Gullible Travels

2:28pm: Dreaming
Okay, so I am just now about getting up after sleeping for fourteen hours. I am sure everyone will say that I needed it and I surely agree, I feel so rested.

9:43pm: Just thoughts
Today they were slicing open an amnesia patient (relatively well known, H.M.) and the process was being streamed onto the internet. Morose sense of interest aside, I and at least eight thousand others saw seventy micron slices being taken from the frozen grey matter.

I watched a video on youtube, showing a wedding where they updated their relationship status on Facebook rather than speaking "I do" to their vows. People are amusing these days, this information was learned from twitter and now passes to livejournal of course.

Anyway, tired, worn out, and injured from falling. I am finally a bit relaxed so time to sleep.

10:33am: Growing old
Lucas said that I grew old all of a sudden.

I wonder what it is, and how I become young again. How did I switch to being grown-up?

He is right though, I am far too serious about things and not nearly gracious as I used to be. Maybe if I were a grad student, I would've stayed young, but now that I'm 'older' I guess I should again figure out how to enjoy life as I did a year ago.

I wish again and so many times to turn the clock back and relive the moments understanding their true value. But I will just have to settle for historical re-enactments.

10:29am: A variety update
I've been busy, and so I am just making short updates.
Car died, no replacement for a while. Sad that it happened but understand that it was only a valuable thing because like any resource it permitted my friend and I good times and adventure.

Courts have decided they need more of my money, a 300 dollar fine for being late when the date was illegible on the ticket. I see it as petty, and pointlessly punitive, and it really pisses me off.

Other courts will be asssessing me more money, the traffic court is reasonable, I broke a law and will pay the fine etc. Transit court, we'll see how that goes.

These fines are a bit discouraging, I can't afford a car but with these additional cuts into my already slim budget are rather painting the situation as hopeless.

This is even happening with my degree, which I am again in battle with the university for.

This has happened all my life, where I set some goal and as I approach it, grasping at the fringes of some good thing, it falls more out of reach. When I was young it was spending time with my dad, or some trip to meet my family.

I will always form these hopes, perfect like crystals, just so they can be shattered on my path. I will pick up the good things in painful shards as I walk the path.

And yes, I am thankful, I am glad to be so fortunate to have an interesting life, and have friends that have done so much to keep me afloat, to help me form new hopes and dreams about the world.

I don't want to stop dreaming and hoping, that is the only thing that makes it all worth it.

12:23pm: Ag data
According to a press release from the California Dept. of Food and Ag (specifically #09-092), they are releasing funding to certain agricultural groups in California for the purpose of expanding international markets for California products.
For a brief background, California is a paradise for growing a huge variety of crops and other delicious edibles, the finest fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products on the planet.
Here is the publically available data regarding the funding dibursement and crop export rates.

Group Funding % Export Rank % w%
Wine Institute 7,171,958 21.2% 816 7.48% 1.50%
California Walnut Commission 4,604,059 13.6% 444 4.07% 2.13%
California Table Grape Commission 3,648,818 10.8% 553 5.07% 1.30%
California Dried Plum Board 3,499,819 10.4% 175 1.60% 0.47%
Raisin Administrative Committee 2,905,258 8.6% 213 1.95% 0.50%
Blue Diamond Growers/
Almond Board of California 2,869,947 8.5% 1,879 17.22% 10.92%
California Pistachio Export Council
/Cal-Pure Pistachios, Inc. 950,000 2.8% 364 3.34% 1.50%
California Cherry Advisory Board 701,732 2.1% 97 0.89% 0.24%
California Strawberry Commission 618,693 1.8% 297 2.72% 0.34%
California Pear Advisory Board 479,327 1.4% 22 0.20% 0.02%
California Kiwifruit Commission 289,770 0.9% 14 0.13% 0.05%
California Cling Peach Advisory Brd 163,267 0.5% 147 1.34% 0.15%
California Asparagus Commission 138,313 0.4% 16 0.15% 0.02%
California Fresh Tomato Growers/
Florida Tomato Committee 121,743 0.4% 374 3.43% 0.40%
Total 33,796,507 10912

Export rank data is courtesy of UC Davis' Agricultural Issue Center, circa 2007 (http://aic.ucdavis.edu/pub/exports.html)

Since some crops are more heavily exported than others, the percent export rank was weighted by the percent of products exported, giving a much nicer figure representing the share of these groups' crops that are exported. The total in both cases is inclusive of groups/crops not represented due to incomplete matching data.

