the down-wedding - part ii

... continued

friday:

a late-ish morning. i need to sleep more, not just lie in bed feeling tired. i started off visiting hardware dude to pick up cheap paint and a roller (that was more expensive than i was hoping), dropped that off at my apartment before bringing over a couple of things, switching from blades to shoes and heading back to clean the air-conditioner and paint. it took me a while to figure out that i have no clue how to clean the a/c, but fortunately i guessed right and ran it until it (apparently) cleaned itself.

painting was quick and painless, washing the roller afterwards was not. i pulled out all the nails and plastered in the holes, dusted quite a bit and then returned home to pick up my netbook and notes and head to coffeeholic for a great lunch, reading for sunday's exam and being exposed to an intriguing discussion of a class-action suit against strauss for producing the cream for their "milky" dessert range using fish-bones. the central issue is that some religious extremists have placed such crazy restrictions over and above those defined by the "kashrut" laws that they consider this mixture of fish and milk to be unkosher.

idiots.

not even the coffee could save me, and i returned for a quick shower and a nap that turned into the sleep of the dead - only pg felt i'd slept enough and made a monumental effort to drag me back from the nothing.

---i had a quick planning chat with my mum, sat agitated over dinner (i don't know why) and just before we left to the cinema i received an email that astounded me (translated from hebrew):

Hey totalwaste
What's going on.

I wanted to ask [of your dignity? in your estimation? from your sense of honour?] if possible and I thank [your dignity? your estimation? your sense of honour?] for your material in the English courses:
Shakespeare, Amercan [sic] Culture, Narrative Analysis and its tutorial, English Culture, Poetry Analysis and its tutorial, Introduction to Theory,

Thanks in advance

i haven't a clue who the sender is - the name on the mail claims "you can only go as far as you push" and the email address spells rubbish. so i don't have a clue who this is, nor what my dignity and honour have to do with anything, nor why they want my notes (or did they really mean material, like reading lists and pdfs?) for courses taken last semester, nor why i should even consider doing them any favours. i mean... wow.

---pg doesn't remember the smurfs. and i can't find them anywhere. except here. or here, where we can't buy them :/

we watched priest. priest frikkin' ROCKS. i don't remember where i read a review that made it seem like it suffered from crapiplotitus, but that's what i was expecting, not the exquisitely beautiful rendering of a fairly interesting combination of vampire narratives into a gorgeous mesh of comic and non-comic forms.

two previews formed an integral part of the priest experience. immortals looks breathtaking, and the upcoming remake of fright night excites me no end. if i haven't mentioned it before, i saw the original as a six year-old and it absolutely traumatized me, causing me to develop a deep fear of and lust for vampires during my formative years. this is gonna be good :D

---i just did the math - i'll have earned the cash to travel to south africa only by the month that i'll actually be there. that kinda complicates things :/

reflections upon aging prematurely - part ii

[... continued]

the most surreal experience: stepping out of our tent in the evening only to be confronted by a girl fleeing security, jumping over the fence and screaming her goodbyes to us, seemingly personally. in my hazy state i couldn't figure out if i was supposed to recognize her or not... they caught her, and we couldn't figure out afterwards if she was just someone who'd snuck into the festival or if she'd tried to escape from something outside of it.

i knew that from 2am things were going to go crazy, so i tried to rest after organic's set. not so easy when the bass makes your body bounce even when prone. at 1am the sound seemed to fade out; that was when the dj began playing with the surround and it was magnificent even from 200m away.

2am: get up and dig. the music was preposterously good the entire night, totally indifferent to human physiology's need to sleep. i couldn't stop stomping until the final set, and even though i'm not a big fan of minimal it was so well-integrated with the full-on... bottom line: happiness overload. so many people going so crazy... and all remarkably similar to the last one. time really does stop for doof.

so: hearing loss, sore legs and chafing. on the brighter side, i think i know what my hair's going to look like dreaded. pg and i struck camp, but i got struck down in the process. i was truly exhausted. the goodbyes were... awkward. i was incoherent, and said remarkably stupid things. swak. to make matters worse, i was in no state to drive so pg had to take the wheel... at least we had space for a hitch-hiker. i like being able to "pass it forward" :P

once home, we did some shopping and then went straight to bed.

