loss

Greenville lost one of its finest citizens today.  I know if I end up anything like my grandma in the time that I knew her I would be satisfied with my life.  She was strong, smart, and selfless to the core.  Nothing could break her spirit and she constantly committed herself to serving other people.

I lost someone very dear to me today.  My grandma passed away after battling kidney failure for the past couple of years.  It's sad to know she's gone but as my thoughts linger on her I can't help but to feel happiness swell up inside me as I remember all of the good times I had with her.  I feel so honored and blessed to have been able to be a part of my grandma's rich, full life.  I hope that I can continue to make her proud.

Here is some advice she left for my child when he/she comes into the world:

Linux Mint Debian Edition with XFCE, the best Linux distro?

For the past several weeks I have been distro-hopping (much to the chagrin of my wife) on my Toshiba NB505 netbook but over the past week or so I think I have finally found the ideal distribution in Linux Mint Debian with the XFCE desktop.

First thing that appeals to me is the fact that this is a rolling distribution based on Debian testing.  It's great that Ubuntu 12.04 just came out and will have five years worth of support/updates but with a rolling release I will never need to whip out my trusty Corsair USB stick and install a new version of the OS to get the latest and greatest.  Now I will grant you that even Debian testing isn't even up to the 'latest and greatest' but the software versions don't seem to be too old.  This is the first distro I have tried based on Debian testing (Wheezy) but I am impressed so far that I have been able to fairly easily install and use without major errors the software packages that usually make their way onto every version of Linux I run.  This list includes Chrome, Firefox, gedit with plugins, Guake! terminal, Google Talk plugin, GParted, UNetBootIn, and the Thunar file manager.  These are all fairly basic packages but in my tour of the majority of the major distributions I occasionally ran into a road block at some point or another with one of those packages.

Next on the list of perks is the speed of the distribution.  Most of the time I find myself using the LXDE desktop environment as in my opinion the lightest, usable desktop Linux has to offer but I admit that I am really enjoying my time in XFCE.  To me XFCE seems like a cleaner, shinier version of LXDE.  I don't think it has quite the speed of LXDE but it's not too far off and looks better doing it.  Aside from the desktop environment though it doesn't feel nearly as bloated as Ubuntu and yet has a good set of pre-installed utilities for normal computing tasks such as LibreOffice, gimp, pidgin, and a few more.

There are a number of smaller advantages as well.  The installation was a breeze.  Also, somehow the automatic hardware configuration seems to have done a better job at mixing for my speakers since listening to music is actually bearable as opposed to every other distribution that made the speakers sound like the crappy, little things that they are.  Also, I know I have never dug around too much for it but it was also very quick and easy for me to find the power settings that allowed me to control when the computer would suspend and hibernate in addition to adding a screen dimming control after a minute of inactivity. 

I still have a 13gb partition that is waiting for something new but I know that I will not be removing Linux Mint Debian anytime soon.  Especially given how pleased I am with it and the wife doesn't mind using it either.  It's fast, easy to use and easy to administer.  So download it and go check it out, it even makes a great Live CD! http://www.linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php

destiny

If you knew what you were destined to become, would you accept it and follow that plan or would you fight it tooth and nail? Granted that's an odd question and the answer somewhat depends on whether the destiny revealed to you sounded good or not. At the same time it might not matter what the the outcome was, you may want to deviate from that destiny just to maintain the idea that you are in control of your life and can make any choice you want. I think Americans are especially prone to this idea that we are in control and no one can wrest that control away from us. Carpe Diem, seize the day. A day cannot be seized by someone not in control of their own destiny.

Taking the hypothetical a step further, what would you do if you were presented with someone else's destiny and had the power to allow them to follow or deviate from that destiny? This becomes especially difficult when the exposed plan for someone else interferes with where you think their life should be heading? At that point I would imagine that a rational person would be overwhelmed with the power they had just been given.

Both of these situations arise in the movie The Adjustment Bureau. The protagonist is presented with a choice between a fantastic career or the love of his life. When the options are presented to him he is informed that his choice drastically affects not only his own destiny but also his lover's. Obviously, our protagonist chooses love and despite all odds, it works out and everyone is happy in the end (I wasn't really satisfied with the ending but realized the writer kind of dug himself a pretty deep hole that wasn't going to be escaped gracefully).

Drawing from the wealth of movies that are resolved with protagonists choosing love over wealth, fame, etc. it's encouraging to see that our culture as a whole hasn't become so enamored with possessions and stuff that we prioritize it over personal, intimate relationships. At the same time it is also incredibly depressing to see that we stop there. 'true love' is viewed as the ultimate achievement in this world and as long as you have that then you're set. I agree that this is a lofty goal that should be sought but I think the object of our deepest affections is hollow and empty, even if it is another human being. Humans will always fail us and not live up to the ideals we have setup for them in our hearts and minds. God on the other hand will never fail and will always be there to forgive when we fail Him. He defines 'true love' and is constantly with us if we let Him into our heart. If we are moved to love Him, He will come when invited. At that moment our destiny is changed not because we are forced but because of the 'true love' we have for the love of our life.