Happy New Year! (that's all)

Wishing you the best of 2009 and a glass of something luscious...

Oh the excitement, watched the New Year arrive on the east coast (yeah for satellite TV broadcasts -- Times Square looked very cold and windy).

With the new addition to the family, this is all the celebrating I'll be doing. :)

Happy New Year!

rootie

I've gained a daughter and lost a chair...

I'm a daddy! (again!) *yawn* no, I'm not *yawn* tired.

There is nothing that can prepare you for the event of a new baby. Months of planning for the nursery, mounds of baby gifts from friends, neighbors and relatives, even prior experience with a new baby -- all nice to have, and all practically inconsequential to the arrival event itself.

For the men in the audience, if you haven't stayed by the side of your partner while she goes through labor and delivery, you are missing a spectacle of sheer awesomeness that is without parallel. I cannot count the number of times I was thinking "ohmygod! they're doing *what!?!?!* to my wife!?!?" all while putting on my calmest, most reassuring face... "honey, can I get you more water? maybe some ice cubes? how about diamond jewelry?" Try not to flinch or make a face when they bring out a needle the size of the alaskan pipeline to put into her back, I double dare you.

In some ways, medieval torture still bears a close resemblance to modern medical practices -- there is still substantial room for improvement in the process. I'm not saying that to knock modern medical practices though -- I can't even imagine what this would have been like "long ago" when I was born. (discussions with my mother-in-law suggest we've come a long ways). Even comparing the birth of my son (natural birth because he was too quick in coming for us to do an epidural) to the birth of my daughter (with epidural), it is night and day. I can see it in my wife. If you have a choice, take the drugs.

So what does this have to do with a chair? Pretty much everybody who has held the baby has ended up sitting at least briefly in my "easy chair" -- a recliner-rocker. Instant sleepy baby. (ok newborns are prone to that, but this even more so) this leaves me tired, happy, and camera-in-hand, sitting elsewhere. A small price to pay for the most beautiful girl in the world.

As some of you well know, sleep is precious, so off I go...

Merry christmas!

rootie

Where is "Home"

Google has a built-in searchable dictionary. Ok so it isn't their dictionary, but seemingly everyone else's dictionary they'll search for you. I find it quite handy to get a wide variety of perspectives on a word. To use it, simply put "define:" (without quotes) in front of a search term to get a definition. My search history using "define:" contains a real mishmash of terms including "define: hermaneutically", "define: sandwich", "define: sport", "define: teleology", and tonite, "define: home". Yes, "sandwich" and "sport" are really in the list. Haven't you ever had a deep discussion whose resolution can best be found through an appeal to authority? ah, but I digress...

What is home to you?

I can be on a business trip and head "home" to the hotel room. I can go "home" from work. I can go "home" to my hometown and return "home" again to my current residence. It clearly isn't a fixed place.

Thanks to mom-in-law, tonite was a "Date night", (perhaps one of the last for several months, more on that topic *real soon now*, I hope) -- anyway, a chance to be ourselves, a chance to be away from the frenetic pace of mundane shopping trips that all too often seem to have become a family outing. After dinner we enjoyed a steaming hot beverage next to a fireplace (ooh, a fireplace on a cold winter evening!), and concluded by driving a couple areas of town looking at holiday lights before going home. Well, not "Home", but "home". You see, we found "Home" while we were out of the house, eating dinner, shivering our way along the street, and expressing conflicting viewpoints about the admirable qualities of the various lighting and other holiday decorations.

"Home" for me has never been a place, but instead is an emotional state of mind; one of comfort, satisfaction, and (usually) peace. It is right beside that place on the couch where my son leans against me to watch TV.

This morning, on my way out the door, my wife asked 3 or 4 questions, all of which I started to answer at the same exact time as she started to ask the question. These weren't all the same questions of every day, but there was still a comfortable predictability about them. Maybe I'm psychic, maybe being together over 17 years I just know instinctively what she'll ask, maybe she gave me a list of them earlier to memorize and then I forgot memorizing them. Maybe I'm just "Home."

Where ever it might be, may each of you find yourself "Home" for the holidays.

rootie

Kidstuff: Emergency preparedness :)

On the drive home tonite, my son spontaneously spoke up "if I had fire on me, I'd stop, drop and roll!" echoing lessons of school and home. I decided to test his understanding and have a little fun in the process.

"What would you do if you were covered in water?" "I'd shake"
"What would you do if you had a candy necklace on you?" "eat it"
"What would you do if you were covered in mud?" "wash"
"butterflies" "I'd tickle"
"bumblebees" (silence -- I got him with this one-- I gave a brief mention that if they weren't stinging him to just leave them alone)
"What would you do if you were covered with legos?" "Just build"

Yup, kids know everything...

Photo: Crystal slippers

A couple small plastic candy dishes from a baby shower begged to be immortalized. I spent about an hour mucking about with them in the kitchen, trying different things, fixing lighting problems, creating lighting problems, and blinding anyone who walked into the room without a pair of Ray Bans.

There are some photos that it doesn't matter what camera you use. This photo I couldn't have done with my old equipment. This is two flash units off-camera, with one of the flashes pushed +3 and bounced off a shiny pink gift bag to create the extra color on the left.

Compare that to the simple photo with ambient light and no special equipment requirements.

The only thing I did in photoshop was crop the image, and resize for the web. Everything else was straight from the camera. This just goes to show that if you try 75 different ways of doing something, chances are you'll find a better way than your first attempt. :)

(yes, I did add more candy partway through. yes, I did eat candy partway through, and before starting, and after finishing, yes, I did take something on the order of 75 different photos of this)

rootie

ps. (T-3 weeks and counting down)

Kid speak: disco disco

This is one of those things that if you aren't the parent probably don't seem nearly as funny nor as interesting...

Tonite while putting up holiday decorations, my 4 year old held up a small red round ornament covered with little red mirror squares, and repeating "disco disco" while dancing. (yes, it looked like a tiny red disco ball)

It isn't innate behavior, but he sure didn't learn it from us... :-)

rootie

Are you a "man"? What your web history might say about you...

51% male, 49% female.

Must be the online holiday shopping.

http://www.mikeonads.com/2008/07/13/using-your-browser-url-history-estimate-gender/

rootie

August Rush

I just finished watching August Rush. The plot line was simplistic, but the music and musical production took my breath away. I often judge a movie by how much I find myself engaged in it. This one made me want to play music something awful. (Of course, anyone who has heard me play knows I'm awful. anyone care for a solo harmonica concert? :) Highly recommended. (the movie, not my harmonica playing)

This concludes the official portion of today's blog post.

