Ellington

Whoa. I'm on a short break from this Web conference we're attending in San Francisco. (BTW, all, the iTodd did an excellent presentation and wowed them this a.m. Be proud. Very proud.) Anyway, I'm back up in our room (which turned out to be a suite on the 26th/top floor; Todd must present more often!) looking out on half of the city and the Bay through a 40-foot-wide or so window. It's gorgeous.

But what's really crazy is that it's Fleet Week here. SO, right now, the Blue Angels are flying over the city; when they pass overhead, it sounds like they're mere feet from the roof above me. (Hopefully, that's not true.) I can sit here at the dining table and watch them circle in both directions and then meet in a formation over the Bay. Wow, wow, wow. It looks like they're flying between the tall buildings, although they're probably not. One just flew over, and I could see the yellow markings on the bottom of the plane. What a frackin' amazing experience.

Holy sh!t! That was close. I never saw that one—but the shadow just whizzed by. This is better than Space Mountain. My heart does a flip everytime one (or three) jet overhead. I am 26 floors up, after all, with few tall buildings near us. I can see everything.

Meantime, here in the hotel alongside the AAN Web conference is some Freedom from Religion group having a convention. The general consensus is that they all seem very dour and angry. I understand choosing not being religious, but to attend a conference with people mad about others being religious is just plain weird, IMHO. I guess they had to find a group that makes us AAN folks look conservative. ;-) I can definitely say that I'm glad I'm not them. Life is too short. (And Todd pondered why so many old people wouldn't just hold out the chance that there is something else. Considering.)

Oh goodness, I thought that jet was coming in the window. Meantime, I can hear the cable-car bells down below. This is wondrous sensory overload! Wish y'all were here. OK, not really.

Previous Comments

ID

107754

Comment

Bump. Y'all need to share this. AMAZING.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-10-07T17:55:51-06:00

ID

107755

Comment

now don't you go thinking of staying out there ladd I know, it's gorgeous but there are earthquakes. and lots of gay people too. ha. meanwhile, about those atheists, sorry if they seem to prosletiize, they do believe in something. the Sam Harris book, good. Living in Ms. we almost start believing, it's like that woman on Battlestar Galactica.. come back soon, bring stuff. Wiccan magic maybe . And fierce resolve. more than ever.

Author

sunshine

Date

2006-10-07T20:59:32-06:00

ID

107756

Comment

Pretty place, I'm sure. Getting a house, however.... *shudder*

Author

Ironghost

Date

2006-10-07T21:40:13-06:00

ID

107757

Comment

I'm jealous about the Blue Angels. We saw them in Louisville, KY. They are incredible. And it sounds like you have a bird's eye view.

Author

Lady Havoc

Date

2006-10-07T21:46:17-06:00

ID

107758

Comment

Good stuff. FWIW, I'm a (probably lapsed) member of the FFRF and still arguably theistic. It's a really good organization in the abstract (championed by the brilliant Ann Druyan, Carl Sagan's widow) and has done some great work on church-state issues, but I'll take your word on the face to face meeting in San Francisco being unpleasant. There's very much a spectrum of humanist groups; the American Humanist Association I'm very up-to-date with, and I may even help organize a local chapter of, but I can't stand the hate-filled American Atheists Inc. (O'Hair's organization). I'm sure FFRF has people from both ends of the humanist spectrum, and if the O'Hair-ish people were louder in San Francisco, I can only imagine how much of a drag that must have been. But one of my first local humanist friends was a 93-year-old avowed atheist. Yep: he didn't believe in an afterlife, and he was 93. I have to admire that kind of emotional courage. I'm 28 and am not sure that I'd be emotionally capable of fully absorbing with certainty the idea that there's no afterlife, even if I felt that's what I was obligated by intellectual honesty to do. To believe that I have nothing to look forward to but nothing, and to know that the aforementioned nothing would inevitably come soon, would be terrifying to me. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-10-07T22:37:28-06:00

ID

107759

Comment

Sounds pretty cool! We've been enjoying a great Harvest Moon this weekend. This is the brightest the moon has been all year. If your blinds were open you might think the sun was coming up! Wonderful weather and no bugs. Love that MS Fall! Still.... 40ft windows, Atheist and Blue Angels... Oh my! Y'all have fun!

Author

pikersam

Date

2006-10-08T10:05:29-06:00

ID

107760

Comment

Yep, the moons and the suns have been remarkable from this vantagepoint. and the weather here has been gorgeous -- except it was cloudly Friday. Today, it is blindingly bright. We actually had to shut some of the blinds, which we've barely done the whole time. Conference is over; today we play. ;-) Seriously, y'all. Jackson has become a one-word city with this association. (We can leave off the Mississippi part now.) And there was much discussion about all you citizen journalists and the vital role all of you play in our Web site's success. Y'all have become a model for other alts. Take a bow.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-10-08T11:06:51-06:00