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| Wednesday, October 31, 2007 |
| God's way of saying... |
... shut the fuck up, Phelps. If He hates anyone, it's you.
And anyone else taking His name for hate.Labels: gays, God, idiots, religion |
posted by Steve @ 5:27 PM  |
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| California Is on Fire |
I was reading the excellent New York Times' article on the blazes near San Diego. I admit I haven't kept on this like I should; shamefully, it took until Suns GM Steve Kerr had to evacuate his home that I started really reading.
A lot of it's pretty sobering: news of Mexican firefighters coming over to help out but scrambling back home when the fire crossed the border; half a million people evacuated and thousands more ordered to. If the winds here in Tucson are anything like those in San Diego (and they are; they're coming off a system near the Rockies, apparently), they're some of the strongest I've ever experienced.
Of course, that's not good for firefighters.
But I'm actually really happy with what I read, in a way. There's also a lot of good signs, not least of which is that Bush didn't take his time sending aid. There could be more firefighters, but the system in place to make all this work seems to be functioning:
“These are big fires, tragic, and the impact of these things will last a long time,” said Jodi Traversaro, spokeswoman for the state’s Office of Emergency Services. “I think Katrina taught us a whole lot.” Of course, California has a certain amount of experience with these kinds of blazes; a architect friend of mine lost his family's home while he was in Japan teaching (where I met him). But I do recognize that Nature's pretty formidable compared to even several thousand brave people with the equipment and will to make it stop. I know I wouldn't be especially happy in these shoes:
“We tried to get back in there at about 5 a.m. but we couldn’t get through,” John Miller, a United States Forest Service spokesman, said, referring to two fires in the town of Lake Arrowhead, in the San Bernardino National Forest, where at least 100 homes and 5,000 acres have been destroyed. “It was a wall of fire.” So I tip my hat to those that are helping make emergency response something that I can ignore for a few days. I have a little more faith in my country -- though it may be small comfort to those who lost a home.Labels: fire, news |
| posted by Steve @ 12:32 AM |
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| Monday, October 22, 2007 |
| Responsibility in school |
I get pretty riled up when discussing public education. I don't have any kids yet, but I'm hoping that when I do I'm going to PTA meetings and taking an active role in my kids' education. Seems the only way to make sure they even get one these days.
Anyway, in response to an Andrew Kantor post about why he'll never send his kid to a public school (one of many posts, indeed), I was writing about how all parties in a public school are partially responsible for education. While pointing a finger at a particularly stupid ruling or lawsuit or whatever is appropriate sometimes, I am a pragmatist and want to know what can be done.
So I started writing and ended up making a chart of what responsibilities each party has to each other. Because I'm a very, very opinionated person. Here it is (link).Labels: poliics, rant, school |
| posted by Steve @ 2:50 PM |
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| Methods for Madness #1 |
Last night, I blogged about how I couldn't sleep. Instead, I worked from about 10pm to about 4am on graphic design. I got a lot done, actually, and I have no regrets.
But at around 4am, I decided I was tired enough to go to sleep. I had also noticed that there was a precipitation-free hurricane going over Tucson. Wind speeds of around 45-50 miles per hour (!) have been sweeping the city since around midnight last night.
That's fine. I like the smell of fall wind. And the weather's been nice and cool. I dig.
That's before I tried to sleep. Normally, I don't mind a little wind, but my patio has a tin roof. That tin roof has a palo verde tree next to it, and I'm the only one who's trimmed the thing in years and years. There are a lot of branches that sit on top of the patio roof. Normally, this isn't a problem. But when there's 40 MPH winds, the tree drags itself up and down the tin roof.
It sounds exactly like running fingernails down a chalkboard, and it has been going on for 13 hours straight as of 1pm this afternoon.
I can't hear it from the other end of the house, and I eventually realized this at around 8am to catch a few hours of sleep before work.
