blue

One perceives a degree of parody and comedy going on there. Yeah, that's either going to be quite good or really, really bad. I've seen how websites and podcasts and fanfilms get done collaboratively, and they can be very well done. The effects and acting look good. We'll see what happens. I didn't see any space chimpanzees in the movie clips, but my money's on the chimps!

I still believe, I think, but I have some major questions for the "big guy" and I'm not too shy about asking or complaining when I pray. Yes, I have doubts. Yes, my life has had some major **** in it. Yes, there's plenty of evidence of bad people doing bad things, of random events doing bad things, and occasional evidence of very good people doing very good things just because, or of good stuff happening for no particularly apparent reason. That, and there have been a couple of "inexplicable occurrences" that, well, I can't explain logically, rationally (duh) and so I don't know. I would like to believe there's a greater good, all encompassing consciousness somehow. I have sometimes wondered if it might be simply...neutral. See, lots of questions. And the questions I had about how being gay fit in (or didn't) with my religious upbringing and beliefs...was my nemesis, my bête noir. When it finally got through to me that the translations and interpretations I'd grown up with were in all probability wrong, while there were other, more valid ones, it helped. Yet here I was, damaged by all that, and by other stuff, trying to heal from it. I guess life is one long, strange trip after all. That is to say too, who am I to judge a friend for his or her religious beliefs, or lack of them? I came to the conclusion that if God exists, he's at least very different (and way more into options and guidelines than actual rules) than any of us humans thinks. In other words, most likely each and every human has only a very tiny glimpse, that whole three blind men and the elephant thing. Not to be rude, either, but you know, no one ever said what happened if one of those blind guys happened to be feeling around and got ahold of the elephant's more personal attributes. LOL, for either the elephant or the blind guy, must've been a very disconcerting experience. -- What that really would have to do with religion or anything else, I'm not too sure, but well, it must say something. (Other than that I need to get out more....) P.S., I think I have the file you'd sent way back in the day, when you'd submitted "Fistfights With Flashlights" to Codey's World. I'll send you what I have. P.S., Keep bein' you. I think that's pretty awesome.

I could write a lot on the subject of crying. My other posts do cover it, but obliquely. As a kid, I hated getting teased and being so sensitive about it all. I developed a shell, a brick wall, a suit of armor. I still showed my emotions. But some things, I didn't show to anyone else publicly. A lot of letting out anger, fear, sadness alone, in private,with no one else there. Crying can be OK in private, as can fear or anger, but crying in particular...I think we *need* to be able to cry around someone else, who will be there for us, or hold us, or comfort us in other ways. I am grateful that I didn't grow up thinking I *had* to hide all my emotions to be "manly." My dad grew up stoic. He had deep feelings, but you had to know him to know what he was feeling. He was, however, the kind of man who didn't want his son to grow up that way. He was mostly a good dad, and for that, I'm very grateful. Um, and Tyler sounds like a great guy. Good friend to have, at 15 or whenever. :)

Hahaha, Cole and Camy and all! Hmm, hadn't thought of that. But I might well have to try that. Look out, squirrels, I've also got Jimi Hendrix's feedback edition of the Star Spangled Banner! I could try some Sigur Ros on them, but they might like Icelandic post-rock. I'd try AwesomeDude Radio, but they'd probably *like* that. Maybe if they'd pay rent....

