31/05/04

*** 29th ***

yogi and mmf did get around to picking me up, and mmf and i did do SOME work... but really not much.

*** yesterday ***

being on campus yesterday was strange. it's the first time that i've really looked at other girls in a really long time.

math class was particularly amusing. i played about fifteen minutes of counterstrike when i got home, and then yogi picked me up.

i was beat, but i worked on his project until sometime around 23.00 - and my brain HURT. i spoke with a friend about doing the job i want, and he explained that if i really wanted it, i'd have to sign on another 2.5 years to the army.
it took me a while to agree to that. basically, it fits in with my plan (aside from spending time in japan, but maybe that'll just be delayed...), but it's also guaranteeing them five years of my life.

*** today ***

today was a remarkably relaxed day. my argentinian flatmate and i went to the student authority, and didn't really have to argue too much to get what we wanted (really nice, and quite good looking spanish woman). i now have until the end of july to finish my community service.

one little hitch. my charge left the country. without even saying goodbye! i'm now going to have to work hard to get my hours done, which SUCKS ASS.

so basically, i haven't really done anything productive today. i did a little work on our project - but nothing noteworthy... and of COURSE played tons of counterstrike.

29/05/04

*** yesterday ***

i wrote down some of my creation-theory - check out my mental masturbation section (philosophy 1). i read a whole lot of when nietzsche wept, and yogi called to invite me to dinner.

i was tired, and the additional alcohol that i drank didn't help much. supper was pleasant. i passed out at yogi's parents' place,

*** today ***

and was woken up at 2am to get a ride home. the ride was totally surreal.
i crashed as soon as i saw my bed.

i woke up around 9am, did laundry, got more or less up-to-date online, and finished the book.
great book.
i tried to go back to sleep, but i think it's more that i'm depressed and stressed, than tired. so after lying in bed for a few minutes, i gave up and made myself lunch - two beautifully fried eggs. i watched xxx, for the second time. it is a COOL, COOL movie, i totally dig vin diesel, and i really enjoyed it.
again.

now i have to convince myself to do some work.

*** later ***

i spent the rest of the day doing arbitrary internet things, and completing (more or less) my math homework.

i just finished over half of an enormous pizza (and not exactly the best pizza), and am feeling a bit stuffed - mmf and yogi are supposedly picking me up in a while, so we can do stop graft...
yippee.

28/05/04

04.45: woke up.
05.15: left for the bus.
05.45: arrived at the gym. on time. miracles can happen.

i tried sleeping during the taxi ride to jerusalem, but it wasn't so easy. i weighed in, and spent a couple of hours "warming up", which meant sitting around, pretending to stretch every now and then.

my fight was BAD. my opponent used mosquito tactics, and i'm WAY too impatient to not go in - i just gave him point after point, and he really isn't very good. i did have fun, though - i felt totally in control of the fight.

the rest of the day was spent coaching other players, and reading my book (when nietzsche wept) - which is bloody fantastic. downright inspiring.

the taxi back was alright - i was still reading, so i didn't notice.

all the food shops were closed - my list of food consumed since yesterday's lunch (until now, even):
two yoghurt-sized chocolate desserts, one small packet of twizzler's, half a pita-bread (the small israeli kind), and a packet of chips.
add to that one bacardi breezer that i consumed on my way home from the busstop, and that should've made for an interesting afternoon. alas, my tolerance is acting up, and i totally haven't felt the alcohol.

i've had a styling shower, and played some counterstrike, and am now debating (with myself, of course) writing down some of my new creation-theory. or at least checking to see if anyone else has thought of it first.

27/05/04

today was hard. i went to my first class, but i couldn't concentrate at all. after a quick, not-quite-as-successful-as-i'd-like meeting with our lecturer, i went with yogi to his place. we spent the day working on his project.

around 18.30, i came home, got my gear, and went to training. i beat the crap outta the punching bag, and after ten minutes was totally drenched in sweat. hello summer, goodbye some frustration.

i've just gotten out of the shower, and i'm going to bed really soon - i have to be up at 04.45 tomorrow, so i can get to the gym on time...

26/05/04

this is an earlier-than-expected post. i wish it wasn't.

*** yesterday ***

she picked me up around 07.45, and we drove non-stop to achziv, which is almost at the northern border. and we got lost on the way, in haifa, due to AWEFUL signage.

we got a decent parking, and trekked ALL the way through to the camping site - i discovered almost immediately how bad my slip-slops are.
setting up camp wasn't too difficult, we took a quick tour of the area. we moved our tent a little way, in an attempt to secure more high-noon shade, and went to arb around the beach.

the festival was nicely done - very pretty. now, i like seeing families at festivals, but it's a little weird when there're ONLY families, and very few actual party-goers.

later on in the day, we discovered that we had neighbours - we were surrounded by a rather loud, abrasive family. after spending the evening around the beach, sampling foods and chai, playing board and card games, observing young girls stumbling around drunkenly, and listening to some good reggae, we decided to call it a night. Our neighbours were calling it something else though, and we couldn't get to sleep until well past 3am.

i woke up early this morning, to discover that the awesome trance music was coming from outside the festival, and there was no access to it without vast sums of money.
bastards.

so i went back to our tent, did some reading, and a little philosophising. something spiritual did a half-click inside of me, i just hope it'll stick. i also got to thinking about the creation theory - there's no reason why it doesn't tie in to darwin's theory... we're just thinking about it too literally. i'll add my thoughts to the mental masturbation section, sometime.

we had a chilled day on the beach, listening to good reggae, and getting some GREAT swimtime - the water was incredible!

we then went back to our tent, and slept for a bit.

we woke up, broke up, and left the festival. i'm a little in shock, although it wasn't TOO surprising (things have been a tad rocky), but i can't say as i know how i feel, or how things will be...

what a crappy day.

24/05/04

* phew *
i'm SO glad that's over. i had a horrible day. some really nice parts, but horrible nonetheless.

i woke up early, to shop for a three day vacation with her. this proved not so easy. not so tough, but not so easy. i've also seriously gotten into my new book, when nietzsche wept, which has some annoying problems, but is nonetheless a SUPERB read.

on my way out to tel-aviv, i dropped off some trash in the garbage room downstairs. i was wearing sandals. some #@$% had slopped a puddle of wet crap (HOPEFULLY not literally), and i stepped in it, splashing my feet, sandals, and pants.
BUGGER.

i had a good read, before meeting with karnaf. we had a nice - unfortunately too short - chat, i borrowed a tent, and yogi picked me up. we went to his place, and i spent the rest of the afternoon working on HIS applied project - nobody else can, at this point... fortunately, that included a hefty pizza hut pizza - mmm. italian goodness.

we arrived late to a sports-awards ceremony - which sucked, because they'd already called out my name (taekwondo). we were led to believe that it was just a meal, not a whole "do".
bother.

i went home, packed my bags, and went to taekwondo. i've just come back - i got my ass KICKED, to "prepare" me for the nationals on friday, which i'm still not sure about.

now it's time to limp into the shower, pack my gear for the festival, and get me some shuteye.

ah-YEAH.

23/05/04

i just found out that i got 70% for my marketing paper - which means that i PASS the damn course!!
screw you, grootbek, i succeeded in spite of you.

now to try and rescue the rest of this week.

oh, yeah - and due to my sunglasses being accidentally "borrowed" yesterday, i broke out the goggles this morning: i'm still very happy with them.
OH yes.

*** later ***

i have definitely been out of sa for far too long. i'm going #@$%ing crazy. i neeeeeeed to return. this august thing had better work out.
psychotic rage DENIED.

i hate being homesick. it's agitated by all the crap i'm dealing with right now... i've spent today doing practically nothing - and mainly because i can't really do any work right now... life stinks...

*** later ***

life is a little better. i did some community service, and made myself feel really good about it (i'm trying to get my charge to teach himself maths). i sort of sorted out some of my applied project work (at least, i delayed it a little).

sammy came over, we had some hot chocolate and talked a while. i just finished three huge bowls of good chicken noodle soup. i feel warm and sloshy inside.

when the water is hot, i shall immerse myself in it, hopefully cleansing away the drudge of the day.
and - my favourite ex-pat expression - "more is nog 'n dag".

22/05/04

*** yesterday ***

i woke up rather late, but was still really tired. she picked me up, and we went shopping. we bought two tickets to the festival. i'd be excited, but i still have reservations about how intelligent a decision that was.

we spent the rest of the day together. we watched gattaca, which i've been meaning to see ever since i fell asleep during the first few minutes in the cinema, and later we watched hannibal.
a great bedtime movie.

*** today ***

woke up late, at her place, and discovered that we weren't alone in the house. as i'm not supposed to sleep over, i had to hide for an hour or so - staying as quiet as i could... luckily i had my book with me, so i wasn't totally stuck.

when i could get out, her ex-boyfriend came over, and i had breakfast while trying to understand what they were talking about. i eventually gave up. my hebrew definitely needs more work.

we had a huge lunch at her place, in honour of her birthday, with a whole bunch of her friends. it was quite fun.
i also played quite a bit of table-tennis. also fun.

i've just got home. i'm about to take a shower, and then either sleep, or work on my assignments.

*** later ***

or neither. she came over for a while - we had a lot to talk about. after she left, i read all of my email, and recorded some music onto minidisc (such as rage against the machine, and system of a down, so i can headbang in public).

oh, and i finally got the right words to this song that's been stuck in my head the past week and a half. now i can figure out the name...

i don't have the energy to face this next week.

i'm gonna go cry myself to sleep.

