Most people familiar with my political ideology know I'm pretty much in the middle. I consider myself an Independent, and consider myself to be moderate.
Last night while channel surfing I happened upon Fox News and some of their coverage regarding the tense political situation in Madison. They were misreporting the protests at the Capitol as violent, which is the opposite of the truth. The protesters have been loud, but they have been peaceful, they have been organized, and they have been clean.
The issue is ostensibly about money and balancing the budget, but that is fast becoming a ruse. The real issue is about power and who wields it, and the Republicans that now control the Wisconsin state government want it all. They claim it's the only way to balance the budget without raising taxes, but what taxpayers are they really trying to protect? Their propositions will fill formerly non-partisan governmental offices with appointed stooges, squash clean energy initiatives, and cripple our education system, causing many of our beleaguered schools to have to close their doors or consolidate. Their proposed actions will create a budget disaster like that in California, and will have far-reaching effects on organized labor in other states such as Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Florida, and that's just a start.
Democratic members of the State Senate have left the state to prevent a quorum and thus prevent the Senate from voting on the budget bill. They thought it was the only option they had left to prevent the Republicans from simply ramming through the changes they wanted. The Republicans in turn asked the Democrats to return out of "respect for the process" yet didn't wait long before passing their changes through the State Assembly using questionable tactics. Where is their respect for the process?
The Republicans in Wisconsin have strayed far from the original ideals of their party. They should be embarrassed to be doing so in the very state their party was born in over 150 years ago.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: The Eagles: "Already Gone"
2011-03-01
2010-12-30
Writing
I think, perhaps, that I have always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with creative writing.
When I was in grade school there was a "Young Authors" creative writing program. One could write a story, and it would be turned over to high school students to be proofread and typed. The finished pages, along with a couple of blank pages, would be returned, and in a "workshop" supervised by volunteers the pages would be stitched together. The outer blank pages served as end papers, glued to cardboard stock that had been covered with the fabric of the author's choice, with the final product being a book. In the early days some students were fortunate to have their pieces selected to have a second copy made and placed in the library along with a cassette audio book.
My first foray into this was nothing special, a plagiaristic mash-up of Voltron and the Transformers when I was in second grade. It won no accolades, but I had written a book.
By third grade I had come up with more original material, inspired by my own imaginative play to write stories about aliens from other planets and some sort of rescue mission during an interplanetary war. It was as well received as my first attempt, but I found the amount of freedom allowed by creating my own characters to be very liberating.
In fourth grade I tried to expand on my aliens with little success. Scheduled creating writing time during class wasn't helpful to me, and I often sat there writing little if anything. There was no book for me that year.
The next year, however, I found the right formula, the inspiration coming from a creative writing prompt to create a superhero. I took no efforts to conceal identities, basing my title character on my own sister. However, my work was well-received, earning an award that year, and I was suddenly hooked.
It probably helped that I read -- a lot. Most of what I read then, and still do, was fantasy and science fiction. By the time I was in junior high, through the gifted and talented program, I set out to write a play. It was inspired by the fantasy novels that I read, and the characters obviously inspired by me and my friends. I never completed the play, but the characters could be worked into a new story.
Those characters are still with me, brimming with personalities and problems of their own, and the protagonists of a novel manuscript now topping 150,000 words. I don't know if I'll ever by truly satisfied with the novel, but those I have shared it with have enjoyed it and would like to see it published. I would too.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Elton John: "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"
When I was in grade school there was a "Young Authors" creative writing program. One could write a story, and it would be turned over to high school students to be proofread and typed. The finished pages, along with a couple of blank pages, would be returned, and in a "workshop" supervised by volunteers the pages would be stitched together. The outer blank pages served as end papers, glued to cardboard stock that had been covered with the fabric of the author's choice, with the final product being a book. In the early days some students were fortunate to have their pieces selected to have a second copy made and placed in the library along with a cassette audio book.
My first foray into this was nothing special, a plagiaristic mash-up of Voltron and the Transformers when I was in second grade. It won no accolades, but I had written a book.