It turns out I did have a spare headset, but it's cheap, with no volume control for the headphones and no mute for the mic. I've ruled out two settings in Win7's and the 3rd party control panels. They cancel echo/feedback indeed, and clip and mangle the audio (speaking, singing, whistling) beyond use. So bad it's funny! Two people elsewhere have said it's Win7's new audio architecture, that they've had severe latency issues like I've seen. They say if I'm serious about this, I should get an external mixer and other equipment, have that process and sync inputs, and send the output to the computer for storage. But I could use advice on that. I've never bought before, don't know quite what I need, and don't want to over-spend or get something cheap/unusable either. What I need is beginner to intermediate, I think. There is (or was) at least one audio (equipment, instruments) store in town, if it's still around. If not, I'll need to find one. -- But I've learned the past several months to look first online, because I've run into stores not having things in stock and not having people who can help. Not exactly a small town, either. Any advice appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Left or right cheek? It has been, well, many years now, since I sat back, twice, and told people I didn't care if two different friends were gay or not, they were still my friends and could do what they liked. I am still very proud of those two cases. (And I miss both friends.) It was about a year or two after, when a boy in one of my classes accused me, loudly in front of the teacher and the class, of being "a fag!" I denied it. (I was in denial, I was questioning, and I hadn't quite figured out if those feelings for certain boys were...what they were.) I nearly came up out of my seat at the other boy. You'd have to understand, I was your typical mild-mannered geek. Anything that would actually piss me off enough to get me to come out of my seat at some big jerk had to be some insult. It was. To me. The teacher, a short, overweight guy who taught math and computers as well as coached, told us both to cool it, or he'd send us to the principal's office. I remember worrying, what if my parents found out? I sat back down. I believe there was some sort of growling between us two boys. (I was about 17. I would not have taken well to being called a boy, but it wouldn't have merited getting out of my seat.) Mr. Stackhouse probably handled it the right way. But I have wondered a few times, what would've happened if I'd said yes, I was! (I wasn't sure then, but there were plenty of clues, including two rather spectacularly failed crushes.) What if I'd been sent to the principal's office? Well, it was the mid-80's. "Homosexual" or "orientation" were not in the student handbook. Non-discrimination and not fighting were, however. I never did figure out how my parents would've reacted to the news their son was gay. It might have been a disaster. It might have been just fine. I really don't know. And the 1980's are a long time ago now. What does it say about me, that I jumped to defend friends and said I didn't care if they were gay, but I jumped to defend myself and claimed I wasn't, at around the same time, within two years of each other? I am not sure, except it says I was not yet ready. It does say that about some things, I was ready to act on instinct, without hesitation (and frankly without thinking ahead) which was unlike me most of the time. It says I did have principles and was grownup about some things. But not my own case. If I had gone after that boy, I probably would've gotten in a punch or two and so would he. He probably would've won. But I might've been proud I'd tried. I am not saying that's a brilliant idea to solve things. In fact, probably not. Our teacher was right to stop us before we got into a fight. I'll admit that, as non-violent as I usually am, there was a part of me that wanted to fight that boy for calling me out in front of everyone, for calling me a fag. I'll also admit, well, I was gay and hadn't come to terms with it yet. It is important that I would stand up for friends, even if I couldn't yet for myself. -- Insulting or harming a friend is still the number one quickest way to get me truly angry and get me arguing, defending them. There are two major differences between back then and now, though. One, we've made a little progress. It isn't quite as forbidden to admit you like guys, their brains and feelings and yes, what's in their shorts (and any other part of their anatomy). It is, or at least it seems to be, a little more OK. Two, there was not the internet back then. A boy who was questioning couldn't simply double-click his browser and look up things in Google and Wikipedia. You know, like finding AwesomeDude or Codey's World, or discussions about what it's like to be gay, or YouTube videos by out gay guys. Or, well, things of a more unambiguous nature depicting young guys in a more natural state and perhaps together. Or, for that matter, simply being gay people living an ordinary life. It would've been very surprising to me if I'd been able to see those things online, but that didn't exist yet. My brain and hormones would've both been highly impressed, that's for sure. The system is not always right. Sometimes, we have to stand up and say so, in a way that does some good. Be a little impudent now and then. Be a stand up guy. Or a sit up guy. Be outspoken. Or anyway, write, communicate. Be yourself. What's the take-away lesson? It's good to stand up for your principles. It's good to stand up for people you care about, or for complete strangers, if the cause is right. It's good to stand up for yourself. If you aren't much good in a physical fight, well, that's what brains are for. Use your words and actions. Be smart. If you can't stand up, you can still put up a good defense sitting down, even crawling. (A friend asked me that once. He was not kidding.) If you aren't much good in a fight, then use your words and speak out. Take the bully's fight away from him in a way that makes it so he can't get away with fighting you. Or wait and speak out at an appropriate time, in a way that'll do some good. What if you can't speak well, or at all? (Again, someone asked seriously.) I say, you still have a brain. You can still communicate. You can do a lot to oppose stupidity and intolerance and promote acceptance and understanding. Most of all, accept yourself. Be proud of who you are inside. If you can't be out, if it's not safe for you at home or publicly, to be out, then wait until you can be. But meanwhile, accept yourself and be a friend to others. There will be a time and there will be friends who accept and support you as a gay or bi person.

