lost... dead... fucked up...
finished my douglas coupland book... always a pleasure, even as i find myself tiring of his same old narrative devices, his same old themes... we’re all so lost... we’re all searching for something... we’re all just so fucked up and lonely inside... all told as often as not the voices of the dead.
and i started the book thinking... fuck, i think i’ve heard all this before... can’t this guy get some new material?
and yet doesn’t the fact that i keep buying and reading his books kinda prove that he’s right?
d.
Monday, June 30
what time is it...?
Just writing to stay awake really... I've been looking at my computer for a half hour thinking it was almost midnight, but it turns out that my computer thinks it's still in NY... here in Chicago it's really only almost 11:00. Why the fuck am I so TIRED, then? Couldn't be from listening to the baby scream for 45 minutes while I try to get him to sleep? Could it??
The wife is out tonight at some new Sondheim musical while I'm here with the kids and Grandpa, who isn't loads of help exactly. But they are all asleep now, so I figured I'd take advantage of the quiet time to post a little entry here. Mission accomplished.
We're going to the zoo tomorrow, then who-knows-what on Tuesday. Then Wednesday we fly out to Idaho. Boy-o-boy. A pretty harmless vacation so far. In the meantime I'm working on a syllabus for my Astronomy class. I really enjoy writing syllabi. And I really enjoy working when I don't have to... it gives me great pleasure. I don't know why.
Have I mentioned I'm thinking of buying a truckload of 50 computers on eBay for $375?? As in - $375 for ALL 50 COMPUTERS. Sick, yeah... I know. Anybody want to buy a 7 year-old Mac?
Dr. D.
Just writing to stay awake really... I've been looking at my computer for a half hour thinking it was almost midnight, but it turns out that my computer thinks it's still in NY... here in Chicago it's really only almost 11:00. Why the fuck am I so TIRED, then? Couldn't be from listening to the baby scream for 45 minutes while I try to get him to sleep? Could it??
The wife is out tonight at some new Sondheim musical while I'm here with the kids and Grandpa, who isn't loads of help exactly. But they are all asleep now, so I figured I'd take advantage of the quiet time to post a little entry here. Mission accomplished.
We're going to the zoo tomorrow, then who-knows-what on Tuesday. Then Wednesday we fly out to Idaho. Boy-o-boy. A pretty harmless vacation so far. In the meantime I'm working on a syllabus for my Astronomy class. I really enjoy writing syllabi. And I really enjoy working when I don't have to... it gives me great pleasure. I don't know why.
Have I mentioned I'm thinking of buying a truckload of 50 computers on eBay for $375?? As in - $375 for ALL 50 COMPUTERS. Sick, yeah... I know. Anybody want to buy a 7 year-old Mac?
Dr. D.
Sunday, June 29
Saturday, June 28
...all i ever wanted...
So... here I am on "vacation"... if you can call it that... at the in-laws' in Chicago dealing with two kids who apparently can't deal with the fuckin one hour time zone change. Can't wait to see what happens when we drag them to IDAHO, then back to NY.
Anyhoo... posts will be short and infrequent for the next 10 days... especially once we reach Idaho. But I'm sure I'll have plenty to bitch about once I get back!
Dave
So... here I am on "vacation"... if you can call it that... at the in-laws' in Chicago dealing with two kids who apparently can't deal with the fuckin one hour time zone change. Can't wait to see what happens when we drag them to IDAHO, then back to NY.
Anyhoo... posts will be short and infrequent for the next 10 days... especially once we reach Idaho. But I'm sure I'll have plenty to bitch about once I get back!
Dave
Wednesday, June 25
books...
I wrote the other day about my recent acquisition of “MAME” – the arcade game emulator that lets you play classic console games using the original game ROMs on emulated hardware. The reason I sought it out was that it plays a prominent part in a book I’m reading called “Lucky Wander Boy” by D.B. Weiss. It features a main character who is writing a book called the Catalog of Obsolete Entertainments, in which he waxes philosophical about the subtexts of classic video games. It’s all tongue in cheek, but it’s pretty entertaining. The feel of the book is very similar to Douglas Coupland’s “Microserfs”. As a novel, it’s not hanging together so well... it’s getting a little weird towards the end, but if you’re about my age, and if a significant amount of your allowance at age 13 went straight into the slot of a Tempest or Missile Command machine, you’ll find a lot here to amuse you. And like me... you’ll probably be driven to download a copy of MAME for yourself and start scouring the net for a ROM of Qix or Star Castle or Dig Dug or whatever your particular poison was in 1983.
