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February 28, 2006
Simple Pleasures
The wonder of God's creation
Surrounds us every day
But seldom do we enjoy it
As we hurry on our way
Puffy white clouds
In a blue summer sky
A tiny little ant
That's stronger than you or I
A herd of grazing cows
In a field of emerald green
There is so much beauty
Just waiting to be seen
The laughter of a child
The singing of a bird
There is so much joy
Just waiting to be heard
The feel of a breeze
On a hot summer's day
The smell from a field
Of freshly mown hay
The taste of a peach
Picked ripe from the tree
All these things are out there
And all of them are free
The Lord in all his glory
Provides so much good
For us to enjoy if only we would
--- Dolly Shubert, June 1999
A Mexican Sunrise: Chapter 1: A Meeting
As he stared into the campfire, his mind wandered. How many others have sat
at this spot? How many others have sat here, looking up at the sky, losing
count of the stars? How many stories have been told here? Who was the first
to sit at this spot? Who will be the last? He was certain that in the past,
others had built campfires here. He had no evidence to justify his
thoughts, just a vague feeling. But it was a feeling that gave him a sense
of camaraderie, something he didn't have in reality. These were also the
sort of thoughts he kept to himself and anyone who knew him would be
surprised to find a man with such a rough exterior and few words capable of
these types of sentimental thoughts.
He looked up from the fire and out over the mountains on the western
horizon. It was a clear night with not a wisp of cloud in the sky. The new
moon, appearing to be covered by a black veil, was beginning to settle
behind the mountains. He scanned the landscape unconsciously stroking his
reddish-blonde beard, a full beard covering sun-worn skin. Although he was
only thirty-three, he had deep lines firmly entrenched across the leathery
skin of his forehead. The darkness of his skin was sharply contrasted by
the azure blue of his eyes. As he scanned the horizon, pondering where he
stood in the long line of people that had seen and felt the things he was
seeing and feeling, his concentration was broken by a second man who came
into view.
"Are you hungry?" the stranger asked.
"What? Who are you? What business is it of yours?" he replied, attempting
to discretely reach for his hunting rifle. He couldn't clearly see if the
stranger had a weapon, and if so, if that weapon was pointed at him.
"Well, I have some food that needs cooking, and you seem to have a fire
going. I thought we might be able to work out some arrangement. And don't
bother reaching for your gun. I'm not going to hurt you. Besides, if I
wanted to, I would have done so already."
He thought the whole circumstance strange, but he hadn't had a good warm
meal for almost a month. The prospect of having a one now was very
tempting. With a bit of caution, he decided to see what the stranger had to
offer.
"Oh, well. . . heh heh, I guess you're right. So, uh, what kind of food do
you have?"
"How about some elk meat?"
"Why are you offering to share it? Can't you build your own fire?" He felt
he had to question the motives of this stranger.
"I could, but that means I have to find a good place to camp, find
firewood, and work at getting a fire going. It's been a long day and I'm
tired. So I was thinking why should I do all that when you already have
good spot with a fire?"
The stranger's answer wasn't quite satisfactory. He's going to share his
food with me because he's lazy? But, it is true he could have already hurt
me if he wanted to. Plus how can I turn down an offer of meat for dinner?
With that, he decided to accept the stranger's offer and even make an offer
himself.
"I guess I see your point. Well, let's have dinner then. I have some beer
I can share"
The stranger pulled a slab of elk and a large knife from his pack and cut
the meat into small cubes, placing them in a pan between them. They cook
the meat on the end of wooden sticks held over the fire. For a good while,
they quietly sit eating and drinking. Although he was normally a man of few
words, the silence between himself and this stranger seemed deafening. He
had to say something. After all, most people don't share their food with
strangers they meet by chance at night. He decided to speak.
"What's your name?"
"Charlie."
Again, there was silence. He thought the stranger might reciprocate
and ask his name, but he seemed content not to know. Finding that
unacceptable, he volunteered his name.
