Reading About Writing

I hope you'll pardon my recent lack of writing, as I've been too busy reading. But, the result of that reading may be more writing.

I've just re-read Anne Lamott's "Bird by Bird," subtitled "Some Instructions on Writing and Life." It's a book that every writer -- and by that I mean every blogger -- should read, set aside for a while, then read again.

Ms. Lamott shares her experiences as a joyfully neurotic, engagingly insecure and intimidatingly competent writer in such a way as to make you think that, just possibly, you are not certifiably insane for ever thinking that you have what it takes to also be a writer.

Her lessons are directly applicable to blogging because -- face it -- bloggers are writers, and we face most of the same challenges and insecurities as novelists and other "real" writers, except for the part that has to do with earning a living therefrom. We can be every bit as paranoid and schizo as a published treeware author.

Take this passage, for example, where she explains to her class the challenge of facing a blank piece of paper (or screen) each morning:

If you blog, and you haven't experienced most or all of what she describes above, then you're not trying very hard.

"Bird by Bird" (and, by the way, the title itself comes from an excellent lesson about writing) won't hand you a laundry list of things to do and then you'll be a good or great writer. But it will tell give you ideas that you can take and mold and use to become a better writer. And it will also remind you of the price that must be paid, something I always want to overlook or put off until I've got enough in the account to cover the bill.

I think Anne will tell you that it doesn't work that way. The price for writing is always payable in advance.

Government listening to people?

Just heard an amazing report. The planned rebuilding of Midland Drive (one of the main thoroughfares, for those of you not fortunate enough to live in our fair city) has been rescheduled for next spring. Seems that the many businesses, large and small, located along Midland Drive pointed out that the project would disrupt their holiday shopping traffic, and couldn't it please be done at a less inconvenient time?

City planners, contractors and TxDOT agreed, and so we'll get a reprieve from this massive pain-in-the-rear for a few months.

This could set a dangerous precedent. Logic and cooperation: whoda thunk it?

The date is firm, probably...

Wallace and Julie have set The Date: December 30, 2003.

Youngsters can be so cute when they're planning stuff like this!

New Blog on the Block

You've grown to know and love Jared Wilson's insightful movie reviews and deep theological discussions (sometimes in the same post) over at The Thinklings. Now – starting today, in fact – there's a new "All Jared, All The Time" blog called "Mysterium Tremendum". Jared's not bailing as a Thinkling; he's just doing a simultaneous solo joint, stretching his wings, as it were.

Be sure to check it out. The Gazette has, and the Gazette has blogrolled it. The Gazette is rarely ever wrong about these things.

Blogiversary Recognition

Bryan McAnally over at Clarity Amidst Chaos* celebrated his one-year blogging anniversary today. As I understand it, he marked the milestone by listening to Robert Palmer's "Brain Salad Surgery" on vinyl.

If you're not dropping by his place regularly, then you're at least 186 posts out-of-date. Blog on, bro!

[*And, of course, BlogSplat's permalinks are still not working.]

Sneaking Back

I'm having a hard time re-entering reality after a three-day weekend. Last Friday was a big day, as my mother-in-law was released from the rehab hospital three weeks to the day after fracturing her pelvis. As you can imagine, she couldn't wait to get home, and we (my wife and I) couldn't wait to get our home back to ourselves.

Don't get me wrong. We're blessed to be able to provide a place for family to stay during these episodes, but if you've ever been in this situation you know that it can eventually become stressful, regardless of how good your relationship is in the beginning. This is especially true for those of us who are accustomed to an "empty nest": just the two of us and the dog. Having a third person and a second dog just disrupts our neat and ordered little lives, you know?

The dogs are a good example. They get along; they're cordial, if not overly affectionate with each other. But, they couldn't be more opposite in personality. Punkin (the in-laws' dog who came pre-named from the previous owners who didn't want to deal with his high-maintenance lifestyle) is a male poodle, and is everything that Abbye is not: inquisitive, high-energy, loud-mouthed and assertive, eager for companionship. I had the task of walking them each morning and I swear my wingspan has stretched three inches. Punkin continually pulled forward, eager to find the next telephone pole or tree, Abbye hanging back, lagging, apparently fearful of getting too close to that back leg when it swung up (not that I blame her). The only thing they agreed on was that the other's food was better. The problem with that was that Abbye's food didn't agree with Punk's digestive system, and his food was so attractive to Ab that she'd eat her weight in it if left unsupervised. Neither of those things were good.

Anyway, we got the house to ourselves again, and Abbye returned to her apparently lousy food but much less stressful walks. We also spent the weekend doing a lot of things that we couldn't do with continual company around...went to the movies (twice—"Rundown" and "Once Upon A Time In Mexico")...spent a couple of hours at Barnes & Noble...did an early morning run on Saturday followed by a late breakfast. All good things, and none of which involved blogging. But, I'll try my best to get back into the groove, as I've got a number of things banging around in my head, demanding an audience.

See, it wasn't W's fault, after all...

The maker of the Segway Human Transporter has agreed to recall the motorized scooters because riders have been injured falling off when its batteries are low.

A spokesman for the President applauded the recall, saying "see, we knew all along there was something fishy about those things. There's a reason people drive SUVs."

IDOP 2003

Sunday, November 9, 2003 is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church ("IDOP"). On this day, hundreds of thousands of congregations around the world will join in prayer for their Christian brothers and sisters who are being discriminated against, displaced, tortured and killed for one simple reason: their faith.

Religious persecution is certainly not a new phenomenon, and Christians aren't the only victims of such persecution. However, in terms of sheer numbers, they are undoubtedly the largest group targeted solely on the basis of religion. The IDOP website describes the situation thusly in its FAQ:

In 2001, Midland became the first host city for the national IDOP observance. Up to then, the observance had been a loosely-coordinated event taking place in various cities and churches, but without any real focus. Thanks largely to the visionary action of a few local folks — primarily Deborah Fikes (founder of BASIC Ministries International), Fr. Jon Stasney (rector of St. Nicholas' Episcopal Church) and Billy Raies (pastor of the Christian Life Center) — Midland was selected to add a new dimension...a new focus...to the observance.