In other book news, we found ourselves at a Borders at 10:00 AM the other day standing in line for the new HP book... which I suppose is marginally better than standing in line at 1:00 AM for it, which we probably WOULD have been doing if our lame Borders was doing anything fun at their midnight event. As it were, they were just selling books. What’s up with that? Anyway, my wife read the whole thing in just over 24 hours. Sick. As for me, I never even read the fourth one, so if I get bored this summer, there are some 1600 pages of Harry Potter waiting for me!
But first I need to finish the book I’m on, cuz I have the new Douglas Coupland book, “Hey, Nostradamus” waiting in the wings. Yay! I’m a bit worried that it will be even more depressing than most of his books are... it’s built around the aftermath of Columbine, or a similar fictional event, I can’t tell which... but it looks depressing either way. I’m saving it for our vacation. We leave on Friday for Idaho by way of Chicago. Giddyup!
Oh speaking of vacations... we aren’t going to Oxford in August... did I mention that? It just got to be too much... the cost, the stress of the conference... bad timing all around, so I pulled out of the conference. It sucks, but I think it’s for the best. Now I can ENJOY the summer instead of working on some fucking talk I don’t even want to give.
But this entry was supposed to be about “books”...
Where was I?
Once I get Coupland out of the way, I should really knock off “Return of the King” so I can finally put the Tolkein thing to rest. I keep starting it then getting distracted. I’m on page 35 or so, and have been since Xmas.
The woman across from me on the train is... just... yeah... well... fuck...
But this entry was supposed to be about “books”...
I was browsing Amazon dot com last night, looking for history of science texts, and I made an important decision. If I ever write a book... which I may do someday... about the history of science, I must resist with all my might the urge to have the title include the phrase “That Changed The World” Go browse the history of science section at Amazon... every other fucking book is ”Blah Blah Blah, the Blah Blah that Changed the World.” Let’s get a little more creative people, can we??
She’s one of those women whose lips are always just a *little bit parted* in the middle... fuck, that just KILLS me...
But this entry was supposed to be about “books”...
I think I’m gonna go read now.
”I’m waiting for you, Lucky Wander Boy!
D.
eastern meditations...
sat in starbucks this morning and finished my book... it ended well... very couplandesque... one side effect... the protagonist’s climactic encounter in japan with the woman who served as his mysterious technological muse throughout the book has had the peculiar effect of hyper-eroticizing every asian woman that i pass on the street.
my brain is far to susceptible to suggestion.
d.
I wrote the other day about my recent acquisition of “MAME” – the arcade game emulator that lets you play classic console games using the original game ROMs on emulated hardware. The reason I sought it out was that it plays a prominent part in a book I’m reading called “Lucky Wander Boy” by D.B. Weiss. It features a main character who is writing a book called the Catalog of Obsolete Entertainments, in which he waxes philosophical about the subtexts of classic video games. It’s all tongue in cheek, but it’s pretty entertaining. The feel of the book is very similar to Douglas Coupland’s “Microserfs”. As a novel, it’s not hanging together so well... it’s getting a little weird towards the end, but if you’re about my age, and if a significant amount of your allowance at age 13 went straight into the slot of a Tempest or Missile Command machine, you’ll find a lot here to amuse you. And like me... you’ll probably be driven to download a copy of MAME for yourself and start scouring the net for a ROM of Qix or Star Castle or Dig Dug or whatever your particular poison was in 1983.
In other book news, we found ourselves at a Borders at 10:00 AM the other day standing in line for the new HP book... which I suppose is marginally better than standing in line at 1:00 AM for it, which we probably WOULD have been doing if our lame Borders was doing anything fun at their midnight event. As it were, they were just selling books. What’s up with that? Anyway, my wife read the whole thing in just over 24 hours. Sick. As for me, I never even read the fourth one, so if I get bored this summer, there are some 1600 pages of Harry Potter waiting for me!
But first I need to finish the book I’m on, cuz I have the new Douglas Coupland book, “Hey, Nostradamus” waiting in the wings. Yay! I’m a bit worried that it will be even more depressing than most of his books are... it’s built around the aftermath of Columbine, or a similar fictional event, I can’t tell which... but it looks depressing either way. I’m saving it for our vacation. We leave on Friday for Idaho by way of Chicago. Giddyup!
Oh speaking of vacations... we aren’t going to Oxford in August... did I mention that? It just got to be too much... the cost, the stress of the conference... bad timing all around, so I pulled out of the conference. It sucks, but I think it’s for the best. Now I can ENJOY the summer instead of working on some fucking talk I don’t even want to give.
But this entry was supposed to be about “books”...
