I’ve started to record an audio book of Rice Tea. You can download it here for free. The aim was originally to do a chapter a day, but it’s been very hard for me to keep up lately. I’ve started a second job, and layoffs at my old job have increased my stress level by quite a bit. I’m now doing the work of three people, which is both highly stressful and frustrating.

Back to Rice Tea, the production of the audio book has been very beneficial to me. I didn’t realize to what point some of the dialog was bad – I literally laughed out loud in some bits. I haven’t had the chance to read over the whole thing like this, so it’s been nice. I’m thinking of making a film out of it. What inspired me was seeing the great film Primer, which was done on a $6,000 budget. If they can do it, I can do it.

I’ve been reading a few books as of late. One is “The Rebel Sell” by Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter. The book is a critique of the notion of counterculture as it is applied in the mainstream, and why its actually all just part of the ever ambiguous “system.” The other book I’ve been going through is called “Inside the Machine”, by Jon Stokes and published by the ever-excellent No Starch Press. This last one is an introduction to microprocessors and computer architecture. It’s target audience is the average enthusiast, and the author does his best to make sure that you understand the concepts at hand.

I’ve also gone on a book buying binge, and have purchased within the last month: Applied Cryptography; Secrets & Lies; Mathematics: In Content, Methods & Meaning; An Introduction to Environmental and Applied Geophysics; Learning SQL; The Filmmaker’s Handbook and Spook Country.

In other news, I’m almost 24 now. The last few years have just flown by, and that’s making me panicked a bit. It seems like just yesterday I was at HOPE – and yet that was three years ago. I used to think that I needed to accomplish more to justify the time that went by. I don’t know if that’s so true anymore. What I do know is that I’ve been too passive lately. I need to do something. I can’t let this year slip between my fingers.

I landed today on the YouTube channel of Nation for Marriage, a non-profit group that purports to “fight for the future of marriage.”

What they’re campaigning for is to abolish gay marriage. But as I read through the official website, it becomes rather clear that this has nothing to do with the sanctity of marriage. It has to do with a religious movement seeking ways to ostracize gays, and fight to keep them as outcast from public view.

Why? Because the religion says so. Outright demonizing of gays is no longer viable in this age, so groups like these strategically attempt to undermine the acceptance of gays in other ways. In this case, they use the morality card as a tool to deny fundamental rights. It’s an effective tactic, as any question of an ethical nature delays legislators and splits their constituents, meanwhile serving to pass off their views as legitimate.

Or at least that’s how I wish it was, as the whole issue would make some form of sense. It could be packaged neatly, and the movement behind it dismissed. Yet the truth is that there are a variety of people against same-sex marriage. They come in all genders, backgrounds, and ages.

It’s hard to understand those that sit on the other side of the fence. An emotion that could easily be confused for hate fuels these people. They subscribe to inducing great torment, and yet are completely uncaring of this fact. It’s a particularly dangerous human state, one which is passive, and doesn’t involve violence nor rage. After all, these are rational people, behaving in a calm intelligent manner. Yet, in this one aspect of their livelihoods, they are able to commit themselves to such vast societal destruction.

These are not bad people, yet they do bad things. Why otherwise good people are willing to cause such harm is a question at the heart of many tragedies, and is what makes this fight for equality so difficult.

I console myself in the fact that history will be on the side of equality, yet I wish it wouldn’t require decades for it to be so.

Well, I’ve just done another, unforseen, set of corrections to the book. I’ve also updated the format layout. And I’ve updated the official website. This should be it folks. I’ve ordered a new test copy in, and we’ll see what that brings.

Well, I’ve done *nearly* all my Christmas shopping. Along the way, I bought something nice for myself – Grade SR-80 headphones. I’ve been eyeing these for a while, and at $200, they weren’t cheap. Did I feel ripped off because these are half the price in the States?

Not at all. These are the best headphones I’ve listened to as of yet, putting my $100 Sony noise-cancelling headphones to shame. The step up is comparable to going from el-cheapo $5 in-ear headphones to a decent $80 set. So much more definition. Clarity. I’m very happy.

Well, I did away with the old CMS I’ve had for the last few years managing the front page portal of my site. In its stead, I have Wordpress, alongside a new theme called Pixeled. The whole switch over took less than an hour. I just did a few minor modifications, and it was ready to go!