Looking out the window this morning, I saw a little van pull up next to the dog park and out jumped a very happy tongue waggy 3 legged dog. Followed closely by his owner with a guitar. As the dog ran around and pooped, the owner strummed the guitar and sang a song.

It's good to be back in San Francisco.

I'm sitting in the very nice Corner Coffee House in "downtown" Ferguson, Mo - Using their free high speed wireless internet.

Sunday morning coffee shop music in the midwest = Classic Rock.

It's funny, in a cute sort of way.

I have the internet here. It's through AOL 7.0 on a dial-up modem.

I can't say I recognize it.

I forgot my iPod. By the time I realized, it was too late to go back for it.

Thankfully, SFO has T-Mobile wireless and I have VPN access. I'm downloading music from my work machine like a madman.

I don't like them.

They're cramped and hot and stuffy and do very strange things to my sinuses.

In a couple hours, I'll be on one to St. Louis for my Grandpa's funeral. Luckily it's a non-stop flight. On the way back, I have a layover in Dallas.

Anybody know what a boy can do for an hour around the Dallas airport, at 8:00am on a Monday morning?

Daring Fireball is the only site I think twice about visiting when I see it's been updated. I know I'm going to get something thorough that shouldn't be skimmed. I need to make sure I have the time.

Yesterday, John posted asking for donations. He wants to write DF full time and "[He's] trying to write the shit out of this stuff".

I'll pay for that.

Those folks going to the previously mentioned post aren't finding what they want. So what do they do? ...They click one of the recent post links below it. Of the ten posts listed there, "All Fresh and Wiggly" is running away with the clicks.

I wonder if they're surprised to find a Lord of the Rings II review.

Server logs are the new peaking over the back fence.

Thanks to the ever mysterious page rank, a post of mine from December 2002 ranks in the top 5 results for a search on "plain layne".

Which is of no consequence - Except she's gone missing. And the people are a lookin. My refers are full of said Google searches.

For the record, I have no idea what's going on. In fact, I'll probably be the last to know.

If your still jonsing for a little of that old internet "is it real or fake" drama, try Writer. Bowler. Revolutionary (skip past the long introduction - start with the Plain Layne link about a third of the way down the page). It's considerably more exciting than my post with only a broken link.

"Investigators have found no evidence Iraq aided al Qaeda attempts to attack the United States, a commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001 hijackings said on Wednesday, undermining Bush administration arguments for war." (Reuters)

That's what they say. They even give it possession. "His timing is impeccable." A timing all his own.

Unless of course it's bad. Then, more often than not, timing takes on a life of it's own - outside the grasp of skill.

Sometimes your time has come.

That's the current situation for my Grandpa. His kidney is failing. After my Grandma died, he didn't do so well. Previously he's been in and out of the hospital for all many manors of things. This time he wasn't interested. In the face of too many tomorrows for today, he chose now.

Good for him.

It comes. And then it goes. Then it comes. Then it goes. Might as well get on with it while the gettins' good.

This morning he woke up in a coma.

Right now my timing is full of turmoil.

Any day now, a funeral comes. With it a trip back to St. Louis. Next Monday my vacation starts. With it a week long visit from my younger brother. Half brother to be exact - No relation to said Grandpa. He's never been here before. I might need to leave.

Meanwhile work is hectic. The best laid plans often get changed, lending more oomph to last minute. Now that minute is moving. Disrupting any moments I might find to steal some stillness of space (a little time for me to take).

So it comes.
...And so it goes.

In 1986, the United States was found guilty by the World Court of “unlawful use of violence” (international terrorism) for its actions in Nicaragua. The United States then promptly vetoed a Security Council resolution calling on all states to adhere to international law. (Causes-of-terrorism.net)

During the first eight months of George W. Bush's presidency, the promotion of human rights occupied a low priority in the administration's domestic political agenda. The president and Attorney General John Ashcroft were criticized for insufficient concern about violations of individual rights and liberties [...] (Human Rights Watch)

The high road ain't so high.

