tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64126258568348053072024-03-13T13:30:19.624-04:00Alphonsus's Random DrivelThis is the posting place for Steve, animator of the avatar Alphonsus Peck. I am a philosopher, prim builder, artist, poet, writer, computer programmer, reader, and all around nice guy. I am also unable to focus on things for great lengths of time, which makes me a jack of all arts, master of none.Alphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192464766840495112noreply@blogger.comBlogger168125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-2195567144516651602009-01-26T10:38:00.001-05:002009-01-26T10:39:42.614-05:00I've moved, so if you are reading this, please change your linkI've put a couple of new posts up at my new WordPress site. Please update your feeds and your links.<br /><br /><a href="http://alphonsus.wordpress.com/">http://alphonsus.wordpress.com</a><br /><br />Hugs and love,<br />Alphonsus / SteveAlphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-74571350620128952432009-01-25T11:56:00.002-05:002009-01-25T11:59:07.192-05:00Okay, folks, I'm officially movingI am changing my blog location and abandoning Blogger in favor of WordPress. My new address will be <a href="http://alphonsus.wordpress.com">http://alphonsus.wordpress.com</a>. Please update all of your links and feeds. I have a new post there already, so check it out.<br /><br />Hugs and love,<br />Alphonsus / SteveAlphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-86073599493460699852009-01-24T06:40:00.005-05:002009-01-24T07:05:50.913-05:00Shall I Move this Blog to Wordpress?I was playing around with <a href="http://alphonsuspeck.wordpress.com">Alphonsus's Written Word</a> yesterday and found a way to create a second blog. As an experiment, I transferred the entire content of my Blogger blog, comments and all, over to WordPress.<br /><br />Now the question is, what do I do with it? I have an established presence here on Blogger, and virtually all of my friends use it exclusively. On the other hand, I love the dashboard of WordPress, and the way it tracks statistics. I have found WordPress to be a better experience overall then Blogger. What's more, as WordPress is not associated with Google, I don't have to log out of one Gmail account over to another just to use it. This has been just a minor annoyance, but it is an annoyance nonetheless.<br /><br />I've yet to set up and widgets on the WordPress version of <a href="http://alphonsus.wordpress.com">Alphonsus's Random Drivel</a>. I'd like to get the feed back of my friends before I do that. I'm still looking at templates over there. There are about 60 of them, varying from 1 column to 3 columns, with fixed or flexible widths.<br /><br />Hmmm. I guess I'm kinda sold on WordPress. What I'm looking for are any good reasons why I should NOT move.<br /><br />My new blog address would be <a href="http://alphonsus.wordpress.com">http://alphonsus.wordpress.com</a><br /><br />Love and peace and seeking the joy, whatever the hell that is.<br /><br />AlphonsusAlphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-91619466766451858622009-01-23T10:18:00.001-05:002009-01-23T10:21:17.129-05:00New Written Word entryI've just added a new entry to Alphonsus's Written Word. This one is part of the "Laments of the Gardener's Husband" series and is called "The Rototiller".<br /><a href="http://alphonsuspeck.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/the-rototiller/"><br />http://alphonsuspeck.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/the-rototiller/</a>Alphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-44580034528855977472009-01-22T23:04:00.011-05:002009-01-23T05:53:01.671-05:00The Confusion of the Conservative Talk Radio Hosts<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM7gTWOJfWVCxBqs_P7r_U8t6MAWLkpAw09spDjwuVz7xJXLL4ngq67TNatrK7AjoxbYGwaUFNRzWRr4RhUfIM8vkJZ8ByzEmDDUcsvs1sJWHQCDwl8hy2YQV1PE2M6wVYnWo5dt8Uoi4/s1600-h/rush_limbaugh.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 269px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM7gTWOJfWVCxBqs_P7r_U8t6MAWLkpAw09spDjwuVz7xJXLL4ngq67TNatrK7AjoxbYGwaUFNRzWRr4RhUfIM8vkJZ8ByzEmDDUcsvs1sJWHQCDwl8hy2YQV1PE2M6wVYnWo5dt8Uoi4/s320/rush_limbaugh.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294338357542903026" border="0" /></a>I hate labels. I am a firm believer that if a person labels someone else as being something, the labeler stops seeing that person as being an individual and rather tends to begin to color all of their actions as being part of the label.<br /><br />This also applies to labels applied to self. When we label ourselves, we, to a certain extent, stop thinking and suddenly start taking some of the labels tenets a gospel. Labels can be convenient shortcuts. So easy is it to forget that they are no more than that.<br /><br />That said, let me give the audience some shortcuts about me. I am not a liberal, and I am most certainly not a socialist. I am not even a centrist. My political leanings tend to be to the right, for the most part. I have described myself in the past as a fiscal conservative and a social liberal. By all rights, this would make me libertarian, except that most libertarian ignore there own doctrine and are best described as fruitcakes.<br /><br />I say this in preamble because I am about to make a confession that will shock many of you. I am a dedicated Rush Limbaugh radio listener. I started listening back in the days of the Gulf War. He was the only one who seemed to be talking sense at the time. To me the war was obvious and necessary. It seemed to me that most of the other radio station hosts were trying desperately to find reasons to be against it.<br /><br />Rush is not, by any definition, an unintelligent man. Those who don't listen to him tend to stereotype him as a closed-minded, hate mongering bigot, which he is most certainly not. He is conservative, and holds conservative ideals close to his heart. While I don't agree with much of what he says, I will say that what he says usually has sound reasoning behind it. I can't say the same thing for other conservative hosts, such as Sean Hannity. Honestly, I don't listen to him as often, but his commitment to dogma seams to be much more ingrained, and, dare I say, somewhat forced? Sean has become, or at least acts, as the label ha has placed upon himself.<br /><br />But this post is about the Conservative reaction to Barack Obama. I knew of the liberal reputation of Obama, and even as he spoke I could hear a certain naivete in his words. I voted for him anyway. Me, a conservative, small government supporter, voting for a man who seemed to advocate government as the solution to everything.<br /><br />And that is what the conservatives see -- ALL that they see. What I see is a young, somewhat naive, but very, very intelligent politician. I see Obama as a man who is not fixed in his way of thinking but is open to knew ideas. I see him as a man who can be told a simple truth and who is capable of recognizing it. I see him as a man who is an optimist, and a man who has the gift to be brutally honest without alienating his supporters. I saw, and still see, in Obama perhaps the most intelligent, most humble president we've ever had.<br /><br />Rush has been unable to see any of this. For the first time since I've been listening to him, he's actually been sounding positively apoplectic, willing to grasp at any straw in order to evilize Obama. He has struck home and made some decent points on occassion. For the most part, however, he seems to be stuck more into his own caricature, i.e. Liberalism is evil, Obama is Liberal, therefore...<br /><br />I missed Rush's reaction to Obama's inaugural address. I was able to tune in for a bit yesterday. Rush was uncertain what to make of Obama's executive order regarding Gitmo. When he was making the announcement of the order's specifics, Obama kept referring to his legal adviser...the actual author of the plan, for details. Rush said he has never seen another President do this, and how was he supposed to feel confident in a President who wasn't even sure what his executive order was all about.