Putting off doing lab prep for today. I have a bit of extra time right now because one of my professors didn't post a reading assignment, so ... I don't really have to do it? What it does mean is that I have to take the book on the plane with me and do it then.
So here's my schedule for today: at 1:20, lab begins. At 4:30 lab is scheduled to end. At 5:20 my plane to Charlotte takes off. So...I'm trying to work ahead on the digital electronics lab today so that I can leave quickly. My plan is to prepare everything so that all I'm really doing when I get in there is wiring it up. I'm almost done, and have done, I'm pretty sure, all of the prep, I'm just double checking my work from last night.
My brain is in a muddle. I'm too full of poetry, and of emotion and anxiousness, and of circuits; it's just too much at once? See, that's even a question...
Being caught between intention and natural process is all well and good when you're trying to capture that moment, but it's a difficult place to exist in at normal times.
30.3.09
And I see a new horizon or at least, I hope I do.
At 12:30 last night I went to go to bed, changed, flossed, and then got an idea for a poem. So... I was up until 2:30. XD But I like the poem...
Slam went pretty well on Saturday, I didn't place in the top 3, partly because I dropped my second poem (so sad...) and mostly because people just didn't like me as much, and I went second when people still grade harshly. Neil told them to "rate how much they liked the poem" which removes presentation from the score, which I think hurt me much more than other people with 2 page long chunks of text that they read straight from the paper. Meh. Same time next month. :P I'm ready.
Cookies!
I don't know. I'm lost in mine(d). Vacation! :) Quite a bit ahead of me. Oh, well.
Slam went pretty well on Saturday, I didn't place in the top 3, partly because I dropped my second poem (so sad...) and mostly because people just didn't like me as much, and I went second when people still grade harshly. Neil told them to "rate how much they liked the poem" which removes presentation from the score, which I think hurt me much more than other people with 2 page long chunks of text that they read straight from the paper. Meh. Same time next month. :P I'm ready.
Cookies!
I don't know. I'm lost in mine(d). Vacation! :) Quite a bit ahead of me. Oh, well.
29.3.09
Spring Break
This week is spring break round 2. I'm flying out at 5:20 Tuesday to visit my girlfriend in Virginia, and I'll be back Sunday at about 4-5:30. Enjoy your time alone. =P
I'll try and still update, but I don't know how likely that is to happen, you know? We'll see how I do.
My sonnet crown is eating my mind. I'm being enveloped in this sticky substance, closing around me like a honeycomb made of yesterday's toast until I
can't
breathe
Ok, maybe not that bad. But still. Gaaggh. I wrote like 2 sonnets today and 2 other poems, and my brain is fried. So I'm going to shoot people in Halo. ::thumbs up::
Had Thistle today, and it was a short meeting, so I hung around talking to two people, Neil and Katie, for about an hour, which made me super late to office hours...but nobody was there when I got there, so... we'll see if I get any angry e-mails. Still, I got digits from the both of them, so... friends? :)
In dire news, my free internet disappeared, so I'm at a crossroads as to what to do. I can come to Mac and coffee shops whenever I need internet, which is going to be a problem if my computer is actually dying, or I can buy it. I really don't want to pay for internet. I shouldn't have to. St. Paul should have city-wide 802.11n. That's what I think.
I'll try and still update, but I don't know how likely that is to happen, you know? We'll see how I do.
My sonnet crown is eating my mind. I'm being enveloped in this sticky substance, closing around me like a honeycomb made of yesterday's toast until I
can't
breathe
Ok, maybe not that bad. But still. Gaaggh. I wrote like 2 sonnets today and 2 other poems, and my brain is fried. So I'm going to shoot people in Halo. ::thumbs up::
Had Thistle today, and it was a short meeting, so I hung around talking to two people, Neil and Katie, for about an hour, which made me super late to office hours...but nobody was there when I got there, so... we'll see if I get any angry e-mails. Still, I got digits from the both of them, so... friends? :)
In dire news, my free internet disappeared, so I'm at a crossroads as to what to do. I can come to Mac and coffee shops whenever I need internet, which is going to be a problem if my computer is actually dying, or I can buy it. I really don't want to pay for internet. I shouldn't have to. St. Paul should have city-wide 802.11n. That's what I think.
28.3.09
I'll laugh until my head falls off...
Went to Vinny's birthday party last night. It was a fun time: I fixed his youtube issue, met a bunch of his friends, realized one of his friends Dustin's boyfriend was my neighbor last year in the dorms, and played Halo for like 2 hours with Vinny, Holly and Julia. It was fun. :)
From what we covered in my Digital Electronics class yesterday, the lab on Tuesday should be plenty interesting. We're getting into sequential logic, so latches and flip flops abound. I just hope it isn't too long...if it lasts the entire lab time, I'll be running to catch that plane, lol. Also, he pushed back the homework assignment that he was going to make due next Friday, which helps me immensely. I can get started on it the first part of this week, do some while in Virginia, and then finish it when I get back.
I injured myself working out on Wednesday, pushed my right bicep too hard. It wasn't my fault, I didn't realize that my left arm was stronger than my right, so I tried to do them equally, and was surprised to find out that didn't work... it was weird. The arm has been sore for a couple of days, so if you see me, and I'm bending my arm straight out really slowly, that's why. :P It was a wonderful workout at the time though. :3
I'm very happy about many things right now. :) I feel very grateful for the chance to lead a life like this.
From what we covered in my Digital Electronics class yesterday, the lab on Tuesday should be plenty interesting. We're getting into sequential logic, so latches and flip flops abound. I just hope it isn't too long...if it lasts the entire lab time, I'll be running to catch that plane, lol. Also, he pushed back the homework assignment that he was going to make due next Friday, which helps me immensely. I can get started on it the first part of this week, do some while in Virginia, and then finish it when I get back.
I injured myself working out on Wednesday, pushed my right bicep too hard. It wasn't my fault, I didn't realize that my left arm was stronger than my right, so I tried to do them equally, and was surprised to find out that didn't work... it was weird. The arm has been sore for a couple of days, so if you see me, and I'm bending my arm straight out really slowly, that's why. :P It was a wonderful workout at the time though. :3
I'm very happy about many things right now. :) I feel very grateful for the chance to lead a life like this.
27.3.09
epic FAIL
Ok, so if any of you have been around Vinny recently, you've probably heard him complain about the Linux aids on his computer. The basis for almost all of these rants was his youtube surfing not working right. For several months, youtube hasn't played with sound. We finally managed to be in the same place at the same time, and I successfully diagnosed the problem.
He had muted the video in the youtube player, and it saved it in his cookies, and he didn't think to try unmuting it.
Let it be known to all, that Vinny has failed to use a service that everyone else knows how to use. FAIL.
=P
He had muted the video in the youtube player, and it saved it in his cookies, and he didn't think to try unmuting it.
Let it be known to all, that Vinny has failed to use a service that everyone else knows how to use. FAIL.
