Running Late

Been running busy these last few days.  Started a new project, which involves travel, etc.  Always fun. Of course, when you're getting things started, the last thing you think about is writing a blog entry.

Lots of odd things floating about in the back of my mind, and I'm debating what & when to write.

But, right now, it's late, and I'm tired.  Time to get some sleep, then come back it all tomorrow.

Turnabout

Just seemed the thing to do this morning...

This is going to be one of those days where I have far too much to do, and nothing will get done...

Wiling away

Another night of having big plans for writing, but not much coming of it...

It's been both a good day and a bad day.  A bad day as I haven't really felt up to speed (though I thankfully felt better than the night before), and a good day as a new project has come up.  I'll thus be back to work soon.  It will be great to see where that leads.

All of this has left in that sort of zen-space I occasionally fall into, the sort of "what-does-it-all-mean"-lite feeling.  I never really come up with answers during these little mental drift-offs.  But, then, I'm not putting much effort into coming up with anything anyway...

So, I'm ending my evening, having watched every "DVD Extra" feature on the "Two-Disk Special Edition" of Quantum of Solace.  (There's deep philosophy for you.)  Stack of Montegrappa pens beside me, obviously unused.  The nice, black Rhodia pad, unopened...

And a sudden mad desire to fly to Bregenz, and watch opera by the lake.  (Though not Tosca, please...)

I REALLY think it's time to go to bed....

Neil Armstrong

I completely forgot to put up a note on the passing of Neil Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) yesterday.  A very true American hero, and great loss to the nation, and the world.

Today, it seems we almost want to forget the heroic achievements of the Space Race.  But, for all the Cold War trappings, the Moon Landings do constitute one of the highest achievements of humanity.  Something we should strive for again.  Something that humanity, as a whole, should strive for.

Wouldn't that be a fitting tribute to Neil Armstrong's legacy?

Stress and Relief

It's been one of those days/nights.

A lot of traveling during the day has kept me from doing much online.  Then, this evening, the Internet service went down.  I am always amazed at how addicted we have become to this online world.

I was going to try to do something vaguely intelligent here tonight, but I'd simply drained.  I just spent the last hour or so fighting with one of my two remaining Windows systems.  I keep a fairly well-known internet security package running on that system, and it decided to crash prompted after doing an upgrade.  Therein followed entirely too much time wasted trying to troubleshoot on the system.  After that, entirely too much time wasted on trying to access the company's website, followed by not being able to find anything even vaguely like a decent trouble shooting system on the site...

I finally ended up deleting the entire cursed thing from the system, which then lead to me having to re-download it from the website, which lead to login problems, etc. etc.  Ad Nauseum, Ad Infinitum.

After much creative language usage, and threats to study the aerodynamics of a Toshiba laptop, the program is reinstalled.  I will say no more.

This is why I don't use Windows for anything important anymore.

The sad thing, about the only thing I use this system for anymore is to fiddle an Amiga emulator package I got not long ago.  I never got to play with the Amiga system back in the day, so I thought I'd give it a try now.  Of course, the emulator package seems to be mainly oriented towards games, though it does come with some cool stuff.  Including a copy of the very intriguing AmiKit package, which includes some nifty programs.  I find in most interesting to be browsing the web from inside a virtual computer system.

Right now I've got the emulator running various demos from its demoscene collection.  Some amazing stuff, considering most of these things were programmed a couple decades back.  Fascinating to watch, even relaxing at time...

How strange, though.  The machine itself is so stressful, yet the machine existing virtually within the machine is so...  opposite...

Old Tech

I suppose the name says it all.  And any old MacHead will immediately recognize the model, the Powerbook G3 "FireWire", AKA the "Pismo."  One of the great old warhorses of the powerbook line.
It was reading about the Pismo that actually pushed me over the edge into "accumulating" these old machines.

My Pismo, running OS X Tiger, with iTunes up to play a CD this evening.

I'd originally intended to pull out my G3 Wallstreet and fiddle with it, but for one reason or another, the Pismo ended up out and charging up.  I haven't used it in ages, and that's a shame.

