the weekend has flown by, a saturday that began with a tough, smelly washing of someone else's disgustingly dirty dishes and the carrying over of a seriously heavy set of technical books. then i burned the lunch omelettes because i can never figure out which stove setting is right for eggs, after which i rested for an hour so that i could get some work done.
have done that work, or some of it, i joined pg on the roof with a nargila. we smoked until my head spun, then came downstairs and i edited our class poetry offering for the end of year. dinner was had in front of the telly (riddick), and i've just finished reading the first part of the assigned readings for monday (it took forever to get around to it).
i have tons of things that need doing and none of the energy required for doing them. i'm going to bed instead.
Sunday, June 05, 2011
Saturday, June 04, 2011
cut off
on the way to pick up mail i wrote a poem for the freedom poetry reading; from those good spirits i began fretting about the cost of being invited to weddings, and i calculated the amount for last night's just before opening the mailbox and finding the invitation for the next wedding in two weeks' time.
*heart sinks into wallet*
i was sitting in the shade, reading wired until class starts, when a tubby girl walked by with her friend and exclaimed: "it's so cold" as if it was the middle of winter, and she hadn't just stepped in from an overheated early morning. my brain did a small backflip.
first class wasn't too bad, but between first and second i waited for her sister's boyfriend and he kept telling me "be there in five"... that went on until i was almost late for class and he still hadn't shown up.
no matter how intriguing the second class was, i was so tired that i spent the last fifteen minutes fighting to keep my eyes open. i returned, naively, to wait for the guy again, and after twenty minutes with no communication decided it was time to go to work. at least i was kept company... although i was shocked to find out that both of them had no idea who steve irwin was. i've sent them this and this so that i can be understood when i repeat sentiments like these.
i ran into my old office to pick up my payslip and work for 20 minutes (yes, i did actually manage to do something useful), then i rushed off to just miss the bus back to campus and wait fifteen minutes in the searing heat.
the poetry reading: there were a couple of terrible readings, and a couple of awesome ones. one of the guys began by reciting a couple of famous quotes about freedom; this proved a perfect setup for what had been in my head for the last couple of hours: "freedom, baby, is never having to say you're sorry" (the other john milton).
i'd had trouble with the printing: the lab computer informed me that the printing would be six slides to a page, and actually threw out one per page. aside from the irritating waste of paper, it made it tough to flip through... so of the three poems i read, i left out the last lines of two of them. they were well received in spite of this... the band that played a few numbers in the middle - the one that i'd been irritated by because their singer has a shitty voice and their lyrics are terrible - asked me if i'd be interested in writing and singing.
i'm not sure how flattering that is, but it might be better than nothing...
i had to leave early in the midst of a fantastic reading; we'd gone over time (the aforementioned band abused lots of repetition) and pg and i were headed to a wedding. i met her outside, stressed about time and anxious in general and irritated at, oh, the whole world (sleep deprivation can do that to me), and a few short sentences spiralled through a curt argument to both of us literally screaming at the roof. unfortunately, the catharsis only worked on me and she was still annoyed afterwards. i do so hate proving calvin (i think it's from calvin and hobbes) right: the best way to get rid of a bad mood is to give it to someone else.
the wedding was in a really beautiful place, the general setup was great and the music was quite fun. the gimmicks were cool, especially the giant polar bears dancing with us. i had quite a lot to drink. i knew very few people, and those i did know from the army i didn't have much to say to. pg's ex was there, and so was one of the rollerblading group's jerks, so we didn't have much to do with them either...
pg asked me at some stage if i would have gone to the wedding if not with her, and the truth is i don't know.
pg drove us home, i with my eyes glued to my ipod. disgusting.
we both went straight to bed, and i slept wonderfully except for two things:
1. waking up in the middle of the night with stiff legs and feet, and lying in agony for a while before i eventually couldn't take it anymore and got up to stretch.
2. waking up early to say goodbye to my tenant.
---
i'm disappointed. these girls have been staying in my apartment for two months and i've been compensated with one month's rent. i've barely seen them because i haven't had time to party, and standing outside my apartment for forty-five minutes waiting for them to arrive when they were already inside (due to a very badly worded sms) sucked. even that was excusable, though. we said our goodbyes, and they were off... then i discovered that i'd been left with a sink full of disgusting dishes and a fridge with unrecognizable leftovers, bottles of weird shit in the entrance and... the cake that was supposed to be a thank-you gift, with two slices taken out.
one of the girls asked me how much i want for my apartment, and when i told her she gave me this knowing look and said, "okay, now the realistic price?"
this is the same girl who wanted me to pretend to be a dj to get better parking at the independence day party. she didn't understand what i meant when i told her i don't like to lie: "it's not a lie, it's a game. you have to play the game!"
not really.
the neighbour asked me if i've moved, and his interest suddenly inspired me. what if i rent him my pad (at the price i want), on condition that he allows the building inspector into the apartment he's in now - the completely illegitimate apartment converted from what should be our bomb shelter?
---
i checked that my pc's operational and moved a round of discs and books.
i had a cup of coffee, then went out for pre-training lunch with pg. the hooting on the way was insane, one idiot making me so angry that i could comfortably imagine removing him from the species. not good for my nerves.
after lunch, pg and i took a second round of discs and books. after some basic tidying, i went to taekwondo. upsetting the bus driver by crossing the road in front of him - i didn't think he'd stop for me, so when he did i just walked on by... then the security guard at the mall pissed me off by over-checking my bag. the campus security do it to me as well - i do not look like a terrorist. i don't see what all the excitement is about.
[tone changes on account of pg being upset that it's taking me so long]
training killed me. i had fun. the first sit-ups that i've done in over a year were painful. we finished an hour earlier than i expected. i was broken, so after a shower i passed out for an hour. pg woke me up for dinner, then we took the dog for a walk before handling a third round - bringing one of my bookshelves.
that was hard work.
we then did a fourth round, taking apart my pc and bringing across my desk (and playstation).
since we got back (and showered, it's hot and sweaty moving) i've been trying to write this, but constant distractions (mostly from pg) have made it slow going...
*heart sinks into wallet*
i was sitting in the shade, reading wired until class starts, when a tubby girl walked by with her friend and exclaimed: "it's so cold" as if it was the middle of winter, and she hadn't just stepped in from an overheated early morning. my brain did a small backflip.
first class wasn't too bad, but between first and second i waited for her sister's boyfriend and he kept telling me "be there in five"... that went on until i was almost late for class and he still hadn't shown up.
no matter how intriguing the second class was, i was so tired that i spent the last fifteen minutes fighting to keep my eyes open. i returned, naively, to wait for the guy again, and after twenty minutes with no communication decided it was time to go to work. at least i was kept company... although i was shocked to find out that both of them had no idea who steve irwin was. i've sent them this and this so that i can be understood when i repeat sentiments like these.
i ran into my old office to pick up my payslip and work for 20 minutes (yes, i did actually manage to do something useful), then i rushed off to just miss the bus back to campus and wait fifteen minutes in the searing heat.
the poetry reading: there were a couple of terrible readings, and a couple of awesome ones. one of the guys began by reciting a couple of famous quotes about freedom; this proved a perfect setup for what had been in my head for the last couple of hours: "freedom, baby, is never having to say you're sorry" (the other john milton).
i'd had trouble with the printing: the lab computer informed me that the printing would be six slides to a page, and actually threw out one per page. aside from the irritating waste of paper, it made it tough to flip through... so of the three poems i read, i left out the last lines of two of them. they were well received in spite of this... the band that played a few numbers in the middle - the one that i'd been irritated by because their singer has a shitty voice and their lyrics are terrible - asked me if i'd be interested in writing and singing.
i'm not sure how flattering that is, but it might be better than nothing...
i had to leave early in the midst of a fantastic reading; we'd gone over time (the aforementioned band abused lots of repetition) and pg and i were headed to a wedding. i met her outside, stressed about time and anxious in general and irritated at, oh, the whole world (sleep deprivation can do that to me), and a few short sentences spiralled through a curt argument to both of us literally screaming at the roof. unfortunately, the catharsis only worked on me and she was still annoyed afterwards. i do so hate proving calvin (i think it's from calvin and hobbes) right: the best way to get rid of a bad mood is to give it to someone else.
the wedding was in a really beautiful place, the general setup was great and the music was quite fun. the gimmicks were cool, especially the giant polar bears dancing with us. i had quite a lot to drink. i knew very few people, and those i did know from the army i didn't have much to say to. pg's ex was there, and so was one of the rollerblading group's jerks, so we didn't have much to do with them either...
pg asked me at some stage if i would have gone to the wedding if not with her, and the truth is i don't know.
pg drove us home, i with my eyes glued to my ipod. disgusting.
we both went straight to bed, and i slept wonderfully except for two things:
1. waking up in the middle of the night with stiff legs and feet, and lying in agony for a while before i eventually couldn't take it anymore and got up to stretch.
2. waking up early to say goodbye to my tenant.
i'm disappointed. these girls have been staying in my apartment for two months and i've been compensated with one month's rent. i've barely seen them because i haven't had time to party, and standing outside my apartment for forty-five minutes waiting for them to arrive when they were already inside (due to a very badly worded sms) sucked. even that was excusable, though. we said our goodbyes, and they were off... then i discovered that i'd been left with a sink full of disgusting dishes and a fridge with unrecognizable leftovers, bottles of weird shit in the entrance and... the cake that was supposed to be a thank-you gift, with two slices taken out.
one of the girls asked me how much i want for my apartment, and when i told her she gave me this knowing look and said, "okay, now the realistic price?"
this is the same girl who wanted me to pretend to be a dj to get better parking at the independence day party. she didn't understand what i meant when i told her i don't like to lie: "it's not a lie, it's a game. you have to play the game!"
not really.
the neighbour asked me if i've moved, and his interest suddenly inspired me. what if i rent him my pad (at the price i want), on condition that he allows the building inspector into the apartment he's in now - the completely illegitimate apartment converted from what should be our bomb shelter?
i checked that my pc's operational and moved a round of discs and books.
i had a cup of coffee, then went out for pre-training lunch with pg. the hooting on the way was insane, one idiot making me so angry that i could comfortably imagine removing him from the species. not good for my nerves.
after lunch, pg and i took a second round of discs and books. after some basic tidying, i went to taekwondo. upsetting the bus driver by crossing the road in front of him - i didn't think he'd stop for me, so when he did i just walked on by... then the security guard at the mall pissed me off by over-checking my bag. the campus security do it to me as well - i do not look like a terrorist. i don't see what all the excitement is about.
[tone changes on account of pg being upset that it's taking me so long]
training killed me. i had fun. the first sit-ups that i've done in over a year were painful. we finished an hour earlier than i expected. i was broken, so after a shower i passed out for an hour. pg woke me up for dinner, then we took the dog for a walk before handling a third round - bringing one of my bookshelves.
that was hard work.
we then did a fourth round, taking apart my pc and bringing across my desk (and playstation).
since we got back (and showered, it's hot and sweaty moving) i've been trying to write this, but constant distractions (mostly from pg) have made it slow going...
Thursday, June 02, 2011
lackluster
i was done reading and ready for bed forty-five minutes after posting... only i couldn't get to sleep, not even knowing that i had to be up less than four hours later. maybe i slept for half an hour, but i can't tell.
