So my buddy Hiland and I decided we'd try to learn how use Ruby on Rails. We picked a harmless enough looking tutorial on OnLamp.com by the kind folks at O'Reilly, and away we went. I was happily making my way through things, and then we started needing software. Ah, first it was the text editor because I didn't really know Unix and the world of Vi, etc... Then it was the Rails application servers (at least that what I currently envision them to actually be), like Locomotive. Then there was the need to update everything on my Intel Mac because apparently what it came with wasn't suitable for this task. Then came Ruby, RubyGems, Rails, LightTpd, PCRE (which I've read may be one of the culprits), and again, MySql... Eventually I got the application built from the tutorial, and the last 10 hours have been devoted to learning how to configure a webserver on my Macbook. Low and behold Hiland ditched this one and left it up to me to sufer through this as he's gone to developing some more tutorial driven application efforts on Windows of all things because alas alack it only takes 10 minutes get through the equivalent of 15 (and counting) hours of the equivalent on the Mac. Now, how's this lending itself to adoption of the preferred platform? Don't get me wrong, I'm not going near my Parallels or my Bootcamp login just because it would have been resolved sooner than I could have written this post. I'm in it for the long haul (for now)...

Happy New Year, 2007! Don't know what's going to be swimming through this year; although, last year worked out pretty well. In the last months I got a new job within a week, and I found an apartment in Park Slope with my love within a week. Tough getting a whole lot better than that. Leaving the UWS for Brooklyn. The co-op, the lower building level, and a slightly slower pace on the pavement (tbd) call for me...

Last night I had a dream about a chess board. The board was not normal, rather than the ordinary 8x8 configuration, the board had taken on a 5x11 shape. Some of the rows decided to become columns instead. Naturally, I could not play on such a board, and the humorous thing was me and my friend trying to use mechanical tools to adjust the board back to normal, so that we could play our intended games. It was confounding and bizarre. I think I moved onto the next dream before resolving the conflict. Nice to start off with things properly in place, especially when there is short time to make the most of the situation.

Back at my desk, catching up, taking a breath

mysothelioma (6 searched results).
that's not always the kinda thing you would think to spell correctly. then again, the more common way appears to be mesothelioma
with a mere 23,300,000 results. I didn't even achieve a "did you mean" for the error of my ways. I would say the 23.3M to 6 ought to have triggered switch. I'm curious why that didn't happen. Can anyone please explain it to me?

Culinary adventures dominated the weekend. Nice to have extended all the way from Thursday. Highly recommended throughout the summer where possible. Got a great bike trip in the near future. If you haven't stumbled across reserveamerica.com they've got an excellent selection of parking lot camping sites. I haven't found other more natural campsites there; although I don't mind the experience so much. It gives me a glimpse of what was previously available with movies. I can't really imagine a drive-in theater never having sat through a mystery or great love story.

Bella and I watched Laura. It's a nice film noir. Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews tearing up the screen with mischief and intrigue. Tough falling in love with a woman following her demise amidst her investigation. It beat out small newsdesk gnomes from SNL.

It was very funny the other day overhearing that NY1 has an $8 weather budget. Forecasters are often given a bad wrap for misrepresenting what's actually happening in the sky. They certainly don't enjoy being wrong, but alas it ends up happening anyway. Want to know what you need to wear? Try sticking your hand out the window and feel the air. Carry an umbrella if you're uncertain, and try some other sources. I have been a big fan of intellicast.com and noaa.org has recently become a favorite. NOAA is a little less commercial. I would recommend a glance at them if you're curious.

On a more tangible note, I have been getting a lot of great insight from DemocracyNow!'s podcast. Yesterday's broadcast had yet more information about the power of blogging and vlogging. They were broadcasting from Stamford in Palo Alto, California because of the NetSquared Conference. Looking over their site, she's also going to be a speaker. There was a good dialogue going back and forth about citizen journalists cropping up worldwide through the likes of ohmynews.com and bloggers exposing oppression the world over. There were notables instance of political imprisonment of Egyptian and Chinese bloggers for expressing opinions incongruous with the country's line. While it's possible this post may show up in a random search I'm glad to have the right to express myself as I desire (as yet, I have published little that would be read as offensive)...

