I decided to attempt a dual-boot install of Linux over the weekend.  Yes, I am that big of a geek.  Installing an OS sounds like fun. Alas, I was not met with success, and conferencing with a Linux using friend were eventually fruitless (though I am extremely grateful to him for sacrificing precious board-prep time to assist!).  As it ended up I had a copy of Linux installed that eventually got me into KDE, but the computer didn't recognize there was a copy of Windows to boot i...

I have been putting this off for a while now. As I look back it is at least a month or more in coming. But I just wanted to let those friends I have made here know that I can't help but feel it is time to step away for a while. There isn't any specific reason, I just have felt I needed to force anything I have written, and I don't care for that. I would like to chalk it up to RL, but I simply am not enjoying this at the present. And that alone tells me I need to take a break. So I a...

Perhaps it is the joy of having our new son with us now. Perhaps I just mellowed out. Perhaps I grew up a bit (I certainly hope so). Whatever it is I just wanted to say that, as of today, I am starting with a clean slate. There have been bloggers here who have pissed me off, to be sure. But today I just want to forget all that. My blacklist is empty, and I hope it will stay that way. Here is too a new life in our house, and a new start for me here.

I recall reading the book "Grendel" and being introduced to stream of consciousness writing.  It was interesting, unsettling, and difficult to wade through.  I always wondered if my stream of consciousness was that random, that jumpy, that incomplete.  Consciously, I tend to think in pretty complete sentences.  But am I just making myself think that way?  Or do I suppress real stream of consciousness by forcing my thoughts in a particular direction?  I wonder. So...

Multi-tasking can be quite a pain With windows all open it becomes a real strain Chatting in one, homework in another Composing an email, perhaps to my brother? Update my system, snag the latest file The desktop is crowded, ain't seen my wall in a while These programs must go, far too many I say! Click the upper-right corner, make them all go away Then, like a brick, the thought enters my mind One of those windows had a blog, at least a few lines But alas, it is gone now, I closed i...

Untitled I have a confession to make. I don't relish doing this, but I must be honest. I am narcissistic. Did you catch that? Yes, it is true. I am narcissistic. Hopefully not to a terrible degree, but I have realized that I do like who I am and my writing, and won't complain about a little attention now and then. What brought me to this epiphany? Good question. Well, the category is blogging, so it has to do with that. I have, on occasion, seen folks recommend other ...

Suddenly it hit me.  I had just written my 201st article. It was interesting to realize that.  I recall quite vividly my planning out carefully just what I was going to write for my 100th article.  It seemed like such a landmark for me.  Interesting that 200 was a nonissue.  I have been wondering what changed over the course of the last hundred articles, and I think I have it figured out. It took me a good portion of my first 100 articles to feel like I was "settli...

For my first year here on JU I avoided using the blacklist. To be honest, it is largely because I don't attract the attention of some of the more contentious factions of our cyber-community here. But it was also out of some sense of having a high level of tolerance, of being able to "deal with it" or tolerate any behavior that might come my way. Last night, as my wife an I sat in another training session for our new role as therapeutic foster parents we had an interesting discussion abou...

Are there any known problems with the RSS feeds here lately or is it just me? I ask because even though Blog Navigator is successfully pulling in new articles from many of the other news sites I have it set up to get articles from, I am not getting anything new from JU. The most recent articles I am getting from here are dated Jan 31, even though I know there are folks who have written since then (and are set up in Blog Navigator as feeds to be checked every few minutes). Just wondering i...

It seems that every so often I simply become uninspired. Perhaps my mind slows down. Lately that isn't something we can discount. Perhaps I get involved in other tasks. Again, we better include that possibility. Perhaps I am getting a little bored with the whole exercise. Hmm, add that to the tally. Whatever it is, lately I just haven't been able to crank out a decent blog to save my life. I have had moments I suppose (with my brother returning from his mission), but overall I just do...

Loyal denizens of JU, I come to you this evening with a call of the utmost importance. Okay, so this may be a bit of a letdown. Actually I am just asking the good people here to help me and extend a hand of friendship and welcome to my dear sweet wife who, somewhat against her own designs, started a blog this evening. I have been inviting her for a while now, but she has used the shield of self-conciousness to ward off my deft attacks. She is a formidable foe I tell you. Nevertheless, ...

I want a muse. I am starting to feel left out. The only muse I know about I give out to patients Link and I don't think that is what folks are talking about. Folks I know here have one. Some have lost their muses, others have wandering muses. Some muses get shoves in certain directions. But there is this constant theme. Muse. I don't have one. At least, the last time I checked I didn't. My random thoughts are hardly coherent enough to be inspired by a muse. Perhaps I just hav...

It may be a combination of things going on at home, at work, and here at JU, but I simply cannot take anymore of this filth. Perhaps I am being too sensitive, perhaps I am judging harshly, and perhaps I am in the wrong. But there are some folks here I need to distance myself from, at least for a time, while the tidal wave of rancor passes. I respect you enough to let you know that I may be scarce to read or comment where I would have done in the past. I don't want my silence to be misco...

A blog along these lines has been kicking around upstairs for a bit. I thank iamheather for providing the catalyst for its creation with her article you can read here JoeUser is a great blog site. I have had other blogs, but they just never interested me in the way JU did since I started blogging here. Why? I suppose because, deep down inside of me there is a bit of a drama queen (er, king?) that enjoys attention. Not a lot, I have always preferred to be a steady one, chugging alo...

I have become a pretty regular blogger. I enjoy the opportunity it gives me to think, write, and sometimes just be silly. And as blogging has become more a part of my daily activities, I do find that I have developed not only an intellectual connection to the activity, but also a visceral one. I think this connection has actually enhanced my enjoyment of the activity. But not necessarily all the time. Because that connection with both the activity and the community here has become ...