Truth

It is done!

At long last my secret project has come to fruition! Announcing the Mark 1 Brass Goggles. I'll be selling these things over at my website www.got-steam.com

This represents about 2 months of solid work. It was also a great learning experience. I displayed these at ChattaCon and have already sold a few pair. They are indeed pricey, but I think there is a market for a pair of high end brass goggles in the steampunk community.

Requiem for a Pariah

If I told you that a few months ago that the FBI arrested a man for trading child pornography you might reasonably say "Good". That is what they are supposed to do. Those with a more jaundiced view of law enforcement might wonder if this was a terrible mistake. But all evidence indicates that he was guilty of this crime. He even confessed to it.

If I told you that several days ago he hanged himself in jail, you might say "Good riddance". We, the law abiding tax-payers are spared the expense of a trial and the cost of his incarceration.

So far as you the reader are concerned, this is the end of the story. Justice is served. But it isn't. Not for me. You see, I knew this man.

He was my age, graduated high school the same year as me. We met through a re-enactment group and were both involved in the same community theater. He was not what I would call a close friend but rather part of that larger social circle I seemed to have when I was younger. I might see him several times a week. either at events, at rehearsal or even socially. At the time I knew him best he didn't exhibit any kind of strange or suspicious behavior. I have heard some say "there was always something about him..." but that is nonsense.

As time passed we saw less and less of each other until we only spoke perhaps once a year at an event we both attended. In the years between our golden youth and adulthood something obviously changed. I don't know when it happened and I never will. And to you, it isn't even a question worth asking. After all, he committed a crime, and one that society deems quite unforgivable.

News of his arrest spread quickly. And once the nature of his crime was revealed he became a non-person. He was not spoken of other than "Did you hear about...?" and a silence. There are no traces of him on social network sites. He became a pariah. I supposed I was no different than anyone else. I wanted to write to him, though I'm not sure why. But I had no idea who to ask about it. More importantly, I wasn't sure what I would say.

And now he's gone.

But there was a man, and the story of his life was more than the crime he was guilty of. When I knew him he was always an active debater. Always challenging, always questioning. He was passionate about justice and fairness. He enjoyed being part of a team, not grandstanding. He worked several crappy jobs like everybody else. He joined the Army, served honorably and went to college. He eventually went to law school and passed the bar.

He became a public defender. He married and had a child of his own.

These last two details seem to make the matter even more disturbing, more reprehensible. He above all knew that what he did was illegal, and immoral. But did that make him an irredeemable person?

To you the answer might be an unequivocal "Yes". The people who left comments on the newspapers website thought so when the story was posted. "Shoot the f@cker!" , "sick POS", "burn in hell" they yelled. He betrayed the trust his friends and co-workers put in him. He betrayed his wife. He crossed a line and having done so is deserving of our scorn without any pity. To some, it is an easy decision. To me that question is not so easily answered.

How can I conceive of such a thing? How can I believe there is anything worthwhile to this person? Because in my lifetime I have known people who also broke the law and committed unsavory deeds. I've known alcoholics, thieves and drug addicts. I have even known murderers. And in getting to know them I have found some to have redeemed themselves. They have led good lives. They are, at their core, good people. After paying their debts they clawed their way back to a life that was worth living.

Could my friend have been redeemed? Some would say no. And I will not try to change their minds. It is only because I knew him for so long that I even consider it a possibility. It's because he was always willing to play the devils advocate that I speak up on his behalf, rather than consigning him to a silent death. It seems only fair that a man who defended others should himself have someone say something on his behalf. Not to defend what he did nor ask for people to forgive him but merely to declare that there was once a man, a flawed man, true, but man who was greater than the sum of his sins.

My opinion, I suppose, counts for nothing. In the end, he judged himself more harshly than we, or the law ever could.

It's all over now. And nothing good came of it all.

Goodbye Sean.

Very close

For the past few weeks I have been working on a new product to sell. This was hampered quite a bit by the inconveniently placed Holiday. But now that it is over I am in high gear and as soon as Thursday I may have everything I need to start putting it all together. It has been a real learning experience and I never regret learning new things.

I showed Rossana the item it it's half-finished state and she thought it looked great. A few parts are coming from out of state but I should be able to show off at least a demo model this weekend in Columbus at DeConpression.

I am geeked.

Finally!

The whole X-mas thing is finally over! Now I can get back to work on several projects that have been left just hanging there. Hopefully there will be movement this week.

Also, the cars have become such a source of anger that I am willing to firebomb them both and get new ones. NEW ONES. I NEVER buy new cars but if it means that I NEVER see the "Check Engine" light again no price is too high. In fact, when I order this overprices piece of crap from the dealership I will specifically demand that they break the little bulb that lights up when I have to pay my mechanic another $275. No light, no repair bill. I know it doesn't make sense, we're on an emotional level here.

