the doorbell rings. i'm sitting at the computer, reading, in my underwear, and i think to myself "who could that be? i'm not getting dressed for anyone now".
i get up. as i enter the passageway the door opens! my heart skips a beat, and then i register who it is... i'm not used to having someone else have access to my apartment.
...
she came bearing freshly-baked cookies, made sure that they're satisfactory (they are indeed!) then walked out telling me to get back to my books.
*happy sigh*
Saturday, October 30, 2010
so much for studying
hmmph. i was a lot more tired than i thought i was. i got some reading done this morning, then came back home for the beginning of a vtm story that's begun rather well. now i'm reading again - although i suspect i might nap. i'm sleepy.
Friday, October 29, 2010
re-routined
aaaahhh... the perfect routine :)
scrapper arrived just as i was finishing this morning's post, and after a short time transcribing my travel journal and discussing some of its implications we went for the chef's breakfast at coffeeholic.
from there we drove through to the wall, and made a good day of it - it was *tough* and my fingers, wrists and arms are only just now returning to a comfort zone. i started well, though ^_^
scrapper was kind enough to give me a ride home and then take me and pg back to the sportec to meet up with the group. the sunset route was excellent too :))
now i've showered and applied for a few jobs; on to pg's for dinner and a serious study session. i'm feeling good.
scrapper arrived just as i was finishing this morning's post, and after a short time transcribing my travel journal and discussing some of its implications we went for the chef's breakfast at coffeeholic.
from there we drove through to the wall, and made a good day of it - it was *tough* and my fingers, wrists and arms are only just now returning to a comfort zone. i started well, though ^_^
scrapper was kind enough to give me a ride home and then take me and pg back to the sportec to meet up with the group. the sunset route was excellent too :))
now i've showered and applied for a few jobs; on to pg's for dinner and a serious study session. i'm feeling good.
chc chills
From: <chc>
Sent:2010-10-29 12:23:14
To: <my mother>
Cc:
Subject: Ticket urgency
Hello again <my mother>, I am not sure if you remember me.I am a friend
of <totalwaste>- you have helped me before with travel insurence. I am not
currently in south africa, but in
Norway and about to depart for Hong Kong. I arrive in hong kong on the
31st and was hoping that you would be able to mail me a temporary
reservation today for hongkong to bangkok.Its really urgent. I do not
know when i will be departing hongkong and didnt book a ticket out.. I
was just informed that I wont beable to enter hong kong if i dont have
a ticket departing hong kong.. I cant buy my ticket yet as I am
waiting on a friend to finalize her plans. As soon I know, then I can
buy a valid ticket.. in the meantime just to ensure that I am allowed
access into HongKong on sunday, please if you have time, could you
send me a Ticket for hongkong/Bangkok departing on the 25th of
november 2010 at any time and my name is <chc> and my
passport number is <number>. Just a one way please. If you could
email it today this would be greatly appreciated-thank you
kindly..Sorry to have left this to the last minute but i was certain
that I would beable to enter without a departing flight.. I am
hoping that you will beable to help my urgency based on that
information. Please its really important that I get this before day
end as my flight for Hongkong leaves tomorrow afternoon. I apologise
for the pressure, but as I did mention, as soon as i know my next
travel plans, then i shall book my flight with you. Oh and I am
currently travelling around the world and my next big trip will be
either to Australlia or to the States depending on a few logistics,
visas being one of them. I would need a ticket as well as travel
insurence. I normally book my tickets online, however i dont have a
personal travel agent to help me out when needed, so it would be great
to use you infuture..
Thank you
<chc>
holy shit. here's my response:
Hi <chc>! It's been a long time!
I want to be absolutely clear about this, so please bear with me until the end.
You are not my friend, and I don't believe you ever really were.
I find you to be a phenomenally selfish person and am horrified to discover that you would go so far as to put people you believe to be trusting of you so out of their way without so much as a thank you.
You are a liar, and a thief, and a spiritual leech, and I'm ashamed to have given you access to the email of someone I care about. Scratch that, I'm ashamed if I've given you access to anyone, whether I know them or not.
You disgust me. I really hope you get what's coming to you, because you've made enough other people miserable along the way.
Don't be in touch. Ever. Again.
PS. I know you're happy to "drop the ball" - I hope and pray, for you and everyone around you, that you come to understand that you really do deserve this email. You are not a good person.
Mom: I'm really sorry about this. If she sends you any further messages I will deal with them appropriately.
Sent:2010-10-29 12:23:14
To: <my mother>
Cc:
Subject: Ticket urgency
Hello again <my mother>, I am not sure if you remember me.I am a friend
of <totalwaste>- you have helped me before with travel insurence. I am not
currently in south africa, but in
Norway and about to depart for Hong Kong. I arrive in hong kong on the
31st and was hoping that you would be able to mail me a temporary
reservation today for hongkong to bangkok.Its really urgent. I do not
know when i will be departing hongkong and didnt book a ticket out.. I
was just informed that I wont beable to enter hong kong if i dont have
a ticket departing hong kong.. I cant buy my ticket yet as I am
waiting on a friend to finalize her plans. As soon I know, then I can
buy a valid ticket.. in the meantime just to ensure that I am allowed
access into HongKong on sunday, please if you have time, could you
send me a Ticket for hongkong/Bangkok departing on the 25th of
november 2010 at any time and my name is <chc> and my
passport number is <number>. Just a one way please. If you could
email it today this would be greatly appreciated-thank you
kindly..Sorry to have left this to the last minute but i was certain
that I would beable to enter without a departing flight.. I am
hoping that you will beable to help my urgency based on that
information. Please its really important that I get this before day
end as my flight for Hongkong leaves tomorrow afternoon. I apologise
for the pressure, but as I did mention, as soon as i know my next
travel plans, then i shall book my flight with you. Oh and I am
currently travelling around the world and my next big trip will be
either to Australlia or to the States depending on a few logistics,
visas being one of them. I would need a ticket as well as travel
insurence. I normally book my tickets online, however i dont have a
personal travel agent to help me out when needed, so it would be great
to use you infuture..
Thank you
<chc>
holy shit. here's my response:
Hi <chc>! It's been a long time!
I want to be absolutely clear about this, so please bear with me until the end.
You are not my friend, and I don't believe you ever really were.
I find you to be a phenomenally selfish person and am horrified to discover that you would go so far as to put people you believe to be trusting of you so out of their way without so much as a thank you.
You are a liar, and a thief, and a spiritual leech, and I'm ashamed to have given you access to the email of someone I care about. Scratch that, I'm ashamed if I've given you access to anyone, whether I know them or not.
You disgust me. I really hope you get what's coming to you, because you've made enough other people miserable along the way.
Don't be in touch. Ever. Again.
PS. I know you're happy to "drop the ball" - I hope and pray, for you and everyone around you, that you come to understand that you really do deserve this email. You are not a good person.
Mom: I'm really sorry about this. If she sends you any further messages I will deal with them appropriately.
grinding
wha... hey! when the hell am i supposed to find time to blog?!
---
tuesday night:
the blade was tough, including a moment with one of the girls who stopped herself from falling by grabbing at my crotch. was that intentional? all i know is that it was awkward enough for me to recall it.
after completing the route i joined botchman and a couple of friends to celebrate his birthday singing in the middle of rabin square. that was nice.
even nicer was getting home and seeing pg wearing the inappropriately feminine baggies that i bought in india with one of my smurf vests. it's a good look, and justifies my possession of such items even if it does cause me to rethink wearing them myself :$
while prepping a quick snack i got some juice from the chilis on my hand. without thinking i wiped my eye... and voilà! i understand pepper spray. a serious quantity would not be fun.
we watched dr horrible's sing-along blog - pg was unhappy with the ending, but otherwise enjoyed it - and then it was way past bedtime.
---
wednesday:
i knew it was a possibility, but when the buses are all late getting to class on time becomes stressful. i just made it, but i prefer comfort. at least i knew to use a different entrance.
on sunday i'm going to test how long it takes me to blade there so that i won't be beholden to the whims of the drivers.
we were supposed to have moved classes; this caused a bit of tension. once back in our original seats i discovered that the other "completion" guy is also a big comic fan in addition to being a great source of course material :)
it was a tiring class. i'm learning when to switch off with this lecturer - an important skill when one has plenty of other stuff to read and the only definition for 90% of what's floating around the room is verbalized mental masturbation. i woke up for the definition of narrative, though.
"is having a chain of events enough to define narrative?"
nobody breathed. i raised my hand.
"your question is ambiguous. when you say 'chain' are you implying a connection?"
"no."
"then no. narrative requires that the events be connected meaningfully."
"what's meaning?"
"the lies that we tell ourselves to make sense of things."
"good answer, but that's not the one i'm looking for."
shit. i meant to say causality. i need to work on my articulation.
between classes i hurriedly maneuvered through the coffee machine, arriving (again) just in time. the next class held too much philosophy and engaging gothic darkness (i like edgar allan poe - who doesn't?) to concentrate on reading for the others... is this a bad thing? i can't complain :)
the guy next to me sat down at the beginning of class complaining about hebrew being an infantile and useless language. when we got up, i attempted to impart my personal impression of it being a rather elegant one when spoken correctly but after a minute or two i was no longer sure what he was trying to get at.
he sounded like he was changing topic when we walked out the class, but i felt someone tapping on my shoulder and i turned around to see pg: "what are you doing here? isn't it your day off?"
the guy i'd been talking to spat out an "okay, bye" and left in what appeared to be a huff. pg and i stood there for a second while i wondered how sensitive he could be.
i turned on my phone to find eleven missed calls. that's a worrying number. nine of them were from a blocked number and two from an unidentified one... i called that back to discover it was the insurance company calling me to verify that i'd really be at home at the time we'd agreed upon. we'd verified the day before. wtf?!
they claim to understand that they behaved pathetically.
i ran into a problem the kid once had (our conversation was a tad off) and then into eidetic who took the bus with me - we talked math, and it was fun reliving some of my experiences from my first degree.
insurance salesmen, huh? the pitch was good, although i had to work on my suspension of disbelief when he claimed to have a BA in insurance. i still ended up buying, though. it seems like sort of a good idea.
i ran into a neighbour on the way out. i'm always saddened when people don't know how to respond to someone merely being friendly by wishing them a good morning / day / evening... you don't have to know someone to do that. just do it.
---
coming in to work... walking through a forest of concrete, plastics and neon... the windows every shade of yellow to white and all on a grey-blue fading background while the cool air soaked up all the worries of the day.
---
the evening was filled with https trouble. i'm not overly fond of ssl right now. my situation was not helped by my fasting for the morning's tests.
i sent our lecturer a mail about student rallies* and tactlessness, and was really happy to receive a response a couple of hours later informing me that she supports the politic participation** and that i was "fine with feinstein" :)
* the government is setting aside lots of money to assist students of religious institutions - this is a large community of people who don't serve in the military and don't pay taxes like the rest of us. all we want is equality! us secular students shouldn't have to cover all the other stuff *and* be left behind in the budget.
not cool.
** i believe it's important to take part in the vestigial fantasy of pseudo-democracy that we claim.
a quick stop to shop on my way home scored me a glance at inspirational dreads - i find the idea of colouring the ends quite pleasing...
of course, the sales pitch had distracted me from my laundry duties, and i was lucky to get home before it got smelly. how often does that shit happen to other people?
i spent the evening uploading photos and reading alongside pg with incense and total eclipse - freefalling upwards and angel tears in the background. that plus whitman made me very sleepy.
