Beautiful Red Tree

// September 2nd, 2010 // No Comments » // art, china, inspiration, life the universe and everything, professional

This is not mine.  It came through the “recommended” section of my GoogleReader.  It is beautiful

Truth is born in strange places

// August 5th, 2010 // No Comments » // writing

Joan of Arc came back as a little girl in Japan, and her father told her to stop listening to her imaginary friends.

Elvis was born again in a small village in Sudan, he died hungry, age 9, never knowing what a guitar was.

Michelangelo was drafted into the military at age 18 in Korea, he painted his face black with shoe polish and learned to kill.

Jackson Pollock got told to stop making a mess, somewhere in Russia.

Hemingway, to this day, writes DVD instruction manuals somewhere in China. He’s an old man on a factory line. You wouldn’t recognize him.

Gandhi was born to a wealthy stockbroker in New York. He never forgave the world after his father threw himself from his office window, on the 21st floor.

And everyone, somewhere, is someone, if we only give them a chance.

Froyo update for Droid hits this week

// August 2nd, 2010 // No Comments » // china, professional

How to update that trusty ole’ Motorola Droid phone:

Mandatory System Update: DROID by Motorola

To help you with the mandatory system update for your DROID by Motorola, this page contains the following information:

1. Reserving Power for System Update
2. System Update Instructions
3. System Update while You Are Roaming

1. The “Install now” and “Restart & install” options will not be available if your device does not have enough power availability. The system update requires 40% or more power availability if not connected to an external power source and 20% power availability if connected to a power source.

   

1. You will be notified that a system update is available on your device. Press “Install now” and your device will power off and back on and the installation process will begin.

   Note: If you choose “Install later” this will delay installation and you will be taken back to the home screen. The system update message will appear every 30 minutes until you install the update.

   

2. If you press “More Info…” you will receive more information regarding the system update on your device.

   

3. After you’ve received first notification of the system update, you can manually initiate by going to “Home” > “Menu” > “Settings” > “About phone” > “System updates“. Press “Restart & install“. Your device will power off and back on and the installation process will begin.

   

4. The update has begun once your device powers off and back on and you see the following screen:

   

1. If you are roaming, you will not receive a system update notice. You will need to enable Wi-Fi and wait for the update notice to appear or as mentioned above you can manually update by selecting “Home” > “Menu” > “Settings” > “About phone” > “System updates“.
2. To enable Wi-Fi, go to “Settings” > “Wireless & networks“. Press “Wi-Fi” to enable.

   

3. To connect to an available Wi-Fi network, select “Wi-Fi settings” and select an available an Wi-Fi network or manually add a Wi-Fi network that has had security settings established.

   

   If the system update fails to install you will get the following error screen. However, this only means the software did not install properly. Remove and re-insert the battery and power the device back on. The device will power back on with original software and will prompt you once again to install the system update.

   

   If the update fails again please contact Verizon Wireless Customer Care at (800) 922-0204.

Follow Chinagrrrl on Twitter

// July 19th, 2010 // No Comments » // House-of-Chaos, china, life the universe and everything, personal, professional, twitter

Follow: twitter.com/chinagrrrl

Purification by Fire

// July 7th, 2010 // No Comments » // china, life the universe and everything, personal, writing

Purification by Fire

Originally uploaded by lisa rene

Fire burns, it always does…burns away dross. Leaving what it left, as niffin. Fire angel. Fire demon.

My plans for this holiday weekend

// July 2nd, 2010 // No Comments » // Ohio, china, life the universe and everything, personal, professional

Please make a note of it.

Droid Does

// July 2nd, 2010 // No Comments » // china, humor, life the universe and everything, personal, professional

Yes indeed…

PlantSwap: Bunny Tails (Lagurus ovatus)

// July 2nd, 2010 // No Comments » // House-of-Chaos, PlantSwap, Tiny House Projects, china, writing

Bunny Tails (Lagurus ovatus)

I have been doing a LOT of gardening experiments this year.  One of my criteria is that the Tiny House-of-Chaos is to use as much reclaimed, recycled or salvaged material as possible.  Dirt, rocks, plants…anything I can swap, barter or trade.  I did buy five yards of mulch this year and a few perennials at the nursery, but most of my plants I’ve grown from seed exchanged through PlantSwap.