Where was I?
Once I get Coupland out of the way, I should really knock off “Return of the King” so I can finally put the Tolkein thing to rest. I keep starting it then getting distracted. I’m on page 35 or so, and have been since Xmas.
The woman across from me on the train is... just... yeah... well... fuck...
But this entry was supposed to be about “books”...
I was browsing Amazon dot com last night, looking for history of science texts, and I made an important decision. If I ever write a book... which I may do someday... about the history of science, I must resist with all my might the urge to have the title include the phrase “That Changed The World” Go browse the history of science section at Amazon... every other fucking book is ”Blah Blah Blah, the Blah Blah that Changed the World.” Let’s get a little more creative people, can we??
She’s one of those women whose lips are always just a *little bit parted* in the middle... fuck, that just KILLS me...
But this entry was supposed to be about “books”...
I think I’m gonna go read now.
”I’m waiting for you, Lucky Wander Boy!
D.
eastern meditations...
sat in starbucks this morning and finished my book... it ended well... very couplandesque... one side effect... the protagonist’s climactic encounter in japan with the woman who served as his mysterious technological muse throughout the book has had the peculiar effect of hyper-eroticizing every asian woman that i pass on the street.
my brain is far to susceptible to suggestion.
d.
Tuesday, June 24
Welcome to Hell...
Well I was going to write about something else this afternoon, but I’ve been distracted from that by the fact I’m sitting in a train that - I shit you not - is 110 degrees inside, and fucking PACKED to the roof. It was either STAND UP all the way home or sit in a car with no air conditioning. I chose the latter... perhaps a bad choice, but it was quickly too late to change my mind. It’s a local too... not an express. Seems the train scheduled to leave 10 minutes prior got cancelled and they shifted that train’s entire complement of passengers to THIS one. What the fuck.?? You can’t just DOUBLE the occupancy of a RUSH HOUR train!! Somebody is gonna fucking SNAP and go on a murderous rampage in here. It may be me. First day of summer... woo-hoo. I should have worn shorts. Fucking hell.
And it’s not like the first day of summer didn’t already have me on edge... the first day of honest-to-goodness 90 degree summer heat... walking down the street all day through the parade of evaporating clothing and bare skin... legs... shoulders... backs... cleavage... necks... clavicles... midriffs... toes... legs...
... legs...
And all of them, ever so slightly...
*glistening*
FUCK, WOMEN... PUT SOME FUCKING CLOTHES ON BEFORE I FUCKING KILL MYSELF!!
I’ve been more than a little... ummm... shall we say “distracted” all day.
I should have told them I had to leave the meeting at 4:00. Who the FUCK has a THREE HOUR MEETING during fucking SUMMER VACATION??
I could have been a happily air-conditioned passenger on the 4:21.
Instead I’m on the 5:36 train to the fucking Solstice-Level of Dante’s Inferno... populated by mortals who complained about the rain too much when they were fucking alive, and now have to sit in the 200 degree fucking heat for eternity between two fat sweaty guys in suits while half-naked unattainable women parade by and blast them with napalm at regular intervals.
My fingerpits are sweating.... the little spaces between my fingers... dripping with sweat. I’m not sure I’ve ever sweated from there before.
And to add insult to injury, I just heard one of the nearby Glisteners say to her underage boyfriend over their fake-ID-acquired cans of Bud Light - ”Actually... I’m not really all that hot. I feel fine.”
THAT’S BECAUSE YOU’RE FUCKING NAKED, YOU SLUT!!
Are we there yet??
D.
Well I was going to write about something else this afternoon, but I’ve been distracted from that by the fact I’m sitting in a train that - I shit you not - is 110 degrees inside, and fucking PACKED to the roof. It was either STAND UP all the way home or sit in a car with no air conditioning. I chose the latter... perhaps a bad choice, but it was quickly too late to change my mind. It’s a local too... not an express. Seems the train scheduled to leave 10 minutes prior got cancelled and they shifted that train’s entire complement of passengers to THIS one. What the fuck.?? You can’t just DOUBLE the occupancy of a RUSH HOUR train!! Somebody is gonna fucking SNAP and go on a murderous rampage in here. It may be me. First day of summer... woo-hoo. I should have worn shorts. Fucking hell.
And it’s not like the first day of summer didn’t already have me on edge... the first day of honest-to-goodness 90 degree summer heat... walking down the street all day through the parade of evaporating clothing and bare skin... legs... shoulders... backs... cleavage... necks... clavicles... midriffs... toes... legs...
... legs...
And all of them, ever so slightly...
