Kitty Whisperer: a microstory

The huge tracks led to a dead-end alley between buildings. A high sheer wall blocked off the only means of escape. The jaguar was there, lying calmly near the wall. A collar that looked suspiciously like a military web-belt was around its neck. Speaker-To-Cats noted that it looked a little tight.

She turned to the two heavily armed men beside her. "Remember, do not fire unless I am actually being attacked," she told them. "This animal is not afraid, in fact, it is calm. Please trust me to take care of the problem."

"You aren't going to go up to that cat and actually -what did you call it- 'commune' with it are you?" the unit leader whispered roughly. "That thing must weigh nearly 300 lbs! It can kill you with one swipe of its paw!"

"I am well aware of that," Speaker-To-Cats replied. "You're just going to have to trust me here. I've done this before." Too damn many times... she thought.

The sniper beside her shook his head. "It's your life, lady. Do your thing."

Speaker-To-Cats eased herself around the corner, and into the jaguar's view. Its ears pricked up, but it didn't move. Speaker-to-Cats gave a hand-signal to the cat, first indicating her own eyes with an exaggerated gesture, then slowly closing them and opening them. The jaguar echoed the movement, squeezing its eyes shut, then opening them again.

"I'm going in," she told the men. "It's going to be OK." The two soldiers nodded, but their hands tightened on their weapons.

Speaker-to-Cats approached the jaguar at a casual pace. The cat stayed still, but its mouth opened a bit in what almost appeared to be a smile. Speaker-to-Cats crouched down beside it and addressed the animal in a voice pitched for only the cat to hear. "Swifty, shame on you. Didn't I warn you that you might get stuck like this during this solar storm?" The jaguar actually appeared to understand her words, and looked shamefaced. Her spotted ears drooped a bit.

"Here, let me get that web belt off your neck, girlfriend." Speaker-to-Cats removed the web belt from around the jaguar's neck. It showed signs of having been clawed. The cat looked relieved.

"Swift, there are some troops with high caliber weapons pointed at you. I hate to do this to you, but you're going to have to play the Good Kitty game with me." The cat looked unhappy. "It's a life or death thing. They don't know who you are. Hell, they probably think that you ate Swifty."

The jaguar puffed out a very human sigh, and flexed its paws. Speaker-to-Cats turned to the hidden soldiers down the alley. "Guys," she said in a normal voice, "I have this situation under control. I have established communion with this animal. We understand each other, and I will now demonstrate. Do not shoot."

"Ready, Swift?" she asked the jaguar. The cat made a resigned sound. Speaker-to-Cats switched to her Sweet Kitty voice.

"Aren't you a pretty jaggy? Aren't you a strong and handsome girl? Are you my friend? Are you? Don't you have pretty spots? I like your pretty spots. Give me some kitty love."

The jaguar rose gracefully to her feet and leaned against Speaker-to-Cats as a housecat would, nearly knocking her off her feet as she stropped the woman's legs. The jaguar had a wicked look on its spotted face.

"Be a good girl and sit down, please," ordered Speaker-to-Cats. The jaguar sat. "Lay down for me, please," she continued. The cat obeyed. "Roll over, please." The cat gave her a stare, then shook its head. "Why not?" asked Speaker-to-Cats. The jaguar stared at the puddle of oil beside her, which was in the path of where she would roll. "Oh, I see," Speaker-to-Cats said loudly enough for the soldiers to hear. "The jaguar does not want to roll over because this oil would soil her coat."

"She doesn't actually know what you're saying, does she?" asked a radio voice in her ear. The jaguar stared intently at the small sound. "Um, yes she does." To the jaguar: "Right?" The cat nodded sagely.

The soldiers shook their heads in amazement. "We're getting our money's worth, that's for sure," the unit leader said.

"I am going to lead her over to you now," Speaker-to-Cats announced. "Come on, Swifty," she said quietly. The jaguar walked calmly with the woman towards the opening of the alley. The soldiers stood their ground, but pointed their weapons away. The cat sniffed the two men, exhaling explosively in disgust at one, and licking her lips and giving a jaggy leer at the other.