---tuesday:

the technician arrived to set up the internet, and told us that to actually get it to work we'd have to call support and have them talk us through it. i called immediately while he and pg were still sorting out the paperwork, only to discover that there's no reasonable way to get hold of support.

fantastic.

when i told him this, he explained that he was aware of the difficulties and would help us, even though he usually charges for the assistance. WTF?!?!

anyway, so we have internet at home now. that meant that i could video-chat with my sister (w00t!) and work on my seminar paper. a good thing, too: that's all i did until 3am the next morning. the final grind was tough.

---wednesday:

so i went to bed, and then woke up an hour or two later feeling sick as a dog. my throat was scratchy (as it is right now, on-and-off painful), and soon after i was so cold that i dragged myself out of bed to heat up in a hot shower. then i tried passing out on the couch so that i wouldn't disturb pg.

the bus to campus: i was *dead*. literally falling over. printing out my paper and handing it in seemed like a dream at the time, and i haven't yet experienced the catharsis that should've accompanied the action. it's like i cannot absorb the fact that it's finally done.

we had a class on sound poetry which required two cups of coffee to get through, and i sat with co-conspirator to advise her on her paper before stretching out on the grass with a couple of classmates to rest and chat. then i took a bus to herzeliya so that i could help mmf drive cars back to tel aviv.

on entering herzeliya: the guy with the hummer? all i could think of was "tiny penis". that was in opposition to the middle-aged guy who came careening past on his skateboard, and is made of win. i feel embarrassed for people who need to satisfy their egos with suits and expensive cars.

mmf and i both talk with our hands. i accidentally swatted his iphone out of his, which was embarrassing and unpleasant :$

after spending some time at his place (i suck at reading to children, apparently) and discussing work and studies, he introduced me to iphone multi-tasking and laughed at my lack of familiarity with something so basic. why on earth would i ever double-tap the button??? that's not very intuitive, IMO.

on the way home i stopped by the hardware dude to discuss hardware and psychedelics, and when i got in i went straight to bed. i woke up for dinner and went to my apartment to pick up mail and my doof shirt (^_^), and have a drink with the girls who have invaded my apartment. i'm well pleased at both the condition its in and that they're enjoying it. that's all i asked :)

i came home to study for the midterm and get some sleep. sleeping well was a shock after the previous week :P

[continued...]

taking a beating

list time - i'm in a hurry to start sorting my pad out.

phone troubles - iphone vs e72. i don't know what to choose, although i think i might hold out for the iphone just so that i'd have my own testing platform (i've just registered as an apple developer for an offer i received yesterday)

i went to campus early to meet with cm for pre-class coffee, but he got stuck in traffic... our first class was on dante and petrarch: the girls next to me are totally disinterested (it's a mandatory course) and didn't cease with pointless banter the entire session :(
they kind of reminded me of these girls. [for the non-hebrew speakers - these two girls fail at figuring out which direction on the compass lies between north-east and south-east...]

i spent a large part of the day thinking about doing things for money. i've even applied for a job as a marketing intern and will be calling someone up on sunday to offer to be his lab assistant. the thought has occurred to me that i may have to drop a course or two, bite the bullet and work full-time - but i'd rather not.
it appears that i have enough cash for the rest of the month (and in retrospect, i've only been job-hunting for a couple of weeks), i've just received a contract for a guy who wants me to freelance and last night received an american offer that would be *awesome* if it comes through...

it's a bit tough not to stress at all, though.

while waiting for the secretary after her office hours (at least i had reading to do) i chatted with our seminar lecturer, and he's quite interested in my idea for a topic, so i have some direction now. once i discovered that i was waiting for nothing, i went for lunch with comixer and we sat discussing the translation of comics to movies.
he's right - comic style doesn't usually translate well. so far, kick ass and watchmen are the closest. i like a lot of the comic movies, but they're just not at the level of their original art form.