---
thursday:
i woke up super-early to go to the clinic; the tests went smoothly and i even applied the second h. pylori one myself :P
i realized halfway to the pharmacy that i wasn't going to be able to get there, get my stuff and get back to the university before class started, so i walked to cafesito to sit with my ex-neighbour and a couple of others for breakfast. it was a fun way to begin the day!
bob dylan made me smile on the way to the university, i familiarized myself with campus computing and printing, then entered a class that, well, was way more boring than necessary. the lack of sleep made things tougher, too. the lecturer said some interesting things, he just took far too long to express them.
i hit the computers again to update the wikipedia - i actually had to recreate a user it's been so long - then walked off campus to find out about the linkin' park concert that's coming to town. awesome!!!
on my way back the security guard gave me grief. when i asked why, he began explaining. there was a long queue behind me and all i could think of was how silly he was being... he took a while, too. when he was done, i looked at him blankly and asked "can i go in now?"
sheesh.
i lay down under a tree until pg came, and we went for lunch. i had to eat quickly in order to make the study i'd signed up for...
i'm not allowed to be specific, but i can say that i was sent somewhere to verify something and then asked questions about it. there was a problem with the somewhere, but that apparently didn't affect my ability to participate.
when i returned to answer the questions, i was asked to wait for two minutes - just then, a girl two doors down stepped out of her office and asked if i could spare two minutes for her study. sure i could!
that study was awesome. i received a base amount of cash, NIS 10, and then another 10 to play with. it was a standard game theory experiment; i needed to decide how much to transfer to another anonymous participant, who'd receive three times the amount i'd sent. he'd then have to decide how much, if at all, to send back to me. we both walked away with a decent amount *and* i'd kept some back just in case he was going to be a bastard. and it was real money, which made it interesting :D
i rested a bit on the grass with pg until my next class, then i went in to discover that i hadn't done any of the readings for the day because i'd misread the syllabus :(
that's especially awkward when you're the loudest in the class, and the only guy. well, usually the only guy - we've just been joined by a philosophy major who chose the alternative course that i'd considered and skipped for the same reason he just moved: too much workload for someone who has to work for a living.
i wasn't prepared for the next class, either - i need to read hiawatha in its entirety... that's a long piece. the class was fun, though - and it ended with an amusing private discussion with the lecturer involving a question someone posed to me recently: "why can't enrichment involve money as well?"
the bus ride to work put me on a bit of a downer... i arrived at work, signed in and got a phone call that threatened to burn my ear from a guy looking for a team leader in an established hi-tech company that was impressed enough by my cv. turns out that there are people in the industry who know how to read :P
he kept trying to convince me that it'd be worth my while to scrap the studies and join him full-time. he even told me to keep his number in case i change my mind. it's nice to be appreciated :)
i got stuck with a lot more shift work than usual, and it was slow going. it *had* to be a busy night, especially when i have so much reading to do. i barely got halfway through this post...
and every time i had to jump down to answer a call someone had done something unnecessary with the headphones - either they were disconnected, or tangled... anything to make speaking with irate and confused people less pleasant.
i was hungry by 6.30pm when i arrived at work, and the burgers only arrived after midnight. boy was i happy with mine.
pg and her mum picked me up from work; we were going to go through to botchman's party, but it was almost done. we called it an early night.
i slept well.
all i've done since getting up is blog, read comics, pick up my monitor and order ink, and purchase העיר (ha'ir) - there's an article on lihi sagi and it's really good :)
now to get on with the weekend. did it really rain this morning?!?!
tuesday night:
the blade was tough, including a moment with one of the girls who stopped herself from falling by grabbing at my crotch. was that intentional? all i know is that it was awkward enough for me to recall it.
after completing the route i joined botchman and a couple of friends to celebrate his birthday singing in the middle of rabin square. that was nice.
even nicer was getting home and seeing pg wearing the inappropriately feminine baggies that i bought in india with one of my smurf vests. it's a good look, and justifies my possession of such items even if it does cause me to rethink wearing them myself :$
while prepping a quick snack i got some juice from the chilis on my hand. without thinking i wiped my eye... and voilà! i understand pepper spray. a serious quantity would not be fun.
we watched dr horrible's sing-along blog - pg was unhappy with the ending, but otherwise enjoyed it - and then it was way past bedtime.
wednesday:
i knew it was a possibility, but when the buses are all late getting to class on time becomes stressful. i just made it, but i prefer comfort. at least i knew to use a different entrance.
on sunday i'm going to test how long it takes me to blade there so that i won't be beholden to the whims of the drivers.
we were supposed to have moved classes; this caused a bit of tension. once back in our original seats i discovered that the other "completion" guy is also a big comic fan in addition to being a great source of course material :)
it was a tiring class. i'm learning when to switch off with this lecturer - an important skill when one has plenty of other stuff to read and the only definition for 90% of what's floating around the room is verbalized mental masturbation. i woke up for the definition of narrative, though.
"is having a chain of events enough to define narrative?"
nobody breathed. i raised my hand.
"your question is ambiguous. when you say 'chain' are you implying a connection?"
"no."
"then no. narrative requires that the events be connected meaningfully."
"what's meaning?"
"the lies that we tell ourselves to make sense of things."
"good answer, but that's not the one i'm looking for."
shit. i meant to say causality. i need to work on my articulation.
between classes i hurriedly maneuvered through the coffee machine, arriving (again) just in time. the next class held too much philosophy and engaging gothic darkness (i like edgar allan poe - who doesn't?) to concentrate on reading for the others... is this a bad thing? i can't complain :)
the guy next to me sat down at the beginning of class complaining about hebrew being an infantile and useless language. when we got up, i attempted to impart my personal impression of it being a rather elegant one when spoken correctly but after a minute or two i was no longer sure what he was trying to get at.
he sounded like he was changing topic when we walked out the class, but i felt someone tapping on my shoulder and i turned around to see pg: "what are you doing here? isn't it your day off?"
the guy i'd been talking to spat out an "okay, bye" and left in what appeared to be a huff. pg and i stood there for a second while i wondered how sensitive he could be.
i turned on my phone to find eleven missed calls. that's a worrying number. nine of them were from a blocked number and two from an unidentified one... i called that back to discover it was the insurance company calling me to verify that i'd really be at home at the time we'd agreed upon. we'd verified the day before. wtf?!
they claim to understand that they behaved pathetically.
i ran into a problem the kid once had (our conversation was a tad off) and then into eidetic who took the bus with me - we talked math, and it was fun reliving some of my experiences from my first degree.
insurance salesmen, huh? the pitch was good, although i had to work on my suspension of disbelief when he claimed to have a BA in insurance. i still ended up buying, though. it seems like sort of a good idea.
i ran into a neighbour on the way out. i'm always saddened when people don't know how to respond to someone merely being friendly by wishing them a good morning / day / evening... you don't have to know someone to do that. just do it.
coming in to work... walking through a forest of concrete, plastics and neon... the windows every shade of yellow to white and all on a grey-blue fading background while the cool air soaked up all the worries of the day.
the evening was filled with https trouble. i'm not overly fond of ssl right now. my situation was not helped by my fasting for the morning's tests.
i sent our lecturer a mail about student rallies* and tactlessness, and was really happy to receive a response a couple of hours later informing me that she supports the politic participation** and that i was "fine with feinstein" :)
* the government is setting aside lots of money to assist students of religious institutions - this is a large community of people who don't serve in the military and don't pay taxes like the rest of us. all we want is equality! us secular students shouldn't have to cover all the other stuff *and* be left behind in the budget.
not cool.
** i believe it's important to take part in the vestigial fantasy of pseudo-democracy that we claim.
a quick stop to shop on my way home scored me a glance at inspirational dreads - i find the idea of colouring the ends quite pleasing...
of course, the sales pitch had distracted me from my laundry duties, and i was lucky to get home before it got smelly. how often does that shit happen to other people?
i spent the evening uploading photos and reading alongside pg with incense and total eclipse - freefalling upwards and angel tears in the background. that plus whitman made me very sleepy.
thursday:
i woke up super-early to go to the clinic; the tests went smoothly and i even applied the second h. pylori one myself :P
i realized halfway to the pharmacy that i wasn't going to be able to get there, get my stuff and get back to the university before class started, so i walked to cafesito to sit with my ex-neighbour and a couple of others for breakfast. it was a fun way to begin the day!
bob dylan made me smile on the way to the university, i familiarized myself with campus computing and printing, then entered a class that, well, was way more boring than necessary. the lack of sleep made things tougher, too. the lecturer said some interesting things, he just took far too long to express them.
i hit the computers again to update the wikipedia - i actually had to recreate a user it's been so long - then walked off campus to find out about the linkin' park concert that's coming to town. awesome!!!
on my way back the security guard gave me grief. when i asked why, he began explaining. there was a long queue behind me and all i could think of was how silly he was being... he took a while, too. when he was done, i looked at him blankly and asked "can i go in now?"
sheesh.
i lay down under a tree until pg came, and we went for lunch. i had to eat quickly in order to make the study i'd signed up for...
i'm not allowed to be specific, but i can say that i was sent somewhere to verify something and then asked questions about it. there was a problem with the somewhere, but that apparently didn't affect my ability to participate.
when i returned to answer the questions, i was asked to wait for two minutes - just then, a girl two doors down stepped out of her office and asked if i could spare two minutes for her study. sure i could!
that study was awesome. i received a base amount of cash, NIS 10, and then another 10 to play with. it was a standard game theory experiment; i needed to decide how much to transfer to another anonymous participant, who'd receive three times the amount i'd sent. he'd then have to decide how much, if at all, to send back to me. we both walked away with a decent amount *and* i'd kept some back just in case he was going to be a bastard. and it was real money, which made it interesting :D
i rested a bit on the grass with pg until my next class, then i went in to discover that i hadn't done any of the readings for the day because i'd misread the syllabus :(
that's especially awkward when you're the loudest in the class, and the only guy. well, usually the only guy - we've just been joined by a philosophy major who chose the alternative course that i'd considered and skipped for the same reason he just moved: too much workload for someone who has to work for a living.
i wasn't prepared for the next class, either - i need to read hiawatha in its entirety... that's a long piece. the class was fun, though - and it ended with an amusing private discussion with the lecturer involving a question someone posed to me recently: "why can't enrichment involve money as well?"
the bus ride to work put me on a bit of a downer... i arrived at work, signed in and got a phone call that threatened to burn my ear from a guy looking for a team leader in an established hi-tech company that was impressed enough by my cv. turns out that there are people in the industry who know how to read :P
he kept trying to convince me that it'd be worth my while to scrap the studies and join him full-time. he even told me to keep his number in case i change my mind. it's nice to be appreciated :)
i got stuck with a lot more shift work than usual, and it was slow going. it *had* to be a busy night, especially when i have so much reading to do. i barely got halfway through this post...
and every time i had to jump down to answer a call someone had done something unnecessary with the headphones - either they were disconnected, or tangled... anything to make speaking with irate and confused people less pleasant.
i was hungry by 6.30pm when i arrived at work, and the burgers only arrived after midnight. boy was i happy with mine.
pg and her mum picked me up from work; we were going to go through to botchman's party, but it was almost done. we called it an early night.
i slept well.
all i've done since getting up is blog, read comics, pick up my monitor and order ink, and purchase העיר (ha'ir) - there's an article on lihi sagi and it's really good :)
now to get on with the weekend. did it really rain this morning?!?!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
glazy - part ii
[... continued]
hah! we ran into urchin at the cinema - i was well pleased to see her taking my advice. also, i was highly amused to find that we'd booked adjacent seats so i sat between her and pg while we watched scott pilgrim.
did i enjoy the movie? i don't know. it's a brilliant movie, that's for sure. i'm not familiar with the comics, and i'm sure that makes a huge difference. either way, i wasn't prepared for such a wonderful combination of techniques and stories: the movie left me with an overwhelming amount of processing to be done.
i... was... tired...
--- today:
something about the connection between myself and pg has been dampened over the last couple of days. i can't put my finger on it, and i'm almost certain it's my own fault. perhaps it's the influence of at the sign of the cat & racket: she's a bit too quiet sometimes :(
i met up with sammy for coffee and a brief discussion of travelling india, then got to work to fight with its virtual world.
first news: there were a number of changes made over the weekend, systems fell, nobody informed me before suggesting that it was a software problem when none of the software had been modified. so thanks again for last night's two hours.
i also learned about dealing with our IT guy. he doesn't give a damn about his job, about any of us, and more than likely that's compensation for incompetence. also, he never sends out mail that isn't in english - so i kinda assumed that his english comprehension was alright. now i've learned that he uses google translate and actually types in hebrew...
