chaos theory » General Chaos

Aug 16, 2011

Sean — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 03:43:53 +0000

Aug 16, 2011, a set on Flickr.

Zen Cat, warm light

Sean — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 02:18:07 +0000

Zen Cat, warmer light, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Cats can lick their noses.

Sean — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 00:37:22 +0000

Untitled, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Screech Owl

Sean — Tue, 03 May 2011 01:29:12 +0000

Screech Owl, originally uploaded by packetrat.

YouTube Not Just for Cat Videos Anymore

Sean — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:07:08 +0000

Google/YouTube is apparently in negotiations to stream NHL and NBA games live, turning the video site into an on-demand sports network, as CNN reports (Sports fans could soon tune in to YouTube – CNN.com ). Of course, CNN can’t let the story pass without a catty swipe: “Lately, weve been seeing YouTube seemingly getting more serious about being an entertainment hub, rather than a forum for cat videos.”

Google Translate Beatbox

Sean — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 20:05:18 +0000

Google Translate. Click “listen”, and hear Google get all old-school.

Veteran’s Day

Sean — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:33:38 +0000

Sometimes, but rarely, it comes up in conversation with someone that I was a Naval officer at one point in my life. Usually, it’s at some industry event–especially at the defense industry events, where it’s hard not for it to come up in conversation. But the nature of how people react to that information has changed so much over the past 20 years that it now sometimes makes me uncomfortable. That’s because even though I at one point served in a combat zone, and have a Navy Expeditionary Medal buried somewhere in a box to prove it, I never really thought of myself as a “veteran”–that was a label that belonged to my grandfather.

Me, in 1987 on the bridge of the USS Iowa in New York City

My grandfather served in World War II, fighting in Europe from D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge. He was battlefield commissioned, rose to 1st Lieutenant, and received a medical retirement from the Army after the war. And despite the memorabilia he kept on shelves, he never really talked about it that much.

I, on the other hand, served during other sorts of conflict. I was aboard a battleship escorting Kuwaiti tankers during Operation Earnest Will, and then was in Panama in the days leading up to the short conflict with Noriega. I never fired a weapon in anger, and the closest I ever got to personal danger were those hours spent with a gas mask on as we traversed the Straits of Hormuz waiting for an Iranian missile attack or for a mine to explode.

So, I didn’t view my military record as being anything worth noting. At the time I got out of the service, the Gulf War was still over the horizon, and the military was trimming back. I hadn’t exactly been a model for success in the Navy–my most notable achievement was managing to avoid being killed by a combination of stubbornness, dumb luck and my fundamental unsuitability to military service.

And most people just treated my time in the Navy as a curiosity–until 2001. And suddenly, being a veteran meant something different.

When people started saying, “Thank you for your service”, I felt like an impostor. It felt like being thanked effusively for a gift that I hadn’t given, or one that I had purchased at the last minute and wrapped badly. All I did was make a few Omani smugglers nervous and make them jettison whatever they were carrying in their dhow.

As the ”thank you for your service” greeting became more and more like a political genuflect, it began to irritate me. It not only served as a reminder of how my own service seemed less than deserving of thanks, but it rang hollower, less sincere with each repetition, like an American flag lapel pin hastily added to an Italian wool suit.

At the same time, I started to have a little more perspective on what it means to be a veteran. While it may have taken years to take hold, the whole experience of serving with others in the cause of our country (be she right or wrong) fundamentally changed me as a person.

I look at the snapshot my mother took of me on the bridge of the Iowa 23 years ago, just as I was really beginning to understand what I had gotten myself into, and I don’t recognize myself. That was me before the turret explosion, and before Panama, and before a lot of other things that would transpire in the years that followed. I want to shake Ensign Gallagher by the lapels and tell him to square himself away.

There’s a whole new crop of veterans now whose service dwarfs my own. And again, I feel like an impostor when I’m counted among them as a veteran. But while I may not share their particular experiences, I at least feel like I can understand how they’ve been changed by it, in a way that only those who’ve served in the military can. So I’ll thank them for their service, and mean it.

Ides of March

Sean — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:39:50 +0000

Ides of March, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Damn. Glenn Beck found me out.

Sean — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:59:18 +0000

Siblings.