Think about it for a second, though - I listened to and attempted to sleep to the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard for six hours. Between that and the sleep madness, it's amazing I'm coherent enough to type.Labels: madness, sleep |
| posted by Steve @ 12:43 PM |
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| Can't sleep |
I've about given up on my sleep schedule.
XKCD has a wonderful take on the problem, suggesting a 6-day week of 28-hour days. I'm seriously considering it.
I spend a ton of time trying to focus. A lot of time trying to wake up. Then I want to go back to sleep. If I don't, I can't focus; if I do, I won't sleep at all the next morning.
This is getting very frustrating, and I'm looking into really bizarre solutions.
Even if Harvard does think I'll go crazy. Crazier, anyway.Labels: sleep |
| posted by Steve @ 2:05 AM |
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| Sunday, October 21, 2007 |
| Ha! |
| Hedon Heidi had haphazardly humped her happily hairy hundredth husband Hal. Labels: random |
| posted by Steve @ 8:19 PM |
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| Wednesday, October 17, 2007 |
| Actual Craigslist post |
Raw pseudoephedrine and red phosphorus available in bulk one pound boxes. $ 50lb come by 17661 w oatman rd
marana, az 85653 call 248-4115 when in driveway if no answer come to door.
Need to sell fast Moving Glass ware for sale also
*** You agree by calling or showing up you are in no way affiliated with any law enforcement**** I'm really hoping they neuter whoever is involved with this when they're caught.Labels: craigslist, drugs, idiots |
| posted by Steve @ 12:56 AM |
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| Monday, October 15, 2007 |
| #3 Worst Realization Ever |
So, the Number Three Worst Realization I've Ever Had*:
"I am standing in a pool of my own blood."
Yes, that very thought occurred to me this morning after sitting down to work at my computer. I sat down, had a cup of OJ, scratched my foot and set to work. Half an hour later, I shift my left foot and it's sticking to the floor, and covered in something thick and syrupy.
My own blood. Curiously, I knew this before looking down. Without even feeling any real pain - I just knew that when I looked down there was really only one thing it could be.
So I'm standing in a pool of my own blood; there's enough around my foot that there's a discernable depth to it. This is because as I mentioned before I scratched my foot - specifically, a cut that I'd had weeks ago. I figured it was pretty well healed by now; I hadn't felt any pain from it in a week. But as anybody who's had a boisterous childhood knows, the extremities bleed like crazy.
So I had to grab a wad of paper towels, wake up Rachel briefly to horrify her, wash off my foot, and then go and mop up my pool of blood.
I really considered taking a picture, but it seemed just wrong. I just hope that (A) my foot will stop getting numb, and that (B) it clots up soon. I should probably eat a few extra vitamins today.
*Funny thing is, I'm pretty sure there's worse realizations I've had but only two other ones are worse that immediately come to mind. The other two were, "There is nothing I can do to prevent this speeding car from falling off that cliff" (#2) and "I have 24 hours to live" (#1).
I guess I've had some exciting moments so far, haven't I?Labels: blood, frightening thought, stories, work |
| posted by Steve @ 8:27 AM |
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| Tuesday, October 09, 2007 |
| Completely Retarted Statement of the Day |
Fox News - pinnacle of slanted journalism - has a story about how Senator Obama's pastor is black, unhinged, racist, black, not truly Christian, not truly white, and also, he's black.
Especially, they were really worried about Obama because his pastor had used a dirty word when talking to his inner-city congregation, and how they might find it easier to find God through their poverty and minority status.
Then, they pulled out this gem:
"If Barack Obama has really submitted himself to his church like he’s claimed, why does he have a different expression of faith from his own pastor?" asks Anthony Bradley, theologian and research fellow at the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, Mich. OHNOES! Senator Obama is committing the Deadliest Sin: disagreeing with his leader. The Conservatives must be reeling in horror.Labels: idiots, Obama, politics, religion |
| posted by Steve @ 4:44 PM |
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| Saturday, October 06, 2007 |
| Suns Scrimmage |
The Phoenix Suns played an intra-squad scrimmage at McKale Center here in Tucson tonight; six bucks and a 10-minute drive and I was watching a Suns game.
