Genetic material is not a finite resource. It’s not used up like printer ink or oil or raspberry jelly (note to self: need to go shopping). Watered liberally with nurture, nature can produce a lot of talent in one family. For example, my sister sings opera, and she’s really good. Yet I can play trombone, showing that musical talent is not a non-renewable resource.
Writing is the same, y’know. My extraordinary abilities, generally eclipsing those of mere mortals, are not alone in the family font. I present to you my brother’s blog, hosted at his site Plait Solutions. He does computer tech support in his town of Roswell (I know, I know, but this one is in Atlanta, not New Mexico; the only aliens there show up for Dragon*Con), and started a blog to help out his clients and give them some basic, useful information. He does have some solid advice there, as well as the odd ramble or two.
Sounds familiar. But then, what is the root of the word familiar?
July 5th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
You’re missing part of the tag in the link, I think. It’s coming up as “http://blog.plaitsolutions.com/%20target=”
July 5th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Oh, and I love his post on email etiquette. I can’t tell you just how often I tell people those very things. It doesn’t do any good, but I try.
July 5th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Yeah, the new editor I’m using here is a little hard to get used to. I need to do some fiddling. Thanks Jewel. And stay tuned for my next post…
July 5th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Plait’s competition in my line of work?? Might as well retire if I weren’t a continent apart!
July 5th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Jewel and Tom Woolf, thanks for commenting on my site!
allkom – there’s room enough for all of us. Some of my best friends and gateopeners are other consultants!
Most of all, thanks to my youngest brother Phil, for being an inspiration, and then posting about me.
Thanks, Phil!
July 5th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Atlanta’s a state now? I must have missed the news.
July 5th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
@Barber_of_Civility — You’re welcome! You’ve posted some excellent advice over there.
July 5th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Atlanta is a state of being, as anyone who lives here will tell you. There are a number of areas which are technically part of greater Atlanta, including Roswell.
July 5th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Phil,
I know what you were trying to do with that first sentence, but it isn’t correct. Genetic material is made of carbon, and carbon [b]is[/b] a finite resource. Other than that, thanks for the link to another blog I will be reading. Nice blog Barber_of_Civility.
Rick
July 5th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Where do you fall in the three?
July 5th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
@Phil:
Being a skeptic and an astronomer are themselves the wonderful and lovely skills of living in the reality and revolutionizing our understanding of where live.
@Tensor:
He was being figurative and relative to the context.
@Kevin F.:
In the conglomerate spectra of skills, maybe?
July 5th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Awesome, I live not 10 miles from Roswell (GA). Maybe I’ll check him out.
July 5th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
…and revolutionizing our understanding of where *we* live.
Hi Phil, I started reading your amazing blog a few weeks ago, although I knew BA for a few months from Universe Today. At first, it was confusing by the term Bad Astronomy, it felt like calling astronomy bad, but soon I discovered what you meant by it (tackling the wrong things and perception by people against science). And thus, you have made a great deal of change in the world toward the right way.
I can’t thank you enough!
July 5th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
@KevinF,
Phil is the youngest of four. The baby brother to us all.
July 5th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Phil – my respect for you goes up all the time. Not only was I also a trombone player myself (guess this criminal past haunts us both) but I also now earn my money in the field of opera! What´s your sisters name? I may have met her and not even known about it.
July 5th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Hey, you play the trombone? Nice. I can play the triangle
(trying with piano, but I suck for the moment)
July 5th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I can play my stereo. I’m the nonmusical one in my family.
July 5th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Your brother uses a Mac, recommends Vista and seems unaware of Linux … hmmm
but otherwise a nice reading. Gooo Plaits!
July 5th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
So, Phil, I bet you’ve made my discovery that being an astronomer and trombonist isn’t the most lucrative skills combination… Say, an evil thought just popped up on ways to clear a room at DragonCon. I hear Jonathan Frakes could join in.
July 5th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
So you play trombone, BA? I knew there was something I liked about this blog.
Fellow trombonist here, though none of my classmates would rate me very highly.
July 5th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Well, my t-bone is no secret; you can see it on my bookshelf during the video chats.
July 6th, 2008 at 3:32 am
Great site. I now have somewhere to go to answer all my computer questions too. The Plait Family ROCKS! Will you give us a live trombone recital on your web chat on Sunday? PLEEEZ?
July 6th, 2008 at 5:45 am
claschx -
I’m NOT unaware of Linux. It’s just that I work with homeowners, the great many of whom are not computer literate. Using Linux would wipe out my client base when all of their heads explode! And it would be so messy.
And I DO NOT recommend Vista under ANY circumstance. Read a little more carefully, please!
July 6th, 2008 at 7:21 am
So Phil,
Squid man is squirting down here to Atlanta later this month– when shall we expect a visit from our BA?! especially knowing you have family to visit down here!
July 9th, 2008 at 12:25 am
Charmaine
A non-doer is very often a critic-that is, someone who sits back and watches doers, and then waxes philosophically about how the doers are doing. It’s easy to be a critic, but being a doer requires effort, risk, and change.
July 9th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Isenald
He visto que muchos sitios antes y la mayor
July 10th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Bo
If you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of your arm. As you grow