This data is also notably incomplete because it does not show the total funding and subsidies for these crops but is limited solely to this bill.

California nut and grape (inc. wine) industries seem prominent in the export market, both by rank and by funding. Tomatos seem utterly ignored, which is rather sad because they can be quite delicious. Plums and raisins are exceptionally favored by this funding, despite a lack of export share they garner significant portions of the funds.

I look at this data and wonder how decisions are made, is it mostly political or are there thought out economics behind it? In either case, it is interesting, I would love to hear folks' take on this.

Also the Raisin Administrative Committee is just an awesome name.

11:52am: Saagecotti
I'd said for last Friday, there would be some tasty pasta at a friends house, I promised no surprises while my mind dreamed of mad experimentation.. but I promised so I settled.
It also struck that a friend needed to get out of the house, and with his love and talent for all things food, I didn't have a choice but to recruit him as an assistant.
Reviewing the menu plan, "pasta", I saw that lost look in his eye, a glance to his spice rack and at once it was clear we'd reached the same mind, "curry pasta?!".

With our minds together we began planning. We paced across his kitchen, glancing through spices and recipies to determine the ideal match in flavor and stock.

Saage, that greenish yellow spinach curry was just the dish to represent our new food-fusion, pondering through pasta and then portamaues we decided "saage-cotti".

We ran to the store for necessary goods, and again as we forgot ingredients in our excitement, three times even just for the finishing touches. We were consumed, determined to develop this dish.

The manicotti collapsed, and sealed itself, the saage was too slick and wouldn't be contained, every difficulty we overcame looking forward to the next challenge of our design. After a few hours it was complete, baked, and not so bad.

As with all first attempts we started with excitement and adventure, braving challenges and unexpected difficulties. Our grandiose expectations could never be fulfilled wholly. But like all things, the meal wasn't about the food itself but the experience of trailblazing. Having finished our journey, we presented our dreams.

6:22pm: As part of my series of explaining things, I've been asked to explain pi.

Pi is the ratio of the distance of going through the middle of a circle to going completely around it. But that isn't interesting at all so I will tell you how it was discovered and how it is far more useful.

Old Greek men didn't know math, back then they were just discovering it and they were old. Socrates and Plato could barely add, multiply, or even count to a million for that matter.
One day a Greek geometer had gotten done doodling shapes on the wall and measuring them out (real science in those days) and he decided to treat himself to Tyropita, it is a kind of round desert, full of cheese really good. He went to the city's only baker, it was a small place that made the best bread in town. With the sweet smells wafting in the air he went for the last Tyropita, just then as another man grabbed it too.
Being both hungry, and being so sweet and delicious, they both wanted it so bad, so they agreed to split it.
Having just learned so much about triangles, he just found out they were only half a square, our geometer friend proposed this solution: The baker would split the pie into fourths, and because they looked like triangles, they could measure and be sure that they both got equal shares.
So it was split in four, and the clever geometer measured the pieces so his were the biggest.
The other man caught him though, the geometer was taking the big slices, so he insisted that they cut smaller pieces!
So smaller into eight pieces, then sixteen, then thirty two. After a while they just had many tiny slivers.
The geometer, measuring the pieces each time, found himself something amazing, every time the Tyropita was cut again, he measured more area. When he at last got to the end, he realized that the whole thing was like a bunch of triangles put next to each other.
This amazing discovery, he started measuring all the circles, to finding the distances everywhere were the same proportion, just a bit over three.
Having split his desert with the other man, he declared that the ratio between the distance to the center and the distance around the crust was two pi, and fit for everyone to share.
(The baker might have objected to this, thinking the men irrational for there was clearly only a single pie between them)

Okay I tried.. next?