=P
There are two colors in my head
It's half-way Spring, and my porch door is completely open. I like the fresh air, and it's only, like 32, so no biggie. It's warmer than when I was biking around last night, for sure. I biked from the Tea Garden (tea with Danny the last night before he went back to C-town) to David's house at about 10:30 at night, and it was really, really cold; biking doesn't help either. I ended up standing outside his house for about 5 minutes waiting for him to get there, and I actually warmed up standing there on the sidewalk.
The neighborhood was quiet, and there was almost no wind to speak of on that block. You could see the snow shyly falling near the streetlights.
I think I have finally captured the true purpose of "on the go" playlists, and have been using them rather effectively the past couple of days. I had used one to listen to "Summer Babe" (Pavement, Slanted & Enchanted) followed by In Rainbows and the first half of Kid A while biking last night, and I finished up Kid A this morning. I was in sort of a relaxed, Radiohead mood, but I wanted to break out of it to write some poetry, so I threw together a short mix to ease me into something a little faster and more punctuated: some Paper Tiger False Hopes to Kidney Thief and Lifetime...Kid Dynamite by P.O.S to Untrue by Burial. It was a good mix, and I wrote quite a bit. And then the ride back to my apartment was Kidney Thief to Meat Tape punk to W.E.W. and Scarecrow from Meat Tape 2, culminating in Idioteque. Circular, no? :)
The whole reason I can do this is because I got new headphones yesterday. The day before, the headphones I was using (old $10 wrap-arounds I got at Sam Goody) finally bit the dust after about 2-3 years of use. I need music, so I went to Radioshack and splurged on some higher-quality earbuds, which I am happy I did. The sound quality is better than my old iPod earbuds, and much, much better than the headphones I was using. I'm happy with them. :)
The neighborhood was quiet, and there was almost no wind to speak of on that block. You could see the snow shyly falling near the streetlights.
I think I have finally captured the true purpose of "on the go" playlists, and have been using them rather effectively the past couple of days. I had used one to listen to "Summer Babe" (Pavement, Slanted & Enchanted) followed by In Rainbows and the first half of Kid A while biking last night, and I finished up Kid A this morning. I was in sort of a relaxed, Radiohead mood, but I wanted to break out of it to write some poetry, so I threw together a short mix to ease me into something a little faster and more punctuated: some Paper Tiger False Hopes to Kidney Thief and Lifetime...Kid Dynamite by P.O.S to Untrue by Burial. It was a good mix, and I wrote quite a bit. And then the ride back to my apartment was Kidney Thief to Meat Tape punk to W.E.W. and Scarecrow from Meat Tape 2, culminating in Idioteque. Circular, no? :)
The whole reason I can do this is because I got new headphones yesterday. The day before, the headphones I was using (old $10 wrap-arounds I got at Sam Goody) finally bit the dust after about 2-3 years of use. I need music, so I went to Radioshack and splurged on some higher-quality earbuds, which I am happy I did. The sound quality is better than my old iPod earbuds, and much, much better than the headphones I was using. I'm happy with them. :)
26.3.09
Men in dark times
I've been journeying through a strange land recently. It is a landscape populated by dilapidated old farmhouses and strange monuments reaped from metal. The sculptures creak and whine under their own weight, and as the wind blows through them you get an idea of what it is the creators were trying to accomplish. If you walk by the houses at night, you could swear the creaking of the cracked-plank porches really is the remnants of a simple folk song, meticulously played, but no less natural for it.
You can see the short of it in the listening list on the right. tldr; a lot of indie music.
It's given me a new appreciation for Subtle, why they're doing different things, what they're trying to accomplish. I'm getting an education in experimentalism, in minimalism, in stuffing-the-room-full-of-instruments-ism. It has been interesting.
Anyways, poem. This one's titled Winter Sonnet. It was the last of the 'rebel sonnets' that I wrote about a month ago.
Winter
days
defeat
me.
Too
short
for
true
living.
You can see the short of it in the listening list on the right. tldr; a lot of indie music.
It's given me a new appreciation for Subtle, why they're doing different things, what they're trying to accomplish. I'm getting an education in experimentalism, in minimalism, in stuffing-the-room-full-of-instruments-ism. It has been interesting.
Anyways, poem. This one's titled Winter Sonnet. It was the last of the 'rebel sonnets' that I wrote about a month ago.
Winter
days
defeat
me.
Too
short
for
true
living.
25.3.09
I published this without a title, but now it has one!
I have successfully completed my O.S. assignment for the week. It was really easy, actually. The whole process was really straightforward -- I may try doing the extra credit, especially if he gives us an extension. They range from easy to sphincter-rippingly difficult:
" * Allow xinit() to take a number of bytes of that should be initially allocated instead of using a constant value. (level 0)
* Walking through all used blocks to find a free block is slow! Keep separate linked lists for the used and free blocks. (level 1)
* Implement an automatic garbage collection algorithm, and replace your xfree() calls with periodic calls to the garbage collector. You'll need to pass the garbage collector a list of pointers to blocks still in use. (level 2)
* Adapt your garbage collector to work for recursive datastructures. You should only have to specify the "root" node of the datastructure, and it will try to locate pointers contained in the data segments. (level 10)"
Yeah... also, that adverb right before the colon may have been overkill.
I'm preforming poetry on Saturday, at 8:30, 4th floor Old Main. I'm excited, but a little nervous. For those of you who were here for the small open-mic-ish get together we had over Spring Break, I'm reciting both the poems I introduced to you as being for the slam. Thanks for your feedback.
Also thanks for the feedback on the last poem, you made me change the last bit to a much better read. I added the comma Jamie needed in the "penultimate line" (I don't know Spanish, so I had no idea what this meant), and also changed the "bound" at the end of that line to "captive,". Reads better now. Thanks!
In less than a week I will be enjoying the nice sunny weather and beautiful landscapes of Virginia, which makes me really happy. I'm thrilled to go down again, and I'd like to see more of my girlfriend's family, as I didn't get to see them the last time I visited mid-semester.
I have For Emma, Forever Ago stuck in my head. It makes for a very relaxed, pleasant office hour.
"
* Implement an automatic garbage collection algorithm, and replace your xfree() calls with periodic calls to the garbage collector. You'll need to pass the garbage collector a list of pointers to blocks still in use. (level 2)
* Adapt your garbage collector to work for recursive datastructures. You should only have to specify the "root" node of the datastructure, and it will try to locate pointers contained in the data segments. (level 10)"
Yeah... also, that adverb right before the colon may have been overkill.
I'm preforming poetry on Saturday, at 8:30, 4th floor Old Main. I'm excited, but a little nervous. For those of you who were here for the small open-mic-ish get together we had over Spring Break, I'm reciting both the poems I introduced to you as being for the slam. Thanks for your feedback.
Also thanks for the feedback on the last poem, you made me change the last bit to a much better read. I added the comma Jamie needed in the "penultimate line" (I don't know Spanish, so I had no idea what this meant), and also changed the "bound" at the end of that line to "captive,". Reads better now. Thanks!