How many doctors, nurses, paramedics, parents, and single folks would pay to have a "medical tricorder" type of device? -- Anyone who's ever seen it used on Star Trek. It's a pop culture icon, just like the communicator (flip-top or com-badge) and the phaser pistol. We already have a Star Trek communicator, the cell phone. Very handy little gadget. I wouldn't mind a general tricorder. I'd probably buy a medical tricorder for first aid responses at home. There are times I could wish for a hand phaser. I would imagine the first tries at a "medical tricorder" will be clunky and need more features. -- But a unit like that, all joking aside, could make a very real difference throughout the world. They might be able to cram in more diasgnostic scanning and lab testing than we'd think, too. -- I'm surprised no one's invented one yet. -- Anyone want to bet Apple would be happy to make one and stick a vowel in front of the name? iMedic? iDoctor? i'mADoctorNotAnApple?

The squirrels were gone when I got there, but I yelled and banged around anyway. Possibly, they were somewhere comfortably sitting it out and giving me the finger. I'm not sure if it was a bar fight, domestic quarrel, orgy, or ballgame sports fans thing they were doing, but there was a lot of noise. I don't think they were around, so I think I'll have to do it all again. I did have sense enough to put my cats in my bedroom first. No sense chasing my cats chasing squirrels in the attic, or scaring off my cats instead of the squirrels. The cats, like the squirrels, appear most unimpressed with my manly display of aggression and prowess. Possibly, I should've beaten my chest and made a few pelvic thrusts with um, well, a rather unevolved display common among lower primates. Somehow, I think that wouldn't have impressed the squirrels. Now on to more literary pursuits.

Bruin and Camy, thank you. I may have to do that, but I'll have to look into how much the equipment costs. I *think* the one music (audio equipment, instruments, etc.) store I know of in town is still around. If not, I'll need to find another. These days, I've learned to look online first. Stores aren't carrying things or don't train their people, and I've heard, "Oh, we don't have that" or "Oh, just go online." Well, of course, I had wanted to get something locally. :headdesk: I did have a spare headset, but it is *cheap*. No volume, mute, or mic on/off switches on the cord, so (thrill) you have to specifically go in and do that in Windows' control panel. We have not yet begun to fight! -- What the -- I've just discovered there are tenants, squirrels I hope, in my attic. Oh joy, I get to climb in there and yell like a banshee to try to evict the little suckers. -- Well, I know where I can vent some aggression *really* well! -- Hahaha! Yes, I am reduced to bullying squirrels. Cue the rodent from Caddyshack. Sigh. Or maybe the dead parrot sketch.

