cōgitāvī

Kindness

2011-04-18T18:30:00.003-04:00

"It is important to reflect on the kindness of others. Every aspect of our present well-being is due to others' hard work. The buildings we live and work in, the roads we travel, the clothes we wear, and the food we eat, are all provided by others. None of them would exist but for the kindness of so many people unknown to us."

~ His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Buffalo Up 1-0

2011-04-15T14:28:00.001-04:00

AP

"Buffalo Sabres' Patrick Kaleta (36) scores a goal past Philadelphia Flyers' Sergei Bobrovsky (35), of Russia, and Danny Syvret (26) in the third period of Game 1 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series, Thursday, April 14, 2011, in Philadelphia. Buffalo won 1-0."

Source

Compassion

2011-04-08T13:26:00.000-04:00

"Practicing compassion, caring for others and sharing their problems, lays the foundation for a meaningful life, not only at the level of the individual, family or community, but also for humanity as a whole."

~ His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama

Live with Compassion

2011-04-07T19:00:00.000-04:00

"Help FPMT's Sera Je Food Fund offer meals to the monks at Sera Je Monastery by purchasing the Live with Compassion Wristband.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche started the Sera Je Food Fund to provide three meals a day to the 2600 monks of Sera Je Monastery. We need to raise US$270,000 each year to cover the costs of feeding these precious practitioners and teachers of tomorrow.

By purchasing 1 Live with Compassion Wristbands you will offer food to 3 monks
By purchasing 5 Live with Compassion Wristbands you will offer food to 17 monks
By purchasing 10 Live with Compassion Wristbands you will offer food to 35 monks
See how amazing a small donation can do!

'Live with compassion.
Work with compassion.
Die with compassion.
Enjoy with compassion.
When problems come, experience them with compassion'"

Source

Decorah Eagles

2011-04-04T23:32:00.000-04:00

Watch live

Happy Π Day!!!

2011-03-14T18:00:00.002-04:00

3.
141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307816406286208998628034825
342117067982148086513282306647093844609550582231725359408128481117450284102701938521105559
644622948954930381964428810975665933446128475648233786783165271201909145648566923460348610
454326648213393607260249141273724587006606315588174881520920962829254091715364367892590360
011330530548820466521384146951941511609433057270365759591953092186117381932611793105118548
074462379962749567351885752724891227938183011949129833673362440656643086021394946395224737
190702179860943702770539217176293176752384674818467669405132000568127145263560827785771342
757789609173637178721468440901224953430146549585371050792279689258923542019956112129021960
864034418159813629774771309960518707211349999998372978049951059731732816096318595024459455
346908302642522308253344685035261931188171010003137838752886587533208381420617177669147303
598253490428755468731159562863882353787593751957781857780532171226806613001927876611195909
216420198938095257201065485863278865936153381827968230301952035301852968995773622599413891
249721775283479131515574857242454150695950829533116861727855889075098381754637464939319255
060400927701671139009848824012858361603563707660104710181942955596198946767837449448255379
774726847104047534646208046684259069491293313677028989152104752162056966024058038150193511
253382430035587640247496473263914199272604269922796782354781636009341721641219924586315030
286182974555706749838505494588586926995690927210797509302955321165344987202755960236480665
499119881834797753566369807426542527862551818417574672890977772793800081647060016145249192
173217214772350141441973568548161361157352552133475741849468438523323907394143334547762416
862518983569485562099219222184272550254256887671790494601653466804988627232791786085784383
827967976681454100953883786360950680064225125205117392984896084128488626945604241965285022
210661186306744278622039194945047123713786960956364371917287467764657573962413890865832645
995813390478027590099465764078951269468398352595709825822620522489407726719478268482601476
990902640136394437455305068203496252451749399651431429809190659250937221696461515709858387
410597885959772975498930161753928468138268683868942774155991855925245953959431049972524680
845987273644695848653836736222626099124608051243884390451244136549762780797715691435997700
129616089441694868555848406353422072225828488648158456028506016842739452267467678895252138
522549954666727823986456596116354886230577456498035593634568174324112515076069479451096596
094025228879710893145669136867228748940560101503308617928680920874760917824938589009714909
675985261365549781893129784821682998948722658804857564014270477555132379641451523746234364
542858444795265867821051141354735739523113427166102135969536231442952484937187110145765403
590279934403742007310578539062198387447808478489683321445713868751943506430218453191048481
005370614680674919278191197939952061419663428754440643745123718192179998391015919561814675
142691239748940907186494231961567945208095146550225231603881930142093762137855956638937787
083039069792077346722182562599661501421503068038447734549202605414665925201497442850732518
666002132434088190710486331734649651453905796268561005508106658796998163574736384052571459
102897064140110971206280439039759515677157700420337869936007230558763176359421873125147120
532928191826186125867321579198414848829164470609575270695722091756711672291098169091528017
350671274858322287183520935396572512108357915136988209144421006751033467110314126711136990
865851639831501970165151168517143765761835155650884909989859982387345528331635507647918535
893226185489632132933089857064204675259070915481416549859461637180270981994309924488957571
282890592323326097299712084433573265489382391193259746366730583604142813883032038249037589
852437441702913276561809377344403070746921120191302033038019762110110044929321516084244485
963766983895228684783123552658213144957685726243344189303968642624341077322697802807318915
441101044682325271620105265227211166039666557309254711055785376346682065310989652691862056
476931257058635662018558100729360659876486117910453348850346113657686753249441668039626579
787718556084552965412665408530614344431858676975145661406800700237877659134401712749470420
562230538994561314071127000407854733269939081454664645880797270826683063432858785698305235
808933065757406795457163775254202114955761581400250126228594130216471550979259230990796547
376125517656751357517829666454779174501129961489030463994713296210734043751895735961458901
938971311179042978285647503203198691514028708085990480109412147221317947647772622414254854
540332157185306142288137585043063321751829798662237172159160771669254748738986654949450114
654062843366393790039769265672146385306736096571209180763832716641627488880078692560290228
472104031721186082041900042296617119637792133757511495950156604963186294726547364252308177
036751590673502350728354056704038674351362222477158915049530984448933309634087807693259939
78054193414473774418426312986080998886874132604721

To NYS Congressional Candidate, Jane Corwin

2011-03-14T17:55:00.000-04:00

Hello,

I was wondering:

What is your position on Same-sex Marriage for NYS and/or the whole USA?
What is your position on Transgender Rights, esp. in the workplace?

