Isqua Istari

So I’ve had this idea in my head for a while, figured I’d get it out there. It’s not as if anyone reads this blog anyway (sorry Dan). Essentially it’s an extended metaphor of diet and desire.  I think the following ideas may be right on the edge of the metaphor breakdown point, the crumbling precipice if you will. I invite you to accompany me on this surreal and vertiginous stroll.

So there are several ways that I get what I want (Many examples are first person today, to avoid vague references. I think this applies to everyone though). I can take it from someone else, or make it myself. Say I want food. If I only take from others, I do so to their detriment, a carnivore. A farmer, however, harms no-one (plants are not people in this metaphor). Both end up with what they want. (more…)

It appears that people would rather have a great quantity of mediocre posessions than a few excellent ones. Why is this?

Does it have to do with thermodynamics, where sharp gradients are discouraged? Or perhaps mediocre people don’t take good care of their expensive goods, causing them to degrade to a mediocre level of quality (also thermodynamics). Maybe it’s just misplaced frugality, buying cheap and often. Perhaps the frequent purchasing distracts from a futile life.

Whatever the reason, I’d rather have one reliable mechanical pencil than a box of wooden ones. Or one set of plastic dishes than a stack of paper ones. Or one good friend rather than a flock of shallow acquaintances.

Maybe it’s just me.

Major coolant burst today just as the second push ended. Had to skip meals to get it under control. Minor injuries, but nothing too bad. Need to get checked by medical in the morning. Utility deck is going to be a mess for a few days. Tired, going to sleep.

There is something about huge objects that is very intimidating. Even if they are totally dead, or even inorganic, the bulk of a thing has a weight in the mind. Why is that?

Part of the effect could stem from the understandable desire to be able to look at “the whole thing” all at once. When you walk up a hill you lose sight of the whole. That, and it doesn’t feel like there will be interessting close up. The windowless, monolithic, blank concrete side of a warehouse advertises few enticements, even if there are lichen and lizards in the cracks.

I think this is worse when it’s something that used to be alive. (more…)

Hey everyone! Just thought I’d let all of you loyal readers (Hi Mom!) know that I recently started doing commissions. Fast, quality, and cheap! What else could you ask for? Apply now, before one of the three changes.

I prefer working from concept art or sketches, but I can go off of a description as well. I’ve been doing 3D graphics for a while now. Something about the pure geometry and creativity appeals to me. If you need a 3D model or a rendering of a 3D model, send me an e-mail! There must be a LargeNumber of 3D modeling services out there, but now…
LargeNumber += 1

Turns out food can only be delivered to public areas. I scheduled my lunch tomorrow at peripheral arbor A. Hopefully no one else will be there.

Smooth going during shift. Cleaned and organized my tools a bit and had time left over to schedule some planned shut-down requests for the next A-tor meeting. I’ve requested a deactivation of all thermal dump units in atmosphere scrubbing for the engineering quarters section. If it goes through those scribblers will bake in their own beds for a week while I update the routine maintenance records. Serves them right.

On the up side it turns out that “improved” 0-Gee wrench is just the right size to crimp a temporary coolant junction. I should get a promotion for being so clever. Got it in my field kit right now.

We’ll be doing a push tonight. Hopefully I can sleep through it.

There are a lot of stories about “paralell universes” where things are the same, but different. The premise is there are an infinite number of universes (falsely justified by quantum mechanics, but that’s another beef) and therefore anything that you could imagine must exist somewhere. I think this is an unreasonable idea (not that there’s any problem with silly fiction) and not to be taken seriously. I still enjoy this kind of fiction, but it seems the “infinite universes” excuse used to justify “this could really happen” falls apart under scrutiny. I would prefer no excuse at all to a faulty one. (more…)

Recieved an intra-ship delivery (why are they even labeled “intra-ship”? We’re on our way to kick-point on an out of system mission! Are there delivery ships chasing us down with the toothbrushes that the quartermaster forgot?) today from engineering. Seems they’ve wasted some precious time on the fabbers making a prototype “improved 0-Gee wrench”. This one is even worse than before! For one thing it’s impossible to hold on to. It’s also half off of standard grip diameters, so it won’t grip anything. They’ve included a lengthy and imbecilic set of instructions. Stuff like “grip with teeth and hold on to something” as if that would work. Maybe it’s a joke; Some kind of stupid engineer joke; Which isn’t funny.

As expected, we had to fiddle with the power distribution nodes after those impromptu changes. With any luck we’ll ONLY have to fiddle with them the rest of the mission. Without luck, we might all die in our sleep. Stupid engineers.

Lunch with Cathy again. She was annoying as usual, I’m surprised they let so many un-interesting and self-absorbed people onboard. Don’t they do Psych screening? I should probably file a report with Psych-Med, just in case.