I mean, he had a computer, he just didn't take it with him. He says he gained so much free time, because he doesn't waste time mucking around on it, and he loves it. Granted, he's more hardcore than I, but it's an interesting idea. The problem is my damn major, and if I didn't have a computer, I'd have to be in the cluster a lot more. That's not too good. Point is, it's a neat idea.
In other news, I had a great Christmas, and I'm sure you all did too- if you didn't, and I ask you "how was your Christmas?" as I'm sure I'll do when I get back- I'm not very creative- I expect you to tell me that it wasn't too good. Really, I care, I'm not just making small talk. And if I am just making small talk, then slap me or something, because small talk is for suckas.
What if I made better small talk? What if, instead of "Hey, how's it going?" it was "Hey. If you couldn't be your current religion (or lack thereof), what would you be?" or "Hey, what's your favorite city that you've ever visited?" or "Hey. Would you rather know that you screwed up something huge in your life and you could have done better, or that you were just mucked in the first place?" or "Hey, who's the second-last person that you've talked to?" or "Hey. Arms or kicker?"
It's another neat idea. Might throw some people off. Might make life a bit more interesting. Might make me bizarre and intolerable. If so, I'll quit.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Friday, December 23, 2005
Ski trip status: Booked, confirmed, ready to go!
It's taking a lot of effort not to put a lot of exclamation marks in this post.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
What am I trying to do here?
After reading previous post a few times, it strikes me that it's a little arrogant, and entirely unnecessary. A reality kick from Beej happened too- is it true that every time he posts a comment, I post again, recanting my previous post? Whatever, he's right.
I don't have an axe to grind with anyone, there's nobody with whom I'm trying to settle the score, and so why not just leave well enough alone? I still say honesty is nice, but it's not like we're in an honesty crisis right now. No use trying to stir up trouble when no such trouble exists.
On that note, I'm home from finals, finals were great, it's break, it's Christmas, and I'm going skiing in a couple weeks! So there are no problems anywhere! Exult! Jubilate!
I don't have an axe to grind with anyone, there's nobody with whom I'm trying to settle the score, and so why not just leave well enough alone? I still say honesty is nice, but it's not like we're in an honesty crisis right now. No use trying to stir up trouble when no such trouble exists.
On that note, I'm home from finals, finals were great, it's break, it's Christmas, and I'm going skiing in a couple weeks! So there are no problems anywhere! Exult! Jubilate!
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Here is exactly what I think of you:
There, the title got your attention. I'll diverge to say that the band Aveo (A Seattle band that opened for Death Cab and Ben Kweller... I have their cd "Battery", I like it a lot... you've probably never heard of them... God, I'm a pretentious indie fuck) has a song called "3:33 AM/The Insomnia Waltz". It's now two hours after 3:33 AM. Irrelevant.
You know what? I can't say exactly what I think of you. I realized this tonight at dinner; well, at post-dinner... at Eat'n'Park midnight breakfast buffet. Four people know what brought this on; the specific case is not that big a deal. The point is: It is very much a faux pas in our society to say exactly what you think of someone.
Say there's someone you don't like. And you don't have a "legitimate" reason for not liking him. ("legitimate" reasons include: he actually committed a crime against you. That's about it.) You can't say bad stuff about him when he's around- I mean, he'll hear you. What if you're not around him? Nope, can't say anything bad then, because then you're a sneaky sly backstabber who acts nice around someone and says bad stuff behind his back. What can you do? You can imply stuff; you can sugarcoat it enough so that the people you're talking to know what you're talking about, but you didn't say it.
Which has the exact same effect as you just saying it! So why can't you do that?!
Joe once said that he wanted to post on his blog or something: send me an email, and I will tell you exactly what I think about you. My immediate reaction: "great idea!" But then he said, "well, you can never do that unless you're graduating." I thought for a minute and realized-- that's true. Why? Think about it- those emails you would write would become a swift zephyr through your social house of cards. That's obviously true, right? But why does it instictively seem like it would be so destructive?
Now, in an ideal world, all of your friends are people you admire entirely, because that's how the best friendships are. If you each respect the other person a lot, you have the same status, and yet you both think each other's at the higher status- as a result, you always want to be around that person. Petty squabbles get discarded, because your stake in each minor bicker isn't important enough to risk ruining your relationship with this Person of Higher Status.
Maybe the problem is that life ropes you into friendships with people you don't admire. Through classes, jobs, SnS/other activities, you have to spend a lot of time with people you don't like. Minor annoyances become major grudges, and soon you realize you want to say a bunch of stuff about people that you just can't say. Now would it be better to get that all out in the open? I don't know! If someone does something that bothers you, is it worth it to say it? In an ideal world, would it be worth it to say it? On the one hand, it'd be a lot more complaining. On the other... I mean, honesty is good, and having all these grudges pent up inside is undoubtedly bad.
Now, if you were Jesus or something, you could just decide not to have these grudges, and then you wouldn't, and then you would love everyone equally. But A, you're not Jesus, and B, that sucks, because if you love everyone equally you don't love anyone particularly, and you have a bunch of vague friend/acquaintances. It's almost like you have to know all these acquaintances to appreciate your real friends.
