Been a while here. Sorry about that. Until I get a chance to catch up properly, how about a quickie video of a moose and two days-old calves from the kitchen window? The narrator's very compelling.
Video stuff is proving to be pretty fun. Hopefully we'll get a bit more of it going this summer. :-)
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Friday, July 30, 2010
Sabre's First Steps
This video isn't actually her very first steps, but it was within a day or so. Fun stuff!
More to come, as we get around to working with it. Please have patience. :-)
More to come, as we get around to working with it. Please have patience. :-)
Friday, July 31, 2009
Index - Putting the story in order
The purpose of this post (since at the time of this writing the blog is grossly out of date) is to organize the "essential story" links into a usable point of entry for anyone who would like to catch up on what the heck has been going on. I suspect I'll keep this post updated as gaps get filled in, which ostensibly will happen at some point. (Stop laughing, you...)
The coverage of time is essentially 2001 until May of 2009, right before I accepted the position at Kenai Peninsula College. The order here is appropriately (if not always literally) chronological.
And that brings us up to date, at least for now. As I get other nuggets finished I'll update this post as well!
The coverage of time is essentially 2001 until May of 2009, right before I accepted the position at Kenai Peninsula College. The order here is appropriately (if not always literally) chronological.
- The Wilmachek Bride: covers 2001 until mid-2007. This was my surprise gift to Cathy at our wedding: her maid of honor had asked me to pen a few short paragraphs covering our history, and I had to apologize to her because this is what came out. (And for those who may not have read The Princess Bride in book form, be forewarned that the whole thing is an extended homage; there are a lot of in-jokes that you may miss, even if you have seen the movie.)
- The story of moving to Alaska is chronologically covered with the January 2009 entries, reading upward in the blog archive widget. Here, I'll distill it a bit to cover the points of greatest interest. First, discovering the opportunity, then the catalyst, then the decision, then the crazy summer, then the logistics and mechanics, and finally the arrival.
- The story of our wee miss, Sabre Ruth, is told in two parts. Best experience of my life!
- Initial Sabre pics in three parts.
And that brings us up to date, at least for now. As I get other nuggets finished I'll update this post as well!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Sabre goes to Homer
The Shameless Sabre Parade visited Homer this weekend, for a job interview at Kenai Peninsula College. The wee miss performed admirably (as usual) at wowing everyone she met, Cathy (as usual) kept us all sane, and ol' Dad confirmed that the more he learns about this role, the more he likes it. The people, the role, the concept, the environment, and the idea, one and all. (At this point, he's not sure what he's more afraid of: not getting an offer at all, or getting an offer that he simply and literally cannot afford to accept. Keep fingers crossed!)
From the SSP archives, then, this modest selection:
On the road in the northern Kenai.
The owners' house at Twin Creeks Lodge & Retreat.
(shot taken from our room window)
All dressed up and Dad still can't steal the show.
(like he's complaining.)
Above Homer's east side, looking S across Kachemak Bay.
Out East End Road, looking SE across upper Kachemak Bay.
Looking across the Bay from the end of the Homer Spit.
(Even with the light washed out, the place is amazing.)
Back home, no more car seats, dryin' off with the penguin towel.
Shoutin' out to her peeps from the hamper.
(Eat your heart out, Olan Mills! :-)
From the SSP archives, then, this modest selection:
On the road in the northern Kenai.
The owners' house at Twin Creeks Lodge & Retreat.(shot taken from our room window)
All dressed up and Dad still can't steal the show.(like he's complaining.)
Above Homer's east side, looking S across Kachemak Bay.
Out East End Road, looking SE across upper Kachemak Bay.
Looking across the Bay from the end of the Homer Spit.(Even with the light washed out, the place is amazing.)
Back home, no more car seats, dryin' off with the penguin towel.
Shoutin' out to her peeps from the hamper.(Eat your heart out, Olan Mills! :-)
Monday, April 20, 2009
Anchorage Libertarian Examiner
Check out the new Anchorage Libertarian Examiner. Yours truly has landed a wee writing gig.
It's not fulltime work, but it's a great outlet, and it's the sort of stuff I tend to write about anyway (read: I can hardly help it). Hopefully I can keep it interesting enough that people will check in on it from time to time--maybe even, you know, regularly.
If nothing else, if I can successfully point people to some of the other liberty writers operating today (and there are some good ones), I can feel satisfied with the work. If you like it--heck, even if you don't and want to just sic someone on me--tell a friend and check back every now and then. I don't anticipate lacking for source material in these tiresome times, and I could sure do worse than to advocate for human beings, so here we go.
