Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Your Levity is Good. It Relieves Tension and the Fear of Death.

"Fireplace" or "plier face," you decide...

I was never much of a handyman, so I'd have to go with "fireplace"...

Interesting day today, to say the least... went into the rug shop, got some more website-related things done. On the rug blog, I posted a link to an article my mom found about these guys who made a flatweave using silk from golden orb spiders of Madagascar. In fact, I might as well share it here, too... check this out...

These two guys (Simon Peers and Nicholas Godley) decided to weave a rug using the silk from these guys...


Don't worry, they can bite, but they're not poisonous. From what the article says, the silk from the Golden Orb Spider is 5 times stronger (tensile strength) than steel...


The article doesn't say exactly how long it took the two men and their assistants to harvest, spin and weave the silk into the 11-foot rug, but they did say it took about a million spiders and a half-million dollars total investment to produce it.

While it isn't the first time spider silk has been used in weaving, it is the first rug to be made of it. The article is a fascinating read, if you want to check it out... but it's the New York Times site, so I'm not sure how long the article will be accessible.

Anyway, during the day, I chatted with someone I hadn't talked to in years. I used to work for a sculptor down in La Jolla named Malcolm Jones - worked for him for years, and we were close. After I stopped working for him, we would chat off and on via phone, to catch up. Well, you know how things go; the off stretched out farther than the on, and years have gone by since last we spoke. Anyway, in a fit of optimism, I tried (successfully) to track him down, and it was great to talk to him again. I'm going to build him a website, now that I have the (limited) skill. Nothing flashy or too fancy, but something clean and cool, to showcase his art and his accomplishments. It's the least I can do for all he'd done for me and my family over the years.

So that was cool.

Had an uneventful trip home, and an oddly eventful prayer meeting at Stan's tonight... unexpectedly had a rather lengthy heated discussion (to put it mildly), and I certainly left with plenty to think about. It's never easy to have your whole MO for life called into question. If I'm wrong, I want to know, and changes will be made; I don't cling to anything. A little intense introspection never hurt, I guess. That's what I'll be doing tonight, no doubt... I now know why you cry... but it's something I can never do.

I wanted to express some mild concerns for the second Mistborn book, which I'm about 100 pages into. There's a surprising amount of filler so far, and a handful of obvious typos so far - ones that a competent editor and/or proofreader should have easily caught and corrected. There's a disappointing amount of re-explaining of stuff going on, both of the magic system and of events from Book 1... I suppose that's to be expected, in case (I suppose) someone decided to start reading the series at the second book instead of the first, or (more likely, I suppose), a potential reader took a loooong time to pick the second book up to continue the story. But for someone moving seamlessly from Book 1 to 2, it's a bit of a downer. I shall, of course, continue to read it, assuming everyone else is correct in saying the series, as a whole, is consistently awesome, but it is a noticeable downshift to me so far... white light... pain... it's like being born, maybe...

Man, I am blabbing a lot tonight. Better track down a cool video or something... brb...

OK, in this round of Animal vs Machine...


Todayve in History: September 24
--------------------------------------
- September 24, 1789: The office of US Attorney General is established. (I'm not authorized to answer your questions...)

- September 24, 1890: The Mormon Church officially renounces polygamy. (Kyle, the women in your time, what are they like?)

- September 24, 1906: Pres. Teddy Roosevelt proclaims Devil's Tower in Wyoming the nation's first National Monument. (And all hell rejoiced...)

- September 24, 1948: Honda Motor Co. is born! (What, do you guys come off an assembly line or something?)

- September 24, 1968: 60 Minutes debuts on CBS. (Because calling it "Hour" was not catchy enough...)

Among those celebrating birthdays on Sept 24: Sir Arthur Guinness (1725 - Patron saint of Irish Beer), F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896 - the quintessential Trivial Pursuit literature answer), Jim Henson (1936 - can you tell me how to get... how to get to Sesame Street?), and Mean Joe Green (1946 - had a coke... smiled...).

Dr. Suess died on September 24, 1991. Here's a link to a clip of Jesse Jackson reading from Green Eggs & Ham.