*glistening*
FUCK, WOMEN... PUT SOME FUCKING CLOTHES ON BEFORE I FUCKING KILL MYSELF!!
I’ve been more than a little... ummm... shall we say “distracted” all day.
I should have told them I had to leave the meeting at 4:00. Who the FUCK has a THREE HOUR MEETING during fucking SUMMER VACATION??
I could have been a happily air-conditioned passenger on the 4:21.
Instead I’m on the 5:36 train to the fucking Solstice-Level of Dante’s Inferno... populated by mortals who complained about the rain too much when they were fucking alive, and now have to sit in the 200 degree fucking heat for eternity between two fat sweaty guys in suits while half-naked unattainable women parade by and blast them with napalm at regular intervals.
My fingerpits are sweating.... the little spaces between my fingers... dripping with sweat. I’m not sure I’ve ever sweated from there before.
And to add insult to injury, I just heard one of the nearby Glisteners say to her underage boyfriend over their fake-ID-acquired cans of Bud Light - ”Actually... I’m not really all that hot. I feel fine.”
THAT’S BECAUSE YOU’RE FUCKING NAKED, YOU SLUT!!
Are we there yet??
D.
back to work...
Aaahhh… the train… my own personal “Fortress of Solitude”… a place where I can think again… where I can breathe again… where I can WRITE again!
It’s Tuesday… I have two meetings in the city. See, we college professors don’t get the WHOLE summer off… we have to work… you know… once a month or so in July and August. :) Actually, I did a lot of work yesterday at home… putting together PDF files for the Fall semester… readings for classes and stuff. And today I plan on doing much the same, when I’m not in meetings… getting ready for next semester. I need to choose textbooks for my Classical Mechanics course… you know what that means… a trip to Barnes and Noble this morning for… ummm…. “research”!
Fuck, I love my job!
Meeting-wise there are two things happening today. First I have an end-of-the-year “exit meeting” with the Dean of the College. I’m not sure what the deal is... seems like it’s just something they always do... “How was the year? Do you have any issues?”... that kinda crap. I don’t think it’s related to the fact that the Dean is leaving, but it could be. The new Dean seems pretty gung-ho... she’s already making her mark. We got an email the other day informing us of a 3-day “Faculty Retreat” in early September at some mountain resort in upstate New York. That could be either really cool or really irritating... it’ll be fun to see what kind of “retreat” it is. That word can mean different things. Sometimes it means that getting-to-know-you, team-building, organizational-unity, rah-rah-rah bullshit. Sometimes it just means, “we’re going to lock you in a room and make you work for three days during the weekend.” I actually prefer the latter, but... whatever. If it means I get to sleep in a room where there are no people under the age of one, I’m there.
The other meeting today is a science department thing. Those are always fun. Intellectual discourse... lots of arguing, but all in a very positive way. It’s cool. Lock me in a room to do that for 3 days and I’ll be happy. Make me climb ropes and rappel out of trees and fall backwards with my eyes closed and wear a name tag and tell people about myself... no... fuck that... that’s something to retreat FROM!
So... that’s work for today. I have other stuff to write about, but I’ll do it in a separate entry.
D.
Aaahhh… the train… my own personal “Fortress of Solitude”… a place where I can think again… where I can breathe again… where I can WRITE again!
It’s Tuesday… I have two meetings in the city. See, we college professors don’t get the WHOLE summer off… we have to work… you know… once a month or so in July and August. :) Actually, I did a lot of work yesterday at home… putting together PDF files for the Fall semester… readings for classes and stuff. And today I plan on doing much the same, when I’m not in meetings… getting ready for next semester. I need to choose textbooks for my Classical Mechanics course… you know what that means… a trip to Barnes and Noble this morning for… ummm…. “research”!
Fuck, I love my job!
Meeting-wise there are two things happening today. First I have an end-of-the-year “exit meeting” with the Dean of the College. I’m not sure what the deal is... seems like it’s just something they always do... “How was the year? Do you have any issues?”... that kinda crap. I don’t think it’s related to the fact that the Dean is leaving, but it could be. The new Dean seems pretty gung-ho... she’s already making her mark. We got an email the other day informing us of a 3-day “Faculty Retreat” in early September at some mountain resort in upstate New York. That could be either really cool or really irritating... it’ll be fun to see what kind of “retreat” it is. That word can mean different things. Sometimes it means that getting-to-know-you, team-building, organizational-unity, rah-rah-rah bullshit. Sometimes it just means, “we’re going to lock you in a room and make you work for three days during the weekend.” I actually prefer the latter, but... whatever. If it means I get to sleep in a room where there are no people under the age of one, I’m there.