The above paragraph is the reason I think that this problem is not unique to me. To not have this problem; that is, to not have friends whom you really don't admire; is either to be very lucky or to be Jesus. ("Jesus" used here as a vague embodiment of a creature that loves everyone equally, and not as a specific religious figure) Of course, I could be wrong: I could be a real ass and you all think everyone else in the world is great.
And again, maybe this isn't a problem, because to appreciate great friends you have to have a contrast of okay friends. And for each okay friend, I'd say overall, it's more than worth it to take the good with the bad. So what am I even writing? I don't know- it's 6 AM and I deserve to get all dumbass-psychological once in a while; hey, if you don't like it, don't read it. You readers deserve something a little deeper than the usual "life is great! life is bad! life is great again!" meanderings of this blog... if this is a window inside my mind, I don't want you to think I'm shallower than I am. But if you've read this far, read the next paragraph:
Admittedly, this post so far is a bit judgmental. To say that I have friends I don't admire is to say that I think I am better than some of my friends. I don't think that; not consciously. If I reason about it, I think that most other people in the world rank better than me as a person, mostly because I haven't really been through any hardship in my life ever. On the other hand, I don't have self-esteem issues here; I feel good about myself as a person, because I think that I've done just about the best I could with what I've been given. Some people, I can say, I am better than you as a person, because I have taken what I had and made the most of it better than you have.
But ultimately, my intent is not to say that I'm better than anyone else, it's to expose my subconscious, and by getting it out into the open, to understand and control it. Most of my judgment of other people is subconscious, so I'm just exploring the darker corners of my psyche. If you understand and appreciate that, thanks. Otherwise, don't let an online post piss you off towards me; please talk to me in person before harboring another one of those hidden grudges because of anything I say online. The printed word on the white fluorescent screen is an expressionless messenger; emotions don't translate too well, and things can get taken too seriously.
You know what? I can't say exactly what I think of you. I realized this tonight at dinner; well, at post-dinner... at Eat'n'Park midnight breakfast buffet. Four people know what brought this on; the specific case is not that big a deal. The point is: It is very much a faux pas in our society to say exactly what you think of someone.
Say there's someone you don't like. And you don't have a "legitimate" reason for not liking him. ("legitimate" reasons include: he actually committed a crime against you. That's about it.) You can't say bad stuff about him when he's around- I mean, he'll hear you. What if you're not around him? Nope, can't say anything bad then, because then you're a sneaky sly backstabber who acts nice around someone and says bad stuff behind his back. What can you do? You can imply stuff; you can sugarcoat it enough so that the people you're talking to know what you're talking about, but you didn't say it.
Which has the exact same effect as you just saying it! So why can't you do that?!
Joe once said that he wanted to post on his blog or something: send me an email, and I will tell you exactly what I think about you. My immediate reaction: "great idea!" But then he said, "well, you can never do that unless you're graduating." I thought for a minute and realized-- that's true. Why? Think about it- those emails you would write would become a swift zephyr through your social house of cards. That's obviously true, right? But why does it instictively seem like it would be so destructive?
Now, in an ideal world, all of your friends are people you admire entirely, because that's how the best friendships are. If you each respect the other person a lot, you have the same status, and yet you both think each other's at the higher status- as a result, you always want to be around that person. Petty squabbles get discarded, because your stake in each minor bicker isn't important enough to risk ruining your relationship with this Person of Higher Status.
Maybe the problem is that life ropes you into friendships with people you don't admire. Through classes, jobs, SnS/other activities, you have to spend a lot of time with people you don't like. Minor annoyances become major grudges, and soon you realize you want to say a bunch of stuff about people that you just can't say. Now would it be better to get that all out in the open? I don't know! If someone does something that bothers you, is it worth it to say it? In an ideal world, would it be worth it to say it? On the one hand, it'd be a lot more complaining. On the other... I mean, honesty is good, and having all these grudges pent up inside is undoubtedly bad.
Now, if you were Jesus or something, you could just decide not to have these grudges, and then you wouldn't, and then you would love everyone equally. But A, you're not Jesus, and B, that sucks, because if you love everyone equally you don't love anyone particularly, and you have a bunch of vague friend/acquaintances. It's almost like you have to know all these acquaintances to appreciate your real friends.
The above paragraph is the reason I think that this problem is not unique to me. To not have this problem; that is, to not have friends whom you really don't admire; is either to be very lucky or to be Jesus. ("Jesus" used here as a vague embodiment of a creature that loves everyone equally, and not as a specific religious figure) Of course, I could be wrong: I could be a real ass and you all think everyone else in the world is great.
