August 26th, 2008
10:56: Riley is gone.
 Riley is gone. His death was an easy one. I think his last days were filled with comfort and love. But he's gone, and there is nothing good in the world. Mel and I are alone, and nearly every part of our life together holds a reminder of what we have lost.
August 21st, 2008
10:40: Political reading
How Obama Reconciles Dueling Views on EconomyThis a long but very informative article from the New York Times magazine. It does a good job of describing Barack Obama's philosophy on markets and economic regulation, which is an area where he has not communicated well with the voters. I am encouraged by his approach.
August 20th, 2008
13:50: Happy H.P. Lovecraft's birthday!
Today is a good day to avoid weird strangers, steer clear of ancient tomes, and stay the hell out of rural New England.
August 19th, 2008
10:16: To your polling places...
Unless, like me, you've been relentlessly spammed by various Democratic operatives for the last month or so, it would be easy to not know that the Washington Primary vote is today. Since most of my coworkers are not eligible to vote, I feel compelled to reach out to the internet to badger people. Go vote! This is the first time we will be having a Top 2 primary. The way this works is that instead of having a primary for each political party, there is one vote for each office, which includes all the candidates from all the parties. The top two candidates in this popular vote will continue on to the general election. Apparently, contention over this scheme went all the way to the Supreme Court. Personally, I'm not sold on the system. It seems likely to further marginalize third parties and independents. I'm curious what others think of this arrangement. The trickier part is how party affiliation is listed on the ballot. Each candidate specifies which party he "prefers." For example, Goodspaceguy Nelson has "prefers Democratic Party" next to his name despite the likelihood that the Democratic Party does not prefer him. Even trickier, the major Republican candidate for Governor, Dino Rossi, has gone out of his way to keep the word Republican away from his name, choosing "prefers G.O.P. Party" instead. From Rossi's choice, I get the impression that even if John McCain wins the presidential election, he is not expected to be much help in getting other Republicans elected.
August 18th, 2008
10:40: Be warned...
Batman: Gotham Knight was really quite hideous.
August 14th, 2008
14:07: Words and pictures...
Last night, I read the final collection of Y: The Last Man. It hit me close to home in a way I didn't see coming at all.
At first I was a bit underwhelmed by this series, but gradually it became one my favorite comic titles of recent years. Most of the time it operated at a level of light, escapist entertainment. Then, out of nowhere, there would be some perfect human moment that would just floor me.
I think that the writer, Brian K. Vaughan, will do great things if he stays on this path.
June 25th, 2008
13:34: 100 new classics meme
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11:32: There is no end to the strangeness of humans...
This is one of the oddest things I've read about in quite some time: Sworn Virgins: Women Becoming Men in Albania
10:26: Morning ruminations...
I should probably be worried, how much more optimistic I feel about the day after my morning cappuccino.
Last night, Mel, Bill, and I climbed Cougar Mountain. This is the first real hike Mel and I have been able to get out on this summer, thanks in large part to the spring rainy weather hanging around far longer than it should. I enjoyed it. We've got to start doing hikes like this after work, to counteract our busy weekends.
Bill has been visiting since Friday. We've mostly just been hanging out, doing fairly low-key things, which has been a lot of fun. Bill is a zealous convert to the cult of Carcassonne.
On Sunday, we all went to see the new Hulk movie. It was, in my opinion, a big improvement on the last one. It pretty well reflected the character of the comics from the early days. Overall, much better than I expected.
On the bus to work this morning, I finished The Man in the High Castle. This is the first Phillip K. Dick book I've read, although I've been meaning to check him out for a very long time. It is an great book that I can recommend wholeheartedly. I was impressed with how well it operated on multiple thematic levels. More than anything I have read in this branch of sci-fi, it managed to be about other things in addition to the speculative premise. The characterization was impressive. It allowed the plot to unfold in a very indirect way, progressing at the intersections of very self-contained personal arcs. The prose style was distinctive and enjoyable. Dick is an impressive writer, and I think I will be reading more of his work.
June 20th, 2008
10:39: Bonnaroo 2008, Day 3
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June 18th, 2008
10:41: Bonnaroo 2008, Day 1
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June 17th, 2008
23:22: I return!
I'm home from Bonnaroo. I am still sunburned, unshaven, and dog-tired, but I'm home. That was good. Family, friends, sunshine, and music. Mel and I've been going to this festival for the last four years, and I'm pretty sure this is the best one. I caught 26 bands, give or take, and most of them were pretty damn good. I was planning on blogging the festival as it happened, but sadly the mobile phone situation was pretty screwed up. Packet services were a pipe dream. Too many people and too few frequencies. Sometimes, it took over an hour for an SMS message to work its way across the venue. This made meeting up with people a bit of an adventure. I'll probably write more about this soon. For now, these are the bands I saw: ( Damn, that was a lot of music... )
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