I've made some more progress on mike's picture of his fjord. It's been a bit of a rough week for a number of reasons. Family illness and work stuff. On our Monday call, we were talking/joking about trying out Reddit's new 'in feed' advertising. We might throw $20 at it for fun. Something like "Hubski doesn't have these".
Tomorrow is my 1000 days. Probably won't take the soapbox approach. Thanks for everything, it's been more helpful than you know.
All the dominoes are set up, and are starting to topple gracefully over, leading to the wedding on the 9th. Tonight my fiancee and I are going over to our friend's house for a romantic evening. She is an incredible masseuse, with a lovely house, and we will each be bathed, then massaged, and then tucked into her bed. We will snooze for a while, then the three of us will go have dinner together. It's going to be inconceivably lovely. Tomorrow I am getting acupuncture again. It is helping stop my seasonal allergies, and it is also helping with this damn torqued tendon in my foot that just won't heal. Going to get acupuncture twice a week up to the wedding to help make sure I can dance with my sweetie comfortably, and I don't sneeze during the ceremony. That'd be embarrassing. Getting ready to shoot a fireworks show on the 4th of July. My family are professional pyrotechicians and shoot this show every year. The family has been shooting fireworks professionally since the 1960's, and this show in particular for more than 15 years, I think. The town loves us, they love our style of show, and we are friends with the local fire department, city council, etc. It's really a nice time. And it is one of only two(?) fireworks shows in Washington State that are still fired entirely by hand. Almost everyone does electronically fired shows, or computer controlled shows. We don't. We stand right there and fire them by hand, timing each shell's flight, letting the pretty ones burn longer and undisturbed, letting the audience ooh and aaah for a bit before shooting the next shell. It's an unappreciated art that people just don't really get to see any more. Most shows are pre-programmed to music, and don't show as much love for the art of the fireworks themselves. So yeah. Fireworks, then the wedding. It's gonna be a busy couple of weeks! Oh yeah.... after the wedding we are going to get out of town for a few days and spend some time in the lovely little artists' community of Tieton, WA. Looking forward to spending quite a bit of time at the Tieton Cider Works!!
I think this is really cool. wasoxygen.And it is one of only two(?) fireworks shows in Washington State that are still fired entirely by hand. Almost everyone does electronically fired shows, or computer controlled shows. We don't. We stand right there and fire them by hand, timing each shell's flight, letting the pretty ones burn longer and undisturbed, letting the audience ooh and aaah for a bit before shooting the next shell. It's an unappreciated art that people just don't really get to see any more. Most shows are pre-programmed to music, and don't show as much love for the art of the fireworks themselves.
Tieton looks perfectly lovely. Have a great time! http://www.mightytieton.com/events/2016/6/24/tieton-grand-prix
I'm in Atlanta. tacocat, you're here, right? I have some cool meetings this morning that I'm excited for. Our startup is humming along. We have customers and everything :) I've lost close to 10 pounds in about 2 months by not eating bread/potatoes. It basically cuts out all the crappy food O was eating regularly, chips, pizza, fast food etc. I eat a ton of salads, ribeye, chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, blueberries, eggs and avocado these days. Now I need to begin exercising and I'll be unstoppable!
mike built a dome. dccrux wrote some "metal haikus" I wrote a song. you can sing along: HAIKU METAL NOW METAL HAIKU ALL OF NOW THE THIS THE HAPPENS . HAIKU METAL NOW TRANSCENDS INDIVIDUALS MUST BE FOR THE ALL . HAIKU METAL NOW I THINK WE ARE DESTINED TO DO THIS FOREVER . THE NORWEGIAN DOME BLACK METAL MATHEMATICS SO INSPIRING . HAIKU METAL NOW METAL HAIKU ALL OF NOW THE THIS THE HAPPENS . HAIKU METAL NOW TRANSCENDS INDIVIDUALS MUST BE FOR THE ALL . HAIKU METAL NOW HAIKU METAL NOW HAIKU METAL NOW
Spent a long weekend at my parents, the first weekend since September that I didn't have anything to do. So I dug up some old boxes from the attic and went on to scan a bunch of old photo books, so I can always see what a total gangster I was: In all honesty it was quite confrontational. I didn't have it easy in school for a long time. I found old documents from when I was three and had a whole bunch of doctors, social workers and the likes figuring out how to help me out. It's such a weird feeling reading diary entries about yourself from an age that you can't remember. I'm fine now, but I also know I wouldn't be the person I am today without my parents and the support they got. Never forget the battles you've fought, Hubski.
