Get Life On

I’m tired of sitting in the shadows

I’m sick of retreating from battles.

It’s time to take a bite out of life

And push right through all the strife.

Sing out a song that’s new

Dance a dance that’s never been through

Pull out all the stops

Beginning with little hops

Until soon I’m leaping forward

Gospel in hand, light above, for my Lord.

- Anonymous

Chapter 2

The Father saw the boy dancing. It was beautiful and it pleased the Father, but it was not complete.

The Father said to Himself, "It is good for him to dance, but he could dance so much better with another."

With this, the Father came down to the world and stood upon its surface. He blew upon the ground. The breath from his nostrils pushed the earth of the ground up into the air causing it to fill out a shape. Gradually, a human was formed. Small and beautiful, it was a girl.

When the girl became alive, she was standing on the ground of a barren world, staring into the eyes of the Father. The Father smiled at her and said,

"Now, let us teach you how to dance."

He reached out His hand toward her and lifted her to her feet. He led her with His hand and taught her how to move in the wind--spreading her limbs, tasting the air, feeling the ground. She danced beautifully, and the Father was pleased.

Soon, the Father took the girl to meet the boy. They had never seen each other before and each wondered at such a creature before his and her eyes. The Father spoke to both of them together,

"Dance for me."

They both started to dance, but each in his and her own way. Soon, they faltered and stopped, confused by each other, not knowing why this other human was dancing such a strange dance. They started to get upset at each other and turned away from each other.

The Father took them both and turned them toward Himself.

"No. You must work together."

He placed the girl's hand in the hand of the boy.

"Now, dance for me. Together."

The boy and girl looked suspiciously at each other and then innocently at the Father. He turned them back toward each other. Soon, they started to move. Cautiously. Nervously. But, with time, they observed how each other's different movements complemented the movements of the partner. He lifted his arm. She turned hers. He lifted both arms. She leapt. They were dancing together in perfect harmony.

The Father watched the boy and the girl dance, and He smiled.

Immediately, the world bore fruit, the sun burst into the sky, and the air started to swell with the singing of birds and the smells of creatures, plants, and earth. The world bloomed and gave birth to the Earth.

A Story (Chapter 1)

Once there was a dark and desolate world. A young boy sat on the ground, on the face of this world. And, the Father looked over the world and saw this boy. He loved the boy, and sought to be loved by him, to be in relationship with him.

The Father came down to the boy and spoke to him, "Son!"

The boy looked up to the Father.

"Dance for me", He said to the boy.

The boy's eyes widened. He looked at his arms and then at his feet, and then he asked,

"How?"

The Father smiled at the boy. He reached out to the boy and picked him up by the hand.

"Like this."

And the Father showed the boy how to dance. The words of the Father that were left on the boy's ears when he found himself alone echoed in his mind:

Now, dance for me.

The boy felt a little nervous excitement run through his body. Then, he started to dance. The motion of his limbs caused warmth to flow through his body. The earthy texture and the whining wind in the air titillated his senses. He grew confident and started to smile. He laughed. Joy was filling his heart and then started to spread across his face.

The Father saw the boy dance, and He smiled.

Crazy Particles and Magical Microwaves

Every other week or so, I run across another instance of the magical powers of microwaves or lasers or some such thing. Yesterday, was no exception.

Depending on the scientific literacy of the reader, the reactions that could be generated upon reading the first few paragraphs of this blog post are diverse. "Chameleon particles", "ghost particles", and "shining light through walls" will give the typical lay reader the idea that modern science is a joyride through Sci-Fi la-la land.

I am not equal to judge the scientific merit of the topic discussed from this blog, but I won't deny the writing could be improved a little. It definitely makes reading the reading of a technical article a much more enjoyable process.

Sometime I need to start collecting common myths on some scientific topic, say microwaves, and post them here, debunking each one. That would also be highly entertaining.

- JALGT

The Bittersweet (Original Composition)

Give me a day of joy,

I’ll give you a night of tears.

Give me a newborn child

I’ll take him before his years.

Send me a lover and I’ll call

Him away to die in a war.

Give me a saint and I’ll make

Him struggle to his very core.

This is the bittersweet.

Where two cities meet.

Where wheat among tares are grown.

Surely you will now agree

Though you can’t have known,

The pain it really took

To make you free, to make you free.

The very God of this world

Came in flesh and blood to earth.

Mocked by His creation,

A servant He was from birth.

Can you understand why

The righteousness you now wear

Came through death’s bitterness

To receive sweet heaven’s care?

This is the bittersweet.

Where two cities meet.

Where wheat among tares are grown.

Surely you will now agree

Though you can’t have known,

The pain it really took

To make you free, to make you free.

Heaven bears its own.

But, not without the pierce of thorn.

Life’s never been so beautiful

When joys are ever plentiful,

Death comes to reap what was sown.

