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Is it the End?

Well, I've been busy lately and really have been wrestling with what to do with this blog. I'm currently working one full-time job, one part-time job and taking 2 classes not to mention trying to maintain some kind of social life (my how social lives change when you're in bed by 10 most nights). As you can probably guess, I don't have alot of extra time. As much as I'd like to totally blame it on being busy, when I've sat down to write a blog post lately, I just haven't really wanted to. There's been numerous posts that I've started but just could never get into and ended up deleting without ever finishing.

I've really enjoyed my 3 and a half years of blogging (2 and a half here and a year on live journal prior). I've made alot of friends and an enemy or two (hey, that means I was doing a good job, right?). I've really had the chance to have my views on any of number of things challenged which always leads to a greater opportunity for reflection and growth. Despite all my typos and the occasional strangely constructed sentence (from where I'd get distracted in the middle of typing a sentence and come back and finish the thought differently than how I'd started it), I think blogging has helped me learn to better articulate my thoughts. Perhaps most importantly it was alot of fun. I really enjoyed almost all the aspects about it.

I hesitate to close Where the Dolphins Play permanently. I may decide to come back to blogging, in fact I suspect that at some point I probably will. When that will be I can't say. It might be next month, it might be next year, and it's also possible that that day will never come. I'll be keeping the site up for the time being (and definately hanging on to the domain name), and who knows I might make the occasional post here and there, but as long as I have this blog officially "active" I will feel bad when I go weeks without posting anything. As a result, I'm officially declaring that Where the Dolphins Play is on an indefinate hiatus.

Thanks to everyone is been reading whether you've been reading for years or just started. You're all great and I'll be visiting and commenting on your own blogs so keep an eye out for me. Feel free to email me if you want to contact me for anything, or leave a comment here (I'll still be reading them). Thanks everyone!

Feline Fridays: Rocker Edition

For this week's Feline Friday, I'm not gonna post a picture of one of my own (sorry guys, you know you'll be up next week). Instead I'm going to share my entry into Worth1000.com's "Harmony in Nature 2" photoshop competition. The goal was to create images of animals playing musical instruments. Who says kittens can't rock?

 

It's Going Around...

I always shudder a bit when I see that a "book meme" is going around. The questions asked in these generally seem to be aimed at books with a more intellectual tilt, but for the majority of my life I've looked at reading more as an excellent means of escape and entertainment. That's not to say that more intellectual literature can't be entertaining, but what's so wrong with just reading a good story anyways? Either way, since I've been specifically tagged by Dan at Gone Mild, I'll give it a go and we'll see what happens.

1. One book that changed your life.

The vast majority of major changes in my life have been gradual. I'm not sure I can point to any given book and note that it specifically set into motion any great change, yet I think all that we consume ultimately makes us who we are and were any experience from our lives to be removed, we would (to one degree or another) not be the same. With that said, I'll put forward that one book that changed my life was not a book at all but rather HL Mencken's short essay, "Where is the graveyard of dead gods?" A philosophy exam posed me the challenge of not simply reading Mencken's essay but providing a counterargument One of the best ways to truly understand a viewpoint is to be forced to argue against it. While the process of developing an effective counterargument (which I think I did, by the way) didn't singularly change my life, it most certainly added fuel to the self-reflection that was already propelling me into agnosticism.

2. One book you have read more than once.

There are few books that I've felt compelled to read more than once. This comes in part from the fact that a large portion of my reading was light fiction, and in part from the fact that there will always be more (good) books left to read than I'll ever be able to. One book I have read multiple times though is the Bible. I've read it cover to cover on 3 occasions (NIV twice, KJV once), and probably have read most of it at least a fourth time in short excerpts and passages here and there. I think everybody should read it at least once. There is alot of good stuff in there (and some not so good stuff), and I think there's something to be said for having read a book that has arguably had more influence over the modern world than any other. Ironically, my reading and studying of the Bible probably contributed in my move towards agnosticism in a way Mencken couldn't even begin to compete with.

3. One book you would want on a desert island.

I'm tempted to say Sir William Golding's Lord of the Flies, though there may be a certain irony to being stranded on an island with a book about being stranded on an island. I caught a clip of the film on television when I was in middle school. The next day I asked my English teacher about it and was directed to her in class library and told I could check it out. That night I read the entire thing, having to hide it under my pillow when my mom walked by as I was supposed to be doing math homework (tell me I'm not the only child who has ever hidden reading from a parent). At the time, I really had no clue about the subtexts on human nature and government that I'm so well aware of now, it was just a good story. So good in fact that shortly thereafter, I wrote my first computer program (written in basic on a green-screened Tandy computer, my how far we've come), a trivia game about the book. For probably nearly a month after reading it, I would lay in bed at night and imagine myself in the role of Ralph, playing out various scenarios with the book's characters. Not sure what it is about that book that got me so incredibly involved in the story, but (though I've gotten very into other storylines) nothing else has had quite the same effect.

4. One book that made you laugh.

Most books should have at least moments of humor. I think the only book I've read that was intended to be pure comedy was Tim Allen's Don't Stand Close to a Naked Man. I was pretty young when I read it and I highly suspect that were I to read it again today, I would get far more of the jokes, but would probably find them less funny. Just a hunch.