20/05/04

i spent the evening with yogi, working on his applied project. essentially wasting time. he dropped me off at home around 22.30, and our brit gave me some flying time with ms flight simulator 2004... i really love helicopters.

the only sucky thing is that their map of cape town is far from accurate. it's annoying that i couldn't land in something similar to sea point.

we made a quick trip to the kiosk - where they're selling liquorice allsorts!! from finland, they're even better than ours!!
liquorice makes me happy.

i saw the bbc promotional video for south africa, and it was emotional. i've been gone for far too long.

i decided, today, that i'd rather go to a two-day festival with her, than fight in the national taekwondo championships (where i have less chance of winning if i go).
so there.

19/05/04

work was annoying. we had about twenty minutes of absolute craziness, as someone had made a mistake and all the customers had to call in for assistance.
and the rest of the night was BORING.

i did get one of my homeworks done, though.

i got home at 05.30, and had to keep myself awake so that i could get to class on time (09.00) - i learned the last time that there's no way i'm getting out of bed on two hours of sleep.

one of the things i did to keep myself awake, was play half-life, as we had no internet connection. it was quite interesting to play it single-player, and get some actual storyline - i now know where the crowbar comes from!

unfortunately, i made myself seriously motion-sick...

i walked to campus, slowly, with metallica - ride the lightning preventing me from falling over. i tidied up my assignment, printed it, handed it in, and promptly returned home (this time with pantera - vulgar display of power).

i passed out almost immediately.

i've just woken up, with an almost threatening phone call about my not working next week (two days / nights before the taekwondo championship), and a distressing talk with her. basically, we're not going to make it to the huge festival next week, and she's totally upset. with good reason, as she's never been to one, and was really looking forward to it.
>=o AARGH!
as for work, i'm not too distressed: i'm finishing working there in a couple of weeks anyway... it would just be nice to leave work on a good note.

18/05/04

*** yesterday ***

wow! everything went according to plan!
more or less... but more more than less ^_^

i got up around 8am, and picked up my charge at 08.45. we took the bus to tel-aviv, and had a relaxed croissant and coffee on ibn-gvirol. we took a walk down dizengoff, met up with karnaf, and sat down with him for breakfast.

after which we went to willie dogs for lunch.
GREAT hotdogs.

we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping in dizengoff center, and, surprisingly enough, found some stuff for her (it WAS her birthday yesterday).

my charge and i went back to herzliyah (i needed to get to a lecture), and discovered that he was locked out of his apartment. so i left him at my place, to play tekken (i'm a terrible babysitter :P), and went off to listen, for two hours, about how wonderful daimler-chrysler is.
not that i'm saying that it's not.

when i got back, i beat my charge with almost every character (although i think he really has improved, and he destroyed my "anna"), and took him home.

after getting back, i discovered that a major part of my gift had a big-ass sticker on the outside, that wouldn't come off: i spent over half an hour scraping and scratching, and futilely abusing it with alcohol-based aftershave, and multi-purpose-my-bum cleaner.

i had a quick shower, and she arrived. fortunately, she was pleased. we spent the evening eating mike-'n-ike's candy, and playing the israeli version of "uno" (they call it "taki").

*** today ***

i had some really weird dreams: serious laser-tag with m16 replicas, in the neighbourhood i grew up in, destroying property and real-life 4x4's...

i've now had breakfast, read my morning webcomics, and am about to deal with the paper that's due today, and is far from complete...

*** later ***

i got lucky this morning, and found almost exactly what i needed online. so i met up with the others on campus, and we had an emergency finish-the-damn-project session, which was entirely successful.
i hope.
the results. it's all in the results.

we suffered through the most rediculously uninteresting finance lecture - most of us were going crazy by the end of it...

i got a ride home, and spent the entire afternoon playing counterstrike (as opposed to sleeping, which is what i *should* have been doing).

funny story - i use the nick "i_love_bunnies[^_^]" because it's fscked up to be killed by someone with a nick like that. and today, one of my victims got REALLY peeved, and i let him go off at me for twenty minutes, before explaining it to him.
had EVERYONE (including myself) on the server giggling ^_^

in about ten minutes, i'm leaving for work. i have an unpleasant assignment due at 9am...

i love may.

17/05/04

*** 15th ***

i went to the "get out of gaza" demonstration in tel-aviv - there were a LOT of people. seriously.

i met up with a friend, and we went downtown for some buffalo wings (honey 'n mustard). mmmmmm. and cheap, too.

we met up with the girls i met at the club a couple of weeks ago, sat and talked for about half an hour, after which i got dropped off at home.

*** yesterday ***

i started off the day with one and a half hours of class argument over the proposed gaza withdrawal. it was a remarkably silly argument.

she picked me up after class, and we chilled together before i returned to campus for two and a half hours of math...

i spent the afternoon / evening playing counterstrike (pwning french people ^_^), visiting my charge, and working on the finance assignment due tuesday.

*** today ***

i'm about to go to bed. i'm dragging my charge along with me to tel aviv in the morning, and we're going to spend the day searching for a birthday present for her (her birthday's tomorrow).
well, that's the plan, anyway.

15/05/04

*** yesterday ***

i was asleep long before i got home. i did some shopping in the morning, but other than that, nothing useful. i basically wasted the day. i did watch most of citizen kane, but i had to stop almost at the end to go to a surprise birthday party, which turned out to be unsurprising.
but kinda fun.
talked codshit (my new favourite word) the whole night.

*** today ***

i got back home around 01.30, and have been counterstriking since. now it's bedtime.

*** later ***

i woke up a lot earlier than i expected. mainly because i was having bad dreams, about how dirty and untidy my room was.
so i got up, and cleaned.
it only took a few hours.

while waiting for the floor to dry, i visited my charge, and we played playstation games for an hour and a half.

our argentinian flatmate and i have hatched an evil plan - we're going to take my charge to eilat for a weekend: it's good for him, and we can each make fifty hours of community service in one shot - and all three of us will have fun.
it is a cunning plan.

my room is back in order, and it's now time to work on my assignments.
which, of COURSE, is why i'm writing this entry...

13/05/04

*** yesterday ***

i got up early for class, which was, umm, not good. we then had a stupid class (which was kinda fun). i slept a bit, and GOT MY WALKMAN SORTED OUT... turned out the md player was fine, but grootbek damaged the ac/dc adapter. he'll be paying for that.

we all got dressed up, and went to an opening ceremony for an avenue on campus. we got university t-shirts, and weird cocktail food. some of which was really tasty.

afterwards, yogi gave me and grootbek a ride to another ceremony - we got kinda lost on the way, and yogi lost his temper, but we made it there eventually.

to a very, very wealthy and pretentious house.

lots of amazing food, a swimming pool that's just too pretty to swim in, but the best part was seeing a lot of friends from my first university class.
i'm just a little sad that i'm not graduating with them, but a lot of things have happened because of that, and i suppose it's all for the best.

*** today ***

wow - CRAZY day. i'm at work now, and it's the most relaxed part (we'll ignore the crisis that we had to overcome)...

yogi and i had a presentation for today. we discovered that something had gone wrong with it, and we had an hour (during class) to redo it from scratch. which we did. we saved it in two places, and turned off the computer.

when we turned it back on, all the work had disappeared, from both places... yogi flipped out, lost it completely, and i had to deal with him, as well as have a long talk with the professor - explaining the situation and figuring out what to do with the project in general.
hmmph.

i finally finished my marketing project - i really hope i did it as i was supposed to. the lecturer said he'll get around to it in the next two weeks.
*stress* *stress* *stress*

i'm working with psychotic american on a project again, this time with a mutual friend who's proved his worth, and NOT grootbek :P. we've already gotten a good start, so there's a lot less stress on that side.

i managed to get through to the army today. in spite of the fact that i didn't do the most important test (it's called "quality group", a score that makes ALL the difference (and you're not allowed to know what it is)), it turns out that i've already been assigned a score. i'm now worried that they didn't do me any favours...

i got my two elective credits for the taekwondo tournament, which will take a while to process, but it's nice that that's done.

taekwondo national championship on the 28th: if i gain two kilos, i will have to fight against a guy who weighs 120-130kg, is a national champion for lord-only-knows-how-long, and has a tendency to break other people's bones and faces.
i'm going to try not to gain those kilos, but it may be pointless because they might use a dodgy scale (has happened before).

which reminds me, my leg still hurts. i'm not impressed. in fact, it hurts so badly that i couldn't sleep last night.

mmm - we had sushi for supper. it was GOOD.

11/05/04

*** yesterday ***

errand day.

1) went running with my charge, had an ample pancake breakfast, while discussing the meaning of life, the universe, etc.

2) campus duty - i dropped off some information with the dean's office, and returned the emergency win2k cd to its rightful owner.

3) ministry of interior - received what is supposed to be "proof" that my parents don't live in this country.
go figure.

4) furniture removal (helping a friend), lunch & interesting conversation.

5) getting my minidisc walkman fixed. no dice - i waited for over two hours for them to "be back in five minutes"... bastards...

6) learning not to use PGP - helped a friend recover his encrypted files...

and then it was off to taekwondo. killed me. totally wiped me out.

i just had a shower -
oh my god - it's hot enough that i'm standing, naked, in front of the fan, and absolutely loving it. in fact, i couldn't survive any other way.

now i just have to clear all the crap (clean laundry) off my bed, so i can get on (not in) it...

*** later ***

much, much later...

i tried, and failed, to get up and run this morning, fortunately i did make it to the meeting for our applied project. productive.

