In 2004 (6 years ago, or 2 eons of the internet age), I released some code that was almost useful to me a number of times, in hopes that someone else might pick it up and (if I got lucky) make it actually useful to both of us (or more!) at some point in the future. The code? Just a small perl utility, modeled after the excellent and well used Net::IRC, the basis for one of the most interesting, clean and modular IRC bots out there, mozbot. Except mozbot doesn't work in SILC, my preferred real-time chat protocol for many years.

At some point I realized that it would be feasible (and cool!) to replace the underlying API on which mozbot relied with a functional equivalent that spoke to a SILC server. I got very excited by the prospect of having a programmable utility automaton in my "virtual office" environment, without having to give up the secure and autonomous network community in which that office resided. This dream inspires me even today.

Alas, the "real world" of everyday life/work expectations and responsibilities crept in, and my office has become very much real and present. I spend very little time in any kind of chatroom these days, although I often feel it could still help a lot, even in a shared physical space. At any rate, the code languished here, on my tiny little corner of the web, until someone picked it up.

On my way to pick up my daughter after work this afternoon, I found myself with a few minutes to spare before her choir practice finished. Since I'd missed my T'ai Chi practice this morning, I decided to stop in Grange park to do some form work.

I've been studying regularly for a little over two years under the Rising Sun School's excellent instructors, but I recognize that I'm still very early on a lifelong path, and still feel a bit self-conscious when I practice in public. Nonetheless, I dropped my gear at a picnic table and began to roll through the third stage of the Yang style long form taught by my teacher.

I practiced for ten minutes or so; when I finished and began to pack up to go, I noticed a man who was out walking his dog heading my way. We exchanged greetings, and the fellow asked me who I studied T'ai Chi with.

Lately as I ride my trusty 12-speed through the coldest part of the Toronto winter, I find myself daydreaming about my plan to build a fixed single gear (aka "fixie") bike to replace my current ride. Don't get me wrong, I love my bike- it was gifted to me in a moment of dire need and I'm grateful for it every time it allows me to avoid the TTC or worse, driving a car. Nonetheless, I'm captivated by the idea of riding a bike which I have put together entirely myself, and which connects me in a much more direct way to the earth that supports me. Why and wherefore? Read on.

Today I turned 34, having lived on this beautiful planet for that many complete revolutions of the earth about the sun. I was fortunate to have taken the day off work, so that I could set myself up a relaxing, quiet, reflective day to celebrate my life.

I chose to move fairly slowly (on the inside, especially), and found many things falling nicely and calmly into place, without a lot of effort on my part. I am nonetheless quite tired at the end of the day, in part because I'm not used to proceeding in this way.

Recently, while wandering my local department store, I stumbled across several inexpensive home weather stations mixed in among the thermometers and such. Intrigued, I read the packaging carefully, noted the features, prices, and manufacturer (of whom I'd never heard, of course) in my notebook, and forgot about it.

Tonight I attended the 20th annual vigil held by Women Won't Forget at Philosopher's Walk on University of Toronto campus. The vigil remembers 14 women who were killed 20 years ago today, simply for being women, and calls attention to all those have suffered under all forms of female oppression & patriarchy.

20 years ago, one man took these women's lives, but he acted out an age old drama of patriarchal oppression, a violence based on sexual dichotomy and rendered "natural" by brute force (explicit or otherwise). It saddens me to realize that there is even more violence to remember today, and the need is as urgent as ever for feminist activists to speak up, act out, and organize to stop violence against women in our families & communities.

my teacher finds the treasure
   in my dream
wakes me up to the stars
   in the trees
swims with me through the woods
   before
the sun comes out
   slowly for me
   in the morning

Today I finished devouring (honestly, somebody told me my copy looks like it's been through the wars!) Steve Krug's excellent second edition of Don't Make Me Think!.
As an initiate to the world of usability, I have to say that Krug has done an excellent job making the book a fun, easy read, true to its mandate of being quick, digestible, and yes, even usable.

Three striking things about this book occur to me:

This is an effort to implement a perl-based abstraction layer for the excellent (but unfortunately) C-based silc-toolkit package, ideally producing a functionally equivalent drop-in replacement for Net::IRC.

NB:This project has been in stasis for several years, and I'm posting this code here as an attempt to resurrect this project from certain death on my eternally crashing hard drives (at least we know google will keep a copy.. for awhile)!