dearest all-
what a vacation i've had! i actually wrote an entry for this publication while flying over the united states last week (from dallas to los angeles for the big USC/cal game) but it went on and on and basically, i realized that i had been writing not for your enjoyment but for the express purpose of not thinking about flying. which failed miserably since i wrote about how much i hated flying. to recap and brevitize: when i fly, three things happen: 1) i get anxious, 2) i get cold sweats, 3) i get anxious about my cold sweats. which is why i now fly with both a change of shirts (for arrival freshness guaranteed!) and some "italian shower" stuff (cologne and deodorant). and in this new age of decency, i apologize to my italian friends out there. but we know germans don't even wear cologne, despite the namesake town.
anyhoo, it was a blast of a thanksgiving holiday and my batteries are, to clicheitize, recharged.
so, on to an extended shoutout section (chronologically ordered for clarity):
SUPERDUPER SHOUTOUT to the pilots of american airlines. specifically, the pilots on every plane i flew. they did not: randomly trigger any nosedive, turn on/off the seatbelt signs more than once (always a sweat trigger), or arrive short of distance. thanks!
massive shoutout to dr. sharon w. of riverside, california. not only did she 1) give up her ticket for the cal game (so i could sit with her effervescent trojan-clad fan sister katie w. of los angeles), but she 2) showed off her new digs (4.5 stars out of 5. a tipping futon, by the way, is a bonus!), and 3) gave us a tour of riverside. having seen a bunch of places on this place called earth, let me say that riverside is by no means waikiki or hermosa beach. but it definitely has college station beat. nothing gave me more sadness than seeing texas in my front-view mirror as i drove back yesterday from the airport. riverside has a distinctive "california aesthetic", i.e. its slightly manufactured, gloriously manicured, and definitely appealing if a bit fakish. just like the actresses.
BEAT THE BRUINS (rhymes with PRUNES) shout-out to: katie, marcas, eniko, and stef. organization being what it was, i didn't actually get to party with everyone i wanted to party with whilst in los angeles, but i did have a great time. and as an inspiration, i've just read marnas' myspace blog and it comes as no surprise that he's still talented as the wordsmith. hence that radio gig he got. if you haven't read it, go ahead. he somehow scored the "marcas" tag on myspace. probably b/c, at 29, he's roughly 11.5 years older than the average user so is practically an original blogger (since 1999!!!) also sporting a myspace account is stef h. of section 8, row 2, near the wall. nice wave back, longhair! see you at 40!
speaking of which, i must recount the little tidbit side-story of the cal game. 1) by having lunch with the dr. w's, i did manage to share a little floor space with some song girls. bonus. 2) by seeing marnas and eniko inside associate's park (thanks to some shifty nametag passing), i did manage to get a photo, upclose, of my songgirl for this year, alissa. bonusbonus. 3) by taking sordid candids of dancing alissas, i did manage to score a few free beers with marnas et al. bonusbonusbonus. 4) that stef called moments later to say the beer was gone at her party and i missed a chance to see her for the first time this century? super no bonus. boo and hoo. i will sadly be forced to stare at my alissa desktop for the coming year in misery. that she got, the very next game, field passes from the notre dame killer anthony davis, and photos appearing with said mr. davis and other, current trojan killers, makes my blurry alissa photo a little less happy. at least she has acknowledged my providing field passes to her once upon a moon.
how does one talk trash in a fancy section at a usc football game? start tapping the cal fan in front of you mid-way through the 3rd quarter with "its a long ride to berkeley" (sung to "its a long way to tipperary"). how does one talk trash on way to game? spend 17 months growing hair out (now since trimmed to a respectable length), wear dirty jeans and loud shirt and start singing, "dirty long-haired hippies! go home!" (sung to the tune of "to the ends of the earth goes i") can you tell i enjoyed that game? therefore: maximum shoutout to pete carroll and crew for absolving me of fear of the "carr bros. curse" at my first game back since graduation. it's all those $19.99 checks i write each year, i bet...
a 2 = 4 shoutout to nara w. of los angeles. a perfect sunday morning breakfast at the pantry was immediately thrown on ear when we discovered they changed their numbering system for ordering! holy canoles! thank goodness i caught it! and while i linger on my successfully re-ordered 4 (nee 2: 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, hashbrowns, orange juice), i'm willing to bet that nara will catch his spot for a television gig before summer's out. first, we get T3 on "who wants to be a millionaire", then it's me and euge on "college gameday", now nara's turn! which makes me all the more excited to see other members of fluor 803 turn up on tv. any takers for "ben m. on maury povich?" anyone? anyone?
surprisesurprisesurprise shout-out to the huntington gardens in pasadena, california. the dr. w's took the cdr. c's there on sunday pre-flight. wondrous gardens. beautiful gardens. in fact, i'd say that they were the nicest gardens i've ever been in. that they are the only gardens i've ever been in is beside the point. best part was the barefeet i managed to get into for the zen garden (that and the patient zen-like photo of said garden, muy impresivo...)
finally, aloha and macadamia nut shout-out to the people of oah'u. i had a blast there. even the zealot-prophet who drove the shuttle from the airport at 10pm when we were all worn out from flying was a hoot. from surfing (with the locoboyz) to driving the north shore to catching up on sleep or stealing free internet to email papers that were due, it was a perfect vacation. i only wish it lasted longer or that i was fabulously wealthy. both would equal more fun. but, poor as i am, i still felt rich when i left. and it had everything to do with the beautiful family i am surrounded by. that and the "drive with aloha" signs. but seriously, the good dr. and his family of showstoppers was just so great to see and hang out with again. when they move to the far side of the globe for 3 years and you have just enough time and money to revel as far west as riverside, you take your moments where you can. it's mind-blowing to know the next time i see skylar and arianna, they'll (probably) be walking/talking with no memories of crying every time i tried to say hi to them!
ps shoutout to jenna and jeff, the happy couple. and pps bonus shoutout to thatch and his upcoming digs in hermosa beach. having seen riverside, i can't wait for a reason to visit in hermosa! (just kidding, sharon. riverside was lovely...) besides which:
college station << riverside
an engineer should get that one...
peace and aloh'a! --goose
now: BEAT THE BRUINS!
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Sunday, November 05, 2006
november? NOVEMBER???!!! No WAY!
dearest all-
it seems like it was just the other day that i was diligently awaiting my bedroom set and sweating away the 100-degree days and nights.
wait. that's not right. it seems like so long ago! and we don't know if this is a good thing. suddenly, i am 2 weeks away from being in hawaii (almost to the hour!) and here's a partial list of things i still have on the table: 2 philosophy essays (i've long since dropped the "geography" from that class when in reality it's a philosophical discussion every monday and wednesday), possibly only 1 GIS assignment (due next thursday), 1 literature review (15pp.), 1 research proposal (15pp.), 1 group GIS project (unknown), and perhaps something like 200pp. of reading that can always be done. add in the grading of the student labs (i can smell a group hand-in this week...), 2 proctorings (feeling more and more like proctologings...), and who knows what else. i'm sure i'm missing something. oh. that's right. i'm lecturing again on tuesday.
so of course, that means that 1) i'm watching the nfl on tv and 2) i spent the greater part of saturday (almost 13 hours???) hanging out with brewpub gary of st.croix when he flew up for the oklahoma game. he's an aggie and had a ticket and so we did the whole day thing. man, do i wish that it was an early game! walking into the house at 1am from a 7pm game is ridiculuous. and before you think the usual scenario, i want to say that the great majority of the time was spent waiting for his classmates and/or taking down a tailgate that i barely got to check out. add in a classic "great moments in betting history" game where the aggies lost by 1 (to cover the spread) on a game where they kicked a field goal from the 2 when they have a running back who weighs a legitimate 275lbs and 2 downs to get in. instead, down 10 points, they end up kicking 3 field goals in the 4th quarter. nice! idiots. and the clincher? the school known for the "12th man" had a 12-men on the field penalty that allowed ou to get a 1st down and kill the clock. nice!
but the semester is rapidly coming to a close. in fact, i will be on a plane to st.croix in 5 weeks. which is a nice thought. there's so much i miss there that has, despite how fast this semester has flown by, made each day a lot slower than otherwise.
and of course, this week has a bunch of appeal for this particular observer, as the elections FINALLY finish up and all the exciting ads are taken off the air and people elected can pretend that they will work together after ripping each other and their families and their names and their base apart for the past 6 months. not that i particularly think that the democrats are much better than the republicans as a choice (see my opus on "why only idiots and fools go into politics these days"), but i think at some point the popular voice that's been crying out about how the president has been conducting business needs to be heard. so if congress changes hands, hopefully gwb will stop listening to his toadies/shadowy overlords and start listening to popular sentiment for the first time in 6 years.
on the other hand, if you've seen the princeton hacking of the diebold computer voting machines, maybe we're all living in some orwellian world (do a youtube search... it's fairly engrossing except for the droning of the princeton IT professor) and whether you vote blue/red/kinky (as in friedman, kids! he's running for guv'nor here in texas!), it doesn't matter. though, if you ask me, the republicans should be worried that some anarchist group will do the hacking and only dems will win. or, if they have a sense of humor, bugs bunny.
but, like everything else on my docket, this election season too shall pass. and to tell you the truth, i don't think i've ever been as excited for thanksgiving and december. and that's a good thing.
--goose
double dose of shout-outs:
first shot of shout-out goes to StateFarm Insurance's comprehensive statistical database on car accidents. you can know all sorts of things on that web site. don't believe me? just watch "who wants to be a millionaire" on february 27th. then you'll understand.
second shot of shout-out goes to my cousin scott and his poor psu nittany lions. noting the usc flag showcased at espn's college game day panel show (as eugene called it), scott wondered if that was me. yes, yes it was. though i was not the guy in the blue helmet who screamed. i wore a yellow shirt and was briefly visible at the end of the usc segment when they cut to commercial. why is this important? because scott ribbed me about the osu loss. just after his joepa broke a leg from a collision (thanks! state farm! i know how to spell that now!) at the wisconsin game. clearly, one is not yet capable of picking on usc without threat of reprisal yet. though hopefully joepa is okay. he's unfortunately at the age where you can die from a broken bone. i sense retirement.
it seems like it was just the other day that i was diligently awaiting my bedroom set and sweating away the 100-degree days and nights.
wait. that's not right. it seems like so long ago! and we don't know if this is a good thing. suddenly, i am 2 weeks away from being in hawaii (almost to the hour!) and here's a partial list of things i still have on the table: 2 philosophy essays (i've long since dropped the "geography" from that class when in reality it's a philosophical discussion every monday and wednesday), possibly only 1 GIS assignment (due next thursday), 1 literature review (15pp.), 1 research proposal (15pp.), 1 group GIS project (unknown), and perhaps something like 200pp. of reading that can always be done. add in the grading of the student labs (i can smell a group hand-in this week...), 2 proctorings (feeling more and more like proctologings...), and who knows what else. i'm sure i'm missing something. oh. that's right. i'm lecturing again on tuesday.
so of course, that means that 1) i'm watching the nfl on tv and 2) i spent the greater part of saturday (almost 13 hours???) hanging out with brewpub gary of st.croix when he flew up for the oklahoma game. he's an aggie and had a ticket and so we did the whole day thing. man, do i wish that it was an early game! walking into the house at 1am from a 7pm game is ridiculuous. and before you think the usual scenario, i want to say that the great majority of the time was spent waiting for his classmates and/or taking down a tailgate that i barely got to check out. add in a classic "great moments in betting history" game where the aggies lost by 1 (to cover the spread) on a game where they kicked a field goal from the 2 when they have a running back who weighs a legitimate 275lbs and 2 downs to get in. instead, down 10 points, they end up kicking 3 field goals in the 4th quarter. nice! idiots. and the clincher? the school known for the "12th man" had a 12-men on the field penalty that allowed ou to get a 1st down and kill the clock. nice!
but the semester is rapidly coming to a close. in fact, i will be on a plane to st.croix in 5 weeks. which is a nice thought. there's so much i miss there that has, despite how fast this semester has flown by, made each day a lot slower than otherwise.
and of course, this week has a bunch of appeal for this particular observer, as the elections FINALLY finish up and all the exciting ads are taken off the air and people elected can pretend that they will work together after ripping each other and their families and their names and their base apart for the past 6 months. not that i particularly think that the democrats are much better than the republicans as a choice (see my opus on "why only idiots and fools go into politics these days"), but i think at some point the popular voice that's been crying out about how the president has been conducting business needs to be heard. so if congress changes hands, hopefully gwb will stop listening to his toadies/shadowy overlords and start listening to popular sentiment for the first time in 6 years.
on the other hand, if you've seen the princeton hacking of the diebold computer voting machines, maybe we're all living in some orwellian world (do a youtube search... it's fairly engrossing except for the droning of the princeton IT professor) and whether you vote blue/red/kinky (as in friedman, kids! he's running for guv'nor here in texas!), it doesn't matter. though, if you ask me, the republicans should be worried that some anarchist group will do the hacking and only dems will win. or, if they have a sense of humor, bugs bunny.
but, like everything else on my docket, this election season too shall pass. and to tell you the truth, i don't think i've ever been as excited for thanksgiving and december. and that's a good thing.
--goose
double dose of shout-outs:
first shot of shout-out goes to StateFarm Insurance's comprehensive statistical database on car accidents. you can know all sorts of things on that web site. don't believe me? just watch "who wants to be a millionaire" on february 27th. then you'll understand.
second shot of shout-out goes to my cousin scott and his poor psu nittany lions. noting the usc flag showcased at espn's college game day panel show (as eugene called it), scott wondered if that was me. yes, yes it was. though i was not the guy in the blue helmet who screamed. i wore a yellow shirt and was briefly visible at the end of the usc segment when they cut to commercial. why is this important? because scott ribbed me about the osu loss. just after his joepa broke a leg from a collision (thanks! state farm! i know how to spell that now!) at the wisconsin game. clearly, one is not yet capable of picking on usc without threat of reprisal yet. though hopefully joepa is okay. he's unfortunately at the age where you can die from a broken bone. i sense retirement.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
the sunday post-wrap party shout-outs!
a "well, we looked like garbage, didn't we?!!" shout-out to the usc turnover margin. the team that led the country in turnover margin over the past 3 seasons gave up 4 yesterday in their 33-31 loss to oregon state. try as they might to tie it up with a 2-point conversion at the end of the 4th quarter (despite being down 33-10 midway through the 3rd quarter!!!) the trojans deserved the blocked pass. the good news coming out of a game i had a feeling would be tough: usc's offense seemed to wake up and realize (again) that maybe, with the most talented quarterbacks in the country, we should be passing first. chauncey washington should be forced to carry a football around campus this week to work on protecting it. booty's 405 yds and steve smith (he'll need an initial when he plays in the nfl next year. someone needs to find his middle name...) catching (nearly) everything made me feel better about the next several weeks, when, not only can usc stay in the hunt with wins over notre dame (knocking them out of the bcs!) and oregon and cal (to win the pac-10), but now maybe they won't play with the monkey on their back that is the alumni associations around the country holding their breaths every saturday. just play boys!
in other football-related shout-outs, a big WHOOPIEWHOOPIEWHOOPIE!!! shout-out to the wv mountaineers in prep for their big louisville game. that undefeated #3 position is theirs for the taking. remember the name: steve slayton, listed in the mountaineer websites as "superback".
a shout-out-ala-"sports guy" UIC scale of 9.5 for espn filming mike ditka reading a children's story to little kids. a nice way to enjoy my cuppa while soaking up all the upcoming nfl info. we need more unintentional comedy on television, whether it's a stupid commercial or a talking idiot, i love awkward moments on tv. or youtube (which i watch more frequently). best of the week: the dave letterman interview of bill o'reilly. if democrats and independent-thinking individuals don't shake up congress in two tuesdays, i think i'm going to brush off my australian citizenship application.
a happy halloween shout-out to everyone's inner child! while shopping for groceries yesterday (and hopefully filling the cupboards for the next three weeks when i LEAVE FOR HAWAI'I!!!) i had the best moment when i found the hershey's mini-pack. you know: hersheys, special dark, mr.goodbar, and krackle). always my favorite score at halloween. i bought two bags and have no intention of sharing with the neighborhood kiddies. that's what good-and-plentys are for!
hugs, kisses and happy central standard time (did you re-set your clock?) to everyone!
in other football-related shout-outs, a big WHOOPIEWHOOPIEWHOOPIE!!! shout-out to the wv mountaineers in prep for their big louisville game. that undefeated #3 position is theirs for the taking. remember the name: steve slayton, listed in the mountaineer websites as "superback".
a shout-out-ala-"sports guy" UIC scale of 9.5 for espn filming mike ditka reading a children's story to little kids. a nice way to enjoy my cuppa while soaking up all the upcoming nfl info. we need more unintentional comedy on television, whether it's a stupid commercial or a talking idiot, i love awkward moments on tv. or youtube (which i watch more frequently). best of the week: the dave letterman interview of bill o'reilly. if democrats and independent-thinking individuals don't shake up congress in two tuesdays, i think i'm going to brush off my australian citizenship application.
a happy halloween shout-out to everyone's inner child! while shopping for groceries yesterday (and hopefully filling the cupboards for the next three weeks when i LEAVE FOR HAWAI'I!!!) i had the best moment when i found the hershey's mini-pack. you know: hersheys, special dark, mr.goodbar, and krackle). always my favorite score at halloween. i bought two bags and have no intention of sharing with the neighborhood kiddies. that's what good-and-plentys are for!
hugs, kisses and happy central standard time (did you re-set your clock?) to everyone!
Saturday, October 28, 2006
the week that was, and cubs in 2007!!!
dearest all-
the cardinals finally cleaned up the ghost of detroit past a little while ago and of course, that means 1 thing: CUBS IN 2007!!!!
despite:
1) the fact that both me and good friend and sports authority nara w. of los angeles, ca agree that the cubs pitching staff is cursed, overworked, and destined to captain the titanic.
2) the cubs haven't won a world series in... 98 years. and with 30 teams in the major leagues, their technical odds are 1:30 or around 3.33% in any given year. that they haven't won since 1908 probably lowers those odds a bit. and, to paraphrase rick pitino: "mordecai brown isn't walking through that door. johnny evers isn't walking through that door..."
2a) on a positive note, the NL-central has represented the world series for the past three years (winning once), and have had at least one team in the NL championship since 2002. so, with 6 teams in the NL-central (stl, hou, cin, mil, pit, chi), the odds seem a bit better! hence the optimism.
2b) on a further positive note, when you boil it down, large-markets are helpful, and so in that regard, the cubs have a leg up on everyone except the yankees and red sox. and maybe the dodgers or mets. of course, if you notice, the cubs managed to be eliminated before the 4th of july this year, so maybe they don't have as much in common.
