i've moved to tumblr

Yups: go there instead!

i also occasionally post to my coding blog and a few links of fun live music :)

Does anyone really read this anyway?

Not sure who reads this, but i've secretly been posting to tumblr. i feel a little guilty, but not enough i guess.

Check out my tumblr then.

i will probably maintain these side by side for a while and we'll see who emerges, but i'm thinking Tumblr will become my blog of choice.

Summer Reading List

Inspired by my Internet pal petiteartichoke's summer reading list i've compiled my own little list for the summer.

i'm not sure why i've never compiled my own summer list. i am a slow reader, but that sounds more like an excuse than a valid reason. Fortunately, i've already finished one and it's not even summer yet.

The List:

Catch-22 - Read
Divine Conspiracy
Ender's Game
The Sirens of Titan
Breaking Down Walls
When We Were Giants
Into Thin Air
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Stephen Colbert uses Bing

Nice. Great pun at the end. i'm a fan.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/08/stephen-colbert-bing-rais_n_605096.html

...and who had worked so effectively to insulate him against the myriad social vicissitudes involved in his official duty to live on closest terms of familiarity with more than nine hundred unfamiliar officers and enlisted men who thought him an odd duck.

of the Chaplain, Catch-22

Are there any that dont sparkle?

i actually do juggle. i know it's hard to believe, but my cute little username actually does have some sort of meaning behind it. And the meaning is quite literal: i do love to juggle. That doesnt mean i'm good, but i have been known to juggle things that are on fire...

Recently, RIT hosted a juggling convention and i was thinking about picking up some gear. Mainly, i wanted juggling balls that didnt bounce everywhere when i dropped them (which happens a whole lot).

i went to a vendor and saw a great selection of colors for beanbag-type juggling balls. The issue: they all sparkled. Come on, i know you wonder what's different about me because i love to juggle, but sparkly juggling balls?

i asked the lady, "Do you have any juggling balls that dont sparkle?"

Her response?

That's such an odd request. I haven't heard that one before.

Really?

Children have a lesson adults should learn, to not be ashamed of failing, but to get up and try again. Most of us adults are so afraid, so cautious, so 'safe,' and therefore so shrinking and rigid and afraid that it is why so many humans fail. Most middle aged adults have resigned themselves to failure.

Malcolm X

The True Criterion of Leadership is Spiritual

Mankind's history has proved from one era to another that the true criterion of leadership is spiritual. Men are attracted by spirit. By power, men are forced. Love is engendered by spirit. By power, anxieties are created.

Malcolm X

multitudes of theories, facts, and techniques

The multitudes of theories, facts, and techniques that have emerged in recent centuries have not the least logical bearing upon the ultimate issues of existence and life. In this respect they only serve to distract and confuse a people already harassed witless by their slogans, scientific advances, "labor-saving" devices, and a blizzard of promises about when and how "happiness" is going to be achieved. Vague references to "particles and progress" do not provide a coherent picture of life.

Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy

...and James sloughed a slew of overdue library books, having yet again bit off more than he could chew.

Everyone has their own spin

i've visited a sweet black church the past two weeks on Sunday morning. As part of their worship they recite the Apostle's Creed.

It's a pretty normal thing to say in a church. It's old, it's tested and approved, and lots of Christians can agree over it (not all probably, but we dont talk about them).

But at this church they changed a small thing that ends up revealing their hand.

It's not "catholic" (lower-case 'c' of course) but "Christian" church.

It screams, "we are not Catholic!"

Everyone has their spin i guess, throwing their little twist of interpretation into the mix. Oh, and the "Virgin Mary" was written "virgin Mary". The devil's in the details. And i'm sure i missed some other nuances in there...

Oh decision making

i'm a terrible decision maker. In fact, it's caused a lot of personal trouble over the last 3 years. Boo on that garbage. As a result, my life hasnt gone the way i would've expected, but that's part of the fun isnt it? As least that's what i tell myself when i cant sleep.

i thought of this on my continuing journey of reading through 37signals Getting Real. The article "Done!" reminded me of the beauty of making a decision and then getting something accomplished.

