THE MISADVENTURES OF AN ESOTERIC INVESTIGATOR

Where do you bury the survivors?

2009-11-12T03:04:25Z

It figures - one day after I go to the doctor so they can tell me there's nothing they can do, my illness finally gives up, calls a full-retreat, and agrees to all conditions of its surrender. I've only lost my voice in the battle. My throat (the battlefield, if you will) is still sore and scarred, but is much better. I'm still coughing a little, but nothing like the last few days. I just can't really talk much above a gravely whisper.

So, I'm going to school tomorrow. I've got to make up a lab, take a missed exam, visit three art shows, write journals about them, and go work out (maybe.) That's a lot for my first day out. Hopefully, none of them require the gift of gab.

Here, enjoy this:

I wonder how long it will be until anorexia isn't fashionable anymore.

2009-11-11T15:55:57Z

Throat Virus Day Five

2009-11-11T00:53:05Z

After feeling a little better yesterday afternoon, last night was the worst night yet. I barely slept, maybe 15 minutes at a time, because my throat hurt so badly and even my usual remedies weren't helping. Ethan managed to sleep through it all, but I'm afraid my coughing kept Jacquelyn up.

My doctor managed to get me in this afternoon to make sure it wasn't strep (which it isn't) and determined it is a particularly nasty upper-respiratory throat virus. They said I should do what I've been doing, plus stay away from people as long as I have symptoms.

This virus has started to settle in my sinuses. Do I trade off my horrible throat for sinus headaches?

Laying down now. Will probably take tomorrow off too. I can honestly say I have never been this sick for this long in my adult life.

Thriving Virus World Tour 2009

2009-11-10T06:34:45Z

My cold is still kicking my ass, though I actually felt okay for a few hours today, except for my throat, which feels like I mistook shards of glass for Grape Nuts and had a big heaping bowl for breakfast. Only the perfect combination of Theraflu, ibuprofen, and cough drops can come anywhere close to taming it. Without, I cough and hack like I'm trying to barf up an alien parasite.

Apparently I missed a boring chemistry class and another day of work. Tomorrow, I can skip my chemistry lab and go to Thursday's lab instead. I have to go to at least part of photography to mount my prints for the current project. I don't think I can swing weight lifting. My one big problem is my weather and climate test. I have to be there and I have to ace it. My odds are not good.

So I spent most of my sickness making icons (new iconomicon post!) and playing Dragon Age: Origins, which is pretty fantastic. It is literally the best parts of Mass Effect, Knights of the Old Republic, and Baldur's Gate, all mixed into one game. I will almost be sad when I have to go back to a regular schedule and I won't have time for it.

I also took some photos of the cats. So, yeah, if that's your thing, you may want to click the cut.

Eris

Holmes & Loki

Eva

Also, No Shave Novembeard (which is competing apparently with Mustache Movember) is going well. I haven't shaved, actually, since the middle of October so I have quite the thick mess going. This, plus my sickeness has resulted in a general unkempt, pile-of-death feeling. I am going to curl up on the couch and pray for the sweet, sweet, oblivion of sleep.

Immune System Fail

2009-11-07T14:58:07Z

Well, it is official, folks. I am one sick bastard. I haven't been sick in almost four years. There was one day last year that I felt "a little wonky" so I took a nap in the evening and then I was fine. Otherwise, I have somehow weathered every cold and flu around me without becoming tainted. Even when everyone in the house had a two-day stomach bug and were vomiting left and right and I had to clean it up, I somehow escaped. Until now. Thanks, Immune System!

Here's a picture of the sky from yesterday:

I'm going to spend the day drugged up with Theraflu, watching movies and making icons.

New Skewl

2009-11-05T18:36:16Z

In other news, it's looking like my final semester before I transfer to UW will be English 2 (a silly prerequisite I am not excited about), Oral & Interpersonal Communications (my speech requirement since they changed the rules and my drama class doesn't count anymore), American History 1865-Present (which I am actually interested in... *please* let it be taught by an engaging speaker), and Creative Photography (which I am really excited about - A whole year of smelling like developer!)

The best part - the english and speech classes are accelerated courses and don't start until March (and run till May, like normal) so for January and February, I only have photography and history.

Then I got o UW for two more years and have to start narrowing down what I want to do with all this education.

Where am I going and why am I in this handbasket?

2009-11-05T18:27:40Z

There comes a problem with transcending time and space - one's interest become so varied that there is no possibility of fitting in all of one's goals in a single lifetime. One eventually stagnates, a deer in the headlights of an aperspectival world.

Get to work, Jack.

