wanna buy 2 'projekt revolution' tix?

Going to DefCon that weekend, so have two tickets to 'Projekt Revolution' Saturday, August 9th at Shoreline to sell...let me know if you are interested. :^)

too strong?

The lonely night is taunting her
Nowhere to hide, no safe escape
Locked tight within her skull and heart
The pressure builds, the dam will break

The dam will break, she hopes, she dreams
Release will come and pain will ebb
But bastard walls are holding strong
No respite there inside her head

Inside her head the shadows grow
Watching, waiting, cruelly tease
Catharsis come, she begs, she cries
She only wants a moment's peace

A moment's peace would give her hope
Tools to handle what must be
She doesn't ask for cure complete
Just a chance to set them free

Set them free, her feelings strong
Allow the pressure to surcease
Reset the gauge to bottom line
Giving her some sweet release

Sweet release, however brief
A simple chance to charge and breathe
To loosen up, to live and do
And be and go and try and see

To try and see what life can give
Without the shade that few can see
Damn the lack of cleansing tears
This lonely night is taunting me

i have long said...

...that naps are highly under-rated in our society. Maybe we can change that...this is a start:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/naps/

watching

the universe laughs
no cruel intentions
though the subject would be
hard pressed
to see the difference

the universe mourns
attributes and values
must be honed like steel
but it hurts
to cause hurt

the universe sleeps
seed planted
fertile ground with potential
tools granted
time to release

the universe nods
as awareness dawns
lessons acknowledged from pain
eyes opened
progress made

the universe smiles
set on the path
given a chance to sink or swim
she sees her child
fly

learning

A sad and inevitable fact of life is that the most meaningful knowledge and wisdom often come from experience, pain, and loss of innocence. It is rare to gain significant insight without there being a painful catalyst...in fact, for many, introspection doesn't come even then. I envy them. Over the past few years, I've learned a lot about myself, my motivations, my wants, my needs, my wishes. And while I wouldn't trade that knowledge, and I am glad for what I've gained, I mourn the loss of innocence and naïveté. Even when the lessons learned have helped me get closer to who I would like to be, there is still a part of me that knows that ignorance is bliss.

Another side effect of this 'knowledge of self' is that you become more discerning...you learn what is important to you, what you will and won't compromise on. Again, this is a brilliant thing to know about yourself, but it has its flip side: it means that your criteria have narrowed, making it harder to find matches. Jobs, friends, food, love, places to live...everything is affected by the 'narrowing down' of likes and dislikes. Again, not a bad thing...it keeps you from accepting less than you deserve, it helps you recognize when you are not content, hopefully gives you the ability to see what is healthier for you. There are a lot of advantages to the self-awareness that comes from paying attention to the lessons life has to give.

So how do you not let knowledge gained make you jaded, tired, and cynical as time wears on?

happy birthday, da!!

Love you muchly, miss you muchly...

frost shock injury

Man, casting Frost Shock can be dangerous...but it's not supposed to be dangerous to the caster. Sheesh.


Hanging with some friends Friday night, goofing around, and I step down a little too hard on a wooden floor [wearing only socks] when I cast Frost Shock at someone. This was the result.

How random.

Don't know what I'm talking about? Here you go:



"FROST SHOCK!!!"

update on 'residential email' telephone billing fraud

Just had a very good experience with AT&T regarding the ESBI / Residential Email, LLC fraud I posted about a while back...check out the comments of the original post to see what happened, and to see the stories of others that have run into the same thing.

The whole 'third-party billing' loophole is a big one that allows anyone with your phone number to sign you up online for services and have recurring charges added automatically to your phone bill, all without your knowledge. Ideally, AT&T would have a policy that requires authorization FROM THE PHONE NUMBER BEING BILLED before adding a service [something like how credit card companies require you to call from your home phone number to activate a new card]. That would be much harder to fake, and would ultimately reduce the phone company's administrative costs of dealing with these issues, make the practice less profitable for the less-reputable companies, while still making it available to consumers who want those services.

If you get caught in this, please write your phone company [email or paper] and ask for the ability to block third-party billing. The more of us that ask, the more power we have.

[A FAVOR PLEASE: IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO COMMENT, PLEASE DO SO ON THE ORIGINAL POST. THANKS MUCH...]

more shatner awesomeness

Who knew that Shatner and Joe Jackson would mesh so well together??

[bonus: watch for Joe's little giggle after Shatner emotes about tourists :^) ]

kirk sings 'common people'

Awesomely awesome:

bummer

Went to give blood at the Facebook blood drive today, but couldn't follow through because of my tattoo [sadness]. The Red Cross will allow donation if a tattoo was done at a state-regulated facility [which all legal California ones are, and which I checked out very carefully before getting the ink done], but Stanford is extra cautious and requires a year's wait.

Bummer. But now I know how I'll help Facebook ring in the new year...

not a weirdo

A very flattering moment yesterday...was sitting on a bench reading, sipping on a chai latte, decompressing for a few minutes before heading back to the grind. A guy rode by on a bike, turned around, came back, and asked me if I'd like some company. I smiled, said, "Nah, I'm good...but thanks." He asked if I was sure, then we wished each other a great day and he rode off.

Later, as I'm walking back to the office, he comes out of the bike shop next door [timing, eh?]. He sees me, we smile, and he says, "I'm not a weirdo...I thought you were pretty, and looked like someone I'd like to know." We chat a bit, trade names, then off we go.

A nice interlude in a hectic day...