I was privileged to join with a large group of volunteers working to create the framework for the IDOP observance. I saw Christians of every denomination, ethnic background and social status working together, united in concern for an extended family whose sufferings we could only begin to imagine. I've been unable to return to my previous state of complacency with respect to the Persecuted Church.

I plan to post more about IDOP over the next month, but I wanted to get it on your radar screen at this point. If you enjoy the privilege of exercising your faith in unfettered freedom, then I submit to you that you also share in the responsibility to ensure that others can do so, as well. If you can't do anything else, you can pray.

No...that's not exactly right. Before you do anything else, you should pray. IDOP resources will help you know how to do that.

"Slap The Carriage Return for 'Enter'"

If he wasn't doing it for his wife's benefit, I'd have to say that this guy's got too much time on his hands.

Still, there's something oddly satisfying about the concept of using a manual typewriter as a computer keyboard. In particular, I like the slapping part. In fact, I think I'll try it on my monitor right now.

[Thanks to OxDECAFBAD for the link.]

Good Apple

Why, oh why, do I keep throwing money in Apple's direction? Lileks explains it better than I ever could.

Of course, he explains everything better than I ever could. And now he has a G5, to boot. I hate envy feel so happy for him.

Left Coast Snoozer

Ahnold may have thought it was the "Super Bowl of Debates," but the interminable five minutes I spent watching it seemed to confirm that it was actually the GalleryFurniture.com Bowl of Debates.

That's not a compliment, by the way.

Another Indian Bites The Dust

I was somewhat saddened to hear that the Indian Motorcycle Corp. is shutting its doors (again).

The Indian was the first motorcycle built in America, introduced in 1901. It had a history of highs and lows, and shut down in the 50s. The company was resurrected in 1999, but just couldn't make a go of it, despite producing some of the best looking Big Iron on the road.

I suspect price had a little something to do with the company's demise. The lowest priced bike I found on their website was around 17 large. You can still get a Harley for half that.

You might want to visit the Indian website and grab a screenshot for posterity. Something tells me that we won't see this brand again anytime soon.

US Government: A Heavenly Idea?

If you have a Bible handy (and why wouldn't you?), take a look at Isaiah 33:22:

It occurs to me that this is perhaps the earliest description of the three branches of our goverment: judicial (judge), legislative (lawgiver) and executive (king). Dispensing with the inevitable snarky comments about the President as King, this is still an interesting picture or model for our government. Of course, our implementation of it is as imperfect as the implementers themselves, but we can look forward to a perfect future implementation.

Well, I hope you're looking forward to it.

Consumers shafted again

Just in: An Oklahoma court has blocked the national "do not call" registry, claiming that the FTC overstepped its bounds in setting up the registry.

Please join me and my other 49,999,999 fellow phone number owners in expressing a sincere appreciation to the Court for reminding us who's really in charge protecting us against ourselves.

Bad Apple

[Update (2/8/05): I've just been notified by Bill Catambay, Editor in Chief of the The Macintosh Guild that detailed instructions for a do-it-yourself inverter board replacement are now available via the MacGuild website. Bill says that the fix is pretty simple, costs about $130, and the replacement part is advertised as being more reliable and, we hope, longer lasting than the Apple replacement. YMMV, of course, but you might want to check it out.]

[Update (12/23/03): If you're coming to this page via the link on the Monitor Experts website, it's only fair that you also read this post dated November 18, 2003, which describes Apple's repair of my monitor. Please understand that I did not ask Monitor Experts to link to my site, nor did I give them permission to do so. I have no problem with the link to this page, but it doesn't give a complete picture of my situation...which was ultimately resolved to my satisfaction by Apple.]

I'm a diehard Mac user. For years, I've been happy (well, willing) to fork over premium prices for Apple products, because they are the best tools for the way I work and the work I do. And, for the most part, I've appreciated the skilled design and craftsmanship that is evidenced in those products.

I have high expectations for Apple's products, and when they fail to meet those expectations, I think I've earned the right to be very vocal about the shortcomings. And thus this post.

I'm now staring at a beautiful 17" Studio Display LCD monitor, the one that appears somewhere in every movie made in the past two years (POTC and Open Range being possible exceptions). It's really slick. Only thing is, it no longer works...at least not like it should. Ever see "Joe Vs. The Volcano," the flick starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan (oh, that's right...they all star Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan)? Hanks' character in that movie was diagnosed with a "brain cloud." That's what I think my monitor has: a brain cloud. It's like someone pulled a gradient-shade over the screen. It's dark at the top, fading to normal at the bottom. As near as I can tell, this is the classic symptom of either a bad backlight or a problem with the voltage inverter. In fact, Apple helped me diagnose the problem via its generally excellent online help.

"OK," you may be thinking, "what's the big deal? Computer stuff breaks. That's life." D'oh, I know that. But here's what chaps me about this specific situation. The monitor is only 14 months old (12 month warranty, of course). Apple will repair it, if I'll box it up and ship it to them. Apple will also charge me a flat fee of...get this...$509 (plus $49.95 shipping)! A brand-spanking-new 17 incher is just $699.

"OK," you may be thinking, "what's the big deal? New computer stuff is always cheaper than what you bought. That's life." D'oh, I know that. This is where the serious torquing (torqueing?) off begins. Every other monitor repair shop I've found charges a flat fee of about $100 to fix a 17" LCD (plus parts for a voltage inverter, but those aren't expensive). So, Apple is waaaay above market in that area. But, those same monitor repair shops generally won't work on Apple displays, because they can't get the parts. Wonder why that is? Hmmm...

Then there's the rather compelling evidence that this is actually a widespread manufacturing defect that Apple refuses to acknowledge. I come to this conclusion via the thread on Apple's own discussion board, a thread with 150 entries at last count, most of them from angry/ unnerved/ confused customers like me who are feeling a sense of betrayal. OK, maybe that's a little strong. But there are enough complaints that make Apple's silence on the issue just a tad suspicious, and disappointing.

Well, don't know about you, but I feel better. Of course, my monitor is still broken. And that Formac 20 incher is looking pretty good.

Technorati tags: Macintosh | Apple

Gotta get me one of these...