The human mind and human body are amazing things. Adaptable and creative, full of possibility beyond what most of us would aspire. The world (and for most of the readers of this blog) the country (social, economic, and political environment) in which we live provides us with almost limitless opportunity to pursue personally fulfilling interests, sometimes even for money. We can be artist, engineer, teacher, baker, musician, friend, athlete, parent, and politician; sometimes all in one day.

With all this seemingly limitless possibility, we have one life, and one day at a time in that life to spend, to move in the direction we want to go. In these 24 hour blocks, we have 8 hours for sleep, 3 hours for eating, 2 hours for commuting to and from work, another hour for getting dressed and ready in the morning, 8 hours for work, and that leaves 3 hours to split between family time and personal pursuits. (no, those numbers aren't going to match yours -- drop it, ok!?)

There is the fallacy of the theory-practice dichotomy; the idea that theory and practice won't align. In theory, you have limitless possibility, but in practice, you have 3 hours per day in which to make good choices. It's a fallacy in this specific instance, because the theory and the practice are both wrong.

The practice is wrong because you have more than 3 hours per day to make the choices that direct your life. It is a question of personal priorities. It is a question of personal purpose.

The theory is wrong because you don't have limitless possibility. I can practice my entire life and never be as good a skater as Nadia, as good a biker as Lance nor as good a theoretical physicist as Albert. Ability aside, there aren't enough hours in the day to pursue all those directions. It just won't happen.

Music is one thing that my heart yearns for which has gotten the short straw many times among my priorities. August Rush reminded me what I've set aside, and I enjoyed the reminder.

thanks for reading,

rootie

Target Women: cars (fun)

ht: Cara

In case the embedding doesn't work, here's a link: Target Women: Cars

Blog tagging pyramid...

Amy tagged me. Chain blogging, whatever you want to call it.

Here are the rules:

• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Post the rules on your blog.
• Write 6 random things about yourself.
• Tag 6-ish people at the end of your post.
• Let each person know he/she has been tagged.
• Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

6 random things about me:

1. I spend a lot of time working with numbers. Consider this: if all 6 people tagged by a post respond to it, in less than 13 links of the blog chain, every blog on the planet will have been tagged. 14 links would be almost 2 blog tags for every person on the planet in the year 2012. If each of those 13 billion posts consumed 5,000 bytes, (500-1000 words) and were stored in an array of commercially available hard drives you could buy the entire array (enough for two medium-short blog posts per person on the planet) for less than $8,000. (now you know why disk space is almost unlimited on gmail)
2. It has been well over 10 years since I rode a unicycle. I wish now that I had kept mine, but I am too cheap to go out and buy one. I have enough toys. :)
3. There are scars on my head from when I was hit with a hoe by a friend. A "friend" you ask? It is a long story whose summary is only to wonder how I have survived to live this long. (head wounds bleed profusely)
4. My RSS feeds include a couple blogs that are so far out of my realm of experience or daily thought process, that you have to wonder why. This blog, and this blog specifically are both well written, eye opening and have been educational for me. I'd encourage finding a viewpoint on the world that isn't the same as your own (but isn't a waste of your time).
5. Repetitive and substantial sleep deprivation has a number of physiological and mental effects. Have you heard the acronym TMI (too much information)? You can thank me later -- I won't enumerate those effects here.
6. I enjoy making music. I can sound "shave and a haircut" by hitting the top of my skull with my knuckles and adjusting the resonance of my oral cavity (mouth) to intone the notes. Honestly though, I can fumble quasi-musical emanations from at least 4 instruments and several body parts, though none of them well enough that anyone would ask me to perform for them more than once.

people to tag? hmmm...

Greg Perkins

Burgess Laughlin

Photo: The bear in the Air!

My son was throwing his bear repeatedly into the air and gleefully exclaiming "The Bear!...In the air!" obviously delighting in both the rhyme and the silliness of a flying toy. At this age, you have no idea where such a thrown toy will come back down. I got lucky on multiple counts -- nothing was broken, and the bear ended up on the ceiling... :)


Opportunities like this don't usually allow much time for fancy composition, and with a preschooler doing the tossing, framing is luck of the draw. I was already sitting on the floor, with my camera handy from a previous "cute" shot, so it was quite simple and natural to shoot up toward the ceiling to emphasize the heights involved.

Enjoy!

rootie

Photo: The tree and the fire hydrant

Ansel Adams once said "A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed". That is what brought me into photography, and what has kept me coming back, again and again. When I look at the picture later, I want it to return me to the place and the time when it was taken.

It isn't about the camera, it isn't about the technology, it is about the heart of the image, about finding the right way to capture a moment in time in a way that epitomizes both the scene and the emotions of the time. On seeing the photo later, I want to inhale deeply and smell the wet bushes of the first snow, to feel giddy and giggly at my son's antics, and see through my love's eyes and into my own heart. Taking others to that same place is just a bonus.

The tree has defied my attempts to take a picture that leaves me satisfied. (yes, I'm not above cheap humor) I'd really like to have the idyllic setting, hilly rural pastures, with nice morning light, a barb wire fence and a dirt road, maybe a light fog in the distance. Instead I'm stuck with the street, the houses, power lines, cars, sidewalk, and this ... this fire hydrant. Perhaps I'll try again next year.

rootie

A tree the color of autumn itself...

Every season has something unique and wonderful; an appealing point for which we wait all year with anticipation, and whose absence is often worth mourning. Especially in recent years, I really like the leaves of autumn.

I grew up in the Rodney Dangerfield of deserts. Bare dirt with something close to 2 varieties of plant: occasional 3-4 inch tall salt sage, and a short prickly pear cactus heavy on the prickle and short on the pear. You want a real nice desert, go to Arizona. A barrel cactus with those long hard red needles has real charm, and it is hard to beat a teddy bear cholla for charisma.

Being desert raised, I have very little youthful experience with tree leaves, so it was in adulthood, on my morning walk across the parking lot to the building at work, several (dare I say many?) years ago, I discovered the joy of crunchy piles of leaves. The wind would blow them into neat rows against the parking blocks and into the gutter. On any given fall morning, I will avoid the sidewalk through the parking lot. Instead you're likely to find me walking in the gutter, kicking my feet while entranced by the "shuffle-crunch-shuffle-crunch". On rare occasion, I notice other people going just a couple feet out of their way, for exactly the same little delight. Sometimes our eyes meet, and there is an instant recognition, a shared smile among autumnal sensualists.