In less than a week I will be enjoying the nice sunny weather and beautiful landscapes of Virginia, which makes me really happy. I'm thrilled to go down again, and I'd like to see more of my girlfriend's family, as I didn't get to see them the last time I visited mid-semester.
I have For Emma, Forever Ago stuck in my head. It makes for a very relaxed, pleasant office hour.
24.3.09
Sometimes the internet at dunn's makes me very sad
The semester is picking up speed; only 5 weeks left, and projects are starting to assign themselves. It looks like I'll have one in every class but calculus, and a test most likely facing me in two of the four, but possibly three. But still, I enjoy this. I am waiting quietly with much excitement.
As an aside, refrain forms are awesome for punk/hardcore lyrics. Just saying. Also, I still plan on putting a sonnet to music sometime, because I can.
Interview went well yesterday, they asked me for current syllabi and source code, which is always a good sign. I'm taking a look around my computer for some good source to send them; I'm thinking my shell, they seemed interested in that, maybe my threaded mergesort function because they're doing a (hopefully opensource) project with posix threads, which sounded awesome. Some OOP stuff might be good too though. We talked for about a half an hour, I told them about me and computer science, they told me about them and computer science, it was just like a first date. :P
I have to reply to an offer from the U by Friday, which means making a decision to go with poliwiki as my for sure backup and reaching for this as hard as I can. I think I may end up doing that but I'm going to wait a bit to decide. I also was put on the waiting list by another program -- another guy at Mac applied and also got waitlisted, and the same thing happened last year when I applied to the program, so we figured that's just how they roll. Or something like that.
This week I'm studying for my second hour-long calc test, shouldn't be too bad, and writing a malloc replacement that can also detect memory leaks, bad frees, etc. I'm hoping to do most of the coding on that tonight, finish it up by the end of tomorrow. What? I like getting started on things early...
Here's a poem! If you would give me some feedback, that'd be great! :) It's tentatively titled Falls. It could use a more original title.
I always wondered why the field down the river from the falls looked so clear,
So bright in the sun,
Like every blade of grass was cut from a perfect canvas,
Like my memories could never have made it more beautiful,
Like the bodies buried beneath it only blessed the vista, the falls, the stream.
The clearing is no longer a burial mound, but when
Purpose is removed from restraint the body is no longer bound,
So watch out Southern Minneapolis.
As an aside, refrain forms are awesome for punk/hardcore lyrics. Just saying. Also, I still plan on putting a sonnet to music sometime, because I can.
Interview went well yesterday, they asked me for current syllabi and source code, which is always a good sign. I'm taking a look around my computer for some good source to send them; I'm thinking my shell, they seemed interested in that, maybe my threaded mergesort function because they're doing a (hopefully opensource) project with posix threads, which sounded awesome. Some OOP stuff might be good too though. We talked for about a half an hour, I told them about me and computer science, they told me about them and computer science, it was just like a first date. :P
I have to reply to an offer from the U by Friday, which means making a decision to go with poliwiki as my for sure backup and reaching for this as hard as I can. I think I may end up doing that but I'm going to wait a bit to decide. I also was put on the waiting list by another program -- another guy at Mac applied and also got waitlisted, and the same thing happened last year when I applied to the program, so we figured that's just how they roll. Or something like that.
This week I'm studying for my second hour-long calc test, shouldn't be too bad, and writing a malloc replacement that can also detect memory leaks, bad frees, etc. I'm hoping to do most of the coding on that tonight, finish it up by the end of tomorrow. What? I like getting started on things early...
Here's a poem! If you would give me some feedback, that'd be great! :) It's tentatively titled Falls. It could use a more original title.
I always wondered why the field down the river from the falls looked so clear,
So bright in the sun,
Like every blade of grass was cut from a perfect canvas,
Like my memories could never have made it more beautiful,
Like the bodies buried beneath it only blessed the vista, the falls, the stream.
The clearing is no longer a burial mound, but when
Purpose is removed from restraint the body is no longer bound,
So watch out Southern Minneapolis.
23.3.09
Adventures
So I'm going to be trying something new. Specifically, a sonnet crown. That's http://sprawledoutinthewayofthesun.blogspot.com/ for reference.
Yes, I am crazy.
Yes, I am crazy.
All you can do is dive
Blogging is like a journal replacement for me. It means that almost everything I put in my journals is a poem, a short piece of writing, a drawing or an idea. I like that it's more concentrated, but I also have trouble remembering things that I want to blog about throughout the day. Maybe I'll start jotting it down, and you'll have really strange blog posts to read; I could also then choose which topic to talk about, and if I had nothing to say one day, I could go back to unused topics. That may work.
Time is creeping up on me, in terms of deciding what to do this summer. I have until Friday to tell the U whether or not I'm joining their program, and I have a telephone interview for another opportunity this week as well. And Shilad is still trying to forcefully recruit me for poliwiki. =P It's too bad I live off-campus, because 10 weeks of free campus housing would be really good for me if I didn't have a place already.
I haven't really written for a while, but I think that it was just because I was on spring break and I don't really write about things like, "i went to my buddy's house and played gears of war, i could have walked home but i slept on the floor". Like, wtf? I was sort of worried this morning that I was blocked a little, but I managed to work around it after class somehow. I really like the poems I wrote, but we'll see if they stand up later.
School's started up again, classes were easy today. I have a late midterm on Friday, just double and triple derivatives and integrals, so no biggie, but other than that not much due this week. Next week I will for sure have an OS homework assignment due, which I'll probably blog about another time, and it's looking like I'll have to finish an entire Digital Electronics assignment this weekend too, as I'm heading to Virginia next week. Also, on the subject of Digi, I got a perfect on that midterm I was worried about. :)
Shadowrun recap tonight or tomorrow morning.
Time is creeping up on me, in terms of deciding what to do this summer. I have until Friday to tell the U whether or not I'm joining their program, and I have a telephone interview for another opportunity this week as well. And Shilad is still trying to forcefully recruit me for poliwiki. =P It's too bad I live off-campus, because 10 weeks of free campus housing would be really good for me if I didn't have a place already.
I haven't really written for a while, but I think that it was just because I was on spring break and I don't really write about things like, "i went to my buddy's house and played gears of war, i could have walked home but i slept on the floor". Like, wtf? I was sort of worried this morning that I was blocked a little, but I managed to work around it after class somehow. I really like the poems I wrote, but we'll see if they stand up later.
School's started up again, classes were easy today. I have a late midterm on Friday, just double and triple derivatives and integrals, so no biggie, but other than that not much due this week. Next week I will for sure have an OS homework assignment due, which I'll probably blog about another time, and it's looking like I'll have to finish an entire Digital Electronics assignment this weekend too, as I'm heading to Virginia next week. Also, on the subject of Digi, I got a perfect on that midterm I was worried about. :)
Shadowrun recap tonight or tomorrow morning.
22.3.09
My bad
Sorry for the missed post yesterday, I had a busy one. Yesterday was the last real day of break, considering everyone that was in town was packing and leaving today, so I ran around doin' stuff.