---
apparently the shirt i wore today highlights the fact that i have a belly if i'm not standing up straight. no, i'm not losing the shirt. i will lose the damned belly. friday's the day of my return. i'd say "no excuses" if i wasn't going to a wedding tomorrow night.
what is it with everyone getting married in the next couple of months?! maybe i really do just know too many people, and i'm literally paying the price. i wonder how many of them i'll see at my own wedding... probably not a fair trade :P
anyway, if everyone could just hold off for a year or two until i get settled, that would be neat...
t'was a morning of shitty interfaces: first the bank's login details. a page with all my details printed clearly, one of them labelled "password" and with a number that looks suspiciously like a password. that exact same number reprinted on an envelope attached... and i was supposed to know somehow that i *still* had to open the envelope to find the *real* password? good grief.
the second prize goes to the teacher's survey. the button at the end of the row, for each of my courses, says "i'm not eligible to fill in the survey" and when clicked explains that i haven't been in enough classes. as i've been in EVERY class (minus one, in one course, for which i brought a doctor's note) i was mightily aggravated; the woman who i eventually got through to informed me that it's normal (nobody else i know has seen it) and all i had to do was click the unmarked radio button on the other side. HE-LLO! mcfly?! *tap* *tap* anybody in there?!
my brain was off for first class, which was a shame because we were treated to some great stuff. i was a zombie until lunch with a couple of people who amused me more-or-less awake, then i went to my old office, presumably to pick up my payslip and then head over to the new one but instead being caught up in a meeting with sir anti-logic and (uselessly) inserting more exception handling into the code.
receiving the boss's sympathies is weird.
i was quite tense when i arrived at the new office; stuck in a quandary. is financial discomfort acceptable if my situation is vastly better than it was? i don't know. i tactlessly re-broached the subject with mmf and i think we're on the same page. which is also the same page we were on yesterday, apparently.
the mouldy elevator reminds me of india. the stumpy blonde primping in the elevator mirror made me embarrassed for her. which is good, i suppose, because one of us should have been.
i spent the afternoon playing with jquery and being impressed. it's much easier when you get over the documentation hump that i so happily mentioned before.
the drive back with mmf could have been depressing, could have been threatening, but turned out fun. from feeling laing's loneliness in his attack on my philanthropic tendencies to his surprise at my insight into child-rearing, then on to chatty amusements... traffic was crazy, though, and made a wonderful case for public transport. i don't care how awesome his new car is.
i was really tired when i got home, but pg wouldn't go alone to the studio so i joined her into taking a hip-hop class. it was... okay... the stand-in simply isn't a good teacher, and i remembered having a lot of fun so i'm pretty sure it's just him.
we picked up a trolley to move some of my heavier items across on the weekend; i was going to go past my place by nobody was home, so pg and i showered and went back to goocha's for dinner. i had a seafood pasta that was delicious - and almost a half of pg's burger (she was full! i promise!) - before we came home toeat sweets and chocolates read the last text for tomorrow before going to bed.
i really hope i can sleep this time.
apparently the shirt i wore today highlights the fact that i have a belly if i'm not standing up straight. no, i'm not losing the shirt. i will lose the damned belly. friday's the day of my return. i'd say "no excuses" if i wasn't going to a wedding tomorrow night.
what is it with everyone getting married in the next couple of months?! maybe i really do just know too many people, and i'm literally paying the price. i wonder how many of them i'll see at my own wedding... probably not a fair trade :P
anyway, if everyone could just hold off for a year or two until i get settled, that would be neat...
t'was a morning of shitty interfaces: first the bank's login details. a page with all my details printed clearly, one of them labelled "password" and with a number that looks suspiciously like a password. that exact same number reprinted on an envelope attached... and i was supposed to know somehow that i *still* had to open the envelope to find the *real* password? good grief.
the second prize goes to the teacher's survey. the button at the end of the row, for each of my courses, says "i'm not eligible to fill in the survey" and when clicked explains that i haven't been in enough classes. as i've been in EVERY class (minus one, in one course, for which i brought a doctor's note) i was mightily aggravated; the woman who i eventually got through to informed me that it's normal (nobody else i know has seen it) and all i had to do was click the unmarked radio button on the other side. HE-LLO! mcfly?! *tap* *tap* anybody in there?!
my brain was off for first class, which was a shame because we were treated to some great stuff. i was a zombie until lunch with a couple of people who amused me more-or-less awake, then i went to my old office, presumably to pick up my payslip and then head over to the new one but instead being caught up in a meeting with sir anti-logic and (uselessly) inserting more exception handling into the code.
receiving the boss's sympathies is weird.
i was quite tense when i arrived at the new office; stuck in a quandary. is financial discomfort acceptable if my situation is vastly better than it was? i don't know. i tactlessly re-broached the subject with mmf and i think we're on the same page. which is also the same page we were on yesterday, apparently.
the mouldy elevator reminds me of india. the stumpy blonde primping in the elevator mirror made me embarrassed for her. which is good, i suppose, because one of us should have been.
i spent the afternoon playing with jquery and being impressed. it's much easier when you get over the documentation hump that i so happily mentioned before.
the drive back with mmf could have been depressing, could have been threatening, but turned out fun. from feeling laing's loneliness in his attack on my philanthropic tendencies to his surprise at my insight into child-rearing, then on to chatty amusements... traffic was crazy, though, and made a wonderful case for public transport. i don't care how awesome his new car is.
i was really tired when i got home, but pg wouldn't go alone to the studio so i joined her into taking a hip-hop class. it was... okay... the stand-in simply isn't a good teacher, and i remembered having a lot of fun so i'm pretty sure it's just him.
we picked up a trolley to move some of my heavier items across on the weekend; i was going to go past my place by nobody was home, so pg and i showered and went back to goocha's for dinner. i had a seafood pasta that was delicious - and almost a half of pg's burger (she was full! i promise!) - before we came home to
i really hope i can sleep this time.
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
what kind of a day is tuesday? [part iii]
[... continued]
the creative writing workshop's poetry evening was sweet. there was a little amusement beforehand (some people can't hold their liquor, and by that i mean to say that they exhibit tendencies to spill it on others), and there was a little awkwardness as well; i stood reading news feeds until things began. the readings were interesting - a couple of really good ones - but once they were done that was it, and i skipped off to (old) work.
quora. what an interesting idea.
i sat at work for over an hour, and aside from a ten minute chat with my kibbutz cousin i sat poking and prodding and teasing the code... i can't figure out what exactly is causing all the discrepancies (i'm porting the application to a new server), but i have understood that the primary issue is a complete lack of exception handling. wrapping each offending particle in try / catch clauses, rebuilding, redeploying, testing... slow going.
pg called to threaten me with dinner, so i hopped to and caught the bus back home. i spent most of the way with my eyes glued to my phone (i haven't been reading the news in years, now that i have feeds on my phone i can't stop), only pulling them away when i had to cross a busy street and then walk through alleys - i had to go the long way around, because a water mains had burst a street away from our apartment...
i was really tired when i got back. we ate, i showered, i passed out. i almost got up to go blading but realized that i wasn't quite up for it, so i slept in until 00.40 (a few minutes before pg returned) and got onto this post, emails, etc.
now to get some reading done before getting back to sleep.
--- kkk counter-protest: funny or sad?
the creative writing workshop's poetry evening was sweet. there was a little amusement beforehand (some people can't hold their liquor, and by that i mean to say that they exhibit tendencies to spill it on others), and there was a little awkwardness as well; i stood reading news feeds until things began. the readings were interesting - a couple of really good ones - but once they were done that was it, and i skipped off to (old) work.
quora. what an interesting idea.
i sat at work for over an hour, and aside from a ten minute chat with my kibbutz cousin i sat poking and prodding and teasing the code... i can't figure out what exactly is causing all the discrepancies (i'm porting the application to a new server), but i have understood that the primary issue is a complete lack of exception handling. wrapping each offending particle in try / catch clauses, rebuilding, redeploying, testing... slow going.
pg called to threaten me with dinner, so i hopped to and caught the bus back home. i spent most of the way with my eyes glued to my phone (i haven't been reading the news in years, now that i have feeds on my phone i can't stop), only pulling them away when i had to cross a busy street and then walk through alleys - i had to go the long way around, because a water mains had burst a street away from our apartment...
i was really tired when i got back. we ate, i showered, i passed out. i almost got up to go blading but realized that i wasn't quite up for it, so i slept in until 00.40 (a few minutes before pg returned) and got onto this post, emails, etc.
now to get some reading done before getting back to sleep.
what kind of a day is tuesday? [part ii]
[...continued]
i watched the first half of the bbc production of the winter's tale, which takes a bit of warming up to, but was far too tired to continue (the blink was getting in the way of the subtitles, and one simply *must* read those for shakespeare). i set my alarm for 6am and have no idea how i managed to wake up only twenty minutes after that to continue watching.
--- i didn't finish because i went to the bank - then discovered that there was no need to be there. the woman who'd left me the message telling me to bring them the SWIFT number had forgotten to call me back when it was discovered that they're so advanced that they can look it up themselves.
--- from violent pornography to para noir, it was a good morning for darker rock. i picked up coffee as soon as i got to campus, and sat in a shady spot on the grass watching some more of the movie.
first class: tough. not the most exciting of lectures.
during the break i finished the three hour play; i am now well aware of why it's important to read them. aside from remembering names, there are so many visual cues the director must insert and it's always an interpretation. only by reading it "open" can one get at a relatively objective understanding.
second class: i think the march hare likes me. i'm fairly certain that i've gotten the point of the class, he's impressed with most of what i have to say and he's even lent me a copy of a book postulating the wildest of the shakespeare conspiracies. for those who aren't in the know: the conspiracies are all a load of rubbish. we know exactly who wrote all of shakespeare's plays, including his collaborations at the end, and it was a man named william shakespeare. the conspiracy theories all began with the egos of the "university wits" who couldn't handle being outfaced by someone as lowly as an actor - even though today we understand that his understanding of the theatre from within was precisely to his advantage (not to mention his incredible and apparently natural talent with word-play).
on my way off campus, i was shocked to discover that my "tenants" are leaving; dp is off in a few hours from now and man-eater will be vacating my apartment on friday... i was sure they'd be around for the indigo festival!
i dropped off my bag in the office and walked to join mmf and my boss. on the way i ran into a mutual friend of mine and mmf's who's our competition, and it's good that i kept mum on what specifically i'm up to even if it was a little awkward :P
lunch: the food was bad but the philosophy wasn't.
improvement no. 2: a huge monitor, a mouse, a keyboard. very, VERY important.
while the development experience has improved, the work hadn't but at least i wasn't alone in my WTF state. the boss was just as frustrated when he moseyed over to rescue me.
we were both tired, so we called it a day. two half-packed buses (the front parts, obviously) home and a while spent on a side project (a global news aggregator for israelis), then pg and i were off to say farewell to dp. on our way out (9.30pm?) i received a call from a girl claiming to be in connection with a guy who's been trying to get in touch with me for a couple of weeks but appears incapable of following instructions as complicated as "call me on friday."
i told her to call me between 3 and 4pm.
pg and i stopped for shuwarma, then had trouble finding a bus. we eventually caught one... just in time for me to have begun discussing why we laugh.
the evening was pleasant - company and background music - and a discussion on the wonders of living in johannesburg (i did for a year, and was talking to a woman who's going to stay there with her brother for a bit) had pg and i discussing the possibility of organizing a trip to sa during the summer, going through o.z.o.r.a one way and switzerland the other...
we ended up walking all the way home, which was actually quite pleasant.
