Happy Winter Solstice!

[http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert (robert)]

Happy Winter Solstice!

News
  * Between jobs.  I am in transition.  I have been released.  These are
    the euphemisms.  In truth, I was laid-off at the end of July.  I have
    not yet found a job.  Obviously, if anyone knows of a Linux/Unix/fun
    job in either the S.F. Bay Area or in Boston, please tell me about it.
    I'm expecting, due to the slow market, I won't get one for a while.
    So, if you hear of any opportunities within the next year, please tell
    me.
    I haven't pursued the independent contracting idea, but that may
    change.  In the
    meanwhile, I'm working on various personal projects; see the
    Technology section below.

Lifestyle
  * Vacation
    * Travel
      * Think globally, stay locally.  Since I've become unemployed, I've
	take Thoreau's dictum to heart -- the most interesting things are
	in your own backyard -- mostly 'cause I can't afford any other
	scenario!  Noelle is still the jet-setter; she went to Seattle,
	WA, Calgary, AB, and Rochester, NY, without me.  Undoubtedly,
	until I stand on my own two feet and earn an income, it will stay
	that way for a while.
      * No, not the Jazz festival.  Noelle had a conference to attend in
        Newport, RI in May.  She thought I should go (the alternative was
        her friend who was staying with us) and I went.  Newport is quite
        scenic and the weather cooperated ('though it was a little on the
        cool side).  We rented some bicycles for a few hours; that was a
        blast.  We also ate at a funky restaurant there.  And, despite
        returning to Boston on a Friday evening, the traffic wasn't too
        bad.  (Perhaps another sign of the slow economy.)
      * Trip to Ca.  We were in Ca from January 19th
        through January 28th.  We flew into LA, but also spent time in the
        SF Bay Area.  On the way there, Noelle had to go through the big
        security rigamarole -- she wore her "shoe bomber" hiking shoes and
        she managed to bring a tin can of candy.  On the way back, I was
        the target.  I had to take off my Birkenstocks (gotta watch out
        for the those explosive Birks) and empty out my backpack.  Despite
        all this, the 2-hours-ahead rule was real overkill -- checking in
        and going through security never took more than 15 minutes.

        We visited a lot of people while there, mostly in the S.F. Bay
        Area.  It was quite cold; there were several days when it was
        colder there than in Boston!  Thankfully, our hosts had lots of
        blankets.

        Unsurprisingly, the drivers were much more polite than in Boston.
        And Noelle and I were amazed how little traffic there was driving
        through San Jose; I had remembered 880/17 always being packed, but
        it wasn't.

