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My ratings (R) are from 1 to 9. My Dates are also permalinks. Click on the column headers to sort Jots. Feel free to use the address bar like a command line interface by setting the optional query string parameters: Dtm1 (10, 20, 30, YYYYMMDDhhmmss), Dtm2 (YYYYMMDDhhmmss), IsJot (Jot or Not), Tag (zero+ times), NotTag (zero+ times), OrderBy (PostForDate, PostTitle, PostLink, PostText, PostSource, PostRating, PostSize) & Desc(Desc), and Limit(integer).

1. What do you think makes a woman want to have an abortion? TAGS: Images. Politics. Sad. TV.
2. Went to get my oil changed and found this... TAGS: Art. Beauty. Comics. Images. Inspiring.
3. What is the purpose of the Universe? Here is one possible answer. TAGS: Biology. Chemistry. Evolution. Physics. Science. Space.
4. Pressure sensitive Wacom stylus for Lenovo ThinkPad X230t in Windows 8 TAGS: Design. Gadget. Hardware. My Stuff. Software. TECH.
5. Flaco before and after shots TAGS: Beauty. Cool. Images. Inspiring. My Stuff. Ramblings. Sad.
6. When to take out the trash TAGS: Home. My Stuff. Ramblings. Self Improvement.
7. Ancient Egyptian D20 the oldest in the world? TAGS: Anthropology. Chill. Cool. Games. History. Images.
8. Worm Sandwich TAGS: Biology. Fauna. My Stuff. Ramblings. Writing.
9. CrossFit WOD 2012-04-15 TAGS: CrossFit. Gear. Health.
10. Workout buy-ins TAGS: Boxing. Conditioning. CrossFit. Family. Health. Kids. Knives. MARTIAL. Mind. Play. Psychology. Self Improvement.
11. Watch the wind TAGS: Beauty. Chill. Cool. Life. My Stuff. Play. Poetry. Ramblings.
12. A really brutal admissions year TAGS: Chicago. Education. Family.
13. I disappeared TAGS: Books. Conditioning. Go. Literature. Music. My Stuff. Politics. Ramblings. Reading. Videos.
14. Review of my software usage TAGS: Amazon. Apple. Cyber Life. Google. Hardware. Microsoft. My Stuff. Software. TECH.
15. Methane discovery stokes new global warming fears Shock as retreat of Arctic releases greenhouse gas TAGS: Geology. History. News. Science. Sustainability. TECH. World.
16. Fish uses fins to walk and bound TAGS: Biology. Evolution. Faith. Fauna. Images. Live Action. Nature. TECH. Videos.
17. Life Log SS TAGS: Comics. Death. Life. My Stuff. Ramblings.
18. CF WOD 2011-11-29 TAGS: Conditioning. CrossFit. Training.
19. 7 and 13 TAGS: Faith. Literature. Mind. My Stuff. Quotations. Quote. Ramblings. Text.
20. Thanksgiving 2011 TAGS: Family. Home. Mind. My Stuff.