The other meeting today is a science department thing. Those are always fun. Intellectual discourse... lots of arguing, but all in a very positive way. It’s cool. Lock me in a room to do that for 3 days and I’ll be happy. Make me climb ropes and rappel out of trees and fall backwards with my eyes closed and wear a name tag and tell people about myself... no... fuck that... that’s something to retreat FROM!
So... that’s work for today. I have other stuff to write about, but I’ll do it in a separate entry.
D.
Monday, June 23
i love parenthood...
so... here i sit in the basement at 5:30 in the morning watching an old episode of "seinfeld" on the tivo, cuz the baby - who cried all fucking night - now decides he wants to be WIDE AWAKE with the sunrise.
how exactly did the human race survive before it was illegal to kill children??
d.
so... here i sit in the basement at 5:30 in the morning watching an old episode of "seinfeld" on the tivo, cuz the baby - who cried all fucking night - now decides he wants to be WIDE AWAKE with the sunrise.
how exactly did the human race survive before it was illegal to kill children??
d.
Saturday, June 21
MAME...
No, not the musical that my high school put on when I was a Junior... I'm talking about the "Multi-Arcade-Machine-Emulator". I've downloaded a bunch of versions of this in the past and never really gotten it to work, but this time... oh, fuck... am I gonna spend a lot of time playing "Galaxian"!
I also downloaded the "Developer Tools" software development toolkit from Apple, so now I have something I can compile C programs on. Actually it has a C++ compiler... I just choose not to use the PlusPlus at all. I'm strictly a "C" man myself.
Notice how all I talk about is computing anymore?
In other news, the 6 month old has a ear infection... so... that pretty much tells you the mood around this house right there.
Off to try to find a ROM for "Missile Command"...
D.
No, not the musical that my high school put on when I was a Junior... I'm talking about the "Multi-Arcade-Machine-Emulator". I've downloaded a bunch of versions of this in the past and never really gotten it to work, but this time... oh, fuck... am I gonna spend a lot of time playing "Galaxian"!
I also downloaded the "Developer Tools" software development toolkit from Apple, so now I have something I can compile C programs on. Actually it has a C++ compiler... I just choose not to use the PlusPlus at all. I'm strictly a "C" man myself.
Notice how all I talk about is computing anymore?
In other news, the 6 month old has a ear infection... so... that pretty much tells you the mood around this house right there.
Off to try to find a ROM for "Missile Command"...
D.
Friday, June 20
back in the saddle...
Just a quick note in inform everyone that I got my replacement iBook from Apple today... and what a replacement it! They went and replaced my 700MHz/20Gb model with the latest 900MHz/40Gb model that is currently shipping. So for the time being, I'm a happy camper. Until THIS one starts going fucking crazy on me!
In other news... our family spent the whole day in NYC yesterday at the AMNH. The dinosaurs were a big hit, if hastily viewed... and the 6 month old actually enjoyed the planetarium show as much as the 4 year old... he was really watching all the stuff zipping around up there. Pretty cute.
I'm off to finish reinstalling all my various software. You'll be hearing a *bit* more from me now, I hope.
Dr D.
Just a quick note in inform everyone that I got my replacement iBook from Apple today... and what a replacement it! They went and replaced my 700MHz/20Gb model with the latest 900MHz/40Gb model that is currently shipping. So for the time being, I'm a happy camper. Until THIS one starts going fucking crazy on me!
In other news... our family spent the whole day in NYC yesterday at the AMNH. The dinosaurs were a big hit, if hastily viewed... and the 6 month old actually enjoyed the planetarium show as much as the 4 year old... he was really watching all the stuff zipping around up there. Pretty cute.
I'm off to finish reinstalling all my various software. You'll be hearing a *bit* more from me now, I hope.
Dr D.
Monday, June 16
yeah... i know...
i never fucking post anymore... so sue me.
no, i mean... i actually hate that i don;t have time to post during the summer. it sucks. as does the rest of my life lately. if only i had time to write about it. father's day sucked... today sucked... this conference in oxford sucks so much that i'm bailing out on it... i'm not gonna go.
fuck it all...
d.
i never fucking post anymore... so sue me.
no, i mean... i actually hate that i don;t have time to post during the summer. it sucks. as does the rest of my life lately. if only i had time to write about it. father's day sucked... today sucked... this conference in oxford sucks so much that i'm bailing out on it... i'm not gonna go.
fuck it all...
d.
Thursday, June 12
huked onn fonix...