Sean — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:31:18 +0000

Siblings., originally uploaded by packetrat.

Staring 45 in the face

Sean — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:41:49 +0000

Caterpillar on the grape

Sean — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:24:17 +0000

Caterpillar on the grape, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Mr. Fuzz dines on grapeleaf salad.

Sean — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:14:06 +0000

Mr. Fuzz dines on grapeleaf salad., originally uploaded by packetrat.

I went out to retrieve the paper the other morning, and saw this caterpillar working through a broad grapeleaf on my handrail. He was a leisurely diner, and still there when I returned with my camera.

M is for Manhole

Sean — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:58:53 +0000

M is for Manhole, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Jones Falls under Jones Falls (Expressway)

Sean — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 23:26:21 +0000

_MG_6361, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Bustin’ out bricks

Sean — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:14:57 +0000

Bustin’ out bricks, originally uploaded by packetrat.

You can’t wall over Baltimore’s red-brick soul, apparently.

Sunrise on the Hereford Water Tower

Sean — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:12:34 +0000

Sunrise on the Hereford Water Tower, originally uploaded by packetrat.

The mists of soccer-tryout

Sean — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:11:40 +0000

The mists of soccer-tryout, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Arriving just before 7 am at Hereford School (after getting up at gods hour in Hampden) to drop off my son for soccer tryouts, we discovered tryouts didn’t start until 8– and the field was barely visible.

Cavy love

Sean — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 01:37:17 +0000

Cavy love, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Small Mammals, in the house

Sean — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 01:36:04 +0000

Hyrax, originally uploaded by packetrat.

We got brief relief from the sun at the zoo in the Small Mammal House, where this hyrax was demonstrating the leg-dangle chill with the 100-yard stare. I often wonder how even small mammals can deal with the boredom and stress of being in the same space all day long, every day. And then I look around my office….

Spineless

Sean — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 01:32:43 +0000

cuttlefish, originally uploaded by packetrat.

The place to be last Saturday in DC was the National Zoo, and apparently everyone got the memo. We tried to slip into the Invertebrates exhibit, but anyone with an endoskeleton could not move around much. That bit of over-strained air-conditioning and claustrophobia inducing closeness came quickly to an end.

However, we did get a chance to say hello to the cuttlefish before we dashed off to see the vertebrates outside.

Great Moments in Education: a 5th graders’ Black History Month “Wax Museum”

Sean — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 18:52:33 +0000

Last night, as we were driving back from a day at the Smithsonian, I heard laughing from the back seat. Jonah and Zoe were listening to Jonah’s iPod, and he had found a recording I had made of him while driving home from school 4 years ago. I had Paula plug his iPod into the stereo, and we discovered it was a recording of me interviewing him about his experience with his St. Pius X School Black History Month Presentation (MP3 linked-beware of poppy, crappy audio).

Some background: Apparently, rather than taking a bunch of kids from a mostly-affluent, mostly-caucasian Catholic elementary to Baltimore’s National Great Blacks in Wax Museum, the 5th grade teacher decided to have the students act as the school’s very own “wax museum”. Each of the students was supposed to dress as a particular African-American figure, and stand at their desk in the classroom as students from the other grades filed through. They were then supposed to give a minute presentation when someone pressed their hand with a finger, like they were some animatronic display.

This, as you might imagine, didn’t go very well. One of the students got in trouble for presenting as Ray Charles, and including information on his drug problems. Another (a boy) wanted to be Oprah, but wasn’t allowed to. One student dressed as George Washington Carver brought a basket of peanuts, which visiting students lined up to take (and which triggered an allergic reaction in one student–something that didn’t get reported in this interview). And 8th graders used the exercise as an opportunity to abuse the 5th graders, squeezing their hands hard instead of pressing their “buttons”.

Meanwhile, the 5th grade teacher hung out in the hallway, doing God knows what.

This exercise in insanity lasted more than two hours. When I asked him if he had learned anything, Jonah said, “That I never want to do Black History Month at St. Pius again.”

Crow

Sean — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:20:01 +0000

Crow, originally uploaded by packetrat.