This was my second Mac, and the first I ever really opened up and did work on.  That's why this model is so well loved.  Just flip the keyboard clips, and you're into the guts of the machine.  No playing with screws or such.  Amazingly, I didn't dry the poor thing while just installing memory.  This was the first system I installed Classic on, where I learned to "bless" system folders...  Funny thing:  I spend more time with the Classic emulator running on this system. than anything else.  I should've just set it up to dual-boot, but I've never had a problem.

Writer Tamara Keel, in an article on the website Low End Mac described the G3 Wallstreet (ancestor of the Pismo) as looking "...businesslike, still modern in appearance, maybe even faintly menacing. The person using a computer that looks like this is obviously writing another New York Times bestseller, leveraging a corporate buyout, or hacking into a Russian aerospace company's mainframes in a Hollywood thriller."  The Pismo shares that same aura.  The jet-black, curvy case (leaner and sleeker than the Wallstreet) does make it seem like you should be breaking into that Russian aerospace company real soon now... 

I've got U2 playing right.  "Last Night on Earth."  Kind of fitting for this "faintly menacing" old friend of mine.

Now, time to go write that New York Times bestseller.........

Playing with Toys

I guess it's something we hold onto from childhood.  Some of us, anyway.

There are just times when I like playing with some toys.  Especially when I'm sort of down.  Maybe it's a distraction.  Maybe it's just raw materialism.  I don't know.  But I find it relaxing.

I collect fountain pens.  It's a more widespread hobby than most people realize.  Like all hobbies, it has it's ups and downs.  There are times when I walk away from it for varying periods.  I always seem to come back, though.

The nice thing about collecting pens is that they're usable.  In fact, I can use them every day in my line of work, where I'm often taking notes all day while researching titles.  It's a kind of little known fact that fountain pens are more comfortable to write with than your average ballpoints and rollerballs.  Granted, there is a learning curve to using them.  You don't hold them like a ballpoint, and you don't write as fast with them.  It slows you down, which (yes) is a good thing.

Three vintage pens.  (Top to Bottom) A Waterman Taperite, a Wahl-Eversharp Doric, and a Parker "Striped" Duofold.  The latter is a family pen, given me by a late uncle.

I collect both vintage and modern pens.  Vintage pens are, on the whole, usually cheaper to get and easier to fix up and maintain.  While some modern pens are excellent practical writers, others are meant more to be pocket jewelry than anything else.  (The Visconti Romanica pen I showed not long ago is about as far in that direction as I usually go.)  Vintage pens were, for the most part, meant to be practical, day-to-day writers.  After all, they were the writing tool of choice "back in the day."

A 1920s "red hard rubber" Wahl pen set, with it's distinctive "Greek Key" machined-turned engraving.

Vintage or modern, I enjoy writing with my pens.  I'm not a particular grand writer, and my handwriting is atrocious, but there is something about picking up and pen and putting it to paper...

However, much as I like the zen-calmness of my pens, I do also have to occasionally give some play time to my electronic toys.  I mentioned last time that I collect old Mac laptops.  And, like my pens, I take to both old and new.

A MacBook Pro, three Powerbooks, and a real book...

However, I definitely tend to lean on the side of vintage here.  I like my Apples, but I'll be the first to say that collecting new models is a wee bit rich for my blood.  Vintage can be both affordable (all my older Powerbooks came to me from eBay), and cool to use.  Believe me, firing up a G3 Pismo in the local coffee shop can still get you some looks.  (I once had a cable repair guy go rapturous when he saw my old Powerbook 3400c.  "I've never actually seen one before..!")

Start up MacWrite or NisusWriter under the old Classic Mac OS...  There's just something different about it...

But that's for another entry...

Something bad - 1, Tech - 0

Problems.

I have this thing for old computers.  Particularly old Apple Powerbook laptops.  I like their distinctive look, that almost retro-techie aura.  You always knew a Powerbook when you saw it in a film, or a TV show.  (Though, lets not - ahem - talk about the Independence Day thing, OK?)