Maybe it is all subjective, but I think this fall has been particularly well-lit, leaving my photographic side daydreaming of a free morning, fresh batteries in the camera, and memory cards waiting to be filled with images. The trees seem to have taken every opportunity to use the wonderful autumn light to show off, presenting every color from green to red to brown, sometimes all on one tree. (ah, wonderful micro-climates!)

I've often found myself staring out the window just to admire a tree across the street from my house with the richest, most beautiful orange-brown color leaves, leaves that will only become deeper and more saturated with color as they age in my memory. Mother nature won't let it last much longer, but for me, it will live on as one of my memories of autumn.

rootie

Life's little lessons #5001 - 5005

I bought a new camera the other day. Oh the excitement of a new toy. Just think of the wonderful pictures I'll be able to take! (and share with all my friends)

What an education!

5001. There is a phenomenon I am sure the mechanics among you will recognize. If you have an old car with many years and miles on it, replacing one part will often mean you must replace other parts. What starts out small can grow beyond your expectations.

5002. 2 memory cards @ 8GB each. 2GB free hard drive space for picture downloads. (something's gotta grow all right :O )

5003. I can shoot RAW images at incredible speed. I'll just pull them into the software I already have...uh...hmmm...Nikon changed their RAW file format so none of my current (preferred) software will read the raw format images. I guess I need another upgrade.

5004. Shopping for personal items (ahem, I mean a camera bag, which is definitely personal preference) can take longer than expected and shouldn't be done while accompanied by a preschooler. I figured 10, maybe 15 minutes tops -- about an hour later we were back on the road.

5005. 20x spotting scopes at convenient eye level make great entertainment for a 4 year old...though I bet the camera store clerk gained a few gray hairs. It's one of those little things: "daddy daddy, come look, there's a video in this! it's a video daddy, come look! it's a video!"

It has been a busy autumn with so many lessons to learn.

May your fallen leaves be crunchy, colorful and deep!

rootie

Provenzo is right...

Imagine this. A person shows up at your door with a gun, takes your money by force for their own purposes. Maybe even saying "I'll die if I don't do this".

What right does that person have to threaten you?

What right does that person have to your money?

This isn't a trade. You get nothing of any value or meaning in return. Just as the thief above, representatives of our government will show up at your door if you don't pay your taxes. They may act on the government's behalf and throw you in jail, or otherwise take your money by force...for the good of everyone.

A woman has the right to control her own body. She has the right to decide whether or not to carry a baby to term. That decision may be driven by a multitude of factors, including whether or not she (and her family) have the ability (or even desire) to care for the child that may result.

We don't need more laws or regulation on how we can or can't live our lives. We need only for productive rational individuals to be allowed to do the work they are capable for their own benefit, without the sanction to burden others by the force of the state.

Nicholas Provenzo is right. Palin made her choice. Other people can make the choice that fits their individual situation -- just don't make me pay for it.

rootie

Determinism is hard?

Just for fun:
What could be easier than determinism? Medical school?

The Seinfeld of Rube Goldberg machines...?

You have to see this. (via Wired)

It isn't as seamless as the Honda commercial, but still quite entertaining.

You can do things like count the number of different forms of "recreational equipment and pastimes" that are represented. Darts, golf, polo, contact juggling, snooker, violin playing, IM'ing, playing chess, weight lifting, soccer, eating, drinking, listening to music, what did I miss?

The more inventive among you can contemplate alternate designs for a ramp to launch a slinky down the stairs...

rootie

Missing Context in the Media

Many news reports indicate "Vladimir Putin Hailed as a Hero" for tranquilizing a tiger. It would seem the tiger escaped from its cage and was charging a news crew. Good thing Putin was there, with a tranquilizer gun at the ready!

The only information I've been able to find on the web is that large animal tranquilizers take roughly 3 minutes to take effect (at the fast end of the spectrum).

Let's do the math...If a charging tiger can run 15 miles an hour, (yes, I made that number up, but it seems reasonable for a moderate distance of a stalk and pounce hunter), how far away was the news crew for the tranquilizer to take have taken effect in a life saving fashion? (3 minutes at 4 minute mile pace == 0.75 miles)

I won't go so far as to say the news reports are incorrect. It is very obvious, however, that the news reports are missing important details that could provide useful context to understand the event fully.

If you actually know something about large animal tranquilizer efficacy or how the news crew would have otherwise been in mortal danger, but still safe for the 3 minutes it might have taken for the tranquilizer, or perhaps even how long it would take Putin to have realized the nature of the situation and obtained and used a tranquilizer gun, feel free to leave a comment.

I am highly skeptical.

rootie

Egoist shouldn't be forced to testify against themselves...

I was listening to Leonard Peikoff's podcast #20. The topic came up about the foundation of why shouldn't an objective require someone to testify against themselves. (Basically, the question was to justify the self-incrimination part of the 5th amendment of the US constitution)

The gist of Dr. Peikoff's reply was (my words, not so much his) "as an egoist, why should I help you convict me?"

I find I have lots of "mental baggage" from my past that I still need to sort out. This feels like one of those areas. My first response has been "actually, the need for this is to prevent people from being tortured" as people will say anything once you threaten them with or inflict upon them sufficient pain and anguish. This torture view, of course, seems to rely upon the possibility that painful torture is not such a commonplace thing these days.

Maybe sleep will help...
rootie

Justice delivered...

Anyone who ignores the recommended age rating on a child's toy should have to deal with the consequences. This is simple justice, giving the person what they deserve.

More specifically, anyone who obtains a large Transformer toy (5+) that requires 18 separate steps, some with 3 sub-steps, to transform between automobile and AutoBot, and gives that toy to a 4 year old should have to deal with the specific requests to "turn it back into a car" "turn it into a robot" "turn it into a car" etc.

Yes, that would be justice. In this case, self-served justice... ;)

rootie
ps. I can't yet do it blindfolded...

The collectivist ball and chain?

(side note: as a mere student of Objectivism, I will explicitly make the claim that this is not vetted nor reviewed by any of the Objectivists I know, so might be seriously at odds with Rand's views)

The ball and chain was used both as a restraint against escape and a punishment. By various web accounts, the ball weighed between 12 and 30 pounds. Definitely not something anyone would want to drag behind them.

Is it at least partially a collectivist viewpoint to insist that government do what's good for the collective, or in the words from a comment on this post: what's good for "the health of Americans as a whole"? The commenter included a reason why:

most people are stupid and have blind trust in the government to save them from
things that are bad because they don't have the time to look out for themselves
or just aren't smart enough to realize that they are killing themselves

The net of this line of argument was that one reason government exists is to protect the health and presumably welfare of its citizens who are too stupid, inattentive, or lazy to protect their own health and welfare.