Date	Text	Link	Source	Tags	Note
20130501 140018 Z	Stunning new view of Saturn storm shows eye about the size of India	www.world-sc … 30429_Saturn.htm		Beauty, Cool, Images, Inspiring, Space, TECH, Videos	Strange hurricane on Saturn's north pole. The eye is the size of Inida. There is no ocean below to drive it. 530 km/h (330 mph) winds. Nice pictures by NASA's Cassini.
20130415 182125 Z	Why Your iPhone Addiction Is Snuffing Your Creativity	www.fastcomp … -your-creativity		Cyber Life, Mind, Psychology, Self Improvement	I was thinking along these lines just this morning. External business can interfere with internal and meaningful creativity. Wu Wei.
20130409 210612 Z	Why the mantis shrimp is my new favorite animal	theoatmeal.c … cs/mantis_shrimp		Armor, Chill, Comics, Cool, Fauna, Funny, Gear, Images, Nature	Murder sticks!
20130408 175602 Z	Mozilla takes a fresh look at Google's WebP image format	news.cnet.co … bp-image-format/		Animation, Firefox, Google, Images, Standards, TECH	.webp has lossy, lossless, EXIF, color profiles, alpha channel, and animation! This could beat out JPG, PNG, and GIF!
20130408 174534 Z	Report: Google Fiber Coming to Austin as Cities Race to Boost Web Speeds Read more: http://business.time.com/2013/04/08/google-fiber-reportedly-coming-to-austin-tx-as-cities-race-to-boost-web-speeds/#ixzz2PtYLQIZQ	business.tim … oost-web-speeds/		Cyber Life, Google, News, TECH	More evidence that points toward Google Fiber as more than just an experiment. Cable ISPs need real competition!
20130401 020438 Z	From Up on Poppy Hill	en.wikipedia … Up_on_Poppy_Hill		Animation, Anime, Art, Beauty, Family, Inspiring, Kids, Movies, Sad	Our family saw the latest movie from Studio Ghibli: "From Up on Poppy Hill". It was amazing. No magic, no fantasy, no sci fi. It's set in 1964 Japan and smacks of sincerity.
20130311 015940 Z	Father dies sheltering daughter from blizzard	www.abc.net. … blizzard/4552156		Family, Inspiring, Kids, Sad	On Girls Day too. That's why I dress with an extra layer on cold days or carry a pocket knife: Because someone else might need it.
20130305 023738 Z	Sword Play: A Photo Series	www.markfeen … com/swordplay/#/		Beauty, Cool, Gear, MARTIAL, Photos, Pole Arms, Sticks, Swords, Western Martial Arts	The words, pictures, and format of this series are so well done that the series should intriguing for a broader audience, but for those in the Western sword community, this series is an endearing treat.
20130213 150631 Z	Sea slug's 'disposable penis' surprises	www.bbc.co.u … ronment-21431678		Fauna, Funny, Nature, Sex	A disposable penis? Just in time for Valentine's Day!
20130124 173607 Z	Machine v Garden			Artificial Intelligence, Life, Nature, Ramblings, TECH	Life is tech, but not all tech has life. Usually tech is a machine where the vitality us without. Sometimes tech is garden with the ki within. Some people focus on the code as machine. Some focus on the code as machine supporting the life about it. Some are trying to awaken the ghost in the machine --AI. Some focus on the life all about and use machines only as needed.
20130124 173506 Z	StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Opening Cinematic	http://youtu.be/MVbeoSPqRs4		Beauty, Chill, Cool, Video Games	That lone Viking almost had him!
20130114 030459 Z	Public Praises Science; Scientists Fault Public, Media	www.people-p … lt-public-media/		Atheism, Faith, Politics, Science	This survey of 2,500 scientists covers a large number of topics. Some of the findings were expected (87% believe in evolution, 84% believe in human induced climate change), but other finds were a bit more surprising (72% men, 81% white, 6% Republican, 33% believe in God).
20130113 174615 Z	Live Action Toy Story	http://youtu.be/5G0j_Huv2Fg	/plus.google … osts/3roVE187tFJ	Animation, Cool, Home Videos, Kids, Live Action, Movies, Videos	Using real toys and real people. I've already seen this move a bajillion times with my kids, but I might rewatch it this way.
20130110 023914 Z	$17,000 Linux-powered rifle brings "auto-aim" to the real world	arstechnica. … -the-real-world/		Arms, Gear, Guns, Open Source, Operating System	Since so many are posting about gun control: This PGF system has lots of gun control and is essentially a sniper system.
20121126 193122 Z	How NASA might build its very first warp drive	io9.com/5963 … first-warp-drive		Cool, Engineering, Inspiring, Math, My Stuff, Physics, Science, Space, TECH	I love this story for several reasons but my primary personal reason is that I built my own Michelson-Morley interferometer in high school!
20121030 145734 Z	Sandy Frankenstorm			Family, Nature, USA	A toast to all the Sandy Frankenstorm first responders and utility workers! Last night I took the family out to Lake Michigan to see the 6 m (20 foot) waves.
20120918 141841 Z	The Warp Drive Could Become Science Fact	news.discove … 0yss-120917.html		Cool, Hardware, Physics, Science, Science Fiction, Space, Star Trek, Star Wars, TECH	Apparently donuts are key to making a viable Alcubierre warp drive!
20120629 183437 Z	2012 platform for the Republican Party of Texas	s3.amazonaws … atform_Final.pdf		Politics, USA	It's the 2012 platform for the Republican Party of Texas. Some of it is OK, but there's way too much WTF in it.
20120626 172640 Z	How twisted light transmits data faster than ever	dvice.com/ar … -twisted-lig.php		Computers, Hardware, Physics, Science, TECH	Why limit yourself to AM or FM, when you can also combine spirals of light. It's like a dream.
20120603 140603 Z	Last Weekend, Half of Germany Was Running on Solar Power	www.treehugg … wered-solar.html		Cool, Economy, Germany, Money, Solar, Sustainability, TECH, USA	It sure would be sweet if America had a Sputnik moment and realized American't fall behind on solar.

