guldensupp's Journal
[Most Recent Entries]
[Calendar View]
[Friends]
Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
guldensupp's LiveJournal:
[ << Previous 20 ]
| Saturday, October 31st, 2009 | | 3:58 pm |
One Truth
Focus on Only One Thing, and Ultimately You Will Focus on Nothing. Gregory Guldensupp A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. -Robert A. Heinlein The One Truth is that there is not just One Truth. No system of philosophy, faith, or knowledge carries all the answers. There are truths out there beyond, what we know. Plato claimed that there was one perfect form and that all other forms were crude copies. The spirit was the only truth and matter was a corrupt version of the pure essence. Albert Camus claimed that matter is all there is, that all things end when life ends, and that is meaningless. Christ claimed, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light and none may come to the Father, but by me.” Yet, that is not true; Abram of Ur of Chaldea knew and was a loyal servant of the Father of Christ, millennia before Christ was born. Those who focus on a single thing to the exclusion of all else ultimately lose everything. “There are more things in Heaven and on Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy...” | | Friday, September 18th, 2009 | | 3:53 pm |
Statham Sunflower Festival
Tomorrow, September 19, 2009, House Makara will be at the Statham Sunflower Festival in Statham, GA. We're hoping and praying for sunshine and cool breezes for the day. This is our first festival. We're looking forward to a good turn out and lots of sales! If you're in the area please stop by and see us. Always remember to check out our facebook page. | | Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 | | 9:52 am |
The Number 9 Today is the ninth day of the ninth month of the ninth year of the twenty-first century according to modern calculations. Yahoo news had an article on the special nature of this date and number. It was rather interesting to me. I used to use 999 as a pager code among my friends, because it was 666 upside down. 9 is the final number in modern, western numerology. It is representative of completion of full measure (I would disagree with this supposition, since modern, western peoples use a base ten system to count and thus have a complete set with 10). In China it represents wealth and in Japan suffering. The best of luxury is found on Cloud 9, according to some. 9 times 9 equals 81; 8 plus 1 equals 9. What is the true significance of the number 9? What interests me is that for 9 years, we’ve had one day a year that matches in day, month, and year (and if you get technical hour, minute, and second, also). 01/01/01 was the first. The following year gave us 02/02/02. So, the progression followed through the “Lucky” marriages and Vegas trips of 07/07/07 and the “Lucky” Chinese Olympics of 08/08/08 (In China the number 8 is the lucky number). We’ve only three more years to go, ending with the 12th second of the 12th minute of the 12th hour of the 12th day of the 12th month (December) of the 12th year of the 21st century (2012, the year the Mayan calendar ends). What is the meaning of numbers? Is there a higher truth in mathematics? What is the value of this, the 252nd (2+5+2=9) day of the year? Who knows, but I bet Kenneth Hite (I love Supressed Transmission) might have a bit of weirdness to share about it one day. I'll read it. 09/09/09 09:48 AM EST | | Monday, August 10th, 2009 | | 2:01 pm |
G.I. Joe
A reall American Hero! I loved this movie! It was as fun and as good as the Star Trek. ( I'll be posting a whole entry on Star Trek, as soon as I get it written down.) G.I. Joe was fun and engaging. It acutually had a plot and pretty neat story line. The effects were cool. It was fun. I encourage you to go see it. | | 2:00 pm |
| | Friday, July 31st, 2009 | | 9:46 am |
Going Legit
Well, House Makara is now an official business. We've the business license to prove it, too! See:  The next step is getting a tax ID. We're planning on the long haul with this company and I'm looking forward to it. I am quite amazed by all things you need to do to run a business and not get stomped on by the IRS, local authorities, federal government, etc. This a learning experience. Current Mood:  pleased | | 9:21 am |
Writer's Block: Birthday Shout-out
Goblet of Fire. It was just a better read than the others. It is the turning point in the town of the story. It only gets darker from there on in. | | Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 | | 1:48 pm |
House Makara
The makara is a mythical animal from Hindu mythology. It is the mount of the god Varuna and the goddess Ganga. It is an aquatic animal, sometimes identified as a crocodile, but it is also matched with the astrological sign of Capricorn. House Makara is my wife’s new bath salts company. Her Basic Blend Bath Salts are made with rock salt, Epsom Salt, and fragence. She uses fragrance oil and essential oil, Epsom Salt, Pacific Sea Salt, and food dye in her Therapeutic Bath Salts, while her Herbal Teas are made from herbal tea, Epsom Salt, and Pacific Sea Salt. We've only got Mint Tea Herbal Tea Salts available at the moment, but Green Tea is our next offering.
