Jonathan

This is currently in front of my house- soon to be installed in my livingroom :)



More behind the cut

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I am without a kitchen. I started a kitchen remodel three weeks ago (with some serious structural changes). It was a huge stretch for me- far outside my comfort zone. I was essentially convinced by my friend Bill that it would be an excellent learning experience, fun, rewarding, and it would save me a TON of money on the remodel.

I have learned to do things I've never thought I would know how to do. Like letting go of a preconceived schedule in my head. Things crop up and slow me way the hell down (like 5 days waiting for a building inspector).

I've knocked out the wall separating my kitchen from the rest of the house. We've run a 4x10x12 as a header to replace the load bearing shear wall we removed.

We discovered that the load bearing wall wasn't sitting on the poured grade beam (instead it was a foot off) and was essentially cantilevered in to place by the flooring joists. My load bearing wall wasn't sitting on anything load bearing (facepalm).

I learned how to make a concrete form and pour emergency footers at 8pm at night (after mixing the concrete in a bucket).

I learned that you can rent the truck at Lowes for $19 for 75 minutes when you need to get 10 sheets of drywall and a 4x10x12 foot beam home.


So- I'm at the stage where tomorrow a guy shows up to tape, plaster and get the whole thing ready to rock and or roll. After this I can install the slate tile floors.

It's been a challenge, I tell you what. I never jump in to something not knowing how to do it. It's terrifying. I disappoint myself constantly- and then I am proud (eventually). I'm learning how to drywall. I fucking hate it. I fucking HATE it. But it doesn't care if I hate it or not. It still needs to get done. And I still need to do it.



I'll put up a series of pictures when I get the chance. When I'm done I'll have the perfect Science Kitchen, fit for a chef. This makes me very excited. Like whoa. It looks like I likely won't be done by my birthday- but I'll be done by Thanksgiving. I think I'd like to have an Orphan's Thanksgiving this year and invite any and all who want to come, bask in the Monster House, and take advantage of my new Temple of Food Preparation.


Right now, though, it's a daily exercise not to freak the hell out. I've taken to reciting the Bene Gesserit mantra against fear.

It's really hard to be online this Morning. But I have to. It's important. Dan Gordon Levitt, Burning Dan, Flow Temple Dan- however you knew him- died. We loved him passionately and miss him terribly.

We came together last night, huddled together in our grief and expressions of love for someone who did so much for us just by being Himself. We will do this again. We'll have to. We won't be done grieving for a long time.

Go out and be fantastic today. And everyday. Have a great interaction with a stranger or six. Give highfives to groups of people you've never met. Wear mismatched everything. Be full of the things you loved about Dan (it's so fucking hard to talk about him in the past tense).

See the world as he did- full of possibility, change, and opportunity to have fun and be awesome.

I have responsibilities (big ones) at work today, but somehow the urgency of those TPS reports don't seem so pressing. I'll be spinning Poi at lunch.

Do things that would make Dan proud. One of Dan's more magical qualities was his utter lack of fear. This enabled him to do the things felt drawn to in life- lead the life he wanted to lead.

Don't be afraid. Of anything.

And remember not to take life too seriously, you'll never make it out alive. ;)

So- I've been taking photos at this small dinner theater show called the http://thrillingadventurehour.com for the last three years.

You can see these on my Flickr page.


Well- the boys from the Thrilling Adventure Hour moved from a small dinner theater to a full 240 seat, actual for real-real theater (cue The Jeffersons theme) and I am the official cast / house photographer. Acker and Blacker (the writers) frequently have some special guests.

On this, their 4th week at their new location (The Coronet Theater at The Largo Los Angeles) the boys had special guests that you will likely all recognize (and not just those of you who really liked Freaks and Geeks).

Read the review below. Enjoy the photos. Maybe even pay attention to the photo credits.

Click here and read the most awesome review of anything, ever! (from the LA Weekly)

Some more photos and some cool serendipity after the cut




Dave Foley, Autumn Reeser, Nathan Fillion, Annie Savage

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Confession:

I don't like my mother. Her political and harsh spiritual beliefs make her someone I wouldn't ever be friends with.

She at one point thought all gay people should be killed because they were possessed by demons- and said as much.

She believes that people who aren't open to the idea of Christianity being the only way to God the Father are close minded.

She believes "progressives" are what is wrong with the world and this country. (And here I though that that Jesus guy was a progressive).

She is horribly racist.

She worships at the altar of Brother Hannity, Brother Beck, and Brother Rush. This makes my skin crawl.

I don't know where my free-thinking, spiritually open, science-fiction (and science) loving parent went. But I don't like the only one I've got now.

I don't feel like associating with her. I don't really feel like I need to do *anything* for her.


I can't be the only person who has this problem. How do you people deal with this?

So I shot a wedding two weekends ago. It was awesome. I set up a photo studio and took pictures of anyone who wanted to get in front of my camera. I also walked around a bit and got some lovely shots of people having fun.


Many of you were there.


Many of the photos I took can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55598292@N00/sets/72157623792008648/




I'm not done processing all of the photos yet. There will be more before the weekend is over.


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Oh hai.

I'm engaged. ;)

That is all. For now.

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Today and yesterday are fired. I felt run-over by work yesterday and today work and life in general is making me frustrated and, something I haven't felt in a long time, angry.