“Chandelier”

Sean — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:47:28 +0000

Singing for his supper

Sean — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:10:52 +0000

Singing for his supper, originally uploaded by packetrat.

tag team

Sean — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:00:57 +0000

tag team, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Starling Mob corners the suet market

Sean — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:59:31 +0000

IMG_2716, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Hello, fledgie

Sean — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:57:10 +0000

Hello, fledgie, originally uploaded by packetrat.

1st wave starling fledgeling, perched on my window suet feeder.

Farmer’s Market Asparagus

Sean — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:35:00 +0000

_MG_2217, originally uploaded by packetrat.

…here’s the present.

Sean — Sun, 24 May 2009 15:26:15 +0000

…here’s the present., originally uploaded by packetrat.

I brought you a present…

Sean — Sun, 24 May 2009 15:25:36 +0000

I brought you a present…, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Mooch demands attention to his trophy

mantises!

Sean — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 02:56:53 +0000

mantises!, originally uploaded by packetrat.

stop

Sean — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:03:12 +0000

_MG_9189, originally uploaded by packetrat.

this explains the banking crisis

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:16:02 +0000

this explains the banking crisis, originally uploaded by packetrat.

“Retro Space Heater”…

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:13:28 +0000

"Retro Space Heater"…, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Hooray for Bargains

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:10:45 +0000

Hooray for Bargains, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Hooray for Bargains

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:10:45 +0000

Hooray for Bargains, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Tite Shoe

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:09:15 +0000

Tite Shoe, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Because a porch is like a living room…

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:50:51 +0000

Because a porch is like a living room…, originally uploaded by packetrat.

I know we do a lot of things on front porches in Hampden. But I’ve got to admit, this is the first time I’ve seen taxidermy on one.

Someone always has to ruin the pattern.

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:45:33 +0000

Someone always has to ruin the pattern., originally uploaded by packetrat.

Setup for next Jackass stunt.

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:44:20 +0000

Setup for next Jackass stunt., originally uploaded by packetrat.

Funny, I don’t see Bam around…

Mooch at the door

Sean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:43:03 +0000

Mooch at the door, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Our steady customer, back for more.

The jersey wall of misfit toys

Sean — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:35:23 +0000

The jersey wall of misfit toys, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Mayor Dixon does not look amused

Sean — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:08:11 +0000

Mayor Dixon does not look amused, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Lucky penny

Sean — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 12:40:33 +0000

Lucky penny, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Lucy the cat,

Sean — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 03:07:14 +0000

DSCN0709.JPG, originally uploaded by packetrat.

See previous post.

Fall has fell

Sean — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 21:05:11 +0000

_MG_7007.JPG, originally uploaded by packetrat.

No Va

Sean — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:38:22 +0000

So, the Woodrow Wilson Bridge is now my nemesis

Return from the Wilderness

Sean — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 02:14:20 +0000

OK, I haven’t been gone, really. But let me just say that when you work at home like I do, and things go wrong with one part of the work/life balance, it all goes to shit.

I have no one to blame, really, but myself. Just because you can do a job doesn’t mean that you should take the damned thing. And sure, the first six months were filled with energy, ego-stroking attention, and other good things.

But the travel killed me. It really did. And the more I travelled, the less I slept, the less energy I had, the more introverted I became, the more useless to pretty much every freaking person in the universe I became. I imploded.

Unfortunately, I denied much of it up until the end. And then one day, WOOSH, it crushed me into a little tiny ball and spit me out.

I should have seen it coming. But few trapped inside the event horizon can see beyond it. Thankfully, the collapse freed me from the things that had prevented me from seeing the problem — a problem that, admittedly, I’ve struggled with before. I had fallen down the not-writing rabbit hole again, and it took all my creativity and ability to think rationally along with it.

And now I have emerged. Well, I emerged last month, really, but I’m still sorting my shit out.

And here’s what I’ve sorted so far:I have to write to live. It has to be the center of my daily existence — it can be for work, or for myself, but I have to write every day. It isn’t a luxury; it’s essential to my sanity.

Call me “Timon” and I’ll claw your eyes out.

Sean — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 01:10:15 +0000

Call me "Timon" and I’ll claw your eyes out., originally uploaded by packetrat.

porcupine sleeping on the job at the National Zoo

Sean — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 01:09:01 +0000

porcupine sleeping on the job at the National Zoo, originally uploaded by packetrat.

pika pika (er…degu degu?)

