Sad Statement About Society + 140 Characters = Mea Culpa

I kind of accidentally insulted one of my favorite websites on Twitter yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon, Hillary Clinton announced her campaign for the Presidency online.

Phil Plait (a very good @BadAstronomer) retweeted @EverydaySexism's Everyday Sexism Bingo Card for it.

 I saved it, and replied: "@EverydaySexism @BadAstronomer Saved that image. I read @fark, so I'll likely fill it in the next 20 minutes or so."

About 5 hours later @Fark replied with "@beaver1224 @EverydaySexism @BadAstronomer :("

When I saw the frowny face, I realized that I had not quite conveyed my meaning. D'oh! There is no color for stupid.

What I MEANT to say was this:

However you feel about Hillary Clinton, you cannot deny that there will be tons of these will be lobbed about. Were they arrows, we would be able to eat in the shade for the next year and a half. The "safest" place to fire the arrows of everyday sexism from is the anonymity of the internet. But there are all too many people - some of them policy-makers, some of them people that influence policy-makers - that will fire away without even that anonymity.

I like to describe Fark as "a news aggregator site with attitude." If something interesting, stupid, funny, cool, unlikely, scary, or just Florida happens, it's almost certain to be on Fark. I am there every day. I am, in fact, a TotalFarker, paying for the privilege of seeing (and commenting) on these stories before they go before the public, so to speak. Fark has a very diverse community, even among its pay subscribers. There are a lot of very cool people there; there are a lot of complete idiots there; there are a lot of trolls there. Some of those groups overlap.

So here's the thing. I am fairly certain that hate will be spewed at Mrs. Clinton. I am fairly certain that some of that will hit the news. I am fairly certain that some of it will be reflected in the comment threads of most or all of those articles. I am also fairly certain that those hateful comments will be called out, ridiculed, and lambasted in those threads.

Fark is not a bad place, it's a great place, but it is an internet place. Hateful things unfortunately happen on the internet, but positive things often follow.

@Fark, I'm very sorry I didn't think to find a way to stuff that into 140 characters. I'm sorry I didn't think to just shut up. I'm sorry that I didn't think much at all, really.

I still love you. Can we be friends?

Aaah!!

Time has slipped, slipped, slipped into the future. Now I'm less than a week away from Walk Day and I haven't gotten a single sponsor to help me Save the Babies! If you can, please help.

The March of Dimes was founded to combat Polio. And they did it. So, instead of resting on their laurels - instead of patting themselves on the back and calling it a day, they decided there were more things to combat. They widened their view and took on all birth defects. Right now (and for the last several years) they are focusing on premature birth. As everyone who reads my blog on a regular probably knows, my first son was born 7 1/2 weeks prematurely. He did great (though it was disconcerting to see him with an IV in his head the first time). The equipment that helped him maintain his body temp, monitored his heartrate, were developed in part because of the March of Dimes and people who cared enough to donate.

The March of Dimes was an effort dear to my heart before Ryan was born. Since then, it is even more so.

Spam, spam, spam, spam, and lobster thermodore...

I'm torn. I don't know whether to be annoyed or oddly pleased.

I've been getting spam comments. Comments to my blog that are ads for - or at least attempts to drive traffic to - various websites. The last one was for an escort service in NY, no less. You probably haven't realized it, since they seem to favor slightly older posts (mostly "The year is new, not me"), and since I get an email for every comment, I can get in there and delete them fairly quickly.

The annoyance, I'm sure you'll understand right away. The pleasure is a little more oblique. If someone has grabbed my blog for spamming, that means someone other than my friends and family is aware of it. Even if it's just at a web-spider level, it exists out in the world, so to speak. There is a certain joy in reaching a wider audience (even if that audience is likely unaware).

For the moment, I'll do nothing about it (other than delete them as they come). If things get too crazy, I'll likely break down and make people prove they're people with the weird text and stuff.

By the way...there is not much time left to Save the Babies! We're less than a month away now. If you were waiting for later, well...it's later.

More stuff of newness

So, it's been an interesting couple of weeks. We here in Southern Virginia got snow of the type that only hits here once every few years. And we're likely to get more tonight/tomorrow. That's almost unheard of here.

There was some concern about my Master Sergeant stripe. After breaking my foot, I had a PT test. The waiver I got from the doctor (because of my foot and for the recovery) said I couldn't do any PT, but that means I get tested on my waist measurement alone - a guarantee of failure. After the failure, I am informed that 1) I can't sew on my stripe with a failed PT test, 2) my upcoming EPR will be a 4 (of 5) at best with a failed PT test, and 3) I can write a note saying that I want to ignore parts of my waiver if I don't do myself bodily harm.