2c) on a final positive note, there's no way that the cubs can go through all those injuries again. can they? (please say the answer is no.)
so anyhoo, congrats to the st.louis cardinals. for a team cubbies hate, you looked a lot better than that high school team perfecting the 3-error inning representing the city of detroit. not to mention, as always when i discuss the cards, my dad does like stan "the man" musial.
on to other great and not-so-great moments in sports from this past week:
great moment #1: i FINALLY beat eugene in 8-ball this past sunday without the benefit of his sudden loss of skill due to consumption of bridgeport ipa (a great beer from portland, oregon!) over time. in fact, i beat him twice on the same night before the game got ugly and trick shots were simply not missing the cue. of course, we did learn that long pool sessions are best played on the early weekend days rather than sunday when the 9am monday geographic philosophy class rears its intellectual head. OI!
not-so-great moment #1: with an off week for usc, we were forced to watch brutal big-12 football. when 2 channels are both showing the HUGE baylor-kansas game, you know you are stuck in a provincial backwater. of course, baylor is in waco, texas (which is a pretty big town north of here on the way to dallas), but more importantly: IT'S BAYLOR!!! that's like being forced to have one channel devoted to army football... oh... wait... that'd be channel 123 on suddenlink cox cable here. never mind. fortunately, the trojans are back on the tube this weekend, which means: BRATWURST!
great moment #2: earlier this week, there was some concern about a potential lost bet with a classmate on a GIS project where we had to design the future super-highways for texas and i had a free coffee riding on a better grade. and who brought their A-game and got the only 10/10 on the assignment? can't wait for the java!
not-so-great moment #2: while succumbing to a cold/fever on tuesday, i went to the gym (of course!) and, roughly 15 minutes into my workout, i left with what i would describe as an evil headache. so i texted the great dr. carr of guam and he assured me it was neither an aneurysm nor a migraine, but more likely a focused-point headache. which is good to know i guess.
anyhow, happy halloween. my costume? we don't know yet. hope yours is better!
the three-second shout-outs:
1st second: shout-out to my cousins brenna and scott for the homecoming photos that somehow made it to my inbox. you two are catching up to me! and to think i can recall when you two were knee-high to my knee! congratulations: you are my first "i remember you when you were a baby!" story. thanks. my AARP letter should be arriving any day now.
2nd second: shout-out to good friend and airline pilot T3 of jersey city, nj, for the nice false alarm today. AFTER i drank 3 cups of coffee and was afraid to walk down the hall from my office to the powder room. it was very nearly a not-so-great sports moment #3 this week. but, thanks to my iron bladder, i survived!
3rd second: congrats to the wondertwins for winning the "cutest" costume award at the guam hospital halloween party.
the cardinals finally cleaned up the ghost of detroit past a little while ago and of course, that means 1 thing: CUBS IN 2007!!!!
despite:
1) the fact that both me and good friend and sports authority nara w. of los angeles, ca agree that the cubs pitching staff is cursed, overworked, and destined to captain the titanic.
2) the cubs haven't won a world series in... 98 years. and with 30 teams in the major leagues, their technical odds are 1:30 or around 3.33% in any given year. that they haven't won since 1908 probably lowers those odds a bit. and, to paraphrase rick pitino: "mordecai brown isn't walking through that door. johnny evers isn't walking through that door..."
2a) on a positive note, the NL-central has represented the world series for the past three years (winning once), and have had at least one team in the NL championship since 2002. so, with 6 teams in the NL-central (stl, hou, cin, mil, pit, chi), the odds seem a bit better! hence the optimism.
2b) on a further positive note, when you boil it down, large-markets are helpful, and so in that regard, the cubs have a leg up on everyone except the yankees and red sox. and maybe the dodgers or mets. of course, if you notice, the cubs managed to be eliminated before the 4th of july this year, so maybe they don't have as much in common.
2c) on a final positive note, there's no way that the cubs can go through all those injuries again. can they? (please say the answer is no.)
so anyhoo, congrats to the st.louis cardinals. for a team cubbies hate, you looked a lot better than that high school team perfecting the 3-error inning representing the city of detroit. not to mention, as always when i discuss the cards, my dad does like stan "the man" musial.
on to other great and not-so-great moments in sports from this past week:
great moment #1: i FINALLY beat eugene in 8-ball this past sunday without the benefit of his sudden loss of skill due to consumption of bridgeport ipa (a great beer from portland, oregon!) over time. in fact, i beat him twice on the same night before the game got ugly and trick shots were simply not missing the cue. of course, we did learn that long pool sessions are best played on the early weekend days rather than sunday when the 9am monday geographic philosophy class rears its intellectual head. OI!
not-so-great moment #1: with an off week for usc, we were forced to watch brutal big-12 football. when 2 channels are both showing the HUGE baylor-kansas game, you know you are stuck in a provincial backwater. of course, baylor is in waco, texas (which is a pretty big town north of here on the way to dallas), but more importantly: IT'S BAYLOR!!! that's like being forced to have one channel devoted to army football... oh... wait... that'd be channel 123 on suddenlink cox cable here. never mind. fortunately, the trojans are back on the tube this weekend, which means: BRATWURST!
great moment #2: earlier this week, there was some concern about a potential lost bet with a classmate on a GIS project where we had to design the future super-highways for texas and i had a free coffee riding on a better grade. and who brought their A-game and got the only 10/10 on the assignment? can't wait for the java!
not-so-great moment #2: while succumbing to a cold/fever on tuesday, i went to the gym (of course!) and, roughly 15 minutes into my workout, i left with what i would describe as an evil headache. so i texted the great dr. carr of guam and he assured me it was neither an aneurysm nor a migraine, but more likely a focused-point headache. which is good to know i guess.
anyhow, happy halloween. my costume? we don't know yet. hope yours is better!
the three-second shout-outs:
1st second: shout-out to my cousins brenna and scott for the homecoming photos that somehow made it to my inbox. you two are catching up to me! and to think i can recall when you two were knee-high to my knee! congratulations: you are my first "i remember you when you were a baby!" story. thanks. my AARP letter should be arriving any day now.
2nd second: shout-out to good friend and airline pilot T3 of jersey city, nj, for the nice false alarm today. AFTER i drank 3 cups of coffee and was afraid to walk down the hall from my office to the powder room. it was very nearly a not-so-great sports moment #3 this week. but, thanks to my iron bladder, i survived!
3rd second: congrats to the wondertwins for winning the "cutest" costume award at the guam hospital halloween party.
Friday, October 20, 2006
the 3rd triennial friday shout-outs!
HAPPY POWER-TOOLS-ARE-FOR-ME! shout-out to: my health insurance plan! as of 1 december, 2006, i will (again) be insured for basic health and dental coverage! now where was that fork and outlet i was going to play with?
happy go-for-the-gold! shout-out to the triple-t of jersey city! he knows... he knows... and to think his dominance began with street fighter II...
happy thanks-for-wasting-my-thursday! shoutout to the sublime stacy h. of washington, dc! in case you haven't seen it yet, do a search for the "new 7 wonders of the world" and get your vote in. of course, though i had a grand time deciding between the eiffel tower (had to be one of your seven, stacy!) and the great wall, i was wondering why not do a "modern 7 wonders" and a "pre-1800 7 wonders!" so that you can get technological marvels like the eiffel towers and feats of human ingenuity for stuff like the alhambra in spain. of course, why monumental works like the great wall or the pyramids that were basically done on the backs of slaves should be included is beyound me. first nomination for a modern wonder: versailles.
--goose
happy go-for-the-gold! shout-out to the triple-t of jersey city! he knows... he knows... and to think his dominance began with street fighter II...
happy thanks-for-wasting-my-thursday! shoutout to the sublime stacy h. of washington, dc! in case you haven't seen it yet, do a search for the "new 7 wonders of the world" and get your vote in. of course, though i had a grand time deciding between the eiffel tower (had to be one of your seven, stacy!) and the great wall, i was wondering why not do a "modern 7 wonders" and a "pre-1800 7 wonders!" so that you can get technological marvels like the eiffel towers and feats of human ingenuity for stuff like the alhambra in spain. of course, why monumental works like the great wall or the pyramids that were basically done on the backs of slaves should be included is beyound me. first nomination for a modern wonder: versailles.
--goose
why the mets lost, and other interesting tidbits
dearest all-
this is a quickie blog hit. BOOM! RIGHT THERE!
anyhoo, an appeal to all my journalism homeys out there making a dollar, don't turn into the following: tim mccarver, mike lupica, or any of the other blowhards who, despite watching the same game i saw (through a double-nap thursday night! Say YES! to sleep!), write up the most ridiculous things or (in mccarver's case, a career of dumbness in the spoken word category) say drivel. drivel i say. drivel.
here are the facts: wagner inspired about as much confidence as bush's iraq plans. heilman was a logical 9th inning call as such he 1) was not wagner's hanging curveball or dead-plane flat fastball, and 2) facing the bottom of the order, including one of the flying molina brothers (yadier in this case), whose father, despite teaching them all great defensive catching skills (there are like 3? 4? brothers catching in the mlb), apparently never showed them the way to hit. so yadier got a home run, of course, and the mets lose and the dopes say it's so-and-so's fault, knowing you can't prove them wrong b/c had it ended differently, everyone would be high-fiving willie randolph for the foresight to not bring out this post-season's mitch williams. but why did yadier get a home run? nobody is saying this, so i must: heillman threw 8 first-pitch changeups. 8! the easiest pitch to hit when you know it's coming, and perhaps the hardest to recover from/for when not. every batter in the 8th got the dead fish for strike 1. as did every batter in the 9th. so go figure, a catch with an eye for pitches (hence, the catcher position) and in tune with the game, sits on the pitch and muscled it out.
and nobody is saying this. lupica blames heilman / randolph for not bringing in wagner. some bozo at ny post called heilman's pitch a fastball.
so my appeal to everyone in the industry is this: don't spin the game. the home run (and the mets' season effectively) was the result of a pitcher going to the well 1 time too many to get ahead of the count with a first-pitch strike. and if a flying molina has a greenlight on the 0-0, so should beltran, who saw a slider that had less break than mine coast over the heart of the plate with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the bottom frame.
dopes.
with that said, i couldn't be more excited for this world series (in instances excluding the cubs). the tigers, with personal managerial fave jim leyland (whom my grandfather just loved) and his club of mis-fits, has-beens, and never-will-be's (to misquote major league) against one of the classiest franchises in baseball. from soup (the starting nine) to nuts (their fans), the cardinals are classy. and since both teams are in the midwest, i can't wait to see tim mccarver moon over the tigers every night while joe buck (a cardinals' week-day broadcaster) tries to conceal his enthusiasm for the cards. not that i hate joe buck.
ok, that's a lie. he's garbage too.
but in the grand scheme of things, baseball fans win here. with no ny teams, we can get by the inevitable post-mortem every night. just play the game, fellas!
on a side note: is it just me or are there other people out there who think that we should have a broadcaster playoffs too? i don't know about you, but i'm about sick and tired of being forced to listen to mccarver/buck for every world series when, in reality, they are perhaps the 10th and 14th best guys doing the national scene. can't we get jon miller in there somehow? mike breen? gary thorne and bill clement? why not vin scully? the ghost of chick hearn and harry caray? of course, i will probably watch the games on mute or listen to espn radio and then forget about the utter garbage that are these broadcast teams until i'm forced upon the idiocy that is billy packer during march madness.
--goose
this is a quickie blog hit. BOOM! RIGHT THERE!
anyhoo, an appeal to all my journalism homeys out there making a dollar, don't turn into the following: tim mccarver, mike lupica, or any of the other blowhards who, despite watching the same game i saw (through a double-nap thursday night! Say YES! to sleep!), write up the most ridiculous things or (in mccarver's case, a career of dumbness in the spoken word category) say drivel. drivel i say. drivel.
here are the facts: wagner inspired about as much confidence as bush's iraq plans. heilman was a logical 9th inning call as such he 1) was not wagner's hanging curveball or dead-plane flat fastball, and 2) facing the bottom of the order, including one of the flying molina brothers (yadier in this case), whose father, despite teaching them all great defensive catching skills (there are like 3? 4? brothers catching in the mlb), apparently never showed them the way to hit. so yadier got a home run, of course, and the mets lose and the dopes say it's so-and-so's fault, knowing you can't prove them wrong b/c had it ended differently, everyone would be high-fiving willie randolph for the foresight to not bring out this post-season's mitch williams. but why did yadier get a home run? nobody is saying this, so i must: heillman threw 8 first-pitch changeups. 8! the easiest pitch to hit when you know it's coming, and perhaps the hardest to recover from/for when not. every batter in the 8th got the dead fish for strike 1. as did every batter in the 9th. so go figure, a catch with an eye for pitches (hence, the catcher position) and in tune with the game, sits on the pitch and muscled it out.
and nobody is saying this. lupica blames heilman / randolph for not bringing in wagner. some bozo at ny post called heilman's pitch a fastball.
so my appeal to everyone in the industry is this: don't spin the game. the home run (and the mets' season effectively) was the result of a pitcher going to the well 1 time too many to get ahead of the count with a first-pitch strike. and if a flying molina has a greenlight on the 0-0, so should beltran, who saw a slider that had less break than mine coast over the heart of the plate with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the bottom frame.
dopes.
with that said, i couldn't be more excited for this world series (in instances excluding the cubs). the tigers, with personal managerial fave jim leyland (whom my grandfather just loved) and his club of mis-fits, has-beens, and never-will-be's (to misquote major league) against one of the classiest franchises in baseball. from soup (the starting nine) to nuts (their fans), the cardinals are classy. and since both teams are in the midwest, i can't wait to see tim mccarver moon over the tigers every night while joe buck (a cardinals' week-day broadcaster) tries to conceal his enthusiasm for the cards. not that i hate joe buck.
ok, that's a lie. he's garbage too.
but in the grand scheme of things, baseball fans win here. with no ny teams, we can get by the inevitable post-mortem every night. just play the game, fellas!
on a side note: is it just me or are there other people out there who think that we should have a broadcaster playoffs too? i don't know about you, but i'm about sick and tired of being forced to listen to mccarver/buck for every world series when, in reality, they are perhaps the 10th and 14th best guys doing the national scene. can't we get jon miller in there somehow? mike breen? gary thorne and bill clement? why not vin scully? the ghost of chick hearn and harry caray? of course, i will probably watch the games on mute or listen to espn radio and then forget about the utter garbage that are these broadcast teams until i'm forced upon the idiocy that is billy packer during march madness.
--goose
Monday, October 16, 2006
an open letter and critique of big-12 football
dearest all-
such was the excitement this weekend when fellow monk euge scored two free (FREE!) tickets to the big texas a&m / mizzou game at venerable kyle field. having never attended a big-12 contest before, i was fairly excited by the prospect, if only because being at a football game precludes one from studying or paper writing or GIS mapping. but to say i was pumped for it would be a bit overwrought. indeed, though it was a exciting contest and fairly well-played, i couldn't help but notice the differences between my usc memories and the aggies experience. and mind you, these teams (late-90s usc and mid-00s aggies) are very similar. so it's not like i'm comparing the recent usc lovefest.
issue 1) saying "fighting aggie". they are aggies. everyone knows that. notre dame is the fighting irish, sometimes abbreviated to "the irish". but a&m students call themselves "aggies" and not "the aggies" or "the fighting aggies". domers don't call themselves "irish". a&m needs to resolve this issue. i thought aggies was sufficient, but a fighting aggie sounds much more impressive. they need to pick one and use it. perhaps that's why they haven't won a big-12 title since like 1993.
issue 2) fight songs. a&m, i must admit, has this great thing where everyone, while singing the B-section of a song i want to say is titled "eyes of texas", join arms and sway back and forth in unison. the sight is pretty darn cool. 90,000 people doing a oktoberfest sway is a positive. the negative? that song is about 4 verses too long and far too intricate to understand. usc keeps it simple, much to our delight and our opponents annoyance. and it sounds fervent. "eyes of texas" is practically a serenade made worse when the alumni mumble through the 2nd half of every verse. recommendation: shorten it and yell out "Beat Texas!" at the end of every song.
issue 3) get your arch-rival straight. you'd think it was u.texas. but sometimes you hear TCU, who i don't even think is even in the big-12. not that either care. a&m is almost guaranteed to lose to both based on how everyone talks. recommendation: improve upon issue 5b to get more blue-chippers to want to come here.
issue 4) the band. now the a&m fighting aggie-proud band is a sight to behold. smallish in size, but formidable in routine. they do this superb half-time show where they march back and forth, making crazy little patterns as each row walks inside/outside/between/away/towards other rows. it looks a bit like, when they are all bunched up together, something pulsing. but guess what they do that to? eyes of texas! or yellow rose of texas! which we've already heard a few times. so usc plays "sing, sing, sing" at every half time. at least they keep it for the show. recommendation: anything from outkast or kanye west. or the killers.
issue 4b) the band. usc's band plays like ALL GAME! not so at a&m. they have malt shop boys who lead chants.
issue 5) the maltshop boys. actually, they're a lot like the yell-boys/fish whatever you want to call them, if you dressed up the yellfish in a costume from back to the future. all white shirt and pants, the 1950s crewcut and LOTS OF SPIRIT! now you're supposed to go to "yell practice" the night before to get all the hand signals, but, sitting in basically an alumni section, they seem to be fairly well-known already. but what does "form! form! form! shoot!" mean? i don't get it. making a pistol with your hands? get it. trying to do an alligator but forgetting the top part of the mouth i do not. plus, their antics don't match what's going on the field. it's almost as if they say, "biff! i want to do the form form form! cheer now!" "no, macfly. we're doing the form shoot! sway!" cheer. what they forget is that it's 4th down and a&m is punting from their own 21... speaking of punts though, i'm proud to say i saw a 79-yd punt!!! the mizzou guy kicked the crap out of that ball. there is something majestic that is unique about such a boot. before it even was halfway out of the stadium, euge and i looked at each other and said something along the lines of, "my goodness didn't he ever kick that squarely!" too bad that might have been mizzou's 2nd half highlight. or have i not mentioned that a&m won yet? WHo-OP! fighting aggies!
issue 5b) the maltshop boys. specifically: they are THE ONLY CHEERING PEOPLE ON THE FIELD! i.e. NO CHEERLEADERS! less michael j. fox, more vivica (or samantha even!)
issue 6) the whole standing thing. fine tradition, this 12th man thing. very cool. plus your team jersey never goes out of style (ask euge and his "brad otton" #10, which is finally back in vogue with john david booty...) and like the idea of the "the students stand as if ready to enter" thing. but guess what: they ALL SIT during the commercial timeouts. i've never seen a stadium more tuned in to the commercial guy who wears the funky shirt and stands on the field when the game is on commercial break. okay, this isn't exactly true. most sit. the remainder do this sad little "rest on your knees with your ass stuck in the face of the guy behind you" move. don't be proud. sit down and save some energy for those big 3rd down defensive stands. or at least, don't look like a ninny who refuses to sit down but is so worn out they do the ass-kick-out straight up into row 30 seat 11.
issue 7) every school has their own 1st-down cheer. usc's is the whole "move the chains, move the chains, move.the.chains!" and "First down, trojans!" and whatever other dumb thing we came up with in those dark days. a&m's? a quick whoop! the announcer says "1st down fighting aggies!" and everyone goes, "Who-OP!" hardly inspiring.
issue 8) the making out. so a&m scores. couples start making out. which may or may not be fun to watch. but here's the flaw: they are not equal-opportunity. no one tapped me or euge on the shoulder for a peck. it seems exclusionary. though they do have a cannon. usc needs a cannon. and me and euge need our dates. or lip gloss and a silent pact.
issue 9) no song that mocks arch-rival. sure, they say something about u.texas looking bad or something in the 3rd verse of "eyes of texas", but ask any trojan how much they patiently (or not so much) wait for "tusk" just to start swearing at fucla. back in the day, when the game got out of hand, you'd hear fans going, "TUSKKKKKKKKKK!" like they were at a skynrd concert and hadn't heard freebird yet. if a&m wants to climb back up to the pantheon of big-12 giant, they need a tusk.
issue 10) a dry campus + a dry stadium + southern baptist fundamentals = boring fan base. now i'm not prescribing drunken debauchery, but when you're near that one funny drunk guy who keeps making up things to say to the refs or the teams, it keeps you in the game. as always, beer makes things better. sadly, a&m is without. and that's why they are going to be an 7-8 win team for the forseeable future.
on a positive note, me and euge are 1-0, thanks to some great defense in the early-going (a stripped ball on a sure touchdown that prevented mizzou from taking a 7-0 lead 20 seconds into the game) and a large running back (about 255 lbs.) we're expecting even better free tickets if they want to challenge for a good bowl game. and though euge doesn't like the "Sway dance", i think it's great. if i can't have my beer, i still want to see everything swaying and moving. and that's a start.
of course, we were much more excited at the end of the big 24-19 win (i think that's what it was) to know we hadn't missed the usc/asu kick-off. brats, beer, good fans and great seats made for a great night watching usc squeak another one out. at this rate, i'll be a nervous wreck walking into the coliseum for usc/cal in november. it's like the carr bros. curse is gearing up for my return. but, loyal trojan readers, it's not too late. my swiss bank account is open and awaiting your nigerian lotto winnings. email me for deposit information.