Sean — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 01:08:58 +0000

As CS points out in comments, these don’t have visible tails, so I’m guessing these were actually degus and the display plate was wrong, or I just remembered it wrong.

pika pika, originally uploaded by packetrat.

pika

Sean — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 01:07:28 +0000

pika, originally uploaded by packetrat.

albino cockroach king

Sean — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 01:06:05 +0000

albino cockroach king, originally uploaded by packetrat.

At the National Zoo’s invertebrate exhibit.

Looking Back: Science Fair Projects Gone Wrong, March 2003

Sean — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 14:26:48 +0000

Ninjas love pesto

Sean — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:14:13 +0000

Ninjas love pesto, originally uploaded by packetrat.

It reminds Pocket Ninja of wasabi, only oilier — so he can use it to sustain himself *and* pick locks.

Ninjas Don’t Mind Knockwurst

Sean — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:13:10 +0000

Ninjas Don’t Mind Knockwurst, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Pocketninja with a fan

Sean — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:12:51 +0000

Pocketninja with a fan, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Ninjas need choclolate too

Sean — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:12:19 +0000

Ninjas need choclolate too, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Ninja infiltrates Wegmans Garden Department

Sean — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:11:55 +0000

Ninja infiltrates Wegmans Garden Department, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Snoh Boh Man

Sean — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 17:24:11 +0000

DSCN1654.JPG, originally uploaded by packetrat.

the perfect Hampden snowman, if I do say so myself.

Really Big Apple

Sean — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 18:16:08 +0000

Really Big Apple, originally uploaded by packetrat.

Vermont Curry?

Sean — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 18:15:34 +0000

Multimedia message, originally uploaded by packetrat.

No comment.

Sean — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 18:14:52 +0000

No comment., originally uploaded by packetrat.

At Han Ah Rheum.

hello dali

Sean — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 16:05:11 +0000

hello dali

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

A little bit of phun with photobooth on my new iMac.

Food on the couch

Sean — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 22:26:58 +0000

Food on the couch

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

the tableau on the sofa at Atomic Pop, Benn and Rachel’s new store

Mud & Metal

Sean — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 22:24:55 +0000

Mud & Metal

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

A display at the new location of Hampden’s arts & crafts shop

Expired

Sean — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 22:24:00 +0000

Expired

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Amtrak sucks

Sean — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 23:22:42 +0000

Amtrak sucks

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

“All Reserved Train”, my ass. There aren’t enough seats; they must be short a car.

Stand Back

Sean — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 22:20:11 +0000

Stand Back

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Now Boarding

Sean — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 22:19:49 +0000

Now Boarding

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Track 3

Sean — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 22:19:07 +0000

Track 3

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Newark, thou art Hell. I’m at Newark Penn waiting for a train home, after slogging back from Somers, NY in a rental car to EWR and having to travel north one stop (for *$7*, for chrissake) on NJT to catch an Amtrak that’s a half hour late.

beware

Sean — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 22:15:30 +0000

beware

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Double negative

Sean — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 22:14:49 +0000

Double negative

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Um….. yeah.

Extra Fish

Sean — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 17:27:53 +0000

Extra Fish

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Flying Tigers

Sean — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 17:26:26 +0000

Flying Tigers

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Knoebels Bling

Sean — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 17:25:25 +0000

Knoebbels Bling

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Uh…. yeah.

Free ride for the brass-ring snatcher

Sean — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 17:23:31 +0000

Free ride for the brass-ring snatcher

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

J. scored the carousel brass ring and a free ride yesterday during our farewell to summer at Knoebels.

Kindergarten Commences

Sean — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 23:14:28 +0000

Kindergarten Commences

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

…and for that matter, school of all sorts. ZoÃ« has her first full day of Kindergarten on Tuesday, and P, K & J are back to the full grind. I’m the only one not lugging a bag of books to school in this house.

Baltimore’s own Web 2.0 and blogging extravaganza

Sean — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 22:58:14 +0000

Come sign up to help make Foosball Camp, the ad-hoc technology and web meet-up in Baltimore on December 8, 9, and 10, a reality, fellow Balti-bloggers.

