Last time I wrote, I talked about how I was getting into using a planner to prioritize my days' tasks and my short and long term goals. Part of this whole thing involves basing my priorities on the things I really believe in and the person I want me to be. My "governing values." This is something, maybe, that a lot of folks do automatically, but I doubt it. I know very few folks who actively live their proclaimed principles. That's what this is about... setting the bar for myself and living it. Governing Values are meant to be a combination of things you think you are, things you want to be, and things others consider you to be. They're a goal in and of themselves, really. Here are mine. 1. I am truthful. This means I don't lie, and I'm honest with my opinions. This is more of a challenge than you might think... we live in a culture where small fibs and white lies are encouraged. Just the other day, I spaced out and thought I was due at work an hour later than I was scheduled. When I got there, my peers all agreed (without my prompting)…

It's a "blustery day" here in the high desert: the wind is moaning around the corners of the house, and the sky outside my window is striped with steel gray and pale blue. Down the hill, I bet it's raining. In the house, I finally gave in and turned on the heater. We've been trying our best to go the "more clothes, cheaper bills" route, but damn it, I can barely type, my fingers are so cold. It's January 1st. I don't pay much heed to holidays. I don't belong to any of the religions that dictate when banks and schools close, so Christmas, just past, meant little to me other than a light at the end of my retail-hell tunnel. That said, I find myself investing meaning in the turn of this year. We make our own rituals, our own landmarks and signposts on the calendar, too. I've believed that for years. So it's the first of January. I feel it. I haven't made resolutions in some time, and I'm not going to start now. I have, however, set myself some goals for the coming year, in no particular order: -- Finish archiving all the music I've produced from…

I'm beginning to notice something about myself: I've been rediscovering the justice-seeking, idealistic person I once was. It's an odd thing, to notice yourself caring more about certain issues, to seek out opportunities to do something because it's right, or because it needs "righting." I think I'm making up for past lapses in my own ethics. Huh. I'm living the anti-hero archetype. Interesting.

Well, I have withdrawn my troops from the field of operating system ideological warfare. The retreat is a strategic one forced by lack of sufficient resources and field tech. In other words -- I love Linux, I love the idea of "open source," I love the idea that tech is free so that ideas can flourish. Unfortunately, there are some areas (graphics, sound recording and editing) where Linux options are either too primitive or have a steep, steep learning curve. I spend less time creating and more time stopping, downloading, installing, configuring, reading, learning, and settling for a difficult and counter-intuitive solution. I believe in Linux. I want the concept to succeed; I want everyone to use it and open source software. Someday. In the mean time, my own creative needs require that I spend more time doing and less time trying to figure out how to (or if I can) do it. So. It's back to Windows. For now. Damn it.

I just finished trimming my blog-style MWS Media site down to one page. See, I came to the realization that, while I strongly believe in the DIY ethos, and while I'm so into supporting the indie movement that I switched to Linux and I don't use mp3s (go Ogg Vorbis -- it's open source and free of patents!), I wasn't the right person to be hosting a web site supposedly promoting all that stuff. There are others who do it better! What I do is write stuff, edit other people's stuff, and create music. So now MWS Media simply leads visitors to where that's all happening. Learning to focus and hone the edge of my passions is quite possibly my life lesson. Okay, one of them..!

I made a pleasant discovery a couple of days ago -- a two-dvd set from Mike Peters, the old frontman and founding member of the Alarm. Apparently recorded on the twentieth anniversary of the band's formation, it's Mike telling the story of the band from start to finish, with a nifty slideshow and thirty six! songs performed solo acoustic. Yeah, I know -- if you remember the Alarm at all, it's because of their faux Bob Dylan western outfits, their forty foot hair, and the video of "68 Guns." Their music might be a little dated, it's true, but I learned how to play guitar from their first two albums. They showed me that acoustic music can be punk as shit, say something real, and have heart, all at once. Also, they remind me of the bond I had with an old friend, and the music we played together. That friend and I have ideological differences that I think keep us from being too close these days, but we still keep in touch, and I still credit him with shaping much of my musical creative style. We played a lot of Alarm covers those days. When I see Mike Peters…

Well, I've been off work on vacation since the 7th, and tomorrow I return. What did I accomplish this last week? Well. I managed to set up my desktop computer with Linux and Windows 2000 more or less the way I want it -- Linux on the larger hard drive, Windoze on the smaller. I'd be all Linux, all the time, but there are just a couple of things it won't do just yet -- recognize my ancient digital camera, and run most of my audio recording and mixing software. When the Linux community catches up in those regards (or when I buy a better camera...) I'll be the first to jump on board. I want to be rid of Windows. I wrote the next column for Writers Unbound -- it's an ongoing series following my progress as I write a novel called "Brave Men Run." The idea is that writers who are even wetter behind the ears than I can learn from my successes and mistakes... I put most of my collections of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction up on E-Bay, something I'd wanted to do for a while. Bittersweet, deciding…

We never needed to have left our home. On Halloween night, it rained. It was perfect.

It's pretty creepy up here now. The animals -- we have four cats, a dog, and a turtle -- are getting weirded out. Okay, I don't know about the turtle, but you get the idea. The dog keeps wanting to go outside, where he just walks around and eats grass. The cats are whining. I've got a little air purifier running in the back of the house, cuz that's where I'm hanging out, but the air quality in the front of the house is noticeably worse... every window and door, including the flue of the fireplace, is closed, but the air outside is more smoke than air. There's still no fire in Hesperia. Heh. I said, "Still." There's no indication that there will be, but man, it's a little eerie out there. I've been pretty much stuck in the house (see exceptions in previous entries) and with the stars gone from the sky and the air fouled, I'm feeling a little boxed in. The darn animals are probably getting buggy cuz I'm getting buggy! There's a voluntary evacuation in a neighborhood about five miles southeast of here, and a mandatory evac a bit south of there near the Cajon Pass.…