Doonesbury on Blogging - The comic strip starts a series on blogging at this link. Keep hitting "next strip" for a few days on the calendar for a somewhat questioning view of the value of some blogs.

Scary Google - via JOHO the Blog

1. Go to google.com
2. Type in your phone number, in quotation marks
3. When it finds your name and address, click on "Maps"
4. You are here.

At least my father-in-law's unlisted number doesn't work.
Faith in privacy (whatever that is these days) redeemed.

Yesterday, as a member of "Dogbert's New Ruling Class," I received the latest issue of the Dilbert Newsletter, which included a self description of Scott Adams that rang too true to my own experience.

"I employ a continuous stream of skilled craftsmen to repair my house because it's not safe for me to do any manual labor that involves sharp edges, splinters, or heavy things. I feel that I'm in mortal danger when removing lint from my dryer. So, obviously, using circular saws or climbing on the roof is pretty much out of the question. I won't even fluff a pillow if I suspect it's filled with pointy feathers."

I usually put on a manly front and say something like "my time is more valuable to me than my money," but in reality, like Adams, I know my limits . . . and the effects of my propensity, in such matters, to say "that looks good enough" when, clearly, it isn't.

Happy Birthday iPod - One year ago today, Apple introduced iPod to the world. My little 5-gigger has become a constant companion. Combined with iTunes on my desktop, Apple's little gem has reintroduced me to my collection of music. With 17 gigs of mp3s ripped from my CD collection, I cycle about 4 1/2 of them in and out of the iPod for on the go listening. I've even gone as far as "ripping" songs from my 8 feet of old vinyl from the 60s, 70s, and early 80s. John Hartford's "newgrass," and Stephen Sondheim's "Pacific Overtures" are among the old favorites that I'm rediscovering, thanks to the iTunes/iPod/Amadeus combo. There have been a few recent articles on the iPod experience and on how boomers aren't supposed to be into mp3s. That sure doesn't include me.

John Perry Barlow on George II and the New Empire - One of the reasons for this personal blog. After a bunch of inocuous posts about arts and food, this one gets serious.

There is a issue with the new empire's clothes, however. While we can beat up anyone else on the block, we have to find them (Osama, Al Kaida, Bali bomber, Anthraz, Beltway Sniper) first. So why not go after George I's sitting duck embarassment to redeem the family name? It feels like a case of picking on the low-hanging fruit, since we can't seem to climb any higher in the tree of terror.

yummmmm... Roasted Onions with Cream Cheese, Chiles, and Lime - From the public radio food show "The Splendid Table." I usually listen to this show on weekends on either WHYY or WNJN while driving back from our shore house in Ocean City, NJ (available for weekly rentals in the summer, by the way). This recipe sounds good, if Lois would only let me bring cream cheese into the house. She's kind of protective of my cholesterol levels.

WNET Channel 13, the New York PBS station featured a series of shows all afternoon and evening reviewing performing arts in the late 20th century and since, based on the offerings of the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival over the years, featuring the Kronos Quartet, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, the Bang on a Can festival, Gospel at Colonnus, Meredith Monk, Laurie Anderson...I’ve got most of these in my CD collection, and they have definitely formed my middle-age taste, so it definitely grabbed me for the day. And, IMHO, they hold up well.

In the course of the show on Cunningham, he was describing the problems he had with some early choreography software and said something...

”It wasn’t really a mistake. I just didn’t know better”. -- Merce Cunningham

hmmmmm . . .

An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth - Courtesy of , a set of 43 thoughts on personal growth and creativity in life.