Glory be to Thee,

Our God, who is completely good,

To teach Your children humility

To avoid life’s aching futility

By resting in Your unfailing Word.

Five Features of Tonality

"Conjunct melodic motion"*
Describes the characteristic short movements typically taken by tonal melodies. Up and down by 2nd, 3rd, and maybe 4th and 5th intervals. Typically not much more.

"Acoustic consonance"
Describes the degree to which sounds that are harmonizing tend to 'work' well together... have consonance. Like the a major third interval. An example of a harmony lacking consonance would be an augmented fourth.

"Harmonic consistency"
While this may sound like a similar feature to the previous one, it has more to do with structure than actual musical consonance. It describes whether the harmonies used in a particular piece of music tend to exhibit similar structure. Say, three note arpeggios on the second inversion... that would be a rather strict harmonic consistency.

"Limited macroharmony"
Take a section of a particular musical piece. The sum total of notes you hear in that section should be limited to a relatively restricted set of notes, typically 5 - 8 for tonal melodies.

"Centricity"
Prominence of a particular note throughout a piece or centeredness around such a note, ending there or serving as some sort of musical goal. This is usually the tonic for much of Western, tonal music.

Now, the beauty of this array of tools is their incredible flexibility as well as breadth of application. Many examples of tonal music do not exhibit one or more of these features, while conjunct melodic motion, limited macro harmony, and centricity can be found in virtually any piece of music.

We can also pick up any particular piece of music an examine it under the eye of a particular tonal feature.

* As termed by Dmitri Tymoczko in A Geometry of Music

Discussion, Truth, and Action

There is the greatest difference between presuming an opinion to be true, because, with every opportunity for contesting it, it has not been refuted, and assuming its truth for the purpose of not permitting its refutation. Complete liberty of contradicting and disproving our opinion is the very condition which justifies us in assuming its truth for purposes of action; and on no other terms can a being with human faculties have any rational assurance of being right.

--John Stuart Mill, "Liberty in Discussion"

Conversation... Montaigne

I feel much prouder of the victory I gain over myself when, in the very heat of the combat, I make myself give way to the force of my adversary's argument, than I feel gratified by the victory I gain over him through his own weakness.

-- Michel de Montaigne, "Of the Art of Conversing"

Ideas and Truth

Whoever wishes to have ideas must first prepare himself to desire truth and to accept the rules of the game imposed by it. It is no use speaking of ideas when there is no acceptance of a higher authority to regulate them, a series of standards to which it is possible to appeal in a discussion. These standards are the principles on which culture rests.

-- José Ortega y Gasset, "Putting Truth in Checkmate"

Education is Wasted on the Young

Consider the brightest boy or girl at the best imaginable college--much better than any which now exists--with the most competent faculty and with a perfect course of study. Imagine this brightest student in the best of all possible colleges, spending four years industriously, faithfully, and efficiently applying his or her mind to study. I say to you that, at the end of four years, this student, awarded a degree with the highest honors, is not an educated man or woman. And cannot be, for the simple reason that the obstacle to becoming educated in school is an inherent and insurmountable one, namely, youth.

-- Mortimer J. Adler, "Adult Education"

Sleep

Are you asleep?

"Shh! Don't disturb the blissful peace....", his voice died out in a groan.

Why are you sleeping? Don't you want to wake up?

"Leave me alone!"

Why are you sleeping at a time like this? His arms are up and he's seriously getting frustrated.

growling

He stops and does not continue. He's half afraid the little monster is going to spring up and go for the throat.

The thing glared at him. "Who was this insolent fellow who felt he could wake him from his peaceful sleep." He hated waking up. He hated seeing the world. The last time he woke up and tried to do something, he almost got shot and killed by a maniacal human who claimed he couldn't exist.

Sigh.

The person turned around and started to leave. He was starting to feel pretty low. It's going to take something fantastic, but this little creature could do something. I mean, people don't believe things like him exist. He stopped and turned, wondering. Just what would happen if he yanked him up off the ground.A quick cost benefit analysis settled his mind. He strode over full of purpose.

Wow! The thing bites!

But, it didn't bite him.

The troll had heard me whisper, "People believe more lies than truth until they see truth staring them in the face."

Concerning Trolls

Reminds you of the title to something else, doesn't it...

Maybe this has not dawned on you yet, or maybe you've known it for a while, but if it is not obvious already, this Trallferd fellow is most definitely a troll. And, yes this is he.

I have a human handler, the man who gives me access to the rest of the world, but he's not that important. In fact, he's so insignificant, that he let me hijack his blog. Henceforth from now, this place is my domain. And, may I say, it's going to be a welcome transition.