I'm angry. Not my glib "Stabbity" which I equate with simple crankyness. I'm angry. Not seething. Angry. Angry enough to stop putting a shiny happy veneer on my interactions with the world and the people and situations that piss me off.

Angry enough to tell people to fucking stuff it. I want to be DONE being nice for a while. Being how I am requires a certain amount of energy to interact with the world. I'm never mean, I'm always polite and generous and friendly. I don't have the reserves for that anymore, not today and likely not for a while.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

I feel, often, that I sacrifice my comfort in order to make my friends happy. I go along with things that bother me- hoping that I'll just get over them. Usually I do. I wait until whatever emotion I have involving a situation dissipates and then I (usually, by default) evaluate.

I don't make decisions when I am feeling overcome with emotion (well, negative emotions- I make plenty of decisions while stupidly happy). This has prevented me from creating a number of unpleasant circumstances (for *everyone) but it appears that it also keeps me in these same unpleasant circumstances as well. I don't listen to people, or my emotions, when they are screaming. Rather, I wait until my emotional response seems to have faded to the point where I feel capable of "being reasonable". The net result is that the cognitive force that was so vehemently motivating me to *feel* some way or another about something is very seldom actually factored in to my decision making. The end result: that need that is present, that drive, isn't directly addressed. As I "calm down and evaluate" this turns in to "Shrug it off and ignore the issue". This invariably results in little to no change in whatever was causing the issue to begin with.

I don't know how to achieve balance with this.

I have one true, clear signal from all of this. If I wait for a situation to pass and weeks later I still feel torqued about something or upset about it- this is a signal to the conciliatory part of my brain that the situation is really and truly fucked up and I'm not being what I would consider "unreasonably upset".

I find that I have a difficult time asking for or demanding what I require. I have a high tolerance for irritants, discomfort, and non-ideal situations. In this way I feel I must be the exact opposite of reichart (who's tolerance for irritants is unheard of- as in no one has ever heard of him tolerating an irritant). I just put up with them. It was the manner in which I was raised. Not to change my environmental or situational irritants, but to suffer and tolerate them as if that was just part of the human experience.

I think one lesson I can take from the other end of this cognitive spectrum is that I should not lightly tolerate things that bother me. I think this is something I'll work on. That and being more assertive with my wants, needs, desires, demands and manifestos.

Tonight! At the Monster House (or is it the Horrible House yet?).

I'ma watch me some LOST. I'm going to watch the 8pm recap episode and then the 9pm premiere- all in HD on the new 1080P LED Backlit, 55" altar that sits in my TV Room.

If you want to come over and watch it, send me a text, give me a call, etc.

I have to sleep at 11, so this isn't a Sci Fi Friday situation. Bring food to share if you like, I've got my food situation covered.

-JR

As I sit here at work I'm daydreaming of the first time I went to Lower Eaton Canyon and did some Canyoneering. Waterfalls, rappelling (or abseiling for you people who speak English), rock climbing, swimming, etc... Three things came of that trip:

1.) I had the most amazing wilderness experience I have ever head. I've never been so tired in my life. I take with me the memory of rappelling down 40 foot waterfalls, cliff diving 35 feet into cold mountain pools, running out of energy and being fed by my compatriots.

2.) Goddamn it if I can do that I can do any goddamn thing. Seriously. I got a sense of self-confidence and an understanding that I don't have to live my life in a concrete world with a gigantic TV all the time. I CAN climb and swim and hike and run around and have fun!

3.) I am a gear whore. I so wanted better gear than I had. Most of the people on the trip had wet-suits and helmets. I had neither.


I am getting the itch to do the canyon again. Seriously. But now it's in the middle of winter and I bet the water is fucking freezing. I want a wet suit before I do it again (Okay, and a waterproof, drop-resistant camera- but that's not what this is about).


I went looking for wetsuits online. More specifically I looked at the sizing charts. I realize then that I am some kind of mutant among humans, built to specification heretofore unheard of among people who get in the water. I'm looking for a 3/1 or a 2/1 wetsuit.

Here is the sizing chart (quite representative of what is available online):






So- my height is 5'10". I should clearly order a size M. Length of this wet suit is important, right?

Except that my weight isn't even ON this chart (I'm 230 this morning, Bad Holidays, Bad Evil Naughty Holiday Food!). It is likely from my weight (if I extrapolated correctly) that I need some kind of custom 5X wetsuit made for seals that have lost their blubber? 5X? Really now?

Well, I'm differently shaped that most people. My measurements are 48-50" at the chest, 18" at the bicep, 36-38" at the waist- let's go 38", the holidays were rough. So- if I look at this chart (again, extrapolating here at 2" per size increase) I need (at minimum) a 5x wetsuit and if I extrapolate conservatively (from L to XL is an increase in 1" in chest measurement, so why not all the way to 48") I need a 7X motherfucking wetsuit.


This cannot be right. Seriously can't be right. Clearly I can't go by the height chart, I'll split that wetsuit like The Hulk splitting his Banana Republics.

I refuse to believe that I need a 7X wetsuit. I'm looking to get a shorty wet suit (short sleeves, at or above the knee- like shorts) so the length isn't THAT important to me. If I get a 7X shorty suit it will be made for a human who is at least 7'6" tall!.

How does one properly extrapolate from this data? What size goddamn wetsuit do I need?