Bunny Tails Blowing in the Wind

Some of those experiments have been wildly successful…others, not so much!  I’ve found that our chickens will find those tiny seeds and destroy the mini-greenhouses built to keep those seeds safe.  That’s what I get for training my chickens as ninja warriors.  Their stealth and cunning has outwitted farmer China.  I am no match for their powers.

One of the ornamental grasses that I started from seed is called “Bunny Tails”.  It’s proper name is Lagurus ovatus. Here is some information on this plant from PlantFiles:

PlantFiles: Hare’s Tail Grass, Bunny Tails

Lagurus ovatus

Family: Poaceae (poh-AY-see-ee)
Genus: Lagurus (lag-ur-uss)
Species: ovatus (oh-VAY-tus) (more…)

RIP: Bryan Stauffer (1970 – 2010)

// June 25th, 2010 // No Comments » // Ohio, china, life the universe and everything, personal, sad, spirit, writing

Bryan Stauffer and Chinagrrl - 1993 tree festival - Akron OH

A friend of mine passed away this month.  From what I was told it was “last week” but no one knows an exact date.  Bryan and I used to “date” or whatever passed for it in the early 1990′s when we both attended the University of Akron.  From 1998 until about 2007 I heard from him only infrequently but I knew we both worked in Technology and had some interesting conversations regarding the nature of the IT Corporate Beast.

In the past few years, however, I heard from him much more often.  He’s even one of the few people that have visited the House-of-Chaos in its current incarnation.  He was doing some new music endeavors and he used me to bounce some of his newer tracks off and he picked my brain regarding some of the creative for the projects; costuming, lighting setups, interaction design of performer/audience.  He wanted me to become more involved with some of those ideas, but there were elements in Bryan’s current life that I was unable to surround myself.

“Furie” (Bryan Stauffer) by Chinagrrrl

We discussed some of those choices at length and one thing I told him, that I really wanted him to “get” was that “no rash decisions should be made in the aftereffects” of those things.  Forgive me for being like a sphinx here, but I’m journaling mostly for my own benefit here and it’s not my interest to disparage or exploit the dead.  Bryan was dabbling in things that I knew, from intimate personal firsthand experience, to be harmful and would pull him away from those relationships he most yearned for, and the things that gave him beauty and satisfaction in life.

I also knew that he wouldn’t stop those things until he was done with them.  Knowing the “backside” of those things I implored for him not to give much credit to the “oh my god, things are awful and I can’t handle it” feelings that come with such dabbling.

Learning of his demise I can only thing that maybe he didn’t believe me, or that maybe it wasn’t enough.

Anyways, he’s gone now from our manifest world and I can only hope that his spirit will find the peace it yearned for wherever it is now.  Hopefully his spirit finds itself in a Rotterdam goth club in 1992.  He would like that.

From: http://www.newcomerakron.com/obituary.asp?src=value&obitid=40992

Bryan Stauffer - RIP - June 2010

Bryan W. Stauffer
1970 - 2010

Visitation:

Friday, June 18, 2010 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Newcomer Funeral Home & Cremation Services
131 North Canton RD
Akron, OH  44305       330-784-3334

Directions & Map

Service:

Friday, June 18, 2010 7:00 PM
Newcomer Funeral Home & Cremation Services
131 North Canton RD
Akron, OH  44305       330-784-3334

Directions & Map

Bryan W. Stauffer, 40, of Akron, passed away in June 2010. He was a graduate of East High School and served in the U.S. Army during the Gulf War. He was also a member of MENSA. Bryan was a gifted musician and composer. He was the founding member of Set To Burn and loved performing for friends and his many loving fans. Bryan was a loyal and compassionate friend to many. He will always be remembered for his sense of humor and generosity. He will be missed by all who knew and loved him. He was preceded in death by his father, Joseph T. Stauffer III. He is survived by his mother, Madeline (Earl) Muster; sisters, Kylie, Geran, and Kirsten; one niece; and many other relatives and friends. Calling hours will be Friday from 5-7 followed by a 7 p.m. memorial service at NEWCOMER FUNERAL HOME, 131 N. Canton Rd. Inurnment will take place at Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery at a later date.