Before slipping on that shackle, let me ask, how much protection is enough? Do you know all 4,000 federal laws, or those of you in Colorado, all 30,000 laws? At what cost are these laws created, and maintained? What services is the government providing us for the roughly 18% of our GDP they take? Is 18% enough of a ball and chain for our economy?

Going one step more, I've seen argued elsewhere that as gene-bearing animals, we are better at distributing our genes when we protect the "weaker" among us with social programs. If you must take this biologically based collectivist position ("tax one for the benefit of all") consider this: how much healthier a species we would be if every member of the herd was strong, healthy, independent, rational, and attentive to the world around themselves? Which collective is thriving best, the one with the resources of 1 in 5 people directed by government directive (force) to inefficient and wasteful programs, or the one with strong healthy individuals trading to meet their needs in a competitive free market?

That ball and chain is so tempting, because, after all, it's "free" money. It isn't free -- we pay for every penny of it and then some. Freedom for the individual is good for the health of the herd.

rootie

Life's little lessons #4807

I had the occasion this past week to be out biking just at sunset. It was a wonderful enjoyable ride, the setting sun bright orange, the air cooling from the day's heat, and me zooming down the trail on my bike, weaving quickly through the brush.

We interrupt the blog post for a brief pause to enjoy the scene... wheee! Whoosh! Aahhhh... aaackkk...cough...cough. Ew!

This little post brought to you as a reminder, that swarms of small insects also enjoy the cool evening air, and said swarms may linger at head level over cross-country trails.

There are certain advantages to not breathing through your mouth at this time of day. :-P

rootie

my 300 virtual slaves working around the clock

Why is it that we have the life that we do? Houses and yards suitable to be an estates, fancy cars, every imaginable electrical convenience and distraction (even battery operated, portable!), modern medical science cures for diseases that have killed millions.

I'll chalk my wonderful life up to the 300 people who are working around the clock to be sure that I am successful. This figure comes from the Mineral Information Institute, each American consumes energy roughly the equivalent to 300 people working around the clock to support their lives.

While I am sure you can find all sorts of minor quibbles over the accuracy of the numbers, the difference between equivalent energy of 200 and 400 people doesn't change the result that we use energy, and lots of it, to improve our lives, to make them better than they were even as recently 200 years ago.

I'm not sure I agree with the 12 pounds of salt per person per year...I don't think I eat that much ice cream. *yum*

rootie

The difference between speeds and gear ratios :)

Assuming there are no repeated gear ratios, (I haven't checked) my mountain bike has 24 combinations of front and rear sprockets for faster and slower riding conditions. In my experience, my bike really has only four speeds:

1. Pant, pant, pant -- what brainiac had the idea to ride up this friggin hill?



2. Ahhh, this is nice.



3. Wahoo!



4. Ohshitohshitohshit!!!

I recently had the chance to ride partway up the trail towards the Bench Lakes, where all of the above speeds were attained, sometimes in rapid succession. This trail is what I would consider a "technical" mountain bike trail, and I've heard the term "rock garden" applied in similar contexts. Here's a view of a smooth part (from my photo archive):

Note the 10" tall rock center frame, now imagine 2 miles of them scattered in 1-10 foot intervals, randomly separated by tree roots and the occasional pile of horse droppings.

I had set out with the goal to find a close viewpoint to Mt Heyburn suitable for future sunrise photography. Unfortunately, speeds #1 and #4 dominated the ride, and so I ran out of time and had to return before finding a good view.

After spending 4-5 miles struggling to keep my balance over and around the many obstacles, I noticed later that day that I was better able to stop and balance when my son suddenly stopped unexpectedly on his tricycle. It would appear that the practice balancing on and around rocks helped. Now if I can just figure out a way to get paid for the practice!

happy pedaling!

rootie

No conflicts between men...?

Diana over at Noodlefood opened the comments of one of her posts for whatever wild hairs happened among the crowd.

I didn't have the most eloquent (nor most grammatically correct) comment, which could be summarized as asking the question whether conjoined twins would violate the supposedly objectivist idea that there are no conflicts between men. Burgess followed up with (my paraphrase) "watchyoutalkinboutwillis" ? With Diana's permission, I'm bringing this discussion home where it can have "top level" visibility.

Let me start by setting the record straight. OPAR pg 236, "there are no conflicts of interest between rational men". This is clearly not the same thing as the wording I used for the preceding idea: "no conflicts between men".

Having stated the semi-officially accepted view of at least one champion of objectivism, back to the original comment and why I found it interesting. Are there conflicts of interest between rational conjoined twins? (more disclosure: I am not suggesting any connection whatsoever between the Hensel twins and objectivism, nor trying to say anything about their personal, philosophical, or political beliefs -- I don't have any clue where they stand -- I did find their situation to be very thought provoking as a means of exploring the world, concepts and terminology around me).

I don't have an answer to the question, but here's my thinking so far. First some definitions / context:

1. Assume capacity for full human rationality exists independently in each twin. "man qua man"
2. Assume for biological system reasons the twins don't want to be or cannot be separated. (this may need to be considered independently)
3. Recognize that even "identical" twins have differences in wants, desires, abilities and goals.

Can there be a conflict of interest between them? Depends on what you mean by "conflict of interest", maybe? Rand wrote John Galt in Atlas Shrugged "I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." By that interpretation and the prior context, for each independent conscious entity to pursue their own interests, it can be expected that the interests will not always perfectly align, it is then a question of who yields their interest. (deliberately implied conflict)

Conjoined twins have a special relationship to the world and reality, that of two independent consciousness entities and one physical entity. Those of you who will claim that I am separating the mind and the body to create a mind-body dichotomy or dualist approach should stop now for that isn't my intent -- it really is a single physical entity with two independent consciousnesses, two independent sets of sensation and perception, two independent consciousnesses (faculties of perceiving that which exists). If one head turns right and the other left, no knowledge will be shared between them of the perceptual level nor conceptual level of the scene they each see. It is not until they communicate externally that the knowledge is transmitted. It isn't quite "man qua man" instead "conjoined-twins qua conjoined twins". (I will grant exceptions for chemical processes in a shared circulatory system, but awareness of a racing heart is not knowledge of the perceptual/conceptual cause). Whisper a joke to one, and the other will not be able to repeat it.

As ct-qua-ct, it would be rational for each to realize that the best flourishing possible for the physical entity will be to use the individual skills and abilities of the independent parts to best effect. This may include an imbalance in skills utilization. It also is in the best interest to not allow any part of the physical entity (including the other consciousness) to suffer neglect or abuse -- this for the same reasons rational (non-twin) entities don't cut off fingers or toes, or neglect personal sanitation.

