Jim’s Brain Online

Posted by Jim at December 29th, 2007

I’m aware enough about racial issues to know that I sometimes don’t get it. Part of it is not having a personal experience of racism. Part of it is not knowing the historical experience of blacks and other minorities.

I’m linking to a few blog entries by Pam Noles. In her blog “And We Shall March,” she writes about her life and interests, science fiction/fantasy, movies, and sometimes about the intersection of race and fiction.

I don’t know about you, but I’d always wondered where the word “wog” came from. It’s sometimes used by British people to refer to foreigners, but apparently comes from a doll (that also happens to be a racial caricature). Until reading this series of posts, I’d had no idea what the Golliwog was or how it connected to minstrelsy.

1. “When time was things was looking bright / I started to whittle on a stick one night / Who cried out stop now, that’s dynamite / Not a soul.” ***

2. “One white woman, two white girls, twenty five white men dressed up like women, made up to look like black people to entertain other white people.” ***

3. “The greatest decade in the history of mankind is over. And as presuming Ed here has so consistently pointed out, we have failed to paint it black.” ***

4. “I don’t want to have anything to do with anything black for at least a week.”

5. “In this present moment we are either smaller than we were, or else are on our knees.” ***

Posted by Jim at December 22nd, 2007

I’ve avoided buying organic foods for years. The reason is partially inherent cheapness on my part. Organic foods often end up being more expensive (sometimes twice as much) at the local grocery store.

That doesn’t stop me from liking the idea of organic foods.

I certainly can’t argue with people who think that industrial agriculture has some major problems. I think specifically of e. coli outbreaks, mad cow disease, the nasty conditions food animals face, and the overuse of pesticides.

Lately (by which I mean the last two years), Kristen and I have started buying locally grown meat and vegetables when possible.

West Michigan Cooperative:West Michigan Coop is an organization that distributes locally grown meats and produce. Meat seems to be the main focus, but they sell seasonal fruits and vegetables as well. It works on an invitation only basis. You give them your name and when they have an opening, they give you an account on their website. Using that account, you can order anything they have available from a variety of local farms. You then pick up your orders at a local warehouse on the monthly distribution date.

Oddly enough, if you visit the site on the day that I’m writing this, you’ll find a mass of php errors and sql code. I’ve volunteered to work on the site if they need help. They haven’t called.

Trillium Haven:A local organic farm started by people I know through my church. Basically, you buy a membership in the fall. Then in the summer through the late fall you receive fresh produce. We have a half share. A full share would be too much food.

I’ve been introduced to a lot of vegetables that I’d never have used otherwise through Trillium Haven. Leeks. Celeriac. Swiss chard. A wide variety of heirloom tomatoes…

It’s good stuff.

Incidentally, they also grow vegetables that you’ve heard of.

Posted by Jim at December 15th, 2007

I happened to be driving back from a client’s office when I noticed a tow truck ahead of me. It’s one of those tow trucks where you put the vehicle on the truck rather than actually towing it–making their rather memorable tag line obsolete.

See if you can find it in the picture below:

Posted by Jim at December 8th, 2007

In the mid 90’s I was in graduate school for sociology and working at a market research firm. I’d initially been working part time in the phone room, but was moved into the Analysis and Consulting department when one of the professionals there noticed I was reading a book on multiple regression (a statistical technique).

My supervisor in A & C knew that I was interested in web development and mentioned that Nermin Elmi, someone he knew through his place of worship (the Islamic Center), needed help getting a web page going. Nermin was trying to raise money to help her cousin come to the United States to get treatment for leukemia.

In the course of working on the web page, I met her family–her husband, daughter and Erdin, her son. I didn’t really get to know him, but he seemed like a decent guy. He was going to high school at the time.

Nermin Elmi succeeded in bringing Elmira (her cousin) to the US for treatment–though complications from the chemotherapy ultimately killed her.

Nonetheless, I’ve still kept in touch with the family on and off. It’s been a little while though and that’s why it was a bit of a shock to read the following article in the paper:

25 year-old steps in front of commuter train

The 25 year old man is Erdin.

It’s a sad and strange thing. I remember hearing that when Nermin and her husband immigrated from Romania (at that time a communist state), the state would not allow Erdin to go with them. Ultimately, bringing Erdin here would involve Grand Rapids’ congressional representative (Rep. Paul Henry?) as well as (I think) the State department.

I’m sure that this event will prompt me to reconnect with the family again soon, but a card or phone call seems such a small thing in the face of something like this.

Posted by Jim at December 5th, 2007

Some of you may not have noticed, but this blog has been changing themes lately. In one case I’m sure I had five different ones in the course of a day.

For the last few weeks I’ve mostly stuck with one, but I didn’t like it. It had features that I liked, but looked like a good theme that had been messed up by too much editing.

So, I’ve currently got a theme that I like the looks of even though I suspect that it’s bit heavy on graphics and javascript.

Nonetheless, I’m likely to stick with it for a while.

Posted by Jim at December 3rd, 2007

I do work for non-profits. At one non-profit I actually draw a part time salary in addition to my computer consulting. For a while, in fact, I did all my work for that non-profit from my house, connecting via a VPN.

It’s thanks to that, I suspect, that I got a call tonight.

As I was sitting down at my laptop, catching up on email and meditating on how soon I should make supper, I received a phone call that asked for one of my supervisors at work.