I also have a thing with collecting old Mac Powerbooks.  Or, to be honest, accumulating old Powerbooks.  I don't really have any rhyme nor reason for what I pick up.  I have a whole slew of them, most of them in some sort of operable condition.  I even use them on occasion, believe it or not.  (There is nothing as cool as plunking down a big ol' Powerbook 3400c or G3 Wallstreet, and firing it up.  But that's for another entry.)

So, back to my problems.

I recently obtained a "new" Powerbook off of eBay.  (I know, I know...)  This was a Powerbook Duo 280c.  For those of you who don't know, the Duos were the MacBook Airs of their day.  Sleek (at least for their day) subnotebook computers, with an almost complete lack of connection ports to keep everything as svelte as possible.  (Though they did have a really cool, and expensive, docking mechanism that remedied the missing ports.)  The coolest of the cool in laptop technology in the mid 1990s.

The 280c was a nice little system with good color screen and decent processor.  This particular one seemed to be in very good shape, and the seller stated that it had a Holy Grail for me, a still-functioning battery.  (The great curse with older Powerbooks is lack of working batteries.)  I was really looking forward to getting the system, and trying it out.

Alas...

The box arrived, nicely packaged, today.  I opened, and unwrapped each of the components: power supply, mini-dock, external floppy.  And, then, to the Duo itself.

Things started to go downhill when I noticed little chips of plastic collected in the bottom of the bubble wrap.  Not a good sign.  And then I looked at the battery...  Well...

When you can see the internal power cells in the battery, that's a bad thing.

I tried to do a boot - up on the system, but got nothing.  The case of the computer had actually been split open at the seam, enough to jam the screen latch.  I had to finally click the case back together, just to open the screen.  Definitely not good.

My sense is that the box was dropped somewhere in transit.  It looks like it might have taken a good whack somewhere along the way.  I'm still waiting to hear back from the seller, and then to get in touch with the delivery service.  And then go from there.

I get worked up about things like this.  They tend to sort of ruin the rest of the day.

Late Night Tech

From last night...

You know you may have gone too far when you need to have two laptops running at the same time.

MacBook and MacBook Pro, on joint duty.

But, DVDs look so much better on the 15" screen, and I really can't do my web browsing comfortably with a split screen.  I have my standards, you know...

I have a bad tendency to crash out on the bed of an evening, and not want to turn the desktop on.  So, I end up with my laptops spread all over the bed, running movies, websites, and programs in somewhat random fashion.

The DVD, by the way, is the marvelous Stephen Fry/Mark Carwardine documentary series Last Chance to See, the offbeat followup to the Douglas Adams book of the same name.  (Which is sitting on my shelf now, awaiting its turn on the reading list.)

More Pens

It's been a somewhat slow day that went by very quickly.  Make sense?  Nah, didn't think so, but take my word for it.  I really didn't get anything done, though I had all sorts of things I should've been working on...

I was actually wanting to write about something else this evening, but that would've required me doing a little work beyond (ie, taking some pictures, setting things up, etc.), so I decided to do something short  and (at least to me) sweet.

While wandering through some photos here on the MacBook, I tripped across a couple not-too-good pictures of a couple pens I've had for a while now.  Both are what pen collectors call "grail pens", ie, pens I've been trying to get for ages.  I thought I'd put them up here, and just ramble on about them a bit.

The first is particularly special to me, an Aurora "Leonardo de Vinci" limited edition pen.  I'm not a big person for LEs, as they're called, but I took a shine to this design when it first came out, years ago.  It's a cool design, with an intriguing design.  The cap is engraved with a selection of Leonardo's writings and sketches.

The Aurora Leonardo fountain pen

I went a little bit crazy with this pen, and I'll admit to it.  But it 's sort of a special pen.  When I got it, I was going to one of those crazy periods in my life, and was buying up some really expensive pens that I had always had a eye for.  I actually asked a great dealer I knew if he might be able to find another of these (he'd recently sold one, which got my interest up).  He made the round of pen shows, and contacted me with this.  The price was stiff, but it was a Leonardo, and I so wanted one.  And this one had a special little bit of cachet:  The serial number on the pen is "0000".  I don't know if that means this is a prototype, or it's the literal first off the machine, or what.  I've never contacted Aurora.  I've just enjoyed the pen.  (It writes wonderfully, by the way.)