--- today:
after hitting coffeeholic to eat, take the last of my antibiotics, post and chat, in the expectation that dp would invite me for the group farewell breakfast (she didn't, but she called later to tell me she'd simply forgotten), i hurried along to campus for a political sit-down. did i diarize it incorrectly? i arrived in time for the last five minutes.
i went to work, reading about male birth control and being blown away by the implications.
work: i figured it out, made some headway. now i'm learning jquery - which is much easier and more comfortable but still prone to the usual sucky documentation which forces an otherwise unnecessary learning curve. i discussed my salary with mmf, and i'm not satisfied with the way things are going... we seem to be constantly talking at cross-purposes. i hope this shit gets sorted out soon.
--- standing amidst the crowd pushing to get on another half-packed bus i made a snide remark, which was rejoined by the woman next to me: "we're israelis, you don't really expect us to behave rationally, do you?"
i shoved and i hinted and commented abrasively about there being plenty of room at the back and none at the front, to which other passengers grudgingly made way and then stared stupidly as i stood reading comfortably while they all inhaled armpit aromas while our rollercoaster bus driver kept them at awkward angles with each other.
i wonder.
--- it was 5.30pm before i arrived on campus: those people i mentioned earlier who've had trouble getting hold of me? i know it's something business related, they're either looking to employ me or they need advice. and i have advice for them: buy watches. use a goddamn diary. if you can't respect others' time then you're wasting it.
[continued...]
i watched the first half of the bbc production of the winter's tale, which takes a bit of warming up to, but was far too tired to continue (the blink was getting in the way of the subtitles, and one simply *must* read those for shakespeare). i set my alarm for 6am and have no idea how i managed to wake up only twenty minutes after that to continue watching.
first class: tough. not the most exciting of lectures.
during the break i finished the three hour play; i am now well aware of why it's important to read them. aside from remembering names, there are so many visual cues the director must insert and it's always an interpretation. only by reading it "open" can one get at a relatively objective understanding.
second class: i think the march hare likes me. i'm fairly certain that i've gotten the point of the class, he's impressed with most of what i have to say and he's even lent me a copy of a book postulating the wildest of the shakespeare conspiracies. for those who aren't in the know: the conspiracies are all a load of rubbish. we know exactly who wrote all of shakespeare's plays, including his collaborations at the end, and it was a man named william shakespeare. the conspiracy theories all began with the egos of the "university wits" who couldn't handle being outfaced by someone as lowly as an actor - even though today we understand that his understanding of the theatre from within was precisely to his advantage (not to mention his incredible and apparently natural talent with word-play).
on my way off campus, i was shocked to discover that my "tenants" are leaving; dp is off in a few hours from now and man-eater will be vacating my apartment on friday... i was sure they'd be around for the indigo festival!
i dropped off my bag in the office and walked to join mmf and my boss. on the way i ran into a mutual friend of mine and mmf's who's our competition, and it's good that i kept mum on what specifically i'm up to even if it was a little awkward :P
lunch: the food was bad but the philosophy wasn't.
improvement no. 2: a huge monitor, a mouse, a keyboard. very, VERY important.
while the development experience has improved, the work hadn't but at least i wasn't alone in my WTF state. the boss was just as frustrated when he moseyed over to rescue me.
we were both tired, so we called it a day. two half-packed buses (the front parts, obviously) home and a while spent on a side project (a global news aggregator for israelis), then pg and i were off to say farewell to dp. on our way out (9.30pm?) i received a call from a girl claiming to be in connection with a guy who's been trying to get in touch with me for a couple of weeks but appears incapable of following instructions as complicated as "call me on friday."
i told her to call me between 3 and 4pm.
pg and i stopped for shuwarma, then had trouble finding a bus. we eventually caught one... just in time for me to have begun discussing why we laugh.
the evening was pleasant - company and background music - and a discussion on the wonders of living in johannesburg (i did for a year, and was talking to a woman who's going to stay there with her brother for a bit) had pg and i discussing the possibility of organizing a trip to sa during the summer, going through o.z.o.r.a one way and switzerland the other...
we ended up walking all the way home, which was actually quite pleasant.
after hitting coffeeholic to eat, take the last of my antibiotics, post and chat, in the expectation that dp would invite me for the group farewell breakfast (she didn't, but she called later to tell me she'd simply forgotten), i hurried along to campus for a political sit-down. did i diarize it incorrectly? i arrived in time for the last five minutes.
i went to work, reading about male birth control and being blown away by the implications.
work: i figured it out, made some headway. now i'm learning jquery - which is much easier and more comfortable but still prone to the usual sucky documentation which forces an otherwise unnecessary learning curve. i discussed my salary with mmf, and i'm not satisfied with the way things are going... we seem to be constantly talking at cross-purposes. i hope this shit gets sorted out soon.
i shoved and i hinted and commented abrasively about there being plenty of room at the back and none at the front, to which other passengers grudgingly made way and then stared stupidly as i stood reading comfortably while they all inhaled armpit aromas while our rollercoaster bus driver kept them at awkward angles with each other.
i wonder.
[continued...]
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
what kind of a day is tuesday? [part i]
it's almost 11am on a tuesday. i've just finished a great breakfast sitting on the coffeeholic corner, swallowing the last of my antibiotics and feeling... pretty good. except for the heat - it's going to be hot today. tomorrow i celebrate exactly one year of freedom - a freedom that was harder won and even harder enjoyed than i ever expected. but things are good now, and in the grand scheme of things that didn't take very long at all. what is it about time, even short spans of it, that reduces sleepless nights and terror and sheer hopeless exhaustion into the distant memories of another being?
---
sunday:
the bus that arrived was packed. really packed. there was pushing, and shoving, there were smells and looks, and some old lady got her hand crunched in the door in her desperation to be let on in spite of all evidence pointing to her not being able to enter physically.
is it just me? am i crazy? pg and i shouldered and sneaked and excused our way through to the back... which was empty. why do i feel like i'm living in the twilight zone?
---
after class, i had it out with the guy who'd been arguing with me online. it upset me that someone possessed of such a wonderful grasp of language could completely disregard the power of words... i built up to the central argument with an explanation of my sources: i lived and studied with a few palestinians when i first arrived in israel, and it took a long time for me to *begin* to understand what they were telling me. our world-views are *completely* different, and as such we cannot compare ideologies nor interpret intents without bearing those innate differences in master narrative in the foreground.
for those who don't know what i'm talking about: good luck with that.
i almost felt bad for him as i slammed home what i'd been trying to say. unfortunately, i was pressed for time and he speaks very slowly, so once we'd gotten over the hump i took my leave with a promise to follow up. sometime.
---
pg and i almost had a food fight in the cafeteria... then i took the bus to work. improvement no. 1: a desk and a chair. very important. my boss and i missioned to acquire coffee corner things, and we were astounded to discover that there is a self-service checkout, american style, in the supermarket. using it was quick, easy, and the promotional stuff is less annoying when it's a machine doing it.
it just proves how unnecessary clerks are.
---
i began receiving praise for my mother's birthday poetry: it's nice to know i'm not the only person who thinks so highly of her :)
i spent the afternoon still tweaking and fighting with the basic stuff - the lack of compilation checks in web development is a bitch.
it's always nice to be thanked when alerting people to their petrol wastes.
i took the bus to university, getting quite a suntan on the way. have i mentioned that summer's here? it's here in force.
the lectures on marlowe were fun and intriguing, but the guy whose translation we were celebrating speaks quite slowly and we overran the student concentration span limit of 1.5 hours by at least twenty minutes... and it was still riveting. the second speaker is a sports announcer (or something to that effect), and i have never before been exposed to such rapid-fire high hebrew. i'm shocked that i managed to follow at all.
---
i had a long chat with my mum while i made my way home, then caught up with loudcast. i tried to review it on itunes but the "review" button was simply unresponsive. so i'll write it here.
(*)(*)(*)(*)()
the good: great streams and an excellent way to read them. it's comfortable and simple. the not-so-good: every switch between apps requires a restart. the twitter sharing would be superb if the login worked (it really is a well-thought out interface). the settings page needs a complete redesign, or to be scrapped - it doesn't appear to have any settings and there's no way to scroll...
the good far outweighs the bad, but i'd have to see those issues resolved before giving it the five stars it really wants.
---
i spilled black coffee on my sandal, which kinda freaked pg out when i limped strangely in and straight to the shower so as not to dirty anything on the way... "i had an accident" was not the right thing to say :P
[post cut short on account of my being caught up in conversation with a fellow patron
continued...]
sunday:
the bus that arrived was packed. really packed. there was pushing, and shoving, there were smells and looks, and some old lady got her hand crunched in the door in her desperation to be let on in spite of all evidence pointing to her not being able to enter physically.
is it just me? am i crazy? pg and i shouldered and sneaked and excused our way through to the back... which was empty. why do i feel like i'm living in the twilight zone?
after class, i had it out with the guy who'd been arguing with me online. it upset me that someone possessed of such a wonderful grasp of language could completely disregard the power of words... i built up to the central argument with an explanation of my sources: i lived and studied with a few palestinians when i first arrived in israel, and it took a long time for me to *begin* to understand what they were telling me. our world-views are *completely* different, and as such we cannot compare ideologies nor interpret intents without bearing those innate differences in master narrative in the foreground.
for those who don't know what i'm talking about: good luck with that.
i almost felt bad for him as i slammed home what i'd been trying to say. unfortunately, i was pressed for time and he speaks very slowly, so once we'd gotten over the hump i took my leave with a promise to follow up. sometime.
pg and i almost had a food fight in the cafeteria... then i took the bus to work. improvement no. 1: a desk and a chair. very important. my boss and i missioned to acquire coffee corner things, and we were astounded to discover that there is a self-service checkout, american style, in the supermarket. using it was quick, easy, and the promotional stuff is less annoying when it's a machine doing it.
it just proves how unnecessary clerks are.
i began receiving praise for my mother's birthday poetry: it's nice to know i'm not the only person who thinks so highly of her :)
i spent the afternoon still tweaking and fighting with the basic stuff - the lack of compilation checks in web development is a bitch.
it's always nice to be thanked when alerting people to their petrol wastes.
i took the bus to university, getting quite a suntan on the way. have i mentioned that summer's here? it's here in force.
the lectures on marlowe were fun and intriguing, but the guy whose translation we were celebrating speaks quite slowly and we overran the student concentration span limit of 1.5 hours by at least twenty minutes... and it was still riveting. the second speaker is a sports announcer (or something to that effect), and i have never before been exposed to such rapid-fire high hebrew. i'm shocked that i managed to follow at all.
i had a long chat with my mum while i made my way home, then caught up with loudcast. i tried to review it on itunes but the "review" button was simply unresponsive. so i'll write it here.
(*)(*)(*)(*)()
the good: great streams and an excellent way to read them. it's comfortable and simple. the not-so-good: every switch between apps requires a restart. the twitter sharing would be superb if the login worked (it really is a well-thought out interface). the settings page needs a complete redesign, or to be scrapped - it doesn't appear to have any settings and there's no way to scroll...
the good far outweighs the bad, but i'd have to see those issues resolved before giving it the five stars it really wants.
i spilled black coffee on my sandal, which kinda freaked pg out when i limped strangely in and straight to the shower so as not to dirty anything on the way... "i had an accident" was not the right thing to say :P
[post cut short on account of my being caught up in conversation with a fellow patron
continued...]