I usually avoid political posts, but this has too much WTF to resist.

"What do you think makes a woman want to have an abortion?"

"... I don't know, I have never -- it's a question I have never thought about."

WTF

It's not just awesome styrofoam art, but that people can do awesome stuff and I wonder if we'll ever know who did it.
It makes sense to me that things (genes, memes, chemical reactions, universes) which can more successfully reproduce would be more prolific and persistent (or exist at all). Successful reproduction is dependent on several factors like 1. The ability to reproduce at all. 2. Reproduction with diversity (sexaul > asexual reproduction). 3. Favoring lower energy states (going downhill) even if you have to go uphill first. (Posting this becuase this info has a limited shelf life): If you have the Lenovo ThinkPad X230t and upgrade it Windows 8, then your stylus will not be pressure sensitive. However if you go to http://www.wacom.com/en/support/drivers and download the Tablet PC - Enhanced Graphics Driver 7.1.0-8 zip, it has the 7.1.0-9 driver zipped within the first zip, which will make the stylus pressure senstive again! Now I'm ready to rock and roll with MyPaint, GIMP, and Inkscape! This story is how I felt this morning. I see so many different people when I commute, some obviously beautiful, others less so. But I knew that for everyone there was something remarkably beautiful, something very ugly, and something mundane. Life is too short to not see the beauty.

When is the best time to take out the trash? Some say immmediately, but that interferes with your flow. Some say whenever the trash can is full --We sort of do that at our house but then we just put the trash bag at the back porch where they pile up. I used to take the trash out just before my morning workout, but with my injured knee the trash has been piling up.

This morning I've decided to make it a habit (a resolution?) that I will take the trash out just before I go out! I'm usually dressed and ready to go out well before the wife and kids are so it won't interfere with my flow. At my house there is a flow issue in that we exit through the front, but the large trash bins are at the rear. However, that's a small problem, and I will give myself a pat on the back anyway.

Come on 20!
Worm sandwich. I'm writing this note while eating a sandwich. I had to go out in the drizzling rain to get the sandwich. I was looking down to avoid the puddles and I noticed the various worms on the sidewalk. There was one that was heading towards a water filled line in the sidewalk and I paused on my journey to witness his. I thought that he was going to cross the "valley" of water and I wanted to see that, but instead he went into it, submerged for his full length. I supposed that it was safer in the crack then out of it, given the foot traffic, but wouldn't he drown? Perhaps he was coming up for air now and then? I stuck around for a few moments, but he just squirmed around in the bit of dirt there. I continued on my own journey to get a sandwich and on my way back I checked on the worm and he was still submerged. There were other worms on the sidewalk. One was just a foot away who was also submerged but dead; Other worms were squirming or dying or dead. I don't know what drives a worm's existence. What sort of biofeedback or biochemistry motivates a worm. Do annelids strand themselves when it rains because of air, sex, acidity, or what? Why do they dig? There must be something in their biology that says dig or die. I think they feel pain or at least squirm more vigorously if partially squished. So many questions. Human brains are more complex but we're all basically worms with limited thoughts and choices and actions. In any case, I've finished my sandwich and it's time to post. Fave recent workout that I did: http://www.crossfit.com/mt-archive2/008300.html. Chest-to-bar pullups, 30" box jumps, and GHD situps. Loved the box jumps! I don't have a GHD station, but this set up works: bench, power cage bar set at proper height, and a barbell pad (usually used for back squats).

I do buy-ins with other areas of my life, but the buy-in technique is clearly demonstrated with workouts. I was doing The Open portion of the 2012 CrossFit Games (http://games.crossfit.com/workouts/the-open) the other day, when it hit me that the 5th week of it will roughly coincide with the release of the "Hunger Games" movie! I then sold myself on the idea of doing my workouts as if I were preparing to be a participant/tribute in the Hunger Games. I was also inspired by the competitors in the 55+ category!