 The second pen is a Montegrappa "Gea."  This one isn't a fountain pen, but is a rollerball.  I would love to have the FP version, but even I am not crazy enough (nor well-heeled enough) to lay down the kind of cash required for that.  I'm very happy with my RB, though.

Montegrappa "Gea" rollerball

The engraving on the barrel and cap is a map, done in a sort of Renaissance/Baroque style.  I've seen video's posted online of the initial production of these pens, showing the engravings being done entirely by hand.  I believe the barrel is sterling silver, with some gold foil overlay on the continents.  However it's made, the design of the pen is spectacular.  Mine is second hand, of course, and it's seen some heavy (and heavy-handed) use.  The section had some scarring on it, where someone went a bit wild opening it up to get at the rollerball refill.  But I don't care.  I enjoy it enormously, and can sit and look at the engravings for ages.  You'd think the pen would weigh a ton, but it's actually fairly light and very well-balanced, making it a joy to write with.

I have a weakness for stuff like this.  I call it my "gothic-y" side, even though "gothic" has nothing to do with it.  I've pointed out that I like the arcane, and these pens have a charmingly arcane feel to them. Like the Visconti Romanica I showed off earlier, these pens would feel right at home in some ancient library in a castle deep in an imaginary dark European setting.  Pens, used to help one ferret out the enigmas of the past...

I guess you take your fantasies where you can get them.  Mine sometimes come in the shape of a pen...

Pen Talking

I'm a fountain pen collector, and have been for ages.  I both collect and use them, as they (at least to me) the most comfortable writing instrument you can use.  In my line of work, I spend hours a day taking notes, etc., and you really want something that's comfortable to use.

This pen, a Visconti Romanica, is not exactly a daily user.  I picked this up a good while ago, and actually wrote a quick review of it for publishing on the Fountain Pen Network.  However, I never got round to it, so I thought I'd put it here.

So, here goes...

The Pen:  Visconti Romanica, sterling silver over a black body.

-- First impressions:  This is a LARGE pen, with a little of weight to it.  The design is quite beautiful, with the high arched “windows” cut outs, and the “brick work” engraving.  I particularly like the crenellations at the top of the cap and barrel.  The pen is heavy, but not uncomfortably so.  I’ve written with it for fairly long stretches, and have had no problems.  (And I do post the cap.)  Definitely a pen that attracts attention, without being overly gaudy.

Filling System:  The double-reservoir power filler.  Yes, it’s a bit gimmicky, but it works as advertised.  Having used the pen a good bit, I’m confused by some of the complaints I’ve heard.  The small reservoir seems to hold more than enough ink for extensive use.  (Unless you’re using it with a broad or stub nib.) I filled this up with Diamine Crimson ink, and have had no problems.

Nib:  23 kt Palladium - Medium.  Very springy.  I’m a lefty, so I don’t get all the “expressiveness” that some folks do.  But I like the nib.  It writes well.

Overall:  This is definitely a pen that makes a statement.  It is well-designed, well-built, and beautiful to look at.   Granted, it’s not for everyone.  It is expensive.  And the price is going to go up.  (I was lucky to get mine via the good graces of a friendly pen seller.)  The Romanica is well worth a look.  It’s a superb pen.  It’s the type of pen that appeals to my gothically-eccentric side.  I could readily imagine using this pen in some dark castle library while paging through ancient volumes by candle light…

Obviously, I don't tote this one around on a daily basis.  I'm usually in for the purely practical.  But this pen has that gothic-y air to it that just catches my attention.  So...  It's fun to write with, though you wouldn't really want to use it all day.  And it definitely DOES attract attention.

Lurking Memories of Things Past

Today is the 122nd birthday of H.P. Lovecraft.  An author I haven’t really paid attention to in quite a while, but whose works I used have almost memorized.  I have very fond memories of getting into the Lovecraft thing...

I was in high school when I “discovered” Lovecraft.  I’d been a Poe fan from an early age (big surprise there).  I think I first tripped across the name in an essay by Stephen King (whose writings have never done much for me).  Whatever it was, it hit home, because I wasn’t long till I was off on the quest to find the writings of the guy with the odd initials.

