After leaving the Steampunk Dream House [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ] behind, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=1){kind=small}
the_child
The site is a lot more interesting to read about than to look at. No preservation work has been done, and the walls of the fort are in perilous shape. Still, we wandered around poking at construction equipment, graffiti, and, yes, chickens.
Posted: 5:38 am Mon May 23 2011 | Comments(0) |
Your Monday moment of zen.
Signage, Missoula, MT. © 2007, 2011, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.
This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Posted: 5:35 am Mon May 23 2011 | Comments(0) |
Prom Time — A gay friend talks about proms then and now. Moving.
Politey-tighty-whities — The cutline on this photo cracked me up hard.
Microsoft Wants to Rule the White Spaces — Not typography, networking.
Birds vs. planes — Darren Naish on the biology of bird strikes.
Serena Williams’ Patriarchal Bargain — Sigh.
Is Anti-White Bias a Problem? — A new study says whites think discrimination against them is a bigger problem than anti-black bias. Is this surprising? Sadly, this is not surprising. Sigh.
Former Palin aide pens tell-all — I knew who Palin was before McCain ever nominated her, because her petty corruption and generally weird behavior was a fairly regular feature of the political news cycle, though never headlines. The initial, apparently reflexive rush of some progressive feminists to defend her staunchly baffled me; so does her continued popularity with the Republican base.
Presidential pronouns, one more time — Language Log on yet another weird conservative obsession with Obama. This reminds of the conservative outrage over the Obama ‘feet on the Oval Office desk’ photo a while back, which was in no wise tempered by the existence of a nearly identical Bush ‘feet on the Oval Office desk’ photo that had never bothered anyone. Not even liberals. Confidential to GOP in America: all the manufactured outrages make your genuine outrages a lot harder to take seriously.
Charlatans and Cranks — Paul Krugman on GOP policies and politics. As usual, he’s speaking from the reality-based wing of, erm, reality.
?otD: Do rainy days and Mondays always get you down?
Posted: 5:34 am Mon May 23 2011 | Comments(5) |
Yesterday I laid pretty low. My mental state was fine, but my lower GI went into open rebellion through much of the day. So I worked on some nonfiction projects for a while, then read and hung out in the small room. Later I also hung out with the_child
She wanted to watch Kick-Ass, which is a decidedly twisted movie. I wound up having to explain a lot of the filmic references, especially the music riffs. She’s a bit familiar with John Woo, but it’s not like she’s ever bumped in Sergio Leone before, though now I suppose I’ll have to fix that.
H— took me out for an early birthday dinner at Pok Pok in SE Portland, which was astonishingly delicious. Not that I had low expectations or anything, but it just hit the spot big time. We shared kai yaang (roasted chicken), yam samun phrai (herbal salad) and muu paa kham wan (grilled boar in spices), along with sticky rice. The muu paa kham was beyond exceptional, assuming you have any taste for pork or game in the first place, and I can highly recommend it. Also had a pineapple drinking vinegar, which was a completely new concoction in my experience.
Given all my weird dietary restrictions on the current chemo course, this meal was very nearly not cheating at all. Unfortunately once my oral intolerances start kicking in, I won’t be able to handle the spice load any more. The meal was a real flame-thrower, to say the least.
Today the_child
Do good, be well, write more.
ETA: Duh, I also walked all the way up Mount Tabor early yesterday morning with a friend, and back down again. Which isn’t a bad walk even when healthy, and is a heck of a walk given current circumstances.
Posted: 5:36 am Sun May 22 2011 | Comments(0) |
Your Sunday moment of zen.
Detail of sign in alley, Missoula, MT. © 2007, 2011, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.
This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Posted: 5:24 am Sun May 22 2011 | Comments(0) |
Typography — Abi Sutherland on signalling of change through type. I think her criticism of SFnal print typography is perhaps not yet fully formed, but I take her point.
The world’s most inspiring bookstores — From Gothic cathedrals to revamped factories, these spaces will make you rethink your Kindle.
A color photo from 1911 — Art Guru James Gurney with color photography (as it were) from very early on. I believe I’ve linked to the photo source collection before, in this post he briefly discusses both the original shooting technique and the modern reconstruction process.
Io: The Prometheus Plume — I am sucker for these outer moons photos from APOD.
Loose Bolts on Space Station Give Spacewalkers Trouble in Orbit — If only the headline had been “loose nuts”…
Playboy survey reveals Internet’s impact on sex — Do I really need a NSFW tag on this one?