Shadowperson #01

// June 16th, 2010 // No Comments » // art, art, magick

Back in 2004 I started making “Shadowpeople.”  These were folk-art sculpture made from found wood and painted with acrylics, ash, pigments, blood and all sorts of other ritual items. There are to be a complete set of 34 shadowpeople and to this day only 18 have been made.

They were originally a way for me to process some paradigm-shifts and some manifest world dilemmas.  They are both guardians and friends.  Some are fun, some are scary.  I think they are all parts of myself.

This was found on the reverse side of Shadowperson #01.  The first guy I made:

The first of the 34 Watchers to come.  Not “my” Watchers, but “the” Watchers.  They came through me, but only because I’m the ABRAXAS gate.

34 (more…)

Trust & Logic

// June 16th, 2010 // No Comments » // china, inspiration, professional, quote, wisdom

You rock it Danielle. F’shizzle.

Omega

// June 6th, 2010 // No Comments » // House-of-Chaos, Recovery, Tiny House Projects, buddhist, china, inspiration, life the universe and everything, magick, meditation, personal, professional, spirit, warriors of the light, wisdom, writing, yoga

Just got back from a weeekend at The Omega Institute, where I met incredible people who know kindness matters and mindful actions will change the world. I saw sparks of dream manifest in material and spiritual ways. My soul breathed and released the aches of my spine. I saw hope everywhere and my majick sparkled everywhere for all to see and no one tried to swat it away. Communed with fantastic friends and partners of The Path and food and furry forest creatures who have learned that humans aren’t reallly so bad…at least here they aren’t.

Nice.

The Dojo – Are you Ready?

// May 28th, 2010 // No Comments » // House-of-Chaos, JEDI, art, china, inspiration, magick, personal, professional, spirit, warriors of the light, wisdom, writing

Why yes.

Yes I am?

Are you?

White Sewing Machine

// May 28th, 2010 // No Comments » // House-of-Chaos, china, professional

Somehow, I never blogged about my wonderful, wonderful sewing machine.  I got my 1906 White Sewing machine at a silent charity auction.  I think I paid $100 for it. It took another $100 to get it in tip-top shape, but since I paid that about three or four years ago I haven’t had to spend another penny and I’ve been a happily sewing madwoman.

Here is my baby:

I purchased this White 1906 Rotary Sewing Machine at a silent auction for charity in the fall of 2007 in preparation for a 2008 "personal development" goal of learning how to sew.  I took it to a sewing center to get it cleaned/tuned up and ready to go for the beginning of 2008.  I love this machine; simple, sturdy and satisfying.

You will try to run…

// May 24th, 2010 // No Comments » // china, inspiration, life the universe and everything, magick, personal, writing

“You will try to run and he will let you but he will be standing exactly where you left him when you went ahead and lost your mind, not because he has nowhere else to be or because he’s a pushover, but because he understands that you are worth waiting for. And you are, not because he proved it to you, but because he gave you the time to realize it for yourself.”
Anaïs Escobar

May 20, 2010

// May 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // china, editorial, magick, personal, writing

Everything in life has a side effect, doesn’t it? In this dualistic world when you are granted a boon, there is usually a cost somewhere. Checks and balances. Very little in this world is true black or whitel, clear-cut decisions unless the eyes (and mind) are so closed that any gradiation or perception is eliminated. So stay open. Stay awake. What you see makes a difference. What you say has effect. What you do….makes you who you are.

