Categories
RDF Writing

Acks

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Practical RDF is heading into the production process and when next I see her, it will be as proofs. Talking with Simon, it sounds like the book will hit the streets in July.

July is a good time to release a book. Better than now.

The tech book industry has been taking some severe hits lately. The book publisher WROX went into bankruptcy leaving authors unpaid. In fact, many authors only found about the closure of the company through online lists and weblogs, though it sounds like the WROX staff made efforts to notify them the day before the doors closed.

O’Reilly itself has had to do some downsizing recently in some of its divisions. This is particularly difficult for O’Reilly because the people that work there are a very close knit group.

Anyway, I thought I would publish the dedication section of my acknowledgement because several of you are mentioned. Hopefully you’ll all be pleased. And Tim Tams and Godiva Chocolates would be a suitable thank you.

(Just joking.)

Books don’t get written in a vacuum and this book is no exception. I’d like to thank some special friends for their support and encouragement during the long, long period this book was in development. This includes my best friend, Robert Porter, as well as ++AKM and Margaret Adams, +Jonathon Delacour, Simon St. Laurent, Allan Moult, Chris Kovacks, *Loren Webster, Jeneane Sessum, Chris Locke, **Dorothea Salo, and others I’ve met in the threaded void known as the Internet. Thanks friends. It’s finally done.

*Who doesn’t like all this sappy, mushy stuff. Heh.
+Who likes cherries.
**Who should houseboat the Mississippi!
++ Who has neat new digs – but what’s with the chicken logo?

Categories
Political Weblogging

Long haul

Sheila Lennon sent a note and posted that she’s dropping out of the war:

War plus anti-war does not equal peace.

Pro-war and anti-war blogs are two sides of the same coin. War and anti-war fight each other with hearts and minds and furious typing.

On the streets, anger fuels protest, and is met with anger.

The potential for tearing our country apart again is already shaping up: “Support the war, support the troops” vs. “Support the troops – Bring them home.”

I’m dropping out of the war. I don’t want war in my living room any more. I don’t want to give it my attention. I can’t stop it, can’t change it, won’t fight it. All I can do is live as peacefully as I can, without sucking in its virtual fumes.

I can understand where Sheila’s coming from, except that none of us can drop out of the war. Especially the Iraqis. Especially the soldiers. But Sheila isn’t talking about dropping out of the war – she’s talking about not feeding the frenzy of pro- and anti-war rhetoric.

How does it support the troops to accuse others of being traitors, to make fun of people who disagree, to feed a constant anger? What’s peaceful about a peace movement populated by people screaming “I hate you!” and throwing rocks?

I agree with Sheila, I want no part of the war she describes. However, dropping out of the rhetoric war and not writing about the real one are two different things. Our writing, or not writing, about the war isn’t going to make it go any faster or prevent any people from being killed. However, writing about the war can help us resolve our anger, frustrations, and fears. It can also help us understand how we got here – to come to terms with the war and our own involvement and responsibilities. With a little respect and patience, it can also help us understand others’ viewpoint as well.

Categories
Places

Riverboat ride

Riding the Mississippi in a riverboat has been one of my fondest dreams since I was a small child. I don’t think there’s any other adventure on earth I’d rather try more than taking a boat the length of the Mississippi River.

I remember watching an old black and white cartoon when I was very young that had a tune about the Mississippi and in the process taught us how to spell it.

M-I-SS-i-SS-I-PP-I

I can actually still hear the tune, it was so catchy. I learned how to spell Mississippi before I learned how to spell ‘cat’ with that cartoon. (This was the same set of cartoons that used to have ‘follow the bouncing ball’ for the songs — remember?)

And then there’s Mark Twain’s tales of the Mississippi River. From his book “Life on the Mississippi, Twain talked about being a riverboat pilot:

If I have seemed to love my subject, it is no surprising thing, for I loved the profession far better than any I have followed since, and I took a measureless pride in it. The reason is plain: a pilot, in those days, was the only unfettered and entirely independent human being that lived in the earth.

I sometimes think my inability to settle in one spot can be attributed, in some small part, to Mark Twain and the Mississippi River.

Categories
Photography Political

No stone step was harmed in the taking of this picture

“What did you do during the war, Auntie Shell?”

“Well, I took photos and wrote to a weblog.”

“Oh.”

“Did this help win the war, Auntie Shell?”

“No, it had absolutely no impact on the war, whatsoever.”

“Oh.”

stones.jpg

Categories
outdoors Photography Places

Shaw Nature Preserve

I spent a wonderful, non-computer, non-war day at the Shaw Nature Preserve about 35 miles outside of St. Louis. The weather was very warm and starting to show a little of summer’s humidity. I had a amazingly relaxing day, and managed to find some photographs, which I’ve posted in separate entries (including a scene I spotted at a strip mall along the way that was too good to miss).

Some of the photos have complementary poems, all of which are new for me, except for the daffodil one by Wordsworth. I swear, he’s the only poet that ever wrote about daffodils. And you have to check out the poem “Daughters, 1900″. A perfect poem for a lazy warm spring day. Hopefully you’ll like the photos, too.

In two weeks time, the fields of Virginia Bluebells will be in bloom and I’ll pay another visit.

lake1.jpg