Sunday, May 29, 2011
delayed post: screen day
i woke up fairly early, transcribed some pieces of poetry so that i could toss the original papers, joined pg in a lovely morning's walking the dog, then settled down to work.
i worked a lot. it's past 3am and i still haven't actually finished :((
i did take a couple of breaks, though. watching sir ken robinson was inspiring.
i'm amused - i discovered today that since taking the anti-biotics, the size of the scar on my back (the second last surgery) has gone down almost completely; i guess it'd been infected.
the real steel trailer made me shiver again - it looks amazing. so does the next transformers movie. and immortality.
pirates of the caribbean 4: it took us a while to see it, but my word - i don't think there was a single minute that i didn't thoroughly enjoy of it. absolutely gorgeous! waiting through eight minutes of credits wasn't *really* worth the ending, though. it was just cute, whereas the others were great.
i worked a lot. it's past 3am and i still haven't actually finished :((
i did take a couple of breaks, though. watching sir ken robinson was inspiring.
i'm amused - i discovered today that since taking the anti-biotics, the size of the scar on my back (the second last surgery) has gone down almost completely; i guess it'd been infected.
the real steel trailer made me shiver again - it looks amazing. so does the next transformers movie. and immortality.
pirates of the caribbean 4: it took us a while to see it, but my word - i don't think there was a single minute that i didn't thoroughly enjoy of it. absolutely gorgeous! waiting through eight minutes of credits wasn't *really* worth the ending, though. it was just cute, whereas the others were great.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
four dreams
there was an officer dream, some sort of conference / lecture in a field that smacked of bureaucracy, from which we had to wait a long time to be let out and i got into trouble for pitching my tent without permission.
there was running for my life from a man chasing me on foot from ibn gvirol with gun drawn for gesturing when he honked unnecessarily.
there was a nature party, in the wind with blowing student day buildings, somehow arriving in j-lo's apartment (had i been there already in that dream?) and applauding the decor before having to explain to her why i wasn't going to cheat on my girlfriend.
there was a visit to the bar / restaurants on the beach in cape town, where customer service made me cry for having ever left.
there was a hotel lecture, i'd had a shower and was toweling off and get dressed before it began while others arrived. an old friend from primary school caught me for a conversation just as i was trying to put my underwear on, i was distracted and by the time the lecture to the packed room began i was still naked... but not embarrassed. during the break i bought something from the bar in the corner but couldn't remember which denomination note i'd paid with, and i mentioned building a cash-register to solve the problem and he offered to help me do it if i'd just give him a business plan.
---
yesterday:
i woke up around 10 / 10.30am and sat down to get some things done; aside from a couple of arguments / posts i haven't a clue where the next two hours went.
pg and i left for the market area, the primary objective being for me to exchange the small pockets i'd bought the week before. after waiting a short while for the bus and then the bus taking forever to get there, i realized that i'd left the pockets at home... she headed into the market while i waited for a bus back home.
it's a good thing that on the way we'd calculated how much the studan deal saved us on public transport during the year: for her, not so much, but for me - well over a thousand shekels. and the stress over wasted cash in the obscure event that i'd taken a bus ride for nothing.
it took so long for a return bus to come and then so long to get home that i decided to do the next there / back on blades, leading me to write a guide in the wake of a really crazy run in which i merged superbly with the traffic and, aside from motorcycles, totally outpaced it in addition to being able to take streets in the wrong direction (we can jump onto the pavement in a hurry, bikes not so much).
the pocket exchange was painless and i stopped a couple of times to alert drivers to their wasteful idling; their enthusiastic gratitude more than made up for the handful of sour responses i've received.
pg arrived after i'd had a quick shower (i was *really* sweaty, summer has indeed arrived) and we went to goocha for lunch. i've been there twice or thrice before, but hadn't sat on the bar. watching the chefs at work was an absolute pleasure - their professionalism and the looks and smells coming off the grills were wonderful to behold. our food - our food was exquisite. and because we were on the bar i could send my compliments myself. the food is expensive, relatively speaking, but for quality and quantity is extremely reasonable.
pg and i transferred my comics and other valuable books from my apartment, and i then returned for a second round. on the way i hit the bottle store to pick up wine as a dinner gift, and ran into my old neighbour at the coffee shop. i'm really pleased i did, because he had some advice for me that was really useful apropos the september event.
we then discussed facebook filters for a few minutes before he had to rush off.
after bringing back another heavy load of discs and books (all the important stuff's moved, i should transfer my insurance) i spent about half an hour tidying (we definitely need another bookshelf), and then we drove to the cousins for dinner.
dinner was great! excellent food, and everyone was in fun spirits.
i drove back, quite tired and at some point a little unaware - not good. we found a really lucky parking spot close to home, and almost went straight to bed except for a short, surreal puppet-show.
there was running for my life from a man chasing me on foot from ibn gvirol with gun drawn for gesturing when he honked unnecessarily.
there was a nature party, in the wind with blowing student day buildings, somehow arriving in j-lo's apartment (had i been there already in that dream?) and applauding the decor before having to explain to her why i wasn't going to cheat on my girlfriend.
there was a visit to the bar / restaurants on the beach in cape town, where customer service made me cry for having ever left.
there was a hotel lecture, i'd had a shower and was toweling off and get dressed before it began while others arrived. an old friend from primary school caught me for a conversation just as i was trying to put my underwear on, i was distracted and by the time the lecture to the packed room began i was still naked... but not embarrassed. during the break i bought something from the bar in the corner but couldn't remember which denomination note i'd paid with, and i mentioned building a cash-register to solve the problem and he offered to help me do it if i'd just give him a business plan.
yesterday:
i woke up around 10 / 10.30am and sat down to get some things done; aside from a couple of arguments / posts i haven't a clue where the next two hours went.
pg and i left for the market area, the primary objective being for me to exchange the small pockets i'd bought the week before. after waiting a short while for the bus and then the bus taking forever to get there, i realized that i'd left the pockets at home... she headed into the market while i waited for a bus back home.
it's a good thing that on the way we'd calculated how much the studan deal saved us on public transport during the year: for her, not so much, but for me - well over a thousand shekels. and the stress over wasted cash in the obscure event that i'd taken a bus ride for nothing.
it took so long for a return bus to come and then so long to get home that i decided to do the next there / back on blades, leading me to write a guide in the wake of a really crazy run in which i merged superbly with the traffic and, aside from motorcycles, totally outpaced it in addition to being able to take streets in the wrong direction (we can jump onto the pavement in a hurry, bikes not so much).
the pocket exchange was painless and i stopped a couple of times to alert drivers to their wasteful idling; their enthusiastic gratitude more than made up for the handful of sour responses i've received.
pg arrived after i'd had a quick shower (i was *really* sweaty, summer has indeed arrived) and we went to goocha for lunch. i've been there twice or thrice before, but hadn't sat on the bar. watching the chefs at work was an absolute pleasure - their professionalism and the looks and smells coming off the grills were wonderful to behold. our food - our food was exquisite. and because we were on the bar i could send my compliments myself. the food is expensive, relatively speaking, but for quality and quantity is extremely reasonable.
pg and i transferred my comics and other valuable books from my apartment, and i then returned for a second round. on the way i hit the bottle store to pick up wine as a dinner gift, and ran into my old neighbour at the coffee shop. i'm really pleased i did, because he had some advice for me that was really useful apropos the september event.
we then discussed facebook filters for a few minutes before he had to rush off.
after bringing back another heavy load of discs and books (all the important stuff's moved, i should transfer my insurance) i spent about half an hour tidying (we definitely need another bookshelf), and then we drove to the cousins for dinner.
dinner was great! excellent food, and everyone was in fun spirits.
i drove back, quite tired and at some point a little unaware - not good. we found a really lucky parking spot close to home, and almost went straight to bed except for a short, surreal puppet-show.
politically charged: issues of judeo-muslim relations
it's been two days wherein most of my internet communication has been arguing political stances. i need to get some work done...
in response to the video i praised, one of my fellow poets wrote the following:
"jews were driven out of europe by hate-filled muslim immigrants"? and what is "the islamic mentality" exactly? and palestinians are apparently driving us into the sea? This is not a reasonable man - he's just pissed off. and, although in a subtler level, he's doing much the same thing that he's criticizing others for, namely: making appearances / cases he's noticed into a general rule.
on the other hand, it is plausible that muslims would be taught to hate jews (in a sort of formal-yet-informal way), just as much as jews are taught to hate muslims.
i definitely agree on one point (from which he started all this in the first place) - jews aren't dominating the world or anything like that. that's just silly.
dude - i'm blown away by your disconnection from a reality that's on your own doorstep. the fact that you aren't aware of the muslim (specifically palestinian) education system is actually quite worrying.
this man is totally reasonable.
i would say that he is not, and could never be, *totally* reasonable. as you say, i am quite disconnected from reality - i'm not familiar with the palestinian (or any muslim) education system. as much as i'm not familiar with the jew orthodox education system. this is a fault of mine, i agree.
so what you're doing is injecting a philosophical stance on a technical nuance of my description which has nothing whatsoever to do with the subject at hand, with political consequences? because your suggestion, by extension, is that all of the palestinian / muslim propaganda *is* reasonable.
of course it is reasonable. as much as israeli propaganda is reasonable for us. i did insist on the nuance, and maybe that's a quirk of mine, but i also wrote something else. i'm surprised that you'd continue this argument where i tried to suggest it should end.
i'll tell you what bothers me about what you're saying: this man is not discussing israeli propaganda, he is an european atheist non-jew and is talking from an historical perspective. there is nothing that he has said that's off the mark, he is basing his arguments on the current state of europe, and if you're not familiar with the crazy shit that's been going on for the last decade then you should use google.
do some research before you throw your opinions out into the public sphere. and yes, this is "the public sphere". even if only two people read it.
thing is, in the midst of this i missed something really slanted - he talks about "as jews are taught to hate muslims," which is a hard-line leftist approach and is completely untrue. not that there aren't groups who raise their children in a xenophobic environment, but the board of education is very progressive in its perspective and most certainly NOT guilty of any hate-mongering or teachings of intolerance.
in response to the video i praised, one of my fellow poets wrote the following:
"jews were driven out of europe by hate-filled muslim immigrants"? and what is "the islamic mentality" exactly? and palestinians are apparently driving us into the sea? This is not a reasonable man - he's just pissed off. and, although in a subtler level, he's doing much the same thing that he's criticizing others for, namely: making appearances / cases he's noticed into a general rule.
on the other hand, it is plausible that muslims would be taught to hate jews (in a sort of formal-yet-informal way), just as much as jews are taught to hate muslims.
i definitely agree on one point (from which he started all this in the first place) - jews aren't dominating the world or anything like that. that's just silly.
dude - i'm blown away by your disconnection from a reality that's on your own doorstep. the fact that you aren't aware of the muslim (specifically palestinian) education system is actually quite worrying.
this man is totally reasonable.
i would say that he is not, and could never be, *totally* reasonable. as you say, i am quite disconnected from reality - i'm not familiar with the palestinian (or any muslim) education system. as much as i'm not familiar with the jew orthodox education system. this is a fault of mine, i agree.
so what you're doing is injecting a philosophical stance on a technical nuance of my description which has nothing whatsoever to do with the subject at hand, with political consequences? because your suggestion, by extension, is that all of the palestinian / muslim propaganda *is* reasonable.
of course it is reasonable. as much as israeli propaganda is reasonable for us. i did insist on the nuance, and maybe that's a quirk of mine, but i also wrote something else. i'm surprised that you'd continue this argument where i tried to suggest it should end.
i'll tell you what bothers me about what you're saying: this man is not discussing israeli propaganda, he is an european atheist non-jew and is talking from an historical perspective. there is nothing that he has said that's off the mark, he is basing his arguments on the current state of europe, and if you're not familiar with the crazy shit that's been going on for the last decade then you should use google.
do some research before you throw your opinions out into the public sphere. and yes, this is "the public sphere". even if only two people read it.
thing is, in the midst of this i missed something really slanted - he talks about "as jews are taught to hate muslims," which is a hard-line leftist approach and is completely untrue. not that there aren't groups who raise their children in a xenophobic environment, but the board of education is very progressive in its perspective and most certainly NOT guilty of any hate-mongering or teachings of intolerance.