People Thinking I'm going to end things with the girl I've been seeing for a few weeks. She's not a very ambitious person and, I don't know, I guess I'd rather use that time to myself/friends or to see someone who has their eyes set on something larger and is willing to work to achieve whatever that may be. Health Having a couple health issues checked out today. One could be a major issue. The other's been preventing me from running which is driving me crazy. Plants and Shit Working on a farm for a couple hours much later in the day. Trying to keep my tomato plants alive at home through the impending heat waves. Really the Only Thing That Matters Oh and I'm seeing Built to Spill later this week, which is my stress release for this week. I've been stress eating a bit lately. Need to throw out some of the junk food I've been eating. Bleh.
I am so inspired by subheadings, bfx, do you mind if I steal yours? People Thinking I'm going to not end things with the person I've been seeing. bfx: if being alone is better than being together, that's all you need to know about that relationship. Other People But as delightful as they are, people are distracting. I need to spend some time on the Hard Questions and the Real Work. Health Luckily bf has been dragging me out cycling and canoeing. Otherwise I'd never be coaxed out of the burning house of my mind. In fact, I should get off hubski right now and head out into the beautiful day. (PDT, so it's still morning) Plants and Shit Still trying to unclutter the pile of work. Really the Only Thing That Matters Right now? I don't know. So many things matter: I'm far away from my daughter and mother - both seem well, so that's good. I continue to nudge the ex-spousal-unit into signing the separation agreement please, finally, please!! but he's so unwell that when the vacuum cleaner broke, he fired the cleaning lady. I am 5000 km away, but even so I am attempting to arrange for a vacuum cleaner and a cleaning lady to show up at the same time before he drowns in cat hair. I wish only one thing really mattered. It would help me focus. I just had an idea. I'll try and make only one thing matter for the next hour and see how that works.
People I like them Other People I tend to like them too. Health Been having joint pain in my hands. Kinda worried. Seems accelerated. Plants and Shit Totally not my thing Really the only thing that matters Wife and kids. And startup :)
See a hand specialist. May be fixable with a single shot, a brace or something simple. If the pain just started, get in and get it fixed before it gets to the point you need surgery. Trust me on this.Been having joint pain in my hands. Kinda worried. Seems accelerated.
Good luck with all that pal!Really the Only Thing That Matters
-glad to see you still have your priorities in order :)
The grade for the one retake exam I had to do came in. I PASSED!!! You're all going to have to call me "rjw, MSc" from now on. I already got onto the career ladder so if I had failed it wouldn't have been a disaster, but it might open doors. Of course, now the onus is on me to seek out those doors. After almost four months at my job, the novelty is wearing off. What am I going to do next? What am I working towards? Is there any future for me in England? How can I be a benefit to society? I need to slow down and think about these things, right?
1000 Days on the 'Ski! Thank you all for this amazing and supportive community, I love it here. Still editing the vlogs, here's my most recent one: (it's a bit long, but the day was too fun to cut anything) I hope y'all are having a great summer, I just bought tickets to Quebec's first Burning man style festival in July :D
Loved the story about seeing rice paddies in your school text book and never thinking you'd see them in person. -Very cool. That shots from 3:54 - 4:00 are beautiful. "I did it!" -Awesome. Happy 1000th birthday! So glad you found us elizabeth
First, congrats!!! Glad you didn't cut anything. WOOT! More drone footage. :D Those really are amazing shots. Hoppin' along with TNG on the rice paddy observation. Taking a history course of Africa and went over 'Terrace Farming' again. It's nailed into my brain what it is, yet that footage puts a more humanizing experience to them. Man, those mountains really are breathtaking.
