Below are the 14 most recent journal entries recorded in doctorparadox's LiveJournal:

Monday, September 5th, 2005
8:01 pm	Friday is the time when we do the dance of joy What: PAR-TAY! When: This Friday, the 9th of September, anytime after 7pm Where: At Barb's place -- please ping me for a map/directions: livemind AT gmail.com Why: Barb's birthday, reallllly belated housewarming, celebrating Ithaca ummer... do you really need an excuse to party? How: Obtain transport of some sort. Arrive at location. Commence booty-shaking. Bring: Food if you want, wine/beer if so inclined, games, musical instruments, friends, or just some good cheer. Good cheer is mandatory -- everything else is completely optional. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, July 18th, 2005
6:41 pm	tap tap... is this thing on? hmmm, life stirs in the deep... yes so, um, i'm alive. and life is good! maybe at some point i'll try and recap what's happened in the past 7 months, or maybe i'll just wait for the vh1 special to come out so's i can catch up. hmmm the little blurb tells me a paid account will let me blog by phone or email. that might be fun... and oooh, tagging entries... is that new, or did LJ always have that and i missed it? anyhow, hey, word up, shouts out, who's still kickin' it up in this LJ piece? Current Mood: content Current Music: thievery corporation - door of perception (10 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, January 31st, 2005
1:10 am	long time no type... So I have obviously been egregiously remiss at posting to the LJ. I'd better get it in while I can before whatever changes Six Apart brings to the table, now that they've bought out LJ. Anywho... where to begin? First off, newflash: buying a house takes a lot of time. :) I'm still sort of reeling from it all, and recovering financially. I'm the kind of person who likes to make changes all at once, so I've coupled a big move with a big career change. I'm not getting out of the web business altogether, but I'm drastically scaling it down in favor of tech writing/blogging. My gig at The Unofficial Apple Weblog is about the coolest thing I can imagine, and on top of that we've doubled our traffic every month since I came on board in November. It blows my mind to think that 50K+ folks read my words every day. Out of this world! I've also got another writing gig that kicked off earlier this month, on Engadget, the most popular blog in the world right now. It's another blog on the Weblogs, Inc. network, covering all things gadgetry. I've been doing feature how-to articles: first was How to use your CDMA phone as a USB modem, and this past week was How to turn your Mac mini into a home media center. I get totally absorbed in the writing process and the techno-gadgeteering process both - it is so much fun. Much like with TUAW, I sort of feel like I'm getting paid to do what I do for fun anyway. Pretty rad. My other career move is to place a foot back into academia. Through a crazy set of circumstances and serendipity, I got offered a job at Ithaca College as technical support in the media production department. I jumped at the chance, as I was already looking around at what was coming next after the web design gig. This is it. I get to play with Final Cut Pro and Pro Tools and all manner of equipment. I don't have to support anybody's desktop machine or network: no worrying about someone's email being down, etc. - I only get to deal with the fun parts. Being in academia again is truly awesome. The new dean of the Park School (the well-known Communications school at IC, where my position is) is a woman named Dianne Lynch. She is THE coolest dean you can possibly imagine. Her background is in digital media, and she is moving decidedly forward to combat the typical academic lag and make sweeping changes (for the better, IMHO) at the Park School. She is totally down to earth, sharp as a tack, and up on all of the latest tech. We had a staff meeting a couple of weeks ago and I swear, I have never walked away from a 3-hour meeting feeling so pumped and energized. Good times ahead, I tell ya! Other than being deeply absorbed in my career, I've been basically in survival mode in the dead of winter... multiple -20 below degree days here spent huddling next to the wood stove for warmth. I never thought I'd be so happy to see a 30 degree day - it feels veritably tropical right now! Easy to heat the house at 30 degrees F, practically impossible to heat the house at 20 below. The furnace is iffy at best, it sometimes works, and regardless, it's not hooked up to any ducts. The previous owners used it to keep the basement pipes from freezing, and that's all. I'm actually totally amazed the pipes have NOT frozen yet. Once of them has a leak which causes it to drip water in the basement and I have a hunch that, ironically, that little drip is responsible for helping keep the pipes from freezing. Also, we're totally going to run out of wood in the next couple of weeks, I imagine. Bollocks! Need to figure out what the $%^$%^ is wrong with the furnace, why it only fires half the time, and how much it will cost to hook up some of those ducts. Well... now you're up to date, really. Have had a few house guests at the new abode - Ember was here mid-December followed by Lester and Sebastian around the holiday time. It was nice to spend the holiday day (Dec. 25) actually here at home before going to Mom's house. Yes, this country retreat sure does suit me. Current Mood: satisfied Current Music: internet radio: ambient (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, November 12th, 2004