By third grade I had come up with more original material, inspired by my own imaginative play to write stories about aliens from other planets and some sort of rescue mission during an interplanetary war. It was as well received as my first attempt, but I found the amount of freedom allowed by creating my own characters to be very liberating.
In fourth grade I tried to expand on my aliens with little success. Scheduled creating writing time during class wasn't helpful to me, and I often sat there writing little if anything. There was no book for me that year.
The next year, however, I found the right formula, the inspiration coming from a creative writing prompt to create a superhero. I took no efforts to conceal identities, basing my title character on my own sister. However, my work was well-received, earning an award that year, and I was suddenly hooked.
It probably helped that I read -- a lot. Most of what I read then, and still do, was fantasy and science fiction. By the time I was in junior high, through the gifted and talented program, I set out to write a play. It was inspired by the fantasy novels that I read, and the characters obviously inspired by me and my friends. I never completed the play, but the characters could be worked into a new story.
Those characters are still with me, brimming with personalities and problems of their own, and the protagonists of a novel manuscript now topping 150,000 words. I don't know if I'll ever by truly satisfied with the novel, but those I have shared it with have enjoyed it and would like to see it published. I would too.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Elton John: "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"
2010-09-14
Generations
I was recently notified of the passing of my great aunt Leona, a passing which truly marks the end of a generation. Aunt Leona was my paternal grandfather Lloyd's sister. There were ten siblings in all, eight boys and two girls, and while Aunt Leona was one of the oldest of the siblings, she was the last to pass. It's difficult to fathom that they are now all gone, and that a great deal of their numerous offspring are gone, including my father and his cousins Daniel and Gary.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Led Zeppelin: "Rock and Roll"
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Led Zeppelin: "Rock and Roll"
2010-07-30
Cockatrice
Anyone familiar with the mythical beast known as a cockatrice, sometimes also called a basilisk, may also know that these creatures were supposedly hatched from eggs laid by roosters and incubated on a dunghill by a toad.
While there is of course a problem with expecting an exothermic animal like a toad to not only sit still but incubate an egg, there's the question of how to get an egg laid by a rooster.
Well, after reading about it in Ripley's Believe It or Not, I went and found this.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: The Guess Who: "No Sugar Tonight"
While there is of course a problem with expecting an exothermic animal like a toad to not only sit still but incubate an egg, there's the question of how to get an egg laid by a rooster.
Well, after reading about it in Ripley's Believe It or Not, I went and found this.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: The Guess Who: "No Sugar Tonight"
2010-07-12
Two wrongs...
There seems to be no shortage these days of Web sites whereby you can look up song lyrics. However, they all seem to be plagued by the same problem: if one site has the wrong lyrics, they all have the wrong lyrics.
Mood: Disappointed
Music: Coverdale/Page: "Easy Does It"
Mood: Disappointed
Music: Coverdale/Page: "Easy Does It"
2010-03-23
Births
Today would have been my dad's 63rd birthday.
Dad considered himself politically independent. He was more liberal than most of his close friends, but voted for Republican candidates as well as Democratic. He believed in personal freedom, liberty, and allowing people to make their own choices and decisions; but he also believed we have a responsibility to help one another and make the world a better place for others.
I wonder, then, how he would have felt about the health care reform bill that recently passed. Would he have supported it for providing health care to those who need it, and extending care for everyone? Or would he have opposed it for taking choices away from people, potentially raising the cost of health care, and for potentially socializing health care?
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: The Beatles: "Yer Blues"
Dad considered himself politically independent. He was more liberal than most of his close friends, but voted for Republican candidates as well as Democratic. He believed in personal freedom, liberty, and allowing people to make their own choices and decisions; but he also believed we have a responsibility to help one another and make the world a better place for others.
I wonder, then, how he would have felt about the health care reform bill that recently passed. Would he have supported it for providing health care to those who need it, and extending care for everyone? Or would he have opposed it for taking choices away from people, potentially raising the cost of health care, and for potentially socializing health care?
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: The Beatles: "Yer Blues"
2010-01-04
New Year
Here is the first post of the New Year, a year already filled with change.