A story in this morning's Midland Reporter-Telegram (no online version) describes some amazing new technology recently acquired by the Midland Police Department:

So, how cool is that? The camera anticipates what you wanted to tape but weren't quick enough to grab, and starts itself before you even knew you wanted it! Now that's my kind of technology.

Update: Here's the link to the story. Thanks, Bert.

You can call me The Drooler

• Wlel, rlaseedrgs of waht the rrptoees form the eahdgges who do rceesrah at Cmiadgbre Uieestrnvy pprruot to raeevl, the oedrr of ltretes in wdors is iapnmrott to ciigtoonn.
  
  
• Saw a headline in this morning's sports section: "Replacing Emmit Smith a lot harder than it seems." Overlooking the fact that it makes no sense, the main reaction I have to this statement is..."well, duh." It's not exactly a revelation that a team can't pull up a suitable replacement for the leading rusher in the history of the NFL, and especially not a competence-challenged group like the Pokes.
  
  
• Another story documented the huge growth in the Bentonville, Arkansas area, as vendors hoping to suck up to Wal-Mart are relocating from all around the country. This phenomenon has resulted in an apparent overall upgrading of shopping opportunities via "better-priced shops and restaurants." I suspect that Sam Walton would have a different interpretation of "better-priced shops" than the writer of this story.
  
  
• Speaking of Arkansas, one of my favorite jokes originates therefrom. Seems a Texan was transferred to Arkansas, and the first week in his new home, he couldn't help noticing that his neighbor had a pig in his backyard, running free. Well, in Arkansas, this isn't all that unusual, but this particular pig was out-of-the-ordinary in that it was missing one of its hind legs.
  
  The Texas was visiting with his neighbor over the backfence one day and asked about the pig. "Well," the neighbor said, "that's not just any ordinary pig; that's a special pig. One day, one of our kids fell into the fishing pond and like to drowned. That pig ran down, pulled the kid out of the water, then came up here and grabbed my overhaul leg in his mouth and led me down there. Then, about a month later, our outhouse caught on fire with my mother-in-law inside, and that pig ran in and pulled her to safety. Yessir, that's one special pig, like one of the family, you might say."
  
  The Texan was amazed, and said so. "But," he asked, "how did your pig lose his leg...in one of those rescues?" "Well, no," replied his neighbor. "A pig like that...well, you just don't eat him all at one time."
  
  
• Oh, the post title? Courtesy of the Middle Earth Name Generator. That's my full name in Orkish: Skaigob the Drooler. It's a killer name, doncha think? And it has the added advantage of working for both genders. My Dwarven name is also cool: Dori Silvernose. [Link from a number of blogs, most recently The Thinklings]

New Blogroll Category

I seem to be blogging about blogging a lot. I think I'm trying to dissipate the angst I'm having over an upcoming post in which I'll slam one of my favorite companies (guess which one, Natalie). Anyway.

I've added a fifth category to my blogroll. I'm having a hard time coming up with a title that's suitably wise-yet-tempered-with-just-the-right-touch-of-levity, so, for now, I'm calling it "Serendiptious Finds."

This category contains blogs which I've stumbled across, and which in turn have led to other blogs, and so on. At some point, I'll capture the whole thread (net? tree?) and link all the nodes in this category. My first attempt at this exercise led to some interesting destinations, to wit:

• Ryan Hodges: found via referer log; former Coast Guard(ian?); Jeep-poor and living in Connecticut; has a girl friend who blogs...
• And her name is Jenn, over at Such Small Things, and she is in South Carolina and is currently struggling with the life-threatening illness of her Mimi, whom I believe is her grandmother; she also helped a fellow blogger re-design his site...
• And his name is Rus (yes...1 "s"), over at Good Coffee, Good Conversations; Rus blogs from Nashville, or that area, is a small business owner and dad (and wasn't all that impressed with "The Purpose Driven Church," btw) and one of his favorite blogs is...
• Far Too Easily Satisfied...Bring On The Funk, which is nothing like you're thinking it is, because it's the beautiful creation of Coqui, who, besides having an intriguing name, is an incredible photographer and who hails from Argentina, but who is now working in the great Northwest for an association of Southern Baptist churches, which happens to have as its members several congregations to which my local church provides financial support.

Now, the perceptive among you will have noticed that I failed to mention Rachel's blog, Life Being Beautiful. That's because I can't for the life of me remember how I came across her site, although it's crosslinked with some of the preceding sites. Anyway, she's a self-proclaimed "teacher/checkout chick" (and I think I documented early on my admiration for that whole industry) and is trying to land a permanent teaching job.

If this category sounds like an experiment, it is. I suspect that it will be a "holding area" for blogs that may be eventually moved into one of the other categories, or perhaps even dropped, depending on how they "wear." But I find it kind of interesting to view them as a group of interrelated sites, even if they don't view themselves in that light. I'm sure there are some deep sociological implications to be mined out of all of this, but I'm not going there.

When is a post not a post?

Deane over at Gadgetopia has an extended post (article? essay? story?) delving into the complexities of how to treat blog posts which transcend time, sort of.

On the surface, and to most people, this probably seems like a trivial issue. But if you go back through your own blog archives (assuming that you are a blogger... which I suspect most of my readers are), I'm sure that you'll mentally separate the wheat from the chaff, with the former being the really good stuff that you put some thought, time and energy into, while the latter might resemble the doodlings you create waiting for something interesting to happen on "The Joe Schmoe Show."

While I'd like to think that everything that goes into the Gazette is primo wisdom-for-the-ages stuff, I know better (and so do you). Creating a separate blog or even a separate category for "the good stuff" would be like putting a set of Cragar mags on my poor little Plymouth Neon. You can do it, but why?

Still, Deane raises some points worth considering.

56,144.43 USD...

...is the value of my soul. Well, to be exact, it's £34,318, but that converts to the 56 large and change in Real Amurican money. That's a tidy little sum, and I'm even prouder to know that my soul is worth more than 76% of the rest of this planet's inhabitants. Or at least those who have souls. Which pretty much counts out...oh but let's don't go there. Let's just bask in the purity of my soul.

If you'd like to see how your soul matches up with my 3/4s purity, bop on over to We Want Your Soul and fill out the simple appraisal form. Be sure not to fib about any of the questions; they'll know it if you do.

