“The issue, in other words, isn’t that [name] has [done heinous act], but that [pronoun] can.”

There’s a very interesting article by David L. Ulin that includes this statement. Of course, he’s got the blanks filled in, and with the blanks filled in, it gives one the feeling that maybe [name] should be stopped or regulated. And in his article, Mr. Ulin has many good points. But I always like to pull out my names and see the statement as it applies to the world in general, not just one entity that I may or may not be in favor of.

The problem is not that you have done something wrong, but that you have the power to.

And I find that thought disturbing. He goes on to say, “We are asked to trust each other’s goodwill…” like that’s a disaster waiting to happen. And maybe it is. Maybe people will wield the power they have in terrible, terrible ways. Certainly when it’s a big corporation like he’s referring to in the article (ah… suddenly he sounds less crazy, right?) we have seen too many examples of just that.

But we cannot run a country – certainly not our lives – on the concept that we must shut down the evil that everyone is capable of. Because in doing so, we also shut down the good. I do not believe that power automatically corrupts. For every Hitler we have a Mother Teresa, for every Osama bin Laden, a Mike Kim. I know the temptation to prevent the possibility of evil is well-meant and, for some people, even holy. But you can strip the rights and resources of every man and woman on the planet in a pre-emptive strike, and all you will have is hopeless, helpless masses who are still not safe. Evil will find a way.

Now I’m not saying that when bad things happen – when they actually happen – we shouldn’t do our damnedest to stop evil as it marches forward and to help others who’ve been hurt in it’s path. I’m not saying we should leave our doors unlocked at night and walk down the most desloate and dangerous streets in our hometowns at midnight.  But we have to accept the fact that we are, in fact, not asked but required to trust each other’s goodwill every single day of our lives. That is the definition of society. We have got to quit saying “Watch out, or people will screw you over” – that puts the responsibility on the wrong person. We have to start saying, “Be an ethical human being. Less is just not acceptable.”

My faith has one law: “If it harms none, do as you will.” Look at the ramifications of your actions for yourself and others before you act. If you can’t see how it hurts somebody, though, it’s your right as a human being. Having political, social, or financial power is no more evil than being smart or strong or fast. Using what you have to hurt or usurp the rights of others is. Power is a tricky thing, it can be a scary thing, but it is a necessary thing. If we can quit fear-mongering and focus on teaching the wise and ethical use of power, then we’re going to see a saner, safer, stronger world.

Time Magazine ran a poll: Now that Walter Cronkite has passed on, who is America’s most trusted newscaster? And I gotta admit, I completely agree with the majority here and have said so for a long time. I didn’t realize I was in such popular company.

Apparently our nation likes casual, funny, honest, passionate, and biting more than ponderous fear-mongering and ad-naseum redundancy. That’s not the part I consider a bad sign. The part that’s bad is that, well, the person we most like to get our news from… claims he’s not a newscaster.

I would actually disagree with him, but it seems to me a sign of the times that America’s favorite newscaster doesn’t come from the traditional news establishment. We need to take a serious look at what we as a nation are holding on to “’cause that’s the way it’s always been done!” and what actually works. And we certainly don’t need to start a “new establishment” of copy-cats trying to imitate what’s popular. Our favorite newscaster works because he is a smart man doing what he loves and saying what he believes, not because he followed a trend.

I guess what I’m saying is that the world will become a better place as more people feel empowered to follow their hearts, instead of following the crowd. I hope that every day you find time to pursue being the person you want to be!

At an absolutely gorgeous ceremony this weekend in a vineyard near my parent’s home.  And Laura, always lovely, was stunning in her 30s inspired gown and loose curls. I got to meet the groom’s family, and they were all just neat people.

She’s moving to Georgia now, and I’m going to miss her something fierce, but I also love her husband (ooh… that’s the first time I’ve called Brent that! I almost typed fiance, hehe!) and know they’re going to be amazing together. So good luck, and brightest blessings to both of you dears! And Georgia, you’ve got a new star. I hope you appreciate her right.

My computer had a meltdown last night. Like, I was chatting with Kat and then it froze. That’s not a huge deal; happens sometimes, so I went to the bathroom to give it a moment to right itself. And when I came back it had restarted itself. And the restart came up with a black screen and a mouse that I could move around… but didn’t do anything else. So I shut down and restarted. And then it went nuts. Like messages scrolled across my screen in some sort of scandisk hell in which things were corrupted and moved around and orphaned and… I have no idea. After my husband and I tried to figure out what was going on – for about an hour – we decided to go to sleep. I woke up this morning with Scott’s 5AM alarm (I usually sleep ’til 8:00, particularly after I’d stayed up until midnight trying to get my computer to work), computer was still a basketcase, found my installation disks (but not the drivers; still have no idea why I would’ve put the driver installation disk in a different place than EVERY OTHER INSTALLATION disk my computer came with, but whatevs), and finally, after it was clear that I could do no good, went back to sleep. Woke up at my normal 8:00 with Scott bringing coffee (he’s amazing that way) and my operating system being reinstalled, because nothing else was working.

