pouk's pinfold

For teh writerly people

2009-04-02T07:50:25Z

a text adventure.

For all I know, this has been passed around a lot. If not, enjoy!

Can't Have it All

2009-03-31T05:17:51Z

How you be I be fine things good here doing a bit of blogging over at skin hunger, dontchyaknow, reading a good book, too, will be blogging there about it, long day at work but it was good and i just ate a really good vegan brownie okay thanks bye.

Meaning, Sagan, Monkeys

2009-03-24T19:17:50Z

New posts on skin hunger: Meaning and Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot.

I lied about the monkeys. I am a bad man.

Finally

2009-03-23T19:09:47Z

...a new post at skin hunger: Of Battlestars and Presumptious Deities, with Eczema Prelude.

Gregory did indeed watch the Battlestar Galactica finale, and found it fun and rewarding and deeply disappointing, all at the same time. Which has often been the way with this series and me.

I'm almost embarassed to say that I spent most of yesterday watching TV, what with Battlestar, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dollhouse (DUDE that episode rocked) and then 2 DVDs of Stargate SG-1. Total loser boy yesterday. It was grand.

All your sanity and wits they will all vanish

2009-03-14T06:59:15Z

Someone in the complex was just blasting "Start Wearing Purple" by Gogol Bordello. How deliriously awesome.

Writing tonight, words coming slowly like trying to remember a dance from long ago, from before legs ghosted into phantom limbs. But there are words, at least, and the phantom limbs tingle with the promise of life. If only I can remember the dance, and the art of not cutting off one's own limbs.

A new post at skin hunger: The Red Box.

Nite, you lovely, lovely people.

The new other blog: skin hunger

2009-03-13T01:20:40Z

The new project has lurched uncertainly to life: skin hunger.

Go give it a looksee, comment away. I plan to take baby steps into this and let it be what it wants to be. It feels important that I do this, and so I will do it and see what the hell it is.

This does not, of course, mean abandoning Livejournal. I'm not sure how posting will be different between the two, other than that skin hunger has a narrower focus (life through the prism of godlessness, I guess you could say). There will inevitably be some overlap. This, though, may become a bit meta, exploring writing, including the writing of skin hunger. We'll see. Movement, rather than firm plans, is the key here. Frankenstein's monster couldn't move so well at first, ya know, but "IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!"

Cramer vs. Stewart

2009-03-12T18:48:20Z

If you haven't seen it, Dispatches from the Culture Wars has the round-up of the Daily Show segments in the great Cramer vs. Stewart brouhaha. Brayton is right -- Stewart is beating that dude like a drum. And this whole thing is just making me love Stewart even more.

Oye

2009-03-11T19:51:56Z

Bicycling cop hit from behind and killed.

Condolences to his family, and a fervent hope that the TPD will maybe, finally, take this shit seriously. Too many people are dying in Tucson because asshats in cars aren't obeying the 3 foot rule. And despite laws on the books, not a single motorist has been cited. Ever.

The Amazing Dr. Darwin

2009-03-11T06:24:30Z

A fun find at Bookman's sometime ago: The Amazing Dr. Darwin, a collection of stories by the late, and sorely missed, Charles Sheffield. The stories follow the exploits of Erasmus Darwin, the remarkable grandfather of that other vaguely famous Darwin. Imagine an Age of Reason Sherlock Holmes, and you have the basic tenor of the stories. Also a bit of Scooby Doo in the mix, minus the kids, the dog, and the Scooby Snacks. If it weren't for that meddlin' Darwin!

I've only ever read Sheffield's far future science fiction -- the Convergence series and a few others. So this is a nice discovery, another side of a writer that I've long loved. Good rollicking fun, which is about where I'm at with the reading at the moment. I've always had a fondness for ol' Erasmus, and a love for fantastic stories set in that era, whether it's over the top Holmesian stuff like this, or out and out fantasy like Susanna Clarke or Gregory Keyes.

Recommended, especially if you're looking for some good, diversionary fun to fill a few hours.

And yes, I've been rather quiet lo these many moons. There are reasons, and plans, and things. Stay tuned. For now, though, I'm still suffering from a "ouch but it hurts to type a lot" problem brought on by a nasty bite of eczema/whatever you want to call it. It's getting better, but slowly, and in the meantime I am a sore and uncomfortable Gregory, prone to sleeplessness when I'm not being knocked out cold by doses of allergy medicine. Pity the poor Gregory!

For fun, I've changed my journal appearance. And I'm not doing the paid account thang anymore, opting for a plus one instead, to save money. And plans, for what it's worth, means that there's going to be a new Wordpress blog soon. Stay tuned!

Yep

2009-02-23T18:52:11Z

Portrait of a Gregory earlier this morning.

Luckily, when today's work shift is done, I will finally have a day off after the Very Long Weekend of Work. Yahoo!

Duuuuude

2009-02-22T05:31:42Z

The best reason to use Ubuntu, work-addled Gregory maintains, is the cool names -- each release has a funky animal name. The recent versions: Feisty Fawn (7.04, April 2007), Gutsy Gibbon (7.10, October 2007), Hardy Heron (8.04, April 2008), and the version I'm currently using, Intrepid Ibex (8.10, October 2008). The next release is taking a jaunt - ha! -- into the mythical, with Jaunty Jackalope, which will be version 9.04 and be released in April (you can probably guess what the version numbers mean). Well, they've just announced the name for the version after that, due in October -- Karmic Koala.

Go on. Tell me you don't want something named Karmic Koala on your computer. Macheads can keep their silly cats, and Windows users can keep their, uh, whatevers. Numbers, I guess.

This is about the quality of my thought, mind you, when I try to blog after 9 and a half hours at work.

