| Democracy! Huzzah! |
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| 08:28pm 09/10/2008 |
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Note: the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own and in no way reflect any official policy. Thank you, Title 10.
Got my absentee ballot today! I find that this whole Air Force thing really puts one in the mood to participate in democracy, and so the arrival of the ballot has been the occasion for some merriment. Alas, there is a problem, because I find myself reading through all the proposed amendments to the Colorado State Constitution, and I find myself thinking, more often than not, "what the fuck were they thinking?"
I mean, sure, it's politics. The standard proceedure is that if the current rule isn't working, to add another rule, which has been pointed out as not working time and time again, but still pursued because not enough people think it applies to them. (For a satire of this proceeding, I recommend Stanislaw Lem's Fifth Voyage of Ijon Tichy.) And some of these attacks--ah, they're underhanded! Regardless of one's own opinion on the abortion debate, can we at least agree not to try to sneak in amendments about it? Observe! The offending Article. I mean, I believe my standpoint on this--and indeed, all attempts to regulate behavior beyond what is strictly necessary for a functioning society--are a matter of public record, but even if they were completely otherwise, this would still cheapen the whole principle of the democratic rule of law. Is it really so much to ask? |
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| 04:18pm 28/03/2008 |
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We've been doing unarmed combat for Friday PT lately.
When I took off my shirt before getting in the shower, I noticed that there were spots of blood on the back. I don't know whose it is, though I'm fairly certain it isn't mine.
I love my job. |
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| 06:35pm 31/07/2007 |
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According to the Air Force, I'm a Combustion Research Scientist. Mine is an evil laugh. |
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| Take two down, pass them around... |
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| 08:01pm 24/06/2007 |
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Mt. Elbert 14,433' 1 Sawatch
Mt. Massive 14,421' 2 Sawatch
Mt. Harvard 14,420' 3 Sawatch
Blanca Peak 14,345' 4 Sangre de Cristo
La Plata Peak 14,336' 5 Sawatch
Uncompahgre Peak 14,309' 6 San Juan
Crestone Peak 14,294' 7 Sangre de Cristo
Mt. Lincoln 14,286' 8 Tenmile-Mosquito
Grays Peak 14,270' 9 Front Range
Mt. Antero 14,269' 10 Sawatch
Torreys Peak 14,267' 11 Front Range
Castle Peak 14,265' 12 Elk
Quandary Peak 14,265' 13 Tenmile-Mosquito
Mt. Evans 14,264' 14 Front Range
Longs Peak 14,255' 15 Front Range
Mt. Wilson 14,246' 16 San Juan
Mt. Cameron 14,238' * Tenmile-Mosquito
Mt. Shavano 14,229' 17 Sawatch
Mt. Belford 14,197' 18 Sawatch
Crestone Needle 14,197' 19 Sangre de Cristo
Mt. Princeton 14,197' 20 Sawatch
Mt. Yale 14,196' 21 Sawatch
Mt. Bross 14,172' 22 Tenmile-Mosquito
Kit Carson Peak 14,165' 23 Sangre de Cristo
El Diente Peak 14,159' * San Juan
Maroon Peak 14,156' 24 Elk
Tabeguache Peak 14,155' 25 Sawatch
Mt. Oxford 14,153' 26 Sawatch
Mt. Sneffels 14,150' 27 San Juan
Mt. Democrat 14,148' 28 Tenmile-Mosquito
Capitol Peak 14,130' 29 Elk
Pikes Peak 14,110' 30 Front Range
Snowmass Mtn. 14,092' 31 Elk
Mt. Eolus 14,083' 32 San Juan
Windom Peak 14,082' 33 San Juan
Challenger Point 14,081' 34 Sangre de Cristo
Mt. Columbia 14,073' 35 Sawatch
Missouri Mountain 14,067' 36 Sawatch
Humboldt Peak 14,064' 37 Sangre de Cristo
Mt. Bierstadt 14,060' 38 Front Range
Conundrum Peak 14,060' * Elk
Sunlight Peak 14,059' 39 San Juan
Handies Peak 14,048' 40 San Juan
Culebra Peak 14,047' 41 Sangre de Cristo
Ellingwood Point 14,042' 42 Sangre de Cristo
Mt. Lindsey 14,042' 43 Sangre de Cristo
North Eolus 14,039' * San Juan
Little Bear Peak 14,037' 44 Sangre de Cristo
