Heroes 101

Once in a while, we stumble on heroes of today.

Here's one - The Lucky Stiff Asks, aka
Jonathan Gillette

Enjoy learning!

Or learn more about him here. 

Or get a copy of his book about Ruby on a link down here... Scroll down below under the external links.

You're welcome!

The Zodiac: Choose your own

I am a fan of zodiac signs, sometimes. I read that my zodiac character is one of those most adorable, center of attention sissy based on the date of my birth. But when I read the other zodiac sign characteristics, I also see myself: determined, ambitious, strong-willed. But often times, I only read my horoscope when I feel I am in love and to check if the daily events jibe. So, I am actually a zodiac and horoscope victim. Thrice. This is why, let's fit our sign and get on.

Choose your sign (or signs), believe, and go ahead.

We will be fine!

I always felt I am hard working. So,  add the rest I mentioned here except for the sissy (my name stands for purity and strength, so, there already are inconsistencies, and I have chosen purity and strength over sissy, I mean, who wants to be a sissy??? well, of course, the horoscope designers will not say the word sissy for marketing reasons!!! but I always read between the lines, never mind if the words overlap!) and I am that person. In this year of the horse, choose to be a horse for speedy success.

Civil Obedience

Just think about it... but more than that, act!


Or read the Moon is a Harsh Mistress...

where Professor de la Paz explains our credo, "In terms of morals there is no such thing as a ‘state.’ Just men. Individuals. Each responsible for his own acts. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free, because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything that I do."

PSG Patron Saint

It's Kurt Cobain, of course. And the national anthem is quite long, here:

The album's picks is fraught with pacifism... 

about friendship... "need an easy friend"
"as I want you to be, as a friend..."

of pellet gun...

"no I don;t have a gun"

and some things we easily could not do...

"don't expect me to lie"

"I think I'm dumb
Or maybe just happy."

If you want the words, here they are...

hey, this is my republic. you can create your own as you please.

and all of our favorite oligarchs have this for you:

"There's nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop
And an illustrated book about birds
You see a lot up there but don't be scared
Who needs action when you got words."

and we can only chorus back:

"Where do bad folks go when they die?
They don't go to heaven where the angels fly
They go down to the lake of fire and fry

Won't see 'em again till the fourth of july..."

Notebook

As I shared earlier, I am already getting educated... big deal... how do you educate a hundred and eight year old  anarchist?

Surprisingly, I admitted I was enjoying education. And I do. It's like taking a shortcut about life... For instance, the uni MOOC talk about Dieter Rams and his principles of a good design... I wonder if I can adopt it in designing a semi-anarchist PGS? remember, I used to detest formal education.

Here it is, A GOOD DESIGN, anyway:

1. Is innovative - progression should not be exhausted... always offer new opportunities for original designs...
2. Makes a product useful - has to satisfy, functional, with psychological and aesthetic criteria... emphasizes the usefulness of a product  disregarding anything that could detract from it.
3. Is aesthetic - integral to its usefulness is the effect on well-being...
4. Makes a product understandable -  clear product structure... making use of the user's intuition (think of the early apple /macs). At best, it is self-explanatory.
5. Is unobtrusive - fulfills a purpose ... design should be neutral and restrained yet leave room for the user's self-expression.
6. Is honest - should appear as it really is. without promises that cannot be kept.
7. Is long-lasting - avoids being fashionable but never appears antiquated... lasts many years – even in today's throwaway society.
8. Is thorough down to the last detail - (now, this is a job!) Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.
9. Is environmentally friendly - contribute to the preservation of the environment, resources... and minimizes physical and visual pollution throughout its lifecycle.
10. Is as little design as possible - Less, but better – concentrates on the essential aspects, and not burdened with non-essentials. Pure and simple...

