Author: cdwan

Wow, I think that in some states I’m now common-law married to the TSA agent who just frisked me. That was easily the most insulting, aggressive, and least effective search I’ve ever endured.

I’m okay with security measures that make me safer. That’s great. This was some other sort of power trip where they sneered “sir” at me. “Theenk yhoo, shir.” I just kept saying “yes,” “okay,” “yes.” Apparently my bad attitude started to show, because the guard felt the need to inform me that “sir, you consented sir to all searches, sir, when you bought the ticket. I’m only being polite, sir, when I ask your permission, sir.”

The shoes thing still gets me. Making me take off my shoes is just some sort of fetishistic power trip. These guys (and girls) just like to see my footsies. Pisses me off. Usually I’m okay to just relax and accept that I have to take off my shoes…but coupled with the sneering “sir” and the snatching-my-laptop-and-wandering-out-of-my-view act, it got to me today.

And yet, ineffective. Totally useless in terms of preventing danger from entering the plane. Utterly useless in terms of preventing someone from lurking at the end of the runway with an RPG, or connecting a landmine (no metal except the firing pin, ceramic case) to a cell phone and putting it in the checked luggage..and then not even getting on the plane. It does *nothing* except to see who’s got his testosterone all up. Maybe that’s the point…challenge us and see who won’t back down and be quiet. Take the agressive males out of the line and see if they can be provoked enough to be put down.

All the sneering and taking off of shoes…it doesn’t make me any safer. That’s what gets me the most. A mom, carrying her baby, had to put down the baby and be searched with the same vigor I was. What the crap is that about?

Excellent weekend with amnesiadust. He was kind enough to host me and show me around the area. We indulged in our usual epic chess and card games, in some Lindy dancing at a regular outdoor event on the Cal campus, and in our by-now-traditional conversational meanderings on the best possible ways to take over the world. The jury is still out on whether the world can be saved, but it was a good time. Crepes this morning for breakfast. Yum.

Now, I’m sitting in Oakland airport, watching my flight get later and later. SouthWest is lying to itself that I’m going to make my connection. However, I’ve learned to put myself wholly in their hands. Passengers who approach the desk with wide eyed trust are frequently moved to other airlines and shipped home in a timely manner. If you bring your anger to the desk, you’re sleeping in the airport Mariott, and probably getting on the 5:30am flight tomorrow.

OAK is an okay airport, I guess. Sort of old, being renewed. It was designed for a smaller volume of travelers. The aisles are narrow, and the seating is lacking. Still, there’s wireless and jamba juice…so life is not so bad. Plus, people-watching in CA is fun.

And now, lyrics

Click me

Warning: German Metal and ASCII-Mation really make a weird combo.

Between the end of my work at Stanford and catching the CalTrain to see the House Jacks, I had a couple of hours to hang out. I decided that Palo Alto is a nicer place to chill than Redwood city, and wound up in the Stanford bookstore. I found a comfy chair in a corner of the basement, and read the first couple of chapters of each of several books.

My reading selections…

Saw the House Jacks at the Little Fox Theatre this evening, and they rock. Nothing unexpected there. HookSlide opened up for them. Hookslide might be best characterized as “three screaming tenors and a crazy beatbox / bass.” Fun was had by all.

I think I’m going to go to sleep now.

I was walking back from my gig at Stanford today (my hotel is on El Camino Real, just outside of campus) and I saw on a map that if I deviated just a bit, I could see the cactus garden and also something labeled the “Angel of Grief.” It was a decent hike, and so I had time to wonder what I would find. I assumed that it would be some sort of sculpture, but I had no preconceived notions of what a piece of art with that title might be like.

When I saw it, I understood, and It moved me. The angel is strong, swift, and powerful, yet she grieves. Head down on the alter. Was she powerless to prevent some specific tragedy, or is her grief for all of us and the misery in the world. If even angels grieve what does that say about me? The proximity to the Stanford medical center is undoubtedly intentional.

Thanks jrtom

http://selfdestruct.net/kitties/

I had forgotten about the weird beauty of California.

I’m an East Coast, Midwest kind of guy. I understand low hills and small trees. I understand geography shaped by eons of wind and rain, and plants shaped by harsh winters. I’m constantly amazed by how big plants will get if you don’t set them back with a nice solid frost except every 25 years or so. The people, too. It does something to them. Living without winter…it doesn’t make you happy, per se, but it does make you Californian.

Explored the mass transit systems of the bay area yesterday. To get from the Oakland airport out to Palo Alto took two bus rides and a train trip. I could have done it the other way around with one bus ride and two train trips…but either way it worked out to less than $10. My way cost me $6.75. A cabbie or a shuttle would have been at least $40. As an extra added bonus, I got to talk to this weird old vietnam vet on his way to the VA. He had “the vision,” see. He predicted that something would happen on Presidents day, and lo and behold, Arafat Died. His next prediction is to avoid sporting events on Thanksgiving day.

Class today went well. Three hours is a long time to hold forth from slides. My flip rate was over the top. 210 slides in three hours. No wonder they were glassy eyed at the end. Tomorrow, I hope it will be a bit more interactive.

The news today is just weird. Naked time on ABC? I’m sorry, but the fact that you can have a show called “Desperate Housewives,” but you can’t advertise it with a naked woman (what else is the show about?) is just silly. Failed self immolation at the white house, by an ex FBI informant? Bowflex machines recalled? And (perhaps weirdest) Grid computing made the front page of CNN today.

Weird.

So, I’ll be in CA the coming week, living my usual rock-star fantasy life:

The schedule

So, I move from the frozen, blasted tundra to the lush, near tropical East Coast. What happens? Another freakin’ ice age. We got two inches of dense, wet snow last night. People, it’s not even Thanksgiving. Is this normal? My understanding is that it has yet to snow (seriously) in either Michigan or Minnesota.

Friends from Michigan in town with their seven month old son, Trevor. He’s a cutie, but sort of moody. We interrupted his sleep patterns, and I suspect that they’re doomed to another night of trying everything at their disposal to get him to sleep. Oh well. That’s what guest rooms are for. We took them down to the Mystic Aquarium, which is a pretty rockin’ aquarium. Then to a surprise birthday party from my friend Peter.