I am neither a Democrat or Republican so I base my vote on my ethics, morals and the equality of all US citizens. I am tired of being a second class citizen when I was born in this country, pay my bills on time and pay my taxes.

Thank you.

Richard Martin, 1951 — 2011

2011-03-13T16:05:00.015-04:00

http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com/2011/03/rick-martin-passes-away.html

buffalonews.com

You will be missed #7.

More info

How to Help

2011-03-11T22:35:00.001-05:00

"Earthquake-triggered tsunami waves sweep along Iwanuma in northern Japan on Friday March 11, 2011. The magnitude-8.9 earthquake slammed Japan's eastern coast Friday, unleashing a 13-foot tsunami that swept boats, cars, buildings and tons of debris miles inland." -- Read more

Credit: AP Photo/Kyodo News

Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images

The American Red Cross - Japanese Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami

International Medical Corps

GlobalGiving's Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund

52nd Anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day

2011-03-10T14:37:00.005-05:00

"Today marks the 52nd anniversary of the Tibetan people’s peaceful uprising of 1959 against Communist China’s repression in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, and the third anniversary of the non-violent demonstrations that took place across Tibet in 2008. On this occasion, I would like to pay tribute to and pray for those brave men and women who sacrificed their lives for the just cause of Tibet. I express my solidarity with those who continue to suffer repression and pray for the well-being of all sentient beings."
~ His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Tibetan Nuns Debating in Northern India (Oct 2010)

2011-03-05T13:48:00.000-05:00

Today till Monday

2011-02-18T00:19:00.000-05:00

More Info

Return

2011-02-17T23:38:00.000-05:00

I need to make a better effort to keep up with this blog.
I was doing a decent job before, but school and top surgery kept me away.
So, I will start this blog up again, raise it from the dust.

Dear Gandhi,

2011-01-04T22:40:00.001-05:00

I am the change I wish to see.

Would Be 70

2010-10-09T20:02:00.000-04:00

Holy Shit!

2010-10-05T22:57:00.000-04:00

I Want MSG

NHL Center Ice is holding a free preview Oct. 7-24. After that it will be 4 payments of $42.95. Hopefully MSG will settle with DISH Network, because there is no way I am switching to Cable and I will be damned if I am going to miss hockey.

incartare un gatto

2010-10-02T23:59:00.000-04:00

An Important Message from Ellen About Bullying

2010-10-01T18:14:00.000-04:00

Survey: Americans don't know much about religion

2010-09-28T23:55:00.000-04:00

By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer – Tue Sep 28, 3:42 pm ET

"A new survey of Americans' knowledge of religion found that atheists, agnostics, Jews and Mormons outperformed Protestants and Roman Catholics in answering questions about major religions, while many respondents could not correctly give the most basic tenets of their own faiths."

Full Story

Former Teammates

2010-09-27T11:46:00.018-04:00

Buffalo Sabres Drew Stafford, right, battles for the puck with Toronto Maple Leafs Clarke MacArthur during the third period of a pre-season NHL hockey game in Toronto on Monday, Sept. 27, 2010. [AP]

So my favourite teams played each other in the last 2 games and each won their home game.

Sick

2010-09-26T23:58:00.000-04:00

I have been sick for almost two weeks. It has been really tough having a busy schedule, people counting on you, and the only think I wanted to do was sit or lay in bed. Since I did not slow down I got a lot worse, but now that I barely did anything this weekend I feel better, not 100%, yet I am behind with everything I needed to do. Getting better is most important. I will figure out later how to catch up with everything else.

That time again

2010-09-23T23:57:00.015-04:00

With the preseason in full swing . . . hockey is back!
Toronto won again (against Philly).
Buffalo plays Toronto on Saturday.
Oh to have tickets to that game.

A Gripe

2010-09-22T23:50:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I cannot understand why students attend a class they have no interest being in and then proceed to create distractions for others. They should have dropped the class or skipped today if writing within Facebook was more important than Tibetan Buddhism.

Nessun Dorma

2010-09-21T23:41:00.000-04:00

Luciano Pavarotti

Simon's Cat in 'The Box'

2010-09-20T00:23:00.001-04:00

The most beautiful thing filmed

2010-09-18T16:23:00.000-04:00

Ricky Fitts: "It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing and there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. And this bag was, like, dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. And that's the day I knew there was this entire life behind things, and... this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember... and I need to remember... Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in."

--- American Beauty (1999)

Little Mouse

2010-09-17T23:54:00.001-04:00

I managed to save this little one on August 21, but today I could not save it's friend. I tried to coax him to drink, had food ready and even chanted over his worn out little body, but he was too far gone when I found him in the window well. He died shortly after and I buried him under the Lilac bush. I am going to measure the window wells and get covers so this does not happen again.