Ye Holiest Daye of Costuming

2009-11-01T06:37:54Z

After a mad-dash abandonment of Paul Kinsey, Philip K. Dick, Allen Ginsberg, and Charles Manson, I finally decided to go brdgt 's 60's Halloween Cocktail Party as Norman Bates (and his mum.) I'm sure pictures will turn up somewhere.

For the party, I made a CD of remixes of 60's songs. It turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Click on the track list to download!

The saturated adiabatic lapse rate is 6̊C/km.

2009-10-28T04:22:59Z

It has come to my attention that on Tuesdays, after I have been in class all day; first chemistry, then photography, and then weight lifting, my brain is about dead. Thus, when I come into my final class of the day, Weather & Climate, sweaty and exhausted from working out, I do not absorb information the way I normally do any other time. Couple this with my instructor, who rushes through three hours of material in an hour and a half, and my giggling inane classmates, my brain just absolutely refuses to take in anything. Because of this, I think I may get my first non-A of my collegiate experience. I'm going to try and do the readings for this class earlier in the day and under the influence of coffee. I pray that works. I will be so sad to see that 4.0 vanish forever. Because, you know, you can never get it back.

On the bright side, I'm getting a 97% so far in my annoying chemistry class.

I know, poor fucking baby, right. My life is so hard. At least my government isn't destabilizing while the country sinks into chaos, chock-full of roving bands of thieves, murderers, and rapists. It could always be worse.

A heaping helping of hoopla.

2009-10-26T02:56:40Z

Jacquelyn is off on a research trip at Cape Cod for the week and I've had to keep myself entertained. It hasn't been too difficult since I've been working since she left. Except today, my day off, which was spent on homework and graphic design.

I'm doing a flyer for a New Year's Eve rave. (You've already seen the preflyer I did.) It's called SWANK! and I decided to go with another vintage illustration theme. This time, I altered the cover of a 1947 issue of V, a French erotica magazine. Here's the result of that:

I've still got a little work to do on it, but I can't until the promoters finalize the lineup and any additional information they want on it.

Most of the day however, was eaten up by my chemistry paper. Unlike the Three Elements paper, this one was picking a single compound. It was suggested that we stick with molecules made from less than twenty atoms, so we weren't overwhelmed. Of course I didn't listen and did the extra work, picking a compound with thirty atoms. Plus it would be something I'd be interested in reading about all day, so I picked dimethyltryptamine, a.k.a. DMT (C₁₂H₁₆N₂). I even had to calculate a Lewis structure of it, which is how elements bond together based on their outer shell (valence) electrons. It was actually pretty fun. Doing valence diagrams has been the most interesting part of this class so far. Here's what I did:

It was a lot easier doing this in Illustrator than it was with a pen on paper.

Ethan is sick - just a cough, but it's been haning around a few weeks without getting any better. And now, he's developed some aches and his energy level is kind of low. So I have to take him to the doctor as soon as possible. He's missing most of the flu symptoms so I'm not really worried about that. The last time he was sick was like two years ago when he had walking pneumonia. I'm worried he's gotten it again. That's not too bad though - never getting sick except walking pneumonia every two years?

I've lost somewhere between ten and fourteen pounds since I started weight-training this semester. See, I'm starting to get my neck back:

I think I'm going to veg out and watch some Family Guy and then go to sleep. I've got class in the morning and work after that.

P.S. I've been told twice now (once, after seeing this picture) that I should go as Madmen character Paul Kinsey, the bearded-pipe smoker, for Halloween. I need to Youtube some clips to find out if this is plausible. It would be awfully convenient since I'm going to a '60s-themed Halloween party. (Last year was the '50's and I went as Ernest Hemingway, remember?) ETA: "When I was at Princeton, I wrote my senior these on the Passions of the Stoics. Mary Jane was my muse." HAHA.

P.P.S. Geez, I had to call out two different people for using "gay" as a pejorative today.

Political Quickie.

2009-10-21T23:48:50Z

I keep hearing people say, "There's no difference between Democrats and Republicans." This bothers me quite a bit, but I understand the view point. However, it is also mostly wrong, and here's where a lot of the problem lies.

First, there is a huge difference between the two parties on social issues. In fact, they are night and day, they are so far apart.

Here's where the trouble lies - the people who make the proclamation of no-difference are speaking really of economic policy.

Unfortunately many Republicans and some Democrats are really corporatists. They will always side with big business over the people. (This is fascism people - the merging of government and business.) This is what the majority of people are really upset about. This is what the tea-baggers are really pissed about. They are just misinformed as to who to blame.

Now, there are some politicians fighting the good fight. Not all of them are corrupt. It is however difficult to blame to corrupt ones. The system itself is corrupt.