<br /><br />What I saw was simple delegation and trust that his advisers had done their job properly. Obama had no doubt read over and approved the plan, but because it had happened so fast he didn't remember all the details, so when talking about it, he turned to a man who did. I would far rather he do this than give out possible false or incomplete information, or to waste time committing every detail to memory when the full details could be just as well explained by asking a few questions of someone else during a pres conference. For Rush, this was another reason to doubt. For me, it was just another reason why I maintain faith in the man. He is a leader. That means hiring good people and knowing how to manage them and get good answers from them. It does not necessarily mean having all the answers yourself.<br /><br />As for Gitmo, no matter what your beliefs in the justification of the actions taken there, the fact of the matter is is that it has garnered the reputation that seems to have placed a black smear on the American soul. Whether the reputation is fair or not is irrelevant. The place NEEDS to be closed on the basis of that reputation alone.<br /><br />Still, Rush Limbaugh seems to be willing, deep inside, to give Obama a chance. He expects him to screw up, but Rush is smart enough to know that even he would be stretching it to continue to call Obama the epitome of Liberal Evil. Sean Hannity...well, I don't know him as well, but from what I heard from him he seems so unreasonable yet so intelligent that I almost have to believe that the man is more interested in his reputation and ratings then he is in expressing the truth.<br /><br />I sincerely hope that I have not misplaced my trust. Obama will make errors. That he believes the problem with the car companies is the fact that they haven't been making enough green cars is very naive. That he has bought into the mass insanity that is global warming is disappointing but not surprising. The world of manufacturing is going "green" on its own, finding profits to be made in that direction as well, so perhaps this will not be a bad thing. Even though I am far from convinced that global warming even exists, I am in favor of clean air and recycling and less oil dependency. Ultimately this leads to similar results. I would prefer <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcw8gvvwlNGCVSoPZPzQ7pNguI7__drDTKJuM6oltQqUlNi9a__mMwEaVbfM2q0scQmq23qqDY0lgZkF6HXUl31Nc0eiaEFvc8bOuCgZIkWrllvk-cc2XWWSGv9QDJsNt2lPMtdDDH0o/s1600-h/barack-obama-is-superman.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 400pt 10px 10px; float: left; width: 320px; height: 221px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcw8gvvwlNGCVSoPZPzQ7pNguI7__drDTKJuM6oltQqUlNi9a__mMwEaVbfM2q0scQmq23qqDY0lgZkF6HXUl31Nc0eiaEFvc8bOuCgZIkWrllvk-cc2XWWSGv9QDJsNt2lPMtdDDH0o/s320/barack-obama-is-superman.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294433362054756050" border="0" /></a>that Obama not try to rush the world into something it's not ready for and cause financial instability in the process.<br /><br />So, let us hope for a better, stronger future. Let us hope that Obama never labels himself and stops thinking in the process. Let us hope that others are able to break their self labels and begin to think again.<br /><br />Love, peace, and all that good shit.<br />AlphonsusAlphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192464766840495112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-52812223114393161422009-01-22T09:49:00.004-05:002009-01-22T10:16:48.468-05:00Of Cabbages and Kings - Chapter 1I posted the <a href="http://alphonsuspeck.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/of-cabbages-and-kings-chapter-1-statue/">first chapter</a> of my book on Alphonsus's Written Word. I've pretty much gone through all of the suggestions asked of me in my "<a href="http://alphonsuspeck.blogspot.com/search?q=story+teller">Story Teller</a>" post. I'm debating either asking for more suggestions, starting to write on some of the topics from Inksters or some other group (I don't like the 500 word limit though), or just sitting back and focusing on my book. I'm still up in the air on this, so I'll let y'all know.<br /><br />Love,<br />Alphonsus / SteveAlphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-61596831379151993452009-01-20T06:23:00.002-05:002009-01-20T06:58:28.940-05:00Second Chances...sighIf only we could do it all again, knowing then what we know now.<br /><br />I'd start in the summer break between sixth and seventh grade. A simple trip to the doctor could have changed my life then and ever after.<br /><br />Ah well. It is so very true that it does no good to dwell in the past. What's that quote? Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. Something like that, anyway.<br /><br />The quote, I know, was by an author by the name of Carl Bard, or something like that. The name isn't important. The point was that it was all I could find about the man. I searched all over the net, even some books at work. Nothing. The quote exists in isolation. The quote could have been written sometime in the last 15 to 20 years, or it could have been written a century ago He was born, had a family, grew up, possibly got married and had children. He's listed as an author, but none of his works can be found today. All that remains of him is this single quote, which I can't even remember properly.<br /><br />At least, however, he has that. A single quote from the past that reached out and touched someone in the present. How many billions of other human beings have far less than that?<br /><br />That isn't really fair though. Each one of those billions of human beings have shaped the world we live in now. Their lives, their decisions, all of it DID matter. For the people we are and the people we meet from day to day were influenced, and perhaps even created, by persons now long dead and forgotten. The threads they wove through the souls of their brethren still remain today.<br /><br />And yet I lay here in bed, feeling sorry for myself because I can't go back and change the past. The future is out there for my taking. Every day I have the opportunity to grab it, to try to make it mine. And every day I continue to live my little life of quiet desperation ... a management librarian in a mid-sized town. One among millions like me.<br /><br />Why do we ask for second chances when we fail, continuously, to grab the first chances that are always available to us.<br /><br />Love and hope, all my friends,<br /><br />AlphosusAlphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-212060332821660992009-01-19T06:41:00.003-05:002009-01-19T07:13:28.001-05:00Building in the skies again. (plus another writing entry)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3482/3205644116_7a9b047ae3.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 291px; height: 213px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3482/3205644116_7a9b047ae3.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Yes, it's true. I've began building again in earnest. Princess put up a sky platform over Peck's Retreat, and on of the first things I decided to do was to build my own conservatory / workshop. Since I'm in a land where steampunk is acceptable, I decided to build things along those lines. My first construct, therefore, I call Peck Conservatory 1, and floats in the sky next to Princess's platform. It employs two continuously turning wind screws to keep her afloat, a fan for air conditioning and positive air pressurization, and a dilating steam door for access. I've found it to be a marvelous work space, and what it lacks in width (the platform inside is only six meters wide), it more than makes up for in length (the construct is more than 30 meters long). I'm getting ready to put the thing for sale on XStreet SL, although I may need to add some details to make it more salable. The length is a bit too ungainly and from end to end is more than 32 meters. The door currently is set only to open to group members and has no lock/unlock options, and the screws and steam are "always on." It might be good to have a feature by which they can be turned off.