Quite a year...

It’s been quite a year, hasn’t it?

From Mother Nature’s gut-punches in the forms of wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and volcanic eruptions, there is no shortage of folks in want of basic needs -- lacking food and water, or clothing, or shelter, or some combination of all three. Beyond that, this has been a year that has seen an unprecedented level of scorn from one person to another, a seeming lack of compassion or empathy that I can’t remember seeing before.

And yet… and yet...

As we approach the holiday season, we are reminded of just how fortunate we are. We notice an innumerable set of things that we take for granted every day.

Our mere existence is miraculous. The sun rose this morning, and we all woke up at some point today. Every one of us that are reading this note possess a piece of modern wizardry in the form of a computer or mobile device that couldn’t really be imagined a hundred years ago, not to mention the ability to actually read. We still retain the desire to laugh at silliness, or enjoy a sunset.

And did I mention art? Music? Oceans? Weekends?

I have worked with Pat Tallman for five years now, helping with the Be A Santa campaign for Penny Lane. When I think of all of the suffering endured by so many people this year, I’m also reminded that these are the burdens the kids of Penny Lane carry every year. They will not be at home or with loved ones during the holidays this year. They will not have a stocking or tree, much less gifts waiting for them in either.

Unless… unless…

The desperation this year has brought about has also brought about great heroism. People giving of their time and other resources in order to benefit those around them and beyond their immediate sphere. That’s actually what Be A Santa is all about as well. Most of the donations come from folks that will never meet any of the kids, but that understand what it’s like to be in need of a joyful holiday season. These Santas sacrifice of themselves, taking a little of what might’ve gone to their own families and friends so that others can have a chance at the same joy they are sure to share. To every one of you that has donated this year or in year’s past, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart on behalf of all of us at Be A Santa and the kids of Penny Lane. And know that you are making a difference in this world, in the world of these children. You are a source of happiness for them, and I commend you for that.

If you’ve never considered volunteering during the holidays, I encourage you to do so. It’s one of the most rewarding things you can do -- it truly is the gift that keeps on giving. And it is my sincere hope that this note finds all of you happy and well during this special and wonderful time of year. Happy Holidays, everyone!

Your Random May Vary: Addendum

My coworker and good friend Tim has provided a bunch of good information in response to my last post. I'm posting it here (mostly) unedited, because it sheds light on the underlying principles.

"sir, you have posted something false to the internet and it is my duty to berate you for it!

combining multiple random numbers is not the same thing as choosing a random number between bigger values.

it flys in the face of one of the most beautiful underlying principles of statistics (possibly the only beautiful thing about statistics):

If you add together many random numbers, you get a NORMAL DISTRIBUTION!
Isn't that interesting... I wonder why the normal distribution pops up so often? Oh that's right because this sort of thing happens all the time. Think about it for a bit; if you flip a coin 6 times, what is the probability of getting all heads? Is it the same as rolling a 6? Nope... you have a might higher probability of getting 3 heads than getting 6 heads. You might not notice it much for six goes, but if you flip a coint 18 times, you are very unlikely to get 18 in a row. It's because the distribution of outcomes is very different, not because one is more or less random than the other.

d&d is built on this principle; creating pseudo normalized random distributions by combining dice rolls.

If you want a better explination of this (and the 3 principles of statistics) I highly recommend reading the short chapter on statistic from "The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses" -- Jesse Schell. You can get it from the local library for free and the chapter is really concise and illuminating. The whole book is excellent actually."

Many thanks to Tim for the info!

A Memory from Seven Years Ago

Ah, Facebook... you taunt me with your robotic ability to recall things that I've completely forgotten about. Case in point: this morning's Memory prompting...

Facebook never forgets...

I'm typically not so cryptic in my Facebook posts, but this one has thrown me for a loop. I have no recollection of the context of this post. Those of you that know me understand how uncomfortable this kind of thing is for me. For those that are wondering, I tend to obsess about little ridiculous mysteries that ultimately don't matter at all to anyone but me.

With regard to this memory, the main issues are that a) I don't like the thought that there are details of my life that I can't easily recollect, and b) I now want to thank someone for something that happened seven years ago but I don't know whom to thank or what to thank them for. This annoys/bothers/upsets me now, even though I clearly (or more precisely, vaguely) did the thanking seven years ago.

If we were hanging out at all seven years ago, go ahead and assume this is about you and remind me of the purpose behind this post. Do that, and I'll owe you yet another debt of gratitude. Hey, at least seven years from now we'll stand a better chance of remembering how we got into this vicious cycle... :-)