On Friday, I woke up late, went to Brewberry's, did some stenciling work (more on that later), did a final lookover of the lyrics sheets, and then bussed out to Guitar Center with Martin to get a mic. We got the mic, and even remembered to get a cord, but got the wrong one, which we didn't realize until the next day. Sat around with friends that night, tried to go to a concert with Tessa, which was indeed 21+, as I was afraid it was, so that didn't work out. I'll have to try and see the bands some other time. One of them was a "new" experimental hip hop group called Hyder Ali who do pretty indie hip hop music, and I'd like to check them out.
Saturday I woke up and went to Shadowrun! It was awesome. I'll make another post about that at some point in the next couple of days. After the game I killed some time at Half-price and White Rock until Martin showed up and carted me off to Guitar Center to buy the correct cord. We went back to his house, did a last minute practice, cut two songs from the setlist on the grounds of not being prepared enough, ate half a pizza each and then played.
The concert was much better than our last one, IMHO. We were pretty sloppy last time, but this time we sounded great and played really well, and I only got nervous fingers once. The new mic was a really big upgrade from what we had had, so that was a good reward. We both realized however, that we need to play for people who actually enjoy punk music, not just our friends. I'm glad everybody came, but I don't think anyone there would listen to our brand of punk on their own, which means that their reactions are mostly, "Yay! My friends are making music!", so we don't get much feedback as far as the music goes.
For those shirt owners out there, we are done with the album artwork and design -- we could give you the CD cases pretty much whenever, but the CD that goes inside isn't done yet. =P We've still had some trouble recording drums, so we'll try to resolve that as quickly as we can. We'll see how it goes. On another note, we've found a place to order shirts from, so new and old designs will be forthcoming this summer. As usual, Tan Tan takes requests, so if you want a neat, handmade stencil shirt, drop him a line.
Also, on the subject of recording music, my dad informed me today when I went out to lunch with him and my mom that he has a condenser mic, in our basement. It was apparently a $125 recording mic 20-25 years ago, so... sweet? I'm going to start playing around with that sort of stuff pretty soon.
On Friday, I woke up late, went to Brewberry's, did some stenciling work (more on that later), did a final lookover of the lyrics sheets, and then bussed out to Guitar Center with Martin to get a mic. We got the mic, and even remembered to get a cord, but got the wrong one, which we didn't realize until the next day. Sat around with friends that night, tried to go to a concert with Tessa, which was indeed 21+, as I was afraid it was, so that didn't work out. I'll have to try and see the bands some other time. One of them was a "new" experimental hip hop group called Hyder Ali who do pretty indie hip hop music, and I'd like to check them out.
Saturday I woke up and went to Shadowrun! It was awesome. I'll make another post about that at some point in the next couple of days. After the game I killed some time at Half-price and White Rock until Martin showed up and carted me off to Guitar Center to buy the correct cord. We went back to his house, did a last minute practice, cut two songs from the setlist on the grounds of not being prepared enough, ate half a pizza each and then played.
The concert was much better than our last one, IMHO. We were pretty sloppy last time, but this time we sounded great and played really well, and I only got nervous fingers once. The new mic was a really big upgrade from what we had had, so that was a good reward. We both realized however, that we need to play for people who actually enjoy punk music, not just our friends. I'm glad everybody came, but I don't think anyone there would listen to our brand of punk on their own, which means that their reactions are mostly, "Yay! My friends are making music!", so we don't get much feedback as far as the music goes.
For those shirt owners out there, we are done with the album artwork and design -- we could give you the CD cases pretty much whenever, but the CD that goes inside isn't done yet. =P We've still had some trouble recording drums, so we'll try to resolve that as quickly as we can. We'll see how it goes. On another note, we've found a place to order shirts from, so new and old designs will be forthcoming this summer. As usual, Tan Tan takes requests, so if you want a neat, handmade stencil shirt, drop him a line.
Also, on the subject of recording music, my dad informed me today when I went out to lunch with him and my mom that he has a condenser mic, in our basement. It was apparently a $125 recording mic 20-25 years ago, so... sweet? I'm going to start playing around with that sort of stuff pretty soon.
20.3.09
Drifing
Car ride,
sustained
on murmurs and half-closed eyes –
half the sustain of a plucked banjo string,
or maybe
Just a stiff feel,
like salt over bread,
but more like Whalebone forming
a wall around your ribs.
The car cradles us, us newborn babes,
loosed from our closing-eyes bodies,
it rocks in the wind
back and forth.
but no? wasn't that a bridge in South Dakota?
The moon shines down on the orchards,
clothed in a pale sundress
like a farmgirl
in her sunday best,
meeting a young lover beneath the apple
trees at twilight.
And the mist hangs down
over the farmhouses,
like it's sucking the ghosts
from the dirt,
But, no, that's a different night.
The road sings beneath our feet
and the car drifts towards the shoulder
and I feel like we're already gone
19.3.09
Mood
I remembered what I was going to write about yesterday: sustainable transportation versus independence. I'm not in the mood right now, though, so I'll just throw the poetry update at you guys.
This is called My Mother's Vial, and it's written in the classic ballad form: alternating tetrameter and trimeter, as well as an abcb rhyme scheme.
This vial, in my mother's hand,
Her face turned to the wind.
It blew the dust of corn harvest
Across the hills; the tin
Plant, vile blight that it was, was
Blowing, porous pouring
To the sun. A china company
Used to hold there, blowing
Glass vials for lady's perfumes,
But now it's gone. A gift
From her mother, this small, fine craft
Glimmered among her favorite
Jewels – vials, lace, such things a young
Girl might want. This diamond
Has held perfume, has held her tears;
It held her cardamom,
Oregano, such things to flavor
What is not sweet. A pile
Of books she left me, and this: her
Life, stopped within this vial.
This is called My Mother's Vial, and it's written in the classic ballad form: alternating tetrameter and trimeter, as well as an abcb rhyme scheme.
This vial, in my mother's hand,
Her face turned to the wind.
It blew the dust of corn harvest
Across the hills; the tin
Plant, vile blight that it was, was
Blowing, porous pouring
To the sun. A china company
Used to hold there, blowing
Glass vials for lady's perfumes,
But now it's gone. A gift
From her mother, this small, fine craft
Glimmered among her favorite
Jewels – vials, lace, such things a young
Girl might want. This diamond
Has held perfume, has held her tears;
It held her cardamom,
Oregano, such things to flavor
What is not sweet. A pile
Of books she left me, and this: her
Life, stopped within this vial.
18.3.09
everything, in it's right place
I've been really interested in the texture of things recently. But not just physical texture, but more the texture of something that we perceive with our other senses. That sounds odd, but consider: you can predict what something will feel like by looking at it, and whether those two things are the same or diverge, both the visual feel and the physical feel of the object in question are pleasurable to experience. The first day of break it was really warm, and I went on a walk, without any particular destination in mind. I ended up walking to Brewberry's, taking in many things I had not had the time to look at recently: the bark on trees, retaining walls, concrete, leaves, chairs, pants, clothes. All sorts of things. The point is, I didn't always touch them, I just appreciated the visual texture of the objects.