"Behave yourself, you," Speaker-to-Cats scolded. "You're in big enough trouble already." The jaguar briefly looked unhappy, then sat down and assumed the timelessly dignified pose of an Egyptian cat statue, prim, upright, and tail neatly wrapped around her front paws. She was ready for anything.

Helluva thunderstorm last night. It roared, and the NOAA Radio went off at 1 AM telling me what I was in for.

I slept like a baby. And my garden got watered, too!

My neighbors are outside indulging in the annual July 4 ritual of Blowin' Shit Up. I'm inside trying to figure out how to get two different layers in Photoshop to actually mesh together.

Stoopid learning curve... Anyone know where some good 'shop tuts for Puzzled People might lurk?

Anyone?

In the new Star Trek 'verse, Vulcan is gone. The remaining people might be a large enough genetic pool to regenerate themselves in a century or so- but I wonder...

Will they call themselves Vulcans? Technically, the children born after the annihilation might have the Vulcan genetic heritage and perhaps a small amount of remaining cultural ancestry, but Vulcan- as we know it- is extinct.

Food for thought. And for fiction...

Great article from The Nation: Rediscovering Secular America

Things began to change shortly after then-Senator Obama announced his candidacy for president.

"He was on one of those talking head shows," Kaplan says. "And he was talking about Dr. King's arc of the moral universe bending towards justice. He followed that with ‘no matter what your belief system' -- and he made a list, a litany -- ‘whether you're Christian or Jewish or Muslim or have no religion at all.'"

Within a week the Coalition approached Obama. They let him know they had never been part of that "list" before -- never had had a seat at the table -- and they would appreciate it if he would continue to include them whenever appropriate.

As Herb Silverman, the Coalition's President says, "Lip service is better than no service at all."

"It's helpful in bringing us out of the closet," Kaplan says.

Obama agreed and remained true to his word. And then came the moment approximately 50 million Americans-- who identify themselves with terms like agnostic, atheist, materialist, humanist, nontheist, skeptic, bright, freethinker, agnostic, naturalist, or non-believer -- will never forget. In his inauguration speech, Obama said, "…Our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers." Two weeks later he talked about "non-believers" and "humanists" at the National Prayer Breakfast.

Kaplan gives a sense of both the historical and personal significance of Obama's words.

"The shock came at the inaugural speech -- arguably the biggest speech a President ever makes -- and he listed us there" he says. "And he's continued to do that -- he mentioned us twice at Notre Dame. And then he did it [this month] in Normandy. I can't tell you what a pariah group feels about those statements. For the first time we have a seat at the table. We're not thought of, evidently, as automatically unethical."

This is good. The President and his administration are still 'reviewing' the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, but perhaps action will be taken about that, and its permitting religious organizations to receive government money and discriminate against people on the basis of religious belief- soon.

Faircloth also sees the rise in the nontheistic demographic as an opportunity to reconnect with our nation's heritage.

"I see historical trends coming together that bring us back to our nation's heritage," he says. "Think if a presidential candidate were to say as Jefferson did, ‘Religions are all alike, founded on fables and mythology'…. Madison said, ‘In no instance have churches been the guardians of the liberties of the people. Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for everyone noble enterprise.' Abraham Lincoln said, ‘The bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession.' These tremendously valuable leaders, I question whether were they to be a candidate for public office today… would they be [elected]? And that would be a great loss to the nation…. I think something has gone haywire when it seems that they were more free to speak their individual perspective -- in some cases 200 years ago -- than elected officials might feel today. We want to address that issue."

I'd personally like to see an active return to the secular in government- inclusive instead of exclusive- no pariahs, where non-believers and non-theists have a place in the administration.

This TrueBeliever™ wants to start a "Christian revolutionary war".

Oh, yeah?

Last time I checked, we were a free country, with a lot of Christians, but most decidely not a "Christian nation". And I sincerely hope we'll never have that title- because it would no longer be America, but a withered shadow of a dream.

I have to resist the urge to get out my weapons-grade cookware and apply it vigorously on the deliberately ignorant and non-educated skulls of such people. Not that such an effort will knock any sense into such dense minds. Logic and debate cannot reach closed minds and hearts.

