Miscellany

Easy vs Difficult

stuart updegrave — Tue, 09 May 2006 08:53:00 GMT

ok, so maybe this is a little cheesy, but i like it (in the same way i like the reminder i've been wearing around my wrist since burning man '05). i found it online somewhere and emailed it to myself. i am putting it here so i don't accidentally lose it.

Easy is to get a place in someone's address book.
Difficult is to get a place in someone's heart.

Easy is to judge the mistakes of others
Difficult is to recognize our own mistakes

Easy is to talk without thinking
Difficult is to refrain the tongue

Easy is to hurt someone who loves us.
Difficult is to heal the wound...

Easy is to forgive others
Difficult is to ask for forgiveness

Easy is to set rules.
Difficult is to follow them...

Easy is to dream every night.
Difficult is to fight for a dream...

Easy is to show victory.
Difficult is to assume defeat with dignity...

Easy is to admire a full moon.
Difficult to see the other side...

Easy is to stumble with a stone.
Difficult is to get up...

Easy is to enjoy life every day.
Difficult to give its real value...

Easy is to promise something to someone.
Difficult is to fulfill that promise...

Easy is to say we love.
Difficult is to show it every day...

Easy is to criticize others.
Difficult is to improve oneself...

Easy is to make mistakes.
Difficult is to learn from them...

Easy is to weep for a lost love.
Difficult is to take care of it so not to lose it.

Easy is to think about improving.
Difficult is to stop thinking it and put it into action...

Easy is to think bad of others
Difficult is to give them the benefit of the doubt...

Easy is to receive
Difficult is to give

Easy to read this
Difficult to follow

Easy is keep the friendship with words
Difficult is to keep it with meanings.

yay for bend Euro Moto / random thoughts

stuart updegrave — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 10:50:00 GMT

On the advice of Alan (Christine's partner) I headed to Bend Euro Moto just now. Pretty empty parking lot, hope they're open...

Guy walks over, asks if he can help. I tell him I'm looking for a coolant cap for my bike, to which he replies that they're closed for the day. Bummer!

About that time, his partner comes out, overhearing this, and says she'll see about ordering one. Oh, but you're travelling? She walks inside and almost immediately back out, saying “You know what I might be able to do, since I'm AWESOME?!”. Turns out they have a used K-bike for sale. She says I can have the cap off of that bike and they'll order a new one. She's right -- she IS awesome. Wish I'd gotten her name.

The place looks mostly Ducati -- but if you're a BMW rider and find yourself in need while in Bend, you should check them out.

and now for random thoughts:

i'd love to see the turbulence pattern created by a semi trailer. i certainly can *feel* it when i pass one on the highway
which makes me wonder what my turbulence pattern looks like ...
and on a completely unrelated note, there are a ton of hotties in Bend! i'm sitting at Bella Tazza enjoying breve and wireless, and they keep wandering past. which is nice. too bad it's so damn hot here; i could never live here!

flash! BOOOOOM! rumble rumble rumble ...

stuart updegrave — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 13:26:00 GMT

holy jeebus, i sure do love thunder and lightning!

i miss having it regularly, as in north carolina ...

wacky weather

stuart updegrave — Mon, 14 Feb 2005 07:56:00 GMT

Seattle's weather of late has been just crazy! January was really warm -- enough so that the crocuses and anemones are coming up in the yard, daphne is blooming, etc. Really seeming like spring on a lot of levels.

Then, this morning, Ethan and I are carpooling to work (top down in his convertible, of course). Light drizzle. As we approach campus, it turns to light snow. A little later, heavier snow (really small flakes), then starts to stick to the ground, then big fat flakes.

Now, in the time it took to write this, it seems to be stopped completely -- no precipitation at all.

Yay for schizo weather!

PV / battery in one

stuart updegrave — Wed, 08 Dec 2004 13:07:00 GMT

This is cool:

Solar cell doubles as battery

A practical solar energy system usually includes solar cells that convert light to electricity and batteries that store the energy for later use.

Scientists from Toin University of Yokohama in Japan have designed a single, compact device that can both convert solar energy to electricity and store the electricity. "We succeeded in incorporating both photovoltaic and storage functions in a single cell with a thin, sandwich-type structure," said Tsutomu Miyasaka, a researcher at the University.

The researchers' photocapacitor is also efficient at capturing energy from weak light sources like sunlight on cloudy or rainy days and indoor lighting.

The light-driven, self-charging capacitor could eventually be used to power portable electronic devices like phones, cameras, and PDAs, said Miyasaka. "Users can just bring the device anywhere and expose it to indoor and outdoor ambient light whether they need power or not [then] release the stored electricity anytime they want," he said.

thanks to taylor for pointing this out to me ...

zoomquilt

stuart updegrave — Wed, 17 Nov 2004 07:48:00 GMT

Many thanks to NY Kat for alerting me to this amazing link:

http://public.hbk-bs.de/~baumgarn/zoomquilt/zoom.htm

Flash animation, super psychedelic perma-zoom visualizations. Pretty!

And wishes do come true

stuart updegrave — Thu, 19 Aug 2004 06:11:00 GMT

Brady is coming home today, a free man. When this news came out, Todd eloquently expressed a feeling that many of us have shared: “I feel like I've been holding my breath for weeks. Breathing again feels good.”

It truly feels to me that the letters and support for Brady on the part of our community were truly effective. When I was driving in to work this morning, I remembered Margaret Mead's famous quote:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the
world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

Relief ...