"I'm Isaac."
There was a short pause that seemed an eternity.
"Howdy, Isaac."
Isaac thought that that was at least a start. He still thought it
strange that Charlie would be so friendly in offering his hunting spoils to
a stranger but then be so untalkative afterwards. As he was trying to come
to terms with this, Charlie spoke.
"So, what brings you out on such a night?"
"Oh, I've been hunting all day."
"Really, hunting what?"
"Just about anything I might find. Bison, elk, quail, squirrel.
Haven't had much luck. Seems like you did, though."
"Yeah, I've also been out hunting. I got this elk awhile back. I
haven't had too much luck recently."
"Really? If I hadn't had much luck, I don't think I'd be sharing it
with strangers just because I was tired. You don't know when you might run
out. Then where would you be?"
"Hungry, I suppose. But, given that we're two hunters down on our
luck, perhaps we should both consider a change of occupation. I've been
thinking it over for a while now."
"Is that so? I don't know. Hunting has been pretty good to me up to
this point."
"You may be right, but I'm tired of just barely eking out a
living."
"You want to be rich?"
"No, I just don't want to have to worry about money."
"I don't know if that's ever possible. If you don't have money,
then you have to worry about how to get it. If you do have it, then you
have to worry about other people that want to take it from you."
Charlie chuckled. "You're definitely right about the second part."
His voice trailing as though some memory was causing his mind to wander.
Isaac saw this and decided to press the issue. "What? What do you mean?"
"Oh, nothing. Where are you from?"
Since it was obvious Charlie wasn't going to be forthcoming and
that this enigmatic figure could not be read from his words, Isaac gave up
trying to find out where Charlie's mind had just gone.
"I'm originally from Tombstone, Arizona, but I moved to Deming when
they were building the railroad. Once that was finished I was out of a job.
But, I still live there. Every now and then I find work when somebody wants
to build something, like a store or church. Mostly I spend my time
hunting."
After Isaac's answer, there was again a long silence between the
men. Isaac had hoped that Charlie would tell a little about himself, but
that didn't seem likely. Charlie finally broke the silence again.
"Are you married?"
"No, not yet. Not sure if that will ever happen. Kind of hard to
convince a lady to marry you when you hardly have enough food to feed
yourself and money to put clothes on your back."
"Ha ha. I suppose that would be difficult. I was married once."
Charlie seemed to go off in thought again. "I'm not sure where she his now.
. ." his voice trailed.
"What happened?"
"It's a long story. Let's just say that I married a girl from a
town in Mexico and I haven't seen nor heard from her in nearly eight
years."
"Why not?"
"I haven't been home."
"What? Why the hell haven't you gone home to see your wife in eight
years?"
"I said nearly eight years."
"Okay, why the hell haven't you been home in nearly eight years?"
"I haven't been able to."
"Why not? Where is your home?"
Charlie seemed to become excited. "I lived in a town far from
here." Charlie hurriedly pulled out a notepad and a pencil, flipped through
several pages of notes before finding a blank page, and began drawing a
map.
"We're about three miles south of Deming, right?"
Isaac nodded. He was also puzzled at the excitement Charlie was displaying
at explaining where his home was.
"Okay, then that places us here." Charlie drew a circle on the pad to
represent Deming, then an X to mark their current location. "If you walk
south for almost a hundred miles, you'll find a road and signs pointing you
to a town called Guadalupe Victoria." Charlie drew a dashed line down the
page, then a circle at the end for Guadalupe Victoria. "At the south end of
town is a sign that points toward Nogales. It's about eighty miles
southwest of Guadalupe Victoria." Again Charlie drew a circle for Nogales
and a dashed line connecting it to Guadalupe Victoria. "Before you get to
Nogales, though, you will come to a village called Rancho El Palmar."
