Some pre-strike analysis

Editorial: Missing Interests and Planned User Strike on Livejournal

The purchase of Livejournal by a Russian-owned company raised questions at the time of SUP's commitment to LJ's long-standing relationship with its user community, for good and ill. The recent decision to drop the ad-free Basic account is "a business decision. It is, emphatically." It may however be a poor business decision, one made in the hopes of making a fast buck off the content provided by the users without understanding the background of those users' relationship with the site. The removal, for whatever reason, of possibly controversial interests gives users good reason to worry that we are not wanted on a site we helped make so popular. The restoration of those interests, allowing us our thoughts on yaoi once more, does not immediately restore our faith in the company, especially with the clandestine removal of the primary way in which most of us first came to the site (and then brought our friends).

In short, Livejournal users no longer feel like customers, but product, and that's bad business all around.

(Emphasis mine. This is basically dead on.)

Lydia Kavina's fundamentals of theremin technique.

Swimming in the Air - Theremin
Lydia Kavina's fundamentals of theremin technique.

from EM archives - July 1999
woman playing theremin

The theremin is currently enjoying a resurgence in popularity. However, it is one of the most difficult instruments to play, let alone master. To play it well requires dedication, practice, and patience.

Besides being one of the first electronic musical instruments invented, the theremin was the first instrument in the world that could be played without being touched. Russian inventor Leon (or Lev) Theremin created his namesake instrument in 1919, at the age of 23. By 1928, the inventor had relocated to the United States, where he continued improving the theremin, developed new instruments, and trained a generation of thereminists until his forced return to the Soviet Union in 1937.

Lydia Kavina was Theremin's last protégé and is now the world's leading theremin virtuoso. Kavina began studying the theremin at the tender age of nine, after Theremin recognized her remarkable musical ability.

State of the Bear

(Cross-posted to healthy_fen and mdlbear.)

It's been a while since I posted one of these, so let's see...

Went out for a walk this morning (twice around the Rose Garden -- yay! there are finally buds after the winter's drastic pruning) and somehow fell back into power-walk mode. I was a little surprised at how natural and unforced it felt, even after several months of walking with my hands at my sides or in my pockets.

I have been walking, but I haven't been keeping good track, or particularly consistent, since sometime in mid-January. (In part because I was doing other things with my lunch hour, for reasons that have mostly gone away now.) The last couple of weeks, though, have been pretty consistent.

My weight is down to 183 or so, from about 198 at the beginning of the year. I'm using a high protein, low glycemic index diet, and it seems to be working.

I've cut my flonase dose down from two to one squirt per nostril, twice per day. This seems to work even better than the old dose did before nasal irrigation, and doesn't seem to cause any bleeding. I sometimes forget the flonase after nose-watering; it's taking me an annoyingly long time to form new habits. But I can actually smell the flonase now; yesterday evening on the way home I smelled the star jasmine blooming next to the parking lot.

The CPAP is working. The flower_cat no longer complains about my snoring, and she reminds me to put it back on if I've taken it off to snuggle. I seem to need about an hour less sleep; 5 hours isn't unusual these days. They can have my facehugger after they pry it off my cold, dead face.

On the down side, I still tend to become easily addicted to things like LJ, blogs, and (more recently) IM. I need to stay the hell away from Second Life.

On the other hand, having finally gotten my life together, I seem to be in danger of forgetting where I put it.