Now, we have a task, an assignment... about having notebooks... I have stopped diarying since I - after my first corporate job... I had a scrapbook diary back then, a pad of colorful construction papers.... because I like writing into the soft pages, and collecting small pretty, beautiful, colorful images that I paste on the appropriate page... or draw and express my emotions, observations...... I lost that in my aunt's house, and since then, all other attempts at reviving a diary were futile... I only write or copy good quotes, and that was it...
I keep too many chaotic thoughts, I maintain started probably 15 blogs as release... or more. Some I have abandoned, some I visit every now and then, and try reviving, but they are comatose. Some are already deleted. And this, PSG, is quite young. My other diaries (blogs now) talk about my "creative" (hah! I am saying it again!) which probably is the closest I can point as related to my design 101 course. But not as close to a notebook... like this. This has become quite a diary, kinda more personal, closer to my personality yet as anonymous as it could get. Anonymity keeps us out of tangles and dangers. As much as I don't want to admit, I want m diary to be anonymous,  so, I have stopped the physical diary. it is sort of vulnerable.

I can't doodle and paste pretty clippings, tho. that is one disadvantage... what I keep now is a notebook of calendar of activities, a reminder... I draw on them, when designing expressing what I want to build (a room, furniture, house repair, a task)... now, do I still want a physical notebook? tough question.

And the main lesson for today, from Mark Twain...

Life is short. Break the rules.
Forgive quickly. Kiss slowly.
Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably.
And never regret anything that makes you smile.

Almost FREE Education

Not that I promote formal learning or education... but it is the closest thing I'd want for a government. So, when I heard of it, I of course enrolled. It is called Massive Online Open Course or MOOC. My uni (oi, like I really am getting educated, I am making Huckleberry blush!) is called Iversity and you can read about them here... One of the courses I enrolled into is Design 101. And I was blown away the first day! Mr. Stefano Mirti shares a lot you'd think his lectures (he calls them postcards!) are your own wayward scribbles and notes while you are suicidally bored listening to your trigonometry or character education teacher in secondary school. Imagine actually watching Pink Floyd's legendary anthem right on his class postcards? You should check out the other links as well! This is the coolest cool next to Antarctica I've had in centuries! Not that I've landed in that continent, silly. Imagination, my dear.
And now that I am trying to make this idle brain and body useful, I am now wondering if these courses will be credited when I apply for a corporate job, eh? Or if I'd require recognition from civil society groups to join their communal workforce?
Hey,  if it is of relevance, I created this in less than an hour for the course!

11-gun salute

I just took an 11-gun salute, whatever that may be. From my father. Many times, I don't want to call him dad. But he made me, no matter what. A classmate once told me I was a fox, a survivor. For surviving a cruelty I call "dad".

The 11-gun salute (warn shots) was for the destruction of some plants of a project I worked to attain. Just yesterday, I cried, cried because I have several seedling tree plants - stray plants I nurtured and re-planted, placed tree guards - the better of which our street will be shady come sunny season... better of which my kids or their kids will have some trees to climb like I did when I was a kid  - destroyed by stupid goats - our goats included.

Anyway, he - the father /dad - said it was I that was destroying his name. Maybe, he felt it, too. For up to my old age of maybe 190 now- I was still contemplating if I should right the wrong done to me. Not so much as to "us" - the family we never was.

I grew up in pain and torture, physical, emotional and mental. I had to run away from "home" at the age of 13/14 to escape his cruelty. I worked as house help to earn a degree. Because I received beatings for any or no reason at all. All over my body - head, hands, feet, 'til the beating stick frayed and gave up, 'til I no longer feel the pain. And then, I said to a being they call Jesus, "You were lucky, you were 30 / bigger and stronger when they beat you. Luckier still, you did not call your tormentors 'father'..."

It was not only me, but I always felt he hated me the most. It was probably because I always tell the truth. It was probably because in July 2005, when he shot a gun to silence me in front of my 3 scared innocent kids,  I only replied, "I can't be afraid of your gun. If I will, nobody will ever tell you the truth."

This time again, I am being blamed and threatened to my bones with my kids afraid. I am being silenced for things I was being blamed. That I was destroying his name.

And I have been having second thoughts about that for a long time now. Should I proceed to fight him? I am very tempted. I guess, this is more than the shove and the push. I have become this defiant because of a man I called "dad". I have become fearless about a lot of things, including filing a suit against the most powerful men in our block (OK, town) because he made me.

The 11 gun salute did not kill me, it must have made me stronger. It might be another sign to right a wrong I have let pass for decades now. Jesus, I am so old. I could have died several decades back, and done with all this shit, but I wasn't. I am alive, and I am fighting. I won't let shit win if I have to die doing it.