Here's another recent examples of the buy-in technique: I was warming up the other day and noticed that I was already mentally and physically tired. I then thought that when I'm fatigued is a good time for someone to attack me. I instantly got a "fuck you" attitude and decided that my workout would be 3 rounds of heavy bag work, where each round was 3 minutes. I was energized and vigorous and proud for overcoming the fatigue. I do a similar technique when I take a hot shower: If I notice that have any hesitation about suddenly switching to a cold shower, then I've sold myself on the idea that I must then suddenly switch to a cold shower.

One more buy-in: I sometimes have a hard time getting the kids to do martial techniques with me. But just yesterday I was fooling around with a jump rope and iron whip techniques and the kids were laughing it up. I switched to doing a knife fight with the jump rope handles as the knives. The rope forced some measure, and the handles were so un-knife like that it seemed less violent. Basically it was different enough that the kids bought into it and wanted to try it out!

A buy-in gives any project drive and gets results!

Watch the wind
    uproot and uplift
        the discarded debris
    of paper and plastic
into fanciful flights
    overhead, on high,
        soaring out of sight.

Makes me appreciative that my daughter Connie got accepted by the selective-enrollment high school of her choice as well as the International Baccalaureate high school of her choice. Connie worked really hard and is very talented, but I'm sure that many who didn't get in are the same. However the line has to be drawn somewhere and I'm sure the other kids will do great elsewhere. Instead of checking Facebook, G+, reddit, etc, I've been selfish! I've been reading books (Douglass, Dickens, Emerson), playing (Go, piano), watching Netflix, avoiding election news, dining out, working out, doing lots of work work, slumming with family, and ... ah rats! We all that stuff whether we surf or not, but I admit that I like to disappear now and then. And yes, I was also to lazy to send Christmas cards again!

I periodically do a review of my software usage -- especially if I've gotten a new computer! However this year I'll emphasize software on my phone and tablet.

Hardware and Operating System:

• Phone: HTC Thunderbolt with Android 2.3.4. It's good. I love the integration of contacts between Google Contacts, Facebook, and the phone itself. The short battery life is my chief complaint: Why must I recharge mid-day? I dropped the phone and cracked the screen but it has been fully functional. The crack is annoying though so I have an excuse to get a new phone and Android 4 too.
• Tablet: Amazon Kindle Fire with its forked version of Android. I'm fine with the price, size, and speed. All the Amazon stuff (books, music, videos, docs) work great. What I dislike is that some apps are in the Google store but not the Amazon store and vice versa. I imagine that a non-Amazon Android tablets can do all the Amazon stuff fine through apps or the browser. I may make the Fire for the family library, and get a regular Android 4+ tablet for myself later.

Games: Lots available for phone, tablet, comp, console, physical, etc. These are more for my kids.

• Angry Birds. $0. Fair. Phone: Pre-installed. Tablet: Available but I don't need it.
• Let's Golf 2. $0. Meh. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Math Workout. $0. Good. Phone: Pre-installed.
• MathDoku. $0. Roughly kenken; Good. Phone.
• Enjoy Sudoku. $3. I could have put up with ads on the free version. Good. Phone.
• Speed Anatomy. $0. Fair. Tablet.

Comics: Just read in print or online with a big screen!

• Comics. $0. By comiXology; Reads require download and often a fee; Fair. Phone: Needs a big screen. Tablet.
• Mango. $0. Manga; Fair. Phone: Needs a big screen.

Reading: Going with e-books if available. Hesitating on digital NGM because we love the print.

• Kindle. $0. Good. Phone. Tablet.
• Google Books. $0. Good. Phone.
• Dictionary.com. $0. Good. Phone. Tablet.
• Audible. $0. Amazon audio books. Tablet.

News: Perhaps we all check the news too often!

• Chicago Tribune. $0. News; Good for local. Phone.
• CNN. $0. Good. Phone.
• Pulse. $0. Good; A variety of top sources. Tablet.
• USA Today. $0. Good. Tablet.
• News. $0. Reads Google Reader but no other features?; Ill named; Meh. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Google Reader. $0. Fair. Phone.

Audio: I don't do lots of music, but so far I like Amazon's handling of music better than Google and Apple. Yay radio!

