Random Ruminations

Links — 01-21-2012

Posted Sat Jan 21, 2012 in Links

I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. But, there was some searching of the internet for software and such.

Super Analyzer purports to analyze an iTunes music library.
beaTunes is another look at interpreting the iTunes XML database.
Finally, Tunequest contains this article (very old) about software that reads the iTunes XML file and mines those data.
This article treats tagging for classical music.
This would be fun to go to, at least once.
MusicBrainz is an excellent source for a socially-maintained music reference information.

Happy New Year 2012

Posted Mon Jan 16, 2012 in Ruminations

The holidays are past, most of the stuff put away. The travel is over. Between the end of November and the First of January, I drove about 8,000 miles. We drove to Missouri to visit Wife’s folks for Thanksgiving, then to Louisiana to visit Daughter and her family for Christmas. We returned on 3 January. Older Son and DiL arrived from Denver on 7 January for a week’s stay.

We loved having the kids here. Older and Younger Sons worked with me to do some of the project around the house that languished for lack of enough help to move the furniture. The kids and Wife played a good part of the time. I worked most of the week, then took the last couple of days off to work around the house and spend time with the family.

This was very good. It’s a challenge for me to leave work for almost anything. While I wouldn’t say I “love” my work, it provides the support needed by my family and I’m dedicated to getting the job done for those who depend on me — family, clients, and boss. So, that was hard, particularly after being gone over the holidays. But, I did it anyway. It was the right thing to do.

The Girl adores the kids. She played hard with Older Son, who loves rough-and-tumble dogs. He has his own “war wounds” to show for the rowdiness. It’s a guy thing, I think. The Girl will play as rough as you want, but she’s very sensitive to her strength and has a soft mouth. What a doll.

When they were laying about watching TV, the Girl was in the middle of them, snoozing in a nest of blanket. Until they came, she wasn’t much to get on the furniture. But, she was right up there with them, sleeping and cuddling. She is the most social dog I’ve ever known.

When it was time to drive them to the airport yesterday, I put her in her crate. I left her a chew toy to occupy her time. As we left and I closed the front door, I hear her cry out. It was a cry of pure anguish at being left behind while her family left. I backed the car from the garage and heard her barking, calling to be let out of the crate.

That was hard. I hate leaving the Girl behind. But, there isn’t enough room in the car for five adults and a dog. So, behind she had to stay. It broke my heart to hear her pain. I guess I’m still the empath, after all I’ve been through.

The boys talked on the trip to Reno. It is fun to listen to them together. I wish Daughter could participate more. She might be small in stature, but she can keep up with them. That girl doesn’t know the meaning of quit.

Too soon it was time to drop them at the terminal and return home. We had a couple of stops to make on the way home to finish the projects. I am using my Winder$ box enough that I wanted speakers for it. So, I moved the Harmon Kardon Soundsticks to that machine (it recognized them!) and bought a pair of B&W MM-1 speakers for my MacBook Pro. I also needed a couple of small office-type things and Wife needed to pick up her prescriptions.

The Girl was happy to see us when we returned. She was waiting patiently in her crate, chew-toy between her front feet. The crate is beginning to show the impact of her protests. She pulls on it when we leave, trying to get out. The wires at the door are bent inward. The Girl can pull.

We crashed hard. I puttered around my workroom, installing my speakers and cleaning up my worktable. I backed-up Wife’s computer with a new drive. She filled the old one, so it was time to get something a little larger. I went for small too and bought one of the Seagate Go-Flex drives. I should buy the FireWire adapter for it because FireWire 800 is still faster than USB 2.0. I might do that yet.

The house seems quiet without the kids here. I’m used to Older Son showing up in my workroom about this time with coffee. We spent the early mornings talking about things. Those are the dad-words I wish I could still have. DiL would wander in a little later with her coffee and sit on the floor, reading a magazine and listening to us talk.

I wish they were closer. I wish all of them were closer. They are not and I don’t see it.

The week begins. It’s time to refocus on the tasks before me.

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Sailor Sei Boku Ink Review

Posted Wed Dec 21, 2011 in Writing

I recently received a sample of Sailor Sei Boku (blue-black) ink. I’m on the search for the perfect blue-black ink. Blue-black is one of my favorite colors because it’s not just black, but looks good when used at the office. The trick is finding an ink that looks good (to me) and behaves well.