SxS gave me a ride home - i bought a power supply for my minidisc walkman (yay! my md player's back!), had a great falafel, and tried desperately to reinstall counterstrike (i made some embarrassing mistakes).

i bladed back to campus for finance class, which was, um, er, ah, not quite as fun as i'd imagined it would be...

yogi helped me to fill out the forms to get back a large quantity of money from our tuition (they make you work for these things), and i had an absolutely aweful experience at the post office.
i hope it was worth it.

picture this:
in my left hand, i'm holding a bag with a half a watermelon, and another bag with a few apples. with my right hand, i'm trying to write an address in hebrew (scrawling all over the envelope), and eventually manage to seal it, and hand it over.

about a minute after leaving the post office, i realize that i've forgotten two crucial pieces of information on the form - it takes me a minute to get back, and i have to wait in the queue again.

the teller gives me one of those smiles, that says "ha, ha!" in a nelson muntz voice. she gives me another envelope, and i struggle to complete the form, and redo the envelope. and then try, unsuccessfully, to reuse the stamp...
eventually resorting to sticky-tape...

i hope i never have to go back there again...

anyway, i spent the afternoon / evening sorting out counterstrike, playing for about half an hour, cooking and eating spaghetti, talking on the phone (including refusing to fight in the taekwondo national championships - i won't be prepared), and...

watching the first episode of firefly!
it an awesome show! and that goodbye scene (hah! no spoiler for you!) was fantastic!

i think one of my millions of tiny moles (shoulder, in case that helps clear things up) just "came off". that's pretty damn creepy. i hope it's just an insect bite, or something.

showertime is upon me. my mission is clear.

09/05/04

either friday or saturday, we tried to install the ADSL on my machine - totally fscked up the windows installation.

i've just done a complete reinstall, and i'm getting ready for bed... it's nice that the computer's working for a change!

*** 7th ***

we finished work early for once, and i got to bed around 04.30. i spent the morning / early afternoon arbing around, doing laundry and shopping, and so on.

she came over for a while, and we went to her family for supper - which was alright, but it had some weird moments.

*** yesterday ***

she slept over, and left around midday. i worked on my marketing project, and yogi picked me up, and we worked on it, and our santa clause project, until 20.30.

that was when we went to his place for supper. AWESOME place, and way too much food.

she came over before i went to bed, and we played some backgammon and checkers - a nice way to end a day.

*** today ***

i woke up at 06.30, had a quick shower, and caught the bus to the army base. it turned out that it wasn't a personal interview - it was a three-hour serious of lectures. in hebrew, obviously.

eventually, i managed to convince one of the "in charge" people that i needed to understand what was going on, and the situation improved.

basically, i learned that nobody knows anything, and nobody will know anything, until they're ready to give me the final details.
which is in a couple of months.
bastards.

i came back to herzliyah, and went to math class. fortunately, we didn't do anything too hectic. after class, i did some schmoozing, and then walked home.
to discover that i didn't own a win2k installation cd.
crap.

so i bladed to school, picked one up, and have just finished the installation, had a quick shower, and am on my way to bed.

07/05/04

*** 3rd ***

i woke up early for a meeting with the social worker, which went well, and then went to the volunteer's bureau, to let them know i'd done some more of my community service.

i was tired. really tired.

she picked me up, and we went through to an army magazine headquarters, where she dragged me along as she checked out the place.
it was interesting.
cute thing: apparently all the guys in the office were praying that i'm not the boyfriend: ha ha.

we moved on to azrieli, which is just not the greatest mall on earth. we had awesome cappucino, met up with a friend of hers, had a great lunch, and then said goodbye. i took the bus to ra'anana, watched some taekwondo knockout videos, had a long discussion with my instructor, and then trained for a couple of hours.

training from hell - my instructor HURT me.

she picked me up after training, and we spent some time together before i showered and went to bed.

*** 4th ***

she came over in the morning, and we watched gothika - fun movie, except for the end. halle berry seeing MORE, and the closing song, were both totally inappropriate...

i went to finance class, which was boring as hell (although i did learn SOMEthing), and went home afterward - she came over again, and we watched the fifth element. i still love that movie.

i went to my instructor's place to sort out the video of my fights, and we went to the gym to get protective gear.

she picked me up, and we went to see kill bill 2. beautiful.

*** 5th ***

i woke up at 7am, got my shite together, and arrived on campus on time. we had a loooong minibus ride to haifa, where we watched the beginning of the bowling tournament (and got a couple of free bowls ^_^). that took an hour or so, and then we went to the taekwondo event.

we had to wait for HOURS. i was EXHAUSTED. but because we thought we'd be starting "anytime soon", we kept warming up, stretching, and sizing up our opponents (not that this would be of any use).
not resting.

my first fight was with a white belt, who'd been interested in fighting me. i found him to be surprisingly good, or at least i was surprisingly bad - i was so tired, that my body didn't even want to be standing up, let alone fighting.
i won anyway, and got in some nice kicks.

my second fight was against a blue belt (one belt lower than me), and this guy was a complete bastard. i was dead tired, and was having difficulty standing in the fighting stance, and this dude fought really dirty.

i did have the satisfaction of kicking him really hard in the face (with my LEFT leg?!). when i saw him crumple, i got my hopes up, and it was most upsetting when he got back on his feet.
the rest of the fight sucked. he kicked me really hard in the nuts (ball boxes don't help THAT much), and also in the thigh, and i haven't been able to walk properly since.

so i got first place, which is very cool. at least i kinda deserve it :) (I'D like to think so). the ride home was cool, i found guys in the bowling team who are serious gamers, and we talked codshit the whole way back.

i got a ride to her place. her grandparents came over right after i got there, and that was a little weird for me.
and that's all i have to say about that.

i walked home, stopping in at my charge's home for a quick visit, and a desperate toilet run. not in that order. he was asleep, so i had a very interesting talk with his mom... it seems i knew even less than i thought about his situation, and that's not a lot.

i had an amazing shower when i got home, and spoke to my mommmy. she picked me up, and let me drive to my instructor's place to drop off the gear i'd borrowed. we stopped off to draw some cash, then dropped me off at home. and i crashed.

*** yesterday ***

and i slept well.
i think.

i got up around 08.30, and got to campus around 10.00, to check mail, a trance forum, and some homework. yogi joined me, and we sat and argued about our project for a couple of hours, before going to class with santa claus.

BORING.

this really cute girl, who came to the tournament yesterday, traded phone numbers with me. i've now had a girlfriend for over a year, and suddenly other girls are attracted to me (apparently).
i don't get it. flattering though ^_^.
speaking of which, she's been really annoyed about me keeping in touch with one of the girls i met on the weekend. and i'm simply not sure whether she's over-reacting or not: have i really done something so wrong?!

the rest of the day was boring as hell. i went home, arbed for a bit, and then sammy picked me up, and we came to work.

*** today ***

i'm at work, i'm not happy. listening to trance, while replying to dumb-ass emails from silly people.
and updating these logs for the first time in way too long. we're trying to deal with the internet problems at home, but it's taking a while.

i've just been impolitely asked to put my shoes back on.
bugger.

02/05/04

*** yesterday ***

ok - it was a messed up night. i caught the second half of the game, on a huge screen in the middle of allenby in tel aviv, with a crowd, which was AWESOME - especially as we totally destroyed them! it was a bit of an anticlimax though, as about halfway through the fourth quarter the game's outcome was completely decided.

i got lost on my way to the club, as they've gotten rid of all the city maps that used to be on every corner... in order to get there on time, i RAN practically from one side of tel aviv to the other.

*** today ***

i made it. oh yes, i definitely made it on time.

here's my review of the party:
i'm not a fan of tech-trance, techno, tech-whatever. i discovered this last night.

HOWEVER, you really don't need to be a fan of a style of music in order to notice when NOT A SINGLE DJ (one exception later) can so much as beatmatch, let alone put two tracks together in a sensible form.

i have never heard so much bad dj'ing in my entire life, and i've been to some crap parties in my time. they should all take a little bit of shame home with them.
boring music + sh*te playing = extreme agitation / frustration. please practice a bit before playing in public. and an empty dancefloor is always a good indication that something needs to change.

EXCEPTION: yuki. firstly, i am embarrassed to admit here that i jumped to conclusions, and got the wrong yuki. i've been looking for a cute japanese girl, who plays the most wicked bouncy trance in the world.

THIS yuki is definitely male. and plays evil tunes that turn a dancefloor into a padded cell.
the dude's technical skills are fan-friggin'-tastic, he plays interesting music, and in spite of my general dislike of the genre, i couldn't stop myself from getting up and bouncing around.

second: the people. on the plus side, there weren't any unpleasant people whatsoever - great crowd! now if only there'd been more than 30 or so people (incl. organizers, club owner(s), bouncers)...
nevermind, it's the first insomnia party (party till the next working day) i've been to in many years, and coming home as everyone else was on their way to work was satisfying.

my night was rescued by two rather interesting girls who were working the door - i spent most of the night speaking to them in hebrew, which felt really good, and we all shared the same opinion of the music.

i'm amazed that, on the bus, i woke up before my stop. i had three cheese blintzes (fresh from the bakery), and crashed as soon as i'd had a shower (i REEKED of smoke and sweat). and woke up a couple of hours later to go to math.

which lasted forever.

the army left me a voicemail message to confirm my appointment with them on sunday. only they said thursday. i spent well over fifteen minutes on the phone, trying unsuccessfully to get hold of them.

i got my phone's phonebook updated at orange (all the numbers have changed this month), and spent the evening "doing stuff", so important that i don't really recall. i did have a run-in with a giant flying cockroach, about six inches and scary-as-hell...

she came over - she's having a rough time lately. so we talked and argued for a while before she went home, and now i'm on my way to bed.

01/05/04

i slept late, and don't really remember most of what i did today. i did go and visit her in gedera (i went with a friend of hers), and played good basketball.

i had a shower when i got home, and am definitely going to tel aviv to see yuki playing tonight - she's on at midnight, which means i should be able to catch the basketball final ^_^

i've been training my hair with a beanie, i've just uploaded the picture of how it's going so far... check out the No Haircut section.

