This is a good day

Today is the first NFL preseason game, the Tokyo Bowl, the NY Jets vs. the defending Super Bowl champion TB Bucs. Green Bay plays on Monday Night for the Hall of Fame Bowl, and I'll be over all that.

 
A quick MB upgrade

I told Jerry that I was going to pop out the MSI K7T Turbo 2 KT133a mb and do a quick upgrade to a Shuttle AN35N Ultra. He said, "There's no such thing as a quick MB upgrade".

He's right. I spent 5 hours working on it last night, and may spend another long afternoon at it today. It all depends on how much fortitude I have to mess with it.

I'm doing this to give Ashlei the 512 meg of PC133 RAM in my KT133a box. I already had 512 of DDR RAM, Corsair TwinX 2700 that I bought for a MB review that I never got to do, so it was cheaper to get a new Nforce2 MB @ $63 than it was to get more RAM for her.

 
An interview with the late, great Mark Heard

http://home.no.net/heard/archive/newsound_interview_1987.html

Dan: Prior to the interview you said you didn't have anything to say, what did you mean?

Mark: I'm pretty said out, I've said a lot of stuff and I just wanna play the blues man. Talk is cheap. We're sitting here with a tape recorder running, eating Chicken curry sandwiches, Iwhich I'm spilling on my bib, and I'm supposed to say something meaningful to lot's and lot's of people or they're gonna be pissed at me because I, and artist who is known to be in fact a Christian person, did not give them something they perceived as edifying. That's a horrible kind of pressure, How di you deal with that every day? You get up, you go to the bathroom, you eat your breakfast then Joe Public says, "Tell me something important that's gonna change my life!" I'm not that kind of person, I don't know anybody who is. This is an interview. I'm sitting down and thinking off the top of my head, When I write songs I think about them and work on them for a long time to get them just right, I try to say something I really want to say, So it's my hope that instead of me gabbing people will just listen to the record, And if they don't understand it that's fine; they can listen to something else if they like.

 
Why Cameron won't make True Lies 2

http://www.comingsoon.net/news.php?id=869

Jamie Lee Curtis said:
"It sounds like they were all ready to go for another one, however. "I found this out only recently, because I never understood why, thinking, this is weird, why aren't we doing it? Because we had the big meeting, I thought we were gonna make it, it was all heading down that road. We literally had the big dinner, we all got together and it was a big thumbs up and lets do this and blah, blah, blah. And then, September 11th happened, and then, I mean obviously. I finally asked, I said, 'What really happened'. Jim and Ray and Arnold all felt that. If someone had ever asked me, I would've agreed with them. You can't do that again. You just can't make that threat funny."

Too bad. This film was huge fun (and was the single best thing that Tom Arnold has ever done).

 
Bob Hope's Final Resting Place

So I guess you've heard by now the instant classic anecdote. Delores Hope asked her husband where he would like to be buried. Bob Hope, then approaching 100 years of age, responded "Surprise me."

I'm still laughing.

RIP, Bob.

 
Neal Stephenson on being a bad correspondent

Neal Stephenson, as I've posted, is an introvert, and as such, works better with large, unspoiled blocks of quiet time to arrange his thoughts and write them down. He apparently makes a reasonable but not extravagent living in this manner. Nobody begrudges that. As a fledgling creative writer, I aspire to his middle-class life.

He makes an interesting argument about not compromsing his time to answer e-mail and attend day conferences. For him, interrupting his schedule destroys the quality of his work and therefore interferes with his quality of life, and of living. The answer, for him, is to be a somewhat unapologetically bad correspondent.

I can see his argument, but it is easy to make the case for balance.

Perhaps a little more work spent on putting himself out there for people to see would satiate the public's desire to know him. By being reclusive, people are *more* interested and intrigued, not less. A little balance could go a long way toward meeting the needs of himself *and* his fans.

A blog, for instance, could provide him with a way to answer things once and then refer people to. Just a thought.

 
Caring for your Introvert

I came across this article by Jonathan Rauch when doing a little surfing to find out more about the author Neal Stephenson.

(Incidentally, the number that the author uses, 25%, would fit in nicely with the rough idea that those with the Melancholy temperment account for one of four of the major personality types. I do not think this is an accident. )

I think it's interesting to note that this segment of the population exists, and am interested to see how to effectively deal with this temperment (being married to one).

Here's a snip to get your juices going:

Do you know someone who needs hours alone every day? Who loves quiet conversations about feelings or ideas, and can give a dynamite presentation to a big audience, but seems awkward in groups and maladroit at small talk? Who has to be dragged to parties and then needs the rest of the day to recuperate? Who growls or scowls or grunts or winces when accosted with pleasantries by people who are just trying to be nice?

If so, do you tell this person he is "too serious," or ask if he is okay? Regard him as aloof, arrogant, rude? Redouble your efforts to draw him out?

If you answered yes to these questions, chances are that you have an introvert on your hands—and that you aren't caring for him properly.

You can read the rest here.

 
The question of perspective, part II

Had a thought this morning. I've mentioned the struggle that I've had with which voice to use for the upcoming Aerie novel, finally settling on the third person voice, however, the recent change in course has me considering another change as well.

I keep going through this - I think I've nailed down an important foundation and then new revelations change everything. It's like, the more I *think* I know about Aerie, the less I *actually* do.

The most recent revelation has me doing alternating chapters between the viewpoint of Anatole Dale and Kish. The current idea is to write Dale from the third person and Kish from the first person.

I don't know if this will stick, but it could make the first book stronger and have more of an impact when the two storylines come together toward the end of the first book.

 
Living Like a Rockstar

Ron Miller writes this:
Unbelievable but the Rolling Stones front man turned 60 on Saturday and the old boys are still touring and from what I hear still rocking quite nicely, thank you.

It's funny to read some of the articles about his birthday trying to analyze how he stays fit as he approaches his "golden" years. Apparently, he is a health fanatic, runs 8 miles a day, works out every other day in the gym with a trainer and watches what he eats. He doesn't smoke and only drinks occasionally.

As one of the articles put it, it's ironic really that one of the symbols of 60s excess is actually a symbol for the payoff of clean living. Go figure.

Rock on Mick.

I'm not a Rolling Stones fan or have that great an affection for Mick Jagger, but the irony amuses me and challenges me to find some way to become more active, myself.

 
Revisiting Sturgeon's Law

Sturgeon's Law /prov./ "Ninety percent of everything is crap". Derived from a quote by science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, who once said, "Sure, 90% of science fiction is crud. That's because 90% of everything is crud." Oddly, when Sturgeon's Law is cited, the final word is almost invariably changed to `crap'. Compare Hanlon's Razor, Ninety-Ninety Rule. Though this maxim originated in SF fandom, most hackers recognize it and are all too aware of its truth.

Thanks to Joshua Ellis from The Christian Realists list for the link.