It is really neat. We’re trying to get ready for a few local festivals and hoping to get more activity online. As soon as, we’ve got confirmation on our shows, I’m hoping to start posting them on facebook, LiveJournal, and other cool places. My personal favorite to date is Honeysuckle Rose. Though, Old Fashion Peppermint is right up there behind it. Please check out House Makara on Etsy. Become a fan of House Makara on facebook. Follow House Makara on StlyeHive.
If you live in the Barrow County area of Geogia, e-mail Christina at HouseMakara@yahoo.com and we'll deliver to you and save you the shipping and you'll get your product in a real jar, or a nice, mylar bag. Your choice. Current Mood: excited | | Monday, July 27th, 2009 | | 9:16 am |
Garden 2009
Our Garden is going quite well, this year. Last year, we put in a 4 by 4 plot and tried to have tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, bush beans, and bush cucumbers. We didn’t do too well. We weren’t sure when to harvest the lettuce and I think I may have eaten some stems instead of actual leaf, since it was quite bitter. We planted our tomatoes too close together and they were covered in bad spots from being pressed up against each other, so we pulled them up and our new plants never did anything. It was sad.
Here’s a look at plot that we worked last year.
| | Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 | | 10:52 am |
Writer's Block: Looking Back
My first post (which I had to go back and look at) was about me wondering why people keep weblogs. I was trying to decide why I was creating a LiveJoournal account and what I want to put into it. It seems to me that I still am. Happy 10th bithday, LiveJournal! | | Friday, April 10th, 2009 | | 10:04 am |
Some Thoughts on Beginnings
An End of an Era...That's what it is; Dave Arneson has passed away. He was one of the co-creators of Dungeon and Dragons, along with Gary Gygax. The two men who are recognized as the Forefathers of Role Playing Games are gone. Could they have known what they were creating when they designed their first campaigns? Did they have any clue that their hobby was going to generate a multimillion dollar industry? Do we ever imagine where things are going to go, when we start new endevours? What small steps are we taking, right now, that are going to turn into great leaps in the days to come? Christina and I are planting a garden this year. Our little 4 by 4 plot didn't yeild much last year, so we are changing our tactics and are trying again. We expect cucumbers, tomatos, peppers, and beans. Will we see bumper yeilds or will we be sorry that we put in so much work for so little pay out? We never know, but still we do. So, many years ago, two men got an idea on changing how they played their hobby. Today, my main hobby is the latest generation of the game they created. May they both rest in peace and may we think about what may come of what we do today. Current Mood:  contemplative | | Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 | | 12:43 pm |
Looking Back to the Beginning
I originally posted this on Okay--Your Turn, but I wanted to keep this for me. It is a good bit of nostalgia on my part and a good bit of looking into the future. Things change. I had some really good games using 2E Dungeons and Dragons and 3E Dungeons and Dragons. I remember them fondly, but when I look back these are the memories that first float to mind. --- At the risk of digging up a can on worms, I've been reading about how many persons "hate" 4E. What I want to know is who all here started with 1E? Also, what edition or game system did you use for the "Great Campaign?" What games, stories, overall plots do you remember in those still, quiet moments when you are all by yourself? I think that may have much more to do with one's preference on an edition than anything else. I'm old. I'm 44. I began playing AD&D March 1979; it was a Sunday afternoon at my friend Davy's house, he had played a local convention a week before. When I started running games, I used the DMG (it was Davy's book), the Monster Manual (also Davy's, but I later got one as a Christmas present), and the PHB ( bought with my own money). My first dungeon was "Lungold, Underground City of Wizards" (which I renamed "Mythgold" when it dawned on me that I shouldn't steal names directly from The Riddlemaster of Hed and I still have the original copy of that dungeon) and I provided a wilderness map to show the player how to get there. We played out the journey to Lungold. They kept watch at night. They fought the spiders in Murder Wood. They got to Lungold. They fought things. They were wounded and used up their supplies. They had to trek back to town. They decided to take an extra day in their 9-10 trip to and from town to camp on either side of Murder Wood rather than in it. I had put an massive swamp "filled with dangerous beasts" between them and the dungeon. They decided to risk the danger to cut their traveling time in half and avoid Murder Wood (I had to create encounters on the fly). It was great. Lungold had pools of magic potions. It had enchanted statues. It had portals to other planes (including the Nine Hells, the players didn't go). It had a waste disposal system (Yes, I included bathrooms in my dungeon-it was supposed to be a "city"-and there were little 1X1X1 gelatinous cubes in the "pipes" to consume the waste). I sent three more groups into that dungeon (now, named Mythgold...by the by, this was years before Ed Greenwood first published Mythdrannor in Dragon). My 4E game is set right next to it and will be pivotal to the campaign, as soon as they can break the seals. That was my greatest dungeon, but my greatest campaign came later in college, but I still used 1E to run it. I stole ideas from Basic D&D modules, Gamma World modules, Bushido supplements, Rolemaster products, Dragon, Dragonlance, every module I could buy or borrow, White Dwarf, and any place else I could find and my players liked to joke that they didn't play D&D, they played Gregory's Game. I suspect that a person's liking for an edition or system has much to do with where they had the most fun. Systems that more closely match those fun times will be better received, than those that stray from the system that gave them the fun time. I like 4E and I think I like it because it hearkens back to my 1E roots. I never had as much fun with 2E and 3E as I did with 1E. We'll see what happens with 4E. What about you all? | | Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 | | 1:56 pm |
Meme and Memories
Gakked from multiple sites.