What would seem to be a potential for conflict between "consciousness entities" must be resolved as what is best for the physical entity and both consciousnesses as a whole. While this may entail some debate between the minds as to what constitutes "best", the overall solution, it should be possible to resolve this as a discussion of goals, not an inherent conflict in interest. (deliberately denied conflict of interest)

What about a substantially unequal distribution of skills and abilities between the twins? Let each contribute according to their ability. This is not much different than the distinction of independently physical entities. Each person does what is in their rational best interest to the best of their ability. Due to their special form, conjoined twins have a special relationship to reality that will make some of their rational decisions different than those of non-conjoined twins or other independent individuals in similar circumstances.

Ultimately, I think objectivism's view of "no conflicts of interest between rational men" is upheld. The nature of some of the definitions change ("qua man" vs "qua conjoined twin"), but the overall principle of rational egoism definitely still applies.

rootie

The human connection...

Quite by chance, I ended up watching a show on television the other night about the Hensel twins. The are conjoined twins, now roughly 18 years old. What amazed me the most is that each one controls one arm and one leg, yet they are able to ride a bike, drive a car, play softball, play piano, and type messages on a computer.

These activities aren't amazing earth shattering occurrences for most people -- you go through some awkwardness while learning, then you "just do it" (as if everything in life is easy). In their case, it represents a level of awareness, communication, and coordination that most people don't need every second of every day. They make it look easy -- but as anyone who has tried a three legged race knows, even simple activities aren't.

I have been marveling at their accomplishment, wondering how it all worked when I had an everyday event...

My wife and I were out shopping. At some point, without a word, or other gesture that I recall, she handed me something to hold, and just as wordlessly, I took it. A simple pair of actions with little or no coordination between us. It isn't typing one hand of an email, nor swinging a bat with good timing and alignment, but it is a form of well-practiced coordination; a sign that we've been married a long time, and shopping together a enough times to have developed an almost automatic situational awareness.

So I write this in celebration of the human connection -- of being alive in the world and well connected...

rootie

Celebrating attention to details... (recognition of the primacy of existence)

I can just see this kid thinking "you want me to spell what????"



"That's a relief!" -- indeed!

Happy Monday!

rootie

"issues" in the media...

I am so pleased that we have intelligent unbiased news commentators carrying the banner of the first amendment in our free press. What important issues they have to cover...




Some faces in that video occur frequently enough that they probably should have been fired years ago.

I'm not shilling for Women's Media Center -- I don't know enough about them to be pro or con. I should credit them for the video highlighting the many forms of *important issues* that are covered in the media. :-O

Objectivism sees aspects of modern feminism as collectivism: treating an entire group of people as if they all have the same viewpoints, the same good and the same bad is not justice to the individual members of that group. Aspects of modern feminism are also extremely valid from an Objectivist viewpoint in that people deserve to be treated according to their skills and accomplishments, regardless of gender. Somehow, I don't think cleavage (in the context it was used) is particularly newsworthy political coverage related to skills and accomplishments.

(found via bastard.logic)

rootie

Those who have ears, let them hear...

23mm
160bpm
:)

4 in one blow (or 4 out of 5 isn't bad)

It's interesting the sorts of things that define your home town, even long after you've left. There are landmarks and relics that hold little or no real value, and in fact may even harbor danger. In spite of their lack of value, they still serve as an anchor to our memories; an icon that colors all our recollections of a place.



The ancient oil refineries in Greybull are all but forgotten. They left their signature smokestacks on the skyline of the town, and they will remain indelibly in my memory.



By some fortunate timing, I was able to see this live



Here's a regional news story on it.

If you'd prefer the photo sequence:


You can imagine the surprise of the pigeons resting (nesting?) on the top of the closest smokestack. (more than the 5 you can see in the photos) -- they wasted no time flying away, but ended up circling and landing on the last stack standing... :-O

happy day!

rootie

Car trouble -- problem with my rearview mirror

Rational thought is a wonderful thing. It helps us know when to stop beating ourselves silly. Hard to see in the video, but his feathers are showing the wear. :(

The bird isn't always that quick to attack my mirror but he has been pretty active at the mirror over the last several weeks, so I figured it would be fruitful to turn on the video camera before pulling into the driveway.

Last couple of days he has given it a break -- maybe it is because I tried to catch him and almost succeeded?

rootie

Happy Mother's Day!

On this day set aside to honor those who brought us into the world, wiped our butt countless times, and gave us more love, attention, and mind share than perhaps we may have deserved, let me ramble briefly on my own mom.

I grew up in a rural farm area. Among mom's roles, she was a freelance writer. I remember taking swimming lessons in town during the summer, and mom would take her portable typewriter with her to the pool so she could work on a magazine article or one of her stories. Many times, she would pack picnic lunches for us, and drive us to the fields on the other side of town. She would then drive tractor, plowing or pulling the roller harrow while my brother and I played at the ends of the field, chasing bugs, climbing trees, digging in the dirt and mud, or riding our bicycles.

We weren't rich by any stretch of the imagination. I was in high school before I had a pair of pants that wasn't hand-me-down or second-hand, and I was in college before anyone else cut my hair. Mom could stretch a buck farther than you could imagine. I never felt like we were poor or deprived -- that's just the way things were.

Others have written recently about their free-wheeling childhood. When I was in 4th grade, we moved to the other side of town to consolidate our farmland into one unit. My parents gave my brother and I each a wristwatch and made sure we knew how to tell time. The rules were pretty simple: "lunch is at noon, dinner is at 6, for every 5 minutes you are late, you are grounded a day". There were obvious exceptions for calling ahead, or arrangements to be elsewhere.

Motherhood is a job that never ends. I called her today to wish her well. While on the phone, I coughed, and she immediately inquired as to my health. Shortly thereafter she was providing her opinion on which laundry detergent I shouldn't be using.

Moms -- truly amazing people...

illegal vegetables

It would seem that threats to free commerce may come from unlikely sources... even the restaurant where you may be dining. Chef Gordon Ramsay:

"There should be stringent laws, licensing laws, to make sure produce is only
used in season and season only,"

Vain chefs aside, "out-of-season" produce is also under scrutiny in commercial circles due to "carbon footprint".

When you think about it, bananas are a commercial boon -- they provide money in poorer parts of the world for farmers, money for transportation industry, money in local economies for grocery stores, and most of all, they go so well with my oatmeal on a cold winter morning.

rootie

How many trips does it take?

