I & I

^ traces of a project we did recently at SDaS.

Hellohi.

Over this here Thxgiving break, all my housemates have left town to go see family, & I've had La Casa all to myself! Well, sort of to myself. I've had my best friend w/ me th whole time, my wee beagler Sophie. Also, I've had ten cluckers in th shed to go visit - egg-laying chickens who need feed & water. I choose to eat eggs from our chickens (but still not from any others), since I believe they live well; but w/ no one else around, th eggs accumulate & wait. Still, I've done my part & made eggs for most of my meals this week. I figure, some fat, protein & cholesterol could only do me good. My body doesn't seem to mind.

Th week started off wonderfully, as our friend Beth hosted a Composition Intensive at her house that went from Sunday at noon to Monday night. This involved people coming over, grabbing a pillow, a chair, a bedroom, what have you, & working on something in th company of others working on their own things. Then, at certain intervals, we'd take a break from working to "check in" w/ everyone else. We'd give updates on what we did & set goals for th next chunk of time. I especially enjoyed check-ins because we would use Skype to call other people scattered over th country who wanted to get in on this long-distance. You can see traces of what this project looked like here.

My friends Anna & Michael had me over Wednesday & Thursday to play games. So for two nights in a row, we pulled out Killer Bunnies & th Quest for th Magic Carrot, an old favorite of mine that I haven't hardly played since I lived in Troy, NY. Also, Catch Phrase went over well, as it tends to do. Anna expressed an interest in playing "socially relevant games" (as opposed to these "socially irrelevant games" I guess). Altho I don't think we have a clear idea of what that means yet, I share that interest & want to help organize a different sort of game night in th near future.

I've spent my late evenings blasting German operas on th living room stereo system while sipping bourbon.

I've also done quite a bit of reading about cybernetics this week, in particular th cybernetics of cybernetics, or second-order cybernetics (where you apply cybernetics to cybernetics itself). Says Ranulph Glanville on this:

"What characterises the Cybernetics of Cybernetics is the inclusion of the agent that is determining the system under consideration. It is the insistence that observation needs an observer and that any account that pretends otherwise is essentially in error. It is the insistence that there is (inter)action, that there are processes and that we are involved with and in our processes. It is the insistence that there is no thinking without the thinker and that there is no thinking without thinking."

~Ranulph Glanville, in his paper "Chasing the Blame"

I like all this & want to do more w/ it. I recommend that paper, if you'd like a fascinating read. Indeed, do call me up for a chat, if you'd like to have one, about cybernetics, or about anything.

Which reminds me: VerizonWireless has turned off my cell phone. Probably because I haven't paid them in months. Anyway, I do have a landline, & if you'd like to call it, do!

La Casa Landline: (217)365-9496.

By th way, we have a bunch of wet clumpy snow on th ground! Hooray!

I think I want to go out for some coffee & spend some more time w/ my books. Anyway, much love to all. I desire recurrent interaction w/ you.

Hun-Tun

From Wikipedia:

According to the Daoist classic Zhuangzi by the eponymous author, Chaos (Hun-Tun) existed as a deity with existence and pure sentience, but had no sensory inputs whatsoever. His peers saw that he had no ways of feeling the external world. Out of a reciprocity for its acts of kindness, they carved seven orifices on its blank face, one every day - the orbits of the eyes, the ear canals, the nostril and the mouth. By the seventh day, Chaos was in possession of the five earthly senses.

It died immediately.

sinus caverns

I suffer from a tricksy cold. As soon as I start to feel awesome, a new symptom will thrust itself upon me - a stuffy ear, a hacking cough, a headache. What fun this isn't.

I missed a few days of work last week, which for me means a smaller check. Th size of my check doesn't serve as my only impetus for living, but I find it frustrating that I don't maintain control of my health. I'd rather take days off from work to do fun projects, play great musicks on th streets, write that novel [hee hee], &tc. Instead, I lie around feeling sorry for myself & guilty for not working & messing with George's days off. =Poop!

Potter Stewart that! No more bumming for me! I will only do work & fun - no more Burgering around! Egad!

Consider that my Eris-o-Magickal Cantation. No more wasties! Begone, thou foul demon that infects mine sinus caverns! Away to Boomland for you! Egad!

I seal this Cantation with a hearty FNORD.

THE GOVERNMENT SUCKS

IT SURE DO