If you read this book the world will end…

// May 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // china, editorial, language, life the universe and everything, magick, professional, wisdom, writing

Today, I get this, first thing in the morning:

“The trouble with imagining a book I would never write is that when I think of it, I think ‘but I could WRITE that…‘

So it would have to be a book of books I would never write. A book of ideas I would never have. A book of things I would never do in prose or in fiction. A book of things that should have remained unwritten, fragments and dreams and moments. Secrets too terrible to be learned. Things that would destroy me if I knew them, or hurt my friends. It would contain the secret name of God, and tell you how to pronounce that name.

It would be called IF YOU READ THIS BOOK THE WORLD WILL END.”

Have I mentioned how much I love Neil Gaiman?

Immolation

// May 5th, 2010 // No Comments » // china, life the universe and everything, writing

models_on_fire

Originally uploaded by chinagrrrl

I had a dream last night where there was a runway show of swimsuit models and as they walked the catwalk they were all carrying jerrycans of gasoline. At the end, when all the models came out they dumped the gasoline all over themselves and immolated.

“Can You Hear It” by Lord David

// May 5th, 2010 // No Comments » // china, inspiration, life the universe and everything, magick, nola, spirit, writing

Fellow Krewe of Chartreuse member Lord David wrote this on his blog a while back.  It’s stuck with me.  Especially the last line:

Can You Hear It?

Sometimes it presents such beauty
as to bring a tear to one’s eye,
or innumerable horrors that chill
to the very marrow,
a sense of wonder beyond wonder
as though everything were redefined,
and sadness, so deep that aching is not enough,
so that even death, itself, could not end it.

Stand tall and fearless, you, so fragile and full of life,
and when The World tells it’s true name
don’t you dare fucking blink.

LD November 2007

I love that. I also love what it says about him on his profile:

Lord David was born feet first with teeth, stolen by Gypsies & raised by Pirates. After being captured by The Evil One during the War with the Giant Rats of Sumatra, Lord David escaped by drawing a window seat third class bus ticket to Cleveland on a cereal box top, and jumped ship in New Orleans. Scoundrel, artist, bartender, hot shot guitar player, ex-punk & rock singer, late night pub philosopher, general layabout & vagabond, he can be found doing whatever pays or entertains. He is also the founder & host of the Skull Club.

For Asa: Cacique (from 1985)

// May 5th, 2010 // No Comments » // House-of-Chaos, china, family, inspiration, life the universe and everything, magick, personal, professional, spirit, wisdom, writing

I’m re-posting this OLD (super-old [to the third power of old]) poem I wrote when I was fifteen.  Yes, boys and grrrls, that was almost 25 years ago…almost.  Now I have the most uncomfortable pleasure of watching my beloved grrrlfriends, beloved daughters learn the hard-knock life of love in their own wonderful lives.

I want boys to be better than they were when I was growing up…but they aren’t.  And the lovely ladies have to experience the excruciatingly painful lessons of life and love and lust and lederhosen.  Okay, maybe they can skip the lederhosen, they seem to have fallen out of fashion.  But love hasn’t, nup, not a bit.  Everyone is still chasing it like its the center of the universe.

Because, well, maybe because it is.

Dammit.  And it’s worth every single pang and pain while you are in-love. So pony up and keep you mind right when it isn’t.  You can learn amazing things when love goes south.  And remember darling girls…when the Universe stares you down…don’t you fucking blink.

Now, 1985 circa Chinagrrrl words:  Cacique

Cacique…

Meticulous, yet with horrendous spelling I sprawl and envision the things of the mist.

The beauty too fine to hold onto sifting through your fingers as you watch helplessly as it slips away.

To loves won and lost on the table of phantasy, where the stakes are much too high but the points are not real.

To the lives you have lived only in your mind and the following footfalls that never seem to arrive.

To the places you have never been, to the people that don’t exist.
And the love letters you’ve never written to them.
But it doesn’t matter much, because you wouldn’t have known what to say anyway.

It is this at the Inn of the Dreamers, the end of the imagined
And the beginning of all that might be there.