I think I'll just file this quote away for awhile and see if my soul does any better than my 401K. At this point, I'm not tempted to cash in either one of them.

The Clintark Ticket

Jack Rich, over at Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness (which, by the way, gets my vote for the most under-appreciated poli-religi-cultura-blog; you need to be visiting him every day) has an excellent summation of the Hillary Clinton/Wesley Clark Presidential-wannabe nightmare sequence.

Judging by the way Katie, et al on the Today Show are all ga-ga over the Senator, I'm guessing Jack is perilously close to being dead right. The only silver lining I can foresee is the mass smothering-spell the "Demodwarves" will succumb to when they learn that The Hillary is rendering them obsolete.

Midland Development Corporation Website

Just noticed that the Midland Development Corporation's new website is online, albeit with an "under construction"-type of greeting. Nice logo, in a snaky, bullwhip sort of way. I assume the Mary Hunt Agency in Odessa developed the logo. The website is being built by the adWhite agency in The Woodlands.

Idle question of the moment: Why do none of the major ad agencies in Midland or Odessa have in-house web design capabilities? AdMarc comes closest, but I think even they use their Lubbock office for most of that work.

Jackalopes: Myth? Or Hockey Team?

Deb over at Write Lightning has rediscovered the jackalope. Would she be surprised to learn that this fabled creature has been reincarnated as -- of all things -- a professional hockey team? In -- of all places -- Odessa, Texas?

Here's proof. [Snarky comment: Does the fact that they're using a .org domain name tell us anything about the financial viability of a hockey team in west Texas?]

Parental Expectations, Pt 2

After re-reading my previous post, I feel the need to clarify my position. I didn't mean to sound so negative or cynical about the situation. If I find any fault, it's in the apparent unwillingness of the mom to take some credit for guiding her son in a certain direction.

Kids need such help and guidance. Parents who recognize a specific gift or talent in their child at an early age, and who choose to ignore it or to let the child "find her own way" do that child a disservice, in my opinion. Providing opportunities for the child to enjoy and enhance that gift or talent is one of the greatest responsibilities and, I suspect*, pleasures a parent can experience.

The fine line comes between pushing a child and guiding him. Every parent needs to continually assess motive to make sure that line is properly respected. In Ryan's case, based on the limited information in the article, I don't see any evidence that the line was crossed inappropriately.

Again, I think it's OK...it's good...for a parent to be able to say, "I recognized this talent in little Bobby, long before he was able to, and I'm proud to say that I gave him every opportunity to enjoy it. His success is also my success!"

Parental Expectations || Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

TLAPD

Today is "Talk Like A Pirate Day." OK. How's this? "Avast." There. We can move on, now. (But, if you really want a blogcentric TLAPD experience, visit the otherwise very serious and very geeky Simon Willison's weblog. I suspect we'll later find out he wrote a script to translate his posts into piratese.)

New Midland Blog

Jessica's Well points out the existence of a new local blog, Sleepless In Midland. The author is a bit of a mystery, but he's obviously a gun enthusiast, and has his blogroll organized into "Doctor" and "Lawyer" categories. Is he one? Or both?

I'm not sure we need any more gun-toting lawyers. OTOH, a packing physician might be cool, in a Wild West sort of way.

Uncertainties of Life

I drove to Odessa this morning to meet with a client. I'll probably post more about that later. As I entered the Odessa city limits, driving down Highway 80 (I refuse to call it by its new name: Business 20; it's been Highway 80 for the four decades I've been cognizant of road names and numbers, and it's too late to change), I saw an apparent convention of every emergency vehicle in Ector County in the grassy margin between the south lane and the railroad tracks. Traffic was fairly light, but what there was of it quickly slowed to a crawl, as rubberneckers did their thing. And their thing was staring at a crumpled mass of blue sheet metal plastered across the front of a freight train engine. Something had gone terribly wrong; someone had made a bad move, and paid the price. But how? The next railroad crossing was a good mile down the...oh. Right.

The train was comprised of about 60 cars, each carrying those double-decker freight containers that have become commonplace. The tractor-trailer tried to beat it through the crossing, and failed, with the engine scoring a direct hit on the passenger side of the cab. It's not easy to shut down 400 tons of metal moving at 50 mph, and the unhappy confluence moved a mile down the tracks before the engineer could bring it to a stop. I passed the empty flat-bed trailer at the crossing, where it had been neatly amputated from the truck. It was sitting a bit askew, but nothing about it really hinted at the true situation.

On my return trip, the clean-up was still underway. A crane was lifting the truck cab away from the engine. I had my digital camera at the ready, and rolled down the passenger window to take a few shots as I rolled by. The south wind blew an unusual-but-familiar odor into the car...it reminded me of welding...the acrid smell of burning metal. Of course. I had a vision of metal wheels shrieking along metal tracks, sparks flying as friction fought momentum.

I took a series of photos through the car window, thinking that perhaps I'd post them. But when I got home, I learned that the truck driver died in the crash. I deleted the photos.

It's a heavy price to pay for a momentary lapse in judgment. The usual murmurs have already started...the city and/or the railroad is at fault for having an unregulated railroad crossing. I'm sure everyone would agree that in a perfect world, with an endless supply of public funds, there would be no unregulated railroad crossings. But, then, in a perfect world, we'd always stop and look both ways.

Bear with me

I apologize for the lack of posts here at the Gazette. The long weekend out of town was relaxing and badly needed, but as is always the case, the fundamental sources of stress did not pack up and leave due to frustration at our absence.

My mother-in-law continues her stay in rehab, while her fractured pelvis heals. My father-in-law therefore continues his stay in our home. We're glad that we're here to help, but as many of you understand from similar experiences, there's always a some disruption of comfort zones in such situations. On top of all that, those little annoyances that add, um, texture to our lives are queuing up and demanding attention...things like car repairs, appliance woes, computer glitches, etc. Then there are those pesky clients.

Anyway, posts here will probably continue to be sporadic -- at best -- throughout the week, until some of these things are resolved. Thanks for understanding.