--goose
double-pump quick shout-out: any fellow trojans who have noticed usc's abilities this year are eerily similar to the 2002 ohio state buckeyes, who played like 10 consecutive 1-point victories prior to their big game against nebraska. one can hope. one can hope.
tom selleck as magnum, p.i. shout out to the detroit tigers. if the red sox followed by the white sox aren't enough to tell me that 1) the cubs can win a world series, then if the tigers continue this magical fall of 2006 to a title, then i know 2) god is cruel and obviously a fan of the DH. of course, it will be easy to cheer for los tigres if the hated mets make the world series. if the cardinals win, however, i might be a little confused. SIKE!
gnarly-1980s-lingo-reference shoutout to the clayter b/c every time i misspell gnarly. DOUBLE SIKE!
DOUBLE SIKE SHOUT-OUT TO excellent cousins beth and tom l. of pittsburghish, pa. with 2 adorable tykes running around with a combined age of something like 3.2 yrs., they are happy to report that there are twins who will be joining the bedlam sometime next march or april! 4 under 4!!! having done the stressful waiting game with the skylar and arianna, i wish beth a nice, happy, flawless, perfect pregnancy. because it'll definitely be the end of your peace and quiet once the dubloons arrive.
promised promo shoutout to the mayor mccheese, if only b/c i think i'm 2 months away from seeing his silliness back on the st.croix. now if there was only something that would keep me busy until then...
such was the excitement this weekend when fellow monk euge scored two free (FREE!) tickets to the big texas a&m / mizzou game at venerable kyle field. having never attended a big-12 contest before, i was fairly excited by the prospect, if only because being at a football game precludes one from studying or paper writing or GIS mapping. but to say i was pumped for it would be a bit overwrought. indeed, though it was a exciting contest and fairly well-played, i couldn't help but notice the differences between my usc memories and the aggies experience. and mind you, these teams (late-90s usc and mid-00s aggies) are very similar. so it's not like i'm comparing the recent usc lovefest.
issue 1) saying "fighting aggie". they are aggies. everyone knows that. notre dame is the fighting irish, sometimes abbreviated to "the irish". but a&m students call themselves "aggies" and not "the aggies" or "the fighting aggies". domers don't call themselves "irish". a&m needs to resolve this issue. i thought aggies was sufficient, but a fighting aggie sounds much more impressive. they need to pick one and use it. perhaps that's why they haven't won a big-12 title since like 1993.
issue 2) fight songs. a&m, i must admit, has this great thing where everyone, while singing the B-section of a song i want to say is titled "eyes of texas", join arms and sway back and forth in unison. the sight is pretty darn cool. 90,000 people doing a oktoberfest sway is a positive. the negative? that song is about 4 verses too long and far too intricate to understand. usc keeps it simple, much to our delight and our opponents annoyance. and it sounds fervent. "eyes of texas" is practically a serenade made worse when the alumni mumble through the 2nd half of every verse. recommendation: shorten it and yell out "Beat Texas!" at the end of every song.
issue 3) get your arch-rival straight. you'd think it was u.texas. but sometimes you hear TCU, who i don't even think is even in the big-12. not that either care. a&m is almost guaranteed to lose to both based on how everyone talks. recommendation: improve upon issue 5b to get more blue-chippers to want to come here.
issue 4) the band. now the a&m fighting aggie-proud band is a sight to behold. smallish in size, but formidable in routine. they do this superb half-time show where they march back and forth, making crazy little patterns as each row walks inside/outside/between/away/towards other rows. it looks a bit like, when they are all bunched up together, something pulsing. but guess what they do that to? eyes of texas! or yellow rose of texas! which we've already heard a few times. so usc plays "sing, sing, sing" at every half time. at least they keep it for the show. recommendation: anything from outkast or kanye west. or the killers.
issue 4b) the band. usc's band plays like ALL GAME! not so at a&m. they have malt shop boys who lead chants.
issue 5) the maltshop boys. actually, they're a lot like the yell-boys/fish whatever you want to call them, if you dressed up the yellfish in a costume from back to the future. all white shirt and pants, the 1950s crewcut and LOTS OF SPIRIT! now you're supposed to go to "yell practice" the night before to get all the hand signals, but, sitting in basically an alumni section, they seem to be fairly well-known already. but what does "form! form! form! shoot!" mean? i don't get it. making a pistol with your hands? get it. trying to do an alligator but forgetting the top part of the mouth i do not. plus, their antics don't match what's going on the field. it's almost as if they say, "biff! i want to do the form form form! cheer now!" "no, macfly. we're doing the form shoot! sway!" cheer. what they forget is that it's 4th down and a&m is punting from their own 21... speaking of punts though, i'm proud to say i saw a 79-yd punt!!! the mizzou guy kicked the crap out of that ball. there is something majestic that is unique about such a boot. before it even was halfway out of the stadium, euge and i looked at each other and said something along the lines of, "my goodness didn't he ever kick that squarely!" too bad that might have been mizzou's 2nd half highlight. or have i not mentioned that a&m won yet? WHo-OP! fighting aggies!
issue 5b) the maltshop boys. specifically: they are THE ONLY CHEERING PEOPLE ON THE FIELD! i.e. NO CHEERLEADERS! less michael j. fox, more vivica (or samantha even!)
issue 6) the whole standing thing. fine tradition, this 12th man thing. very cool. plus your team jersey never goes out of style (ask euge and his "brad otton" #10, which is finally back in vogue with john david booty...) and like the idea of the "the students stand as if ready to enter" thing. but guess what: they ALL SIT during the commercial timeouts. i've never seen a stadium more tuned in to the commercial guy who wears the funky shirt and stands on the field when the game is on commercial break. okay, this isn't exactly true. most sit. the remainder do this sad little "rest on your knees with your ass stuck in the face of the guy behind you" move. don't be proud. sit down and save some energy for those big 3rd down defensive stands. or at least, don't look like a ninny who refuses to sit down but is so worn out they do the ass-kick-out straight up into row 30 seat 11.
issue 7) every school has their own 1st-down cheer. usc's is the whole "move the chains, move the chains, move.the.chains!" and "First down, trojans!" and whatever other dumb thing we came up with in those dark days. a&m's? a quick whoop! the announcer says "1st down fighting aggies!" and everyone goes, "Who-OP!" hardly inspiring.
issue 8) the making out. so a&m scores. couples start making out. which may or may not be fun to watch. but here's the flaw: they are not equal-opportunity. no one tapped me or euge on the shoulder for a peck. it seems exclusionary. though they do have a cannon. usc needs a cannon. and me and euge need our dates. or lip gloss and a silent pact.
issue 9) no song that mocks arch-rival. sure, they say something about u.texas looking bad or something in the 3rd verse of "eyes of texas", but ask any trojan how much they patiently (or not so much) wait for "tusk" just to start swearing at fucla. back in the day, when the game got out of hand, you'd hear fans going, "TUSKKKKKKKKKK!" like they were at a skynrd concert and hadn't heard freebird yet. if a&m wants to climb back up to the pantheon of big-12 giant, they need a tusk.
issue 10) a dry campus + a dry stadium + southern baptist fundamentals = boring fan base. now i'm not prescribing drunken debauchery, but when you're near that one funny drunk guy who keeps making up things to say to the refs or the teams, it keeps you in the game. as always, beer makes things better. sadly, a&m is without. and that's why they are going to be an 7-8 win team for the forseeable future.
on a positive note, me and euge are 1-0, thanks to some great defense in the early-going (a stripped ball on a sure touchdown that prevented mizzou from taking a 7-0 lead 20 seconds into the game) and a large running back (about 255 lbs.) we're expecting even better free tickets if they want to challenge for a good bowl game. and though euge doesn't like the "Sway dance", i think it's great. if i can't have my beer, i still want to see everything swaying and moving. and that's a start.
of course, we were much more excited at the end of the big 24-19 win (i think that's what it was) to know we hadn't missed the usc/asu kick-off. brats, beer, good fans and great seats made for a great night watching usc squeak another one out. at this rate, i'll be a nervous wreck walking into the coliseum for usc/cal in november. it's like the carr bros. curse is gearing up for my return. but, loyal trojan readers, it's not too late. my swiss bank account is open and awaiting your nigerian lotto winnings. email me for deposit information.
--goose
double-pump quick shout-out: any fellow trojans who have noticed usc's abilities this year are eerily similar to the 2002 ohio state buckeyes, who played like 10 consecutive 1-point victories prior to their big game against nebraska. one can hope. one can hope.
tom selleck as magnum, p.i. shout out to the detroit tigers. if the red sox followed by the white sox aren't enough to tell me that 1) the cubs can win a world series, then if the tigers continue this magical fall of 2006 to a title, then i know 2) god is cruel and obviously a fan of the DH. of course, it will be easy to cheer for los tigres if the hated mets make the world series. if the cardinals win, however, i might be a little confused. SIKE!
gnarly-1980s-lingo-reference shoutout to the clayter b/c every time i misspell gnarly. DOUBLE SIKE!
DOUBLE SIKE SHOUT-OUT TO excellent cousins beth and tom l. of pittsburghish, pa. with 2 adorable tykes running around with a combined age of something like 3.2 yrs., they are happy to report that there are twins who will be joining the bedlam sometime next march or april! 4 under 4!!! having done the stressful waiting game with the skylar and arianna, i wish beth a nice, happy, flawless, perfect pregnancy. because it'll definitely be the end of your peace and quiet once the dubloons arrive.
promised promo shoutout to the mayor mccheese, if only b/c i think i'm 2 months away from seeing his silliness back on the st.croix. now if there was only something that would keep me busy until then...
Sunday, October 08, 2006
searching for more meaning on a tuesday
dearest all-
to everything, there is routine. no matter how basic the idea, or experienced the individual, a routine helps keep focus, momentum, and drive to some goal, whether it's waking up and going through "your morning ritual" or stepping out of the batter's box and nomar going through his complex tightening and retightening of his batting gloves. here, in quickdrivethru format, is my current routine:
wake up. late. ignore coffee at home since i can make it at school. remember bike lock for bike. usually. get out the door. ride to school, staying clear of the big pothole on nagle and the even bigger storm water bypass at the catholic church (its not fun to hit dead on). wait at crosswalk. ride across university onto campus. begin count of "people with cell phones engaged." make estimate of total numbers of students i pass on way to office / class (if i'm really late). we're averaging, by the way, about 1 per 15. with 50,000 students here (more or less), that's 3333 students on their cell phone at ALL times of the day. well, at least between class times. avoid pack of sorority girls and wind through the library walkways. try to not get in collision with students leaving library. turn right onto spence dr. make hard left back onto walkways, making sure to time my spot so i don't run over freshmen and cadets. which is difficult (see my paen on slalom biking through students). park bike away from the crowded spots near the door, go upstairs to office, make coffee, read email, and respond to the students in my lab who are having difficulties. we're averaging, by the way, about 65% extra help response for the latest lab. which is impressive in that the lab books are hideously written oftentimes, and that i don't think i ever went for extra help. ever. spend day engaged in academic pursuits like taking out all the fish behaviour books from the library (apparently, all fish behaviorists are british, or like to spell with the extra u), or updating the website: http://geog.tamu.edu/marinegeog , or reading the news and trying to figure out the density of the average american adult brain should certain political figures in congress win re-election. make pbj when hungry. go to class/lab as needed. end day around 7pm or 8 sometimes. bring something home that's nice and easy to do while watching tv (daily show, colbert report, countdown with keith olbermann, southpark reruns, sportscenter). get to sleep sometime around midnight. rinse and repeat.
why am i boring you with this? well, we had the apocalypse on tuesday. seriously. right around 5:30pm, some monumental power failure hit the campus and surrounding burg. with computer in tow and not much else, i head home. this would be where i would practice hitting acorns and making them skitter across the sidewalk with my front tire. but instead, it was a mass of humanity. all the students were outside, milling about as they tend to do. the campus roads were totally backed up and there were lots of angry looks as i skirted by them on my way home. off campus was much worse. being rush hour and everything, the main drag, university drive, was total gridlock without street lights. people were trying to cut through parking lots to get around to side streets, but so many people were doing this that even here was a mess. the taco stand (called fatburger) apparently had a generator because roughly 250 students were waiting in line for food. it was amazing to see it all. and it reminded me of that great protest sign me and my brother once saw near a nuclear power plant. "i don't need your electricity. i get mine from the wall!" the behind-the-scenes string that ties our routines together, electricity, was, when noticeably absent, seemingly also the glue that keeps people sane. i couldn't imagine what life would be like without electricity. i would, for all practical purposes, be a bit put off by it after a while.
which is really amazing. and so i got to thinking about thoreau and simplicity and deep, important, human things that aren't reliant on 110v coming out your wall, and how it'd be a nice evening for stargazing and hanging on the stoop. and then i got home and somehow my block wasn't affected.
so i went inside, sat down, turned my computer back on, got olbermann at the right soft volume, and settled back into the routine.
moral: it's hard to break routines and habits. we know that. and here's why: we like our habits and routines. given the choice of a nice, unusual night of stargazing inside city limits and hanging out with friends or the glow of a computer screen, a research proposal, and south park, i did indeed choose the latter. not that i'm proud of that.
of course, i did finish and end up outside playing guitar and talking about marxist geographers with eugene. yeah, that's what i said too. and in the excitement and newness of it all, even if my enjoyment was delayed, made for one of the best nights so far.
especially when i woke up the next morning and went to class again, only to realize, once there, that i had forgotten to proctor an exam at 8am.
--goose
quick brief recap shout-outs:
off-the-fiveball-side-pocket shoutout to roommate, fellow trojan and graduate studentee eugene f. for accepting his mentoring role as i finally take on the important challenge of learning to play pool properly. we have 4-6 years, depending on your worldview, and that's lots of thursday nights committed to following through the cue. most important discovery: you don't have to hit the cue in the dead center! apparently, that was my biggest problem (well, that and not following through). and though my record against euge in 8-ball is like 0-58, we're getting better. we ignore the two games he scratched the 8ball, obtw. and i have beaten him fairly in 9-ball twice. and this is a guy who describes his college days as "long stays at the pub playing pool and snooker."
happy shoutout to skype! do you skype? i do (apparently). it's loads of fun seeing the good dr. and clan in far off guam and having little skylar react violently to my goattee and long hair. note: the goat is gone and the dreams about short hair have begun. thank you skylar. oh, if you do skype: i can be reached by searching for my full name. should be easy as peezy, yo! skype it up!
happy housewarming-can-we-take-your-leftovers to faculty member kathleen, who had a nice housewarming yesterday. and some aluminum foil for me and euge to (politely, mind you) procure some leftovers. and by leftovers, we mean: 1/3 of a pecan pie, 1/7 of an apple crumb strudel, 20-30 celery/carrot sticks, 3 handfuls of broccoli, 15ish hot dogs, 1 tub macaroni salad (sans mayonaisse!), 1 tub potato sald (mit gelflugelmayonnaise, boo!), and some baked beans.
happy can-you-believe-college-football relief to the usc trojans! two squeaky wins but no.2 auburn loses to arkansas, who the trojans ate up. but the local alumni affiliate here in college station would appreciate a little more offense. no offense.
happy sunday and for those of you who get the columbus day off, i say: &%$^@!
to everything, there is routine. no matter how basic the idea, or experienced the individual, a routine helps keep focus, momentum, and drive to some goal, whether it's waking up and going through "your morning ritual" or stepping out of the batter's box and nomar going through his complex tightening and retightening of his batting gloves. here, in quickdrivethru format, is my current routine:
wake up. late. ignore coffee at home since i can make it at school. remember bike lock for bike. usually. get out the door. ride to school, staying clear of the big pothole on nagle and the even bigger storm water bypass at the catholic church (its not fun to hit dead on). wait at crosswalk. ride across university onto campus. begin count of "people with cell phones engaged." make estimate of total numbers of students i pass on way to office / class (if i'm really late). we're averaging, by the way, about 1 per 15. with 50,000 students here (more or less), that's 3333 students on their cell phone at ALL times of the day. well, at least between class times. avoid pack of sorority girls and wind through the library walkways. try to not get in collision with students leaving library. turn right onto spence dr. make hard left back onto walkways, making sure to time my spot so i don't run over freshmen and cadets. which is difficult (see my paen on slalom biking through students). park bike away from the crowded spots near the door, go upstairs to office, make coffee, read email, and respond to the students in my lab who are having difficulties. we're averaging, by the way, about 65% extra help response for the latest lab. which is impressive in that the lab books are hideously written oftentimes, and that i don't think i ever went for extra help. ever. spend day engaged in academic pursuits like taking out all the fish behaviour books from the library (apparently, all fish behaviorists are british, or like to spell with the extra u), or updating the website: http://geog.tamu.edu/marinegeog , or reading the news and trying to figure out the density of the average american adult brain should certain political figures in congress win re-election. make pbj when hungry. go to class/lab as needed. end day around 7pm or 8 sometimes. bring something home that's nice and easy to do while watching tv (daily show, colbert report, countdown with keith olbermann, southpark reruns, sportscenter). get to sleep sometime around midnight. rinse and repeat.
why am i boring you with this? well, we had the apocalypse on tuesday. seriously. right around 5:30pm, some monumental power failure hit the campus and surrounding burg. with computer in tow and not much else, i head home. this would be where i would practice hitting acorns and making them skitter across the sidewalk with my front tire. but instead, it was a mass of humanity. all the students were outside, milling about as they tend to do. the campus roads were totally backed up and there were lots of angry looks as i skirted by them on my way home. off campus was much worse. being rush hour and everything, the main drag, university drive, was total gridlock without street lights. people were trying to cut through parking lots to get around to side streets, but so many people were doing this that even here was a mess. the taco stand (called fatburger) apparently had a generator because roughly 250 students were waiting in line for food. it was amazing to see it all. and it reminded me of that great protest sign me and my brother once saw near a nuclear power plant. "i don't need your electricity. i get mine from the wall!" the behind-the-scenes string that ties our routines together, electricity, was, when noticeably absent, seemingly also the glue that keeps people sane. i couldn't imagine what life would be like without electricity. i would, for all practical purposes, be a bit put off by it after a while.
which is really amazing. and so i got to thinking about thoreau and simplicity and deep, important, human things that aren't reliant on 110v coming out your wall, and how it'd be a nice evening for stargazing and hanging on the stoop. and then i got home and somehow my block wasn't affected.
so i went inside, sat down, turned my computer back on, got olbermann at the right soft volume, and settled back into the routine.
moral: it's hard to break routines and habits. we know that. and here's why: we like our habits and routines. given the choice of a nice, unusual night of stargazing inside city limits and hanging out with friends or the glow of a computer screen, a research proposal, and south park, i did indeed choose the latter. not that i'm proud of that.
of course, i did finish and end up outside playing guitar and talking about marxist geographers with eugene. yeah, that's what i said too. and in the excitement and newness of it all, even if my enjoyment was delayed, made for one of the best nights so far.
especially when i woke up the next morning and went to class again, only to realize, once there, that i had forgotten to proctor an exam at 8am.