Relatively recent events made me come to the realization that one of the parts of truly becoming an adult is observing the relationship changes among one's peers. It is even more meaningful when those peers are considered one's friends. It is wonderful to share the joy and happiness as a friend embarks on a new chapter of their lives by becoming engaged or married. It is equally sad and poignant when seeing the relationships of people one considers friends falter or even fail and fall apart.
Maryanne and I spent a great deal of conversation on it. We want our friends to be happy, but it can be troubling when people you like and expect to be together aren't together anymore. It seems the New Year has already brought with it many unexpected changes.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Todd Rundgren: "Hello It's Me"
Relatively recent events made me come to the realization that one of the parts of truly becoming an adult is observing the relationship changes among one's peers. It is even more meaningful when those peers are considered one's friends. It is wonderful to share the joy and happiness as a friend embarks on a new chapter of their lives by becoming engaged or married. It is equally sad and poignant when seeing the relationships of people one considers friends falter or even fail and fall apart.
Maryanne and I spent a great deal of conversation on it. We want our friends to be happy, but it can be troubling when people you like and expect to be together aren't together anymore. It seems the New Year has already brought with it many unexpected changes.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Todd Rundgren: "Hello It's Me"
2009-12-02
Xmas
December is here, and the Advent season has started. Many a house is adorned with Christmas lights, holiday sales are everywhere, and Christmas music has been on the radio for weeks. Despite all this, I still find myself not quite into the spirit of things yet. Is it possible that the early start to the festivities has desensitized me to the season? Perhaps some snow will change my mind.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Slade: "Everyday"
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Slade: "Everyday"
2009-10-20
Health
Yesterday in the mail we got a bill from our local hospital for our copay for a late-night emergency room visit. Looking at the total amount billed, the portion covered by insurance, and our copay, really got me to thinking about the health care bill being debated in the Senate.
Providing health insurance to the uninsured so they can receive proper, adequate medical care is a wonderful thing. However, the bill doesn't really address any of the causes about why health care is so expensive -- it just further shifts the costs elsewhere.
Some of those places are insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and medical device makers. I don't think anyone can pretend that cutting into the profits of these companies, as large as they may be, isn't going to have adverse effects. Decreases in profits are almost certainly going to be offset by increasing prices, slower increases in employee compensation, and so forth. For some companies, it might also mean moving jobs outside of the country. GE Healthcare employs a lot of people in Wisconsin -- how many of those jobs would be at risk?
Further, I don't really see how the bill could do anything but increase the cost of health care. The bill would prevent insurance companies from turning applicants away, which is good, but the way it plans on using certain risk factors for pricing premiums seems inadequate. Also, preventing the capping of annual benefits -- along with continuing to have no caps on malpractice claims -- could also ultimately increase costs.
Everyone should educate themselves on what the bill is seeking to accomplish, and the means by which it would accomplish it. Time has a good article about it.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Led Zeppelin: "Black Dog"
Providing health insurance to the uninsured so they can receive proper, adequate medical care is a wonderful thing. However, the bill doesn't really address any of the causes about why health care is so expensive -- it just further shifts the costs elsewhere.
Some of those places are insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and medical device makers. I don't think anyone can pretend that cutting into the profits of these companies, as large as they may be, isn't going to have adverse effects. Decreases in profits are almost certainly going to be offset by increasing prices, slower increases in employee compensation, and so forth. For some companies, it might also mean moving jobs outside of the country. GE Healthcare employs a lot of people in Wisconsin -- how many of those jobs would be at risk?
Further, I don't really see how the bill could do anything but increase the cost of health care. The bill would prevent insurance companies from turning applicants away, which is good, but the way it plans on using certain risk factors for pricing premiums seems inadequate. Also, preventing the capping of annual benefits -- along with continuing to have no caps on malpractice claims -- could also ultimately increase costs.
Everyone should educate themselves on what the bill is seeking to accomplish, and the means by which it would accomplish it. Time has a good article about it.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Led Zeppelin: "Black Dog"
2009-09-30
October
October is just around the corner, autumn has arrived, and it's been a while since my last blog post, and I now realize I haven't much to say. Is it wrong to post for the sake of posting?