Weekend Getaway

We're heading out this morning with friends to spend a wild and crazy weekend in the greater metropolitan area of Post, Texas. There's a B&B up there that's supposed to be fancy, although that could just mean indoor plumbing. We'll likely spend some time in Lubbock, soaking up the rarefied cultural atmosphere.

We had planned to take the sailboards, jet ski and boat, but the front that just moved through put a chill (ha!) on those plans.

Anyhoo, the Gazette will lie fallow until our return late Saturday, and perhaps even longer if the offgassing* takes longer than expected.

Ya'll have a great weekend (even if you can't spend part of it in Post).

[*Scuba divers will know what this means.]

The nations rage in vain

In Memory of Those Who Perished...
In Honor of Those Who Persevere...
In Support of Those Who Protect...
In Praise of the One Who Provides.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46:1-7

The Gazette is Offline today in remembrance
of the events of September 11, 2001

Take Note, Scrabble Fans

Via Gadgetopia comes the discovery of Scrabblog, committed to making Scrabble enthusiasts happy on a daily basis.

My otherwise saintly, mild-mannered mom takes on a whole different personality when she gets involved in a game of Scrabble. I won't elaborate except to say that you don't want to get between her and a double-word score.

"I went with Blogger Pro and all I got was this stupid t-shirt"

Just got a personal email from my good bud Evan, informing me that my paid subscription for Blogger Pro was now like the rest of my investments: under water.

How interesting. It usually works the other way around. What once was free generally becomes fee-based, or the features are migrated to the "premium" version.

Of course, Blogger lost me a long time ago, with its poor performance and bad support (at least, that was my experience), and I'm not looking back.

But I still ordered the shirt! ;-)

Iranians on Iran

John over at Le Sabot Post-Moderne offers a fascinating -- and encouraging -- glimpse into the Iranian mindset. I especially like this:

Read it all (and learn why it should be "Parsi" instead of "Farsi").

9/11 Lawsuits to Proceed

I'm surprised at the relative lack of blogging about today's decision by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein to allow 9/11-related lawsuits to proceed against United and American Airlines, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Boeing and the owners of the World Trade Center.

I just spent the last half hour reading the judge's 49 page decision (PDF file-400kb), and I think I know the reasons for the silence. It's a complex decision, and will take some time to properly digest (at least for someone as legally naive as me). I will admit that the judge's decision is logical and appears reasonable, addressing obscure (to me) legalities as well as practical realities. It's important to note that this ruling does not assign liability or assess guilt; it simply holds that the plaintiffs have presented enough reasonable arguments (and the defendants have failed to present enough reasonable rebuttals) to warrant entering into the discovery phase of litigation.

I have two internal conflicts over this ruling. First, as a nation, we're opening ourselves up to probable ridicule by the rest of the world, as we seem once again to be our own worst enemies. And, two, this process is emblematic of the system of government we've chosen for ourselves and which we deem to be worth dying for...it's what the terrorists were trying -- and failed -- to destroy.

We've earned the right to argue amongst ourselves. The rest of the world should just mind its own business.

Dying Churches

Darryl has (recently?) changed the name of his blog from "Leading Dying Churches" to simply "The Dying Church," and he's restating the underlying principles that lead to the name:

I enjoy reading Darryl's posts, because they challenge me to consider my concepts and notions of what the Church is and should be. I don't agree with everything he writes; I don't even understand all of it, probably because it requires a mindset or background that I don't have.

I think I most often hit a wall in trying to distinguish between the concept of the Church as a body of believers, and the individual believers themselves. Darryl always writes about "the Church" as if it is a single organism, and that picture is accurate for many purposes. But the Church is also composed of a huge variety of individuals, each at a different point in his or her spiritual journey (and some not even on a spiritual journey), each with different understandings of who they are in Christ, and what they are called or equipped to do.

Given that reality, the idea of a given congregation behaving in the ways Darryl describes as ideal seems impractical (a picture of herding cats comes to mind). At some point, it seems that some form of institutionalized structure is necessary to keeping the main thing the main thing.

I don't believe that Darryl is advocating dissolution of all semblances of structure and organization. But the big question remains: how do you get each individual to "die to Christ"? For only then will you truly have a Dying Church.

Life Is Funny, But Not Always "Ha-Ha" So

• I noticed that Wham-O, the maker of the Slip-N-Slide, is suing to prevent the continued display of improper product usage in the movie, "Dickie Roberts, Former Child Star." Wham-O has made a ton of money from what is essentially a wet piece of plastic (when properly used), and is obviously concerned that competitors might infringe on its monopoly by producing dry pieces of plastic. Fortunately, the company's crack legal team has detected the threat a mere six months after the offending scene began appearing in movie trailers. We can only hope that justice will be served.
  
  
• Of course, if Wham-O's crack legal team was really on the ball, the cause of action would be for defamation of character by virtue of having the company's product associated with any movie starring David Spade. No jury in the world could deny the legitimacy of that claim.
  
  
• In a much more serious vein, the parents of a murder victim are suing AAA, the auto club, holding the company accountable for her death due to the company's failure to tow her car in a timely manner. The victim was subsequently murdered by a man who offered her assistance. The plaintiffs claim that the company failed to live up to its promise to protect its customers. Without knowing all the details of the case and the lawsuit, I can't help but wonder — once more — where personal accountability ends and institutional responsibility takes over. And again, I come to the conclusion that the plaintiffs' lawyers will be the only beneficiaries of this action.
  
  
• According to one of the local TV morning shows, the school lunch menu for today features an entreé with the appetizing name of "Crispy Strips." Boy, I can't think of anything I rather eat in preparation for an afternoon of hard core learning than several crackling logs of deep fried... something. What's for dessert -- "Sugar Globs"?

Rain in Midland is ALWAYS Big News!

Well, Wallace posted first, but I think my photo's more dramatic. ;-)

We're both smitten with the idea of rainfall, especially when it's accompanied by nitrogen- enriching lightning and lawn-chair snatching winds. He got almost 2" in his gauge; my total was only about half that (but I'm dealing with a tree branch that tends to violate my gauge's airspace in high winds).