Some time back, I had all sorts of trouble trying to get my then-new systems, desktop and laptop, Win7 Home Premium, set up for audio recording. I'd recorded audio before on a few systems over a few years, off and on. So I was truly unhappy with this setup. I'm on the same computers now. I eventually gave up. Too much in my life then more important even than this, which was often fun. (Hey, I like to sing along with my favorite songs when I can.) I also wanted to do more audio work, to get more into amateur and professional audio voice work. I had had a couple of small audio roles for HiddenFrontier.com for Star Trek fan audio, and I'd recorded audio of many stories and poems for a gay-friendly website, CodeysWorld.com . So when I couldn't get Win7 and my existing equipment to work right, I was very bummed out. (It could've meant a job opening, intermittent at least.) I missed several fan audio opportunities. Not happy. What I'm getting is a noticeable delay between recording and monitor playback, such that, when the idea is to sing along or speak along with other audio, it throws you off. Then there was a slight echo feedback problem between the speakers, headphones, and headset microphone. Trying a separate mic didn't help, it was worse. Trying any of the few options available from Windows Sound control panel or the third party control panels, not much help. (Including, at one point, a truly nasty feedback problem.) I felt badly frustrated, foolish for not being able to figure it out, and set it aside. I even asked one friend to look at it and asked another for advice, though he was over the web, IM and email. Flash forward. Include a few more stabs at it at various times. Change headsets when one busts. Include another headset tried on the laptop, and try swapping both between. The laptop and desktop are different makers, different options. Try the usual, "listen to playback," to monitor what you're doing with the mic in your headphones, so you know your volume levels and it sounds OK. But that seemed to give delay and feedbak. -- And previous versions of Windows on previous systems had not had these problems. I was stumped. Present day. I decided to try again. Things were going as before, but I'd gotten slightly better results, and was thinking I might be able to use this, even with a delay and feedback. It wasn't quite perfect. I couldn't sing along or speak in timing properly, but for other things, it was workable. And then the computer's settings seemed to go wonky. (You know, one of those technical terms.) My voice can go fairly high, but not *that* high. Not even Chris Colfer's counter-tenor goes that high, for goodness' sakes. And my voice doesn't go that low, either. Nor does it skip around or get jumbled and that mushy, all mashed together. I thought it was a software error from so much fiddling with the settings. I waited on a download to finish and rebooted. Nope, it's not that. I think these headphones (with mic) have gone bad. -- And oh, how I wish I could fix them. I *think* I hae a spare still. The microphone's busted. The earphones are fine. Just please don't let it be the front audio jacks. If so, I'll be upset. (Desktop.) Hopefully, this will work fine. Audio, the headset, earphones, or microphone, seem very delicate, usually the wire. I'm hoping I might find out how to overcome this, but previous tries, no luck. Why this would be different with Vista and 7, I don't know. Growl.

Let's see, someone thinks another person made a sexual advance toward him, so he was so shocked, insulted, outraged, that he proceeded to beat the living daylights out of the other person...and literally beat all the living out of him, sooner or later. (No, I'm not trying to be flippant, I'm emphasizing it.) You know, he could've just said no and moved on. Most people would. Claiming to kill because someone suggested sex, offered it or asked for it, or said they thought you're good looking, hot, or that they love you? The response does not match the stimulus. Killing might only make sense as a defense on account of rape or attempted rape. It does not fit for most allegedly homosexual advances. Neither does bashing. Comparison: If a woman asks a man, is he allowed to say he panicked and attacked her for it? He shouldn't be. If a man asks a woman, should she be allowed to say she panicked and attacked him? No, again. -- Not unless the person asking assaulted them, tried to force them against their will. Then, there's some justification for saying someone panicked and attacked the person who made the advance. But such an advance is assault or rape, not merely an advance. It just doesn't go from cause to effect that way. Or rather, it shouldn't. -- Just say no thanks and walk away, if you don't like someone, don't want their attentions. Don't bash them for it. -- But most people would know better than that anyway. Or they ought to. I would hope that loophole gets declared illegal, both there and here. The point of law is to be fair and civilized. Bad laws ought to be replaced with better ones or repealed altogether, to fit the situation. After all, part of being civilized and having laws should be that we change and improve, to solve problems in our civilization. It is an underlying problem, when it is perfectly acceptable for a male to ask a female, or a female to ask a male, but when society in general says it is not equally perfectly acceptable for a male to ask a male or a female to ask a female. That's what causes a lot of the trouble for gay and bi folks across the board. In a better world, I'd want it to be equally fine to ask someone of the same sex, and equally fine to accept or decline. But not to bash. Not acceptable.