Mt. Sherman 14,036' 45 Tenmile-Mosquito
Redcloud Peak 14,034' 46 San Juan
Pyramid Peak 14,018' 47 Elk
Wilson Peak 14,017' 48 San Juan
Wetterhorn Peak 14,015' 49 San Juan
North Maroon Peak 14,014' * Elk
San Luis Peak 14,014' 50 San Juan
Mt. of the Holy Cross 14,005' 51 Sawatch
Huron Peak 14,003' 52 Sawatch
Sunshine Peak 14,001' 53 San Juan
48 sufficiently isolated and therefore ranked 14ers left to climb. |
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| It is done |
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| 09:06pm 28/04/2007 |
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Yesterday, being Friday, 27 April 2007, I completed the AF ROTC program. My last LLAB came to a close. C/Ober, my Wing Commander, handed over power to C/Johnson, and with that my station as Mission Support Group Commander. No more LLABs or long Fridays of ROTC bruhaha. No more potential for getting up at 0600 for morning PT. I will no longer be responsible for training a host of GMC cadets how to not look like shit. I am less than 2 weeks away from accepting my rank as a 2nd Lieutenant.
It hasn't sunk in yet. |
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| ZOO! |
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| 11:59am 04/11/2006 |
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I'd just like to say that Zoo is an awesome and quite potent beverage. Between my first glass, the Booze Fairy, Zoo Crew, and hooliganery at the soccer game, the amount of Zoo I consumed was really quite impressive. And it rendered me entirely invincible to Ligocki's bomb later that evening--apparently I was supposed to notice when I knocked over/stepped on/kicked his keys, but this was entirely ineffective. Scotty spent a reasonable portion of the evening thereafter determining what my threshold for caring was, and may I say he found it to be rather high.
Long live the Zoo. |
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| 11:43pm 09/08/2006 |
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If, at any time in your life you find yourself considering problems that you want to go away, and then stop and think, no, no, that would require the left-hand path, must not turn that way, it may be time to switch reading material. |
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| 09:03pm 29/07/2006 |
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In deference to Sara, I now (belatedly) will complete this thing:
Once you are tagged you MUST write an entry about 6 weird habits/things you do/odd information, as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next six people to be tagged and list their names.
1. I may be manic-depressive. I'm not sure. Well, fairly sure about the manic part--that's the only thing I can think of that explains the mad rictus of an expression and giggling that occasionally hits me. Yes, I'm going in to a job where they might give me weapons. I'm okay. Really.
2. For some reason, I enjoy giving blood. Medically is fine. I'm even developing a sense for the quality of phlebotomists that are coming around--and there is a range, let me tell you. Some of these people could not hit a barn with a fuel-air bomb... also, the snacks they give you afterward are pretty good, though not, I think, the major selling point.
3. Bob Ross, like many professors, has an incredible soporific effect on me, which I will use if I feel it's to my advantage.
4. According to a book of colour-vision tests I encountered the other day during a trip to the Astronomy Library in Robinson, I am completely green-blind. I knew I was colour-blind already, but damn. On the one hand, the rest of the colours seem to be quite sufficient to make use of a modern colour screen. On the other hand, it makes me feel quite paranoid--what is everyone else seeing? Madness, I tell you.
5. Someone put legs in my pants this morning, and I don't know who. They're still there. It's a tight fit.
6. There is no difference between caligraphy, music, and fighting. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something.