30/04/04

i just did the most fantastically dumb thing: i sliced my finger (properly) opening a tin can. and i * KNEW * it was going to happen, but i did it anyway.
so stupid.
now i have to type without my right index finger - this sucks.

*** yesterday ***

instead of going to bed yesterday, which i desperately needed, i stayed up and watched the basketball game, which was quite exciting! AND we won!

*** today ***

it's now mid-afternoon, and i have done practically nothing all day. amazing. loads of counterstrike, though. the new look is quite cute :S

*** later ***

i spoke to her for over an hour (i HATE speaking on the telephone!), and then went to visit my charge for about three hours - the highlight of the visit was discovering engrish.com - check out the signs / posters section - it's hysterical! i don't think i've ever laughed so hard - my chest and stomache hurt, and at one point i lost the ability to read...

i came home, and watched die hard 2. with popcorn. fun movie.

i just can't get into this marketing project thing! i'm so fscking this up X@

29/04/04

*** yesterday ***

* HUGE sigh *
work SUCKED last night. it was a long, busy night. i suffered.

i somehow managed to get myself home (by bus - kept passing in and out of consciousness), and passed out for (get this) one and a half hours.
WOW.

i got up, went to a meeting with the social worker, which was great once i got hold of some serious coffee, and went home with the intention of going back to bed.

yeah, like that would happen.

i had a shower, went to class, and only got back about half an hour ago - i'm DYING... i don't have a clue why i'm even bothering to write this right now...

28/04/04

*** yesterday ***

the barbeque was nice - i ate a LOT of meat. she and her sister picked me up afterwards, we dropped off her sister at home, and spent the day arbing around my place. that involved much movie watching, and missions to the corner cafe for sweets :)

she slept over last night. i went running again this morning, we said goodbye, and i went to class - life can't be all fun and games.

i did, however, find out that i scored 74% in the stats exam! hooray me!!
i'm most pleased.

i'm in the process of figuring out my next few hours, before i'm off to work (sarcastic ^o^)

*** later ***

that wasn't too hard. counterstrike, counterstrike, counterstrike.
hmmph. satisfying.

i figured out how to begin my marketing project - now i just hope i have enough time to do it. and that i'll have enough energy at work tonight.

i've been jumpy and aggro the last couple of hours, i need to release some negative energy. i don't have a clue where to begin. but i guess listening to ministry is a good enough start - is the look in your eyes! (stigmata)...

27/04/04

*** yesterday ***

i slept a lot of the day, and watched a lot of sad documentaries on tv.

last night, i went to my charge's place for a braai, and introduced him to counterstrike. i'm very proud. the view of the independence day fireworks from their apartment was simply awesome.

i went with sammy and his wife to the kfar saba mall, which was totally crazy, and had a lot of candyfloss. we spent ages searching for a movie at the videostore, which turned out to be defective X@ - and watched the butterfly effect instead.

i've never been so shocked and surprised in a movie before - what a great film!

*** today ***

i slept over at their place, and slept really well - breakfast was nice and relaxed. she picked me up, and i drove us to my place, and she went home.

i've spent the past hour or two figuring out how to use sourceforge, now that my project's been accepted. not too complicated, but the documentation is annoying! check out rmg.sourceforge.net.

off to another barbeque ^_^ ...

26/04/04

*** 24th ***

well, she came to the rescue - we went out and got crepes for supper.
much healthier, and there was frozen yoghurt for dessert.

*** yesterday ***

i stayed up until 02.30, doing math homework, and almost enjoying it... must be sick. i put myself to bed, she woke me up around 08.30, and we slept until exactly 11.20 - my alarm telling me it was time to get ready for the memorial day ceremony.

the ceremony was not particularly inspiring. afterwards, the entire international school had a talk with the president of the university, who told his personal story in order to give the international students an idea of what life in israel entails... it was quite emotional.

math class was interesting - it's the first time i've ever thrown something at the lecturer first (he was mocking me), and the rest of the class was entertaining.

she picked me up after class, and we went shopping for someone in her commune that she doesn't get along with - it was quite fun. and i had tons of chocolate nougat ice-cream, which was more than satisfying.

she dropped me off at home, i played some counterstrike, she picked me up after about an hour, and we drove to gedera for another ceremony.

i use the term "drove" loosely: it was two hours of stop-go traffic from hell, and she's not an experienced driver...

as we got out the car in gedera, the sirens began, so we stood in the middle of the road, along with a few others on their way - it's a unifying feeling.

the ceremony in gedera was weird - aside from good singers, everything was very poorly organized, and the kids were celebrating independence day prematurely (it was far from quiet and respectful).

we left a bit early, as we had to go and fetch someone from close by, and we discovered on the way to the car that her keys were missing. a short run later, we discovered that the keys were miraculously still hanging from the car door - it's a bad neighbourhood, it really is a special thing.

i got to drive the rest of the night. we drove to a nearby army base, picked up a friend of hers, and drove back to herzliyah - i haven't had a good drive in AGES, and it was really good to get comfy behind the wheel.

we were both starving by the time we got back, but none of the shops were open (silly us - it's memorial day). we picked up another friend of hers, and drove around the industrial area on a fruitless search for eateries, before returning back to her place for a covert steal-from-the-parents operation...

we dropped off her friend, ate stolen supper at my place,

*** today ***

and said good night. i'm now finishing this, going to sleep, and that's all i'm friggin' writing.

24/04/04

*** yesterday ***

she and i celebrated our one year anniversary last night (a couple of nights early, but our actual date is too complicated). we went to kai's for supper (getting TOTALLY lost on the way - it took half an hour to turn the car around, due to the aweful road system in tel-aviv), and then saw walking on water in cinema city.

it's the first israeli film i've seen on the big screen, and it is a SPECTACULAR movie. i managed to follow almost all of the hebrew script, and she helped me out with the german sections.

*** today ***

i just got up about an hour ago, had a great breakfast while watching evil con carne (great cartoon). i'm getting progressively better at wasting time. that's what i think i'll do today :)

*** later ***

WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SO FREAKING COMPLICATED TO MAKE #@$%ING RICE?!?!?! i just fscked up the rice, and the pot, for the last time. i give up. i just - don't - get - rice.
there's something wrong with me. i just can't get it right in the kitchen.
i guess it was just never meant to be.

i've played lots of counterstrike today. she came over, showed me the INCREDIBLE photos she took in south africa, and we watched silence of the lambs.

she left for an hour or so, and i played cs and tried to make rice for supper.
i'm still hungry.

23/04/04

*** yesterday ***

it was a really long day in class. i got to spend an hour with her before going to work,

*** today ***

which turned out to be the longest, most boring shift - and it didn't help that i was tired before we began. i got home at 06.30 this morning, totally wasted and bombed out.

i slept about five hours, which i still don't understand, and began the day with grootbek, eating ice-cream and playing lots of tekken.

i've just finished playing some of the worst counterstrike ever (i don't remember ever sucking so much), and am seriously contemplating going back to bed.

22/04/04

*** yesterday ***

another early morning. we were four ultra-slow joggers, but we had tons of pancakes afterwards... YUMMY!

i then went to a class which was basically on databases, and the lecturer kept picking on me as i was bored out of my mind.
and tired.

in the next class we were informed that we were to sit in on a policy conference. so i went in, like everyone else did. for half an hour i fought with myself, as i couldn't decide whether to stay or go. it was all in hebrew, and i was having flashbacks from the lessons in my basic training.
my hebrew SUCKS.

so i left, all frustrated and with my brain in agony. i spent the next few hours in the library, alternatively sleeping and finishing my cheat sheet for the statistics exam.

- THE EXAM -

the exam was weird - each of the four questions tested everything we've learned, and i feel like i got it all right and all wrong at the same time. if it wasn't for the coffee and the redbull, i would never have survived. as it is, i'm almost CERTAIN that i kept using the wrong formulae, and i could feel myself plugging in the wrong numbers.
i hope i'm wrong.

- THE EXAM -

i walked home, played counterstrike for a very long time,

*** today ***

and then went to sleep.

i woke up at 06.30, ran WAY more than usual, did some other exercises, showered, watched a really bad movie with stephen dorff - steal, and tried to get some sleep. i gave up, and played some more counterstrike.

in a short while i'm off to class, and then work tonight...

20/04/04

*** yesterday ***

i played counterstrike until she arrived, and we slept the morning away. we went out for pancakes (now you see the humour), and decided that NIS 20 (R30) for two pancakes was too much of a ripoff. we settled for antipasta and pizza in the mall, did some vague shopping, and then went to a new gelateria for an AWESOME dessert.

the rest of the afternoon kind of disappeared, and after doing some emergency shopping, i picked up my younger charge and went with him to taekwondo.

taekwondo was alright, but i need more practice. and more sleep.

we finished late, but got a ride back to herzliyah - my charges' mum refused to let me leave without supper - three really good, very different types of schnitzel :)

*** today ***

showered, and CRASHED.

wow - what a morning :P

we went running again - it's been getting more and more difficult to get out of bed. i managed to sweat a perfect triangle... i showed my charges how to get to the library... i had GREAT pancakes for breakfast... she reminded me that my phone number has changed (i totally forgot, they added a digit to everyone's numbers).

*** later ***

i lay in bed for an hour or so, unable to sleep, and re-awoke to a second breakfast of good grapefruit.

i walked with grootbek to campus, where i met up with SxS and mmf - we went together with costa-rican-boy to oracle's offices in israel, where we spent a few hours learning to operate their workflow application.
like, wow man.

SxS and i had an argument in the car on the way back, which resulted in me having to walk home - i find that a tad pitiful, but whatever.

aside from doing some quick shopping (for some much needed ice-cream), i made myself a remarkably tasty (i'm remarking now, even) fried egg & pita supper.

i played some counterstrike, but sucked ever-so-badly, and have almost completed writing the cheat-sheet i need for the statistics exam tomorrow.
which i'm SO not in the mood to take.
bugger.

