If it seems dark in here, it’s just me fiddling with the site. I am trying a new theme. I might keep it, and I might not. In fact, I might delete this post, and you’ll never know. 🙂
Public Service Announcement
For future reference:
These types of cups are not designed for mug warmers. Also, fingernail polish remover does remove melted Styrofoam. You’re welcome.
Today’s Funny IM
I was speaking to a programmer friend over IM today:
Him: Hey, I’ve been learning Python
Me: Cool, the hisses are the hard part. Pythons are pretty forgiving with grammar, but Rattlers get TICKED if you mess up their tonal dialect…
Yep, I’m still a geek. I gotta love that he played right along though.
Joy
Joy is getting an email from your 8 year old that simply says, “Daddy, I love you!!!!!!!!!”
The Problem With NASA
See:
Astronauts to Inspect Space Station Joints in Spacewalk
I don’t think they should be smoking marijuana on the space station at all. Call me a prude if you will, but I have to draw the line somewhere.
That said, are the laws the same once you leave the planet? If an astronaut kills another in space, is it illegal? How far do our laws extend? Yes, these are the things I think about…
Merry Christmas
Here’s a 1:45 snippet of the culmination of 2 months worth of preparation. My wife was the director of the children’s Christmas musical at our church this year, and tonight was the performance. We’re not sure what we’re going to do with ourselves now that there won’t be 3 practices a week, with 3 times that this past week. 🙂
Our youngest daughter, Lizzie, has her very first solo ever at about the 34 second mark. She’s 6 years old, and we are so proud. In fact, all 3 of our kids had solos (not just because my wife was the director!), and they all did wonderful. Lizzie gets the spotlight on Daddy’s blog, however, because it’s her first.
I’m so happy the musical is over! That’s not to say it wasn’t wonderful, but to get back to the regular amount of holiday stress will be quite a relief. 🙂
Why I Haven’t Written A Book
I have no good excuse. It’s probably the fear of failure. Maybe it’s intimidation on tackling such a huge project. Maybe it’s a combination of several things. The funny thing is, I usually do well when I’m given a deadline. I recently took a magazine article assignment, and had a deadline of a week later. I pretty much met my deadline. (The Devil’s in the details, but it’s not really exciting)
So sure, maybe one day I’ll have a book assignment, and I’ll have to write it. John Scalzi has a deadline this month to finish his current book. I have to admit, I’m a little jealous. Yeah, I could easily “assign” myself a deadline, but really, I’m smart enough that I can’t quite fool myself that way. My recent failure at the NaNoWriMo is just another example. Oh well, I’m not terribly old yet. Hopefully one of these days I’ll get around to doing what I claim I want to do for a living. 🙂 I just need to quit writing blog entries explaining away my lack of novel, and write one!
Oh, and that picture on the fake book is freaky. I’m just sayin.
The Whole World Doesn’t Love Me
It’s rather weird to be in the public eye. Granted, the “public” eyes I’m in are rather small, but when a few thousand people intake something you’ve created, there’s bound to be someone that doesn’t like you. It’s a little weird to be disliked by someone you’ve never met, or talked to, or talked about, etc.
Don’t get me wrong, lots of people dislike me. I’ve been called names that would make sailors blush (and there are a couple Navy folks that read my blog, yes, you’d blush). Those people, however, have reasons to hate me. I may not agree with their reasoning, but at least they have something to claim I’ve done to them.
It gets wacky when people randomly email you, or comment on youtube, or attempt to make you look dumb in public somewhere. Even that I can handle to an extent. The thing that I find interesting is when people assume that if someone has managed to get published somewhere, that those people must be arrogant, rich, self-absorbed ignoramuses. Because in order to get someone to pay you for your creation, you must have cut corners somewhere. All geniuses are undiscovered, and must die poor and alone, right? How dare I risk embarrassment and ask a publisher to accept my creation as professional quality. I must be really arrogant to think my stuff is better than those that aren’t published.
Guess what? I DON’T! Crimeny, I’m more insecure about the things I do than anyone I know. (My suspicion is that everyone feels that way, whether they admit it or not) If you don’t like what I do, then don’t read/watch/listen to it. If you’re a publisher, just don’t buy it. (Unsurprisingly, I’ve never gotten a, “You suck” response from a publisher, they generally have better things to do)
Oh, and if you don’t like this blog post, feel free to email me about how much I suck. I have a special place for those emails, snuggled up next to the male enhancement offers I get. :o)
Now, on REAL TV
In some more “pretty cool” stuff in my life, I just got confirmation that I’ll be a guest caller on, The Lab with Leo LaPorte, which I think is on G4 Tech TV. I have a question regarding the things to look for in a wireless microphone (for shooting my Linux Journal videos), and apparently it’s an interesting enough question that they want me to ask it on the show.
Here’s the problem: I’ve never seen the show, and I don’t have satellite TV, so I probably won’t be able to watch it before next week when I’m supposed to call in. So, cross your fingers for me that I won’t look like a moron. I’m going to try to find a way to watch an episode or two before next week, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to swing it. I might just have to wing it. 🙂
Gender Nonspecific Names
I think I’d like to make a rule banning all gender non-specific names. Yes, that includes my own. All those Robins, Shawns, Pats, Terrys, Jerrys, Sams, Jesses, Stevies, Coreys, Jordans, Leslies, Taylors, Erins, and Billys just need to change to something like JOHN. Or JULIE. Ugh.
In the cheesy video spoof I just posted about, I mention another Linux Journal reviewer, Jes Hall. For some reason, my brain assumed Jes was a man. She would disagree. The dumb part is that my own SISTER is named Jes, and I STILL never made the correct assumption.
If you were looking for proof of my ineptitude, look no further.
(And yes, I sent her an apology, but it doesn’t make me any less of a goon)