Friday, May 27, 2011
a guide to travelling in tel aviv
by far the most flexible and exhilarating way to travel is on in-line skates; the only way in which bicycles are better is in their ability to go over sand; considering that there're always parts of tel aviv being upgraded, it's not a big deal but it can be frustrating.
bringing a private car into the city is a mistake. traffic is always a problem, most of the roads are right-turn only and to the unfamiliar this can be extremely aggravating. there is almost never any free parking, and one can easily waste a hateful hour seeking it. paid parking is expensive.
the two most annoying methods of transport are taxis and private cars - for some reason drivers seem to think that loud honking will magically clear up the roads before them, and they are so isolated in their little boxes that they fail to realize, or simply don't care, that their honking drives everyone around them crazy.
advice to anyone travelling to tel aviv from outside its borders: park on the outskirts, take a bus in. or better yet, use the new city council bikes, which are cheap, easy to rent and ubiquitous. or bring a pair of in-line skates with you. skating anywhere in israel is tantamount to an extreme sport - it's loads of fun, but you'll need to wear protection (helmet optional, the police eventually conceded that they weren't going to win that one).
failing that, buses and legs are far superior alternatives to the hassle, expensive and general unhappiness of driving around the overcrowded city streets.
---
rankings from highest to lowest.
bringing a private car into the city is a mistake. traffic is always a problem, most of the roads are right-turn only and to the unfamiliar this can be extremely aggravating. there is almost never any free parking, and one can easily waste a hateful hour seeking it. paid parking is expensive.
the two most annoying methods of transport are taxis and private cars - for some reason drivers seem to think that loud honking will magically clear up the roads before them, and they are so isolated in their little boxes that they fail to realize, or simply don't care, that their honking drives everyone around them crazy.
advice to anyone travelling to tel aviv from outside its borders: park on the outskirts, take a bus in. or better yet, use the new city council bikes, which are cheap, easy to rent and ubiquitous. or bring a pair of in-line skates with you. skating anywhere in israel is tantamount to an extreme sport - it's loads of fun, but you'll need to wear protection (helmet optional, the police eventually conceded that they weren't going to win that one).
failing that, buses and legs are far superior alternatives to the hassle, expensive and general unhappiness of driving around the overcrowded city streets.
rankings from highest to lowest.
- speed
- motorcycle / scooter
- in-line skates
- taxi
- private car
- bicycle
- bus
- danger
- motorcycle / scooter
- in-line skates
- bicycle
- taxi
- private car
- bus
- expense
- private car
- taxi
- motorcycle / scooter
- bus
- bicycle
- in-line skates
- freedom of movement
- in-line skates
- bicycle
- motorcycle / scooter
- taxi
- bus
- private car
sharp vegan teeth
i've already got a response on the vegan issue, surprisingly enough from scrapper:
well, i find that shit offensive, and i'm pretty sure a lot of the technical stuff is just wrong. i would have written a longer retort, but i'm just so damn lazy. probably the lack of protein, right?
the truth offensive? you need to check that shit. your "pretty sure" means that you didn't do any research, which from a health point of view is my primary complaint. let me know when you figure out how effective vegans are when it comes to the poor animals they care so much about.
it would be nice if some of them cared about humans, too... yes, it IS possible to care about both. at the same time.
"pretty sure" is a matter of speech.
i'm absolutely sure cows have to be milked every six hours because years of selection created a creature that couldn't survive without our aid. i'm absolutely sure that generalizing "vegans don't eat animals so there will be less killing" is a gross generalization. you don't have to be very observant to see that everything on this planet lives at the expense of something else. things die all the time, it can't be stopped. it's how they live that's the problem.
but's that not the real problem with what you're saying. the vegan strategy could be effective in the long run - if a large percent of the populous turns vegan, the corporations will have to adjust to the lesser demand and "produce" less.
but your problem with that is that their plan isn't fast enough?
it's like you're even encouraging people to really build farm and save kids in africa, you address only the minority that is actually making a little effort and telling them that they are wrong and lazy instead of, let's say, addressing the rest who aren't doing squat, and telling them that they are wrong and lazy.
do you see why it might look distasteful from the other side?
it's distasteful that so many people become so self-righteous and aggressive when they're not actually doing anything. no, it ISN'T fast enough. stop talking about "corporations" like they're some distant, evil force, like conspiracy theorists talk about "big pharma" like medicine is made in the bowels of hell. human beings have a lot of ways to affect change, and lying about shit - to themselves or to others - is NOT one of them.
generalizing "vegans don't eat animals because": am i wrong? i'm specifically targeting politicized veganism, NOT people who have personal issues.
the long-run strategy is not nearly as simple as you make out. whether right or wrong, our somewhat symbiotic relationship with cows is the reality, and unless you plan on "correcting our mistakes" by wiping out all cows, deal with it.
i AM encouraging people to build a farm. or to boycott specific farmers until they change their ways. i'm advocating DOING SOMETHING, not harassing other people without even caring enough to check out the effects on HUMAN health. i'm a human being, and i'm not proud of everything we do. but we're still amazing and we still have the potential to do good, and i don't want to watch our species filling with self-hatred. [we have plenty already, thanks]
there's nothing more disturbing than hearing vegans (and i shit you not, i've heard this example a couple of times already) saying that we make animals suffer because we derive sadistic pleasure from it. because of course, when i go out for a hamburger, what's tasting so good is knowing that the animal was treated cruelly.
you're very defensive for someone who's really smart and has access to such a wealth of information on the topic. more than me. i applaud your morality - i applaud the morality of most vegans - but i do NOT applaud your succumbing to what is nothing more than a selfish propaganda push.
when you're all willing to make an effort to figure out solutions to problems instead of adding to them, i'll leave things be.
---
i also got positive responses: someone sent me a link to an article about vegan morality
well, i find that shit offensive, and i'm pretty sure a lot of the technical stuff is just wrong. i would have written a longer retort, but i'm just so damn lazy. probably the lack of protein, right?
the truth offensive? you need to check that shit. your "pretty sure" means that you didn't do any research, which from a health point of view is my primary complaint. let me know when you figure out how effective vegans are when it comes to the poor animals they care so much about.
it would be nice if some of them cared about humans, too... yes, it IS possible to care about both. at the same time.
"pretty sure" is a matter of speech.
i'm absolutely sure cows have to be milked every six hours because years of selection created a creature that couldn't survive without our aid. i'm absolutely sure that generalizing "vegans don't eat animals so there will be less killing" is a gross generalization. you don't have to be very observant to see that everything on this planet lives at the expense of something else. things die all the time, it can't be stopped. it's how they live that's the problem.
but's that not the real problem with what you're saying. the vegan strategy could be effective in the long run - if a large percent of the populous turns vegan, the corporations will have to adjust to the lesser demand and "produce" less.
but your problem with that is that their plan isn't fast enough?
it's like you're even encouraging people to really build farm and save kids in africa, you address only the minority that is actually making a little effort and telling them that they are wrong and lazy instead of, let's say, addressing the rest who aren't doing squat, and telling them that they are wrong and lazy.
do you see why it might look distasteful from the other side?
it's distasteful that so many people become so self-righteous and aggressive when they're not actually doing anything. no, it ISN'T fast enough. stop talking about "corporations" like they're some distant, evil force, like conspiracy theorists talk about "big pharma" like medicine is made in the bowels of hell. human beings have a lot of ways to affect change, and lying about shit - to themselves or to others - is NOT one of them.
generalizing "vegans don't eat animals because": am i wrong? i'm specifically targeting politicized veganism, NOT people who have personal issues.
the long-run strategy is not nearly as simple as you make out. whether right or wrong, our somewhat symbiotic relationship with cows is the reality, and unless you plan on "correcting our mistakes" by wiping out all cows, deal with it.
i AM encouraging people to build a farm. or to boycott specific farmers until they change their ways. i'm advocating DOING SOMETHING, not harassing other people without even caring enough to check out the effects on HUMAN health. i'm a human being, and i'm not proud of everything we do. but we're still amazing and we still have the potential to do good, and i don't want to watch our species filling with self-hatred. [we have plenty already, thanks]
there's nothing more disturbing than hearing vegans (and i shit you not, i've heard this example a couple of times already) saying that we make animals suffer because we derive sadistic pleasure from it. because of course, when i go out for a hamburger, what's tasting so good is knowing that the animal was treated cruelly.
you're very defensive for someone who's really smart and has access to such a wealth of information on the topic. more than me. i applaud your morality - i applaud the morality of most vegans - but i do NOT applaud your succumbing to what is nothing more than a selfish propaganda push.
when you're all willing to make an effort to figure out solutions to problems instead of adding to them, i'll leave things be.
i also got positive responses: someone sent me a link to an article about vegan morality
a man with a brain just walked in
this dude just made my day. you're awesome, man. it's rare to see someone on the topic who's functionally rational.
the vegan hypocrisy
it's been a long night, and i've barely done anything productive.
in response to this article:
fear mongering: heart-disease, diabetes and cancer.
diabetes is not caused by eating meat. there are precisely three contributing factors to developing diabetes: being overweight, not exercising, and aging. if any statistical correlation can be shown then it indicates nothing more than a spurious relation. you see, when you learn how statistics work then others cannot leverage them against you.
cancer? everything causes cancer. there has never been a scientifically run study that shows that meat causes cancer. there has, however, been a rigorous and intriguing study showing that living on a diet consisting of meat, its fat, and NOTHING ELSE has surprisingly excellent health benefits.
we're not herbivores, so this makes sense.
in response to this article:
fear mongering: heart-disease, diabetes and cancer.
diabetes is not caused by eating meat. there are precisely three contributing factors to developing diabetes: being overweight, not exercising, and aging. if any statistical correlation can be shown then it indicates nothing more than a spurious relation. you see, when you learn how statistics work then others cannot leverage them against you.
cancer? everything causes cancer. there has never been a scientifically run study that shows that meat causes cancer. there has, however, been a rigorous and intriguing study showing that living on a diet consisting of meat, its fat, and NOTHING ELSE has surprisingly excellent health benefits.
we're not herbivores, so this makes sense.
thursday arrived
just in case my earlier confusion hadn't been removed, i went to the post office to pick up what i thought would be the rest of pg's present, and found my brand new copy of thursday
instead. still a good start! then all the buses drove past me on my way to catch them, all early. there was me, running alongside the last one with sandals that don't hold very well...
and then the bus turned out to have a weird configuration - something about the back window becoming a wall with a tiny window at its top. it seemed like it made the bus seem bigger.
i left my wired at home so i continued reading brave new world
on my iphone instead. i thought about it today - i really have become dependant on this little device. yes, yes, i know it's not *really* as good as an android phone, but it doesn't matter. it's what i had to take and i'm really pleased that i did.
on arriving on campus: the old dude who passed me dressed sharply but with his formal shirt unbuttoned to expose his 300
t-shirt must be cool.
first class was boring. second class was incredible. in spite of the student day celebrations waking the dead for miles around, the class we were in is on the bunker level and we weren't bothered at all. i had a few observations to impart, and was well pleased when our lecturer, instead of his usual derision, stopped on two of them, thought a bit, and then stated: "that's really good." i'm starting to pick up all sorts of interesting bits and pieces in shakespeare and i'm loving it immensely. it's like i've begun to understand the code ^_^
student day: meh, less exciting now that i'm a student. wish fulfilment - i know where i was for the last one and i'm still excited about my present situation :D
i bought a super-expensive hamburger (probably should have just gone to the cafeteria), chatting with classmates until pg arrived. we bought lunch, and just before we found a spot to sit with it, i received a phone call from an unidentified caller. there was a lot of noise, so i told her to call back in twenty minutes; she agreed.