And again, maybe this isn't a problem, because to appreciate great friends you have to have a contrast of okay friends. And for each okay friend, I'd say overall, it's more than worth it to take the good with the bad. So what am I even writing? I don't know- it's 6 AM and I deserve to get all dumbass-psychological once in a while; hey, if you don't like it, don't read it. You readers deserve something a little deeper than the usual "life is great! life is bad! life is great again!" meanderings of this blog... if this is a window inside my mind, I don't want you to think I'm shallower than I am. But if you've read this far, read the next paragraph:
Admittedly, this post so far is a bit judgmental. To say that I have friends I don't admire is to say that I think I am better than some of my friends. I don't think that; not consciously. If I reason about it, I think that most other people in the world rank better than me as a person, mostly because I haven't really been through any hardship in my life ever. On the other hand, I don't have self-esteem issues here; I feel good about myself as a person, because I think that I've done just about the best I could with what I've been given. Some people, I can say, I am better than you as a person, because I have taken what I had and made the most of it better than you have.
But ultimately, my intent is not to say that I'm better than anyone else, it's to expose my subconscious, and by getting it out into the open, to understand and control it. Most of my judgment of other people is subconscious, so I'm just exploring the darker corners of my psyche. If you understand and appreciate that, thanks. Otherwise, don't let an online post piss you off towards me; please talk to me in person before harboring another one of those hidden grudges because of anything I say online. The printed word on the white fluorescent screen is an expressionless messenger; emotions don't translate too well, and things can get taken too seriously.
Friday, December 16, 2005
Booya!
I made a booya tonight! With Julie's help, and also help from Joe and Connor and Ashley who went on a last-minute run for things. And last but not least, Mike Yin, without whose car and pots I would probably still be muddling around in the trafficky clutches of Squirrel Hill.
I would like to extend formal blog shouts-out to the aforementioned people. Or whatever it is that you bloggers do. And by "bloggers", I don't mean in the "news-gathering somewhat-respectable rumormongers" sense, I mean the "ninth grader posting about OMG how much she loves LFO" sort of way. And by that, I mean that doesn't make sense because LFO was way before blogs. Point is, thanks much to Julie, Joe, Connor, Ashley, and Mike. Couldn't have pulled off this immense stewing without all of you.
I would also like to extend a formal blog shout-out to Mr. Brian Gray, the guest of honor at the booya. For serious, it hasn't been the same here without him, and I'm real glad he's back. Or "you", as the case may be, in that said Mr. Gray I think constitutes one third of the people who read this blog on a regular basis. Point is, he has returned to make the kingdom right again. Just like Aslan.
Point is, things are great here at Happy U.
I would like to extend formal blog shouts-out to the aforementioned people. Or whatever it is that you bloggers do. And by "bloggers", I don't mean in the "news-gathering somewhat-respectable rumormongers" sense, I mean the "ninth grader posting about OMG how much she loves LFO" sort of way. And by that, I mean that doesn't make sense because LFO was way before blogs. Point is, thanks much to Julie, Joe, Connor, Ashley, and Mike. Couldn't have pulled off this immense stewing without all of you.
I would also like to extend a formal blog shout-out to Mr. Brian Gray, the guest of honor at the booya. For serious, it hasn't been the same here without him, and I'm real glad he's back. Or "you", as the case may be, in that said Mr. Gray I think constitutes one third of the people who read this blog on a regular basis. Point is, he has returned to make the kingdom right again. Just like Aslan.
Point is, things are great here at Happy U.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Hope!
Err... so clearly the way to do things is to do them, not mope about how stuff is awful. Who knew that, even though things seemed bad yesterday, they'd be done today?! Surprise! Life continues!
I got The 212 Assignment 80% done and handed it in (due tonight). I mean, I've worked on it for over 20 hours in the last 4 days or so... there's not much more they can ask. If they want more than that, sorry! But more importantly, I'm satisfied with my work. Take that, SCS!
I got The 212 Assignment 80% done and handed it in (due tonight). I mean, I've worked on it for over 20 hours in the last 4 days or so... there's not much more they can ask. If they want more than that, sorry! But more importantly, I'm satisfied with my work. Take that, SCS!
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Despair!
I'm sitting in the fucking cluster right now. It's Saturday night. Here I am. I am 2/5 of the way through an assignment, have made no progress in the last two hours, and see little hope of making any further progress. This assignment is so ridiculous that all the TA's have stopped giving office hours because they're just too drained. I'm sitting at this goddamn computer in the Unix cluster, because the banter of a few CS trolls is quieter than the banter of a couple of guys in the Windows cluster talking about how much or how little money they have. A side effect is that I'm sitting at this goofy-ass Unix computer that has such cute quirks as:
-backspace and delete are switched
-getting a decent text editor is a lot harder than it should be
-you can't open acrobat files in a browser- you have to download and open them through typing "acroread" on the command line
-oh yeah, and when I click the middle mouse button, it takes me to http://www.assi.com/. What?!
I'd really like to go have fun somewhere, doing something, it doesn't even matter. Or even, I wish I could do this assignment at home, on my own computer, but due to AFS and etc, that doesn't work. Oh well, that's life I guess.
-backspace and delete are switched
-getting a decent text editor is a lot harder than it should be
-you can't open acrobat files in a browser- you have to download and open them through typing "acroread" on the command line
-oh yeah, and when I click the middle mouse button, it takes me to http://www.assi.com/. What?!
