Matthew Alan Thyer's Blog, page 52

Facebook Find will Move You

I was moved by this too, so don’t feel like baby if a tear comes to your eye. It also made me think about how others, specifically those affected by military actions I’ve been involved in, might feel about my service. Are there people in South Korea, for instance, that despite not knowing my name think of me fondly or know what I gave up in my 20′s? Half a century from now will the mayor of some small Iraqi township read out the names of the fallen who died liberating those folks from a Dicta...

North Valley Loop with Dr. Jekyll

North Valley Loop

Lately, Aral has been deep in the throws of a developmental transition. Anyone who has ever spent copious amounts of time around a toddler knows that these things come in waves. You survive them as a parent. If you can do anything to mitigate their impact on your life, you thank your lucky stars and survive.

Anyway, yesterday Nana and Papa came down to the valley and gave me a break. I spent the whole day trying desperately to catch up on my primary book project and since I na...

Using Mood to Predict Weather

That guy just tweeted about his bad day.

I found this article on NPR today. The idea that data science can determine the weather based on the amalgamated mood of posts in a region seems like a choice bit of wizzbangery. Seriously, what else might it be possible to learn about based on similar data models? Our brain’s ability to correlate disparate things and thereby create predictive meanings is a powerful and amazing faculty. The science of behavior seems much more of a science today than it...

Bulki Running

This here is a running post. Every once in a while I get out and nothing, or almost nothing, gets in my way of turning over a few miles on the pedometer. Those days are good, really stinking good.

A long time ago, when I’d hit the trail, I’d see people struggling to push their brood along, and all the requisite gear that necessarily must come with, in baby joggers of one variety or another. I would chuckle to myself and speed on past. Yeah, I had no idea the workout I could have been getting b...

Winner of the Internet

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One Breath

I’m the hungry one

Now you press your lips to mine

The rushing of blood

What is this?

My high school drama teacher posted this on Facebook this morning (thanks Mr. Jones) and after seeing it I had to pass it along. Its a short film by Tatia Plliva called First Kiss. This wins the internet today. This.

A Tale of Two Organizations

YEHAAAA Girl Scouts! And I mean that with as much gusto and enthusiasm as I can muster. While the Boy Scouts of America are busy digging holes for the youth of this nation to get lost in, you guys are busy, busy, busy raising awareness and advancing the cause of at least half of our young and growing kids.

The next time you consider entering into a debate about if one kind of kid or person should be part of the Boy Scouts because of something so slight as sexual orientation, take a look at thi...

News

First, the good news. This weekend I received a letter from the DetCon1 Programming folks and I quickly shot off a reply. I’m headed, once again, to Detroit, Michigan for a summer convention.

I don’t know what it is about that part of the world, but man you “Yoopers” sure have a thing for SFF. I’m not complaining. Not even a little bit. In fact, I’m sort of ecstatic to visit Michigan in the middle of the summer. I’ll get to hang out with the mucky-mucks for a couple of days. Meet new friends a...

Something of an Oversight

Thanks to my ever loving Mom and Dad I took an opportunity this morning to log a long trail run through the Colorado National Monument. Yesterday there was a series of rain/snow storms that ripped through the area so initially I was a little concerned about mud, but it was not actually that bad. The sandy soils that are prevalent up and down the canyon bottoms in the Monument drain very fast.

Monument Canyon Loop

Physically I did pretty well on the run. At two particular points I felt a twinge...

Something of an Oversite

Thanks to my ever loving Mom and Dad I took an opportunity this morning to log a long trail run through the Colorado National Monument. Yesterday there was a series of rain/snow storms that ripped through the area so initially I was a little concerned about mud, but it was not actually that bad. The sandy soils that are prevalent up and down the canyon bottoms in the Monument drain very fast.

Monument Canyon Loop

Physically I did pretty well on the run. At two particular points I felt a twinge...

Appreciation

We haven’t seen Mommy for a while now. Don’t worry, the distance that separates us at the moment is all for a good cause, but that leaves Aral and I on our own. For the most part.

This weekend we have been invited to the Casa de los Abueloswhich is allowing me to get caught up on some writing and exercise. Even a little bill payment and budgeting. It has also gotten me out of our temporary apartment, and away from the troll that lives below us.

Yesterday, I only got about 1,800 words down. It w...