I’m in the process of trying several new inks. I have a (too-large) bottle of Noodler’s Blue-Black. I love the color, but the ink will not dry on good-quality paper. On cheap copy paper it’s fine; but in my Rhodia journal it will not dry.

This ink is good. It dries much faster than the Noodler’s Blue-Black and is better behaved than Bad Belted Kingfisher. I have a sample of Bad Blue Heron that will be tested sometime over the next couple of weeks. I’ll post a review here (and on Fountain Pen Network).

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Bible Test

Posted Tue Dec 20, 2011 in Humor

Somehow, this seems appropriate for this time of year…

An old Texan went to the local church and asked to join.
The preacher said, “OK, but you have to pass a small Bible test first.”
“The first auestion is ‘Where was Jesus born?’”
The Texan immediately answered, “Longview.”
The preacher shook his head, “Sorry… you can’t join our church.”
Soooooo… the Texan went to another church and asked to join.

The preacher, looking the Texan up and down, said, “We would love to have you, but you have to pass a Bible test first.
“Where was Jesus born?”
The Texan, more confident than he was the first time, answered, “Tyler.”
The preacher shook his head, “Sorry… you can’t join our church.”

Soooo… The Texan moved on to another church and asked to join.
The preacher, smiling, said, “That’s great — we welcome you with open arms.”
The, Texan, surprised asked, “Don’t I have to pass no Bible test first?”
“No.”
Thinking, the Texan asked, “Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course!”
“Where was Jesus born?”
The preacher, puzzled, replied, “Palestine.”
Shaking his head, the Texan mumbled, “I knew it was in East Texas somewhere.”

Enjoy!

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Green Esterbrook J Model

Posted Mon Dec 19, 2011 in Writing

This green Esterbrook J model is a pen I picked up off eBay a few months ago. When it came to me, the nib wasn’t in very good condition and the ink sac was “ossified” — which is a ten-dollar word for useless because it is no longer pliable. The pen was not in usable condition.

The next thing I noticed is the mismatch between the colors of the cap and the barrel. I thought that there was some aging of the plastic cap (the pen was probably made in the 1950s). But, on further reflection I think it’s a mismatched cap and body. Either the owner messed up and had two greens or there was a problem with the cap and it was replaced by the seller.

In some sense it doesn’t matter much to me. I replaced the ink sac, cleaned up the pressure bar, and replaced the nib with a new Esterbrook 9556 (firm fine) nib. The pen is my daily writer. I use a green-black ink (Noodler’s Zhivago) that has strong water-resistant characteristics, but doesn’t look too green in this pen. The writing in the image is the ink.

It’s a good pen, fits me well, and writes reliably. The end jewels are in good condition and so is the cap and barrel. So, regardless of the color mismatch, I’m going to continue using this pen. It’s a good writer.

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Remembering Pearl Harbor, 2012

Posted Wed Dec 7, 2011 in Ruminations

It’s December 7, Pearl Harbor Day… “A day that will live in infamy.” Seventy-years ago, the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor in a surprise attack that caught America off-guard.

Most of the men and women who were there are now gone; only a few remain. The first-hand recollection of those who were there will soon disappear. We will lose touch with what happened and the people it happened too.

I was on Oahu many years ago. I didn’t get to the Arizona Memorial, but I did visit the Submariner’s Memorial. It was a solemn place, even amid the children playing on the grass. I remember reading the names of the men who died in service of their country. The sense of history was nearly overwhelming, punctuated by the laughter of the children playing in the background. The contrast struck me at the time.

It was good to see the place, to think about what happened, to remember. It is good to remember this day and the men and women who sacrificed then and in the response to come. I remember.

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Inner Peace

Posted Mon Nov 14, 2011 in Humor

From a friend…

A doctor on television said to have inner peace we should always finish things we start — we all could use more calm in our lives. I looked around my house to find things I’d started but hadn’t finished, so I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of Chardonnay, a bodle of Baileys, a butle of wum, tha mainder of Valiuminun scriptins, an a box a chocletz. Yu haf no idr how fablus I feel rite now. Sned this to all who need inner piss. An telum u luvum…

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