The photo below looks out onto the road in front of my house, one of those it's-a-street-no-it's-a-storm-drain thoroughfares which Wallace described. If you'll look closely, you still won't see any curbs because the water is running lawn-to-lawn. One block beyond the background of this photo is the legendary Ditch, Midland's equivalent to the L.A. River.

The really interesting thing is that meteorology historians will look back at August 7, 2003, and note that it was yet another dry Sunday in Midland County. The thunderstorms were so localized that the official reporting station 10 miles to the west at MAF recorded only a trace (a highly technical term for "zilch").

You know we're hard up for precip when we all get out our cameras and take photos of rain.

Are movies getting worse?

I've seen two dozen movies this year, give or take, and only three were good enough to see again, in my opinion: Bruce Almighty, Pirates of the Caribbean and Open Range (and the latter only for the pleasure in watching Robert Duvall's wonderful performance). I can't even remember most of the other movies, much less recommend them.

I've wondered why that is. Are my standards getting higher as I, um, mature? Or, are movies getting lamer? Thanks to a link from Roger L. Simon, I now have some insight to the answer. British film-maker Jon Boorman gives his take on the issue in this article from The Guardian.

Here's how he describes just one piece of the puzzle, taken from his experience with an independently-produced film:

It only gets worse with the movies backed by studios.

How about it? Do you agree that movies are really getting worse...or, at least, more forgettable? How many did you see this year where you came out of the theater shaking your head and mumbling, "at least the popcorn was good"?

9/11: Blogging Silence

After thinking about it on and off for the past week or so, I've decided that the best way for me to honor and/or memorialize those who lost loved ones or who were lost on 9/11 is to silence the Gazette for a day.

Accordingly, I plan to post a simple note at 8:45 a.m. (EDT), to correspond to the time Flight #11 hit the north tower of the World Trade Center, then let the Gazette go silent for the remainder of the day (24 hours).

I don't pretend that this is any great sacrifice or any significant statement, but it's what I can do, and so I will. If you feel led to join me, please do, but follow your own conscience.

Update: Roscoe Ellis is memorializing this week by surrounding his blog with black, as a symbol of mourning.

New Blog: Le Sabot Post-Moderne

Don't let the French title throw you off. John Bush is the blogger, and he's as American as his last name would indicate. His observations about politics and religion are smart, funny, thought-provoking and laced with equal parts of humility and attitude (if you can imagine). He and his wife are Presbyterian missionaries (!) serving in the Ukraine, so when he writes about Odessa... well, it's not that one. Visit him here often; I plan to.

Go Read Yourself

I spent about four hours last week fixing the Gazette's archives. At the time of my Great Blogger Escape, the archives were in such a state of disarray that not all of them were importable into Movable Type. And much of what I was able to import ended up being poorly formatted (probably due to my error as much as anything). But I never made the time to address these problems, because it didn't seem important to do so.

Then I read a post somewhere -- if it was yours, I apologize for not having a better memory -- about the first posts of some favorite blogs. And it made me realize, "I don't have a first post. The Blogger ate my first post. I want a first post, too."

I've also read several congratulatory and self-congratulatory posts directed to blogs which are celebrating anniversaries. I want a self-congratulatory anniversary post, too. (A congratulatory post is too much to hope for.)

So I started digging through the dusty recesses of my hard drive, and lo and behold, I found the humble origins of the Gazette, including the very first post. So, look for a SCAP in a couple of months. If I remember.

Anyway, that's neither here nor there. What I found interesting was that I actually enjoyed reading some of my early posts.

You know how many of us hate to hear our own voices on tape? I suspect some bloggers may feel that same way about reading their own posts, especially those written early on. And therein seems to lie a lesson.

If you don't enjoy your own writing, it's not reasonable to expect that anyone else will. And a corollary: if you like what you write, don't worry about whether anyone else does.

So, I challenge you to periodically select an archive category and read through your posts from the beginning. I suspect that if you really enjoy blogging, you'll be greatly encouraged by the exercise. You might even be tempted to select a "best of" list and put it into a post. Saaaay...what a great idea!

The Gazette's Top 6 Posts That Don't Mention Goat Cheese

1. Wednesday, January 29, 2003 - My review of "About Schmidt" reminded me of why this movie will never appear in our Netflix queue.
2. Friday, May 2, 2003 - My loving tribute to grocery-store baggers (or sackers, as we call 'em in these parts) shone a spotlight on an underappreciated profession.
3. Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - Stephen den Beste wrote that "90% of all blogs are crap...". I'm sure he's right; I can't argue with the #7 blog in the Ecosystem. So given that, I proposed a new Dublin Core Metadata Element to permit blogger self-ratings for "crappiness." I still think it's a good idea, and I don't understand why it didn't catch on.
4. Wednesday, May 7, 2003 and Thursday, May 8, 2003 [Tie] - These two posts seemed to attract a lot of attention because they were attempts at lumping bloggers into specific categories. This seemed to cause consternation among some folks, who felt they were unique and beyond categorization, just like everyone else.
5. Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - This was actually a follow-up post on a same-day entry about tips to make blogs more visitor-friendly. That post drew a lot of attention, probably because I named names. But the follow-up was more philosophical and thus made me sound smarter than I am. Not that that's a hard thing to do.

Honorable mention goes to this post from Thursday, December 5, 2002, wherein I blog about some of my favorite books. This, again, was a poorly-disguised attempt to appear more intellectual than I am. But, I really did read the books I discussed; what I left out was the fact that these are the only books I've ever read.

So, in summary, do something good for yourself. Go read your own writing. If you think your blogging reeks, give it up and spend all your time at the Gazette. But I suspect you'll find that you're doing something worthwhile, and worth continuing...regardless of your daily hit count.

Emergency Room Blues

Here's a workable definition of "eternity": The time period between 1:45 and 2:00 a.m. spent waiting for the ambulance to arrive while your wife's mother lays on your guest bedroom floor after a fall.

A separate but equal definition: The time period between 2:00 and 5:00 a.m. spent in the E.R. waiting for doctors and x-ray technicians while watching a procession of clichéd of unfortunates -- a headbleeding gang banger, a worried mom with a sick child, an old man who announces to the assembled group that his "pee is solid blood" -- come and go, seeking relief from angels of mercy hidden behind codelocked doors.