7:31 pm	more good news... house closing on TUESDAY!!!!!!!!! finally!!!!!!! no more couch-surfing!! :) it was fun while it lasted but you know, i've found it a bit difficult to run a business out of... nowhere. though the flip side is that deprivation makes you really appreciate the things that are missing, and the things that are really important. having a home is not something i will easily take for granted from now on. Current Mood: bouncy Current Music: bjork - hidden place (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, November 5th, 2004
8:40 pm	blog to live, live to blog So i've quite happily accepted one of my dream jobs: professional blogger! Along with partner-in-crime Laurie Duncan, i'll be posting a wide range of Mac-related info, news, gadgetry, et cetera over at The Unofficial Apple Weblog, part of the Weblogs, Inc. blogging network. Awwwwwww, yeah! Current Mood: ecstatic Current Music: Jaffa - Elevator (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 3rd, 2004
2:58 pm	what's really important? let's get the small and trivial details of my life out of the way first: my house didn't close on time, surprise surprise - i've moved all of my stuff into storage and am couch-surfing until we find out what the #%^#$%^ is going on with the septic system. whatever. more importantly: this godforsaken country just chose the blue pill for another 4 years. i knew it would be an eerie remix of the 2000 election, only this time the starring role of Florida was played by Ohio. the general sense i've gotten is that the mid-coast folks who voted for bush did so primarily on 'moral values' which apparently includes preventing queer people from loving each other and women from having any control over their bodies, but does not extend to having a care about global imperialism, exposed fabrications, and the murder of poor people halfway across the globe. those aren't the morals this country is concerned with. this is where people are at in this country - they prefer to leave in fear and ignorance because it's a known quantity and easier to wrap their heads around than change. people want the illusion that the world is a static place. they want the illusion of safety based on making everyone look and think the same way they do. it's a sign of where we still are in the world - clinging to antiquated values and ideals instead of being interested in examining reality. the important question is - what is an activist to do in light of this despair? this is not a trivial question. it is a question most of us struggle with every day, in every decision we make, no matter how small. in fact, it is in the very small decisions that our activism becomes extremely important - how we treat our children, whether or not we smile at strangers on the street, whether or not we find the time to get involved in our local communities. THINK SMALL. that's my solution to all of this big political drama - it is only a distraction designed to prevent us from having the energy to get involved in doing the real work of building a better world. the big players in this drama have invested their lives and the lives of their descendants in a project of cashing in on the profits to be had from exploiting old world values. they hold the purse strings and have almost complete control over old media. let them have it. they can have the old world values. they can have fame and fortune and wads of cash generated from lies and murder. they can have deception and illusion and hollow goals. i will choose differently, and work quietly in my small way to live a life out of integrity, optimism and creativity. i will work to connect my friends and loved ones and help enable them to self-actualize, create and dream. i will work to focus on what's real, to listen deep inside to the voice of my original source, and tune out the dross and distraction of the world. Current Mood: uncomfortable Current Music: the beatles - i am the walrus (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 7th, 2004
4:45 pm	busy, as ever... Friday night went out to Woolseyville and made some unexpected, wondrous and unholy music with Marco and Henry. No two jams sounded anything alike - it was fantastic. Henry made me crack up in the car when i asked him what his main musical influences were, and he said the Stones, Iggy Pop and the third logical companion in the trio: Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians. And damn if it wasn't true. Saturday: Cornell women's rugby game and Apple Harvest Festival with Nell. Apple fest is always a great time in Ithaca, a nice ritual - i always run into old friends and i am reminded how wondrous and cyclical life is here. i'm really appreciating Ithaca lately - i am so happy about my new house, eager to settle in and stay awhile. When i was at Michfest this year i asked the universe to help me appreciate motherhood and caregiving more than i do/have in the past. What the universe gave back i was not expecting - 2 new partners, both with sons. Lester's son Sebastian just turned 9, and Nell's son Miles will be 2 in a few months. i'm surrounded by