<br /><br />I've also begun work on a steam powered Cataporter, but the look at the moment is not quite to my liking. A lot of work remains to be done on this project.<br /><br />Lastly, I have uploaded an antry on Wren's behalf (she requested something about a seed) to <a href="http://alphonsuspeck.wordpress.com/">Alphonsus's Written Word</a>. The work is something older of mine that vaguely fit the theme, and is called <a href="http://alphonsuspeck.wordpress.com/2009/01/19/pregenesis/">Pregenesis</a>. Please check it out.Alphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-50983443913088146112009-01-15T23:29:00.001-05:002009-01-15T23:31:44.277-05:00All Things Must PassI finished writing AuroraSkye's entry. For the story and more information please look at <a href="http://alphonsuspeck.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/all-things-must-pass/">http://alphonsuspeck.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/all-things-must-pass/</a><br /><br />Love and peace, everyone<br />AlphonsusAlphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-68444382864014097792009-01-12T12:06:00.000-05:002009-01-12T12:07:23.832-05:00Twins can't keep their hands off of me. ;)<table width=350 align=center border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td bgcolor="#EEEEEE" align=center><br /><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" style='color:black; font-size: 14pt;'><br /><strong>You Attract a Gemini</strong><br /></font></td></tr><br /><tr><td bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><br /><center><img src="http://www.blogthingsimages.com/whatsigndoyouattractquiz/gemini.png" height="100" width="100"></center><br /><font color="#000000"><br />When flighty, unpredictable, restless Gemini meet you, they've met their match.<br /><br />You can keep Gemini on their toes, and that's exactly where you want them.<br /><br /><br /><br />You know how to add spice and newness to a relationship, quicker than your Gemini can even think about being bored.<br /><br />You keep life interesting for your Gemini. And your Gemini certainly makes life interesting for you!<br /></font></td></tr></table><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatsigndoyouattractquiz/">What Sign Do You Attract?</a></div>Alphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-87959753546947167882009-01-12T11:32:00.004-05:002009-01-12T11:38:53.049-05:00My Birthday Weekend<p>I think I can safely say that my birthday sucked. This is a descriptive term, not one based in any ill feeling. But, given the way that that day went, I would say that "sucked" is clearly the word that describes it best.</p><br /><br /><p>It started off all right, with my wife posting my birthday on her blog and being very affectionate in the morning. I knew that things were going down hill when she sent me an e-mail saying that repairs to pfkat's car will be $1200, which is about $1000 more than we expected. (pfkat, for those who don't already know, is our 20 year old daughter. The letters stand for Person Formerly Known as Teenager).</p><br /><br /><p>Then I got a call from my wife indicating that pfkat got a call from work indicating that she was late. She drove my wife's car hastily across town, and vomited all over herself and the car just as she pulled into her work place's parking lot. She was terrified that she was going to get written up for it, and, between that and the car costs, made the rest of my wife's day miserable. </p><br /><br /><p>So, my wife was not in the best of spirits when I took her, my mother, and my other daughter out for my birthday dinner at my favorite restaurant. This restaurant rarely has a wait, so it was rather unprecedented to find the parking lot full to bursting when we arrived. The hostess said that there would be at least a half-hour wait, and there were no seats to sit in while we waited. Apparently they had booked a wedding party and another large gathering simultaneously without first consulting me as to what my seating preferences were. Crushed with disappointment, we left in search of food.</p><br /><br /><p>We ended up at a dive called the Flamingo, which has edible enough food, but not food worthy of a birthday. The non-smoking session was virtually full while the smoking section was nearly empty. Naturally we sat in non-smoking at a tiny table, people all around us, and someone constantly stepping on my coat. I had a hamburger, which, again, was edible. The place served no alcohol, which may have been for the best but was not the way I wanted to spend my evening, nonetheless. </p><br /><br /><p>I dropped off the mom, the wife, and the kid, and went promptly to sleep at home, having only had 2.5 hours of sleep the night before.</p><br /><br /><p>The morning after, I woke up and went to turn on my computer, only to get a bone chilling "System Disk not found" error message repeatedly. The drive was fine, so it seems to be something wrong on the motherboard. Pfkat gave me one of her old computers so I was able to make due, but it will cost me a minimum of $300 to fix my machine unless I can somehow diagnose it myself. This happened on a day of record snowfall in our state. </p><br /><br /><p>That night, I got a horrible rash from my wedding ring and spent the evening wanting to chop my finger off. I took an antihistamine, which made me tired and sent me to bed, again, early. </p><br /><br /><p>Sunday at least was mostly uneventful. The snow blower worked, pfkat did not get a reprimand from her job, and my finger itched less. I announced that I put a chapter of my book up at three different locations, and got exactly one viewing. Oh well.</p>So, here I am at work, looking at massive piles of papers on my desk, wondering what happened to my weekend. Another snow storm is predicted for tonight. Oh joy.Alphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-33626653170209412142009-01-11T15:21:00.002-05:002009-01-11T15:29:13.487-05:00Of Cabbages & Kings - PrologueI posted the prologue to my book on my writer's blog:<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://alphonsuspeck.wordpress.com/2009/01/11/of-cabbages-and-kings-prologue/">http://alphonsuspeck.wordpress.com/2009/01/11/of-cabbages-and-kings-prologue/</a>. <br /><br />I feel kinda exposed putting this one out there.Alphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-69360353837022584492009-01-09T09:31:00.003-05:002009-01-09T09:41:56.947-05:00Birthdays and a new writing blog entry, The Twighlight of ManhoodThe logic of the world's calculating engines declared this day to be my 46th birthday. I plan to spend it quietly, eating at one of my favorite pizza places and getting mildly drunk. I won't be allowed to get too drunk as a snow storm is predicted for this evening and I want to be able to drive.<br /><br />After spending time with in the real world with family, and perhaps shopping for a Wii, I might spend a bit of time in SL tonight, eating a virtual cake and/or more pizza.<br /><br />I put up another entry in my writing blog as a hold over while I work on AuroraSkye's. This one, called <a href="http://alphonsuspeck.wordpress.com/2009/01/09/twighlight-of-manhood/">Twilight of Manhood</a>, was an award winning entry from an in-world writing contest.Alphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-343739681202866632009-01-08T14:53:00.001-05:002009-01-08T14:53:33.879-05:00Peace<table width=350 align=center border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td bgcolor="#EEEEEE" align=center><br /><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" style='color:black; font-size: 14pt;'><br /><strong>Your Word is "Peace"</strong><br /></font></td></tr><br /><tr><td bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><br /><center><img src="http://www.blogthingsimages.com/whatsyourwordquiz/peace.jpg" height="100" width="100"></center><br /><font color="#000000"><br />You see life as precious, and you wish everyone was safe, happy, and taken care of.<br /><br />Social justice, human rights, and peace for all nations are all important to you.<br /><br /><br /><br />While you can't stop war, you try to be as calm and compassionate as possible in your everyday life.