Fitz dreams of living in a dome-shaped house surrounded by a vast desert. Therein he would spend his days creating music, doing martial arts, and tinkering with computers.
Until then, he has this
Web site...
Fitz dreams of living in a dome-shaped house surrounded by a vast desert. Therein he would spend his days creating music, doing martial arts, and tinkering with computers.
Until then, he has this
Web site...
For about 3 weeks now we've had a new house guest:
Yes, I broke down and brought her inside. A little back story:
For the last 2-3 months there's been this calico cat living across the street under the porch of an abandoned house. The people moved out a while back and I guess they either tossed the cat out when the went or she left wherever they moved to and came back to the old homestead. Either way, she'd sit for hours outside the empty house meowing pitifully to be let inside. It was really quite sad. I contracted the new owner of the home but they had no idea how to contact the previous tenants. After feeding her on my back porch for a while I broke down and set her up in the back room of the basement.
She's a very well mannered beast that needs a good home and I hope we can find her one. She sure can't stay here for too long. We've got too many pets as it is. She's about 6 years old, has been fixed, has a very mellow disposition and unfortunately has FIV, which is the feline version of AIDS. It's not a pernicious in cats, however, and she should live another 5-7 years just fine. She just can't be around other non-FIV cats and can't go outside.
We have the adoption people dropping by tonight to see about helping me place her. If anyone out there knows of a good home for her drop me a line.
4/24/2008 | Permanent Link
One month to the day of being laid off I got a job offer that fit the bill. For the first three weeks of unemployment no one would return my calls. Then four companies wanted to hire me. The position I accepted pays very well, is located two blocks from the Air and Space Museum on the mall, and has no problem with me taking 3 weeks of to do Burning Man this year. I'll actually start next week.
So what did I do with myself for the month+ I wasn't working? Actually a good bit.
As much as I miss the folks at my old job I've really come to the opinion that getting laid off was a very good thing indeed. Life needs a good tussling regularly to keep things interesting and one sharp.
4/20/2008 | Permanent Link
Wow! Pottery shaped into ray-guns. The above model is the Rotwang Retrovivifier. Can any of you sci-fi geeks out there ferret out the famous film featuring Rotwang?
Tonight is Yuri's night and despite prodding from our friend Tim, I have nothing even remotely space-like planned. I really should have. If nothing else I guess I can sit around listening to Morton Subotnic and Jean-Michel Jarre recordings. Maybe next year we'll hold a space-theme party -- with a clay ray gun or two...
4/12/2008 | Permanent Link
You'd think a guy who is unemployed would be ale to update his Weblog a little more regularly, no? Well I've been busy. Chasing leads, going on job interviews, unloading unused music gear on Ebay, hitting Hap Ki Do with more frequency, and trying to wrap up the songwriting for the Mesmers next album. I'm reminded of what a acquaintance said of having excessive free time: you become more of what you really are. So in lieu of multiple entries you get this cropped rundown:
3/28/2008 | Permanent Link
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Arthur C. Clarke has died. Damn. First Gygax and now Clarke. I feel like having a bunch of friends over to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey and then running characters thru and old D&D module.
The fearsome and prolific intellect named Arthur C. Clarke was always my favorite science fiction writer. He had an immense gift for crafting compelling tales of the fantastic based on real science not fantasy. His works had no need for warp drives, mental powers or any of the other pseudo-science that other authors lean so heavily upon. He never felt compelled to take the easy path around reason and good science to spin a good yarn.
This anchoring in reality was also evident in his personal life where he lived as ardent atheist and man of reason. He was never dismissive of the supernatural and indeed had quite and interest in it (see his "Mysterious World" show), but he possessed the moral courage to denounce chicanery and delusion when the facts didn't square. It's an attribute that the world could use a lot more of these days.
3/19/2008 | Permanent Link
From my very first day working at Manila I was taken by the colorful Psychic and Astrology signs in the building across the street. I started many mornings with their shimmering neon playing across my desk and told many jokes of consulting the psychic for important company decisions. I even penned a song called "Lady X-Ray" about an imagined session with her. As a last going away gift Lisa and Anna paid for me to shlep across the street and see for myself what she could augur of my future.
The psychic's name was Anna and she led me into a small white and red room where we sat about a tiny glass table. Surrounding us where astrology charts, pictures and likenesses of angels, and numerous unlit red candles. She asked my name and age and began:
"I'm feeling a big change in your career. Something large is happening with it and it is moving to a whole new level. What is it you do?"
I told her I was a Web designer and a musician.
"No. I feel there is a third path you will be taking. It will involved computers, lots of paper, and for some reason I'm feeling the elderly. Not charity exactly, but something like charity."
Okay... And that was the most exacting she ever was. The rest of the session was filled with vaguries that didn't have much resonance with me. Universal truths such as: "You enjoy your life but do not feel completely satisfied". Other random snippets I recall include:
After about an hour and fifteen minutes we concluded our session and I went my merry way. As a devout agnostic I can't say I found the supernatural elements of her work terribly compelling (angels?), but I did feel she was a sincere and perceptive person who might actually be useful to someone seeking a non-judgmental confidant. Those wanting a discreet sounding board to tread about life's troubles and compelled by otherworldly trappings might find her little glass table a comfortable fit.
Big thanks to Anna and Lisa!
3/12/2008 | Permanent Link
The Manila Consulting Steamer has lowered me, in a quite modest life boat, into the sea of unemployment. At least there were smiles, goodwill, and even a party for my departure.
Unemployed. It's been a while. Somehow this bothers me more at 40 that it did at 30. Yet I'm glad it happened. I've needed a change of pace for a while and this is as good a boot in the ass as any to get me moving.
Onward and... onward.
3/11/2008 | Permanent Link