19/04/04

*UUUUUUUUGH*
*GROAN*
i don't know how i pulled myself out of bed, AGAIN, this morning. i've just finished the laziest shower ever, after jogging, running, and finishing off with stretching, situps, and pushups.
i hurt.

no rest for the wicked, though. she's on her way here, so i can't just go back to sleep.

18/04/04

*** yesterday ***

instead of going straight to sleep, i watched the ring, the american version,

*** today ***

and had to convince myself that filesharing would save me in order to close my eyes. naaah, it wasn't THAT bad, and it's a good movie.

i managed to pull myself out of bed at 06.20, and went running with my charges. certainly an experience. i had to wait for a quarter of an hour to be let in, 'cause they kinda forgot to wake up...

i went to class, which was long and boring, and by the time i got home i was incapable of anything that wasn't sleep. i woke up, watched the fifth element (my favourite movie of all time) for the 15th or so time, and am now going back to bed, in glorious anticipation of getting up early again tomorrow.

17/04/04

*** yesterday ***

i got home from work at 05.30, and made the rediculous mistake of going to sleep for an hour. i woke up at 06.20, then 06.55, and then 10.30, by which stage i'd missed both the morning jog, and the class...
whoops.
anyway, i went to campus, talked codshit to the lecturer, said hi to some people, and then returned home for some shopping and bed.

i watched blade runner, the director's cut. WOW - what an incredible film, way better and more intense than the normal version.
as usual, i suppose.

i made myself rice, really well this time, and played some tekken with grootbek while eating bitesized top-deck.
oh, yeah.

she and one of the guys from her commune picked me up, and we went to the industrial area for coffee - it was most pleasant.

they dropped me off before returning to gedera, and i've been missing her terribly since. this long-distance relationship kills me, but i still feel like the luckiest guy on earth :)

*** today ***

been posting on the isratrance forum - i can't believe i have so much to say ^_^ it's so nice to be able to talk with all the trance countries, south africa included, and not just israel - it makes everything much more meaningful.

*** later ***

brrrr. cold suddenly.

i got up quite early, did some arbing around, did some laundry, and began my marketing project. pitifully, but began nonetheless.

she came over, we slept a bit, and then went to pick up her friend - the three of us played basketball at the "sportech" until quite late.
pretty good basketball, but i'm totally unfit.

i just had spaghetti and ice-cream for supper, am about to have a shower, and then get into my nice, warm bed.

15/04/04

*** 13th ***

she and i went to tal bagel's for breakfast, which was BRILLIANT, and mooched around a bit before she dropped me off at the bus station. i spent the rest of the day at work.

*** yesterday ***

we finally finished work at 01.30, and i got to bed at 2am. my head was spinning from too much radiation (staring at a monitor for eleven straight hours can do that to you).

i got up early (at 07.30) for class - ten minutes before leaving, i got an email to inform me that class was cancelled.
$#@%.

i spoke to her for an hour (i didn't even notice the time go by), stopped for a burekas breakfast, then picked up my photos from the weekend (i have some great photos), and went to campus.

met up with mmf, and we decided to spend the day on the beach (PERFECT weather).

after picking up da, who from now on shall be known as yogi, we went to the beach.
which was blanketed in fog. and rather chilly.

so, we had lunch by the american embassy, under the watchful, paranoid gaze of the security personnel...

chilled at yogi's place, then he gave me a ride home. grootbek and i played basketball with my charges, which was very cool, and i then spent the evening chilling.

*** today ***

wow - it's 07.20 and i've been up for an hour now. i went for a jog: it was supposed to be with my charges, but as i got there they were leaving, and so i had to go it alone.
on the plus side, i found the route i'll be taking them along.

so, here i sit, drinking my turkish coffee before taking a shower - i LOVE summer!!! i'm sweating like an absolute pig, and i don't care.

*** later ***

what an incredible day! i went to class, discovered it was in hebrew, and spent the next hour or so talking to some friends of mine - we've organized a day trip to oracle's headquarters during next week :)

so - i tried to get some sleep, and woke myself up with a brilliant idea. i had a meeting with SxS and mmf, and we've figured out some things - we're going to attempt to take it further.
it would be SO nice if something came out of it, my ideas usually break down fairly early.

mmf translated the letter of recommendation that i picked up from the dean of the faculty of computer science's office this morning - he almost cried reading it to me - it's AMAZING! i honestly couldn't hope to get a better recommendation than that, and i have absolutely no idea how to express my gratitude. this letter is incredible!

i'm at work now - looking forward to a long night, and then i'm running in tomorrow morning again, with a class at 08.15... let's just say my life ain't boring :P

12/04/04

what a great day.
she slept over, and we slept in till around 1pm. we had cadbury's whispers for breakfast. we went to a friend of her's place, and had the biggest lunch - including ribs, steak with cream, salads and pastas and liver and veggies, and an array of desert.

i had too much chocolate-mousse marangue. and cake. and ice cream.

we spent an idle afternoon, and then went, together with another friend of her's, to watch big fish.
GREAT film.
i like tim burton.

i just got dropped off at home, to wait for her while she visits another friend, and then i think she's sleeping over again. i called her mom, to say welcome back, and i've been semi-invited to come over on the weekend. which will be super-weird, because she's not going to be here, and her father's still not happy with me :(

oh well.

it's been a great day, nonetheless.

11/04/04

in-FSCKING-credible! a-MAZE-ing! suPERB! fan-friggin'-tastic! and a host of other superlatives!

this weekend has been absolutely <see above> - i feel refreshed and exhausted, sunburnt, dirty and fulfilled ^_^

it was the prettiest trance venue i've seen in a loooong time. on the beach, grassy, with plenty of trees - HUGE camping grounds (which were totally filled), and great weather (which lasted the entire weekend).

there were lots of kids and dogs this weekend. it had a very family-type vibe.
my favourite :D

*** 9th ***

some of karnaf's friends picked me up, a bunch of nice guys. we met up with some friends of theirs on the way, and had a most pleasant trip up to the syrian / jordanian side of the kinneret. karnaf and i played frisbee for while, with ambient beats in the background, and were joined by some very small children - very cute.

* much bouncing and chilling and stuff *

*** yesterday ***

* more bouncing and chilling and stuff *

i slept in bits and pieces, played lots of frisbee (we had some great multi-frisbee sessions), and did lots of day-partying, which is my reason for going to these things.

and swimming. took a couple of quick dips.

i was barefoot until sometime in the afternoon, when i managed to burn the soles of my feet walking over a very hot bridge, and had to wear shoes for the remainder of the party (except when swimming, of course :P).

peaking goddess collective played yesterday afternoon until midnight. they were BRILLIANT. live instruments, great ambient beats, and sheer musical talent. great fun!

*** today ***

uv came on at midnight, for a two hour set of total funkiness - happy tunes with sweet beats, and i couldn't get off the dancefloor.
i slept from around 2am till 8am, which was a LOT - and woke up to a powerful set, which caused much bouncing, and more frisbee.

then went for a swim with one of the many people i've met, and we played frisbee in the water. one of the dogs came into the water, and for almost half an hour swam back and forth between us trying desperately to get to the bright pink frisbee - i WISH i had half that energy!

much laughter ensued as everyone around us tried in vain to help us distract the poor creature.

we spent the rest of the morning relaxing, then struck camp and moved along. the music cut out at 12.00, which was a bit crap, and we got out of there at 14.00, which was quite sad.
a long, tired drive home, and she came over (it's been the longest two and a bit weeks, and i couldn't stop missing her, especially during the party). she's brought tons of stories, and even more GOOOOD chocolate - and manhattan marshmallows ^_^...

* sigh *
she's gone to supper with her folks, and will be back a bit later - i'm using this opportunity to listen to a trance cd i bought (spiritual beings - full space), and taking a much needed shower.

i really loved getting back to nature, i feel renewed, and generally much happier. she also brought me a chain, which i'll take a photo of for my gallery, and is sporting a henna tattoo of a gekko - for anyone who knows me, this is too cool!

09/04/04

dumb.
so dumb. SO incredibly dumb.
i'm an asshole.
i'm just a retarded monkey, like the ones i've been raving about.

i got to bed around 1 / 2am, and woke up at 05.45 - i managed to get my shit together, and was on the bus at 06.40. i sat for a half an hour before entering the base, drinking coffee and reading alice in quantumland, until 8am. i entered the base with no hassle, only to discover that the base was empty... my review is on the 9th of MAY, not APRIL, and i totally didn't check that.
what a dumbass.

anyways, i've done some shopping for the party - and bought myself a yoga mat so i can stretch at home now. and i squeezed two drops of oil onto my doorhinges, and it's no more haunted house for me!!!

on to the packing, the festival is near.

08/04/04

*** yesterday ***

class - sucked - piles. hunger, and statistics, do not go well together.

our lecturer gave a couple of us a lift to work, where i spent a couple of hours eating, clearing email, receiving my paycheck and a holiday gift (!), and "being productive" - by beginning to write a quick reference for an application that we use at work.

sammy gave me a ride home, and i immediately passed out - i've been exhausted since tuesday, and i have no idea why...

i woke up, went shopping for ice-cream and drinks, and managed not to screw up the rice this time. i had about a quarter of the ice-cream first, as is proper ^_^

i've spent the remainder of the evening catching up on hunter x hunter,

*** today ***

finished another quarter of ice-cream, and am about to get into the shower.

what worries me is that there's so much that i should be doing, and i just can't get around to it.
i suck.

