crust. In fact, I did this for our Fourth of July family meal, and my dad actually complimented me on the crust. He even ate most of the outer crust, which he rarely does with regular pizza.

Use any bread recipe you like, but probably a mild-flavored bread would be best (unless you're into hearty-flavored pizza crust). I tend to use the Featherlight Rice Bread recipe from GFG Bakes Bread, but use any that you've gotten to turn out as decent bread and you should be fine. Do make sure to use the water-temperature on the yest package and NOT the temperature in the recipe.

The challenge with gluten-free bread dough is that it is runny, and so we can't just roll it out into the shape we need. I generally slather some dough onto the pizza plate, put some olive oil on my hands (usually by dipping into a shallow bowl of it), and gently pat the dough out until it fills the pan. Very, very messy, but I've never had much luck using spatulas to do the job. However you shape it, try to make sure that the outer edge is at least slightly thicker than the middle parts. It will hold the toppings better that way. Then let rise until it's roughly doubled in height, pre-bake for 15-20 minutes at the temperature indicated in the bread-recipe you're using, put toppings on, and bake again for 20-30 minutes (mainly depending on how thick your toppings are).

Almost forgot. If you're making it just for you and don't want tons and tons of leftovers, a pie-plate makes a good 1-2 serving pizza. I tend to make lots of extra pizza dough when I do make pizza, and make a bunch of pie-plate-size crusts to freeze. On the Fourth, I used the largest recipe for Featherlight Rice Bread (using 4 cups of flower) and got one 12" crust for my family and 5 pie-plate size ones for me. Just spread them in a greased and floured pie-plate, let rise, and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Some generic tips regarding any yeast bread:
-Water Temperature Matters. Always read the yeast container to see what temperature is recommended. Since we generally add a bunch of room temperature liquid, you may need to increase it further.
-Fluffy eggs make better bread. I usually start by putting the (room temperature) eggs into my stand mixer, putting it on high, and letting it go for a good ten minutes or more, until the eggs turn into a rather nice foam.
-Gluten-free dough does not need to rise twice. The second-rising for wheat breads is to activate the gluten appropriately, thus is unnecessary if there is no gluten.
-Oil works just as well as butter or margarine, and for pizza crusts I definitely recommend olive oil. Products made with margarine will probably have a longer "shelf life," but it's difficult to find margarine made without mono and di-glycerides (or without soybean oil, which makes me ill).
-Bette Hagman recommends vinegar as a dough enhancer, but I tend to use lemon juice, and increase the amount. Same acidity, and the vitamin C acts as a natural preservative.
-If you've got an ingredient that's not at room temperature and you're in a hurry, put it in a water proof bag (say a ziplock), partially fill a measuring cup with hot tap water, and clip the bag to the sides of the measuring cup. I don't know how well this would work with eggs, but with any "powdery" ingredient, it works just fine. In ten minutes or less, the ingredient should be up to room temperature or better.

GF Tips Index

Inquire Further

Relinquish