Of course the answer to this is that I will have to go try on a dozen or so until I find the brand / size that fits me. My bile and disdain in this respect is saved for and aimed squarely at the marketing fucks who created this sizing chart. It is made *not* for me. And you know- there are a fuck of a lot of people out there who look like me in shape (and hell, my dad was married 6 times, there are just a lot of people out there looking like me in general- sorry all you unlucky people) and the fact that they created this infographic chart that is LESS that useless for me is infuriating.

I am less likely to buy a wetsuit now that I see their sizing chart.

I would have just got with an XL or 2XL wet suit and taken my chances. But those wet suits are made for someone who is 6'1"-6'5" and as much as 50 pounds less than me.

The truth is that one of those will more than likely fit me just fine, but how in the world did they come up with these numbers? Who is the human responsible for this and where can I write them to ask them these questions? Will it do any good? No. Would I piss on them if they were on fire? Not unless I had a video of me doing it so I could upload it to youtube.

I call Shenanigans.


There is one other key thing that I took away from the Eaton Canyon trip. But that deserves it's own entry. Likely coming tonight. :)

I'm so in love

This was, basically verbatim, a reply I left on urangme's journal. I thought it should be it's own entry as it goes to explain how it is that I view the world, my place it in, science, religion, mystery and metaphor.


Insert my blowhardiness:


Science cannot measure subjective experiences. That is not to say that subjective experiences did not happen, but they do not translate to someone who did not share the subjective experience. (This is one of my issues with religion- the 'Mine is Better than Yours, My Personal Rules Should Apply To You', Proselytizing nature of many of them).

I won't deny someone their Happy Shiny place in the Way Things Fit Together In All Of This. Nor should anyone.

Science does not work with metaphor. And Science does not work with "Mystery."

While a scientist may say that mystery is "Bullshit" (as many people do about a great many things *cough*cough*RichardDawkinsisadick*cough*cough*) science merely states that such subjective experiences (Mystery) are outside the realm of Science. Science, in this case, does not apply. At this point it (Mystery) becomes the proverbial story-telling around a fire. And really, that's a whole lot of fun right there and it's a great way to promote and share one's narrative.

It is when metaphor is used as science or when metaphor is used as evidence (or when science tries to answer the Big Why instead of just What and How) that things go to hell and people start taking things personally.

One cannot refute a narrative. There is no disputing anecdotal evidence. There's no arguing with someone's dream and what it meant to them.

This all ties together. Before there was Science, all we had was experience and metaphor. We had hope. And hope is a shitty business plan but it's better than nothing. Metaphor, Narrative, Woo Woo were all there was to try to explain our tiny little existance in this big big world of ours. Woo Woo was how one explained why the winters were cold and the summers were hot. Why the leaves turned brown and apparently died but then came back to life in the spring. Where we came from. All these were great mysteries and people came up with stories to explain it all. This was the Way Things Were. And there was no arguing with that (see above).

Then along came Science. Science began to unravel these narratives and metaphor. We understood about hibernation and seasons changing and such (or at least we have working hypotheses that are evidence based). We put things in orbit around the sun and the earth and realized that there wasn't someone in a chariot pulling the sun across the sky. But these metaphors were still ingrained in the cultural narratives of the collective people of the world. And these metaphors were all different.

Woo Woo is still this way. It now has a much narrower scope that it did a thousand years ago. But humans love their Woo Woo and humans love to fight and feel righteously oppressed. Hence the Scientists being dicks (and thinking We Have All The Answers) and the Woo Woo people in turn being obtuse and obstinate and deciding that Math is Hard, Lets Go to Church! (The preceding were exaggerations and grotesque generalizations not meant to imply or infer any particular modality on the part of anyone I know- okay... maybe my Mom).

It baffling to me why someone would take the subjective answer to a question instead of the objective answer to a question. It's baffling to me likely because I don't ask subjective questions.

Maybe this is where science doesn't get it. Perhaps scientists just don't ask the subjective questions- or even think about them- because they (we) (me) so very much live exclusively in the physical reality.

I add this:

Science is about repeatable, definable, measurable, disprovable phenomena. It's about the physical world we live in. It strives to exert it's muscles to manifest some level of objective understanding of the world. Understanding of a fashion that translates across languages, across cultures. Understanding that is just as applicable to a Bedouin as to a Cheerleader.

Science is slowly but methodically working it's way in to why we feel how we feel. Advances in FMRI research and advanced, real-time brain imaging show us hints of how the biological computer that is our meatspace selves works. It suspect will tell us all we want to know (one day, I imagine) about the hardware and the firmware of our selves. Software? Who knows?

Little by little the Mysterious becomes less and less mysterious. We are afraid of the things we don't understand, so we make up stories. This helps us not be afraid. When we don't have to make up stories, we will find new things to be afraid of, to worry about, to wonder about. This cycle will never end.


There will always be questions that science can't (or has no business attempting to) answer.

These questions will change as we reach a greater understanding of the universe. At least, I hope so.

"Disfellowshipped"

One of my new friends, turns out, is a disfellowshipped Jehovah's Witness. I looked in to what all this entails. It's- stunning.

If one is a JW one is not supposed to cultivate friends outside the religion. "Bad associations spoil useful habits."

One is not supposed to become too knowledgeable about the world. One is not supposed to be "Worldly". This includes science. Science studies the world and the world belongs to Satan or something or other (as opposed to belonging to us, and being the place we must inhabit).

JW'sdon't go to college. JW are encouraged to get simple, service jobs and spend their time racking up hours knocking on doors.

