The Island Journal

I was born in the 70's, lived through the 80's and 90's, and now at the end of the 00's, the 80's are coming back. At least, the women's fashion is. There have been several attempts at an 80's resurgence but until now, they haven't tried to bring back anything I really cared to see again. I can do without the flat brimmed hats, the lace gloves, and stirrup pants were a bad idea the first time. What I'm glad to see women wearing again are the sweatshirts with giant neck holes that fall off the shoulder.

I am, what one would call, a tangential thinker. I often find my self arriving at “bunnies” while the start of the conversation had something to do with infectious diseases and not knowing how I veered so far off course. I realized, I search the Internet in much the same way.

I'm a big fan of Wikipedia. Contrary to popular belief, it's become a much more reliable source of information with checks, re-checks, and citations required for many topics. I usually look up something specific and spot a word link that looks interesting. I follow it. I'll read something about that subject and see another word that maybe I don't recognize and follow that link. Before I know it, The empire state building leads me to pygmy albino swamp marmosets. A few short clicks later I'm tangled in the endless web of the Wiki.

I decided to name my newly discovered pass time. I call it, “Riding the wiki train”. I would encourage all who find reading about new subjects interesting to hop on board your very own wiki train and follow it where it may lead. How long can you make the ride last? My longest run on a wiki train, before I named it, was about three hours. I learned quite a bit that night, though I fear I've lost most of it to the day to day workings of life in general.

This weekend I'll be on a plane home and unable to board the train myself, but I highly recommend that each and every one of you take a seat and pick a topic just to see where the clicks might lead.

I have decided to be unapologetic for not writing in quite some time. I only have one reader and she, or I guess the word "you" would be more appropriate, have a lot going on so I'm sure my sloppy missives were not missed. On to the blog post!


When I was a kid, like 10 or so, I started reading GQ. I followed fashion and in some cases, Fashion followed me. I was sometimes to far beyond the cutting edge for my own good and then it all stopped. I went to college and found my way back into the fashionable crowd but soon, comfort came crashing down and I got all baggy and frumpy again. It has been a long time since I had my own sense of style. Don't get me wrong, I like the off the rack bargain basement clothes I've been wearing over the last few years, but let's face it... chicks can smell Walmart on you.


I've been rediscovering my own sense of stylistic individuality over the last couple of months and the journey is an ongoing one. In truth, I believe the pursuit of one's own style is an expression of self. They style is just a shadow of that expression. To that end, I'm put together a list of fashion styles that I've been experimenting with recently and that I've always loved. I will find a way to mix them some how.


Rockabilly, 30's dress casual, Cuban, American 60's formal, and rude. That last one is really more of a mix of American 60's formal and the rockabilly. Think Rude Boy as in SKA.

I have been reading a lot of style blogs lately, the most recent being the Post Office and See Jack Shop. These are entertaining and informative, but I have yet to see a blog dedicated specifically to the fashion plights of the big dude. I'm not a kid anymore. I can't go around in Old Navy jeans and sandals. Sure, it was fun and all but I need to feel like myself and nicer clothes fit better and make me feel like me. I'm an extremely confidant person... some might say self righteous or conceited, but I consider it confidence. I like who I am in a suit. Is it to much to wear a suit every day after work?Speaking of suits, I've found a site that sells decent quality suits (reviewed in one of those blogs I think) at redonkulious prices. Men's USA sells suits made over seas with Italian milled 150 to 200 wool for pennies on the dollar. A new two button, vented grey with black pen stripes is a paltry $175.00 and a three piece 4 button can be found for as low as $99.00. Out-freakin'-rageous. I have recently been told I sound like a woman, but I remain undaunted. I will regain my fashion plate status.

I was listening to the book A Briefer History of Time, a paired down audio version of A Brief History of Time by Steven Hawking the other day and I started to think about how life and energy collide to make reality. It's been proven that when we observe a situation, we alter it simply by observing. The book The Secret says basically the same thing; that in a nut shell, thought alters the universe. There are many examples of people altering perception to attain a goal. Look at athletes who push past the human physical “limits” and become greater than they should be able to become. Look at tiny housewives lifting cars off infants. Look at people who overcome physical or mental malady on a daily basis and you'll understand what I mean.

Now, what does this have to do with anything? Well, part of the theory I was listing to was basically the antithesis of Decarte's statement, “I think, therefore I am.”. In Physics, it's the other way round... think to much and you'll cease to be. Consider this application of this theory and this application of this other theory and how they contradict each other. If we came to a conclusion that was self sustaining and explained the entire universe, what's the point of continuing? It's not that the universe would be any less fun, it's just that we'd know all the ins and outs of existence and we'd be altering it to an infinite point... crunch. My thought is that we should stop trying to figure out the macrocosmic and focus on the microcosmic. Look at the people around you and ask three simple questions. “What effect am I having on this person? What effect are they having on me? How can we improve?” Then just experience the universe as it happens.

