Another part of why I was so zonked the other day was that we’ve been doing heavy lifting in regards to yard work.
More pruning that we’ve been putting off for three years. The cedar trees’ low branches no longer rub into the fence. It was such a tangle back there against the fence, and so many fallen needles had collected in various limb crotches, that it was composting. The tree was actually sending out roots into this compost. I cleaned out some of the composted stuff and left the roots to wither of their own accord. I’ll have to read up whether that was the right thing to do.
The other cedar, on the other side of the yard, now has no limbs below about thirty feet up, thanks to the housemate who climbed up there. (I think he lopped off too much, but we shall see.)
So our back yard is now full of fallen cedar limbs. It’s a huge mess that we’re putting off, especially since much more cutting remains to be done. Our back yard is a veritable forest of huge trees, and they all compete for the limited sunlight to the south. You can see where they’ve put all their energy; limbs compete with each other for the sun on the south, and one or two north-pointing limbs reach out desperately, trying to catch a tiny patch of light.
It makes me think of growing up in Houston. Our suburban development yard was (and still is) choked with trees, which is a better problem to have than other suburban developments, where trees are cleared before construction begins, and then re-planted. Maybe our suburban development was old enough that our re-planted trees had grown back.
Anyway, I was always amazed to visit other people’s houses, and they didn’t have trees, or they’d have tiny saplings that wouldn’t survive a lawnmowing accident. Also, down there on the gulf coast, we had lots of live oak, and not so many evergreens. Up here in the pacific northwest, it’s all green all year. A very different vibe.
Last night I took a walk at the quiet hour of 1am. I went to a park down the street and sat in a bench. Monster evergreens swayed gently above my head, silhouetted dimly against the patchy city-lit clouds; I just stared up at them for a while. I contemplated how dead I would be if any of those branches fell. I also contemplated how dead I would be if the trees stopped turning CO2 into O2.
Month: May 2002
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Y’ever have one of those days where you can’t wake up?
Last night I ate dinner at around 6:30. I came home and realized that the monster burrito was going to put me in a food coma. I went to lay down, and then it was 11pm when I woke up.
And couldn’t get back to sleep. Until about noon today. And now I’m up again. Who knows when I’ll go to sleep next?
It’s a game! Bet on when Homer’ll sleep!
It wouldn’t really matter, except that I find it hard to be productive. Bleh. -
I was thinking about personality tonight, and how it’s more accretion than development. That is, personality is something you end up with, rather than being something you’re able to pick and choose, any more than you’re able to pick and choose all the events of your life. And if you’re allowed to pick and choose the events of your life, you’re not going to do it with the goal of creating a new personality for yourself.
No, personality is accretion. Your life happens, and there’s some friction between your life and the rest of the universe, and this causes a little dust to build up where they’re rubbing. Before you know it, there’s a whole pile of the stuff, and you’ve got a personality.
Or, here’s a metaphor which may be more palatable:
Personality is like icicles. Imagine the corner of your house, where the eaves hang down from the roof, and where icicles form. Icicles aren’t just an elongated drops of water, they form like stalagtites. A little bit of water freezes, then a little bit more freezes on that, and so forth, forming the long icicle. This happens over time. Similarly, over time our experiences add another layer to the icicle of our personality.
So when spring comes, and the icicle melts, what of personality? -
Watched ‘Vanilla Sky‘ tonight.
I like this movie a lot. I thought it would never work with Tom Cruise, but he’s perfect for the part, because you get to see him with a horribly disfigured face. Right on, Tom!
Verily, it rocks. It challenges the viewer, even at one point referring to the audience as a panel of experts sitting in judgement. Anyway. The plot is ostensibly about the head of a publishing empire who falls for a beautiful woman, while at the same time trying to fend off a stalker. At some point either or both of these women die in a car crash; at another point the publisher may or may not be dreaming everything that’s going on. The mystery is, why is he being held in a prison for observation? Is he crazy? Did he kill someone?
That’s the story, but what the movie’s really about is how we create our world as a sort of wave function of our own self-understanding. It’s one of those kind of movies. I’ll watch it again soon.
So at this point I’d like to create a new movie award. We’ve heard of Oscar and the Golden Globe. I propose the Thinky, for recognizing the excellence of movies that engage the mind rather than turn it off. Categories will be:
Most Spiritually Subversive: ‘Vanilla Sky’
Best Full-Frontal Intellectual Attack: ‘Waking Life’
Best Comedy: ‘Being John Malkovitch’ -
Sometimes email scams are too beautiful for words. Here’s one I just got:
From: Moshood Seko Mobutu
Attn: Managing director/CEO
DEAR Sir,
I am the first son of the late Mobutu Sese Seko, the former President of the Congo Republic.
I am presently under protective custody in Nigeria as a political refugee. I got your contact during my search for a stranger that can cooperate with me in this mutual transaction.
I want you to note that this business will benefit both of us. However, you must confirm your ability to handle this because it involves a large amount of money. The money (50 million US DOLLARS is my share of my father’s estate. I boxed and shipped the money to a security company abroad at the peak of the war/political crisis that rocked my country few years ago. Now the crisis has ended and I need a trustworthy person like you to proceed to the place of the security company in order to clear the fund and invest on my behalf as I don‚t want my name to be used for now.
Note that I will send to you the relevant documents that will enable you take possession of the fund for onward investment for our mutual benefit. All I need
from you is as follows:
1.A letter of commitment (dully signed) that you will keep the transaction strictly confidential.
2. Your confirmation of your ability to handle this.
3. Your international passport or driving license number for identification to the security company.
4. Your telephone and fax numbers for communication.
5. Your full permanent address.
As soon as I get the above information from you, I will disclose to you the name and the country of the security company. I will forward your name and particulars to the security company to enable them contact you accordingly. I will also send to you a LETTER OF AUTHORITY to enable you clear the fund on my behalf. Note that this is a very safe transaction as this money is my share of my father’s estate.
I am waiting for your response to enable us proceed.
Regards,
Moshood Seko Mobutu
Fifty million dollars for my signature? WHERE DO I SIGN!? -
So a couple of nights ago, at about 11pm, I downloaded a game.
I started playing it, and then suddenly it was 4am.
I’m a sucker for space-trader games, especially when they’re as well done as Escape Velocity: Nova. It’s full of fun in-jokes and references to TV sci-fi. For instance, you encounter a floating cloud city that ‘operates independently and stays under the radar of the larger concerns.’ Stuff like that. Geeky fun. And you wouldn’t think it, but the first time you encounter a ship whose type is ‘Stealth (adult)’ and realize it’s a spacefaring creature, it’s kinda cool.
So far I’ve managed to die three times, through about 10 hours of game play. I played the original Escape Velocity (Nova is the third installment) for about 6 days straight, during every otherwise unoccupied moment. This is why I tend to shy away from video games at this point in my life; I wouldn’t have a life otherwise. -
Inscrutable Uncrustables
Note also that the very first FAQ (which ostensibly stands for ‘frequently-asked question’) is: “What directions should I follow for Uncrustables®?” I would posit that the real most frequently-asked question is: “Why?”
I’d also offer my own question: “Is this the end-result we had in mind when we invented capitalism?”