pg made me laugh - there was a random, long blonde hair on my bag and she snidely suggested i've been hanging around with other girls... i laughed, because there's no way to prove her wrong :P

i was *WASTED* by the second class. i started zoning out about halfway through, and at some stage yawned audibly, and was so tired that i couldn't stop a mini-burp from escaping... the embarrassment (we're about twelve people in class, all seated around the lecturer) woke me up a bit :$

the concept of the class was the similarity between the 19th century's attitude towards art and today's attitude towards artificial intelligence. and something about alternative realities. either way, i found myself suffering from a sleep-deprivation induced lack of articulation. at some point i spaced out, only to tune back in when asked a question about book-keeping... once back on planet earth, i returned to the game again... even that bombed, i'm still full of the useful and weird :P

i really have a lot of prep-work to do this weekend.

the second coffee (and cookies!) helped me through the last class... at least that was an interesting one. i was quite edgy about the whole "work" thing, though. sitting afterwards with wr and a glass of araq watching what the frack? took some of it off, though.
he introduced me to somebody as a disciple of timothy leary... and he's right :)
[i recommend reading leary on drugs to everyone - it's most enlightening. also, i have my own thoughts on social reform and how we operate]

i haven't mentioned something that's been driving me nuts with my netbook since i got it, and was finally resolved... why the frack isn't it indicated anywhere that the right side of the trackpad is a frikkin' scroll bar?!?! now that i've learned to manipulate it (and not to touch it when trying to move the mouse), usage is *way* more comfortable...

there was no bus 27 - that's half an hour of work i missed :(

it suddenly struck me on my way to work that smashmouth - all star is a decidedly appropriate song for describing the way i run my life...

---the first question at work: what's a girlfriend? i don't recall quite how the discussion started, but it got me musing. i'm *knocks wood* very happy with pg ^_^

not only does my girlfriend make good chocolate chip cookies, but when she's bored she's happy to come to my place and watch movies... and clean areas that annoy her... i walked in around 2.30am to join her in giggling at the tail end of big trouble in little china and find my bathroom tidied and my bookshelf organized... a bit strange, but very cool.

---when i got to work my mum called me up and we talked a bit about the practicalities of studying and working... soon after that a friend of mine contacted me from the states and i now have a fun-sounding job offer on the table...

the most important item on the evening's agenda: i got some work done! as in, i had an idea for a solution (a clean work-around to a php / ajax problem) and managed to test and integrate it. i haven't felt actual success in a while. in addition, i began documentation clean-up (so that i could understand what the hell the guys were doing in a section i need to work on) and i took it upon myself to formalize coding practices for our development team.
my justification for such measures comes in the realization that i find it easier to read chaucer without a glossary than i do reading my predecessors' code.

at some point i tried to roll to the door of my janitor's closet and i managed to snag the vacuum cleaner's cable - i was lucky i fell alright. it's eerie timing.

why doesn't flex builder allow searching through the project scope?!?! it's an important feature for a complex system and it's driving me demented :S

---four hours' sleep later...

i went to the doctor - either i got the appointment wrong or the guy i spoke to did, but it worked out alright. it turns out my h. pylori story isn't over - i'm not prepared to do another course right now, so we're deferring it for a few months. i hope i haven't passed it along to pg, but the likelihood that i contracted it from her is just as strong :/

i bladed to cafe george - arriving moments before urchin - for a good breakfast and rambling. she has a project for next week and was out of ideas... i was only too happy to oblige. the problem is that i'm so enthusiastic about what i came up with and i'll only be able to hope that the results are something like what i had in mind...

i ran into pg's mum and we laughed about something pg described this morning: her father was accosted by her nosey neighbour and asked if i'm a "serious" boyfriend.
"serious?! i haven't even met him yet!"
oops. and he's just left the country again - i've passed on my apologies :$

i sat laughing with the hardware dude for a bit, and was on my way out when a customer arrived. i said goodbye, and as i turned around he grumbled something unintelligible at me. i looked at him quizzically, and he turned up his grumble to a shout:
"what, am i a dog?!"

what... the... fuck...

it's taken me a *lot* longer to post than i expected (although i have had the occasional distraction), and it's past time for me to be sorting out my papers and cleaning my apartment. i don't *actually* want pg to do it for me, even if it does make my life much easier :P

