Welcome to Sonoma. We’ll Steal Your Identity!

Victoria and I didn’t get a lot of mail when we first moved to Sonoma. After a while we started to think that somebody must be stealing or mail, too much stuff went missing. We finally found out that the post office was holding our mail – without telling us about it, of course – and got a huge backlog of 10 days or so. So everything turned out to be fine, right? Yeah right. We just got notification from the USPS that somebody did break into the neighbourhood mailboxes, and that’s why they started holding mail in the first place while they were “busy” replacing the box.
We already put fraud alerts on our credit accounts, I don’t think anything bad will come of this. One of the prices you pay for living in what Wolfi and Roland described as “Wisteria Lane”.

House!

I took some pictures this morning! I’ll have to arrange them into an album first, but here’s a teaser. Obviously that’s the front. Seen from the street. The blue stuff on top is the sky, the green thing is called a tree. You’ll notice that the car parked in front the garage has a flat tire…

Video Games Will End It All!

As you all know I am very busy corrupting America’s youth by creating video games. Of course that begs the question what I would have done if I hadn’t been born during this technological age? We all know that Rock’n Roll turned the youth into rabid Satan worshippers, and comic books have been breeding little criminals for several decades. But maybe I could have made my evil contribution to society’s downfall even earlier?
Wired has an article with choice quotes about various forms of entertainment that were introduced during the ages. According to those people, society should have crumbled by now…so excuse if I don’t take all the current video game nay-sayers too seriously. I mean, just look at what the Waltz did to us:

“The indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was introduced … at the English Court on Friday last … It is quite sufficient to cast one’s eyes on the voluptuous inter­twining of the limbs, and close com­pressure of the bodies … to see that it is far indeed removed from the modest reserve which has hitherto been considered distinctive of English females. So long as this obscene display was con­fined to prostitutes and adulteresses, we did not think it deserving of notice; but now that it is … forced on the respectable classes of society by the evil example of their superiors, we feel it a duty to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion.”
- The Times of London, 1816

Ach So

Immer noch eine meiner liebsten Spiegel Unterschriften. Von einer Selbstverstaendlichkeit gepraegt, die man sich oefter wuenscht. Und irgendwie inherently funny…

About Religion

With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

I was thinking about this quote by Steven Weinberg* the other day. I have a few friends that are themselves as religious while I am not, so discussions about various aspects of religion come up ever so often and I find myself tryig to express why I don’t subscribe to a popular faith anymore.

I guess I’d amend the above quote with the word “organized”. Because organized religion is where this whole belief thing falls apart for me. I don’t have any beef with spirituality, I’m quite down with that. Spirituality lets people think about their role in the universe, formulate answers to the eternal “What does it all mean?” question and generally come to terms with their life. I doesn’t matter how they do it, but they do it – and gain peace of mind. But everybody gets to do it on their own terms, arriving at their own conclusions. Organized religion dictates the terms. It has little tolerance for disagreement and is generally exclusionist. I’m sorry, but the “We got it all figured out, and if you don’t believe us you’ll end up in hell!” rap just doesn’t work for me. I don’t want you to figure it out for me! I guess I simply consider myself way too much of a free thinker to have other people tell me what my role in life (and death) is all about.

*1979 Nobel Price Recipient for Physics

*YAWN*

Geez, what a week. Victoria and I are moving together and have to start packing our stuff (I already missed the weekend I wanted to move my furniture), I’m busy with a company deadline, and I have to finish my GDC talk. Not a lot of sleep in the last few days, I think I average 4 hours per night It’ll soon all be over, though, and I’ll try to hit a few parties in San Jose. I’ll probably arrive Wednesday morning and leave Friday night. Victoria will join me for Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

And Now For Some Political Commentary

Blatantly stolen from Gunnar’s (and now also Niklas’ and Thomas’) page, I just like it too much. You should be paying them a regular visit, anyway!

Sushi in Nevada City for Victoria’s Birthday

Vritten by ze girlfrend, Victorria, ja?

Hi Everyone,

Matthias and I are both Aquarians and for about 2 weeks a year we are the same age. Last week, on January 26, I turned 29. I told the students that I work with that “29 sure makes 30 sound young!” About a few years ago I decided that I had spent too many birthdays away from my parents, who only live 2 hours away. So I organized a visit home and the chance to have dinner with my elementary school amazing friend Kristina who I had not seen since I met Matthias; and my best college friend ever, Marta. Kristina brought her boyfriend, Stephen, who I had not met either (finally, Kristina are dating at the same time ) All of us met up in Nevada City, which is right above Grass Valley and one of the coolest places in California, for Sushi at Sushi Q and tea at my favorite café, Café Mekka. Kristina and I always met up at Mekka. Over the years, many great conversations have happened at Mekka. I loved having dinner, conversation and catching up with old friends and Matthias. Wish we could it do it more often.

Matthias was awesome as always. Kristina said in a post e-mail “Matthias is super nice and so sweet…he actually helped put your coat on!

Back at my parents’ house, Matthias sat in the go-cart my Dad was building. Dad said Matt can drive one of the carts whenever he is ready. Mom was in great spirits, enjoyed Matt’s German potato pancakes and LOVED watching the “Lair” video. She is ready to buy the game.

To top off my 29th birthday, Matthias bought me the complete season of “Sex and the City” along with finding my all time (really the only video game I know how to play) Super Mario Brothers. Yahoo!

Life is good!
Victoria

Only In America

I don’t think it can get any more typical. Here’s a town that hasn’t been allowed to legally serve beer for 131 years, and what is the first beer that they serve after the ban is lifted? A Budweiser. In a plastic cup. I’m surprised they didn’t add ice to it. I mean Jesus people, have some self-respect!

…

“That’s what I like about these high school girls, I keep getting older, they stay the same age.”

This random Dazed And Confused quote is dedicated to Charlie.