--- a company that recently received my cv called me up today... to ask me to explain it to them. am i the only one who's noticed that employing people in an hr dept. to filter resumes when they don't know anything about the field in question isn't the most efficient way to find good workers?
just a thought. just sending it out there, in the hope that it makes a difference. the big companies are shooting themselves in the foot by hiring off lists of irrelevant requirements. does it matter that i have years of intense and valuable experience in c++ when the requirement specifically says "c#"?
i mean... shit. there's no way i could handle basic application development with what i have.</sarcasm>
at some stage i asked if she understands the profession, and the answer was "yes". later on i asked if she's just reading off a list of requirements, and the answer was still "yes".
nice one.
--- the boss and the head manager shared their lunch with me - that was a nice gesture. i didn't have to waste cash and they didn't need to throw out food... the head manager always prepares too much; he's the same guy that always throws plastic bottles into the trash and always prints things out unnecessarily.
we need to run an intervention.
...
my neck and back have been decidedly stiff this evening, and my right arm got tingly at one stage. i'm hoping rollerblading will sort that out a bit.
so the entire day was about firefighting (including a phone line emergency that i had to help out with). i've had enough.
i had a great chat with my mum on the way home, i'm glad i've finally gotten all this off my chest, and now it's time to get some exercise. i've eaten too well today.
hah! we ran into urchin at the cinema - i was well pleased to see her taking my advice. also, i was highly amused to find that we'd booked adjacent seats so i sat between her and pg while we watched scott pilgrim.
did i enjoy the movie? i don't know. it's a brilliant movie, that's for sure. i'm not familiar with the comics, and i'm sure that makes a huge difference. either way, i wasn't prepared for such a wonderful combination of techniques and stories: the movie left me with an overwhelming amount of processing to be done.
i... was... tired...
something about the connection between myself and pg has been dampened over the last couple of days. i can't put my finger on it, and i'm almost certain it's my own fault. perhaps it's the influence of at the sign of the cat & racket: she's a bit too quiet sometimes :(
i met up with sammy for coffee and a brief discussion of travelling india, then got to work to fight with its virtual world.
first news: there were a number of changes made over the weekend, systems fell, nobody informed me before suggesting that it was a software problem when none of the software had been modified. so thanks again for last night's two hours.
i also learned about dealing with our IT guy. he doesn't give a damn about his job, about any of us, and more than likely that's compensation for incompetence. also, he never sends out mail that isn't in english - so i kinda assumed that his english comprehension was alright. now i've learned that he uses google translate and actually types in hebrew...
just a thought. just sending it out there, in the hope that it makes a difference. the big companies are shooting themselves in the foot by hiring off lists of irrelevant requirements. does it matter that i have years of intense and valuable experience in c++ when the requirement specifically says "c#"?
i mean... shit. there's no way i could handle basic application development with what i have.</sarcasm>
at some stage i asked if she understands the profession, and the answer was "yes". later on i asked if she's just reading off a list of requirements, and the answer was still "yes".
nice one.
we need to run an intervention.
...
my neck and back have been decidedly stiff this evening, and my right arm got tingly at one stage. i'm hoping rollerblading will sort that out a bit.
so the entire day was about firefighting (including a phone line emergency that i had to help out with). i've had enough.
i had a great chat with my mum on the way home, i'm glad i've finally gotten all this off my chest, and now it's time to get some exercise. i've eaten too well today.
glazy - part i
[post divided retroactively]
hooooooooo boy. it's been a busy couple of days! and i don't have much time to write this down. i've just walked in, pulled my student card out of my mailbox (^_^), cracked open a beer and realized that i have to be outta here within the hour...
---
yesterday:
i began the day with an inappropriate shirt. it's usually not a problem, but my lecturer for two classes was wearing pink and the guy who interviewed me has a penchant for the colour as well... on the plus side, however, it made someone on the bus smile and laugh out loud :)
the first class was fine right until the last half an hour - i was sitting in the front row, and we were all freezing. i looked behind, and it was only us. too close to the air-conditioner. lesson learned.
i don't care if people looked at me funny: the first sunbeam i found i grabbed :)
after seeing the sports club with wr i went to be interviewed. i needed a seat and the place was packed, so i asked for and was given one by the people next to me.
--- a minute before the interviewer arrived they decided that they needed it back. two of them were discussing the problem when the third, a Real Nice Guy, took command.
"of course we can take it back. we don't need to ask permission. just take it!"
i raised an eyebrow at the woman who needed it, who returned my look with an appropriate level of embarrassment. i got up and walked a few tables away where i found another chair.
when i got back, the woman thanked me, and the first guy apologized for the hassle. we'd only spoken in english up until this point; i guess they assumed i couldn't understand hebrew. the first guy then told the second, in hebrew, that it would be nice if he apologized too.
"i don't need to apologize! what for?"
charming.
--- the interview seems to have gone well. it's a man i've worked with before and he can see the value of bringing me in, but while he's accepted me on my terms he's informed me that nothing is definite yet... tomorrow i'm supposed to hear if we're on, and even then i need to make a good connection with the CTO in order for it to be final.
i *really* hope this works out, because the deal is good for all of us and would save me from having to deal directly with the tax bureau.
i got off to a friendlier start with the all-girl class - they seeming to be warming up to each other as well as to me. i left that class with a *big* assignment, and the need to find a source for pratchett's explanation of the image production technique we employ: we allegedly work off the edges we've detected and fill in the textures afterwards. as our lecturer is a cultural anthropologist, he understandably mistrusts any metaphors for how the brain works.
i was informed of a work emergency right before the next class... bummer. the class itself was fantastic - a poetry reading by elaine feinstein. she's wonderful, and it was a great experience... but it wasn't easy to come up with questions for her afterwards.
when struck by sudden inspiration, i raised my hand and asked something that did, in fact, interest me. i asked if her husband's presence as a non-literary mind (he was a scientist) had any influence. i was pleased with her answer, but then she got a distant look and the session was called to a close.
i really hope it wasn't the lack of tact that did that :(
walking off campus into a beautiful autumn sunset made me fantastically comfortable with the world.
a sweet moment: an elderly woman on the bus producing a cd she'd burned for her friend.
one of my co-workers is a bit anti-social, although he seems nice enough. as part of the issue-detection process i had to ask him to check what processes were running on his machine.
"there's nothing interesting running."
i've never met anyone who could speak on behalf of the windows operating system, so i asked him to show me.
"yes, yes, of course i'm lying to you."
i really don't like the attitude. i don't like the fact that i had to explain to him that he has no clue what's running through my head and that his inference was not only incorrect but decidedly offensive. sheesh.
where do all these ultra-sensitive types come from?!
--- then dr evil happened. since urchin called me up with the news his behaviour angers me even more - it turns out that the Big Deal stuff didn't happen, and that he simply needed to tell her to stop taking medication that she's on.
the bastard could have done that over the phone.
when she called him on his awful bedside manner, he made it worse by being flippant. wtf?!
--- i hunted the bug until my eyes glazed over, and i carried myself home in zombie-state. pg and i started walking to the cinema... as we crossed ben gurion, a mangy-looking old woman caught my eye and began to raise her hand; i raised mine and smiled in greeting. she was displaying a photo of a pretty young woman; she received my acknowledgement with much pleasure, laughing loudly and mirthfully.
[continued...]
hooooooooo boy. it's been a busy couple of days! and i don't have much time to write this down. i've just walked in, pulled my student card out of my mailbox (^_^), cracked open a beer and realized that i have to be outta here within the hour...
yesterday:
i began the day with an inappropriate shirt. it's usually not a problem, but my lecturer for two classes was wearing pink and the guy who interviewed me has a penchant for the colour as well... on the plus side, however, it made someone on the bus smile and laugh out loud :)
the first class was fine right until the last half an hour - i was sitting in the front row, and we were all freezing. i looked behind, and it was only us. too close to the air-conditioner. lesson learned.
i don't care if people looked at me funny: the first sunbeam i found i grabbed :)
after seeing the sports club with wr i went to be interviewed. i needed a seat and the place was packed, so i asked for and was given one by the people next to me.
"of course we can take it back. we don't need to ask permission. just take it!"
i raised an eyebrow at the woman who needed it, who returned my look with an appropriate level of embarrassment. i got up and walked a few tables away where i found another chair.
when i got back, the woman thanked me, and the first guy apologized for the hassle. we'd only spoken in english up until this point; i guess they assumed i couldn't understand hebrew. the first guy then told the second, in hebrew, that it would be nice if he apologized too.
"i don't need to apologize! what for?"
charming.
i *really* hope this works out, because the deal is good for all of us and would save me from having to deal directly with the tax bureau.
i got off to a friendlier start with the all-girl class - they seeming to be warming up to each other as well as to me. i left that class with a *big* assignment, and the need to find a source for pratchett's explanation of the image production technique we employ: we allegedly work off the edges we've detected and fill in the textures afterwards. as our lecturer is a cultural anthropologist, he understandably mistrusts any metaphors for how the brain works.
i was informed of a work emergency right before the next class... bummer. the class itself was fantastic - a poetry reading by elaine feinstein. she's wonderful, and it was a great experience... but it wasn't easy to come up with questions for her afterwards.
when struck by sudden inspiration, i raised my hand and asked something that did, in fact, interest me. i asked if her husband's presence as a non-literary mind (he was a scientist) had any influence. i was pleased with her answer, but then she got a distant look and the session was called to a close.
i really hope it wasn't the lack of tact that did that :(
walking off campus into a beautiful autumn sunset made me fantastically comfortable with the world.
a sweet moment: an elderly woman on the bus producing a cd she'd burned for her friend.
one of my co-workers is a bit anti-social, although he seems nice enough. as part of the issue-detection process i had to ask him to check what processes were running on his machine.
"there's nothing interesting running."
i've never met anyone who could speak on behalf of the windows operating system, so i asked him to show me.
"yes, yes, of course i'm lying to you."
i really don't like the attitude. i don't like the fact that i had to explain to him that he has no clue what's running through my head and that his inference was not only incorrect but decidedly offensive. sheesh.
where do all these ultra-sensitive types come from?!
the bastard could have done that over the phone.
when she called him on his awful bedside manner, he made it worse by being flippant. wtf?!
[continued...]
Monday, October 25, 2010
dr. evil
jesus. urchin just called me up, panicking - her doctor called her to tell her she needs to "urgently" go over her results with him as soon as possible. he told her this in the evening, when it's too late for her to get there - can anyone blame her for freaking out? all he's done is ensure that she doesn't get to sleep tonight.
he could have just called her in the morning.
#$@!er.
it took me a while now to calm her down (relatively speaking), and hopefully she'll take my advice and ignore her mother until she knows what's going on - her mum told her to rush to the clinic and print out the results. neither of them are doctors.
what a great support system.
he could have just called her in the morning.
#$@!er.
it took me a while now to calm her down (relatively speaking), and hopefully she'll take my advice and ignore her mother until she knows what's going on - her mum told her to rush to the clinic and print out the results. neither of them are doctors.
what a great support system.
another evil installment
resident evil: afterlife deserves the prize for best use of 3d so far - and it has a sense of humour in addition to all its thrill, chill and dark spill. the soundtrack demonstrated elegance and sensitivity.
as much as i didn't like the second installment, the third blew me away and the fourth has satisfied me on a deep, visceral level. in spite of the squiggly things that we all know we could have done without.