By the way... pardon my spelling of late. Since I don't have my laptop, I'm posting straight into Blogger. I usually write my posts in Word then paste them. So... no spell check for a while. Expect an undue amount of DOuble INitial CAps and apostrophes that don;t come out right...
D.
By the way... pardon my spelling of late. Since I don't have my laptop, I'm posting straight into Blogger. I usually write my posts in Word then paste them. So... no spell check for a while. Expect an undue amount of DOuble INitial CAps and apostrophes that don;t come out right...
D.
fatherkkah...
I really hate that I have no time to write anymore. It's even tougher now that my laptop is gone and I can only post from the OldMac upstairs. Anyway, I decided to spend today's mini-update recounting my purchases of the past week. I have single-handedly promoted "Father's Day" to a week long affair... during which I go out and buy MYSELF stuff every day for eight days. Here's the list...
BOOKS: Picked up the new James Gleick bigraphy of Isaac Newton. It's really good. Also picked up some collections of lectures by Heisenberg and Planck. Not exactly page-turners... but I like to use primary sources as often as I can in my classes.
THE ANIMATRIX: Got this DVD becuase I got a $5 coupon when I bought "The Matrix" on sale. If you don't know about it... it's a collection of animated shorts that flesh out various parts of the backstory to the films. Some were good... some were so-so... definitely worth $12, though.
A TRACKBALL: From eBay. I Love trackballs, and I've always wanted one. So I bought it. $11. I'm using it right now, as we speak. (err... write... you know what I mean.)
LED ZEPPELIN: The DVD and the 3 CD set. $50 at Best Buy. Could have got it cheaper from Amazon, but I wanted it NOW. Hours and hours of music... I've barely scratched the surface. Spent a good chunk of Tuesday in my studio with the stereo and my amp cranked up to 11, jamming along with "Since I've Been Loving You"... over and over... fuck, what a song...
BeOS: On CD for one of my Old Macs. The cheapest purchase, but perhaps also the silliest. Who the fuck buys 5 year old opertating systems??
Anyway... as you can imagine, I'm hemorrhaging money, but I'm having fun. So... that's it for now. I think I may go downstairs and watch some more of my Zeppelin DVD before the wife gets off the phone.
D.
I really hate that I have no time to write anymore. It's even tougher now that my laptop is gone and I can only post from the OldMac upstairs. Anyway, I decided to spend today's mini-update recounting my purchases of the past week. I have single-handedly promoted "Father's Day" to a week long affair... during which I go out and buy MYSELF stuff every day for eight days. Here's the list...
BOOKS: Picked up the new James Gleick bigraphy of Isaac Newton. It's really good. Also picked up some collections of lectures by Heisenberg and Planck. Not exactly page-turners... but I like to use primary sources as often as I can in my classes.
THE ANIMATRIX: Got this DVD becuase I got a $5 coupon when I bought "The Matrix" on sale. If you don't know about it... it's a collection of animated shorts that flesh out various parts of the backstory to the films. Some were good... some were so-so... definitely worth $12, though.
A TRACKBALL: From eBay. I Love trackballs, and I've always wanted one. So I bought it. $11. I'm using it right now, as we speak. (err... write... you know what I mean.)
LED ZEPPELIN: The DVD and the 3 CD set. $50 at Best Buy. Could have got it cheaper from Amazon, but I wanted it NOW. Hours and hours of music... I've barely scratched the surface. Spent a good chunk of Tuesday in my studio with the stereo and my amp cranked up to 11, jamming along with "Since I've Been Loving You"... over and over... fuck, what a song...
BeOS: On CD for one of my Old Macs. The cheapest purchase, but perhaps also the silliest. Who the fuck buys 5 year old opertating systems??
Anyway... as you can imagine, I'm hemorrhaging money, but I'm having fun. So... that's it for now. I think I may go downstairs and watch some more of my Zeppelin DVD before the wife gets off the phone.
D.
Wednesday, June 11
brief update...
Never time to write anymore... no more work... no more train... always dealing with home stuff.
Spent 4 hours at IKEA yesterday, doing what one does at IKEA... buyinh furniture you don't really need simply becuase it's cheap, and then driving home with a giant fucking box hangin out of your trunk. The whole excursion made me pretty crabby.
The iLemon is in a box... waiting for a FedEx pickup tomorrow. I almost sent it back without remembering to remove my extra RAM and my AirPort card... D'oh! That would have been a big fucking stupid assed mistake.
More furniture buying will round out the week... details to come.
D.
Never time to write anymore... no more work... no more train... always dealing with home stuff.