Special Letters Unit

Sean — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 20:36:17 +0000

All your snakes are belong to us

Sean — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 18:06:13 +0000

Seizures = fun?

Sean — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 13:01:05 +0000

Fun!

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Fresh Start

Sean — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 02:20:45 +0000

I started a new job today. The old job had become something of an exercise in co-dependency, with no prospects of improving, and I had to stop being an enabler.

Once I gave my notice, it was like a gauze that had shrouded the world had been removed. The world seemed brighter somehow, its hues intensified by the absence of bullshit.

Quitting a job is one of the few empowering moments most people get in their lives — they are able to demonstrate their worth to an employer by denying him of it. It’s even more empowering when you leave to take a job where you can finally feel you’re getting the chance to show what you’re capable of, rather than what someone just needs you to do five days a week.

The new job is almost revolutionary in the ways it is different. Here’s hoping I still feel that way in a year.

Global warming? What global warming?

Sean — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 16:30:37 +0000

Global warming? What global warming?

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

I have left the building

Sean — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 15:47:52 +0000

I have left the building

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Don’t ship chocolate swag in summer

Sean — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 15:46:19 +0000

Don’t ship chocolate swag in summer

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Salesforce.com sent me a press release that arrived on a 100-degree day. Enclosed–something brown and molten.

Mean Motor Scooter

Sean — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 01:46:04 +0000

Mean Motor Scooter

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Something’s in the air

Sean — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 02:38:46 +0000

bird on wire redux

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Patiently, I am waiting. There’s been a shift in the wind, and I can feel an uplift coming. I just have to wait a little longer…

Beaux Arts and Indigo

Sean — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 01:42:55 +0000

Beaux Arts and Indigo

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Got booty?

Sean — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 01:40:20 +0000

Got booty?

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

We’re on the train from NYC. Zoe scored some Pirate’s Booty at the Whole Foods at Union Square, and she’s willing to share.

bloo crabs at Han ah Reum

Sean — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:35:46 +0000

bloo crabs at Han ah Reum

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

wave your claws in the air like you just don’t care… Look out! The TONGS are back!

Butt chunks

Sean — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:34:51 +0000

Butt chunks

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Somebody in marketing must have spent minutes coming up with that name.

Assorted fruit aspic

Sean — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:34:00 +0000

Assorted fruit aspic

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

uh….

Vegetable balls

Sean — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:33:09 +0000

Vegetable balls

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

mmmmm, crunchy.

Pepper

Sean — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 21:32:27 +0000

Pepper

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Han Ah Reum is like a food museum.

Empire

Sean — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 11:52:59 +0000

Empire

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

yeah, yeah, I have a camera phone now. Yeah, yeah, I’m an idiot with it.

Appetizer

Sean — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 11:52:04 +0000

Appetizer

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

…to dinner in NYC, Monday night at the Black Duck in Flatiron.

Bird(s) on a wire

Sean — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 11:50:13 +0000

This is my van.

Sean — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 11:46:39 +0000

This is my van.

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

…and don’t even think about moving it.”

mooch on roof

Sean — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 11:45:19 +0000

mooch on roof

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Roland Park Presbyterian

Sean — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 11:44:07 +0000

Roland Park Presbyterian

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Poolboy returns, burnt

Sean — Tue, 30 May 2006 02:03:11 +0000

Poolboy returns, burnt

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Stylest

Sean — Fri, 26 May 2006 01:02:54 +0000

Stylest

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

The Ash Wednesday EZ-Pass lane

Sean — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 14:02:00 +0000

Sean on Ash Wednesday

Originally uploaded by ryanaraine.

I was in NY for work on Ash Wednesday. As I was uptown around noon, I figured I’d catch noon mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. When I got there, I saw that the church had set up an express lane, labelled “Ashes Only”.

Here I am back at the office, as captured by Ryan Naraine.

“Remember that thou art from ashes, and to ashes thou shalt return.” Ash Wednesday is the most existential of the church’s rituals.

Happy boy.

Sean — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 03:03:43 +0000

Continue reading →

For “Entrances to Hell”

Sean — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 02:41:30 +0000

For "Entrances to Hell"
Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Continue reading →

Working in a blog mine

Sean — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 15:17:01 +0000

I’ve been a little busy. You know, putting up a fleet of new sites for my day job powered by RSS and weblogs. These new sites were hand-crafted with XSLT and convert RSS feeds into dynamic content. It took about three days of development and design work to pull them together, and about 15 minutes each to deploy.

