Asymptomatic

There must be intelligent life down here

Just More Evidence That the World Is Deeply Screwed Up
October 26, 2006

Almost every morning I ride to work I’ve got the radio tuned to CNN and Fox News, switching betwene them when commercials come on. This morning, they both quickly reviewed certain political topics that they believe will influence the upcoming election. Among them, the recent New Jersey court ruling about gay marriage.

What was interesting to me was not the court ruling itself, in which the court said that homosexual couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples. The court left to the legislature the responsiblility to decide how this recognition was to take place.

What did interest me is that this court outcome is perceived as a rallying cry for homophobic conservatives to head to the polls to quash any pro-gay-marriage candidates so that no gay marriage laws are formed. In essence, liberal courts have wrought doom on the election and gay marriage by half-sanctioning it.

This is what I was telling Brian before about Bush’s marriage act. Sure, maybe it leaves open loopholes for the states to define gay marriage, but in the end it draws attention to itself in the same way the abortion issue does.

You can easily stand on a street corner and protest the innocent killing of babies, which everyone abhors. But it’s much more difficult to appeal to the public for women’s rights to choose, which requires reasoning to understand, not simple visceral empathy for dead babies. In the end, the reactionaries end up voiding something positive that there aren’t radicals to defend.

But there’s plenty around in the news that doesn’t relate to dead babies.

Focus
October 24, 2006

I have no notes from my meetup in New York with the friendly WordPress bloggers there, but I will get to writing about it eventually. There’s a topic I need to dance lightly around first.

This site has always been my own ramblings and unfocused entries. This isn’t likely to change. What I do need to adjust is what I care about and how it affects what I write.

I started this site to dump my writing onto. A few days ago, I wrote something about the potato people living under my front porch - a short work of fiction - and got many messages from people wondering if I had gone crazy. Well that’s really what the site is supposed to be, you know? Writing. Of whatever quality and substance.

I also stopped using my own home-grown blog/CMS software because I was spending more time maintaining it than I was writing. Ironically, I became very involved in WordPress development after switching. While I see it necessary to write about things that matter to me - blogging being one of those things - I really should concentrate on what I love about what I write, even if I’m writing about something that I hate. Perhaps I should focus on those things on my own, rather than worry about what other people are writing.

Back From The Dead
October 20, 2006

I’m listening to an episode of This American Life on XM radio about people who have come close to death. The first act was about that flight recently whose front tire wouldn’t set itself for landing.

They interviewed three folks from the flight. Survivors. These people recounted their time on the plane before the crash emergency landing.

Hit the Road for NYC
October 19, 2006

This weekend, instead of attending the Philly meetup that I organize, I’m heading up to New York City to visit with Jason and his meetup.

In case you wondered, the Philly meetup is still on, even though I won’t be there, I’m sure some people will show. Check the RSVP list. Don’t forget that the Philly Weblogger (non-WordPress) folks show up right afterward, so be sure to have a beer and wait around.