My son is turning 12 next month. I began penning a letter/poem of sorts to him. Some words of wisdom and guidance as he enters his teenage years. He is already a bright and sharp kid. I hope that he finds it as interesting and useful and as meaningful as I'm trying to make it for him. It's been hella hot here in South Carolina, I can't even imagine what it's like for any of you in Phoenix right now. My central air unit from the early 70's is struggling to keep the house cooled down. I don't know what you people do that live in the desert. Anybody doing anything particularly interesting or different for the holiday weekend? As of this moment, I still have yet to make any plans. I'm not a big fan of big crowds, and lately it seems everything you try to do is just a mad sea of people. I much prefer smaller, calmer scenes.
My girl and I are going to hike Hawk Mountain on the third. It's been on my PA bucket list for years, (2-3) so I'm hella excited. That should take most of the day in between getting there, and doing it.
Nice. I grew up in Northeast PA and never heard of Hawk Mountain. Looks nice. Sounds like a great weekend to me.
Real admiration (for whatever it's worth) for what you're doing for your son. Going down to West Palm to round up the kantos nuclear family unit. Smaller, calmer scenes are my inclination as well. We were planning on visiting long time family friends, yet they're split up (physically, not legally) for the weekend. If it wasn't for getting the 5 of us (my family) together, I probably would have voted against it. Looking forward to my 21st bday and wish it had passed already so my brothers and I can go to the BB Kings' down there.
The fact that you're trying says a lot. I wish my parents had done something similar. I'm probably going to be spending my holiday alone. I'm going to make myself a picnic, grab some beer and go out on a lake somewhere and veg out.My son is turning 12 next month. I began penning a letter/poem of sorts to him. Some words of wisdom and guidance as he enters his teenage years. He is already a bright and sharp kid. I hope that he finds it as interesting and useful and as meaningful as I'm trying to make it for him.
Thank you for the encouragement, much appreciated. I try to encourage him to be as open and honest with me as possible. I don't ever want him to fear asking me a question about anything. I know many of the things I 'learned' about on the playground instead of going to my parents, and I'd much rather him give a perspective of someone that's a little more experienced than what another 12 or 13 year old would have to offer. That sounds nice and relaxing though, as long as you can appreciate the alone time. I generally enjoy some peaceful solitude, but I definitely had some sad holidays alone when I first moved across the country. It was tough for a while not having any family or friends around to spend holidays with. But it's gotten better. :)The fact that you're trying says a lot. I wish my parents had done something similar.
I'm probably going to be spending my holiday alone. I'm going to make myself a picnic, grab some beer and go out on a lake somewhere and veg out.
The other day I posted this picture in thenewgreen's haiku thread. I just finished it last night. It was a blast to read and the fact that it's dated and flawed just really adds to the charm. I joked with the wife over dinner last night about some of the unrealistic scenes depicted. For example, if the man no longer has a metabolism, why does he create bubbles of air under water so he can breathe? More importantly, solar wind isn't actual wind and you can't use it to put out a flaming comet in space because 1) there's no air in space and 2) comets aren't made of fire. I bet people who actually understand nuclear physics would have a field day with this book. Speaking of things that are older but still awesome, Taxi is on Hulu. It's a wonderful show. The characters are relatable, the jokes are hilarious, and the stories are often really heartfelt. It's no wonder the series is a classic.