Spent 4 hours at IKEA yesterday, doing what one does at IKEA... buyinh furniture you don't really need simply becuase it's cheap, and then driving home with a giant fucking box hangin out of your trunk. The whole excursion made me pretty crabby.
The iLemon is in a box... waiting for a FedEx pickup tomorrow. I almost sent it back without remembering to remove my extra RAM and my AirPort card... D'oh! That would have been a big fucking stupid assed mistake.
More furniture buying will round out the week... details to come.
D.
Sunday, June 8
down...
Blogger was completely down this morning. Shades of OD? Hope not.
Today was a shitty day... the Wife is still under the heat of this approaching deadline, and the baby is teething and learning new things and the combination is making him miserable as all fuck. He's 5 and a half months old and he's holding himself up standing next to furniture. His sister was walking at 8 months. I think he's in a race to beat her.
I've got my iBook all backed up. I got it to accept a charge for about 3 hours yesterday before it fizzled out again. I already had all my essential files backed up, but during that time, I got my UN-essential files backed up as well. (ie... mp3's... porn...) So I expect a box from Apple in a couple of days... and a new iBook in a few weeks. I hope. I can't be without it for too much of the summer. I have shit to do! In the meantime I have these two 9500's and one 8500, and I'm trying to figure out how to combine them into one supercomputer in the most effective way. So I'm combining their parts to see what I can do. I pulled the video card from a 9500 and put it in the 8500 and got it to drive two monitors at once. Much fun. I'm thinking the 8500 is the one to keep... becuase it has the AV card that the 9500 won't accept. The only problem is that the 8500 only has 8 RAM slots rather than 12 in the 9500. I don't know what kinds of DIMMS are in these things... I think they are mostly 32MB... so if I managed to fill the 8500... 8 times 32 is what...? 256 Mb of RAM? That's max. I think I'd wind up with a bunch of 16 MB chips in there, though... I have to take them all apart and see what I have to work with. I wouldn't want to have fewer than 128 Mb.
Anyway... I'm just babbling... this is the kind of shit I do for fun. Sad, I know. My big achivement the other day was getting a Mac Classic to recognize a CD-ROM drive. CD's didn't even EXIST when this thing was built! Very exciting.
Dr. D.
Blogger was completely down this morning. Shades of OD? Hope not.
Today was a shitty day... the Wife is still under the heat of this approaching deadline, and the baby is teething and learning new things and the combination is making him miserable as all fuck. He's 5 and a half months old and he's holding himself up standing next to furniture. His sister was walking at 8 months. I think he's in a race to beat her.
I've got my iBook all backed up. I got it to accept a charge for about 3 hours yesterday before it fizzled out again. I already had all my essential files backed up, but during that time, I got my UN-essential files backed up as well. (ie... mp3's... porn...) So I expect a box from Apple in a couple of days... and a new iBook in a few weeks. I hope. I can't be without it for too much of the summer. I have shit to do! In the meantime I have these two 9500's and one 8500, and I'm trying to figure out how to combine them into one supercomputer in the most effective way. So I'm combining their parts to see what I can do. I pulled the video card from a 9500 and put it in the 8500 and got it to drive two monitors at once. Much fun. I'm thinking the 8500 is the one to keep... becuase it has the AV card that the 9500 won't accept. The only problem is that the 8500 only has 8 RAM slots rather than 12 in the 9500. I don't know what kinds of DIMMS are in these things... I think they are mostly 32MB... so if I managed to fill the 8500... 8 times 32 is what...? 256 Mb of RAM? That's max. I think I'd wind up with a bunch of 16 MB chips in there, though... I have to take them all apart and see what I have to work with. I wouldn't want to have fewer than 128 Mb.
Anyway... I'm just babbling... this is the kind of shit I do for fun. Sad, I know. My big achivement the other day was getting a Mac Classic to recognize a CD-ROM drive. CD's didn't even EXIST when this thing was built! Very exciting.
Dr. D.
Friday, June 6
settled... (?)
Well, boys and girls... it took a 5 minute rant during which I'm not sure I took a breath... and the consumer relations guy accused me of "putting him in a difficult situation".... "backing him into a corner"... and "practically threatening" him, but Apple is sending me a new iBook.
Is this the end of the Saga...?
Or just the beginning...?
We will know in a couple of weeks. More details to come.
This is the Doctor... posting from his trusty old 9500. Time to pull all the RAM and the wireless card from that iLemon before I send it back...
D.
Well, boys and girls... it took a 5 minute rant during which I'm not sure I took a breath... and the consumer relations guy accused me of "putting him in a difficult situation".... "backing him into a corner"... and "practically threatening" him, but Apple is sending me a new iBook.
