Archives: June 2003
Fri Jun 27, 2003
And Yet More Humor
This week's Metro Nuz includes the story of how "someone" placed a drowned fraternity brother (in effigy) in the pond at Porter College. That's the spirit.
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Wed Jun 25, 2003
Humor and Mourning at Porter College
My work took me to Porter College the other day. I love Porter. It was the first place I lived in Santa Cruz, and I love being near art and artists.
Porter recently suffered a loss--actually, UCSC suffered the first fraternity-related death that we know of. But Porter has always been a clever and powerful place, Midas did not die in vain.
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Laughing With Them
I read The Tard Blog last night. Hilarious. And if the special ed teachers who write these stories from their classrooms don't think it is cruel, then I won't either. As they point out, these teachers are the ones who get up everyday, go to work, and teach. I know nothing of the world of "tards" or "reetees" or special ed or whatever one is to call it in this sentence, and like all effective efforts at ending hatred of those different from us, this blog opened my heart.
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Sat Jun 21, 2003
Not Reading Harry Today
Nope, I'm waiting for my copy to arrive from England. I've loaned the copy we got at Bookshop to someone else. More...
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The Art of Deception by Kevin D. Mitnick
Mitnick's book is being passed around the office. It's not technical, but rather a collection of stories about how thieves and con artists he called "social engineers" defeat security by manipulating the people who know things that may or may not be secret. The stories are great. The con artists are so creative. At the end of the book he tries to give advice on how to defeat these cons.
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Fri Jun 20, 2003
Friendship and Wisdom
Thursday was the first day in a long time that when I came home from work I could say, "That was a great day." More...
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Tue Jun 17, 2003
The Credit Union is Moving Again
The Santa Cruz Credit Union's new offices are almost ready. I took this photo last week. More...
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Mon Jun 16, 2003
Bagheera in Santa Cruz
Our cat has a rich fantasy life. Here she in the patch of jungle in the flower garden. More...
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Anger and Power
Anger is on my mind today. Anger and its funny kid brother, sarcasm. Anger is like adrenaline. Excellent in rare doses, and toxic in small doses daily over a long period of time. More...
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Sat Jun 14, 2003
Camping
Our new camper shell arrived today. It makes the truck look like we have a new one. Sunset magazine is all about camping this monthh, including recipies and the best car campgrounds. I'm going to Florence Lake next month and sharing the spot of Deadwood Dick, my friend from work. I can't wait to try this rig out.
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Family Day
It's graduation weekend, and like all graduation weekends Santa Cruz is crowded with cars full of people who haven't sat next to each other in years, here to attend an event that finally "is all about ME," and gawking around at Pacific Avenue and its tribes. And this year, something different. More...
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Fri Jun 13, 2003
Journalistic Balance
Oh man, Good Times is so awful this week, it's great. The cover story is about gay marriage, and inside is a stunt called "Summer Fling" that will last the ENTIRE SUMMER where two single women are paired up with male dates, week after week, men chosen by a panel of judges and the GT readers. Um, did they think that by putting the gay marriage thing on the cover we wouldn't notice that only boy-girl couples will be on display in this outrageous display of mating rituals? More...
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Liberty and History
Last night I finally finished Simon Schama's last volume of "A History of Britain." While the conclusion is not as emotionally forceful as the end of the BBC/History Channel production, the theme is the same: if we don't know where we come from, despots will control our future. More...
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Public Employee Unions and the Public Interest
I'm going to KUSP this morning to record a "First Person" piece that is based on a letter to the editor I wrote a few months ago. This is the text of the piece: More...
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Tue Jun 10, 2003
Deterrent
Tonight I happened to watch a show on VH-1 called Red Carpet or something like that. A man on the show was an expert at getting past security at VIP-Hollywood-Red-Carpet-type events, and we told us five ways how to do it. The one that I can't forget was called "Mother Nature." More...
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Mon Jun 09, 2003
Where I Live: Coast Photos
I found a website--you probably have already heard of it, California Coastline.org. I live about a quarter of a mile from the beach, and this website shows a view of some of my favorite places--from over the water where I never get to see it. More...
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Sun Jun 08, 2003
More on the Segway
I looked up the Segway on Amazon, and learned that, people who shopped for the Segway also bought: Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Access Point + Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port 10/100 Switch by Linksys, Norcent DP300 DVD Player (Silver), Toshiba e335 Pocket PC by Toshiba and Apple 30 GB iPod (Mac/Win). Naturally.
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The future? or not?
Yesterday we saw two Segways on West Cliff. One of the riders was I think, Barbar Solso, the woman I read about in the Sentinel a few months ago. No, I didn't have my camera with me.
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Sat Jun 07, 2003
Office Origami
I said yesterday and I'd rather being doing origami, now I realized I could have been doing at the meeting. Business card origami. There must be more of it on the internet. More...
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Thu Jun 05, 2003
Another Day I Will Never Get Back
I went to a meeting today where I had plenty of opportunity to compile the following list: What I would rather be doing than be here right now. More...
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Mon Jun 02, 2003
Thank God Corporal Punishment is Outlawed
The Principal of Bay View Elementary School called us tonight. It seems that while we told earlier canvassers for Measure B--which will "Save Our Schools" --that we are permanent absentee voters, and that we had voted FOR Measure B, our ballot had not yet arrived at the County Building as of noon today.
Oh great. The Principal caught lying about voting.
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"We Changed the World"
AfterEllen has posted a great essay, "How Buffy Changed the World of Lesbians on Television." It points out that "Touched," one of the last episodes, includes the first lesbian sex scene ever on TV. That episode was so boring I didn't notice. The essay is illustrated by "the many faces of Willow," which is neat to see.
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That Other Life
I've been working my way through all the old This American Life programs, and yesterday listened to Testosterone. I will never think of men the same again. More...
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