she makes me want to lay down arms

she makes me want to lay down arms
that all the wars have been fought, and won
that it is time to turn tilth the blood and bones 
of so many dead yesterdays

So my tree with mine own sweat to nourish
and it thereby to diversify
then to edify
to cultivate a towering silver city
so ageless golden civilizations to flourish

Metal Touch Space

I found this really cool music track named "Touch Space", by an outfit named Test Shot Starfish. You can hear it on YouTube.  It includes some samples of a man speaking. The words are intriguing, so I looked them up. Here is what I found:

Does the blood move in your hand?
Does your hand move to touch metal?
Does that metal move to touch space?
Do wild thoughts of travel and migration move behind your flesh?
They do. 

- Ray Bradbury - Why Man Explores

A billion years ago when we came out of the sea of this earth
And we formed a spine for ourselves
And reared ourselves up upon this land
And we moved unto the land
And we lived in caves and were terrified
Then we lived in trees and were afraid
And we finally formed cities against the night
[Now we] are daring to do the great thing
And we're going into space
And we're going to live forever 

- Ray Bradbury - Space Exploration as the Theology for our Time (33:11)

We're part of a long effort of the universe to understand itself
This blind thing turning in its sleep
You're part of that blindness coming awake
Every single one of you is a cell of this thing struggling to stay alive
Dying every day, rebirthing every night
And that's what space travel is all about 

- Ray Bradbury - Space Exploration as the Theology for our Time (35:32)

 

Domingo

We all know Domingo of Santa Clara will be born today, tomorrow, and the day after
billions of times
'til the end of the universe,
where, with a smile on his face, the last of our species watches
the catastrophe.

Why / For Nothing

Why

For nothing

For nothing

Why did it have to be?

Why

Why

Why

Why

Why did she have to extert such power over me?

For nothing

Why

For nothing

For nothing

 

I need a new set of dishes

I need a new set of dishes.

I mean, I like the old ones.  They have a nice shape,
and a nice heavy earthenware feel in my hands.
But I've had them a long time, and I've broken so many,
I can't set the table for a full dinner party anymore.
I thought they'd be more rugged!
But my clumsy old hands...
And the ones remaining are kind of scratched and dull.
They say don't stack your dishes.
Now I know why!

I need a new set of dishes.
I think I'll get Corelle this time.
It has the feel of glass, but it's virtually unbreakable.
I can fumble it
You can stomp on it
I can run it through the oven and the washer ceaselessly.

I might never feel again, but I've had enough of heartbreak.

(2014-04-04)

Ozark Dirty

 

As they wheeled me through the big double doors and down the corridor of Walter Reed, past the creepy green curtains and all the expensive medical equipment, I only had one thought:

Jesus, how much did all those machines cost?  That much moolah could buy a shit-load of heroin...

And I rolled past guys who were in a lot worse shape than me -- guys missing both legs, guys missing half their torso, guys whose head seem to be hanging on by one bloody bandage...  And all I could think was:

Lord Jesus God, dude - heroin. Heroin, dude.

And suddenly a brilliant idea hit me like a rush: I realized I had an actual purpose in life!  My new mission was to get these guys the heroin they so desperately needed. Yea, deserved.  I would become their angel.  Lord God Almighty, I accept your calling!  Show me the way; Open the doors; let me be an instrument of thy mercy!

But first, um... I need a little something...

(2013-08-05)

Probabilities of drawing certain cards

This shows the probabilities of drawing two specific cards (labeled A and B) in a hand of five cards, from decks of various sizes.

All numbers are percentages.

Deck size	A & B	A & !B	A ^ B	A | B
6	66.7	16.7	33.3	100.0
7	47.6	23.8	47.6	95.2
8	35.7	26.8	53.6	89.3
9	27.8	27.8	55.6	83.3
10	22.2	27.8	55.6	77.8
11	18.2	27.3	54.5	72.7
12	15.2	26.5	53.0	68.2
13	12.8	25.6	51.3	64.1
14	11.0	24.7	49.5	60.4
15	9.5	23.8	47.6	57.1

The probabilities of other combinations can be derived from those given in this table:

• A | !B (A or not B - possibly both conditions) is the inverse of A & !B.
• A ^ !B (A or not B but NOT both conditions) is the inverse of A ^ B.
• !A & !B (neither A nor B) is the inverse of A | B
• !A | !B (not A, or not B - possibly both conditions) is the inverse of A & B.
• !A ^ !B (not A, or not B, but NOT both conditions) is logically the same as A ^ B.