But, sad to say, the religious rot is here. We have to apply large amounts of disinfecting Light to it to keep it from spreading. The Founding Fathers understood how dangerous theocracies were, and were careful to avoid making the same mistake here. They even laid aside some very staunch beliefs and practices in order to serve the greater good.

People forget, and we all suffer because of it. Never forget. Never surrender.

(Thanks to ravan for the find.)

July 3: Independence Day!
July 4: The Patriot
July 5: Make a suggestion!

I'm going to begin the Great New TV Hunt this weekend. I am hoping to have it by my birthday. Or sooner.

wtf will do with my old tv?

This is an odd weekend- the banks are open, but the state offices are not. So, I have a nice goof-off day- with money!

What do I want to go do? May have to go shopping- try on clothes to gauge my progress in my workouts. And I need to troll B&N for that magazine with the Star Trek SFX articles in it. I'd like to go see the movie again, but it has left most of the screens in the city. I hope that the rumor of it returning to IMAX in August is true- maybe it'll come to the Aerospace Center- that's a real IMAX screen.

I got the "Sylar" action figure in the mail yesterday. He's still in his box glowering at one and all. Not a bad likeness- they even got his 5 o'clock shadow. I might make little clay frog feet for the brain.

My sense of smell is all wonky. I tried to get a doctor appointment today, but apparently the office is closed. So, I'll try next week. I think that the antibiotic I was given to clear my bronchitis did it. Things that should smell good are really vile. I have to get really close in to get the 'normal' smell- the 'vile' is like an overlay. And my sinuses are still peppery. Something is going on. I have a very keen sense of smell- I used to do perfumery, and really like the subtle notes of various woods, oils, herbs, etc. I can't even burn incense right now- it really stinks. And cooking isn't really fun, either. My taste is mostly OK, but I have no appetite, because I can't smell normally. I just wonder if this is neurological, or if it's something that will resolve itself over time. I hate it- whatever it is. I hate the smell of burnt metallic ashes in my nose and mouth all the time. I'm going to be Bothersome to the doctor about this. I want to be thoroughly examined.

If anything good has come from this, it's that I'm not eating normally. I've lost 14 pounds. And I'm saving money, because I think I want to get some take-away, then I think, 'meh'. No grocery shopping, except for staples. No sushi. Nothing. It's depressing me. My clothes are getting looser, too.

Sigh...

I'm going to go and have a day. Maybe it'll be a good one.

I get handed a lot of stuff to fix in my job. A lot of it isn't even computers- I get to fix wireless routers, smartphones, printers, and other assorted peripherials. I've gotten a reputation as some sort of an electronics wiz- because I have a pretty good 'fix rate' when it comes to stuff like this.

I jokingly call myself a 'cyber-necromancer'- although most of the 'dead' things I 'speak' to aren't really 'dead' at all- they're just in an enhanced state of fucked-up-ness, occasionally compounded by user error. When digital systems get into ESFU, they need a dose of MAFI, applied by an Adept.

What is MAFI? It's 'mess around (until you) fix it'. It takes a certain amount of past experience, familiarity with how digital systems tangle themselves in knots, plus a deep and innate understanding of Small Gods and Minor Miracles. The good techs can usually get by with the first two concepts, but the Technical Adepts (or TechMages) also apply the last- often more than the first. After all, if you can invoke the BlackBerry Godlet, you're already 2/3 of the way to fixing whatever's wrong with the ailing device. Sometimes all you need to do is invoke- because the Godlet in question is so chuffed at getting Actual Attention, that s/hell do anything for you. (Don't worship hir, though- that can be dangerous.) Minor Miracles are often happily dispensed, and the problem solved.

Of course, you can't go and tell your user that you invoked the Net.Godz in fixing their router problem- if they're of a standard religious conviction, they might start gathering firewood right then and there. Instead, a gentle ruse- that of MAFI- is best. Or even some tangle-pated technical explanation. You know, the sort that gets mundane users glassy-eyed before you've completed the first sentence. (It helps to cultivate an acquaintance with the Vulcan/Spock subsets of technowaffle generation- the Egregores and Avatars in this sub-'verse will be more than happy to supply you with the appropriate mind-numbing charms and incantations!)