---
what a pleasure to walk past the gates of my old primary base knowing that i have absolutely nothing to do with anyone or anything inside!
the relatively early morning was kinda fun. i had coffee with the guy who offered to buy my rupees; turns out we had a bit to discuss. there was one thing that bothered me, though: his sense of humour's quite dour, and the words and expressions we use have deep influence over our modes of thought and our lives in general.
they also transfer negatives much more fluidly than positives.
other than that, we had some good chuckles and i sold my rupees for a fair price. he may even pass along my cv to someone he knows, which would also be a bonus.
i made it to campus just in time to greet pg before heading into class. the first class was... slow. defining the definitions of genre; i kept trying to push in the word "consensus" but couldn't make myself heard.
between classes i had an opportunity to impress the director of the graduate program; during the next class with her she called me a "post-modernist thinker". then i thought about that, and came to the conclusion that i'm actually post-post-modernist; and not in the artistic sense.
we moved on from plato to simulacrum: is an actual person any different from their representation? of course. are they different as far as i'm concerned, if all i have to go on is my own personal reflection of them? of course not.
---
i was walking with pg and on the phone with my voicemail when the guy who'd been sitting next to me in class walked up and asked me where i work. way to go with the observational skills, buddy.
i missed karnaf, apparently, and we finish at roughly the same time and are studying in the same building... oh, well. pg had to suffer through my philosophical enthusiasm alone during lunch :P
the exact sciences building has toilets reminiscent of the eerie pub next to st. paul's. i like them.
have i mentioned enjoying working for my company? i just received the new year's gift voucher - and i kinda need that cash :))
the meeting and knowledge transfer were draining - i found myself slightly distracted. i did get some work done, but i'm not proud of the progress even if it the lack thereof is justified by the time spent not actually working :/
i read about fantasy on the way home, quickly looked up the directions to cinema city in rishon le'tzion (i'm so glad the movie was worth the mission!) and drove there; we only missed one turn and were fortunate to have plenty of time to find out way back. we also had enough time to sit at moses (sheesh! it's a lot more expensive there) over burgers and average beer.
the snack counter is even more of a giant rip-off than i expected :/
they kinda interrupted the intro to the movie with stereoscopic glass switching shenanigans.
and in spite of that... FAN-FRIKKIN'-TASTIC movie experience ^_^
as much as i didn't like the second installment, the third blew me away and the fourth has satisfied me on a deep, visceral level. in spite of the squiggly things that we all know we could have done without.
what a pleasure to walk past the gates of my old primary base knowing that i have absolutely nothing to do with anyone or anything inside!
the relatively early morning was kinda fun. i had coffee with the guy who offered to buy my rupees; turns out we had a bit to discuss. there was one thing that bothered me, though: his sense of humour's quite dour, and the words and expressions we use have deep influence over our modes of thought and our lives in general.
they also transfer negatives much more fluidly than positives.
other than that, we had some good chuckles and i sold my rupees for a fair price. he may even pass along my cv to someone he knows, which would also be a bonus.
i made it to campus just in time to greet pg before heading into class. the first class was... slow. defining the definitions of genre; i kept trying to push in the word "consensus" but couldn't make myself heard.
between classes i had an opportunity to impress the director of the graduate program; during the next class with her she called me a "post-modernist thinker". then i thought about that, and came to the conclusion that i'm actually post-post-modernist; and not in the artistic sense.
we moved on from plato to simulacrum: is an actual person any different from their representation? of course. are they different as far as i'm concerned, if all i have to go on is my own personal reflection of them? of course not.
i was walking with pg and on the phone with my voicemail when the guy who'd been sitting next to me in class walked up and asked me where i work. way to go with the observational skills, buddy.
i missed karnaf, apparently, and we finish at roughly the same time and are studying in the same building... oh, well. pg had to suffer through my philosophical enthusiasm alone during lunch :P
the exact sciences building has toilets reminiscent of the eerie pub next to st. paul's. i like them.
have i mentioned enjoying working for my company? i just received the new year's gift voucher - and i kinda need that cash :))
the meeting and knowledge transfer were draining - i found myself slightly distracted. i did get some work done, but i'm not proud of the progress even if it the lack thereof is justified by the time spent not actually working :/
i read about fantasy on the way home, quickly looked up the directions to cinema city in rishon le'tzion (i'm so glad the movie was worth the mission!) and drove there; we only missed one turn and were fortunate to have plenty of time to find out way back. we also had enough time to sit at moses (sheesh! it's a lot more expensive there) over burgers and average beer.
the snack counter is even more of a giant rip-off than i expected :/
they kinda interrupted the intro to the movie with stereoscopic glass switching shenanigans.
and in spite of that... FAN-FRIKKIN'-TASTIC movie experience ^_^
post-post-modernist
with all my theories (i have a tie somewhere that could probably match some of them) i appear to have resolved an issue regarding plato vs. aristotle: there's no argument.
the only thing that plato is missing in his concept of the universe is that while outside of his universe there exist all the ideas that will form his reality, it is only a buffer zone: beyond that, the original stimuli provided by the physical world.
as our world maps on to the real one, this is impossible to conceptualize without our layers of meaning... these are our chains, we cannot escape them.
...
these chains are what make aristotle's view of "it all being real" totally accurate.
so plato's focus is on the universal, factual world - aristotle's on the personal, meaningful one. they're both right.
the only thing that plato is missing in his concept of the universe is that while outside of his universe there exist all the ideas that will form his reality, it is only a buffer zone: beyond that, the original stimuli provided by the physical world.
as our world maps on to the real one, this is impossible to conceptualize without our layers of meaning... these are our chains, we cannot escape them.
these chains are what make aristotle's view of "it all being real" totally accurate.
so plato's focus is on the universal, factual world - aristotle's on the personal, meaningful one. they're both right.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
structural study of myth?
thank you, levi-strauss. i realize i'm working off what has probably (hopefully) been revised, but this paper has a lot of... ummm... mental masturbation in it.
it reminds me of my own interpretation of the monotheistic creation myth:
first day: god creates light. the light is divided from the darkness, and "day" and "night" are named.
okay, so when we're born our neural network is unprepared and so doesn't filter. therefore we detect everything as chaos. the first step to constructing our universe is to separate darkness and light.
second day: god creates a firmament to divide the waters above from the waters below. the firmament is named "skies".
do we differentiate between "up" and "down"? could this have something to do with our visual cortex flipping the images we see?
third day: god commands the waters below to be gathered together in one place, and dry land to appear. "earth" and "sea" are named. god commands the earth to bring forth grass, plants, and fruit-bearing trees.
so we're getting better at dealing with inanimate objects.
fourth day: god creates lights in the firmament to separate light from darkness and to mark days, seasons and years. two great lights are made (most likely the sun and moon, but not named), and the stars.
well, i'm going to have to go with the development of a sense of the passage of time. two great lights? not necessarily the sun and the moon? suspicious and intriguing.
fifth day: god commands the sea to "teem with living creatures", and birds to fly across the heavens. he creates birds and sea creatures, and commands them to be fruitful and multiply.
basic self awareness and nature. discovery and enjoyment of physical sensations once those centres of the brain have developed enough.
sixth day: god commands the land to bring forth living creatures. he makes wild beasts, livestock and reptiles. he then creates humanity in his "image" and "likeness". they are told to "be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it." the totality of creation is described by god as "very good."
very good indeed, we now have, essentially, a whole personality filled with all the bad and all the good - in particular with a sense of "self" to control all the "instinct" beasts of desire.
the "self" is cast in the image of "god", aka the subconscious mind or "software" to the physical brain's "hardware".
how're we doing so far? we still haven't provided a temporal space for all of these "days": shall we call them stages? shall we declare that this is an ongoing process and that the human psyche is recreated in different forms by each mind-blowing life-changing revelation?
seventh day: god, having completed the heavens and the earth, rests from his work, and blesses and sanctifies the seventh day.
once you've mastered your universe, you can chill and be sanctimonious. right until you realize that your take on the world isn't all that; repeat steps six and seven whenever necessary.
---
with a brain like yours, you can find whatever you're looking for.
and deny whatever facts are staring you in the face.
that's the power of god.
it reminds me of my own interpretation of the monotheistic creation myth:
first day: god creates light. the light is divided from the darkness, and "day" and "night" are named.
okay, so when we're born our neural network is unprepared and so doesn't filter. therefore we detect everything as chaos. the first step to constructing our universe is to separate darkness and light.
second day: god creates a firmament to divide the waters above from the waters below. the firmament is named "skies".
do we differentiate between "up" and "down"? could this have something to do with our visual cortex flipping the images we see?
third day: god commands the waters below to be gathered together in one place, and dry land to appear. "earth" and "sea" are named. god commands the earth to bring forth grass, plants, and fruit-bearing trees.
so we're getting better at dealing with inanimate objects.
fourth day: god creates lights in the firmament to separate light from darkness and to mark days, seasons and years. two great lights are made (most likely the sun and moon, but not named), and the stars.
well, i'm going to have to go with the development of a sense of the passage of time. two great lights? not necessarily the sun and the moon? suspicious and intriguing.
fifth day: god commands the sea to "teem with living creatures", and birds to fly across the heavens. he creates birds and sea creatures, and commands them to be fruitful and multiply.
basic self awareness and nature. discovery and enjoyment of physical sensations once those centres of the brain have developed enough.
sixth day: god commands the land to bring forth living creatures. he makes wild beasts, livestock and reptiles. he then creates humanity in his "image" and "likeness". they are told to "be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it." the totality of creation is described by god as "very good."
very good indeed, we now have, essentially, a whole personality filled with all the bad and all the good - in particular with a sense of "self" to control all the "instinct" beasts of desire.
the "self" is cast in the image of "god", aka the subconscious mind or "software" to the physical brain's "hardware".
how're we doing so far? we still haven't provided a temporal space for all of these "days": shall we call them stages? shall we declare that this is an ongoing process and that the human psyche is recreated in different forms by each mind-blowing life-changing revelation?
seventh day: god, having completed the heavens and the earth, rests from his work, and blesses and sanctifies the seventh day.
once you've mastered your universe, you can chill and be sanctimonious. right until you realize that your take on the world isn't all that; repeat steps six and seven whenever necessary.
with a brain like yours, you can find whatever you're looking for.
and deny whatever facts are staring you in the face.
that's the power of god.
quick weekend fly-by
shit - is it that late? i've still got tons of reading to do. let's just say i that i haven't been quite as focused as i'd intended.
i did have a great day, though.
it began with waking up to hatachtonim's "בואי נעבור לאזור" (let's move to azur) stuck in my head, was followed through by a day more-or-less studying*, a mixed study / online session, an argue-with-singer session (with resolution! it looks like we're done) and an awkward set of moments on the bus with a couple of the guys from the taekwondo group**.
* and arranging, at some point, tickets to Important Movies for tomorrow and monday. resident evil and scott pilgrim. nope, still ain't seen 'em.
** or not anymore. apparently everyone's given up on our instructor. that's kinda sad :/
i did have a great day, though.
it began with waking up to hatachtonim's "בואי נעבור לאזור" (let's move to azur) stuck in my head, was followed through by a day more-or-less studying*, a mixed study / online session, an argue-with-singer session (with resolution! it looks like we're done) and an awkward set of moments on the bus with a couple of the guys from the taekwondo group**.
* and arranging, at some point, tickets to Important Movies for tomorrow and monday. resident evil and scott pilgrim. nope, still ain't seen 'em.
