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Windfalls and thoughts - 19 March 2007
Mar. 19th, 2007 03:02 amToday was a good Sunday for me - the flier finally got completed (we ironed out all the bugs), and ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
2dlife and I were rattling off the bingoes in our Literati game - which, ironically, timed out before we could finish (he was doing real work, unlike me.) Finally got consistently good sets of letters and put them to use. I could see more bingoes, too - I just couldn’t place them. It was kind of like the light turned on today. Such a rare occasion where the brilliance in my head shines through so nicely.
There’s still more to do, but if this week pans out, much of it will end up done or in the editing phases. Which is the preferred state for me - while it doesn’t get rid of all the stress, it does get rid of the needless stuff. Anyway, today also involved some wandering about, getting a new printer cartridge, since I suspect mine’s going to give out soon after that marathon effort with the source code. And some binders - now I need to three-hole-punch the objects in question. And finish the search statements for the lab on Wednesday. Still, hopefully I’m going to be able to clear out everything but three projects, two of which will require only sporadic effort to keep on track. It’ll be good. For the most part, I’ve weathered the storm of the last semester. Can’t quit yet, but I can be confident this is it.
Also got to spend a little of someone else’s money in the bookstore today - so I got a few volumes (I’m still hopelessly behind, of course.) So some new reading material, which I will see if I can’t actually get to or through soon. I can get so focused sometimes...
Anyway, linktime. Jesus’s General reminds us that Haliburton is not the first company to profit and run. Ford did an excellent job of making money off the National Socialists, after all. On the other domestically political matter, one of the U.S. attorneys fired was just about to investigate CIA corruption. I wonder if similar potentially-embarrassing things will appear about the other attorneys dismissed. Suspicious things, these.
In Iraq, two objects of interest - first, the plane of the Australian prime minister en route to Baghdad. No serious injury or harm, and a second plane was boarded immediately. Could have just been a malfunction of some sort. But coupled with the second item, chlorine-gas bombs exploding in the western part of Iraq, there was probably an understandable cause for alarm. Linking together the violence with the artistry, or even the beauty, of photographs is Portraits of Violence, which has the pictures of gang members and suicide bombers.
In interplanetary matters, first water, now "caves" have been found on Mars. These sorts of discoveries are pushing up the idea that life might be livable on the Red Planet, assuming we can figure out things like providing atmosphere. I wonder whether we’ll have the technology to spin out colonies to far farther-flung worlds than Mars by the time we have the ability to fling colonies anywhere.
For the craftily-inclined, and yet another proof of the power of the knittnig mob, a project that asked crafters to knit sweaters for penguins was wonderfully successful. There were more than enough sweaters to not only fill the demand, but to create several kits around Tasmania in case of another spill. If you want to practice making cute and tiny things, the pattern is there. Apparently, because the premise of it sounds a bit on the outlandish side, Snopes has a page explaining what happened and confirming the gigantic success.
Out of the weird department, a gent found out that his flying companion was a bit stiff. And was not happy that it the living-impaired passenger had been seated next to him.
Yeah, that’s the links tonight. The thoughts are always different. There’s not necessarily a coherent whole point to them (although if you can find one, kudos to you, and let me know, so I can claim it was my plot all along.)
Guess I’m starting to hit the transitional point again - at those times where big changes are on the horizon, the mood turns introspective. (Actually, I suspect that at whatever point in my life I actually slow down enough to notice things going on around me, rather than trying hard to fill my life with activity all the time, I get introspective. Probably means I’m not yet comfortable enough with myself to look at myself.) I mean, with the progress that I’ve made so far, it’s all but a done deal that I’m going to be out, truly out, of school for the first time in my life in about six weeks. This isn’t really a “can’t sleep, future will eat me” kind of reaction, but it does make me go “Mod, that’s a lot of time I’ve spent studying. I wonder what I missed while I was trying to make the grade?”