--goose
quick brief recap shout-outs:
off-the-fiveball-side-pocket shoutout to roommate, fellow trojan and graduate studentee eugene f. for accepting his mentoring role as i finally take on the important challenge of learning to play pool properly. we have 4-6 years, depending on your worldview, and that's lots of thursday nights committed to following through the cue. most important discovery: you don't have to hit the cue in the dead center! apparently, that was my biggest problem (well, that and not following through). and though my record against euge in 8-ball is like 0-58, we're getting better. we ignore the two games he scratched the 8ball, obtw. and i have beaten him fairly in 9-ball twice. and this is a guy who describes his college days as "long stays at the pub playing pool and snooker."
happy shoutout to skype! do you skype? i do (apparently). it's loads of fun seeing the good dr. and clan in far off guam and having little skylar react violently to my goattee and long hair. note: the goat is gone and the dreams about short hair have begun. thank you skylar. oh, if you do skype: i can be reached by searching for my full name. should be easy as peezy, yo! skype it up!
happy housewarming-can-we-take-your-leftovers to faculty member kathleen, who had a nice housewarming yesterday. and some aluminum foil for me and euge to (politely, mind you) procure some leftovers. and by leftovers, we mean: 1/3 of a pecan pie, 1/7 of an apple crumb strudel, 20-30 celery/carrot sticks, 3 handfuls of broccoli, 15ish hot dogs, 1 tub macaroni salad (sans mayonaisse!), 1 tub potato sald (mit gelflugelmayonnaise, boo!), and some baked beans.
happy can-you-believe-college-football relief to the usc trojans! two squeaky wins but no.2 auburn loses to arkansas, who the trojans ate up. but the local alumni affiliate here in college station would appreciate a little more offense. no offense.
happy sunday and for those of you who get the columbus day off, i say: &%$^@!
Friday, September 29, 2006
cuz it's Friday, you ain't got no job, and you ain't got...
No SHOUT-OUTS!
(with apologies to the classic movie "friday")
Super Happy "Where You Been?!!" Shout-out to the ever lovely Stacy H. of Washington, DC. the good friend from freshman year is still co'chillin' in the foreign service gig and thanks to super-frosh friend Nara W. of Los Angeles, CA, got her back in touch. couldn't be more thrilled. especially b/c i haven't had a good giggle from thinking about the PhiPsi formal where she was totally determined to snag my big brother (and frat president). who was gay. though maybe not out at the time. anyhow, they're both super excellent people in that story and as he was nominated for a Tony (how could Stacy not know?!!!) and she's still mingling with Mancunians, i'd say we all turned out allright.
Big Ups to My Ipod. No, really. I've been listening to Pandora.com for quite a while now (try it and you'll see the OCD come through) but nothing can compare to what was, until i switched over to Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, nearly 37 uninteruppted hours of Beatles. I had forgotten the love.
Special Peace and Love out to Jason V. of Los Angeles, CA. Senior roommate and someone who I can always remember from any Trojan Knight Party, gave me the shout-out to invite me to a little party he's having tonight. Too bad I'm not near Bridgeport, CT. But if you are, and wouldn't mind seeing him film some segments for Girls Gone Wild, let me know and i'll hook you up. Seriously. Though I didn't have it in my heart to tell him that the girls of Bridgeport might not make it off the cutting room floor. No, seriously.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE PROUD UPS! to my boy the good Dr. Carr of Guam and clan. passing the boards in st.louis was just the start of it! the girls are looking grander by the day and it seems the island life is passing muster. which i knew.
HAPPY PEACE OUT TO THE LOCAL JUSTICES OF THE PEACE! today i was supposed to do jury duty in connecticut. but in fortunates of fortunates, my notice arrived on the same day as my excused note. NICE!
happy weekend! beat the cougars! --goose
(with apologies to the classic movie "friday")
Super Happy "Where You Been?!!" Shout-out to the ever lovely Stacy H. of Washington, DC. the good friend from freshman year is still co'chillin' in the foreign service gig and thanks to super-frosh friend Nara W. of Los Angeles, CA, got her back in touch. couldn't be more thrilled. especially b/c i haven't had a good giggle from thinking about the PhiPsi formal where she was totally determined to snag my big brother (and frat president). who was gay. though maybe not out at the time. anyhow, they're both super excellent people in that story and as he was nominated for a Tony (how could Stacy not know?!!!) and she's still mingling with Mancunians, i'd say we all turned out allright.
Big Ups to My Ipod. No, really. I've been listening to Pandora.com for quite a while now (try it and you'll see the OCD come through) but nothing can compare to what was, until i switched over to Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, nearly 37 uninteruppted hours of Beatles. I had forgotten the love.
Special Peace and Love out to Jason V. of Los Angeles, CA. Senior roommate and someone who I can always remember from any Trojan Knight Party, gave me the shout-out to invite me to a little party he's having tonight. Too bad I'm not near Bridgeport, CT. But if you are, and wouldn't mind seeing him film some segments for Girls Gone Wild, let me know and i'll hook you up. Seriously. Though I didn't have it in my heart to tell him that the girls of Bridgeport might not make it off the cutting room floor. No, seriously.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE PROUD UPS! to my boy the good Dr. Carr of Guam and clan. passing the boards in st.louis was just the start of it! the girls are looking grander by the day and it seems the island life is passing muster. which i knew.
HAPPY PEACE OUT TO THE LOCAL JUSTICES OF THE PEACE! today i was supposed to do jury duty in connecticut. but in fortunates of fortunates, my notice arrived on the same day as my excused note. NICE!
happy weekend! beat the cougars! --goose
numerology, OCD, and the need for a second wal-mart
dearest all-
like the final box needing unpacking or the last book needing shelving, i can (almost) declare that i have moved in to my graduate life in toto. those dark early days in late august where i slept on a futon matress on the floor and had no place for anything except the pockets of floorspace around said futon are long gone. the unpacking should be done this weekend (i still have a box of books and my piano to get in place) amid the shouts and murmurs of the usc game, two big GIS projects, and one HUGE methodological paper that i have promised will be ready monday. and in the even greater scheme of displaying my permanence to college station, i've gone and gotten texas plates for my car, claus.
a quick backstory: my car is claus. he is a 2003 ocean blue bmw 325xi with nice leather interior and has been the sundance kid to my butch cassidy for my 2 big cross-country jaunts in 2003 and 2004. he is claus (rhymes with house) because he purrs like the little kitten claus i semi-adopted when i lived in the turks and caicos islands who would sleep on my chest every so often. here in the land of american-made and big trucks (and i mean BIG as in: the djork's truck is so big that it hangs over every boundary of their parking space; both lines and out into traffic - which of course leads to the corrolary known by several of my peers as "The Mickey Mouse Corollary". it might actually be more of a scientifically-tested Theory (as opposed to how nutjob "scientific creationists" belittle Darwin by using the other, less concrete definition of theory to try and push their child's education back into the 18th century) or it might even be a Law. But we call it a Corollary, mainly because a Corollary is defined to be "a natural consequence, or result." we dont' know if the large truck is the impetus of the MMC or if something in the owner's physiology predisposes them to purchase outlandishly large vehicles. we do know that the MMC is as true as the premise that you'll only spill red wine on fancy white clothes. and, before i pull back to the story as writ, i'd like to point out to the nay-noobers out there that claus was only discovered from a newspaper profile and i discovered the sticker price of a claus was the same (actually a tad less) than the two other cars i was considering - a chevy impala (yo yo yo! y'allz!) and a subaru wrx. yep, that's right. i almost bought an impala. and given that in the two years i drove claus exclusively, i managed to pile on 41,000 miles, i think that i have demostrated the appropriateness of the vehicle with the owner...
anyhow, not much of a quick backstory, but i got in a tad deeper than i thought i would. it's friday. what can you do? so... today i was determined to get claus registered as a bonafide vehicle in the state of texas. this requires 2 things: getting an emissions testing, and turning over your connecticut registration for a texas one. the third item (drivers' license) was ultimately a monumental failure, and i won't bore you with the details save the delicious note that i couldn't get a texas license because i had no proof of my social security number. my dog, rowan, ate the card way back in like january of 2005. seriously. was my passport a viable alternative? nope. how about my student id? nope. how about my virgin islands' health card (for bartending) that actually has my SSN on it? nope. stupid republicans are disenfranchising the masses, i swear.
so at 8am, i headed over to school to print out my texas insurance cards. return trip home was about an hour. i call the emissions people and, using maps.com or maybe the ridiculously bad excite.maps page (and you know this people!) i wrote out directions. which were wrong. long story short: it took 1.5 hours and 48 miles to get to the emissions test. to diagram a tale of lostness that really can't be described with the local landmarks (since noone knows them), instead, here's a mental image. draw a rectangle. we'll call each side by compass names: north, east, south, west. place a star on the northwest corner (the emissions testing center). place a circle midway up the east side. that's home. how does one get there quickly? well, that should be obvious.
here's what i did. drove down the east line towards the southeast nexus. made another square below square 1 (you may want to number your squares), and drove down that east line too. at that southeast corner, turn and drive along the south line towards the west line of square 2. turn up and drive the west line ALMOST all the way to where the west line of square 2 meets the southwest corner of square 1. turn around after calling the guy and he says his place is near the walmart (let's place a W on square 3 somewhere near the northeast corner, which lies adjacent and in line with the eastern edge of square 2.) drive back West-2 and turn left and drive along the South-2 towards East-2 (where square 2 meets Square 3). continue driving along South into square 3. get to the W where the walmart is represented. you should now be in square 3 at the northeast corner. look for a Napa Auto Parts while driving on North-3 towards W3/E2. don't find a Napa. Give up. Head back to home. Now draw a Square 4, which lies above and to the right of the northeast corner of square 1 (think of how squares line up along diagonals if you're a bishop in chess). pretend there's a short-cut through that empty space between Sq1 and Sq4. drive through it. You're now on the south line of Sq4. drive towards East4. Realize that you're in the wrong direction. Turn around at GREAT PERIL since texas likes highways that aren't really highways, but have streetlights and stuff and merging lanes that disappear and suddenly on-coming traffic lanes when you take an exit ramp. how i was in the wrong lane of traffic, i'll never figure out. it was amazing. take exit. go up offramp. come to stop at light. while waiting to turn left (and go over neo-highway and get back on and head the other direction), discover a trucker is honking at you to get back on the right side of the road...
anyhow, accident avoided, get back on Sq4 and head towards W4 along S4. When you get there, realize that you're RIGHT BACK WHERE YOU STARTED (well, like 3 blocks from home). Draw Square 5, which sits ontop of Sq.1 and to the west of Sq.4. You'll now notice that, if you continue driving west along Sq5, that the SW corner of Sq5 just happens to match the little star in the NW corner of Sq.1.
congratulations! you've made it. now pay the man $13.50 for the test that took 1 minute. and notice on your way out that there's a second wal-mart in town.
the rest of the day was pretty unspectacular. apart from the wrong turn after i got my car registered that took me through Da'Hood and by the local penitentary (sorry, claus!), i'm now a texas driver. which brings me to the point:
my license plate sucks. MLPSUX.
i can't be any more clear in this: texas plate 436-PFF needs to go. and that is where you come in.
there's an ability to "post comment" on my ramblings. i'm looking for voters.
now, i've done this in the past, specifically when i first got claus, but now i need to do it. i can't drive around with a car that reads "puff" or "piff". how can i establish MMC on other drivers? i have no authority in 436-PFF.
for those who know my inner workings in slightly more detail than i'd like to divulge, you know my nearly OCD with numbers. i'm the boy that counted the 1840 steps from my house to fred's shanty. i'm the one who would only walk on gray tiles at school on test days. i don't step on cracks but know that, when i'm late for class (this was at USC) that it was exactly 4 steps on each concrete slab down trousdale, and then 4 alternating with 3 when i got close to mudd chemistry building. my phone numbers are memorized in the most bizzare manner ever (take, for example, my brother's: the year before dad graduated highschool-how many more years it took to graduate - the class of submarine that the hg rickover is - the year shamus graduated highschool, the year before my dad's graduation again. and my ct license plate was similarly understood by this framework: 757-RXU. a 757 is a big plane that goes fast. RX is medicine. U is You. so claus could be read as "going far and fast is good for you." 436-PFF is???
so here are the potentials for a plate. the winning plate will be chosen (at only $30!!!) and will replace the hideousness that is 436-PFF. its a 6-letter max her ein texass. explanations follow:
PLOTOR - "P. lotor"- the original and still a fave. it's the genus/species of my favorite animal: the raccoon.
LUTJNS - "Lutjanus" - the genus for snapper fish, supposedly something i'm studying. hard to get the "janus" sound though, and definitely can't have ANUS anywhere...
SRRNID - "Serranid" - the family name for groupers.
GO2USC - "Go To USC" - clear enough.
USC4ME - "USC For Me" - clear enough.
SCYALE - "SC - Yale" - if it was 7 letters, it'd be SC2Yale, but there you go. disenfranchisement, man. disenfranchisement.
CRUXAN - "Crucian" - from St. Croix. like it, but cops might not? or people'd go "CRUX?" i never said texans were smart.
STX4ME - "St.Croix for me". doubt anyone beyond T3 and other pilots would get the airport code. and as it turns out, i don't want people thinking i like sticks. or their equivalents.
CLAUS - "Claus". like it, but would people pronounce it "clause"? poor poor claus.
ROWAN - "Rowan". like it, but my dog is already named. and my car is named after a cat...
DEALER'SCHOICE - "you make one up". i think that those are best.
ok: it's friday night, nearly 8pm here, we get paid in a few days, so HURRAY! HURRAY FOR BEER!