--- twenty minutes later we were standing in a quiet spot behind one of the buildings, with pg laughing at me for being so precise. is it too much to ask that when someone has accepted terms that they abide by them? apparently. because i eventually received the call about an hour later, while sitting with friends near a stage.
so there i was, laying on the ground with a finger pressed hard into one ear and the other squished by my phone, having a long heart-to-heart with the manager i spoke to the last time. please notice what i wrote then about strikes. because i explained to her, in no uncertain terms, that while i appreciate her getting in touch with me and i appreciate her efforts (and she really did try) to keep me paying, my policy being great is entirely hypothetical until such time as i really need it and if they're treating me like this now then i'm out.
i'm not a number, i'm a free man! [you know it
]
your breach of faith, my money, and you'll be having no more of it. when she repeated the sentiment expressed by the salesman that "none of the other insurance companies are any better" i was prepared: "maybe. but the other companies haven't made me unhappy yet, so they've all got one up on you guys." fool me once...
--- i was tired and neither pg nor i were particularly impressed by the concert line-up, so we decided to make a move. the bus we hopped on has a vending machine after the first row. i'm sure i've mentioned before the atrocities committed against passengers, upstanding or not - the drivers all suffer from klapvoet, the inability to perform acceleration / braking gently. and they take corners at high speed; i sometimes get motion sickness from just sitting, standing is great exercise for snowboarding, and there i was putting coins in a tiny, coin-sized slot while being thrown around roughly.
i did get my drink, though. i feel like i worked for it.
--- we stopped to shop for iron-on transfer paper, and i asked if there's a student discount. "hush!" she loudly whispered, we do have a student discount but you know how israelis are - if other people get wind of it they'll all magically become "students"...
what the hell is the point of having a student discount if you don't want to tell anyone about it?! this is not a good marketing strategy.
we had a pleasant evening that involved good dinner and two great episodes of one piece amongst other things, and i've been very busy for the last couple of hours writing this, handling another blog that i've just started and planning gleefully.
now to handle my snail-mail and then i guess i'll get some work done. i'm feeling better today - perhaps it was tuesday's crazy exercise that wiped me out.
--- i totally forgot to mention a video i saw a couple of days ago that's really touching: the power of words
instead. still a good start! then all the buses drove past me on my way to catch them, all early. there was me, running alongside the last one with sandals that don't hold very well...and then the bus turned out to have a weird configuration - something about the back window becoming a wall with a tiny window at its top. it seemed like it made the bus seem bigger.
i left my wired at home so i continued reading brave new world
on my iphone instead. i thought about it today - i really have become dependant on this little device. yes, yes, i know it's not *really* as good as an android phone, but it doesn't matter. it's what i had to take and i'm really pleased that i did.on arriving on campus: the old dude who passed me dressed sharply but with his formal shirt unbuttoned to expose his 300
t-shirt must be cool.first class was boring. second class was incredible. in spite of the student day celebrations waking the dead for miles around, the class we were in is on the bunker level and we weren't bothered at all. i had a few observations to impart, and was well pleased when our lecturer, instead of his usual derision, stopped on two of them, thought a bit, and then stated: "that's really good." i'm starting to pick up all sorts of interesting bits and pieces in shakespeare and i'm loving it immensely. it's like i've begun to understand the code ^_^
student day: meh, less exciting now that i'm a student. wish fulfilment - i know where i was for the last one and i'm still excited about my present situation :D
i bought a super-expensive hamburger (probably should have just gone to the cafeteria), chatting with classmates until pg arrived. we bought lunch, and just before we found a spot to sit with it, i received a phone call from an unidentified caller. there was a lot of noise, so i told her to call back in twenty minutes; she agreed.
so there i was, laying on the ground with a finger pressed hard into one ear and the other squished by my phone, having a long heart-to-heart with the manager i spoke to the last time. please notice what i wrote then about strikes. because i explained to her, in no uncertain terms, that while i appreciate her getting in touch with me and i appreciate her efforts (and she really did try) to keep me paying, my policy being great is entirely hypothetical until such time as i really need it and if they're treating me like this now then i'm out.
i'm not a number, i'm a free man! [you know it
]your breach of faith, my money, and you'll be having no more of it. when she repeated the sentiment expressed by the salesman that "none of the other insurance companies are any better" i was prepared: "maybe. but the other companies haven't made me unhappy yet, so they've all got one up on you guys." fool me once...
i did get my drink, though. i feel like i worked for it.
what the hell is the point of having a student discount if you don't want to tell anyone about it?! this is not a good marketing strategy.
we had a pleasant evening that involved good dinner and two great episodes of one piece amongst other things, and i've been very busy for the last couple of hours writing this, handling another blog that i've just started and planning gleefully.
now to handle my snail-mail and then i guess i'll get some work done. i'm feeling better today - perhaps it was tuesday's crazy exercise that wiped me out.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
today is thursday
i must admit to being a bit confused about such things as "days of the week" - there were a brief couple of days when i felt like i suddenly had time to breath, and then i began with antibiotics and exam fretting so it's all a bit...
--- tuesday night:
the route was great, although pg was quite impatient with me and we sat in silence over the post-blade frozen yoghurt. the sense of drama on heightened when she discovered that the shower door's damaged - neither of us know how but i'm considered the prime suspect. it's the kind of damage that requires a professional :(
--- we went to be early, around 2 - 2.30pm, and i got up early to go to the bank and sort out a money transfer. the woman presented me with one of the unfriendliest forms to fill in, one that contained far too many unnecessarily legal terms and even post-translation was unclear. i became progressively more tense, and then the poor clerk got upset because she thought i was angry with her.
well, i should have been. she didn't offer me much assistance with the damned thing, and to make matters worse i got a phone call a few hours later explaining that there were a couple of details i hadn't filled in so i'd have to come in and do it again. very professional, lady. very professional.
--- pg was super-weird yesterday morning. we walked to the bus in uncomfortable silence, and then we stood on the traffic island and she accused me of putting ideas of awkwardness into her head. i can't say i'm completely innocent, but i've been sensing strange cues the whole week...
the day began with a headache. the first class was a two hour preparation for mark strand's later appearance, and it was fairly interesting. after lunch with wr (who proposed some interesting ideas for the september event) and a few minutes sitting with one of my study groups (some of whom were engrossed in linguistics homework, which looked really familiar... it resembles discrete mathematics, actually) i went out to wait for a friend of mine to pick me up.
after two hours discussing politics, the arts and how to approach the problems in israeli society - two hours during which i learned about all sorts of surprisingly awesome projects that don't get promoted at all - he dropped me back on campus for mark strand. on the way i spoke to nystire, who made a pretty good case for why i shouldn't return to training until i'm over the antibiotics. no, i don't really want to risk kidney troubles :S
--- a certain professor gave the introduction, and some members of the faculty were as shocked as the rest of us to hear her obscure analysis of mark strand's poetry. quite presumptuous. one of the poets who introduced him (there were a number of hebrew translations read, and they were very good) told us how he used to publish strand's poems on the back of the magazine he was working for, without informing readers that it was poetry - shock poetry? apparently it was surprisingly engaging.
mark strand was absolutely inspirational. everything he read was magic - few poems, but it was all poetry: he's very funny on the topic of prose form. riveting stuff, presented with such easy humanity that i was touched. and all of this appreciation in spite of the splitting headache; i only managed the reading on the wings of the chocolate and coke that i'd arranged at the last minute :P
--- from art to politics: i walked to the building next door for a talk by noam shalit. while waiting for him to arrive, a man with a really cool t-shirt walked in.
i'm really glad i went to hear him speak. noam shalit just gave me a whole new perspective on an issue that i had taken a rather solid stance on. i'll discuss it more in detail at a later stage, but the bottom line really is that gilad shalit has been in captivity for almost five years and it's past time that we should bring him home.
trading terrorists is not a perfect solution, but it is the right one. it's time.
--- i spent the way back home stuck into my phone, learning about twitter. i have begun providing a service that i'm hoping will take off, and there's a certain amount of journalistic responsibility involved...
i took pg out for sushi - for the first time this week things are back to normal ^_^
we ate way too much and it was really good.
the scar on my lower back (i had a mole removed a couple of months ago) is itching, and driving me crazy. i wonder if that has to do with the antibiotics?
...
i went straight to bed afterwards, and woke up early thinking to post this and get some reading done... so much for the reading. and what's here only made up about 50% of my notes; i have a daunting to-do list...
--- gay parent bashing. in texas. this is quite touching.
another riddick? i can handle that.
the route was great, although pg was quite impatient with me and we sat in silence over the post-blade frozen yoghurt. the sense of drama on heightened when she discovered that the shower door's damaged - neither of us know how but i'm considered the prime suspect. it's the kind of damage that requires a professional :(
well, i should have been. she didn't offer me much assistance with the damned thing, and to make matters worse i got a phone call a few hours later explaining that there were a couple of details i hadn't filled in so i'd have to come in and do it again. very professional, lady. very professional.
the day began with a headache. the first class was a two hour preparation for mark strand's later appearance, and it was fairly interesting. after lunch with wr (who proposed some interesting ideas for the september event) and a few minutes sitting with one of my study groups (some of whom were engrossed in linguistics homework, which looked really familiar... it resembles discrete mathematics, actually) i went out to wait for a friend of mine to pick me up.
after two hours discussing politics, the arts and how to approach the problems in israeli society - two hours during which i learned about all sorts of surprisingly awesome projects that don't get promoted at all - he dropped me back on campus for mark strand. on the way i spoke to nystire, who made a pretty good case for why i shouldn't return to training until i'm over the antibiotics. no, i don't really want to risk kidney troubles :S
mark strand was absolutely inspirational. everything he read was magic - few poems, but it was all poetry: he's very funny on the topic of prose form. riveting stuff, presented with such easy humanity that i was touched. and all of this appreciation in spite of the splitting headache; i only managed the reading on the wings of the chocolate and coke that i'd arranged at the last minute :P
i'm really glad i went to hear him speak. noam shalit just gave me a whole new perspective on an issue that i had taken a rather solid stance on. i'll discuss it more in detail at a later stage, but the bottom line really is that gilad shalit has been in captivity for almost five years and it's past time that we should bring him home.
trading terrorists is not a perfect solution, but it is the right one. it's time.
i took pg out for sushi - for the first time this week things are back to normal ^_^
we ate way too much and it was really good.
the scar on my lower back (i had a mole removed a couple of months ago) is itching, and driving me crazy. i wonder if that has to do with the antibiotics?
