Hello there! This is my blog/journal, so there is a mixture of personal rants, weird science, and random posts about ancient writing systems. To see all posts related to ancient scripts, click on this link.

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My kitchen appliances are all breaking down. My fridge is currently unplugged because the condenser fan makes a noise like it's going to fly off like Xena's chakram. My dishwasher isn't rinsing off the detergent all that well. And my stove goes short-circuit every time it's cleaned. Ugh!

Wife and I went to the Ardenwood Shakespeare Festival and Renaissance Faire today. Unfortunately there was no Shakespeare performed though. They should drop that name next year. It was a relatively small Ren faire compared to the ginormous one in Hollister, but it felt less crowded and less Disneyfied. It was great to be in costume again. We spent way too much money buying stuff as there were a lot of good quality vendors. I even got a mini-menhir and a very Obelix moment carrying it back to the car (if you don't get this reference, see pictures below).

( Pics from Ren Faire )

In other non-news I made a graphic explaining the Aztec origin and glyph(s) of the word "Xoco" which is colloquial Mexican for "little sister" as well as Rick Bayless's latest restaurant. So I tweeted it to him, and he found it "super cool" and RT'ed it. I got a surge in people following me on Twitter (when the Top Chef Master says something is cool, people pay heed), and hopefully future visitors to Ancient Scripts. Oh, a little marketing never hurt nobody.

I haven't posted in a long time because life is crazy as it comes. Nothing is really bad, just a lot of little nasty things that make each day a suckfest.

Anyway, today is Alex's first day of kindergarten. A little weepy, but no major tantrum. I actually think tomorrow is going to be the big day because we'll find out if he liked it today or not. *fingers crossed*

Work is unrelenting. I don't even have time to take off for my 10-year wedding anniversary. I have a very nice and understanding wife who tolerate this infraction of mine. But of course I'll have to make it up soon.

Gotta get back to work

No TV remote, no Wii. That means no Super Mario Bros 3. Hence LJ.

The house has a tesseract. Or a Stargate. Or a piece of the Tardis...

The weekend was tiring. Yesterday my inlaws came over and as usual when my wife asked her dad to help with fixing our bed frame it blossomed into a major engineering project, employing me as manual labor. But at least Alex got to spend time with his Grammy.

And then today I took Alex to Vasona park. He played on the swings, waded in the creek for 2 hours (fortunately I got SPF70, so no crispy skin for me), and then took the train around a couple of times. And yes, ice cream and chicken tenders from BK afterwards. Then I came home and made three separate dinners because (a) Alex wanted curry, (b) I wanted to use the shrimp in the fridge and ended up with shrimp etoufée as my original plan of farro, shrimp, and broccolini was too ambitious, and (c) my wife who has an upset stomach just wanted French toast.

This coming week is probably going to be crazy at work because we have an important software release. Hopefully no all-nighters. So far I've only clocked on near-all-nighter in my current job. Let's keep it that way.

OK, back to looking for the TV remote...

I finally made it to the end of my work week. Whew! It's been a long week. I've had a headache the last three days. I just thought it was stress but now I think it's actually a cold or something. Everybody in the house is slightly sick. Rather annoying actually.

For once this weekend is free. No obligations or whatever. We're going to get some rest and maybe go to park. One thing we're thinking of doing is making paper mâche tunnel for Alex. I haven't done artsy stuff in years, so it should be fun.

Random thought detour. When I came home I saw a Cooper's hawk sitting on the phone pole behind my backyard. The birds of the neighborhood were harassing, probably because they don't want to become dinner. I took a picture with my crappy point-and-shooter. It still turned out pretty good I think



Yet another though detour. I just saw the trailer to Stargate Universe. I thought that SG1 and SGA kinda got silly toward the end, but SGU looks rather promising. Looks like a cross between BSG and SG franchise. I'm definitely watching when it debuts in October.

Somehow Christine got drafted into watching a sitcom before it's shown. Some kind of test audience study. It's absolutely hideous and predictable. Men are stupid and homophobic, and women are gold-diggers. So yes, death metal on headphones to the rescue. It's preferable to make my headache even worse than watch this drivel.

Talking about TV, anybody like Warehouse 13? I've started to really like it. I also just told my wife how the two leads are like Crichton and Aeryn from Farscape because one of the creators of Warehouse 13 was also the creator of Farscape. I like the wacky and zany approach (but without being over the top as it being silly).

I'm debating if I want to start watching Stargate Universe when it comes out. Seems like a completely different approach to the other Stargate series. Looks more like Battlestar Galactica's style to me. But then again I couldn't take BSG because it was so frakking dark.