Do you have any idea how much money it takes to run for office these days? Millions and millions of dollars. Senators have to raise thousands of dollars every day to stay in office. Where do you think the majority of that money comes from? Big business. Extremely wealthy individuals.

When it comes time to vote, who's side are they going to take? They guys who pay the bills. Less than 1% of the population, and they have all the power.

So if you really want change, if you really want politicians for the people, then extreme campaign finance is needed. All corporate money needs to be taken out of politics. I would even argue for public financing of campaigns, closer to what the UK has (set amounts and only two months, if memory serves, to campaign.)

So before you go throwing one political party or the other under the bus as being "the same", look closer and realize that this is class warfare and the rich are winning. The real difference between politicians is their economics.

Want to know who your politicians are really working for?

New Year's Eve

2009-10-21T20:27:20Z

I've got another graphic job - this time it's a big NYE rave. I've got several mockups done, and one of them was used for a preflyer. (With big raves, often months before the event, a preflyer will come out with just a few details, to advertise while the main flyer is being created and details are being finalized.) So, here's the preflyer, front and back:

Where it's at.

2009-10-21T12:43:35Z

I went to see Where the Wild Things Are last night. It was pretty fantastic. I may have read it once when I was a kid, but it wasn't one of those childhood-defining books that it was for many of you. In a way, this is a good thing, as I didn't have any attachments going into the film, no nostalgic investment. This allowed me to really enjoy what Dave Eggers was doing with this script - making, as Jacquelyn said, not a movie for kids, but for people who had been kids. This was a movie for us oldies. Maybe not the really old, but those of us still close enough to our childhoods that we still lament their loss.

Star Trek + Monty Python = !!!

2009-10-20T15:46:33Z

A Game of Thrones

2009-10-20T12:01:27Z

These have been leaking out for several weeks now, but here they are, all in one place.

Sexual Assault Prevention Tips Guaranteed to Work

2009-10-15T03:29:05Z

You always see these lists for women with tips about how to avoid getting sexually assaulted. Yes, those are great tips, but in a way it leaves out the responsibility of the people doing the assaulting. So for the potential assaulters out there, here is a handy list of rules to follow:

1. Don’t put drugs in people’s drinks in order to control their behavior.

2. When you see someone walking by themselves, leave them alone!

3. If you pull over to help someone with car problems, remember not to assault them!

4. NEVER open an unlocked door or window uninvited.

5. If you are in an elevator and someone else gets in, DON’T ASSAULT THEM!

6. Remember, people go to laundry to do their laundry, do not attempt to molest someone who is alone in a laundry room.

7. USE THE BUDDY SYSTEM! If you are not able to stop yourself from assaulting people, ask a friend to stay with you while you are in public.

8. Always be honest with people! Don’t pretend to be a caring friend in order to gain the trust of someone you want to assault. Consider telling them you plan to assault them. If you don’t communicate your intentions, the other person may take that as a sign that you do not plan to rape them.

9. Don’t forget: you can’t have sex with someone unless they are awake!

10. Carry a whistle! If you are worried you might assault someone “on accident” you can hand it to the person you are with, so they can blow it if you do.

And, ALWAYS REMEMBER: if you didn’t ask permission and then respect the answer the first time, you are committing a crime–no matter how “into it” others appear to be.

I am so tired of this topic, but...

2009-10-13T15:59:00Z

Here's the problem with the argument that more competition in a free market will lower health insurance costs:

The larger the pool in an insurance plan, the cheaper the plan. Having more companies offering more plans will make the pools smaller and people will HAVE TO PAY MORE. That is how economics works. More competition is garbage and will not work.

Therefore, for the absolutely lowest health insurance costs, you need the largest pool possible. What's the biggest pool in America? EVERYONE. Guess what everyone in a single awesome plan is called? SINGLE-PAYER.

Get it. Get it now. Sorry, insurance companies, but you are the suck. You tried, you failed. Get out of the way.

Finally, a bridge between Science and Religion.

2009-10-13T15:49:07Z

It's what you've come to expect from me.

2009-10-12T02:14:11Z

I know I've been posting a lot of pictures of Ethan lately, but it's been one thing after another with him. Cross-country. Homecoming. My days are pretty monotonous lately - work and school are taking up most of my time and there's not a lot to say about it. My two science classes are driving me nuts - not because I don't love science or find it hard, but the class structure and the instructors are maddening.

