Here is an link to pictures of Bubblegum Alley in San Luis Obispo, CA. I have seen this in person and it is well worth visiting if you are the vicinity. At first, as you walk down this alley, it just seems cool and strange; then disorientation sets in along with the scary thought, “What if I trip and fall head first into this infectious, festering wall of gooey chewed gum.”
[Link courtesy of b^2]

Here are a few shots of my 2004 sailing trip. Like last year, we sailed out of Port Superior, near Bayfield, WI. We chartered a 32″ foot Beneteau, named Water Music. It’s a nice boat. I don’t like the cockpit configuration the best, and she isn’t too fast, but a real nice boat for cruising nonetheless.

Here are the rules to Perudo, one of my favorite games of all time. It’s a great dice game involving a little strategy, a little math and a little luck. Good fun and it can be played by a large group with people of varying temperaments. The only real difficulty is teaching the game to newbies. It’s easier to play than it is to teach it.

As you might know, I am trying to start reading more important books. The first book I chose from my list was “To Kill A Mockingbird”, by Harper Lee.

For me I found the beginning of the book rather slow. Once the plot began to develop more, say by mid book, I was hooked. The language was very believable and evocative of the south. The character I liked the most was Adolphus Raymond, who was not a really an important character and therefore underdeveloped. It wasn’t really a plot driven narrative, but it has a certain rhythm and beauty in its pacing. It is always interesting to me to see “simple” small town life (which is never as simple as it might seem on the surface), seen through children’s eyes — or how adults remember seeing it through children’s eyes.

I’m glad I read it. The book was beautiful in its language, painting both the complexities and the absurd contradictions of life in the genteel — yet painfully prejudiced south.

I got back from my annual sailing trip last night. We spent Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday sailing in the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior. I slept out on deck every night, under a canopy of bright stars, with the gentle rocking of the boat to ease my troubled mind. It was magnificent. We had great wind and very nice weather.

I’ll post pictures and more thoughts later.

I use IM a fair amount. It lets me connect with people both down the hallway and around the world. I was tangentially aware that some phones had IM/SMS clients. Yesterday I dusted off my AIM client which I had neglected in favor of my YIM client. I noticed that one contact had a cell phone icon next to their name indicating they were available via phone. This got me thinking about IM on a phone. Does this really work? Is it really possible to have a decent IM conversation via txt on a phone? Do people really use all this elite sms speak?

Th’Inkwell provides an interesting essay, entitled “Memory Game” combining some beautiful thoughts about memory and the efficacy of government sponsored preservation programs.

Read the whole thing.

I remember those happy days “when skipping was still a reasonable mode of locomotion”. Not too many days ago, I was trying to remember, when was the last time that I skipped. Sadly enough, I couldn’t remember.

I present a couple of new links for your clicking pleasure.

Check out “The Underground History of Higher Education”, by John Taylor Gatto. This guy has an ax to grind with education as it plays out in our society. I read the first chapter which I found very interesting. I have no idea if this is good data or information, just interesting.

Paul Graham writes another winning essay entitled,“The Age of the Essay”. I like a lot of Paul Graham’s essays.

I thought I was the only one who stuck stickers on my laptop. It turns out I am in good company.

I stuck a bumper sticker on my laptop for the following reasons.

• So I wouldn’t confuse my laptop with other people’s laptops.
• I don’t put bumper stickers on my car for aesthetic reasons, but I didn’t want to toss my gorgeous EFF sticker.
• I wanted people who see the sticker to ask me what the EFF is. Even though I work with a very technical group of people it astounds me how few of them have heard of the EFF, much less donate to it.
• I wanted to irritate the next person my laptop gets handed off to.

Nice to see I’m in such good company.

Now I just wish my laptop wasn’t a Dell, so I could really hang with the cool kids.

I see that there is another blogger in my extended family. Check out Irene’s blog!