...
i went straight to bed afterwards, and woke up early thinking to post this and get some reading done... so much for the reading. and what's here only made up about 50% of my notes; i have a daunting to-do list...
another riddick? i can handle that.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
aholic
whoa - i'm about to put myself to bed for twenty minutes before rollerblading, but i had to report on a marvellous day (even if the telling may be a tad tedious):
i couldn't get back to sleep after pg woke up, so i carried on working until it was time to leave.
i begun all the antibiotics over breakfast, by the way, and i'm terrified of what they're going to do to me... last year's experience was awful.
i ran into one of the coffee shop crew on the bus, and we chatted all the way there. i'd arrived at work at a specific time for a meeting which never took place... i got so into my work that i almost didn't notice when it was high time to leave... fifteen hours of work in two days is like a real job, i gotta be careful :P
i got some great stuff done today and the bosses are pleased. i feel the need to mention lunch; NIS 32 for a laffa stuffed with a kebab and chicken liver? awesome. couldn't finish it.
the buses back were smoother than usual. i almost got run over when i walked between two buses to cross the road and a motorcycle zoomed past the edge of my nose; just then a taxi came the other way followed by a bus. too much stress, totally not worth it :S
i drew pg a map of how to find the gym and hurriedly dressed and left. i am SO proud of myself! i launched straight in to high intensity, and not only handled all the general work but i fought well and somehow remember all the forms i've learned... wow ^_^
i was great (although remarkably sweaty) until the last five minutes, by which stage i was tipping to one side and begin to worry about passing out. i walked sideways to the supermarket to by bitter lemon, thinking that i could use it for drinks but later realizing that i can't drink for the next couple of weeks... i bought a speaker at the computer store (gift card from the old work) for rollerblading with, then caught the bus home.
right in time for dinner, and how i met your mother. now for a nap, and much later i'm going to try to get through some of my exam materials that one of my managers so gracefully bestowed upon me :D
my legs hurt, but i'm well pleased with my performance. and the rollerblading should help loosen things up a bit ;)
i couldn't get back to sleep after pg woke up, so i carried on working until it was time to leave.
i begun all the antibiotics over breakfast, by the way, and i'm terrified of what they're going to do to me... last year's experience was awful.
i ran into one of the coffee shop crew on the bus, and we chatted all the way there. i'd arrived at work at a specific time for a meeting which never took place... i got so into my work that i almost didn't notice when it was high time to leave... fifteen hours of work in two days is like a real job, i gotta be careful :P
i got some great stuff done today and the bosses are pleased. i feel the need to mention lunch; NIS 32 for a laffa stuffed with a kebab and chicken liver? awesome. couldn't finish it.
the buses back were smoother than usual. i almost got run over when i walked between two buses to cross the road and a motorcycle zoomed past the edge of my nose; just then a taxi came the other way followed by a bus. too much stress, totally not worth it :S
i drew pg a map of how to find the gym and hurriedly dressed and left. i am SO proud of myself! i launched straight in to high intensity, and not only handled all the general work but i fought well and somehow remember all the forms i've learned... wow ^_^
i was great (although remarkably sweaty) until the last five minutes, by which stage i was tipping to one side and begin to worry about passing out. i walked sideways to the supermarket to by bitter lemon, thinking that i could use it for drinks but later realizing that i can't drink for the next couple of weeks... i bought a speaker at the computer store (gift card from the old work) for rollerblading with, then caught the bus home.
right in time for dinner, and how i met your mother. now for a nap, and much later i'm going to try to get through some of my exam materials that one of my managers so gracefully bestowed upon me :D
my legs hurt, but i'm well pleased with my performance. and the rollerblading should help loosen things up a bit ;)
presenting tech
my brain's full of muck: php, mysql, pdo, json... each and every part has given me individual grief over the past five / six hours, but i've finally got things looking vaguely right. even if i cheated a bit; at least when i cheat it's on things that can be added without too much hassle. and overall the system's beginning to take shape.
whatever. it's bloody late already.
whatever. it's bloody late already.
Monday, May 23, 2011
logging errors
i managed to get the hang of flex logging last night in spite of the mostly useless documentation.
i bussed home and was going to go to bed early but joined pg in watching how i met your mother instead.
i woke up early this morning and caught the bus to the doctor's. the walk from the stop i alighted at to the doctor's office was delightful! it was a super-pleasant morning :)
my doctor: "you're like an old lady."
i got the info i needed and headed off to the university, hoping to catch the blood donation truck before beginning my antibiotics. it wasn't there :(
i sat at the coffee shop recreating the blog that was destroyed during blogger's maintenance fumble a couple of weeks ago, then went to class. some girls were harping on about a weird smell that most of us couldn't detect - i thought maybe i'd gone deaf in the nose until the building caretaker came in with a spray that let me know, in no uncertain terms, that i was doing just fine.
a guy in our class came to sit by one of the girls who sits near me, presumably to flirt with her. totally emotionally dyslexic, switching accents frequently and then getting stuck in a loop quoting fat bastard. he didn't stop even when we switched from gentle chiding to sharp deriding :/
second class began strangely: co-conspirator asked if i'd bought wafers, and i told her that if she wanted one she'd have to get it from my seat. she came back with the packet, munching away, and went so far as to offer to others before i stopped her. she didn't understand afterwards that i wasn't so much interested in the monetary value; i'd bought them for the lesson (and the afternoon at work), and as they were mine i would have at least liked to have been consulted first.
when the lecturer makes tons of references and interesting asides, it's quite frustrating to have spotty internet access :S
medical insurance: i had a long argument with the salesman on my way to the bus, and eventually got him to acknowledge that they'd done me a disservice and told him that i want out. now a whole new bureaucratic battle begins...
the bullshit that particularly annoyed me: automatic, impersonal threats being sent out by computer with no human interaction, not even the promised human interaction after the last conversation we'd had, is very personal to *me*, the recipient. eventually, i think i got him to understand that. telling me that the other insurance companies are just as bad didn't make my heart melt. the other companies haven't messed me around yet.
i played angry birds on the bus, almost missing my stop. i came in to an empty office, and a few minutes later was joined by yogi. a few minutes later the rest showed up, and the day became very busy.
as much as i could do a little dance and sing "i told you so" at my boss - the fact that i'm going to have to manually revert some of the changes he made to my code does not sit well with me. it's going to be a long night, and i have to be ready in the morning for a demonstration...
i bussed home and was going to go to bed early but joined pg in watching how i met your mother instead.
i woke up early this morning and caught the bus to the doctor's. the walk from the stop i alighted at to the doctor's office was delightful! it was a super-pleasant morning :)
my doctor: "you're like an old lady."
i got the info i needed and headed off to the university, hoping to catch the blood donation truck before beginning my antibiotics. it wasn't there :(
i sat at the coffee shop recreating the blog that was destroyed during blogger's maintenance fumble a couple of weeks ago, then went to class. some girls were harping on about a weird smell that most of us couldn't detect - i thought maybe i'd gone deaf in the nose until the building caretaker came in with a spray that let me know, in no uncertain terms, that i was doing just fine.
a guy in our class came to sit by one of the girls who sits near me, presumably to flirt with her. totally emotionally dyslexic, switching accents frequently and then getting stuck in a loop quoting fat bastard. he didn't stop even when we switched from gentle chiding to sharp deriding :/
second class began strangely: co-conspirator asked if i'd bought wafers, and i told her that if she wanted one she'd have to get it from my seat. she came back with the packet, munching away, and went so far as to offer to others before i stopped her. she didn't understand afterwards that i wasn't so much interested in the monetary value; i'd bought them for the lesson (and the afternoon at work), and as they were mine i would have at least liked to have been consulted first.
when the lecturer makes tons of references and interesting asides, it's quite frustrating to have spotty internet access :S
medical insurance: i had a long argument with the salesman on my way to the bus, and eventually got him to acknowledge that they'd done me a disservice and told him that i want out. now a whole new bureaucratic battle begins...
the bullshit that particularly annoyed me: automatic, impersonal threats being sent out by computer with no human interaction, not even the promised human interaction after the last conversation we'd had, is very personal to *me*, the recipient. eventually, i think i got him to understand that. telling me that the other insurance companies are just as bad didn't make my heart melt. the other companies haven't messed me around yet.
i played angry birds on the bus, almost missing my stop. i came in to an empty office, and a few minutes later was joined by yogi. a few minutes later the rest showed up, and the day became very busy.
as much as i could do a little dance and sing "i told you so" at my boss - the fact that i'm going to have to manually revert some of the changes he made to my code does not sit well with me. it's going to be a long night, and i have to be ready in the morning for a demonstration...
Sunday, May 22, 2011
silent nights
i'm excited. and feeling good. i was feeling exhausted and horrible until i left campus, but when i plugged in my earphones and pumped up the volume on my house collection my spirits rose and things have been smooth since. i had a good, productive day in the (new) office*, had a very positive chat with mmf on my way to the old office, and life feels like it's on track.
* aside from tax issues: the fact that i work two jobs means that both my employers have to pay more taxes for me, and i get paid less to boot. i'm "fortunate" enough to be earning below the next tax bracket, and if i earned more than that such a large percentage would go to tax that it would reduce the incentive to work more hours to zero. what an intelligent system we live with.
--- thursday night:
this thing about letting people know how much petrol it takes to start a car... it's like the starfish story.
intimacy on the bus: i was standing reading from my iphone in the middle of the practically empty bus when a man walked in, stood on my left and put his arm across to the pole on my right, leaving me approximately an inch of breathing space. after glaring at him for a minute, i asked him to let me out and stood on his left. i don't think he got the hint.
i wrapped pg's birthday present while she got started with pitch black
: a movie that you just *know* came out of an rpg. it's awesome.
--- friday:
at midnight, i presented the gifts - a nordstrom snow globe (why are decent snow globes so hard to find? and the shipping made this expensive) and a cute snow-globe keyring with santa claus inside - then we ate cake, i drank whiskey, we watched one piece (my legs got super-stiff again, it's very frustrating) and then passed out.
we woke up comfortably, made good pancakes, argued about the value of judaism and then went on a shopping spree. i can't stand shopping, but i figure that only going once a year on a birthday trip is acceptable. it was tough, but i survived. in the last shop we went to i overheard some old lady talking about a "one piece" and wondered if the manga could be interpreted as some sort of fashion metaphor, where the king of pirates is... yeah, it's a bit much :P
i bought something for myself on the way; two pairs of strap-on pockets. only i forgot to try on both for size, and one of them's too small :S
we had japanese for lunch, which was pretty good - although both of us suspect it had something to do with our not feeling quite well for the remainder of the afternoon.
