vagrant thinker

in no particular order

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:11:00 +0000

things I don't spend enough time on:

Blogging
Cooking
Correspondence with Friends
Cycling
Listening to Music
Reading (fiction)
Reading (non-fiction)
Sleeping
Writing

A couple of things

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:31:00 +0000

I'm not surprised to discover that life as a family of three is much more hectic than life as a couple. I don't have time...for anything.

It isn't official yet, but I've all but failed my commitment to NaNoWriMo this year, leaving Sam to suffer for his art alone. I don't cook much anymore. I miss the internet.

Today, I'm officially pledging to write words every day. Some of them will show up here and some of them won't, but I do plan to use this space as a sort of log. So, here we go:

Today's Word Count: 94

They come slowly right now, but I'm getting back into that space where the characters in my head are with me constantly. Ideas are coming to me.

One Year

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:28:00 +0000

It appears this blog is now just over 1 year old.

right now

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:10:00 +0000

I'm working on my word quota for the day (can't you tell?). Truth be told, I'm likely to finish the day with just a handful more words than I had yesterday and a whole 3000 words behind schedule (that's more than 2 days).

Excuses are at ready, "distracted by the election...slept through my alarm...work...baby...dentist," but none of that matters. The truth is that I'm having trouble finding my rhythm.

Also, I'm easily distracted (can you tell?).

where am I?

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 23:43:00 +0000

In case you're wondering what I'm up to, I'm into my second straight week of vacation/stay at home parenting and just haven't had the time or energy to pay attention to the internet.

Maybe I'll try to do better this week.

smitten?

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:40:00 +0000

NaNoWriMo 2008

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:10:00 +0000

A friend is trying to kill me.

It started innocently. I received a message from him that said something like, "Are you a David Foster Wallace fan? Have you read Infinite Jest? If not, we should read it at the same time. They have it on Amazon for $10.00 and that works out to about a penny a page..."

At the time, I had read a little D.F.W. and had been wanting to read Infinite Jest, so, I agreed to join my friend and ordered the book right away.

A few days after getting the book in the mail I received another message from my friend, "I know last year you tried to get me to commit to NaNoWriMo and I wouldn't, but I'm going to do it this year. Are you up for it?"

Do I have time to read 1079 pages of D.F.W., write 50,000 words, work, be a (new) father and husband, and sleep?

No.

I guess I won't be sleeping.

cutlery

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:14:00 +0000

We went to dinner last night and our dessert was served with black plastic forks.

taken with iPhone

no on Prop 8, please

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:48:00 +0000

This weekend I received the following email from a friend:

Hey everyone-

As all of you already know there is an extremely important election coming up in a few weeks and on November 4th voters will go to the polls and make a decision on Proposition 8 which would essentially eliminate the rights of thousands of gay couples that have chosen to enter into a legal contract that grants us the same rights that straight couples have been benefiting from for ages.

Out of state organizations have raised tens of millions of dollars (with much of that coming from Utah) to pass this hateful proposition and there has been a steady stream of adds that have been spreading lies and fear mongering to trick people into voting yes. Sadly, the No on 8 campaign is significantly lagging behind on funds and polls are showing this proposition passing. Joel and I would like to have a wedding in the not to distant future and share that with all of you so I'm asking for your help.

Please spread the word to get out and vote and help defeat Proposition 8. And if you happen to find any spare change in those couch cushions please give anything you can to the 'No On Prop 8' campaign.

We've been donating as much as we can but there is still a long way to go. This is a really important issue to me so thanks for hearing me out. I'll get off my soap box now :-)

monday night dinner

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:34:00 +0000

the anger of john mccain

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:34:00 +0000

"check their goodies..."

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:16:00 +0000

nightmare?

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:39:00 +0000

On the TV, two candidates delivered parallel stump speeches. Our ship bobbed in the bay. I reached up to turn the dial on the small television and looked out the porthole. The orange sky reflected off the water; the world was on fire.

I'd like to buy a vowel...

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:01:00 +0000

it was a little out of character for us, but on Saturday my wife and I found ourselves at a bar. When we first arrived half the flat panel TVs were tuned to the NLDS and half to a football game. About halfway through my Sierra Nevada I noticed that the big TV, the one behind the bar had been changed to Wheel of Fortune.

I don't know what any of this means, except, I wish Jeopardy had been on.

nightstand

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:52:00 +0000

taken with iPhone

vote

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:59:00 +0000

This will probably be in your inbox in the next few days:

limited morality

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:23:00 +0000

A self described "Conservative Catholic" was on the radio. He'd called in to talk about clergy standing in the pulpit and making statements of support for specific candidates. Aside from missing the point about the potential dangers of confusing religious authority with political authority, the man, who, I think, was from Florida, said something I've heard 1009 times.

His claim was that, as a Christian, he was morally obligated to oppose any candidate who did not support a ban on abortions and would ensure a marriage was defined as a union between a man and a woman. Those were the only two issues he commented on and the implication was that he made his choice on those two issues alone.

What about poverty?

What about education?

What about [unnecessary] war, the economy, religious freedom, civil rights...?

What about the death penalty?

How did we get to this place? How did we end up in a world where complicated religious morality is boiled down to just two political issues? Who is pulling the strings?

the neighborhood is really coming together

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:52:00 +0000

taken with my iPhone

count me in

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:56:00 +0000

from the Nation:

I want the people running the country to be smarter and wiser and more judicious and more knowledgeable than I am. If that's elitism, count me in.

the fall of society

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:39:00 +0000

According to a coworker, "the reason teenagers act now is that we don't value religion anymore."

This was in response to another coworker saying, "I don't remember any teenagers acting like that when I was a kid."

FYI - Teenage rebellion is hardly a new thing.

the maverick

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:58:00 +0000

John McCain could prove his status as a maverick by voting for Barack Obama.

if it's broke...

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:24:00 +0000

Does it feel like the "free market" only works until it doesn't?

"waiting for that sleepy feeling"

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 06:42:00 +0000

I can't sleep. Instead, I keep checking my feed reader to see if anybody has anything to say.

It seems I'm the only one who can't sleep.

It isn't like I'm not tired.

City-Backed Loans for Solar Panels

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:00:00 +0000

This seems like a pretty good idea:

The Berkeley City Council late Tuesday unanimously approved a program to give city-backed loans to property owners who install rooftop solar-power systems. The loans, likely to total up to $22,000 apiece, would be paid off over 20 years as part of the owners’ property-tax bills.

Tuesday’s vote gave final approval to the creation of special property-tax districts, which property owners could opt to join. The final piece of the puzzle, however, is still missing: a deal with a lender whose capital the city would use to finance the program.

from the NY Times

why?

noreply@blogger.com (michael smith) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:28:00 +0000

Could someone explain why 4 of the hourly employees in my department show up for work 40 minutes early every day? They aren't allowed to start until 8:00.