The original description for this blog was:
With everything honest, I endeavor to share some of my experiences. The starting point is now, the first of fourteen months travelling. I start in Portland, Oregon, and I'm not sure where it'll end...

However, it's time for a change, we're going to take a new direction here. The was appropriate in June 2003 when this blog started, but I need something else, something more au currant.

It's been a minute...

While talking with my neighbor about New Orleans several months back, I was taught about native Nawlins culture unbeknownst to me. The Second-Line club was an outcropping of a funeral practices from way back when. The original practice was having a band follow funeral processions and begin the second line once the casket was in the ground symbolizing a triumph of spirit over death. This topic resonated with her because she has been involved in documenting the devastation since Katrina. I applaud her for engaging the difficult and draining task of making a difference.

She is putting together a longer term project, which I am unclear on the details of; however, as they become available I'll post where more information can be found.

Wanna see what's going to happen next

Would you see text auto fomatted? If so,...

After watching Glengarry GlenRoss one can only be left feeling better about their position in life. Sure there are many questions about being satisfied and pressures in life. And I thought what I have to face on a day to day basis is mildly challenging, if not a bit frustrating. There's little comfort though in comparing my position to needing to bring in sales every day. That would be amongst the most hateful jobs I could imagine. I would much rather spend my days working on systems supporting descisions or leading up to my own for that matter, but cold calling? I don't think so. Tried it for a minute once working for the censis. Um, let's see, New York City, and people that didn't return the long form. Sure. Knock on their door, they'll be more than happy to pass answers through the chain for 30 minutes... I lasted a couple minutes in that one. Actually, 20+ hours of training and only about 8 hours or sactually on the job. Not one of my finer moements. Had no interest in being the number one solicitor of surveys.

The Bravery played a great show at Webster Hall indeed. It had a touch of stadium performance while trouncing around the stage. Any band insistent on slugging Jaegermeister on the stage leaves questions aloft. Quantity of music consumption is an amazing feat. Constant expansion requires attention and leads. Not to mention a steady stream going out if one were to purchase the desired music. I have respect for the artists, and I certainly believe they deserve their share. Sadly, not many are willing to do it without the compulsory reward. Marketing and market in general require some many caveats and grease slicking. Paying to get music on the air is somewhat ridiculous. Do you really need every possible revenue stream if you're already on a network require payment. Why do other sources of copyrighted information have the right to be paid for? It's a huge disadvantage to those trying to make their mark. They need a label boosting them forward in order to share the talent, rather purchase their market share. Let the marketing department have at them, and they will all strike up some deal. Speaking of mega blockbusters, Coldplay's X&Y strikes a nice cord with me. There are some sweeping melodies. Tickets at the garden would have been nice. They are striking up five nights like U2, which has it's own arrangement for the garden at this point; although, even for waking up early on a Saturday morning, 20 minutes determined my fate, ticketless.

So much of recent has been light. I have not been quite as worked up at the office. Deciding a softer tred has mended relations and left quite the sweet tooth. Though, it is not always so sweet. However, no matter how loud you yell, sitting quietly is infinitely more effective in that moment. Just as in the question of inhabiting New York, there needs to be balance. New York or anywhere for that matter, a second, a minute, then, to collect oneself. Determinism shouldn't be wielded haphazardly.

Finding focus now
Infinite moments before
disolving other

Months and months go rolling along, and so much goes unsaid. While I was traveling this blog served a purpose of sharing my experiences with others, but when I’m in the city connected to those I ordinarily laugh and love, I’m left questioning a little bit what purpose this has.