But cultivating the good old-fashioned Messed around/Fixed it ability is always a good thing. In this day and age of throw-away everything, a person with this little gift is highly valued.

Enjoy!

New Glass balcony on Sears Tower

No more Ferris Bueller forehead moments on the SkyDeck!

I missed my workout yesterday because of the storm. It went on too long for me to catch my workout before it was safe to go outside.

It felt good to work out today. I'm enjoying it. It's also a bit fun to get my techie brain picked. I told the owner of the "Curves" gym that I was a techie, and she was happy to learn that. She asked me if she could call upon my expertise from time to time. I told her 'yes'. And today, I did something that was, for me, anyway, akin to falling off a log. Her assistant was very happy that I got the background on the check-in screen changed, though. "I have no idea of half of what you're doing," she admitted. I went clicking and zipping through all sorts of screens. It's easy for me.

And I suppose that is the essence of a genuine profession- or vocation. It should be like child's play, very easy to do, fun, even. Computers and their operational mysteries don't phase me at all.

Sadly, some tasks done on computers do phase me. I've decided to hand the construction of my sister's website over to a professional. I cannot do it. Part of it is the overwhelming complexity of programming a website from scratch, and part of it is fear of screwing it up. I simply cannot do it. I do not have any web programming skills. I am not as creative in construction as I am in content provision. I cannot build the house- but I can arrange the furniture and decorate it.

I've hit the wall, understand my limits. I will never be a programmer of any sort. I must accept this limitation. Yes, I can, and will learn how to create music, do video editing, and mess with Photoshop. Those things are different and doable. They are frameworks within which I can exercise what creative abilities I do have. But I cannot create a site from scratch. Even contemplating it is like standing on the edge of a cliff without a parachute or bungee cords. It wants me to jump off, and I cannot. There's no glider strapped to my back.

It's embarrassing to admit defeat, but I am admitting it. I'll give her the money she gave me back- I only spent $100 of it. (She might not accept it, but at least I'll offer it.) I knew it was bad that even with money, I could not do this. That was when I realized that even that incentive did not increase my desire or ability to do this task.

I just have to remember that not being able to do one thing on a computer does not make me incompetent. I can still figure out ports and IP addresses, get network and wireless equipment to jump to my command, figure out digital mysteries that bumfuzzle others, and quickly grasp the nuances of social networking. (which reminds me, WTF is Facebook doing?)

I understand the system of website design- I simply don't speak the language. Far better to get someone to do the job who loves it as much as I do my own job.

Check this out:




Yes, that big piece is considered 'golf ball' sized. It's still raining- when it stops, I can check my car for damage.

ETA: There are some pretty good sized pock marks on the roof and the hood, but they'll probably pop out when the car heats up. The moon roof is undamaged. I had a bit of weirdness with the left turn signal, but some 'percussive maintenance' (and some help from Dad) fixed it.

Saw the movie for the third (and probably final) time at the theater. This time I paid attention to the musical cues and byplay in the background. Lots of good music is missing from the soundtrack. The piece from "That New Car Smell" is played over the final scene where Spock runs into himself. The plaintive theme belongs to Nimoy's Spock, but a heroic version was played while Whippersnapper Spock piloted the Jellyfish to destroy the drill-head.

The tribbles do multiply in Scotty's shop. Spock Prime's 'emotional compromise' speech left tears in my eyes.

Kirk has some of the best lines in the movie. "Are you nuts??" and of course "Well, not only" and "Bullshit." He must have both a steel trachea and steel fingertips, because he got choked twice and nearly fell of something twice, too. His "Bones!" at the end was perfect, too!

Spock's 'Out of the chair' line had an annoyed teacher tone to it. His vocal performance had a feathery-soft tonal quality to it, unless he was pissed off. Then it was an axe-blade. The way he sighted down his nose at Sulu in the 'parking brake' scene was grade-a priggish.

Chekhov's horror at losing Amanda was palpable. And Spock's reaction to Sarek's revelation was very visible on his face. I'll have to freeze-frame the DVD, but I swear I saw tears start in his eyes just before the cutaway. (DLP projection is really a good thing for that sort of detail, let me tell you!) And there were clearly tears in his eyes as he entered the lift where Uhura intercepted him. He likes to spin around in lifts.