Compassion from Anger

2010-09-16T23:36:00.006-04:00

People harm others only when they are unhappy. No one wakes up in the morning and says, "I feel so great today! I think I'll go out and harm someone!" When we can allow ourselves to know the depth of the pain and confusion felt by those who have harmed us, compassion--the wish that they be free from such suffering--can easily arise. Thinking in this way does not mean whitewashing or denying harm that was done. Rather, we acknowledge it, but go beyond amassing resentment, because we know that grudges help neither ourselves nor others.

--from Working with Anger by Thubten Chodron, published by Snow Lion Publications

Все́волод Илларио́нович Пудо́вкин

2010-09-15T23:42:00.000-04:00

(Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin) (16 February 1893 – 20 June 1953) was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwriter and actor who developed influential theories of montage. Pudovkin's masterpieces are often contrasted with those of his contemporary Sergei Eisenstein, but whereas Eisenstein utilized montage to glorify the power of the masses, Pudovkin preferred to concentrate on the courage and resilience of individuals.

- Wikipedia

HW1 - DMS438

2010-09-14T23:48:00.028-04:00

This is a screenshot of the first stage of homework 1: use the Island Demo in Unity 3D and add a village by the shore with Heron on the roof. I did not model any of this section, as the point is to use what is created to learn the program and how the "behind the scenes" work without spending countless hours modeling everything (modeling come next semester). It is a relief to not have to model everything from scratch this semester since I know how long that takes.

Defintion

2010-09-13T23:48:00.001-04:00

Compassion: sensitivity to the sufferings experienced by other beings, coupled with a desire to help them to overcome suffering and its causes

New Guest Today

2010-09-12T23:43:00.001-04:00

Red-headed Woodpecker

Melanerpes erythrocephalus

2 Months Later

2010-09-11T15:43:00.000-04:00

I am restarting my blogging everyday -- I am online everyday anyway. Who knows, maybe this time I will not stop after completing a full year. Sometimes I have a lot to say sometimes I struggle to find something. Never-the-less there will be a new post everyday.

7 Eleven on 07-11

2010-07-11T18:10:00.002-04:00

Big Gulp Day
7 Eleven: Lockport, NY

One day this will be true:

2010-07-04T21:53:00.000-04:00

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator w/certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness."

Declaration of Independence

adopted July 4th, 1776

Petition for the Release of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche

2010-06-09T19:46:00.000-04:00

“I am not guilty, please appeal for justice for me….call all people together and do everything possible to help me overturn the verdict”.

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, revered religious leader and visionary advocate for Tibetans, is serving a life sentence for allegedly “conspiring to cause explosions”; a crime he did not commit. Since his arrest Tenzin Delek has maintained his innocence and no credible evidence has ever been found linking him to this crime.

Now, in a remarkable act of support and bravery, 40,000 Tibetans inside Tibet have signed petitions demanding justice for their leader.

Join with the people of Tibet now and add your ‘thumbprint’ to the petition below to help free Tenzin Delek Rinpoche.

The petition is to Zhou Yongkang (pictured right), Party Secretary in Sichuan Province when Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was detained and currently one of the highest ranking members of the Chinese Communist Party with authority for overseeing implementation of the law throughout the People’s Republic of China.

Sign Petition

Napoleon Dynamite was right!

2010-05-02T03:11:00.000-04:00

(Photo: aliwest44 / Flickr)

Ligers

Ligers are the cross of a male lion and a female tiger, and they are the largest of all living cats and felines. Their massive size may be a result of imprinted genes which are not fully expressed in their parents, but are left unchecked when the two different species mate. Some female ligers can grow to 10 feet in length and weigh more than 700 pounds.

Ligers are distinct from tigons, which come from a female lion and male tiger. Various other big cat hybrids have been created too, including leopons (a leopard and a lion mix), jaguleps (a jaguar and leopard mix), and even lijaguleps (a lion and jagulep mix).

source

Sleep Position

2010-05-01T01:59:00.001-04:00

Fetus position - A whopping 41% of participants sleep in this curled-up manner. Women are twice as likely to rest like this and it is listed as the most common position. These sleepers are said to have a tough exterior but are still sensitive and may appear to be shy but warm up quickly.

Log position - If you sleep on your side with both arms down, you are a social, easy-going person who is trusting, sometimes to the point of being gullible. The study showed 15% of people sleep like a log.

Yearner position - A close third is the side-lying position with both arms out in front of the body, with 13% of partipants sleeping like this. Yearners are noted to be open-minded and still cynical, suspicious, and stubborn about sticking to decisions once they are made.

Soldier position - These sleepers lie on their backs with arms down and kept close to the body. This 8% study is said to be reserved, quiet, without fuss, and hold themselves and others to a high standard. Soldier sleepers have a higher likelihood for snoring due to the flat-back position, which may not cause them to wake up often but may result in a less restful night's sleep.

Freefall position - Those people who lie on their bellies with arms under or wrapped around a pillow with head turned to the side, make up 7% of the population studied. Freefallers are brash, outgoing, and are very uncomfortable with criticism.

Starfish position - Sleepers who lie on their backs with arms up near their head or the pillow account for 5% of participants. These people are good listeners, helpful, and are uncomfortable being the center of attention. People who sleep in starfish position are more likely to snore and to suffer from a poor night's sleep more often.

If you think you are one of those people who move through all of these positions, that's not likely to really be the case. Idzikowski said the research reveals most people stay in the same position all night and only 5% lay differently night by night. Also interesting is that the study showed only one in ten people cover their bodies entirely with a blanket, with most people exposing an arm, leg, or both feet.

source

I am a Yearner and Soldier, who moves around a lot during each night and mostly prefer to be covered entirely.