So, I write my little memo, work hard to ensure that my push-ups and sit-ups are up and good. My promotion is supposed to be at 9 AM on Monday, Feb 1st. The very first day I am allowed to test is Friday, Jan 29th. My EPR is due Monday, Feb 15th. With a lot riding on it, I test on Friday morning and crush it. Not only did I easily max out my push-ups and sit-ups, but with the PT I was doing (screw the waiver), I lost an entire inch on my waist. So, I'm good to promote on time. (Whew!)

The very next day commences the freak snowfall I mentioned all the way back in paragraph 1. Though you may scoff in Denver, this snowfall shuts down everything for the entire weekend. Ryan's school didn't open until Thursday. So, Sunday night, I get a call from my boss saying to show up at 10 on Monday and in ABUs (cammies) instead of Blues (service uniform). Now, the week prior, knowing that Monday is blues day, I realized that I wouldn't need stripes on my ABUs until Tuesday, so I picked up my new blues on Friday and wasn't scheduled to pick up the ABUs until Monday evening. This new iteration from the snow is a double whammy for me. Not only does it mean that I'm showing for work an hour after my ceremony, but in a uniform without proper stripes!

We decide to play it by ear on the time (which then turned out to be "delay until tomorrow"), and I'd stop by alterations and beg them to do them a few hours early..."like right now?"

Everything worked all right, and I spent a lot of time at home with the kids (due to the aforementioned school closure), but it was a really wierd week.

Oh, and Tristan made me sad and proud the other night. I was cooking some chicken stroganov for dinner, and he wanted to help. I let him stand on a chair nearby and was gonna have him do some pouring and whatnot when the time came. Unfortunately, shortly after I moved the wok with oil on the bottom (for searing the chicken pieces), he decided to check the oil temp...with his finger. Too fast for me to react, he burned his finger nicely. We got it under running water, got a cup of ice water for him to rest it in, and Saundra tried to get him settled on the couch. He got very upset and insisted that he still wanted to help me cook. I had to fight off the proud-papa "he's gonna be a chef" syndrome, but continued to be proud of my brave boy.

I think that's it for this installment of Musty Piece Theater. Tune in next time for more...uh...frenzied recitation of a bizarrely normal life? (And don't forget to Save the Babies!)

The year is new, not me

Ah...the breath of a new year is upon us. There is an excitement for what the new year will bring - and a little cynical part of me admits that it will bring much what it has brought for the last few years. But just as every day brings something new, so does every year - times 365. I start this year in an office I wasn't in a year ago, at a level I wasn't in a year ago, looking towards a rank I didn't hold a year ago.

My boys will continue to grow; to find new ways to surprise and amuse me. As they get older, I see more and more of their personalities as distinct individuals. It's a lot of fun to get to know them a little more each day.

This year, I will again try to post more often. Again, I will do well sometimes and fail miserably other times. I will again make a promise to myself to be a better parent. Again, I will do better than most and feel like I'm failing miserably. I will again find activities to suck my time away. Again I will spend more time than I should doing them.

I will also again be leading a March for Babies team. I missed it last year (since I was in Korea), and this will be my triumphant return. I hope to raise a whole lot of money to help prevent birth defects like premature birth.

"Lieutenant Dan, what are you doing here?"

Last night, I waited in a line at the theatre. After waiting for a time, we were let in, and despite being somewhere around 50th in line, I got an excellent seat. Some time later, the lights dimmed and someone's commander came to the stage to introduce the Lt. Dan Band. Gary Sinise plays bass in a 12-person ensemble that does shows for the USO. They play an eclectic selection of Soul, Country, Rock, Jazz, whatever. It was a great show.

So my seat was, in fact, front row. I was close enough to see the sweat on their brows. To cap it off, I was able to coin Kimo Williams (a Vietnam Vet who plays guitar) and I got a set list from the stage.

Yeah. It's pretty cool.

The Devyl made me do it!