stealing the subheading format People Got a friend coming into town this weekend and I'm very excited to see her. Tryna fit in as many people as I can before I leave because for some reason people don't seem to understand that yes I am coming back to DC and no I don't plan to leave in the next few decades Health So here's kind of a funny story but not like funny haha like funny in that the medical community sux. So I needed a doctor to rubber stamp me to travel and I made an appointment at a walk in clinic that could take me ASAP and also late enough in the day that I wouldn't miss that much work. I show up and first red flag was they didn't even put me with the doctor I made the appointment with. 2nd red flag is the nurse spends MAYBE 30 seconds with me taking BP and asking how much I weigh. The coup de grace is the doctor comes in, does ears/nose/throat check, pokes my belly a few times (standard so far), lets me tell him that no other systems are bothering me, and THEN launches into a spiel about the keto diet. Totally unprompted and it took the majority of my exam despite the fact that I told him I just finished grad school and I know I've been eating like shit but I've already started reversing that in the last month and have lost 7 pounds by myself on a combo of fasting and logging in MFP. He hears exactly none of this and tries to prescribe me an appetite suppressant. The whole purpose of the spiel, he says, is to keep me from getting obese in my 30's and while a lil extra weight in my 20's is fine, I don't want it creeping up on me. Which YES he has a point but I literally just needed him to rubber stamp me. AND THEN to top it all off, I scan in the form I need him to fill out and it gets bounced back because he didn't circle "YES" good to travel. So literally didn't even do the one thing I needed him to do lmao. School My last night of class ever is tonight and I'm doing a presentation on white supremacist terror and there's gonna be liquor. Really the only thing that matters There's a light at the end of the tunnel on this shit job and Topher's planned a tour of Europe for us and that will be awesome.
There's something compellingly readable about the subheading format. Even if no one reads the content, they will read the headings. I'll try and get into the pub early next Wednesday (kind of impossible in this time zone) and use subheadings that anyone can riff off of: Recent Epiphany; Least/Most Transcendent Art Experience This Week; Beyond Comfort Zone Edge Progress Report or something...
I like them a lot and I think they kind of take some of the paralysis out of the blank text box if people want to update us on things but don't know where to start. Beyond Comfort Zone Edge Progress Report (BCZEPR) is a good one.
DC? Yeah I usually get to Pubski pretty early because my job starts on the early side too so I can do that for sure
So I have a question this week. For the past 5 or 6 months now, I've been tackling the task of organizing education and documentation in my company. It's sucked because there's not really a simple pre-existing solution to the problems we're having - an easy to update central repository. I see this as a gap in the market and I think a product that could fill it would be great, but I'm not a developer and can't make it myself. So I've been banging my head against this question - how do I find a developer? I know that once a developer tells anyone about their skill, they're instantly told "well I have this idea for an app..." so I don't want to be just another unprepared person. I have folders of information on the market and competition and the hole they leave, but every time I try to explain it, people's eyes glaze over. So I guess I'm trying to figure out - how do I, as a single individual, present an idea in a way that results in forward movement? (P.S. Sorry to make a "me" post after so long in radio silence.)
In short, you can't. Without a lot of help. The jerks will say "Ideas are like assholes: everybody has at least one." But the basic premise is right. The only difference between you and Mark Zuckerberg is that Mark Zuckerberg did what almost nobody else does: Followed through. If you had a unique idea (hint: you don't) and got a UX designer to mock it up, and pitched it to a venture capitalist, and they gave you money to pay for it to be built... ok, then you might have something someone might sell online for $5-15, if people don't just pirate it. Oh. And Confluence already does what you want. In fact, what you want is a Content Management System, aka CMS, which can be as simple as a wiki of which there are oodles of them to choose from, or as complex as Savo. I have personally designed a content management system (for Kaiser Permanente's printing services division, using a database called Helix), a Competitive Intelligence Library (for F5, using Confluence), and produced highly detailed and unique documentation library (in LaTeX for Applied Materials, the people who make the machines that make semiconductors), and am now working on content management for a new company. In short, make a list of the three features you need. Then ask around. Download a lot of stuff and try it out. Find the two apps that meet those needs the best you can, and run one of them. In a year the entire project will change anyway, and whatever you decide on won't meet the new (entirely unexpected) requirements. Nothing beats a well-organized directory on a file server, expect for meticulously managed wikis. That's the long and short of it.