I think it was just a chain of coincidences - while in the bookstore, I saw that Train_Man, the story about an otaku who has a lot of trouble just talking to a girl managing to make his way through love, with all of an Internet forum watching, on the shelf, and read the first couple chapters of it. I think I’ll want to add it to my series to get. I did end up getting Megatokyo Volume Four, which is the part where relationships really start to unfold and develop, for which many have said “It’s about time”. Seeing the comics next to each other, flowing together into a story that can be kept in mind much easier, lets you pick up on things easier. It, and the reworked “Circuitry” omake (of which I am familiar with, and a fan of, the source material), were all about those sorts of finding love things. Just a bunch of random things happening together, where I’m correlating them all because I can see a thread running through them. It may or may not be there (and may or may not be red), but the mind makes associations. Can certainly sympathize with the Train_Man, although thankfully, I don’t get too tongue-tied around women.
This is totally unrelated, but while in Borders, I saw some promotional material for Harry Potter 7, and they’re really playing up the “Whose side is Severus on, anyway?” bit. I think this lends credence to my theory about where Severus’s ultimate allegiances lie, but depending on how JK decides to take it, it could be a cross or a double-cross. Of course, I still hold in the back of my head that this entire seven-book series will turn out to have been about the wrong kid in the end. But that’s just speculation on my part.
I shaved yesterday, actually, and cut myself in the three places I usually do - twice on the chin, one on a finger. Luckily, none of the cuts are ever bad, (the one on the finger is more like a papercut annoyance) and I can take it in stride (“Whoops, there’s the red spots again.”) It’s one of those things that always seems to happen. Never necessarily in the same place, as the red spots will appear wherever they feel like being. Some parts of my life feel like they’ve been repeating themselves for a while, and not just the thins like classes. If the cosmos is trying to get me to learn something, then I’m not necessarily grokking it quite yet. Of course, after the enforced cycle breaks, maybe the other cycles will, too. It can’t always be SSDD.
We were always taught “Thou shalt not covet.” If someone else has something you want, you don’t get jealous over what they have, you find a way, within the law (“Thou shalt not steal” and “Thou shalt not bear false witness”) to get it for yourself. And it’s not just a person’s goods you don’t covet, you don’t covet the affection they have for their significant others. You’re not supposed to want what they have. You’re just supposed to go out and get it yourself. If you can’t, or won’t, well, tough shit. That’s your problem. And it always is “your problem” in these sorts of exercises - either through weakness of human nature, or sin, or karma (well, karma can be burnt off or evaded entirely, if done properly...), it’s both an easy way to absolve yourself of all blame and get all the blame dumped squarely on you.
Of all the characters and fragments of figments that I write and keep around as mental dialogue partners (I seem to do better talking out my problems, even if it is to the mirror, or a construct of some part of my personality that I then imagine into a persona. It’s the sane kind of talking to yourself. Actually, wouldn’t talking to yourself be considered somewhat of a sign of sanity? It’s the people who are always talking to gods or spirits that sometimes seem to cross the boundaries of sanity. Anyway, the technique’s helped me get through some of the harder Rails coding exercises, too. Talking to other people seems to work best, though), the one who was there first, although not necessarily the oldest by chronology, is unattached. Not because he’s not one of the greatest Mary-Sues there ever was (because they all are), but it just isn’t a part of him. The rascal next to him is, though. And so is the one the one who’s supposed to function as the older, wiser one. The shy one isn’t necessarily now, but there’s no doubt that she will be soon enough, although we’re not sure to whom. And the last one, well, he’s an angstball by nature. Once he stops being conflicted, he might be able to make a relationship work, but that definitely sounds far off in the future. Maybe when I flesh him out in some sort of writing, he’ll introduce me to some pretty girl he’s been keeping an eye on, and then finally got the courage to ask out or something. Anything can happen in the imagination. The point I was getting back to, though, was that the sort of self-analogue super-powered blink-and-they-incinerate character is unattached. And not in the “I have girls falling all over me and just don’t choose” sort of manner that would be befitting his Sue status. And that didn’t really strike me as odd until right now. If these are supposed to be idealized and perfected versions of my significantly more meatspace and humble self, then why in Mod’s multi-universe isn’t he with the perfect girl? Maybe he’ll turn out to have been Hamlet in a previous life and is paying for having driven Ophelia to drown herself in his mad quest for revenge.
Free association does weird things to your head. Soon you start seeing your mother lurking behind everything. So before I get any less coherent, more cryptic, or just flat out not understandable (is that possible?), I think I’m going to bed. It being 3AM (man, I must be lonely) factors significantly here, too. G’night, people. Find deep meaning, or no meaning at all, however you like. I’ll probably look back on this in a few years and go “Boy, I still hadn’t gotten out of my angst phase by then?”
