It is safe to assume it:
We will consume it.
The moon, the sea, the mountain. "Too soon,"
We'll cry, and sing a mournful tune,
And hold an observance, and soon resume.
Be good to each other in the time remaining.

It will do you no good to lament it.
In the time you strive to prevent it,
Disrupt, resent and reinvent it,
A new need emerges and brooks no dissent.
Be good to each other in the time remaining.

That's a bit dire. That's a bit strong.
The time remaining may be very long
As reckoned by Romans or roaches or cats.
We are clever creatures. As clever as rats.
But there are no guarantees, for all of that.
Be good to each other in the time remaining.

Eventually the stars will go.
The planets and the asteroids. Slow
Streamers of the solar wind blow
Outwards, carrying uranium
And other heavy elements to tantalize the cranium
Of our successors. Need I explain?
Be good to each other in the time remaining.

Don't cry for the sun, little one.
You will long since be cold and done,
Along with the idea of the idea of remorse.
And even irony will run its course.
Be good to each other in the time remaining.
Be good to each other in the time remaining.
Be good to each other in the time remaining.

Like a dog going back to its vomit, i'm at the brink of accepting a contract at eBay, because i've been out of work too long (coming up on 4 months now). I'm trying to frame this correctly by just getting the necessary work done, and then using my time towards my own professional goals later.  I'll be working in the organization of a friend with whom i've worked previously, so i think that this will not be terrible.

I want to write a roundup of some of the anime series I've been watching this season, but I have a couple more episodes to watch first.  As prologue, though, a recap of my history with anime.

Like many enthusiasts around my age, my first exposure to anime was completely unwitting.  Speed Racer, Battle of the Planets, and especially Star Blazers were cartoons that were just a bit different from the usual after-school fare, and in particular Star Blazers' continuing storyline set it apart.  (I was a little too young for Astro Boy, and a little too old for Robotech and Voltron.)  It was some years before I found out the reason behind that, though.

One of my college roommates was heavily into All Things Japanese, studying the language and owning shelves full of untranslated manga.  He introduced me to Miyazaki films and Bubblegum Crisis and Urusei Yatsura and other shows that would now be considered classics, but I didn't quite catch the bug at that time.  (He's pretty much gone native by now, living in Tokyo for many years, married with kids.)

A few years after that, I moved out to get married, and after a while learned that my wife was going downstairs to watch Sailor Moon in the mornings.  "Oh, well, if you're interested in that stuff, we should watch some of the real anime that Jim told me about," was my take, and I started renting shows from the Video Station in Boulder.  That was my doom.  I wound up finding the Denver Anime International club, many of whose alumni went on to start and run Nan Desu Kan, which just held its 18th convention.  (I run the Main Events room there and I'm the emcee.)  I've also wound up learning a good chunk of the language; I still wouldn't call myself fluent, but I can carry on halting conversations when the need arises, and I can pick up a lot of subtleties that aren't reflected in the subtitles as I'm watching.

So, yeah, I'm an anime geek, and my sons have wound up watching quite a bit with me as well.  This has been made much easier (for better or worse) in the last couple of years, since discovering Crunchyroll and the surprisingly large anime holdings on Hulu.  Feel free to chat me up about it if you like.

Most people working in technology, especially the ones who write code, don't understand the underlying needs and use cases that drive their work. Under the guidance of an effective architect/manager, a few of those get it right despite their low level of communication skills.

I've worked in IT and related fields for a while, as have many of the people who call themselves my friends. I've seen and discussed a lot of getting it wrong and getting it right, and mentored a handful of folks along the way to improving their empathy, communication, execution, and humility. You don't do good work by acting like a bro. If you don't understand why someone's upset about an action of yours, you may have committed a bro behaviour -- even if you are not a bro. I myself am not entirely free of bro nature and sometimes err.

The development of this site so far has, from the multiple perspectives I can access through the miracle of conversation, been uneven with respect to listening to, understanding, and meeting the needs of anyone other than the principal developer. Fortunately, the skills that need to be developed can be learned by a person internally motivated to do so.

Why didn't I know about this?

Of course now... Oh, god, why do I know about this?

On my commute home today I saw a white Rolls Royce (not a common sight on the BQE, and eeeesh are new Rolls Royces TACKY LOOKING) with dark tinted windows.  The vanity plate read, "MR LOLLI" and was framed with a custom plate frame- "I'm Hiring".  I peered in the obscured window as I passed the car, but all I could see was sunlight glinting off of an enormous gold watch.

Looking for a job?  Follow the link below and you can thank me later.

http://www.anthonylolli.com

When you walk into home depot, and you're a tall guy and wearing an orange bowling shirt.. people ask you questions because they think you work there. They just see the orange. 

Hmm.

There were wonderful teachers, like our choral director Gordon Adams, who definitely got more than one kid through those four years, compromising with punk rockers on the performance dress code ("you can wear your boots if you wear the suit") and taking heat from the administration over it.

But high school wasn't so bad honestly. My peers matured a lot when we all hit the ninth grade and merged with another school. I made lasting friends and did nerdy and less-nerdy things with impunity. Hell, I lettered in cross country.

Before that, though, I was public enemy number one. Yep, from the day I arrived in town in the fourth grade and said, "hey! have you guys heard about the gas crunch?"

Yes, I was that kid: full of adult knowledge and words, and hopelessly socially unskilled.

I was verbally, though not physically, pummeled for the ensuing five years. I had no friends that lasted; as soon as someone warned them I wasn't cool, they got the hell away from Toxic Boy.

So I have to give props to my mom, who said:

"Adults are going to tell you these are the best years of your life. Don't listen to them. I remember being your age. It was terrible."

Mom was on the "It Gets Better" train before it was cool.

And I'm having a queazy heartattack. 

Knowing I just have one chance today to post here gives me a bit of stage fright. What if I don't perform well?   Silly goose-me.  My friends are here.   

I wish I could heal faster.  I wish my spine were straight.  There are many things I can change, but my herniated and collapsed discs, not so much.  I'm having a bit of a pained day. I sprained my knee and then reinjured it in the past few weeks, and my spinal nerve pains are layering a caramel sauce of tiny stabbings over that pain scoop.  I shall go get spinal cortisone injections to help ease the sensations, but they won't change the wedged wear on my vertebrae.  

I haven't the wearwithall for art today.  

On such a day, this little sore atheist returns once again to Henley's poem Invictus for the strength and inspiration I need to do the dishes and interact with humans, and see my friend Corprew, who delights me.  

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.