Writing is a Socially Form of Schizophrenia

"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia" - E.L. Doctorow. Yes, it's been awhile since I've blogged - again. And what's up with all the spam comments all of a sudden? It's like they actually think I want to visit a website on credit card. Glad everyone enjoyed the convention report. Hope you got a tiny bit of the pleasure from reading it as I got from being there! Anyway, not a great deal has been happening, although that's kind of relative, really. Another monthly trip to hospital ended up in the same bed in the same room as last time and the woman across from my bed was still there. Talk about deja vu. A to-do list that grows by three items every time I cross one off, it spans 2 A4 pages now, several shrink visits. I really let him have it on tuesday- he looked like he needed to wake up anyway, felt a bit lighter afterwards at least. Getting addicted to Bulla Crunch ice creams. Yeah, in winter, go figure! A few nightmares, back to the plane crashes again. Some anxiety. 

Working on it, trying not to have to take extra medication 'cos I hate having to do that, and thank you Wendy for the good healing vibes, I'm sure it helped last night. A shopping spree at The Book Hog. I bought "The Mammoth Book Of Erotica", "Miracles Of Archangel Michael", and "If You Meet The Buddha On The Road, Kill Him - The Pilgrimage Of Psychotherapy Patients". Neck pain. Does it ever end the anxiety/tension makes it worse I think. Writing fiction. Getting frustrated with said fiction. Putting said fiction away and starting another. Downloading HDTV episodes of Supernatural. You're surprised? Learning about BitTorrent (finally). My god, it's so fast! Can't believe I haven't gotten into this before. I was too nervous, but I think I've officially been re-instated geek status now (it was touch and go for a while) luckily I upgraded to unlimited downloads a few months ago. The sort of twee person who thinks swearing is in any way a sign of a lack of education or a lack of verbal interest is just a fucking lunatic.

Dreams are Answers to Questions

Dreams are answers to questions we haven't yet figured out how to ask. It wasn't a 'scary' Halloween nightmare, just full of overwhelming emotions. Wave after wave of unrelenting grief and helplessness. So, a nightmare nonetheless. A dream is a microscope through which we look at the hidden occurrences in our soul. Erich Fromm. In a massive building complex, with both open grounds, hills, and buildings. Maybe it was a school, or a hospital or something, I think maybe it was a combination of both, as there were many sick people, as well as college aged people, some skating around crazily on roller blades or bikes, which I considered was pretty dangerous for other people on the footpaths. And others were sick. The students all seemed happy and carefree, such a contrast to the others. I walked through rooms of people waiting for help. Many of them were grey, pale, and had dark circles beneath their eyes. some looked well, they were there with family members, or waiting for family members. They all had a sense of resignation. Like a triage hospital ward in a third world country during an epidemic... 

They knew they wouldn't get enough help, the assistance they or their loved ones needed before it was too late. And yet, they came, and sat, and waited, because it's what you did, it's all they could do. As I walked through, I felt the need to sit next to a particular woman. Her newborn baby had been taken away for treatment and she was alone as she waited for news. I sat beside her and gently said hello. She told me her baby was dying of a degenerative brain disease, and there was such hopelessness in her voice. Numbness, emptiness, as though she'd reached the limit of emotions and pain and fear, and there was nothing left. I said to her quietly, 'my brother is dying of the same disease', because she seemed to need to hear that she wasn't alone, and I needed to connect with someone too. I could feel everyone in the room looking at me with sympathy and concern, although I knew that they were in just as bad, if not worse conditions themselves. But I had to keep moving. had to continue, it was just what I did, what I had to do. as though it was a part of me I couldn't control, an aspect of my soul that i couldn't fight. And so I left the room and continued walking.

Think of us as People

Chicago dyke, one of my favorite writers at corrente and a regular in many of my favorite comment mosh pits, is tired of being pigeonholed into a stereotypical voting demographic: The question I have for you: is there a “White American vote?” I’m pretty sure that if you were to describe your family, it would be in a way very similar to what I’ve just done. So should I speak of Hillary’s lock on the “White American vote” because she’s White and speaks to You People? Or Obama’s challenge reaching out to that same group? If so, why, and how? I’m just getting a little tired of people treating me and my family as if we must be all the same, because most of us have curly hair and browned eyes and skin. If it’s true that the African-American vote is the most important bloc for Democrats and we mostly vote that way at the Presidential level, it most certainly is not because we all think alike, but because that is the option foisted upon us by a majority which ignores many of our values as it constructs the political spectrum. But if we were given “more” choices, like a Halfrican and a Woman who Stood By Her Man, as well as a Hippie and a Just White Constitutionalist? Imagine that: some of us will make different choices!