I did not and do not approve of President Reagan's economic policies, which saddled the nation with trillions of dollars in debt. And as others will surely point out, some of the foreign policy shenanigans that took place on his watch, notably the Iran-contra scandal, foreshadowed the current debacle in Iraq (which, not coincidentally, involves some of the same actors).

Still, on both foreign and domestic policy Mr. Reagan showed both some pragmatism and some sense of responsibility. These are attributes sorely lacking in the man who claims to be his political successor

Paul Krugman breaks it down.

This may be getting old. Too bad.

George Lakoff is the man. He has some amazing things to say about the way language effects politics and the single best arguement I've ever heard for why political statements should be framed in terms of family values.

It's time for some new books.

This weekend we looked at a little cottage (behind a standard 4 family flat) in the Mission. It's great... But the layout is a little strange. Essentially the kitchen is the main center room, with four rooms at each corner. This makes for some serious character... That isn't so friendly to modern living. Specifically music and wireless throughout the house.

There are a variety of solutions. I was starting to make a list of all of them... Then Pow! Today Apple announces AirportExpress with AirTunes - Standalone wireless repeater and music streaming. All in a package the size of a standard Apple power brick.

Problem solved.

Thanks Apple!

This weekend has involved a lot of stumbling upon digital things I've made and completely forgotten about. Which isn't necessarily bad. Process always trumps output, in my book.

You can't forget process. Maybe process in the sense of repeatable steps, but not process in the larger sense of nothing becoming something, at your own hand. That's forever baby.

Yet this particular situation strikes me as less high falutin. More crappy tools than the Way Things Are.

In the clunky ole real world, I have a sketchbook. Everything in it is bound in a big spiral. I flip through it often. Especially before or right after adding something new - Instant context and reminder.

On the computer, I try to organize by folders (or directories, if your old school). Once by types. Once by dates. Never effectively. Things are everywhere. I even tried everywhere. Just dump everything into an extremely broad category. Set the thumbnails huge and hope for the best. That didn't work either.

Besides location, I don't know what I've named things. The image I just found was called "remains.graffle". That doesn't mean anything. I don't know how it got that way. Probably because I had to call it something and for whatever reason that something resonated at the time. ...Completely independent of the content.

So I have to know what something is (often before I know what it is - save early, save often boys and girls). Find it's place in my existing structure or create new structure (more to memorize), then give it a name when no name is really needed. That's a lot of work. Extended by the amount and variety of things I make.

With my sketchbook, Creation, organization, and recall go hand in hand. I don't have to think about it. It's all part of the same process.

Somebody make that for my computer - Please and Thank You.

(If your curious: remains)

That Ben Lee kid can play a show.

I don't know if it's fair to call it a "show" really. ...It was more like some friends hanging out and having a good time playing music. Cafe Du Nord's cozy stage could have easily been replaced with a living room. ...There was even impromptu jazz ballet.

Good times. That's what I call that.

I went into Super Size Me expecting a train wreck. And man did I get it. Complete with throwing up and sexual disfunction. But, much to my surprise, I also got a fine documentary. Morgan Spurlocks adventure in horribly unhealthy eating takes a backseat to good old fashion presentation of facts and the people they effect. During the course of his "diet", interviews and wonderful animated info-graphics present a considerable amount of information about health in America, marketing to children, school lunches, sugar/diabetes, and much much more.

The biggest complaint against the movie has been that McDonalds is not to blame. I don't necessarily believe that. I don't think they can be blamed in the lawsuit sense of the word. On the other hand, they're an important part of our culture (ensured by their own marketing). As such, they have a responsibility - Much like the old athlete as role model argument. Like it or not, people will do what you say. I don't think expecting a corporation to try and find ways to make money while saying Good Things is too much to ask.

By the way, marketing a salad with as many calories as a Big Mac doesn't count.