--goose
Bonus Thought: the best i got for 436-PFF is that a size 36 is 4 sizes bigger than i would ever want to be (though the 33 is okay since it seems to be holding steady these days), and that, should i gain 4 size to a 36, i'd make a nice PFF noise when i sat.
like the final box needing unpacking or the last book needing shelving, i can (almost) declare that i have moved in to my graduate life in toto. those dark early days in late august where i slept on a futon matress on the floor and had no place for anything except the pockets of floorspace around said futon are long gone. the unpacking should be done this weekend (i still have a box of books and my piano to get in place) amid the shouts and murmurs of the usc game, two big GIS projects, and one HUGE methodological paper that i have promised will be ready monday. and in the even greater scheme of displaying my permanence to college station, i've gone and gotten texas plates for my car, claus.
a quick backstory: my car is claus. he is a 2003 ocean blue bmw 325xi with nice leather interior and has been the sundance kid to my butch cassidy for my 2 big cross-country jaunts in 2003 and 2004. he is claus (rhymes with house) because he purrs like the little kitten claus i semi-adopted when i lived in the turks and caicos islands who would sleep on my chest every so often. here in the land of american-made and big trucks (and i mean BIG as in: the djork's truck is so big that it hangs over every boundary of their parking space; both lines and out into traffic - which of course leads to the corrolary known by several of my peers as "The Mickey Mouse Corollary". it might actually be more of a scientifically-tested Theory (as opposed to how nutjob "scientific creationists" belittle Darwin by using the other, less concrete definition of theory to try and push their child's education back into the 18th century) or it might even be a Law. But we call it a Corollary, mainly because a Corollary is defined to be "a natural consequence, or result." we dont' know if the large truck is the impetus of the MMC or if something in the owner's physiology predisposes them to purchase outlandishly large vehicles. we do know that the MMC is as true as the premise that you'll only spill red wine on fancy white clothes. and, before i pull back to the story as writ, i'd like to point out to the nay-noobers out there that claus was only discovered from a newspaper profile and i discovered the sticker price of a claus was the same (actually a tad less) than the two other cars i was considering - a chevy impala (yo yo yo! y'allz!) and a subaru wrx. yep, that's right. i almost bought an impala. and given that in the two years i drove claus exclusively, i managed to pile on 41,000 miles, i think that i have demostrated the appropriateness of the vehicle with the owner...
anyhow, not much of a quick backstory, but i got in a tad deeper than i thought i would. it's friday. what can you do? so... today i was determined to get claus registered as a bonafide vehicle in the state of texas. this requires 2 things: getting an emissions testing, and turning over your connecticut registration for a texas one. the third item (drivers' license) was ultimately a monumental failure, and i won't bore you with the details save the delicious note that i couldn't get a texas license because i had no proof of my social security number. my dog, rowan, ate the card way back in like january of 2005. seriously. was my passport a viable alternative? nope. how about my student id? nope. how about my virgin islands' health card (for bartending) that actually has my SSN on it? nope. stupid republicans are disenfranchising the masses, i swear.
so at 8am, i headed over to school to print out my texas insurance cards. return trip home was about an hour. i call the emissions people and, using maps.com or maybe the ridiculously bad excite.maps page (and you know this people!) i wrote out directions. which were wrong. long story short: it took 1.5 hours and 48 miles to get to the emissions test. to diagram a tale of lostness that really can't be described with the local landmarks (since noone knows them), instead, here's a mental image. draw a rectangle. we'll call each side by compass names: north, east, south, west. place a star on the northwest corner (the emissions testing center). place a circle midway up the east side. that's home. how does one get there quickly? well, that should be obvious.
here's what i did. drove down the east line towards the southeast nexus. made another square below square 1 (you may want to number your squares), and drove down that east line too. at that southeast corner, turn and drive along the south line towards the west line of square 2. turn up and drive the west line ALMOST all the way to where the west line of square 2 meets the southwest corner of square 1. turn around after calling the guy and he says his place is near the walmart (let's place a W on square 3 somewhere near the northeast corner, which lies adjacent and in line with the eastern edge of square 2.) drive back West-2 and turn left and drive along the South-2 towards East-2 (where square 2 meets Square 3). continue driving along South into square 3. get to the W where the walmart is represented. you should now be in square 3 at the northeast corner. look for a Napa Auto Parts while driving on North-3 towards W3/E2. don't find a Napa. Give up. Head back to home. Now draw a Square 4, which lies above and to the right of the northeast corner of square 1 (think of how squares line up along diagonals if you're a bishop in chess). pretend there's a short-cut through that empty space between Sq1 and Sq4. drive through it. You're now on the south line of Sq4. drive towards East4. Realize that you're in the wrong direction. Turn around at GREAT PERIL since texas likes highways that aren't really highways, but have streetlights and stuff and merging lanes that disappear and suddenly on-coming traffic lanes when you take an exit ramp. how i was in the wrong lane of traffic, i'll never figure out. it was amazing. take exit. go up offramp. come to stop at light. while waiting to turn left (and go over neo-highway and get back on and head the other direction), discover a trucker is honking at you to get back on the right side of the road...
anyhow, accident avoided, get back on Sq4 and head towards W4 along S4. When you get there, realize that you're RIGHT BACK WHERE YOU STARTED (well, like 3 blocks from home). Draw Square 5, which sits ontop of Sq.1 and to the west of Sq.4. You'll now notice that, if you continue driving west along Sq5, that the SW corner of Sq5 just happens to match the little star in the NW corner of Sq.1.
congratulations! you've made it. now pay the man $13.50 for the test that took 1 minute. and notice on your way out that there's a second wal-mart in town.
the rest of the day was pretty unspectacular. apart from the wrong turn after i got my car registered that took me through Da'Hood and by the local penitentary (sorry, claus!), i'm now a texas driver. which brings me to the point:
my license plate sucks. MLPSUX.
i can't be any more clear in this: texas plate 436-PFF needs to go. and that is where you come in.
there's an ability to "post comment" on my ramblings. i'm looking for voters.
now, i've done this in the past, specifically when i first got claus, but now i need to do it. i can't drive around with a car that reads "puff" or "piff". how can i establish MMC on other drivers? i have no authority in 436-PFF.
for those who know my inner workings in slightly more detail than i'd like to divulge, you know my nearly OCD with numbers. i'm the boy that counted the 1840 steps from my house to fred's shanty. i'm the one who would only walk on gray tiles at school on test days. i don't step on cracks but know that, when i'm late for class (this was at USC) that it was exactly 4 steps on each concrete slab down trousdale, and then 4 alternating with 3 when i got close to mudd chemistry building. my phone numbers are memorized in the most bizzare manner ever (take, for example, my brother's: the year before dad graduated highschool-how many more years it took to graduate - the class of submarine that the hg rickover is - the year shamus graduated highschool, the year before my dad's graduation again. and my ct license plate was similarly understood by this framework: 757-RXU. a 757 is a big plane that goes fast. RX is medicine. U is You. so claus could be read as "going far and fast is good for you." 436-PFF is???
so here are the potentials for a plate. the winning plate will be chosen (at only $30!!!) and will replace the hideousness that is 436-PFF. its a 6-letter max her ein texass. explanations follow:
PLOTOR - "P. lotor"- the original and still a fave. it's the genus/species of my favorite animal: the raccoon.
LUTJNS - "Lutjanus" - the genus for snapper fish, supposedly something i'm studying. hard to get the "janus" sound though, and definitely can't have ANUS anywhere...
SRRNID - "Serranid" - the family name for groupers.
GO2USC - "Go To USC" - clear enough.
USC4ME - "USC For Me" - clear enough.
SCYALE - "SC - Yale" - if it was 7 letters, it'd be SC2Yale, but there you go. disenfranchisement, man. disenfranchisement.
CRUXAN - "Crucian" - from St. Croix. like it, but cops might not? or people'd go "CRUX?" i never said texans were smart.
STX4ME - "St.Croix for me". doubt anyone beyond T3 and other pilots would get the airport code. and as it turns out, i don't want people thinking i like sticks. or their equivalents.
CLAUS - "Claus". like it, but would people pronounce it "clause"? poor poor claus.
ROWAN - "Rowan". like it, but my dog is already named. and my car is named after a cat...
DEALER'SCHOICE - "you make one up". i think that those are best.
ok: it's friday night, nearly 8pm here, we get paid in a few days, so HURRAY! HURRAY FOR BEER!
--goose
Bonus Thought: the best i got for 436-PFF is that a size 36 is 4 sizes bigger than i would ever want to be (though the 33 is okay since it seems to be holding steady these days), and that, should i gain 4 size to a 36, i'd make a nice PFF noise when i sat.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
the quick bonus of a bad morning gone good
dearest all-
happy equinox!
today is hump day. the technical term is "wednesday" but everyone knows it as the day they, should they manage to get through it, can pop it in neutral (more or less) and enjoy the scenery as friday and the weekend approaches. but getting through the day? tough!
which is why i'm glad i have some good friends. let's recount the last few days.
so on saturday night, me and euge went over to the fox&hound to watch the usc/nebraska game and eat a burger. good idea. then we played pool for free. good idea. until 2am. not good idea. i hiccupped until nearly 5am. not good idea. then on sunday, i managed to rouse myself and pour through some work. good idea. i did a literature review for a project that just got funded and they want me to describe the methodology to employ there. good idea. the project is in belize and venezuela. good idea, good idea. and then i tried to catch up with clayt online. bad idea (esp. to the two people who know the time commitment entailed). and i didn't find him. bad idea. but i didn't give up until 4am. bad bad bad bad idea.
so monday arrives, and i'm, methaphorically speaking, dead. i get to my awesomely intellectually stimulating geographical history (and philosophy) class completely unable to be intellectually stimulated. bad idea. but class was still good and i got a slight uptic in energy as the coffee and Kant hit (i told you it was philosophical). and then i sidled over to the office and prepared for my TA session. we had a fun outdoor lab mapping the grassy knoll (there's apparently lots of them in texas). and my energy seemed to wobble upwards. which, in reality, was nothing more than a passing sugar rush. somehow, i managed to finish up work and headed home with the express desire to "stay up until 8pm". and i did! 8:35 was observed before passing out for 12 hours. great idea!
tuesday was beautiful here. low 80s, maybe high 70s, with a nice crispness that led, owing partly to the 12 hours of rest and partly to the break from the unbearable heaviness that is texas heat and humidity, to euphoric reverie. tuesday was, in all manners of the word, not monday. i sat in on geography 203 (where i will guest lecture tomorrow on the coriolis force!) and then powered through my two other classes. then i received my first great packaage from mayor mccheese of st. croix, vi. the data i was looking for for my wetlands talk tomorrow (for my wetlands class). hurray and huzzah! except: i had already told myself i was done with it.
but done i would not be, as i let myself tweak and update the presentation with several new photos of the ravaged mangrove forest post-hurricane hugo, and several bold new graphs and tables highlighting my premise that, when done on the cheap, restoration projects rarely succeed. and so i worked, nose to the grindstone, on said "completed" talk until 10pm last night. not a great idea, especially when you consider that 1) the professor of said class is out of class tomorrow and will not see the bold new graphs and tables, 2) i put off prepping for the coriolis lecture and other things (like reading papers, grading labs, etc.), and 3) i did this all without eating all day long.
but i made it home, weary champion of a job well done and slightly charred along the edges. i passed out about 11:45pm, after realizing that an incredibly easy sudoku puzzle i was doing was entirely wrong upon completion (never a satisfactory feeling). and given the change in the weather (i should have known from my studies of shakespeare and the use of change to represent unrest and conflict approaching), i left my A/C off. yea!
or so i thought.
apparently, given the high numbers (at least 1 each year) of students who try to jump on to moving trains as they pass through college station and fail in the most mortal way, all the engineers give plenty of warning of their approach. and even though i'm about 1/3-mile from the tracks, their horns sound like they're just outside the door. 3 times last night, i was awakened by the heavy pull of the whistle by the train engineers. not yea.
and then, it being wednesday, it was off early in the morning to the philosophy/geography/history class. excellent class, esp. the part when discussion the hidden motives of "mass education" in the late 19th century in america (i especially enjoyed the precept of "mass education normalized individuals leading them to be 'entrusted' with a vote" i.e. education was shaped to ensure people voted a certain way. my! how things have changed! but just prior to heading off to class, i got yet another email regarding some side work that i've been completing over the past six months. the kind of email, given the tone and the insinuations, that make a champion of a job well done stew whilst discussing orwellian underpinings of elementary school curricula. scary idea?
not to say that i'm entirely not at fault or that these emails have not been unnecessary. somewhere about 5 months into the project, the analysis scope was re-described and i was asked to start the analyses over again from scratch according to these new (to me) standards. which i said i'd do. long story short: with 200 data points each month, and (now) 7 months of data, we're talking about re-calculating 1400 data points. and each data point takes about 20 seconds to do. so we're talking about 3 weeks of new work. discovering that there were essentially clerical mistakes on about 11 (0.7%) is both not particularly surprising and not that big a deal because 1) the project is on-going and the data is only now being re-analyzed and being incorporated into the reports, and 2) the mistakes would surely be caught if not by me then by someone in charge of the report. and the fact that they have been caught proves my points 1 and 2.
what got my goat, though, was the sheer lack of the email writer that 1) they were unfamiliar with the methodology originally and suggested that i was making things up. and how they are unaware of the methodology makes me wonder what part of the coral reef science niche they occupy since the methodology is used by EVERY governmental agency, and 2) that they suggested i was personally wasting their time because i was submitting incomplete data sets. it's only partially true that 2) is correct. the whole story is that the coral died and at some point me writing those zeroes got dropped so that i could tackle one of the other 20 discrete data sets. it doesn't take brain surgeons to grab a hand and write zeroes if need be, which gives me the distinct feeling that the data, though read, isn't being absorbed.
of course, i'd have a much bigger leg to stand on if i didn't have 2 completely whacked out data sets that did indeed need to be redone. to that, in the words of benedict XVI, "my bad." now get over it.
anyhow, the reason you're reading this is that, whilst shaping my "go die in a fire" email response (attached were the corrected data sets), i got item number two from the mayor. a catalog of 7 or 8 photos of the local christiansted celebrity nightlife. we're talking "dollar bill", "mrs. dollar bill", "fast hands richard", "army guy", "drunk at 8am guy", "stick man", and "pink doo rag guy" (not his nom d'plume, but i know him as that or, alternately, the guy who stands always at the southwest corner of king and strand streets, making me always cross along the north side. as if the mayor knew my plight and down-trodden spirits, he came through, as he always does. best idea!
so of course, if you're interested (and i don't know who to credit the photographs to or their tremendous ganas), i can email you "faces of crucian homelessness and drug dependency: a humorous take on life in tropical bliss". though you might have to be from st.croix to really catch that unique smell that is dollar bill as he shuffles up to you, jaw a-gape, hands outward, begging for change. if he asked for soap, he'd do much better. but i hear even he knows how to pixellate coral images for percent live cover and such.
but thank you, mccheese. i owe you some pale ale. best idea II!
--goose
happy equinox!
today is hump day. the technical term is "wednesday" but everyone knows it as the day they, should they manage to get through it, can pop it in neutral (more or less) and enjoy the scenery as friday and the weekend approaches. but getting through the day? tough!
which is why i'm glad i have some good friends. let's recount the last few days.
so on saturday night, me and euge went over to the fox&hound to watch the usc/nebraska game and eat a burger. good idea. then we played pool for free. good idea. until 2am. not good idea. i hiccupped until nearly 5am. not good idea. then on sunday, i managed to rouse myself and pour through some work. good idea. i did a literature review for a project that just got funded and they want me to describe the methodology to employ there. good idea. the project is in belize and venezuela. good idea, good idea. and then i tried to catch up with clayt online. bad idea (esp. to the two people who know the time commitment entailed). and i didn't find him. bad idea. but i didn't give up until 4am. bad bad bad bad idea.
so monday arrives, and i'm, methaphorically speaking, dead. i get to my awesomely intellectually stimulating geographical history (and philosophy) class completely unable to be intellectually stimulated. bad idea. but class was still good and i got a slight uptic in energy as the coffee and Kant hit (i told you it was philosophical). and then i sidled over to the office and prepared for my TA session. we had a fun outdoor lab mapping the grassy knoll (there's apparently lots of them in texas). and my energy seemed to wobble upwards. which, in reality, was nothing more than a passing sugar rush. somehow, i managed to finish up work and headed home with the express desire to "stay up until 8pm". and i did! 8:35 was observed before passing out for 12 hours. great idea!
tuesday was beautiful here. low 80s, maybe high 70s, with a nice crispness that led, owing partly to the 12 hours of rest and partly to the break from the unbearable heaviness that is texas heat and humidity, to euphoric reverie. tuesday was, in all manners of the word, not monday. i sat in on geography 203 (where i will guest lecture tomorrow on the coriolis force!) and then powered through my two other classes. then i received my first great packaage from mayor mccheese of st. croix, vi. the data i was looking for for my wetlands talk tomorrow (for my wetlands class). hurray and huzzah! except: i had already told myself i was done with it.
but done i would not be, as i let myself tweak and update the presentation with several new photos of the ravaged mangrove forest post-hurricane hugo, and several bold new graphs and tables highlighting my premise that, when done on the cheap, restoration projects rarely succeed. and so i worked, nose to the grindstone, on said "completed" talk until 10pm last night. not a great idea, especially when you consider that 1) the professor of said class is out of class tomorrow and will not see the bold new graphs and tables, 2) i put off prepping for the coriolis lecture and other things (like reading papers, grading labs, etc.), and 3) i did this all without eating all day long.
but i made it home, weary champion of a job well done and slightly charred along the edges. i passed out about 11:45pm, after realizing that an incredibly easy sudoku puzzle i was doing was entirely wrong upon completion (never a satisfactory feeling). and given the change in the weather (i should have known from my studies of shakespeare and the use of change to represent unrest and conflict approaching), i left my A/C off. yea!
or so i thought.
apparently, given the high numbers (at least 1 each year) of students who try to jump on to moving trains as they pass through college station and fail in the most mortal way, all the engineers give plenty of warning of their approach. and even though i'm about 1/3-mile from the tracks, their horns sound like they're just outside the door. 3 times last night, i was awakened by the heavy pull of the whistle by the train engineers. not yea.
and then, it being wednesday, it was off early in the morning to the philosophy/geography/history class. excellent class, esp. the part when discussion the hidden motives of "mass education" in the late 19th century in america (i especially enjoyed the precept of "mass education normalized individuals leading them to be 'entrusted' with a vote" i.e. education was shaped to ensure people voted a certain way. my! how things have changed! but just prior to heading off to class, i got yet another email regarding some side work that i've been completing over the past six months. the kind of email, given the tone and the insinuations, that make a champion of a job well done stew whilst discussing orwellian underpinings of elementary school curricula. scary idea?
not to say that i'm entirely not at fault or that these emails have not been unnecessary. somewhere about 5 months into the project, the analysis scope was re-described and i was asked to start the analyses over again from scratch according to these new (to me) standards. which i said i'd do. long story short: with 200 data points each month, and (now) 7 months of data, we're talking about re-calculating 1400 data points. and each data point takes about 20 seconds to do. so we're talking about 3 weeks of new work. discovering that there were essentially clerical mistakes on about 11 (0.7%) is both not particularly surprising and not that big a deal because 1) the project is on-going and the data is only now being re-analyzed and being incorporated into the reports, and 2) the mistakes would surely be caught if not by me then by someone in charge of the report. and the fact that they have been caught proves my points 1 and 2.
what got my goat, though, was the sheer lack of the email writer that 1) they were unfamiliar with the methodology originally and suggested that i was making things up. and how they are unaware of the methodology makes me wonder what part of the coral reef science niche they occupy since the methodology is used by EVERY governmental agency, and 2) that they suggested i was personally wasting their time because i was submitting incomplete data sets. it's only partially true that 2) is correct. the whole story is that the coral died and at some point me writing those zeroes got dropped so that i could tackle one of the other 20 discrete data sets. it doesn't take brain surgeons to grab a hand and write zeroes if need be, which gives me the distinct feeling that the data, though read, isn't being absorbed.
of course, i'd have a much bigger leg to stand on if i didn't have 2 completely whacked out data sets that did indeed need to be redone. to that, in the words of benedict XVI, "my bad." now get over it.
anyhow, the reason you're reading this is that, whilst shaping my "go die in a fire" email response (attached were the corrected data sets), i got item number two from the mayor. a catalog of 7 or 8 photos of the local christiansted celebrity nightlife. we're talking "dollar bill", "mrs. dollar bill", "fast hands richard", "army guy", "drunk at 8am guy", "stick man", and "pink doo rag guy" (not his nom d'plume, but i know him as that or, alternately, the guy who stands always at the southwest corner of king and strand streets, making me always cross along the north side. as if the mayor knew my plight and down-trodden spirits, he came through, as he always does. best idea!
so of course, if you're interested (and i don't know who to credit the photographs to or their tremendous ganas), i can email you "faces of crucian homelessness and drug dependency: a humorous take on life in tropical bliss". though you might have to be from st.croix to really catch that unique smell that is dollar bill as he shuffles up to you, jaw a-gape, hands outward, begging for change. if he asked for soap, he'd do much better. but i hear even he knows how to pixellate coral images for percent live cover and such.
but thank you, mccheese. i owe you some pale ale. best idea II!