Spock hollers some strange Vulcan word when he finally strikes out at Kirk. And OMG- all the smouldering glances in the background between him and Uhura- and a glimpse of her dashing in behind the medical crew to greet him when he's beamed back from the Jellyfish. And in the final scene in the film, he gives her a Significant Look as he passes her station on the bridge. They're clearly more than mere 'smoochachos', that's for sure.

Heh.

And it's clear that Quinto is about to crack up when he looks at Scotty right after his 'towel' line. His face is visibly twitching.

There were quite a few female Romulans on Narada. And I heard Greg Grunberg's voice on the phone telling young Kirk to get his butt home.

The radio traffic is so realistically done- and again, the whole sound design of the movie is incredible. The bridge of the Kelvin looks really lived in- there's a pair of old rabbit ears at one station, and the seats are grubby, and spots of paint are missing in places.

And Pike... Pike rules. Seriously. I'd follow a captain like that to hell and back. I wish we could have MORE PIKE! It was clear that Spock's pride was wounded when Pike made Kirk the first officer.

I cannot wait for the DVD. Seriously.

More great movie moments are discussed here. I seriously cannot wait to get the DVD!

The things you find when you wander online...

C'mon- you know you wanna...




I never get tired of this song. And having Khephera back was an excuse to celebrate!

Michael Jackson was an extraordinarily good pop-artist. "Off the Wall" fueled my studies in tech school.

But the man was a product of an unfortunate collision of rare probabilities (talent+timing) that produced stems of propagation which were both highly positive and highly negative- his incredible talent being the positive stem, and his early separation from grounded reality being the negative stem.

In the end, they simply cancelled each other out, destroying him in the process. In my book, he'll be listed under 'don't be this guy'.

There is no darkness.

There is no light.

There are no absolutes.

There are only states of being. States of perceiving. States of constant change and motion.

These states are always in motion. And yet, there is also a central stillness from which all states emanate.

But even stillness is change, because it enables its opposite state.

One can observe. One can flow. One can connect the dots.

There are no absolutes.

I love the music in this crossover- anyone know what it's from?




I LOL'd.

What goes around comes around

This year marks 30 years of 'sdult' life. Funny- it's flown by. And at the same time, it seems to be forever ago that I got into the recruiter's van on that fateful day. I made a clean break- from my father's home to the USAF, and on my own for 14 years, until I had to come home again, broken and dead inside, only to find my way out of that pit, and back to my own life.

I've done a lot of stuff in that intervening time. Here's a small taste:

Talked to both the Vice President and the Columbia astronauts in orbit -on the same backline circuit.
Fetched George Takei at the airport, and got his autograph on my leg cast.
Got stalked by Harlan Ellison at a SF convention.
Got hugged by Leonard Nimoy at an airport.
Flew 'cargo-class' in USAF aircraft- woke up once in Turkey, they'd diverted the flight.
Went castle-hopping in an Army Blackhawk helicopter. Got horribly airsick.
Saw people die in front of my eyes at Ramstein '88.
Lost a colleague and her family later that year in the Lockerbie bombing.
Visited Lockerbie a few years later, and was comforted by the locals.
Visited ancient passage tombs and leylines.
Met prominent British occultists who told me that the story in Katherine Kurtz' "Lammas Night" was essentially true.
Got initiated by some of the same people.
Saw the same Sekhmet statue in San Jose California and the British Museum.
Got hit by lightning, as well as 400 volts at 100 amps- and lived to tell about it.
Listened to the old wartime sirens and aircraft in downtown London during a reenactment of the Blitz in 1991. Saw the old bunkers that Churchill stayed in during the war.
Saw the old German pillboxes at Normandy, and the graveyards there.
Went to help out at the reenactment of the Nijmegan March in the Netherlands.
Learned how to evade terrorists on the road.
Learned how much damage a quarter-stick of dynamite could do to the male ego.
Learned the consequences of damaging a fragile male ego.
Went to Star Trek conventions in Europe and England. Found out that it's cool to buy a round for actors- they tell great lies and stories!
Found out that actors really like military lies and war stories, too.
Saw unedited Desert Storm bomb-nose videos. Wish I hadn't.
Found myself in Saudi at Prince Sultan- by mistake. My orders were cancelled after my flight left.
Flew across the US from Dover to Travis in the cockpit of a C-5, piloted by a real-life Capt. Picard, who proudly carried his namesake in his pen pocket.
Met Paul Klipsch at a car and audio show. He convinced me that his speakers were the best and bribed me with a cup that I still have. The cup reads "Stolen from Paul W. Klipsch". He was delighted to meet a fellow Arkie.
Got my sacrum broken riding in the back of a pickup over a rough field.
Got my tailbone broken falling down some stairs.
Got taught how to dowse by a Civil Engineer. He told me I was better than he was. Found the cables, and an underground spring.
Flew on a KC 135 to refuel the Thunderbirds over New Mexico.
Flew in an F-16 and didn't lose my stuffing.
Flew in a B-52 and quoted "Dr. Strangelove" and Monty Python with the crew the entire flight.
Got to see the inside of Air Force One.
Heard the first sonic boom of the landing Space Shuttle during its tests at Edwards. "I see by your sunburn that you were at Edwards..."
Learned the Art of the Prank from the base chaplain.
Got interviewed by the "Stargate" people in the early 80s, though I had no idea what that was at the time. I declined to go to further interviews- I wanted to go overseas.
Was told by a BBC radio employee that I had a great speaking voice.