10:13am: Misconnections
I left my laptop on all week, and wasn't online much. As a consequence it sat behind the couch picking up messages from friends.

Damn, I wish I got those back then.

11:22am: Armistice day
Today is the anniversary of when world peace had a slim chance and major wars could have been prevented. But instead pride and greed blinded us and we fumbled about into the predictable second world war.

That the celebration of peace has been trampled over by a remembrance and celebration for our warriors, is so amazingly appropriate.

Cheers to the troops and leaders which have served, died, and had such an amazing faith in their nation.

6:30pm: National Novel Writing Month
People write about the world with needless color. Text is black on white (unless especially aged), it gives some contrast to reality.

This is the month of national writing, again many friends participate. I usually write in that gaudy purple that shows a lack of real talent, so I don't bother. I just wanted to wish all my friends luck, and say I would love to hear your tales come December.

6:24pm: Ex-plain-nations
No point to the title's hyphenation, just bored.

I want to improve upon being able to effectively communicate. So I task y'all to ask me to explain some (any) phenomena that comes to mind.

I will then work towards a succinct explanation of the topic, and present it for your opinions.

So, who can help me?

11:41pm: Caps lock
I really hate site that warn users that the capslock is on.

I am probably alone in this but I've got a few all-caps passwords and I think it is just stupid.

Do we need this much idiot proofing these days?

8:21am: Working things out
I am at work but not clocked in, today is weird.

Last night was sleepless, woke around two or three and didn't go back to dreaming-- or perhaps I had a most disturbing dream of being stuck awake.

Things aren't going badly, I just got issues as usual. I've got this expectation that I can help people and being there with others is the right thing to do. So when friends are down, distressed, and I am unable to help them, I find a fault in myself as the logical explanation. This leads to stress and in turn to all the other crap in my day.

I think that though this belief aims to be good and altruistic, it is somewhat selfish at my own expectation that I can help people, when often my help is unwanted.

Silence bothers me the most, because it leaves a void or abyss for me to fill with infinite possibilities for nightmares.

I wish I had the self confidence to say that I've not failed, or that I am helping just by being me, but I don't think I will overcome that issue.


A friend said I am doing better since the change in employment. Maybe it is just because I've been around happier people and that's regularly picked me up, or maybe that I've invented ways of doing things interestingly.

Still though the base problems remain, I've still got the potential to go without sleep, to be hopeless and lost, and to have no trust in the world about me to be true.

An author noted, via a character Murray Noble, that happiness is the alleviation of some misery. I guess I've got quite a potential for that too, maybe it leads me to extremes of mania and melancholy.

Now to get to work, I walked in and decided to spend some personal time, I'll clock in, check the storage units, walk the lab, get the tasks done and head out for a day. This weekend promises fun and excitement, a party, drinking, and all sorts of good things that I am sure will lift my spirits if not for a moment.

9:50pm: Modern Day
It is the modern age, washers and driers sing to us when they've completed their task in some cheery nameless melody invented by an unknown musically inclined engineer working his soul away deep inside maytag.

The modern day where there are enough people that this is probably not a one of a kind thought, where individuals are pretty meaningless in the grand scale of the human populace.

9:46pm: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf08321/content.cfm?pub_id=3785&id=2

According to this, since 1983 the number of PhDs awarded has outweighed the number of Master degrees. Does that seem strange? what does this statistical trend indicate?

9:48pm: Cinnicats
I've heard it, but I cannot believe it,
Today is the anniversary of a friend's birth,
I find it strange to contemplate any difference on him, I've always held him in high esteem and respect, to the point of seeing him as a permanent force in my universe. So I insist that this is not a celebration of a year passing him, but the mark of a year of Cinnicat that has passed through the earth.

Thank you sir, as always.