Mood: Bored
Music: The Eagles: "Take It Easy"
Mood: Bored
Music: The Eagles: "Take It Easy"
2009-09-01
September
Here it is September already. There's a hint of autumn in the air as students across the state return to school. The weather this week should be fantastic, with daytime highs in the 70s while the overnight lows dip into dewy, autumnal numbers.
Last weekend was cool and misty when it wasn't raining. Maryanne took Sarah to Colorado to see Caly and family. Their trip was short but good, and all things considered Sarah did well. I stayed behind with Magan. Adam was able to come for a visit, and we spent Friday evening watching the Brewers and Packers both win. The two of us were able to meet Jesse for a trip to Miller Park to see the Brewers play Saturday after leaving Magan with her grandparents. It was a fun evening, and a fun weekend overall.
I continue to have problems with webhosting. HelioHost is apparently back online, but I will have to search for my login information as I can't get logged in to the control panel. Zymic is now having problems, now behaving much like HelioHost formerly was. It's frustrating considering how few problems I had with GeoCities.
Mood: Frustrated
Music: Alice Cooper: "No More Mr. Nice Guy"
Last weekend was cool and misty when it wasn't raining. Maryanne took Sarah to Colorado to see Caly and family. Their trip was short but good, and all things considered Sarah did well. I stayed behind with Magan. Adam was able to come for a visit, and we spent Friday evening watching the Brewers and Packers both win. The two of us were able to meet Jesse for a trip to Miller Park to see the Brewers play Saturday after leaving Magan with her grandparents. It was a fun evening, and a fun weekend overall.
I continue to have problems with webhosting. HelioHost is apparently back online, but I will have to search for my login information as I can't get logged in to the control panel. Zymic is now having problems, now behaving much like HelioHost formerly was. It's frustrating considering how few problems I had with GeoCities.
Mood: Frustrated
Music: Alice Cooper: "No More Mr. Nice Guy"
2009-08-20
Rehosted
Due to continuing problems using HelioHost to host my website, I've switched to Zymic. I'm hoping it performs better. I had been pretty excited about HelioHost because it offers a lot of options and is ad free, but they unfortunately weren't reliable.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Marvin Gaye: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Marvin Gaye: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
2009-08-11
Shakin'
Maryanne and I took the girls for a short trip to Door County this last weekend. Maryanne got to see cherry trees being shaken to harvest the cherries, an added bonus in light of her inquiry on one of our last visit on how cherries are harvested.
The weather held up well in Door County. Saturday's weather started gorgeous, making for a great trip to the Door County Fair that evening. Sarah loved seeing the animals, and enjoyed the rides. The fair wasn't as busy as I remember it; it was sad to see it that way, and left me wondering what the future holds for it. A storm front rolled in throughout the evening, but the rain held off until well after dark.
Sunday warmed up quickly, but we were on the road again by mid-afternoon. It was a short but pleasant trip, tired and cranky children notwithstanding. Our next trip will be longer, and hopefully even more fun.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Fleetwood Mac: "Rhiannon"
The weather held up well in Door County. Saturday's weather started gorgeous, making for a great trip to the Door County Fair that evening. Sarah loved seeing the animals, and enjoyed the rides. The fair wasn't as busy as I remember it; it was sad to see it that way, and left me wondering what the future holds for it. A storm front rolled in throughout the evening, but the rain held off until well after dark.
Sunday warmed up quickly, but we were on the road again by mid-afternoon. It was a short but pleasant trip, tired and cranky children notwithstanding. Our next trip will be longer, and hopefully even more fun.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Fleetwood Mac: "Rhiannon"
2009-07-16
Weekend Update
Last weekend was when my company's picnic was being held. It was being held at one of the many water parks in Wisconsin Dells, Mt. Olympus. While a trip to the Dells can be fun, I decided against it for a number of reasons. First, it would cost me $15 for Sarah to attend, and I had a hard time justifying that price for a 3-year-old, even if it did include food and was effectively half price. Second, there's not really much there for her, and either myself or Maryanne would be left behind with Magan. It didn't sound like much fun.