mother energy - i feel lucky, i feel loved, i feel nurtured, i feel that i am growing. word to your mom. Sunday: went out to the house to show Meryl, as she is my potential housemate. It's been a few years since i've cohabitated, but if there's anyone i feel i could live with, it's Meryl. i think it will be good on a friendship level as well as for all things Witching/All Night Records biz-ness. The Witching misses Jules, but we're also enjoying being a 4-piece these days. We've got a bunch of new songs ready to unleash at our next gig on Oct. 15 at Galapagos in Brooklyn, NY. Monday: met Nell's son Miles. i discovered that keeping up with a 2-year-old is no small task. On the flip side - i feel like i finally grok why i might want to have a kid someday. Kids are such amazing beings with some very rare energy. Wow. This week: busy busy busy work work work brainstorming the next big project. It's hard because i'm entrenched in current projects and past committments, but i am so itching to have those things off my plate to move on to the next. i think i'm about to head into a highly productive work phase that is going to be the culmination of the past 2 years of studying social software, and turning that into an actual project, a system, my next baby. Something i can be proud of. i feel like i'm pregnant with something, about to emerge... Current Mood: optimistic Current Music: zeppelin box set (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2004
5:51 am	where in the world is barb and other sordid tales so i'm about 30% of the way caught up on all the emails i received while away at michfest, and i seriously want to claim email bankruptcy. the inbox, once a vibrant and hopeful place, is now a murky mass of seething spam. but i've been using Gmail, Google's new email service, and it is a light when all others have gone out. i am determined to make email usable once again. so if any of you have wondered why i haven't responded to the emails you may have sent weeks ago... forgeddaboutit. call me if it's urgent. :) i started packing today. i feel rather proud at my foresight, considering most times i have moved previously have involved staying up all night the night before to both begin and finish the packing process. that ain't gonna cut it this time, as i've accumulated a ton of stuff in the past 3 years in this house. i'm looking forward to cleaning the closets and getting rid of a ton of shit. any of you ithaca locals, i'm selling very cheap or giving away a bunch of stuff: furniture (tons of chairs) and computer items/gadgets, mostly. if anyone's interest in getting a list to see if they see anything interesting, email me at my new spam-free gmail account: doctor.paradox at gmail.com. oh, i'm also selling a Fender Ultimate Chorus 130W amp for $350 obo. lessee what else... had a blast this past weekend, both lester and sarah b completely independently decided they were coming to visit me. we did our best to get outdoors and soak up as much of the last morsels of ithaca summer we could manage. i put up photos from the weekend, and there are other shots from the camphone on flickr, starting here. for the uninitiated, camphones are fantastic for self-portraits. it was great to spend time with L and S - it felt like a mini-Michigan reunion. it was a perfectly-timed little dose of that unmistakable michigan-flavored community. just what i needed. it feels like not too long now until i get to the place of feeling "caught up" from Michigan - at that place where i feel i've successfully incorporated all the new learnings and goals from this year's experience into my day-to-day life, and am moving full-steam ahead towards those new goals. one of the biggest learnings for me this year is how much i appreciate time more than money. i would rather minimize my expenses and maximize my free time than work 100 hour weeks so i can buy that new shiny piece of gear. i don't want more stuff in my life - i have my basic needs met and beyond. now i just want to have the time to be able to enjoy and learn deeply the pieces of 'stuff' i have already acquired, and to spend with the people i love. Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: DJ cheb i sabbah - shri durga (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, September 9th, 2004
2:30 pm	money, finances, money, more money so maybe this should have been more obvious to me, but goddamn it if buying a house ain't stressful. there's so much uncertainty, many days of hurrying up and waiting, and a need to be constantly evaluating what to do if x, y or z falls through. and so many turning points where something can go wrong. phew. i have been stressed lately, and working a ton. there's a lot of changes i'm making in my business, with the goal of diversifying my sources of income a bit, as well as retooling the services i really want to be providing to people. i want to focus more on helping out the people who are in the same boat as i am - small business folks who need help with the technological aspect of their business but are in no position to hire an IT person. there are so many folks i know in exactly this situation, and it is also precisely where my best skills are - building things that work on a scale that actually fits into people's budgets. so much enhanced stress about money has led me to this place of wanting to figure out