I have sweaty palms today. What’s that about?

Lately I’ve been working on stopping self-critical/judgmental thoughts in their tracks. What evidence is there that I’m on the wrong track, or heading that way? None. Last night as we lay in the dark, I told Beth that I felt frustrated, like I hadn’t gotten anything done yesterday. She pointed out stuff I had done, including “daily maintenance”, i.e., good energy management, taking care of my body. I said yes, and added that I did concentrate on snuffing self-critical thoughts when they arose. She said that I’d come a long way on that just since we’ve known each other. Why, she hadn’t heard one “intellectual snob” comment from me since Christmas! Progress, Captain Winckles — progress.

> “There are no empty spaces in the sky – or in the world of living things.” – David Byrne on his tour journal, October 13.

The radiators in the office make delightfully alarming pings and clongs when they get a fresh shot of (steam? oil?) every couple of hours. I should record them.

THE ART

I feel bad for not posting more news and thoughts from the artistic front lately so here goes. I’ve been really enjoying my video work lately, though I’m not putting as much time into it as I’d like to. This weekend I finally chose the ideal version of my maps patch and recorded a few minutes of it for the Share archive, which I then uploaded at Share (my first time doing so). Then, after much frustration, I finally figured out what was wrong with my glass bells patch, which uses these beautiful pictures of turn of the century glass insulators, and added a cool new aspect to it when showing a newcomer how to add effects in Keyworx. I’m getting better and better at separating myself from the work and appreciating it as I would someone else’s.

THE NERD

I’m tugged in so many nerdy directions! To add to my list last week, I want to learn SSH, which Eric assures me is the sine qua non of nerdly remote access.

Antenna DIY

By the by, the antenna fix-it-up with Daniel did not succeed, sadly, though I much enjoyed watching him solder and splice and was delighted to meet his wife and daughter. All three made me feel very welcome in their home. But no, two splices in one itty-bitty piece of co-ax, though electrically continuous and well-wrapped, are just too chaotic for such delicate things as 802.11b signals. I dropped my Powerbook off at Tekserve Monday to have the internal antenna replaced. As I said to Beth, it was a two hundred dollar lesson in when not to use needle-nose pliers. I’ve had more expensive lessons, though, so I’m not too put out (briefly: there is such a thing as local long-distance calling and it is not easily distinguishable from local toll calling).

Must read

Holy fuck! I had no idea that Neal Stephenson’s The System of the World had been released. Hie me to the B & N! But first I shall finish reading his delightful answers to Slashdot questions with a big grin on my face. Sample:

> /. Q: In a fight between you and William Gibson, who would win? > NS A: You don’t have to settle for mere idle speculation. Let me tell you how it came out on the three occasions when we did fight.

Another gem

from David Byrne’s tour journal:

> Ecstasy and pleasure are not always conveyed by the appropriate body language or facial expressions. From the gesture or facial expressions alone one could be getting a tattoo, or be having a violent reaction to dinner. I remember critics of Elvis used to say “it looks like it hurts”. – September 5

And lest you think this is anything but a typical blog,

here is a recent conversation I had by instant messaging.

ross white: done whistler!
dan winckler: ron ween!
*** ross white signed on at Wed Oct 20 11:25:38 2004.
*** ross white signed off at Wed Oct 20 12:42:25 2004.
*** ross white signed on at Wed Oct 20 13:15:50 2004.
dan winckler: barf!
ross white: huuu-bleargh!
dan winckler: hcaalk…thu
ross white: waaaaaa-cccck
ross white: buuuuuhhh-thht
dan winckler: ah, ah, hlurg!!!
ross white: gaarg
dan winckler: smuh…smuh…oh god — fraaaaaj!
ross white: guh
ross white: guh
ross white: pehhlg
ross white: guh
ross white: pelhhhhhhhuggh
dan winckler: sneh
dan winckler: sneh
dan winckler: ffffffff-shhhnog!
ross white: muhr
dan winckler: i think it’s stopped. thank god
dan winckler: ohno
ross white: fantastic! may I blog?
dan winckler: SHLRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAjkl.s….eh…w
dan winckler: i’ll beat you to it!

Later…
ross white: Curse you, Winckler. I will live to destroy you.
dan winckler: May that hope buoy you through your worthless struggles.