9:41pm: Coffees in Review
Since I have a morning cup every morning I decided to take it to myself to try a variety of coffees from the local Nugget (South Davis for reference), in order to establish a better understanding of flavor.

This is as much my own notes as is a review, opinions?

1 - CHP blend, pretty harsh but a good morning cup for the road. It has a body to it, but has a gritty taste that would ruin any flavor of food or other accompaniment.

2 - Ethopian Blend, single origin fancy, a nice rounded flavor, full of body, not very spicy nor too bitter, a nice medium which suits an after dinner or afternoon coffee.

3 - Boomerang Blend, advertised as having 25% more caffiene, it makes quite a biochemical impact. Definitely a good cup for a morning after, late night, or anytime where one has more concern for the drink's effects than anything else. A strong flavor, but not too dark or harsh, notable bite.

4 - Kona Blend, kinda light, can't really object, a decent all around coffee, no bite, not too harsh nor dark, only notable for a hint of spice that might be brought out by other flavors.

Fun research, very 'vigorating.

8:18am: Payscale
A bit ago I had said how I would be willing to work in a coffeeshop instead of my job at the time (well preferably I would liked to have lived off three part time jobs to keep things interesting).
For now, I will be settled with a job that is doubly effected by the furlough policy.
In short, my two week furlough pay is only a bit more than a week from TJH2b.

But still... I like my job. I think that satisfaction is probably a more important goal. In terms of money there will always be future potential for advancement.

Anyway, time to get back to work. I should post more about ideas later.

12:54pm: Future family?
I repeat here a prediction:
Given the economic benefit of multi-family/job holder households, they will become more common, and as such child care (and boarding schools) will become an increasingly important industry to the American culture-- probably justifying laws and regulations.
And because it occurs to me, I ask:
Given anthopological theories regarding community size, and the current birth statistics, is it possible to predict how big the future family will be?

8:58pm: Job changes
New job, new life, things are pretty awesome.

I work for the California Dept. of Food and Ag, in a program funded by the EPA, monitoring pesticides in the food supply not to protect individual consumers from poisons but to limit the pesticide dose to an acceptable concentration.

I have been figuring out how to advance, the ropes of being a chemist, and working for the state. This job is a lower rung in many ways, but the ladder is much higher, and leads to some place I might like to be.

8:51pm: Volcanic happenings
After an act of noble chauvinistic heroism I ended up going with two awesome friends up to Lassen national forest.

The furthest north I've been and probably one of the most out of the world. Walking through a burnt out forest, over fields of ash and cinder, clambering over volcanic post pile as I ventured off the creekside path.

I found the wonders of pumice, the stone of extraordinary roughness and density resultant from air blown liquid stone. Not the best thing to walk on as it shifts, not the best kind of rock wall to climb as you risk the wall falling away.

Liquid pools of aqueous geochemistry, hot at high pressure, amazing stuff. Amid the boiling mud and mineral solutions, were meadowing river pools full of amazing life and clear water.

It was an amazing experience, a chance happening, and pretty awesome all around-- the world is an amazing place, I ought see more.

7:25am: Airship dreams
For the sake of my love of zepplins and other aerostatic crafts, the military might be doing something cool (if in their usual way of being impractical).

From Gizmodo.

5:21pm: Desert
Walter noted that he doesn't believe that there exists an agent that would act to harmonize and distribute good based on desert.

I don't believe in any sort of willed fate, but I do believe that people do treat each other as a product of these sorts of perceptions.

Why else would we have a retributive system of justice? Or any system that rewards others for being good?

People are awesome like that, I wish that this were better recognized.

1:13am: Tax question
So if:
blindness is an inability to see,
and, we grant a tax benefit to the blind,
as the dead cannot see,
does this benefit count for the dead too?

An odd thing to think about is that after you die, someone still has to file your final tax return. I suppose taxes beat death thanks to our accrual based accounting practices.

10:44am: Cell Networks
I would love a cell network that promised to not have reception at beaches, forests, coffee shops, libraries, or any other places of relaxation.
"Sorry, I was at Mishka's reading and didn't have reception.