<br /><br />You promote harmony and cooperation. You're always willing to meet someone a little more than halfway.<br /></font></td></tr></table><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourwordquiz/">What's Your Word?</a></div>Alphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-71025635846741817262009-01-07T16:16:00.003-05:002009-01-07T16:24:32.315-05:00The Snow BlowerI've added one of my older works to my writing blog to keep my readers entertained while I work on <span dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/07867880721504137716" onclick="" rel="nofollow">AuroraSkye's</a> suggested topic. Read and enjoy.<br /><br />http://alphonsuspeck.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/the-snow-blower/<br /></span>Alphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192464766840495112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-69098388842226902652009-01-04T22:52:00.004-05:002009-01-04T22:55:08.347-05:00SINGULARITYI have finally finished WildStar's suggestion, and published in my Alphonsus's Written Word blog. <br /><br />The location is: <a href="http://alphonsuspeck.wordpress.com/2009/01/04/singularity/">http://alphonsuspeck.wordpress.com/2009/01/04/singularity/</a><br /><br />All the details of it's writing are there. Enjoy.Alphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-24724530044274382232008-12-30T07:02:00.001-05:002008-12-30T07:03:46.044-05:00Where...Where am I going, and why am I in this hand basket?Alphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-58809977356232722092008-12-29T07:39:00.002-05:002008-12-29T07:50:19.174-05:00And exactly WHY am I standing here?My alarm went off at it's typical 7 this morning. I stumbled out of bed to discover that my wife had stumbled out of bed first to use the bathroom, and that pfkat was parked on the couch playing a video game, having not slept all night. As I was still tired, and both of these events are somewhat unprecedented, I was at a complete loss as to what to do next. I stated my confusion and my daughter explained the state of things, throwing in mention that I was standing there looking dazed. I realized that I reflexively wanted to go into the living room to sleep for another hour, but as the pfkat was there this was not an option.<br /><br />Now my wife is desktopping in the kitchen, the pfkat has gone to bed, and as I sit here I realize that I'm working the late shift today and I don't even NEED to be awake yet.<br /><br />So, I can hardly say that this day is not starting out well as technically it is not even supposed to be starting yet, and really nothing bad has happened.<br /><br />I think I'm going to do something next that involves more sleep. I'm reasonably sure that this is a good idea. I think.Alphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-41864023510000637262008-12-24T21:35:00.004-05:002008-12-24T21:43:08.450-05:00Joyeux Noel<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYyCHCk964FqKjVVvbNM68lFnRmmQhHNXvb_TiHss-RXtPUYge2jnSrcRu1vIlcvyo_vwJmigwaReXFdJ-3o14tRQhRnLLkMXKDkJenEY21rGeYDvJrWs2BceBya8XPJFzkFJZbpCA5qs/s1600-h/joyeux_noel-e1bdf.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYyCHCk964FqKjVVvbNM68lFnRmmQhHNXvb_TiHss-RXtPUYge2jnSrcRu1vIlcvyo_vwJmigwaReXFdJ-3o14tRQhRnLLkMXKDkJenEY21rGeYDvJrWs2BceBya8XPJFzkFJZbpCA5qs/s320/joyeux_noel-e1bdf.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283551130310482834" border="0" /></a>I'll admit that my heart isn't deeply into Christmas this year. But I have a great many friends with whom I am blessed, and their joy and happiness means a great deal to me. May you all find the joy somewhere in this holiday season. Find whatever reason that feels real to you, and make it a reason to celebrate.<br /><br />Merry Christmas. May peace one day come to earth, and, also, may it come one day to each and everyone of your hearts.<br /><br />Alphonsus / SteveAlphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192464766840495112noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-66240872797420674432008-12-07T13:36:00.002-05:002008-12-07T14:20:39.176-05:00The CAT is BACK<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGJpJ2FPQe-_d8QpTbHf4XtC0jv-QMH8CBH8g30CuECf0_0E6WWj2ck4TFrfQOb9pvFsi_cw0s0qmp85hZaAcifgq2AvQpoXgz-MO_5a5yEQXMrzi1tGkdZdApQrDmvaSBWCGSfif3-Qo/s1600-h/6aece562b4be041cf6bb495a7aa8d272.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 317px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGJpJ2FPQe-_d8QpTbHf4XtC0jv-QMH8CBH8g30CuECf0_0E6WWj2ck4TFrfQOb9pvFsi_cw0s0qmp85hZaAcifgq2AvQpoXgz-MO_5a5yEQXMrzi1tGkdZdApQrDmvaSBWCGSfif3-Qo/s320/6aece562b4be041cf6bb495a7aa8d272.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277130172409850226" /></a><br />I am proud to announce the release of Cataporter 3.0, which overcomes the problems with the Havoc 4 physics engine and once again allows avatars to fling themselves willy-nilly across the grid.<div><br /></div><div>I'm SOOOO happy!</div><div><br /></div><div>It seems that there WAS a change in SL physics with the new engine. In Havoc 4, it is true that an object in motion tends to remain in motion. However, it seems that an avatar in motion tends to instantaniously stop its motion when detached from the object, and fall flat to the ground. Since the object disapeared within 0.5 seconds, this falling tended to happend distressingly close to the Cataporter itself.</div><div><br /></div><div>The fix was obvious once I realized that this was happening. Now the object (called a toss-about), stays invisible yet fixed to the avatar throughout the flight. The flight is now a bit more chaotic, as the avatar spins through the air, but the landing can be a bit more unpredictable. It can result in a bounce, a roll, or a simple stand, depending on a number of unpredictable factors. The "splat" can still happen, but not quite as frequently.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, I have it back on XStreet SL,(<a href="http://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=264951">http://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=264951).</a> I would still like to make a few more tweeks (making it easier to program in coordinates across sim borders, for example), but that can wait for version 3.1.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, I'm happy, and I'm sure that the SL will be beating down my door as soon as I start my advertising campaign again. I'm going to have to go through and give fresh copies to all my previous customers (that shouldn't be TOO hard).</div><div><br /></div><div>But, it's back.</div><div><br /></div><div>/me sighs happily.</div>Alphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192464766840495112noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-80703180178414284262008-11-24T23:53:00.003-05:002008-11-25T00:24:09.046-05:00Just a quick updateI've been easing my way back into Second Life. We have the new house in Milkwood and have gradually been settling in. The house is full-mod, and I've been moving around windows, adding extra walls, and in general customizing the place.<br /><br />I got Alpha to give me permission to use her land to work on the Cataporter. I've played with several hours and have yet to even define what exactly is going wrong with it. It seems to behave randomly at times, which suggests some possibilities in itself. It's going to be a long haul getting it fixed, if it's even fixable. It might just be fundamentally incompatible with Havoc 4. Frustrating, either way.<br /><br />I've started working on Wildstar's singularity story again a little. I'm going to start posting my short stories in a new blog, <a href="http://alphonsuspeck.wordpress.com/">Alphonsus's Written Word</a>, run through Wordpress, just so I can keep these separate. Not much there yet, but give it time.<br /><br />I miss coming in as Hestia. Her only purpose for existence is to have fun, where as Alphonsus is actually expect to get work done. Princess doesn't really like Hestia (don't tell Hestia--it would break her heart. Actually, Hestia would be more likely to respond by orbiting Princess, if she knew how.)<br /><br />Goodbody, every night.