One is not supposed to learn about other religions of the world except for the one book they tell you to read "Mankind's Search For God". This book, essentially (if you talk to my friend) tells about the other religions of the world and why they are wrong.

If one leaves the JW:

No one who is a JW is supposed to talk to you (read: ALL your friends).

So this is what happens when you leave:


You lose all your friends.

You lose your family. They don't talk to you (with the exceptions being when they need you- elder care, child support, wills and probate).

You give up your support system.

You have no formal education.

You have no real world experience.



This is so incredibly disturbing to me. One is kept socially constrained, intentionally ignorant and undereducated. The deck is stacked against the "Disfellowshipped."

Here is the scenario:

You've grown up your whole life in this religion. You are home schooled. All your friends are just like you.

You come to a crisis of conscience and decide that this way of life is not for you.

You say so in an official capacity. You sit down with three Elders and talk about things. You remain resolute.

They give you a few days to think it over until the next meeting at the local Kingdom Hall (Church).

In this intervening time your friends and family say tearful goodbyes to you. Like you have terminal cancer.

At the next meeting the Elders make a public announcement that you have been Disfellowshipped.

You have just lost all of your friends, all of your family, you have no education to speak of, you may be poorly socialized, and you have no support structure. I hope you have a place to go and a car to live out of...

(This is essentially what my friend did- holy fuck I have so much respect for this. Seriously).


This does not sound like the actions of a loving god or a caring and Christ-like group of people. It sounds like a cult. People are treated like mushrooms.

Maybe I won't be so terribly nice the next time those people knock on my door.



-JR

Friday is a Sci Fi Friday Alert!

There will be Science Fiction. (SGU, Dollhouse, Santa Clause Versus the Martians).

There will be EtOH(aq)

There will be some form of food provided (likely more awesome chicken soup as the last batch went over so well).

There will be Hot Tub.

There may be a new TV. Not sure yet. The one I want isn't made yet and the one that will do is still $1,800 (gulp!).

I may set up the photo studio and take portraits. I haven't decided quite yet.

John Dimaggio beat-boxing for Common Rotation's cover of Paper Planes (by MIA).

So, my pants are too big and now with the extra bit of working out, those size L shirts I bought? Yeah. A little too snug perhaps? I'll try some on again tonight and see how this is working.

But hey, me pants fall down...


I look like this now:

(A few more photos from Halloween)

THIS IS MIDGARD!!!




One more angry-thor after the cut!

When we are children and we are upset, often our reaction is to physically lash out. Manifesting our unhappiness, sadness, rage, anger- in a physical way. This is (hopefully) quickly conditioned out of us.


When we are older, we suppress this desire. We construct an intellectual social architecture whereby this behavior is shunned and internally processed as "Shameful". Frustration, anger, depression, inchoate rage- all are internalized and run though the meat grinder of the heuristic algorithm that makes up our behavioral paradigm. In short, we suck it up, talk it out or (write about it) and just generally process the negative stimulus in such a way that it doesn't result in things breaking.

I'm going to suggest an additional, post-enlightenment level of reason and human understanding.

Whereas:

We are biological organisms with a very specific stimulus / response mechanism hardwired in to our brainmeats

We are frequently plagued by outside forces which impinge upon our ability to live our lives in peaceful, harmonious balance with the universe

Some assholes just need a lead pipe to adjust their attitude...

It is posited:

Fully understanding the social ramifications and multitude of hardships and consequences that will ensue, when one has been irritated, hurt and upset enough by an outside factor- sometimes, sometimes- it is perfectly acceptable if not natural (and calming) to visit great vengeance and furious anger upon the noun / irritant in question.

Doing so immediately, with great vigor (and preferentially with a lever of some sort made of Lead or an available hardwood) will bring about an end to the stress created from the desire to strangle the living shit out of some asshole and the understanding that doing so goes against years of operant and social conditioning and as such is painfully socially unacceptable.

Visiting wrath upon the irritant in question will have the extra-added benefit of creating a high barrier to entry for those entities who desire to enter the "fucking with other people" market.

I see a future of professors, teachers, lawyers, judges, and all people walking around carrying "Go ahead, make my fucking day" sticks on their belts, ready to use to defend their sanity from those that seek to defile them.

Sometimes, Wayne Brady really just needs to choke a bitch

Remember me as I am now, before I put on 5 pounds this weekend...

Attention Me:

It is now the start of my birthday weekend. This is the one weekend of the year where it really, truly, utterly is ALL about ME. Anyone that pisses me off this weekend gets the back of my hand or the brunt of my wit (such as it is).

This also signals my plethora of (now cowering) organ systems to prepare for an onslaught of junk food and sex and any other number of pollutants I may potentially steep them in.


This weekend I am indulging my inner hedonist.


And you thought my *outer* hedonist was bad.


I have preemptively called in dead for Monday.


37 was awesome. I won 37.

Some days, I really dislike people. I say "Some days" because really, almost all the time, I really do like people and persons.

Like I've always said, never get involved in a land war in Asia- I mean, the only people who can really hurt you are the people you really care about.

What's the phrase that Natara uses? Trauma Trance?

Yeah. Still sorting out how I feel right now. I think, first, I'm going to try to staunch the bleeding before I try to suss out "how I feel."

Better living through chemistry and exercise. Thankfully I have a stash of one and an appointment with the other at 5pm.

Not too many epic updates on the state of the Jonathan as of late. Just felt like saying that things for me are going swimmingly. Work is fantastic. The social life is as booked as I want it to be.