There are certainly questions of anonymity. As this is linked directly to my website I am not immune to ranting too much, yet there’s still room to retell many other tidbits, some interesting and others undoubtedly interesting to me and few others…

Lately, I’ve been asking the question, “What music are you listening to,” a lot. This has primarily been my source for new music because I don’t often turn on the radio (despite having it at my fingertips), and I don’t often find myself in stores or online hunting around for tips. All of those would be good sources as well, but I’m making out reasonably well. I have more music at this point than I can become familiar with before hearing about something else. Fresh might be an understatement. Just the other night, Nathan, my brother asked if I had heard of The Bravery. I had not, but after getting their self titled album, it’s with no great surprise that I just got a pair of tickets to see them at Webster Hall.

I was watching Charlie Rose last night; his guests were professional bloggers: Andrew Sullivan, Joe Trippi, the lady from Wonkette, and a couple others. It was interesting hearing their insight into the "Rathergate" incident having been on the frontlines themselves. There likely will not be much in the way of breaking news coming through this line. I wonder if I'll ever even figure out how to run an RSS feed for this site. All of this is possible if I can get caught up some in my work a at AJWS. All work and no play makes Jack...

Oh yea, oh yea, oh yea. I love playing with new toys. It's not nice to be devoid the creative. Space time and motion found in cutting a straight line. But what of warm water. And, who, if anyone would ever attempt to deecipher this? Patience or personal interest; strong contenders...

Gasp, it's already been eight days. Not entirely sure where they have gone. I've just finished laundry thankfully my clean socks admit. Unfortunate to learn that Steve Madden didn't have good material specialists working on their insoles. Even after having them reglued they managed to bunch up under my feet by mid-day, and those socks bit the dust as soon as the shoe were off. Bella suggested trying to soak them in hot water; however, the glue used during the shoe repair is not likely to be light weight or effected by water. So long soaks; you've served me well. J Crew, actually. Not that I've ever owned much from there. Nothing that fits all that well. And what about Eddie Bauer. They guarantee their products for life, and my new jeans couldn't last a month. Insult to injury is that neither could the price. They were discontinued for not being too successful, and I only got 60% of the original price in a credit. This does however serve as some justice because when I was in high school I had the better of them. Traveling from New Orleans to Taft regularly, I was quite tough on luggage. My Eddie Bauer bag, which was entirely too big took me many places over six years or better. Finally, it got tired of me putting more than forty pounds at a time in it, and the strap stitching came undone. In my mind life was life, so I brought the bag back and got a credit. It almost makes it appropriate for the jeans to serve as retribution of sorts. Not that putting any credence whatsoever maintains an ounce of guilt; merely intrigue.

Tomorrow will officially be my first day as a Development Associate at American Jewish World Service. It has been great working there over the past three years. In addition to having wonderful professional experience, meeting amazing people, and doing good work in the world, I have began to develop a sense of social justice. I am in large part ignorant to the complexities of the world we live in, but each day my eyes open a little bit more. The sights before me invite a rush of thoughts and feelings. Can we really be doing all of this to one another? Why don't we do more for each other? I have not chosen the most lucrative path in this new endeavor, but the opportunity for growth may very well be unavailable eslewhere. Regardless, I'm happy with what I have, and that's a really wonderful feeling.

Tonight Bella and I had our first game on the Deluxe Scrabble board I received from Merle. It's no surprise that she kicked my ass, again. She beat me a couple times before on her old set, by 70 points or so, then again by 40. This time was a real walloping though weighing in at a monsterous 90+ points. Reading Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis has gotten me back into my old competitive game mode. While traveling I thought about taking up chess again as I have on several other occasions. However, now, I want to follow through on this desire. I have on my desk a posting for the 7th Annual Foxwoods Open, which will take place towards the end of March. If I can commit to training enough, I will eventually register for the event. This is a huge event that I would like to compete in, so I'm contemplating. But back to Scrabble for a moment, I need to learn some new words, yea. Bella has a significantly larger vocabulary and wields it accutely crossing triple word scores and racking up huge points. I'm going to narrow my margins with the hopes of one day surpassing her. I'm not counting on lucky tiles, I need to do some work...