My usual response to making a decision is: "i wont decide now, i'll do it later". i like that because it's easy to say and easier to do - because i dont have to do anything.

When i worked with Campus Crusade under the illustrious Nate Miller i was shocked when he said during a meeting. "Well, we've talked through this, who's going to do it and when should we expect it done by?" (at least that's what i heard)

i was completely caught off guard. Did we officially put this to a vote and pass on it? Shouldnt we wait another month to make sure we absolutely have to do this and it's a sure-fire bet?

No.

And surprise surprise, we got things done!

At the time i thought we should know we were completely right before making a move, but at the core i was just being lazy.

Here's to making decisions and realizing they dont trap me, but free me. And who says you cant revisit, or deem it a mistake?

Besides, i dont think Good isnt worth sacrificing for Perfection.

More cds and listening to them!

And now for something completely different...

or not.

So i've been listening to my cds, one a day - more or less - all week and it's been a blast.

Throughout the day i've played through Jenny Lewis's album off and on while playing video games or goofing around the house. i havent really listened to the album since the first time i was going through it for my little project. The idea of revisiting something i bought that i havent given much thought to since is rare for me, mostly because in the past buying things has been rare to me. My new-found wealth is baffling to me, i still havent grown accustomed to it, well - i've grown accustomed to it, just not in every aspect of my life.

Either way. i ran into a snag - my sister has my Modest Mouse cd. So i'm putting that on hold until i can find it.

So the list for past listens looks like:
-Mon: Bob Dylan's Highway 61
-Tues: Miles Davis's Kind of Blue
-Wed: (skipped! :0 )
-Thurs: Mae's Singularity and Animal Collective
-Fri: The Beatles Love with a sister and friend over for dinner
-Sat: (skipped! :0 )
-Sun: Jenny Lewis's Acid Tongue

So in the future (i need my Bon Iver cd from a friend too!)
-Mon: Fiction Family and Andrew Bird's Noble Beast (! - awesome)
-Tues: Derek Truck's Already Free
-Wed: Graceland
-Thurs: Brett Dennen's Hope for the Hopeless
-Fri: Jimi's Electric Ladyland (Have you ever been? ...)
-Sat: Flaming Lips - Yoshimi!

i've been keeping track of NPR's best music of the decade head over the npr.org's music side if you want in. They have some great running commentary and i'm excited to see what they'll list as the best music of the decade.

Also there's a great paste blog with their pick for the top 50 albums of the decade and you can stream all of them!

Kind of Blue

Poetic.

i was feeling Kind of Blue while getting off work today.

Miles Davis's (?) Kind of Blue never was my favorite album of his. i tend to prefer Sketches of Spain or Miles Ahead and sometimes Porgy and Bess, as well as that one album my dad has of him playing with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. i like the orchestral sound of the Gil Evans albums and the strong melodies.

All that said, i'm just realizing how much i connect with what Miles was tryinng to do with this album, simplify simplify simplify. It sounds like he moved to modal songs for this album to rebel against the complexity in jazz at the time. im guessing Bebop was in full swing at this period. That would make a lot of sense.

Lately i've been thinking about what i call the Postmodern Dilemma of too much choice. and i'm drawing heavily from others on that statement. i've heard it best described in a podcast put out by RadioLab called "Choice." Also, i've drawn a bunch of inspiration lately from 37signals. Their software and ideas raise simplicity up as a high principle in order to have their software do important tasks well and easily. They go so far as to say "less is less" in rebellion to the idea that less should serve "more."

There is too much choice available (or is there?), but at the same time, i like having all these choices. i think it just forces grappling with adulthood a little more. For someone like me who tries to have a million concurrent hobbies and is very interested in the world around me it's easy to get caught up.

i'm starting to see how Miles constructed the songs in Kind of Blue to take away a bunch of complex chord changes to allow for a beautiful melody to emerge.

Like a Rolling Stone

For those of you in the know. i've been buying myself a cd every week for the past year. It was born out of a rough last year and my love for music. It's been a blast spending dolla$ on music, rejuvenating involving friends in it, and a lot of work assembling tracks, lists, letters, and envelopes.