• FM Radio. $0. An actual local radio; Need headphones for antenna; Good. Phone: Pre-installed.
• TuneIn Radio. $0. Internet radio with local options; Good. Phone. Tablet.
• Pandora. $0. Internet radio; Love it. Phone? Tablet.
• Slacker. $0. Internet radio. Haven't used. Phone: Pre-installed.
• TuneWiki. $0. Haven't used. Pre-installed on Phone.
• Music. $0. Music player by Verizon with find on YouTube feature. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Music. $0. By Google Music Beta; Player but no other features? Phone.
• Amazon MP3 Store. $0. Songs usually $0.69; Player and shop at Amazon; Unlimited storage if purchased through them; Good. Phone. Tablet.
• Little Piano. $0. A little musical keyboard. Tablet.
• Voice Recorder. $0. Take and share audio. Phone: Pre-installed.

Media: I watch YouTube and Netflix, but I don't do much TV, otherwise cable and Hulu might be interesting.

• YouTube. $0. Phone: Pre-installed. Tablet: N/A; Just use web.
• Netflix. $0. Good. Phone. Tablet.
• Connected Media. $0. For sending/sharing music, photos, or videos. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Gallery. $0. View and share photos and videos. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Gallery. $0. View and share photos and videos. Tablet: Pre-installed.
• Videos. $0. View and share videos. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Camcorder. $0. Take videos; Can switch to camera. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Camera. $0. Take photos; Can switch to camcorder. Phone: Pre-installed.
• PicsIn. $0. Doodle. Phone.
• Magic Doodle. $0. Doodle. Tablet.

Phone: I use the fewest phone minutes in my family. Waiting for phone wallets to mature.

• People. $0 Rolodex; Links people across: phone, Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, etc.; Call history. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Contacts. $0. Not integrated with my other stuff, so why would I use this? Tablet: Pre-installed.
• Voice Mail. $0. Alas, I have to use this now and then. Hide, since this is just the 3rd page on the Messages app. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Voice. $0. Google Voice; Don't use on phone much but I do Google calls on a full computer often. Phone.

SMS/IM: Yes, my family texts/chats often!

• Messages. $0. SMS; Can also check voice mail; Use often. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Mobile IM. $0. For Windows Live, Yahoo!, and AIM. Haven't used. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Talk. $0. For Google Talk/Chat; Use regularly. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Skype. $0. IM and Skype phone; OK. Phone: Pre-installed.
• KakaoTalk. $0. Don't use much. Phone: Pre-installed.

Email: I prefer to do email at a full computer. Urgent communications should be done by phone or text.

• Mail. $0. Can connect to Gmail, Exchange, POP3/IMAP, Verizon.Net, Hotmail, Yahoo; I use for Hotmail and Yahoo. Few features. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Email. $0. Can connect to various email providers; Don't use much. Tablet: Pre-installed.
• Gmail. $0. I love Gmail. Phone: Pre-installed; minimal feature set. Tablet: N/A; Just use web.

Social: I prefer to do social sites on a full computer. I do Facebook, but barely do Twitter and the rest.

• Facebook. $0. Most Facebook-specific features. Phone: Pre-installed. Tablet: N/A; Just use the web.
• Friend Stream. $0. View Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter; View by status, photos/vids, links, lists (?), and notifications; Post to Facebook, Twitter. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Peep. $0. View Twitter; View by all tweets, mentions, direct messages, starred; Post too. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Seesmic. $0. View Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz; View Twitter by: timeline, replies, direct messages, profile (my tweets, fave tweets, retweets, following, followers), lists, trending; View Facebook by: news feed, friends, pages, wall; View Buzz by: Following feed, nearby, profile; Post to same. Phone: Pre-installed.
• TweetDeck. $0. Owned by Twitter; View Twitter, Facebook, MySpace (PC), LinkedIn (PC), Foursquare, Google Buzz; Post to same. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Google Buzz. $0. Post to. Phone.
• Foursquare. $0. Most Foursquare-specific features; OK if you like that sort of thing. Phone.

Office and Files: I prefer to do office stuff on a full computer but I love having centralized simple text files that my wife and I can both access. I'd really like to log my workouts in my Google Docs spreadsheets but the interface is a clunky.