** or not anymore. apparently everyone's given up on our instructor. that's kinda sad :/
Saturday, October 23, 2010
midnight study
dinner was great, so was discovering that pg's a big pearl jam fan. the evening was really good psychologically - there's something about the dinner that just made me feel totally comfortable :)
now i've come back to do the responsible thing and copy all the works for the week and drag my netbook back to pg's with me.
that's a lot of reading. at least most of it looks fun ^_^
now i've come back to do the responsible thing and copy all the works for the week and drag my netbook back to pg's with me.
that's a lot of reading. at least most of it looks fun ^_^
Friday, October 22, 2010
chilis
wow - that tolerance? i just ate two chilis and enjoyed them, no burn (only slightly warm), good taste. nice freaky :D
on my way there some asshole on a bike coming the other way shouted "gay" at me. i don't understand how people can be so blinded by prejudice in this day and age, and i'm straight. i don't know if i'm saddened or frustrated by the incident.
i arrived on time and had a long chat with one of the girls while wondering why we were taking so long to leave. i saw a little girl on wheels with no clue and her mother watching, also without, so i asked if i could give a hand and took her for a round with explanations.
obviously, that's when the group took their leave. obviously nobody noticed that the dude in bright orange who'd been talking to them wasn't with them. i'm kind of offended.
i tried chasing them, but everyone i asked had a different idea of where they'd gone - or hadn't seen them. a group of people on rollerblades is a bit tough to miss :S
eventually i just made up my own route, which was quite an exhausting one.
now i'm back, i've showered, and it's dinnertime at pg's.
on my way there some asshole on a bike coming the other way shouted "gay" at me. i don't understand how people can be so blinded by prejudice in this day and age, and i'm straight. i don't know if i'm saddened or frustrated by the incident.
i arrived on time and had a long chat with one of the girls while wondering why we were taking so long to leave. i saw a little girl on wheels with no clue and her mother watching, also without, so i asked if i could give a hand and took her for a round with explanations.
obviously, that's when the group took their leave. obviously nobody noticed that the dude in bright orange who'd been talking to them wasn't with them. i'm kind of offended.
i tried chasing them, but everyone i asked had a different idea of where they'd gone - or hadn't seen them. a group of people on rollerblades is a bit tough to miss :S
eventually i just made up my own route, which was quite an exhausting one.
now i'm back, i've showered, and it's dinnertime at pg's.
a handful of hours
in which i've had a most successful meeting, arranged another for an interesting-sounding job, heard that my monitor's not doing so well, discovered that rupees in israel can only be traded on the black market, seen the video (it's really interesting) and received a gift of beer from the director for that taking so long, begun transcribing my japan / india notes, shopped, learned that india has increased my tolerance for hot chili's in a big way, and now i'm off to blade.
i have most of the readings for the weekend open - that's a lot of windows :P
speaking of windows, if i do begin to freelance i'm going to need to install a copy. swak.
---
oh, right. and i've learned that some of my "friends" in goa are a bit dubious. they didn't try any of that shit on us - i suspect that knew that wouldn't go well - but they're pretty useful connections so i won't be erasing them from my contacts list.
i have most of the readings for the weekend open - that's a lot of windows :P
speaking of windows, if i do begin to freelance i'm going to need to install a copy. swak.
oh, right. and i've learned that some of my "friends" in goa are a bit dubious. they didn't try any of that shit on us - i suspect that knew that wouldn't go well - but they're pretty useful connections so i won't be erasing them from my contacts list.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
gliding - part ii
[... continued]
thursday:
eating grapefruit near a netbook is a mistake.
the day began chilling with wr and reading an informative introduction to beowulf; icg's back on campus and we happened to be sitting in her building. yay for awkwardness! wr was asked about music by some girl who ended up with a short list from me of must-listen-to's. one of the items on the list is lihi sagi. she's gonna be good ;)
i arrived at the conclusion, during our first class, that the introduction wasn't actually necessary - although there's no such thing as a waste. the first reading was performed by an american girl... beowulf with an american accent is unkind. i took the second, and felt far more comfortable than i had three days before. soon i should be breathing comfortably :P
i had a couple of questions after class, and bore witness to stg being unkind to the kindess of lecturers by asking trivialities that he didn't know what to do with. i tried to help out, then took her aside and told her to annoy me with the silly stuff and save the big ones for the instructors. i hope she wasn't offended, but i'm uncomfortable with her making herself look foolish even though i know it's her first week in academia.
i had lunch with one of the guys from the rollerblading group (canadian munchkin - cm) and then parked myself on the grass to read hiawatha. it's the same meter as cream - the tale of brave ulysses and so i cannot read it without (in my head) singing it to that tune...
pg surprised me and sat down with me for a few minutes - she was in a weird way. we ran into her brother on the way to class, but whatever that weirdness was still manifesting and the whole encounter was awkward.
--- i've been made fun of for carrying around the metal cup i bought in india.
"what, are you still backpacking?"
the reason i replaced it on my bag is that wr gave me a heads-up at the beginning of the week: it has now proved to be an invaluable addition to my gear! i can now obtain decent coffee for one shekel, *and* i'm not damaging the environment by discarding disposables.
--- the discussion on portraits and exprasis was most enlightening. in particular, i have discovered that i'm spot on for the course although i'd been feeling as confused as everyone else. i *like* knowing what's going on, i *like* seeing my questions causing other people to go "hmmmm...." :)
our last class for the week was a lot of fun! i had our lecturer laughing out loud when i described the american attitude to the native americans as akin to having confused the order of "rape, plunder, pillage" - you don't want to set fire to the house with the loot still inside it (he says, tactfully).
one of the girls i'd been speaking to on monday didn't seem too impressed with the class, and i asked what was up... she claimed to have thoroughly enjoyed it, and i claimed to lack a sense of irony. i wonder if she was offended?
the kit kat catastrophe: on my way out, desperate for chocolate, and the sneaky machine pushed the bar *just* onto the edge. there's a sliding mechanism to ensure that one can't tip the machine. this happened outside of the company's telephone support hours.
the pile-on for the bus reminded me of my favourite army line... although at least there were no fists involved. i squatted in a corner and read my magazine until getting to my stop, bought wine gums (wine gums! in israel! w00t!!!) and walked to the clinic.
it took a while to get in to see the ophthalmologist, but she was very efficient. apparently all my eye trouble can be blamed on allergies. we shall see.
a quick pre-wall nap turned into a little death; i was hopelessly bombed. around midnight i was visited by an angel, who had vanished by the time i woke up this morning. maybe i'd only dreamed that.
now to meet with a potential employer.
i'm REALLY happy with how this first week went! here's to a weekend of preparing for the next one ^_^
thursday:
eating grapefruit near a netbook is a mistake.
the day began chilling with wr and reading an informative introduction to beowulf; icg's back on campus and we happened to be sitting in her building. yay for awkwardness! wr was asked about music by some girl who ended up with a short list from me of must-listen-to's. one of the items on the list is lihi sagi. she's gonna be good ;)
i arrived at the conclusion, during our first class, that the introduction wasn't actually necessary - although there's no such thing as a waste. the first reading was performed by an american girl... beowulf with an american accent is unkind. i took the second, and felt far more comfortable than i had three days before. soon i should be breathing comfortably :P
i had a couple of questions after class, and bore witness to stg being unkind to the kindess of lecturers by asking trivialities that he didn't know what to do with. i tried to help out, then took her aside and told her to annoy me with the silly stuff and save the big ones for the instructors. i hope she wasn't offended, but i'm uncomfortable with her making herself look foolish even though i know it's her first week in academia.
i had lunch with one of the guys from the rollerblading group (canadian munchkin - cm) and then parked myself on the grass to read hiawatha. it's the same meter as cream - the tale of brave ulysses and so i cannot read it without (in my head) singing it to that tune...
pg surprised me and sat down with me for a few minutes - she was in a weird way. we ran into her brother on the way to class, but whatever that weirdness was still manifesting and the whole encounter was awkward.
"what, are you still backpacking?"
the reason i replaced it on my bag is that wr gave me a heads-up at the beginning of the week: it has now proved to be an invaluable addition to my gear! i can now obtain decent coffee for one shekel, *and* i'm not damaging the environment by discarding disposables.
our last class for the week was a lot of fun! i had our lecturer laughing out loud when i described the american attitude to the native americans as akin to having confused the order of "rape, plunder, pillage" - you don't want to set fire to the house with the loot still inside it (he says, tactfully).
one of the girls i'd been speaking to on monday didn't seem too impressed with the class, and i asked what was up... she claimed to have thoroughly enjoyed it, and i claimed to lack a sense of irony. i wonder if she was offended?
the kit kat catastrophe: on my way out, desperate for chocolate, and the sneaky machine pushed the bar *just* onto the edge. there's a sliding mechanism to ensure that one can't tip the machine. this happened outside of the company's telephone support hours.
the pile-on for the bus reminded me of my favourite army line... although at least there were no fists involved. i squatted in a corner and read my magazine until getting to my stop, bought wine gums (wine gums! in israel! w00t!!!) and walked to the clinic.
it took a while to get in to see the ophthalmologist, but she was very efficient. apparently all my eye trouble can be blamed on allergies. we shall see.
a quick pre-wall nap turned into a little death; i was hopelessly bombed. around midnight i was visited by an angel, who had vanished by the time i woke up this morning. maybe i'd only dreamed that.
now to meet with a potential employer.
i'm REALLY happy with how this first week went! here's to a weekend of preparing for the next one ^_^
gliding - part i
[post divided retroactively]
today being friday bears witness to the fluid, exaggerated nature of the last two days. i've just woken up - as usual more for some misguided biological principle than for having acquired enough sleep - to perform a review of the whirlwind's beginning before venturing to tidy up the next seven days.
--- tuesday night: return to the group was strange and wonderful. there was a lot more talking than blading, which was only to be expected, but the route was fun and the chatter almost entirely pleasant. the only thing that wasn't pleasant involved one of the girls: a couple of us were talking to her when her contact slipped. she disappeared, we carried on talking, and only later discovered that it had torn, and that she'd almost been left behind.
i felt like a real heel.
by the time we'd completed the run i had to desperately drink a coke to prevent myself from passing out.
i had lots of material to catch up with before wednesday's classes - pg came over to finish watching the 60's, i cracked open a beer once we'd both settled in to our respective positions in the lounge and we ended up going to bed around 4am, both still with slightly moist cheeks from the movie. i've seen it a couple of times now, and so can be touched even with my back turned.
aside from the movie in the background, i'd spent the three hours unhappily discovering that the primary text with its insipid, awkward construction was nothing more than a long vent against a previous claim. i'm still not sure what the point being made was.
--- wednesday:
it's not easy getting out of bed early when you're lying next to someone who you know is going to sleep late.
it's been a heatwave week, and the crowded bus was even hotter than the air outside. all of us clambered out of the sardine can sweaty and uncomfortable to drag heels up the steps to the university. first class with the professor? after the morning's ugly readings? great.
i kept a seat for stg - who arrived seconds before we began and aggravated the ta (the ta's own fault, though - she put her gear on the seat next to me when i wasn't looking). score one negative mark. stg then informed me that she'd sent a whiny email to the ta concerning the quantity of prep-work: score two. this ain't your animation campus kansas anymore, sweety.
and then she left class early, to the professor's ire and agitation. it was suggested that names will now be taken before *and* after class. jeez. and score three.
the next class was much more fun - totally my style. we argued plato's allegory of the cave; not a lot of people seemed to be getting what was going on. i, personally, now consider myself an "anti-plato" in that i agree with the allegory, only i understand that it is not the thoughts that come first. those initial thoughts are derived from our physical sensory input. the fact that we have absolutely no way to consider that input in a meaningful manner doesn't detract from their reality.
i didn't have much time to talk with pg before she had to get to class and i to meet for cheap lunch with comixer (the mongoose's real best friend) and lawn arguments with both him and eidetic concerning the nature of scientific thought.
--- what is science? when we talk of the physical realm, we have a method of analysing our observations to extract hypotheses and then testing them to ensure that they are correct. as there is only one physical space with one set of rules, the results of this process can only be correct if they are consistent with everything else we know - or vice versa. [see quantum physics vs theory of general relativity]
as the psychology of a human is inherently contradictory and open to interpretation, no such limitation or measure of accuracy is possible. the method is the same, ie. scientific, but it is possible to determine and prove two contradictory results.
having said that, it is still possible to call "bullshit!" on a piece of literary criticism.