how i can really be more helpful to others in similar situations. so... here goes the shameless plug... if you know any small business peeps that need computer and/or web help, please send them my way! i'm in the middle of redesigning my website, as i made the realization that being busy with client work tends to leave my own business's site neglected. and that ain't right. so there will be a whole new me emerging over at livemind.net... haven't posted here or anywhere in what feels like a long time, probably like a week, lol. there's too much to really catch up on so i'll just mention a few things - had a great birthday yesterday thanks to fabulous friends who called and wrote and forced me to stop working and drink some beer and have good conversation. yay for people! had a really awesome gig with the witching this past weekend at musefest. great turnout and the crowd was pumped and it felt good to play after having been away for a month. i have been hanging out a ton on flickr because it is so damn cool. plus it's really motivating that people leave such great comments on my photos, and it keeps me inspired to pursue this new interest in photography. my photostream has almost 10,000 hits on it in less than 2 months, which is mind-boggling. not even the website i have been running for 2 years gets that many hits. crazy. speaking of dykes do digital, one other cool thing i will mention is that i got interviewed by a reporter from The Advocate for a story on gay and lesbian bloggers. The article is supposed to run in the Oct. 22 issue but i'm not sure if it's the print or the online version. i will have to remember to check... it would be mad cool to be quoted and to reprazent for da queers. word. aiiiight homies, peace out til we connect once again... Current Mood: busy Current Music: squarepusher - tetra-sync (13 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, August 30th, 2004
1:33 pm	house photos firstly, imma gonna test if this here livejournal does HTML: this is a test. this is only a test. if this had been a real list, we would have informed you of what to do in an emergency. . warning: real list item: photos of my about-to-be new house my other thought right now is that i'm using the XJournal client for Mac OS X to update this livejournal. there are a few other OS X clients out there - if anyone wants to recommend a better one, please go for it. i don't have time to test them all out... while i'm at it, let's test some photo posting, shall we? these are some cool overhead lamps in the kitchen of the new house: Current Mood: geeky Current Music: ember swift - pek (11 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, August 29th, 2004
7:37 pm	open skies it is raining most fantastically here out at my little house in the country. i hope it's not raining on the protesters at the rnc... lester from nyc earlier reported a huge turnout at today's parade, yeee haw!! i wonder how ace and tali are doing, trying not to get arrested... Current Mood: peaceful Current Music: black sabbath - solitude (Comment on this)
Friday, August 27th, 2004
1:45 pm	about to be a homo-owner i finally found out this morning after biting my nails for 3 days that my purchase offer has been accepted. i'm gonna be a homo-owner! yee hawwww!! i didn't start this journal until after the first part of this dramatic tale, so to make a really long story short, i put an offer in on this house at the end of July before i left for michigan and it got beat out by a competing offer. i headed to michfest resigned to renting for another year. the couple who put in the other offer backed out after the structural inspection because the furnace is not hooked up and they didn't want to deal with the hassle. bring it on, baby - i'm-a-gonna deal with it! the current owners, who i found out last week are a gay couple - good karma or what?! - are willing to hook up the furnace to 1 of the 3 ducts on the first floor. it will be up to me to hook up the remaining 2 if i need it, and to install a cold air return from the first floor if i need it (right now the only cold air return is hooked up through the basement). my real estate agent sez either of these things is probably not terribly expensive, and that hooking up the furnace to the first floor should satisfy the structural inspector. so... cross yer fingers for this potential queer home owner, wooooord! i'll post photos i took at the house when i first looked at it, right soon. Current Mood: awake Current Music: Rock N' Roll - antigone rising live cover (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, August 26th, 2004
12:25 am	al green's greatest hits i am fortunate to have caught up with the queen herself for a bit of smoke and a bite of dinner. i would like to note that elizabeth feels that hildegard von bingen and van halen are the major 2 creative influences in her life at this time. seems like a most righteous duo to me. (Comment on this)
Monday, August 23rd, 2004
2:59 pm	back from michfest so i'm back from my 3 weeks in the woods with lots of naked lesbians. and wondering why i bothered to return??! sigh. the start of my photo collection can be found on flickr, and there will be more posted to my personal site once i've slogged through editing the 700+ photos i took on digicam and camphone... will post more links soon... (4 Comments |Comment on this)