Because Jethro Tull is good for every occasion

2009-02-15T08:49:01Z

In honor of my sister, who today celebrates her birthday:

Skate away, mi hermana. Your passion play is a beautiful thing.

When we were Happy Meals

2009-02-10T19:51:11Z

...the oldest fossilized human hair has been found...in fossilized hyena dung.

Sometimes it's hard not to think that the crappy way we treat other animals may, really, just be payback.

It seems like snowball fights with orcas might be a tad dangerous

2009-02-08T07:17:40Z

Scientist as "snowball fight" with orca

The short form: scientist throws a snowball at an orca, intending to hit the water, just to let her know they were there. Throw is off, hits orca. Orca responds, in manner that seems like it might be playful. But click the link and look at what her idea of a snowball was. :) Am I the only one hearing Crocodile Dundee saying "you call that a knife? THIS is a knife" ?

Of course, I also am seeing ninjas in my head saying "then he threw a chimney at us." First one to name the source of that gets, oh, I don't know, a tongue kiss from President Obama.

Ya know...

2009-02-05T07:09:50Z

I'm not a huge fan of "pop:" but there are exceptions, and one of them is Pink. I wouldn't call myself a huge fan -- I don't even own any of her albums -- but she does some great stuff. She also has a great sense of humor, even when doing a video for a serious song:

It's Steven King-alicious!

Ewwww

2009-02-04T19:17:46Z

I just know that Andrew Weil is going to try to revive this in his next book: Europe's 'Medicinal Cannibalism.'

Surreal Moments in Google Maps

2009-02-01T19:43:20Z

Huzzah!

kitties!

2009-01-30T06:49:42Z

One of my favorite bet-ya-haven't-heard-of-this-one blogs to read is Notes from Kenya: MSU Hyena Research. It chronicles, as you might guess from the title, an ongoing hyena research project out in the boondocks of Kenya. It's a fun look at hyenas and the life of researchers in the field.

Case in point: sometimes, things crawl on the hood of your car. And stick around for a bit. Make sure to follow the link to the guy's personal page to check out the videos. Cheetahs are stunning creatures.

It's all about the perspective

2009-01-29T05:47:05Z

So I'm watching Rachel Maddow, and she's talking about the Post Office woes, right? As you've probably heard, the Post Office wants, as part of its attempt to get its budget problems under control, to go to delivering mail only 5 days a week. And then she says something chilling: it might not be Saturday that gets axed. See, it turns out that volume wise, Tuesday is the slowest mail day of the week, and thus we could end up with no Tuesday delivery.

Why is this chilling? Because I'm on Netflix, that's why. Do the math. No Tuesday delivery makes getting two rounds of movies per week that much harder. (for those that don't know, it doesn't matter whether there's mail delivery on Saturdays or not as far as sending movies back -- Neftlix doesn't receive them into their system on weekends, nor does it send out movies on Saturdays). If I'm figuring it correctly, you'd be able to do 3 rounds every two weeks, but not 4. And that's assuming, of course, that you can watch the movies quickly.

Wanna bet Netflix is praying for the Tuesday option? I'm just hoping that the Post Office will decide that weekday delivery is too important, what with critical business and governmental communications and all.

Man, this economic downturn just got personal. :)

AND my Cox internet service is going up 2 bucks a month. Okay, I'm done griping now.

Why I love Rachel Maddow

2009-01-24T06:36:01Z

Maddow on governors getting to pick Senators:

One thing to pay attention to: notice how she refers to Blagojevitch at around the 3:20 mark. I had to play it again to make sure I had heard right!

Welcome your new Lefty Overlords

2009-01-22T17:52:18Z

Read all about the natural superiority of left-handed people, and the ugly attempts of the inferior righties to hold them back.

What? Why yes, I am left-handed. Why do you ask?

Surprise

2009-01-20T16:56:32Z

Surprise: Rick Warren's "invocation" basically said to all non-Christians, whether nonbelievers or Buddhists or Jews or whatever, FUCK YOU.

Yeah, well fuck you too, Rick.

And why, exactly, did you feel it necessary to say the girls' names like you were talking about exotic dancers?

Keanu Reeves in Cowboy Bebop? Is this a bad dream?

2009-01-17T03:02:12Z

Grrr. Is all I can say. But then, I'm not really on board with the idea of live action versions of anime movies. The potential for lame is too great. Like, you know, Keanu Reeves being cast.

Go ahead, tell me he's one of the good ones

2009-01-16T17:47:53Z

Rick Warren wants mindless fanaticism: Follow Jesus Like Nazis Followed Hitler.* He's tied to a brutal dictatorship in Uganda that has caused the greatest level of human death and misery since WWII. And his so-called humanitarian work with AIDS is monstrously wrong. So I will just say it -- this man is a force of darkness in this world, and if his vision were allowed to prevail, humanity would be doomed. So, with all do respect, Mr. President-Elect, fuck you for picking this ass for your unconstitutional injection of Christianity into a governmental function. And with all do respect, Melissa Etheridge, you're dead, dead wrong on this one, and you're providing aid and comfort to the enemy.

(* I can hear the protests on this one already, so let me just say this: even if Jesus existed, even if Jesus was and is the Son of God, you'd still be ethically obligated to use reason and critical thinking to evaluate his claims and demands, and follow only those that pass the test. Being God or whatever does not equate to being something that can be followed blindly. Fanaticism is fanaticism is fanaticism)

It's just possible that Adams didn't like Hamilton

2009-01-12T02:28:13Z

John Adams on Alexander Hamilton: a "bastard brat of a Scotch pedlar," who had a "superabundance of secretions which he could not find whores enough to draw off."

That's gotta leave a mark.

via Dispatches from the Culture Wars

(am I the only one loving ol' Adams even more after reading that?)