--- the debate also touched on the function of a university and the "new model" of it being a place to acquire lists of marks as opposed to an education, but that's a big topic.
i had to leave on an unfinished note - to everyone's dismay, apparently - to get to work. on my way to the office urchin called looking for advice regarding an interesting opportunity: she'll have to pay for it, but i threw her a positive voice because, as i told her, we only live once :)
aspie, the girl i work with who's always giving me shit (but we seem to be friends, it's always fun and awkward to fight with her) was excited and wretched; the only thing i wasn't impressed with was a weird moment when she crossed a line by tapping my head with her shoe. otherwise it was all business as usual :P
i'd intended to catch up on readings during my shift. i got through a bit, but as i was the only agent on duty and the lines rang for most of the two hours i didn't do enough to be satisfied...
...
i was supposed to meet with the director after work but he called to say he couldn't make it - i'm disappointed. then i spoke to a girl who's looking for subjects for a colour interpretation study on campus, and i'll be paid to participate. this is almost like agreeing to medical experiments... i'm not far off, i tell you :P
pg and i took a bus to the barbie, arriving there on time and an hour early (depends on which way you look at it). we went off to find food - i don't know about the quality of the chicken livers i ate, but the meal hit the spot) and talk about the chest-leading scenes from donnie darko: i think i may be on to something.
balabusta surprised me with how good they were, but hatachtonim gave a *real* performance. as usual. they kick ass! and pg appears to have enjoyed it too :))
it being a few hours before a long day we took a taxi home. i was convinced to take part in messing with our driver by the other drivers hanging around; he got really upset at first but then calmed down and was quite amiable on the way home :)
i completed honore de balzac - at the sign of the cat and racket before realizing that i wouldn't be able to continue without sleep.
--- dead sleep ---
[continued...]
today being friday bears witness to the fluid, exaggerated nature of the last two days. i've just woken up - as usual more for some misguided biological principle than for having acquired enough sleep - to perform a review of the whirlwind's beginning before venturing to tidy up the next seven days.
i felt like a real heel.
by the time we'd completed the run i had to desperately drink a coke to prevent myself from passing out.
i had lots of material to catch up with before wednesday's classes - pg came over to finish watching the 60's, i cracked open a beer once we'd both settled in to our respective positions in the lounge and we ended up going to bed around 4am, both still with slightly moist cheeks from the movie. i've seen it a couple of times now, and so can be touched even with my back turned.
aside from the movie in the background, i'd spent the three hours unhappily discovering that the primary text with its insipid, awkward construction was nothing more than a long vent against a previous claim. i'm still not sure what the point being made was.
it's not easy getting out of bed early when you're lying next to someone who you know is going to sleep late.
it's been a heatwave week, and the crowded bus was even hotter than the air outside. all of us clambered out of the sardine can sweaty and uncomfortable to drag heels up the steps to the university. first class with the professor? after the morning's ugly readings? great.
i kept a seat for stg - who arrived seconds before we began and aggravated the ta (the ta's own fault, though - she put her gear on the seat next to me when i wasn't looking). score one negative mark. stg then informed me that she'd sent a whiny email to the ta concerning the quantity of prep-work: score two. this ain't your animation campus kansas anymore, sweety.
and then she left class early, to the professor's ire and agitation. it was suggested that names will now be taken before *and* after class. jeez. and score three.
the next class was much more fun - totally my style. we argued plato's allegory of the cave; not a lot of people seemed to be getting what was going on. i, personally, now consider myself an "anti-plato" in that i agree with the allegory, only i understand that it is not the thoughts that come first. those initial thoughts are derived from our physical sensory input. the fact that we have absolutely no way to consider that input in a meaningful manner doesn't detract from their reality.
i didn't have much time to talk with pg before she had to get to class and i to meet for cheap lunch with comixer (the mongoose's real best friend) and lawn arguments with both him and eidetic concerning the nature of scientific thought.
as the psychology of a human is inherently contradictory and open to interpretation, no such limitation or measure of accuracy is possible. the method is the same, ie. scientific, but it is possible to determine and prove two contradictory results.
having said that, it is still possible to call "bullshit!" on a piece of literary criticism.
i had to leave on an unfinished note - to everyone's dismay, apparently - to get to work. on my way to the office urchin called looking for advice regarding an interesting opportunity: she'll have to pay for it, but i threw her a positive voice because, as i told her, we only live once :)
aspie, the girl i work with who's always giving me shit (but we seem to be friends, it's always fun and awkward to fight with her) was excited and wretched; the only thing i wasn't impressed with was a weird moment when she crossed a line by tapping my head with her shoe. otherwise it was all business as usual :P
i'd intended to catch up on readings during my shift. i got through a bit, but as i was the only agent on duty and the lines rang for most of the two hours i didn't do enough to be satisfied...
...
i was supposed to meet with the director after work but he called to say he couldn't make it - i'm disappointed. then i spoke to a girl who's looking for subjects for a colour interpretation study on campus, and i'll be paid to participate. this is almost like agreeing to medical experiments... i'm not far off, i tell you :P
pg and i took a bus to the barbie, arriving there on time and an hour early (depends on which way you look at it). we went off to find food - i don't know about the quality of the chicken livers i ate, but the meal hit the spot) and talk about the chest-leading scenes from donnie darko: i think i may be on to something.
balabusta surprised me with how good they were, but hatachtonim gave a *real* performance. as usual. they kick ass! and pg appears to have enjoyed it too :))
it being a few hours before a long day we took a taxi home. i was convinced to take part in messing with our driver by the other drivers hanging around; he got really upset at first but then calmed down and was quite amiable on the way home :)
i completed honore de balzac - at the sign of the cat and racket before realizing that i wouldn't be able to continue without sleep.
[continued...]
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
from music to cavemen
i was quite surprised this morning to discover that within fifteen minutes i could arrive at the health ministry's offices and within another fifteen be done there. i also learned the hebrew word for conjunctiva and that itis means "infection".
urchin had forgotten our plans, which worked to our advantage as i randomly walked down the road until i arrived at george, which appeared to be a good enough spot. as i sat down i overheard the waitress mentioning playing music and i offered my ipod to their service.
so the music was excellent - i was worried that the randomness of the playlist would cause embarrassing moments but when asaf avidan - hangwoman came on the waitress came out to thank me for making her day. the music just got better and better; urchin arrived and we had a wonderful breakfast, and by the time we were ready to go the waitress was having none of it: "you? you're not going anywhere. my shift ends at 2pm, and you *can't* take the ipod away from me!"
i let her play one last song (wolfmother) before apologizing and dragging it away. we'd even received cookies with our coffee and a plate of brownies as thanks - the other patrons had been enjoying the groovy psychedelic rock too ^_^
i hopped a bus to the american embassy. i stood outside for a while, but the guard did me a personal favour and took my passport with its exit visa in to determine my status; usually the response is "no invitation, no entrance". he came back after a few minutes and informed me that i have nothing to worry about, i'm registered as having left the country and the exit visa is worthless.
cool!
i bussed to campus, waited a short while and was informed that there will be no reductions in municipal taxes for me because i earned a good enough salary during the last three months of 2009. that's... ummm... not a particularly enlightened or fair policy.
i sat on the grass and waited for pg to finish her class, then she joined me in the cafeteria for lunch. the ghoulash was well made if i don't take into account the plastic tag i found in it...
after she gave me a quick tour of the library i ducked, running into my first welfare officer for an amusing chat - their entire office is studying at tel aviv this year :)
after a long and funny interchange with my insurance agent, i arrived at work only to discover that the systems were down. at least the material i need to read is in my pc's memory, and our english major manager is in :)
once the systems were back up i spent the afternoon rediscovering weird flex bits and applying for jobs.
note to self: don't argue with people over who had the worse military service. you're going to win.
having the guys in the next room harping on loudly about the army wasn't comfortable for me. i need a bit more time, i think.
i finally found what i was looking for (it's not a bad setup, but flex is somewhat too subtle for my tastes - i don't like having to search so long), printed a copy of allegory of the cave and read it on the way home, pausing only to have my ears burned by a long call from someone who received my cv this afternoon. now prepping to return to the rollerblading group.
urchin had forgotten our plans, which worked to our advantage as i randomly walked down the road until i arrived at george, which appeared to be a good enough spot. as i sat down i overheard the waitress mentioning playing music and i offered my ipod to their service.
so the music was excellent - i was worried that the randomness of the playlist would cause embarrassing moments but when asaf avidan - hangwoman came on the waitress came out to thank me for making her day. the music just got better and better; urchin arrived and we had a wonderful breakfast, and by the time we were ready to go the waitress was having none of it: "you? you're not going anywhere. my shift ends at 2pm, and you *can't* take the ipod away from me!"
i let her play one last song (wolfmother) before apologizing and dragging it away. we'd even received cookies with our coffee and a plate of brownies as thanks - the other patrons had been enjoying the groovy psychedelic rock too ^_^
i hopped a bus to the american embassy. i stood outside for a while, but the guard did me a personal favour and took my passport with its exit visa in to determine my status; usually the response is "no invitation, no entrance". he came back after a few minutes and informed me that i have nothing to worry about, i'm registered as having left the country and the exit visa is worthless.
cool!
i bussed to campus, waited a short while and was informed that there will be no reductions in municipal taxes for me because i earned a good enough salary during the last three months of 2009. that's... ummm... not a particularly enlightened or fair policy.
i sat on the grass and waited for pg to finish her class, then she joined me in the cafeteria for lunch. the ghoulash was well made if i don't take into account the plastic tag i found in it...
after she gave me a quick tour of the library i ducked, running into my first welfare officer for an amusing chat - their entire office is studying at tel aviv this year :)
after a long and funny interchange with my insurance agent, i arrived at work only to discover that the systems were down. at least the material i need to read is in my pc's memory, and our english major manager is in :)
once the systems were back up i spent the afternoon rediscovering weird flex bits and applying for jobs.
note to self: don't argue with people over who had the worse military service. you're going to win.
having the guys in the next room harping on loudly about the army wasn't comfortable for me. i need a bit more time, i think.
i finally found what i was looking for (it's not a bad setup, but flex is somewhat too subtle for my tastes - i don't like having to search so long), printed a copy of allegory of the cave and read it on the way home, pausing only to have my ears burned by a long call from someone who received my cv this afternoon. now prepping to return to the rollerblading group.
a second day
holy crap! the girl i danced with and whose photo i have up on my wall? i've just had a name put to the face - she's dating a friend of mine. finally i know who to give a copy to! ^_^
otherwise, i gotta be up in less than six hours to Get Shit Done and i'm at breaking point.
--- scrapper and i were talking on the weekend about someone he knows who claimed to have served with me in my original post, but his name didn't ring a bell. or it did, but a very faint one. a day later he requested facebook friendship, and when i saw his face everything clicked.
this morning i ran into him on my way to our building... he's studying across the road :P
he offered to pass through my cv to a friend of his - every pass counts!
i arrived to register for my other two courses and was sent downstairs to the dismay of the two secretaries downstairs. once we'd agreed that we were all confused i returned upstairs but had to wait what seemed an age for our secretary to get off the phone... she hadn't recognized me the first time. registration took a few seconds and i received an apology.
i had enough time to make appointments to see the ophthalmologist and dermatologist, pick up backpacks from the student union and say hi to wr before finding my class. while we waited for it to begin we learned about connecting to campus wifi. decidedly useful, but potentially disastrous.
the first class was alright - we were asked to introduce ourselves at random and i was a bit nervous that we'd get to me; i'm almost exactly what the lecturer was looking for to use as an example. we read from the bible, i shared an opinion on how to read chaucer (with a scottish accent it all makes sense!) and i met a fellow student in a similar situation.
from there i launched myself to work, to spend an almost exact hour having lunch and familiarizing myself with and documenting our new bug tracker. i managed to get back *just* in time for my seminar.