        Noelle enjoyed visiting Old Oakland Cohousing.  It was cool seeing
        it finished, 'though it had some funky features.  The waiting
        list to get a unit is very long and we'd never be able to get in.
        It was nice visiting the people we knew there from years ago when
        we lived in Berkeley.
    * Local
      * Moving American Independence.  Noelle spent a few days with my
        parents at Salisbury Beach during the first week in July.  I spent one
        day there; we stayed in Boston on the 4th, unfortunately.  It's
        always hard to sleep here on that day (and sometimes the day
        before) because various neighbors light firecrackers and everybody
        gawking at the Boston Pops fireworks.  (Noelle watched it on TV; I
        think I slept through it.)
  * Holidays
    * A new way to celebrate in a new year.  We went to a New Year's party
      in Framingham at a Boston No Kidding member's house.  It was nice.
      She invited a bunch of BNK people in addition to her regular
      friends.  I was a little nervous about the whole thing (what if
      people start talking about their kids around the BNK people, etc.),
      but it was completely fine and we ended up staying there all day and
      much longer than we had thought we would.  (It was a brunch starting
      at noon.)
  * Food
    * Real sourdough.  Beckmann's Sourdough is the best bread I've ever
      had.  When we went to Ca, we stopped at Beckmann's Old
      World Bakery in Santa Cruz.  Of course, we bought several loaves to
      bring back, but we also discovered that we could order the bread by
      mail!  This was fantastic news.  And, we've been sending in our
      orders every month or so.  They send it UPS, but it manages to stay
      yummy.  (Beckmann's bread has a very odd feature of never getting
      moldy; I don't know whether we should be frightened of this or
      not...)
    * Nothing beats Ca.  This past year we've tried several
      burrito places around Boston.  None have been as good as what I
      regularly experienced in Ca.  (During our trip there, we
      went to San Francisco and hit that burrito place on Dolores in the
      Mission District.  I was in heaven; I had to have 2 of 'em...)  My
      theory is that refried beans are key; also, the amount of oil used
      in the beans are the other part of the key.  I'll be experimenting
      with burrito variations over the winter to attempt to recreate the
      San Francisco experience.
    * No, celery is not native.  Before I lost my job, we frequented the
      Coolidge Corner Farmers market in Brookline early in the summer.
      Later, after I lost my job, I was free to ride my bike there every
      Thursday.  Since I got to go earlier in the day, I managed to get
      the good local veggies before they ran out.  (There _was_ celery,
      but nothing like you find in the store.  We found out at an
      exhibition at Plimoth Plantation that celery is difficult to grow in
      New England.)
    * Quiet vegetarianism.  Noelle and I have been attending very few
      Boston Vegetarian Society events.  We did attend the annual
      Vegetarian Food Festival but only attended a few third Sunday talks
      -- they generally have not sounded that interesting.  The most
      interesting was the talk about the WTO, NATT, and FTAA and animals.
      We haven't attended any first Wednesday dining out events, mostly
      because we get frustrated with the super-picky vegetarians (even
      pickier than me) who attend ("Does that have wheat in it?"  "Is that
      fried in oil?").
    * Tom Tofu.  My tofu did not come out well at Thanksgiving (Day of
      Mourning) this year as in previous years -- I should have paid more
      attention to it.  It was still pretty yummy with the mashed
      potatoes, stuffing, and rutabaga (_not_ turnip).  Also, I need
      (knead?) to brush up on my pie crust-making skills -- the crust on
      my chocolate pie was quite hard.  Perhaps I'll practice on some
      quiches during the winter.
  * Home
    * Maybe, just maybe, it won't burn down.  We finally got our chimney
      swept.  What a mess.  It turns out that not only had the chimney
      never been cleaned, there was no way to clean it since it had no
      opening at the base.  We had someone punch a hole in the chimney so
      we can at least clean it.  (It looks real ugly right now.  Maybe
      if I get some money and it becomes easier to hire someone, we'll get
      it fixed.)
    * Lots of paint.  I finally painted some of the fence.  It looks funky
      because the color isn't quite right and it's shinier than the rest.
      But at least _that_part_ of the fence won't rot.  I painted various
      other things; I hope this year's paint jobs last longer than one
      year. :(
    * Noelle's green beans.  Noelle's garden was somewhat fruitful this
      year.  The drought probably cut down on the harvest.  We had no
      arugula, but Noelle got some "tomato volunteers" (that is, tomato
      plants came up spontaneously).  We also had a bumper crop of green
      beans for some reason.
    * No more trippin'.  We finally put up railings/banisters on the
      stairs going to the bedroom and the kitchen.  It's no longer a
      daring feat to climb up and down the stairs in the middle of the
      night to go to the bathroom or while carrying several plates of food
      down to the kitchen.
    * Cold compress compost.  Winter has come early this year and it's
      been harder (literally!) to properly deal with our compost bin.
      Each day that the temperature gets above freezing, it's time to work
      on it -- throw in our latest cuttings and turning around the frozen
      mass of food garbage.  It seems like it will never break down.
      Maybe it will in the spring.
    * Economic decline affects everyone.  Plimoth Plantation did not have
      its Rare Breeds and Heirloom Seeds thing this year.  We heard
      precious little from them in general, and nothing about why this
      didn't happen.  We guessed that, since we know that they laid a
      bunch of people off, they just didn't have the budget to put this
      event on.  (We bought very few seeds this year.  We've been saving a
      number of seeds this year, so missing this was not horrible.)
    * Strawberries everywhere!  A couple of years ago, Noelle planted some
      strawberries in the front of the house.  That's normally "my part"
      of the house (I generally have flowers and decorative plants there).
      They've since exploded -- the strawberries have spread everywhere.
      They do prevent weeds, but, in a sense, they've become a weed
      themselves.  They are starting to strangle my other plants.  I keep
      paring the plant back.  I don't want to lose the strawberries,
      but...
    * It's more than a medicinal herb -- it's a pain.  We discovered this
      year that burdock has a bi-annual cycle.  The first year, it just
      grows big leaves, but stays rather tame.  But, the second year, it
      becomes a monster plant and grows into this big, well, thing!  They
      did attract a number of ladybugs (this is good), but they were all
      around the house and I ended up having to hack-saw them down.  There
      was a big pile of dead plants after I was all done.  I hope they
      never come back -- I'll be more vigilant if I encounter them again.
  * Alma-mater
    * It can be a small world.  Evergreen had a Boston Alumni Gathering
      which Noelle and I attended.  (For those who don't know, Noelle is a
      Cal person, not a Greener.)  It was held at the upscale Lenox Hotel
      in Boston.  Several people there showed a selection of the movies
      they produced.  That was entertaining.  We were surprised to see
      Raoul Berman's name listed in one of the movies.  (Raoul, for those
      who do not know, went to Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High and also went
      to Evergreen (lots of overlap there :-); also, Raoul was involved in
      producing "Group" (see Movies below).)
  * Careers
    * Well, Vancouver is on the left coast.  I was considering taking a job
      in Vancouver, B.C. in Canada.  A company there actually called me back
      (which is better than most other places -- I've received precious few
      return calls or e-mails).  That would be quite a jump.  Noelle and I
      have talked about moving to Canada on more than one occasion; we
      dislike the general policies of the United States and Canada's
      policies appeal to us more.  (We sometimes listen to the CBC over
      the internet; I like the BBC more, 'though :-).
    * At least _they_ rejected me.  After Mitt Romney (republican) won the
      governorship for Ma, he was looking for "fresh blood" for
      his new administration and solicited resumes.  Of course, I couldn't
      resist and sent my resume.  They had a little web form.  I received
      my rejection letter about 3 weeks ago.  Thankfully.
    * The finance of unemployment.  I haven't added up all the numbers in
      my "budget book" ("budget" isn't accurate -- it's more like
      "accounting"), but I know that housing and food will be the top
      costs-of-living.  (It would normally also include a car, too, but I
      no longer own a car.  See below for more info.)  Since I'm
      unemployed and have time, I should really do this, if not just for
      the hellavit.
  * Transportation
    * It had to happen some time in my life.  I finally got into a car
      accident.  I should not have been driving -- I was in the wrong
      state of mind.  Noelle was on the verge of crying about how much she
      hated Boston and its drivers.  I suggested that I drive.  She was
      upset and I felt angry; I felt it could not be that bad.  But after
      we switched positions, as I pulled out, blam!  All I remember was
      hearing a car horn.  Thankfully, the damage was very minor and we
      both agreed to not report the accident.  (It cost $10 to replace the
      broken lens.)  We just hit the side of the cars.  I'll never know
      exactly what happened, but I think we both tried to go into the
      lane at the same time.
  * People
    * Missing persons.  Last year, some messages bounced.  I no longer
      have email addresses for these people:

