The Peaceful Gnome

Trying to relax in her computer corner :-)

From some Bunnies: (sing to the tune of 12 Days of Christmas) On the First Day of Unschooling, My Wondering Eyes Did See . . .  A treehouse in a big tree Two tie-dye shirts Three French curse words Four bird calls Five ice cream sundaes (for breakfast!) Six hours of gaming Seven empty boxes Eight toddlers nursing Nine hula hoopers Ten trampolines Eleven LARPers LARPing Twelve teens a-texting

Some folks from SFBUN having more fun than is allowed :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7AR5dC9Prc&feature=youtube_gdata_player -- Larry Devich http://larry-devich.blogspot.com/ ---------------------------------- "It's not denial. I'm just very selective about what I accept as reality." Calvin ("Calvin and Hobbes")

So it's 38 degrees out and 11:00 PM so of course Serenity is at a Birthday Party outdoors! All Spanish speakers except for us :-). Happy 5th birthday to Chelsea!

OK, maybe the dude is right to be pissed... look at the stinking hole!  They really could have been killed.  That thing went all the way through the house!  Yikes.  Caption: An exit hole next to a 2nd floor window is seen in the rear of the house that the cannonball passed through when the "Mythbusters" TV show accidentally shot a cannonball through a house in Dublin, CA Tuesday December 6th, 2011.By Michael Short/Special to the Chronicle http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/12/06/BA1D1M99V5.DTL&object=/c/pictures/2011/12/06/ba-cannonball07_0504692324.jpg Full story is HERE. -- Larry Devich I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. Philippians 4:11b

I would be HONORED if the Mythbusters hit my car with a cannon ball!  This cry baby needs to get over it. I'm sure their insurance will cover the damages. :-) A story from SFGate.com : 'Mythbusters' cannonball hits minivan in Dublin Download the SFGate.com app for your iPhone from the App Store today! -- Larry Devich http://larry-devich.blogspot.com/ ---------------------------------- "It's not denial. I'm just very selective about what I  accept as reality." Calvin ("Calvin and Hobbes")

Now I know why there was an hour long power outage on the ride to work Sunday!  These people are NUTS! A story from SFGate.com : Copper thefts around tracks bedevil BART officials Download the SFGate.com app for your iPhone from the App Store today! -- Larry Devich http://larry-devich.blogspot.com/ ---------------------------------- "It's not denial. I'm just very selective about what I  accept as reality." Calvin ("Calvin and Hobbes")

A version of this was posted to the SFBUN mail list, I loved it so I posted it here as well.  This version is from Jane Bluestein's web site.   According the site  "this story was written when George Reavis was the Assistant Superintendent of the Cincinnati Public Schools back in the 1940s! This content is in the public domain and free to copy, duplicate, and distribute." The Animal School: A Fable by George Reavis Once upon a time the animals decided they must do something heroic to meet the problems of a “new world” so they organized a school. They had adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects. The duck was excellent in swimming. In fact, better than his instructor. But he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running. Since he was slow in running, he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in order to pract...

I just got home from St. Charles where we had an "Advent Evening of Reflection: Living the Peace of St. Francis" with Fr. Ed Shea, OFM.  It was wonderful.  I've been fascinated by Francis and the Franciscans for years and to see Fr. Ed in action was amazing :-)  I laughed, I cried (really) and I sang songs.  What more could you want?  Francis was all about Peace and Love and tonight was about how we can live out those things.  I wish I had a recording from tonight, I'd like to hear it again.  Years ago I went to a Franciscan monastery and asked about joining, having a kid to support disqualified me though ;-/  Just as well probably, besides, I wasn't Catholic then anyway so it was an Anglican Franciscan place... now that I'm becoming Catholic though I think I will look into the "Secular Franciscan Order" which is not living off in a monastery but is living a Franciscan life in the everyday world.   Once I'm done with RCIA I'll see about...

After writing my previous post I started thinking about all the "chit-chat" and small talk that people do.  Of course I don't do it because I'm terrible at it.  What is it that I do that is so wrong?  I can't see the spaces people leave for me to talk, they go past and I never realized they were there, when I do see what I think is an opening a couple of things can happen, usually, by the time I start to speak, someone else is already there talking so I never start.  The other thing that happens is I go ahead and talk and realize as I'm speaking that I've barged in on someone else's (all the dictionary software, spell check and Merriam Webster on line claim I can't write it that way, but how else can I write the possessive form of else?! It belongs to someone else, it is someone else's.  Bah!)  turn.  What ends up happening is that I sit quietly and listen, and so get the reputation of being a "good listener."  Whatever.  So I don...

