The Silver Spike
I should really have read this right after The White Rose.
Many men admire Raven. He fears nothing concrete. He takes no crap from anyone. People who mess with him get hurt, and the hell with the consequences. But those are the only dimensions he has. They are the only dimensions he permits himself. How can I remain emotionally entangled with a man who will not allow himself emotions, however much he did for me in other ways? I appreciate him,. I honor him, I may even revere him. But that is all anymore. He cannot change that with some demonstration, like a boy hanging by his knees from a branch to impress a girl.
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Monday, February 28, 2005
Shadow Games
Continuing on my Black Company binge...
I guess each of us, at some time, finds one person with whom we are compelled toward absolute honesty, one person whose good opinion of us becomes a substitute for the broader opinion of the world. And that opinion becomes more important than all our sneaky, sleazy schemes of greed, lust, self-aggrandizement, whatever we are up to while lying the world into believing we are just plain nice folks...
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
The White Rose
What the greater of two evils show up, but you've been fighting the lesser evil for year?
"I do not want to die, Croaker. All that I am shrieks against the unrighteousness of death. All that I am, was, and probably will be, is shaped by my passion to evade the end of me." She laughed quietly, but there was a thread of hysteria there. She gesured, indicating the shadowed killing ground below. "I would have built a world in which I was safe. And the cornerstone of my citadel would have been death."
What the greater of two evils show up, but you've been fighting the lesser evil for year?
"I do not want to die, Croaker. All that I am shrieks against the unrighteousness of death. All that I am, was, and probably will be, is shaped by my passion to evade the end of me." She laughed quietly, but there was a thread of hysteria there. She gesured, indicating the shadowed killing ground below. "I would have built a world in which I was safe. And the cornerstone of my citadel would have been death."
Monday, February 21, 2005
Shadows Linger: Book 2 of the Black Company
The Black Company switches sides.
I could think of nothing to say. It was no less than I had expected, and had hoped she would accomplish, for she was the lesser evil, and, I suspect, remained possessed of a spark that had not committed itself to the darkness. She hads shown restraint on several occasions when she could have indulged her cruelty. Maybe if she felt unchallenged, she would drift toward the light rather than farther toward the shadow.
The Black Company switches sides.
I could think of nothing to say. It was no less than I had expected, and had hoped she would accomplish, for she was the lesser evil, and, I suspect, remained possessed of a spark that had not committed itself to the darkness. She hads shown restraint on several occasions when she could have indulged her cruelty. Maybe if she felt unchallenged, she would drift toward the light rather than farther toward the shadow.
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
The Black Company
Inspired by The Black Company Campaign Setting, I'm re-reading the series.
There are no self-proclaimed villains, only regiments of self-proclaimed saints. Victorious historians rule where good or evil lies.
We abjure labels. We fight for money and an indefinable pride. The politics, the ethics, the moralities are irrelevant.
Inspired by The Black Company Campaign Setting, I'm re-reading the series.
There are no self-proclaimed villains, only regiments of self-proclaimed saints. Victorious historians rule where good or evil lies.
We abjure labels. We fight for money and an indefinable pride. The politics, the ethics, the moralities are irrelevant.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Friday, February 11, 2005
The Monk and The Riddle
Randy Komisar writes about the difference between drive and passion. Acknowledging that most things in life are out of your control, he claims that the important part in life is to be doing what's the so important to you that you're willing to do it for the rest of your life.
Yet many still believe that those who enjoy exceptional achievements and accomplishments rode to the top entirely by themselves. The media always look for a single person, a CEO or an entrepreneur, to personify the accomplishments of an entire company or industry. It makes good reading, but it's simplistic. Someone in the Valley suddenly finds himself worth $100 million dollars and begins to believe he earned, and therefore deserves, that money because of his skill and ability... If you're brilliant, 15% to 20% of the risk is removed. If you work 24 hours a day, another 15 to 20% of the risk is removed. The remaining 60 to 70% of business risk will be completely out of your control.
Randy Komisar writes about the difference between drive and passion. Acknowledging that most things in life are out of your control, he claims that the important part in life is to be doing what's the so important to you that you're willing to do it for the rest of your life.
