I find that I am having trouble deciding how to enter the blogging community. On the one hand I don't feel that I need to, I just enjoy the writing, but on the other hand, I would like to get into a community.

I am thinking that this might be a good one. But I don't know.

However, I did just find Daypop so maybe I am on my way. (Crawls out from under rock and notices Daypop)

I have read any number of fantasy books in my days, perhaps I shouldn't be admitting that but it is true. However, I have never been able to read any book without wincing slightly when I hit the word 'sardonic.' I always feel that the author has been contriving an entire scene in which the evil character foils some attempt by the good character just so they could put a sardonic look on the villians face when the hero realizes he has been foiled (and thinks that everything is lost).

Samuel's sardonic look in East of Eden occurs so naturally that I can't imagine how else it could possibly be described. The word has been redeemed to me.

If you have been feeling this way yourself, then it might be time for you to start reading Steinbeck as well.

So the further I read into East of Eden the more intrigued I am. I especially like how Steinbeck has developed the Cathy/Kate character. At the very beginning he describes that some people are monsters, and the rest of us can't understand what makes them do what they do. Of course, from the inside perspective of one of those people, the reasons do not seem strange at all. And so they do not explain them and we do not understand them.

This provides such a refreshing change from the normal antagonist. Evil characters, even when not explictly stated, usually have been corrupted by power or greed or lust or something. They are people that we can understand because they have been corrupted by a temptation that might bring us down.

Cathy/Kate by comparision never resembled anyone of us nor could she ever become like us. Therein she is able to be at once evil and yet retain some humanity. Because we cannot see her end goal, we can conitue to assume some redemption may come to her, even though we know she is not interested in it. ANd perhaps she would not understand that if it were offered her.

I played chess online yesterday. It sounded fun when I started, but after I lost a couple of games I decided that I had had enough.

I think that I need to practice more, but the thought of going out and losing again makes me wary. I suppose I should just remember that the Internet is pretty faceless and no one but me cares if I win or lose. We will see.

And now, about an hour later, the rain is over. The street is already drying. You would hardly know that anything happened.

Except for my wet hair.

I ran to the store a few minutes ago under forboding but dry skies. About five minutes after I got home the skies opened. I can hear the thunder crashing and the rain hitting the street and the cars splashing it up.

It is quite possible that I will go out and stand in it for a while.

And on the other hand, I am completely disconnected from the rain. To me, it only exists as an image, a vision of rain. I am completely unaffected by the rain, uless I need to run back out to my car.

I really think I might go stand outside for a while.

I seem to cycle through interests which in turn affects how much time I think that I have. Before I started my blog I was spending most of my time in a MMORPG (sort of) which I eventually got bored with. While I was playing though, I didnt' think there were very many other things I could be doing and was content not to do them.

Now that I have started building my Web site I find myself pulled in a thousand different directions. I want to read, not only to post my thoughts but also because I have neglected my reading for too long. I want to learn JavaScript and Flash so that I make my site more interactive. I want to learn Photoshop so that I can create incredible graphics for my site. I read plenty of news at work, but find myself wanting to know more so I can converse intelligently about everything going on in the world.

And as odd as it sounds, I want to exercise more. This one came about because I realized that so many of the things I was doing revolved around my computer. It is like a deep well that I can draw so much from, but if I am not careful I might fall in. There is so much to learn and do online that I could easily spend too much time staring staring over the fence at the greener grass on the other side. Meaning to say that the glimpses I get of other people's lives online look appealing and I start to think that my own digital life would be better than this analog one I lead. Which circles right back to exercise. I try to get out at 6 a.m. to go running (as I have mentioned) and through this I feel more connected to my world. I feel more grounded, or that I have more of a presence in the world because I am out dripping my sweat on its pavement. Because I am breathing in the air and fumes and scents that would go unnoticed if I was not there. Because someone driving to work or leaving their house sees me and thinks they have seen me before, therefore I must be real and they must be real and the world must be real.