Verbatim

2010-04-28T05:04:00.000-04:00

Aequam memento rebus in arduis servare mentem - Remember when life's path is steep to keep your mind even. (Horace)

Age. Fac ut gaudeam - Go ahead. Make my day

Aio, quantitas magna frumentorum est - Yes, that is a very large amount of corn

Amicus verus est rara avis - A true friend is a rare bird

Brevis ipsa vita est sed malis fit longior - Our life is short but is made longer by misfortunes. (Publilius Syrus)

Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam - I have a catapult. Give me all your money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head

Estne volumen in toga, an solum tibi libet me videre? - Is that a scroll in your toga, or are you just happy to see me?

Liberate te ex inferis - Save yourself from hell

Mater tua criceta fuit, et pater tuo redoluit bacarum sambucus - Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries

Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione - I'm not interested in your dopey religious cult

Non vereor ne illam me amare hic potuerit resciscere; quippe haud etiam quicquam inepte feci - I don't think anyone knows I love the girl; I haven't done anything really silly yet

Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae - There is no one great ability without a mixture of madness

Obscurum per obscurius - The obscure by means of the more obscure

Omne initium est difficile - Every beginning is difficult

Postatem obscuri lateris nescitis - You do not know the power of the dark side

Quid agis, medice? - What's up, Doc?

Scio me nihil scire - I know that I know nothing. Certain knowledge cannot be obtained. (Socrates)

Sit vis vobiscum - May the Force be with you

Sona si latine loqueris - Honk if you speak Latin

Stultus est sicut stultus facit - Stupid is as stupid does

Suntne vacci laeti - Are your cows happy?

Te audire non possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure - I can't hear you. I have a banana in my ear

Vah! Denuone Latine loquebar? Me ineptum. Interdum modo elabitur - Oh! Was I speaking Latin again? Silly me. Sometimes it just sort of slips out

Words to live by

2010-04-24T13:36:00.000-04:00

"I never saw a wild thing
sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself."

– "Self-Pity" D. H. Lawrence

Noted photographer probed in misuse of Buffalo State cameras

2010-04-10T03:51:00.001-04:00

By Phil Fairbanks NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: April 09, 2010, 7:45 am
Published: April 09, 2010, 12:30 am

Leslie Krims is known across the world as a surrealist photographer with a dark, satirical style.

Unfortunately for Krims, a longtime professor at Buffalo State College, there’s a new unwanted wrinkle on his international resume: allegations that he took two school cameras worth $45,000 and used them solely for personal and private business use.

Krims, a professor for 41 years, could face disciplinary action as a result of the state investigation into his use of school equipment.

“Krims used both cameras to create photographs for sale and used a Buffalo State College printer to print these pictures,” according to a new report by State Inspector General Joseph Fisch.

The inspector general goes on to claim that “these cameras, to date, have been used exclusively for Krims’ personal purposes, and neither camera has ever been used in teaching a class at Buffalo State College or for any school-sanctioned purpose.”

Krims declined to comment Thursday when contacted by The Buffalo News.

The New York Times in 2004 described Krims as “the bad boy of photography in the late 1960s and ’70s.”

The paper also suggested that Krims was a major influence on photography during the Modernist era and cited his photo of a “screaming, legless man on a small table in a windowed alcove” and the “image of his naked mother seated at a distance on the sofa in her dimly lighted, busily decorated living room.”

The Times credited the 67-year-old Brooklyn-born artist with opening photography to “possibilities of imaginative, formal and technical invention that countless artists continue to explore today.”

In 1993, then-Buffalo News Art Critic Richard Huntington described Krims as “something of a surrealist with an absurdist bent.”

Buffalo State College officials declined to comment on the possibility of disciplinary action against Krims, although the inspector general’s report indicates the school has initiated an investigation.

In addition, school officials are reviewing the inspector general’s recommendations on how it can improve its monitoring of college-owned equipment and property.

“We are reviewing our processes,” Stanley Kardonsky, vice president for finance and management at Buffalo State, said Thursday.

source

Help another

2010-03-24T03:20:00.000-04:00

Give blood,

it is the least we can do for

each other.

Remember Tibet

2010-03-10T04:59:00.010-05:00

I placed new prayer flags to commemorate

the 1959 Tibetan uprising against the presence

of the People's Republic of China in Tibet.

ALL TIME 100 Novels

2010-03-10T02:39:00.009-05:00

TIME critics Lev Grossman and Richard Lacayo pick the 100 best English-Language novels from 1923 to the present

(Going to try and read all)

A - B

1. The Adventures of Augie March (1953), by Saul Bellow
2. All the King's Men (1946), by Robert Penn Warren
3. American Pastoral (1997), by Philip Roth
4. An American Tragedy (1925), by Theodore Dreiser
5. Animal Farm (1946), by George Orwell
6. Appointment in Samarra (1934), by John O'Hara
7. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (1970), by Judy Blume
8. The Assistant (1957), by Bernard Malamud
9. At Swim-Two-Birds (1938), by Flann O'Brien
10. Atonement (2002), by Ian McEwan
11. Beloved (1987), by Toni Morrison
12. The Berlin Stories (1946), by Christopher Isherwood
13. The Big Sleep (1939), by Raymond Chandler
14. The Blind Assassin (2000), by Margaret Atwood
15. Blood Meridian (1986), by Cormac McCarthy
16. Brideshead Revisited (1946), by Evelyn Waugh
17. The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927), by Thornton Wilder