5. One book that made you cry.

Elie Wiesel's Night. In case you're wondering, I read it before Oprah put it on her reading list.

6. One book you wish you had written.

It would be neat to have written any fictional book. The idea of taking a single story, expanding it to fill 600 pages or more, and still holding the reader's interest through it all is mind-blowing to me. I only wish I had that kind of imagination.

7. One book you wish had never been written.

I've given this a lot of thought and I haven't come up with anything. Any book that has had enough influence to be significant has had both good and bad results. I think that's the nature of the beast.

8. One book you are currently reading.

At the moment I'm just trying to keep it all together between 2 jobs (totally a 52 hour work week) and the 2 classes that will be starting next week. Unfortunately I just don't have time for leisure reading at the moment.

9. One book you have been meaning to read.

Dan Millman's Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior. It's the continuation of his book Way of the Peaceful Warrior, which I genuinely loved and considered as a potential answer for a few of the questions above. I own both books in one cover (the Peaceful Warrior collection), but I have not gotten around to reading "Sacred Journey" yet.

10. Tag five people.

Most of the people I'd like to hear from have already been tagged, but I wouldn't mind hear from Lee, Kat, or Henry. If anybody else wants to join in, consider yourself tagged and leave a comment to let me know.

It's About Damn Time

At least the Constitution still means something.

Free Speech for Me, But Not for Thee

Georgia Tech is dropping a ban on "hate-speech" in response to a lawsuit by the right-wing law firm, the Alliance Defense Fund. While I typically think the right-wing exagerates the effect of "hate speech" rules, I don't like them and, as Georgia Tech has refused to rescind it ban on physical assults, I'm more or less glad to see them drop the "hate-speech" ban. The great thing about free speech is it's supposed to apply to everyone, even those I disagree with.

Which brings me to the really interesting part of the case. The Alliance Defense Fund isn't simply suing to have the "hate speech" policy rescinded, but to have the pro-acceptance organization "Safe Space" removed from campus. I wonder if their lawyers will even be able to keep a straight face while arguing for their own free speech while simultaneously arguing against another's. Freedom of speech may grant you the right to say what you want, but it doesn't give you the right to supress disagreement.

Reuters Dumps Bad "Photographer"

Rueters has just dropped a Lebonese photgrapher after he doctored a couple of photographs. The only reason I bring it up is because of the sheer lack of ability demonstrate in the doctoring.

I've known people who've just sat down to Photoshop for the first time and can do a better job of using the clone tool without leaving such blatantly obvious repeating patterns. I have a problem with anyone who calls themselves a photographer in the year 2006 and yet apparently doesn't even have a base line understanding of Photoshop.

It's a Sign

I found this funny. (It's not particularly sexual, but it's got a breast in it so you may not want to click at work depending on your offices policies on such things.)

Feline Saturday

Sometimes I feel like I tend to favor Gryphon in my feline blog posts. I certainly don't play favorites between the two and if I were to, I have to admit it'd probably be Hobbes that came out on top if only because he was my first kitty. The reason Gryphon seems to appear here more is simply that he seems to present more photo opportunities. Gryphon has only two modes, playtime and sleeptime. Hobbes on the other prefers to spend his time supervising. He likes to find a comfortable place to lay where he can see everything that's going on but doesn't have to actually get involved unless he wants to. In otherwords, he likes to be near the action, not part of it. That's not to say he's not affectionate, but let's just put it this way: when Gryphon approaches (which is ALL the time), you can bet he's ready to play, but when Hobbes approaches (which is about 3 or 4 times a day) you know it's time to nuzzle, cuddle, and pet. So to put aside the idea that the frequent pictures of Gryphon indicate some sort of favoritism, here's Hobbes doing what he does best; supervising.

Washington Rejects Marriage Equality

Washington state's Supreme Court rejected marriage equality this morning. I haven't had a chance to read the actual court decision because I had a meeting at 11 (or 8 am in Wahington, the time the decision was to be announced) so I just have had time to check over the news. Per the media reports however, the decision, like the nonsensical New York decision, is based on the idea that marriage is all about children. Yet the court offers plans to strip marriage laws of all power that doesn't directly relate to bearing children (which would leave them mostly meaningless since by and large marriage is NOT directly about having kids). No suggestion of banning marriage for straight couples who plan to have no children or are sterile (clearly if preventing marriage among those who can have no children is a compelling state interests, these laws MUST be corrected). Also no exemption in place for gay couples who have children. Also no explanation has to how marriage equality would prevent straight couples (married or otherwise) from having children. The omission of these points leaves the decision inconsistent, illogical, and a contradiction to itself.

Of course, the reason such things were omitted is because marriage isn't all about children. The vast majority of the rights that come with marriage have nothing to do with children at all. Power of attorney, inheritance rights, joint tax-filing, etc. have NOTHING to do with children, in fact (other than perhaps some custody/legal gaurdianship issues) I am having a difficult time of thinking of marriage rights that are specifically intended to affect the children of a relationship. It all comes down to judges who are so scared of being called "activists," that they refuse to honor the very document they purport to interpret. The result is feeble, illogical, excuse-making that ends up enshrined as judicial precedent.