<br /><br />AlphonsusAlphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-27666796864944150442008-11-12T00:01:00.002-05:002008-11-13T17:23:17.083-05:00GENDERBENDER OMG!<strong style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-weight: normal; font-style: italic;">I have the privilege of hosting the post of the legendary Torley Linden on my blog for Mix'n Match One, and what's more, my wife, Princess Ivory, is similarly privileged to have Torley deal with the topic that <span style="font-weight: bold;">she </span>suggested. Torley is, in a word, brilliant. Torley has found Second Life to be an ideal environment to overcome Aspergers Syndrome, a syndrome he shares with my brother and on the same spectrum as my own ADD. Neither my brother nor I share the same interest in watermelons, however.<br /><br />Alphonsus<br /><br />_________________________<br /></span><br />I've lived my </strong><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://torley.com/here"><strong>Second Life®</strong></a><strong style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> as almost every possible gender:</strong><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> the "usual" male and female, plus a host of alien orientations, such as androgynous giant amoebae and lumps of watermelon-colored rock. This, in turn, has taught me a few valuable lessons. I was going to list them as bullet points, but they're slightly more involved paragraphs, patches of an ongoing journey. Take what you can, smile at what you will, and if it makes you uncomfortable, live on — and learn from within.</span> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong>It's still a lot easier to find clothes as a girl.</strong> I don't just mean accessibility, but variety. Unless you have a flamboyant style <em>a la</em> David Bowie or Elton John (I do), it's hard for a guy to wear anything he darn well pleases. If you're not versed in my backstory, my first female avatar was dubbed Torley Jr., a mysterious time traveler who came to me in a dream in Nov. 2004. At the time, my first life was suffering from depression. I decided to enact a unique kind of therapy by role-playing as my daughter from the future, come back to cheer up her dad. Definitely unorthodox, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see more of <em>this</em> in the future. In the process, I delighted in all the wild fashions I could pick out, and wondered at my newfound cyber-femininity. Contrary to rumor, Torley Jr. wasn't modeled on a single source, but like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SID_6.7">SID 6.7</a> — only not a mass murderer — is based on many women I admire. I'll let your own experiences deduce which ones.</p><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/torley/273604118/in/set-72157604357899854/"><img title="" alt="longestdayofmylifea9yz by you." src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/106/273604118_1d284f91f8.jpg?v=0" width="500" height="333" /></a> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Not dissimilar to first life, like how skirts on men are uncommon (kilts are an exception), a woman can wear just about anything a man can without being taunted. The opposite is not true, and bigotry and lame double standards upset me.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Electric lesbians?</span><br /><strong style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />I keep hearing how many guys play girls, but the opposite isn't true</strong><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">. At least, not openly. We may never have exact numbers, but despite how hard it can be to candidly discuss this in the open, being a female avatar </span><em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">does</em><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> make me — as a guy behind the keyboard — feel different. I don't type differently (I've long used cutesy emoticons like ^_^ as it's a continuation from my raver days, as is "</span><em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Friendly greetings!</em><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"), but I do pay special attention to my lady avatar's body language through Animation Overrides. However, being me, that's soon counterpointed by contortionist, </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate_rain">meme</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">-infected gestures.</span> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">After several months of being a fem av, I came to the realization that beyond the snits and giggles, Second Life can be quite a healthy place to explore one's sexuality. Including the oppressed, the curious, and the disabled/differently-abled. But it can take going out of your comfort zone, perhaps <strong>bucking the traditions you were raised with to become aware of who you <em>really</em> are</strong>. Sometimes, I've been a furry, and while I'm not a full-fledged lifestyler, I do have several fursonas, including:<br /></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/torley/190508298/"><img title="" alt="The Exquisite Ravenelle Zugzwang 23 by you." src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/44/190508298_4da936f8c1.jpg?v=0" width="500" height="367" /></a></p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Her name is Tollie and this avatar was created by Evangeline Suavage. Tollie is loyal, plays the cello, and enjoys hugging cats while drinking hot choco (as shown). Apparently, </span><strong style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I also learned a lot about avatar customization simply by having many wonderful avies</strong><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">. Intricacies such as fitting high heels on small feet, resizing a watch to fit a fur's thick prim wrist, and other usability concerns accompany my creative storytelling.</span> <h2 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Land of 1,000 smiles</h2><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Some of my roots come from Thailand, where gender is a lot more fluid. There is a word: "</span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathoey">kathoey</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">", which roughly translates to "ladyboy", but it also refers to a </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_gender">third gender</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">. Thai culture is quite tolerant of transsexuality compared to America, where </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://popurls.com/go/thestar.com/l0036b8e4dde71ef8476d38d70e39f40d">gay-bashing continues to get headlines</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, despite </span><strong style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">homophobia being a disgustingly archaic and cruel form of barbarism</strong><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">While I'm not a "RL kathoey", I can empathize when I'm in my female forms. My personality has always been a minditching contradiction, blending </span><em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">gentle</em><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> meekness with a </span><em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">fierce</em><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> energy, and as different civilizations have tried to characterize this — as the Chinese did with "yin and yang" — I realize how much of the total spectrum I am, whether I'm a man…</span><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/torley/2006998447/"><img alt="Torley in high-res - Torley Sr. in Blade Runner trenchcoat" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2055/2006998447_df3f8b09ed_m.jpg" width="240" height="147" /></a></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">a Dazzle Bat (courtesy of Sylver Bu)…</p><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/torley/2006995131/"><img alt="Torley in high-res - Dazzle Batorley" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2016/2006995131_f270cff822_m.jpg" width="240" height="147" /></a> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">MELONZILLA (thanx to Milki Unknown)…</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/torley/2006996441/"><img alt="Torley in high-res - MELONZILLA" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2188/2006996441_96d68419b0_m.jpg" width="240" height="147" /></a></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">or a fuzzy cousin of the FSM (w00t Yoa Ogee)…</p> <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/torley/2007797128/"><img alt="Torley in high-res - Watermelon Plush" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2184/2007797128_9a54b25973_m.jpg" width="240" height="147" /></a> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">These, and many more each bring out different points of my personality.