Oh good, I wasn't the only one to read something into that young sibdorn polishing the groat. I once told an author he should use a different word than "chortled," I should never have told him that. (No, the character just laughed or chuckled or something, but it would've been fine if he'd chortled, as often as he wanted.) Apparently, I had issues with chortling I never knew about.... I mention it because we can thank Lewis Carroll for inventing "chortled." Vorpal's a good word too.

Well, the Japanese love to borrow words and shoehorn them into Japanese too. So I'm told, and any brief exposure to the language shows it. Why not, if the word is useful, I suppose? English spelling versus pronunciation? Our spelling is mostly, mostly, like it was in the time of Shakespeare and King James from the early 1600's, only regularized in the 1800's. It reflects pronunciation from far earlier, even the Middle English period of Chaucer. And why was Middle English spelling strange? It was because the Norman French, who had conquered England, spelled according to how Saxon English words sounded to a Norman French ear at the time. That's why English has OU versus U/EU, and GH instead of just H from Old English, and WH instead of HW. Also TH instead of two old runes, thorn and edh, which Icelandic still uses. (Just be glad QUH didn't stick, for WH. Except for "Farquhar" as a name.) English always has exceptions, and sometimes they don't make sense, even to explain from a textbook grammar point of view. In the late 1700's and early 1800's, people began to standardize English spelling. That's when the US/UK spelling split occurred too, because the US wanted to differentiate its language, to simplify spelling. But spelling reforms only partly took hold. Here it is, over 200 years later, and we have an even bigger mess. One of the problems holding us back is dialectal pronunciation. How do you agree to spell phonetically if two people with different standard, accepted pronunciations differ so much? (British versus American, then throw in all the other countries.) The other problem is literacy and force of habit itself, the very process of having a standard means we're reluctant to change it. There's no one to force a change throughout the English-speaking world. Except it will happen over time, gradually, as people change and simply refuse to spell things the old way. The two biggest culprits for English? GH and OU. Despite that I'm a proofreader and editor, and have to correct for spelling (both US and UK) I'd still like to see a few become the standard spelling: Top on my list: "thru". I'd also like to see American punctuation put the closing punctuation outside the quote, unless it actually was in the quote, but that's more grammatical. There was one common word I always tripped over as a kid, despite being a very good speller: tomorrow. I still have to watch myself, or I'm liable to misspell it as tommorow. Why? I don't know. I know morrow.

Jabberwocky with undertones of subtext of something-or-other!

I wish my own experiences in that, pre-teen and teen, had been more fun and less un-fun. (Pre-teen, classmates. Teen, wanted to be with classmates.) Much wishing back then that a couple of friends would've wanted to be with me in the same ways I wanted to be with them. Much dismay and confusion about it all, amid the wanting of something that seemed wonderful, much desired, but elusive. Guilt and shame, after, that I, a guy, wanted that, with another guy -- though I still wanted it, and imaginings and time solo were much wanted. How I wish that every boy who ever wanted to be with another boy, every girl who wanted to be with another girl, could have some time to explore the warm feelings of love and friendship and the intimacy of sharing physically when they're ready, and without being made to feel guilty or shameful for it. Oh, it's OK if another boy doesn't want to be with a boy, for love emotional or physical. Most are going to want girls for that. But it is not OK when there doesn't seem to be any boy who does but you, and when you are not sure who you can ask, or when you yourself feel guilty for wanting such, with another boy. It is disappointing to discover that a boy you like...cannot or will not share the feelings you have for him, both the emotional closeness and the physical closeness. Lamenting aside, I still miss a few of those friends, whether they liked me that way or not. (And if they had, oh, would I have been thrilled; still would.) There must be some better way out there, a way where boys and girls are not reluctant to be close to another boy or girl, where a boy is no less "manly" and not "sissy" or "wimpy" (or a faggot) for liking another boy. I know there are folks out there who don't have such problems. I just haven't found one where the feelings are compatibly mutual and long-term enough. But...I am very, very thankful there are some boys out there who wouldn't mind being with their friend for some fun and exploration and learning, or who would actually prefer that with a boy than with a girl. Things are slowly improving. Maybe I'll see it truly change in my lifetime. I would like to think so. If my reaction's negative or personal, well, that's just where I am right now. -- Finally coming into a new period in life where, when I can, I may get to find that someone, or at least have a better chance to find him.

