Another day gone by

Well what can I say today? I guess I am just speechless today – I don’t know what to rant about and I don’t know what’s on my mind…always a good sign of a good weekend to come!

My horoscope today said:

You can do no wrong as far as your admirers are concerned! In fact, to most people, you are irresistible. You capture hearts and draw longing gazes wherever you go. You know you’re at the height of your powers when they seem completely unnecessary. The world is your generous host. This is the perfect time to impress that special someone. Your charm and magnetism pave the way for a potentially long-lasting relationship.

Sounds like a good omen!

So what’s on everyone else’s mind today?

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

– John Lennon

Then a drunk driver

Maybe something told me that this year around my birthday; or just this year in general would be rough. Maybe I just felt it was my time to experience something different then celebration. As we all get older — with every year that passes — the odds and statistics of life start weighing against us. We witness things that may or may not be public historical events; but they will always be a part of our personal history.

My grandfather was born on January 26, 1917. He has been around for much of what I call “current history” (things that are still discussed because more information is becoming declassified). WWI was from 1914 to 1918; WWII 1939-1945; Korean War 150-1953; Vietnam…Gulf War…2004 Iraq War. He has been in wars, seen wars, was alive for the attack on Perl Harbor…JFK assassination. On his birthday in 1986 the first major NASA accident with the space shuttle occurred: Challenger. The automobile was already around (1908 for those that are interested) but television was not, depending on your history teacher. Television’s first drama, “The Queen’s Messenger”, was broadcast from Schenectady, New York station WGY on September 11, 1928 (my grandmother was born on September 11th). A milestone for television…just like September 11, 2001 was a milestone for television.

I recall September 11, 2001 as I stood in Southfield, Michigan; the building I was in housed many Midwest offices for the same companies that were in the World Trade Center. I was at a Microsoft conference and one of the guys standing next to me was trying to call his friend, a coworker for Microsoft that was at the same conference we were at; he was in the World Trade Center.

My brother recalls August 16th, 1987 and the Northwest flight 255 crash; he was on the expressway when the plane hit the road. My parents recall November 22, 1963 when John F. Kennedy was assassinated…they were in their classrooms listening to the news broadcast over the PA system.

There are too many events to write about, too many of friends and family long since past. It’s overwhelming how much one person can see in their life; it is too bad we won’t all get that opportunity.

What about the non public history? Relatives passing on, friends graduating, engagements, parties, having children, anniversaries…

With every year that passes I realize I am getting older not because I feel old, but because “grown up things” are happening more and more. Sometimes things are happy and sometimes things show just how stupid some people are. Other things show hoe one person’s stupidity can hurt another person. First it was great grandparents passing away; then grandparents. Three years ago one of my closest friends lost his father. Two years ago another close friend lost his father. Since 2003 I have had 11 friends get engaged, 2 get married, 2 have kids (not the married ones either!), 2 friends have affairs (not the married ones) and two divorces (again, not the married ones). Since 1999 I known approximately 10 people with MIPs [Minor In Possession] and 4 with DUIs [Driving Under the Influence].

We all make choices in our lives that are both good and bad. Those choices affect other people too; both the good and bad choices can have good and bad effects. However, sometimes we have the opportunity to choose to make a better choice…we just need to make it.

On Tuesday, November 9, 2004 one of my friend’s mothers was killed in a car accident; she was hit by a drunk driver. The is the fourth friend of mine that has lost someone to a drunk driver…and there shouldn’t have ever been a first for me or anyone else in the world.

I know that we can’t live forever and accidents happen. However, we should be given a better opportunity to live our lives without worrying that someone else’s disregard for life will prematurely end ours.

Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

– Unknown

But it’s not that much

So I have spent about 8 hours in the past week looking over people’s blogs and just getting a glimpse into their lives. How interesting when I start finding blogs that talk about other people’s blogs and the topics they discuss!!

Apparently a common theme is procrastination…what are they avoiding? Homework! :) Another common theme: authors blogging their novel writing progress…usually a good read at any time of the night. I couldn’t tell you how many political blogs I found (skip)…

Random blog topics:

• Sex and the City theme…almost like Carrie is writing it herself
• Random collection of links with no message or comments
• Religious fanatics
• Anti-Religion fanatics
• An entire blog spanning 2 years with daily posts all about how a certain person is annoying to the blog author (WOW crazy…)
• The Alzheimer Resource Center (I forgot the blog URL – haha…okay that was bad)
• New on the war in Iraq
• A woman taking the stance of being the queen of her imagination and her blog entries consist of laws for the people who live in her imagination (you think I make shit up!)
• Webhosting advertising(I still dont get this)
• Weird cronicals of legal mumbojumbo
• Lots of info about Ritalin and Adult ADD

Blogs are great! :)

What to say other than: I need a nap!

