As I put my pipes away from this morning’s practice, feeling wrung-out and self-critical, I panted, “Well, if I didn’t suck I’d be pretty good!” I thought about all the evenings when the Badb had been skimming through her viola practice, not really paying attention to her playing just in a rush to get itContinue reading “If I Were Better, I’d Be Good”
Author Archives: pirateguillermo
Lesson Learned
This morning I competed at the Santa Cruz Scottish Festival and placed quite well. This despite what I felt to be grave problems with my performances, which goes a long way in support of the advice, “No matter what happens, keep playing!” My mind and fingers went completely blank midway into my first tune butContinue reading “Lesson Learned”
Nothing New under the Gubmint
So, this week people are getting pretty exercised about how the NSA, in some super secret operation code named “PRISM,” has been watching everything people are looking at on the web and keeping track of what phone calls are being made and received. Wil Wheaton posted on Google+ that he’s gonna cancel all his VerizonContinue reading “Nothing New under the Gubmint”
Log of Damocles
I took the weed trimmer to the grass on the creek side of the house this afternoon. The grass had grown unchecked since, well, last fall. When we moved to the woods, I was really happy and thought, “Yeah, this is great! I’m never gonna mow the lawn again!” Except that knocking the grass downContinue reading “Log of Damocles”
It Smells Branded in Here
Things go in cycles. I know this, and yet I’m always a little surprised when the entrepreneurial cycle comes around to me again. Yesterday, I was at a St. Patrick’s Day party as my genius wife’s plus one, and I wound up having several conversations with people who are working hard on their new projects. IContinue reading “It Smells Branded in Here”
What Globalization Means to Me
In 1995 I decided to stop eating animals. As I was living in San Francisco it really wasn’t hard to find good food made by someone else and which didn’t contain meat. Traveling inland even a couple of hours, though, was traveling to a world where “vegetarian” meant, “eats alfalfa sprouts and avocado and, um,Continue reading “What Globalization Means to Me”
It’s in the Air
Junglemonkey and I are in Boston for a few days. She’s here for the AWP conference, and I’m here as her plus one. I love that she wanted me along. I would absolutely have missed her if I’d been at home all week while she attended the conference, never mind that she’s going to beContinue reading “It’s in the Air”
The Early Wish
I forget which science fiction writer talked about time travel stories as an expression of that regretful wish of a child who’s done something wrong: “Make it didn’t happen!” Maybe Larry Niven, maybe Frederick Pohl, I read a lot of SF and can’t keep it straight any more. Anyway, I’m currently reading The Demon UnderContinue reading “The Early Wish”
Make Room for Love
I got an email from the Sundance Institute suggesting six films for Valentine’s Day. This is the marketing blurb from the email: What better way to perpetuate the quixotic romantic desires that reside in our partners’ minds than by watching films that validate those delusions of love? This Valentine’s Day, we’re offering a short listContinue reading “Make Room for Love”
Let’s Play a Game
I like to play games. Who doesn’t? But not just any game, I’m actually kind of particular about what games I like. I happen not to like zero-sum games; my favorite games are those where, by careful maneuvering, the players can achieve a win for everyone. I also like games where there’s complexity, because thatContinue reading “Let’s Play a Game”