*** later ***

our last class was alright, but a tad on the headbreaking side. went to work afterwards, which went well, and got a ride home in time to get my gear and go off to taekwondo.

the ride included a lengthy lecture concerning what to do and say (and not do and not say) when dealing with the army interview tomorrow, and the tests in the future. while there were some interesting points made, i know and understand most of it purely because i'm a south african, and we have a tactful culture (israeli's have whatever counts for the exact opposite of tact).

taekwondo was CRAZY. on monday night i was psyched, and full of energy. tonight, i was DEAD, completely bombed - and the training was much harder.
i'm hurting now.

i've just compiled a basic list of questions for tomorrow, i'm about to take a shower, and then i'm most definitely hitting hay.

06/04/04

the good news is, it appears that i will have a place on the kibbutz during my army service - now it's only up to the army and them to sort out the details ^_^

*** yesterday ***

was it only yesterday? it's been such a great two days!

i got up early-ish, did some shopping, and then went to afula, where my cousins picked me up. i had a totally relaxing afternoon, and we had the seder (passover meal) together with the entire kibbutz, which was quite an experience.
and the food was really good.

*** today ***

i got to bed around 1am, and woke up around 8am - i spent the first half of the day watching tv (the ten commandments with charleton heston), and the rest of it walking around, petting the farm animals, and getting quite dirty practising taekwondo and playing games with my cousins' children.

and then we had supper, to celebrate a birthday tomorrow, and the food was AWESOME (including one cottage pie, a rarity in this country).

started rewatching good will hunting, but had to leave it after just an hour to get the bus back here, and i've just gotten home now.

daylight savings is really confusing - at midnight all our clocks go FORWARD one hour.

05/04/04

*** 3rd ***

i spent the day with da, working on his applied project. we have a shared interest and attitude towards things spiritual, and we talked about them a lot - he gave me some good pointers for training.

we finished off the day with sushi at a place called kai, which was great sushi, and we ate a LOT.
like, i surprised myself... :$

*** yesterday ***

i got to bed around 2am, and got up at 9am - made my way to class, and spent a miserable (okay, i'm exaggerating) few hours there.

i went home, put laundry in the washing machine, and went to visit my charges - we ended up playing basketball for a half an hour or so, before coming back to my place to watch hunter x hunter and play tekken.
which, of course, was fun.

our washing machine is buggered. while they were here, i took my washing out - all completely soaked. the doo-dah is filled with water.
that SUCKS.

i then took the guys to taekwondo.

firstly, warmup was HARD for me (i haven't trained in weeks), but it was a lot better than i'd expected. and the flexibility, coupled with da's advice from saturday, really helped! i felt much better for it, and now as well.

i had a great fight with the guy who usually kicks my ass - i really managed to focus, and didn't suck at all.
go me!
i think the kids had fun - i'm hoping they're going to come again. all in all, though, i'm really having fun with them, and i'm trying to impart useful knowledge and help them out at the same time. i did a good 7.5 hours with them, and i feel that the time was really worth it.

*** today ***

i had two pastry thingums for supper, and am about to get into the shower.

the last couple of days i've really missed her - and i'm unhappy about not being in cape town with her. i was thinking today about all the things i'm missing out on, and its really upsetting.

on the other hand - life is good. not easy, but definitely good. i have a lot to be grateful for.
good friends, good health, and the universe seems to be on my side for the moment ^_^

03/04/04

*** yesterday **

i definitely didn't sleep enough. i went to pick up my laundry from the drycleaners, which wasn't ready, and then went to class, for another fun-filled day of statistics.
wasn't so bad.
i bladed home, did some quick weekend shopping, and spent my afternoon reading hunter x hunter. i've almost caught up to the current episodes in the manga, which are STILL getting better. i think i may be sick - but i'm having too much fun with it to care. obsession can't be ALL bad...

i watched red dragon with our argentinian, which is an AWESOME movie,

*** today ***

and i just got out of the shower now. i'm BOMBED.

01/04/04

*** yesterday **

good lord. busy day. i got up at 8am, bladed to class, remained there until 1am, and then bladed back.

warm, sunny day.

i got home to my army call-up. i must be one of the only people in this country happy to get it.
anyway, they tell me i have to be there in a week for my review.
that i'm beginning my service in october.
and that they love me.
or something.
it's in hebrew, after all.

i went to visit my charges, and their mom gave me the car, and some cash, and said "go do something". so we did.
we played playstation in the freak store, had a healthy lunch of crepes with chocolate (and ice-cream), and played pool - all of this lasted about six hours.
and we all had fun.

i got home, and immediately went to work on our project, which was due before midnight.
oh-kay: i immediately went to work on my hunter x hunter manga collection. that wasted about an hour.
i practically finished the documents, and uploaded them on time, but i'm not sure they're of the best quality.
but i included pretty pictures.
we like pretty pictures.

i spoke to my mom, and her,

*** today ***

until a few minutes ago - i'm going to have a shower soon, and then hit the hay. i have a long day ahead of me.

*** later ***

i was right - today was a loooong-ass day. i got up at 8am, with a splitting headache, and went to a meeting with the social worker.
i then went to class, and got april fooled COMPLETELY - the australian dude convinced me that our company was going under, and that we were all losing our jobs...

class finished at 14.35. i had an hour to get home and then go to pack and deliver food for the needy (more community service).
or not-so-needy - one of the places i delivered to was a beautiful penthouse apartment. cheap bastards.

got home about an hour ago. i'm bombed. i'm gonna have a shower, rustle me up some grub, and pass out.

31/03/04

*** yesterday **

i got up around 10am, mmf came over, and at some point SxS too, and we spent the entire day working on our project.

we're almost finished, too. huh.

this hunter x hunter thing is getting worse - the series just keeps getting better and better, and i'm now hopelessly addicted. this yoshihiro togashi is an absolute goddamn GENIUS.

our brit and i had a really long debate, which began as "what would aliens look like?" (inspired by a trailer for the new star trek). one of the more interesting points was a definition for life: anything that contains a process. the reason it's so general, is that we were trying to differentiate algae from humans, and at the same time trying to remove the possibility that life can evolve as a gas.

funny thing, that: it implies that the universe is alive (and computers too, i guess).

*** today ***

i spent the first hour reading the manga, then tried to fall asleep, and was attacked by the inspiration for the poem i've just added.

30/03/04

*** yesterday **

work was alright. had nando's for lunch.

i waited at the doctor's office for three hours before i could see him. when i eventually got in, he told me he couldn't really see me, and that i should come back in a few days.

at least i got some math homework done.

i got home, got ready for bed,

*** today ***

and then got caught up in the hunter x hunter manga. and now i'm talking to her online (does typing this count as cheating?)

29/03/04

*** yesterday **

i took the bus to da's place. everyone was bombed, and watching tv, so SxS gave me a ride home.
figures.
we worked on our project until 01.30, and then i went to bed.

i woke up around 04.30, had to fight with grootbek to get him awake so he could reactivate our internet connection, and spent an hour or two doing some more project work.
and i got stuff done, ek se.
i learned, also, that in vb6 it is impossible to use hebrew for buttons - you have to make an image of the text you want, and make it a graphical button.
not just for hebrew.
THAT's micro$o$oft's idea of localization...

i crashed for a bit, and am now on my way to work...

28/03/04

*** yesterday **

i did a bit of work yesterday, got reinterested in neon genesis evangelion, and read up some more hunter x hunter.

last night we went to da's place -

*** today ***

around 1 / 2am, i started feeling nauseous, and had difficulty breathing, and then passed out. i came to what i guess was a few minutes later, with everyone trying to figure out what had happened - i rate i was just too freakin' tired.

i need to learn how to not sleep so much. i've got to try to do some community service catching-up this week: if not, i'm in deep shite.
or, very expensive shite. they'll revoke my scholarship...

math homework - here i come!

*** later ***

well, i managed the homework, and the class wasn't SO bad. i made my way home afterwards, played some cs, and then went to my charge(s), and talked and played playstation for a few hours.

i'm now off to da's place again - more work, and hopefully this time i won't have any incidents.

27/03/04

*** yesterday **

i'm sick, so i did sick people stuff.
i slept.
i ate.
i admit i did a little shopping, and showed my surfboard to a guy who may be interested in buying, and i feel like i'm betraying a friend. no, not dirk diggler, but my board.

speaking of dirk diggler, i watched boogie nights last night. great movie.

she met my mom yesterday, and neither her, nor my mom, have spoken to me about it. i'm sure it was all okay, but i really want details!

*** today ***

i've just got up, ignoring the antibiotics run at 7am, and am currently demonstrating my slacking prowess. i've discovered the winamp tv channels. i'm watching some idiot cleaning out kitty litter.
and it fascinates me.

25/03/04

damn. she's just left. she'll be meeting my mom tomorrow. i'm still here.
bugger.

also crap is my feeling so shitty for so long - i've been properly sick since monday, and i can't concentrate on anything much for long before getting kicked in the head by an unhappy ear and swollen glands.

*** yesterday ***

yesterday is a bit of a blur. i went to a class in public administration. we spent an hour discussing the political situation now that the hamas leader is dead, after which the lecturer decided that it was too cold, and left.
amazing.

i planned on meeting with my charge, but he's been difficult to get hold of. i passed out, and woke up with a phone call from his mom, who's made my community service a lot easier - she informed me that i'm welcome to meet with her kids whenever, and that they're more or less always at home.
so there's a chance that this could all work out.

she got home relatively early, and we went out for coffee with a friend of hers. which then turned into supper at a chocolate shoppe, without chocolate. but really good nonetheless.

