Comments turned off temporarily.

Back to blogging for a bit, after having been literally rendered speechless by the quality of the discourse during the so-called American election. But I've turned off the comments for a while, until I can upgrade Movable Type and find an easier way to deal with all of the comment spam. It's just getting to be a bit too much.






Turning corners.

Bush says that "we're turning the corner." I don't know if we are or not, but I do know that if we are that's not necessarily a good thing. I remember once when I actually saw the light at the end of the tunnel. All it did was illuminate the entrance to another tunnel. So it goes.






Blogging will be sparse for a while.

Have to focus on some other activities for a while, and want to cut down my computer time a little bit, so blogging will probably be light for the next few days or maybe weeks. I'm amazed at people who can continue to do it day in, day out all year round, but I find that it's something I come and go at. I also find that most traffic here is to the ebooks and world history readings rather than the weblog, so enjoy those. That's mostly what these sites is all about anyway. I'll be back though.






What is it with families?

Why is it that just because someone's related to you, they tend to think that they are not bound by the rules of common courtesy. People say and do things to their relatives that they would not in a million years dream of saying to strangers. But for some reason they think that an accident of birth gives them the right to stick their noses into your affairs, to criticize you, to offer unneeded and unwanted advice and to say the most hurtful things imaginable.

You would think that if someone loves you they would show you more respect than they would a stranger, but apparently it's the other way around. Familiarity breeds contempt, I guess. And then they expect you to continue to treat them with love and respect, to spend money on them and so on. I don't think I'll every understand this.

Don't mind me. :) Just releasing a little personal angst. I think that a lot of people experience a lot of pain at this time of year, and feel guilty about it, and most of the time it's not really their fault. Nothing wrong with not loving someone you're related to. As I say, it's mostly an accident of birth.

And they shouldn't feel guilty about wanting to spend the holidays with friends or others who they really care more about than they do their relatives. I say celebrate with the people you live with all year around, and with the ones who are really with you day in and day out. Spend your money on them. They're your real family, the ones who really count in the long run.

An unpopular view, I suppose, but there you are. Somehow I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way, and I thought that for once I'd just say it straight out. I suppose Dear Abby would disagree with me. She's always advising reconciliation. But then she supposedly went many years without speaking to her own sister. Hmmmm....






Relocating to LA for a bit.

I have to go down to LA for a bit and do some work, and so won't be on the web much for the next few days. If you want to see what's happening in LA these days, LA Craigslist seems to be really hopping.

It's too bad there isn't that much work available in Santa Barbara. It's so beautiful I can't believe it. But most of the people here are either seniors who have retired, or students at the gorgeous colleges here. The "newly wed and nearly dead" they call it. Neither group does much business, or what they do they don't do here. The only thing booming here right now is real estate, and working on houses in general. Web design certainly isn't happening these days.

But I'll be back. I lived here for many years during the seventies and eighties, and it's much nicer than I remember it. In fact, the nicest place to live I've ever seen. I didn't appreciate it back then since I hadn't seen as many different places. But now I have and can appreciate what a wonder it is. Maybe make the money in LA, or travel there some, but it'd be worth it to live here.

If you want to see what's happening in Santa Barbara these days, try the SB Independent. a weekly paper, and the SB News Press, the local daily. You won't believe the real estate prices. Highest in the country I hear.






I'll be back in a few days.

I'm in the process of moving this blog from Blogger to Movable Type, which should take a few days. While I'm doing it I thought I'd do some reorganization of my sites in general. It's pretty clear that while people want and enjoy everything they can get from the web, they're just not willing to pay for it. Which is sad, but just life I guess. So I'll have to stop and reconsider. I'll keep blogging, which is fun, but I no longer see any real point in doing creative web design or trying to come up with new and better ways of doing things.

Same with ebooks. All people care about is money, never what the web could do for other people, or promoting learning, or anything but commerce. And with no one willing or able to challenge Apple and Microsoft's monopolies, there's just no room for outside developers. I'd hoped that after the dot-com crash things would change a little bit, but if everything they're worse. And all of the same people, especially Jobs and Gates, that were in charge during the dot-com years and before, are still in charge. And still don't really have a clue what they're doing. Not a clue.

Among other things, I'm really blown out by how badly Google and Blogger managed the transition to a new program. Both the utter contempt they seem to have for their customers, and, even more, by just how bad and poorly designed their software is. It just really stuns me, and is indicative of the low state of the American computer industry these days. Google has plenty of resources and computing talent, and there is simply no excuse for such shoddy, amateurish work. I mean, transitioning everything over to a new format, and not even bothering to keep a backup is amazing. I still can't get my archives back, and the new program doesn't have an option for republishing them. Incredible.

Anyway, more on this later. But generally I'm going to be moving back to the arts, painting and writing. While the computer business is stuck in the doldrums, the arts are absolutely booming, like never before in world history. J.K. Rowling has made more money all by herself than all of Amazon.com. And her type of work is a lot more fun and rewarding. So I can see where the future lies.






Ah, the smell of the sea.

I'm working out of my Dad's office in Venice, at least for a while until I get situated. It's only about six blocks from the beach. You can (almost) smell the salt water. Something about it that stirs something in you. I like Eugene, Oregon a lot, but it's inland sixty miles or so, and I've always been used to living by the ocean. Nice to be back by it.



Back in LA.

Time to begin posting to this weblog on a regular basis. If I'm going to do it, I've gotta do it. Not sure why I've been so hesitant to begin writing, but there you are. Maybe I'm just shy.

Anyway, visiting some family and friends in LA for a little while. Had a great ride down the coast getting here. Took four days. Sure was beautiful. Especially the Oregon part, which is surely one of the great unknown wonders of the world.

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