<br /><br /></p><h2 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The map is not the destination, the label is not the limit</h2><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">As a versatile spirit of this cyberworld, I call myself an <strong>omnisexual</strong>, which means I'm open to being attracted across all genders, but my actual intrigue is very specific. Someone can't just be a man/woman, they need to possess a personality and charm which fascinates me. (I think this is true for many, but I state it for clarity.) If you've studied my past, you know I was involved with Jade Lily, who's also male in first life. After discovering ourselves and each other further, we separated and are now both with women in real life. The stereotypical knee-jerk is to assume I was in denial of my gayness, but of course, I'm far more flexible than any cramped perception… it wasn't that. As Bill Cosby would vocalize, <em>you see</em>, when I was younger, I termed myself a "straight guy", but I now see how that doesn't even begin to describe me and <strong>my celebration of <em>your</em> love across cultures, creeds, colors, and classes</strong>.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">As the story would have it, I met a creative woman named <a href="http://ravenelle.net/">Ravenelle Zugzwang</a> who I'd rise (not fall) in love with. I mused before hearing her voice, that I couldn't sure if she was really a woman or a man. Interestingly enough, she previously presumed I was really a chick too! But what did it matter? As I'd learned in my inworld adventures, <strong>being an avatar can bring out the <em>real</em> us</strong>, and as dismissive as it sounds to older attitudes, our physical bodies are just "details", flesh prisons which limit us all too often, when we can see far beyond… if we allow ourselves to.</p><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/torley/2561889498/"><img title="" alt="LOVECATS <3 by you." src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3165/2561889498_15f807c0a7.jpg?v=0" width="500" height="323" /></a><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Lovecat tinies by Achamo Paine.<br /><br /></p><h2 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Get me right</h2><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">It's intriguing how popular view of me has transitioned from thinking of me as male, to female, to male, and then to all manner of watermelon-colored crazy. <a href="http://torley.com/i-once-was-afraid-of-voice-chat">I once was afraid of voice chat</a>, but after making many <a href="http://secondlife.com/showcase/tutorials/">video tutorials</a>, 1,000s of Residents heard my genetic voice and I could muse:</p><blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><p>Behind every great female avatar there's a great man.</p></blockquote><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">(Meant with a touch of jest and a dash of earnesty.)</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">We wouldn't have Second Lives if we didn't have first ones. And there is <strong>joy in accepting our imperfections, growing on what we can improve, and letting the rest be</strong>. As obvious as water is wet, desires differ. For instance, depending on your priorities, having children may be a must, or for others, adopting a pet cat is what's right. But there is so much out there for us as humans, and the more I got to know <a href="http://ravenelle.net/">Ravenelle</a>, the more I knew she was for me. We enjoy our present together, making funny home movies…<br /><br /><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 0px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-046860812536175533 visible ontop" href="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=61761"></a><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 0px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-046860812536175533 visible ontop" href="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=61761"></a><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 0px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-046860812536175533 visible ontop" href="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=61761"></a><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 0px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-046860812536175533 visible ontop" href="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=61761"></a><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 0px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-046860812536175533 visible ontop" href="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=61761"></a><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 0px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-046860812536175533 visible ontop" href="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=61761"></a><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 0px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-046860812536175533 visible ontop" href="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=61761"></a><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 0px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-046860812536175533 visible ontop" href="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=61761"></a><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 0px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-041525513468847797 visible ontop" href="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=61761"></a><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 0px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-041525513468847797 visible ontop" href="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=61761"></a><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=61761" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="500" height="375"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=266d272cb7&photo_id=3009575690"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=61761"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=61761" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=266d272cb7&photo_id=3009575690" width="500" height="375"></embed></object></p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">… oh, and enjoying </span><em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">both</em><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> a contented domestic existence </span><em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">and</em><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> a fruitful </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://torley.com/here">Second Life</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">.</span><h2 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">This is a new age!</h2><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">A new age where <strong>people are born with a biological gender <em>and</em> elect optional genders online</strong>. Just as how we can choose a new name and identity within Second Life for ourselves, gender is part of this overall package. It gets regarded as freakish by some, even some SLers, but the real forward-thinkers and -doers know how antiquated this mentality will be in years to come.