Yes, it's another Devyl-inspired theme. I really dig these games, and they help me to occasionally get a blog post written for the ages. Anyway, she wrote this blog post about the letter Q. She asked for participants; I volunteered; she assigned me the letter S; and here we are. So, my favorite S-words:

1. Sweetie - Sweetie always comes first.
2. Sabre (or Saber) - I cannot write "S-words" without saying "Sabre" because it begins with the bloody letter S.
3. Something - Something is for Soo (who should get a spot of her own, but that might be a little creepy). A couple years ago, when I made an offer of a recorded song for a March for Babies donation, she requested "Something." I almost recorded "Something," by the Beatles, but she's not much of a fan so I did Harry Connick instead.
4. Science - Both cool (though not cool) and super. Science changes the world. And it will not go down without a fight.
5. Supercooled Semiconductors - Not only a double, but an extension of #4. How can you make computers even more powerful? Supercooled Semiconductors.
6. Superfluous - As in, most of these explanations are superfluous (but fun).
7. Sexy - Always a good word. I love it. Allegedly the reason I got the letter S. Sexy is sexy!
8. Spine-tingling - I'm not much for horror stuff anymore, but I have had some wonderful spine-tingling episodes (most of which have nothing to do with horror or fear).
9. Samosa - Samosas are awesome. I get them everytime I go to Nawab back home. So tasty (like just about everything else they serve)!
10. Silly - One of my key traits, and one I'm teaching to my children. I think that everyone should have a little silly in their lives. It keeps me happy. It keeps my family happy.
11. Sweatpants - Probably the most comfortable piece of clothing ever devised. I'm wearing them right now.
12. Squeeze - A good synonym for hug. I love hugs. They are the perfect way to express caring for people. My hugs have become known throughout the small circle of my close friends. I've been told they are something treasured.
13. Squeeze-Hug - The squeeze-hug is something I do with my children. It's combination caring and play; love and fun. I hope it continues past the "Daddy, you're embarassing me" phase.
14. Suggestive - I love all things suggestive. Granted, I like things that go beyond that even more. But suggestive is wonderful. It is sexy and sexual and smart. It makes the sexy happen in your mind.
15. Smart - The one thing I want to be. The one attribute that I fell back on and kept my sanity with when all the world (or playground, anyway) said I was worthless. I knew then, as I still know now, that I was not worthless - I was smart.
    

Those are just 15 of my favorite super, special, spectacular S-words. Suppose you'd like to spend time sussing out your own selections? Slip me a short sign stating such, and soon you'll see.

Sayonara!

Anti-VD...

But all for Valentine's Day.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, which makes me a little sad, 'cause my Valentine is roughly 14,000 miles away. At work, the day before, there was much singing-candy-gram-delivering. That was fun...listening to the songs (in beautiful harmony, no less) and the embarrassed shrieks of red-faced recipients. They even sold (and I bought) some anti-Valentine's baked goods which were pretty funny (and tasty).

I got, for my Sweetie and me, a matching set of T-shirts from Think Geek. They each have 6 hearts across the chest, Zelda style. When the shirts are within about a meter of each other, all six hearts will be illuminated (with the help of some batteries). When they are not, only 2.5 of them will be. I had her open hers early, so I could watch and tell her (as she realized what it was) "I'm never at full health without you." (I'm a dork, whatever.)

I'd like to post a picture, but at the moment, I have no AAA batteries, so no lightie-uppie. Meh...I'll get there.

Hope you all enjoyed the day, whether it was special for you or not.

A question

A question of style for you true believers...wait, that's been used...loyal readers?...I think I've heard that before...uh, you!

Would you prefer that the links on my page (both in-post and on the sidebar) pop to a new page or just redirect the page your currently on? I've been thinking of changing it, but I'm not sure if I want to. Just to be clear this is Strongbad's E-mail redirected on this page, and clicky-popped on a new page.

I will now pre-emptively thank you for your input.

Thank you for your input.

Picture Tag!

I got tagged by some little Devyl:

She had some rules:

1. Go to your picture files
2. Go to your 6th folder.
3. Go to your 6th picture.
4. Tell us about it.
5. Tag 6 friends to do the same.

Ok...well, I only have 4 folders at the moment (and one of those is nested), so I went into the 2nd one (as in 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2). Grabbing the 6th picture, I find:

Not a particularly heart-warming or awe-inspiring. Rather boring, if you ask me. But, when you randomize, you take what you get. This is taken from Seoul Tower. Not the top - if you take the elevator up, you get to an enclosed observation deck, and the prettiest, artiest bathrooms you've ever seen. You can see a little of Seoul stretching out beyond me. What you see just behind my back is a small enclosure (there are three on the platform I'm on) in which to build a fire. The smoke from that fire billows out the top and serves as a warning signal. Or, well, it did a long time ago. Now, I think they have radars and computers and stuff that serve roughly the same functions.