I remember going into a Cole’s Bookstore (remember those?) in the local mall, and asking at the counter if they had any books by Lovecraft.  The clerk’s eyes widened, and she said, “OH!  You mean that really scary stuff...”  She pointed to the Sci-Fi/Horror section, which was along the main wall of the store.  Off I went.

The Lovecraft stuff was along the bottom of the shelf, so I was crouched down, leafing through  the whole one copy of short stories they had.  (The Lurking Fear, in the Del Ray edition, with the cool Michael Whelan cover art.)  Suddenly, I heard a charming female voice ask, “So, you’re a fan of Lovecraft?”  Looking up, I saw a stunningly beautiful young woman, with the most stunning deep eyes  I’ve ever seen, and wearing the strangest Egyptian-esque necklace...

Thus are high school geeks’ dreams made.

I’d say she was a college student, and she probably misjudged who I was.  But, still, it was exceedingly unusual for very attractive, and obviously well-read, young women to start up conversations with me.  (It’s even more unusual today.)  But we had a charming talk that lasted quite a while, until she had to leave for some reason.

You will note that there is no mention here of obtaining names nor phone numbers.  I prefer not to go on about that.  Some things are best left unexamined, especially when pertaining to one’s own backwardness, denseness, and general dumbness.  (I did come to my senses, and try to find her again before I left.  But, mysteriously, she was nowhere to be found.  Go figure...)

But, with visions of beautiful women and odd Egyptian necklaces in my head, I ran home and promptly dived into the world of Mr. Lovecraft.

And, for once in my life, proceeded to scare the living wits out of myself.

I had the house to myself that night, for some reason or other, so I settled down to read the story, “The Lurking Fear.”  I won’t ruin the plot for anyone who hasn’t read it, but I will point out that the main plot drivers are thunderstorms.  Well...  Just as dusk fell, we had one of the worst thunderstorms we’d had in ages.  The thunder literally rattled the house, the rain came down in barrels-full.  And all I could see were...  Well, go read the story.  You’ll understand.

I was, naturally, hooked.

They say you’re a true Lovecraft fan when you have a collection of Necronomicon Press titles, and at least one edition from Arkham House, sitting on your self.  And I have both.  The Arkham House edition I have is a bit of a clunker, a collection of stories that Lovecraft rewrote for some of many proteges.  The Necronomicon stuff, however, is golden.

I’m not sure if Necronomicon Press is even still going.  I’ve had no contact with them for years, and I know they’d gone inactive for a while.  A quick check around the ‘Net shows their website online, and a little background research shows that the founders had some rough personal times.

Those little paperbound editions that Necronomicon put out were wonderful.  They published the odd stuff no one else gave much thought to, and also put out scholarly studies.  (One of my favorites actually isn’t even Lovecraft, but is a collection of the late Clark Ashton Smith’s exquisite prose poetry.)

All of this brings back good memories.  Though I am wondering if a certain young lady with the dark, deep eyes is still out there, still sporting that odd necklace, and still luring people into the world of weird tales.......

The Oddities of Silence

It's the odd things in life...

During these last few months, it's been hot enough of a night to really need to have fans running in the house, just to keep it tolerable for sleeping.  I am definitely NOT a hot weather person, and neither is Sam, my small, furry friend of the canine persuasion.

Thankfully, though, as Fall begins to come in, the temperatures have been falling, and things have been getting more comfortable.  Though I've still had to leave the fans on of a night.

My room is blessed with a window air conditioner, which seems to have been running non-stop for about the last two months (both in AC and fan mode).  I also keep an older oscillating fan right outside my door, to keep a breeze going through the living room, where Sam prefers to sleep.  Again, both of these have been running non-stop for about two months.

You really don't realize how much background noise these things generate.  Or how used to it you get.

Last night, and some ungodly hour, I woke up to the wonderful feeling of actually being cold.  So, I groggily got up and shut off both fan and AC unit.  I fell back in bed, and dozed back off...

And woke up, suddenly, to a strange, rhythmic wheezing sound.  What was that???