"Napoleon, this is Pedro, will you show him his locker." Starting afresh at AJWS won't require too much adjustment. I began in Communications, shifted to IT, back to Communications, now on to Development while still dabbling in Communications. It has been a full on submersion since returning from New Orleans. We have been responding to the atrocities in South East Asia. I have a very difficult time comprehending 150,000 lives extinguished within minutes. There is so much going on in the area; I find it difficult to keep up with what is happening in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India. We have been inundated with support from all over. Our website has proven to be an amazing asset during this time. To process all of the requests by hand would have taken a great many more people for the sheer volume. I'm glad to say we can keep our overhead to just 5%. Unfortunately, I missed the presentation on what the latest relief efforts were focusing on, but I was off settling another network's affairs.

Merriam Webster's hottest word of the year, 2004 -- blog. It's a great way to spread the word. Happy New Year to everyone.

I'm glad to hear something can bite into Internet Explorer's market share. Brian told me the NSA does not suggest people use it for security reasons, and now the newest thing to hit is Mozilla's Firefox. I'm downloading, installing, and about to quite using this browser I despise. Thankfully, Safari has helped me avoid using much of Internet Explorer since early summer. Now, an alternative for when I'm on PCs...

The choice was celebrate or commiserate. Unfortunately, we've run out of positive options. This evening was a wonderful gathering on the upper west side. Not quite the scene of votergasm.com, but we congregated with a common hope. Well, Bush's victory may be the sign of Hillary's opportunity four years from now. But, really, I would rather be re-electing John Kerry than having her as president. Besides, who wants to wait four years of misery for something positive? It's a very sad night as the polling speculations become dreary realities. With any luck, we won't really be stuck with a Republican House, a Republican Senate, a Republican President, and a soon to be nominated Republican Supreme Court Justice. However, I wish Judge Rehnquist comfort in this difficult time. I just recently witnessed my Grandmother in the throws of cancers, and it not something anybody should endure no matter what their politics. I have compassion for him, and I am hopeful these next four years may echo my sentiments.

I was just reading on a pretty interesting site. The author asks many interesting questions within ethics. His September 14th post regarding Sudan asks many good questions.

what must we do?... what can we do?... well first, what are the implications to each of us?... i mean, in doug's word, 'how does this news implicate you, me, us?'... and then what must we do?...

I have been giving some thought to what it would entail to be more involved with ethics. Going back some time, this is a topic I have enjoyed. It is something I look forward to writing more on.

When the mood strikes...

Rest assured, this blog is not a thing of the past. Only, I have not been paying to much attention to entering my musings of late. It has been hard to put into words what's happening and the places I'm traversing. Considering the appropriateness of happenings in this, such a public yet personal, domain has left me without putting anything online. Many changes in my life just recently and every moment leave me wanting to express more, and it shall come.

Programming phone numbers into a phone that isn't mine is not my ideal way of spending time; however, that's an internship for you. DC has been really good to me, and while I don't feel it's okay to discuss much of what my actual work has been the same does not hold true for my opinion of government. Damn things are sticky around the Beltway. Everybody's partisan, this is something I've benefited from greatly because I have been quite cautious not to step on anyone's toes for the longest time. Well, I'm discovering if you don't speak up you're going to get washed over. So, I keep my mouth shut as ordered from the outset when necessary. Otherwise, I throw myself right into the fray of it all. This campaign season has helped me learn quite a bit about how the backbone of candidacies operate particularly since my boss and co. are major conrtributors as well as organizers.

Yes, well, my interest in politics has led me deep into the belly. This party is definitely not for me; although, I have a better appreciation for the necessity of diplomacy. You can't achieve all ends by playing solely to your base. Work both sides of the isle if you intend to ever really get somewhere. Remember to play well with others.