...
--- saturday:
it's weird having constant munchies. and distracting. i spent saturday working. aside from a strange hassle accessing my apache server which resulted in my reinstalling it, only to discover that it was a problem with chrome redirecting my queries to www.localhost.com (good grief!). i was treated to the new version of internet explorer when the auto-updater kicked in. WOW. it's now chrome. it's like microsoft just gave up. yes, i know i'm behind the times, but still...
i took a long walk in the middle of the day to meet with a guy from the completion course so that he could hand-deliver a wedding invitation... i took the opportunity to shop for meat and beers for the evening. those beers turned out to be pretty heavy going on rollerblades, in addition to all the other gear i took with. the spot co-conspirator had found wasn't bad, until the huge function next door put on loud, crappy music* and not even our megaphone could save us.
* a pretentious, emotionally dyslexic child in rishikesh drove me nuts one day playing a song repeatedly on his cellphone, and when i heard it last night i immediately asked what it was.
justin bieber, i hate you.
the barbecue was alright, but i was upset that during the first round of poetry readings barely anybody volunteered and the march hare had joined us. he felt bad because he thought he'd ruined the party, and in the end it turned out that all that was missing was alcoholic lubrication. next time, i'm going to request that everyone starts drinking before they arrive.
the evening was mostly fun, although i was really tired and i'm glad that wr's cocktails weren't particularly strong. the most upsetting part of it all was the end, when i replaced the mat i'd brought and discovered that i hadn't taken out the meat. it had defrosted, so we gave it to some revellers close by and i felt silly.
on the way back home i went past the spot that we'd originally thought to sit at (that wasn't sanctioned by the authorities) and saw that nobody had a problem with barbecuing there, the lighting was better and everywhere was more or less quiet.
dammit :(
i was absolutely exhausted when i got home. pg and i had a number of miscommunications in a row and i went to bed broken and unhappy. at least things were better in the morning.
--- today:
i got some work done before heading out... i'd planned on starting my antibiotics courses today, but the pharmacist hadn't put stickers on the pills and i appear to have lost the script. that's quite annoying.
first class was cool - i enjoyed the material and amused myself with the list of common misconceptions. one of the girls gave me a copy of the second gabriel knight game, and pg and i had lunch together before i left campus.
...
now i've got to get some work done.
* aside from tax issues: the fact that i work two jobs means that both my employers have to pay more taxes for me, and i get paid less to boot. i'm "fortunate" enough to be earning below the next tax bracket, and if i earned more than that such a large percentage would go to tax that it would reduce the incentive to work more hours to zero. what an intelligent system we live with.
this thing about letting people know how much petrol it takes to start a car... it's like the starfish story.
intimacy on the bus: i was standing reading from my iphone in the middle of the practically empty bus when a man walked in, stood on my left and put his arm across to the pole on my right, leaving me approximately an inch of breathing space. after glaring at him for a minute, i asked him to let me out and stood on his left. i don't think he got the hint.
i wrapped pg's birthday present while she got started with pitch black
: a movie that you just *know* came out of an rpg. it's awesome.at midnight, i presented the gifts - a nordstrom snow globe (why are decent snow globes so hard to find? and the shipping made this expensive) and a cute snow-globe keyring with santa claus inside - then we ate cake, i drank whiskey, we watched one piece (my legs got super-stiff again, it's very frustrating) and then passed out.
we woke up comfortably, made good pancakes, argued about the value of judaism and then went on a shopping spree. i can't stand shopping, but i figure that only going once a year on a birthday trip is acceptable. it was tough, but i survived. in the last shop we went to i overheard some old lady talking about a "one piece" and wondered if the manga could be interpreted as some sort of fashion metaphor, where the king of pirates is... yeah, it's a bit much :P
i bought something for myself on the way; two pairs of strap-on pockets. only i forgot to try on both for size, and one of them's too small :S
we had japanese for lunch, which was pretty good - although both of us suspect it had something to do with our not feeling quite well for the remainder of the afternoon.
...
it's weird having constant munchies. and distracting. i spent saturday working. aside from a strange hassle accessing my apache server which resulted in my reinstalling it, only to discover that it was a problem with chrome redirecting my queries to www.localhost.com (good grief!). i was treated to the new version of internet explorer when the auto-updater kicked in. WOW. it's now chrome. it's like microsoft just gave up. yes, i know i'm behind the times, but still...
i took a long walk in the middle of the day to meet with a guy from the completion course so that he could hand-deliver a wedding invitation... i took the opportunity to shop for meat and beers for the evening. those beers turned out to be pretty heavy going on rollerblades, in addition to all the other gear i took with. the spot co-conspirator had found wasn't bad, until the huge function next door put on loud, crappy music* and not even our megaphone could save us.
* a pretentious, emotionally dyslexic child in rishikesh drove me nuts one day playing a song repeatedly on his cellphone, and when i heard it last night i immediately asked what it was.
justin bieber, i hate you.
the barbecue was alright, but i was upset that during the first round of poetry readings barely anybody volunteered and the march hare had joined us. he felt bad because he thought he'd ruined the party, and in the end it turned out that all that was missing was alcoholic lubrication. next time, i'm going to request that everyone starts drinking before they arrive.
the evening was mostly fun, although i was really tired and i'm glad that wr's cocktails weren't particularly strong. the most upsetting part of it all was the end, when i replaced the mat i'd brought and discovered that i hadn't taken out the meat. it had defrosted, so we gave it to some revellers close by and i felt silly.
on the way back home i went past the spot that we'd originally thought to sit at (that wasn't sanctioned by the authorities) and saw that nobody had a problem with barbecuing there, the lighting was better and everywhere was more or less quiet.
dammit :(
i was absolutely exhausted when i got home. pg and i had a number of miscommunications in a row and i went to bed broken and unhappy. at least things were better in the morning.
i got some work done before heading out... i'd planned on starting my antibiotics courses today, but the pharmacist hadn't put stickers on the pills and i appear to have lost the script. that's quite annoying.
first class was cool - i enjoyed the material and amused myself with the list of common misconceptions. one of the girls gave me a copy of the second gabriel knight game, and pg and i had lunch together before i left campus.
...
now i've got to get some work done.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
quick breakdown
i just realized what time it is, and i'm disappointed because i've gotten so little done today. i'm definitely going to sleep tonight - tomorrow's a big day.
reading richard wright on the way to class was horrifying... his depiction of post-slavery in the southern states of america was enlightening - or endarkening. i highly recommend a glance. it's works like these that make me glad i'm studying again - we're just being exposed to snippets, and my reading list has expanded to impossible lengths :)
the same security guard has made a point of stopping me twice and being excessively thorough when everyone else is merely glanced at. he's making me feel like it's personal...
there's a penalty for being the first to use the hot water in our building: it takes three minutes to heat up. when you're in a hurry, that's annoying.
after hearing about the coolest honeymoon ever - going across the states during convention season with a spouse equally into comics and gaming - i was informed that i should answer icon's call for papers. when i protested "but i don't have anything to talk about!" i was laughed at, and then i blushed and realized that i always have *something* to talk about :P
first class was more interesting than usual; perhaps influenced by my earlier reading. i'd found du boise's texts gripping too...
the introductory lesson to shakespeare's measure for measure was mind-blowing. our lecturer made a great case for opening up the new testament, and the twists and turns and tricks of equivocation in the play were most intriguing. the only thing i definitely disagreed with him about is in calling it a comedy. i was impressed by scenes based on great wit, but the context was so dark that i didn't find myself actually laughing.
on the way out of class, i had a long and exciting chat with one of the girls about LARPing - i've begun trying to get hold of some from my friends from UCT, and if that doesn't work i'm going to write my own after exams. 'cause i'll have time ^_^
i spent a few minutes with co-conspirator organizing a megaphone; great solution, that, and i'm glad i thought of it. reading spiritual / metaphysical poetry through one of those will most assuredly be special :P
after enjoying an all-important ice-cream on the way off campus, i almost got on the bus before my boss sent me a just-in-time sms telling me not to bother. i went to wait on the other side, confronted by the question of whether or not to report the tiny packet on the bench to the police as a suspicious object until some stranger came and took it away (i'm fairly certain it wasn't hers). i then missed the stop to come here (old office), but i'm not really counting hours anymore so i don't care.
the previous development head helped me out with a weird flex problem i was having, only once it was solved another one popped up, this one with a super-helpful error number but no information concerning where in the code it has been thrown. after much searching i went back to the same guy, who showed me that flex has a logging system. the logging system is a shining example of how bad the flex documentation is - and the design's not at all intuitive either; i haven't really gotten very far :S
aside from a shocking response, it's been a fairly uneventful evening. i have wrapping paper printed for pg's birthday present, and it's past time i go home.
--- eli pariser - filter bubbles: if you remove the "i" from his name... this is fascinating, and disturbing. it's like the algorithms are performing similar functions to our brains in filtering, only with even less precision...
reading richard wright on the way to class was horrifying... his depiction of post-slavery in the southern states of america was enlightening - or endarkening. i highly recommend a glance. it's works like these that make me glad i'm studying again - we're just being exposed to snippets, and my reading list has expanded to impossible lengths :)
the same security guard has made a point of stopping me twice and being excessively thorough when everyone else is merely glanced at. he's making me feel like it's personal...
there's a penalty for being the first to use the hot water in our building: it takes three minutes to heat up. when you're in a hurry, that's annoying.
after hearing about the coolest honeymoon ever - going across the states during convention season with a spouse equally into comics and gaming - i was informed that i should answer icon's call for papers. when i protested "but i don't have anything to talk about!" i was laughed at, and then i blushed and realized that i always have *something* to talk about :P
first class was more interesting than usual; perhaps influenced by my earlier reading. i'd found du boise's texts gripping too...
the introductory lesson to shakespeare's measure for measure was mind-blowing. our lecturer made a great case for opening up the new testament, and the twists and turns and tricks of equivocation in the play were most intriguing. the only thing i definitely disagreed with him about is in calling it a comedy. i was impressed by scenes based on great wit, but the context was so dark that i didn't find myself actually laughing.
on the way out of class, i had a long and exciting chat with one of the girls about LARPing - i've begun trying to get hold of some from my friends from UCT, and if that doesn't work i'm going to write my own after exams. 'cause i'll have time ^_^
i spent a few minutes with co-conspirator organizing a megaphone; great solution, that, and i'm glad i thought of it. reading spiritual / metaphysical poetry through one of those will most assuredly be special :P
after enjoying an all-important ice-cream on the way off campus, i almost got on the bus before my boss sent me a just-in-time sms telling me not to bother. i went to wait on the other side, confronted by the question of whether or not to report the tiny packet on the bench to the police as a suspicious object until some stranger came and took it away (i'm fairly certain it wasn't hers). i then missed the stop to come here (old office), but i'm not really counting hours anymore so i don't care.
the previous development head helped me out with a weird flex problem i was having, only once it was solved another one popped up, this one with a super-helpful error number but no information concerning where in the code it has been thrown. after much searching i went back to the same guy, who showed me that flex has a logging system. the logging system is a shining example of how bad the flex documentation is - and the design's not at all intuitive either; i haven't really gotten very far :S
aside from a shocking response, it's been a fairly uneventful evening. i have wrapping paper printed for pg's birthday present, and it's past time i go home.
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