We're using Conflunce now and people are peeling away, first because it came fragmented, second because the first exodus left it outdated, and third because Google Sites were available and easier to create and edit. Core documentation is organized in a folder structure on drive but the bureaucracy around that removes the agency of individual contributors and leaves them feeling like their actions have no reactions and so they give up. I'm looking for a CMS that follows CCMS standards, preferably DITA but with the ability to export to SCORM, so that we can implement a modular version of NPRs COPE model of content creation and publishing. All of that needs to be wrapped in a nice user interface, similar to a squarespace, that would allow individual teams to use the components to create team portals that presents only the information that team requires. Of course I can and am making something work because, like I said, that's my job but I also choose to believe there's a better way and, like I said, I don't think I've found it yet. Which is why I asked the question "how do I present an idea in a way that results in forward movement?"
Ah! Right! Someone who knows what they are talking about. So, let's dig in... Same problem here with our installation of Confluence. People think if you build the tool, everyone will take ownership of their own part of it, and the total will become an amazing Wikipedia-like constantly churning source of the latest info and intel. But it doesn't work that way due to one thing: People. Every CMS I have worked with has failed because there is nobody tasked with its success. An Editor. A full-time person who cultivates content and content creators. Someone who gets daily aging reports and finds people to pick up abandoned sections and mentors them through the ups and downs of curation and cajoling. I honestly believe - after building my first CMS in HyperCard at Apple up to the current Confluence installation I am editing today - that the tool is rarely ever the problem. No CMS on the market is just a failure. They all work to a greater or lesser degree. But the few that are successful are the ones that have someone paid, full-time, to manage the data. Also, separating the data layer from the presentation layer (the promise of COPE and XML) always requires you to go with a least-common-denominator implementation that is neither pleasant to read or use. Ultimately, you are right: There is a Better Way out there. Somewhere. My money is on thegrid.io. Literally. I paid for it. (Still awaiting delivery, tho.) The basic problem with CMS systems, as I see it, is that it tries to be the solution to anyone who wants access to the data contained within it. It's a scattershot, least-common-denominator approach that works well for very few people, marginally ok for most, and doesn't work at all for the edge cases. I want a CMS that looks at the USER, and customizes the content according to the user's needs... not the needs or design of the CMS. So until my computer knows more about my role, usage patterns, and personality - and can act on this information - I think the wiki + full-time editor model is the only real effective solution to content management. We're using Conflunce now and people are peeling away, first because it came fragmented, second because the first exodus left it outdated...
I think this is the narrow path where I see a better way. A lot of people talking about this kind of thing are saying "I need to be producing a product either for the data layer or for the presentation layer", which is probably true, but I'm not finding someone who's creating a data layer that integrates seamlessly into a separate presentation layer. I thought Google was going to do it with sites and their suite, but they always get so close to a complete product that it's infuriating. I thought atlassian could do it, but their wiki just bundles the two together. thegrid sounds interesting, but I think there's enough interest from management in a company that, if creating the site was easy enough, they would do it. So yeah, I think that's a little closer to what I want to pitch.separating the data layer from the presentation layer (the promise of COPE and XML) always requires you to go with a least-common-denominator implementation that is neither pleasant to read or use
Well shit. Then count me in. I've designed many applications over the decades, and even got one funded by venture capitalists and then purchased by Deutsche Telekom. So I can help. I also have worked with a fantastic Argentinian UX designer, who works cheap and fast. So I can bring her in when we have some functionality nailed down. Let me know if you are interested.
Went on a road trip to the Grand Tetons with my wife. Smelled a tree; stood on a rock; etc, etc. I also read Blindsight and got about 1/3 of the way through its sequel, Echopraxia. Both are pretty good sci-fi if you like that sort of stuff. I've got another shopski post about ready to go. I also picked up a set of metal drawers for dirt cheap. They needed a little tweaking here and there, so I've now got the basics of sheet metal work figured out. They fit so nicely next to my work bench...maybe I'll make a butcher block top for them and bolt the drill press to that. 