I'm thinking of starting a dedicated photography web site and handing out business cards with photos and contact info on them. I really enjoy it and sending people to Flickr for portfolio purposes seems- pedestrian.

Any thoughts on this? Any good templates for this?

I'm also thinking up a good non-taken name for the entity known as Jonathan the Photographer.

-JR

This was my halloween costume (and is a dry run for my costume for my birthday this weekend).

igordog made the hammer and belt and duckierose provided the party and the photo booth.

Also, she lives half a mile from me. The 91335 is getting more and more fun. It's always convenient to be staggering distance from a solid drinking establishment.








But- oh no! There was another Thor there. You know what THAT means...

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Thanks to roomate numbah one (aka eain), I went to w00tstock last nightweek. It is best described at three hours of geeks and music and it was the best thing I've seen in recent memory. Really- I had an amazing time.

I showed up many hours early to talk to the theater to see what I needed to do in order to be allowed to take photographs of the show. I was there before the theater manager- but I was able to spend some time sitting around talking with Felicia Day, Josh Cagan, Molly Lewis and her boyfriend. Oh, and Paul from Paul and Storm.

When the theater manager showed up it was made clear that they let NO one take photos of the shows. I would have needed to post signs and get permission slips and a note from everyone's mom that it was OK. Or I could sit in the sound booth and take them. Fuck that. I don't have a long enough lens and Sammy's was closed by the time I found this out.

So I just hung out with them until it was time to get in line. I should have taken Josh's advice and not told them I *wasn't* part of the show ("You're already on this side of the gate, right?...") but it just didn't seem right to me. Next time one of the stars of a live show tell me to lie by omission to the house management, I'm going to do it. (Duh!). I just wanted to make sure that I also was able to hold seats for eain, batosai and Christie. I think that if I was going solo I would have hung out. :)


I spent the rest of the afternoon drawing the other geeks waiting in line out of their shell.

"This is why geeks need the internet to meet people. We're all in line 2 hours early and everyone is interacting with our iPhones and not each other.[laughter]. I'm Jonathan. What's your name?"

Thus started the eventual group of 20 geeks in the front of the line hanging out and talking with each other. This made the time pass much more easily. I got recognized. Twice. For being in Doctor Horrible. Holy shit people. I was on screen for 5 seconds (if that) and I got pegged twice (not counting Felicia Day who had met me before). That actually makes me smile and doesn't freak me out. I am amused.

My Geek Foo is weak. But my pimp hand is strong.

Just before the show started, D showed up (my last-minute date)

Once the show started, the house manager guy came out and the same guy said that this was a first- that we were actually allowed and encouraged to take pictures. Well shit. If I had known that I would have sat in the frost row and not the third row.

I sat through the show and wound up taking some awesomesauce pictures.



More under the cut

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Yuri and Tara at W00tstock

Off to the Gym during lunch hour.

Let's see how 25 minutes on the elliptical treats me.

-JR

It was a lovely party. It was a shame there were no zombies to brain

I finally get to earn the Mad Scientist! Achievement. Starting yesterday I'm 'experimenting' on myself. I'm wearing my company's Guardian RT CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring) system. I've been making these for almost a decade and it seems high time to use them IN THE NAME OF AWESOME.


Things I have learned: As I don't eat carbohydrates, my pancreas lives the life of luxury and leisure. It sits comfortable under my stomach, tethered to my duodenum with a soft, velvety rope with cobwebs on it. It doesn't ever have to adjust my blood sugar because I don't actually eat any. My blood sugar (even after a full, non-carbohydratey meal) doesn't fluctuate terribly much. My pancreas is the equivalent of the car driven by the little old lady who only drove it to church on Sunday, right down the street. It's fucking Cherry, man.

Post meal, it (my blood glucose) went up to 106 mg/dL (normal for non-diabetics is 80-110). After non-sugary alcohol and overnight it dropped down to 66 mg/dL and then crawled up out of the basement to ride at 90mg/dL until I got to work and started moving. After coffee (no sugar) and some activity it rose to 96.

And Now, Operation "Good Excuse!" is in effect.

There is a bake sale today.

[The notion and irony that our company- that specializes in medical devices for diabetics- is holding a bake sale to support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is not lost on me].

I'm in the process of waking up my pancreas with the biological equivalent of banging on trashcan lids and screaming at the top of my glucose-filled corpuscles. I've just eaten two big slices of rum cake (there was no rum in this rum cake, I would be able to tell! So disappointed!) and a chocolate-peanut-butter bar.

These were so sweet I could barely choke them down. Seriously, this much sugar at once is not making my stomach happy and wasn't an altogether pleasant experience. It was so sweet that it didn't taste good.

Pre-meal my BG was 84 (it was riding at 88 for a while but dropped a few points right about the time that I usually get hungry and eat something).

I'm going to see what this does to my blood sugar. I am intensely curious what the effect of this cloying amount of sugar on my system will be.

I am planning to (and will) make up for this assault on my healthy diet by working out like a fiend after work.

Currently my stomach hates me. Eyew.

I'm also sore from the p90X AB work out I did two days ago. Jesus god make the pain stop.

Alright, back to science.


-J

**Edit**

1:15 post sugar binge, glucose is up from 82mg/dL to 106 mg/dL.

I just bought two tickets. I'm not sure who I'll take.

