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Month: December 2002

Huh?

2002-12-30 John Winkelman

Raining and 45 degrees here in sunny cheerful warm Grand Rapids. The taking stock of the past year has been done, and my major accomplishment occurred this past night at midnight, when I filled the last page of a journal in which I have been writing since mid-August 2000.

Raining hard now. The skylight sounds like a popcorn popper.

The journal is 380 pages of 8 x 11 paper. I write small. But I also send my creative energies into this vampire computer machine. I spend a lot of time here. Too much. Let’s just go ahead and call me obsessive. 380 pages in 850 days. My new journal is about 150 pages, unlined, designed and built by the extraordinary Tracy, who gets nowhere near the credit she deserves for her art. Why unlined? I have never learned to draw, and now is as good a time as any to begin.

Not raining so hard now. The skylight sounds like a skillet full of bacon.

Posted in Life comment on Huh?

Obligatory Political Post

2002-12-29 John Winkelman

The king sits in Dunfermline town,
Drinking the blude-red wine o:
“O whare will I get a skeely skipper
To sail this new ship of mine o?”

O up and spake an eldern-knight,
Sat at the king’s right knee:
“Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor
That ever saild the sea.”

Our king has written a braid letter,
And seald it with his hand,
And sent it to Sir Patrick Spens,
Was walking on the strand.

The first word that Sir Patrick read,
Sae loud, loud laughed he;
The neist word that Sir Patrick read,
The tear blinded his ee.

“O wha is this has done this deed,
And tauld the king o me,
To send us out, at this time of the year,
To sail upon the sea?”

“Make ready, make ready, my merry-men a’!
Our gude ship sails the morn.”
“Now ever alake, my master dear,
I fear a deadly storm!

I saw the new moon, late yestreen,
Wi’ the auld moon in her arm;
And if we gang to sea, master,
I fear we’ll come to harm.”

O laith, laith, were our gude Scots lords
To weet their cork-heel’d shoon!
But lang or a the play was play’d
They wat their hats aboon,

O lang, lang may the ladyes sit,
Wi’ their fans into their hand,
Before they see Sir Patrick Spens
Come sailing to the strand!

And lang, lang may the maidens sit,
Wi’ their goud kaims in their hair,
A’ waiting for their ain dear loves!
For them they’ll see na mair.

O forty miles off Aberdeen,
‘Tis fifty fathoms deep,
And there lies gude Sir Patrick Spens,
Wi’ the Scots lords at his feet.

–Anonymous, Sir Patrick Spens

Think about it.

Posted in Literary Matters comment on Obligatory Political Post

Blah

2002-12-27 John Winkelman

Christmas was actually kind of fun this year. My favorite gift was a 5-pound venison sausage, lately from a deer my brother done kilt. Chopped up a chunk of it and threw it into some jambalaya. A perfect match, I gah-ron-tee.

Now it the time to think about New Years resolutions; whether and what. When you think about it, resolving to do something starting exactly on January 1 is rather arbitrary. From a practical point of view one day is as good as any other. I like to think I am riding a karmic wave; that so many others are making the effort will somehow make it easier for me.

Last year I resolved to reduce the amount of mediocrity in my life and, to a large degree, I feel I have succeeded. For 2003 I think I want to learn more. Sure, I learned a lot in 2002, about writing, photography, computer stuff, people… but I’m pretty damn smart and I feel like what I learned was a by-product of things I was required or compelled to do.

So, what then? Re-learn all the Russian I have lost over the last decade? Re-learn the trombone? Learn to draw? Learn Tibetan? Learn to dance? Trigonometry? Calculus? Iambic Pentameter? Java? Guitar? Drinks? It seems that whatever the new thing is, it should be an almost purely mental exercise. I have plenty of physical pursuits to keep me occupied *snort*.

Another possibility is to do a Good Work or a Great Work, or preferably both. A Good Work might be to help Project Gutenberg XML-ize a few dozen texts. A Great Work might be to create generative art based around something no-one has ever tried. Or a combination of the two… I dunno… Whatever it is, I probably won’t realize I have done it until well after the fact.

Posted in Life comment on Blah

The Year at a Glance

2002-12-26 John Winkelman

These are the books I read for the first time in 2002:

MetaMagical Themas by Douglas Hofsteader
Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies by Douglas Hofsteader
The Meme Machine by Susan Blackmore
The Aztec Treasurehouse by Evan Connell
Son of the Morning Star by Evan Connell
Physics for Game Developers by David M Bourg
AI Game Programming Wisdom by Steve Rabin (ed)
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
Mad Ship by Robin Hobb
Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb
Off to the Side by Jim Harrison
Tulips and Chimneys by E.E. Cummings
22 and 50 Poems by E.E. Cummings
Xaipe by E.E. Cummings
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
The Orchard Keeper by Cormac McCarthy
Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin
The Brothers Karamazov by Feodor Dostoyevsky
Living Philosophy by Stephen Rowe
The Stone Canal by Ken MacLeod
The Sky Road by Ken MacLeod
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram

Of books re-read, picked up and partially completed, or forgotten, there are too may to list.

Yes, it was a slow year, reading-wise.

Posted in Literary Matters comment on The Year at a Glance

Preparations

2002-12-24 John Winkelman

The Scotch for New Year is….
Ardmore 19-year (1977 – 1997) cask-strength single-malt Scotch Whiskey. Mmmmmmmm.

Now off for Christmas back on the farm with the fambly.

Posted in Life comment on Preparations

Mandalas and Rings

2002-12-19 John Winkelman

To build a mandala is to practice non-attachment. A thing of beauty is created, cherished briefly, then destroyed. While it is being created those who are working bear in mind that the mandala is a transitive thing. When destroyed it is gone, but the event is now a part of history and nothing will ever change that.

The ring (yes, That Ring ) is the opposite. Created of hard metal to last forever, coveted by all who come into contact with it; none moreso than its creator. Everyone wants it but no-one enjoys it. It traps the act of creation into a spiral which does not allow the possibility of creating anything else.

This is a good thing to bear in mind when handing off a project to a client. We built it, we cherished it, now it is gone, and now it is time to move on. A project is a mandala. To treat it as a ring is to continue work past the point of diminishing returns, until we are full of resentment and burned out.

The things we build are not our own. They will not last forever. Best to do it right, then let go.

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Posted in Life comment on Mandalas and Rings

MIA

2002-12-18 John Winkelman

I’m not dead. Merely…distracted.

The Uzbeckistan Diary is the journal of an American, er, journalist, working to promote an independent press. Quite an interesting read.

Posted in Life comment on MIA

Open or Closed?

2002-12-17 John Winkelman

Assume two possible states of the universe, or reality, (hereafter referred to as [R]). They are the open state and closed state .

Posted in Life comment on Open or Closed?

Launch!

2002-12-12 John Winkelman

Just launched the first iteration of the Potato Moon site. It was kind of a rush job and there are a million little things that I want to do better. But the Midnight Water CD release party is tomorrow and they will have Important People looking for information, so there it is. Once the holiday rush is over I will dip my fingers back in and do a job worthy of such a fine, fine band.

Potato Moon has music from their self-titled first album available at CD Baby . If you have free time tomorrow, Friday, December 13, and you are anywhere near Grand Rapids, stop in for what looks to be a great evening of music.

Posted in Programming comment on Launch!

Wednesday

2002-12-11 John Winkelman

The evening snack: One apple, one small block of sharp cheddar cheese, and a very small glass of St Julian Simply Red wine.

I was informed today that we will be given the entire week of Christmas as extra vacation time. Sometimes I love my job.

Posted in Life comment on Wednesday

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