I haven't posted in a couple of days. I suppose I have been caught up in other things. With the Labor day weekend nearing I started a new game of NWN.

This weekend has been a nice release. There is something about a 3 day weekend that makes both the week before (as you anticipate and plan) better and the week after (since you only have 4 days of work) much better. On Saturday we went to a community farm in the area and picked our own raspberries and blueberries. Unfortunately we are right in between the seasons just now, so most of the raspberries were unripe, and most of the blueberries were gone. I think we are going to head back for more raspberries when they ripen.
It was interesting though, picking through the bushes because of all the bees buzzing around. They were very docile, just flew away when you moved the branches aside. I don't think anyone got stung while we were there.

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.