Over the last few weeks, I've been re-reading the Ender saga by Orson Scott Card. I personally feel that Ender's Game is one of the most important books ever written. I feel that everyone should read it at least once, and anyone with a position of authority and responsibility should read it several times. Even after reading all seven of the books for at least the second time each, I find myself wishing there was more. I want to know the whole life story of nearly every character. It's like meeting someone that your best friend admires... you want to know as much as possible about them. You feel like because they are part of the life of someone who is part of your life, they should be a part of yours too.
Every time I read these books, I have to examine my life and wonder how what I do compares. Not in an envious or worshipful way. The best thing about the characters in Card's books are the fact that there are no "heroes" or "villians." His characters are regular people in their passions and the fact that they have to make choices in thier lives... and that sometimes the choices are wrong... or are right and hurt a lot. The people in the books are by turns, selfish, sacrificing, honorable, cowardly, loving, mean, and so many other things that make you feel like they are real people you might now. If you've never read Ender's Game, go get a copy... now.

TBWITWW and I went to see The Matrix: Revolutions last night. Our opinion... see it in a second run or discount theater maybe a matinee. Visually it's worth seeing on a big screen, but the story is so-so at best. It's too slow paced (with a few scenes that are exceptions) to be an "action movie" but the philosophy aspects of it are about as deep as a Wal-Mart kiddie pool. There's not subtlety in this one, and they used up all their really nifty effects in the first movie. Even the climactic fight scene between Neo and Smith is kind of disappointing. If you've seen the other two, you'll go see this one, but try to see it at a cheaper price.
On the other hand, it was nice to spend an evening out with my wife. We don't get to do that enough. We like to rate the previews too... so Troy and (of course) LOTR look good, everything else looked bad. So, there you go.

Today is my mom's birthday. She is a truly remarkable woman. She's been through a lot, some good, some bad, and she's been amazing throughout. I really can't say anything that would accurately express how lucky I am to have been raised by this woman. (She did have some help, but for at least today, Dad gets the blame for all the bad habits.) My mother taught me resilience, strenghth of spirit, compassion, and that waiting tables is as important of a job as programming computers. I've done much in my life and much of it would not have happened without her strength.
Happy Birthday Mom!

So somehow I discovered WWDN. Being a bit of a Star Trek dork myself (which I suppose falls somewhere between Trekkie and Trekker) I expected, as I'm sure most people who find it do, either something catering to the die-hard Trekkers about how Wesley Crusher got shafted and how he should have been on the show more and blah blah blah, or else the opposite, a "Star Trek suck, everyone who watches it sucks, the people who cut me suc", etc. etc. sort of thing. Turns out to be neither... nor anything close. Very little discussion about Star Trek at all in fact. Just the ramblings of a guy who used to work in Hollywood, and would like to again, but if he doesn't that's okay too. Turns out that Wil Wheaton doesn't need to worry about if he'll ever work in Hollywood again. He still acts, mostly with improv groups and so he's happy with that. Still goes to auditions, but they're not that important to him. Why?
Because he's got a wife he truly loves and who seems to love him right back. He's got 2 kids who look to him as a Father even though he's not the one who supplied the sperm. He's got dogs who he treats as family (I firmly believe that a person who can't treat animals right has no business being part of the human race) and he's got things he wants to do with his life that he's doing. Not a lot more that you could ask from life as a whole. But the best part is, he doesn't talk about how great his life is (well not too much) he just writes what his life is and you can tell that it's mostly good. He doesn't hide the fact that there's stuff that hurts, but he also shows that life is good on the whole.
So anyway... I got hooked. I check the page every day. Got my wife hooked too. We've come to the conclusion that if we had the chance, we'd hang out with the Wheaton family. I bet they'd be fun to play Cranium with. It also doesn't hurt that he's a Cubs fan. He wrote the most well thought out commentary on the "Foul Ball Incident" in the playoffs that I've come across.
So when it was announced that Wil Wheaton had a book out, my wife and I decided to buy it. Now, we're pretty much broke, so we hemmed and hawed over it. Then one day my wife calls from work and says "WWDN says the book is sold out!" Well... Crap. A bit later she calls and says "They still have it at Powell's Books, and I can use my Amazon.com gift certificate." So Dancing Barefoot was ordered.
Flash Forward... We get the book and, of course, I'm not allowed to read it. My wife's logic is that it was her gift certificate, so she gets first dibs. Which I suppose is valid. So I had to wait a few days to read the book. Today I read it. Bet you didn't expect this to be a book review.
Dancing Barefoot is a great book. I read the whole thing in about an hour and enjoyed it quite a bit. There are 5 stories and the first four are short, and simple. They make their point and are done. The style is simple and honest and it's easy to read, and you can see yourself in similar situations very easily. I found myself wishing that I could write my life as well as Wil Wheaton can. Then maybe someone would read this, because the stuff I do, normal stuff, would seem as interesting as normal stuff does when he writes it.
The last story is great and puts a real perspective on why Wil Wheaton doesn't need to worry about being among the least respected characters on a great show, or the fact that William Shatner treated him like crap. It's worth reading.
I love finding new stuff to read.

It is snowing. Only a little bit, and none of it is sticking, but still it's snowing. Bleahg.

So, I've got my gallery up and running. View it here. It's swell. Feel free to comment and such.

Note: Gallery link changed 10-16-05

Life goes on. For most of us. It may go on a little differently than before, but it does go on. The news coverage is no longer overwhelming, the celebrity concerts have begun. Flags have returned to full staff. The show is up. I'm getting ready to move. And all in all, life goes on. And yet...
I look at the planes in the sky a little more closely. I've always loved airplanes, and in a week and a half I'll be getting in one again to go visit the most beautiful woman in the world. (who, strange as it may seem, loves me too) I also look up a bit more when I go to work. The John Hancock building is right there and I can't help but wonder if its design would hold up any better. I look at the flags in people's windows and wonder how long they'll stay. Will I put mine back up in my new apartment? And I sit and watch the news and wonder, when the bombs start falling... will we be more careful about who they fall on then the people we're trying to get were? What makes America better than Afghanistan? Were the people who participated in the Boston Tea Party terrorists? When our own states wanted to split from our government, we went to war to stop them, but we cheered and helped when the states of the USSR did the same thing. Yeah, you say, but the reasons were different. But who are we to decide what's a better reason.
I've always believed that you cannot truly understand what you believe until you've questioned it and looked at it as if the belief is false. That is the only way you can be sure that what you believe, for you, must be true.
So, by that token, I ask these questions. And then I have to answer them as such. The world changes over time, and we refine what our criteria for supporting a movement is. But, it's always freedom. If people are trying to be more free, then we support them. If they are fighting to restrict freedom, we oppose them. And yes... what looks like freedom in one situation can look like repression in another, so sometimes we make the wrong choice. But we keep trying. And that, quite simply, is what we must do now. Keep trying... help people be free. Free from oppression, free from fear, free from danger, free to choose who leads them, free to choose what they believe, and free to let the person who believes differently from them have the same freedoms. So... keep trying.