        Sue Lee
        Dihuyen Ho
        Louis Dunne
        Michael Teixeira
        Sundar Krishnamurthy
        Sridhar Seshadri
        Scott Fraize
        Marc Berkowitz
        Clayton Glad
        Bjoren Davis
        Olele Peter
        Tracey Ingle (Layman)
        Susan Norris
        
      If you're in contact with any of these people, please tell them that
      I am missing their email addresses.
  * Misc
    * He was a manly man.  I attended The Impact Model Mugging Men's
      Workshop.  This was just the 3-hour workshop.  It was informative.
      I had never taken the Men's Workshop; I had taken the general
      workshop previously.  I often wonder whether I'd actually apply
      these techniques if I do find myself in those situations, not to
      mention actually remembering them!
    * Ooo, wet feet!  My leather-free Doc Martens are not waterproof.  (I
      had been wearing them a few months before I discovered this; it was
      too late to return them.)  This is surprising considering these are
      supposed to be _work_boots_.  I've tried spraying that goop,
      painting urethane, putting car sealant, and even silicone rubber on
      them without success.  I've become resigned to putting plastic bags
      over my socks before I slip my feet into the boots.  I feel guilty
      about buying another pair of boots just to get waterproofing; I'll
      probably just live with it for the time being.

Entertainment        
  * Movies
    * Lots of foreigners.  Noelle and I saw lots of foreign films this
      year, mostly European.  Here are the more notable movies and videos
      we saw over the last year:
        Bowling for Columbine
	Lagaan (Indian)
        Storytelling
        What to Do In Case of Fire (German)
        Gigantic
        Group
        Read My Lips (French)
        The Independent
        13 Conversations About One Thing
        Time Out (French)
        Waydowntown (Canadian)
        Ararat (Canadian)
        Beijing Bicycle (Chinese)
        No Man's Land (Yugoslavian)
        The Terrorist (Indian)
        Serial Mom
        Permanent Midnight
        Europa Europa
        Training Day
        Man on the Moon
        Men of Honor
        Insomnia
        Steal This Movie
        Fire (Indian)
        Teddy Bear's Picnic
        Live Nude Girls Unite
        Cube
        One Hour Photo
        All the Lil' Animals
        Brady Bunch
        The Limey
	The Candidate
	Jesus of Montreal (Canadian)
	Requiem for a Dream
      Less notable movies and videos:
        The Rapture
        Dinner with Friends
        Liquid Sky
        Death in Venice
        Red Dragon
        Minority Report
        Mystic Masseur
        Lord of the Rings
        Bourne Identity
        Me Myself I
        Demolition Man
        Picking Up The Pieces
        The Postman
      "Group" was made in Olympia, WA (starring Carrie Brownstein from
      Sleater-Kinney); it made me miss Olympia.  "The Postman" stars Kevin
      Costner.  He was nominated as the worst actor of the 20th century,
      so we've made it a point to try to see every movie of his.  (Maybe
      we're a little masochistic.)
  * Radio
    * Revenge of the geeks.  After getting laid off, I've been listening
      to CNET Radio ("The Tech Station" whatever) at home while working on
      my projects.  It's probably the only commercial radio station I can
      tolerate.
  * Comedy
    * An ex-Bostonian.  We saw Janeane Garofalo at The Orpheum Theatre in
      Boston.  She had lived in Allston (Allston is the neighborhood next
      to the  neighborhood, both in Boston) years ago; I guess
      that's where her stand-up career began.  She was funny and cool.
    * Hairy shears?  No, Harry Shearer.  Harry Shearer came to Boston to
      peddle his movie "Teddy Bear's Picnic".  He also held a Q&A
      afterwards.  It was really great seeing him in person after years of
      listening to his KCRW show "Le Show" (both when we were living the
      Bay Area and over the net).  He said nothing about appearing in "Haiku
      Tunnel" (see below).
  * Spoken word
    * Hilarious as usual.  Back in April, we saw Josh Kornbluth's
      "Ben Franklin Unplugged" at Somerville Theatre.  We've seen Josh
      Kornbluth several times in the Bay Area and saw his movie "Haiku
      Tunnel" last year.  We're fans.
    * About as smoky as Gilman.  We finally saw Lydia Lunch along with
      Duncan Wilder Johnson at The Middle East in March.  I've known about
      Lydia Lunch for years and I'm glad we saw her.  We had seen Duncan
      Johnson once before and he was cool and funny as before.  (We have
      yet to see Rich Mackin (http://www.richmackin.org); it seems like I
      see him at lots of events that I attend.  It's funny how when you
      are in a "certain crowd" you seem to see the same people again and
      again, and yet you never really get to know the people.)  We were
      hoping that, because it was _just_ spoken word and not a rock
      concert, there would be less cigarette smoke; unfortunately, we were
      wrong. :(
    * Jello!  Jello Biafra (ex-Dead Kennedys singer) finally came to
      Boston.  He was at the Coolidge Corner Theater.  The rant began at
      10pm; he didn't stop talking (except during a brief intermission)
      for 4 hours.  Al Gore and Fidel Castro have nothing on him!  I was
      surprised how his content was very similar to Michael Moore's and,
      to a lesser extent, Harry Shearer's.  I listened to some Dead
      Kennedys songs a few days ago and I've been realizing how much worse
      things have got since those songs were written.  I mean, Ronald
      Reagan looks like a lightweight when compared with the group of
      goons now occupying the Whitehouse and congress.  While watching
      Jello, I couldn't help but think that there are a small group of
      "Chicken Littles" yelling about how the sky is falling, but nobody
      can hear.  People surround themselves by gated communities and
      nothing penetrates them.  Anyway, earlier this year, we bought some
      Jello spoken word CDs from Alternative Tenatacles:
        "Become the Media"
        "The Big Ka-Boom"
    * OK, yet another white guy.  Michael Parenti came to the Boston area
      mid-November.  Michael Parenti was one of the people I missed not
      seeing once we moved away from the Bay Area.  I really dig what he
      says and think he's spot-on on most everything.  It was the first
      time I ever went to Brockton.  Managing without a car was a pretty
      complex operation.  Before leaving, I printed out the lay-out of
      Massassoit College (where he was speaking); I took the train to
      Brockton; I walked to the Yellow Cab place and pointed out where at