Oh! Duh! I'd written the items below when it occurred to me: Your friend's microphone or headset may have a physical toggle switch to mute the volume. He or she should be sure that is not on mute. There can also be keyboard and software switches that do the same. Earphones and headsets sometimes have a volume control slider or thumbwheel (dial), as do external speakers, but these are for output volume control, not input from the microphone. It may be obvious to many people, but there's always the chance someone overlooks it or it isn't obvious to them, because they're focused on another part of the problem, or unfamiliar with the equipment and software. Gee is right on this, and there are similar operating system controls for microphone audio input in Macintosh OS X. What I typically use for audio is a headset that includes stereo headphones and a microphone all in one. Many people use a separate microphone. When you use a separate microphone, you do have to have your mouth within a given distance (a couple of inches or less) from the microphone, in order for it to pick up your voice. That's intuitive for most people. If you ever want to sing along or dance around, then of course, you may need a microphone stand such as a floor stand. Otherwise, you have to be careful about the cord, so that you don't pick up noise as the cord moves. That, and watch your feet; don't trip! Yes, and if a person uses a wheelchair or scooter for mobility reasons, the headphones and microphone can be arranged to suit him or her. :) Some microphones and headsets have a volume control thumbwheel or slider, while others don't have any control.

I've been meaning to ask, what happened? You know, the problem with being an editor on a fantasy story is, you have to be very careful as a...spell checker. Yes, I'll just sit over here in the dungeon.

Oh they'll argue who Willy was shakin', And they'll claim he was Francis like Bacon. Willy wrote to a dark lady, And a youth they thought shady. Methinks Willy was bi, unless I'm mistaken.

I tried to watch what's on the telly, Till my mind was turned right into jelly. No one would be envious, My rhyming's too obvious. So the critics turned as green as Kelly.