This can also be done with music, although differently. Music has an aural texture, something best seen in bands like Radiohead or other such very layered, very well-mixed offerings. Range has something to do with this, where on the landscape of sound (soundscape for lack of a better term -- just so that we're on the same page, I'm envisioning sort of a cartesian grid overlayed on a topographical map indicating aural qualitites) the song or work stretches, but depth does as well, local and global maxima and minima, but also permutations within a small sub-section of the landscape, the dF of the sound. But there are other senses that interact with music - all of them, actually, through everything from incidental associations of smells to embracing the mood inherent in a piece of music, to literally feeling the texture of that landscape.
I find it incredibly difficult to discuss specific examples, because writing itself removes a stimulus from it's native sense and transfer it into something else -- description, words, a prompt for the reader's own sense of imagination to take flight and form. And when describing this ... Synaesthesia, I'm removing something so far from it's original form that it might be impossible to reconstruct.
I think I'm going to struggle with this for a long while.
This can also be done with music, although differently. Music has an aural texture, something best seen in bands like Radiohead or other such very layered, very well-mixed offerings. Range has something to do with this, where on the landscape of sound (soundscape for lack of a better term -- just so that we're on the same page, I'm envisioning sort of a cartesian grid overlayed on a topographical map indicating aural qualitites) the song or work stretches, but depth does as well, local and global maxima and minima, but also permutations within a small sub-section of the landscape, the dF of the sound. But there are other senses that interact with music - all of them, actually, through everything from incidental associations of smells to embracing the mood inherent in a piece of music, to literally feeling the texture of that landscape.
I find it incredibly difficult to discuss specific examples, because writing itself removes a stimulus from it's native sense and transfer it into something else -- description, words, a prompt for the reader's own sense of imagination to take flight and form. And when describing this ... Synaesthesia, I'm removing something so far from it's original form that it might be impossible to reconstruct.
I think I'm going to struggle with this for a long while.
And...it's gone
I had something to say when I opened up this tab. I don't anymore. So I'll talk about dry cleaners.
I'm sitting at Dunn's, and there's a Stoltz dry cleaners across the street. I can't read the numbers in "EST ....", but from the name I know that it was probably the first half of the 20th century -- "stolz" is "pride" in German. Every day I walk by it in some fashion, and almost every day I get covered in laundry smell. Laundry smell and I have an off-and-on relationship: sometimes I love it, but sometimes it makes me sick, throws my sinuses into disarray. This makes doing laundry difficult.
Among the list of things that make my sinuses jump: laundry, showers, water, changes in sunlight, kittens, blowing my nose, changes in temperature, summer days. A lot of those are rather nice things that I come across often, which makes me very sad. I think I can trace these issues to my deviated septum, something my mother points out nearly every time I see her. It's not a long or incredibly painful surgery, so I should probably do it. I'm just...human, and resistant to change.
Anyways, I haven't remembered yet what I was going to talk about, so I think that's it. :\ Have a nice day!
I'm sitting at Dunn's, and there's a Stoltz dry cleaners across the street. I can't read the numbers in "EST ....", but from the name I know that it was probably the first half of the 20th century -- "stolz" is "pride" in German. Every day I walk by it in some fashion, and almost every day I get covered in laundry smell. Laundry smell and I have an off-and-on relationship: sometimes I love it, but sometimes it makes me sick, throws my sinuses into disarray. This makes doing laundry difficult.
Among the list of things that make my sinuses jump: laundry, showers, water, changes in sunlight, kittens, blowing my nose, changes in temperature, summer days. A lot of those are rather nice things that I come across often, which makes me very sad. I think I can trace these issues to my deviated septum, something my mother points out nearly every time I see her. It's not a long or incredibly painful surgery, so I should probably do it. I'm just...human, and resistant to change.
Anyways, I haven't remembered yet what I was going to talk about, so I think that's it. :\ Have a nice day!
17.3.09
Midterms
I just got my midterms back, and I currently am pulling all A's in my classes. This makes me so very happy, because I've been passively worried that I'm not putting in enough work, despite the fact that I don't do anything but homework. Still, :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D!
Bullseye
Yesterday was a good day. Today will also be a good day, hopefully.
Yesterday I played music with Martin, did artwork, and had people over for poker and drinks. It was a really great time. Today I will be playing more music with Martin, and maybe going to a friend's for a St. Patrick's Day party?
I have a variety of errands I need to run, so I'm sorry for the shorter post. I usually get pretty wordy, though, ala very little substance, excessive words, so I guess you get a break from that? And there's no poetry, so you don't have to try and interpret or critique. So all in all this post isn't asking much from you. :P
I had a weird dream last night, where I was working at Target, and had a little boy, and I was playing with him while I was on break, and then I got off of work and went home. Somehow it managed to not be a nightmare, despite the fact that I had a kid and was working at Target. I think I remember it being my secondary source of income though, so that's a little better. I enjoyed my boy though. That was nice. :)
Yesterday I played music with Martin, did artwork, and had people over for poker and drinks. It was a really great time. Today I will be playing more music with Martin, and maybe going to a friend's for a St. Patrick's Day party?
I have a variety of errands I need to run, so I'm sorry for the shorter post. I usually get pretty wordy, though, ala very little substance, excessive words, so I guess you get a break from that? And there's no poetry, so you don't have to try and interpret or critique. So all in all this post isn't asking much from you. :P
I had a weird dream last night, where I was working at Target, and had a little boy, and I was playing with him while I was on break, and then I got off of work and went home. Somehow it managed to not be a nightmare, despite the fact that I had a kid and was working at Target. I think I remember it being my secondary source of income though, so that's a little better. I enjoyed my boy though. That was nice. :)
16.3.09
The sound of folding
I'm out of money for Spring Break. That sounds like a ridiculous statement, I know, but it's true. If I use the same budgeting scheme I use every other month, then, thanks to a couple of particular purchases while my girlfriend was here, and thanks to a surprise trip to a restaurant last night, I now have no money to spend for the rest of break. Whoops. I'll probably end up withdrawing more money, but, really? Am I that bad at holding onto cash?
Today is music and poker, I believe. Martin's picking me up at some point and we're going to take the day practicing music. It should be fun. I'm a little tired right now, but I'm going to take a shower, get dressed, eat lunch and drink some tea. I should be good to go after that.
I just realized that I didn't post a poem last Thursday. I'm sorry for forgetting, I had a lot on my mind. The next day I had to take a test in my digital electronics class. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I think I did pretty well, but I guess we'll find out soon, as midterms were due ... yesterday? Today? Sometime next week they'll get posted, I'm guessing. Mac is really bad at deadlines, because professors are really bad at deadlines. I mean, just look at most research projects. :p
Anyways, I should probably post a poem! ::rummage rummage rummage:: Oh, on a side note, I cut myself opening up my patio door this morning, but I now have fresh air in my apartment!! Alright, this poem is currently titled Winter '09, just because that's when I wrote it and I can't think of another name. I like it, but I'm not quite sure yet what it's missing... the poem is in italics on this page, but the original has italicized portions, so those are the non-italicized portions of text.