So.. luckily I had run a back up, either Sunday or Monday night, not sure which yet (currently installing drivers and eventually I’ll get to the backup installation and figure out if I’ve been backing up what I think I’ve been backing up). But regardless of when that was, I did six hours of edits yesterday – six hours – that I was so happy with I’d even gloated to Scott about them. Six. Hours. Even if I did run back up every night, which admitedly, I don’t, that wouldn’t have been saved because my computer flipped a gasket while I was still using it.

This made me think about  the way we as a society think about computers. I know it’s not this way for everybody, but for me, my computer is one of the most important things I own. My car broke down on Saturday (it’s still in the shop – it’s been a red-letter week for repairs), and that didn’t distress me half as much. I can take the bus. I can borrow somebody else’s car. But borrowing somebody else’s computer does not get me my six hours of work back. And while I KNOW it’s not true, and I can put the work in to get back what I did, there’s always this feeling like… I really liked what I had created. Can I make something I’ll like as much? The words will never be the same as what I had, but can I make something I’ll be equally proud of?

[side note: drivers installed; installing 77 security updates; and in case you're wondering, I'm blogging from my husband's computer]

It seems to me that computers get handled a lot like an expensive can opener – a utility that  when it breaks, it’s merely an inconvenience until you replace it. And maybe that was it twenty years ago, but now computers are like a bizarre jewelry box that when it breaks makes your grandmother’s pearls disappear.

This is why I’m seriously into Google (who, I’m also convinced, has a world domination plot; there is no other reason to do the amount of stuff they do for you for free) and the way Amazon handles Kindle files. These companies treat data differently than, say iTunes (which I use and love, but it is run by a computer company, not a services or software company) which counts on a faulty piece of hardware to save your pearls. (And yes, backup, backup, backup… but I’m running out of room to back everything up on and I’ve got a 40 GB portable hard drive.)

Unlike iTunes, Amazon keeps a record of your purchases, and you can re-download them to your Kindle whenever you want. That way if I, say, drop my Kindle in the fountain I’m reading by, yes I have to replace a $300 item (which would suck… and teach me not to read by fountains), but not the $300 item and $900 or more worth of books.  If my computer has a meltdown while I’m chatting with my friend after I’ve downloaded a bunch of music from iTunes but before I’ve backed it up… I lose both my computer and the music. (Luckily, I THINK all my music was backed up).

And with GoogleDocs, as long as I can get to an internet connection, I can work on my wips, and I feel secure knowing that my documents are safe. There’s a built in redundancy that I am not personally responsible for. Google – who I have not given any money to – takes better care of my jewelry than Dell, who I did give money to.  I’m currently debating whether or not to just move all my writing onto googleDocs… I just don’t always write somewhere with an internet connection, and therein lies the issue.

But these companies understand that in the information age, an idea and the words or pictures that state it are vastly more important – and can be worth a lot more money – than the item used to compose it. Paper is a dead tree. Keyboards are plastic… but the things you create with them, they have worth.

[Security Updates 49% downloaded]

Send good hopes my way that as I re-edit my first 50 pages, a muse sits on my shoulder and guides my hands. I don’t want to be a slave to memory, trying to recreate what I did (even though it was damn awesome) because attempting to resurrect a ghost never creates a vital being. So I will need her to hang out for another six hours or so. After the security updates finish. And after I reinstall Chrome and iTunes and Open Office. And after I get by backup running and see what I have and what I don’t.

Blessings for the New World Order:

(God may save my soul, but I’m pretty sure my files are up to me, Mr. Brin and Mr. Page)

This was last week, actually, but the weekend was big (my sister’s bachelorette party on the wine trail and the lake!!) so I didn’t post.

But man, I was going to read a chapter while I drank my morning coffee, and then put it down and do useful stuff… but no. Read all freaking morning. Finished the book around 2:00. Tracy (yes, I can call her Tracy, I know her. She’s a really cool person) is now on my shit list for writing a book that I couldn’t put down. And I blame her entirely. I can normally put books down, but no. Not this one. I had to know what happened next. I almost tried making lunch while reading, but decided my husband wouldn’t be thrilled with me if I had to tell the insurance company I burned my house down trying to make an omlette because I was reading with the gas stove on. Plus, I wouldn’t get to finish the book until I got another copy (that might’ve actually been the more compelling reason). So, if you’re not offended by a lot of sex (or, contrari-wise, if you’re in the mood for a lot of sex), check it out.