The eventual diagnosis was better than we feared...a fractured pelvis. How's that better? We feared a broken hip, something requiring major surgery. She's had three hip replacements on one side. No one should have to endure the suffering that accompanies that procedure even once, let alone thrice. Four? Unthinkable. The pelvic injury requires no surgery, just a few days bed rest possibly followed by some rehab. They may have her up and walking around later today.

Yet another reminder of how fragile life is. I advise you to put your computer to sleep right now, and go hug a family member.

UPDATE (2003-09-08 06:51) - The news is good...or as good as can be expected under the circumstances. She was transferred to rehab yesterday, and will likely be there less than 10 days. She's the toughest octogenarian I've ever known, and my bet is that she'll demand to go home in less than a week! As always, I'm grateful for the good thoughts and kind words from my fellow bloggers.

Pickin' and Grinnin'

Scott is thinking about taking up the guitar. I've lent him some advice based on my extensive experience as a perpetual beginning guitarist.

However, my experience is probably not applicable to anyone else in the world, as I am undoubtedly the strangest guitar player wannabe in the history of plucked instruments.

First, I'm left-handed, and I have a left-handed guitar (not a re-strung rightie like Jimi played). Nobody really wants to give me lessons because they think it would be too weird. I don't understand that, because it seems like having a student who sees the teacher's guitar in a non-mirror-image fashion would be a quicker study. But, what do I know?

Second, I read music...but not chords. Thanks to high school and college band experiences, I'm a fiend when it comes to interpreting and playing a melody line. But it's really REALLY hard to play simultaneous notes on a clarinet or sax, so the concept of chording is foreign to me.

The result is that I am a self-taught, melody-playing, chord-challenged novice guitarist. I can sight-read the melody line of practically any piece of music, but I can't decode a tab to save my life. I keep thinking, "well, how hard can chords be? I'll get to it someday." I'm going on three years of thinking that.

Nevertheless, taking up a musical instrument is a good thing for anyone to do, regardless of age or skill. Making music is one of the most heavenly of earthly pursuits, even if it's only music to the ears of the one making it.

Simple Question

Julie Neidlinger has transcended all the typical blog polls and lists and cut right to the heart of things, posing the question, "what is the meaning of life?" Ignore her attempts to blame me for bringing it up in the first place.

Bonus points will be provided for answers which do not include references to blogging, the Olson twins or NFL football.

I won't attempt an answer in this forum, but if you note the category of this post, you'll get an insight as to where I believe the answer resides. My somewhat more detailed thoughts are in the comments section of Julie's post, FWIW.

It's always something...

As if trying to keep up with umpteen flavors of browser and rapidly changing technologies wasn't hard enough for web designers, we now have this to deal with.

It never occurred to me that ad-blocking software might affect legitimate, even non-commercial websites. Live and learn.

[Found via Gadgetopia]

Krispy Kreme in Midland?

On a lighter and yet more filling note...can anyone spike or confirm the rumor my barber passed along to me yesterday, wherein the first tenant to spring up next to Starbucks will be a Krispy Kreme donut shop?

According to him (and when have you ever known a barber to be wrong?), the Midland franchise was acquired "long ago," but the corporate office hasn't yet given the go-ahead to build.

Given our latest local news, I advise them to move quickly while there are still customers with disposable income. I'll resist making any comment about the increasing labor supply to staff the shop.

Another Domino Falls

Yesterday's announcement of the effective closing of Marathon Oil's Midland office (OK...how would you characterize a reduction in staff from 166 to 10?) was not surprising. After all, the perceptive folk over at Jessica's Well have been predicting it for months. Like watching the replay of a wreck in slo-mo, the inevitability doesn't diminish the gruesome impact.

The upside -- and I'm really grasping at straws here -- is that we're much closer to the bottom than the top of this trendline, now that only two majors are left in Midland.

The article linked above tries to draw further consolation from the observation that these downsizing moves are really opportunities in disguise... opportunities for folks to strike out on their own and start new businesses. It might be instructive to someday analyze how successful that strategy was after BP downsized the ARCO Permian office. ARCO had a reputation of being one of the more entrepreneurial large oil companies, with the implication being that if anyone could be successful with new startups in Midland, it would be those ARCO professionals: engineers, geoscientists, accountants and marketers.

The reality is that the barriers to successful entry into the exploration/production side of the business are significant, and most of those efforts have, frankly, failed. Those who aimed for the niche or service side of the business have done better, but overall, there are few, if any, stories of grand success. One lesson to be learned is that being good at what you do is not always enough. From a purely anecdotal and statistical perspective, if you want to maintain your income, if not your quality of live, moving to Houston is a no-brainer.

In Praise of New Mexico Coffee

I'm not a pretentious guy. At least, I don't think I am. For instance, were it not in the shop with a broken timing chain, I'd be driving a '94 Plymouth Neon (ha! you didn't remember that Plymouth made a Neon, did you? And have you already forgotten Plymouth, whose company motto was "Striving For Adequacy"?). My new boots are a $60 pair of 10-year old calfskin ropers. My clothes shopping sprees are limited to a twice-yearly jaunt to Mervyn's to buy two pairs of stone-washed Wranglers Levis (see, I don't even know what kind of jeans I wear), and the shirt section of my closet is organized into the formal t-shirt and casual t-shirt categories.

But, if I do lapse into pretentiousness, it might be in the area of coffee, which I take very seriously. Sort of. Well, I know what I like.

And what I like is the coffee that comes from the New Mexico Piñon Coffee Company (hereafter referred to as NMPCC, so I don't have to mess with that tilde thing again), headquartered in Albuquerque. True to its name, the company roasts its coffee along with the nuts from the piñon (dang tilde) tree, which is a type of pine tree found primarily in desert climates. The combination yields a smooth but robust (well, that sounds sorta pretentious, doesn't it?) brew. We order it several pounds at a time, generally as whole beans, because my wife loves operating that cool little burr grinder she bought earlier this year.

They also make a wide variety of flavored coffees, all based on the same combination of bean and nut. I've never been enough of a coffee snob to dismiss flavored coffees, especially those with a chocolate undertone. Those flavors just belong together, somehow.