Rachel, over at " Journeys with Autism ", wrote a great post yesterday titled " The Path That Chose Me ".  Several things jumped out at me as I read it, the first and biggest "Oh Yeah, that's me!" was this:  "...I was on the margins. I just didn’t fit. Even when I was standing next to them, I watched my family members over there , as though they were in the center of the room, relating to one another, and I was on the outside. For a long time, I was sure that I must have been adopted, because there was no one in the family who reminded me of myself at all." I'm like that in virtually all of my relationships, even though I feel like I want to connect I don't, in any group, no matter the size, it seems I'm always on the margin, on the outside looking in.  I don't fit into the spaces there, when I do squeeze in it feels as though I'm forcing myself into a shape that is not my own.  People have objected when I've ...

As I've mentioned before I'm in RCIA at St. Charles in Livermore .  I'm learning about the Catholic faith and enjoying it a lot.  One thing I've begun to do lately is to pray the Rosary.  I've done that before, I've owned a rosary for many years, it's made of olive wood from Israel.  I've prayed all sorts of different prayers using it, modifying it to make it a "Protestant" rosary.  Now I'm praying it in the traditional Catholic way and today as I was meditating on the Sorrowful Mysteries of Christ's Passion, I was struck with sorrow for my sins, for how much I've hurt others and how much I've hurt Jesus, what it cost Him to save me from sin.  In the past I was unsure of the value of a prayer like the Rosary, but it's become a part of my daily devotions that helps me to really calm myself and focus on Christ. Another thing I've found helpful for the last few weeks is praying the Liturgy of the Hours every day.  At fi...

Ah, the bankster vermin took us to the cleaners big time.  I'm going to open up an credit union account and ditch the Banksters... man, it's even worse than we thought, they made out like the bandits they are! The Federal Reserve and the big banks fought for more than two years to keep details of the largest bailout in U.S. history a secret. Now, the rest of the world can see what it was missing. The Fed didn't tell anyone which banks were in trouble so deep they required emergency loans of a combined $1.2 trillion on Dec. 5, 2008, their single neediest day. Bankers didn't mention that they took tens of billions of dollars at the same time they were assuring investors their firms were healthy. And no one calculated until now that banks reaped an estimated $13 billion of income by taking advantage of the Fed's below-market interest rates, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its January issue. Assets grew Total assets held by the six biggest U.S. banks i...

This is just so very cool I had to share it.  I found this on the xkcd store while browsing around... I love strange math ;-) Collatz Conjecture <<  1 / 2  >> This shirt is based on the chains of numbers that make up the fascinating  Collatz conjecture  (also known as 'hailstone numbers'). The conjecture states that if you take any number, and if it's even you divide it by two and if it's odd multiply it by three and add one, and you repeat this process indefinitely, no matter what number you start with, you will always end up at 1. The tree in the shirt shows the route that various numbers take to reach 1. The conjecture remains stubbornly unproven, and written in small letters at the base of the tree in the shirt is a quote about the conjecture attributed to Paul Erdos - "Mathematics is not yet ready for such problems."

As I stand, again, in the fog and cold in the median of I580 at the East Dublin BART station because the Wheels Bus deliberately stopped a quarter mile away to "stay on schedule" and thus ensure this unnecessary discomfort, I look forward with eager anticipation to living in an RV so that I never have to take public transportation again. Obviously "The Man" does not REALLY want people to use public transportation, like virtually everything else government says, this too is a LIE. -- Larry Devich http://larry-devich.blogspot.com/ ---------------------------------- "It's not denial. I'm just very selective about what I accept as reality." Calvin ("Calvin and Hobbes")

A VERY cool view of the Sistine Chapel, check it out: http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html

I'm usually very skeptical of ghost videos but this one got me, watch closely after the cat goes by and listen for the tapping sound, you might want to turn up your sound a bit to catch it.

All right, I guess I better get back on my bike...

So, being on Face Book again is annoying but it seems the only way to communicate with my family in a reasonably unobtrusive way, you all can look or not and I get to spout my nonsense at will.  So far so good. Then I run into stuff like this story and wonder if I should really just give it all up: Anil Dash: Facebook attacks the open Web, becomes a badware site By  Cory Doctorow  at 2:43 pm Tuesday, Nov 22 Anil Dash examines Facebook's latest navigational practices, which go beyond making a walled garden of its own content and begin to attack the open Web, including websites that incorporate Facebook's technology. Dash concludes that Facebook now meets the formal definition of a "badware" site -- the sites that generate those "Warning! This site may harm your computer" interstitial pages when you visit them -- and calls on browser vendors and Google to start displaying these warnings when users visit Facebook. Now, we've shown that Facebo...