---
weird and wonderful:
eye fix
eye tattoo

political:
campus anti-semitism
a public service announcement

simply sweet:
the calvin and hobbes from yesterday is really sweet [4/11/2010]
an amusing look at problems with back to the future

outflow

i'm back from playing ultimate frisbee for the very first time - great game! damn near killed me, though... i'm going to have to practice while i'm away... so i have two things to keep me physically occupied: frisbee and martial arts. it'll be good :)

---
the hardware dude convinced me (with a verification call before leaving work) to get home at 2pm... and then only arrived more than half an hour later :/
he did bring me a going-away present, though (a much appreciated one) and he did good work for less money than the guy who *didn't* rock up the morning before :P

that time was more than enough for me to discover the dirt beneath the couch - i haven't moved it in a while :$

i returned to work, and between the lead and i we finally closed a nasty chapter in our development history :)

i said goodbye to everyone (except the boss, who was busy), and rushed off to tahoma's birthday picnic. on the bus to jaffa, i realized what everyone's been laughing about... the new stickers on police cars inspired the following thought: if i see something that needs to be reported, i'm going to call them up and say "hello! i'd like to participate in the war against crime." before giving them any useful information :P

jaffa has a giant indoor flea market called "supershuk", which translates to "supermarket" :P

i passed a little girl walking in tears, and wished that there was some appropriate / helpful reaction.

the sunset picnic was pretty cool; it was great seeing tahoma and his fiancé, and a couple of the guys from work rocked up eventually and it was nice chatting with them. one of them gave me a ride to the central station - i needed to be at home to meet with someone (who didn't pitch) - the station intrigues me every time as a haven for tangled masses of uncensored and unbleached humanity. the expression "human swarm" comes to mind.

i find it really easy to connect.

i showered and shopped, then went to bed early.

...

i was supposed to wake up at 9.30am on friday to do some things; at 11.30 i got up to a phone call asking where i was. i hopped on the bus and eventually managed to find the place in spite of awfully bad directions... there's a new area in south tel aviv that's just opened up, and it's really nice. breakfast was good, cheap, and fun.

as usual, piles and i had a lot of serious stuff to talk about, like music and studies... i'm still in mentor mode with him :P

he gave me a ride to piercer, who cleaned me up (i haven't been hard enough with my helix) before we did the chilling-on-the-bench chatting and staring at the passers-by. really interesting people :)

i visited the taekwondo group - the instructor just doesn't get why i'm not coming back, even though i keep explaining it to her. i was shocked to see how poorly the students are doing :S

my final sunset roll for the summer was amazing! and educational - one of the guys had a go at me because he didn't like the way i was reacting to idiots hooting. i heard him out, and tried his way - much better. every time someone hooted, we waved and said thanks. the irritated drivers were made to feel silly, and for the rest there's not a lot of positive to be done.

i had thirty minutes to cool down, shower and be ready for the date with pretty girl (pg). the weather wasn't particularly supportive: we walked to the rogatka, and her pace was fast enough to break a sweat :P

strangely awesome vegans? the place is very much to my liking, and the only vegan item they have are hotdogs. everything else is cheap liqor. we drank - and i can drink again! :P

dafna and the cookies gave an amazing performance! two hours, with some really fun and funny adlibbing, and some sounds that were powerful enough to get me high. brilliant! and pg seemed to be enjoying herself, too :)
we had a last round before heading out, and went through my favourite park on the way. i'm guessing we spent at least an hour on the swings, talking and singing and... wait. singing? wow! that *never* happens!

we almost stopped for waffles but continued to my place, where we watched three episodes of invader zim before i walked her home (practically next door). the goodbye was shy but smily, as the entire evening had been. i walked home with a giant grin and a bouncy gait ^_^

---
karnaf woke me up with a coffee call - we sat chatting for quite a while before i went south to have the chef's breakfast with urchin. great breakfast :)
the talk was great too - she's been offered an opportunity to exhibit her photography soon :)

urchin came with me to pick up a key, and made me a really grand offer - she's willing to take care of anything that i don't manage to sort out before i go... *breathes easier*

i was going to begin sorting out my apartment, but decided that a last frisbee session would be a better idea :)

---
i am *SO* glad that i went on that date last night! stupid as it may have been (considering that i'm leaving so soon), i had an amazing time and have met someone that i really like. the alternative was not meeting her, so my only concern is whether or when to be in touch before i go...