      the college I would be waiting for them and at what time; I then
      walked for 45 minutes to the college; I heard Michael Parenti
      (luckily, he ended early!); and then I went to the specified
      location to catch the taxi and took the train back to Boston.  Phew!
      I recorded the whole thing on mini-cassette.  The most interesting
      part was his statement that the goal of the Bush administration's
      war with Iraq is to _raise_ oil prices, not lock in lower prices, so
      he and his friends can make more profit.  Of course, I hope that the
      whole Iraq thing is stopped before it begins, but it will be
      interesting to see if he's right.
  * Outdoors
    * Historic or historical?  Noelle's dad and his wife came to Boston on
      the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  We went to Old Ironsides (U.S.S.
      Constitution) in Charlestown and then to the House of Seven Gables
      in Salem.  We went to a Cuban-French restaurant in Cambridge
      afterwards.  (I couldn't eat much, but I wasn't hungry anyway.)
    * Oh, that's where they put the cabin!  We went to Walden Pond.  I
      hadn't been there in a number of years (well, not in a quality way).
      We walked around it.  They really changed it since I was growing up
      in Sudbury.  They're making an effort to preserve the land there.
      It looked quite nice.  (They also had a Thoreau exhibition with a
      recreation of his cabin.)
    * Ouch, that hurts.  We went on a canoeing trip on the Concord River
      in April along with 6 other people.  It was a Boston No Kidding
      event.  Wow, my shoulders were in severe pain after that.  I think
      it didn't help that it was cool and rainy that day.
  * Books
    * Probabilities and statistics.  We went to see David Ropeik talk
      about his book "Risk" at the Harvard Coop mid-November.  There was a
      small group (nothing like Cody's), surprisingly small.  (It may be
      that people don't want to hear about their true risks, both because
      they don't want to talk about mortality and because they'd prefer to
      just let their television tell them how they'll really die.)  I
      added this book to my list, but I don't know if I'll ever get a
      chance to read it.
    * Breadth not depth.  As usual, I didn't have time to read many full books
      all the way through, except two:
        "The Terrorism Trap" by Michael Parenti
        "2024" by Ted Rall (okay, I admit it -- this is just a long comic book)
      Some books which I managed to skim or am starting to read:
        "Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace" by Gore Vidal
        "No Contest" by Alfie Kohn
        "As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised As a Girl" by John
                Colapinto
      Some books which are in my reading pile next to my bed:
        "One Market Under God" by Thomas Frank
        "The Highly Sensitive Person in Love" by Elaine Aaron
        "The Telling" by Ursula LeGuin
        "How to Read a Book" by Charles Van Doren
	"Getting Started in Computer Consulting" by Peter Meyer
    * I won't eat book worms!  Despite the fact that we're flush with
      cookbooks, I bought more this year:
        "Vegetarian Compass" by Karen Allison
        "French Vegetarian Cooking" by Paola Gavin
        "Nonna's Italian Kitchen" by Bryanna Clark Grogan
        "Authentic Chinese Cuisine" by Bryanna Clark Grogan
        "Flavors of Korea" by Deborah Coultrip-Davis & Young Sook Ramsay
        "Cookin' Southern: Vegetarian Style" by Ann Jackson
  * Music
    * Yes doesn't mean yes.  This year, NoMeansNo, a hard-rock/punk band
      on Alternatives Tentacles Records decided to left Alternative
      Tentacles.  In a rush to get the albums before they completely went
      away, we bought a slew of NoMeansNo from AT (on their web site).  We
      bought:
        "Wrong" (we already have this on vinyl, but got a CD as a back-up)
        "Gross Misconduct" (this is actually Hanson Brothers, NoMeansNo's
                            alternate split personality)
        "Would We Be Alive"
        "One"
        "Dance of the Headless Bourgeoisie"
        "Why Do They Call Me Mr. Happy?"
        "The Worldhood of the World"
    * Those funky Canadians...again.  I bought Emm Gryner's "Girl
      Versions".  I was gunna get it for No's b-day, but I didn't wanna
      wait.  I heard her on the CBC doing a piano cover of Ozzy Osbourne's
      "Crazy Train".  It's a really excellent cover.  I bought it just for
      that song and it's definitely the best, but she also does a cover of
      "Waiting Room" by Fugazi which isn't bad.
    * Got it cheap on half.com, so why not?  I bought some stuff that's
      been on my list for a while:
        "The Beatnigs" (this has long been out of print)
        "Folk Heroes" by The Foremen
    * I feel so mainstream sometimes.  I bought the soundtrack to
      "American Beauty".  The soundtrack in the movie reminded me of the
      background music of a Joe Frank monologue (Joe Frank is featured on
      Santa Monica's public radio station KCRW; Noelle and I are fans of
      his stuff).
  * Radio
    * Walk person.  My Sony Walkman died after only 3 years.  I didn't
      have an extended warranty or anything, and they don't repair these
      things.  I bought a replacement (with TV reception, too).  I usually
      listened to the radio on the way to work.  Unfortunately, it died
      before I got laid off so Noelle primarily uses now on her commute.
      (I guess it suffered the same fate as my palmtop.)
  * Television
    * Not ER.  We (mostly Noelle) discovered "Scrubs".  We watch it
      occasionally.  I think, besides Seinfeld (and, of course, Mork and
      Mindy), it's the only television show I've ever laughed uproariously
      out loud.  (Of course, it being television, controversial topics are
      avoided, such as unionizing residents, abortion, sexism in the
      workplace, or (gasp!) there being no god.)
    * Monkey business.  My parents turned us on to "Monk".  I had heard
      reviews of it on NPR before, but, during Thanksgiving, we watched
      "The Monk Marathon".  It's finally come to a Boston area TV channel.
      Like Scrubs, I occasionally uproariously laugh out loud.  It's a
      pretty creative concept: a obsessive-compulsive detective.  ("The
      Simpsons" is every bit as creative, but I feel it's just
      overwhelming.  It's sorta like watching old Mystery Science Theater
      3000s -- there are just too many of them I haven't seen and it's
      just hopeless to try to see 'em all.)
  * Comics
    * General Bushisimo.  Noelle has been subscribing to Ted Rall's
      mailing list, getting both his columns and his comics.  He's way
      rad.