--goose
Friday, September 15, 2006
the free-for-all friday shoutouts (and a quick aside)
hola! tis friday, tis friday, tis friday! woohoo!
plans for this weekend: read some journal articles, come up with awesome plan to sedate and perform non-invasive surgery on fish (take that good dr. carr of guam! ooh... you work on people! that's easy! let's see you intubate a 35-cm long (forked length) mutton snapper, insert a 8Hz 7mm long sonar tag, and have the fish in the outpatient clinic in 10 minutes. didn't think so!... anyhoo, watch usc/nebraska, don't take advil, and finish up formerly wicked awesome powerpoint slide show for a presentation next thursday for a professor i'm trying to get onto my committee for a class he's not going to be present for. WEAK END is right!
anyhow, here's the aside: so i've been doing the school thing for about 3 weeks. and guess who's already been invited to give a guest lecture to a freshman-level class for geography 203? if you guessed "the cooked goose" you sir, would be right! yeah! me! and stuff! of course, the trick will be to avoid advil, as i accidentally (stupidly is a better word) decided that i could take an advil gel-cap. let's do the logic on this one: all gelcaps give me hives. advil gelcaps is a gelcap. therefore, I TOOK STUPID ADVIL GELCAPS! and now my body recognizes former wonder-drug advil as an allergen and i had a nice little outbreak of hives today. whilst proctoring an exam. wonderbar. just your typical friday for what i'm calling "the worst week of class ever".
now i know i promised that i would abstain (mainly for reasons like "if someone actually reads this and figures things out and i say something untoward, maybe i'll get booted...") from discussion of class-related things, but i have to say this: if you are a teacher/professor/education professional/class leader and you say something along the lines of "ok, just a quick overview of the work today and then we'll get down to business so you have time to get the project done", please, for my sanity and the sanity of others (who have to hear me B and M) don't proceed to lecture for 1.5 hours, killing said time allotted for class work. as that kid who always tuned the teacher out and got going on the workbook in elementary school, ignored the intro to the chemistry lab assignment in high school, blew off the teacher's feedback on the biochem report in college, and told an idiotfreund named Helmut to go die in a fire while in grad school, i'm not one for long, drawn-out intros to a computer project that, all told, took me, on my own, about 2 hours to complete. without any teacher's assistance. this, by the way, is the class i "didn't" want to take, but it sets me up nicely down the road for some other classes. but, for those of you keeping score at home, the total "ooh! glad he said that!" moments in this class are at 1.5... total. oi!
so anyhoo, that's the aside and why i'm glad it's the weekend. and why you may have heard someone over the horizon singing, "beer me, doctor!" sometime thursday evening around 11pm.
--goose
on to the shoutouts!
SUPERBONUS EXTRASPECIAL SUPERCHUNKY SHOUTOUT TO: my cousins Patti and Paula M. of Falls Church, MD for their wonderful care package of 3 (three) jars of Skippy superchunk peanut butter! the awe that said package inspired caused the following overheard comments around the geography department: "you're 30 and you eat peanut butter like a 5-yr old." "skippy? your cousins got any boxes meant for me?" and (from a total MILF): "my son eats peanut butter all the time too. i don't know what i'd cook if he didn't like it." which of course got me wondering how many different ways you can include peanut butter into cooking. obviously, the PBJ and PBJB (bananas) are the gold standard use for peanut butter. equally enticing is peanut butter chicken, sometimes hautily described on fancy menus as "chicken satay". i'm not fooled. then there's the excellent, if hard-to-get-ronny jockitch's-to-make-it-right: peanut butter burger. YUM! ask the T3 of newark, nj. he got me on it whilst in tacoma. of course, the muhas at ronny jockitch (please say you know the restaurant by it's proper name...) will then add mustard, ketchup, mayonaisse (BLAGH!) and the rest to the burger too. or, if you tell them the precise order (burger. buns. lettuce. tomato. peanut butter. that's it...) they'll put on such a tiny portion of PB that it's like they're afraid of it. and then they'll all stand agape watching as i power it back with a vanilla coke and chili cheese fries.... i'm getting hungry! anyone else up for a quick drive to mohegan sun and a little late night burger? or any of the other 10million places johnny rocket's exists? so, i got 3 items that are "meal"-oriented. then there's apples, carrots, celery, chocolate, ice cream, cake, cookies, and PB-sculptures (that's right...) if anyone knows a nice lamb or fish recipe incorporating said skippy peanut butter, let me know. i have eugene to test drive all dishes.
excellent shout-out to the good dr. carr, formerly of st.louis, mo and briefly in houston, tx. i hear the boards were passed? nice! next time you're in houston though, do call me. it's the closest town to college station. oops! and pea-sized whoopwhoops to the little girls. they are taking to beach and island life, as the photos can attest.
diggitydang WTF shoutout to people who manage IPs. that's "internet provider". get this: my internet worked only at home for a week. then only at school for a week. but never both. why? four competing firewalls shut down my computer's ability to talk to the wireless routers that are strung up (metaphysically of course) all around town. does my computer ever say that i got 4 firewalls that are not even remotely working in concert quietly in the background? no. and better yet, with the windows-installed network connections, you don't even get the button to click that would clear that all up. fortunately for me, i had nothing but free time this week (ha!) to spend about 8 hours trying to match the 2 passwords that i had originally put in a week ago. amazing. i want seamless service and possibilities. not headaches and yearnings for our old 2400kbs modem from 1993...
finally, booyah! shoutout to the mom for her on-going efforts to clear up a minor little headache known as the "goose has no place to stay over thanksgiving". turns out, if you make a reservation online, these people expect you to read and click some button on an email they send confirming your reservation request. and turns out, dear old dad, whose favorite hardware is "a dixon-ticonderoga 2.0" and (now this is no joke) uses both a "reverse-polish" calculator and an abacus to balance his chequebook, didn't read said email or reply to it. but the mom, currently in possession of "world's best mom" title for a record 16th consecutive year (don't ask about her "grounded for eternity" campaign platform from when i was 13 and, um... didn't come home from a party on time... turns out, the base didn't like that proposal...)... anyhow, turns out she got the reservation resurrected. hawai'i, here i come! so BOOYAH! mom! BOOYAH! (and don't worry, booyahs are good t'ings...)
plans for this weekend: read some journal articles, come up with awesome plan to sedate and perform non-invasive surgery on fish (take that good dr. carr of guam! ooh... you work on people! that's easy! let's see you intubate a 35-cm long (forked length) mutton snapper, insert a 8Hz 7mm long sonar tag, and have the fish in the outpatient clinic in 10 minutes. didn't think so!... anyhoo, watch usc/nebraska, don't take advil, and finish up formerly wicked awesome powerpoint slide show for a presentation next thursday for a professor i'm trying to get onto my committee for a class he's not going to be present for. WEAK END is right!
anyhow, here's the aside: so i've been doing the school thing for about 3 weeks. and guess who's already been invited to give a guest lecture to a freshman-level class for geography 203? if you guessed "the cooked goose" you sir, would be right! yeah! me! and stuff! of course, the trick will be to avoid advil, as i accidentally (stupidly is a better word) decided that i could take an advil gel-cap. let's do the logic on this one: all gelcaps give me hives. advil gelcaps is a gelcap. therefore, I TOOK STUPID ADVIL GELCAPS! and now my body recognizes former wonder-drug advil as an allergen and i had a nice little outbreak of hives today. whilst proctoring an exam. wonderbar. just your typical friday for what i'm calling "the worst week of class ever".
now i know i promised that i would abstain (mainly for reasons like "if someone actually reads this and figures things out and i say something untoward, maybe i'll get booted...") from discussion of class-related things, but i have to say this: if you are a teacher/professor/education professional/class leader and you say something along the lines of "ok, just a quick overview of the work today and then we'll get down to business so you have time to get the project done", please, for my sanity and the sanity of others (who have to hear me B and M) don't proceed to lecture for 1.5 hours, killing said time allotted for class work. as that kid who always tuned the teacher out and got going on the workbook in elementary school, ignored the intro to the chemistry lab assignment in high school, blew off the teacher's feedback on the biochem report in college, and told an idiotfreund named Helmut to go die in a fire while in grad school, i'm not one for long, drawn-out intros to a computer project that, all told, took me, on my own, about 2 hours to complete. without any teacher's assistance. this, by the way, is the class i "didn't" want to take, but it sets me up nicely down the road for some other classes. but, for those of you keeping score at home, the total "ooh! glad he said that!" moments in this class are at 1.5... total. oi!
so anyhoo, that's the aside and why i'm glad it's the weekend. and why you may have heard someone over the horizon singing, "beer me, doctor!" sometime thursday evening around 11pm.
--goose
on to the shoutouts!
SUPERBONUS EXTRASPECIAL SUPERCHUNKY SHOUTOUT TO: my cousins Patti and Paula M. of Falls Church, MD for their wonderful care package of 3 (three) jars of Skippy superchunk peanut butter! the awe that said package inspired caused the following overheard comments around the geography department: "you're 30 and you eat peanut butter like a 5-yr old." "skippy? your cousins got any boxes meant for me?" and (from a total MILF): "my son eats peanut butter all the time too. i don't know what i'd cook if he didn't like it." which of course got me wondering how many different ways you can include peanut butter into cooking. obviously, the PBJ and PBJB (bananas) are the gold standard use for peanut butter. equally enticing is peanut butter chicken, sometimes hautily described on fancy menus as "chicken satay". i'm not fooled. then there's the excellent, if hard-to-get-ronny jockitch's-to-make-it-right: peanut butter burger. YUM! ask the T3 of newark, nj. he got me on it whilst in tacoma. of course, the muhas at ronny jockitch (please say you know the restaurant by it's proper name...) will then add mustard, ketchup, mayonaisse (BLAGH!) and the rest to the burger too. or, if you tell them the precise order (burger. buns. lettuce. tomato. peanut butter. that's it...) they'll put on such a tiny portion of PB that it's like they're afraid of it. and then they'll all stand agape watching as i power it back with a vanilla coke and chili cheese fries.... i'm getting hungry! anyone else up for a quick drive to mohegan sun and a little late night burger? or any of the other 10million places johnny rocket's exists? so, i got 3 items that are "meal"-oriented. then there's apples, carrots, celery, chocolate, ice cream, cake, cookies, and PB-sculptures (that's right...) if anyone knows a nice lamb or fish recipe incorporating said skippy peanut butter, let me know. i have eugene to test drive all dishes.
excellent shout-out to the good dr. carr, formerly of st.louis, mo and briefly in houston, tx. i hear the boards were passed? nice! next time you're in houston though, do call me. it's the closest town to college station. oops! and pea-sized whoopwhoops to the little girls. they are taking to beach and island life, as the photos can attest.
diggitydang WTF shoutout to people who manage IPs. that's "internet provider". get this: my internet worked only at home for a week. then only at school for a week. but never both. why? four competing firewalls shut down my computer's ability to talk to the wireless routers that are strung up (metaphysically of course) all around town. does my computer ever say that i got 4 firewalls that are not even remotely working in concert quietly in the background? no. and better yet, with the windows-installed network connections, you don't even get the button to click that would clear that all up. fortunately for me, i had nothing but free time this week (ha!) to spend about 8 hours trying to match the 2 passwords that i had originally put in a week ago. amazing. i want seamless service and possibilities. not headaches and yearnings for our old 2400kbs modem from 1993...
finally, booyah! shoutout to the mom for her on-going efforts to clear up a minor little headache known as the "goose has no place to stay over thanksgiving". turns out, if you make a reservation online, these people expect you to read and click some button on an email they send confirming your reservation request. and turns out, dear old dad, whose favorite hardware is "a dixon-ticonderoga 2.0" and (now this is no joke) uses both a "reverse-polish" calculator and an abacus to balance his chequebook, didn't read said email or reply to it. but the mom, currently in possession of "world's best mom" title for a record 16th consecutive year (don't ask about her "grounded for eternity" campaign platform from when i was 13 and, um... didn't come home from a party on time... turns out, the base didn't like that proposal...)... anyhow, turns out she got the reservation resurrected. hawai'i, here i come! so BOOYAH! mom! BOOYAH! (and don't worry, booyahs are good t'ings...)
Monday, September 11, 2006
Reliving Five Years Ago... and a call to love
It's hard to avoid or miss the fifth anniversary of the 9.11.01 attacks, even when you have your head tucked into books or your eyes glued to football. Everyone knows where they were. And I'm no exception. I still remember hearing it on the radio, all tucked into my blankets back at the Taft House, in that way you hear things when you're half-asleep. I roused myself once the radio station dropped it's usual morning banter. So I headed downstairs and turned on the television. And that's where I saw the rest of it.
I still remember the fruitless calls to Kurt and Alison's cell phones. I still remember just sobbing on the I-95 as I headed to class. I remember thinking "why am I going to class?" and not referring to not being prepared or caring in the topic. I remember walking into the 10am lecture room and finding a class finishing up while everyone else who came to school were downstairs listening to the television or radio or trying to call from the pay phone in the building. I remember heading back to the Taft House with Clayt and watching the lady down the street stare off at the little plume of smoke and haze that drifted the over the horizon. Her daughter. I remember noticing how pretty the sunset was and how quiet the night was.
It's amazing how fast things can change.
Fortunately, Kurt (trying to head down town) and Alison (away from her apartment when it all happened and then evacuated from the market district) were fine. Sadly, there's thousands of sad stories from that day.
But I remember. And I'm caught between wanting to hit back and knowing the people I'm hitting are just as innocent as the people hit on 9.11.01. We've already shown how phenomenally bad we are at getting the bogeymen. They will forever lurk in the shadows of our minds. They will forever pull you from a good night's sleep. That's what they do. As a concept and imaginary figure, they are powerful. And we know they hide behind rocks and mosques and families and children and farms and hospitals and who knows where else so that they stay just out of sight, just out of reach. There is evil in this world. There is no denying that. So we can fight that evil, take it head on, and fight until it gives up. But that's the thing. A concept doesn't give up. It will just appear somewhere else. Someone else takes on the persona and suddenly soldiers are off to Indonesia or the Philippines or central London. So rather than make a mess of every Mid-eastern, pan-Arab nation and neighborhood in the world in our quest to purge terror and evil while destroying thousands of innocent, young lives for every "target" we get, I say we try something different, beyond turning off the talking heads who seem to direct our national policy more and more every day:
Be human. Be human first. Be human last. Be human always. We all take joy at witnessing a birth, we all celebrate our achievements and birthdays, we all blush at first love, find quiet moments when we are at peace, sit with passing thoughts that run through the mind, and cherish friends and family. We laugh in same tones and mourn with familiar tears. We dream. Are we so different really? Then why must we insist so? And why do we let people insist for us? So, dear friends and readers, do your part and be human. Pull the lens back far enough and you'll see the truth in this.
And as St. Francis of Assisi said, "Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love."
"Love One Another."
~Judeo-Christian
"As the source of both internal and external peace, [love and compassion] is fundamental." ~Buddhism
"God loves those who do good."
~Muslim
"Teach me to love all my friends. By loving them, may I find Thy love in everyone I meet."
~Hindu
"To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage."
~Taoism
--goose
(and a special big shout-out to the good dr. mav, currently of st.louis, on his surgical boards! take names!)
I still remember the fruitless calls to Kurt and Alison's cell phones. I still remember just sobbing on the I-95 as I headed to class. I remember thinking "why am I going to class?" and not referring to not being prepared or caring in the topic. I remember walking into the 10am lecture room and finding a class finishing up while everyone else who came to school were downstairs listening to the television or radio or trying to call from the pay phone in the building. I remember heading back to the Taft House with Clayt and watching the lady down the street stare off at the little plume of smoke and haze that drifted the over the horizon. Her daughter. I remember noticing how pretty the sunset was and how quiet the night was.
It's amazing how fast things can change.
Fortunately, Kurt (trying to head down town) and Alison (away from her apartment when it all happened and then evacuated from the market district) were fine. Sadly, there's thousands of sad stories from that day.
But I remember. And I'm caught between wanting to hit back and knowing the people I'm hitting are just as innocent as the people hit on 9.11.01. We've already shown how phenomenally bad we are at getting the bogeymen. They will forever lurk in the shadows of our minds. They will forever pull you from a good night's sleep. That's what they do. As a concept and imaginary figure, they are powerful. And we know they hide behind rocks and mosques and families and children and farms and hospitals and who knows where else so that they stay just out of sight, just out of reach. There is evil in this world. There is no denying that. So we can fight that evil, take it head on, and fight until it gives up. But that's the thing. A concept doesn't give up. It will just appear somewhere else. Someone else takes on the persona and suddenly soldiers are off to Indonesia or the Philippines or central London. So rather than make a mess of every Mid-eastern, pan-Arab nation and neighborhood in the world in our quest to purge terror and evil while destroying thousands of innocent, young lives for every "target" we get, I say we try something different, beyond turning off the talking heads who seem to direct our national policy more and more every day:
Be human. Be human first. Be human last. Be human always. We all take joy at witnessing a birth, we all celebrate our achievements and birthdays, we all blush at first love, find quiet moments when we are at peace, sit with passing thoughts that run through the mind, and cherish friends and family. We laugh in same tones and mourn with familiar tears. We dream. Are we so different really? Then why must we insist so? And why do we let people insist for us? So, dear friends and readers, do your part and be human. Pull the lens back far enough and you'll see the truth in this.
And as St. Francis of Assisi said, "Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love."
"Love One Another."
~Judeo-Christian
"As the source of both internal and external peace, [love and compassion] is fundamental." ~Buddhism
"God loves those who do good."
~Muslim
"Teach me to love all my friends. By loving them, may I find Thy love in everyone I meet."
~Hindu
"To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage."
~Taoism
--goose
(and a special big shout-out to the good dr. mav, currently of st.louis, on his surgical boards! take names!)
Friday, September 08, 2006
Now Let Me Clear My Throat!
it's the Friday Shout-Outs Edition, Homey-omeys!
With A Special Dedication to everyone in Bahama Bay Nation, a big-upzz rip-your-lines shout-out to DJ Kool for using his lyrics to stylize today's shout-outs!
"Keep Making Noise!" Shout-out to Humberto, our bringer of goodwill today. Precisely at 9:15am, the cloistery went online. Side benefit to internet in the house (apart from that foul stuff you just thought of, Corcoran...), cable tv! side no-benefit (or, in the econ manner "cost") home study effort just found a new obstacle (side note to the mother: i'm at work right now...)
"Some of Y'all are with be, and some of y'all won't!" shout-out to the flurry of emails i sent out this afternoon. my big two boxes of things finally arrived from st.croix and with them, my address book.
"Have mercy, babe! I hope you don't mind!" shout-out to the Heidididio, formerly of Reno, NV and parts unknown. Big congratulations on the nuptials! I tried to put this as close to the top as possible so that you wouldn't get bored and miss it! Be glad I wasn't there. I bounced a 102-degree fever home with me on my plane.
