Among other things...

Well, I haven't posted in quite a while.  I've been working on lots of projects and have been too tired to sit down and put many thoughts together.  One interesting, and sad, thing that has happened lately is that Borders Books is going out of business.  It's sad because I loved that place and many people will probably loose their jobs.  It's interesting because this is another example of how one man's advance in technology is another man's wrecking ball.

Anyhoo, I recently purchased some discounted books from my favorite, soon to be deceased, book vendor.  Among them were a copy of the Tao and the Sefer Yetzirah.  As I read them I was struck by how there seemed to be parallel themes in the works and the simple beauty and elegance of the thoughts they contained.  The older I get the more impressed I become by how beautiful and graceful simple things, like ideas and truths, actually are.  The world was simple once (Or maybe it wasn't and I just like to think it was.)  Often times I believe that our technology is helping to advance not our culture but our spiritual death as well as the death of our world.  Sounds real cynical like, huh?  It is a bit.  Fortunately/unfortunately, there's most likely a little bit of truth in everything.

Did you ever watch the movie Gladiator?  There's a seen where Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) says to  Maximus (Russell Crowe) "Tell me again, Maximus, why are we here?" and Maximus responds "For the glory of the Empire, sire."  For the glory of the empire.  What a pity.

Small Matters

Small is the path to greatness

Little are the deeds that kindle true affection and loyalty

A true master sets their mind not to being masterful

But by serving each humble thing in turn, becomes master of each

That the end of humility may become glory

Can zombies bite through steel?

One of my wierdo hobbies is making armor. (See! I'm actually preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse!) Here's some pictures of what I've been working on so far this year.

Finger Gauntlets made from an old computer case.

Annealing an elbow piece with propane powered Venturi burner.

Completed arm harness.

Starting to come together.

Eaten by zombies is good!

I've wanted an outlet for the things that go “bump” in my head for quite some time now. I think that's part of the reason I decided to start doing the blog thing or, as I like to call it “The Bloggity dance.” The other reason is, I've realized, through my extensive research of watching people at the mall, that most people just want to be entertained. I've also come to realize that I'm a people and thus also want to be entertained. Since there are only so many hours in the day, after work, in which to produce armor and sundry other strange handicrafts, I decided to fill up the left over bits with the randomness from the ether where my brain should be and display it here for amusement purposes. This being the case, there will probably be a backwash of things that I've already written and not deigned to throw at the interweb until now. (If you've made it this far, God love you.)

I think the other reason is that I need some folks to bounce ideas at so that when they come back, flaming and wrinkled, I will truly know them for the wretched little beady eyed children of my soul that they are. I've titled my bouncing board “Praying for the Zombie Apocalypse” because it is in just such a situation that the mind must become rampantly free in order to survive the flesh eating mobs that roam about, indiscriminately devouring humanity. (Or maybe I just thought it sounded cool. Yeah, that's probably it.)

Therefore, my noble peers, let us embark on this strange journey together. Be my bewildered companion and perhaps we will find something that was worth the price of admission. Probably not though. Hopefully we can at least find the bathroom.