Wire Detector Circuit

Electronics represent such a vast and complex domain and the possibilities are so unlimited. You can find thousands of useful projects that will help you grow professionally as an engineer and not only. On the web, you can discover projects about wire detectors, broken wire detectors, wire detector circuits. Portable loads such as electrical irons, hand drillers, halogen flood lights, video camera are powered by connecting long 2 or 3-core cables to the mains plug. The power cord wires are subjected to mechanical strain and stress, due to the prolonged usage, which can lead to internal snapping of wires at any point. Solutions to that problem represent the beauty of electronics. Electroschematics.com invites you to discover our projects and articles for beginners and professionals. Our skill and ideas we’ll guide through electronic projects and will explain every step in details so you’ll have no difficulty in understanding.

One of interesting projects is the electrical live wire detector. You can see a detailed design for live wire detector. We are talking about a circuit that can detect electrical wires connected to the mains (meaning live wires). It presents a LED for visual signalization and also a buzzer for audio. Placing the detector  closer to the electrical wire the LED will flash at a higher frequency. We guide you step by step through  the schematic of the wire detector circuit here where you can find more detailed informations about electrical wire detector circuits and more http://www.electroschematics.com/8804/electrical-wire-detector/. This is a quite a simple schematic, the first stage has the antenna in base of T1m, the capacitor C1 is used to filter parasite high frequency signal which are captured by the antenna. We also guide to set the detector circuit to a maximum sensitivity. Talking about wire detector specifications and what it does: detects the live wire, optical indication, adjustable sensitivity, 9V battery power supply. 

A Man’s Judgment

One thing that feminism has done is convince men that women are impervious to men’s opinions of them, especially “beta” men. Actually, I’m realizing more and more that this is not true. I started thinking about this after a post by Professor Ashur at The University of Man called “Women Care What You Think of Them”, in which he observed that most women care deeply about how males (even beta males) regard them, and that the exercise of male judgment is an unseen and very powerful social tool that beta males have allowed to atrophy, out of a misplaced sense of chivalry. Just as mankind has always sought approval from its gods, women seek the approval of men. And Dalrock commented: This point is often overlooked in the manosphere. Women care very much what ordinary respected men think of them. Even slight judgement from fairly ordinary men burns them in a way that I don’t think we men can truly understand. There is great power here if we aren’t tricked into abdicating it. I realized that this is quite accurate; men don’t realize how much their judgment means to women, and a woman cares very much what men think of her. Women don’t believe other women because we are notorious for telling each other “little white lies” or just not saying what we really think because we are trying not to hurt the other woman’s feelings. Sometimes the bad advice is motivated by jealousy. But a woman notices and takes to heart what a man says to her, whatever response may be. Disapproval from a man is extremely unpleasant for most women.

Slut-shaming has been recommended as a way to influence women to return to traditional Biblical morality.  If slut-shaming were to work, it would have to be carried out by men; women will never, ever do this, and even if they did, their opinions will not carry weight without a man’s judgement to back it up. However, a man must be careful in how he applies this judgment. Our culture no longer accepts moral judgment from men toward women, and, especially in the workplace, the man who dares to attempt it must be very careful to consider how his words could be used against him in a potential harassment complaint.  It takes creativity, discernment, and bravery for a man to pass moral judgment on female behavior. It has been my experience that if a woman feels that the man entirely condemns who she is or even hates her, she will not feel any incentive to work for his approval. However if she feels that he cares about her well-being, she will want to correct any behavior about which he expresses disapproval.  This man need not have even a particularly intimate relationship with the woman in question. I think there is more power here than men realize. There is a reason why the meme “Who are you to judge me?” Feminists, including those within the Church, don’t just demand the right to do what they want to do; they also demand that they not be subjected to any negative judgement, no matter how destructive their actions are. When men cannot pass judgment on female behavior, this is the final result. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Akihabara

Akihabara also known as Electric City in Japan, is a major shopping area for electronics, computer goods, anime and otaku (Otaku is what the Japanese refer to those with obsessive interests in the manga/anime culture).  And I'm not talking here a mere hobby. I'm talking living in fantasy land with blown up life size manga characters where the individual has completely withdrawn from reality. If you want to observe their lives even more, look no further than the Maid Cafe phenomenon, where a typical manga style maid will serve tea and desserts. Although mostly frequented by men or so I saw, 3 of the girls in our group including myself and 3 guys decided to brave the awkwardness of this experience and see it for ourselves.