Well, I guess I'm going to skedaddle for the night. Mellow post again tonight, sorry... I'm still pretty upended from the prayer meeting. I'll try to be goofy tomorrow... look at it this way: in a hundred years, who's gonna care? Anyway, congrats to Crystal for snagging every quote from yesterday's post, and kudos to everyone else for not snatching most of them away from her... you could have... but they're officially hers now! Someone could at least get the 10 points for the obvious theme...

Until tomorrow, remember, desire is irrelevant. I am a machine.

18 comments:

havah said...

"Kyle, the women in your time, what are they like?" -- The Terminator

"What, do you guys come off an assembly line or something?" -- Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

"desire is irrelevant. I am a machine." -- Terminator 2: Judgment Day

And the theme is...err..."Terminator" movies, perhaps? :D

havah said...

That spider-silk-rug is incredible. I wonder if it feels creepy to walk on? I imagine there must have been a lot of very confused and over-worked spiders on that job though...

Loved the cat clip. My cat used to jump on my typewriter (remember those things?) when I typed. Cats are cool.

Hope your introspection pays off. I'm too scared to look into my mind right now. Good luck!

David Wagner said...

15 points for Havah's quotes, and 10 points for guessing the theme! That's 25 points BOOOM! Like that! That's why Havah makes the big bucks... smooth as (spider) silk...

Emil Kirstein said...

David, you start your blogs with magnificent scenic pictures! Blessings!

Krista said...

Wow, what an amazing rug! Who'd a thought....?

I hope The Well of Ascension gets better for you...I loved it, anyway. You can read each book as a standalone if you wanted, but they're better as a whole. Plus, don't they usually have retelling of information for all series....because usually if you read the first one when it first came out it would be awhile before you could get the second one...*Shrug* I don't know, though, because I didn't read them back to back, so I can't say I felt the same way as you.*Shrug*

Wow, Way to go Crystal! If I would have been around yesterday I would have stolen them for sure! LOL! Just kidding!

All the best, Dave!

P.S. I agree with Emil I always enjoy your opening photo...wonderful!

Krista said...

I posted on yesterdays post, as well.

Anonymous said...

Dave...also born on this day.. your grandfather..WWII hero and wonderful person..wish you could have known him...Kateb15

Abbie said...

Your Levity is Good. It Relieves Tension and the Fear of Death = Terminator 3
I now know why you cry... but it's something I can never do = Terminator 2
white light... pain... it's like being born, maybe = Terminator

lol, yay, one from every day haha.
Dave, are you still counting points for yourself when we don't snag them?

and, good luck on the camp slide show! do we get to see it at youth this saturday??

David Wagner said...

Emil: Glad you enjoy the pictures. I'm a sucker for a nice scenic pic, and I'm glad I have a place to share the ones I've found.

Krista: I don't begrudge Sanderson for recovering a little ground, I suppose that's to be expected. I don't remember how Abercrombie or Martin did it, I just don't remember it being so blatant. I didn't get to read further last night... my round of introspection consumed me until I plummeted into sleep...

Mom: Thanks for the reminder. Yeah, I wish I could have known him as well. I still plan on giving him a memorial page on my website.

Abbie: 15 points! And no, I'm not counting missed quotes anymore... they're all up for grabs, if you see any from days ago you want to add... now THAT's dedication!

Camp slideshow... guess I should get on it, lol...

Paula Titus said...

Hoping you elaborate on your introspection.

Very cool rug, but I hate spiders.

I think it's very nice, you looking up an old friend and doing him a favor. But I get the feeling that's the type of guy you are. :)

havah said...

Added two quotes on the 19th :)

havah said...

And one on the 7th

David Wagner said...

Havah! W00t! I gave you the 10 points for the 19th, but I'm not seeing the one on the 7th... lemme refresh again and see if it appears...

Anonymous said...

Wow. Just finished "The Dresser." Good call.

Unknown said...

I felt the same way about the 2nd Mistborn, actually put it down for a while and read something else. It got better for me later in the book though. Also, I think the 3rd book doesn't start off like that.

It will most likely be different for you. What we each take away from a book is unique.

havah said...

Don't know what happened...but it's there now :)

David Wagner said...

Yep, there it is! 5 more Free for All points for Havah the Great!

Joe: I'll definitely keep reading, but it's nice to know I'm not crazy... thanks for chippin' in!

Anon: Glad you liked The Dresser. Awesome performance(s).

Abbie said...

wow havah! you are dedicated! you definitely deserve to be quote queen :)