This sitcom better finishes before Between the Buried and Me destroys me eardrums.

The two-hour documentary Break the Maya Code will be shown at the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland at 4pm on August 1st, followed by a hieroglyphic workshop between 7:30pm and 9:30pm.

For more information, visit Chabot Space & Science Center's August Calendar.

Did i just quote from the Bangles? Dang I'm old...

Random observations on work:


I had a great weekend. Took Alex to the Hiller Aviation Museum not once but twice. On Saturday they had an paper airplane demonstrations which was really cool. On Sunday they even had WWII Aces speaking on a panel. Would've loved to listen to that. Next week they got a train setup, so looks like we're heading back yet again. Good thing we're members.

On Sunday we threw a party for friends from my last company. Now that we're all scattered to the wind, it's good to catch up. Maybe it was having worked there 5 years, maybe it was the life experience similarity, or maybe it's the higher female-to-male ratio than other tech companies, but somehow it still feels more fun to hang out with them then people in my current place of employment.

Lunch time! Let's see what crap they're serving downstairs.

It was a lovely day in the Bay Area today. Somewhat cloudy, even with a bit of rain, in July!

We had planned to take Alex to Vasona park again, but the nice weather made it better. It's always been his favorite park because of the small gauge train, but lately we've convinced him to wade in the Los Gatos creek that runs through the park. He absolutely loves it! Didn't want to leave at all. And that's why I love California. No leeches, no mosquitos, and no crocodiles (although some other kids wading thought there were...don't you love kids and their imaginations?). There were ducks and geese and he was excited that they were swimming around. It's actually a big improvement because he's always been afraid of birds of all kinds. He's still scared of ravens and crows but he's much better around other kinds of birds. He's definitely getting his anxiety under control.

We came back around 4pm and I hardly had time to sit down. I started on dinner for Alex because he ate junk food instead of his lunch, so he was ravenous. Then I made dinner for the adults. I had wanted to try making farro which is an ancient form of wheat (the food of Roman legions) and is much better for diabetics (less refined carbs and more fiber). I made it like a risotto and it was really yummy. It was a bit more work than rice (soak, parboil, and then cook), but I think it's totally worth it and it's going on the rotation of grains. Too bad Alex won't eat it.

Now I'm contemplating buying classic Super Mario Brothers on the Wii. Let the addiction begin...

Computer reveals stone tablet 'handwriting' in a flash
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17405-computer-reveals-stone-tablet-handwriting-in-a-flash.html
Computer scientists from National Technical University of Athens developed a software system that correctly recognize handwriting on 24 Greek inscriptions between 334 BC and 134 BC and successfully attributed them to six different stone-cutters. Plans are under way to fine tune and deploy this system to build a large database of inscriptions and their attributions.

Paikuli inscriptions studied, restored in Iraq
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=99355&sectionid=3510212
Sassanid inscriptions on the Paikuli Tower, a structure built by Sassanid king Narseh to commemorate the overthrow of his nephew Bahram III (Warahran III) in modern Iraqi Kurdistan, have been restored and studied. The inscriptions are bilingual in Parthian and Middle Persian, both written using the Pahlavi script.

'Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions are the only record of old Tamil'
http://www.frontline.in/stories/20090717261407000.htm
Excerpt of an interview with Iravatham Mahadevan, prominent researcher of Old Tamil and Indus Valley script. Mainly talks about vandalism of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions, which are the oldest Tamil texts as well as the oldest Jain texts.

I have a tan. Well, at least a farmer's tan ;) Yesterday my company spent the afternoon playing gokarts and minigolf. Turns out I sucked at both. I step on the brakes too much. And I got tired from the sun after about 10 holes in minigolf and started losing my concentration. But it was loads of fun even without alcohol involved.

Today we took Alex to Vasona park which has a narrow gauge train loop and a big playground. He's been very weepy and nervous for this whole week so we were worried that he was going to freak out, but actually he really enjoyed it. We took the train twice, and he played for a while in the play structures until it got too hot and too sunny. He got a bit of sun because he started crying again when we got home, but after 2-tbsp of children's motrin he got much better. Now my problem is him stealing popsicles out of the fridge. Hmph. At least they're sugar-free.

Now we're holed up here in the bedroom with the AC blasting. It's actually not hot outside, but since we're toasty it feels good to be in a refrigerator. Dinner is going to be grilled soy-marinated pork chops, garlicky snow peas, and some kind of rice (which apparently is going to be an experiment courtesy of Christine, whenever she wakes up from her nap).