Charlie marked an X on the map about three quarters of the way between
Guadalupe Victoria and Nogales. "If you then go south about ten miles,
you'll come to another village called Del Rio." Charlie drew the final
circle on the map. "It's ironic that they call it Del Rio, as the closest
trickle of water that can even be called a stream is near Rancho El Palmar."
"That's strange. Any stories about why it's called that?"
"There's quite a few. I just think somebody had a sick sense of
humor."
"Oh. I see."
"I think I'm going to call it a night. I thank you for sharing your
fire and beer with me."
"No, I should thank you. I hadn't had any meat for almost a month."
"Good night."
"Good night."
Before he fell asleep, Isaac noticed that Charlie
sat staring at the map he had drawn
for almost an hour before finally closing the notepad and going to sleep.
February 27, 2006
Immortal toenails. . .
So, as I was trimming my toenails today, I got to thinking about an old myth: do toenails, fingernails, and hair continue to grow after you've given up the ghost? Is the
key to immortality to become a toenail? Now, the simple fact that we don't see fingernails and toenails growing out of cemetaries like a sea of untamed
vines should be a clue that it can't possibly be true. How long do they keep growing? I did a bit of research just to provide you, my loyal reader(s?)
with the straight dope: toenails, fingernails, and hair do not continue growing after death. The post mortem "growth" is actually due to the dehydration
of the skin around the nails and hairs. The shrinkage causes more of the nails and hair to be exposed.
February 24, 2006
The Love Calculator
Here's a nifty little web calculator that might entertain you for a little bit.
Love Calculator
February 23, 2006
February 22, 2006
Shame on you!
To the person at the Cognitive Science talk today at Northwestern University
who
spilled soda all over my girlfriend's books, then said nothing to her,
shame on you! You should have said something to her so that she could have
moved her books and started to dry them sooner. Shame on you!
February 21, 2006
A Prayer for Today
Be with us O'Lord
As we go through each day
Guide and protect us
Each step of the way
Grant us the strength
To do all we can do
And the wisdom to know
When to turn it back to you
Keep us ever mindful Lord
Of what we do and say
We never know who's watching
that we might lead astray
Though the road is not always easy
The path not always clear
Of one thing we can be certain
You are always near
When all the world seems dark
And nothing turns out right
If we put our trust in You
We can always find the light
--- Dolly Shubert, August 2003
The Port "controversy"
I don't understand the uproar over a deal that transfers management of
operations in six U.S. ports from a company based in one foreign country to
another. The transfer is between a United Kingdom company to a United
Arab Emirates company, so of course everybody starts postulating about
potential terrorism and al Quaida links. Is this fair? No. First of all,
the company, Dubai Ports World, will not gain control over entire US ports.
Also, security is the responsiblity of the US Coast Guard and Homeland
Security. DPW will only operate a portion of each port, much like airlines
operate in airport terminals. Secondly, why should we be concerned? Just
because it is an Arab company? This company has economic interests to worry
about, and so certainly would do everything it can to prevent an attack.
How do we know other companies are doing all that they can to prevent
terrorist infiltration? Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Hillary
Rodham Clinton (D-NY) have announced plans to introduce legislation banning
companines owned by foreign companies from controlling operations is US
ports. An absolutely ridiculous knee-jerk reaction. If the transfer was to
another European country, such as France or Italy, would there be such
outrage? Would former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, Senators
Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Evan Bayh (D-IN), Charles Schumer (D-NY) be voicing
such opposition to the transfer? Where was this concern before news of the
transfer came to light? After all, the management was previously held by a
foreign company.
February 18, 2006
February 17, 2006
Belated Valentine's Day. . .
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This year, Valentine's day fell on a Tuesday, a most inconvenient time for those of us with significant others in another zip code. I wanted to shower my love with lots of attention and a nice
dinner on that day, but could not. So, the issue became whether or not we should celebrate before or after the actual day. Well, as usual my plans fell through due to things I failed to
anticipate (a store only having 10% of it's online catalog in the brick and mortar building?!), so it has become a belated celebration. The gift I ordered should be arriving shortly, after
which I will be heading out of town. I want to take her to a
new restaurant we recently discovered.