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong>Hating someone for a choice of love and friendship is as ridiculous as banning colors from the rainbow.</strong> Nature adores diversity. My wife prefers me to be in a male avatar, but there are times when we are sexay doggirls…</p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/torley/2630470098/"><img title="" alt="close up by you." src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3120/2630470098_96e24fcb0e.jpg?v=0" width="500" height="306" /></a></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Beautiful skins by MiaSnow Myriam, I must say.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The reasons for being an opposite gender have been discussed in surplus: some do it as a social experiment, others don't think much of it sexually, and others still use it to find relationships they can't fulfill "IRL". Mine has been a combination of reasons, but primarily, finding peace with myself, being a <em>whole</em> me by not just expressing my femininity, but <em>my humanity!</em></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">It strikes me as strange how <strong>choosing to be yourself can take so much courage</strong>. But when I see people who've freed themselves from behaving as others expect them to, it all makes sense.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><em>Torley amplifies your awesome with the useful and fun. The aforementioned views are my own and don't necessarily reflect the position of my employer, </em><a href="http://lindenlab.com/employment"><em>Linden Lab</em></a><em>. Especially everything about watermelons.</em></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><em>_____________________________________<br /></em></p><ul><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Torley's blog can be found at <a href="http://torley.com/second-life-bloggers-mixn-match-1-posts-are-up">http://torley.com/second-life-bloggers-mixn-match-1-posts-are-up</a></span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Princess Ivory, who suggested this topic, has a blog that can be found at <a href="http://hrhprincessivory.blogspot.com/">http://hrhprincessivory.blogspot.com</a></span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Alphonsus Peck's entry for Mix'n Match One is on the subject of "My Life and Exploration int the Virtual World" and can be found on the blog of Quirky Quaintly at <a href="http://quirkyquaintly.com/">http://quirkyquaintly.com</a></span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Alphonsus Peck's suggestion for a topic was "Digital Suicide" and can be found on the blog of Second Effects at <a href="http://secondeffects.com/">http://secondeffects.com</a></span></li></ul><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></p>Alphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04192464766840495112noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-84032731107084799742008-10-28T08:10:00.001-04:002008-10-28T10:50:46.224-04:00Earn Us This Day Our Daily MeatThe early morning sunrise cut yellow and orange shards of color across the sky. Stephan shivered as the wind of their momentum carried them through the air, and tried to wrap his leather jacket more tightly about his torso, wishing he had opted for something a little warmer. Temperatures varied wildly sometimes with altitude, and with the clear day Rosa was flying higher than she usually did.<br /><br /><i>There, to the left. Do you see it?<br /></i><br />Stephan looked off to the left after Rosa’s telepathic message, bringing glasses to his eyes to help him see better in the distance.<br /><br /><i>Yes</i>, replied Stephan. <i>Looks bad from here. Bring us closer please?</i><br /><br /><i>Of course</i>.<br /><br />The great dragon extended its wings, its red scales glinting like fire in the light. It turned and dove at the same time, giving Stephan the familiar feeling in his stomach. He kept his glasses on the scene.<br /><br /><i>I see one. Not bad. Minor?</i><br /><br /><i>No, there are two. The other is below in the trench. I sense human death…suffering.</i><br /><br />“Shit,” exclaimed Stephan aloud. The deaths were always the worst part of the job. They gave him nightmares at night.<br /><br /><i>How long?</i> asked the dragon.<br /><br /><i>One minute ‘til they contact us. Our timing is perfect on this. It looks like this one is going to cause major problems.</i><br /><i><br />No doubt. I can sense human anger and frustration stretching for at least three miles, and the incident couldn’t have happened more than three minutes ago.</i><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Okay. The contact is almost ready. Just one moment…</span><br /><br />A green light appeared on his headgear.<br /><br />“Thank you, Dave. We just came on the scene of an injury-accident on east bound I-94 near Woodward, and traffic is backing up already at least to Livernois, with gawkers causing a slowdown in the west bound lane. I can see police and EMS on their way to the scene. You might want to look for an alternate route on this one. Also, we have the regular construction slowdown on I-75 at I-696. The morning rush is otherwise quiet, with traffic moving at posted speeds elsewhere. And this is Stephan Hudson on the dragon Rosefire with the WWJ traffic report.”<br /><br />Stephan sighed and turned off his comm. Something about his job made him feel dirty. Down below was pain and suffering, and here he was, announcing it over the radio so that Joe and Mary Business-person could get to work 10 minutes earlier.<br /><br />"Is there anything else we can do here?" asked Stephan, voicing his question rather than thinking it, as he often did right after a broadcast.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">No, Stephan. Shall we move on? The automobile fumes smell like dragon flatulence here.</span><br /><br />"Yeah, go ahead. Back to the regular routine." Stephan bit back his frustration as the dragon beat her beautiful wings, leaving the traffic far below her.<br /><br />Two hours later Rosefire glided into the ranch that they called home. Stephan dismounted and removed the saddle, and Rosefire tottered off to her horde beneath the straw roof of her open stable. While the horde was breathtaking from a distance, Stephan knew that it was mostly composed of costume jewelry, polished brass, colored bottles, and other pretty but largely worthless shineys. Even though there might be some decent loot in there, no human would dare to try to steal from it. Very few human laws applied to dragon behavior, and for any human to attempt to steal from a dragon's horde... Suffice it to say that no one in history has ever successfully gotten away with it for long, and human law very much looked the other way at whatever the dragon chose to do with the transgressor. No humans were stupid enough to make the attempt.<br /><br />Stephan looked at his dragon. Since he was bonded with it when he was ten, Rosefire had grown from a tiny hatchling to a strong, magnificent beast. The dragon was a fiery red color with streaks of white, and its neck stretched to nearly twice the tall man's height. In his eyes, Rosefire was one of the most magnificent dragons he had ever seen. Of course, he was somewhat prejudice because of the bonding, but still...<br /><br />"This job is beneath your dignity, Rosa," he said, voicing a thought that was simmering in the back of his mind.<br /><br />The dragon turned to look at him and smiled, in as much as a dragon can smile. <span style="font-style: italic;">You feel so, do you? Dignity is a human thing. I exist and do as I do. Perhaps it is YOUR dignity you speak of?<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span><br />Stephan shook his head. "No, Rosa. This job is all I'm good for. Look at you though. You should be fighting wars, rescuing damsels...I don't know. Something! Something better than being a traffic dragon."<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I find it odd how humans are capable of equating fighting wars with 'dignity'. No dragon will participate in a human war, and we only fight when we must. As for rescuing humans, that is your choice, Stephan. There are always positions for emergency rescue dragons. But I could only get you to the scene. You would have to be the one to do the work. And you are not...fond of the sight of blood.