Every morning I am reminding myself that something exists beyond the walls of my house, beyond the walls of my office and pas the windshield of my car. It is a good feeling, a real feeling.

"Focus groups have shown that Democrats might be willing to vote against the recall if Davis acknowledged some failures, political analysts said."

This is taken from an article about the speech Gray Davis made at UCLA proported to be his chance to take responsibility for his mistakes. And while the whole recall process is a circus, it is good to know at least one player is doing his part for the right reasons.

A co-worker and I were having a discussion about plums at lunch.

She prefers a firmer, tart plum whereas I go for the rounder, softer, juicier, dark skinned plums. I love taking a big bite of a soft plum and letting that soft texture fall apart in my mouth. Hmmmm.

I think I need to buy more plums before the season ends.

My wife subscribes to Martha Stewart magazine and yesterday she got a Reader's Digest-sized recipe magazine, but filled with simple recipes that can be made without grinding your own wheat or growing your own vegetables.

She got all excited about the recipes as she flipped through and decided she wanted to subscribe. The trouble is, we have about 5 specific cookbooks (chicken, Asian, etc.) that don’t get used along with The Joy of Cooking and a couple other 'basics' cookbooks. So I told her that if she made a blueberry crumb top pie she was eyeing, we would sign up.

I didn’t expect her to actually want to make it, but figured this was win/win for me. Either we don't get more cookbooks that line our shelves and collect dust, or I get some blueberry pie.

As it turns out, I got the pie. She decided that she wanted to make it right away, so I found a chicken roll recipe that included tomatoes and asparagus, and we went out to buy the ingredients.

I learned a couple of things while making my chicken rolls.
1. Frozen chicken thawed in a microwave is not suited for pounding flat
2. You can get a tomato that is bigger than you need
3. Chicken cooked on one side doesn't roll well
4. My wife doesn’t believe that I actually read recipes
And finally, those chicken rolls were really good, even if the presentation would have made Martha run screaming from our house.

So, it looks like I am going to be having more adventures in cooking. I think I might try the cantaloupe and mozzarella salad to try and beat the heat.

I started reading John Steinbeck's East of Eden. Terrible I know but I picked it up because of the buzz that Opera generated about it. I have been planning to read some American classic authors for a while, and this seemed a good place to start.

Though I have only been through 2 chapters, Steinbeck's writing style is very descriptive. I have heard that he can write too much description at times, but I really feel as though I am standing in the Salinas Valley as the novel begins.

The copy I have is about 600 pages thick. I was looking at it this morning over my bagel wondering if I was going to have the time and energy to finish it. I shouldn't take up so much time with my blog so I can read more.

Or maybe I will just start staying up later...

So today I went through the ePlastic tutorial. I would have never been able to come up with this on my own, but taking it step by step I was able to come out pretty close. I am going to try making all the letters that I need to re-create my site navigation with them.

I also decided, that while I have never done it before, I am going to create some blog skins. I very much doubt that anyone will want them, but at least I can contribute.

So begins my odyssey into some very basic Web design and development.

I have been playing on the company softball team and we won our last game Wednesday night. I can't say that I am very good at softball, but it has been fun getting out with people of all levels in the company and just having a good time.

There is such a different dynamic when you are out on the field cheering for someone to run home or knock one out of the park. I can't wait for next season... even though it is about a year away.

There seems to be more talk now days about Howard Dean than John Kerry as the democratic hopeful who can unseat George W.

I think that Dean is doing a great job of getting into the grassroots of the democratic party, a segment that appears to appreciate his plain-spoken manner and apparent approachability.

At some point though, it will not be enough for a candidate to be just anti-Bush. He talks about the issues very much in terms of what Bush is doing wrong, but I hope he will speak more towards how he expects to implement his policies.
It will be interesting to watch the democratic nomination process, I hope Dean has what it takes to get through it all.

I haven't posted in a few days because I have been working on the rest of my site. I attempted my first foray into templates and style sheets with Dreamweaver. They are pretty basic, but making sure I got everything in the right place, figured out what belonged in the template, what fit in the style sheet, how to reference them and on and on and on.