I put this thought to a friend who then said, “That's a very Buddhist way of looking at things... very zen...”. That got me thinking further. It seems to me that the majority of philosophies are trying to unravel not the meaning of existence, but existence as a whole. It's like a kid pulling at a loose string on a sweater. Now I'm not saying people should give up trying to analyze existence. It's my favorite pass time. I'm just getting an image in my head of a stoic philosopher standing on a hill beneath a tree with half a dozen or more students sitting in a haphazard semicircle at his feet. A student raises his hand and utters a calm, simple and perfect view of the point the philosopher is trying to make. He then stands and, wildly flailing his arms, eyes wide asks, “Did I get it right!?” Isn't that kind of missing the point?

It has been some time since I posted and I will post more again soon when I make my DC trip, but for the time being, I just wanted to let my faithful readers... um, reader... know that I'm still alive and I LOVE my new computer!

I built a Dual Core 3.5 Ghz system with 4 gigs of ram, 150 Gb hard driver, and installed Windows XP x64. Why did I not go with 64 bit Ubuntu? As much as I love that OS, Linux does not have the support I need for Photoshop (just got CS 4) and various audio editing programs I want to use and I don't feel I should really need to learn new programs when the one's I've put extensive time into learning are doing exactly what I want them to do.

I considered installing the beta for Windows 7 (AKA Blackcomb or Vienna) x 64 on the system, but it will go inactive before the full release date around Christmas so I figured, I'll grab it when it's released. From the reviews I've been reading, Windows 7 is a vast improvement over Vista. The shell is more similar, but closer to Windows than OS X and the system is a bit more configurable. I also understand, like many of their 64 bit operating systems, they'll be basing it on Windows Server which increases the stability. I've read rumors that they will only be offering Windows 7 in 64 bit and dropping 32 all together. If that's the case, many older systems are going to be hard pressed for support. Looks like I need to start building my parents a new one.

I have been considering installing the dreaded Vista. Why? Well, I have been reading tech blogs and reviews doing the back and forth between XP and Vista almost since Vista came out. Recently, more people have been saying that Vista is more stable in image editing programs and has more driver support... we'll see.

In a nut shell, I'm happy with the hardware, now I need to find a happy medium with the software.

I recently found a wen site I thought I'd share with my readers... well, reader. I was looking for something crafty to do in my hotel and doodling wasn't cutting it. I found a website for making paper robots, but they seemed like a ton of work and a little more involved than I was willing to attempt at that particular moment. I did a search for paper creatures and found Macula and his squealers. I was particularly interested in the “Krampus” as I have a somewhat twisted since of humor and one of his props is a “bad kid” in a basket slung on his back.

Now, having made the Krampus, I thought I'd do a little research and find out exactly what a Krampus is... well, it turns out it's not an it, but a who. Apparently he's a Germanic demon / imp who whips bad kids and carries them off. More interesting is who his running buddy is. SANTA CLAUS! That's right. In the misty beginnings of the legend of Saint Nick, he had several nasty spirits that roamed around with him referred to as his “companions”. Who'd have though a jolly old fat guy who gives joy to millions would associate with evil spirits? The Krampus is often depicted as an incubus sporting horns, dressed in black rags or sheep skins with a bundle of sticks, a pitch fork and a basket on his back. Sometimes he's seen wearing a darker and more sinister version of the fat man's costume or he appears to be mostly human with tiny red horns and a black suit.

This is not a part of the holiday season entirely lost to the ravages of time. In some regions of the US, there's still something sinister incorporated into the holiday season. Another incarnation of the Krampus, or possibly another of Santa's little helpers, the Belsnickel, is the center of Pennsylvania Dutch festivals and celebrations. We're all familiar with All Saint's Day and it's darker sibling Halloween aka All Soul's day. Well, each saint actually has a feast day of his own. Saint Nicholas (Who at one point snuck into a guys house and left three small sacks of gold to provide doweries for his three daughters so they could get married and thus saved them from lives of prostitution which is part of where we get the present thing in the first place) has a feast day on December 6th and the day prior is kept clear for Belsnickel. During his day, many young men dress like Belsnickel in masks and fur and carry switches with which they spank people, especially young women. Alright, I see how you're looking at me, but it's true. Other versions of the celebration throughout the world at one point in time had people dressed at either Belsnickle or the Krampus throwing chains at passing sledders or hikers. Now, I would prefer the switch to the chain, but that's just me.

Next Christmas, when you're snug in your bed and dreaming of the presents you're going to have under the tree, think of all the evil little children who are getting switches and coal and think of the creepy, horned creature, the Krampus, who delivers said coal and switches and carts off a few of those little miscreants each Christmas eve. Instead of leaving cookie for Father Christmas, I'm leaving his partner a four course meal just to be on the safe side.