Kyle Kimberlin, Poet ~ Writer

Check out my new Index page. Float your mouse over the image. Do I not rock?

I got an e-mail from my Mom this morning, one of those lists of folksy wisdom. But this one is better than most. And it doesn’t end with “Dance like nobody’s watching,” and implore me to forward it to everyone in my address book. I like it.

It’s by Regina Brett, a cancer survivor and columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Here’s a sample, and when you click on to check out the rest of her list, note #18.

“27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.”

Link: 45 life lessons and 5 to grow on

“Psychiatrist Jerald Block believes heavy use of computers, video games and the Internet can either cause mental illness or, at the very least, be a destructive manifestation of pre-existing behavioral disorders. Writing in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Block argues there ought to be an entry in the next version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illness called ‘pathological computer use.”

Future Tense: April 3, 2008

I remember when I got my first computer, a little Compaq tower with maybe a 6GB hard drive. There was a serious problem with the OS installation, and Windows 95 wouldn’t boot up without some sort of manual intervention. I so hated the idea of taking it back to CompUSA that I was willing to do that – tapping F8 or whatever.

After a couple of days, Windows wouldn’t load at all. I wound up having to reload Windows from the stupid little Compaq restore disc. It took hours, in the middle of the night. I couldn’t get up from the table and go to bed, even though I had to work the next day. I just sat there, my eyes glued to that tapping drum icon. Gosh, how I despised that thing.

I felt a little like a parent whose newborn baby was struggling to survive. A completely indefensible perspective.

I’m still pretty caught up with it all, after about a dozen years. And I often complain about how much time and spirit the computers I use seem to suck out of my life.

Where’s the balance, for those of us who are technologically inclined, perhaps to a disordered degree? How do we make use of the tools we need, and get their benefits, without our minds and souls being flushed away into cyberspace?

“A dolphin has come to the rescue of two whales which had become stranded on a beach in New Zealand.

Conservation officer Malcolm Smith told the BBC that he and a group of other people had tried in vain for an hour and a half to get the whales to sea.” [BBC NEWS]

That gives rescue a whole new meaning, doesn’t it?

And can everyone see why it’s not cool that Japan continues to slaughter both species?

In response to this post by Billie on camera-obscura (check out the comments too), I offer this photo of my bro Joe, left, and me. That’s a state-of-the-art PlayDoh Factory, circa 1967.

Those were days.

Barack Obama is doing great tonight. Talk about momentum. Fantastic.

Political Dashboard – 2008 Presidential Election on Yahoo! News

Brothers & sisters, a little video to bless your weekend.

If a polar bear charges you, dodge to the right. Eskimos say most polar bears are left-pawed.

Rules of Thumb – check it out.

The Writers’ Strike: “the Directors Guild of America announced it has reached a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.”

Not really good news for the writers. Apparently, it undermines their bargaining position.

Writer’s Bloc: The WGA on Strike: “Big Think welcomes a group of comedy writers to discuss their thoughts on the two-month old strike.”