C - D

1. Call It Sleep (1935), by Henry Roth
2. Catch-22 (1961), by Joseph Heller
3. The Catcher in the Rye (1951), by J.D. Salinger
4. A Clockwork Orange (1963), by Anthony Burgess
5. The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967), by William Styron
6. The Corrections (2001), by Jonathan Franzen
7. The Crying of Lot 49 (1966), by Thomas Pynchon
8. A Dance to the Music of Time (1951), by Anthony Powell
9. The Day of the Locust (1939), by Nathanael West
10. Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927), by Willa Cather
11. A Death in the Family (1958), by James Agee
12. The Death of the Heart (1958), by Elizabeth Bowen
13. Deliverance (1970), by James Dickey
14. Dog Soldiers (1974), by Robert Stone

F - G

1. Falconer (1977), by John Cheever
2. The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969), by John Fowles
3. The Golden Notebook (1962), by Doris Lessing
4. Go Tell it on the Mountain (1953), by James Baldwin
5. Gone With the Wind (1936), by Margaret Mitchell
6. The Grapes of Wrath (1939), by John Steinbeck
7. Gravity's Rainbow (1973), by Thomas Pynchon
8. The Great Gatsby (1925), by F. Scott Fitzgerald

H - I

1. A Handful of Dust (1934), by Evelyn Waugh
2. The Heart is A Lonely Hunter (1940), by Carson McCullers
3. The Heart of the Matter (1948), by Graham Greene
4. Herzog (1964), by Saul Bellow
5. Housekeeping (1981), by Marilynne Robinson
6. A House for Mr. Biswas (1962), by V.S. Naipaul
7. I, Claudius (1934), by Robert Graves
8. Infinite Jest (1996), by David Foster Wallace
9. Invisible Man (1952), by Ralph Ellison

L - N

1. Light in August (1932), by William Faulkner
2. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (1950), by C.S. Lewis
3. Lolita (1955), by Vladimir Nabokov
4. Lord of the Flies (1955), by William Golding
5. The Lord of the Rings (1954), by J.R.R. Tolkien
6. Loving (1945), by Henry Green
7. Lucky Jim (1954), by Kingsley Amis
8. The Man Who Loved Children (1940), by Christina Stead
9. Midnight's Children (1981), by Salman Rushdie
10. Money (1984), by Martin Amis
11. The Moviegoer (1961), by Walker Percy
12. Mrs. Dalloway (1925), by Virginia Woolf
13. Naked Lunch (1959), by William Burroughs
14. Native Son (1940), by Richard Wright
15. Neuromancer (1984), by William Gibson
16. Never Let Me Go (2005), by Kazuo Ishiguro
17. 1984 (1948), by George Orwell

O - R

1. On the Road (1957), by Jack Kerouac
2. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962), by Ken Kesey
3. The Painted Bird (1965), by Jerzy Kosinski
4. Pale Fire (1962), by Vladimir Nabokov
5. A Passage to India (1924), by E.M. Forster
6. Play It As It Lays (1970), by Joan Didion
7. Portnoy's Complaint (1969), by Philip Roth
8. Possession (1990), by A.S. Byatt
9. The Power and the Glory (1939), by Graham Greene
10. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), by Muriel Spark
11. Rabbit, Run (1960), by John Updike
12. Ragtime (1975), by E.L. Doctorow
13. The Recognitions (1955), by William Gaddis
14. Red Harvest (1929), by Dashiell Hammett
15. Revolutionary Road (1961), by Richard Yates

S - T

1. The Sheltering Sky (1949), by Paul Bowles
2. Slaughterhouse Five (1969), by Kurt Vonnegut
3. Snow Crash (1992), by Neal Stephenson
4. The Sot-Weed Factor (1960), by John Barth
5. The Sound and the Fury (1929), by William Faulkner
6. The Sportswriter (1986), by Richard Ford
7. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1964), by John le Carre
8. The Sun Also Rises (1926), by Ernest Hemingway
9. Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), by Zora Neale Hurston
10. Things Fall Apart (1959), by Chinua Achebe
11. To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), by Harper Lee
12. To the Lighthouse (1927), by Virginia Woolf
13. Tropic of Cancer (1934), by Henry Miller

U - W

1. Ubik (1969), by Philip K. Dick
2. Under the Net (1954), by Iris Murdoch
3. Under the Volcano (1947), by Malcolm Lowry
4. Watchmen (1986), by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
5. White Noise (1985), by Don DeLillo
6. White Teeth (2000), by Zadie Smith
7. Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), by Jean Rhys

***
Italicized books read to finish

Giant Beavers!!!

2010-02-28T23:12:00.002-05:00

VANCOUVER, BC - FEBRUARY 28: Entertainers perform during the Closing Ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics at BC Place on February 28, 2010 in Vancouver, Canada.
(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

USA Hockey --- Miller!!!

2010-02-21T23:24:00.002-05:00

VANCOUVER, BC - FEBRUARY 21: USA players celebrate after they won the ice hockey men's preliminary game between Canada and USA on day 10 of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics at Canada Hockey Place on February 21, 2010 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

ལོ་གསར་བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས།

2010-02-14T12:41:00.004-05:00

ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པ་དྨེ་ཧཱུྃ།

Tibetan Year 2137, The Tiger

新年快乐! 2010/4708: Year of the Tiger

2010-02-14T12:33:00.001-05:00

Children dressed in tiger costumes perform during the opening of Longtan Temple Fair
on the Lunar New Year Eve in Beijing.
Photo: AP

To someone special

2010-02-05T23:19:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday M.J.J.!

I do not know where you are or what you are doing, but I am thinking of you. It has been far too long and I really miss those night long talks. I am in the space where you left me all those years ago.
You found me once, find me again.