"Peace Out to C-Lo, Flex, and Doug Lazy!" shout-out to Tyson and Joy S. of Newark, NJ! The C-Lo reference should be obvious enough. Not so obvious is the Doug Lazy (i.e. the piano stand hopefully taking up space in your place that I couldn't get without backtracking 500 miles...)
"Now I Need Some Help From the Maestro, Please!" Shout-out to the Mayor McCheese of St. Croix. You win the "1st to comment" award. Now my mom won't feel weird adding comments. A thought that somehow gives me the willies...
And Finally: "Special Dedication going out to all the ladies and all the brothers in here, like to love y'all to death here!" shout-out to everyone. the settling in is much more complete knowing you're all just a few typed letters away!
Today's True Headline (Courtesy Elibzeff B. of St. Thomas, VI):
"Abuse Counselor Arrested for DUI"
have a great weekend!
With A Special Dedication to everyone in Bahama Bay Nation, a big-upzz rip-your-lines shout-out to DJ Kool for using his lyrics to stylize today's shout-outs!
"Keep Making Noise!" Shout-out to Humberto, our bringer of goodwill today. Precisely at 9:15am, the cloistery went online. Side benefit to internet in the house (apart from that foul stuff you just thought of, Corcoran...), cable tv! side no-benefit (or, in the econ manner "cost") home study effort just found a new obstacle (side note to the mother: i'm at work right now...)
"Some of Y'all are with be, and some of y'all won't!" shout-out to the flurry of emails i sent out this afternoon. my big two boxes of things finally arrived from st.croix and with them, my address book.
"Have mercy, babe! I hope you don't mind!" shout-out to the Heidididio, formerly of Reno, NV and parts unknown. Big congratulations on the nuptials! I tried to put this as close to the top as possible so that you wouldn't get bored and miss it! Be glad I wasn't there. I bounced a 102-degree fever home with me on my plane.
"Peace Out to C-Lo, Flex, and Doug Lazy!" shout-out to Tyson and Joy S. of Newark, NJ! The C-Lo reference should be obvious enough. Not so obvious is the Doug Lazy (i.e. the piano stand hopefully taking up space in your place that I couldn't get without backtracking 500 miles...)
"Now I Need Some Help From the Maestro, Please!" Shout-out to the Mayor McCheese of St. Croix. You win the "1st to comment" award. Now my mom won't feel weird adding comments. A thought that somehow gives me the willies...
And Finally: "Special Dedication going out to all the ladies and all the brothers in here, like to love y'all to death here!" shout-out to everyone. the settling in is much more complete knowing you're all just a few typed letters away!
Today's True Headline (Courtesy Elibzeff B. of St. Thomas, VI):
"Abuse Counselor Arrested for DUI"
have a great weekend!
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
mid-week shout outs!
a WTF shoutout to all high school math teachers! it's now certified. the majority of students in my lab sections are a bit uncertain in their math skills. to the point they confuse themselves over what happens when you add/subtract some number from zero.
a happy humpday shoutout to Elibzeff B. of St. Thomas, VI. simply b/c i know she giggles when i say "humpday."
a crazy, low-down hug-a-brotha shoutout to brycer of san fran, ca. he has officially re-established the criteria for a d-dialing. good luck trying to meet that standard, friends.
inauspicious, buddhist greeting shoutout to the texas a&m football team. having lined up the citadel in their sights last week, they now take on army. let the suckage begin!
and finally, double-fist-pump holla at ya boy shoutout to the one person (possibly two) who get the buddhist reference above.
--goose
a happy humpday shoutout to Elibzeff B. of St. Thomas, VI. simply b/c i know she giggles when i say "humpday."
a crazy, low-down hug-a-brotha shoutout to brycer of san fran, ca. he has officially re-established the criteria for a d-dialing. good luck trying to meet that standard, friends.
inauspicious, buddhist greeting shoutout to the texas a&m football team. having lined up the citadel in their sights last week, they now take on army. let the suckage begin!
and finally, double-fist-pump holla at ya boy shoutout to the one person (possibly two) who get the buddhist reference above.
--goose
simplifying life in 10 easy steps!
americans have a fascination with making life easier. i haven't quite figured out this fascination with something that might be categorized as an effort to "modernize". why waste ten minutes of your precious time cutting tomatoes that end up being all pulpy and messy when you can get that auto-dicer that does it perfectly every time? as a part-time fan of late-night infomercials (from my periodic insomnia), i have seen nearly every last shortcut for some human endeavour. don't like sit-ups? get that pro wrestling-sized belt that shoots electrodes through your ab muscles. get ripped sitting on the couch! need to make perfect omelettes? or complicated braids for your hair? the message, as always is: your time is more valuable than going to the gym or slicing tomatoes. we americans value our "free time", even when invariably, those extra free minutes each day are squandered by the go-go mentality of trying to do it all.
so why is this today's subject? well, "free time" in the ph.d.-candidate world-view is a highly ambiguous, and oftentimes ephemeral concept. apart from attending class and leading my lab section, technically all my time is "free". i don't "have" to do my readings, and i don't have to do a literature review. there are short-cuts out there. and in a class with 20 people, chances are i could fake a discussion if pressed. and i could just read abstracts or cross-reference papers (referencing a paper simply from reading its citation in a second paper...) but that, in my humble opinion, "lessens" the experience. so it's hard work! woo-hoo! reading until 2am, watching the first 20 minutes of "Wallace & Gromit" b/c any more would waste your window of falling asleep, volunteering for innumerable requests from various professors/advisors to help them. i want to, in all senses and varieties of the term, EARN my degree.
of course, hang around a university office long enough, and you'll begin to wonder if it's more insane asylum than ivory tower. the story is that we all go crazy at some point. maybe it's by degrees. maybe it's a clock-tower-esque total meltdown. but, i hope, it's not inevitable. as a result, i'm girding my sanity with some daily rituals, which, over time, hopefully will both shape me professionally/personally, and keep my sanity. for your reading pleasure, i present: "Goose's 10 easy steps to sanity"!
1) change your alarm time. daily. pre-establishing what time you "need to wake up" is building stress into your day before it even starts. for convention, i like to vary it b/n 7:10am (MW) and 9:49 (TR). on Friday (F), i like to play russian roulette. it makes it exciting! you wake up, say at 8:00am, and you start thinking, "is it about to go off? can i lay here for 30 minutes playing fifa soccer on my computer before it goes off? 2 hours? all day?" see, instead of stress, you start with hopeful possibilities and optimism! of course, to be on the safe side, i limit the "blind setting" to no later than 4pm. which is when the "non"-mandatory guest lecture begins.
2) whistle. no kidding. the halls here are nice and echo-ey. and i remember reading an article whilst at yale saying something like "happier people whistle" or maybe it was "guys whistle when thinking about girls". i can't recall. either way, your happiness quotient improves. to recount: happiness +2, stress 0.
3) pack exciting things for lunch. like twinkies. happiness +4, stress +0.5 (simply b/c you know that a) you're 30 and are probably the only person in the building with twinkies for lunch, and b) that whole "bad diet leads to heart attack" idea...
4) read the comics. for regular readers, you know that i read 6 comics religiously. find your 6. 7 if you insist "better or worse" or "hagar" are funny/entertaining. if you're unable to find a couple good ones, may i recommend: "over the hedge" (esp. if you have the LA experience), "pearls before swine", and foxtrot (esp. since the good dr.mav, as a young collegian, confided the daughter in said comic was "cute"). sure, people may catch you reading the latest dilbert and think you either unprofessional or scatter-brained. but realize, if they do think that, they are the ones needing help. relax, muha! enjoy "zits" and get over yourself. happiness +10 (+9 if boondocks gets a little too political or doonesbury isn't making fun of the president), stress 0 (reading over the hedge gets over your twinkies guilt...)
5) when conceptually lost or mentally fatigued, give yourself a pep talk. i like the one, "there's a guy farming yams in kenya, who does that every day for no money and his family is dirt poor and he's always tired, and he always works harder than you." it might make you feel more kinship with kenyans or agrarian farmers or sympathy for their plight. or, it might, for a few moments, get you to forget about whatever was bothering you. if you want to rise up and celebrate not being that yam farmer, good for you. if not, imagine being his assistant. that'll get you through the reading! happiness +5, stress +1 (temporary, once the work gets done, stress drops to -4)
6) get away from the work once a day. even yam farmers do other things. currently, i like the gym or grocery shopping or fiddling with the antenna to get nbc. until i realize that nbc has no good shows. (happiness +8, stress -1) (the muscleheads at the gym remain a bit too much...)
7) pack in as many things as you can whilst standing. for example, before sitting down when you get home, start cooking. then maybe go freshen up. then maybe check the mail. then maybe organize shoes, or something. so when you do get to sitting down, you get to think things like, "YEA!" and "man this stirfry is tasty 5 nights in a row!" or "that phone better not ring b/c i forgot to grab it and bring it over here." (happiness +11, stress -4)
8) ponder shaving options after your shower. then spend time convincing euge to join the "mustache club". (happiness + 12 or +21 if euge joins, stress -9)
9) celebrate the little things. you'd think that this is a bit redundant. but not having the opportunity to go climb everest or disappear into the amazon for a month doesn't mean that the routine must become routine. another way to put it: amuse yourself. for example, this week i've turned my bike route from home to campus into a slalom course. the gates? undergrads of course. and yes, time yourself. (happiness +22 or + 25 if you clip a few gates, stress -11 or +4 if the gate wants to press charges...)
10) finally, the best way to simplify life is to remember rule #1: "there are no rules". when in doubt, check rule #2: "SEE rule #1". stress is self-made. and therefore, self-eliminated.
ok, i'm off. i got a great Super G course to the gym. theme music i'll be whistling "always let your conscience be your guide" (give a little whistle). time to beat: 6:18.05
--goose
so why is this today's subject? well, "free time" in the ph.d.-candidate world-view is a highly ambiguous, and oftentimes ephemeral concept. apart from attending class and leading my lab section, technically all my time is "free". i don't "have" to do my readings, and i don't have to do a literature review. there are short-cuts out there. and in a class with 20 people, chances are i could fake a discussion if pressed. and i could just read abstracts or cross-reference papers (referencing a paper simply from reading its citation in a second paper...) but that, in my humble opinion, "lessens" the experience. so it's hard work! woo-hoo! reading until 2am, watching the first 20 minutes of "Wallace & Gromit" b/c any more would waste your window of falling asleep, volunteering for innumerable requests from various professors/advisors to help them. i want to, in all senses and varieties of the term, EARN my degree.
of course, hang around a university office long enough, and you'll begin to wonder if it's more insane asylum than ivory tower. the story is that we all go crazy at some point. maybe it's by degrees. maybe it's a clock-tower-esque total meltdown. but, i hope, it's not inevitable. as a result, i'm girding my sanity with some daily rituals, which, over time, hopefully will both shape me professionally/personally, and keep my sanity. for your reading pleasure, i present: "Goose's 10 easy steps to sanity"!
1) change your alarm time. daily. pre-establishing what time you "need to wake up" is building stress into your day before it even starts. for convention, i like to vary it b/n 7:10am (MW) and 9:49 (TR). on Friday (F), i like to play russian roulette. it makes it exciting! you wake up, say at 8:00am, and you start thinking, "is it about to go off? can i lay here for 30 minutes playing fifa soccer on my computer before it goes off? 2 hours? all day?" see, instead of stress, you start with hopeful possibilities and optimism! of course, to be on the safe side, i limit the "blind setting" to no later than 4pm. which is when the "non"-mandatory guest lecture begins.
2) whistle. no kidding. the halls here are nice and echo-ey. and i remember reading an article whilst at yale saying something like "happier people whistle" or maybe it was "guys whistle when thinking about girls". i can't recall. either way, your happiness quotient improves. to recount: happiness +2, stress 0.
3) pack exciting things for lunch. like twinkies. happiness +4, stress +0.5 (simply b/c you know that a) you're 30 and are probably the only person in the building with twinkies for lunch, and b) that whole "bad diet leads to heart attack" idea...
4) read the comics. for regular readers, you know that i read 6 comics religiously. find your 6. 7 if you insist "better or worse" or "hagar" are funny/entertaining. if you're unable to find a couple good ones, may i recommend: "over the hedge" (esp. if you have the LA experience), "pearls before swine", and foxtrot (esp. since the good dr.mav, as a young collegian, confided the daughter in said comic was "cute"). sure, people may catch you reading the latest dilbert and think you either unprofessional or scatter-brained. but realize, if they do think that, they are the ones needing help. relax, muha! enjoy "zits" and get over yourself. happiness +10 (+9 if boondocks gets a little too political or doonesbury isn't making fun of the president), stress 0 (reading over the hedge gets over your twinkies guilt...)
5) when conceptually lost or mentally fatigued, give yourself a pep talk. i like the one, "there's a guy farming yams in kenya, who does that every day for no money and his family is dirt poor and he's always tired, and he always works harder than you." it might make you feel more kinship with kenyans or agrarian farmers or sympathy for their plight. or, it might, for a few moments, get you to forget about whatever was bothering you. if you want to rise up and celebrate not being that yam farmer, good for you. if not, imagine being his assistant. that'll get you through the reading! happiness +5, stress +1 (temporary, once the work gets done, stress drops to -4)
6) get away from the work once a day. even yam farmers do other things. currently, i like the gym or grocery shopping or fiddling with the antenna to get nbc. until i realize that nbc has no good shows. (happiness +8, stress -1) (the muscleheads at the gym remain a bit too much...)
7) pack in as many things as you can whilst standing. for example, before sitting down when you get home, start cooking. then maybe go freshen up. then maybe check the mail. then maybe organize shoes, or something. so when you do get to sitting down, you get to think things like, "YEA!" and "man this stirfry is tasty 5 nights in a row!" or "that phone better not ring b/c i forgot to grab it and bring it over here." (happiness +11, stress -4)
8) ponder shaving options after your shower. then spend time convincing euge to join the "mustache club". (happiness + 12 or +21 if euge joins, stress -9)
9) celebrate the little things. you'd think that this is a bit redundant. but not having the opportunity to go climb everest or disappear into the amazon for a month doesn't mean that the routine must become routine. another way to put it: amuse yourself. for example, this week i've turned my bike route from home to campus into a slalom course. the gates? undergrads of course. and yes, time yourself. (happiness +22 or + 25 if you clip a few gates, stress -11 or +4 if the gate wants to press charges...)
10) finally, the best way to simplify life is to remember rule #1: "there are no rules". when in doubt, check rule #2: "SEE rule #1". stress is self-made. and therefore, self-eliminated.
ok, i'm off. i got a great Super G course to the gym. theme music i'll be whistling "always let your conscience be your guide" (give a little whistle). time to beat: 6:18.05
--goose
Monday, September 04, 2006
a very special monday shout-outs
first, a big "too soon, mate, too soon!" shout-out to the crocodile hunter. as you all know by now, steve irwin met the sharp side of a sting ray earlier today and died from the resultant trauma. all in all, i wouldn't have predicted that. after all, this was the guy who swam with hundreds of bull sharks, caught thousands of crocs, wrangled sea snakes (the most poisonous on the planet), and pulled off any number of other "you couldn't pay me a million bucks to do that" on his always popular, once must-see show. and as i'm certain dear friend, fellow yalie and ocean-lover elibzeff b. of st.thomas can agree, hearing that a sting ray killed steve produced an immediate WTF?!!!!
my bet is it takes all of 30 minutes for cnn and fox news to come up with some hideously overblown "when stingrays attack" special. but, in terms of actual danger to someone's life, a stingray falls somewhere between fire coral and a stone wall. sure, if you roll on top of fire coral for a good long while, you might die from toxic shock, and if you mess with a stone wall for a while, sooner or later it's going to topple on top of you, but in general, both are neatly avoidable and, barring your stupidity to bother them, they tend to give you plenty of warnings to stop before you do actually die. but there you are. instead of swimming away like every other stingray i've ever observed (and sometimes touched...), this one throws its tail up and gets him in the heart. what a pity. what a shame. and seriously, that's some bad luck. he will be missed.
my bet is it takes all of 30 minutes for cnn and fox news to come up with some hideously overblown "when stingrays attack" special. but, in terms of actual danger to someone's life, a stingray falls somewhere between fire coral and a stone wall. sure, if you roll on top of fire coral for a good long while, you might die from toxic shock, and if you mess with a stone wall for a while, sooner or later it's going to topple on top of you, but in general, both are neatly avoidable and, barring your stupidity to bother them, they tend to give you plenty of warnings to stop before you do actually die. but there you are. instead of swimming away like every other stingray i've ever observed (and sometimes touched...), this one throws its tail up and gets him in the heart. what a pity. what a shame. and seriously, that's some bad luck. he will be missed.
the post-mortem of teaching
it should come as no surprise that usc crushed arkansas. in fact, it was such a blowout that 1) i don't feel bad driving 580 miles to the game (and another 580 back), and 2) we didn't even watch most of the 4th quarter.
in case you're wondering, there is quite the contingent of usc alums / former faculty here at texas a&m. in fact, there's a sneaking suspicion that certain elements of the faculty are actively recruiting their best usc students to undertake a ph.d. here. don't believe me? how about this: of the current crop of ph.d.-bound students, fully 7.5% have a root at southern cal. there aren't even that many texas a&m grads continuing on here. and, removing those individuals with undergraduate degrees abroad, that number jumps to 19%! what can you say?
on a side note, i do believe i am the only one with an ivy league degree too. who says you can't have it all?!! damn! i'm fine! that's right! one fine hunk o'man! just dip me in butter!
okay, enough self-posturing. the weekend, having come and gone, is now just a notch on the very long and nearly-unnotched totem that counts my time here. 1 notch in! as the buddhist say, "even a journey of a 1000 miles begins with 1 step." i must admit there are some in the camp who are hoping for journey of less than 1000 miles. which would be nice. but at times, based on things i discover, how some people who are finishing up behave, 1000 miles might just be the outskirts of the destination. the goal, as always, is to remain aware of the destination and the path that leads me there. and if i can get away with skipping along the path sometimes, why not?