The sidewalks are so slippery,
I stumbled and slid
But instead of a scowl I couldn't
Help but smile wide.
I step out onto the street
And the world is so Quiet...
Less than a block away
The details melt into silence, like
An MC Escher sketch where
You have to ask
What was just up ahead?
My ears are covered in it –
The sound of sand sliding in the air is
Like the flush of skirts and shirts
As my mother searches for me,
Hiding in the clothes racks
At the department store.
Spinning in circles,
Head tossed back, soft specks
On my cheeks, like a white gown surrounds me
And I remember that
This is the whole world,
Right here.
Today is music and poker, I believe. Martin's picking me up at some point and we're going to take the day practicing music. It should be fun. I'm a little tired right now, but I'm going to take a shower, get dressed, eat lunch and drink some tea. I should be good to go after that.
I just realized that I didn't post a poem last Thursday. I'm sorry for forgetting, I had a lot on my mind. The next day I had to take a test in my digital electronics class. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I think I did pretty well, but I guess we'll find out soon, as midterms were due ... yesterday? Today? Sometime next week they'll get posted, I'm guessing. Mac is really bad at deadlines, because professors are really bad at deadlines. I mean, just look at most research projects. :p
Anyways, I should probably post a poem! ::rummage rummage rummage:: Oh, on a side note, I cut myself opening up my patio door this morning, but I now have fresh air in my apartment!! Alright, this poem is currently titled Winter '09, just because that's when I wrote it and I can't think of another name. I like it, but I'm not quite sure yet what it's missing... the poem is in italics on this page, but the original has italicized portions, so those are the non-italicized portions of text.
The sidewalks are so slippery,
I stumbled and slid
But instead of a scowl I couldn't
Help but smile wide.
I step out onto the street
And the world is so Quiet...
Less than a block away
The details melt into silence, like
An MC Escher sketch where
You have to ask
What was just up ahead?
My ears are covered in it –
The sound of sand sliding in the air is
Like the flush of skirts and shirts
As my mother searches for me,
Hiding in the clothes racks
At the department store.
Spinning in circles,
Head tossed back, soft specks
On my cheeks, like a white gown surrounds me
And I remember that
This is the whole world,
Right here.
15.3.09
100
My blog is now 100 posts old. Cool. Didn't realize time had gone so quickly. Speaking of old...
My computer is dying a slow painful death. The Windows side now occasionally loses track of the power connection, decides there's no battery, and promptly shuts down. It's really annoying when you're trying to kill a guy in WoW, or chat with Vinny, and then your computer dies, and it takes 15 minutes to start back up again, because Windows sucks. However, my Ubu partition is fine, and it never experiences this problem. I think something changed with the new bios I installed that affects control of the fan and heat dissipation, because the fan is also really loud whenever I've got Windows booted up.
I want to take this computer all the way through college, because I can't really afford to get a computer every two years. If something fails seriously, I may try to take advantage of my extended coverage plan at Best Buy that expires at the end of this coming summer, but I really hope ::knock on wood:: that nothing bad happens. I'm going to have to start backing up stuff, just in case.
Something I've been looking at is the possibility of getting a netbook and trying out using the cloud for everything. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, and my fingers are fairly large, but it would definitely be a change. And I don't play video games on my computer a whole lot anymore either, so that wouldn't be a serious issue. And if I did want to play games, good desktops are pretty cheap now that laptops are the standard.
I dunno, I'd really like to not have to replace my computer. That would be great with me.
My computer is dying a slow painful death. The Windows side now occasionally loses track of the power connection, decides there's no battery, and promptly shuts down. It's really annoying when you're trying to kill a guy in WoW, or chat with Vinny, and then your computer dies, and it takes 15 minutes to start back up again, because Windows sucks. However, my Ubu partition is fine, and it never experiences this problem. I think something changed with the new bios I installed that affects control of the fan and heat dissipation, because the fan is also really loud whenever I've got Windows booted up.
I want to take this computer all the way through college, because I can't really afford to get a computer every two years. If something fails seriously, I may try to take advantage of my extended coverage plan at Best Buy that expires at the end of this coming summer, but I really hope ::knock on wood:: that nothing bad happens. I'm going to have to start backing up stuff, just in case.
Something I've been looking at is the possibility of getting a netbook and trying out using the cloud for everything. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, and my fingers are fairly large, but it would definitely be a change. And I don't play video games on my computer a whole lot anymore either, so that wouldn't be a serious issue. And if I did want to play games, good desktops are pretty cheap now that laptops are the standard.
I dunno, I'd really like to not have to replace my computer. That would be great with me.
Whoops
Sorry I missed the update yesterday, it was a busy day. I also didn't have much to talk about, so I guess I'll talk about what I did yesterday, since it did take up a lot of time.
I woke up and went out to breakfast with my folks, which was nice. Apparently, my dad's worried that he's going to be laid off. I became aware of this situation one week ago, despite the fact that it's been going on for several months. ::facepalm:: So that's fun. It puts a brand new spin on being a Senior next year, and trying to make money this summer. Breakfast was good though. :) Eggs, hashbrowns and biscuits with gravy. Yum.
After that I sat around for a while and then went to Baker's Square to have pie with some friends who came back to town on Spring Break. I didn't get pie, but we sat around talking for a while anyways, and then went to the liquor store and then called it a day.
I ended up going out for coffee later with one of that group of people, which was a great time. We sat around talking for about 3 hours, and had a very good talk. I then went to a party at another friend's house that was kind of low-key, and sort of ... interesting. There weren't very many people there, and there were one or two pretty bad awkward silences. People had just run out of things to say for a little bit. :\
That was my day. Today I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I don't think that much. I'd like to play it much more low-key. We'll see how successful I am at that.
I woke up and went out to breakfast with my folks, which was nice. Apparently, my dad's worried that he's going to be laid off. I became aware of this situation one week ago, despite the fact that it's been going on for several months. ::facepalm:: So that's fun. It puts a brand new spin on being a Senior next year, and trying to make money this summer. Breakfast was good though. :) Eggs, hashbrowns and biscuits with gravy. Yum.
After that I sat around for a while and then went to Baker's Square to have pie with some friends who came back to town on Spring Break. I didn't get pie, but we sat around talking for a while anyways, and then went to the liquor store and then called it a day.
I ended up going out for coffee later with one of that group of people, which was a great time. We sat around talking for about 3 hours, and had a very good talk. I then went to a party at another friend's house that was kind of low-key, and sort of ... interesting. There weren't very many people there, and there were one or two pretty bad awkward silences. People had just run out of things to say for a little bit. :\
That was my day. Today I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I don't think that much. I'd like to play it much more low-key. We'll see how successful I am at that.
13.3.09
The path's clear ahead, and hope's not dead.
Spring break woooooo!