It's been worth it.

So to celebrate i'm listening to each of the albums with the last 52 days of the year in celebration. And i'd like to extend an invitation to join. i'm just writing this now, so you'll probably miss out on Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone.

So please join in! You can celebrate with me however you'd like... listen to the 2/3 songs i selected from the album on the same day and send me a tweet/facebook message/email/letter/phone call. Or even if you're ambitious, pick an album you like and want to join with me in listening wherever you are. Bonus points if you join me in person!

So...

Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone

here i go into the close of the year!

ps i'll try to post more of a schedule! and hopefully i've counted right, so that this is actually the start of the last 52 days of the year.

for now:
-Mon - Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
-Tues - Kind of Blue - Miles Davis
-Wed - Good News for People Who Love Bad News - Modest Mouse
-Thurs - Singularity - Mae
-Fri - Merriweather Post Pavilion - Animal Collective

Also

At the Andrew Bird concert the other night i was stopped by the guy at the door:

Open your purse.

Speechless.

Dude, it's my man-bag.

The worst thing that can ever be said about anyone

i'm currently reading through a book with a small group of people on emotionally healthy spirituality. In fact, that's what the book is called Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.

At one point the author discusses Joe DiMaggio. i dont know much about his life, but reading what the author had to say got me so sad:

Who knows what negative core beliefs Joe might have carried within himself. I doubt Joe DiMaggio himself knew. However, one thing is sure, his life was both a lie and a tragedy.

That's terrible. i'm still trying to figure out where it was on NPR that i heard about the importance of tragedy in art and how society needs it, but it's no fun seeing someone's life involve a real fall that they dont ever climb up from.

wedding conversation

(Me and two bridesmaids i didnt know)

Erin: I'm sick of all this theological talk.

Me: Let's tell corny jokes.

Rhonda: or lets just say stuff that relates to corn...

Me: i dont know about this.

Rhonda: Quit talking my ears off.

James: There is not one kernel of truth to what you're saying.

Rhonda: i was worried, for a second there i thought you were trying to butter me up.

James: Don't get salty with me.

Clam Juice!

Clam Juice!
Originally uploaded by jugglingnutcase.

So i keep watch on my flickr stats. Mostly because i wonder if anyone actually looks at them, so every once in a while i'll check to see what gets looked at and guess what others seem to think is worth looking at...

Well, apparently the other day it was my clam juice photo. it got a bunch of hits, and i have no idea why. i took this photo forever ago, and i'll be the first to admit that it's not all that special.

clam juice!

Tires

Today was quite an adventure!

i took my car in to get inspected and after dropping it off, took off in my bike to go to work. Halfway to work i blew out my rear tire. Fortunately, on Sunday i bought a spare because i knew if i started biking regularly to work i would need one. So i set to work on pulling out the old tube (to be patched later), putting in the new one, and pumping it up and midway through pumping up the new tube i split the valve right in half! i'm not sure if my little hand-pump couldnt handle my muscular physique or if i was just doing things wrong! Well, now that i'm back to doing software stuff, i have to think it was operator error.

Either way, i had to walk the remaining mile and a half - bike in tow - to work.

Pretty normal stuff right?

The other day i was listening to NPR on my way home and they had some sort of psychologist on talking about kids and lying. He said that lying shows that a child is being creative and isn't just a failure of upbringing, but he also said that a way to help instill morality in a child is to tell them (maybe right before they might want to lie) something to the effect of:

You know. It makes me really happy when you tell the truth.

And that was a pretty good thought for me to chew on. The reason to say this is because people pick up that good news is better than bad news and if you can get away with it, give out good news.

So the thought i came up with is, "Am i happier with reality than fantasy?"

And that especially gnawed at me when i was walking my bike down a busy street having my bike pedals clip the side of my leg.

And yes, i ended up having a great day! i had breakfast at the local diner and did the crossword. i biked home on a patched up spare that held perfectly. i got a new spare tire because the bike shop was nice enough to let me in 10 minutes after they closed, and i got to take pictures of two fawns hanging out in downtown Rochester. They let me get about 10 feet away from them!


So, am i choosing to be happier with reality?