I went to Kickapoo this afternoon.  It was cold and gray and drizzling; it was glorious.  A hundred yards south of the bridge at the main entrance, I stood on a sandbar and looked at a scene that felt so much like I was up in Minnesota that I almost expected to see a moose.  Then the thunder went boom overhead, the drizzle became a downpour, and I ( Read more... )

This is something I wrote this afternoon at Kickapoo with an old-fashioned pen and paper.  I'm making myself sit down and post it because I'm keeping far too much stuff in my head ( Read more... )

The current law about derivative works is that distributing work which incorporates someone else's protected material is forbidden unless permission is explicitly granted.  Exactly what constitutes distribution is somewhat shifty, and exactly what is covered by copyright, what is considered fair use, and what is incidental is even more shifty, but ( Read more... )

I wrote a comment in another journal that I want to preserve for myself where I'll see it later.  Out of respect for the original entry being locked (and this being a public post) that's all I'm saying here.  (The person I'm replying to is free to reveal zirself if zie wishes ( Read more... )

What if cosmic inflation is God looking at the Big Bang and going "Hey, cool!" The universe grew vastly in an instant because God was really paying attention to it. The universe continues to expand because God is still interested. If He gets bored, the universe closes and heads toward the Big Crunch. If He really gets tired of us, the universe ( Read more... )

I got out into the woods for a bit this morning, for the first time in a couple of weeks.  It's still cold, but I was dressed for it.  It was sunny, although a very light snow was falling, and beautiful if stark.  I felt more joy of being alive than I have for many weeks, just marveling at the crisp air and the sunlight sparkling on the snow.  I ( Read more... )

A messed up sleep schedule left me unfit to drive this morning, so I'm at home now when I should be with my tigers.  I went for a walk in the neighborhood ( Read more... )

I've never been married, so I can't repeat the statement that's going around that I don't think my marriage is diminished or threatened by allowing same sex couples to marry.

I will say, as a single person, that I am no more threatened by gay marriage than I am by traditional marriage.

I'm going to attempt a little non-partisan discussion of the question of voter fraud ( Read more... )

ladyat, who I'm privileged to count a friend, tells us that her new day job is at an Episcopal church.  I wanted to preserve part of my comment there.

I'm not Christian, but I respect the people who are actually trying to ( Read more... )