Politics/Society
  * Ecology/Environment
    * Overpopulation
      * They're walking, yes indeed, they're talking.  Boston Operation
        Rescue and friends held their annual so-called "Walk for Life" to
        protest the legality of abortion.  And, again, I, along with
        Abortion Access Project and various student activists, was out
        there with my sign.  Cardinal Law was not there this year as he
        had been in previous years; maybe he was busy :-).
      * Ever-fluctuating attendance.  Boston No Kidding, the social
	activities organization for people without children, which I
	started soon after arriving in Boston, keeps up its reputation of
	the revolving door.  More people have been organizing events
	without my help, but I still bear the brunt of the organizing
	activity.  If I leave the area, I have no idea what would happen,
	who would take my place.
      * They're a friend of the fetus, right up to the moment of birth.  I
	continue to attend the monthly pro-choice/anti-anti-abortion
	rally/protest at the Planned Parenthood.  The new signs I made
	this year include:
	  Keep All Abortion Procedures Legal
          They Are Keeping Women Alive Here
          Abortion Is Legal - Get Over It!
        My "There're Too Many People; Birth Control Helps; Abortion Helps"
        sign was not very popular.  I suppose people don't like the
        overpopulation angle of the pro-choice/contraceptive movement.  It
        seems all aspects/factions should be embraced, especially with
        someone like George W. Bush in the White House.
      * Pro-lifers are from Mars, pro-choicers are from Venus.  I got into an
	argument with one of the antis at the monthly rally and we argued
	back and forth for at least half-an-hour.  She kept insisting
	that there should be a ban on abortion based on scientific fact,
	but I repeatedly tried to explain to her that this issue is based
	upon belief and can never be based on fact.  She wouldn't budge,
	of course; but, neither would I.  She asked me to research this
	and, again, I found nothing to affirm that such things can be
	reduced to rational fact -- it will always be a matter of belief.
      * Mass, not mass. I did do one tabling event at the Allston-
	Ethnic Festival for Mass NARAL; I felt I was superfluous in this
	particular case -- there were plenty of people there.  Noelle and
	I skipped the Mass NARAL Chocolate Madness fund raiser this year;
	last year, the crowds were overwhelming and we didn't want to have
	to deal with that again.
      * The organization previously known as ZPG.  I've been completely out
	of the loop with the Boston chapter of Population Connection
	(the new name for Zero Population Growth).
    * Energy consumption
      * Bicycle
        * More time means more bicycling.  I have been better about
          attending the monthly Critical Mass Bike rides this year.  Being
          unemployed makes attending them even easier.  I did skip a few
          when my bike fell into disrepair.  (The biggest problem was my
          SRAM GripShift broken -- a cheap plastic device!)  I haven't added
          anything new to my bike, but I have made several repairs.  Also, I
          bought all the tools needed to repair almost everything on my (now
          considered old) bicycle.  I guess I'll probably keep this thing
          until it completely falls apart, gets stolen, or gets into an
          accident.
        * A well-overdue cleaning.  I cleaned the chain of my bike for the
	  first time since buying it in 1991.  (I mean, _really_ clean --
	  take it off the bike and soak it.)  I was told at a local bike
	  shop that Simple Green is the cheapest degreaser for cleaning
	  bike parts.  Anyway, after I cleaned it, I discovered that, due
	  to the build-up over the years, several of the teeth of my
	  middle chainring had been severely worn-down.  Thankfully, it
	  doesn't slip, but it's really amazing how important keeping a
	  clean chain can be over many years of use.
      * Car
        * What the hell happened?  Why the transmission suddenly started
	  revving faster one day (gears don't change until the engine revs
	  to 3000 rpms), we'll never know.  We had had the transmission
	  rebuilt 2 years ago (you don't want to know the total cost).
	  The warranty had run out (we had taken it to AAMCO).  We brought
	  it in and found out the cheapest solution would be to get the
	  transmission replaced, if an old transmission could be found at
	  all.  So, instead of attempting to fix it, Noelle has decided to
	  retire the car and we're going to try going carless.  (We're
	  trying to figure out ways to get rid of it -- charities won't
	  take it 'cause it's too old.)  In our effort to go carless (I
	  haven't owned a car since we moved to Boston), Noelle has signed
	  up for ZipCar, a car-sharing service.  It's all web-based --
	  it's pretty nifty.  And, when necessary, we'll just take
	  taxicabs or buses or trolley-subways.  (And I'll ride my bike.
	  Noelle doesn't like riding during the winter.)
        * Far, far from an Abba song.  After signing up for Zipcar, Noelle
	  discovered that Zipcar has Mini Coopers available.  (This
	  particular Mini has the nickname "Mini Mia".)  A few days ago,
	  we went to Central Square in Cambridge and tried it out.  Funky
	  car.  It has an enormous number of buttons and its panel is very
	  busy.  It took a bit to figure out how to adjust the mirrors!
	  Alas, our "regular" Zipcar (for food shopping) is a boring
	  (and uncomfortable) Honda Civic .
        * Maybe I am Canadian.  I got my license renewed and my mug
	  (picture) looks just like Neil Young.  (I've since reduced my
	  sideburns.)
    * Misc
      * No green left.  We saw Richard Leakey at Harvard University in
        April.  Of course, it was imminently depressing -- Africa is being
        ravaged and eventually there will be no wilderness left there.  (I
        kept falling asleep during the talk; I think I was working too
        hard then.)
  * Labor
    * RSI
      * Still helping where I can.  I continue to attend the monthly
        informal RSI Support Group Drop-in to help other people.  Over the
        last year, the main organization sponsoring this and other
        RSI-related activities (Coalition for New Office Technology)
        folded (i.e., it had no more money to run).  So, a number of
        volunteers have stepped in to organize activities.  It's pretty
        cool -- a headless organization with cooperative cells.  (Sounds
        like al-Queda, huh? :-)  In any case, my participation has always
        been voluntary, but I don't have time to do more than that right
        now.
  * Peace
    * If it isn't one war, it's another.  There haven't been any teach-ins
      concerning the latest war yet.  I know that there are weekly
      protests on The Boston Common near the Park St. T Station.  Both the
      flag-waving pro-war fatigue-wearing people and the poster-bearing
      anti-war flower-haired people are there facing each other.  It's
      kinda funny seeing it, actually.  (Noelle and I discovered this
      happening just by accident when we found ourselves eating lunch on
      The Common.)  Noelle wrote postcards to Sen. Kennedy and Sen. Kerry.
      Despite Kerry being an anti-Vietnam War veteran, he voted to give
      G.W. Bush carte blanche to treat Iraq any way he wished.  (I.e.,
      Noelle's postcard did no good.)  Thankfully, Kennedy voted against,
      but, as we know, the measure passed.
  * Voting/Elections
    * You're more likely to get killed by a car.  It's sad that statistics
      are so poorly taught in the U.S.  The probability of an American
      being killed in a terrorist act is diminishingly tiny, yet Americans
      still feel that the U.S. should spend much more on the military and
      that they need to "stand behind their president".  So, when G.W.
      Bush criss-crossed the country, pulling up Republicans on to his
      coattails, people, still irrationally fearful, voted for
      Republicans.  This reminds me of Michael Moore's movie "Bowling for
      Columbine" and the repeating theme that Americans are always afraid
      of everything and constantly seeking security.  The odds are with
      them.
    * Love me, love me, love me, I'm a radical.  We were sadly misinformed
      when we were told that Boston was a liberal city.  At least, it is
      certainly not the case in , home of former congressman Joe
      Kennedy, nephew of the "Typical Ma Liberal" Ted.  In
      early December, an editorial piece appeared in the local rag, the
      Allston- Tab.  It basically stated that Allston and 
      has veered far to the right.  In all the time we've been living
      here, I was under the mistaken impression that people in my
      neighborhood shared my general sentiments.  Noelle set me straight
      -- she explained that even people in this immediate area are
      conservative.  Maybe they secretly hate the peace flag flying on my
      bicycle and all the pro-choice stickers on it, and maybe snicker
      when we religiously set out our recycling bin on the sidewalk.
      Regardless of what they think, Allston-naged to elect a
      (so-called) pro-life (I prefer anti-choice) anti-rent-control real
      estate agent to the Boston city council by a margin of over 10
      points.  (A few days before election day, Noelle and I had an
      interesting conversation on a bus coming from Harvard Square with a
      woman.  She had no idea what the candidates stood for but wanted to
      vote the right way.  (BTW, this is typical Boston.  Unless you've
      grown up here your entire life, you won't be given any information,
      whether it's the name of streets and roads, how to get a
      neighborhood parking stickers, or anything about the candidates
      running for office.)  When we told her that one candidate was
      pro-life and anti-rent-control but the other was homophobic and
      pro-rent-control, she was exasperated that it was yet another vote
      for the lesser of two evils.)
    * It's wicked not easy being green.  Jill Stein, the Green Party
      candidate running for Ma, only got 3% of the vote.
      Noelle kept reiterating that we needed to defeat Mitt Romney
      (republican, mormon) and that we needed to compromise and vote for
      Shannon O'Brien (democrat).  It did no good -- there was a 10 point
      spread.  It would've been better just to vote green to protest the
      system.  I'm just waiting for Tom Finneran (democrat,
      dictator/speaker of the MA house for life) and Romney to collude to make
      abortion illegal in Ma, or at least make it virtually
      impossible.
  * Misc
    * Okay, so I'm a stupid white man, too.  I went to see Michael Moore
      talk about his book Stupid White Men in Feb.  It was at the First
      Unitarian Church in Cambridge and the place was packed!  He told the
      long story about how his publisher no longer wanted to publish his
      book after the September 11 terrorist actions since we have to stand
      behind the president and his administration, etc.
        
