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PuzzledLook, I don’t care why Linux doesn’t have issues with spyware and viruses like it’s glass-in-a-frame brother, but it doesn’t. Actually, I do care — but the beauty is that it’s true.

Maybe it’s because it’s not a target. Maybe it’s designed better. Maybe it just has a cooler name. The truth of the matter is, we have 450 computers in the district here, and about 15 of those are running Windows. If you do the math (which I won’t), I spend WAAAAAY too much time on those machines. There are many classrooms, running Linux thin clients, which I haven’t visited in 3 years. Really.

So, it’s 4AM, and I’m off to install Symantec Antivirus on 4 computers that are complaining that they’re either expired or have no protection installed. Ugh.

Is easier better?

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Yesterday, I was speaking with a dear friend at a softball practice. Both of our daughters are on the team, so we got to sit in the peanut gallery and gab (it’s practice, so it’s not like we were supposed to be cheering or anything). She brought up an interesting notion, in that she thinks due to her difficult childhood, she overcompensates and spoils her children in certain areas. Here’s a few other examples:

1) She had to walk to school, regardless of the weather. Harsh winds, torrential rain, blazing sun; she walked. Now, she tends to drive everywhere, even when walking would suffice. (I would argue part of that is due to the American culture to be fast, fast, fast — but still, I see the comparison.)

2) When she grew up, in her culture, no one had much money. If you were poor, it showed by your not having enough food. Now, when she cooks, she always cooks too much, and when she shops, she always over-shops. The irony is that throwing away extra, leftover food causes her pain — but the need to have enough food still overpowers.

3) When I grew up, we very rarely ate at a restaurant. We just couldn’t afford it. Now, I tend to take my family out to eat, even at fast food, waaaay too often. My children aren’t even excited to go to McDonald’s anymore — but every time we do, I feel the poor little kid inside me jumping for joy.

Anyway, that discussion got me thinking. Is easier always better? I’m sure it’s not, but yet find myself trying over and over to make life easier for my family than I had it when I was younger. (I have to add, that growing up, my Mom always provided everything we needed. We grew up in the ghetto of Detroit on welfare — and she still managed to send me to a private school. Mom, I’m forever in your debt, thank you so much. I have no idea how you managed it.)

If you’re a parent that buys your children more than they need, just because you can, I urge you to reconsider. Work less and spend more time with them if you can. That will be so much more important to them when they’re older. My kids will never think back fondly on all the times we had McDonald’s for dinner. Ironically, the few times I got to go are more meaningful because they were rare.

To my softball Mom friend: Thank you for helping me put things in perspective.

Boom. Inspiration.

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I started writing a book! I know, a million would-be authors have started the Great American Novel, but at least I’m almost a published author, right? 🙂

Seriously though, writing a novel is a different beast. I’m thinking about characterization, plot, etc. I know I have the writing ability, I know I have a great idea — the next part is the moxy to put it together. Generally, writers are not shy on ideas. Heck, everyone has great ideas for science fiction books. The problem isn’t with writing ability either. Lots of people can write. That just leaves the moxy.

Over the next , we’ll see how the process goes. I’ll even write about it here. The process. Maybe the book too, who knows.

Well, wish me luck. Maybe updating my imagined audience about the process of book writing will motivate me. My hope is that I’ll be motivated by the story, and I’ll want to see how it ends.

I guess this is day one. Today, I’m researching characterization a bit, to help avoid common pitfalls. My luck, I’ll discover some common pitfalls I’d have never fallen into in the first place. Oh well. 🙂

Take the green pill, Neo

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I just recovered from a 16 hour headache. It was a doozy. I feel better now, and I don’t have gas either. Odd thing to mention? I agree.

In our medicine cabinet, we have sinus headache medicine. They are green pills, which a person with a hurting melon takes every 6 hours to feel better. The problem is that some time over the past few months, we changed brands or something. See, now, the sinus medicine is orange. We still have green pills mind you, but they happen to be gas relief medicine.

So yes, inappropriate though it may be, for the past day I’ve had quite a prolific abundance of gas, and quite the shortage of headache relief. As a father and husband, I take a certain amount of vulgar pleasure in being able to clear a room with my methane emissions — but since I was alone in the bedroom with a horrible headache, it wasn’t quite as fulfilling.

I asked Donna to bring me more medicine this morning, at which point we discovered my error. It wasn’t quite as funny at the time as it is now, but needless to say, we got a little laugh out of my pain.

The moral of the story? Read the label. And maybe take both pills, because man did I have a lot of gas.

Hardcovers, and SFWA

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The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) have an election coming up, and a ton of rhetoric and flame wars are going on. I’m not in the association, so I won’t be voting — but if I could, I’d be voting for John Scalzi for president. It’s no secret that I’m a Scalzi fan, but there’s much more to it than that.

Let’s face it, there are are a lot of books out there. A lot. Many, if not most, of them are good. Yes, there may be an occasional book that you hate — but really, that’s just you. Someone likes it. So for someone picking books to read, it’s difficult. I hate to admit, but more often than not, the title and cover art are what sell a book to me. Maybe a cool author name too. That makes me sad.

Here’s the real deal — Scalzi is a very accessible author. He’ll return your email. He’ll send you a free autographed book. (Well, maybe not, but he’ll let you download some books for free, so that’s something.) He’s someone that I want to support, not only as an author, but as a family man supporting a wife and child. It’s his willingness to be accessible that brings out that desire in me.

What does that have to do with hardcovers? Simple. I only buy hardcover books when I want to support the author, and not just read the book. If it weren’t for John Scalzi’s website, and Wil Wheaton’s blog — I’d never own hardcover books they wrote.

No, it’s not fair, but it’s true. Writers need to know that, and if Scalzi becomes SFWA president, at least the SF&F ones will hear it. Unfortunately, there is more to being a writer than writing.

Skunk!

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So Tigger got skunked. Yep. Right in the face. When I smelled it, I ran outside to bring him inside, so that he wouldn’t tangle with the skunk I smelled. Too late. When he came running to me, his face was still wet from skunkiness. It was truly disgusting.

So Tigger will be spending the night outdoors, and tomorrow, we’ll be using a bunch of tomato juice on our furry, albeit stinky, buddy.

In a related story, I guess spring is finally here. Snow seems strangely inviting…

Spoonerism!!!

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I never knew this was a real thing! I do it all the time, because I’m a silly guy, but apparently it’s something definable. It showed up on my “word of the day” list, and I thought it was really cool!

Spoonerism: the transposition of usually initial sounds in a pair of words.

For example:
“I tooked the curkey” (I cooked the turkey)
“A sacon bandwich” (A bacon sandwich)

I do this a lot, much to the annoyance of my family. I must warn you, however, if you start to automatically speak in spoonerisms, you can get into trouble. When you’re discussing Robin Hood with your 8 year old, be careful with Friar Tuck. You’ve been warned.