Six other victims, eh? Alright, if you're one of the first six people to read this, do it, unless you've already done it. Use a poisson distribution, confidence level 95%, lambda=4 independent people viewing it per hour, to determine if you're one of those people. Go. |
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| 09:50pm 21/03/2006 |
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mood:  content music: Little Fugue in G Minor, J. S. Bach
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Ah, kendo. The most glorious sport in the world. For those who are unfamiliar, it's basically japanese fencing, focusing on the use of the katana. (Indeed, high-ranked teachers are required to use actual katana for performance of the kata.) If you want to know more about it than that, well, I would be very happy to tell you about it, at extraordinary length. Anyway, whenever I'm home, I make a point of attending kendo practices at my home dojo, Mushinkan Kendo Dojo. In particular, I haven't found anything in or near Pasadena that is comparable and workable, and so these practices are the only ones I get. Maintaining a decent level of skill is proportionally difficult, but I still love it. And it's strange, really--by Tech standards, or by those, at least, who are generally willing to fight me, I'm not too bad at fighting. But I go back to Mushinkan, and then there is no shortage of those who can wipe the floor with me. Ryan can, who is less practiced than Carl-sensei, who is vastly inferior to Uchida-sensei. And then, when he visits, Ota-sensei, who is as much better than Uchida-sensei as U-s is above me. Yeah. Low man on the totem-pole here. And yet, I love it. The fight is so... elegant. So perfectionistic, detailed, and meditative. And, either consequently or necessarily, conducted without fear of pain. One or two practices every 10 weeks or more doesn't allow for a lot of improvement, or even holding in the same skill level. It's better than nothing, though, and I usually learn something to correct, which makes it worthwhile.
That said, there has got to be a better way of staying ready for kendo practice whilst I'm in Pasadena. There's always sporadic interest, but getting people to actually come and practice, or to find time to practice in the first place, is always an uphill battle. Such is life, I suppose. |
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| Meme tag |
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| 04:23pm 15/01/2006 |
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Well, thanks to thursday63, I am compelled to complete this meme.
"Name five of life's simple pleasures, try to be original..."
1. Fighting
2. The pleasure of finding things out
3. Tickling the ticklish.
4. Roughly any orderly combination of ink, paper, and occasionally cloth, leather (tanned or otherwise), ponce, quills, gold-leaf, ground stones, egg-yolks, highly speciallized knives, burnishers, brushes, reed-pens, wax, oils of divers nature, woodcarvings, complicated printing machinery, wood, thread, glue &c. &c.
5. Fires, particularly wood fires. |
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| 12:27am 28/12/2005 |
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Well, in light of my upcomming travels, I'm staying up now to sleep in the car later. I think it will work. For those who aren't updated, the family is going up to northern Yellowstone (southern Montana) to do some cross-country skiing, and similar recreations. Since I'm up, I decided to take some tests that interested me... curse the memes. But perhaps they will propagate!
a Ninja Warlord
You scored 7 Honor, 7 Justice, 7 Adventure, and 2 Individuality! | | Your name would be but a rumor and story told to frighten children, but your swift and powerful command would leave entire cities in rubble. You are not just a ninja, but the sort that could lead a clan and a nation by the firmness of your honor, the strength of your conviction, and the will to carry your power into as yet unknown realms. Muster your unseen army. You'll do just fine. |  |
My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: | You scored higher than 39% on Ninjinuity | | You scored higher than 82% on Knightlyness | | You scored higher than 58% on Cowboiosity | | You scored higher than 3% on Piratical Bent |
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Heavy Infantry
Hurrah! You are 80% a warrior! | | You have skill at arms and the comradeship to be a truly useful warrior on the battlefield. You provide the backbone of the army. The only thing preventing you from becoming a legendary warrior is your commonsense and your high value for self-preservation.
Archetype: Roman Principe/Triarius
Hmmm, I hope that after your 20 years of service you don't get a piece of land near a certain little village in Gaul :)
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My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: | You scored higher than 99% on Raaargh |
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Mmmmm... How I love the fighting. I don't know why it is, but there is something deeply attractive about combat. It's so pure... I do recognize that this isn't a common view-point, but I think it's a good one all the same. |
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| The memes! |
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| 11:36pm 25/12/2005 |
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Mmmm... yes... Crush them all! Crush them all, destroy those who stand in your way!