For instance, I just had to to an assignment with four sections. The first was to go through my latest exam (on which 60% of the class got a D or an F; no one got an A - I got one of the highest in class with an 86%) and correct it, write down why I got it wrong and cite my sources for finding the correct answer. Then we had to write out a detailed essay on our study habits, then write down ways in which we could improve our performance and then rewrite some of the questions to make them clearer. The problem I had - several of my answers were totally correct and marked wrong for no reason.

This teacher has such a confidence problem - almost every week, she makes up break up into groups to discuss ways in which that class could be better and to evaluate her teaching. We spend more time discussing the rules of the class than we do the actual material. Which is too bad, because I am rocking this whole valence electron thing.

The highlights of my week are photography and weight training. I love having a scheduled hour twice a week (a third day would be great) to work out. I've lost 12 pounds and rebuilt quite a bit of my chest muscle since classes started seven weeks ago. I'm hoping to take another course in the spring as well to keep up the progress.

I may also take another photography class if I can swing it in my schedule. This coming spring will be my final semester before I transfer to the university, so it's my last chance, really. Photography has been just fantastic. It's odd how a picture I wouldn't give a second glance to on the digital is a beauty when so much time and effort has gone into its creation.

So, as my post began, I'm sorry I've been posting so many pictures of Ethan lately, but I have to post one more. Our latest assignment in photography is portraits and lighting. We had to take many pictures with lighting coming from different directions. This one in particular is from the set with the forward-lighting. It turned out so well, I have surprised myself.

We also had the critique from our first project. My pictures were widely liked, with some good, healthy criticism. I think my favorite comment so far has been: "When I first look at your pictures, I wonder why you would take a picture of that. It's like pictures of nothing [an empty street in one, someone shouting as some people walking by in another] but the more I look at them, the more I like them. There's something there but I don't know what to call it."

And just so my skills don't erode, I played with the digital with some self-portraits and Photoshop.

And soon, I need to decide what I'm going to do with all this colleging. I like being more educated - I always have. But that's always been a reward in itself. I could go to school forever. But that's not a career and I keep forgetting I'm supposed to be doing this for a reason, toward a goal. I don't have one of those, exactly. You know what I really like? Learning. Knowing. Creating. I would make a great gnostic God. It reminds me of the last page in Lon Milo DuQuette's The Chicken Qabalah.

The Breakfast Fight Club?

2009-10-11T14:42:05Z

jackshoegazer @ 2009-10-06T12:07:00

2009-10-06T17:08:33Z

So, I'm sitting in the school library, replying to old comments between powerpoint slides and this little tiny spider (about the side of this O) starts crawling across my screen. Hi little guy!

Chemical Day

2009-10-06T15:47:15Z

I spent the morning making salt. (NaHCO₃+ HCl ---> NaCl + H₂O +CO₂) Later I will go develop some film and make some prints. YAY, CHEMICALS!

EDIT:

I am also studying for my first test in my weather & climate class. Somehow I forgot my notebook at home, so guess what? I HAVE NO NOTES. So I am on the teacher's website and rereading the powerpoint presentations.

More parenting milestones...

2009-10-04T20:26:09Z

Ethan has been to a few school dances before, in middle school, but those were right after school, during the day and not formal at all. Last night, Ethan went to his first Homecoming dance. He had a date (a friend from cross-country, nothing serious, just friends, he says) and it was from 8:30 to 11pm. Afterward, he spent the night at a friend's house. I know the kind of trouble I got into unsupervised when I was young and I worry so much. I shouldn't, but I do. A bit hypocritical, I suppose. He seems to be in with a good crowd (cross-country athletes, piano players, and blues guitarists) and he can't be any stupider than I was at fourteen. Sometimes it is easy to allow him his independence and accept his teenageriness. Others, I am reminded that I have less than four years left with him, before he is an adult and autonomous. This is the home-stretch, the last inning, and every day I have to let go a little bit more.

Here are some pictures I snapped before he left for the dance. I learned how to do the Ediety, or the Atlantic knot for his tie. In some ways, this makes me a bit sad, because I never had these moments with my father and it leaves me wondering if he felt this way as I got older. So often he seemed so oblivious to me (and my siblings) as if we were just noise, a buzzing bee, interrupting a summer nap. A wave of the hand, and all is quiet again.

Mister Loki Peepers

2009-10-04T20:14:49Z

He's gotten so fat on the grain-free diet.

This is a science class, right?

2009-10-04T20:11:59Z

For my chemistry class (a non-major chemistry class, which I am beginning to regret taking) I have to do a project on three elements. One of the things that I needed to do for this project was "something creative - a poem, collage, song, etc... yours or someone else's." So, rather than dig around the internet for a poem about tin, tellurium, or xenon, I wrote one. It's not exactly about tin, but it plays a prominent part.