The only problem now is teaching my colleagues the finer points of blog style.

Fly Away Squid

Sean — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 03:42:49 +0000

OK, does anyone else find it vaguely creepy casting that Jeff Daniels, who was cast as the father of Anna Paquin in Fly Away Home, is sleeping with her in The Squid and the Whale? I can see the trailer mash-up coming… especially the quick cut from Anna Paquin as a child with Daniels, to her uttering her line in “Squid”: “I always wondered what it would be like to f*** you.”

Art-deco Cyclops

Sean — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 01:06:59 +0000

DSCN1540.JPG

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

I look at this, and I hear….“EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!”

big wheels

Sean — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:50:22 +0000

DSCN1533.JPG

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Choo Choo

Sean — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:49:26 +0000

DSCN1532.JPG

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

If you need anything, just whistle

Sean — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:45:18 +0000

DSCN1571.JPG

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Train in Vain

Sean — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:44:44 +0000

DSCN1573.JPG

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

On the parking lot sidings of the B&O museum

Happy New Year.

Sean — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 03:41:27 +0000

A week late, but, hey, I’m lucky to be blogging at all.

So, big changes come with the new year. I’m now the point of the spear for my company’s weblog and Web 2.0 strategy, which basically means that I’m no longer managing editorial products–I’m writing the code to drive them, or dictating the architecture of how they’re put together. Hopefully, this means I’ll get to do some interesting writing as well.

On the personal front, well…

I’ll try to catch up on everything here over the course of this week. When I’m not in NYC, that is.

babysitting

Sean — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 01:34:55 +0000

ok, here’s how weird my life is. I’m sitting on my couch right now, with a baby sacked out on me…my ex-wife’s baby. P. and I are sitting while my ex and her husband are at a company holiday party.

organ

Sean — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 01:06:43 +0000

organ

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

the flower girl, in her cape

Sean — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 01:05:25 +0000

the flower girl, in her cape

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Fixed OPML

Sean — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 22:14:24 +0000

…by downloading a fresh copy. Not exactly the fix I was looking for…

By “fixed”, I mean I am now able to post to my thus-far experimental blog at blogs.opml.org.

fin

Sean — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 17:51:33 +0000

fin

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

fish eye

Sean — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 17:49:16 +0000

fish eye

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

scales

Sean — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 17:47:16 +0000

scales
Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Rescue wounds

Sean — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 17:46:30 +0000

Rescue wounds
Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Giver of Grief

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 14:08:12 +0000

Giver of Grief
Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Desi escaped Tuesday night when he got spooked by the storm and the wind blew the door open. He didn’t go far, but I looked for him almost all of Wednesday, and when I spotted him Wednesday night he was scared and cold. He took a nice piece out of my hand when K. and I finally coaxed him out from under a neighbor’s porch.

Clash of the seasons

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 14:07:11 +0000

Clash of the seasons
Originally uploaded by packetrat.

what a view

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 14:06:31 +0000

what a view
Originally uploaded by packetrat.

On Guard

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 14:05:48 +0000

On Guard
Originally uploaded by packetrat.

mystery object

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 14:01:50 +0000

mystery object

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

formstone

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 13:59:08 +0000

formstone

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Dents

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 13:58:31 +0000

Dents

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Waiter, my water is frozen

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 13:57:04 +0000

Waiter, my water is frozen

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Fault lines

Sean — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 13:40:06 +0000

Fault lines

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Flickr Fragfest

Sean — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 20:09:40 +0000

Freakin’ Flickr. Obviously , they’re having growing pains today. I was in the midst of uploading a morning photo walk’s results (a stroll through Hampden alleys on trash day with Mooch the Cat), and the Uploadr app crapped out. As it turned out, it was the server that crapped out– I went up to try to fix things, and Flickr’s AJAX / Flash interface informed me that they had lost track of my data for the moment.

Podcast-o-rama

Sean — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 17:15:05 +0000

I’m testing the podcast capabilities of the OPML editor.
But apparently, the “Add Link” capability doesn’t work with the WordPress workspace. So, I’ll manually add it :my test podcast.