• Dropbox. $0. Web hosting and sharing; I have no need to pay for Evernote or box.net; Great! Phone. Tablet: Not part of the official Amazon store but the "hack" is simple: http://forums.dropbox.com/topic.php?id=47218.
• Calendar. $0. View and post to Google Calendar; Mobile calendar access is key sometimes. Phone: Pre-installed; Limited. Tablet: N/A; Just use web.
• Docs. $0. View, edit, and post to Google Docs. Phone: Minimal features. Tablet: N/A; Just use web.
• Quickoffice. $0. View basic documents; Don't use much. Phone: Pre-installed. Tablet: Pre-installed.
• ES File Explorer. $0. I tried Astro, but I like ES better. Phone.

Maps: Mobile maps is important when you're travelling.

• Navigation. $0. Great back up for GPS. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Maps. $0. Google Maps. Can be useful. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Google Sky. $0. Nice, I've used it several times. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Google Earth. $0. Good, but I haven't used it much. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Places. $0. Rate Places app by Android?; Meh. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Footprints. $0. Don't use much. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Latitude. $0. Don't use much, but I might when the wife gets a smartphone. Phone: Pre-installed.

Utilities: A calculator with basic science functions should be built-in!

• Weather. $0. Great!; I check often. Phone: Pre-installed.
• The Weather Channel. $0. Good. Tablet.
• Calculator. $0. I use this often. Phone: Pre-installed.
• Office Calculator Free. $0. Tablet: No built in calculator?
• RealCalc Scientific Calculator. $0. OK.
• Flashlight. $0. Cool idea but the regular mobile light is OK. Phone.
• Candle Free. $0. Fun little thing. Tablet.
• Goggles. $0. Google Goggles; Nice idea but I haven't used it much. Phone.
• Translate. $0. Google Translate; Good. Phone.
• Barcode Scan. $0. Good. Phone
• A HIIT Timer. $0. Good. Phone.

Special Apps:

• Amazon.com. $0. Love it! Phone. Tablet: Pre-installed.
• Mint.com. $0. Good. Phone. Tablet.
• PNC Mobile. $0. My bank; Fair. Phone. Tablet: N/A?
• ING DIRECT. $0. My bank; Fair. Phone. Tablet: N/A?
• Pingdom. $0. Meh. Phone.

Other:

• Internet. $0. Android browser; Good. Phone.
• Web. $0. Amazon Silk browser; Good when it works: Sometimes the Amazon Stuff works online fine while regular web pages don't. Tablet.
• Voice Search. $0. Voice search and commands for phone, web, text, sms, music, navigate, email. Voice commands have been clumsy. Phone: Pre-installed.

Non-mobile computer software brief version:

• Windows 7 operating system
• AVG anti-virus
• Chrome browser
• Dropbox file hosting and sharing
• IrfanView media viewer
• GIMP raster image editor
• Inkscape vector image editor
• Sketchup 3D modeling
• Notepad++ text editor
• Mercurial revisions control software
• PostgreSQL versus MySQL database
• StarCraft II real-time strategy game

History repeats itself?

History: 55.8 million year ago an extreme climate change occurred called the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). The PETM is so clearly visible in the geologic evidence that it defines the border between two epochs. One of the main theories about PETM is that global warming melted the polar ice and exposed methane. Methane is 20x more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO₂, so the global warming was exacerbated, the oceans acidified, and mass extinction occurred.

News: The Siberian Arctic Shelf and permafrost has been melting. Now hundreds of methane fountains are turning up. My guess is that once it gets this far, there's no reversing it. We've already been causing extinctions, but there are going to be a lot more. Runaway global warming here we come.

I suppose someone can make a variant of the evolve fish bumper sticker using the African lungfish.

I've kept a "Life Log" for years. It's a short document (only a few pages long) with a chronological listing of important events, places, people, things, jobs and salaries, medical incidents, births, deaths, etc. in my life.

The format of my Life Log is simple. For each year I have a short line with the year, my age on my birthday of that year, my "grade" if I was in school that year, and similar info for my wife and kids. EG: 2011. 43. JH XX. CH 13/8. YH 10/5. AH 7/1. Then for each year I have bullets for the important things, nested by date and time if possible.

Recently I rediscovered the comic "936 Little Blobs" [http://abstrusegoose.com/51] where the each of the blobs corresponds to one month in a typical lifespan of 78 years. I like it because it gives you a one page view.