It says to tag 6 people...but my friends list is not so long as all that...so I'm going with 4:

Wabbit,
Kebo,
Drac, &
Soo.

Have fun!

Is this like the 5th degree?

Once upon a time (Well, December 15th), an Immortal Matriarch was interviewed and passed her interview on. Sometime later (ok...it was January 6th), my friend Devyl posted her own interview and I asked to be included in the questioning tree. These are the questions she asked me, and the answers I have come up with.

1. Other than losing someone you love (or seeing someone you love get hurt) or dying before you have completed your life's missions ... what is your biggest fear?
Poverty. Now, I don't mean being poor. I've been there; I know how to get through that and learn good lessons along the way. There was a time that I was sharing a trailer with 2 of my best friends and we had a grand total of 1 can of corn in the house for sustenance. I don't fear being in that situation again. I dread not having the corn - not having the trailer. Even now, I know I'd be ok, but I will not let my family go through that.

2. Scenario: You can rewind up to 20 years and have up to six weeks to spend with one person without it affecting your present life. Do you take the opportunity, who do you choose, and what do you spend the time doing?
I'm severely tempted to say something about getting laid a lot more, but...I think I would go back and have some long conversations with one of my dear friends (either M or J). M is not in a very good place right now, and a lot of it stems from what turned out to be a bad decision some time ago. I would like to go back and help him to find a better path forward. J has, I think, been lost for some time. I'd love to go back and help her find who she really is and where she's really going before some of the pain she has experienced.

3. Compose a song using lyrics from other songs ... you must have (at least) 16 lines.
I'm sorry. I have to cop out on this one. I tried...I tried for the better part of 3 weeks to come up with something coherent. I won't quit trying, but I really feel like I need to get this post up. But I promise, when you least expect it: BAM! Song II - Electric Bugaloo.

4. Choose a moment in your life that you feel set you on your current course, and describe the moment and what it meant to you.
This is where we see the "It's a Wonderful Life" sort of lesson. If I can choose only one moment that put me where I am today, it'd have to be the moment when J broke up with me. At the time, it was a horrible, devastating moment. I'd have shot people to make it not happen. I was hurting enough several months later that when my friend M asked if I could come out to California to live with him and his wife, I jumped at the chance. It was there - faced with no job prospects, a home that was soon to go away, and a drifting soul - that I decided to join the Air Force. That, of course, led to meeting and marrying S, having two beautiful boys, and living joyously today. Therein lies the duality of every event - tragic, painful, wondrous, joyful. "Each man touches so many other lives..."

5. You are one of the most brilliant people I know, and I have always been in awe of your intelligence ... and your down-to-earth, easy-going manner. You also have a beautiful and fabulous wife that I adored as soon as I met her. I have not met your sons yet, but hope to one day. This is a two-parter: How does my vision of your life compare to YOUR vision of your life? If you had to describe your life in one word, what would that word be?
I'd say you hit it dead-on. Just kidding - you're gonna go to my head. My life is. I am intelligent, but often I am unable to put that intelligence to good use. I am down-to-earth and easy-going, but often have trouble dealing with people who are less intelligent. I do have a beautiful, fabulous wife - the deluxe model (with some features I can't even talk about), but she is as human as the rest of us. My children are awesome; every day, they remind me how lucky I am to be allowed near them, but sometimes I don't want to be. As always, I am ever the contradiction. Describing my life in one word is easy: Alive.


Now...if you would like me to ask you some questions, leave me a comment saying "Interview me" (or some such). I will e-mail you five questions (questions of my choosing). You post them and your answers to your blog much as I have done with mine - and include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same way. Thus the cycle continues.

What, again?

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

All bloggers can play in this exclusive online poker tournament.

Registration code: 044900

Yup. Again. I have once again registered to compete against my fellow bloggers in the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker. My hope is to do a bit more like my first year than the years that followed it. I know there are a few of you out there who know how to play. To you I say, log in and join the fun. There is no cost, and the possibilities are huge! Or, if not, log in and watch me play.

Tagged!

Devyl passed on the fun, and I'm a sucker for these things, so you get whatever I can squeeze from my poor brain.

Step #1 - Link to the person who tagged you. My dear friend Devyl

Step #2 - Write Five Fun/Interesting Facts about yourself. This gives fellow bloggers (and your readership) a chance to actually get to know you better.