I recommend that you go buy yourself a ticket or three to W00tstock. It's next Wednesday the 21st at the Coronet Theater in the Fairfax district.

It's Paul and Storm (from DaVinci's Notebook), Adam Savage and Will Wheaton. It's a show. It will be awesome.

I'll be there. I may even be able to shake the bushes and see if a date dashes out.

-JR

I believe I will set up a reality filter. A polarizing filter, if you will.

It will allow people who see the world as I do in to my life full-throttle and subtly, gradually filter out those that have a world view different than my own reality bit by bit. It would completely block those that have a view of the world that is orthogonal to my own, functioning as my own particular brand of crazy-sensitive sunglasses. Unlike peril sensitive sunglasses, it isn't a boolean / digital interface but instead acts like a polarizing filter.

I need to come up with a questionnaire or a screening methodology.

What questions should I ask in order to determine exactly how divergent their world view is to mine? What questions would you ask?



This just further goes to prove to myself that it is really, truly, not ever a good idea to put your dick in the crazy (not even a little, no matter how much fun you think it will be fun). Also, no matter how hard you try, some people have determined that they deserve to be miserable. Argue for your own limitations and you will always win.

-JR

Honing my live event photography skills at The M Bar. Here we see Honey Honey performing with Common Rotation at the M Bar in Hollywood on October 9th.

I have so many photos that turned out spectacular. Seriously...

Does anyone have a Cricket Bat I could borrow for a costume tomorrow night? I promise to clean the blood off of it when I'm done. :)

I just had one of my female coworkers compliment me on my hair and ask how I got it so shiny. After some discussion we realized we used the same shampoo. I recommended a different kind of brush.


My hair is both long and (mostly) gray. I have incredibly soft, fine hair. I'm going to measure my hair diameter next time I get the chance in the lab. We have equipment that I can (mis)use to do just that.


She's also Chinese- so it's possible that what works for me won't work for her.


It was just Random. Apparently I take good care of my hair? Hell, I don't know. I've never had it this long before.

-Long Haired Scientist-Hippie.

At what point is it appropriate to call your parent out on their paranoid republican insanity? Like, really, start the verbal and written equivalent of a street fight? I'm losing my patience with my mother and it's making me angry.

Hulk SMASH (her with data and facts).

Why in the hell would anyone choose an ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) these days?

Seriously.

Indymac Federal Bank, didn't you just re-org and get the fuck out of your heinous problems? Why are you pushing a rock fucking steady customer to change from a solid 30 year fixed mortgage at 4.875% to a 4.125 ARM? Are you insane? Is no one over there paying attention the last time the industry pushed the 5/1 ARM?

Jaysus people.

Just take my money every month and STFU and GBTW.

Sincerely,

Me.

Give in to the dark side. Feel the hate flow through you...

I was reminded of the most rewarding thing that I'd heard in a years.

Several months ago, after a particularly nasty break-up with a lover and the associated epic amounts of drama that can follow such hurt feelings and musical partners in a poly community I had dinner with ex in question.

She said: "You were the only one who didn't lie to me."

I said: "Toldja..."

*hug*


And that right there is why I am how I am. That's the reward. It doesn't get better than that.

OMG! Mandatory Vaccinations!! They are stealing our souls and we'll all be autistic, sterile, sick, and in debt all to make monies for the big corporations who are trying to make up sick so we need them for all times!!


Here is why there is talk of mandatory vaccinations:

First, a history lesson:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic

"We" don't want that to happen again.



Mandatory Vaccinations work (More history lesson).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox#Eradication

Not everything is 100% safe. But seriously, up to 20% of the people who caught the H1N1 in 1918 died. Young, healthy people.


Right now, the US looks like this...

http://www.google.org/flutrends/intl/en_us/


What would you have "them" do? This looks like a NIMBY problem. We don't want an influenza epidemic, but individuals don't want to be vaccinated because of scare mongering.

Again, I want to hit these people with my big swinging dick of science and skepticism.

I spent a few minutes (maybe even 30!) processing photos and uploading them to FB and Flickr. I can't get to FB from work, so you get some photos from flickr.

There will be more later.


Caution: my friends are smokin' hot (and at least one picture is likely NSFW)

Also Caution: There's a picture os me wearing the zebra print raver costume. Which is not safe without brain bleach.


A preview...







All the photos can be found here.


( Read more... )

Fear and Ignorance, Ignorance and Fear, troubleshooter.

I'm paying attention and I'm not outraged.

I'm aghast at the very concept that multinational conglomerates and the US Government could all be in collusion to vaccinate people in order to make them sick, render them sterile, etc... and that the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus is a man-made biological weapon.

Two people can't keep a secret.

How do hundreds? Thousands? Across the world?

Really? How exactly is that possible?


Insane people are insane. Remember that. Also remember that WE are the government. And "Big Pharma" is made up of people. People like me. People like you. Smart people. Intelligent people. Rational people. Ethical people. No matter what some evil corporate vision one actually has, it's still an organization made up of people. I work for one of the largest medical device manufacturers in the world. I know of whereby I speak. Really. Directly and with intimate understanding of the process. People who go on about the swine flu conspiracy are not worthy of your attention. Pat them on the head and tell them "That's nice" and then go about your merry way.


I don't mock the developmentally disabled, but I'll mock the equally developmentally disabled conspiracy theorists. Their thinker is broken.


Conspiracy Theorists are ____________.



What would *YOU* put in that blank?