I miss those days sometimes. I saw an AAFES sign behind the Star Trek cast in a photo taken at Kuwait, and a lot of it came back to me. It was the best of times, and sadly it was also the worst of times. But I would not trade what I saw, who I met, and what I experienced and learned for anything.

I got my Kephera ring shortly after I arrived at my first base. It has accompanied me on all of these advantures. (I did take it off when I worked on high-energy circuits, though!)

I went and dug out the Michael Jackson CDs that I own- I have "Off the Wall" and "Thriller". I thought I had "Bad", but come to find out, it was Al Yankovich's "Even Worse". I noted that Weird Al twittered his sorrow at the loss of MJ.

One thing I noted when I played "Off the Wall" was the sheer quality and dynamic range of the CD. Yes, it was lushly produced, but unlike today's CDs, the engineers left things alone in the final mix. It is not compressed, there's a good dynamic range, and damn it, it sounds good. Anyone purchasing the album today would not get that, since it's been 're-engineered' since then. Mine sounds better. They mixed for radios and jam-boxes back then- not for bandwidth and headphones. There's a serious difference, believe me.

I'm sitting here being boggled at his $400 million debt. Poor guy. He got used by so many people- but he never really dwelt in the real world. I hope he's happier on the other side.

My wanderings around the web turned up a few snaps of Zachary Quinto checking out the scene at the UCLA hospital where MJ died. Guess he's not above a little celebrity rubbernecking himself, so it seems. That just makes him more grounded in my eyes. I suppose that MJ had as big an impact during his childhood as it did in my teens. It's still a shock, though- knowing that the 'King of Pop' is gone.

My personal renaissance has got me back to listening to music. While digging out my old MJ discs, I ran into an old fave- Oingo Boingo's "Dark At the End of the Tunnel". I think I've found the music soundtrack for Sylar. Seriously. Listen to "Skin"- you'll understand what I mean.

But I adore Danny Elfman's work- all of it. He's one of my favorite composer-performers. It's been fun digging through my music and rediscovering old favorites. My house has been too musically silent for too long. Yes, I've had NPR on- and will continue to listen to it- but I like having other things playing also.

I got my Kephera ring back from the jewelers today. OMG- it looks brand new! I had the silversmith add a 1/4 size stretch to it when he re-rounded it- and the result is that it comes on and off easier, and fits a lot better- my finger is not being strangled, but it isn't loose, either. He also gave it a lovely polish- it gleams on my finger like a bright silver-and-lapis jewel. I feel better with my right-hand ring back on. I also purchased a lovely green peridot heart ring. Green hearts are not common, so I snapped it up. I thought about getting it resized for a pinky ring- but for now, I'll wear it on my left hand.