Oh wait now Alex wants blueberries. Time to go. Everybody have a great 4th of July weekend.

Holy Crap! Black Clouds and Silver Linings debut at #6 on the Billboard chart!

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/news/DREAM-THEATER-DEBUTS--6-HIGHEST-CHART-EVER-20355.aspx

It's not too shabby in the rest of the world either.

Finland - 1
Germany - 3
The Netherlands - 3
US - 6
Norway - 7
Switzerland - 9
Italy - 10
Spain - 13
Australia - 16
UK - 23

Alex woke up at 4am last night. Again. He did the same on Saturday morning too. At least this time he went back to sleep, unless Saturday. Still, I'm pretty tired, because I sang and told The Big Red Barn god-knows-how-many-times. None of it worked, until I started talking about the parodies of 300 that I've seen on YouTube with a half-asleep wife. That put Alex back to sleep. I can't tell if he just likes our voices, or he actually likes geeky stuff. Well, who knows?

So it was overall a pretty good weekend. Friday my wife and I went to the French Laundry, arguably the best restaurant in the United States, the only one with three Michelin stars in the California. I wrote up a review of it at here. We had a good time driving through Napa Valley and walking around Yountville aka foodie central. Saw some celebrity chefs too (Michael Chiarello and St Thomas Keller himself).

Alex didn't take so well to the whole proceeding though. He was weepy and whiney and morose while we were away for a whole six hours. But we gotta try, not just for us, but it's good for him to have to deal with his anxiety issues. The thing is that today summer starts for him and while whiney he actually got into the car and went without much protestation. Who knows? Maybe he's getting better.

The weekend was ridiculously hot, so we hid out in the AC until late afternoon and then pop up for frozen yogurt. It's gonna be hot for a few days. I guess it's supposed to be summer but I'm just not that big fan of the 90-plus weather. I'd be content with the 70's forever.

Time to grab lunch. From downstairs. Ugh.

It's my wife's birthday today, so...

Happy Birthday naiad8 my wonderful goddess of the sea!

So for her birthday she asked to go to a little town called Yountville in the Napa Valley and go to a little restaurant called the French Laundry. I very heartily agree on this plan of action.

Anyway, right now we're lazily hanging around Christine's old bedroom in her parents' house in Danville. We'll be heading out in a couple of hours. Hopefully Alex won't have a full meltdown!

Whew...it's finally Friday.

Yesterday was kind of a crazy day. I took my mom to the DMV to get her licensed renewed. Because she's 71, she needed to take the written test again. She already failed a few weeks ago, and so she has two more tries. I dropped her off at the DMV, and went to work. She called me an hour later saying she's waiting for the test to be graded. I got there to find out she failed again. So she took it again, and I drove back to work again. Another hour passed and she called again, this time finally passing. Whew! So I drove back to the DMV to pick her up to head back home. It turned out that when she gave the test to be graded to the clerk, he took a look and put the test away and handed her a new one. My mom asked WTF (politely) and the idiot said that a corner of the paper was torn off (there's nothing on it) so she has to take it again! So my mom blew up at him. The corner was already ripped when the last clerk handed to her. After much ranting the idiot gave up and gave her a passing grade.

I guess people who work in DMV have ego problems and want power trips over little old ladies until they are firmly put in their place.

Also yesterday Christine, her parents, and Alex went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. As usual Alex was a complete wreck. I didn't get to see how bad but Christine was depressed and morose all night long. I know that it's a phase he's growing through. Whenever he shows improvement in one area (he's been talking very well lately and starts to spell lots of words), another area suffers. I think it has to do with the theory that autistics do a lot of thought processing in perceptive areas in the brain (visual and auditory centers) (see this article) so these areas get overstimulated when Alex is learning and his coping mechanism is to avoid as much change (aka stimuli) as possible. We need to be patient as he needs time to assimilate all the new stuff he's learning, but sometimes it's very difficult to watch him in public compared against so-called "normal" kids.

Anyway, onto nicer things. Tomorrow a bunch of high school friends are coming over for lunch. Too bad more can't make it, but at least Alex won't be as frantic. As usual we're probably making way too much food. The menu thus far is strawberry gazpacho, baby green salad with goat cheese, some kind of hand-made pizza, grilled skirt or flank steak, and Brittany rum cake. Sounds ambitious but actually most of the stuff will be made ahead or at least prepared. But mostly it'll be nice to have adult conversation. We cut ourselves off too much from friends because of Alex, even other friends with kids of the same age because Alex just can't handle them.

OK, I'm getting morose again. Time to get back to work.