*ahem*
as the only male in the class, i felt a bit awkward. scrapper was waxing lyrical about how good the biology girls look, but they sit across from us and they don't have a patch on ours... that's neither here nor there, though. the biggest differentiator is that i'm not an english major. not yet, at least. and there i was, volunteering to read after one of the girls made a hash of the first reading.
you know, i was far too aware of the fact that i read that piece too well. so aware was i that i became embarrassed - i wasn't intending to show anyone up - and as i don't speak well in front of others my breath started catching, and suddenly i wasn't reading so nicely any more.
i almost hope i don't get asked again, but i do kinda want to get used to it :P
the cute blonde girl next to me kept staring at my feet. i really wanted to know what she was thinking.
i was totally unsure of myself after that class, and milled about randomly for a bit. i eventually settled on coffee and sat down to look up required reading on my netbook when a really good looking girl stopped and asked me how my week was getting along. i looked up at her, and had no clue who she was. i stared a bit, apologized, and explained that i could grasp no context wherein we'd met...
... so it turns out she was with me when i registered on thursday.
"thursday? that seems such a long time ago..."
all of us in the next class (the one i was particularly excited about) were a bit confused to find our room a tad small for forty students. we were literally crammed in in awkward angles and it's a good thing our professor has a sense of humour. actually, most of the class does - i've made a couple of new friends today :)
--- i had a long and educational chat with my mum on the bus to work; in particular, my uncle's not doing so well in his battle with prostate cancer and it upsets me that he's so uncomfortable.
--- i spent an hour or so at work Making a Difference - i was given a menial task to perform and i did *just* enough of it to be able to pass it along to one of the managers and get him to fill in the blanks. then i went to visit pg, meeting her sister and brother-in-law. we didn't have much time together before i had to return to receive nystire and the printer (yay! printer for studies!), and the two of us went to bleecker for dinner (good diner) where tahoma joined us.
as usual, this has taken a lot longer than it should have :P
--- one thing i've learned in india is to smile at people when i catch them looking at me. this works really well in israel, too!
--- right - beer's done, teeth will be brushed and crashing will be performed.
otherwise, i gotta be up in less than six hours to Get Shit Done and i'm at breaking point.
this morning i ran into him on my way to our building... he's studying across the road :P
he offered to pass through my cv to a friend of his - every pass counts!
i arrived to register for my other two courses and was sent downstairs to the dismay of the two secretaries downstairs. once we'd agreed that we were all confused i returned upstairs but had to wait what seemed an age for our secretary to get off the phone... she hadn't recognized me the first time. registration took a few seconds and i received an apology.
i had enough time to make appointments to see the ophthalmologist and dermatologist, pick up backpacks from the student union and say hi to wr before finding my class. while we waited for it to begin we learned about connecting to campus wifi. decidedly useful, but potentially disastrous.
the first class was alright - we were asked to introduce ourselves at random and i was a bit nervous that we'd get to me; i'm almost exactly what the lecturer was looking for to use as an example. we read from the bible, i shared an opinion on how to read chaucer (with a scottish accent it all makes sense!) and i met a fellow student in a similar situation.
from there i launched myself to work, to spend an almost exact hour having lunch and familiarizing myself with and documenting our new bug tracker. i managed to get back *just* in time for my seminar.
*ahem*
as the only male in the class, i felt a bit awkward. scrapper was waxing lyrical about how good the biology girls look, but they sit across from us and they don't have a patch on ours... that's neither here nor there, though. the biggest differentiator is that i'm not an english major. not yet, at least. and there i was, volunteering to read after one of the girls made a hash of the first reading.
you know, i was far too aware of the fact that i read that piece too well. so aware was i that i became embarrassed - i wasn't intending to show anyone up - and as i don't speak well in front of others my breath started catching, and suddenly i wasn't reading so nicely any more.
i almost hope i don't get asked again, but i do kinda want to get used to it :P
the cute blonde girl next to me kept staring at my feet. i really wanted to know what she was thinking.
i was totally unsure of myself after that class, and milled about randomly for a bit. i eventually settled on coffee and sat down to look up required reading on my netbook when a really good looking girl stopped and asked me how my week was getting along. i looked up at her, and had no clue who she was. i stared a bit, apologized, and explained that i could grasp no context wherein we'd met...
... so it turns out she was with me when i registered on thursday.
"thursday? that seems such a long time ago..."
all of us in the next class (the one i was particularly excited about) were a bit confused to find our room a tad small for forty students. we were literally crammed in in awkward angles and it's a good thing our professor has a sense of humour. actually, most of the class does - i've made a couple of new friends today :)
as usual, this has taken a lot longer than it should have :P
Monday, October 18, 2010
it's such a perfect day...
no, really. it was BRILLIANT. i had a quick breakfast and was on my way to the bus when i suddenly realized i didn't have a copy of my timetable - good thing i live right next to the bus stop :)
the bus ride was absorbed by reading and grooving. this last wired is full of interesting things (as usual) but there's something new in the editing: i keep finding myself grinning or laughing; this month has a great sense of irony.
i began the day with wr at gillman, then walked a pensioner to her first class before entering mine. my class was quiet - eerily so - because it was the first university class for most of the people in it. even when i was joined by star trek girl (stg) we felt the need to whisper.
we sat discussing tokyo (she's taking courses in japanese) until our purple wonder waltzed in - i hear her taste has actually improved over the years. the first course, narrative analysis, was fascinating and awkwardly challenging. i spent its entirety competing to be the first to submit the syllabus to the student union - there was a prize involved - by entering it using my phone's numerical keypad. this turned out to be quite complex - two full pages of sources - and i was a little distracted sometimes.
so there's me answering the wrong questions. i was well pleased that my answer proved useful on a different level, though, and i actually got to participate and argue with our professor on the first day :)
i'd heard a lot of things about her that weren't so positive, but now i can judge for myself and i think she's great.
pg was waiting for me outside (same building on sundays) and guided me to my next class. the introduction to literary theory was really cool and not a little mind-bending ^_^
i don't remember ever enjoying a class so much! i have this weird sensation that this is what i was *meant* to be doing.
i met with wr afterwards, then pg joined the two of us and we got our bus passes and student union memberships sorted out. from there i had to skip to work for a meeting with the boss, totally high from the morning's fun ^_^
the meeting was really satisfying, we appear to be on the same page for pretty much everything. i spent an hour or two afterwards getting back into the development side of things (and being informed that i have a shift this week), then returned to campus to pick up pg and drag her along to the galapagos photo exhibit and the poetry reading by keren alkalay-gut. wr joined us at the end, and introduced me to her as a fan (panic ensemble) who'll be taking a class with her in a few hours (w00t!!!).
i was planning on going back to work, but i wound up at pg's place and just didn't feel like it.
on the way to her place, i talked to scrapper. he also had a terrific start to the academic year (he's followed the kid down south), and wanted to let me know about a dream he had that i take as one of the biggest compliments i've ever received:
i swung by to visit you, and walked in to find you naked, hovering in the lotus position about six feet in the air.
damn.
--- i had a restless night - not the best way to close such a great day :(
the bus ride was absorbed by reading and grooving. this last wired is full of interesting things (as usual) but there's something new in the editing: i keep finding myself grinning or laughing; this month has a great sense of irony.
i began the day with wr at gillman, then walked a pensioner to her first class before entering mine. my class was quiet - eerily so - because it was the first university class for most of the people in it. even when i was joined by star trek girl (stg) we felt the need to whisper.
we sat discussing tokyo (she's taking courses in japanese) until our purple wonder waltzed in - i hear her taste has actually improved over the years. the first course, narrative analysis, was fascinating and awkwardly challenging. i spent its entirety competing to be the first to submit the syllabus to the student union - there was a prize involved - by entering it using my phone's numerical keypad. this turned out to be quite complex - two full pages of sources - and i was a little distracted sometimes.
so there's me answering the wrong questions. i was well pleased that my answer proved useful on a different level, though, and i actually got to participate and argue with our professor on the first day :)
i'd heard a lot of things about her that weren't so positive, but now i can judge for myself and i think she's great.
pg was waiting for me outside (same building on sundays) and guided me to my next class. the introduction to literary theory was really cool and not a little mind-bending ^_^
i don't remember ever enjoying a class so much! i have this weird sensation that this is what i was *meant* to be doing.
i met with wr afterwards, then pg joined the two of us and we got our bus passes and student union memberships sorted out. from there i had to skip to work for a meeting with the boss, totally high from the morning's fun ^_^
the meeting was really satisfying, we appear to be on the same page for pretty much everything. i spent an hour or two afterwards getting back into the development side of things (and being informed that i have a shift this week), then returned to campus to pick up pg and drag her along to the galapagos photo exhibit and the poetry reading by keren alkalay-gut. wr joined us at the end, and introduced me to her as a fan (panic ensemble) who'll be taking a class with her in a few hours (w00t!!!).
i was planning on going back to work, but i wound up at pg's place and just didn't feel like it.
on the way to her place, i talked to scrapper. he also had a terrific start to the academic year (he's followed the kid down south), and wanted to let me know about a dream he had that i take as one of the biggest compliments i've ever received:
i swung by to visit you, and walked in to find you naked, hovering in the lotus position about six feet in the air.
damn.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
where'd it go???
*boy* did that weekend fly by fast!
dinner with pg's mum and brother last night was great (etnachta) and interesting (her brother lived in japan and both him and their mother are pretty cool) and amusing (the waitress spilled a glass of wine over my lap; i was wearing heavy pants so we got desserts even though nothing bad happened).
we were picked up by scrapper and made our way to the eatliz performance at the tmuna theatre. did i say eatliz? i meant lee triffon and an ensemble. i knew that there was going to be a set of classical versions of their songs, but i was under the impression that the band would be performing more traditionally as well...
... the music was really nice and i appreciate the effort. a bit too soothing for our tastes, though. we were all falling asleep by about halfway through.
...
i would've joined pg in staying in bed if my nose and throat hadn't made me sleep miserably and popped me awake at 8am. i crept out and came home to sort out my apartment, prep for tomorrow's classes and catch up online, then returned for tea and chilling until we decided it was time for lunch (late lunch). karnaf was also looking to eat, so we met up with him at ze sushi (the sushi chef was in - he even sent us a complimentary shitaki salad) for excellent food and saki while catching up.
pg and i came back to my place to watch part 1 of the 60's while i sorted out documents and things, then took a walk to the lincoln to play pool (i'm completely off form) and be horribly surprised at how expensive it's become. i won't be going back for a while... at least until i have a big person's salary behind me :P
now it's time to shower and crash. it's been a loooooooooong wait for tomorrow to come ^_^
---
this is tough to watch. what i really wish is that someone would make a documentary covering both sides, because while these guys aren't wrong this definitely isn't fair coverage.
software development (high level) is not factory work. as ironic as this may be, it's the reality.
duck sauce - barbara streisand is pretty funky!
dinner with pg's mum and brother last night was great (etnachta) and interesting (her brother lived in japan and both him and their mother are pretty cool) and amusing (the waitress spilled a glass of wine over my lap; i was wearing heavy pants so we got desserts even though nothing bad happened).
we were picked up by scrapper and made our way to the eatliz performance at the tmuna theatre. did i say eatliz? i meant lee triffon and an ensemble. i knew that there was going to be a set of classical versions of their songs, but i was under the impression that the band would be performing more traditionally as well...
... the music was really nice and i appreciate the effort. a bit too soothing for our tastes, though. we were all falling asleep by about halfway through.
...
i would've joined pg in staying in bed if my nose and throat hadn't made me sleep miserably and popped me awake at 8am. i crept out and came home to sort out my apartment, prep for tomorrow's classes and catch up online, then returned for tea and chilling until we decided it was time for lunch (late lunch). karnaf was also looking to eat, so we met up with him at ze sushi (the sushi chef was in - he even sent us a complimentary shitaki salad) for excellent food and saki while catching up.
pg and i came back to my place to watch part 1 of the 60's while i sorted out documents and things, then took a walk to the lincoln to play pool (i'm completely off form) and be horribly surprised at how expensive it's become. i won't be going back for a while... at least until i have a big person's salary behind me :P
now it's time to shower and crash. it's been a loooooooooong wait for tomorrow to come ^_^
this is tough to watch. what i really wish is that someone would make a documentary covering both sides, because while these guys aren't wrong this definitely isn't fair coverage.
software development (high level) is not factory work. as ironic as this may be, it's the reality.
duck sauce - barbara streisand is pretty funky!