I went through two pounds of fresh basil I got yesterday from my Heifer basket, and got about 3/4 pound of good leaves from it. I'm going to make pesto out of it- got the olive oil, pine nuts and garlic- and a mezzaluna- it's better to do it with a curved knife than with a food processor. It'll be yummy.

This week flew by. My friend is doing OK- I need to check in with her sometime. I need to get my head back into work mode. I don't mind. I am grateful that I have a job to go to.

I've been playing 'catch-up' with "Heroes"- watching the episodes from the box sets. I'm on disk 5 of the first season. That means I've finally met the villain of the piece: Sylar.

Of course I went digging (which is Something I Do)- I wanted to know more about this character- his 'genesis' if you will. And I learned something interesting: we actually have something in common. Sylar's 'base power', according to the Wikipedia entry about the character "is 'intuitive aptitude'', the ability to innately understand and manipulate patterns within complex systems".

Wait- wut? Ah, shit.

That's my real-life Gift, damn it! It's an INTJ/P 'Mastermind/Scientist' sort of thing. And I've been able to do it since I was a kid- it's the art of Figuring Things Out (FTO). Seek for the pattern, ride the internal currents, harmonies and flows, look for the 'break' or the 'clangy' part, address it and test it accordingly, and voila- it should work! It can be a system, code, a car, and yes, even people.

It's this particular Gift that is the core of who and what I am- that innate mojo that makes faulty computers suddenly decide that they're going to work just fine, thankyouverymuch. And it isn't just computers, it's pretty much any electronic or mechanical device in my particular orbit. They'll work until some sort of physical entropy breaks them- and then that Pattern is truly broken- shattered, not to operate again. I knew when the engine died on my old car that there was no replacing it- it was dead. And I knew that the car preceeding that one would get me home- in spite of being in a major collision. It's the harmony, the Current, the alignment of the elements that speak to me- the beauty of the internal Pattern that brings my mind to bear. I restore those Patterns. I return the harmony, the color, the order. I don't make things work- I make them work better.

You can't learn this in school- although a good school will give you the elements you need. You can either seek and understand a Pattern, or you have to rely on sometimes inscrutable surface indicators. Everything has a Pattern- a good work technique, a good mantra, a good formula- the Pattern is the kernel upon which all the outside functions rest. Once that is understood, all is revealed. A task can be mastered, a person can be understood, a broken thing can be repaired.

Patterns build upon one another. Once you get the basic pulse and Current, you see more and more. It's one of those age-related things- the older you get, the easier it becomes because you have a better map, a better understanding of things.

Intuitive Aptitude isn't a superpower. It's an ordinary Gift. Master craftsmen in many professions possess this particular gift. Some specialize in understanding people. And some do better in understanding things. And a few- like me- have a blended gift- first understanding things, then transferring that ability to the observation of people. I surf the patterns and currents of as many people as I do the systems they use. And they pay me to do it.

It's going to be hard for me to watch Sylar. And I can tell you right now that I won't 'fall' for him, because his Pattern revealed very early on that he lacks the basic element that creates a true Pattern-Master, TechMage or Adept: compassion and empathy. He's a sociopath. He doesn't care. He's driven only by his craving to accumulate powers without really understanding them. The only sort of being who could take him down would be one who could ride his accumulated abilities, go to the core, and disconnect it- like Dave Bowman took out HAL. Or inject his shriveled soul with empathy and compassion. Or find it and restore it, because it's clearly lost...

Oddly enough, that is what Pattern Masters who work in the metaphysical fields often find themselves doing- finding and fixing the broken soul, or even restoring it. And yes, people can lose souls, or more rarely, are born with such a lack of basic empathic wiring that the soul never properly develops- creating a sociopathic personality. Most of the time, the soul is simply so compressed by some traumatic event that it cannot flower and flow along its own Pattern streams- the Pattern Master finds it and assists in unfolding it, restoring it- and its keeper- to wholeness.