Yet many still believe that those who enjoy exceptional achievements and accomplishments rode to the top entirely by themselves. The media always look for a single person, a CEO or an entrepreneur, to personify the accomplishments of an entire company or industry. It makes good reading, but it's simplistic. Someone in the Valley suddenly finds himself worth $100 million dollars and begins to believe he earned, and therefore deserves, that money because of his skill and ability... If you're brilliant, 15% to 20% of the risk is removed. If you work 24 hours a day, another 15 to 20% of the risk is removed. The remaining 60 to 70% of business risk will be completely out of your control.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Monday, January 17, 2005
Fenders
I loaned my rain bike to a visiting Googler, so I spent Sunday afternoon installing fenders onto my commute bike. It took a couple of hours and a few zip ties and quite a bit of patience, but when done, the bike has fenders that are quiet, which is very nice. I guess I'd always been intimidated before by fenders, but I really should never have been.
I loaned my rain bike to a visiting Googler, so I spent Sunday afternoon installing fenders onto my commute bike. It took a couple of hours and a few zip ties and quite a bit of patience, but when done, the bike has fenders that are quiet, which is very nice. I guess I'd always been intimidated before by fenders, but I really should never have been.
Sunday, January 09, 2005
Scarlet's Blog
Not a must read blog, but it's well-written, which is something I can't say for every blog on the web.
Not a must read blog, but it's well-written, which is something I can't say for every blog on the web.
Backpacking no more
The lonely planet guides have been getting steadily worse over the last few years, and this article explains why. When the owner of the company repudiates the mode of travel the company was founded to serve, it's quite clear that no one there takes the work seriously.
To be honest, I'd never found much use for the lonely planet guides. As a cyclist, their guides focused on towns, rather than the places in between towns, which are by far the more interesting things on a trip.
The lonely planet guides have been getting steadily worse over the last few years, and this article explains why. When the owner of the company repudiates the mode of travel the company was founded to serve, it's quite clear that no one there takes the work seriously.
To be honest, I'd never found much use for the lonely planet guides. As a cyclist, their guides focused on towns, rather than the places in between towns, which are by far the more interesting things on a trip.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Monday, February 23, 2004
Read Moneyball
Moneyball by Michael Lewis is about sabermetrics, the science of using statistics to actually figure out what's important in a baseball player, and then putting together a team based on undervalued skills. It's a great book, but unfortunately, it seems that by writing the book, Lewis has actually hurt the ability of the Oakland As to do what they were doing before: get great results with very little money.
Moneyball by Michael Lewis is about sabermetrics, the science of using statistics to actually figure out what's important in a baseball player, and then putting together a team based on undervalued skills. It's a great book, but unfortunately, it seems that by writing the book, Lewis has actually hurt the ability of the Oakland As to do what they were doing before: get great results with very little money.
Sunday, February 22, 2004
From Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch
The first and easiest friends I made at college were football fans; a studious examination of a newspaper back page during the lunch hour of the first day in a new job usually provokes some kind of response. And yes, I am aware of the downside of this wonderful facility that men have: they become repressed, they fail in their relationships with women, their conversation is trivial and boorish, they find themselves unable to express their emotional needs, they cannot related to their children, and they die lonely and miserable. But you know, what the hell? If you can walk into a school full of eight hundred boys, most of them older, all of them bigger, without feeling intimidated, simply because you have a spare Jimmy Husband in your blazer pocket, then it seems like a trade-off worth making.
The first and easiest friends I made at college were football fans; a studious examination of a newspaper back page during the lunch hour of the first day in a new job usually provokes some kind of response. And yes, I am aware of the downside of this wonderful facility that men have: they become repressed, they fail in their relationships with women, their conversation is trivial and boorish, they find themselves unable to express their emotional needs, they cannot related to their children, and they die lonely and miserable. But you know, what the hell? If you can walk into a school full of eight hundred boys, most of them older, all of them bigger, without feeling intimidated, simply because you have a spare Jimmy Husband in your blazer pocket, then it seems like a trade-off worth making.
Thursday, October 09, 2003
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