ok, enough self-uplifting. for today's topic is: my first TA session! as seasoned readers can attest, a certain portion of my life (namely 2003 and 2004) were dedicated to the profession of teaching. in particular, teaching mathematics. for all its faults (and they are myriad), i was always quite comfortable in front of a classroom, and my instructional style both fit my personality (students can spot a fake from a mile away) and benefitted their learning (or so i would like to believe, though if SAT scores can be a gauge, i didn't leave so deep an impression as i would have liked). so go figure today, after several days of thinking, "the TA-ing will be a joke!" i found myself nervous as the students filed in, more or less on time. was it the newish material i was expected to be master of? certainly, that couldn't explain it. after all, i had taught calculus for 2 years with sometimes little more than a quick review of the material to guide me and the awesome skill of recognizing when i was both 1) wrong and 2) confusing the students, leading me to quickly erase the board and start over, whilst saying something like, "okay, one more time. let's see if you guys can follow the Chain Rule this way..." (ahh! the secrets of teaching revealed!)... was it being away from the classroom? or was it not knowing the level of knowledge of the students? to be honest, i still haven't determined why i was nervous. but i did discover 3 things: 1) no matter what people say, a good kid in a bad school can be at least as successful in an academic setting as a mediocre kid in a great school, 2) you figure out the moment the students start trusting and liking you in a college setting b/c they go from the dazed look of every student to asking whether you had seen some movie "X" or fished on some river "Y" or ever visited some place "Z". and loyal readers will know, and to this i admit a weakness to vanity, i did drop the "let's use st. croix as an example." if some people name drop, i place drop. a geography lab is, therefore, a great excuse to do the "okay, so when i lived in australia, at the december solstice, the sun made a 90-degree..." you get the idea? so, in the course of 2 hours, while i learned a little bit about the students (they're atrocious at math, didn't think about reading the lab ahead of time, are hard workers, and are very polite), they found out that i had, through lab-oriented examples, mind you, lived in the virgin islands, france, australia, and northern norway (the last might be a bit of a stretch insomuch as i haven't actually lived there, but it was the only way to discuss why the sun doesn't set above the arctic circle in june...). as i always say, the greatest challenge of a teacher is being an entertainer. think about it. then tell me that i'm wrong.
actually, don't. i like my gentle ignorances.
final note: so yesterday (sunday) was a great day. nothing special happened. didn't really do much. did read about 80 pages for 1 class. did read about 6 journal articles (another 60 pages). but most importantly: i made a superb stir-fry! on the exclamation point scale, that's like:
stir-fry!!!!!!
it might even be higher. now why was this stir-fry so tasty? after all, to those out there who enjoy the cooking effort, a stir-fry is about 1 step beyond making toast. poorly. but, in the world of the "bachelor ph.d. student life", making stir-fry that is tasty and waiting for you after a long day of reading, is like sailing to your home and knowing sitting on that dock is your best girl waiting with a nice big chocolate cake.
don't believe me? try eating dried carrots and frozen pizzas for a week and tell me otherwise.
actually, don't. as i said, i like my gentle ignorances.
in case you're wondering, there is quite the contingent of usc alums / former faculty here at texas a&m. in fact, there's a sneaking suspicion that certain elements of the faculty are actively recruiting their best usc students to undertake a ph.d. here. don't believe me? how about this: of the current crop of ph.d.-bound students, fully 7.5% have a root at southern cal. there aren't even that many texas a&m grads continuing on here. and, removing those individuals with undergraduate degrees abroad, that number jumps to 19%! what can you say?
on a side note, i do believe i am the only one with an ivy league degree too. who says you can't have it all?!! damn! i'm fine! that's right! one fine hunk o'man! just dip me in butter!
okay, enough self-posturing. the weekend, having come and gone, is now just a notch on the very long and nearly-unnotched totem that counts my time here. 1 notch in! as the buddhist say, "even a journey of a 1000 miles begins with 1 step." i must admit there are some in the camp who are hoping for journey of less than 1000 miles. which would be nice. but at times, based on things i discover, how some people who are finishing up behave, 1000 miles might just be the outskirts of the destination. the goal, as always, is to remain aware of the destination and the path that leads me there. and if i can get away with skipping along the path sometimes, why not?
ok, enough self-uplifting. for today's topic is: my first TA session! as seasoned readers can attest, a certain portion of my life (namely 2003 and 2004) were dedicated to the profession of teaching. in particular, teaching mathematics. for all its faults (and they are myriad), i was always quite comfortable in front of a classroom, and my instructional style both fit my personality (students can spot a fake from a mile away) and benefitted their learning (or so i would like to believe, though if SAT scores can be a gauge, i didn't leave so deep an impression as i would have liked). so go figure today, after several days of thinking, "the TA-ing will be a joke!" i found myself nervous as the students filed in, more or less on time. was it the newish material i was expected to be master of? certainly, that couldn't explain it. after all, i had taught calculus for 2 years with sometimes little more than a quick review of the material to guide me and the awesome skill of recognizing when i was both 1) wrong and 2) confusing the students, leading me to quickly erase the board and start over, whilst saying something like, "okay, one more time. let's see if you guys can follow the Chain Rule this way..." (ahh! the secrets of teaching revealed!)... was it being away from the classroom? or was it not knowing the level of knowledge of the students? to be honest, i still haven't determined why i was nervous. but i did discover 3 things: 1) no matter what people say, a good kid in a bad school can be at least as successful in an academic setting as a mediocre kid in a great school, 2) you figure out the moment the students start trusting and liking you in a college setting b/c they go from the dazed look of every student to asking whether you had seen some movie "X" or fished on some river "Y" or ever visited some place "Z". and loyal readers will know, and to this i admit a weakness to vanity, i did drop the "let's use st. croix as an example." if some people name drop, i place drop. a geography lab is, therefore, a great excuse to do the "okay, so when i lived in australia, at the december solstice, the sun made a 90-degree..." you get the idea? so, in the course of 2 hours, while i learned a little bit about the students (they're atrocious at math, didn't think about reading the lab ahead of time, are hard workers, and are very polite), they found out that i had, through lab-oriented examples, mind you, lived in the virgin islands, france, australia, and northern norway (the last might be a bit of a stretch insomuch as i haven't actually lived there, but it was the only way to discuss why the sun doesn't set above the arctic circle in june...). as i always say, the greatest challenge of a teacher is being an entertainer. think about it. then tell me that i'm wrong.
actually, don't. i like my gentle ignorances.
final note: so yesterday (sunday) was a great day. nothing special happened. didn't really do much. did read about 80 pages for 1 class. did read about 6 journal articles (another 60 pages). but most importantly: i made a superb stir-fry! on the exclamation point scale, that's like:
stir-fry!!!!!!
it might even be higher. now why was this stir-fry so tasty? after all, to those out there who enjoy the cooking effort, a stir-fry is about 1 step beyond making toast. poorly. but, in the world of the "bachelor ph.d. student life", making stir-fry that is tasty and waiting for you after a long day of reading, is like sailing to your home and knowing sitting on that dock is your best girl waiting with a nice big chocolate cake.
don't believe me? try eating dried carrots and frozen pizzas for a week and tell me otherwise.
actually, don't. as i said, i like my gentle ignorances.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
the saturday shout-outs!
first off: big love to the good family relations with penn state university credentials. you know who you are. i read this morning that psu isn't allowing alcohol at tail-gates????!!!!!! is nothing sacred any longer? one of my best family-related memories is from the 1985 or 1986 psu-pitt football game. the one where pitt beat psu, in large part due to a really weak holding or illegal blocking call against penn state that was completely on the other side of the field and had no bearing to the play. remember? anyhow, after the game, my psu relatives were having a tailgate. and they were probably a few years younger than i am now. i remember the food, the soda, my cousins singing songs and goofing off, and seeing, for the first time, a blow-up doll. now, now, don't go all reactive on me. the doll was dressed up and in pitt colors and the joke was obviously not meant for me. and, in the honor of all great adult humor, i didn't get it until i was a sophomore in college and, walking down trousdale to a usc/fucla game, i saw someone had done the same in bruin colors. and that's when the light went on in my head! so i send big love and good memories and sadness at the gutless, heartless criminializing of what once was a great weekend tradition. ergo, getting trashed at a football game.
much props to fellow trojans. me and euge (geography '99) were ready to drive to fayetteville to see the usc/arkansas game today. until we discovered that it's 560 miles away. and his paper isn't done. and i just drove that two weeks ago.
keen love and peace to drew l. of miami, fl. burning man?!!! really?!!! did you hear that the bonfire releases over 100-tonnes of greenhouse gases alone (not to mention any other burnables that one might wish to um... burn whilst there). and am i wrong in thinking that 1) it's a clothing-optional party and 2) i knew you'd get there one day?
restful peace and buddhist patient adoration to the clan l. of erie, pa. no internet (well, reliable internet that i have to pay for) for a week still. have no fear. we're already set up with the algorithm that models my gpa in a pre/post wow-world. the hockey-stick curve got nothing on me!
finally, big ??? love to texas a&m university. why ??? love? well, 1) they open today against the citadel (a div 1-aa school with "no passing game" according to the paper) and they're not favored by 50 points. that's a total ???. and 2) they don't give +/- on their grades here. anything above 90 is an A, anything 80-89 is a B, and so on and so forth. so you can get a 89.778 average and someone can get a 99.778 and you both score an A. that's a total ??? or as dr. mav of guam, guam would say, "WTF"???
beat the razorbacks!
much props to fellow trojans. me and euge (geography '99) were ready to drive to fayetteville to see the usc/arkansas game today. until we discovered that it's 560 miles away. and his paper isn't done. and i just drove that two weeks ago.
keen love and peace to drew l. of miami, fl. burning man?!!! really?!!! did you hear that the bonfire releases over 100-tonnes of greenhouse gases alone (not to mention any other burnables that one might wish to um... burn whilst there). and am i wrong in thinking that 1) it's a clothing-optional party and 2) i knew you'd get there one day?
restful peace and buddhist patient adoration to the clan l. of erie, pa. no internet (well, reliable internet that i have to pay for) for a week still. have no fear. we're already set up with the algorithm that models my gpa in a pre/post wow-world. the hockey-stick curve got nothing on me!
finally, big ??? love to texas a&m university. why ??? love? well, 1) they open today against the citadel (a div 1-aa school with "no passing game" according to the paper) and they're not favored by 50 points. that's a total ???. and 2) they don't give +/- on their grades here. anything above 90 is an A, anything 80-89 is a B, and so on and so forth. so you can get a 89.778 average and someone can get a 99.778 and you both score an A. that's a total ??? or as dr. mav of guam, guam would say, "WTF"???
beat the razorbacks!
the rules of undergrad/grad life (not what you think, d-mike!)
so it's saturday and i'm proud of three (3) things:
thing the first: that i made it through my first week of school unscathed, more or less prepared for class each day, and still on top of demands and commitments to my time.
thing the second: that i made it to the gym three times through said first week of school. unscathed. see "demands and commitments" above.
thing the third: that i know when to use "its" and "it's". see "more or less prepared" above.
it's a funny thing, really, how time's perspective (as opposed to conceptive) ebbs and flows depending on a variety of factors, some of which are controllable and others, like a meandering "guest" presentation on meso-scale farming modelling in developing countries, are quite well beyond your grasp. por ejemplo: by tuesday evening, me and euge were lamenting that it felt like thursday night yet we hadn't even gotten halfway through the week. now technically, since i have no class on fridays, i was at the hump, as it were, but i digress. the point being: wednesday, thursday, and friday were an absolute blur! and now it's saturday and i'm sure that there's college football on and i'm equally sure that there's a pile of papers in my bag that need a'reading. are these two interests mutually exclusive, kind of like the role of farming cooperatives and "the state's" ability to provide infrastructure in economically marginal lands for the greater production and profitiability of soy bean farmers? we shall see!
the goose's great idea of the week: abiding by a calendar. i don't think it's going to last, but i've been punctual for a whole 5 days (well, actually 4. i did come into the office at 10am on friday... but as mentioned above, by then my week was over..) but having a calendar is fun. it provides you a multitude of opportunities to say things like, "well, i'll have to check my schedule." or "maybe. i think i'm free, but i might not be." or "there's no way i'm going to that meeting. my calendar says it starts at 9am on friday and i'm booked for 'stealing someone's wi-fi connection.'"
(ooh! i love the grammatical punctualness! apostraphied it's and double-quotation marks goodness!)
on to today's final thought: in undergraduate life, you spend most (read: "all") of your time in/around your dorm, hanging out with friends, killing time, doing a bit of work, reading, watching tv, and planning your weekend.
in ph.d.-graduate life, you spend all (read: "all") of your time in/around your office, hanging out with friends, killing time, doing a bit of work, reading, watching youtube.com, and planning your weekend. the difference in experience is enormous! to clarify, as several of my loyal readers can attest, graduate school can be a bear at times, and apart from the stories i've heard about the first year of law or med school, the stress and obligations of the ph.d. program are ratched up several notches over any other single experience you've had. my typical (read: "not friday") day begins around 7am, when i wake up, make some coffee and generally get myself out the door for work by 8am. i'm one of the last people to get there. when not in class or the library (a tuesday/thursday routine of mine where i go to the 3rd floor, find the dewey decimal section for SH 105 (wetlands) or SQ 244 (fisheries), and check out a couple of books. they allow us 99 books at a time and, by the time christmas rolls around, i expect to have a full academic library in my office...) anyhow: when not in class, i spend the majority of my time at my desk, in an office with no windows. it would be claustrophobic (at times, it still is), but with everyone else there, many of whom are in similar stages of academic development and profitability, there's a kind of comraderie that develops. it's no surprise to me or euge that we can spend an astonishing 15 hours side by side and 1) not realize it, or 2) think that it's going to get mean and nasty one day from being in such proximity. there's work and there's not-work. and beautifully, in graduate life, they are mutually exclusive. now if only we could figure out a way to get them more in balance...
thing the first: that i made it through my first week of school unscathed, more or less prepared for class each day, and still on top of demands and commitments to my time.
thing the second: that i made it to the gym three times through said first week of school. unscathed. see "demands and commitments" above.
thing the third: that i know when to use "its" and "it's". see "more or less prepared" above.
it's a funny thing, really, how time's perspective (as opposed to conceptive) ebbs and flows depending on a variety of factors, some of which are controllable and others, like a meandering "guest" presentation on meso-scale farming modelling in developing countries, are quite well beyond your grasp. por ejemplo: by tuesday evening, me and euge were lamenting that it felt like thursday night yet we hadn't even gotten halfway through the week. now technically, since i have no class on fridays, i was at the hump, as it were, but i digress. the point being: wednesday, thursday, and friday were an absolute blur! and now it's saturday and i'm sure that there's college football on and i'm equally sure that there's a pile of papers in my bag that need a'reading. are these two interests mutually exclusive, kind of like the role of farming cooperatives and "the state's" ability to provide infrastructure in economically marginal lands for the greater production and profitiability of soy bean farmers? we shall see!
the goose's great idea of the week: abiding by a calendar. i don't think it's going to last, but i've been punctual for a whole 5 days (well, actually 4. i did come into the office at 10am on friday... but as mentioned above, by then my week was over..) but having a calendar is fun. it provides you a multitude of opportunities to say things like, "well, i'll have to check my schedule." or "maybe. i think i'm free, but i might not be." or "there's no way i'm going to that meeting. my calendar says it starts at 9am on friday and i'm booked for 'stealing someone's wi-fi connection.'"
(ooh! i love the grammatical punctualness! apostraphied it's and double-quotation marks goodness!)
on to today's final thought: in undergraduate life, you spend most (read: "all") of your time in/around your dorm, hanging out with friends, killing time, doing a bit of work, reading, watching tv, and planning your weekend.
in ph.d.-graduate life, you spend all (read: "all") of your time in/around your office, hanging out with friends, killing time, doing a bit of work, reading, watching youtube.com, and planning your weekend. the difference in experience is enormous! to clarify, as several of my loyal readers can attest, graduate school can be a bear at times, and apart from the stories i've heard about the first year of law or med school, the stress and obligations of the ph.d. program are ratched up several notches over any other single experience you've had. my typical (read: "not friday") day begins around 7am, when i wake up, make some coffee and generally get myself out the door for work by 8am. i'm one of the last people to get there. when not in class or the library (a tuesday/thursday routine of mine where i go to the 3rd floor, find the dewey decimal section for SH 105 (wetlands) or SQ 244 (fisheries), and check out a couple of books. they allow us 99 books at a time and, by the time christmas rolls around, i expect to have a full academic library in my office...) anyhow: when not in class, i spend the majority of my time at my desk, in an office with no windows. it would be claustrophobic (at times, it still is), but with everyone else there, many of whom are in similar stages of academic development and profitability, there's a kind of comraderie that develops. it's no surprise to me or euge that we can spend an astonishing 15 hours side by side and 1) not realize it, or 2) think that it's going to get mean and nasty one day from being in such proximity. there's work and there's not-work. and beautifully, in graduate life, they are mutually exclusive. now if only we could figure out a way to get them more in balance...
the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with...
...the elation that comes with seeing a furniture delivery guy stopping outside your house. and only 1.5 hours beyond the end of the 4-hour window for delivery. on the 3rd official attempt to deliver the furniture. 14 days of floor sleeping no more! scratch one more from the hordes of the impoverished out there who bed on straw or mats or under the stars on the savannah (actually, that one sounds good! sign me up!) progress has come to bryan, texas. and i answered the door. for a nice queen-sized sleigh bed, accompanying chest of drawers, side table, and portrait mirror. the extravagence and indulgence of all this! i'm so happy.
and did i mention the monkey chest? that's right!
i may need eugene to drag me out of my room from now on.
sole downer of the day (apart from the necessity of sitting through 3 delivery periods before finally getting the stuff delivered): the room is a bit narrow for all the furniture. ergo, there is no room for a desk. i think.
finally: bonus points to my history lecture and lector today. you know you've stumbled across a truly formidable mind when a professor paints a 1.5 hour portrait of the rise and ontology of geography as an academic discipline (not my word, 2006) with scarcely a glance at their notes. the lecture took us to dizzying heights, bringing in long-dead (???) philosophers like some sort of intellectual cameo appearance, boiling down words to their roots, both greek and familiar, stirring in an au jus of wit, and bringing it all together in literally the last minute of class. it was crazy. my only thought after: "we need him on our bar quiz team."
wednesday's dinner (as euge slowly goes crazy over a publishing deadline): pepperoni pizza with sliced carrots and celery.
and did i mention the monkey chest? that's right!
i may need eugene to drag me out of my room from now on.
sole downer of the day (apart from the necessity of sitting through 3 delivery periods before finally getting the stuff delivered): the room is a bit narrow for all the furniture. ergo, there is no room for a desk. i think.
finally: bonus points to my history lecture and lector today. you know you've stumbled across a truly formidable mind when a professor paints a 1.5 hour portrait of the rise and ontology of geography as an academic discipline (not my word, 2006) with scarcely a glance at their notes. the lecture took us to dizzying heights, bringing in long-dead (???) philosophers like some sort of intellectual cameo appearance, boiling down words to their roots, both greek and familiar, stirring in an au jus of wit, and bringing it all together in literally the last minute of class. it was crazy. my only thought after: "we need him on our bar quiz team."
wednesday's dinner (as euge slowly goes crazy over a publishing deadline): pepperoni pizza with sliced carrots and celery.
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