If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, even if we don't speak often, please post a comment with a memory of you and me. It can be anything you want -- good or bad. When you're finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people remember about you.
Peace and Happiness, People, Peace and Happiness
Gregory | | Thursday, June 12th, 2008 | | 11:33 am |
So, over six weeks ago, I lost my job. About two weeks ago, I returned to Ruby Tuesday to be their Smiling People Greeter. This Saturday past, Christina and I used the tickets we bought about 13 weeks ago and flew to Houston. Since then, we've been to an Astros' game, the Aquarium, Houston Space Center and other sundry places. We've seen my cousin Dearld (he took us to dinner and the Astros' game), a Saturn Five rocket. several friends, lots of fish, white tigers, John and Gretchen's house, Dean and Debbie's house, and other sundry things. Yesterday, when we were at the Houston Space Center, we got a tour of Johnson Space Center. One of the sights was a preserved Saturn Five rocket. It was massive. It was lying on its side and separated into its five sections. I walked all around it. I looked into the engines. I was twelve years old again and couldn't wait to go into space. I got that scared/happy feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was so much fun. When I got back to where Christina and Beverly were sitting, they were talking about houses and moving and family and I got all sad. I had been pulled back to Earth. I love my life. I wouldn't mind a bit of extra cash, but I've got a good life. I love my wife and my daughters. I love the little four by four garden, we've planted in our back yard. I like working at Ruby Tuesday. Life is good, but for a few moments I was twelve again, Star Trek was the coolest show in the world, and I was going to go to college to study computers and become an astronaut. As the song sings, " Something's lost but something's gained in living every day." Life is too good to give it up for what was. If one lives in one's past, one will never be happy. I used to be sullen, I don't want to live in my past. I'm happy now. We planted a four by four garden around the end of April. We have tomatoes, bell peppers, red bell peppers, yellow bell peppers, sweet banana peppers (see a theme here?), bush beans, bush cucumbers, and lettuce. It's been great watching things grow. We got to pick some lettuce and a banana pepper and have a salad before we came out here to Houston. Hopefully, everything won't be all dried up and dead when we get home (my father-in-law is supposed to be watering it for us) and we can get some other produce. I want a 'mater sam'ich. I love my life. How do you feel about yours? | | Friday, April 25th, 2008 | | 2:08 pm |
| | Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 | | 8:47 pm |
Important Birthdays That I Have Had
26 February 1964 – I am born to Harvey and Jeanette Guldensupp.
26 February 1982 – I turn 18. High school graduation is on the horizon.
26 February 1985 – I turn 21. Mike Magee and Ray Boone take me to Chesterfield’s for a birthday dinner. I order my first alcoholic drink. It’s a Brandy Alexander.
26 February 1990 – I turn 26 and am very sad. It is my first birthday since Ma died.
26 February 1994 – I turn 30. I had planned on celebrating for five days, but then I remember that I have paper due on Tuesday and stop at three days.