Hope to see you there!
- Kevin
It's not fulltime work, but it's a great outlet, and it's the sort of stuff I tend to write about anyway (read: I can hardly help it). Hopefully I can keep it interesting enough that people will check in on it from time to time--maybe even, you know, regularly.
If nothing else, if I can successfully point people to some of the other liberty writers operating today (and there are some good ones), I can feel satisfied with the work. If you like it--heck, even if you don't and want to just sic someone on me--tell a friend and check back every now and then. I don't anticipate lacking for source material in these tiresome times, and I could sure do worse than to advocate for human beings, so here we go.
Hope to see you there!
- Kevin
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Wizards of Ozymandias
In the category of "Um, dude, why didn't I know about this before?"...
Reading through today's War On Guns entries and their commentary, almost by chance I ran across this link.
Wow. Wish I had said that!
Turns out this is Chapter 32 of an electronic book by an author named Butler Shaffer, published back in 2002. Today was a bit crazy, but I managed to bookmark the entry point and make it through the Introduction.
So far, so good. It will be interesting to see where this goes.
UPDATE 4/15: We have achieved candidacy for "the book I wish I had written", after just 5 of the 163 entries in the ToC. And I suspect the guy is just getting warmed up.
UPDATE 4/16: Okay, so far this (entry #7) is the best entry yet. Shaffer is nailing the worldview with only the briefest hints of impertinence. Interestingly, earlier in the day I had a conversation on a potential business opportunity which seemed to feature one of the manifestations Shaffer talks about here--that of the inherent adaptability of small, intelligent structures over monolithic command-and-control ones. Shaffer gives a couple of anthropological examples (which seemed on the money to me) but refrained from including evolutionary ones such as the ascendancy of mammals.
UPDATE 4/17: It was inevitable that Shaffer would eventually show at least a few chinks in the armor, but they are pretty minor nits to pick. Mostly it is a brief appearance of the impertinent, some minor preference item, and I cannot say that any of them has risen to the level of something that can be reasonably objected to. Almost as soon as it comes up it is gone, and he is right back to the demolition of sacred cows. He is certainly harsher on the American Founders than I am, but then I have never claimed to be a purist, either--it always seemed to me that the BoR made the Constitution just palatable enough, and workable for an imperfect world. He makes a pretty good point there, though, and it makes me realize that I have much yet to learn about just how free one actually could be. Curiously, it appears that he and I do not share the same preference on abortion, but he has given me the first glimpse I have yet seen of someone who disagrees with it on truly libertarian grounds. He in no way advocates the state to have any say in the matter, which is where we are in 100% agreement, but he has an interesting and respectable take on it that I had not really considered before. I am happy to say that he does a very good job of articulating the libertarian's positive view of human nature, that is so difficult to articulate and so easy to assume is just a platitude. And finally (I'm about 22 titles in now) I love the chaos-theory metaphors that he uses to ground many of his examples in. He shoots, he scores.
UPDATE 4/19: I am at entry 32 now...and if you want to understand the way I look at the world, go read this and you'll cover a huge amount of ground. Simply fantastic.
Reading through today's War On Guns entries and their commentary, almost by chance I ran across this link.
Wow. Wish I had said that!
Turns out this is Chapter 32 of an electronic book by an author named Butler Shaffer, published back in 2002. Today was a bit crazy, but I managed to bookmark the entry point and make it through the Introduction.
So far, so good. It will be interesting to see where this goes.
UPDATE 4/15: We have achieved candidacy for "the book I wish I had written", after just 5 of the 163 entries in the ToC. And I suspect the guy is just getting warmed up.
UPDATE 4/16: Okay, so far this (entry #7) is the best entry yet. Shaffer is nailing the worldview with only the briefest hints of impertinence. Interestingly, earlier in the day I had a conversation on a potential business opportunity which seemed to feature one of the manifestations Shaffer talks about here--that of the inherent adaptability of small, intelligent structures over monolithic command-and-control ones. Shaffer gives a couple of anthropological examples (which seemed on the money to me) but refrained from including evolutionary ones such as the ascendancy of mammals.