Awesome.
I actually went early in the morning after dropping off Rachel at work, and saw the whole squad come in. I didn't have anything for them to sign, and didn't want a big deal. I asked them if they knew when the box office opened; they shrugged, and I said I'd see them tonight and wished them luck. They looked a bit tired - it was early on the last day of camp.
Hoping to get an autograph, I went by a terrible sports store (Big 5) and bought an overpriced, regulation-sized basketball. I was hoping to get it signed after the game.
I got there about 40 minutes early and was sad to find that the whole bottom row of the stadium had already been filled. While I'm always happy to see that my team is getting some love, I rather would've liked better seats!
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One nice thing about seeing this kind of game is that I got a chance to see how the rookies and deep bench played.
Sean Marks played in all of three games last year. And yet, Marks rocked tonight. There were a few places where he was mis-matched with a smaller guy who dusted him, but otherwise was aggressive, and actually made a lot of plays happen - plus like four or five dunks. One sequence had him making an impressive block, then sprinting back to the other end for a slam dunk. For a 7' guy who played in 3 games last year - wow.
Earlier in the off-season, GM Steve Kerr (a UA alumni) said Marks was going to surprise some people and I took that with a bit of a laugh, but I guess he was right. Whether or not he can play versus other NBA teams .
Marcus Banks had an OK game - an OK beginning, a fairly crap middle, and a strong finish. Basically, the more he was the SG and less he was the PG, the better he was. The more he tried to take it on his own, the worse things ended up. But when he rotated correctly, used screens, and generally used the Suns' system, he did a good job.
There was a guy named Doug Thomas, who had great hops but no contract. He's mostly known for his athleticism, not for his actual game, but he was great at those highlight dunks. I actually think we should sign him, luxury tax be damned. He had a few rookie moments where he looked a bit lost, but he was aggressive, made some awesome dunks, and played well on defense, too. I don't remember a lot of outside shooting, though.
Eric Piatkowski, the 37-year-old guard, actually did a good job - there were a few weird moments where people didn't communicate as well as they should've, but he was solid in his duties. Not bad for an old man - you couldn't really tell. Plus you could tell he can shoot.
The rookies Strawberry and Tucker seemed a bit frustrated on defense at times, but hey they were playing some very good players. Alando took Marion on in the lane and succeeded - that was cool - and Strawberry was all over the place on defense. They did not look like a pair of rookies.
Overall, the whole team seemed very relaxed. I don't think the team was playing at 110% - or even 95% - but there was a lot of good play regardless. There was some sloppy points, too, but overall I'm happy to say that our bench doesn't suck half as much as it used to.
There was one funny moment when Nash drove baseline while saying something to Marion, who was laughing too hard to properly defend him as Nash went for the reverse layup. Marion was still laughing too hard to run back on the offense...
Oh yeah - and #33? He is quick. Very quick. And he shot almost nothing but the 3 before the game. I think he's trying - probably because of his new coach - to integrate that into his game. As if we didn't have enough people who can shoot the three!
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After the game, I stayed around hoping to get those autographs. The only Sun to come out to do so was Doug Thomas, who wanted to meet someone in the crowd who had made a huge sign that said, "Sign Doug Thomas." He signed some stuff and talked for a while.
Long story short - nobody stayed to sign or say hello, and I admit I'm disappointed. The rationale is easy to see: they wanted to go home and get to sleep before 2:00 AM back in Phoenix, but the fan mind isn't rational. At least I have a new basketball.
Afterwards, Rachel and I were going to go to Club Crawl - for our first time ever - and decided we were too tired. We're getting old.
Labels: Suns |
| posted by Steve @ 11:12 PM |
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| About Me |
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Name: Steve
Home: Tucson, Arizona, United States
About Me:
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