Fragging with Dave

Sean — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 16:43:33 +0000

So, I’m messing with Dave Winer’s latest blog tool effort, OPML, and his WordPress interface. I’ve got it working now. If you’re a fan of outline-based editing, or a FrontierScript freak, or someone who likes to screw around with new tech, this is a big deal. Of course, you’ve actually got to plumb the depths of the comments on the support blog to figure out how to get the thing to work, but this should be no surprise to folks who’ve worked with, say, Radio in the past.

Another side benefit: OPML is licensed under GPL.

On the somewhat ironic side: while my interface to WordPress is working fine after a few tweaks, I haven’t been able to get my OPML blog on Dave’s host to update for days.

Catharsis Day

Sean — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 03:17:08 +0000

OK, today totally ran me through the ringer.

It was P.’s birthday today. But one of our housecats managed to escape last night when a gust of wind blew a door open, so I spent a good amount of time gnashing my teeth over that. Plus, there’s some whacked shiznit going down at work, which basically puts me in the position of delivering some very bad news to some folks.

At the end of the day, the cat was recovered (but I got some lacerations of the hand in the process). So at least karmically things are on the upswing. Plus I get to keep my job. W00t.

Driven to distraction

Sean — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 16:51:27 +0000

Work has been all about coding lately, rather than writing. All you have to do is look here to see what I’ve been coding: the new blog platform for my day job. It’s a work in progress.

hung well?

Sean — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 14:22:11 +0000

hung well?

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

After a rousing mass and a pancake breakfast at church (cooked with bottled water, as a watermain blew), I grabbed prints of some of my “urban desolation” photo collection and went over to Holy Frijoles in Hampden. We’re having a Baltimore Flickr Group photo exhibit there through December, with a reception on November 22. That’s a Tuesday.

(Maybe we should do a Blogger meetup at the reception?)

See no Weevil

Sean — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 13:41:26 +0000

See no Weevil

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

podcast

Sean — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 13:25:13 +0000

podcast

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

the milkweed invented podcasting before Dave Winer or Adam Curry did.

Little Devil

Sean — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 13:19:27 +0000

Little Devil

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

what was that noise?

Sean — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 20:25:33 +0000

what was that noise?

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Zoe stars in “The Cylburn Witch Project”

Scratch Chin, Please

Sean — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 20:24:14 +0000

Scratch Chin, Please

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Trick or treat?

Sean — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 20:01:16 +0000

Boo!

Another GarageBand jam session

Sean — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 20:14:00 +0000

Here’s another work in progress: Twilight.

Anyone can play guitar

Sean — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 18:20:10 +0000

Over lunch today, since I was wearing flannel and listening to 8-bit tunes, I was inspired to crunch out something I’m calling GrungeTronica v. 0.1 (still in beta). I have to add to and sculpt this some more, but it’s … Continue reading →

Iraqization

Sean — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 21:34:18 +0000

For those of you who are either old enough to remember it (not me, quite) or students of history, there was a bit of news that might sound like deja vu today:

US may reduce troops in Iraq: envoy (Reuters): “

Reuters – President George W. Bush’s envoy to
Iraq predicted on Wednesday that some U.S. troops may be pulled
out of Iraq over the next year, a day after the grim news broke
that 2,000 Americans had been killed in the war.

”

(Via Yahoo! News: Iraq.)

Thirty years ago, Nixon tried Vietnamization to get our asses out of Vietnam. It didn’t go very well. Now, Nixon II, er, Dubya is getting ready to roll out the same strategy to get our asses out of Iraq.

Good luck, pal.

crow at druid hill resevoir

Sean — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 21:16:38 +0000

crow at druid hill resevoir

Originally uploaded by packetrat.

Bawlmer Flickr Show Candidates

Sean — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 16:02:49 +0000

doors
Originally uploaded by packetrat.

There’s a Baltimore Flickr Photo Show coming up at Holy Frijoles in Hampden, and I’m trying to pick which photos I’m going to display. They’re all Baltimore-themed (well, one is kinda marginally Baltimore themed), but I need some feedback about which ones I should frame for the show. You can see all the photos here; please give me some feedback.