Bryan Strawser

You are here: Home / Archives for Bryan Strawser

Bryan Strawser

This is a pretty decent

by ·

This is a pretty decent article.  I’ve long believed that we should be the masters of our own bodies.  While I might not be willing to go as far as the decriminalization of marijuana, I am interested in much of what this article discusses. 


Let me be the master of my own fate.



Our Bodies, Ourselves – The New War of Independence. “Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.”- J.S.Mill In several US states, gay-rights activists are working to overturn antiquated sodomy laws. In many countries, organizations like NORML are attempting to decriminalize marijuana. The news has been filled recently with families battling with the state (and each other) to preserve the dead in ways other than internment or cremation. Internationally, AIDS and cancer sufferers seek to fast-track experimental drug trials, offering themselves as human guinea pigs, while euthanasia activists attempt to legitimize assisted suicide. Neo-tribal devotees are changing society’s attitudes to piercing, tattooing, and other forms of body modification simply by being publicly visible. While very different in intention, all of these groups have one thing in common – they seek to claim the individual’s rights of the body back from the state. [kuro5hin.org]

I had major depression at

by ·

I had major depression at age 18.  It was hell.  I never considered suicide though – wasn’t even once in my thoughts.


If anything, depression taught me that I can have control over my own feelings.  I can choose my response to things.  I can have some modicum of control over my life and emotional state.


And I will never let myself get to that stage again.


I never knew Gene Kan – though obviously he was well liked and respected by many.  It’s a shame that his life ended in such a way.



Two years ago on this day I recounted a phone conversation with Gene Kan about business models for peer-to-peer apps. He was a smart young man. People have all kinds of theories about why he shot himself, I don’t think it had anything to do with disappointment. Lots of people go through that, no one gets through life without lots of disappointment (no one gets through a day without lots of disappointment). Depression is a disorder. Sometimes when the chemicals in your bloodstream are wrong they make you feel worthless. When that happens it can be hard to stay in the game, remembering that such feelings often pass, pretty quickly. At age 25, lots of people don’t know that. It’s a tough time of life. But I guess every age has its unique challenges.  [Scripting News]

Slept till noon.  Everyone else

by ·

Slept till noon.  Everyone else in the house is taking a nap.  Spent some time reading Body of Secrets:  The Anatomy of the National Security Agency today by James Bamford.  Great followon book to The Puzzle Palace.

Wheee..  VACATION! Writing this from

by ·

Wheee..  VACATION!


Writing this from seat 6A on Southwest Airlines from Baltimore to Louisville, getting there at just before midnight eastern time.  Then off to spend a few nights in southern Indiana.  Wednesday, we head for the great north.  Class reunion is coming up next weekend.  No “real job” work until 7/23.  YAY.