However the blobs don't provide much metadata so I decided to transform it into a Life Log spreadsheet [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Anl6QqLgOdR9dFNZTDBERGluYWhiUzFYNG1LQmdlWXc] where each cell represents a month. You can enter as much or as little info in each cell. When you're done entering info, just turn off word wrap and the cells shrink, thus allowing you to see your life on one page. As a spreadsheet, it also does things like calculate your age on your birthday for each year.

A Life Log has a lot of practical uses: Medical history, resume building for job hunting, credit reports, legal issues, etc. However its most important function is to give me perspective on where I've been, where I'm going, what's important, and that time is passing.

Fave recent workout that I did: 5 rounds of: 5 Hanging Ring Extensions, 5 Forward Rolls, 5 Backward Rolls, and 10 Sots Presses 45#. Several reasons: 1. As part of my warm up I do 3 minutes of jump rope where I alternate between single-unders and double-unders, and I broke 90 double-unders so 100 is within sight! 2. Rolling without a mat is gnarly! 3. I knew the Sots Press would work weird muscles in the upper body but I was surprised at what it did for my knee. As part of my cool down I do a 12 minute round of stretches that includes sitting on my knees (seiza). That's the best my right knee has ever felt during seiza in a long while. I think it was the static active knees during the Sots Press! I'll make the Sots Press a regular thing.

My numbers for today are 7 and 13.

7 is for We are Seven by William Wordsworth. The death of a loved one temporarily weakens us, but to honor them we must ensure that their lives strengthen us and lives through us.

13 is for transformation, rebirth, rebellion. 13 exceeds the numerology of 12. A death must occur in order to have a resurrection. The extraordinary requires the surpassing the status quo.

We are seven! We will transform!

[FYI: Here is a copy of "We are Seven" by William Wordsworth. I prefer the original intro by Coledridge.]

A little child, dear brother Jem,
That lightly draws its breath,
And feels its life in every limb,
What should it know of death?

I met a little cottage Girl:
She was eight years old, she said;
Her hair was thick with many a curl
That clustered round her head.

She had a rustic, woodland air,
And she was wildly clad:
Her eyes were fair, and very fair;
--Her beauty made me glad.

"Sisters and brothers, little Maid,
How many may you be?"
"How many? Seven in all," she said
And wondering looked at me.

"And where are they? I pray you tell."
She answered, "Seven are we;
And two of us at Conway dwell,
And two are gone to sea.

"Two of us in the church-yard lie,
My sister and my brother;
And, in the church-yard cottage, I
Dwell near them with my mother."

"You say that two at Conway dwell,
And two are gone to sea,
Yet ye are seven!--I pray you tell,
Sweet Maid, how this may be."

Then did the little Maid reply,
"Seven boys and girls are we;
Two of us in the church-yard lie,
Beneath the church-yard tree."

"You run about, my little Maid,
Your limbs they are alive;
If two are in the church-yard laid,
Then ye are only five."

"Their graves are green, they may be seen,"
The little Maid replied,
"Twelve steps or more from my mother's door,
And they are side by side.

"My stockings there I often knit,
My kerchief there I hem;
And there upon the ground I sit,
And sing a song to them.

"And often after sunset, Sir,
When it is light and fair,
I take my little porringer,
And eat my supper there.

"The first that died was sister Jane;
In bed she moaning lay,
Till God released her of her pain;
And then she went away.

"So in the church-yard she was laid;
And, when the grass was dry,
Together round her grave we played,
My brother John and I.

"And when the ground was white with snow,
And I could run and slide,
My brother John was forced to go,
And he lies by her side."

"How many are you, then," said I,
"If they two are in heaven?"
Quick was the little Maid's reply,
"O Master! we are seven."

"But they are dead; those two are dead!
Their spirits are in heaven!"
'Twas throwing words away; for still
The little Maid would have her will,
And said, "Nay, we are seven!"

We were out of town for Thanksgiving and as we we were a block from our house, I told the kids to be thankful if our house hasn't burned down while we were out. Our house was fine but two doors down they did have a fire. No one was hurt and they have insurance. I've offered my help and told them that my house burned down when I was six. There is much to be thankful for. "Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes of which all men have some." - Charles Dickens

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