I'd really like to go have fun somewhere, doing something, it doesn't even matter. Or even, I wish I could do this assignment at home, on my own computer, but due to AFS and etc, that doesn't work. Oh well, that's life I guess.
Snowman Update
Someone built, from the ashes of 4-story snowman mcgee, another snowman. He's only got 3 stories, and he's kind of tiny, compared to the original, but whatever. Whoever did that rocks.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
I just had a Great Life Experience™
It's snowing a lot! So I went to the Cathedral lawn to have a walk around and enjoy the snow. I took my camera, because I'm a fool. You can't take pictures in the dark like that!
At any rate, some kids were building a snowman. So I said, I'll take some damage. What?? Okay, I'm watching Joe play the Magic: the Gathering computer game, and I was talking and typing, and so that sentence just completed itself. I'll start over.
At any rate, some kids were building a snowman. So I said, I'll build a snowman. So I did. I got a big ball of snow, lugged it over in front of Webster, and plunked it down. I made 3 more big balls of snow, plopped them on top, and there you go, a 4-story snowman.
There you go! Proof that it existed! Proof necessary because, shortly afterwards, a big drunk jock "slipped" and knocked it over. He was all like "oops, sorry man, I slipped, that sucks, dude" and snickering. That's great! I got my snowman knocked over by a big drunk jock! Hilarious! Life is wonderful!
At any rate, some kids were building a snowman. So I said, I'll take some damage. What?? Okay, I'm watching Joe play the Magic: the Gathering computer game, and I was talking and typing, and so that sentence just completed itself. I'll start over.
At any rate, some kids were building a snowman. So I said, I'll build a snowman. So I did. I got a big ball of snow, lugged it over in front of Webster, and plunked it down. I made 3 more big balls of snow, plopped them on top, and there you go, a 4-story snowman.
There you go! Proof that it existed! Proof necessary because, shortly afterwards, a big drunk jock "slipped" and knocked it over. He was all like "oops, sorry man, I slipped, that sucks, dude" and snickering. That's great! I got my snowman knocked over by a big drunk jock! Hilarious! Life is wonderful!
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
It's snowing!
And it's getting in to that time of year when everything's a party. Classes are over- party! Exam week and I have no exams- party! Go home, it's Christmas- party!
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Currently manic
I met with a counselor a couple weeks ago (through CAPS! it's free! you get 12 free sessions!)... I was all depressed and wanted to know if I was actually depressed or just sad. Turns out I was just sad. Well, good to know, anyway.
But she asked if I ever experience mania, describing a sensation of a ton of energy and euphoria, where you can't sleep or anything, lasting like 24-48 hours. Well, until she mentioned the 24-48 hours thing, I thought, "all the time." Usually on weekends or when something really sweet is coming up, and usually after some coffee.
Right now, I'm getting that. Now, son of a gun, I had a 20oz. of diet dr. pepper a few hours ago, when I thought I'd be in UC318 for hours. I thought, pop doesn't have enough caffeine to get me manic. But it does, and now here I am. God, it's a wonderful sensation. I can do anything right now. It's one of the greatest feelings on earth, partially because I feel able to really be me, able to really enjoy life right now. Everything else is better. It'll suck a little bit tomorrow because I'll be low on sleep (especially after the last 2 nights) but right now, I feel great. I'm trying to calm myself down, because really, I'm tired too.
Why are things great?
-Little Footsteps was great. I'm so proud of it. I think I probably did the best job I've ever done in it, just because I hopefully progressed as an actor since WASP a year ago. WASP might have been a better final product- man, that show was great. But whatever, Little Footsteps was great too. All of us (incl. actors, directors, and all the tech folks- thanks so much to you guys by the way!) did excellently.
-No more rehearsals! I love SnS, I like acting, but it'll be nice to have some time off.
-This weekend's been great. Saturday's party at Il Valetto house was a lot sweeter than I thought it'd be. I took notes in Sharpie marker on an exercise band. I'm becoming more comfortable with who I am again, I think. That's a lot to say as an offhand remark, and I'm not sure if it's entirely true, but I hope so. I feel like I've backslid as a person this semester, and maybe I'm climbing back out.
-City of Angels passed for Carnival, and I feel good about the decision we as a board made. It may be very cool.
-I may turn said party notes into a story. Or maybe I'll just post them. I want to write something. It'll suck, but I want to write something. Maybe it'll be about the party, maybe not. This is the kind of thing I say when I'm manic.
-Four funny things today:
1. I yelled "fuck! shit!" prompting someone (Grubb? Gerrit?) to ask "Did you just step in the Tourette's spot?"
2. A good 185 pun from Julie: 185 neutrons walk into a bar and ask "How much for a drink?" The bartender says, "For you, no charge."
3 and 4. These are posters I saw. One said, in the middle of a page:
Kiva Han
starbucks lol
The other one said "Do you want a free iPod?" and it had pictures of ipods. No contact info or anything. And it had the little tear-off things on the bottom, where it usually has a website or phone number or something. But it just said:
Yes, please.
Yes, I would, indeed.