Mr. Whillickers, I believe it may indeed be a horror comedy show these days. (I have trouble just calling Mr. Whillickers by "Gee," since I actually say and write "Gee" in real life often enough.) I find myself agreeing strongly with Mr. Pecman, above. As this does not happen frequently, it should be notable. -- Pecman, yes, I would like to see a Republican candidate (or a Democratic candidate) who is more concerned about the economy, healthcare, and other pressing issues than with who wants to do what with whom sexually. Gay rights are important to me. Make that, not-so-straight rights. I want to live to see the day when a boy doesn't want to kill himself or get beaten up for being called gay. I want a world where, if a guy likes another guy, he can walk right up and ask just like if he liked a girl. I don't much care if you call it gay marriage, partnership, civil union, or whatchamacallit. But if I find someone and fall in love, I'd very much like to have it publicly recognized by all my friends, and officially recognized under the law in any state in the union. I want those things. I do. But I care even more whether I'll be able to keep my house or continue to put food on the table later this year. I'd like to have insurance if I get sick or injured or for existing conditions, or if my home needs repairs. I care about the economy and healthcare, even more than equal rights for what's in my shorts. I care about how we get along with other nations, other people generally. I care whether we are fighting another war, even if sometimes that might be necessary. There are a great many things I do care about that fall under the role of local, state, or federal government. I would dearly like to see candidates and elected officials actually care about the same things and do something to solve real problems, instead of blowing hot air talking about things that matter very little to anyone but the people participating. Or various other issues that seem to be favorite diversionary, distracting rhetorical tactics the past several years. If you are a candidate, talk to me, a voter and a citizen, about what matters to me. Don't try to blow hot air or pull the wool over my eyes. Or I'll wonder why that's all you can do, instead of telling me honestly and up front how you really propose to improve things and compromise and try alternatives until something works. Don't belittle the other guy. You have your few minutes to reach me. You. Not the other candidate. Tell me what you want to do to make this world and my country and my neighborhood and my individual life a little bit better. Or get the blazes out of the spotlight and off the microphone, and let somebody else have a crack at it. And yes, Pres. Obama may not be perfect, but I believe he's trying, I think he does care, and I trust him more than any of the Republican candidates I've heard. I certainly would prefer him to Gov. Perry from my own state, who I hope will be elected out of the office of governor. You know, in the past several elections, I have wished for a choice, "None of the Above," which would force a slate of new candidates from which to choose. That, at least, would have some better use than voting for Daffy or Mickey. No, I've never written in Daffy or Mickey, but for the last few elections, I have been tempted a few times. Instead, I have to vote for the best candidate or the one I feel is the least bad of the lot. I want something better. I do not want a theocracy. I do not want a fascist or police state. I do not want someone hundreds of miles away or even next door, to be overly concerned about what I'd like to do in the privacy of my own home, should I have the audacity to invite someone in. (And please note, that might not even be anything sexual. But if I would like to be sexual with someone I invite over, I expect my neighbors and my government to stay the heck out of my shorts unless I invite them personally to take a look, thanks.) I feel pretty certain that my straight neighbors feel the same, oddly enough, abou their friends or their boyfriends/girlfriends/spouses. Why is it even an issue the current candidates want to talk about, when there are so many other more urgent and very real problems out there in this world? Why? Because they don't have anything better to talk about, any better ideas or plans to put forward, or even anything better to do than snipe at one another, or at the public they want to be elected to serve. When you, as a candidate, start telling me, as a voting citizen, what you think of my sexual proclivities, when you have never met me and have no understanding of what I stand for or how I feel or think, then you really are going to miss my vote, and someone else will get it instead. Because I will vote, with my vote and with the choices I make in daily living. Likewise about businesses that want me to buy from them. I can shop elsewhere. I can even move, if need be. But despite certain candidates' opinions, I was born and raised in my home state, and despite its problems, I think it is overall a fine place in which to live. Likewise for my country. I would love to visit or even live for a while elsewhere, if I could. But this is the nation I was born and raised in. I happen to care very much about it and want it to have a fine future. In fact, I want it to have a better future than what I see ahead, if things continue as they are. I hope and pray that better future will come to pass. I'd hate to wake up one day and find I no longer recognize the land I was born in. So candidates, listen up, do something right, or someone else will win the election. I will cast my vote too.

Can't take you guys anywhere! Except...well yeah, my subconscious kicked in on the whole floppy/hard cylindrical issue, and the guy was nice looking! Guess I'm busted too. Can't take us anyplace. Gosh!

Say, I wouldn't mind a monetary award. Maybe even one on a regular, continuing basis. I think they call them "paychecks." (Well, or "paycheques.") As to that neural interface chip? I suppose it'd have one benefit: If you could share someone's thoughts, you'd know if he's gay and likes you. Also, the hot cyber-*** would be.... Yeah, there's just one tiny flaw. Nobody would get anything else done!