If you've spent much time in Santa Fe, and had coffee there, it's possible that it came from NMPCC. I wouldn't want to live in Santa Fe (yeah, that's right...it's too pretentious), but I love visiting the city. When we can't be there in person, drinking the coffee is the next best thing. I recommend it.

Biting the Feeding Hand

Midland County's lawsuit against most of the major oil and gas producers will likely become an emotional and polarizing event before its conclusion.

The lawsuit alleges fraud and conspiracy in the undervaluation of crude oil, which led to reduced asset valuations and ad valorem tax revenue for the county.

The major oil companies don't exactly have stellar reputations in this area. Several years ago, a couple of whistleblowers alerted the US government to the underreporting of market value for oil produced from federal- and Indian-owned lands, and most of the companies settled out-of-court for damages in the hundreds of millions of dollars. One of those whistleblowers happened to be a former co-worker. Last time I checked, he was cashing in to the tune of several million dollars... ample reward, I'm sure, for never being able to work in his chosen industry again. (Just a hunch.)

But this current action is, in my estimation, quite a bit more complicated. The computation of property values for ad valorem tax purposes relies on the estimation of the present value of the asset. For an oil-producing property, that's the future net cash flow of the property over its entire life, discounted back to the present by some predicted interest rate. It's not a complicated computation, but it is an imprecise one, and it relies on many factors in addition to the actual price of the product received in a prior year. So, it will be interesting to see how the plaintiffs make their case that they've lost "millions of dollars" in tax revenue... even if they are able to prove some monkey-business in the reporting of product sales prices by the companies.

That in itself is going to be tough. Sorta makes me wonder if there's a whistleblower involved here, too, someone with some inside local information and insight. Heaven knows that there are plenty of unemployed and underemployed oil and gas accountants around here, thanks to the downsizing and outsourcing strategies of the majors*.

From a macro perspective, this lawsuit smacks of shortsightedness. All but two of the named defendants have either shuttered or downsized their offices in Midland (or Odessa...Ector County is a co-plaintiff), moving hundreds of high-paying jobs and employees to Houston or Dallas or Oklahoma. The two that are left — ChevronTexaco and Oxy Permian — seem committed to Midland and the Permian Basin and have large professional staffs here, but they both also have large Houston offices.

I can't help thinking that it would have been smarter for our county officials to omit those two companies from the lawsuit, at least until they find out how it turns out with the others. If it can be proven that the suit has legitimacy, they could be added (or better yet, engaged in some cost-saving settlement talks); if the court throws out the case, the companies haven't had to waste significant time and money in defending themselves. Why give the remaining majors yet another excuse to cut and run?

[In the interest of full disclosure — while I'm not a journalist, I think it's ethically proper to let you know where my interests reside — my wife is an employee of one of those two companies.]

*If you're not familiar with the term "major" oil company, it's a commonly-used term for those companies whose lines of business are vertically-integrated...that is, they not only explore for, drill for and produce oil and gas, but also transport, refine and/or market the associated products (like gasoline). Oil and gas companies which don't engage in any of the three latter businesses are often referred to as "independents."

Campaign Blues

Am I the only one who finds the timing of the next presidential election to be highly inappropriate? I mean, what were we thinking?

The problem isn't the election, per se, but the campaign leading up to it. As a nation, we've been through a tragedy of epic proportions and two wars, and I just don't think we're ready for the gushingingly stupid and divisive rhetoric that will be blasting past us like shrapnel for the next year.

I had the misfortune to hear excerpts of John Kerry's Labor Day speech several times yesterday, and they just depressed me. He had little to say that that was noteworthy, in and of itself, but he did succeed in clearly articulating his perception that we're a doomed nation whose only hope is to tear down what little we have left before we can start building it back up. Yeah, that's really a message that "resonates."

Sometimes, I think we'd be better off if the Presidential term of office was limited to a single, seven-year stint, no exceptions. Why seven years? No reason, except that it doesn't correspond to any other elected office's term, and therefore would only rarely ever provide overlapping campaigns. And seven years would give us, the people, a bit more of a respite from one of those campaigns.

Unless, God forbid, it was decided that campaigns should start three years in advance.

Motivation

I'm happy to report that I have a new website client, the Midland Shooters Association. I plan to give them the very best work I can. Nothing focuses the mind like having a 1,000-member organization as a client and knowing that each member owns at least one firearm, and knows how to use it.

I thought about suggesting a barter arrangement: a website for a new Berretta 9mm Cougar. Then I remembered that my Python .357 hasn't been unholstered in a decade, so cash seems like a more practical choice.

But, to be truthful, however they want to pay me, it'll be just fine. Yessiree, bob...just fine.

Easing Back

Hi, folks...it's me...remember?

We went to Fort Stockton for a long weekend -- spent time with family, celebrated my mom's birthday, got caught up on all the local gossip...some of which is definitely bloggable -- and I'm having a hard time getting back in the swing of things.

But I did want to put up a quick review of "Open Range," which we saw at a matinee yesterday. I liked it, a lot. I wouldn't put it in my all-time 25 favorite movies, but it's in the top three of the best I've seen this summer, and maybe even behind only PoTC.

Robert Duvall was born to play a movie cowpoke, wasn't he? I've been around a bunch of "real cowboys" in my time, and I can assure you that Duvall has the character nailed. The dialog, mannerisms, facial expressions...not a false note among them. And I haven't seen too many reviews give Annette Bening her fair due for bringing some realistic grace-without-glamour to a supporting role.

The movie also had the most realistic "Old West" gunplay of any movie I can recall. Lots of shots fired; lots of misses. I'm not sure that old scattergun of Duvall's could really lift a man off the ground and fling him against a wall six feet away, but we'll allow a little artistic license.

But the thing I liked best about the movie -- and I just realized it -- is that everybody but the bad guy had normal accents!

[Although it raises a question in my mind: were those "Texas drawls" realistic for that period? IOW, how long did it take for those speech patterns to develop after the founding of our nation, and how did they come to be? I assume a European origin, but I'll be danged if I can figure out what weird amalgam brought that drawl into existence. Any historical linguists out there (if that's the proper discipline to pass that buck to)?]