Now that I've gotten that over with, let's get down to serious business ... ok, yeah, I've got nothing.
My Digital Electronics test this afternoon went really well. It was a good test - not easy, but not difficult either. If you knew it, it took you an hour to do, if you didn't already know it, you probably didn't finish. Good test. Nice and rigorous. I liked it. I also think I did pretty well.
Spring break is full of plans...sort of. Not really? I guess the most I have planned is that there's going to be an open mic, there may be a hello blacksmith show and I'm eating chili tonight. That's about all I have figured out. The best thing? (inb4 sometimes they come from desperation) No homework, no to-do list for an entire week! Doesn't being a student rock?
It's a Friday night, the week is just starting, I've got coffee, drink, food, a guitar and a burning desire to engage in creation. It's a Friday night, and it's above freezing in Minnesota. Fuck yeah.
Now that I've gotten that over with, let's get down to serious business ... ok, yeah, I've got nothing.
My Digital Electronics test this afternoon went really well. It was a good test - not easy, but not difficult either. If you knew it, it took you an hour to do, if you didn't already know it, you probably didn't finish. Good test. Nice and rigorous. I liked it. I also think I did pretty well.
Spring break is full of plans...sort of. Not really? I guess the most I have planned is that there's going to be an open mic, there may be a hello blacksmith show and I'm eating chili tonight. That's about all I have figured out. The best thing? (inb4 sometimes they come from desperation) No homework, no to-do list for an entire week! Doesn't being a student rock?
It's a Friday night, the week is just starting, I've got coffee, drink, food, a guitar and a burning desire to engage in creation. It's a Friday night, and it's above freezing in Minnesota. Fuck yeah.
12.3.09
None of them along the line know what this is worth
I started exercising again this week. It started off on Thursday when I didn't have lab but went to my professor's research presentation. I had a final the next morning, and felt like maybe exercise would do me some good. I hadn't had time/motivation to exercise for the past several weeks, due to homework, Aeva, and just a lack of nourishing impulses, so I was feeling pretty disgusted with my body. Like, I'm so skinny that you can clearly see when I haven't been exercising or eating well because there's nothing to hide lack of nutrition or lack of muscle. So anyways, in an effort to become stronger, be able to run cross country again and look better, I wanted to start working out again. Also, inb4 zombie apocalypse.
So on Tuesday, even though I really didn't want to, I walked over to the athletic center, known variously as the MARC and the Leonard Center. I changed, filled up my apple-juice bottle come water bottle (I <3 glass containers) and walked into the fitness side of the workout area.
As an aside, this place is practically palatial. There are about 25-30 fitness machines and probably double that in weight machines. The freeweights section looks like a fully stocked bar on a Friday night and, depending on who's there at the time, is nearly as busy. By and large two groups use the fitness center: athletes and women. I have a hard time identifying any man I see in there as not an athlete; most of those I do determine to not be athletes are alumni or professors. I guess staying fit is not important to Mac guys.
This was at about 5:00 on a Tuesday, where class ends for the most part at 4:30, with only a handful of 5-6:30 classes still going. So the place was packed. None of the ellipticals were open, none of the treadmills were free; the only thing available for use was bikes. There are two variety of exercise bikes in popular use: the upright bike, which is traditionally how bikes work, and the horizontal bike, which is like a row machine for your legs. Having never used one of those before, I decided to try it out.
For those who are interested, it's very similar to normal biking. It felt like it was using the same muscles, and I felt the same burn in the same places. It was easier on my crotch but harder on my ass -- in addition to diamonds, I can also cleave my own muscle and skin. It also solved my main problem with upright bike machines: being so far off the ground. Being lower to the ground, like on a proper bike, gave me much more confidence, and also made me feel like I wasn't really exercising, considering my seated position. Anyways, tldr; I biked 6.8 miles in 25 minutes, with the last .8 miles being a 5 minute cooldown.
After that I did an upper body workout, trying to hit all of the big muscles: rowing for upper back, chest press, shoulder press, crunches. Also, smaller muscle groups: bicep curls, tricep extensions, gratuitous amounts of stretching.
Earlier in the semester, I was trying to exercise twice a week and I found I was forgetting the weight levels I used. I've solved that problem now. Not by writing it down, as you would expect, oh no, that would be too easy: I've chosen a much more enjoyable form of memorization. Exercising every day, alternating between upper and lower body workouts after 20 or so minutes of cardio.
This may sound like a lot, but I don't reach my "cardio workout heart rate" or whatever until about 12 minutes into a continuous, strenuous exercise. Vinny said, "I'm glad it's not me." I would have to respond, "Then it's a good thing it's me doing it."
So on Tuesday, even though I really didn't want to, I walked over to the athletic center, known variously as the MARC and the Leonard Center. I changed, filled up my apple-juice bottle come water bottle (I <3 glass containers) and walked into the fitness side of the workout area.
As an aside, this place is practically palatial. There are about 25-30 fitness machines and probably double that in weight machines. The freeweights section looks like a fully stocked bar on a Friday night and, depending on who's there at the time, is nearly as busy. By and large two groups use the fitness center: athletes and women. I have a hard time identifying any man I see in there as not an athlete; most of those I do determine to not be athletes are alumni or professors. I guess staying fit is not important to Mac guys.
This was at about 5:00 on a Tuesday, where class ends for the most part at 4:30, with only a handful of 5-6:30 classes still going. So the place was packed. None of the ellipticals were open, none of the treadmills were free; the only thing available for use was bikes. There are two variety of exercise bikes in popular use: the upright bike, which is traditionally how bikes work, and the horizontal bike, which is like a row machine for your legs. Having never used one of those before, I decided to try it out.
For those who are interested, it's very similar to normal biking. It felt like it was using the same muscles, and I felt the same burn in the same places. It was easier on my crotch but harder on my ass -- in addition to diamonds, I can also cleave my own muscle and skin. It also solved my main problem with upright bike machines: being so far off the ground. Being lower to the ground, like on a proper bike, gave me much more confidence, and also made me feel like I wasn't really exercising, considering my seated position. Anyways, tldr; I biked 6.8 miles in 25 minutes, with the last .8 miles being a 5 minute cooldown.
After that I did an upper body workout, trying to hit all of the big muscles: rowing for upper back, chest press, shoulder press, crunches. Also, smaller muscle groups: bicep curls, tricep extensions, gratuitous amounts of stretching.
Earlier in the semester, I was trying to exercise twice a week and I found I was forgetting the weight levels I used. I've solved that problem now. Not by writing it down, as you would expect, oh no, that would be too easy: I've chosen a much more enjoyable form of memorization. Exercising every day, alternating between upper and lower body workouts after 20 or so minutes of cardio.
This may sound like a lot, but I don't reach my "cardio workout heart rate" or whatever until about 12 minutes into a continuous, strenuous exercise. Vinny said, "I'm glad it's not me." I would have to respond, "Then it's a good thing it's me doing it."