So put on your gown and step into the ballroom and weave and
Intricate web of mysteries here with me.

Here in Cacique.

Jennifer Reeves: Teo

// May 4th, 2010 // No Comments » // art, china, life the universe and everything, news, personal, professional

When I was in high school I met Jenn Reeves.  She was cool.  I liked her.  She liked me.  We hung out and much mayhem ensued.  She makes films, which are also cool.  Last year…she had a baby boy, Teo.  I also find this cool.  This is a 1:30 film short about Teo.

I also find this cool.

Still…

// April 29th, 2010 // No Comments » // writing

Still, courage, my friend.
Still, all is not lost and you are not yet done.
Still, there are fires to burn in the darkness and light to cast amongst the shadows.
Still, there are moments that must be taken, fighting and spitting to the ground.
Still, nothing has killed us yet.
Still, the sky smiles on the brave.
Still, have the strength to try and hold the sun in the palm of your hand, once more.
Still, ever burning.
Still, the most beautiful things come from beneath the ground.
Still, the light is cast from the darkest of places.
Still, we labour on under the cover of stars.
Still, we know the truth rides high in our chests.
Still, the world has yet to end, no matter how hard any of us try.
Still.
Until we are still.

I shot the serif…

// March 12th, 2010 // No Comments » // funny-bone, professional

but I did not shoot the deputy…

Top 8 Dreaded Favors Asked of Web Designers (Repost)

// March 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // professional

Oh, how I know these.  I’ve been working in web design for 15 years now and still I’m amazed sometimes that family thinks I’m their tech support.  My personal favorite is number 6, because I just dealt with this in excruciating fashion last year and I’m still open-jawed at the audacity of some people and their entitlement beliefs:

6. “So, it’s been a minute… How much longer is it going to take?”

Just when you’ve got your Good Samaritan on and decided to help Dude during your free time, he starts becoming a diva. Never mind the impossible requests to make his website look just like *let your imagination run wild on this one,* or the countless revisions to a perfectly designed logo, or the endless hours you spent over IM trying to explain why putting an invisible list of keywords at the bottom of the webpage is unnecessary. When you least expect it, expect to receive a phone call, email, direct tweet saying, “Hey, so, um… when’s the project going to be finished?” You reply back, “Dude, I told you I was going to fit this in between my actual work from actual clients that actually pay.” To this, Dude replies, “I didn’t think it was going to take this long, maybe I should just get this professionally done.” Oh, that’s a killer. First of all, Dude has no consideration for the amount of time you’ve invested in this project. Secondly and more importantly, you are a professional. Why not offer you money so that you can prioritize his project?

Lesson learned: Clearly state from the beginning that it will take you some ridiculously long amount of time to complete the project for free and if Dude’s still on board, he’ll be happy if you finish it sooner than expected.

Live and learn, right?  At least I know that I’m in good company and not alone in the world of wacky projects.  [ entire post ]

codemonkey business card

// February 22nd, 2010 // No Comments » // Great Grey Beast of February, china, funny-bone, professional

I found this hysterical…

I am so getting these…

// February 16th, 2010 // No Comments » // Great Grey Beast of February, china, funny-bone, humor, professional

From Nerd Merit Badges:

1.5″, fully embroidered, Velcro-backed. Attach to your jacket, your backpack, or the lid of your over-clocked, battle-scarred laptop. Start a nerd sash!

Laptop Sash

A seventeen-inch length of two-inch wide, self-adhesive, loop-side, low-profile Velcro. The Laptop Sash sticks permanently…

$13.37

Full Stack Web Developer

Requirements: Able to turn a pile of loose electrons into a fully operating and styled…

$4.99

Family Tech Support

Requirements: Provide hardware, software, and telephone support for extended family computers and electronics. Voluntarily or…

$4.99

Been Boinged

Requirements: Have a project mentioned on the Big Blog.

$4.99

Homonyms

Requirements: Correctly spell words that sound the same.