The price of their toys? Hmm, I usually hear that one as, the size of their toys. However, I would agree, size doesn't matter. Size isn't what makes a man a man or a boy a boy. Just because a boy's toys get bigger when he becomes a man, doesn't mean his toys or their size is what makes him a man. Some boys are more men than some men are boys. That being said, I'd say the price of a boy's or a man's toys, or how many of 'em he has, has even less to do with his manliness or boyishness. I'm sure that all makes good sense somehow. (And no, I'm not only being silly and rambling, I'm serious there and I do have a point.) (Also not fussing at anyone, only saying something I think might be worth saying.) As much as I wish I could ignore how much money rules things, life keeps hitting me over the head with the gold bars. Yet I've also seen how sometimes, no amount of money means one damn thing. Whew, philosophy and bling aside, I really could use a cell phone and computer that don't eat batteries like candy. Now that I haven't been keeping my cell phone on me at all times unless I'm asleep or in the shower, I have twice let the stupid thing drain down to zero battery power in about three days each without putting it on the charger. Dang thing is using battery power even when idling. Ditto the iPad2. And the laptop doesn't retain a charge, it thinks, even when shut down entirely, over the course of around two or three weeks. -- I'd really love that even more than a rollup laptop. But keep going on the rollup laptop. Thinner, lighter, and more portable are all good.

This is the same reason I liked the version of Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio, done by, iirc, Baz Luhrman (sp?). It was over the top, but it was done as though it was rival gangs or crime families, sort of West Side Story minus musicals and backed by a rock score. When I was in high school, they had us study R&J and West Side Story back to back. The R&J movie was the older film, late 60's I think, romantic music and all, along with reading the plays. We got to watch a film version of Macbeth also, which I think was from around the late 70's, done as though medieval, not updated to 19th or 20th century sets and costumes. Back to math problems, there's bound to be a better way to tackle math that makes it relatable to the kids' city life. The word problems we had were often ag / farming related. Fine if you're a farm and ranch kid. Not so fine for the suburbs or the hood. I'd bet I was one of the few in my class who had any idea about farming, and that's because of relatives. -- Why they don't teach math word problems using concrete things like buying groceries, paying your monthly bills and rent, gas and travel by car, things like that, I don't know. That's relatable for a city kid, from the burbs or the hood either one. -- Uh, but the textbook and curriculum writers, I bet they have no real idea of the problems faced by those students. (I only have some slight idea, either, but thanks to friends, I do know a little. Very little. I bet I'd be shocked. I bet I'd also be shocked that yes, despite all that, how many kids *do* want to learn and get themselves out of that situation.)

When I got that fancy iPad2 (I love it, you'll have to pry it from my...) -- As I was saying, when I got the thing, I got the "smart cover," which snaps on with magnets and lets you fold up the cover. Fine idea, but that cover always slips. I'm not sure a rollup laptop would do better. I'm sure the screen would have to avoid visual artifacts (lines) so it would be usable. A rollup laptop (or tablet) is probably doable, but there are inherent design problems they'd have to overcome. Besides which, my forebrain was trying to make jokes about needing sandwich ingredients, while my hindbrain was snickering about floppy and hard computer parts again. Only it's worse when the thing rolls up to a cylindrical shape. No, I think my brain must be regressing. Ahem, back on a more adult track -- A few years ago now, I saw some futuristic keyboard idea that claimed they would project an image of a keyboard or other controls onto a surface, and a sensor would read where you typed or tapped, to figure this out. It seemed workable, other than that you'd have an image of continuously projected light onto that surface, which seems energy costly. But I never saw an implementation. There were predictions of rollable, scrollable computer devices even back in the 80's and 90's. (The idea was used in an old scifi series called Earth: Final Conflict, which I mostly missed.) But -- Any idea that's workable is likely to get tested at least in prototypes to see if it's usable and useful and producible. I'd love to quit lugging around a laptop and accessories when I have to. (I like the iPad2, but it's not suited for a few things either.) We've got a ways to go before reaching the perfect personal computer, that's for sure. But I want one, and with decent software and power supply too!