Sunday, October 28, 2007

Mean people suck

I just read a reminder article from ZDNet news (picked up from from Reuters) about yet another malicious attack on the unsuspecting computer public. This one involves the Adobe Portable Document Format. You can read more about that here and here (and lots of other places, I'm sure), if you wish. You can get the latest version of Acrobat Reader® containing the update from Adobe.

Dammit.

Maybe I'm naive or something, but I sure do wish people would quit trying to mess up other people's computers. I don't understand the impulse that drives people to be malicious towards each other. I've tried to understand it, I really have. But I can't.

I know: "Why can't we all just get along?" (This quotation, by the way, is mistakenly attributed to Rodney King. However, what he really said, in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, was "People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?" The closest I've found so far is from the movie Mars Attacks. Funny movie, but I digress.)

Can anyone explain to me why we're so damn mean to each other? I feel sad every time I think about it. If we were truly nice to each other, wouldn't this be a better world?

Any thoughts?

Monday, October 15, 2007

A few thoughts for this week

My son is outside playing in our yard. I'm trying to think of what to write for my blog and I'm not having much luck. We are waiting for my sister and her children to come over. She has come in town to deliver some boxes at out father's house, hopeful that I will fill them up with stuff. We've made no progress recently on closing the house. We should probably get to that. He has been dead for a year and a half. Neither of us seems inclined, however...

It's hard, really hard, losing your last parent. We, or at least I, continue to have a hard time with it. I think our putting off dealing with the house is one way to deny dealing with his death and the total end of our childhood. There will never again be anyone we can turn to for parental advice. Ever. Granted, we're both in our forties and rarely need that kind of advice, but it was always there for us. Now it is not. So there is that.

Also, my father and I have (had) a complicated history. There was lots of good between us, but also lots of bad. I've been trying to forgive him for all the bad and myself for the guilt I have for admitting the badness. I think I've largely managed to forgive him, but not myself. Therapy is helping with that, but it is as always, ultimately up to me. In any case, I can't tell him anything about it anymore anyway. So what does it matter? Well, I guess what would matter is that I might finally be able to get on with my life without the overwhelming sense of depression and guilt. That is the ultimate goal and getting through the issues with my Daddy is a step in that direction. I owe it to him, but mostly to myself, to move on. I am a good man, I am a good father, I am going to be capable of believing that someday. I am.

Other news: Our pregnancy moves along as well as it should. L. is moving out of the phase where she is tired all the time and is starting to enjoy things a bit more now. We will be able to determine what flavor we're getting this time in late November. Each couple has different views on this, but we definitely want to know. It helps to plan for the baby much better, if you know what you're getting. I'll let you know when we know.

Speaking of impending babies, many of you already know that my friend Ludie is gonna be a Daddy himself. Congratulations once again, Ludie & Sarah! You've begun a wonderful journey and I know that for a person who likes to drive as much as you do, you're gonna love this trip!

I think that's probably enough for now. I've written this blog using Google Docs and I want to see how well it copies over. (Turns out I had to redo the links and the font I chose didn't survive the transition. I think it had more to do with my unfamiliarity with the program than anything else. It's still pretty cool.) I'm trying to supply a link for you, but I don't seem able to get there without accessing my own docs. If this one doesn't work right, you can do a Google search and find your way there, if you're interested, I'm sure.

Thoughts?