11.3.09
Talkdo
Spurred by a twitter conversation with Jake, I've decided to try and update this blog at least once a day. We'll try for the next week, and if I'm dying of typing too much, or I just plain have nothing to say, then I'll give it up, but I may just find I have enough to say to fill a blog post every day. There goes that rhyme again. Hm... I wonder if poetry counts? I would say yes. Then again, I write quite a few poems in a week, so it could just become all poems if I'm not careful. I'll have to think on this.
I was invited today to join my professor's research project this summer. It's currently a team of 4, my professor Shilad and three students, and since two of the other students just received notification of funding from the school, he has room on his budget for another researcher, which is pretty awesome. My school doesn't have a lot of opportunities for research, much less small-team research -- most research opportunities are only during the summer and only with you and the professor, and maybe one other student.
Anyways, the project itself is called PoliWiki. The idea is that the only political wiki, or really political knowledge aggregation site at all, is Wikipedia, and due to NPOV, users can't be subjective about a topic, and pages with a lot of debate behind them, particularly political articles, are often locked as a result of slander, rapid editing, "graffiti" and so on. The idea is to give users a wiki-like format in which to create articles adhering to an MPOV style - multiple points of view. The basic idea so far (I saw a talk on it yesterday) is to frame issues, candidates and races in terms of a question, and then a collection of articles representing different viewpoints would follow.
There's a lot of things yet to be decided, but it should suffice to say that the project is quite intriguing. I should also point out that I haven't accepted the offer yet, as I'm waiting to here back from, like, 7 other programs I've applied to that won't get back to me until April. The good thing is that he's not really looking at anyone else, so I don't have to worry about other hypothetical "applicants" stealing my spot.
Notes to self: Stop trying to use Vim commands in every other text editor.bbi It doesn't work. :w Also, talk to Susan about Honors projects, as the school has no direct information on them.
I was invited today to join my professor's research project this summer. It's currently a team of 4, my professor Shilad and three students, and since two of the other students just received notification of funding from the school, he has room on his budget for another researcher, which is pretty awesome. My school doesn't have a lot of opportunities for research, much less small-team research -- most research opportunities are only during the summer and only with you and the professor, and maybe one other student.
Anyways, the project itself is called PoliWiki. The idea is that the only political wiki, or really political knowledge aggregation site at all, is Wikipedia, and due to NPOV, users can't be subjective about a topic, and pages with a lot of debate behind them, particularly political articles, are often locked as a result of slander, rapid editing, "graffiti" and so on. The idea is to give users a wiki-like format in which to create articles adhering to an MPOV style - multiple points of view. The basic idea so far (I saw a talk on it yesterday) is to frame issues, candidates and races in terms of a question, and then a collection of articles representing different viewpoints would follow.
There's a lot of things yet to be decided, but it should suffice to say that the project is quite intriguing. I should also point out that I haven't accepted the offer yet, as I'm waiting to here back from, like, 7 other programs I've applied to that won't get back to me until April. The good thing is that he's not really looking at anyone else, so I don't have to worry about other hypothetical "applicants" stealing my spot.
Notes to self: Stop trying to use Vim commands in every other text editor.
Days in, feet out, sheet, not blanket
Here's my to-do list for this week, abbreviated. The important parts are on there:
To Do
Be Awesome. Always
Get HW3 sorting with a limit on the number of threads Sat/Sun
Read corn
Read norton Sun
Fix Vilanelle Mon
Study for O.S. Mon/Tues
Digi Problem Set 4 Mon/Tues
Study for Digi Wed/Thur
Multi Hw 7 Wed/Thur
This is an average week for me, but that first one is the most important part. :)
On the subject of lists, and music recommendations, here's my listening list for yesterday:
Audition by P.O.S
Kid A by Radiohead
Keep Guessin' by Hockey Night
Meat Tape
To Do
Be Awesome. Always
Study for Digi Wed/Thur
Multi Hw 7 Wed/Thur
This is an average week for me, but that first one is the most important part. :)
On the subject of lists, and music recommendations, here's my listening list for yesterday:
Audition by P.O.S
Kid A by Radiohead
Keep Guessin' by Hockey Night
Meat Tape
9.3.09
Return of the me.
Hello all, I hope your midterms, finals and miscellaneous projects are going well. I'm back from my week of internet exile, in before blog closed due to gf, and I'm just in time for... hey now, who put my midterms right after my girlfriend's spring break? This is not fair. Oh, well. I've only got two tests, and I've already finished/am finishing most of my homework for the week. It shouldn't be too bad. And then it's my spring break to round off the the little three-week period here, and everybody's coming home! Well, almost everybody. A lot of people. Regardless, it'll be a good time. We may even have enough people for an open mic.
I really like the new picture for my blog, as an aside. It fits well, with the theme, with the original work I yy'd the title from, with who I am and where I live. Thank you, google.
On the subject of art, as once upon a time this was my art update day, I haven't had much time to practice much of anything. I barely have time to keep up on my weekly poetry writing assignments for class, much less practice my acoustic music, practice hello blacksmith, write new music, revise lyrics, prep for spoken word stuff, etc. I'm afraid that if I don't dedicate my life to these things, this is how it will always be. That scares me more than anything right now.
Speaking of things that scare me, such as real life, jobs, applying for internships and where I'm going to be this summer, I applied for a real internship, finally. Like, with a company, as opposed to a research opp at a different college. Like, this one. So...we'll wait and hear about that.
I'm competing in a poetry slam at the end of the month. This makes me happy, and not very worried at all.
I really like the new picture for my blog, as an aside. It fits well, with the theme, with the original work I yy'd the title from, with who I am and where I live. Thank you, google.
On the subject of art, as once upon a time this was my art update day, I haven't had much time to practice much of anything. I barely have time to keep up on my weekly poetry writing assignments for class, much less practice my acoustic music, practice hello blacksmith, write new music, revise lyrics, prep for spoken word stuff, etc. I'm afraid that if I don't dedicate my life to these things, this is how it will always be. That scares me more than anything right now.
Speaking of things that scare me, such as real life, jobs, applying for internships and where I'm going to be this summer, I applied for a real internship, finally. Like, with a company, as opposed to a research opp at a different college. Like, this one. So...we'll wait and hear about that.
I'm competing in a poetry slam at the end of the month. This makes me happy, and not very worried at all.
1.3.09
Welcome
I don't know why that post title is there. <.< >.>
Anyways, my girlfriend's going to be here in like 2 hours, so don't expect much updating from me. I'm going to have a hard enough time juggling her and class and schoolwork. Still, thinking of all of you. Have good weeks.
Erfworld has taken an interesting and possibly (probably) tragic turn. They update so slow...I mean, more often than the VGCats guy, but that's not hard to do at all. Good story though.
Anyways, my girlfriend's going to be here in like 2 hours, so don't expect much updating from me. I'm going to have a hard enough time juggling her and class and schoolwork. Still, thinking of all of you. Have good weeks.
Erfworld has taken an interesting and possibly (probably) tragic turn. They update so slow...I mean, more often than the VGCats guy, but that's not hard to do at all. Good story though.
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