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Summer dreamin'...
A recent warm spell has everyone dreaming of summer. And of course, playing golf. By the way, I
birdied that hole the last time I played.
Mustard Chicken Recipe . . .
Last year one of my co-workers and good friends was having a rough time in
his marriage. I won't go into the details as that issue remains unresolved,
but he was staying at my place at the time. So, on several occasions we
prepared and ate dinner together. He proposed the idea of making Mustard
Chicken, a dish his mom often made that he really liked. He wasn't sure the
exact recipe, so we sort of made one up. Upon that first attempt, he dumped
approximately half of the pepper box into the mustard, making for a quite
spicy experience. The recipe below is my modified version with
educated guesses as to the quanties, but is
girlfriend approved!
Ingredients
Chicken thighs/breasts, one pound
Mustard, 3/4 cup (either store bought (like French's), or homemade)
Black pepper, 1.5 tablespoons
Garlic powder, 1 teaspoon
Cut the chicken into bite size bits. Mix the mustard, black papper, and
garlic in a bowl. Add the chicken and stir well, poking the chicken with a
fork to infuse the mustard into it. Allow to marinate for a few minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil to medium heat in a pan. Add the
chicken and cook with lots of stirring until done (about 5-10 minutes). For
a complete meal, serve with rice and vegetable vinaigrette. Enjoy!
February 16, 2006
1001 Nights in the Iraqi Army
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I first learned of this book by listening to "This American
Life" on NPR. The author read part of the book on the
program, and it was very interesting and captivating. It tells of his adventures as a high
school senior visiting his father in Iraq, only to be drafted into the Iraqi army before he can
return to the US. It is a touching story with a sense of humor.
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Why isn't Bush saber rattling with Iran?
There are likely two real threats to the security of the world at the
moment. The first is obviously the Bush administration. They were wrong on
Iraq. Flat out wrong. But, that is another story. The second threat is
Iran. Iran is led by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a leader with world view nearly
as strange as George Bush's. Again, that is another story. The truth of the
matter is, where in the lead up to the Iraq war many nations and the UN
were unsupportive of military action due to the dirth of reliable
intelligence, Bush pushed forward his war mongering agenda. Now, with
several nations and the UN eyeing Iran with suspicion, even going so far as
to say that Iran's nuclear ambitions are for military applications, Bush is
remaining silent. Why? I'm sure he would love the chance to go after Iran
and spread even more "freedom", but he simply cannot. He has stretched the
US military to such a point that it is incapable of even responding
effectively to natural disasters inside the United States(see Hurricane Katrina).
I can only hope the the rest of the world will have the intelligence and
fortitude to do the right thing in Iran, whether that be military force or
not.
Spring training. . .
I am a baseball fan. My favorite team is the Atlanta Braves. I also enjoy
football (NFL and college), abhor basketball (especially the NBA, but
college is tolerable around NCAA tournament time and the bracket filling out
fun begins), and can't wait for the lull in sports spectatoring between the
Superbowl and Opening Day to end.
However, I cannot get excited about
spring training. I know it's still baseball, but there's something missing.
Sure, men have their livelihoods and dreams on the line, but that's not
something we can easily quantify into nifty little tables and columns of
stats. No, I want the games to mean something, to be able to calculate
"magic number", speculate possible playoff scenarios, which division is
the best, which league is the best, what will happen now that so and so is
hurt. Spring training results are, for the most part, worthless for this
sort of banter. I need games that provide real progress toward the World
Series.