All my love,

J

A Very Special Friend

2010-01-25T02:52:00.006-05:00

Requiescat in pace

Michele A. Wolff
January 17, 1950 - December 27, 2009

Just one word:
ut

(The hardest death notice I have ever had to post. I never got to say goodbye.)

One Day

2010-01-18T22:18:00.002-05:00

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
(28 August 1963)

FW: misc

2010-01-05T02:30:00.004-05:00

"01. The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi."

"06. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery."

"12. Atheism is a non-prophet organization."

"15. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'"

"21.. A backward poet writes inverse."

- source unknown

Russia may send spacecraft to knock away asteroid

2009-12-31T03:12:00.001-05:00

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer – Wed Dec 30, 9:34 pm ET

"MOSCOW – Russia's space agency chief said Wednesday a spacecraft may be dispatched to knock a large asteroid off course and reduce the chances of earth impact, even though U.S. scientists say such a scenario is unlikely.

Anatoly Perminov told Golos Rossii radio the space agency would hold a meeting soon to assess a mission to Apophis. He said his agency might eventually invite NASA, the European Space Agency, the Chinese space agency and others to join the project.

When the 270-meter (885-foot) asteroid was first discovered in 2004, astronomers estimated its chances of smashing into Earth in its first flyby, in 2029, at 1-in-37."

source

Recent Loss of a Friend

2009-12-17T23:04:00.002-05:00

Oct. 13, 1932—Oct. 1, 2009

"Monsignor John C. Weimer, a priest, scholar and campus minister whose learned sermons in a basement chapel drew an audience of Catholic judges, politicians and other professionals, died Thursday in Sisters Hospital after battling cancer. He was 76.

Father Weimer spent 35 years in campus ministry and was known for his ability to challenge and inspire parishioners—among them former Rep. John LaFalce, U. S. District Court Judge John Curtin and former Mayor Anthony Masiello— with his liberal-leaning homilies inside Buffalo State College’s Newman Center."

source

Despite the Defeat

2009-12-02T20:36:00.002-05:00

Next Holiday

2009-11-30T22:22:00.003-05:00

"Clark: Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny fucking Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse."

"Ellen: Clark, I think it'd be best if everyone went home... before things get worse.
Clark: WORSE? How could things get any worse? Take a look around here, Ellen. We're at the threshold of hell. "

Christmas Vacation (1989) -- currently playing on AMC for 20^th Anniversary
_______________

Just like our holidays.

We will not forget!

2009-11-20T23:40:00.003-05:00

"On this, the eleventh annual Day of Remembrance, we are part of a global movement to honor those who have died. We mourn our fallen sisters and brothers who have become the victims of hatred and prejudice and we commit ourselves to doing what it takes to prevent others from joining their ranks. We pause to acknowledge the loss we all suffer because these people are no longer sharing their gifts, their laughter, their struggles, their work and their lives with our world. We decry the many forms of discrimination-racism, sexism, economic injustice, ageism, and so many more-that compound the transphobia and homophobia we face and make some among us even more vulnerable to violence.

We must continue to state loudly and clearly that transgender people will never willingly be relegated to the status of victim. Transgender people and our families, friends and allies are standing up effectively, working for public policies that emphasize both the need to prevent these horrific crimes as well as holding accountable those who commit them. We are speaking out daily, educating law enforcement, co-workers, family members, policy makers and our neighbors about the realities of our lives and helping transform their prejudice into understanding. We are advocating boldly for anti-discrimination laws that will allow transgender people to get and keep jobs, improving the quality of our lives and keeping us safe."

source
more info

I am ready to go

2009-11-13T16:34:00.000-05:00

NASA finds water on the moon
by Jean-Louis Santini

"WASHINGTON (AFP) – A "significant amount" of frozen water has been found on the moon, the US space agency said Friday heralding a giant leap forward in space exploration and boosting hopes of a permanent lunar base.

Preliminary data from a dramatic experiment on the moon "indicates the mission successfully uncovered water in a permanently shadowed lunar crater," NASA said in a statement.

"The discovery opens a new chapter in our understanding of the moon," it added, as ecstatic scientists celebrated the landmark discovery.

"Yes indeed we found water and we did not find only a little bit but a significant amount," said Anthony Colaprete, project scientist and principal investigator for the 79-million-dollar LCROSS mission.

The data was found after NASA sent two spacecraft crashing into the lunar surface last month in a dramatic experiment to probe Earth's nearest neighbor for water.

One rocket slammed into the Cabeus crater, near the lunar southern pole, at around 5,600 miles (9,000 kilometers) per hour.

Moon holds key to solar system's secrets."

source

What is it hold up?

2009-11-11T18:15:00.002-05:00

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press Writer – Tue Nov 10, 8:28 pm ET

"ALBANY, N.Y. – After weeks of uncertainty and pleas for action by Gov. David Paterson, New York's Senate failed to vote on a bill legalizing same-sex marriage during a special session Tuesday.

Advocates and opponents say the Senate lacked the 32 votes needed to approve the measure, which Paterson strongly supports and the Assembly already passed."

Blah
Blah
Blah

source

Vote No

2009-11-04T00:01:00.003-05:00

What is happening in Maine is a tragedy -- that there has to be a vote at all.

What happened to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?
What happen to freedom and justice for all?

Maine, like California before them, only proves you have to live within the privileged class. One has to be heterosexual and fall somewhere within the Judeo-Christian system to be counted as a citizen.

I do not for one moment agree.

Equal rights for every citizen.
Marriage for every citizen.

What happened to the USA?

The Philosophy of Ambiguity

2009-11-03T00:04:00.002-05:00

Is there another word for synonym?