The caller wanted to know exactly what we did as part of our AIDS related program.

I told him. I also attempted to make it clear that we weren’t doing much with it at the moment because all our state funding had been cut off.

It didn’t make much of an impression, but it was after that that the call turned a little weird.

He wanted to know if any of our patients were ever cured of AIDS. I explained that no one gets cured of AIDS. At best, your virus load gets down to near impossible to detect levels.

“That’s with pharmacia,” he said, “not God’s medicine.”

Over the course of the next half hour, I learned a number of things:

1. That disease is not caused by bacteria or viruses. It is caused by chemicals, and parasites. For example, people with AIDS have benzene in their pancreas (or maybe their liver? I forget). Also, cancer has been cured in at least one person by removing a tape worm.
2. AIDS has been cured in Africa by using seven herbs plus a little bit of electricity.
3. “Pharmacia” (sp?) is the original word for our current style of medicine and it comes from a word that meant sorcery.
4. The real reasons for disease have been known since the 1930’s and are in every public library.
5. The reason you’ve never heard this before is because the government does not want you to find out.
6. Doctors know all this too, but they’re using the current methods because it will make them more money.
7. That whatever form of medicine this guy is using uses the “qxci.” Search for it on Google. The results are… wacky. Oh and incidentally, qxci is short for Quantum Xeroid Consciousness Interface device.
8. I can learn even more if we get together everyone in our office and watch a videotape. At that point, all will be explained.
9. And we may even make some money…

The end of the conversation left me thinking that I need to learn to be considerably less polite. The guy talked for more than half an hour, needing no encouragement at all beyond “mm-hmmn” and a brief yes or no.

I would have hung up on him if he’d been a telemarketer, but hanging up on him as a salesman would probably reflect badly on the organization. Also it seemed like he was about to wrap up three different times.

He never did.

In the end, I gave him the organizational number, made clear the fact that he was calling my house, and directed that he leave a voicemail for someone that I’m quite sure will be out tomorrow.

In the meantime, I’m sending everyone an email…

Posted by Jim at November 29th, 2007

www.nocoalrush.com

Here’s a web site that’s apparently trying to prevent more coal plants from being constructed in Michigan and is gathering signatures. They don’t appear to be attempting to stop them permanently. From what I understand, they only want to stop them until some coherent energy policy can be formed.

In short, an energy policy that includes renewable resources.

I’m inclined to agree.

Posted by Jim at November 25th, 2007

In an unusually responsible move, I’ve cleaned up my blogroll and made it reflect the blogs I actually read.

Imagine that.

Posted by Jim at November 25th, 2007

I was working and someone wanted me to get information out of a database and I ended up moving from one computer to another even though the database should be accessible to everyone.

Then I decided to go to lunch only somehow in the process of leaving I stripped down to my underwear.

Instead of going to lunch, I then went to the Dominican Center (as in Dominican Order as in full of priests and nuns) for some sort of book reading about J. K. Rowling. No one paid attention to the fact that I was attending in underwear, but I nonetheless picked up a sheet (with green fringe) to cover myself.

After that I left.

In walking, I found that I was no longer in Grand Rapids, but was actually in Denver.

So, I went to a mall in Denver (but not one I’m familiar with) that somehow included a swimming pool. It was there that I discovered that I was in a t-shirt and shorts.

After that I got on the bus. While I was on the bus, I realized that I had an airplane which I could use to fly home except that the engine wasn’t inside. I didn’t know how to fix the engine.

When we passed a park (which included some amusement park rides) it occurred to me that I could ask one of the ride operators how to put the engine back in.

But I didn’t.

While riding the bus, however, I did talk to one of the other people on the bus. He invited me to stay in the park. I declined. Thus, when he got off the bus, he and others in the park urinated on the bus, some of it coming through the windows.

Yuck.

In any case, soon after that, I realized that I was really at home sleeping in bed and that I really didn’t have to find my way home from Denver after all.

At some point after that, the dream ended. I don’t know whether I woke up or not.

Whatever happened, I think I can safely say that this dream made no sense at all and I can’t imagine why people have ever bothered to try to interpret them.

Posted by Jim at November 20th, 2007

There’s a blog out there called Real Live Preacher that you’ve probably heard of. I say probably because I know pretty much everyone who reads this blog and know that most of them know Ed. Ed linked to Real Live Preacher every so often a couple years ago. In fact, I’m pretty sure the blog’s writer commented on Ed’s blog once.

In case you didn’t know, Real Live Preacher is a blog by Gordon Atkinson, a pastor who writes about his church, his life, his family, depression, religion and a multitude of other things.

Eerdmans (right here in Grand Rapids) published a book of his blog entries a couple years ago and apparently it didn’t sell as well as they hoped.

As I understand it (and I could be wrong about the details), they sent him the remainders and now he’s selling them on his website.

Along with the books (which are signed), you also receive odd surprises within the covers.

Kristen ordered one and we received a key (he doesn’t know what it’s for) and some religiously themed candy. Pictures of both to be attached to this post someday.

Kristen reads the blog regularly and I read it occasionally. As someone who attended seminary for a couple years, I’ve been on his end of the pulpit/visitation/church politics.

It’s interesting to be reminded of what that was like and of other things I spent more time thinking about in seminary than I do right now.

Not to mention the fact that beyond anything else, he’s a good writer, making it an interesting blog whether or not you connect with his major topics.