Friday, October 15, 2010
a new beginning - part ii
[... continued]
i had quite an interesting chat with kc's mother when i called to wish her a happy birthday - she's a huge fan of india and we both have a lot to say :)
here's where the plans all crumbled. i'd planned on passing by a birthday party, ducking quickly to shower and get dressed then meeting up with pg and going to a friend of hers' birthday party. but then i realized that i work right by singer's place and i promised to help her out with a song that needs reworking...
... if we hadn't argued so much about one line (still unresolved) i might've made it on time to the party. even if i *had* made it on time (without getting a bit lost and having to jump a fence) botchman's bike broke down, throwing quite the spanner in the works. we left a lot later than planned, and i felt really bad about having stood up pg.
but she was surprisingly (okay, not *so* surprisingly) understanding. we sat over a drink, talking until we both passed out.
--- waking up in such a beautiful apartment with her was amazing. it really does feel like i'm living someone else's life. it took us forever to get up and get started with the day...
i picked up my pc and discovered, to my great despair, that the primary problem was with the monitor. so i've now sent that in (good thing i couldn't get rid of my old one!) and my system has an additional fan which is good regardless. pg came over to use the internet and she helped me sort out the application for my student card and came with me to send it. we had breakfast at coffeeholic - they've had a bad season and i can see why (the new guys just aren't cutting it) - and said goodbye, then i went home intending to nap.
no chance. yogi met me a short while later and we went back to coffeeholic for coffee and business. i'm very happy with what he had to propose and i hope it comes through. we'll see soon - it would be a very sweet deal for both of us.
i came back, began posting all my tokyo photos, did some quick shopping (although i've been feeling horrible, a bit feverish and my throat's buggered) and came back to post... communicate... and have my apartment boarded by scrapper and botchman. we talked and talked, laughed and laughed, and closed on a serious note regarding the new loyalty declaration law (which i quite agree with).
now i need to nap a bit before deciding whether or not to eat dinner with pg's mum. i'm tired.
i had quite an interesting chat with kc's mother when i called to wish her a happy birthday - she's a huge fan of india and we both have a lot to say :)
here's where the plans all crumbled. i'd planned on passing by a birthday party, ducking quickly to shower and get dressed then meeting up with pg and going to a friend of hers' birthday party. but then i realized that i work right by singer's place and i promised to help her out with a song that needs reworking...
... if we hadn't argued so much about one line (still unresolved) i might've made it on time to the party. even if i *had* made it on time (without getting a bit lost and having to jump a fence) botchman's bike broke down, throwing quite the spanner in the works. we left a lot later than planned, and i felt really bad about having stood up pg.
but she was surprisingly (okay, not *so* surprisingly) understanding. we sat over a drink, talking until we both passed out.
i picked up my pc and discovered, to my great despair, that the primary problem was with the monitor. so i've now sent that in (good thing i couldn't get rid of my old one!) and my system has an additional fan which is good regardless. pg came over to use the internet and she helped me sort out the application for my student card and came with me to send it. we had breakfast at coffeeholic - they've had a bad season and i can see why (the new guys just aren't cutting it) - and said goodbye, then i went home intending to nap.
no chance. yogi met me a short while later and we went back to coffeeholic for coffee and business. i'm very happy with what he had to propose and i hope it comes through. we'll see soon - it would be a very sweet deal for both of us.
i came back, began posting all my tokyo photos, did some quick shopping (although i've been feeling horrible, a bit feverish and my throat's buggered) and came back to post... communicate... and have my apartment boarded by scrapper and botchman. we talked and talked, laughed and laughed, and closed on a serious note regarding the new loyalty declaration law (which i quite agree with).
now i need to nap a bit before deciding whether or not to eat dinner with pg's mum. i'm tired.
a new beginning - part i
[this post divided retroactively]
wednesday aftermath
okay, the jordanians are some of the best pilots i've seen in my travels. the indians are the worst, hands down (we suspected them of being drunk). our flight back from amman was hell; it was a forty-five minute trip with no air-conditioning (it was about 35ᵒ) and the stewardesses made a point of ignoring us.
landing in israel... strange. i've been gone so long it feels like i'm on holiday here :P
pg was the only person who remembered what date i was due to arrive... i thought i was landing on thursday, my kibbutz cousin (my travel agent) thought the weekend. i grooved while waiting for the baggage, said goodbye to a couple of fellow travellers and found my pick up :)
she dropped me off at home, i shaved and showered and felt weird about being in what feels like someone else's life, then went to pg's new place.
holy shit.
it's AWESOME.
i presented my gifts - whoo hoo! majimaji patchouli survived all the way from tokyo! - and even got one in return from her trip to london, i opened a bottle of johnny walker and she a bottle of wine and we sat on her roof - crap! she has an awesome rooftop in *our* area of tel aviv! - and talked under the stars (now a few less than i'm used to seeing :P) for a while.
we went for dinner at cafesito, but we were too tired to stay there long. i walked her back to her place then continued to mine, spoke to a few people (including my mum) and handled some internet urgents, then went to bed. umm... not before having an awful line pop into my head:
"did anyone else notice that indians talks about green vegetables like the germans talk about their parents?"
it was getting into bed that a spider bit my knee. i didn't see what kind it was, but was fortunate enough to catch it in time to squeeze out all the poison. however, being as paranoid as i am, i spent the next hour online fact-checking until i ascertained that one only really needs to worry about a spider bite if it doesn't start getting better within 24 hours.
cool.
i realized that new moon rising is wanna take you higher (from 7:16): sweet!
i crashed.
--- i woke up yesterday morning at 7.30am to backup my photos from my phone and find my computer dead. bummer. i went to the bank to sort out my account; all the problems were solved but i still haven't found a satisfactory explanation for dollars being treated differently :S
i met urchin for coffee at cafesito; not only was the service lousy, her health news was as well :(
at least her exhibit went well, though, and i'm really glad she's opened a door for her career!
i took my pc to the shop for repair, then strapped on my blades and headed to the doctor. it felt good to have them on again!
i was overheating when i arrived, so a bit sweaty but that *was* the first proper effort i've made since the bronx... the old lady next to me was a bit creepy, though. the secretary and i both stared in horror as she made horrible noises scratching her feet on the couch.
i have perfect timing - the doctor and the clinic's nurse were going through some things when i walked in, and i heard them discussing what to do about the clinic secretary's farewell gift.
"mind if i interject?"
"sure."
"did you guys have a house-warming for her new apartment?"
how did i remember that?? they were well pleased for the suggestion :)
the doctor provided the referrals for the last (hopefully) of my tests, allayed my fears regarding the spider bite and sent me on my way. once home, i got ready to roll out to the university... on the way, i called up ze british german to arrange to meet.
and lo! he was on his way to visit his accountant. so we met up and i joined him. he was quite surprised to see how much hair i have :)
the accountant and i consulted in trade for me fixing his printer. he explained to me everything i need to know about freelancing, which is a lot simpler than i expected. now to see how things play out.
i walked past my office intending to say hi, but nobody was around. good thing i remembered the security code - that could have been embarrassing! i spoke to the it dept (embarrassing myself by not remembering their names) and got reinstated, quickly scanned email then left for campus.
registering for my courses was EXTREMELY exciting ^_^
i ate a crappy meal while reading wired (with a great big smile on my face) before heading back to work, this time catching the boss and main manager and spending an hour and a half reintegrating and sorting out my study schedule. aside from an embarrassing incident involving a forgotten password and mild irritation with google's calendar - repeated events are problematic to move - i have discovered that one of the girls from the rollerblading group will be taking most of my courses with me! and wr may or may not take the same seminar... i really hope he does.
[continued...]
wednesday aftermath
okay, the jordanians are some of the best pilots i've seen in my travels. the indians are the worst, hands down (we suspected them of being drunk). our flight back from amman was hell; it was a forty-five minute trip with no air-conditioning (it was about 35ᵒ) and the stewardesses made a point of ignoring us.
landing in israel... strange. i've been gone so long it feels like i'm on holiday here :P
pg was the only person who remembered what date i was due to arrive... i thought i was landing on thursday, my kibbutz cousin (my travel agent) thought the weekend. i grooved while waiting for the baggage, said goodbye to a couple of fellow travellers and found my pick up :)
she dropped me off at home, i shaved and showered and felt weird about being in what feels like someone else's life, then went to pg's new place.
holy shit.
it's AWESOME.
i presented my gifts - whoo hoo! majimaji patchouli survived all the way from tokyo! - and even got one in return from her trip to london, i opened a bottle of johnny walker and she a bottle of wine and we sat on her roof - crap! she has an awesome rooftop in *our* area of tel aviv! - and talked under the stars (now a few less than i'm used to seeing :P) for a while.
we went for dinner at cafesito, but we were too tired to stay there long. i walked her back to her place then continued to mine, spoke to a few people (including my mum) and handled some internet urgents, then went to bed. umm... not before having an awful line pop into my head:
"did anyone else notice that indians talks about green vegetables like the germans talk about their parents?"
it was getting into bed that a spider bit my knee. i didn't see what kind it was, but was fortunate enough to catch it in time to squeeze out all the poison. however, being as paranoid as i am, i spent the next hour online fact-checking until i ascertained that one only really needs to worry about a spider bite if it doesn't start getting better within 24 hours.
cool.
i realized that new moon rising is wanna take you higher (from 7:16): sweet!
i crashed.
i met urchin for coffee at cafesito; not only was the service lousy, her health news was as well :(
at least her exhibit went well, though, and i'm really glad she's opened a door for her career!
i took my pc to the shop for repair, then strapped on my blades and headed to the doctor. it felt good to have them on again!
i was overheating when i arrived, so a bit sweaty but that *was* the first proper effort i've made since the bronx... the old lady next to me was a bit creepy, though. the secretary and i both stared in horror as she made horrible noises scratching her feet on the couch.
i have perfect timing - the doctor and the clinic's nurse were going through some things when i walked in, and i heard them discussing what to do about the clinic secretary's farewell gift.
"mind if i interject?"
"sure."
"did you guys have a house-warming for her new apartment?"
how did i remember that?? they were well pleased for the suggestion :)
the doctor provided the referrals for the last (hopefully) of my tests, allayed my fears regarding the spider bite and sent me on my way. once home, i got ready to roll out to the university... on the way, i called up ze british german to arrange to meet.
and lo! he was on his way to visit his accountant. so we met up and i joined him. he was quite surprised to see how much hair i have :)
the accountant and i consulted in trade for me fixing his printer. he explained to me everything i need to know about freelancing, which is a lot simpler than i expected. now to see how things play out.
i walked past my office intending to say hi, but nobody was around. good thing i remembered the security code - that could have been embarrassing! i spoke to the it dept (embarrassing myself by not remembering their names) and got reinstated, quickly scanned email then left for campus.
registering for my courses was EXTREMELY exciting ^_^
i ate a crappy meal while reading wired (with a great big smile on my face) before heading back to work, this time catching the boss and main manager and spending an hour and a half reintegrating and sorting out my study schedule. aside from an embarrassing incident involving a forgotten password and mild irritation with google's calendar - repeated events are problematic to move - i have discovered that one of the girls from the rollerblading group will be taking most of my courses with me! and wr may or may not take the same seminar... i really hope he does.
[continued...]
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
surrealism
am i back? am i sitting in front of my own pc, about to make my bed and enter it after a month and a half of craziness completed by an excellent evening with pg? is everything really about to go nuts tomorrow?
and the most important question - how the hell am i going to type up a filled book of journal entries while getting all my shit together?
and the most important question - how the hell am i going to type up a filled book of journal entries while getting all my shit together?
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