Both brilliant...and funny.

A great guide for getting your camera back if you loose it.

I bet you didn't know this...

Created by Oatmeal

Something in my eye...

There are times that I am truly cynical. That I loose much of my faith in mankind. War, disease, hatred. It seems that there is a never ending supply of misery dispensed by my fellow howling monkeys.

Then I see something like this and I smile. And laugh. I remember that we sometimes aren't complete assholes. Sometimes we do nice things for people we don't even know.

Trying to do right

I am not what one would call a greener or an environmentalist. But I have a healthy respect for the planet. I do what small things I can. But when we moved to Wellington we learned that although recycling was available everywhere around us, WE did not have it.

If we wanted to recycle, we could take our aluminum cans and paper to the local recycling center on Thursday between 6-8pm and Saturday from 12 - 3 pm. That's it. We couldn't even drop it off after hours as the collection bins were locked up.

Awesome. Despite this severe annoyance we did start recycling. We flattened cans and stored up large garbage bags of them for infrequent drop offs. We also started collecting paper which we would drop off at collection points when we went to visit Rossanas father. No plastic or glass collection at all.

But yesterday Waste Management dropped off a shiny new green can and announced they are joining a program called recyclebank. Apparently they will now take paper, glass, plastic, and aluminium in the same can without any sorting. SWEET!

Even better, we get points for the amount we recycle which can be used for goods and/or services. The program looks legit and I am excited we can actually recycle more now without jumping through a bunch of ridiculous hoops.

Pioneers...

If you have a television you may have seen this Levi's commercial:

While I am not what one could call a devotee of poetry I knew this wasn't written by some agency hack. It's Walt Whitman and you can find it here. It's good stuff. Apparently Levi-Strauss has a kind of scavenger hunt associated with this add campaign. It led to $100,000. It would have been nice if they had told someone about this contest. Just throwing a website at us means little in this age of constant advertising bombardment.

But I'm okay with having gotten a great poem out of it.

Bonus- The other commercial in this series features the voice Walt Whitman reading his poem "America"from a wax cylinder. It's both sweet and haunting.

Catching up...

This short video gives an accurate (if oversimplified) history of what's been going on in Afghanistan since 2001. It's worth a watch. While the long term stability of Iraq is anyones guess they do have the advantage of having something to sell and some national infrastructure. Afghanistan on the other hand is simply brimming with misery, religious nuts on all sides and bumper crops of dope and opium.

Our military, while doing a fine job under very difficult circumstances, isn't the total answer. This place needs schools, moderate clerics and a secure border with Pakistan where the Taliban like to vacation before coming home and shooting shit up.

Tatoos

For the longest time I was a firm believer in the "Modifications may void the manufacturers warranty" school of thought. Piercings and tattoos were out for me. Time has certainly mellowed this view. I know some people with ink and they are pretty cool. I don't let it color my impressions of them. Piercing still make me flinch a little. But then again, I have seen a lot of piercings that are waaaaay past the earlobes or eyebrow. Then there's this guy:

The Enigma

Looks kinda....strange? But I met him a few years ago at a show and he was extremely well spoken, pleasant and polite. A bit of a nerd. Married too. Nice guy.

While ink has gained pretty widespread acceptance big piercings still get stares. So drilling a hole through my nose or shoving a spike through my ear isn't likely in my future.

But what about a tattoo? I sometimes wonder what I would get permanently inked onto my skin if I weren't descended from Yetti's. Picture? Text? Alchemical formula? The options are limitless. Because I wear no jewelry I once gave serious thought to getting a tattoo of my wedding ring on my ring finger. But in the end it really wasn't needed was it? I know I'm married and committed to my wife and I don't need a piece of jewelry to remind me of that.

I guess its unlikely I'll ever get any ink. Unless maybe... pirate map on my skull?? Hmmmm...

Simple pleasures

I was a sign maker for years, which is why watching protesters these days both amuses and horrifies me. Here is a fine collection. Enjoy.

I'm gonna a write me a letter...

Inspired by this story of a young and unknown David Bowie writing a personal letter to a fan.

Have you ever written a letter to a famous person and gotten a response?

God saves the day!

Or not..

A woman lets gets kids starve for 11 days, making no effort to get help because "God would help them".

God was apparently busy doing something else. Luckily none of the kids died. Look, if you you're going to believe in an invisible sky wizard (and you have every right to) Understand that he/she/it gave you a BRAIN. If you look at all recorded history God shows up in person very very infrequently. His creations are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. He supposedly made us that way. So stop sponging off of God(tm)!