As it turns out my sister, Caly, was coming for a visit from Colorado anyway, and it made a good reason to go to Door County. I'll concede the fact that it effectively cost more to go there than it did to go to my company picnic, but I'm willing to bet Sarah had more fun than she would have had in the Dells, as we were able to visit The Farm, and she got plenty of exercise and fresh air running around in Grandma's huge yard. Once back in Dane County we were even able to take a trip to the zoo.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Steppenwolf: "Magic Carpet Ride"
As it turns out my sister, Caly, was coming for a visit from Colorado anyway, and it made a good reason to go to Door County. I'll concede the fact that it effectively cost more to go there than it did to go to my company picnic, but I'm willing to bet Sarah had more fun than she would have had in the Dells, as we were able to visit The Farm, and she got plenty of exercise and fresh air running around in Grandma's huge yard. Once back in Dane County we were even able to take a trip to the zoo.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Steppenwolf: "Magic Carpet Ride"
2009-07-01
Hosed Host
So I thought I had the web hosting thing licked, after finding a free host called HelioHost that supported a bunch of options and was ad-free. Today it's not working, and pings to their domain, heliohost.org, don't resolve. I've already registered at AwardSpace, so I may check them out, and I'm also checking something out called zymic.
Mood: Frustrated
Music: Electric Light Orchestra: "Don't Bring Me Down"
Mood: Frustrated
Music: Electric Light Orchestra: "Don't Bring Me Down"
2009-06-24
Code
I found the cause of the problems with ATSpace: code inserted by GeoCities at the end of each page's code. After removing it, most pages load. Some remain problematic, but the transition has begun.
There are problems loading images, as well. Pages hosted at ATSpace pull images just fine, including the background, navigation buttons, etc. However, my blog page, hosted by Blogger, isn't pulling the images properly, even though the URLs appear to be correct.
Still, it's progress of a sort.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: The Steve Miller Band: "The Joker"
There are problems loading images, as well. Pages hosted at ATSpace pull images just fine, including the background, navigation buttons, etc. However, my blog page, hosted by Blogger, isn't pulling the images properly, even though the URLs appear to be correct.
Still, it's progress of a sort.
Mood: Thoughtful
Music: The Steve Miller Band: "The Joker"
Bad Hosts
I continue to have problems trying to host my website on ATSpace. The root works fine, but none of the other pages load. I thought it was possibly the frame-breaking script, but that doesn't appear to be the case, as the page that loads properly has the script, and there are pages that don't load that don't have the script. I hope to investigate further.
I tried using Tripod. It serves ads, of course on the top of the page, with no option to move it, and some of the ads generate pop-ups -- no good.
I tried BraveNet as well. It also serves ads, and of course they're at the top of the page, without any way to move them. So far I haven't encountered any pop-ups, which is a slight improvement over Tripod.
I'm still open to suggestions for a reliable web host. I would prefer free, depending on the ad situation.
Mood: Frustrated
Music: Chickenfoot: "Oh Yeah"
I tried using Tripod. It serves ads, of course on the top of the page, with no option to move it, and some of the ads generate pop-ups -- no good.
I tried BraveNet as well. It also serves ads, and of course they're at the top of the page, without any way to move them. So far I haven't encountered any pop-ups, which is a slight improvement over Tripod.
I'm still open to suggestions for a reliable web host. I would prefer free, depending on the ad situation.
Mood: Frustrated
Music: Chickenfoot: "Oh Yeah"
2009-06-23
Good Hosts
I'm still looking for a new host for my web site. Tripod is out; I don't like their ad setup. I tried ATSpace, but have been having problems with some of my pages loading. I'll probably try BraveNet as well. If anyone has any suggestions for good, reliable free webhosting, let me know.
Mood: Tired
Music: Ozzy Osbourne: "Bark at the Moon"
Mood: Tired
Music: Ozzy Osbourne: "Bark at the Moon"
2009-06-13
John Carter
Apparently there's a Mars movie in the works, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars series, currently slated for release in 2012.
Sweet!
Mood: Excited
Music: Styx: "Come Sail Away"
Sweet!
Mood: Excited
Music: Styx: "Come Sail Away"
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