UPDATE 4/17: It was inevitable that Shaffer would eventually show at least a few chinks in the armor, but they are pretty minor nits to pick. Mostly it is a brief appearance of the impertinent, some minor preference item, and I cannot say that any of them has risen to the level of something that can be reasonably objected to. Almost as soon as it comes up it is gone, and he is right back to the demolition of sacred cows. He is certainly harsher on the American Founders than I am, but then I have never claimed to be a purist, either--it always seemed to me that the BoR made the Constitution just palatable enough, and workable for an imperfect world. He makes a pretty good point there, though, and it makes me realize that I have much yet to learn about just how free one actually could be. Curiously, it appears that he and I do not share the same preference on abortion, but he has given me the first glimpse I have yet seen of someone who disagrees with it on truly libertarian grounds. He in no way advocates the state to have any say in the matter, which is where we are in 100% agreement, but he has an interesting and respectable take on it that I had not really considered before. I am happy to say that he does a very good job of articulating the libertarian's positive view of human nature, that is so difficult to articulate and so easy to assume is just a platitude. And finally (I'm about 22 titles in now) I love the chaos-theory metaphors that he uses to ground many of his examples in. He shoots, he scores.
UPDATE 4/19: I am at entry 32 now...and if you want to understand the way I look at the world, go read this and you'll cover a huge amount of ground. Simply fantastic.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
A quick Sabre update
A shameless Sabre Ruth update, because, well, sometimes a body just needs such things.
Knuckle munchin.
Joshin' with mom.
A book critic in the making.
Tummy time.
The dreaded snow suit, with a bit of room to grow.
It's Easter time.
All this is tiring stuff.Saturday, February 14, 2009
So: who needs a teaching technologist?
In the interests of opening the next chapter in my professional life (which is freshly to-be-determined), it might be useful to establish a few things that would assist an extended network of eyes, ears, and references.
Who is this guy?
I am a teaching technologist. A teacher by disposition and at my core, I landed in technology and have made a career of learning things very quickly, distilling them and teaching them back to people at every opportunity, both in official classrooms and on the job. This is where I live.
What does he do well?
Learn. I am voracious about this. It is almost impossible for me to look at something superficially; I have a need to find boundaries and get to essences, and this usually happens very quickly.
Teach. My teaching style is somewhere between craftsman and artist: meticulous and considered, yet often improvised, and delivered with the enthusiasm of abject joy. I learn, I 'splain, I sum up.
Write. This is so much fun it's almost like teaching. In a way it is teaching, whether it's dry and technical (it's an excellent challenge to spruce up technical subjects without losing the point), or persuasive (playing to the infinity of human dynamics), or even fiction (imply the story instead of encasing it in concrete).
Interact. I'm good with people, a gift I get from my mother. Employers seem to like to put me in front of customers, given the choice. I'm calm, to the point, and smile a lot.
Inspire. I seem to have a talent to inspire people with the enthusiasm that comes out in my learning and teaching. I have lost count of students who have taken courses from me, who chase me down years later and take conspicuous pleasure in telling me what they have done with those skills.
What is he looking for?
I am looking, very simply, to bring my strengths to bear in environments which can use them. For the last fifteen years, I have been fortunate to have learned some exquisitely cool technology, then learned to teach it well, and then learned to write the courses myself. And while I am happy to continue to work with WebSphere Portlet Factory and/or Lotus Notes/Domino, I could also be happy learning and teaching many other things. I'm a learner and teacher at my core; the subject is far less important than the act of bringing it to life.
I would love to remain based in Palmer; technology increasingly allows a virtualized location to be as effective as it is cost-effective, and I have already been a remote employee for a number of years now. As for the future, I am very optimistic and excited about the possibilities of remote instructor-led teaching, and have adapted my skills accordingly.
For those who might be willing to help extend my eyes and ears for the search, then, I am open to any number of possible opportunities. Technology, business, education, even pure writing or independent instruction--if it sounds like someone could make use of the skillset described here, I'd love to hear about it. I'm ready to begin again, again.
Who is this guy?
I am a teaching technologist. A teacher by disposition and at my core, I landed in technology and have made a career of learning things very quickly, distilling them and teaching them back to people at every opportunity, both in official classrooms and on the job. This is where I live.
What does he do well?
Learn. I am voracious about this. It is almost impossible for me to look at something superficially; I have a need to find boundaries and get to essences, and this usually happens very quickly.
Teach. My teaching style is somewhere between craftsman and artist: meticulous and considered, yet often improvised, and delivered with the enthusiasm of abject joy. I learn, I 'splain, I sum up.
Write. This is so much fun it's almost like teaching. In a way it is teaching, whether it's dry and technical (it's an excellent challenge to spruce up technical subjects without losing the point), or persuasive (playing to the infinity of human dynamics), or even fiction (imply the story instead of encasing it in concrete).