It takes the mind a bit of time, you know, to come out of that sleep zone and realize that you've just woken up to the sound of your own breathing, which you haven't heard clearly for two months!

Sad.

A short while later, I heard the padding of small paws making their way into my room.  There was a pause, then a very loud, "Hmmmph!"

Obviously, someone else woke up to the sounds of their own breathing...

A Quick Follow-up and Book Review

Just finishing out the evening, and thought I'd toss out a reading list.  Just to show where my mind is as of the moment.

I'm currently bouncing around between four books.  My main read is Walter Isaacson's biography, Steve Jobs.  Yes, I am an Apple user, though I am far from one of those infamous "fanboys" we hear so much about.  I was well aware of the "warts" on Jobs' personality ages ago.  He's definitely the sort of person I doubt I could've worked for.  Hey, I honestly doubt I could've been in a room with him for very long.  But Jobs remains a fascinating character to study.  Isaacson is a good writer, and the book flows well.  (I've not read any of his other biographies, so I really can't compare...)

My second and third books throw the Apple Fanboy thing further out the window:  Brian Bagnall's On the Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore (the original edition), and Jimmy Maher's The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga.  To be honest, I got into these because of an odd turn in my computer wanderings.  I picked up a copy of a computer emulation package called Amiga Forever! by an Italian company called Cloanto.  It is, yes you guessed it, a complete package of emulations of the late, lamented Commodore Amiga computer systems.  (Maybe I'll discuss why I did this in a later post.  After I figure out why I did this...)  Having virtually no experience with, nor knowledge of, the Amiga, I figured I'd better bone up on the subject a bit.

Mayer's book is basically a semi-techie analysis of the Amiga from various perspectives.  At it's best when staying to the "semi'" side of "semi-techie."  The best bit, in my opinion, is his analysis of "The Scene," dealing with the first Amiga virus, and the later development of the demoscene.

Bagnall's book is...  Well, let's just say I went non-linear on it, jumping from place to place.  I think I was turned off after wading through the Chuck Peddle ego-stroke event in the first few chapters...  Yeah...

Oh, and book number four...  I'm re-reading an old favorite from way back in my grad days, Cliff Stoll's The Cuckoo's Egg.  It reads like a spy novel written from the ultimate geek's perspective.  But this particular read through has a bit of special meaning.  The copy I'm reading is a NOS hardcover edition, autographed to me by the author himself.  Not too long ago, I came across Cliff's website, where he just happened to be selling copies.  Naturally, I took advantage.  Give his site a run-by, and pick up a Klein bottle while you're there.  (Disclaimer:  I have no connection to the site beyond simply having read the book ages ago, and being a big fan.)

And now that everybody has me pegged as a hopeless wirehead, let me assure you that I'm not.  Once I finish wading through these book (or at least through the Jobs bio), I have a couple other books lined up:  Umberto Eco's The Prague Cemetery, and Gyorgy Moldova's Ballpoint.

See, I read normal stuff, too...

It seems an odd time to start blogging, but...  Why not?

I've considered this for some time, but never always found some reason or other to NOT do it.  No time, nothing to say.  General fear and paranoia.

But, no more.  As I sit here, finishing off the last of some supermarket-prepackaged Smoothie drink, I'm decided to take the plunge.  To jump into the world of the UnNecessities of Life.

So...

What is this?  Let's just say, it's a chronicle of one manic-depressive-obsessive-compulsive, overly retentive life.  My interests, my observations, my fascinations.  Even, occasionally, my rants.

Who am I, by the way?  Just your usual guy who feels he has something to say.

I'm an historian by training, an abstractor by profession, and a collector of the off-beat by choice.  Through the next few posts, I'll try to explain all that.  And give examples.  And...well... talk a lot about my interests, etc.  There'll be bits about technology, about collecting, about reminiscing, and a whole lot of other stuff that even I don't foresee...  (Not to mention quite a few misused ellipses...)

Right now, I'm just getting started.  I haven't even begun to decorate the place.  But I hope a few folks will stop by.  And maybe even tell their friends...

Welcome to the Cabinet of UnNecessities...