less than this

I heard the car idling, perhaps two houses down, but this is not unusual. Not in this neighborhood, not at any time. Cars idling around, honking, playing loud music - no music tonight.

I was reading some website I look at every Sunday, and then I heard it and froze.

bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang

Probably less than two seconds passed and before I was sure I didn't hear my own house breaking, feel my own body breaking, I was praying. Which is not rare or unusual; I pray every day, usually several times a day, sometimes a lot more than that. And even before I was sure it wasn't just ... I don't know, an engine backfiring six times, setting off a car alarm with its noise before the idling car spun out and sped off coincidentally, I was thanking God for the time He's given me, praying that He would be with whoever was in that house, whoever was in that car, my family here, my friends and family around town, thanking and praising Him for all he has given us and asking that his will continue to act in all our lives and in the lives of those just a few houses down who need Him the most.

I can hear crying, wailing, screaming now, coming down the block from that direction. Grief, loss, pain. I can hear whooping and hollering and laughter and partying as well, from someplace else. Still no music.

I'm going to go work on an art project I'd like to get done this weekend. It's almost November, and there's a few things I'd like to get out of the way. I've got to keep working, doing what I can with the talent and inspiration I've been given instead of just working some dead-end job and nothing else. I'm thirsty.

The idea that "piracy" is "stealing" is ridiculous.

I wanted to start with that to be sure that you know where I'm coming from, if not necessarily where I'm going.

To explain what I mean, since apparently some people haven't thought about what the word "stealing" means, I will use an analogy:

If you have a thing, say, a wallet in your pocket or purse, and I take that thing from you (which is to say that you no longer have it and I do have it) without your permission, that is stealing. The idea of stealing extends beyond items on your person; if you own a television set and it it in your home and I go into your home and - without your permission - take your television (where by 'take' I still mean that I go away with it so that I have it and you no longer have it), that is stealing. And probably breaking and entering, which is another subject. Stealing even extends to objects which are not owned by people, but by companies and corporations and governments; if I take something (just to be clear, if I am taking something, it no longer remains where it was, otherwise it is not taken) owned by any person or entity other than myself without that owner's consent, it is stealing.

On the other hand, if you have an idea in your mind, and you release it from your mind (by speaking it, writing it down, or otherwise transmitting it from the domain of your thoughts into the physical world) and by some means that idea gets into my mind (by hearing it, reading it, or otherwise having it communicated to me), regardless of the consent of the original thinker, that is not stealing. If you think it is, then you are currently stealing the idea of this sentence from me.

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I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.

-Rabindranath Tagore, philosopher, author, songwriter, painter, educator, composer, Nobel laureate (1861-1941)

This guy has a professional description like the one I am working on for myself. I'm not making music just yet (though it's definitely on my mind), and we'll have to add spiritual warrior to the list... and ... Yeah, I don't know if Nobel will ever recognize me, but I suppose I can only do my best and what will be will be.

Based on your past iTMS purchases, you can now get recommendations for other things you might like to purchase from iTMS. Now, you either understand why the following image is funny, or you're not paying attention:

I don't know if this will stretch to a long entry or be a frustratingly short one. I don't know how much I have to say, or how much attention I'll devote it between the other things I'm doing. Surely some. Because a goodly amount of what I am doing can only rightly be described as waiting.

As I type this I am waiting for all my music which is by an artist whose band or last name begins with the letter S copies from my old HD to my new one. I am forced to transfer my music in tiny chunks (not the stuff I purchased through iTMS - that stuff was backed up faster and easier than anything else in this procedure so far 'today') because a handful of the files are corrupt, and cannot be copied. I expect that they were corrupt when they were ripped or dl'd (my DVD/CD drive is on its last legs, though sadly my wallet informed me that that particular component would not be updated this month, and seems to have trouble reading discs sometimes.

Actually, I suspect that the three years of dust, dirt, hair, and who-knows-what else which I will have a chance to clean once I crack the case later will be found to have represented part of the problem itself. My only concern, and it is not too great, is that I do not have any thermal paste.

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