Van Zandt County sojourn

[gurdonark]

I picked up my young friend at 8 a.m. After a stop at the doughnut shop, we went for a long drive in rural northeast Texas. We crossed from Collin County to Hunt, to Rains, to Van Zandt, to Kaufman, to Dallas, and then back to Collin County. We walked at Lake Tawakoni State Park, a lovely large lake park with densely wooded nature trails.





We stopped at Panda Chinese Buffet in Terrell, where we had a fine and fairly healthy meal. I am getting the knack of eating the fruit and vegetables to permit a robust meal without too much weight gained. When we got to Mesquite, just east of Dallas, we stopped by Best Buy.

I found myself talking to a Dell demo fellow by the computer section about our different experiences with linux. He was a nice guy, though he seemed knowledgeable but not very enthusiastic about being there. My friend chose two CDs. We listened to one, by Halestorm, on the drive to his house. Halestorm is one of those melodic power pop/metal bands. Lizzie Hale, the lead singer, always is telling guys how she found someone better, that she is who she is, that the guy she is with was not able to handle her, or that it was only one kiss. I like that they mix her so that every lyric is understandable.

After I dropped him off, I walked for an hour in very hot weather in Trinity Trail. I saw lots that species of butterfly known as the Queen.



The walk was a bit isolated, but at one point a huge dog, about the size of a German Shepherd but with longer hair like a different breed, came around the bend. He ran up excitedly to me, which did not concern me. Then he got defensive, did a pretend nip in my direction and barked. His owners ran up, abashed, and got him under control. I said "on a leash" to one, but I was not upset. On this very hot day on an obscure bit of trail, I might have let Kirby run free also.

I listened to a Guardian podcast about privacy and about internet scams disguised as romantic connections. I thought about people in various settings (not so much romantic) who proved in real life or in the internet not to be whom they seemed to be. I find that in both analog life and in digital life this is not uncommon, though not abundant. Its a curious thing. Some folks over the years I have "seen through" years ago continue the pretense. It is all a bit like kabuki. I am sure others have deceived me. I find the best defense to this is not to be taken too far into things in the first place,so that the "revelation" of an appearance/reality mismatch causes no real effect. A researcher on the podcast discussed people who have been defrauded by supposed internet romantic connections
who, even after the scam was exposed, still longed for the return to the faux relationship. I suppose that "sweet dreams are made of these". The privacy part of the podcast was more useful and less annoying than most Guardian coverage, since Glenn Greenwald was not on the podcast. New legislation to protect privacy is needed in the US and in the UK.

My wife and I had a fine kebab dinner at Zoe's, and now we are home taking it easy. Tomorrow morning I will get up early with Beatrice, and get out while it is still cool.

Comments

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

A few weeks back, a medium-large dog out for a walk with his owners decided I was a threat and went after my foot. He didn't actually bite me, but he did leave me with a painful bruise. It was an odd experience.

In my experience, most people online are pretty much who they seem to be, if for no other reason than that most people are bad at lying about themselves in the long-term. The people who are good liars do a remarkable amount of damage, though.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Ouch! A bruise. I got off far luckier,with just a semi-threatening snapping of jaws as a warning, near my leg.

I agree that both on-line and off, people are largely who they appear to be. Both on-line and off, even in the rare times they are not, the exceptions are in the main benign.

But both on-line and off,the tiny minority who do bad things cause a lot of damage. To me, the main difference between on line and off is that some folks still have not learned that "piped into your home via internet connection" does not equate to "someone you can trust as if that person is closest family", while off-line most people get this instinctively about folks who come into the physical spaces of our lives.