But she asked if I ever experience mania, describing a sensation of a ton of energy and euphoria, where you can't sleep or anything, lasting like 24-48 hours. Well, until she mentioned the 24-48 hours thing, I thought, "all the time." Usually on weekends or when something really sweet is coming up, and usually after some coffee.
Right now, I'm getting that. Now, son of a gun, I had a 20oz. of diet dr. pepper a few hours ago, when I thought I'd be in UC318 for hours. I thought, pop doesn't have enough caffeine to get me manic. But it does, and now here I am. God, it's a wonderful sensation. I can do anything right now. It's one of the greatest feelings on earth, partially because I feel able to really be me, able to really enjoy life right now. Everything else is better. It'll suck a little bit tomorrow because I'll be low on sleep (especially after the last 2 nights) but right now, I feel great. I'm trying to calm myself down, because really, I'm tired too.
Why are things great?
-Little Footsteps was great. I'm so proud of it. I think I probably did the best job I've ever done in it, just because I hopefully progressed as an actor since WASP a year ago. WASP might have been a better final product- man, that show was great. But whatever, Little Footsteps was great too. All of us (incl. actors, directors, and all the tech folks- thanks so much to you guys by the way!) did excellently.
-No more rehearsals! I love SnS, I like acting, but it'll be nice to have some time off.
-This weekend's been great. Saturday's party at Il Valetto house was a lot sweeter than I thought it'd be. I took notes in Sharpie marker on an exercise band. I'm becoming more comfortable with who I am again, I think. That's a lot to say as an offhand remark, and I'm not sure if it's entirely true, but I hope so. I feel like I've backslid as a person this semester, and maybe I'm climbing back out.
-City of Angels passed for Carnival, and I feel good about the decision we as a board made. It may be very cool.
-I may turn said party notes into a story. Or maybe I'll just post them. I want to write something. It'll suck, but I want to write something. Maybe it'll be about the party, maybe not. This is the kind of thing I say when I'm manic.
-Four funny things today:
1. I yelled "fuck! shit!" prompting someone (Grubb? Gerrit?) to ask "Did you just step in the Tourette's spot?"
2. A good 185 pun from Julie: 185 neutrons walk into a bar and ask "How much for a drink?" The bartender says, "For you, no charge."
3 and 4. These are posters I saw. One said, in the middle of a page:
Kiva Han
starbucks lol
The other one said "Do you want a free iPod?" and it had pictures of ipods. No contact info or anything. And it had the little tear-off things on the bottom, where it usually has a website or phone number or something. But it just said:
Yes, please.
Yes, I would, indeed.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Add to that pie chart a big slice of study abroad!
Man, every time I look into this I get more excited. I don't even know where I'm going yet.
So I want to go to the Alps. Is that a bad motivation? I mean, I feel like that's like saying I want to study in Hawaii because I can go to the beach, or something. Study abroad isn't about taking a semester-long vacation. (is it?)
But here are my arguments, so if you want to play devil's advocate, I can play god's advocate, and banish you back into the hell-hole from which you came!
And the fact that there is awesome Alps skiing doesn't hurt.
At first I didn't think there was anything in Germany for a CS student like me, because I don't want to just study humanities for a semester. I think that would be unproductive. I don't have (or want) to be studying all CS stuff, but a little CS/math would be nice. Oh, yeah, and I don't know German. That's not a big deal for just surviving in Germany or Switzerland (I'm taking Beginning German), but it's less than good if you want to take classes in German. So I need English math/CS classes in Germany.
Apparently they exist though! Somewhere! I'm looking into it more, and this might work out really well! I'll keep you posted.
So I want to go to the Alps. Is that a bad motivation? I mean, I feel like that's like saying I want to study in Hawaii because I can go to the beach, or something. Study abroad isn't about taking a semester-long vacation. (is it?)
But here are my arguments, so if you want to play devil's advocate, I can play god's advocate, and banish you back into the hell-hole from which you came!
- I'm not going to England or France. Everyone goes there.
- Ideally, I'm not going to an English-speaking place. Sorry, Australia/New Zealand. Going there would be kind of sweet, but not challenging at all. It'd be like going to Chicago or something, still kind of Americanized. I think. I could be wrong, but that's my impression.
- There's not much in Africa. There are a few programs, but I don't think going to Africa would be relevant to my future at all, or in any other way useful.
- Same with Latin America. I am probably overgeneralizing here in thinking that Africa and Latin America are behind in the computer areas, but really, I can't see myself going there.
- The smaller Western European countries are just very interesting. My mom went to Luxembourg and loved it, I've talked to some friends who have been there ("there" being "small Western European countries") and loved them- they just sound so cool. Again, gross overgeneralization. But there it is. Switzerland in particular sounds a little bit like Utopia.
- Okay, so the choice is a little bit arbitrary... big deal! Wherever I go, I'd get a big new experience, so Switzerland is as good as any.
And the fact that there is awesome Alps skiing doesn't hurt.