-JR

I've returned safe and mostly sound from The Bhey Area. I've never felt so appreciated and loved by people I'd never met in my life. Thanks, in no small part, to Desiree, Kemi, Jason, Dusty, Ivory, Sharon, Dingo and Dona, and Beth- I had the goddamn time of my life. The ride back home with a late addition traveling companion (Aerie) made the trip home possible. I rolled in to home and bed around 4:30am. I was at work by 8:45 am.

Pictures are to follow. Oh yes are they to follow. Jonathan's Big Gay Adventure: Success! :)

That last post forgot to mention that tonight I start day 1 of the P90X exercise regimen.

I've been looking forward to this but the closer I get the more intimidated I feel. This means I need to do it. Hit it like a truck. Rock the mic like a vandal. Own it.

So- tonight I take a "before" picture. In a month I'll take a "post 30 days" picture and every month after that. I will post a comparison before / after photo each 30 days.

I've said it on the internet, it must be true.

-JR

Burning Man from the Air

I took these on Friday, my first time in a small airplane, shooting blind. Thank you Autofocus...



(click on the link above for full-sized versions)

If I ever go out on a date with a girl who is wearing this, I'm proposing on the spot.

I have a wonderfully elegant solution to the healthcare debate / issue. I know, I know, doesn't everyone? Well, actually no. Most people just scream and shout and yell (You Lie!) and foam at the mouth. While I've howled for blood before I've rarely been disrespectful about an issue before- realizing that there are many different points of view on any issue and that thinking, rational beings have and do come to different conclusions on the same issues.

An aside:

I am not a fan of Eliminationist Rhetoric. I believe that this kind of thinking and this attitude does a group of people no good. Turning your physical neighbor, family member, coworker, spouse into the ideological enemy (removing their humanity in order to completely discount their way of being- Gook, Kike, Nigger, Tree-hugger, Dittohead, Beckhead, Birther, Truther, Bitch, Cunt, Spic, Fag, Right Wing Wacko, Gun Nut, Pablum Puking Liberal) is not, in my not very humble opinion on the matter, the way to come to an agreement on anything. It's a way to convince people who believe like you do that some people need a lynching.

Rhetoric like that leads to killing abortion doctors. Dehumanization is the key to Eliminationist Rhetoric. And I won't do it.

My argument

We can push and legislate and tweak and regulate and overhaul the "health care system" all we like, but the truth of the matter is that it will be akin to pulling teeth. And not the ones in front either, I mean like pulling the good chewing teeth. The result will be short lived until loopholes are found (or installed). The industry will find a way to work around any regulation by doing things differently, legally. That's what they do.

A corporation is a stubborn thing. Hell, so am I.

My cunningly simple plan does not involve telling the private health care system how to run their business one tiny little bit. My cunning plan would encourage if not require Health Care to change on it's own. It will want to change. It will have to change, voluntarily, in order to survive.

My plan is simple:

Provide a solid, Good to Excellent, public health care plan open to everyone who lives in this country. And I mean good. And easy. And simple. No rejecting someone for prior existing conditions, no laborious and extensive hoops to jump through for medically necessary tests, cover all womens and mens health needs (including abortion, OB-GYN, birth control, pre-natal, peri-natal care, ED, mental health, prescription costs, diabetic costs, etc...). Implement this as simply as possible, use electronic record-keeping and health tracking, etc. Design the headache out.

Make it very affordable (free if you are extremely poor). Make it simple. Make it just work. Start from scratch if you have to (which seems to be the only way to go about it).

What this will do is save the lives of thousands if hundreds of thousands of the uninsured. People will stop going to the ER for simple health care. Breaking a bone won't mean bankruptcy. Getting your appendix out won't mean that you are in debt for the next several years.

This will be expensive. Certainly. How much do we pay for private health insurance (if we can get it) these days? My health care monthly premiums retail around $300 for just myself. I happen to work for a company that pays most of it, but I've paid that much in the past and I'd happily pay it again.


The biggest change that this would bring about it that it would dramatically and immediately change the face of the private health care industry. Suddenly, forced to compete, health insurance companies would need to evaluate their programs, change the way they implement costs, and find a way to add value (instead of roadblocks) to their programs. They would need to convince people to join their program by lowering the premiums, negotiating a reduction in ridiculous fees, offer to cover pre-existing conditions (like being a victim of spousal abuse, obesity, diabetes, etc... They would need you, not the other way around.

Corporations know how to make money. They know how to keep it. Right now they are lobbying for all they are worth to prevent this public health care plan from happening. Instead, they are actually pushing for health care reform. The health care industry is petrified of a public option because it would mean that they would make less money.

In the rest of the world (most of the rest of the world, anyway) Health Care and Health Insurance isn't a for-profit business. It's only here and in the poorest nations of the world that Health Care is driven by capitalism. Money for blood. Other nations realize that the health and well-being of it's citizens should not be based upon hourly wage. Someone earning $20K a year and someone earning $200K a year are still human, vulnerable and worthy of an x-ray, stitches, and maybe even a stay in the hospital if they are sick.

Our society wouldn't work, would not function at all if there weren't people who earned less money than other people. There is a place for people who have decided to be or have been thrust into a life or role where they live around the poverty line. Someone has to wait tables, someone has to dig ditches for Cal Trans. The service industry doesn't pay $80K a year for menial, entry-level jobs, but there are a lot of them that need to be done. People who perform those tasks fulfill a grand purpose in the web of our society and I think it's horrific that somehow it is deemed acceptable if not a given to shit all over them. They are not lesser or less deserving. They work goddamn HARD.