1. I find anything unusual to be funny/awesome. This can cause awkward situations when I express how hilarious it is that some horrible thing happened.
   
2. I want to understand just about everything. If something is true, I want to know why.
   
3. I almost always see both (all) sides to any given issue. Even the side(s) I disagree with vehemently.
   
4. Though I love playing poker, and play semi-regularly online, I have yet to play with actual cards and chips.
   
5. I love analyzing media: movies, TV, music, whatever. I enjoy seeing shots put together well; realizing the hidden satire in a scene; hearing subtle harmonies. It makes me happy.
   

Step #3 - Tag Six Other People and link to their blogs. Then let them know you’ve tagged them by twittering them or leaving a comment on their blog.

1. Kebo
2. Wabbitt
   
3. Kris
4. Janice
5. MathNerd
   
6. Soo
   

Tag! You're it!

Not just awesome...Hawesome.

I just had to share this comic with you. While I read it, I moved from dread to horror to triumphant laughter. Just hawesome.

Johari..hari hari...

Devyl posted her Johari window...a clever device that graphically separates personality traits into four quadrants. It divides up in two ways: things that you know or don't know, and things that others know and don't know. Interesting, particularly when you have friends and family that can contribute, thereby teaching you something you may not have known about yourself. She also included a Nohari window, but I haven't gone there yet.

Here is mine. And, for those of you who know her, but don't visit her blog on a daily (like some stalkers out there), here is hers.

Good Times

Yesterday, I got to spend time with my dad, my brother, and their wives. I think it was the best time I've had in a long time. Even telling my brother to stop trying to get my son arrested was fun. We didn't have time to do much. Waited a couple hours for food; toured the USS Constellation in Baltimore Harbor; then it was time to run home. But still, when you only see family once every few years, those visits - however fleeting - are precious. I think perhaps the neatest moments for me were when the 3 of us sat in our own little bubble of existence geeking out with each other about cameras and the trouble that YouTube and Firefox seem to have with each other. (Can you believe Kevin didn't know that this video existed?)

Playing Catch-Up

I have been seriously falling down on my blogging duties. So much has happened.

Son the Elder is 6 now; Son the Younger is 2. (Yes, their birthdays are that close together.) My mom got a year older (Happy B-day Wabbitt!) I passed my 14th year in the USAF, and my 4th year at this blog (really that long?). My office moved. I did an Adopt-a-Spot and got sunburned. I have gotten Saundra to 3 karaoke nights (in a row, no less). I realized that Wil Wheaton Twitters, so I'm following him. I've played tons of Bully. Our gaming group has died, but I'm resurrecting it one player at a time in Hellgate: London.

And I'm less than 2 weeks from Marching for Babies and I haven't gotten a single sponsor. D'oh!

See you in another month! (No really, I'll try to be more punctual.)

So I'm a geek now, am I?

	I received 70 credits on The Sci Fi Sounds Quiz How much of a Sci-Fi geek are you?
Guess the Sci-Fi Movie Sounds hereCanon powershot

TSA, DIAF

Ok, now I'm pissed. This article made me lose my cool. Quick run-down is this: Several uniformed soldiers are escorting a fallen comrade home for burial. After putting their friend on the plane (with an honor guard of locals), they are escorted to security by a uniformed policeman. Once there, the TSA screener checks IDs for the soldiers and cop, then has them go through the metal detector. Well, it's a medal detector, too, cause duh! So, in front of everyone waiting to get to their own flights, these soldiers (who are escorting the corpse of a friend, don't forget) are forced to strip down to socks, pants, and undershirts. While there's a local policeman there who knows they're legit. While there's a flag-draped coffin waiting for them in a plane on the tarmac.

What else is there to say: DIAF, TSA.

I want to Rock!

Start with Guitar Hero (with a bassist)...add a singer, and a drummer. You know what you have? You have what may be the coolest music game ever created - Rock Band. Our gaming group all showed for Thanksgiving together and Wayne brought it. We spent most of the evening rocking city after city. Holy crap, that was one of the best times I've had with more than 2 people. Unfortunately for me, it's on the 360, but not the original XBox. It is (or rather, will be) available for PS2, but that means that there will be no downloading new songs and stuff. In theory, I could angle for a 360, but if I can get a new console, it'll only be one, and I think the Wii has to be it. (Although this game makes me wonder...)

Anyway, thought I'd pass that on. If you, like Twisted Sister, wanna rock, Rock Band is the game for you.

--Beav (we didn't break one million, though)