This year MLB is promoting the World Baseball Classic. It may go well this
year, but I already see chinks in the armor. How long before contracts
specify that players can't participate? It seems reasonable that owners and
GMs who are investing so much money into so few players would want to
protect their investment. Eventually, somebody will suffer a catastrophic
injury in this tournament. It's just the nature of the game. Many of the
best players will not participate for a desire to save themselves for the
regular season. I believe this tournament would be better held during the
regular season. Allow a 3-4 week break in the season at the mid-point.
Perhaps even shorten the schedule to accomodate the tournament. As an added
incentive, allow players to add tournament stats to their season stats. It
would be an incentive to play for those with contracts that have bonuses
for reaching certain performance levels and lessen the argument for staying
out of the tournament and saving oneself for the regular season.
February 15, 2006
Muhammad Cartoons
A topic of much talking head babble and newsprint space of late has been the cartoons
published in Europe that have angered many in the Islamic world. Now, do you see how I just used the phrase "Islamic world"? I doubt many people
would notice anything peculiar in the use of such a phrase. But, doesn't it imply that those who follow Islam
(especially those in the Middle East) are a
part of a different world? Isn't that a silly notion? Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists, etc., all live in
the same world. This notion of a separate world is part of the problem. The creaters and publishers of the cartoons saw
themselves as separate, not fully understanding how their actions could affect those living in another part of the very
same world. I am not condoning violence in any form, and those who have resorted to violent protests against the
cartoons are wrong to have done so. However, the cartoons have little merit other than to demonize and continue a
stereotype of an entire group of people. Can the publishers be held liable for incitement? I'm not sure, but the fact
is that the line is blurred. But, there is also no excuse for those who would spill blood over ink and paper. It is
very unfortunate that the actions of so few are offering validation of the stereotypes portrayed in the cartoons. I
personally refuse to believe that most Muslims are violent, short-sighted, demonic purveyors of death. I believe that
Islam is a beautiful and uplifting religion that inspires millions of people to live well and perform acts of goodness.
It is a religion that is being misused just as Christianity was misused during the Crusades, Inquisitions, and
conquering of the New World.
My spot
It was a spot I spent many hours in during my youth. It offered me a chance to ponder the beauty of the natural
world and a place of comfort against my biggest fears. It was a place that at first provided me with excitement about
star gazing, cloud watching, digging in the dirt, and all the other things that easily entertain us in our youth. As I
grew older, these activities at this spot became less common, but the pleasant memories allowed me to forget my fears.
--- Alvin Shubert
Photograph by Judy Song
February 14, 2006
February 12, 2006
The Libloggery
Introduction
Welcome! The inspiration for this website struck me one day while I was in
the idea room, taking care of business. I thought, wouldn't it be great to
have a website that lists quality blogs? People could visit it and find
interesting blogs much like at a library. Thus, the term
"Libloggery". I soon decided that I didn't have the expertise or time to
run a quality directory (I'm in graduate school, after all). I
decided to make the website my own personal blog, about pretty much
anything that interests me or that I think people should know about. Each
item in the Blog Menu can be viewed as a separate blog, keeping
with the "library" theme.
Feeds
If you'd like to subscribe to a particular blog, you can do so by clicking
on the menu entry for a particular blog (e.g. Science) and adding
"/index.rss" to the url in the address window, then using the url in your
favorite feed reader. To subscribe to the website and blog as a whole,
please use the "Subscribe!" Feedburner chicklet in the left column. Unfortunately, things are not quite working right if
you are a Thunderbird user, but I promise that I am working on the
issue.
Contact
You may contact the Libloggery (that is, Alvin) by emailing to the address
below.
contact@libloggery.com
Submissions
I also accept submissions. Of course if you want to link to your own site
in your submission, that is perfectly fine.
About the Blogger
Alvin is a graduate student in the chemistry PhD program at a major
mid-Western University.
He enjoys writing bad fiction and imposing it upon the world
via self publication at this Blog. He has bachelor degress
in both physics and chemistry, so some might
actually believe his science writing has some credibility. If you have any
questions or would like to contact Alvin, use the contact information.
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