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Thursday, September 11, 2003

Regrets...
I've had a few.
But then again,
Too few to mention!
--"My Way",
written by Paul Anka
When I hear that song, I think of Frank Sinatra, and sometimes Elvis or Sid Vicious -- all of whom have been known to perform, in their own unique manner, that wonderful song. Wonderful because -- though I don't always enjoy hearing it, I've heard it so much -- the song is a wonderful personal anthem. That's something we all need: a personal anthem. A song that praises our individuality; a mark of devotion to oneself. After all, they say you're going to have a helluva time loving anyone else unless you've first learned to love yourself, right?

This is not to replace your love for your God, or your spouse, or your family. I'm simply saying that we all need to give ourselves a bit more self-love at this time of year. (No, not that type of self-love !) Too many of us beat up on ourselves throughout the year, and then nearly destroy ourselves at year's end. No wonder there are so many suicides during the Holidays; the messages bombarding us are to Buy Buy Buy and to Give Give Give -- but what if you have nothing to give but love? If you have a dearth of that good stuff, then you'll have a bitch of a time spreading it around to your neighbors.

So be good to yourself, whether you're Christian, Pagan, Wiccan, Athiest, Hindu, Islamic, Mormon, Podcastin, or otherwise. Don't take the pills, they won't do you or anyone else any good; you'll simply miss out on the Next Big Thing (which may turn out to be Your Next Big Thing). Just do things your own way, singing that little hymn as you do so:
For what is a man,
What has he got?
If not himself,
Then he has naught.
To say the things,
He truly feels,
And not the words,
Of one who kneels.
The record shows,
I took the blows
And did it my way!

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Record-breaking heat in Los Angeles today; the newscast mentioned something about 1974 or 1976 being the previous record holder for the date of July the 20th. With no air conditioning, it was unlikely I was going to be staying in the oven all day, so it was out in the big house, where hardwood floors and multiple stories buffer the heat some. Also a few electric fans to produce a breeze. With my head in a borrowed computer programming book, I coded a few minor programs - the simple examples in the book - to resume my education in the programming arts.

The day passed swiftly, the girl reading Potter on the couch behind my armchair, me fighting off the nap induced by the heat, ultimately losing the battle. I slept, and it was good, until awakened by her voice, "Don't sleep, let's go to the pool..." The tiniest pang of resentment at being pulled from my comfortable laziness, then the struggle to get up - I wanted her to be happy, it's her day off.

What did you learn today? I learned how to write small programs again. Again? Yes, it was many years ago that I had my first taste of programming, at John M____'s house, using his Apple ][e (c?). So long ago...I must have been 11 or 12. Perhaps younger. Those were some of the best times, my Dungeons & Dragons days.
posted by Harold  7/21/2005 01:11:00 AM
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I once posted, in this space (this right column), the following:

If I had friends they would be listed here

That particular bit o' text, that silly and idiotic phrase, was repeated a dozen or two dozen or so times and was intended to be temporary. I had been working on a project -- a new layout for this blog -- and had intended for that text to be placeholder content. That is, the text was supposed to temporarily replace the content that had previously occupied this column (which was a list of links to friends -- that is, other blogs and web sites I linked to). I didn't know what content I was going to place into that (this) space, so I placed a bunch of duplicate phrases here as a placeholder so that I would remember to fill in this space again later.

At the same time, I thought I was being cute with the heading:

NEW & IMPROVED FRIENDS!

The fact remains: I still don't know what content to put here, in this column. Links again? Pictures? Video? Audio? Ads? Oh, hell no! It hasn't come to me yet, but I'm sure it will eventually, and when it does it'll come quick and (as usual) with consequences.