Philsr2's Blog

Favorite poem, Nevermore.

philsr2 — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 19:07:58 +0000

The Raven is my favorite poem. Why? It's long, it rhymes, it's poetic.

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;

And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,

And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted – nevermore!

The Raven is the ultimate poem of loss and remembrance. His soul, never lifted from the gloom of the shadow on the floor, always grieving, always remembering, never forgetting who or what he has lost and yet loves.

Same kids, different generation…

philsr2 — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:42:21 +0000

The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.

Attributed to Socrates by Plato. Strange, as no written work by Socrates actually has survived to the present…

Sun Up, Sun Down

philsr2 — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 18:26:00 +0000

Southern Arizona Sunset with Palms

I would worry if I felt that sunrises and sunsets were the same. My sanity might be slipping, my feel for light and dark fading from my grasp. Am I losing my vision, that necessary sense for a programmer!

Sunrises always meant a little bit more warmth, especially as a kid, waiting in the cold in the winter in Montana for the bus to arrive to take us the 13+ miles to school. On days when the temperature was as low as -10F, that extra warmth was a godsend. On days that were much colder than that, we stayed home, either a snow day or mom called us in sick day. Neither happened very often. On those icy cold days, watching the sky slowly brighten, pinks and purples showing up over the blue tinted snow covered terrain, every breath burning cold, it was worth standing there trying to avoid the brisk wind that always seemed to be blowing in Montana to get a glimpse of that sunset.

Sunsets I tend to associate more with summertime, thunderstorms and clouds, hot muggy days with the sky fading into brilliant red, yellow, and orange hues. Days off from school, no cares for as long as summer lasted, which it never did.

My grandparents had a house in Golden Valley west of Kingman Arizona with a beautiful view of the sunsets. The sunsets in Arizona are gorgeous, but I do miss my Montana sunsets.

Floating in the Deep End

philsr2 — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 20:40:52 +0000

There's a body in the deep end of the pool. The usually crystal blue water is clouded with crimson. The victim has in her soggy jeans pocket a key. What does the old iron key unlock? Why was the daughter of a merchant ship captain found dead in the pool of a very expensive Beverly Hills mansion?

On Same-Sex Marriage

philsr2 — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 14:37:06 +0000

Yes, my gay friends deserve the same chance to end up miserable and tired of it just like me =) But they deserve to have their committed loving relationship share the same legal and social status as everyone else, with the same drawbacks. Can you say term marriage? One year for a start would be ideal I think…

The Changing of Seasons

philsr2 — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 14:25:59 +0000

I grew up in Montana. We had very definite seasons, there was snowy, there was muddy, there was hot and dusty and there was warm but getting chilly at night.

Here in Arizona it's quite a bit different. I've become so acclimatized that winter here actually feels cold to me (my brother and I once went for a walk with no shoes on at all in January in Montana, no coats, just socks on our feet for several hundred yards down the road) When it drops into the 60's here now i get a jacket and gloves and a knit hat. Camping in the fall, I wear many layers to survive the bitter cold (30 some degrees, warmer than my winter walk on the snow packed road that day with my brother, think that day it was 28 – warm for Montana winters)

Arizona goes from chilly winters (relative to our summers) to blazing hot summers in a matter of weeks. We get those weeks where the nights are mild and we have our windows open and then boom, AC on 24/7 again until October or November and boom, it's cold again. It is rarely green here unless we really get some good spring rains, so there's little change in the foliage, just an increased hum from all the neighbors' AC units.

Public Transportation

philsr2 — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 14:25:55 +0000

I think it might be a little silly to have public transportation just for my neighborhood. Maybe if they connected our neighborhood to the rest of Peoria it would be useful, but then we have the Valley Metro system for that…

Three Political Issues I Feel Strongly About

philsr2 — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:01:32 +0000

There are three political issues I feel very strongly about.

1) This insane idea that it is a good practice to let politicians breed. What?! Do we want more of the infernal little barstids running around? Are we mad!!?

2) No leash law for politicians. Again, are we mad?? These creatures should be kept safely chained to a wall at all times, preferrably with several keepers to apply a bullwhip as needed to keep them in line.

3) Regular meals for politicians. This practice , I find, leads to healthy politicians able to go running around, causing havoc and chaos everywhere their malevolent little bodies manage to slither. Starve the evil things and they won't have quite the energy to destroy our world, trust me.

10 Things I'm Certain Of

philsr2 — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:40:58 +0000

1. Life is short.

2. It is better to be helpful than to be a hindrance.

3. Pain sucks but it can and may get better.

4. Things happen for a reason.

5. Love makes life worthwhile.

6. Only the really famous are remembered and not for what may have really mattered to them.

7. Time seemed to pass very slowly when I was a kid, but now, every week goes by as fast as an hour of my childhood did.

8. Our sun is yellow now, but it will turn red before it expands and incinerates the planet.

9. The Milky Way will collide/merge with Andromeda before that happens.

10. We are small beings on a small planet orbiting a small star in a not so small galaxy. One out of four ain't bad.

What I'll Remember Most About 2011

philsr2 — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:12:53 +0000

I have a couple of really big memories about 2011. First, just before my birthday near the end of the year, I met my grandson for the very first time. I made him a mask, pictures of it are up on g+/fb. His bday is two days after mine. I was so happy that his daddy, my youngest son, made it back safe and sound from Afghanistan. He looks really happy wearing Elijah's mask eh =)

I lost a total of 45 pounds in 2011 after being diagnosed with type II diabetes in February. I also changed doctors (found one closer who has more than 1 patient at a time in his waiting room – ok actually, my new doctor's waiting room gets close to capacity every time i'm there).

I joined Google Plus in 2011, had over 1500 people circle me before the end of the year. Never did have that many on twitter even after 3-4 years there…

We had a really good Thanksgiving at sis's house. Abby is turning into quite the photo-bug as well. Never did figure out how to get Juli's camera to save pics to the removable card (it has build in memory to use besides a card?? when did that start?) Need to get model/make to research next time i'm over there.

2011 Was the year I started doing a lot more leather working. 7 masks made, 5 given as gifts, one still needs to be finished. Made GG a notebook folio thing with a xmas tree inside. =) Should have taken photo — doh! Jim got sicker, although the chemo seemed to prolong his life, the quality by all reports did diminish =( I miss him and GG.