Roadnotes: Olympia

The four members of a secret online society met in real life for the first time in Olympia, over the Friday evening of September 14, 2007.

Damn Special Secret Agent of God arrived in Seattle by high-speed limo-yacht. There, I made sure she saw the inside of at least one seedy bar before we began our helicopter ride to Olympia.

In Olympia, we met Desi at her Zero Net Ecological Impact fort. And from there we proceeded to a haven of culture and atmosphere in the heart of the town. The keyest member (if only because he founded the group), A, teleported in to meet us, but not until after he had missed the first band, which happened to be the spectacular Controlla Cola (here's a review of a Controlla Cola song, written by me). Next, we rocked our bums off to Sugar Skulls (and here's a review of a Sugar Skulls song, written by me).

After re-purchasing our bums from bums, we retreated to the fort for food and minimal sleep and maximum conversation. It was swell. Pictures were taken.

Why I Try Not To Get Upset When People Are Seemingly Stupid

The other day I was walking through a hallway at work and encountered a dog. He was a fairly big dog, standing there, panting, hanging out in the middle of the hallway. He was blocking my path and he didn't get out of the way as I approached.

So, I scooted to one side, sauntered sideways past him, and went on my way.

Within the next few seconds I ran into two people talking in the hallway. They were blocking my path and didn't get out of my way as I approached. I scooted to one side, sauntered sideways past them, and went on my way.

Newly discovered Windows and Mac features save you time!

You can save time by making use of this exciting, newly-discovered feature available on many contemporary operating systems! Here's how!

For Windows Vista users, follow these instructions:

1. Click on Start (or the four color flag, at the bottom left of the screen).
2. Click the triangle at the bottom right of the menu that appears.
3. Select the option on the very bottom of the list that appears.
4. Wallah! You save time!

For Windows XP users:

1. Click on Start.
2. Click the button on the bottom right hand corner of the menu that appears.
3. Press Enter to confirm your selection.
4. Hey, hey, free time galore!

For Mac OS X users:

1. Click on the Apple symbol.
2. Click the second to last item in the menu that appears.
3. Press Enter to confirm your selection.
4. Time to party!

I gambled and won

I called it my anti-suicide plan.

Over two years ago, I found that the only work I could get was uninspiring and made me wish I was dead, so instead of disemboweling myself, I walked out on my temp job at The Corporation and quit working altogether. That was in the fall of 2005.

I went back to school for the sole purpose of using financial aid money to pay rent. I lived off of school loans and credit cards and a few small commissions and freelance contracts. I wasn't always happy, but I didn't wish myself dead anymore and I was more prolific in my writing than ever before.

I traveled more than I should have and spent a good deal of money on organic food. On top of that, I went to a school that costs around twenty grand per year. When I graduated this past June, I had racked up a total debt of about eighty grand. My cards were maxed. There was no more financial aid coming in. My plan was failing.

The situation was severe. On the day I decided I'd have to sell my LEGOs and my 1974 Fender Precision bass (it used to be my aunt's) and my mom's 1969 Contessa guitar (these were the last of my valuable possessions), I got an email from a friend that said he was hiring.

Now, here's my situation:

1. I work at a place where they play with LEGOs during team meetings and jam to Guitar Hero II during breaks.
2. I moved a few blocks from my new job and now I can see the water and mountain sunsets from my fourth floor studio.
3. My expensive education at Antioch transformed me into a better person and I continue to be enriched by the perspective I earned--it was worth every penny.
4. Having spent most of my time over the last two and some years writing, I've developed into a better writer and learned a lot about the publishing world, too.

So...I got lucky. I'm grateful. I escaped something that wouldn't have been pleasant. I gambled and won.



(Coming up next: newly-discovered features on both Macs and PCs can help you save time!)

On War...

A couple quotes, from On War, a book written in the 1800s that is still used as an introductory text to those being educated for war:

No one starts a war--or rather no one in his senses ought to do so--without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it.

Once the expenditure of effort exceeds the value of the political object, the object must be renounced and peace must follow.

I just thought that since these are such basic concepts, we should all know and understand them, just in case one of us is elected president by a sibling in Florida, for instance.