If a turtle does not have a shell, is it homeless or naked?

What was the best thing before sliced bread?

How is it possible to have a civil war?

If you ate both pasta and antipasto, would you still be hungry?

Repetition

2009-10-22T00:31:00.002-04:00

"Insanity:

Doing things over and over again

and expecting different results"

- Albert Einstein

Now Action

2009-10-10T23:42:00.000-04:00

For the Future

2009-10-09T18:32:00.004-04:00

"This year's Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the American President, Barack Obama.

The Norwegian-based Nobel committee said he had made extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation.

The committee chairman, Thorbjoern Jagland, said they had attached special importance to Mr Obama's vision of a world without nuclear weapons."

source

Young-hae Chang Heavy Industries presents

2009-10-06T17:22:00.002-04:00

Monday, October 5 (Gender Week Event), 3-5 PM, 112 CFA

YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES

source

An hour long presentation,

a question and answer session following;

the best I ever saw.

They will be here Monday!!!

2009-09-30T22:46:00.003-04:00

My presentation in DMS 225, Digital Literature Survey,

aka E-Poetry Survey, about:

Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries

장영혜중공업

View

Changing Seasons

2009-09-27T19:21:00.003-04:00

The Canadian Geese are starting to migrate.

A flock just flew over the house, honking as they flew.

The leaves are changing colours and falling.

A blanket of a dying summer covers the ground.

When the Dark-eye Juncos arrive I know winter is coming.

A Voice Silenced

2009-09-26T23:15:00.005-04:00

Mary Allin Travers (November 9, 1936 – September 16, 2009)

BLOWIN' IN THE WIND
Bob Dylan- Special Rider Music - SESAC
How many roads must a man walk down
Before they call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
How many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many years must a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
How many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
How many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
How many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
How many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

photo source

Mark Osborne - "More" (1998)

2009-09-25T17:44:00.002-04:00

Camera-less Animation

2009-09-24T20:06:00.000-04:00

16mm clear leader with Sharpie Marker
24 frames = 1 second
Each frame is between the sprocket holes,
soundtrack on non-sprocket holes side

2009 September 16

Arrival

2009-09-16T23:02:00.002-04:00

My long lost animation textbook and Gogol Bordello CD finally was delivered today. The excitement is overwhelming -- new music for new animations.

This week has been camera-less animation, i.e. animation directly on 16mm film then run through a projector.

Next week, cut outs.

"Nobody puts Baby in the corner."

2009-09-14T22:52:00.003-04:00

Flowers decorate Patrick Swayze's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, Monday, Sept. 14, 2009. Swayze, the hunky actor who danced his way into moviegoers' hearts with 'Dirty Dancing' and then broke them with 'Ghost,' died Monday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Healthcare

2009-09-13T23:54:00.004-04:00

I admit, I have not kept up with the healthcare politics. All I know is I will take at least one class during the semester so I can have even crappy insurance, otherwise I will be uninsured again. It is too expensive to not have health care at all.

What I am worried about is my parents losing their healthcare because of the greedy unmentioned company currently providing such "care" if the government makes insurance a mandate for all citizens. Said company will drop the current policies if the government provides basic care, then they will be the ones to suffer while said company reaps even more profits.

Without regulations effective immediately on healthcare reforms, we will see the same thing that happened with credit card "reform" -- credit companies dropped people and credit limits without warning and raised interest rates to obnoxious percents in the months leading to the reforms activation dates.

Sick, all of it.

Nom, Nom, Nom

2009-09-12T21:18:00.002-04:00

Ohio man breaks Pac-Man world record

Nearly thirty years after chomping its way into pop culture, Pac-Man still has players aiming for perfection.

And that's exactly what 40 year-old gamer David Race of Beavercreek, Ohio managed to accomplish.

According to the officials at video game record-keeping institution Twin Galaxies, Race achieved a perfect score on Namco's venerable coin-op classic in 3 hours, 41 minutes, and 22 seconds, edging out the old record by a mere 42 seconds to make him the fastest Pac-Man completionist of all time.

To nail a perfect Pac-Man score, a player must "eat every dot, bonus prize and blue ghost across all 256 levels." At that point, a glitch in the original game code results in an unplayable stage, effectively ending the experience with a score of 3,333,360.

With his latest effort, Race has become only the sixth player to ever see that number. The first? None other than King of Kong antagonist Billy Mitchell, who managed the feat back in 1999.

source

Happy Birthday

2009-09-09T00:15:00.003-04:00

A special boy turns 10 today.

I wish I could see his face.

Maybe one day he will stumble upon this,

and see that I still care;

I never stopped.

Be a good boy Boo.

Eight

2009-09-08T23:53:00.001-04:00

Eight years ago I moved back home,

Eight years the Towers fell,

Eight years going on 50.

On The Edge

2009-09-07T22:58:00.001-04:00

Chipper having breakfast

2009 September 07

"The Dreamer"

2009-09-06T22:57:00.003-04:00

Had a great family moment tonight.

We had dinner as usual,

I chose the film,

The Astronaut Farmer (2006),

this was not a normal "dinner & movie",

it was,

"Charles Farmer: You see, when I was a kid, they used to tell me that I could be anything I wanted to be. No matter what. And maybe I am insane, I don't know, but I still believe that. "

UB Bulls

2009-09-05T23:48:00.001-04:00

Sitting watching college football with Ma.
Buffalo winning so far, 23-14.

GO BULLS!!!