I managed this weekend to successfully turn on sprinkler systems at 2 houses. It wasn't as quick as I would have liked. What should have been a simple 30 minute job at one house became a 4+ hour exercise in plumbing. '

Trip #1: Go to house #2 (house for sale in a "buyer's market"). Oh that wonderful feeling you get when the spindle of the main supply valve comes off in your hand when you try to open it! Return home unsuccessfully.

It is not in my repertoire to replace a major supply valve without removing the pressure on the supply side, so had to coordinate with the HOA to have the water shut off. Of course, this water shutoff just happened to coincide with the household plumbing disaster, so careful coordination and prioritization was required in the family activities this weekend.

Did I mention how convenient it is to have a washing machine in your own home? Marvelous invention, indoor plumbing and a front loading washer.

Anyway, replacing a valve shouldn't be a complicated thing. Get valve, remove old valve, install new valve.

Trip #2: Return to house to do a quick site survey that I should have done the first time. I thought I knew the right size valve to get, noted that I lacked proper tools (-1 wrench of sufficient size)

Short Trip #3: went to local home/hardware superstore, bought a valve, a wrench, some teflon tape. Return to yard and ... drat, wrong size valve.

Short Trip #4: take the too large valve back, get a smaller one. For future reference, the valve gauge is probably labeled (cast/molded) onto the valve body -- look for it, it may save you a trip. While installing the smaller, correctly sized valve (but of a different length than original) I cross- threaded a plastic connector that was no longer squarely aligned due to the length change in the valve body. Plastic plumbing doesn't seal well after that (I didn't want to risk it) so...spent waaayyy too long getting the old plastic fitting out to take it with me...

Short Trip #5: take the plastic part and go find a replacement of same size and shape. Spend 15 minutes trying to find the right place in the correct aisle. Give up and get help, spend another 10 minutes with store employee trying to find the right part on the right aisle. Some shelving systems just don't make sense to me -- in this case, the part I wanted was mis-filed in a box one aisle away from identical parts of a different size. yeah, sure I can find that on my own...

Return from trip #2: Finally get to go home to deal with drain leak in the basement, but recall that due to the HOA involvement, I couldn't actually test my master supply valve installation.

Trip # 6: Actually use the new supply valve and finally get the sprinklers running. Replace one head most likely broken by snow shoveling activity. All is well.

Perhaps the lush green grass this is supposed to create will help the house sell a little faster.

Trips 1, 2, 6 are each about 30 miles round trip. 3,4,5 are each about 6 miles round trip. In an SUV with gas prices hovering close to $3.50... :( At least NPR had a story about a Nobel prize winner -- it deserves its own blog post.

Pardon my prattle, it just seems very rare that a project can be completed with one trip to the hardware store.

rootie

Life's little lessons #4784

Reality wins over misplaced hope once again.

This Friday evening's relaxation was interrupted with a plumbing issue. When enough water goes into the sink where the washing machine drains, water will start coming out at the base of the wall behind the sink. (this wall exit point is at least 1 foot from the floor drain the sink pours into)

I ripped out carpeting to figure out where the leak was, get rid of the smell and mold potential -- what a fun way to spend a Friday night -- moving 200 pound appliances and hacking smelly wet carpet into chunks small enough to carry out... :-(

Called a local plumbing company with a reputable name. Plumber arrived and decided that snaking the drain should fix the problem. My brain was on vacation. What part of removing a clog will cause water to not leak from the drain system? I didn't think that clearly. Plumber snaked the drain, pulled out smelly gunky glob of goo with fibrous matter including roots, and ran water down - water flowed much more freely so he problem declared fixed. I paid the bill and he left.

Fast forward 20 minutes -- I have reinstalled the sink (free-standing plastic utility sink with only a drain connection) and run water into it and guess what? Yup, water comes out from the same place as before.

Yes folks, removing a clog from a pipe does not actually *fix* a leak in said pipe, in spite of assurances and hopes to the contrary. Reality wins.

Next step, jackhammers. Yes, this the recommendation of the same technician from the same company, who hasn't actually verified the actual cause of the leak, merely his assurances that this will lead to a fix, and the problem will be just a foot "or so" from the drain, in a specific direction through a concrete basement wall and floor.

I do not have that confident happy feeling.

Looks like I may be spending the intervening evenings tearing out some more wall materials to see if I can actually find the point of origin of the leaking water to get at least some confidence in the diagnosis.

Would someone tell me again why I bought a house that is over 70 years old? ;)

rootie

BASV -- nobody should have to live in fear

This post was written for the Blog Against Sexual Violence Day this April 3rd.

I live in a different world than most women do. I can at any time walk anywhere safely in my growing city. I simply decide "I want to go there" and I do -- after all, "what's the big deal?" Nobody will issue cat-calls in my honor, stop their car to offer me a ride on their mustache, nor grope me in a crowd. Odds are equally good that nobody will try to rape me or coerce me into a compromising situation. I know women who think carefully about where and when they go, plan their parking spaces when traveling, and avoid certain areas of town, especially when alone.

Let me give 3 viewpoints derived from Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism (based on my own understanding) .

1. This imbalance in personal safety is one of many forms of injustice common in our society. Injustice? Yes, though I may define it differently than would commonly be defined. Justice, as defined in Objectivism is essentially giving people what they deserve. What part of having female gender means that women "deserve" this treatment, that they "deserve" to live in fear?
2. The use of force by one individual against another is not only irrational, but is harmful to both individuals involved, and therefore wrong. The harm takes different forms for each of the people involved, but can be very real. This isn't just some random dictate, but is derived from our need as humans to have freedom to think and to act in our own best interest as a means to living a flourishing life. Thugs don't flourish in jail. Victims don't flourish when they feel the need to curtail their actions for their personal safety.
3. (this is technically a variation on #2 above) A person's body is their primary property, to do with as they see fit. If they decide not to use their "property" for some purpose (even for "gratification" of an inebriated spouse), their right to determine the use of that property should be respected.

Nobody should have to live in fear. Nobody.

rootie

The golden hour...er..35 minutes...

Biking season is here. In the short time before sunset, I picked a lung burner close to home and took off. The temperature was in the mid 40's, and the air was calm.

The first two miles was a relatively easy uphill. There were a handful of runners and walkers on the trail, most of them with dogs. Some of the people ambled along, almost wandering -- they were in no rush as their destination was fresh air and doggie exercise. Others ran intently, with a well-practiced and efficient gait. There was a young couple probably in their mid-30's that stepped way off the trail with their dogs as I huffed a friendly hello and thank you in passing. There was a man walking his cool-down from a what I would guess was a strenuous workout in the foothills.