The Black Queen
You scored 3 Power-Finesse, 4 Leader-Follower, 4 Unique-Ordinary, and 2 Offense-Defense! | | It is said that still waters run deep, and this is to some extent true of you. You watch the backs of your minions, keeping them safe. You allow your underlings to do much of the dirty-work, and then you use your considerable power to bring the opponent to his knees. Preferably at your feet. Your extravagant power is impossible to ignore, but sometimes 'they' forget just how powerful it is. All this said, however, beware the charming white knight, who alone of the pieces can steal your heart without you realizing it. |  |
My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: | You scored higher than 47% on Power-Finesse | | You scored higher than 76% on Leader-Follower | | You scored higher than 72% on Unique-Ordinary | | You scored higher than 31% on Offense-Defense |
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And never forget those little joys of life: destroying your enemy utterly, driving him forth, and hearing the lamentations of the survivors. |
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| I love it, God help me, I do love it. |
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| 09:27pm 20/12/2005 |
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It, in this case, being kendo. I don't get nearly as much practice in these days as I used to, what with college; that which I do get focuses around my visits to Mushinkan Kendo Dojo when I'm at home, so we might say that I get in 2-3 really good practices every 10 weeks, if that. It is odd, then, because I think I am fairly strong, at least by Tech standards, and yet my weakness is abundantly obvious when I get to the dojo. Uchida-sensei, West-sensei, and Ryan just go, and go, and go, by the time I'm winded. Sure, one could blame the altitude, but I'd rather not myself. And yet, though it has me breathing heavily, unable to lift my arms by the end of it, I cannot conceive of not going to kendo practice. It transcends my usual love of fighting in to something else... who can say? It is, at least, a good reminder of just how far I have to go.
Other than that, Christmas break ("Winter Festivities" my ass) continues on its merry way. I've been resting a great deal, to my great pleasure, playing divers video games, notably of the FPS genre, watching films I had been meaning to see, running, and generally doing things that are usually lacking. In particular, it has been gloriously cold out--sunday, when we (and by we, I mean the usual crowd of mostly middle-aged men and two sons, same as every other year I've done it) were putting up the Nativity in the churchyard, it was snowing, with a high somewhere around 15. I get a lot of people around here who claim that they would love to have the Pasadena style 70 degrees in December sort of climate, but I maintain that cold and snow is what December is for. The same goes for November, January, February, March, early April, and late October. Hm. I would appear to have singled out about half the year; so be it. At least, then, you can feel good when the trees and flowers start to bloom again, with a true feeling of rebirth. In southern California, everything is always in bloom and it loses some of that joyous quality of rebirth. I would be very surprised if morris dancing (or anything similar) could develop naturally in Pasadena or its environs.
Other than that, not much to tell. Saw a few old teachers, subbed a class, remembered why I hold high school so richly in contempt... Yeah. And, one other thing whilst I'm stream-of-conciousnessing it, you all must see Serenity. If you've seen it already, you must see it again. I don't care, the movie is that good. If it were any better, it would lead to some sort of invouluntary convulsions, I'm sure. |
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| Our generation's variation on the Song of Protest |
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| 09:42am 09/12/2005 |
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So, no matter how bad Tech administration gets--and they can be pretty bad at times--they have stopped short of being openly and flagrantly evil. It was this little gem that put it all in to perspective.
http://www.csindy.com/csindy/current/publiceye.html
I should point out, also, that Dr. Anton Schulzki is one of the finest history teachers Palmer has ever had. Nice to see their priorities.
So, the time is probably for writing letters and such. Which would probably be more effective than, say, waltzing in to the administrative offices with a shotgun.