And so we went down an alley and up a sketchy elevator to a completely different land, where we were welcomed with a flattering "welcome home master / princess!". No picture allowed of the girls or the interior except of the food. And so the experience began with awkward English conversations about sprinkling magic on our desserts for more deliciousness and some "twinkle-twinkle" little dance. Some men even paid an extra fee so that the maid would play a little board game with them. As strange as all of these services may seem there is absolutely no sexual tone in this experience. I guess the maid cafe has replaced in the modern subculture the role of a geisha as both are really just entertainer, entertaining the likes of men!

Music to My Ears

Once we are tucked into bed up in the sleeping loft, the yurt roof is only about three feet above our heads. Since around midnight last night, I have been listening to the lovely soft sound of rain falling on that roof just above me. For a short while this morning it even turned to snow... fortunately not the foot of snow that fell in Flagstaff, Arizona last night. Ah, the unexpected pleasures of living at a high altitude. It's quite chilly too, barely topping 40 so far today and after dragging all of the fragile plants and seedlings back out on the deck this morning when I got up, I drug them all back in about the time it started snowing. That's alright, I expect I will be dragging things in and out a few more times before real spring finally gets here. In the meantime, I feel this joyous peace over the better than half inch of rain that has fallen so far, with more expected through Thursday. That might not sound like much to most people, but in the high desert it means I can stop scanning the horizon for smoke for at least a few days.

Earlier this year I learned about a winter hardy rosemary called Madalene Hill. Rosemary is one of my most favorite cooking herbs and it seems every year I am hauling a huge pot in and out during the winter, or watching my rosemary slowly losing its needles and dying from being in the house. I ordered it through Mountain Valley Growers along with some sage plants I've been looking for and they finally arrived today. I have to say I was impressed with the health of the plants and the care they had been shipped with. Too many times plants I've ordered arrive barely alive and with the harshness of this environment, they often don't survive. By the time the weather warms up again, these little guys should be ready to be potted and moved out onto the deck. This company offers an interesting mix of hard to find herbs and plants and I'll definitely order from them again. The helicopter was supposed to be picking Mike up at 5:30 this morning to take him out to the rig in the Gulf that he will be working on for the next week or so. I haven't heard anything from him yet so I hope everything went smoothly and that he is getting settled in. He may not have phone access, but we should be able to exchange emails.

Summer City Facts

Last summer! Once again every summer, we all dream about escaping the big city we're trapped in, enjoy more of the real life, less of the obnoxious polluted air. Last summer I was tired of dreaming so I finally took action (I must shamefully admit, that's a first)! I had always dreamed about going on this amazing trip, getting to know nice people, enjoying real meals, good wines, not to mention some mind blowing landscapes, most of them born in my imagination back when I was reading Sci-Fi literature and looking at corny movies. My only problem is I never had some specific dream city in mind! I mean there's great wine in Paris, delicious pasta in Rome, fun people to hang out with in London. How is it even possible to pick only one city when looking for the adventure of your life! Unfortunately, when you don't want to spend all of the last years savings on one short vacation you have to hurry making that decision.

You'll most probably know by March if in July you will be enjoying an Ice coffee on the beach or you will be riding the same bus to work, thinking about your plans for next summer. It was March 14th when I've decided. After patiently checking out all the traditional travelling websites, I somehow wasn't satisfied. I needed to learn more than the usual stuff about the city I had been dreaming to make my escape in all of my life. I mean, we all know where we can find Big Ben and the Eiffel tour, no surprise there. Nevertheless, there are some interesting cities facts that will make your decision a lot easier. Without hesitating, I chose Barcelona, Spain. I won't tell you what interesting facts made me chose this city. All I can say is that this was the right decision. I had the time of my life! A summer dream all right. Anyway, the funny thing about one’s summer dream is that it has nothing to do with the "once in a lifetime" philosophy. You can live your summer dream as many times you wish. Just make sure you find the most interesting city.

Running on Empty

Have you ever run out of ideas? I do all the time. I think part of it has to do with the fact that my brain has to stay engaged so much of the time that when I finally stop being task oriented, and try to shift over to the creative mode, my brain decides it's nap time. This time of the year I seem to be even more busy than usual, and it gets even harder to come up with ideas. So I'm putting a call out... got any questions that I can try and answer here? While my brain is taking a siesta, let me take a few moments to point you towards a calendar that was pulled together by folks over at Not Your Father's Pin-up blog. About a week ago they released a pin-up calendar to raise funds for the Pink Ribbon International organization on the Not-Your-Father's Pin-up blog. About 25 artists contributed to this calendar, and all the profits will go to the Pink Ribbon organization to help raise awareness for breast cancer and help fund research.