Health
  * RSI
    * Let your hands do the walking.  In 2001, I occasionally went to a
      massage therapist (masseuse) to help my hands.  But she moved her
      practice to Cambridge.  After that happened, I stopped going.  So,
      I'm dependent only upon my own self body-work.
    * Fearful leader.  I volunteered (under pressure :-) to be the main
      contact for the Boston Voice Users group. BVU is a loose users group
      of speech recognition technology.
    * Ah, silky writing.  After last year's discovery that the cheap
      refillable Shaeffer fountain pens are no longer being produced, I
      bought converters for all my pens.  I now use bottled ink and I love
      it!  I wish I had done this long ago.  I refill the pens on regular
      basis and don't have to carry back-up cartridges.
  * Yoga
    * Swing your partner, dosy-doe.  Noelle got me to do Partner Yoga at
      her yoga place (Beacon Light).  It was a two hour session at the
      beginning of November.  (As it turns out, it occurred on the same day
      as the Allston- Parade.  We had to walk there rather than
      take the bus.  It was a 25 minute walk -- not bad.)
  * Psyche
    * It's the American way.  I've realized that I have a terrible time
      telling people what to do.  It's very much an American thing to tell
      people (especially people in other countries) what to do.  I think
      this is why I'd never be able to be a manager and perhaps why I'm not
      a very good American.

