Things I've learned from science fiction.

1. DON'T PANIC. The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy says so. Every situation is better served with calm reactions to events rather than paniced flailing.


2. Tell the truth. Even if it hurts. It's better that way. In Speaker for the Dead, most of the characters have spent their lives believing lies about themselves and each other that have made everyone miserable, hateful, abusive, etc. All of this changes when the truth is told, even though every character is profoundly hurt by the revelations Ender makes. As they consider who they are after they learn the truth, every person is better able to figure out who they really are, which makes them better able to be part of society. The concept of a speaker for the dead is VERY interesting to me. Basically the way it works is that when someone dies, or perhaps before, a speaker is called. The speaker's job is to learn the truth about that person. The deep truths, the things they wanted to do, the things they did that nobody knew about, what their motivations were, that sort of thing. Then, when they know that person, they tell that truth. No bullshit, no elevations to sainthood, just the truth. It's never all pretty, it's never all bad. It's also a whole lot easier to write a fictional story about than it would be to do in real life. In the book, all the character's lives are GREATLY made better by hearing the truth, which I think is always true.


3. Sometimes lies are more reliable than the truth. At the beginning of Ender's Game, Ender is told "This won't hurt a bit".


There are many more, but that, I think, is a good start.

Knee update.

So today I went to the doctor to hear the results of my MRI and X-rays. Upshot is I have a tiny tear in my meniscus and a bit of a sprain on my PCL. I have a prescription for a knee brace and some physical therapy, and he thinks I'm going to be fine after that. So the upshot is that I'm still going to retire from polo, but I"m not going to be stuck riding a recumbent for the rest of my life. YAY! I'm still going to be selling my singlespeed mountain bike 'cuz that's just asking for trouble, but I don't think this means I'll never go mountain biking again, which is what I was fearing. YAY!

Here we go.

I created this so I could post on a blog for my good friend and co-worker, KC Haywood, but I might as well use it I suppose.

Here goes. No bullshit.


I've been laying around the house for my two days off with a bum knee. It's swollen to about the size of a baseball, and standing on it all day at work DEFINITELY hasn't been helping any. I'm a bike mechanic, a bicycle polo player, WoW junkie, internet junkie, etc. I live with my girlfriend in a housing co-operative on the West Side (technically) of Chicago. I have a pretty damn decent life really. I have a job that I love, a girlfriend I love, more bikes than I REALLY need, a semi-functional computer, and a pretty damn nice place to live. I tend to be somewhat selfish with my time, doing what I want rather than what might be most important, but I'm working more towards the other end of the spectrum a lot more lately (past two days not included, but I'm gimpy, so I have.... fuckit, no bullshit).

A little over four years ago (May 1st, 2004) I cut about 3/8 of an inch off the end of my right index finger in a bike chain. I had been working nights at Office Max (again) and my life was pretty much terrible. I didn't make much money, I didn't get to see my friends much at all, my relationship was not that good, my housing situation was.... interesting, it was just not such a good time in my life. So, here's me, you see, having a kinda shitty life, destined for a whole lot of nothing, kinda like my dad, and one day, something terrible happens. Kinda.

So, after I get back from the hospital the second time, (they had to cut the bone down to close my finger, it was gnarly) I had to call Office Max and tell them I needed to take some medical leave, which they understood. My girlfriend, Sarah, spent a LOT of time with me, helping me with my finger (I didn't want to look at it, think about it, etc) and as time went on, we got more serious. I moved in with her. I had LOTS of spare time, since I wasn't working, but no money, so I couldn't waste my time at the movies or whatever, so instead I started to volunteer all the time at the Working Bikes Co-operative. They hired me on as one of the first three employees. A short while later, I was hired by Rapid Transit Cycleshop making shit money doing crappy work and learning SO MUCH. In the past four years Sarah and I have gotten more and more serious, my mechanical skills have gotten TONS better, and I've grown up a LOT, in large part due to my job, and I have my finger shortening to thank for it. I'm now damn good at my job, I have respect that I've earned, and I have plans for the future for basically the first time ever. Somewhere in there I misplaced my faith in God(where DID I put that?) and became agnostic, which also managed to spread to my views on politics, although I feel more strongly about politics than I do religion (I HATE politics).

So. Here we are. MY blog. That's who I am, or at least the bits that are easy to sum up.