26 February 2008 – I turn 44. It is my first birthday since I got married!
- I went to work today. My sweet hart is sick and stayed home today. She wanted to do something special for my birthday, but couldn’t because she is sick. It is still one of my best birthdays ever. I’m glad to be married and I love knowing that from now on that my wife will be there to celebrate my birthdays with me. Life is Good and I’m Living It! | | Thursday, April 12th, 2007 | | 10:46 am |
An Announcement a Long Time Coming
After Dragon Con in September, I was supposed to post the pictures I took on flickr or Photobucket. I did not. Then in October after Campmeeting, I was supposed to update my LiveJournal and reveal all the joys of powerful preaching, joyful songs, good food, and family. I did not. I never really think of Thanksgiving as an object to blog about (though this year was really special) and never worried about posting in November. Christmas and Epiphany both came and went and I had lots to blog about and told myself that I should blog. I did not. Since then, the guilt of not blogging has led to an inertia that has been hard to break. Today, the object at rest is being acted upon by an outside force. (This purely an aside not related to my blog catch-up post. Did you know that scientists do not know how gravity works? I just learned this this past Tuesday from my friends ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ersatzinsomnia and wardenclyffe. During this conversation, I learned that Emory University has a sculpture dedicated to gravity, but it's really more a monument to inertia, instead.)
Well, on to the update. Dragon Con was a grand time. I got to see many friends. I got to buy some cool stuff. I ate good food. I used the camera, I got from wardenclyffe, and took many disks of photos. (Yes, my digital camera uses floppy disks. Neh!) It may be a while before I get the pictures posted, since the new computer doesn’t have a floppy drive. (Oops.) I had a good time all around and I also got to introduce my Sweet Hart (Yes, I know sweetheart is misspelled, it's a personal joke) to some of the neat things I enjoy.
I really enjoyed Campmeeting. My father and nephew came to Winder, GA, picked me up, and took me to back to Mississippi for the week. It is sad to say, but I don’t remember any of the preaching or any of the food. I did have a great time visiting with my parents, my sister, some of my cousins, aunts, uncles, and other more distant kin and the singing was wonderful as always. The thing I remember most about Campmeeting was spending thirty minutes or more each day on borrowed cell phones talking to my Sweet Hart.
November was a high point in my life, because I moved in with my Sweet Hart. (Anybody see a theme running through this post?) Even though most of my stuff was under tarps on the carport, because we couldn’t places for everything, I couldn’t have been happier, if I had tried. It was a big step for commitment-phobic me and I have not regretted it once. Thanksgiving was pleasant. My Sweet Hart and I went to her father’s family’s for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a nice time all around.
Now, we get to Christmas. I hate Christmas shopping. I really, really do. I can’t stand the crowds. I find everything to be overpriced. The blatant consumerism is terrifying. Yet, I still went with my Sweet Hart to the Evil Place (AKA Wal Mart) to help her with her Christmas shopping. Christmas Day, she, the girls, and I all went to my Sweet Hart’s parent’s house for presents. We had a good time. I got lovely green shirt and a green and grey striped time from my Sweet Hart’s mother. It was there that we informed her family that I had proposed and she had accepted.
Thus the Announcement Long Time Coming is...(and some of you already know it) Christina Diane Beckman and Gregory Hayden Guldensupp are engaged to be married on Saturday, December 29, 2007 Current Mood: jubilant | | Friday, December 1st, 2006 | | 12:51 am |
| | Wednesday, September 6th, 2006 | | 12:00 am |
| | Tuesday, July 18th, 2006 | | 12:01 pm |
Have You Ever Danced...
...With the Devil in the Pale Moonlight. Me neither, but I have danced with a lovely lady in an all-night diner in the middle of the night. Last night, after work, the lady-I've-been-dating-for-not-quite-a-we ek and I went to a local all-nighter to sit and talk. As on nights before, she and I were the only ones in the diner. There were no other guests and the cook and the servers had stepped outside to smoke. We were having a great time. About 2 AM, Oh, What a Night by The Four Seasons with Frankie Valli came on. I asked her to dance. We did. We got up and made the restaurant our dance floor. It was a blast. Our server, seeing us dancing, stepped inside to see if we needed anything and when we told her, "No," she went back outside. We had a blast. I joked that, "If this were a musical, there'd be people on the counter doing high kicks behind us." She laughed. It was great. I've often wanted to follow the philosophy, "Work like you don't need the money, Dance like no one is watching, and Love like you'll never get hurt." Two out of three ain't bad. It was great. I'm just ashamed that it took me until the age of 42 to discover it. Now, I need to make it three out of three. I can barely wait to go out again. I feel like I'm 21 again and that this time I'm going to do it right. Gregory Post Script: All you armchair psych majors, get over yourselves. The only link of importance is the Four Seasons' link. I'd have added more song title links, but I couldn't think of any. ;p Current Mood: chipperCurrent Music: "Oh, What a Night" by The Four Seasons (Playing in my Head) |
[ << Previous 20 ]
|