Courts, police say pepper spray 'defensive' only Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, November 23, 2011 Print E-mail Share Comments  (158) Font   |  Size:  347 Wayne Tilcock / AP In this Friday, Nov. 18, 2011, photo University of California, Davis Police Lt. John Pike uses pepper spray to move Occupy UC Davis protesters while blocking their exit from the school's quad Friday in Davis, Calif. Two University of California, Davis police officers involved in pepper spraying seated protesters were placed on administrative leave Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011, as the chancellor of the school accelerates the investigation into the incident. IMAGES  View All Images  (6) The law frowns on police use of pepper spray against nonviolent demonstrators. More than a decade before last week's videotaped incident at UC Davis, a federal appeals court ruled in the case of North Coast logging protesters th...

Stopped for a minute to observe Occupy SF blocking Market, needed to go home. Maybe I'd have stayed if I was staying in the city.

Someone else shared this on FB... it seems to fit the times, again.

My previous posted video was sort of funny, this one involves police brutality so it's not quite so amusing, unless you are a vicious, fat, overpaid PIG who enjoys inflicting pain, which is pretty much ever stinking cop around it seems. Found the video in this story.

NCBI-ROFL is a blog I read regularly, it's on my Google Reader page.  It's always amusing but seeing the authors talk about it on YouTube was even funnier I think. :-)

Short reading Ephesians 4:29-32 Guard against foul talk; let your words be for the improvement of others, as occasion offers, and do good to your listeners, otherwise you will only be grieving the Holy Spirit of God who has marked you with his seal for you to be set free when the day comes. Never have grudges against others, or lose your temper, or raise your voice to anybody, or call each other names, or allow any sort of spitefulness. Be friends with one another, and kind, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ.

Land of the free, home of the brave, yeah right. http://www.bradleymanning.org/news/national-call-in-for-bradley In March of 2011, State Department spokesperson P.J. Crowley was forced to resign after he called Bradley Manning’s solitary confinement in the military brig at Quantico, VA “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.” Two people were chosen to replace him who would do a better job sticking to official talking points, instead of answering questions honestly and off the cuff. These people are Michael Hammer and Victoria Nuland. In reference to Bradley’s alleged actions, Victoria Nuland told the New York Times, “the United States strongly condemns any illegal disclosure of classified information… In addition to damaging our diplomatic efforts, it puts individuals’ security at risk, threatens our national security and undermines our effort to work with countries to solve shared problems.” This statement ignores the fact that released cables revealed secr...

First you need to watch this very cool video about symmetry in mathematics. I especially love the first pyramid of numbers they show: 1x8+1=9 12x8+2=98 123x8+3=987 1234x8+4=9876 12345x8+5=98765 123456x8+6=987654 1234567x8+7=9876543 12345678x8+8=98765432 123456789x8+9=987654321 How cool is that?!  That alone tells me there is a God! :-) Of course the last bit about Love of God = 101% is just for fun.  After all if you plug in some other words or phrases and use the same method many things come out far above the Love of God! For example: Paleoanthropology (the study of ancient humans as found in fossil hominid evidence) gives a score of 215% and thus is twice as powerful as the Love of God... according the video anyway. :-) P  A L  E  O A N  T  H R  O  P  O  L  O  G Y 16+1+12+5+15+1+14+20+8+18+15+16+15+12+15+7+25 =215%   HT: Mom!

I don't have cable TV so I wouldn't know about this sort of thing if not for great news sources like Boing Boing!  I was very pleased with the presentation here, you should watch this calm and clear explanation of what is going on. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908//vp/45316180#45316180 More on how NYPD hates books

What a cool idea.  Flush, then wash your hands.  You are less likely to not wash if the water is running right in front of you, right?  And the water then goes into the tank.  Again, simple and cool and good for the environment.

Watch 100 Year Old Dorothy Custer to wash out the bad taste of Congress from your mouth: The link below goes to the full segment: http://www.ktvb.com/news/local/Twin-Falls-woman-cracks-up-the-audience-on-The-Tonight-Show-124279749.html HT to Mom!  :-)

In case you are wondering why the Occupy movement exists you might check out Sunday's 60 Minutes episode about how Congresscritters and their Bankster friends abuse their power and screw us.  Really, if you haven't seen it, watch it now:

A cool story from Boing Boing: How autistic adults can contribute to science By  Maggie Koerth-Baker  at 11:19 am Monday, Nov 14 The downside to having a brain disorder: Your brain works differently than the majority of humans'. That can make it difficult to participate in society. It puts people at risk for poverty, abuse, and exclusion. The benefit to having a brain disorder: Your brain works differently than the majority of humans'. That means that you could have something really valuable to contribute to society, if society will make a space for you. Read the full story here:  How autistic adults can contribute to science

Not only am I on Facebook but I have a Twitter account!  @LarryDevich Ooh - Ahh!  And I'm on Google + as well.  If you use those things you can look for me on them...  Not that I will be posting that much... or maybe I will, who knows.   I go through phases on this writing stuff you know.