*** today ***

she left my place early this morning, and then returned a bit later, and we spent a good couple of hours watching absolute crap on the tv.

she dropped me off on campus, and i went through the trauma of three classes.
fortunately not all boring. she'd lent me her israeli flag, and whenever i made an anti-israeli comment in class (there's tons to nit-pick over here), i waved the flag - much to the amusement of my classmates. and the lecturer was noticeably less upset with my comments than he was a week ago.

she picked me up after class, and we've just finished lengthy, sobbing goodbyes - dammit, she's only going for two weeks! but i miss her already.
* whipped *

i cut out eleven hearts from some pink cardpaper, and put them in a really cute envelope for our eleven-month anniversary tomorrow ^_^

* yawn *
bedtime. suppertime. bedtime. suppertime.
damn antibiotics are messing with my timetable.

23/03/04

today was a big day.

work was tough, although i only had one phone call the entire night - my head was aching and spinning.

i got home around 3am, woke up at 7am for breakfast and an antibiotic, then went back to sleep until noon.

class was alright. after which i found out
that
i
got
80%
for my algorithms exam!! go me!!

i went to my usual doctor for a second opinion, and got referred back to yesterday's doctor, for whom i had to wait in the reception office for three hours (many, many other people).

it was decided that the original course of action was correct.

i came home for a sausage and rice dinner (i screwed up the rice again), and am now planning some serious quantities of sleep.

22/03/04

suck o' clock came around, and i hadn't slept properly. i showered, bought an expired chocolate milk - which, by the way, is NOT the ideal way to wake up in the morning - and hopped on the bus to the student authority.

the student authority went surprisingly well, although i'd already started feeling crap by the time i arrived. i didn't appreciate the beautiful breakfast fully - crepes with white chocolate and banana - and got more of it on the ground and my clothing than in my mouth.

i went straight to her place, and we went straight to my place, where we watched animal planet and drank tea.

she dropped me off on campus, i sorted some of my life out, and tutored the girl who joined our taekwondo group for her microeconomics exam - and she paid me NIS 100 (that's read "lots" in any south african's book).
good for me! (albeit a bit surprising)

i tried to make an appointment with a doctor for my swollen ear (no - not head), but everyone's unavailable till 4pm, so i went home to wait, err... pass out watching full metal jacket. i got up just in time, made the appointment, and went to the doctor.

i had to wait almost an hour, to have this enormous earlobe of mine examined (i've been considering wrapping a plastic bag around my head to hold it up - it's closing in on my ankles), to be told "it looks okay, here's a prescription for a week of antibiotics."
thanks, doc.

i got my drugs, and was on my way to work.

crappy bus ride. i'm going to be upset about her being in cape town without me for a very long time.

i just finished my supper, took my first antibiotic, and am utterly exhausted - and the phones have *JUST* begun ringing...

21/03/04

i got up at 9am this morning, showered the cold shower, and bladed to class.
stupid fscking class.

she picked me up, and we went to the park for some coffee - it was only there that she told me how sick she was feeling. i had a great cup of coconut flavoured coffee.

i drove us back to my place, where we slept until she felt well enough to go home. i drove her home, and bladed back - halfway home i began feeling really dizzy, and it's been downhill from there (the feeling, not the roads).

not in the least bit helped by watching killer klowns from outer space.

i've been doing math homework the whole evening, and am in the middle of it as we speak (my spurious breaks have included shopping for cardboard backing, and tekken - we now have some more funky "art" around the house, and SxS is annoyed with me for beating him).

the worst is that i'm feeling shite, and i have to be up at suck o' clock in the morning to deal with the student authority again. followed by a day of community service and my own crap to deal with, followed by work tomorrow night.

i'm sooooo excited!
* /me passes out cold on the floor *

20/03/04

*** yesterday ***

work went alright, but the ginseng tablet i got off a classmate started wearing off as we left, and by the time i got home i was asleep on my feet.

i spent yesterday sleeping, aside from a break to go shopping for birthday cards (damn, it took me almost half an hour to find ones without stupid messages).
and i finally watched the rest of apocalypse now redux, which is truly in a class of its own.

*** today ***

she came to sleep over at about 5am, and we slept until 12.30. we had breakfast at her place, and i've just got home - i'm going to be arbing around until supper tonight.

*** later ***

i arbed incredibly successfully. good counterstrike sessions, and some light reading (sinfest)...

we had supper with her family, at a very posh, expensive restaurant - great food, jolly good atmosphere, although while i was talking to her about cape town (she'll be there in less than a week), i realized just how much i miss drinking coffee with my mom at rediculous hours of the morning.
* sniff *

she's coming over in a few minutes, and we're watching 8 mile together.

18/03/04

FREAKY FREAKY FREAKY FREAKY FREAKY FREAKY FREAKY FREAKY FREAKY FREAKY FREAKY FREAKY FREAKY FREAKY FREAKY
* FREAKY *

*** yesterday ***

yesterday started off pretty badly, with a meeting about my community service, and how i'm in deep shite with regard to it.

i then participated in sucky classes. went over to a friend's place afterwards for some coffee and a Very Philosophical Discussion. after this, grootbek and i went shopping, which included buying some quasi-cardboard and poster-paper.

when we got home, i attacked it with spraypaint, signed my name, and we nailed it to the wall of our lounge.

it looks very nice. the more i see it, the better it looks.

i was really hungry, and had almost put the spaghetti in the pot before remembering that i was on my way to supper with her family. without her.
do - not - ask.

i had a shower, gelled up my hair to be as nerdy as possible, and took me a walk.

supper was really nice - and her father was quite polite, and civil, and not weird.
only, i had to take the elevator down with him when we left. that was, without any doubt, the longest eight floor elevator ride in history.
and possibly the quietest.

* shudder *
* double shudder *

i then went to my charge's birthday party - which was loud, and crazy, and i met his mom and little brother (who will also be my charge). very nice, but a little weird for me (so many people), and i couldn't stop thinking about the elevator ride.
or the homework i had to do.
which, btw, i STILL have to do...

i got home, to find out that grootbek had gone with our brit to the hospital. he's completely fucked. out of his mind on some serious prescription drugs, and suffering severely from an ear and eye infection.
and he's been walking around sideways in boxer shorts and socks, wearing michael jackson-style enormous sunglasses.
and no, i'm not making this up.

*** today ***

so here i sit, typing away, weirded out by tonight's events, and not in any mood whatsoever to get any homework done, with six hours to go before i have to be awake and on the bus to tel-aviv, to deal with the student authority.

i really could cry.

at least my artwork is good.

*** later ***

* whine *

i woke up at 06.30, and had to spend half an hour frantically rummaging through all my belongings, before finding my id documents in a rather logical place...

crappy bus rides. it took me ten minutes of argueing with the woman i had to meet with, in hebrew, before we realized that neither of us had a clue what the other was saying.
so we got a translator.
who couldn't speak english.

eventually managed to figure everything out, and went back home for a quick breakfast (and some spraypainting) before going to campus.

i did some of my "community service", and went to class.

the rest of the day sucked PILES. and i'm now at work, tired as all hell, and we're going till early morning again.

* sigh *. sometimes, i hate being me.

16/03/04

i am sooo tired. we had a really boring night at work. i caught up on some sinfest, and played mindnumbing games at miniclip.com, and am currently waiting for enough hot water to wash quickly before passing out.

there's no emoticon (that i know of) for simply sticking out your tongue. :P doesn't cut it.

*** later ***

crap.
complete, and utter, crap.
crappity crap crap.

i got to bed at 06.30. i got my first urgent phone call at 09.30, something about my community service, and my scholarship being in jeopardy unless i did something or other, or spoke to someone or other. from some woman who has this amazing ability to talk furiously, and non-stop, for hours.

i vaguely recall another call before the same woman called again... then i had to get up to give some documents to grootbek's mother (i've leased them my fridge).

after all that, i simply couldn't sleep anymore. so i picked up my photos, which cost me a bomb and a half (but they're good photos (some of them, at least)), and spent some time gabbing with petrol at the freak store.

i had a quick, shabby breakfast, and bladed to class - which was fairly not interesting.

i bladed home, watched the first half of spaceballs (decidedly not funny), and went with SxS to the beach, where we sort of watched a really beautiful sunset with a friend of ours.

i got home, and went to pick up my charge (the guy i'm working with for my community service), and brought him to our place for three hours of tekken, tv, and inane discussions with the millions who came over during this time.

most movie-like moment: kicking a SKANKY-ass friend of ours under the table when he started skinning up, and he still had to be convinced to go talk to grootbek in his room, where it was explained to him that my charge really shouldn't see that shit going on.
hmmph. so blind.

i walked him home, in the freezing cold, and came home to do dishes - my plan now is to shower, and sleep.

please, lord, let me get some sleep.

tonight is the memorial night for my grandmother, who passed away two years ago. i'm supposed to have prayed in synagogue, but i don't even know where to go...

15/03/04

the exam SUCKED. only a fat, ugly, beastly trance beat can save me now. i REALLY need to do some heavy-duty partying.

to make matters worse, i'm at work now, until early morning again, and i'm soooo tired. the red-bull before the exam was out of sheer necessity.
only problem is that it's running out.

i watched some hunter x hunter this morning - it hasn't yet ceased to amaze me, and i haven't been disappointed either, despite having already read the manga version.
brilliant.

our apartment is still clean. it feels like we're living in someone else's apartment - the place is all tidy.
kinda creepy, actually.
i also did some handywork on my door, after replacing the lock a week or two ago - it looks really neat and tidy now.
i can't believe i find this stuff worth writing about. i've been thinking about it a lot recently - i have to keep reminding myself that the only reason i write this "diary" is for my own memories. i'm sure nobody actually READS this... or cares that much, anyway :P

14/03/04

mmph. annoying day.

our first class was cool - we watched wag the dog. which had nothing, whatsoever, to do with our course.

had our first dreary math class, spent a little time with her before she left for the week, did some shopping, and played counterstrike.

something's missing from my day.
homework.
studying for the dreaded exam tomorrow.
naaah, that can't be it!

