Sunday Evening

After a few sunny, restful and productive days, the weekend has sauntered into Sunday evening. It's the blues, with a steady baseline. Last weekend I built a raised bed for the garden and yesterday I got it in place in the warm spot right next to the kitchen door. I poured over 10 cubic feet of potting soil and 6 cubic feet of a compost like soil amender into the frame, and it still is not quite full enough.

Other projects in the garden has involved clearing out the scarecrow anti-cat sprinkler, that happened to be full of earwigs. Probably the most disgustingest critter on earth. It would not be unlikely that this hell spawn showed up after the Fall of Man, with it's claw and general creepy crawliness. Enough said about that.

I have decided to start studying towards getting Java Certified. It will probably take about 6 months of studying, but even so I'm almost looking forward to it. There's something to say about learning to to a thing well, be it a craft or the art of programming. One thing that has struck me during this year is that development/programming can be a creative task of finding patterns and weaving logic and math into a comprehensive tapestry.

That's all for now. Time to go.

Time To Cross The Pond

"Glorious, stirring sight! The poetry of motion! The real way to travel! The only way to travel! Here today--in next week tomorrow! Villages skipped, towns and cities jumped--always somebody else's horizon! O bliss! O poop-poop! O my! O my!"

- Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

Back in Sweden

We're here and the trip went well except that all our luggage got lost. But after a day of not knowing, the bags have reemerged from the airline maze and will arrive in Linköping tomorrow, Sunday. This is probably about time since a t-shirt can only be worn for a certain amount of time before it gets a bit smelly.

Other than the luggage issue it is great to be back!

Chistmas in Sweden

So for everyone that does not know this already. Autumn and I are going to spend Christmas and New Years in Sweden. I'm looking forward to seeing all of my friends and family in Linköping during the holidays. Most presents are bought, we have bags and we are ready to go. It's still hard to quite understand that it is Christmas soon with the sunshine on our lawn just outside our living room window here in California. But I guess I could get used to it. But now onto a hopefully white Christmas in the North.

Saturday Afternoon

There have been some very interesting times lately. There is a lot to say about the election and Obama's win. But today is not the day since we're getting ready to have some people over for dinner. So I have to go.

Things Appreciated

The sound of hummingbirds right outside our kitchen window.

SNL and 30 Rock

The Brattle Book Shop in Boston.

Biden Convinces

In tonight's VP debate Joe Biden convinced on the two issues of this election: the economy and the war. Time and time again the Obama / Biden ticket has to denounce the barrage of misinformation, half-truths and out right lies. How they manage to do it with such calm is a mystery. This campaign has certainly seen it's dirtier sides, and it would be easy to generalize and blame both sides. But the truth of the matter is that the McCain campaign has run a series of, to be frank, rather pathetic attempt at portraying Obama as, a naive liberal...also known as socialist. Over and over again the Macain campaign keep regurgitating that "Obama want's to raise taxes". Ohh that's baaaaad. But that's beside the point, Obama will not raise taxes on 95 % of the population. Something that he and Biden keep having to repeat over and over and over again. My question is, why does the McCain campaign feel that they constantly have to...well let's face it...lie. Why can't there be an honest debate about what our values are? Because they could never win such a fight? One aspect of politics can be seen in the tension between personal responsibility and systemic issues. Neither one of these will paint the full picture, neither will a watered downed compromise; but what is needed is a picture that shows each one of us responsible for our own life and our own decisions BUT that also shows that we are not all dealt good hands and that there needs to be a system that creates a framework of fairness and yes, this might even take the shape of redistribution of wealth. Because what is becoming increasingly clear to me is that in order for you to have a good life you will have to make sure that your neighbours, the people in your town and in your country also enjoys a decent level of living. Because if they do not, that will in the end come back and bite you. To be your brother's keeper will mean that you are being your own keeper. As in "give and you will receive".

TV On The Radio - Dear Science

Some good listening.

Early Weekend

After a month of very long hours I decided to have an early weekend. I took tomorrow off and since Monday is Labor Day, this will be a four day weekend.

Today Obama held his acceptance speech for the Democratic Presidential Nominee. It can be viewed here under Video. It's an hour or so long speech in front of about 84000 people. And I have to say that it was pretty impressive. It's hard not to feel like this is a breath of fresh air. What's not hard is to be cynical, what's even less hard is to use cynicism as an excuse to not do anything. So far Obama has managed to convince, and yes maybe there will be change, even change for the better.

That is, if not too many listen to these people.