My shadow grew long and darted in and out across the bushes as I rode. The sunlight took on the golden hue that is a favorite of landscape photographers, making the hills glow in the cool air.

I stopped briefly to shed a layer of jacket, drink some water, and catch my breath before the climb to the ridge line. There's a trail on the ridge line about a quarter mile from where I've stopped, but that quarter mile includes a section of something close to 10% grade. I stow my jacket, click into my clips and engage the hill.

About halfway up, as I am huffing and puffing, pedaling in my lowest gear and traveling about the speed of a glacier I heard the sandy crunch of footsteps overtaking me. Startled and due to my slow uphill pace, I did a swerve-and-recover to maintain my balance. I was quite happy that it was a runner passing me, and not someone just walking their dog. In spite of all rational understanding of my physical condition, and the fact that I'm lugging an extra 30-40 pounds of bike and associated gear up the hill, I still have a hard time mentally dealing with getting passed by someone who is walking.

After reaching the ridge line trail, I decided I hadn't had enough climbing, so nosed my bike up the trail toward another short steep rise nearby. I was quite determined not to stop in the middle of it. It took me quite some time to get my breathing calmed down at the top. After I had recovered a little air, I noted the runner who passed me was disappearing over a little rise ahead of me, her yellow jacket glowing in bright contrast to the brown hillside. A small part of me wanted to continue following the uphill trail, not content to stop where I was, but I had chores still waiting at home.

I paused and watched as the sun started melting slowly into the western horizon. There I stood with my bike in the quiet cool air, watching the shadows blanket the hills, my heart still beating quickly from the climb, and thinking to myself, "this is definitely the golden hour".

May you find your own golden hour,

rootie

"Take lessons from the examples that you can see"

Is Geert Wilder's film Fitna hate speech? The title of this blog entry comes from an uncredited audio voice over within that film. Based on context it was most likely yelled by a Muslim protestor during unrest around Theo van Gogh's murder. No explicit credit is given.

Obama has committed the same "error" as many Muslims. (I am *not* trying to connect the two, except to note a similar situation, and a common interpretation of the result)

Many people ask the question why Obama did not speak out against Rev. Wright, and note that Obama's silence raises the question of whether he holds the same viewpoints. Obama has stated that he rejects the messages of Rev. Wright without stating which messages he rejects. This gives empty deniability to Obama because if I agree with Wright, then Obama must also agree, and if I disagree with Wright, then Obama also disagrees, right? *sigh*

In parallel fashion, I will ask why Muslims do not speak out against the religiously based violence both between Islamic and non-Islamic religions, and also between Islamic factions? Failure to speak out against these actions leaves open the question of whether they are despised, somewhat accepted, condoned, or even encouraged.

What example do you wish to hold as the ideal? Hold it up and be known for it. Don't make Obama's mistake; be unambiguous about what you encourage and what you despise.

I hold dearly my freedom of speech. My words cannot cause harm -- all a rational person need do is to consider the source and act appropriately. They can ignore me or walk away if they do not agree and choose not to engage.

People do take lessons from the examples they can see.

rootie

Life's little lessons, number 4,177 and 4,178

I recently moved into a house that, amazingly enough, has mature trees. These very large trees don't drop all their leaves immediately, but instead hold some late into the fall, so raking isn't a "do-it-once-and-you're-done" affair.

I kept waiting for the "right" time to go rake the leaves. Having a few brief moments, I took my 3.5 year old son out with me to start the task.

As most thinking parents can imagine, a pre-schooler is more interested in spreading leaves than piling them. :-O lesson learned -- bring extra patience and humor when raking leaves with the generous help of a preschooler.

So the leaves fall in the cold, it snows and rains on them, and they sit there for 4 months of "winter". Even in cool weather, that seems to be sufficient opportunity to allow the bottom layer of leaves to turn into mulch. Earthworms, centipedes and mold will be at home in the piles, and the grass underneath doesn't really like being buried in all that. Lesson learned -- find some time to make sure to get the "last" pile of leaves raked up, even if it means a little bit of snow goes with them.

Raking leaves does count as exercise doesn't it?

(still not done yet -- more leaves to rake, maybe I'll get to it tomorrow :-)

rootie

Capitalism as cooperation, not competition

Here is a great description by Kyle of capitalism that I heard during a session of The Objectivism Seminar:

Capitalism isn't based in competition, but instead is based in
cooperation. Two parties trade freely to their mutual benefit. The
only competition is in the choice of with whom to trade freely.

That may not be an exact quote, but captures the idea.

When I want a cheap microwave, I pay a low price. When I want something more, I pay a different price.

That "something more" doesn't have to be a level of quality, it can be something else entirely. The point is that capitalism represents free choice on the basis of what the traders find to be mutually beneficial, without the need for government regulation.

rootie

beautiful song, ugly message...

For those of you who don't listen to country music, or pay attention to American Idol winners, Carrie Underwood has a beautiful song with a very nice rhythm pattern between verse and chorus, high winding vocals in her clear voice, and lyrics that would certainly not be among Ayn Rand's "tiddlywink music". (Dismuke link via noodlefood)

Taken literally as advice of what to do during a time when your car seems to be out of control, (yes, I know that isn't the point of the song -- bear with me here), simply "throwing your hands in the air" and relinquishing all control of the vehicle leaves you at the mercy of physics -- between a physiologist, physicist and mechanical and materials engineers you can find out quite precisely what will happen to the car and the occupants within based on the parameters of the car, velocities, angles, surfaces, weight distribution etc.

In the event of a loss of control, there is still frequently a window of opportunity to exercise free will and rational thought to improve the outcome. This might be something small like steering to gain a fraction of a foot of clearance between the car and a concrete bridge or culvert, or choosing whether to err in the direction of oncoming traffic or tangle with cars going the same direction. Perhaps a quick thinking mind may even steer to hold the car in a reverse facing direction simply to maintain a lengthwise orientation to the direction of travel to avoid a rollover at high velocity. These are small choices that don't regain control of the situation, but may greatly influence your chances to survive or to save your life or someone else's.

Not every out of control car can be recovered or steered -- as common example, some icy roads provide no options. By literally taking your hands from the wheel, there is no choice of making any correction or adjustment to improve the outcome of the accident. Instead of a 5 or 10% (or 50%) chance of improving the outcome, you have 0% chance.

More philosophically speaking, to metaphorically take your hands from the wheel, is to give up control of your life and the events within it. Just as with the out of control car, there are factors in our lives that we do not control, situations that will not proceed in any substantial direction toward our goals. A lack of complete control does not mean that we have nothing to gain in the attempt. We frequently have options, degrees of freedom, or other opportunities to affect the outcome of the situation; to improve the result.