So I'm starting working out again. First, a big fail, because I couldn't connect the stationary bike to a suitable three-pronged outlet. So I switched to the Wii. Turns out there are quite a few games that are going to make my legs hurt tomorrow. Unfortunately, I still need some kind of upper body workout. Maybe I'll break down and go to the gym. (Yeah, fat chance)

naiad8 is working out again and she's doing dancing along to ethnic dance exercise videos. Not only do they burn up calories, they're also great entertainment for me! ;)

Now I should go take a shower and see if I can sleep before 1am!

SE-GWO-YA Was Here: Possibly the earliest Cherokee (or Tsalagi) syllabary and a date of either 1808 or 1818 were found inscribed in a sacred cave that was the burial site of Red Bird, an important Cherokee chief. The inscriptions don't spell any words, and could possibly be somebody practicing the signs. If indeed the date is 1808, this could be a snapshot of Sequoyah himself creating the syllabary, as the full script was completed in 1819. Of interest is also a number of abstract ancient symbols representing natural entities in the cave itself, which might've been adapted by Sequoyah into the script.

Did you know that California drivers are ranked 4th worst in the USA?

I, for one, am an excellent driver. However, there are a lot of idiots out there. Just this morning driving to work, I saw a lady right in front of duck her head repeatedly down into the passenger seat, while swerving madly. On subsequent observations I concluded there was no (lucky) passenger, but apparently she was trying to retrieve something from her purse. Sorry to be stereotypical, but based on previous observations (it's very scientific, I tell ya) it's probably a phone she's going to text, or lipsticks she's going to apply.

And then when I finally got off the freeway and try to merge onto a two-lane road, a pick up truck driver decided that she didn't like to be following a car going 35mph on the left lane so she merged onto the right lane, exactly the same lane I'm merging onto at the same time! I guess she didn't see a good-size metallic gray 2002 Mercury Cougar to her right, eh? Or should I commend her on keeping her eyes directly in front of her car, and completely immune to all distractions including other cars in her vicinity?

I won't even start on my commute home last night.

Now that I survived my commute to work, perhaps I should actually work.

I actually got out the door this morning a bit earlier, but lo-and-behold I ran into traffic all the way to work. No accident, just rubberneckers looking at construction. Murphy strikes again!

I had a good Memorial Day meal yesterday with both sides of the family. What's better than a grilling bunch of meat and veggies and consuming them under a warm California sun?

I'm starting on Ancient Scripts again. Let's see how long before this impetus fizzles out, shall we? My problem is I have too many goals but nothing immediate so I kind of give up because I have nothing to show. Blah!

My wife has been watching Legend of the Seeker on Hulu this whole weekend. I kept catching bits of it, and while it's kind of interesting, it just strikes me as a bit derivative. It seems to me that science fiction on TV and film has graduated from cheese fests and pedestrian story telling into true literary forms, but fantasy is still kind of in the sword-and-sorcery (or sword-and-sandal) comic book land. I think we need more complex characterization and more interesting philosophy than the run-of-the-mill good vs evil.

Or at least, can somebody smear some dirt on the lead female character's pristine white dress? Realism would be good too.

I think I'm getting old. I had a cup of Barry's Irish Breakfast tea last night around 10pm and I couldn't sleep until like 2:30am! And this morning I got a headache. I guess the caffeine content must be close to that of coffee, 'coz I've had other teas at that time at night and I still can fall asleep by midnight.

So the long weekend is coming, and people are taking off from work in droves. I might make a hasty retreat once more management have taken off to their golf trips or whatever. I don't really have many plans for the weekend, other than the usual family gatherings on my side and my wife's side. We might take Alex to a park or something but we'll play it by ear I suppose. At least it's not going to be hot like last week. It's going to be sunny and mild and dry, the perfect weather to be outdoors.

I'm seriously considering buying a tablet (just the input device, not an entire laptop) with a stylus so that I can draw illustrations and art on the computer. Doing it on the trackpad is seriously hurting my wrist. I might even try it on Alex. He doesn't really like writing with a pen on paper, but if it's a computer he might be more interested.

And random meme that's been sitting around forever.

The Rules:
1. Reply to this post and I'll assign you a letter.
2. List (and upload) 5 songs that begin with that letter.
3. Post them to your journal with these instructions.

I got L from naiad8. It turned out to be one of rarest letters in the first letter of song names (as I'm not into pop where every 1/3 songs start with "love").

Connie Dover - Last Night by the River
Tool - Lateralus
Angra - Lullaby for Lucifer
Dream Theater - Learning to Live
Jim Matheos - Laurel Dawn