At first I didn't think there was anything in Germany for a CS student like me, because I don't want to just study humanities for a semester. I think that would be unproductive. I don't have (or want) to be studying all CS stuff, but a little CS/math would be nice. Oh, yeah, and I don't know German. That's not a big deal for just surviving in Germany or Switzerland (I'm taking Beginning German), but it's less than good if you want to take classes in German. So I need English math/CS classes in Germany.
Apparently they exist though! Somewhere! I'm looking into it more, and this might work out really well! I'll keep you posted.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
"Pirates"
This whole event makes me happy.
In case you're unaware, (i.e. not from CMU), each week CMU shows movies, usually Wednesday-Sunday, for $1 in one of our main auditoriums. Usually, the movie titles are advertised in advance, except for one day each semester, where the only title given is "TBA". That's code for "porn". So yeah, once a semester, we show porn in a University Center auditorium.
Right before break, there was a TBA called "Pirates." This happens to be the highest-budget porn ever made (so I'm told) and includes (amidst lots of sex) CGI pirate ships and skeletons. Naturally, it was advertised a little more than most TBA's. So it got more exposure, so it came under fire from lots of folks. Some students got annoyed that we were "using student activities money to show porn,"* they had some discussion at the UC about it, and local news station KDKA even covered the event.
* this allegation is false; they brought in more than enough money from ticket sales to cover the cost of showing the movie, or so I'm told.
Oh, by the way, it got mobbed. It sold out all 3 shows, there were huge lines through the UC, most people didn't even get in. I happened to get in, and I saw it... it was pretty graphic ("hardcore", as KDKA said a lot)- I mean, it wasn't even enjoyable to watch. Besides the skeletons. Those were pretty funny.
But the point is, we at CMU did something noteworthy, kind of rebellious, people got angry, and we don't care! I mean, I think it's a hilarious tradition- if the campus got together to watch a bad movie once each semester, that'd be funny... the fact that it just happens to be a porn is so much better! Take that, politically correct society! Take that, administrators and bureaucrats! It's a prank on the entire system, an entirely harmless prank even, and I think it's great. So bravo, Activities Board, and bravo, CMU.
In case you're unaware, (i.e. not from CMU), each week CMU shows movies, usually Wednesday-Sunday, for $1 in one of our main auditoriums. Usually, the movie titles are advertised in advance, except for one day each semester, where the only title given is "TBA". That's code for "porn". So yeah, once a semester, we show porn in a University Center auditorium.
Right before break, there was a TBA called "Pirates." This happens to be the highest-budget porn ever made (so I'm told) and includes (amidst lots of sex) CGI pirate ships and skeletons. Naturally, it was advertised a little more than most TBA's. So it got more exposure, so it came under fire from lots of folks. Some students got annoyed that we were "using student activities money to show porn,"* they had some discussion at the UC about it, and local news station KDKA even covered the event.
* this allegation is false; they brought in more than enough money from ticket sales to cover the cost of showing the movie, or so I'm told.
Oh, by the way, it got mobbed. It sold out all 3 shows, there were huge lines through the UC, most people didn't even get in. I happened to get in, and I saw it... it was pretty graphic ("hardcore", as KDKA said a lot)- I mean, it wasn't even enjoyable to watch. Besides the skeletons. Those were pretty funny.
But the point is, we at CMU did something noteworthy, kind of rebellious, people got angry, and we don't care! I mean, I think it's a hilarious tradition- if the campus got together to watch a bad movie once each semester, that'd be funny... the fact that it just happens to be a porn is so much better! Take that, politically correct society! Take that, administrators and bureaucrats! It's a prank on the entire system, an entirely harmless prank even, and I think it's great. So bravo, Activities Board, and bravo, CMU.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
My mind, in a pie chart:
No actual pie chart. Sorry. You can envision one in your mind though.
A little wedge of it goes to world events. The whole gay priests thing, the Australian about to be executed in Singapore, something I just heard about a needle exchange program to prevent AIDS in Pittsburgh. The last one leaves me a bit conflicted- I mean, it's great for those who have diabetes or something and need shots, but they're not the ones getting AIDS anyway. Seems like it just enables heroin addicts. But that's one side of the argument (specifically, the 50-year-old WASP argument) and the other side is that we need to prevent AIDS, which is true too... I have nothing innovative to add to this argument, so I'll stop.
A bigger slice goes to Little Footsteps- everything's actually coming together, and it's going to work, and it'll be good! Hooray!
Sadly, a still bigger wedge goes to classes- to get everything done, and well, I'll have to donate a lot of time to them. Well, that's life I guess. The weird thing is, for most of my classes, I want to do the work! I want to just geek out about cellular automata and concurrent programming and finite fields all day! But not in place of anything else. Certainly not in place of spending that time with friends, and not in place of sleep or anything that'll make me healthier. So it waddles down at the bottom of my priority list, as usual.
Biggest chunk of the pie though: ski trip! Yeah! We're going skiing in January, in Vermont, and it rocks a lot! I can't wait! Yeah!