I was determined to drop Facebook and I did it. I was determined to stop posting to my blog and I did, for the last ten days. I must say I did not miss either of these things in the least. So why am I writing here now? It's all Lora's fault! She complained that I was no longer on Facebook now that she has finally started paying attention to it and actually reading her email every day. So, in order to support Lora's entry into the 21st Century I am back on Facebook, and since I'm back there I might as well go back to writing here as well. What the heck :-) So now I'm trying out Twitter Feed to see if posting on my blog can go automagically to FB and Twitter...

Oh my, the police are so very bright aren't they? "Unfortunately, this shirt seems to confirm that this is who Twin Rivers Police are and how they think, or at least some of them," Roberts said. "This doesn't speak highly of the culture of this department." Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/01/4020655/twin-rivers-police-association.html#ixzz1chEqCsmY

After days like today I really want to have an RV.  Not so much for the privacy but to avoid Public Transportation!  The BART and Bus system here is deliberately designed to ensure that every trip to the city takes as long as possible, is as frustrating as possible and is as uncomfortable as possible.  You would think "they" would want people to take transit, but "they" don't really want that at all!  "They" want to keep people in cars and on the roads, except for the very poor who have no other choice.  Why do I say this?  Because the buses here arrive at BART at the same time the train leaves, meaning you get to the platform to watch the train leave without you.  This means I wait the maximum possible amount of time standing in the cold on the platform, every single day.  In the same way on the way back BART arrives just in time for you to either sprint full tilt down the steps risking life and limb to catch a bus that is about to leave, or abo...

On the other hand just having an RV here would be very cool, the chance for impromptu camping trips, the chance to occasionally stay over in SF if I wanted to for some reason, the chance to just get away from the hustle and bustle of family in the thing, make me think that if I could get something parkable and cheap it would still be very much worth it.  Take for instance this thing I just saw on Craigslist, it's ugly as sin but cheap, customizable, parkable and would be perfect.  If only I had the cash now... ah well.  If I can locate something along these lines in size after I have the money, I may yet get one.  1985 CHEV Y VC BOXED VAN - $2500 (mission district) Date: 2011-10-23, 9:32PM PDT Reply to: sale-wpqrw-2665574021@craigslist.org [ Errors when replying to ads? ] 1985 CHEVY BOXED VAN VERY LOW MILES NEW PAINT JOB AIR SHOCKS , NEW BRAKES CUSTOM, STEERING WHEEL, STERO SEATS, GOOD TIRES ALL THE WAY AROUND DISSELE ENGINE IT IS KNOW REGISTERED ...

Serenity's friend, Terran, had a Mad Scientist themed party that included experiments requiring being outside and safety goggles. Everyone had a great time. :-)

I’m writing to you because I heard that you were interested in finding out what I am doing now that I’ve left Messiah Lutheran church.  It was not a sudden thing where I just jumped off of the boat at a whim because of some minor doubt, instead the whole edifice of Lutheranism, when founded upon the belief in Young Earth Creationism, which it is , as it is proclaimed in sermon and literature from the synod, simply crumbled to the ground when that foundation proved inadequate.  It seemed to me, and I still think this is true, that the position of the LCMS on evolution is, well, silly.  It was this issue that precipitated my rejection of the whole church actually. For a very short time when I left Messiah I went back to being an atheist, my default position for over ½ of my life.  When I returned to my default “unbeliever” position though I was not in a closed off frame of  mind but was again open to all options.  You see, for me unbelief was not a dogm...

Full recovery expected for injured protester Scott Olsen http://mobile.sfgate.com/sfchron/db_41685/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=biOQ7Ljh -- Larry Devich http://larry-devich.blogspot.com/ ---------------------------------- "It's not denial. I'm just very selective about what I accept as reality." Calvin ("Calvin and Hobbes")

For a while now I've been excited by my idea of saving money and gaining privacy by purchasing a used RV to live in while continuing to help Lora and JD pay the rent on the apartment.   Part of my calculation involved the amount I would "save" by not taking the bus and BART to work 7 times each pay period.  This amount seemed significant at first.  Until today when I decided to look at the expenses of the RV itself.  I did this after praying for guidance by the way, suddenly the thought came to me that I was leaving some important items out of my calculations.  So what have I realized?  I've realized that far from saving me money I would be spending even more!  Counting insurance on the vehicle, required by law and prudence both, gasoline to make the thing move and groceries to supply it while I'm away from my home base, I would be almost but not quite breaking even with my current transportation costs.  I would certainly NOT be saving any ...

This Veterans For Peace member (I'm also a member) was injured by the thuggish Oakland police last night.  Word is this protestor is in critical condition.  Nice to serve in Iraq and be rewarded by being brutalized by the cops while peacefully protesting... www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/10/25/18695124.php