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>Stephan cringed. He could not watch Rosefire eat. Dragons liked their food fresh and alive. The ranch had sheep and cattle and pigs for this very purpose. Rosefire ate while Stephan slept<span style="font-style: italic;"> <span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>out of respect for him. Stephan felt a surge of inadequacy rise up in him. He didn't <span style="font-style: italic;">deserve </span>a dragon.<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span></span>"I don't know, Rosa. We have to come up with something better than this. You are being wasted."<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">What did you have in mind, Stephan? I am open to new ideas. I am content with what we do. It earns money and keeps me with plenty of meat. I miss hunting, true, but that is something I can do when we vacation, and that is adequate.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span></span>"Then I'm going to have to rise to your potential, Rosa."<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span><br /><br /></span>Rosefire nodded<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">. Very well, but it is your potential you must find, Stephan. I am who I am, and feel no desire to be more. I will try to help you think of something though, my friend.</span><br /></span>Alphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-8338160609889233602008-10-27T01:06:00.005-04:002008-10-27T11:04:44.786-04:00Genetic Engineering R Us"I can't believe we're doing this."<br /><br />Roger sighed and made a slight adjustment on the instrument he was working on. "And I can't believe how many times you can repeat the same damned statement of disbelief. Just shut up and get the job done, Bill."<br /><br />"This is ground-breaking fucking work, you know that, Rog?" replied Bill, ignoring Roger's previous statement, angrily shoving a print-out to the floor and consulting another one. "This is work worthy of Nobel prizes. But will we get prizes? No! Why? Because the assignment is fucking moronic!"<br /><br />"We got our prize already with the monkeys," grumbled Roger. "Any progress with the neural rewiring yet?"<br /><br />"The monkeys were a cakewalk compared to this. The problem is that the neurons will take so much rewiring that I don't think the god-damned thing will still be classifiable as a frog any more."<br /><br />"Just do the best you can."<br /><br />"Look at this fucking thing!" shouted Bill in frustration, shaking a piece of paper in the air in such a way as if he expected Roger to jump from his seat and look at it in interest. Roger did not even glance in his direction. "It's a fucking frog! It's eyes are nearly useless for what we need. They can't see a fucking thing unless it moves!"<br /><br />Roger groaned.<br /><br />"Did you know that if you buried a frog up to its ass in dead flies that the damn thing would starve to death? Dead flies don't move. Frogs like to eat things that move and fly. Fly, Roger! That's why frogs like flies Roger!"<br /><br />"I know Bill."<br /><br />"But you know what, Roger? Human food is usually dead when they eat it. It doesn't walk. It doesn't run. And it most especially doesn't fly, unless you happen be in a fucking middle school cafeteria."<br /><br />"Yes, Bill. Please...."<br /><br />"And you know what else doesn't fly, Roger? Pizza doesn't fly. Therefore, frogs have no interest in pizza. It's why you don't see frog infestations at Italian restaurants."<br /><br />"I know Bill. But the lady is paying us very well, so we should just do the job and shut up about it. She wants a frog that likes pizza. Forget the eyes. How about smell?"<br /><br />"Yeah, frogs can smell. They use their sense of smell to find other frogs. Now, if the lady wanted a frog that would MATE with a pizza, that would be a lot easier. But sex is different than food..."<br /><br />"Truly words of wisdom, Bill. Can you cross wire..."<br /><br />"...Yes I can try to cross wire, but figuring out what the hell will come out when we engineer the gene is hard to predict. If we're not careful we might get a frog that tries to eat other frogs and wants to mate with flies."<br /><br />"Look, just make it happen. We promise to genetically engineer any pet that the patron is willing to pay for. We got the flying monkeys, and we won a Nobel prize. We're getting paid to make a frog that likes pizza. It's possible, we're going to do it. This is our job. Now quit bitching and just fucking make it happen!"<br /><br />Bill grumbled, but said nothing in response. Roger closed his eyes at the sudden blissful silence.<br /><br />Blissful, but, alas, short-lived.<br /><br />"And did this lady wonder for even a second about just how the fuck the frog is supposed to eat the fucking pizza? That tongue ain't going to accomplish shit unless we cut the pizza into crumbs. We sure as hell can't get those damned legs to hold a slice. Frogs don't have opposible thumbs...did you know that? And then there's the fact that frogs can neither bite nor chew their fucking food. Their teeth would come in very handy though if the damned pizza tries to get away."<br /><br />"We'll just explain to the woman that the pizza will have to be pre-cut."<br /><br />"Also explain to her that pizza would best be petrified, 'cause I don't know how else the damned tongue is going to pull one of those greasy things into his mouth."<br /><br />Roger slammed his hands on the keyboard. The table rattled, and several petri dishes almost bounced onto the floor.<br /><br />"Okay Bill. Your call. We can tell the lady it can't be done, and turn down one of the most lucrative contracts we've ever been offered in addition to spoiling our near perfect reputation. Or we can try to give her the best damned pizza loving frog that we can engineer. Either pick one or the other, but either way, stop whining about it! Please."<br /><br />Bill looked thoughtfully at Roger, a rather blank look on his face. He stared almost a full minute before he responded.<br /><br />"Okay, we'll make the damned frog."<br /><br />"Thank you. Good."<br /><br />Bill grimaced and went quietly back to his work. They worked silently side by side for a long time.<br /><br />"Those monkeys were something else, weren't they?" said Bill, interrupting the silence.<br /><br />"Yeah, they sure were. Too bad they're banned almost everywhere because they like to dive bomb people and throw monkey poo on them."<br /><br />"Yeah, well, what do you expect from a flying monkey?"<br /><br />"Yeah. You get what you pay for."Alphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412625856834805307.post-8153211162996699102008-10-24T22:45:00.002-04:002008-10-24T23:16:23.861-04:00WorkingI'm working on the stories. I have a wonderful start on Wildstar's singularity (I have a different understanding on what the event really means, and I'm exploring that angle.) I should be able to get a full short story out of that one, which perhaps later could be expanded to a novella. I have cute beginnings to Mykyl's Frog that likes Pizza idea, and Malakyte's dragon idea. Mykyl's idea probably will never get beyond a beginning. The idea I have for Malakyte could potentially be expanded to a full length novel, but probably never will be.<br /><br />FD's idea of explaining the black whole I fell into for a while is kind of frightening to me. What I could do there is deep, insightful, extremely painful essay and the whatness of which. I'm not sure I'm emotionally strong enough to explore that one at this time. I could go a silly route, but silly just doesn't feel right for that one. 'Tis a sad tale, full of woe. We shall see.<br /><br />So, I am busy working. It's just taking some time, as my availability to free time is limited and the use of the free time I have is far from optimal. I don't know if I'll publish in the order requested yet.<br /><br />Love,<br />SteveAlphonsushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12929430033988016621noreply@blogger.com3