A little wedge of it goes to world events. The whole gay priests thing, the Australian about to be executed in Singapore, something I just heard about a needle exchange program to prevent AIDS in Pittsburgh. The last one leaves me a bit conflicted- I mean, it's great for those who have diabetes or something and need shots, but they're not the ones getting AIDS anyway. Seems like it just enables heroin addicts. But that's one side of the argument (specifically, the 50-year-old WASP argument) and the other side is that we need to prevent AIDS, which is true too... I have nothing innovative to add to this argument, so I'll stop.
A bigger slice goes to Little Footsteps- everything's actually coming together, and it's going to work, and it'll be good! Hooray!
Sadly, a still bigger wedge goes to classes- to get everything done, and well, I'll have to donate a lot of time to them. Well, that's life I guess. The weird thing is, for most of my classes, I want to do the work! I want to just geek out about cellular automata and concurrent programming and finite fields all day! But not in place of anything else. Certainly not in place of spending that time with friends, and not in place of sleep or anything that'll make me healthier. So it waddles down at the bottom of my priority list, as usual.
Biggest chunk of the pie though: ski trip! Yeah! We're going skiing in January, in Vermont, and it rocks a lot! I can't wait! Yeah!
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Suburbs again!
What is it about the suburbs?! What's wrong with them? Why do I have such a weird beef with them?*
See, don't be so hard on the suburbs. While cities have certain flavors, farms have others, the one distinguishing connotation you get in suburbs is that of "success." To live in the suburbs, (at least the outer-ring "affluent" suburbs) you have to have made it. Nobody's poor in the suburbs. And as a result, the suburbs cater to the successful. You get places like Crocker Park, this gigantic opulent shopping center that's made to look so perfectly like an old village. Restaurants like Max and Erma's, which serves food that is pretty good, and overpriced. Because what the hey, people can pay for it. Always enough parking.
Suburbs are characterized by success- so what's wrong with that? Maybe it's the fact that it's not my success that I'm getting rewarded for by living in the suburbs. Or just guilt from knowing that 99.9% of the people in the world would kill to live in such a nice environment. Maybe it is just guilt. I don't think that's it though. I don't know what it is. Anyway, time to sleep now.
*Don't ever eat weird beef.
See, don't be so hard on the suburbs. While cities have certain flavors, farms have others, the one distinguishing connotation you get in suburbs is that of "success." To live in the suburbs, (at least the outer-ring "affluent" suburbs) you have to have made it. Nobody's poor in the suburbs. And as a result, the suburbs cater to the successful. You get places like Crocker Park, this gigantic opulent shopping center that's made to look so perfectly like an old village. Restaurants like Max and Erma's, which serves food that is pretty good, and overpriced. Because what the hey, people can pay for it. Always enough parking.
Suburbs are characterized by success- so what's wrong with that? Maybe it's the fact that it's not my success that I'm getting rewarded for by living in the suburbs. Or just guilt from knowing that 99.9% of the people in the world would kill to live in such a nice environment. Maybe it is just guilt. I don't think that's it though. I don't know what it is. Anyway, time to sleep now.
*Don't ever eat weird beef.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Why I should have brought a gavel to school first semester, and it would have been funny, but now it would not be funny anymore.
Is it just me, or has the "judging" thing gone so far as to lose its meaning entirely? I mean, this started last year with Kaitlin and marijuana, and people judging her because of it, and her responding by adopting the catch phrase "don't judge me." (is that right? It may have started before I was around, I don't know.) And then some people rallied behind "don't judge me," and others responded by sarcastically saying "Ha ha, I judge people all the time" and laughing about it, as if to say "Of course I don't judge people. But it's so ridiculous that you're branding me as a "judger" that I'll just comically run with it."
The point is, everyone will deny judging, and everyone will judge everyone else at some point. This is not inherently a bad thing- it's bad when you judge people prematurely or for the wrong reasons. I guess the point is, we shouldn't do that, which is true. Everyone agrees with that.
What I'm trying to say is, it's getting old as a joke.
"We're constantly creating our world by naming, categorizing, applying value judgments to things." -not quite a quote from Foley Ah Doo, but as close as I can remember.
The point is, everyone will deny judging, and everyone will judge everyone else at some point. This is not inherently a bad thing- it's bad when you judge people prematurely or for the wrong reasons. I guess the point is, we shouldn't do that, which is true. Everyone agrees with that.
What I'm trying to say is, it's getting old as a joke.
"We're constantly creating our world by naming, categorizing, applying value judgments to things." -not quite a quote from Foley Ah Doo, but as close as I can remember.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Too much work? That's a terrible excuse!
Yeah, it is. What am I doing? Each week that's "the same old thing" is one less good week. Next semester it'll all be different. This semester, after Little Footsteps, it'll all be different. After I finish this 212 assignment, it'll all be different. Next week (Thanksgiving) it'll all be different. At any rate, things will change, sooner or later, and there you go.
I am already 8 minutes late for class.
I am already 8 minutes late for class.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Good grief!
I see the world going totally out of control in the next couple days. Like everything looked sunny in August, and then clouds have rolled in here and there, and then it's clear again, except they're back now, and now they're huge, threatening nimbus clouds. I mean, some big lightning will strike soon, and everything will go nuts. I don't even know in what way. It'll be some monstrous explosion of nothing. I feel like Quentin Compson from The Sound and The Fury.
