Dizzy's Radio Weblog

Thu, 06 Feb 2003 05:23:57 GMT

My blog is moving: http://www.jabber.org/~dizzyd. There will be no more posts to this blog. :)

Tue, 04 Feb 2003 05:00:31 GMT

Things are quite busy these days. Made it back from St. Louis just fine. I'm hoping to transition this blog to a Blosxom based blog soon -- just need time.

Fri, 31 Jan 2003 04:43:04 GMT

It has been quite the tumultous week. I'm taking tommorow off and going to see my wife's family for a mini-reunion, which should be interesting. I must confess that it will be nice to not work a day and think about some of the things that have been going on in my life.

Mon, 27 Jan 2003 18:27:20 GMT

Futher meditations on democracy, and my understanding of it. Lately, I have been awakening to a spirit of patriotism and love for my country that I never had before. For the first time in my adult life, I'm starting to understand just how special this country we call "America" really is. If you consider our history and style of government we managed to instituted, it's quite awe-inspiring. We've certainly screwed stuff up in the process -- I understand and appreciate that brutal reality.

I know there's a lot of things I don't fully grok about politics, and democracy in particular. What I do understand, however, whets my appetite for more. I want to fully grasp how it is that our country came to be, and what that means for my "today" and my children's "tommorow".

Mon, 27 Jan 2003 15:54:18 GMT

I read an interesting article in yesterday's paper about Iraq and the ongoing issues around it. One part of the article, in particular, grabbed my attention. It discussed the plans around overthrowing Saddam and replacing him with a democracy, and highlighted the idea that instituting a democracy would likely not stick, given the state of affairs. Iraq is simply not ready for such an advanced form of government, in my opinion. This isn't to say that the people of Iraq are incapable of governing themselves, of course. The big question is, do they have the necessary desire to govern themselves?

Democracy is hard. It requires the constitutents to have a level of maturity and participation that is not found in other, more traditional forms of government. Without participation, the whole concept devolves to nothing more than a perverted form of aristocracy.

Tue, 21 Jan 2003 20:18:25 GMT

St. Peter brought in a very cool CD of Professor Longhair. It's a bluesy, rock n'roll CD -- classic American blues, in my humble (if somewhat, uninformed) opinion. Great music to work by.

Thu, 16 Jan 2003 22:25:40 GMT

Middle of the day...moving slower now. For some reason, I'm a little sad today.

Melancholy dances,
a ghost gliding
across the studio of my heart.

Wed, 15 Jan 2003 14:31:48 GMT

We had a geek night last evening at Peter Millard's house. Matt Miller (linuxwolf) was in town, visiting family so we persuaded him to come visit the local Jabber Geek club. ;) It was fun for all -- good Chinese food and great discussion. We reviewed a couple of JEPs (50 and 65). Overall, a fun evening and a great way to relax.

I finished Good To Great last night. If I had to identify the most striking point made in that book, I would have to say that it was the whole consideration of humility, resolve, and charisma in leadership. It is counter-intuitive, yet extremely sensible, that the very best leaders are those who are humble, but filled with resolve that the task they have set their hand to is attainable. The most unattractive thing that I have seen in leadership is those people who are brash, pompous, and proud -- unteachable. I suppose that it's easy for human nature to fall into this mindset of "I am leader; I know all".

It's kinda sad, but it took me a while to write that last paragraph..and I don't even feel like I effectively conveyed the ideas that were running through my mind. Now I understand the importance of journals/logs -- they are a tool with which we learn to express ourselves.