Seems that half the people I know are down in Atlanta at Dragon*Con. It's where I'd be if there were any sensible way to make it happen.

Instead, I've been here in the office fighting with technology in order to get things done.

But, that means oXYGen Financial, Inc.'s site (a company, coincidentally, located right next to Atlanta) is live and we're all pretty happy with it. Still a couple of things to clean up on the back end, but all the important stuff is there. Kile and Ted have put together quite the nice little business idea... here's hoping it goes fantastically for them!

After work, it's off to shop for non-meat food for my cooking adventure on Saturday. Expect pictures and a run-down on Sunday.

Sunday, I've got nothing planned at all. Just a nice relaxing day.

And then Monday I'll probably be at work, plugging away on stuff again.

So, yeah, holiday weekend or no, not much changes.

There's a simple little web page out there called Telescopic Text set up by Joe Davis. I just came across it today and it is absolutely brilliant in illustrating something we all take for granted.

Within every moment and every action there are many smaller moments and action. Most of them, we glide over, paying them no mind. In the name of expediency, we reduce things down to their most basic, their most terse.

By doing that, we excise almost everything that makes the experience itself worthwhile.

We lose the flavor, the context, the reason behind and within the action. It is left bland, colorless and unimportant. It has no connection to us or the world around it.

After five years of using a couch older than I am (that was never really meant for long term sitting), I finally got a new one. Despite how it may look, I can assure you it is not leather (those were way too expensive, even on sale).

It looks and feels so much better than the old one (which is now on another edge of the living room... still have to figure that all out).

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Originally uploaded by KierDuros.

Rainbow in Columbia Heights after a storm blew through. Looking down the street next to the Giant supermarket. Lots of people were stopping to take pictures. This is probably one of the brightest rainbows I've seen recently.

I got hooked on comic books at a young age. My father is to blame for that.

Unlike many of his peers, he didn't throw away (or have thrown away) all of his old comic books. There weren't many, just a couple dozen issues of Detective Comics, Superman, Batman and a handful of other random titles. Most of them were DC comics, there were only (if I remember correctly) four Marvel comics in the bunch (Amazing Spider-man, two issues of Tales to Astonish and Iron Man). Some issues were in better condition than others--and some stories were better crafted than others--but these Silver Age treasures hooked me from the first time I was allowed to pick them up.

Since it was the early 1980s, the Golden and Silver Ages of comics were long gone and a new age of comics was just taking off. Marvel was just reaching the peak of it's game and new comics were being created every month.

You could also find a good variety just about anywhere.

Saturday was the annual DC Pride Parade. I had such a good time last year, I decided to go again this year.

The hope was to get even better pictures than last time.

That didn't quite happen. Partially due to the rain (tough to shoot through a sea of umbrellas) and partially due to me forgetting to up the ISO speed on my camera as the clouds thickened and sun dropped in the sky. Yeah, lots of blurry pictures ensued.

That didn't stop if from being fun, though. :)

He's been in Africa for the past week, visiting his wife (who's working there for a little while yet). Mauritania to be exact.

Today, he sent us a video via YouTube.

If you've ever wondered, this is kind of what Mauritania is like.

There's lots of sand.

(And no, you don't get to see the boss... he's behind the camera.)

I had something more elaborate planned. Something with links to all the news stories that prompt rants that never actually make it onto the page. Something that incorporated some of the ideas I was reminded of while going through Mount Vernon this weekend. Something... that's more coherent than my sleep deprived mind can currently handle.

But what it all comes down to is this: Those we send off to fight and die do so not for the land we stand upon or the flag that flies above it. They do it for the ideas and ideals that shaped the land and give the symbol of the flag meaning.

Those ideas and ideas are simple and universal: Freedom. Opportunity. Justice. Knowledge. Wisdom.

These are the things that make up what has been called "The American Way of Life" for quite some time.

One of my favorite news commentator of all time, Kieth Olberman, has once again masterfully taken the Bush regime to task in a way I could only hope to do.

Love him or hate him, Olberman has facts to back up most of his criticism (if not all). Read it. Watch it and discuss.

It would appear that my home town isn't quite as dead as it used to be.

Seems there's going to be a pretty big deal concert going on there in September.

ATP New York 2008. I'm told the line up is pretty interesting and at least vaguely impressive.

I'm just surprised by the venue. :)