I had a fantastic night, by the way. I had more energy than I've had for a while- I've felt myself more than I have for a while. I also feel proud of myself the last couple days: I went climbing, I got a new bike*, and I went to a ski club party where I knew nobody.
*I love my new bike. I revitalized it all afternoon, with help from Gerrit, as well as Noah from Free Ride. Then I paid Free Ride $35 for the parts. Plus $7 for a new tire. It worked out exactly how I wanted. And it works, and it's solid. I feel confident riding it. I feel like I'm on a honeymoon with it, in that I want to ride it as much as I can.
Some bawdy punnery just happened. Did you catch it? I didn't, the first time I said that phrase.
But ah! There's some energy in the air. Or maybe just in me. The world is all racing towards something-- what is it? At least I hope so. That'll be interesting. Or it will just be more big nothing, and then what?! I want to do something great- something short-term and great! I want to share my energy with someone, or some people. What is happening?!
I had a fantastic night, by the way. I had more energy than I've had for a while- I've felt myself more than I have for a while. I also feel proud of myself the last couple days: I went climbing, I got a new bike*, and I went to a ski club party where I knew nobody.
*I love my new bike. I revitalized it all afternoon, with help from Gerrit, as well as Noah from Free Ride. Then I paid Free Ride $35 for the parts. Plus $7 for a new tire. It worked out exactly how I wanted. And it works, and it's solid. I feel confident riding it. I feel like I'm on a honeymoon with it, in that I want to ride it as much as I can.
Some bawdy punnery just happened. Did you catch it? I didn't, the first time I said that phrase.
But ah! There's some energy in the air. Or maybe just in me. The world is all racing towards something-- what is it? At least I hope so. That'll be interesting. Or it will just be more big nothing, and then what?! I want to do something great- something short-term and great! I want to share my energy with someone, or some people. What is happening?!
Friday, November 11, 2005
Tonight I made a wager
on the goodness of one "John White."
John White, panhandler
Grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, near the racetrack where he used to work, whose name he cannot recall
Just got to Pittsburgh and started working at the (building near where I was standing) yesterday
Owns a (van that is right over there) that just broke down
Needs some kind of sealant for the antifreeze, which costs $4.80, and can be bought either at AutoZone, or, if that's closed, which it clearly is, at the shop up at Penn and Swissvale
Wait, you say you'll go buy it with me? Why would you want to do that?
Doesn't usually do this
Isn't panhandling, like those guys who are all drunk and saying "I need some money to eat"
Is a Christian
Swears to God that he's not panhandling
Does not take God lightly
Needs a sealant that costs $7.80
No, didn't say that it cost $4.80. Said that he HAD $4.80.
Has the 80 cents right here, see?
Has the four dollars, um, on his card, see, has an Access Card
See, the sealant cost $13.60, and he said he had $4.80
But then that'd be $8.80, but, uh, ...
You get the idea. Clearly lying. But I figure, what the hell. I gave John White my SMC number and mailing address. I made it possible for him to repay me (without endangering myself). I gave him the money. I know I'll never see that $4.80 again. But what if I do? Then John White is a good dude in my book, and maybe I should perk up about the general state of the world, because this is a world in which you can give a beggar some money AND GET PAID BACK.
Or, much more likely, I'll never see that $4.80 again. He gave me a phone number though. In a week (assuming he hasn't paid me), I'll call it. It'll be entertaining to see whose number he gave me.
John White, panhandler
Grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, near the racetrack where he used to work, whose name he cannot recall
Just got to Pittsburgh and started working at the (building near where I was standing) yesterday
Owns a (van that is right over there) that just broke down
Needs some kind of sealant for the antifreeze, which costs $4.80, and can be bought either at AutoZone, or, if that's closed, which it clearly is, at the shop up at Penn and Swissvale
Wait, you say you'll go buy it with me? Why would you want to do that?
Doesn't usually do this
Isn't panhandling, like those guys who are all drunk and saying "I need some money to eat"
Is a Christian
Swears to God that he's not panhandling
Does not take God lightly
Needs a sealant that costs $7.80
No, didn't say that it cost $4.80. Said that he HAD $4.80.
Has the 80 cents right here, see?
Has the four dollars, um, on his card, see, has an Access Card
See, the sealant cost $13.60, and he said he had $4.80
But then that'd be $8.80, but, uh, ...
You get the idea. Clearly lying. But I figure, what the hell. I gave John White my SMC number and mailing address. I made it possible for him to repay me (without endangering myself). I gave him the money. I know I'll never see that $4.80 again. But what if I do? Then John White is a good dude in my book, and maybe I should perk up about the general state of the world, because this is a world in which you can give a beggar some money AND GET PAID BACK.
Or, much more likely, I'll never see that $4.80 again. He gave me a phone number though. In a week (assuming he hasn't paid me), I'll call it. It'll be entertaining to see whose number he gave me.
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