Interact. I'm good with people, a gift I get from my mother. Employers seem to like to put me in front of customers, given the choice. I'm calm, to the point, and smile a lot.
Inspire. I seem to have a talent to inspire people with the enthusiasm that comes out in my learning and teaching. I have lost count of students who have taken courses from me, who chase me down years later and take conspicuous pleasure in telling me what they have done with those skills.
What is he looking for?
I am looking, very simply, to bring my strengths to bear in environments which can use them. For the last fifteen years, I have been fortunate to have learned some exquisitely cool technology, then learned to teach it well, and then learned to write the courses myself. And while I am happy to continue to work with WebSphere Portlet Factory and/or Lotus Notes/Domino, I could also be happy learning and teaching many other things. I'm a learner and teacher at my core; the subject is far less important than the act of bringing it to life.
I would love to remain based in Palmer; technology increasingly allows a virtualized location to be as effective as it is cost-effective, and I have already been a remote employee for a number of years now. As for the future, I am very optimistic and excited about the possibilities of remote instructor-led teaching, and have adapted my skills accordingly.
For those who might be willing to help extend my eyes and ears for the search, then, I am open to any number of possible opportunities. Technology, business, education, even pure writing or independent instruction--if it sounds like someone could make use of the skillset described here, I'd love to hear about it. I'm ready to begin again, again.
Kevin has just been unleashed onto the job market.
It was bound to happen sooner or later. In a way I'm surprised it took this long; when the question came up today, I actually couldn't remember ever having been laid off before. Heck, during the Bowstreet days alone there were at least half a dozen times I was ready for the hammer to fall, but amazingly it never did.
What actually stings the most is that this is the job I've wanted my whole career--well, at least the IT job I've wanted my whole IT career. Work with Spoon, live in Alaska, develop with and teach Portlet Factory and Notes/Domino...add in to that the small-business environment with really fantastic people and the promise of plentiful work even in a tight economy (due to the recognized depth of expertise of the team), and it was literally the best and last IT job I wanted to have. The plan was to ride that horse until I just got sick of IT altogether and found a way to teach music theory, critical thinking, riflecraft--you know, the really important subjects. :-)
I certainly don't fault Davalen in this; in the same position I'd have made the same choice. With all the meddling the self-anointed brainiacs have done to the economy over the past several generations, what other outcome did any of us expect? I suspect that the exact timing and degree of impact may have been a bit surprising, but again, it was bound to happen sooner or later. If it just could have been a different job...why this one?
And so again it is time to do what I do worst: sell myself. Gah.
With this last year's move, and job change, and baby, one of the things that we joked about is that we apparently like to do things the hard way. Ah, the irony. So now, with the greatest little motivator that I could ever have wished for to spur me on, I suppose it is a chance to see what I'm really made of.
What actually stings the most is that this is the job I've wanted my whole career--well, at least the IT job I've wanted my whole IT career. Work with Spoon, live in Alaska, develop with and teach Portlet Factory and Notes/Domino...add in to that the small-business environment with really fantastic people and the promise of plentiful work even in a tight economy (due to the recognized depth of expertise of the team), and it was literally the best and last IT job I wanted to have. The plan was to ride that horse until I just got sick of IT altogether and found a way to teach music theory, critical thinking, riflecraft--you know, the really important subjects. :-)
I certainly don't fault Davalen in this; in the same position I'd have made the same choice. With all the meddling the self-anointed brainiacs have done to the economy over the past several generations, what other outcome did any of us expect? I suspect that the exact timing and degree of impact may have been a bit surprising, but again, it was bound to happen sooner or later. If it just could have been a different job...why this one?
And so again it is time to do what I do worst: sell myself. Gah.
With this last year's move, and job change, and baby, one of the things that we joked about is that we apparently like to do things the hard way. Ah, the irony. So now, with the greatest little motivator that I could ever have wished for to spur me on, I suppose it is a chance to see what I'm really made of.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Look out, RC...
So I've got a lead on a new vocalist for Rock Club.
Check out this freakin' metal face:
Seriously, man, she's beltin' out John Hartford here.
So, how's this for a marquee:
Check out this freakin' metal face:
"And ze dra-gon comes in ze niiiiiight!"
Seriously, man, she's beltin' out John Hartford here.
So, how's this for a marquee:
-- ROCK CLUB --
Featuring
Säbrë Rüth
King Kamehamayhem
Some Dolt Playing Arpeggios With An EBow
Those Who Actually Know All The Songs
and
Some Poor Sot Forced To Sing Journey
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