Flourishing, does not mean wandering aimlessly the pasture of our life, grazing on whatever grass may grow, but instead requires a conscientiously applied rational mind. We grow much farther when we deliberately choose the direction and constantly work to steer ourselves towards our goals.

rootie

books are immoral?

In the land of subjectivists, collectivists, and the religiously motivated you get to wear many different hats, and ideas become very complex. In "the land of Rand" ideas often simplify to some basic concepts that frame the problem quite clearly, and occasionally very differently than you might have expected.

Let's start with this fun story:

The Nampa Public Library Board of Trustees made a decision to pull two sex books from the shelf, though they are not leaving the library.

Instead, the books will be kept in the library director's office, and patrons can specifically request to check them out.

This action was prompted by Randall Jackson, a man of "character"?:

Reportedly, Jackson once checked out the books and vowed never to return them, but the library eventually replaced the books.

Apparently Jackson isn't alone in his character:

Sometimes the books, Nampa Library Community Relations Coordinator Dan Black said, are checked out in protest and kept past their due dates. The books have also been checked out and not returned.

Further, Jackson is quoted from the meeting:

"They are images you would find in an adult book store - not in a publicly funded, library open to the public."

Pop Quiz!
Which offence would you start with?

• Censorship! Shouldn't libraries be independent providers of books their patrons want to read? If nobody wanted to read it, it wouldn't get checked out. If people want to know what is in the book whether because it may be entertaining or educational, that is their individual business, not the library's to control.
• One group forcing their particular form of "morality" on everyone. After all, the human body is an evil thing, not to be looked at, touched, used, or enjoyed in any way. :-O Well, ok, you can use your body for procreation in a monogamous heterosexual religiously sanctified relationship, but you aren't allowed to enjoy it, and we won't tell you how to do it.
• Theft! No, it isn't theft, after all, the library let Mr. Jackson remove the book by their policy of checking out books. The fact that he and others like him intentionally failed to return the books doesn't make it theft. NOT! Intent is everything -- it is the difference between murder and manslaughter, or in this case the difference between theft and being a careless patron.
• Denial of service attacks. By intentionally keeping the books past their date in "protest", these people are denying others the opportunity to check out the books and derive benefit from them.
• It was a Public Library. Yuppers, you read that right -- a public library as an offence. What aspect of providing large quantities of books, housing them, replacing them, staffing to manage the collection and facility, is a government protection of an individual's rights? Q. What percentage of a city's population have to use a library for it to be self-funding? A. A public library doesn't charge for access to the book collection. In this model, it cannot be self-funding! The library provides books out of the tax base, so everyone in a geographical area gets the county sheriff, deputies, and their guns (or more likely the state gov't to garnish wages by force) to ensure that you pay for your fair share of the books you don't read.

Did you expect to end up there? When I first was fuming about this, I didn't...

If you didn't have a public library, but instead had a self-funded private enterprise, then that enterprise would have no need to respond to the requests of "people with differing moral opinions". A book business could instead say "if you don't like our books, start your own store".

In the interest of full disclosure, I don't currently have a library card, but I have spent *many* hours in public libraries (city, county, state, university), wandering the stacks, reading anything and everything. My public school bus used to stop at the public library once a week so kids could go check out books, and I certainly indulged. I have recently provided support in the form of new equipment donations to public libraries, and I probably will do so again, but certainly not under the threat of force.

I even occasionally do wish I had a library card as I think of all the books I'd like to read that I have no time for...

rootie

Happy PI day!

What proof do we need that our will and our desires do not rule reality? How about a simple number, Pi = 3.141592535...

While it is frequently approximated as 22/7 = 3.1428..., people who are approximating it in that form usually know that they aren't using the actual value, but something "close enough".

Back in 1897, the state of Indiana almost passed an interesting bill to set the value of pi. This is interesting on several accounts:

1. Nobody who passed the bill could understand what they were passing. But the state House of Representatives passed it anyway!
2. It seems the person who originally wrote the bill may have intended to collect royalties from everyone except the state of Indiana for using it.
3. The value (depending on how you read the bill, you may get several different values) was wrong. It seems that one of the most common values interpreted from the bill is that pi was 3.2,

In a case of mind understanding matter, a mathemetician realized the insanity of the occasion and explained the situation to the State Senate.

The Senators made bad puns about it, ridiculed it, and laughed
over it. The fun lasted half an hour. [Then] Senator
Hubbell said that it was not meet for the Senate, which was costing
the State $250 a day [!], to waste its time in such frivolity
... He moved the indefinite postponement of the bill, and the
motion carried.

Do you have a favorite example of government passing a bill that nobody understands?

Happy pi day!
rootie

Why optional values?

For those of you looking for perl or xml, you're a victim of search engine glee.

ha, "victim," now there's a badly chosen word. Yes, whatever search engine brought you here must be out to get you...drat, there I go again, anthropomorphising technological algorithms.

So why "optional values"? Blogging isn't my life. I don't live to blog. That makes blogging "optional" -- it isn't core to my life's purpose.

So what about "values"? Google won't tell you much about "values" that applies in this context. Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism throws lots of people curveballs. Part of it is the fact that some words take on very specific meanings and very narrow relevant contexts. "Values" is definitely one of those words.

A thing of "value" is something you want, and when you have it, you want to keep it, not to lose it, have it stolen from you, or damaged or destroyed. "Values" is simply a reference to "things of value". Ok, so there is more to the definition than that, but I'll stop there for now.

Why am I here? There were two disasters reported on the front page of the local paper this week. Disaster #1: books are immoral. Disaster #2: science is sin. How long can good people remain silent while lunatics run amok in their society? (hopefully more on those topics later when I quit seething) At the very least, I feel the need to speak out against these ideas, to add my voice to those calling for rationality and an end to the intrusions of people whose idea of "morality" seems to originate in the twilight zone.

This then, as with most blogs is partly diary, political/philosophical commentary, and links to whatever else strikes my fancy. (no, I won't show you pictures of it)

What about me? Am I "an Objectivist"? That title would bestow on me an honor I do not as yet deserve. Call me "a student of objectivism." There is much to learn, and much change to make in myself.

It is my experience that I may choose the wrong word, twist a phrase until it breaks, or use metric measuring cups and a silicon spatula when mixing metaphors. (yes, I intended to write "silicon", not "silicone") Life is an educational experience, and this is definitely a learning opportunity for me, maybe for you. Feel free to join me on my journey...

Rootie