My birthday is coming up (Friday for the interested) and this is one of the first years I can remember that I don’t want to do anything. Not because I feel old or anything, just because I feel like being lazy! :)

You see every year I try to get my friends (whom are all friends themselves) together to do something we can all enjoy and keeps us all in a large group. When we were in college we would get together often, but since we have all left college many of us whine that we all want to get together, but no one wants to work on setting it up. So usually I plan something on my birthday to organize a “friends reunion” if you will. Well this year hasn’t been a bad year, but it has been a draining year for me and the past few months have been exceptionally draining.

My roommate and I talked about it a week or two ago and he knew what I was talking about…he went through the same thing last year.

So as it stands right now I think my friends and I are either going to one of our friend’s improve shows and/or just hitting up the usual drinking spot.

“No matter how old you are, there’s always something good to look forward to.”

– Lynn Johnston

Is better then no fetish at all

So I have been reading like mad lately. I’ll either read for 2 hours at a time, 4 days a week or I’ll read for 6-8 hours in a sitting. Apparently my old style of opening a book and putting it down and having to reread the beginning all over again is really turning into an “old style”.

I am about 2/3rds of the way through The Code Book – so far so good. It’s a historical account of codes and ciphers throughout history (Egypt to present day [1997]), the roles they played and the players in creating and breaking them. While the section on WWII and the Enigma was great and full of information on the earliest computers as well as one of the most crucial points in history of war and cryptography; I had trouble following it at times with the various German names making my head spin when I was trying to keep track.

Hopefully I’ll finish before the week is out and I can give a little more in-depth review!

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers.”

Charles W. Eliot

Current Book(s):

• The Code Book; By: Simon Singh
• A Brief History of Time: The Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition; By: Stephen Hawking

Recently finished book(s):

• Questions from Earth, Answers from Heaven; By: Char Margolis
• The Da Vinci Code; By: Dan Brown
• The Dilbert Principle; By: Scott Adams
• The Dilbert Future; By: Scott Adams
• Negotiate with Feng Shui: Enhance You Skills in Diplomacy, Business and Relationships; By: Jose Armilla
• Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World; By: Bruce Schneier
• Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier, Revised; By: Katie Hafner
• Seven Habits of Highly Effective People; By: Stephen R. Covey
• It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life; By Lance Armstrong, Sally Jenkins

Recently Purchased book(s):

(Today’s post would be a waste if I didn’t say thanks to a friend for giving me a gift certificate to Amazon…which helped me purchase almost all of the books listed here. THANK YOU!)

• The Puzzle Palace: A Report on America’s Most Secret Agency; By: James Bamford
• Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency; By: James Bamford
• Digital Fortress; By: Dan Brown
• Deception Point; By: Dan Brown
• Cryptanalysis a Study of Ciphers and Their Solutions; By: H. F. Gaines
• Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing (Test Your Code Breaking Skills); By: Martin Gardner
• Cuckoo’s Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage; By: Clifford Stoll
• The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real (Popular Culture and Philosophy, V. 3); By: William Irwin
• Exploring the Matrix: Visions of the Cyber Present; By: Karen Haber

You life might be fun as a movie

I got a chance to see “What the *bleep* do we know?” last night. It’s a documentary on the connections between all of us that spans the Universe and beyond. It was really interesting and the visuals were fantastic – a great way to keep people awake. The beginning was good, but dry and a little advanced for some people. About half way to 2/3rds through the film it picked up and the audience could be heard saying “wow!”, “Hmmm…”, “Interesting!” along with a few other words and some chuckles too.

If you have an open mind and you are looking too see a movie that will make you think after words I highly suggest you see it. If you have any knowledge of quantum mechanics or quantum physics you will be really interested in the scientific approach and you will likely recognize many of the experts as world renowned physicists.

The only downside…

About 8 years ago I had many ideas and thoughts about this subject and I considered writing a book, but I felt that my lack of technical experience in quantum theory (I only had an intro to quantum theory class in college) and lack of historical specifics on theology would discredit anything I had to say from page one. However, it would have been nice if I did a little more research on the subject rather then just kept it as daydreams – I might have gotten a chance to further my thoughts with some books by the same people whom appeared in the movie. Then again, who says I still can’t do that?

“Our dreams are our real life.”

– Federico Fellini

Current Book(s):

• The Code Book; By: Simon Singh
• A Brief History of Time: The Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition; By: Stephen Hawking