---
i dig piraro

comic instructions are exactly what i needed. they don't make me feel any more comfortable with the idea, however...

lists:
weird creatures
super powers
mental conditions

this is how i feel right now :)

post SY depression

it's the last stretch, and i'm tired. it's been a busy year, filled with israeli homeowning, men in suits, disgusting work conditions (and constant cross-cultural aggravation), academic progression, and realizations about myself and the universe that have made my mind twist and turn.

"the mind, once expanded to the dimensions of larger ideas, never returns to its original size."
-oliver wendell holmes

[SY stands for Sucky Year - the bad really outweighed the good on this one]

for the first time in days, i actually had the energy to do something at 7.30am - cutting up bits of paper and sticking them on our new "what's up?" board. that lasted an hour, the flurry of random bits of work after that is a bit blurred until lunchtime.

lunch was super-healthy [raises hand to indicate sarcasm] half-fried chips and over-fried, soggy chicken in a pita. fortunately, we arrived back to the office just as my TL had finished washing the floors, which meant that i could take a short siesta in the corridor. i told my TL that that's the most useful thing he's done since i moved to his team :)

i spent the afternoon testing, and fighting with one of our lab rats - he was upset when i told him that i don't trust one of the stations. it's never worked for me before, so why should it occur to me to use it? amusingly enough, after he showed me a way to make it perform better he accidentally shut it down when i was in the middle of something. it just goes to show.

the shuttle back took longer than usual, which meant more sleep. i stopped in at the hardware store with a query about tap installations, and ended up being drawn into a chat about my current situation. i keep trying to avoid conversations regarding my personal woes, and that's not so easy...

i needed to shave the edge off my mood, so i went with some rum. two solid slugs, and i was feeling alright...

the electrician came, and finally installed the fittings i bought on friday. they're really pretty, and the work didn't take too long! now he just has to come back for a half-hour plaster job, and we're done until round two :)

as soon as he left, i headed off to south tel aviv to see ein efes (אין אפס - no zero) perform. they have potential, but would be better off replacing their singers. it took them about half the show to warm up, and to bring out the better songs... i was surprised at the bassist's candor when he sat with us afterwards and agreed with my breakdown wholeheartedly (although i didn't mention the singing, there're limits to mine :P).

the bus ride home was nice, and the last stretch was with a very pretty girl who lives next door. we had a very pleasant chat right until we got to her building, at which point i wished her a good night, took my leave, and then felt like a complete toss for not having invited her for coffee or taken her number. what the hell?! i think i'm my own worst enemy.

i've definitely got to shower and get into bed. that was totally worth leaving the house for - even if i didn't love the band, the company was great :)

contamination

beginning of post: frantic noise and sattwa - zen skies

three hours... and it seemed to be enough. i hope tonight's six will improve things.

a) i strolled onto the right bus this morning - a first in ages - only to get off at the next stop because i'd forgotten my phone. that never happens. and i still had to wait over half an hour for my ride once i got to the station.

b) chatting with the embassy and kibbutz cousin (high excitement over travel plans)

c) i got no work done today, mostly due to my personal goblins wreaking havoc with my pc. we did have some very interesting and amusing discussions, though.

d) i left the base at 13.30 for a 15.30 appointment, and still managed to arrive ten minutes late. the physio session was good, though, and she wrote me a recommendation for the doctor to continue the treatment. favourite moment: "you really don't look like the military type"

middle of post: wizack twizack - the explorer

e) what possessed me to have an ice-cream today - first cornetto since last summer? and why did i need to have the flavour that only had one cone left when there was obviously something wrong with it? why did i continue to open it after discovering that it had been taped shut? what compelled me to guzzle it down, even after suspecting the worst?

f) i came home to make bumper stickers for my TL's new car - highly amusing ones. i called icg to postpone our coffee by half an hour and went to dizengof to print. i was impressed that as far as getting there was concerned i didn't need the buffer, and even more so when their printer started causing trouble and it took about twenty of the spare minutes to get the problems sorted out.