It has now been 1 year, 1 month, 1 week, and 1 day, since "Trallferd the Theoretician" last contributed to the blogosphere with his electronic pen. In this time, a great many things have happened. My handler has started to act sort of strangely. He takes to ranting about the world at random and closeting himself in his room or walking out at night in seclusion. Like I said, he behaves strangely.

What is more, I feel a wind of change coming on me. My fingertips sort of tingle, and there is an odd, giddy feeling in my head. These things do not happen very often. These things do not bode particularly well. Or, they may be the start of something fantastic... too soon to tell.

Anyway, the point I want to make here is that not all trolls are mindless wackos belaboring their way through the tides of the internet. Some are curious, insightful, crafty but kindhearted souls. Really, trolls have been largely misunderstood. I mean, there is such diversity among the troll races that one should never be too quick to generalize their kind. Of course, I do not speak of the shameless impostors who make their way about the world wide web. They're just a bunch of jerks.

My Platform - The Principles

In the interest of discussing the issues more (which is, all too often, done very little in the political sphere), I have the following to post. This is the last section of my platform. Actually, it is the only part of my personal issue platform that doesn't contain actual planks, just statements of principles. Think of them as the foundation upon which the rest of the platform is built. Basically, this section embodies three principles: the rule of law, freedom, and the golden rule.

-----

1 - Legislate less; let people live more. Live and let live. The individual’s freedom is the foundation of America’s greatness past and its strength to come.

2 - Preserve life to the utmost. This does not exclude the use of the death penalty, as its execution properly recognizes the sacred importance of life. Capital punishment should be sparingly used, though. Only three types of crimes really deserve it: rape, murder, and treason. Prosecuting abortion isn’t about violating a woman’s body or right to choose; it is about not punishing the innocent in the name of serving another’s wishes OR assuaging her undeserved suffering.

3 - You can’t legislate morality. You create an environment in which morality can thrive. That environment is freedom.

4 - The best person to be in charge of a parent’s child is the parent. Not the federal government, an international body, a public school or daycare, or anyone else.

5 - Rights are negatively secured, not positively mandated. Thus, the right to freedom, life, the holding of one’s property--these are about something of yours not being taken from you. These are rights. The right to an education, a good job, a nice home, healthcare--these are not rights--they are positively enforced. They are about giving you something you don’t already have, not about securing what you have already earned.

6 - Legislation guided by special interests is especially wrong.

7 - Equality is about not placing one race, gender, people group above another, not about making up for past wrongs, or overcompensating to tip the balance of “advantage.” Equality is about treating with an even hand, almost as if the race, gender, ethnicity is not seen.

8 - The greatest robber, and the one which usually gets away with it, is the government.

9 - Keep it simple; keep it fair, keep it unforced, if possible.

10 - When there is a question about federal law, consult the Constitution. Before a federal law is made, consult the Constitution. Before anything is done by the federal government, consult the Constitution. It’s the rulebook.

-----

The entire platform can be found here.

Tragedy

My prayers go out to the victims and their families in the Aurora, Colorado shooting. I cannot imagine how the perpetrator could have picked a more sickly ironic setting for his crime.

I also pray that confusion is not spread as the result of this tragedy. It is unfortunate that people are already trying to politicize this event and make it into more than is at first apparent. Please, let us see how the facts bear out before we rush to judge.

An Answer (Psalm 40)

I waited patiently for the LORD;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.

How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust,
And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.
Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.

Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.
Then I said, "Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your Law is within my heart."

I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will not restrain my lips,
O LORD, You know.
I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.

You, O LORD, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.
For evils beyond number have surrounded me;
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my heart has failed me.

Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me;
Make haste, O LORD, to help me.
Let those be ashamed and humiliated together
Who seek my life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight in my hurt.
Let those be appalled because of their shame
Who say to me, "Aha, aha!"
Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation say continually,
"The LORD be magnified!"
Since I am afflicted and needy,
Let the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.

NASB

A Question (Psalm 39)

I said, “I will guard my ways

That I may not sin with my tongue;

I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle

While the wicked are in my presence.”

I was mute and silent,

I refrained even from good,

And my sorrow grew worse.

My heart was hot within me,

While I was musing the fire burned;

Then I spoke with my tongue:

“LORD, make me to know my end

And what is the extent of my days;

Let me know how transient I am.

Behold, you have made my days as handbreadths,

And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight;

Surely every man at his best is a mere breath.             Selah.

Surely every man walks about as a phantom;

Surely they make an uproar for nothing;

He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.”

“And now, Lord, for what do I wait?

My hope is in You.

Deliver me from all my transgressions;

Make me not the reproach of the foolish.

I have become mute, I do not open my mouth,

Because it is You who have done it.

Remove Your plague from me;

Because of the opposition of Your hand I am perishing.

With reproofs You chasten a man for iniquity;

You consume as a moth what is precious to him;

Surely every man is a mere breath.”                           Selah.

“Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry;

Do not be silent at my tears;

For I am a stranger with You,

A sojourner like all my fathers.

Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may smile again

Before I depart and am no more.”

NASB

A Little Bit of History

Ever heard of the jerry can? If not, you have been missing out. I was.

So, think about the gas cans that we have today. Thanks to the CARB law, you can go out and buy all sorts of useless, plastic, ventless things. Ironically, with my little experience (Thank God it has not been more. I mean that very sincerely.), I have observed that these "safe" cans are in fact more hazardous and environmentally malicious than the more robust vented ones they replaced. Just thinking of a couple of the old gas cans that my parents own, I weep for the good old days. And, those cans probably aren't as robust as the ones discussed in the article above. My own CARB gas can is now effectively employed as a cleaner dispenser... because that's all it's good for.

Since it leaks so well, I may as well keep it in STORE mode and leak a little out when I need it for cleaning purposes. It is very dependable that way.

Right Back in Software Engineering

You thought I was trying to move on, right? No such luck.

Well, the IDR went well last week, once we finally decided on a test interface. It only took one follow-up meeting. During the first gathering, on Tuesday, I was glad that the former PE for this project stepped up and ran the meeting. It definitely took a load off of me. But, this last one, I more or less ran, and I must say, I kind of enjoy occupying the here's-the-way-it-is seat in the room.

This past week, I've enjoyed actually getting my hands dirty (wait.... that's an oxymoron, isn't it?) with the software. A lot of the "fun" has centered around decomposing what a bunch of LabView code is doing that was written 10 years ago, and then comparing that with a bunch of incomplete requirements documentation and some relatively esoteric ADATE code. It's esoteric for me, that is. I only heard of the language a few weeks ago, and now I have to understand what some dozen code files do. Finding documentation online is like trying to search for pearls in freshwater oysters... oh wait, you CAN find pearls in freshwater osyters. Never mind.

Anyway, the next few weeks will be filled with all sorts of interesting things like creating an RS-232 packet protocol, boning up for DDR (Detailed Design Review), and performing various wonders in C#. (If you saw the test framework we have, YOU might think anything accomplished is a wonder of some sort.)

But, unfortunately, those weeks will not involve hardware, unless I get pulled back onto some test station integration. We can always hope...

In which I have been enjoying a couple new TV shows.

Well, one's new and one's a few years old.

A couple weeks ago I started watching Bunheads and this last weekend I dug up Ballykissangel. Two shows that almost couldn't be more different, but both quite a bit of fun to watch. The first would earn serious ridicule from a certain brother of mine and the second, well... it reminds me of Last of the Summer Wine, and therefore makes me feel like an old geezer. But, I don't care.

Not sure what it is about Bunheads, but something about the strange personality (which any sane person would expect me to go mad at watching) of Sutton Foster's character is kind of endearing to watch... just a pretty funny show in all. The whimsical capers of the ballet girls are also a highlight. Oh, and the character Fanny is almost insufferable... yet, I keep coming back for more.

Ballykissangel is set in a small, quaint Irish town and reminds me of several of the older BBC shows. Nicely homelike and slowish.... I don't really know how to describe it. [huge, sick cliche] It's just a warm show. [huge, sick cliche] With its own sort of intrigue and adventure. I think I'm partial to the whole story-of-a-young-humble-priest sort of deal.

Big Day Tomorrow

After two weeks of research, and 3 revisions of my slides, I am getting to the bare and bitter end before my IDR tomorrow. I almost have a complete presentation together and it still needs another look over, but I feel like my approach is set, and only polishing is left. Some 16 invites have been sent, nearly all accepted... and a whole extra meeting called to prelude the IDR.

So, this project was one of those, "It's all the same" type of deals. My mentor has instilled in me an alarm bell, now, that goes off whenever I hear that phrase. What started as a project that was just "the same" turned into a "We have real questions here", which turned into a "We have some real problems here", which turned into "We can't do it like it was proposed."

To make matters even more interesting, we have a rather unique customer (internal to Rockwell) who is a combination of "I am going to contradict what I just said because I forgot" and a "I am going to contradict what I said because I just changed my mind" kind of guy. This morning he was all set, just about, on calling for the IDR to be canceled, or at least pushed back, so we could look into an entirely new integration option, or two.

It's interesting to see how my coworkers and superiors react to situations like these... the colorful language that flows, the all-but-so-and-so's an idiot response. One can never know the joys of distributed talent until one sees the insides of a large engineering firm.

Between the chaos and confusion, I've been able to have some really interesting conversations with my mentor. He's kind of lost most of his faith in humanity and is constantly bemoaning the inefficiencies around him, but he's also a very decent person and open to talking about real issues of life, even of his own. I can only thank God that I have had the opportunity to discuss issues surrounding the meaning of life with him on more than one occasion.