$4.99

Inbox Zero

Requirements: Empty inbox, 71.4% of the time.

$4.99

Open Source

Requirements: Make an accepted commit to any open source project.

$4.99

Saint Valentines Day story

// February 14th, 2010 // No Comments » // Great Grey Beast of February, language, life the universe and everything, sad, writing

[editors note:  This is not my writing.  I happened upon this in the summer of 09 and it stuck with me.  I thought it a particularly fitting piece of prose for Valentines Day.  Extra credit to anyone who knows who the author is and where this comes from.]

Tell me the story, Pew.

What story, child?
The story of Babel Dark’s secret.
It was a woman.
You always say that.
There’s always a woman somewhere, child; a princess, a witch, a stepmother, a mermaid, a fairy god-mother, or one as wicked as she is beautiful, or as beautiful as she is good.
Is that the complete list?
Then there is the woman you love.
Who’s she?
That’s another story.

Wing-Deep Ice Water (poem)

// February 12th, 2010 // No Comments » // personal, spirit, writing

[Ed.Note:  This was written 082508 ]

Wing deep ice water, drenches the soul,
Waterlogged feathers we run from the hole.

Those who burn brightly, attract weaker sparks,
We do what we can to inspire their quarks.

Still others would try to tie our flame to their ground,
Then wonder why we resist to become  lower bound.

It is what it is and we are what we are,
Flame to flame. Heart to heart.  Each of us is a star.

Cozy & Mara Hale (from 1993)

// February 5th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blogroll, life the universe and everything, writing

I found John.  And we were talking about a screenplay he wrote back in 1992.  One that I did some independent re-working on in 1993.  Firehouse.  Josh.  Edwin Shaw rehab release papers.  Weird stuff, right.

So I go back to the virtual akashic and pull this up:

Sunday, May 02, 1993

Cozy & Mara Hale [screenplay]

• Mara Hale is Disease
• Cozy is the dislikable reality
• Cartoon is the human void
• Antoinette is the one reality; weighing the balance
• Little Happy is our society; hedonistic, “GenX”
• Lemonade is beautiful silence

Cozy vs. Mara Hale (more…)

Re-Post: “Designers These Days” (by Chris Coyier)

// February 2nd, 2010 // No Comments » // professional

Designers These Days…

… have a good design sense and understand the fundamentals / design principals.
… know all the major design software including the entire Adobe Creative Suite.
… have some basic video editing skills.
… know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
… know enough about server-side languages (PHP, ASP, Ruby, Python, etc) to understand how they work, what they do, and the possibilities of their use.
… know about servers, hosting, domain registrants, DNS, etc. Setting it up, and fixing it when it breaks.
… know OS X really well (and enough Windows to get by) or know Windows really well (and enough OS X to get by) and know a huge variety of utility software that goes with.
… are good photographers.
… can color correct photos and work in RAW.
… can cut clipping paths or otherwise extract objects from photos.
… have a killer online portfolio.
… are a personable, nice people that are good with clients.
… can help clients with anything even vaguely computer-related.
… are quick to adapt to new software and new technologies.
… can train fellow employees.
… can train clients on the use of their websites.
… are good communicators.
… are team players.
… have good taste in art, music and movies.
… are up to date on social media.
… are good at logic and deduction.
… are good at user experience and user testing.
… are SEO experts.
… know about and how to handle web accessibility (and the laws surrounding it)
… understand copyright laws.
… do progressive enhancement and graceful degradation techniques.
… can debug cross-browser problems and older browser bugs.
… can bring your own client base.
… are healthy, well groomed, and wear fancy t-shirts.
… can be on-call at all times for emergencies.
… have college degrees in design-related fields.
… own very nice and expensive computers full of expensive software.
… can design for mobile devices.
… are good typographers.

Partly tongue-in-cheek of course… but not entirely. The list of things a modern web designer should know is long, and each skill feels like it could be a lifetime in itself. Good luck learning that in a 2 or 4 year program (not that that isn’t a good start).