Technology
  * Software
    * My personal projects
      * That's what I hear.  During my unemployment, I've been hacking on
	a free software/open source automated speech recognizer.  It's
	nice programming for fun again instead of being tied to a product
	with a delivery date.  I've been working on this with a couple of
	other people at this point, completely over the internet.  (As it
	turns out, the others are also in Boston, but we haven't met.)
	But, when the time comes to get employment, it'll be nice to pay
	my bills again. :-)
  * Hardware
    * Mobile devices
      * Poor abandoned palmtop!  Since I lost my job, I have stopped using
        my palmtop -- I'm writing this on my "real" (laptop) computer.
        When I get a job again, I may upgrade to something better.  I'm
        trying desperately to avoid a long (1.5 hour each way) public
        transit commute; if I succeed, I will have less use for a mobile
        device like a palm.
    * PC
      * Splitting up is hard to do.  I copied my PC's hard-drive; so, now
        I have two separate machines: mine and Noelle's.  This is in case
        I get a job in Ca and I quickly need to bring my computer
        there -- Noelle won't be left without a computer.  I also bought
        another DSL router for the same reason; we can keep Verizon DSL
        here until the very end and I can get a high-speed connection
        wherever I end up.
      * The smaller the better.  I had been wanting a machine to do
	development/programming work on.  (This was before I got laid
	off).  I wanted something portable, or at least small; so, I
	bought a Book PC.  It was supposed to be the size of a yellow
	pages -- it's more like 2 yellow page directories laid out flat.
	But it's a good development machine for my project.  It runs quite
	hot, 'though; it literally warms up the front room I work in.
	(Maybe I'll save on heating bills :-).)
    * Networks
      * DSL.  I hate Verizon, but I keep it because I get to go
        month-to-month instead of having a one-year commitment.  If I need
        to take a job somewhere quickly, I can cancel it fast and be done
        with it.  (If I were to do it over, I would have gone with Speakeasy
        instead.  They do require a one-year commitment, however.)
      * Look ma, no wires!  I'm not sure about the security of my wireless
	LAN, but I continue to keep it anyway.  I use WEP and do know
	that's breakable, but the amount of traffic is minute and it would
	takes months to gather enough packet data to crack the key.
  * Conferencing.  I went to both the Software Development East
    (so-called) conference and the Enterprise Linux conference.  They
    could not have been more disappointing.  I would say there were, at
    most, 10 vendors at each -- a far cry from the mid-to-late 1990s.  It
    may be that conferences are now passe' -- everyone just
    teleconferences now.  Even though both were in downtown Boston, I
    don't think either was worth the trip; sitting at home in a
    teleconference would have been more preferable.
  * Books
    * More on my project.  I invested in:

        "Statistical Methods for Speech Recognition" by Jelinek
        "Fundamentals of Speech Recognition" by Rabiner

      I've only begun reading these.  The Jelinek book is a little
      abstract.  The Rabiner book is quite interesting.
    * Is this the dominant paradigm?  I gave in and finally got a book on
      Java: "Java 2 in Plain English".  Not because I want to program in
      it, but someone wrote an anti-spam prog in Java and I want to be
      able to understand it.  I still prefer C++ as my low-level language
      (but, of course I still hate the bad things, like memory munges).
    * Speaking of C++.  I bought "C++ Footprint and Performance
      Optimization" by Bensley and Alexander.  It was only after I bought
      this book that I read a negative review of it.  I don't think it's
      that bad; I was really looking for a book which would talk about
      optimizing for space.  I've found that optimizing for space is a
      much more difficult problem than optimizing for speed.  (The two are
      related, of course, but the relationship isn't always so obvious.)
    * Speaking naturally.  I bought "Python Essential Reference" and
      "Python Pocket Reference".  Initially, I was going to use it to
      understand and extend the NatLink (a Python extension which allows
      Windows-based Dragon Naturally Speaking macros to be written in
      Python); I may still do that, but that project has gone to the back
      burner as I work on my Linux-based project instead.
    * Short of patterns.  I decided I needed a algorithms book; last year
      I invested in a thing from the ACM, but I now regret buying this big
      paperweight.  This year I bought Dr. Dobbs Algorithms CD.  It's
      pretty nice and helped me understand some of the machine learning
      stuff I was working on while at continuum/links_2_go.  (The only
      problem is that it doesn't work very well in Netscape 4.x under
      Linux.)
    * Unnecessary references.  I bought "Linux in a Nutshell".  It's OK,
      but I think I could've survived on the Linux books I already had.
      It doesn't even have a reference to "mkdosfs".  Oh, well.
    * I got it cheap.  I managed to buy "Machine Learning" by Tom Mitchell
      for 45% of its regular price.  Unfortunately, most of it is not
      terribly useful for speech recognition stuff; it doesn't even cover
      HMMs.  But at least it covers neural networks.