When you see the Tea Baggers (snicker) protesting, realize please that they are people who can afford to not work and go stand around with their kids all day. They have health insurance. You don't see the people who work for a goddamn living harvesting asparagus, changing oil in cars, running their small business doing lawn and yard work- you don't see these people out at protests. Those are the people that keep the country running, keep the gears of society moving and you know what? I can guarantee you that they need health insurance.

How many legislators does it take to reform health care?

Just one, but the Health Care System really has to want to change. And the problem is that it doesn't want to change. Not at all.

So we make them want to change. We give them no choice, but we make them do it themselves. The health care industry has mastered the system. So change the system.

I'm interested in getting some adjustable dumbbells as part of this cockamamie work-out plan I'm starting ASAP and I noticed two things:

Adjustable Weight Dumbbells are expensive.

Adjustable Weight Dumbbells are expensive.


If anyone in the Los Angeles area has a set of adjustable dumbbells similar to these (at least 45 pounds) that they are no longer using and would be interested in parting with for a modest fee, let me know. I've got $100 in Amazon gift certificates so I'd only be paying *gulp* $238 for this set of two, but if I can pay less than that (considering how much I hemorrhaged on Burning Man this year) I would be rather happy.

Let me know,

YGRIT
(Your Gym Rat in Training),

-Jonathan

I took, like, all the pictures on their website. ;)

http://thrillingadventurehour.com/Show.html

I feel appreciated and stuff. Go me.

With great privacy and square footage (and freedom) comes great responsibility (and nastiness under your fingernails).

On the way home from work I get to stop at Lowes and pick up an auger (pipe snake) and a wrench big enough to open plumbing access point in order to take care of a clogged kitchen sink. I'll also take care of the slow drain that services the laundry room.

This should be... icky. But ultimately rewarding.

It's cheaper than a plumber and I'll be able to fix that problem in the future whenever necessary. I must remember to use the happy nitrile gloves I was gifted from work. And safety glasses. Filth in the eye is rarely pleasant.


Off to DIY Land.

And tonight, I see Gamer with the eain and his brother.

-Jonathan

About 3 months ago I had this epiphany. It took a while to percolate through my brain, but I know it started when Joel and Ashley had their going away party at my house. One of their friends is this guy who's name I don't remember. He is a trainer, a model, and is such exquisite shape that it's a little scary. What can I say, it was a "people are mostly naked" party. It happens with hot tubs and my crowd of friends. *shrug*.

I thought "Damn, I wish I looked that good with my shirt off". I mean, this guy was the figure model used in the God Of War video game. I think his name is Joe. Seriously, I have never seen a finer example of the male physique. Given enough alcohol, *I* might have had sex with him. And that is not really my thing.

Anyway- combine that with Burning Man coming up and I realized that while it would take years of my life and incredible discipline to achieve such a 5% body fat, play piano on my 10 pack look- I could certainly look better than I *did* and I could work toward that goal.

I did a few things. I stopped playing (in any real capacity) World of Warcraft. It sucked up too much of my time and none of my shit got done. And I sat around getting larger. It was a symptom of a larger problem. (I was self-medicating depressions with video games- which works, but only so much as it treated the symptom and not the cause- it made the cause worse).

I went to the gym at work and signed up for the personal trainer there. Twice a week for a hour each time to get Bent. It runs about $50 an hour. I knew that if I paid that much, in advance, the poor kid in me would never let me miss a session.


I went back on my carbohydrate restricted diet, hardcore. I also reduced my fat intake significantly.

As I mentioned a while ago, while a rib-eye steak wrapped in bacon covered in cheese *is* technically a low carbohydrate food, ain't no one loosing weight while eating it.

I switched to chicken, lower fat cheeses, more greens, cut out the occasional zero carb shot of *heavy cream*. I know, I know. I ate more asparagus, more grilled chicken, zucchini, egg-whites and mushroom scramble for breakfast, turkey burgers (minus the bun) for lunch, and just generally watching my portion size. I also followed my trainer's advice to eat every 3 to four hours. No more waiting six to eight between meals.
It turns out that this is easy when you exercise all the time. I'm burning up my available fuel almost continuously. I get *hungry*.

I could have done more cardio and I could have done more exercise, but I didn't want to set myself up for failure on this one. Diet plus exercise plus no video games. That was the formula.

I've gone from 27.7% body fat to 20% body fat. My goal is to get to 12-15% by my birthday in two months. Maybe less if I hit it hard enough.

Also, I've rediscovered that the best way to deal with depression or or any kind of downer emotions (aside from resolving whatever it is that's bothering me) is to make my brain make all the happy juice it needs (endorphins). Vigorous, bone-crunching, muscle destroying/building exercise leaves me with a happy, warm glow of satisfaction.

Then again it could just be my vanity that makes me warm and fuzzy when I look in the mirror.

Vanity plus being unhappy with how one looks leads to perennial self-loathing. That does wonders for one's self esteem, let me tell you. So I fixed (am fixing) that. I'm not done, not by a long shot.


But here are my results so far:

I'm having a hard time finding a good representative picture of myself from just before I started all of this. Let's all pretend that I put up a picture here of a Jonathan who let himself get back up to 253 pounds and 27.7% body fat.


After...

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