g) the walk down dizengof, turning a very pretty head that was unfortunately attached to a bicycle travelling in the other direction

h) very pleasant coffee with icg, sitting for a good couple of hours enjoying each other's company before she stated that things aren't working out how she'd like. we then sat a whole lot more before going our separate ways

i) bumping into the hardware dude on the corner, and paying him a long visit for a crazy philosophical debate / argument / fight / all of the above, which was a lot of fun

j) *enjoying* reading oedipus the king

end of post: psychoz - burundanga

an odd week starts

not a bad day at all: i almost missed my bus, but i didn't. and i couldn't sleep, because i got totally stuck into one of the most beautiful and bad-ass "neo noir"* films i've ever seen: angel heart.
another phenomenal classic that flew straight under my radar... i'm very grateful that spinnit mentioned it the last time we met.

* neo noir: it's noir, but in colour. jeez.

i walked into my old cubicle this morning, took stock a moment, then found my new one. i cannot express the difference! our pointy-haired boss arrived to make some bright-spark remark - probably intended to say something about the brad pitt hint i left him - and i took the opportunity to dig in and twist about something that's been staring me in the face for years:
there is one thing in the military that nobody of any rank has. his dignity.

i had an exceptionally productive day. the only real mistake involved purchasing timtams: again?! i never learn. too - much - good - chocolate.

there's a freaky kid in our unit, i've mentioned him before (can't find where). i heard the hand-dryer's noise as i got to the door of the bathroom, and decided to wait for it to stop before entering. it didn't stop. i waited some more... and it still didn't stop. so i pushed the door open, and found the kid drywashing his hands with a blank look on his face, which was held at an awkward angle.

i walked over to the sink behind him - still not stopping. i looked at him, stared, stared some more, and was about to say something about not wasting electricity when he got a strange smile on his face and skipped outside.

i had a chat with my mum regarding my near-future plans, and i think i'm going to take her advice. it's sound, but not an easy decision to make.
i thought a lot about the man in the suit (who eventually called me back) and what i'm going to say to him. i know it's not smart, but i have this weird condition that requires me to try to fix broken things. the sentence that popped into my head?
i'm one of the good guys, and you're playing cowboys and injuns with toy guns.

i was enjoying the ride home, still watching the movie... right until the cheeky shit opened his fat mouth about how it's not fair that i'm not doing him a favour and taking the bus instead of him: the route is defined by where *i* live, because *i'm* in the permanent force and the shuttle is for *us*.
i told him no, explained to him why, and then out came the gem: "but i have to carry a gun! it's not fair that you're exempt!"

little bastard has no manners; i let him have my best scowl and low-voiced threat (it all came out so naturally), and he shut up and turned back. i think i'm going to have words with the guy in charge of the shuttle.

shaking that wonderful experience off, i went to visit the hardware dude and help him with his printer... it's a bitch of a setup, but i managed to find a way. i hope somebody does him a favour and finds a better one.

i ran into one of my old neighbours and invited them for coffee, but it's their anniversary tonight. i'm trying to sort out something with another friend to help the first ones, so there are now two hosting evenings in the pipeline :P

shopped, posted, and now to get something productive going.

moonlit harbour concert

i haven't heard shlomi shaban in ages, the man is absolutely incredible!

after posting, i took myself off to coffeeholic for a superb salad while continuing to read paradise lost. on the way back i stopped in at the hardware store to say hi, and that turned into a very long and interesting conversation.

i came back home to work on the c++ project, and found another version of the same paper in my inbox. same paper, different author, legible, logical. hmmm... he suspects. there was only one problem that i could see, and on the phone with the guy i'm helping i managed to figure out a way around it.

that phone call wasn't in front of my pc, rather it took place on my way to the harbour. the harbour is not a place for tel-aviviim, but einav jackson cohen had the warm-up for shlomi so we couldn't miss it :)

my mum called just before einav went up on stage, and we had a critical review of the day's events... as usual, we're of the same mind. it's time for me to get off this train.

after the show we went for ice-cream... "best ice-cream in the country!", say people who aren't familiar with the tel-avivi vaniglia. suck it, foreigners :P [i'm such an elitist when it comes to my city ^_^]