2dlife and I were rattling off the bingoes in our Literati game - which, ironically, timed out before we could finish (he was doing real work, unlike me.) Finally got consistently good sets of letters and put them to use. I could see more bingoes, too - I just couldn’t place them. It was kind of like the light turned on today. Such a rare occasion where the brilliance in my head shines through so nicely. There’s still more to do, but if this week pans out, much of it will end up done or in the editing phases. Which is the preferred state for me - while it doesn’t get rid of all the stress, it does get rid of the needless stuff. Anyway, today also involved some wandering about, getting a new printer cartridge, since I suspect mine’s going to give out soon after that marathon effort with the source code. And some binders - now I need to three-hole-punch the objects in question. And finish the search statements for the lab on Wednesday. Still, hopefully I’m going to be able to clear out everything but three projects, two of which will require only sporadic effort to keep on track. It’ll be good. For the most part, I’ve weathered the storm of the last semester. Can’t quit yet, but I can be confident this is it.
Also got to spend a little of someone else’s money in the bookstore today - so I got a few volumes (I’m still hopelessly behind, of course.) So some new reading material, which I will see if I can’t actually get to or through soon. I can get so focused sometimes...
Anyway, linktime. Jesus’s General reminds us that Haliburton is not the first company to profit and run. Ford did an excellent job of making money off the National Socialists, after all. On the other domestically political matter, one of the U.S. attorneys fired was just about to investigate CIA corruption. I wonder if similar potentially-embarrassing things will appear about the other attorneys dismissed. Suspicious things, these.
In Iraq, two objects of interest - first, the plane of the Australian prime minister en route to Baghdad. No serious injury or harm, and a second plane was boarded immediately. Could have just been a malfunction of some sort. But coupled with the second item, chlorine-gas bombs exploding in the western part of Iraq, there was probably an understandable cause for alarm. Linking together the violence with the artistry, or even the beauty, of photographs is Portraits of Violence, which has the pictures of gang members and suicide bombers.
In interplanetary matters, first water, now "caves" have been found on Mars. These sorts of discoveries are pushing up the idea that life might be livable on the Red Planet, assuming we can figure out things like providing atmosphere. I wonder whether we’ll have the technology to spin out colonies to far farther-flung worlds than Mars by the time we have the ability to fling colonies anywhere.
For the craftily-inclined, and yet another proof of the power of the knittnig mob, a project that asked crafters to knit sweaters for penguins was wonderfully successful. There were more than enough sweaters to not only fill the demand, but to create several kits around Tasmania in case of another spill. If you want to practice making cute and tiny things, the pattern is there. Apparently, because the premise of it sounds a bit on the outlandish side, Snopes has a page explaining what happened and confirming the gigantic success.
Out of the weird department, a gent found out that his flying companion was a bit stiff. And was not happy that it the living-impaired passenger had been seated next to him.
Yeah, that’s the links tonight. The thoughts are always different. There’s not necessarily a coherent whole point to them (although if you can find one, kudos to you, and let me know, so I can claim it was my plot all along.)
Guess I’m starting to hit the transitional point again - at those times where big changes are on the horizon, the mood turns introspective. (Actually, I suspect that at whatever point in my life I actually slow down enough to notice things going on around me, rather than trying hard to fill my life with activity all the time, I get introspective. Probably means I’m not yet comfortable enough with myself to look at myself.) I mean, with the progress that I’ve made so far, it’s all but a done deal that I’m going to be out, truly out, of school for the first time in my life in about six weeks. This isn’t really a “can’t sleep, future will eat me” kind of reaction, but it does make me go “Mod, that’s a lot of time I’ve spent studying. I wonder what I missed while I was trying to make the grade?”
I think it was just a chain of coincidences - while in the bookstore, I saw that Train_Man, the story about an otaku who has a lot of trouble just talking to a girl managing to make his way through love, with all of an Internet forum watching, on the shelf, and read the first couple chapters of it. I think I’ll want to add it to my series to get. I did end up getting Megatokyo Volume Four, which is the part where relationships really start to unfold and develop, for which many have said “It’s about time”. Seeing the comics next to each other, flowing together into a story that can be kept in mind much easier, lets you pick up on things easier. It, and the reworked “Circuitry” omake (of which I am familiar with, and a fan of, the source material), were all about those sorts of finding love things. Just a bunch of random things happening together, where I’m correlating them all because I can see a thread running through them. It may or may not be there (and may or may not be red), but the mind makes associations. Can certainly sympathize with the Train_Man, although thankfully, I don’t get too tongue-tied around women.