I've become addicted to a little logic game called 0h h1. I've been playing and mastering it for a long time, but recently I started catching myself obsessively playing it in my head, while trying to get to sleep. I once lost sleep over playing Dota 2 this way, so I'm wary of this new development. People of Hubski have been posting all those wonderful things they've done or are in process of doing, one more magnificent than another, and I've been thinking how come I'm not doing something like that when I'm clearly capable. I realized that the reason was that I grew up in a community of fatalists - people who believe that if things are destined to happen, they will, and if not, well, that's too bad. It's a sharp contrast to the people of Hubski, who have been nothing but encouraging to one another, whatever the circumstances. Blessing I found this place; not sure what I would be without it right now. I'm in a shitty place of mind right now. I feel like a miserable subhuman. It's objectively and subjectively incorrect of me to do so, but it's what I'm feeling being in this place I reluctantly call home. Still, the best practice to make most out of a bad situation, and I'm not going to sit around waiting for Santa to come. It's just... A little encouragement would be nice. To know that I can do this and leave peacefully with a result to be proud of once the next year of studying starts.
If you haven't tried it already, I would recommend cutting down on gaming. There's nothing wrong with gaming as a hobby, but, at least personally, I've found that gaming doesn't help me feel productive or self-confident. If you can, try to take a day or two off from gaming completely. Work on an old project, or (even better) start a new one. Go out for a walk or visit a new place nearby, read that book that's been on your shelf for months, or look over your notes and see what you should brush up on for next year. I've always found that doing those sorts of things makes me feel much better about myself than playing games, even if they aren't necessarily things that are productive.
Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest it was, although I realize my post probably came off that way. I just meant that, in general, I found it easier to feel productive and generally positive if I'm not gaming much (even if I'm not actually being productive in a traditional sense), so I suggested it might be worth trying to not game as much, but obviously I don't know whether or not that's something that would help you with the issues you've been facing.
Has been a great 2nd day in California. Heres a quick rundown of the past 2 weeks Found a great store with a great deal in California (bay area). Got in contact with broker Booked flight to Cali (from NJ, flight was great) Yesterday we saw the store and met with the broker and owner, a sweet and honest 70 year old woman Today we traveled around and gave an offer to the broker to write up. We went to the Marin Headlands and Golden Gate state park (highly recommend if you enjoy hiking/nature). Now we are waiting for the deal to be written up and hopefully she'll accept the deal we gave her. If she doesn't I think I am going to buy by any means necessary. I really liked it (healthfood store) and I don't think I will be able to find this type of store/deal ever again, a real steal (very lucky). My family also has been living below the poverty line for the past 8 or so years and I feel like I can help actualize what my brother mom and sister deserve, or what i think they deserve. I'm all in for moving here, it's all i've ever wanted. It's got a bunch of micro-climates so depending on how you wanna experience your day you can enjoy it in many ways. People are super friendly and the indie scene is poppin. near the ocean so i can look at it for hours. and so much more. I feel so blessed and finally feel like the hard(?)work I've put in has finally paid off. Hope for the best hubski!
My roommate who's the lease holder only uses speech to text on his phone since he's functionally illiterate. This leads to confusing, incomprehensible text messages which I usually ignore. On Monday he went to the bank to deposit a $7 check from me and he texts me something about a PIN not working and something about pain. Turns out he thought my pen was the reason the ATM wouldn't take my check. I told him he needs to use the keyboard or proofread his texts. I guess he thought I was rude and got pissed off and told me to move out. He apologized the next day but I don't need his shit. So I'm moving back in with my mom. Sucks.
Summer job has started. Currently cooking every night for the 10 actors living in my house (16 people here total), and they are all just lovely. Have been seeing someone for a month or so now, and that is all very nice. Am doing dopey puppy love shit, recorded this cover of this Baths song for her because we went to see one of his shows together a few years ago when we just met. I have been making a lot more music recently, which is making me happy. I will probably be starting work on the full-length folk album that I have been threatening to make for years in a few days.
Woohoo! Looking forward to the listen.they are all just lovely
In truth? If so, that's really nice to have in some sort of reciprocation.I have been making a lot more music recently, which is making me happy. I will probably be starting work on the full-length folk album that I have been threatening to make for years in a few days.