Having a project to explore these technical ins and outs makes things easier. I could visualize what the end product should be and just had to keep tweaking and adjusting. I made numerous forays to the Internet for help. I also relied heavily on my blog's style sheet so I can't take too much credit.

The great thing about the Web is that now that I have everything figured out (I hope) you won't see any of the mistakes that I made (I hope). I am thinking of including some JavaScript, so errors are on the way.

And let me say:
No Contest!!!

Surfing the Internet can be either very busy or very slow. I tend to either click through links as I am looking for something, or just sit back and read everything on a site.

But when I am looking to waste a bit of time, invariably I end up playing games.
This site has some reall great games. The visuals are always incredible. Some of the games are repetitive, but most fall into the easy to learn, difficult to master category. :)
Be sure to try the diving game, umbrella chickens and the egg toss.

I am going to dare to tackle a very controversial and sensitive subject. I hope that I can manage it objectively and that my words convey their intended meanings.

Gene Robinson was elected the Bishop of New Hampshire for the Episcopalian church. This has caused quite an uproar to which I would like to add my 2 cents.
But before I begin that, I want to set the boundaries on what I am discussing. I have heard some radio interviews with Robinson, I think that he is an intelligent man who cares deeply about the people he serves. I do not question his integrity or ability as a leader, nor do I believe any of the accusations (all dismissed) brought against him.
I think that gay rights is an important secular, social issue that needs to be debated, but I do not wish to mire myself in the delicate intricacies of that discussion.

What I would like to say is that from as a religion some beliefs are fundamental to the character and integrity of the religion that cannot be tossed around by popular opinion.
One of those beliefs is that a man was made to be with a woman and a woman was made to be with a man. God's first commandment to Adam and Eve, and I feel I can invoke the canon of scripture since this is a religious topic, was to multiply and replenish the earth. This passage has such a depth of meaning. Man and woman are meant to be together, they are meant to create life and provide guidance to their children, frustrating these plans is antagonistic to one of the basic tenets of Christianity.

I think that the Episcopalian church was wrong to allow Robinson to become a Bishop. And again, I do not say this because I think that he is unqualified for the position, but because he has chosen a lifestyle that does not conform to Christian tenets. For this alone I do not think he should be given charge over a section of the church.

On a larger scale, though dissatisfying as this will be, I do not have an answer for homosexuality in a Christian context. It is a very personal issue that cannot be summed up in 1 or 2 blithe sentences. I wish the Episcopalian church all the best as they deal with it.

If you have ever wanted to reach for the stars, things just got a bit easier. You can buy real estate here in our solar system pretty cheap.

You might never set foot on your land, but just think in 100 years when people start colonizing other planets (assuming we do) someone down your family line will have a piece of paper that no one will recognize as valid.

This is one of those times when reading this, all I could think of was "Why didn’t I think of that?" Well, I suppose I will have to find something else to sell, I wonder if the ocean floor under international waters is taken...

Apparently my post from yesterday didn't make it. Which, while frustrating is not the end of the world. It had a great link I might use later though.

I was planning to avoid discussing news on this blog, but my resolve didn't last very long. And I suppose this post is going to push me from opinionated into activist.

Just the other day I read that congress is planning a buyout of tobacco quotas. I don’t know all the ins and outs, but apparently farmers have to lease the right to fill a quota from a private party. Since quotas have been going down in recent years, the price to lease them has been going up.

Congress wants the tobacco industry to fund the buyout by paying a certain percentage based on their market share. That has led the tobacco companies to state they will almost certainly pass the price along to consumers. Now some lawmakers are saying this isn’t fair to consumers who are already struggling with high cigarette prices.

And to all of this I say, Pass the Price Along. I don’t want the farmers to suffer, but cigarette smoking is not one of our inalienable rights. And consumers have to realize that big tobacco does not care about them. They aren’t going to shoulder the costs so their faithful (read: addicted) followers can keep on puffing.

And while I am on this topic, kudos to Boston and New York.