It would, however, be less satisfying. |
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| It's better than work |
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| 04:13pm 07/11/2005 |
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You know, it's been a long time since I updated this thing. Part of this is attributable to laziness, I'm sure, but at the same time, I'm not sure that there has been much happening. I mean, yes, midterms, some of which were more interesting than others, but who really wants to hear about those? ROTC is much different from previous years, now that I actually have rank (C/Captain, to whit), but again, it is mostly administrativa that is largely uninteresting. And, of my readership, who really wants to hear about the subtleties of the latest Group Leadership Problem that I designed? Anyone?
A quick bit of introspection reminds me that this is my livejournal and that if I want to navel-gaze for 3000 words, my word I should do so without any second thoughts. This leads me to the further conclusion that I'm not really interested in putting a lot of effort in to this entry. Something of a "I am not dead yet" entry, and little more. But it is also within my authority to do that as well.
That said, I do recall a couple of memes that I have lying around, that I should probably dispose of. Ones that came from a while ago. So I shall post them, because memes are nature's mental viruses.
Hannibal
You scored 65 Wisdom, 70 Tactics, 64 Guts, and 37 Ruthlessness! | Carthaginian general, an implacable and formidable enemy of Rome. Although knowledge of him is based primarily on the reports of his enemies, Hannibal appears to have been both just and merciful. He is renowned for his tactical genius.
Other leaders like yourself include: Robert E. Lee, Joan of Arc, and Alexander the Great |  |
My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: | You scored higher than 65% on Wisdom | | You scored higher than 57% on Tactics | | You scored higher than 71% on Guts | | You scored higher than 19% on Ruthlessness |
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WTF? I thought I had something about pirates, and I get this new-age malarky. Oh well, it fills the collumn.
Lava
~ 40% Water ~ 62% Wind ~ 81% Earth ~ 66% Fire ~ | | You and me and everyone
throwing fire at the sun
Your colours are a warm orange and fiery red. You are likely energetic, ambitious, progressive and in charge of yourself. However, you may sometimes appear insensitive or flustered. Wearing a Crysocolla helps enhance tranquillity, patience, and gentleness, and thus bring you a bit closer to harmony.
In detail:
Your Ground Chakra, which is associated with the element of fire and represents our basic desires and driving force, and your Creative Chakra, which is associated with the element of earth and represents our need to preserve and grow, are predominant.
Your Throat Chakra, which is associated with the element of wind and represents our desire to learn and communicate, and your Heart Chakra, which is associated with the element of water and represents our sense of love and compassion are not quite as prominent.
These are the results you will get if you score highly on...
None of the four elements: Balance Wind: Gust Fire: Blaze Water: River Earth: Valley Wind & Fire: Thunder Wind & Water: Clouds Wind & Earth: Canyon Fire & Earth: Lava Fire & Water: Tornado Water & Earth: Trees Wind, Fire & Earth: Storm Wind, Fire & Water: Stars Wind, Water & Earth: Forest Fire, Water & Earth: Avalanche All four elements: Harmony |  |
My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: | You scored higher than 8% on water | | You scored higher than 18% on wind | | You scored higher than 98% on earth | | You scored higher than 52% on fire |
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Right. Send the copy down to the printers, and have the boys hawking it by sun-up. |
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| Here is the proverbial cliff... |
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| 11:10pm 30/09/2005 |
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What could go wrong?
First time I tried this, I got Innocence. Yeah, right. Now that I'm feeling better, and not putting so many things down, I have achieved an altogether more plausible result.
You are Form 8, Demon: The Destroyer.
"And The Demon took advantage of the chaos
and seized civillization. With grace and
style, Demon slit The Goddess's belly and
drowned the world in her blood. The Goddess,
The Demon, and the world were no
more."
Some examples of the Demon Form are Seth (Egyptian)
and The Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Christian).
The Demon is associated with the concept of
destruction, the number 8, and the element of
earth.
His sign is the full moon.
As a member of Form 8, you are a very strong willed
individual. You don't let others' opinions
sway your own and you're usually not afraid to
speak your mind. However, some may see you as
a bit overly passionate but it's just because
you never back down from your values. No
matter what, you always do everything with
style. Demons are the best friends to have
because they will back you up.
Which Mythological Form Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
That will be all. I have to get back to only killing. |
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