13/03/04

one of my esteemed flatmates has destroyed my beard-trimmer. and noone's owning up to it.

*** yesterday ***

ummm. i went shopping. i slept a bit. i ate lunch, and watched lost in translation (good movie!) with her, and we slept

*** today ***

until this morning (oops - she was meant to go home last night)...

so far, so good - lots of counterstrike, and sinfest archives. i should probably be doing some homework, but i don't wanna.

*** later ***

* sigh *
i'm so in love, i don't know what to do with myself.
she and i spent the last few hours watching human traffic, drinking "sachlav" (very tasty gooey liquid), and jumping on trampolines.
and watching a very pretty sunset.

in other news, we had a cleaning day today, which so far seems to have been successful.

plans for later on: coffee with sammy and his wife, and then we're off to bowling.

*** later ***

nope - coffee was it, as we were both really tired. but we did enjoy ourselves.

* YAWN *

12/03/04

*** yesterday ***

i got up at 07.40, which is way too early, and went to training. training was relaxed, and i got a ten minute massage at the end - most beneficial.

i was in class from 12.00 until 19.15, and it was SO boring, and then i went to training. which wasn't nearly as relaxed, and i was made to wear a white belt (kinda of humiliating, but i'd left my belt at home). and i performed really badly too - i left a bit shame-faced.

i got home, had a shower, and she came over - it would have been much nicer if she could sleep over, but her father is still (and, for the forseeable future, will be) unhappy with me...

10/03/04

i have hair. lots of it. too much. check out the photo gallery if you don't believe me.

i spent the day in class. hopefully i made another contact for the army, but i'll have to wait and see. not that waiting and seeing has done me any good so far, but my choices are rather limited.

i tutored a couple of girls in microeconomics. i really can't believe that i remember all that shit!

i had an absolutely AMAZING idea for a startup company today - i'm obviously not talking until i've started setting things up, and i totally don't have time, but this could be the big one.
kinda weird. it's always the simple ideas that have the most potential.

and i almost COMPLETELY forgot - MNGR!!!! (My NEW Goggles Rock), check out the photo gallery for that too.

09/03/04

i'm having difficulty getting back into study mode. i'm not entirely finished with the previous semester, and the new semester has already begun, and i just don't feel like i have it in me. i've been thinking that maybe i only performed because i was under too much pressure, and had too much to handle.

i really need to retake control of my life.

*** 7th ***

i got to class on time, only to discover that all classes were cancelled due to it being a public holiday, which i was certain was on the 8th. i could have stayed another night on the kibbutz...

instead, i spent a few hours doing prep reading in the library. the afternoon is a blank. mmf came over, and we watched all three back to the futures instead of working on our applied project.

*** yesterday ***

i got to sleep at 02.30. i woke up at 06.30, and went to taekwondo, where i trained hard until just before 12.00 - and i left early. it was absolutely awesome. about halfway through, i pulled a muscle in my back - fortunately one of the people training is a doctor (and lecturer in eastern medicine), and he gave me a ten minute shiatsu massage. it didn't really fix anything, but it did feel good.

i got home, showered, and passed out. i vaguely recall letting mmf in the apartment, and passing out again. i woke up for ghost in the shell, which we HAD to watch, and just as it finished SxS came over. we didn't get any work done. rather, we made a crappy pizza, ordered chinese, played tekken, and watched tv the whole evening. i eventually chucked the guys out around 23.30, and went to bed.

*** today ***

i had really weird, and bad, dreams last night.

after waking up, i worked on our applied project, before rollerblading to class. after class, i received an intro to martial arts from a friend of mine, who's also interested in the more spiritual and energy side of things - i'm trying to convince him to train with me (not taekwondo, the wicked-cool other shite).

i watched a bit of television, did some shopping, and spoke to my mum for the first time in weeks.

i played some counterstrike before taking a shower, and i'm practically in bed right now.

07/03/04

*** 5th ***

i got up kinda late, read the paper, took out all the remains of the last month's papers, and hopped on a couple of buses for afula.

i forgot that the friday schedule is shorter, and missed the last bus to the kibbutz, so i had to call my cousins to give me a lift, which was a tad embarrassing.

friday night was nice and relaxed,

*** yesterday ***

as was yesterday. i watched a lot of tv. we started watching a movie called storytelling, which is not only disturbing, but contains way more indecent subject material than was appropriate for the 13 year old girl watching with me.
embarrassed, i cut the film at the beginning of the second sex scene, and we proceeded to watch exit wounds, which was a fun movie.

we had a serious braai, and i ate like an absolute pig, after which i watched after alice, which is a great movie.

i got to the busstop just in time for the bus - she'd spoken to me just before i got on, and due to her bus-paranoia (typical israeli), i spent the entire ride thinking of terrorists...

*** today ***

it's late. i should go to sleep. but counterstrike calls me.

04/03/04

*** yesterday ***

i had a really great day! class was interesting (we have a course in technology), and afterwards i met up with the sixteen-year-old i'm taking care of for my community service.
and he's just like me.
it's kinda freaky.

after shooting hoops for about an hour, i had a shower, rested a bit, and went to work.

where i discovered that one of the guys there has been slandering me: claiming some pretty nasty shit, and not in a joking manner. i'm going to explore my legal options before i approach him about it, though, as i want to be able to stand my ground on anything he says.

*** today ***

work was hard, and i only got home (and immediately to bed) at 06.00.

i was woken at 10.30, by some stupid woman trying to get information from me that she already had, and couldn't get back to sleep, so i flipped through a bit of the newspaper, before blading to class.

class with santa claus (the boring dude from the previous semester) sucked. as usual. and we already have a huge assignment for next week. the next two class were fairly interesting.

during the hour long break between them, mmf, SxS and i went to the mall, where we ate kfc (not as good as the other night, i'm not going again), and played arcade games. they have this game there, with twin force-feedback machine guns, which is AWESOME. and our hands HURT afterwards :)

i got out of class at 20.00, half walked, half bladed home, had a shower, and am on my way to bed right now...

no purim partying for me. i neeeeeed to sleeeeeep.

03/03/04

*** yesterday ***

the rest of my day was pretty weird. largely due to the general indecisiveness of the weather.

i spent the day in a pair of shorts, only leaving the apartment once, to pay a visit to our new local kfc, which isn't up to standard, but still not bad.

*** today ***

it's been a crazy day already. i couldn't sleep, so i got up at 06.00, and went for a run: i ran for just under half an hour, got back home completely wasted, and had a much needed shower.
i then watched discovery channel, while eating another grapefruit breakfast, and finished off by reading the paper.

this is the start of a long day - our second semester begins in an hour, and i'm supposed to be doing two bouts of community service, as well as working tonight... this should be fun!

02/03/04

*** 29th ***

i'd agreed the night before to taekwondo training at 08.00, and i'd forgotten to set my alarm. i woke up, somehow, at 07.40, jumped up and got ready, and got to the busstop.

no sooner had i paid for the bus, and started walking towards the rear, when my alarm went off, informing me of a meeting at 09.00 with a city council social worker (for my community service).

so i got off at the next stop, and walked back home.

the meeting went well, and afterwards she picked me up, and we went for a walk in herzliya, including a visit to the public library, which is very cool.
and they have a HUUUUUGE kiddies section, so i rate i'm going to have to move in there...

she dropped me off at a busstop on her way back to gedera, and i took a bus to work.

i need to mention here that i was still suffering majorly from heat-stroke, and it was a really hot day.

i was at work for a little less than half an hour, sorting out my social security, and having a quick breakfast, and then i left to meet up with JOSH on shenkin (artsy-fartsy soho place). he sat with me as i ate an enormous portion of good thai food, at a place called "thai food", and we then went on a mission to nowhere, that ended up with us being at his kibbutz, about 7km north of gedera.
and she didn't have time to meet us. oh well.

we spent a few hours listening to crazy house and trance (and i played around a bit on his decks, which are a bit fscked, but i haven't touched sound equipment in YEARS).
we watched an inspiring documentary video on a huge israeli trance party, called "drugless" (the documentary name is karahana), and it was anything but.

i took a bus back to tel-aviv, where i visited with karnaf, and he joined me as i took my supper at pizza-meter. a spinach and cheese pizza, which was surprisingly good.

*** yesterday ***

i had a good grapefruit breakfast, and went to idc to finish up my community service. which didn't happen. we discovered that i have tons of work left to do still, and so it's all going to take far longer than expected.

i got back a bunch of exam results, and aside from algorithms (with exam on the 15th), math (i got 68%, and i need 70%), and israeli economy (no results yet), i did quite well on most things, and superbly on at least four exams - superbly being greater than 87%.
i'm fairly pleased with myself.

i came home, and learned about flash, putting together a cute site, for which a cheque for $140 is apparently on the way. it would be so nice if i could trust grootbek, but i can't.

i went out around 18.00 to buy a lock, and i got a good one. but when i tried to install it, the hole in the door wasn't big enough. so i went back to the store to return it.

but the store was closed.

so i returned home, pulled out a hammer and a pair of needlenose pliers (what? no chisel?), removed my door, and hammered new holes - a most successful enterprise, i must say. it's not pretty, because the old covers simply don't fit, but it's not so bad, and most functional.
i now have real protection from my extremely honest american flatmate.

training was good last night. this girl, who i introduced to our gym, thanked me with a very cute keychain, and one of the black belts kicked me in the face. it's the first time in my entire life that someone's given me a nosebleed.

grootbek accosted me as i got home, and i spent over an hour working with him on the flash and the website...

*** today ***

i had a hot shower, and a hot (loads of chili) supper, and fell asleep with no trouble.

*** later ***

i woke up at 07.00 to go running with our argentinian flatmate, but i couldn't get out of bed. my legs hurt.