So, I hope that you'll forgive me if, in future posts, I express a desire to firmly apply some weapons-grade cookware compassion to Sylar's uncomprehending, soulless skull. I do differentiate between the character and the actor- with whom I spent an interesting and revealing hour watching online this morning. Zachary Quinto is an incredibly deep, thoughtful and compassionate man, with a wonderful sense of humor, and a total lack of 'geek chops' which he freely admits. (I love a guy who can confess to listening to a CD in his car for 3 weeks because he doesn't own an iPod, and wouldn't know how to connect it to his car stereo if he did!) I wonder where Zachary Quinto stashes his soul when he's playing that character? That is a question I would love to ask him...

But if you know me, you have and know an example of the successful use of Intuitive Aptitude. Yes, I do poll and ask things of the Brain-Cloud, but sometimes it's to confirm something I already know intuitively. I pick brains- I don't do whatever the hell Sylar does with them. But I would love to get a brain-shaped Jell-O mold someday. Not because of that character, but because it's cool, and would give me an excuse to squeak that immortal line from a certain Star Trek episode: "Brain and brain! What is brain?!?"

Looks like today was a 'twofer' day: both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson have died. Add Ed McMahon, and you have the triple that people always look for.

All three of these people were icons of my childhood and teens. Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall" was the soundtrack of my time at tech school in Biloxi. I think I wore that tape out at least twice. "Thriller" was even better. But I can see the circuit diagrams in my head, and remember my dorm room and roomies and bay-mates with that album playing in the background. Pizza and "Off the Wall"...

Ed McMahon's laugh populated my dreams as a kid, as my mother watched Johnny Carson in the living room as I drifted off in my own bedroom nearby. And of course, everyone in high school wanted Farrah's hair. Her iconic poster seemed to be a marker for that decade.

I knew that it was only a matter of time for Ed and Farrah- her documentary clearly showed that she was close to death. And Ed's advanced age was also something to consider.

But Michael Jackson is only a few years older than I am. His death at 50 was totally unexpected. I will always remember him before all the crazy stuff- as both the kid singer, with the Jackson Five, and those first two albums of his. (OK, "Bad" was pretty good, too...)

I've heard that there are huge crowds gathering at the hospital where he was taken. Even in death, he is still the King of Pop.

Rest in peace- all three of you...

While my childhood wasn't the best, there are a few things I really miss about it. One was being so flexible and able to sit on the floor for hours, and stack my legs in a half-lotus. Since I busted my sacrum (and apparently damaged my left hip joint, too) I can no longer sit that way, and sitting on the floor is right out, with my poor busted tailbone.

And I miss being able to eat anything I wanted to- without worrying about heartburn or other unfortunate reactions.

Still, the gains have definitely outweighed the losses. I can sit in chairs, and I get more respect as an adult. And I can think more logically, use the intuition developed from experience- both bitter and wonderful, and read people like books. My pattern-seeking skills are much better, and I 'get' so much more than I did as a kid. I still wonder if I had a mild form of Aspergers as a child- but time and practice seem to have smoothed my rougher edges and honed my observational skills to a keen edge.

I've been following the hijinks of the New York State Legislature, and their little Senate partisan war. The New York Times has more about it.

Battling over the gavel, using sneaky ways to get into the chamber, having two simultaneous sessions... The citizens of New York State really need to fire these clowns. And they're Senators! Sheesh!

The horrible session of 2003 we had doesn't hold a candle to this. That was the one where they didn't sine die, they gave up, turned off the lights, and went home. I saw grown men cry in that chamber. They had to resume things two weeks later, revive all the dead bills, and resolve to do better the following year. Happily, they did.

I am really happy that our current Legislature is in fairly good shape. Our governor is interested in actually governing, and as an insider and veteran of 20 years in state service, he knows how to work the system. He's a cautious, fiscally conservative person, and as a result of that and his understanding of how things work, our state is fiscally in the black.

If I've learned anything, it's that governing bodies should be boring. The people should be the salt of the earth, and they should be interested in serving the people of the state, and not their special interests. When things go out of line, it's usually due to a large ego, large ambitions, or a poor understanding of the mechanics of the legislative and political process. While it's impossible for everyone to get along perfectly, it is possible to achieve a professional level of parity, tempered by the service mentality. When this happens, the only headlines that come up should be what laws were passed.