Screened

2009-09-04T22:34:00.001-04:00

Oak Leaves

2009 September 04

Haunted

2009-09-03T21:20:00.001-04:00

Back Window: Summit Street Mansion

2009 September 03

Think

2009-09-02T22:38:00.001-04:00

“The grand thing about the human mind is that it can turn its own tables and see meaninglessness as ultimate meaning”

John Cage

Hopper

2009-09-01T23:34:00.000-04:00

Grasshopper-san

2009 August 31

Mantis

2009-08-31T22:32:00.003-04:00

Praying Mantis (Mantis religiosa) in Threat Posture

2009 August 31

Tomorrow

2009-08-30T21:56:00.002-04:00

One of Two First Days

2009 August 30

Cambria House Picnic

2009-08-29T22:27:00.001-04:00

Justin and Jake

2009 August 29

Curled

2009-08-28T23:05:00.001-04:00

Wildflowers

2009 August 28

Across the Road

2009-08-27T22:46:00.001-04:00

Wildflower

2009 August 27

Her

2009-08-26T22:42:00.001-04:00

Luna
2009 August 26

Breakfast Guests

2009-08-25T23:04:00.000-04:00

Flock of Song Sparrows

2009 August 25

Where did Mama go?

2009-08-24T22:24:00.002-04:00

Mourning Dove, juvenile (Zenaida macroura)

2009 August 24

Love My Web Host More

2009-08-23T23:20:00.002-04:00

FatCow Web Hosting “Goes Green” by Committing to 100% Wind Energy

BURLINGTON, Mass. – FatCow, a leading provider of Web hosting, domain registration and related marketing services, announced today that its offices and data centers are now 100 percent powered by wind energy. “We’re offsetting all of our electricity use by purchasing wind-generated Renewable Energy Certificates,” explains Paul Bukhovko, FatCow’s Marketing Manager, “providing our customers with an environmentally preferable Web hosting solution.” The Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) are being supplied by wind energy marketer and developer Community Energy Inc. (CEI).

On behalf of all of its offices and data centers, FatCow is buying 4,412,000 kilowatt hours (kWhs) per year of wind-generated RECs. This volume is comparable to the entire output of one 1.5 megawatt (MW) wind turbine over the course of one year. When compared to the average generation mix in the national electric grid, the estimated environmental benefit from this purchase is equal to offsetting approximately 2,260 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, the impact of which is equivalent to planting about 2,390 acres of trees each year or not driving 6.1 million miles.

“Electricity generation is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, and Community Energy applauds FatCow for taking action on climate change,” says Brent Alderfer, Executive VP of Community Energy. “Their commitment to 100 percent wind-generated RECs makes a difference for cleaner air, a stronger economy and new clean energy sources in the U.S.”

By reducing its carbon footprint, FatCow is responding to feedback from its staff, as well as letting customers host green sites of their own. “Quite frankly,” Bukhovko says, “our employees and our customers were the driving factors behind our decision to go green. Our staff members encourage responsible environmental behavior inside the office and practice it outside the office. And, we know that many of our customers feel just as strongly. We wanted to give them an opportunity to reduce their own carbon footprint by hosting their sites on servers 100 percent powered by wind energy.”

About FatCow
FatCow provides shared Web hosting solutions for individuals and small- to medium-sized businesses looking for an affordable, reliable Web hosting option. FatCow pioneered the "one plan, one price" philosophy when it began offering its signature all-in-one Web site hosting solution, The FatCow, back in 1998. For more information about FatCow’s commitment to the environment, visit www.fatcow.com/green.

source

Corn Buffet

2009-08-22T23:55:00.001-04:00

Chipping Sparrows eat breakfast

2009 August 22

Sleep Love Eyes

2009-08-21T22:12:00.001-04:00

Rocky stares from across the room

2009 August 21

Let the Test speak

2009-08-20T23:35:00.004-04:00

(AFP/File/Olivier Morin)

S.Africa rallies around Semenya as gender storm grows
by Justine Gerardy
Thu Aug 20, 10:12 am ET

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – South Africa declared new 800-metre world champion Caster Semenya a "golden girl" Thursday, as the nation rallied around her family to fend off doubts that she is a woman.
Front pages in every major newspaper pictured a triumphant Semenya who powered to a 1min 55.45sec win -- the world's best this year -- shortly after the athletics governing body announced her gender was to be verified.
...

"She called me after (the heats) and told me that they think she's a man. What can I do when they call her a man, when she's really not a man? It is God who made her look that way."
Among several angry reactions from leftist groups and heated online and radio debate, the Young Communist League called the gender probe chauvinistic, saying it fed into stereotypes of how woman should look and smacked of racism.
"We see this as an insult to Semenya in particular and African women (even in the Diaspora) in general," it said.
The South African Football Players Union questioned why the IAAF had singled out Semenya.
...

"Then she has to explain that she can't help the fact that her voice is so gruff and that she really is a girl. The remarkable thing is that Caster remains completely calm and never loses her dignity when she is questioned about her gender," Seme told Beeld.
Semenya had been "crudely humiliated" a few times and the closest Seme said he had seen her to anger was earlier this year when some people wanted her barred from using the ladies restroom.
"Then Caster said: 'Do you want me to pull down my pants that you can see?' Those same people came to her later and said they were extremely sorry."

Molt

2009-08-19T23:05:00.000-04:00

Cicada Shell

2009 August 19

Bounty

2009-08-18T23:27:00.001-04:00

Tomatoes

2009 August 18

Feeding Time

2009-08-17T22:53:00.000-04:00

Rabbit, Rabbit, Skunk

2009 August 17

Lounging

2009-08-16T23:55:00.002-04:00

Even Squirrels take it easy on hot days.

2009 August 16

Drying

2009-08-15T23:16:00.002-04:00

Cicada (Tibicen Canicularis)

2009 August 15