Japanese green tea, please. Hopping on the sub-title train. Choo-choo muthafucka. People Reconnecting with friends from the retreat was a nice pick me up. I keep giving myself the excuse I need a car so I'm not a burden to anyone when it comes to hanging out, so that's limiting myself to a year before I get my brothers hand-me-down. Perks of being the youngest. More and more I'm falling back into a critical viewpoint of peers. I got elected to Treasurer of my Active Minds (Mental Health Advocacy) Chapter. Now, I like to think of myself as left-of-center, yet the majority of the kiddos in the club make me feel like I'm on their right. One hell of a weird feeling advocating for others to slow it down a bit. As the JROTC Battalion Commander, I felt like I was more on the left (where I started to refine my belief system). Arguing for the opposite is an odd thing when I've advocated for a different mindset before. On another note, the whole "college students advocating for Mental Health" bit is pretty well laden with some odd, misused associations from therapeutic strains of thought.... On the flip side, there are some cuties in the club. That, in tandem with reason to get myself out, is reason enough for me to keep chugging along. On that we ending with a dating spin, did you know that there's a 60%/40% split F/M at my campus? Oddly, many of the upperclassmen ladies I come into contact with at my school seem already in committed relationships? Oye. If anything, the girl who ran against me for treasurer I'm looking to bring into the fold with club finances seems nice, dare I say cute. Maybe its the light, maybe it's just been a while since I've been in a relationship, whatever. Health I'm successfully cutting out red meats from my diet - I'm what one could have called a carnivore rather than omnivore. Not eating white meats was easy, my mother always served chicken so that was easy to acquire an aversion to. I'm not sure whether I'm feeling much different since the diet shift, and that's without increasing amount of meals per day. It's starting to REALLY get hot so I've stopped biking as much, which I'm really feeling the impact of. Guess I'm going to start biking just for biking's sake to get my exercise in. School So I just switched classes from online Spanish to African History pre-1870. . . because AFH was the only one in a time slot that was comfortable, and I can't even stand online courses. Not self-disciplined in that respect to keep up with the work. I realized it'd be best to take spanish in person next summer (so I have to suffer it in a smaller time period) in the local community college - again, when I have long-distance personal transportation. The AFH class is REALLY interesting AND upper level. Slowly cracking away at my history minor! The class I really wanted was a history course on the American military in the 1900s, but it conflicted with the time slot of my CompSci lab... which is one of four slots, all optional attendance... screw online scheduling (I couldn't go in and override it seeing as I'd like to have gotten out of the Spanish class ASAP without missing anymore material of the next class). Speaking of CompSci, we went over Binary conversions (again, for me). Damn, I miss math. My degree's math requirement stops at 'College Algebra,' which is high school's trig/pre-trig. I finally got my Calculus credit to transfer. Ah man. I over shot the math credit here and now I'm craving the logic in my field of study. I was spit-firing answers in class (not like it's too hard after a year of practice last year, though). This is making me reconsider dropping a math class "for giggles" next semester. One of my friends in the CompSci class was out - her boss scheduled her first day of work on the days she specifically asked not to work on? So taking notes for her was a blast proving my work on paper, at risk of sounding like a major (proud) geek. I've been developing stronger ties with some class mates in baby steps. I usually don't talk in class. I'm there to get the notes, take the test, and go. So this is a bit of a nice change. The couple of peers I'm with are funny as shit which, as always, is a big plus. Orlando update I'd like to really only plug in the off-beat news that is flavored in my towns perspective, everything else you can find online, I'm sure. So, first off, I can't express enough how small Orlando really is for such a big name city. My dad would like to think you can cover every local with one degree of separation (I'd argue two). A peer of mine's uncle was one of the operating surgeons, one of the victims was a grocery bagger my mother got to know on a first name basis (yes, yes, they have name badges, but you know what I mean), and the people affected in the retreat I went to spanned across all the locals (most of us). Not surprisingly, some of the most deeply affected were out working with the families, still volunteering, or still grieving in their own fashion. Remember those posts I cited about what the Orlando community was doing for the victims? That powerhouse who posted all that was one of the instructors this weekend. She spoke to what the retreats' community was doing (and still is) to date. Now, let