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August 30, 2005
Technical Updates
A few technical changes today.
- I'm now running MoveableType 3.2, which let me delete all the TrackBack spam that I noticed this morning to my dismay (my occasionally-used acronym notwithstanding, this website endores neither bestiality, nor kinky sex, nor pharmaceuticals of dubious provenance. At least, not officially). It will hopefully also prevent outbreaks of the same in the future.
- Minor changes and a new picture on the about me page. The new photo can be clicked for a full-size version in a new window, a convention I intend to maintain in the future throughout the blog. Eagle eyes will notice that the default image position has shifted from left-of-the-text to right-of-the-text.
- I've updated my first experiment in photoblogging, the post Trailway to Heaven, to better match my new image conventions. Future SM.com photoblogging will follow this same scheme. Clicking the black links changes the image in the "pane" to the right; clicking the pane displays that image full-size in a new window. Or so it should work. Reports of JavaScript bugs, design feedback, etc. will be greatly appreciated.
Posted by David Richmond at 8:07 PM EDT | TrackBack
August 29, 2005
Live on FOX
I interrupt my regularly scheduled programming for a little thought experiment. Suppose you're live on FOX national news with Hurricane Katrina bearing down. What do you say?
SHEPARD SMITH: You're live on FOX News Channel; what are you doing?
MAN: Walking my dogs.
SMITH: Why are you still here? I'm just curious.
MAN: None of your fucking business.
Classic. Video available, too.
UPDATE: QuickTime and faster server available here.
Posted by David Richmond at 3:00 PM EDT | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 28, 2005
A Chronicle of Life Foretold
This marks my first substantive blog post in over two months. Crappy dialup in Aspen was partly to blame for my silence. I also, simply put, fell out of the habit. I regret this not only because my devoted readership protests, but also because so many things happened this summer that will now never see blog's light. But others will, and perhaps will be clearer now than they otherwise would have been.
A retrospective chronicle.
If the summer was defined by anything, it was this, which wound up on my facebook profile shortly after my June arrival in Aspen:
I am happier now, in Aspen, than I have ever been. Perhaps that is because it is beautiful here, or perhaps it is because I am able to focus on my art alone. Perhaps I simply enjoy the company of other musicians. But none of these tells the true story, because I know in my heart that I am "happier" here not by contrast to Harvard (or pre-Harvard). I suppose the most that can be said is this: I prepared myself for happiness this summer, and so I am.
And then, amazingly, the sense of balance and peace I obtained in June continues to sustain itself even today. Not exactly the peace of contentment, but the surety that marks a greater ability to see myself and where I wish to go. More than even raw growth -- although I am better at the bassoon, stronger mentally, stronger emotionally, and stronger physically than I ever have been -- this summer was marked by growth in perception. I see, finally, not only the goal, but also the path.
May I now have the courage to take it. Because there are many challenges left to face; many, lest one accuse me of pride, left inside myself. Still: never have I felt so sure of who I am, or what I intend to do.
Posted by David Richmond at 9:55 PM EDT | Comments (2) | TrackBack