U.S. weather extremes show “new normal” climate — Darn that liberally biased reality. The weird thing is, climate change shouldn’t be a partisan issue. It’s sort of like gravity being a partisan issue. Or evolution. (Ahem.) There’s nothing liberal about this, except insofar as willfully know-nothing conservatives set themselves in opposition to observable reality and overwhelming scientific consensus for purely ideological reasons. (“Piss off the liberals” and “punch a hippie” often seem to be the guiding principles of Republican thought.)
Jon Huntsman’s Climate Problem — I’m not a meteorologist. All I know is 90 percent of the scientists say climate change is occurring. If 90 percent of the oncological community said something was causing cancer we’d listen to them. Intellectual sanity from a Republican on a reality-based issue? My god, the Rapture has come. Cue the Rush Limbaugh apology tour in 3… 2… 1…
Newt Gingrich’s meltdown on the launch pad — I wonder if Newt’s “Don’t quote me” rule applies to Right wing ‘gotcha’ quotes from progressive figures?
Bin Laden’s Gone. Can My Son Come Home? — Commentary from John Walker Lindh’s father. Remember when the Right so loudly complained that Lindh was prima facie evidence of the traitorous nature of all liberals? Yet somehow every Right wing domestic terrorist is either a patriot or a rare exception. Eric Rudolph has a hell of a lot more in common with the GOP than Lindh ever did with any significant American political group.
?otD: Still here?
Posted: 5:23 am Sun May 22 2011 | Comments(0) |
the_child
jaylake
the_child
And then:
the_child
jaylake
the_child
jaylake
the_child
jaylake
the_child
Ah, parenthood.
Posted: 2:09 pm Sat May 21 2011 | Comments(0) |
Two weeks from today…
In celebration of my natal anniversary, JayCon XI, my 11th annual 37th birthday party, is Saturday, June 4th, 2011 from 2 to 5 pm at the Flying Pie in SE Portland. We’re partying because I was born, and because I have beat cancer again and again fucking cancer is back, again, and I will beat it, again.
If you can read this, you’re invited. Prior JayCon experience not required.
Flying Pie Pizzeria
7804 SE Stark Street
Portland, 97215
(503) 254-2016
http://www.flying-pie.com/
[ Google Maps ]
As is traditional for JayCon, Paul M. Carpentier is specifically not invited.
Posted: 5:55 am Sat May 21 2011 | Comments(0) |
Your Saturday moment of zen.
Sign in alley, Missoula, MT. © 2007, 2011, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.
This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Posted: 5:53 am Sat May 21 2011 | Comments(0) |
Tales for Canterbury has gone to press — The New Zealand earthquake relief anthology to which a number of authors including myself have donated stories. Go drop ‘em a dime or 500.
The Case for Self-Publishing — Huh. (From a mailing list I’m on.)
Woman feels ‘disrespected’ after being kicked off train — Someone needs to carefully consider their sense of entitlement.
Secret knowledge for a consumer society — Hanne Blank on the value of throwing things the frack away.
Apple triggers ‘religious’ reaction in fans’ brains, report says
At Apocalypse Central, Preparing for What Happens, or Doesn’t — As I said yesterday, it’s so easy to laugh at the Rapture idiocy, but I work to remember that real people with real lives actually believe this stuff.
No word for Rapture — Language Log on the current idiocy.
Connecting the Dots: Doomsday & Education Cuts — No one could possibly imagine a connection. Mmm, jobs.
Sense of Smell Drove Mammal Brains’ Growth
Control Desk for the Neural Switchboard — Optogenetics, tested in rodents, can control electrical activity in a few carefully selected neurons, and may hold new insights into our disorders.
Are Our Lives Vanishing Into the Cloud? — Mmm. Internet.
Planets, Endeavour at Dawn — As usual, APOD is made of awesome.
Disappearance, then discovery leads to ‘honor killing’ outrage — “This is not an honor killing. I hope all of us will stop using this term. It has nothing to do with honor. It only has to do with taking the life of a human being,” said Nabil Al-Ja’Abari, chairman of the Hebron University board of trustees. Fucking disingenuous dickhead. Implying that any such killings might be honorable? There is no honor in oppressing and killing women. Period. No matter what your religion or culture tells you. It’s an vile, evil sickness, nothing more. I’m generally a cultural relativist, but not over this kind of behavior.
?otD: Are you going to be Raptured today?
Posted: 5:52 am Sat May 21 2011 | Comments(0) |