me preface, that this retreat's people are the gems of Orlando in their own right. It's a dedicated support group for one another and goddamnit did they step up. Members of the community help organize, attend and run logistics for most if not all funerals. Yeah, 49. I've got many new friends that have a special place in my heart. I'm proud of my hometown. I watched us come together to stand up against bigotry and hate. I have watched people change almost overnight and show compassion and love to others they wouldn't have just a few weeks ago. For me, this last funeral is the closing of a circle. Eddie's text to his mother is what made me begin this journey. To read a text from my child saying "Mommy, I love you. I'm going to die" is too much to think of. My decision to do this has been questioned by some who can't understand, but my soul is okay with that. I chose to stand with many who let the world know that these families going through this hell can at have their last moments in this lifetime peaceful while they mourn. It wasn't interrupted by hate and unimaginable nastiness from people who do this in the name of God. Their whole aim was to get to those families. They weren't successful. Not in our town. And now the world knows. Love won in Orlando, Kissimmee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Pine Hills, Altamonte Springs, and Winter Park. I'm proud to have been a little part of this. One love Orlando. Peace be with you all. I'll be seeing you around. Others showed up to counter-protest the Westboro Baptist Church. The way they did it is so appropriate seeing as the volunteers for the retreat are called "angels". Look closely and you can see the "wings" to block the view of protestors for mourners. This lady/powerhouse/superhuman has been in close contact with the GLBT Center head immediately following, though also beforehand - inherent in running her counseling center. Here's a reflective piece from the head. Sorta boggled by the source, but hey, whatever works. Artwork is showing up as memorials to the victims. This is a popular one I've seen posted around or friends taking pictures of/with. And here are some more art pieces: This popped up in my student union: Which reminded me of a favorite by Kelly O'Brien: And lastly, if you're looking to help: This is a follow-up post made on June 28th in reference to when family members first came into town. There is a need for food/supplies/toiletries while the families are in town. They were flown in for free and some put up in hotels for free, yet they (also victims recovering) still require basic supplies while they are recovering, not working. I hadn't done much in way of supporting the cause, in truth, once it all happened. I think I really just used Hubski as an outlet of sorts, waiting for the retreat to happen. Didn't attend vigils, didn't donate blood, didn't do a lot of things the run-of-the-mill locals hopped up to do. The span of this past year, culminating to this point has been pretty damn desensitizing. Going through history courses and having learned about my own heritage as a Jew makes all of this stuff feel as if another string of lament is needled into Mankind's canvas. It's sad, yes. Though it's to the point of numbness, which, if anything is more sad for me that it has to come to that point. I guess in some way, I was holding out for the retreat because that's where I could really put my self in a light as an asset to the community as an agent of healing. There's something about witnessing grief, anger and even forgiveness getting processed thats so much more touching than any vigil or line of donors. And the fact that I could be a hand in someone's journey along that rode... it's a bit self-serving. I frame it so I feel as though I'm doing my part, however small, to help process the grief - and that piece is valid - yet on another level I guess it's a ward against pessimism, misanthropic thoughts, and the like. All that said, I did end up buying a support ribbon (sending it somewhere special), and one of my brothers bought the kantos kollective "Orlando Strong" T-Shirts which I've been eyeballing. For better or (mostly) worst this is another unifying factor for Orlando. In light of this all, it looks like Orlando's un-official, but kinda official color is Purple (pretty sure for the Lions). I think it could be argued Blue for the Magic, as well... Really the only thing that matters I'm alive. I'm breathing. My loved ones are safe. I'm counting my blessings, and you are one of them. I've been writing/editting this throughout the day today between classes. Even popped it in MS Word a couple times just in case. Any who, if there's any sudden shift in topic, it's because I didn't go through and formally edit it all.The last funeral is over. Today was Eddie Justice's turn to be celebrated, and the vigil tonight in Kissimmee is a perfect ending for my journey with some of the most giving and selfless people I have met.
GIFT CARDS ARE STILL NEEDED AT THE CENTER for the families affected by the Pulse tragedy. Target/Publix/Wal Mart, etc. are good options. Address to mail or drop them off is The Center, 946 N. Mills Ave., Orlando, FL, 32803. Can you help? Thanks!