This is totally unrelated, but while in Borders, I saw some promotional material for Harry Potter 7, and they’re really playing up the “Whose side is Severus on, anyway?” bit. I think this lends credence to my theory about where Severus’s ultimate allegiances lie, but depending on how JK decides to take it, it could be a cross or a double-cross. Of course, I still hold in the back of my head that this entire seven-book series will turn out to have been about the wrong kid in the end. But that’s just speculation on my part.
I shaved yesterday, actually, and cut myself in the three places I usually do - twice on the chin, one on a finger. Luckily, none of the cuts are ever bad, (the one on the finger is more like a papercut annoyance) and I can take it in stride (“Whoops, there’s the red spots again.”) It’s one of those things that always seems to happen. Never necessarily in the same place, as the red spots will appear wherever they feel like being. Some parts of my life feel like they’ve been repeating themselves for a while, and not just the thins like classes. If the cosmos is trying to get me to learn something, then I’m not necessarily grokking it quite yet. Of course, after the enforced cycle breaks, maybe the other cycles will, too. It can’t always be SSDD.
We were always taught “Thou shalt not covet.” If someone else has something you want, you don’t get jealous over what they have, you find a way, within the law (“Thou shalt not steal” and “Thou shalt not bear false witness”) to get it for yourself. And it’s not just a person’s goods you don’t covet, you don’t covet the affection they have for their significant others. You’re not supposed to want what they have. You’re just supposed to go out and get it yourself. If you can’t, or won’t, well, tough shit. That’s your problem. And it always is “your problem” in these sorts of exercises - either through weakness of human nature, or sin, or karma (well, karma can be burnt off or evaded entirely, if done properly...), it’s both an easy way to absolve yourself of all blame and get all the blame dumped squarely on you.
Of all the characters and fragments of figments that I write and keep around as mental dialogue partners (I seem to do better talking out my problems, even if it is to the mirror, or a construct of some part of my personality that I then imagine into a persona. It’s the sane kind of talking to yourself. Actually, wouldn’t talking to yourself be considered somewhat of a sign of sanity? It’s the people who are always talking to gods or spirits that sometimes seem to cross the boundaries of sanity. Anyway, the technique’s helped me get through some of the harder Rails coding exercises, too. Talking to other people seems to work best, though), the one who was there first, although not necessarily the oldest by chronology, is unattached. Not because he’s not one of the greatest Mary-Sues there ever was (because they all are), but it just isn’t a part of him. The rascal next to him is, though. And so is the one the one who’s supposed to function as the older, wiser one. The shy one isn’t necessarily now, but there’s no doubt that she will be soon enough, although we’re not sure to whom. And the last one, well, he’s an angstball by nature. Once he stops being conflicted, he might be able to make a relationship work, but that definitely sounds far off in the future. Maybe when I flesh him out in some sort of writing, he’ll introduce me to some pretty girl he’s been keeping an eye on, and then finally got the courage to ask out or something. Anything can happen in the imagination. The point I was getting back to, though, was that the sort of self-analogue super-powered blink-and-they-incinerate character is unattached. And not in the “I have girls falling all over me and just don’t choose” sort of manner that would be befitting his Sue status. And that didn’t really strike me as odd until right now. If these are supposed to be idealized and perfected versions of my significantly more meatspace and humble self, then why in Mod’s multi-universe isn’t he with the perfect girl? Maybe he’ll turn out to have been Hamlet in a previous life and is paying for having driven Ophelia to drown herself in his mad quest for revenge.
Free association does weird things to your head. Soon you start seeing your mother lurking behind everything. So before I get any less coherent, more cryptic, or just flat out not understandable (is that possible?), I think I’m going to bed. It being 3AM (man, I must be lonely) factors significantly here, too. G’night, people. Find deep meaning, or no meaning at all, however you like. I’ll probably look back on this in a few years and go “Boy, I still hadn’t gotten out of my angst phase by then?”