Is this the end of the Saga...?
Or just the beginning...?
We will know in a couple of weeks. More details to come.
This is the Doctor... posting from his trusty old 9500. Time to pull all the RAM and the wireless card from that iLemon before I send it back...
D.
Wednesday, June 4
roughing it...
Well... the iLemon rears its ugly head once again. The fucking thing won't charge... something is up with the AC input jack... it's been crakling and popping... yesterday fucking SMOKE actually came out of the thing!! This is the last fucking straw. I'm demanding a replacement machine. I've left 2 messages with my "customer relations" rep... she hasn't called me back. If I don't hear from her tomorrow I'm taking it up a level and asking to speak to a customer relations supervisor. I will be satisfied!!
In the meantime, I've put together one of the old workhorse PowerMAc 9500/G3's from my basement... hauled it up to the office to connect it to the ethernet router, and it will be serving as my interim computer for a few days. (Weeks?) It runs pretty well for a 5 or 6 year old machine. It's running system 8.1... I should really install system 9 on it.
Speaking of old system software, I bought a copy of the BeOS on eBay, so I'll probably have that running on my 8500 in a few weeks. Then we'll see if I can get THAT thing online. If I can post an entry from that... that will be a true feat. I'm not sure if it will have the Java support needed to run this web interface. We'll see.
Anyway... that's it for now. Just trying to keep it up-to-date.
Dr. D.
Well... the iLemon rears its ugly head once again. The fucking thing won't charge... something is up with the AC input jack... it's been crakling and popping... yesterday fucking SMOKE actually came out of the thing!! This is the last fucking straw. I'm demanding a replacement machine. I've left 2 messages with my "customer relations" rep... she hasn't called me back. If I don't hear from her tomorrow I'm taking it up a level and asking to speak to a customer relations supervisor. I will be satisfied!!
In the meantime, I've put together one of the old workhorse PowerMAc 9500/G3's from my basement... hauled it up to the office to connect it to the ethernet router, and it will be serving as my interim computer for a few days. (Weeks?) It runs pretty well for a 5 or 6 year old machine. It's running system 8.1... I should really install system 9 on it.
Speaking of old system software, I bought a copy of the BeOS on eBay, so I'll probably have that running on my 8500 in a few weeks. Then we'll see if I can get THAT thing online. If I can post an entry from that... that will be a true feat. I'm not sure if it will have the Java support needed to run this web interface. We'll see.
Anyway... that's it for now. Just trying to keep it up-to-date.
Dr. D.
Tuesday, June 3
college girl issues…
I got my special “College Girls” supplement to Playboy the other day… a special gift for subscribers only, mind you. And I have two comments about it.
First, my undergrad alma mater, Towson University, made the cut. Woo-hoo! As an alumni, I’m quite proud. One of the hotter chicks in there, I might add. TSU always did have a good number of hot chicks. Not that I knew, met, or spoke to any of them the 5 years I was there…
Secondly… all of a sudden I have a big problem with the whole idea of a “college girls” issue. I mean… I’m a college professor now, and all I can think is… with all these young women posing in here… some of their professors have to read this magazine. What must go through your head when you open up this month's Playboy and there is Jessica from your Math 201 class on page 24 studying for her exam wearing nothing but gym socks and a pair of white cotton panties?
”ummm…
…
… fuck.”
It’s hard enough to make sure you don’t allow yourself to look at these girls that way. Ok… it’s IMPOSSIBLE… but shit like this sure as hell doesn’t help.
Luckily my current institution escaped notice, but wow… there sure are some hot little numbers at the college down the road!
D.
I got my special “College Girls” supplement to Playboy the other day… a special gift for subscribers only, mind you. And I have two comments about it.
First, my undergrad alma mater, Towson University, made the cut. Woo-hoo! As an alumni, I’m quite proud. One of the hotter chicks in there, I might add. TSU always did have a good number of hot chicks. Not that I knew, met, or spoke to any of them the 5 years I was there…
Secondly… all of a sudden I have a big problem with the whole idea of a “college girls” issue. I mean… I’m a college professor now, and all I can think is… with all these young women posing in here… some of their professors have to read this magazine. What must go through your head when you open up this month's Playboy and there is Jessica from your Math 201 class on page 24 studying for her exam wearing nothing but gym socks and a pair of white cotton panties?
”ummm…
…
… fuck.”
It’s hard enough to make sure you don’t allow yourself to look at these girls that way. Ok… it’s IMPOSSIBLE… but shit like this sure as hell doesn’t help.
Luckily my current institution escaped notice, but wow… there sure are some hot little numbers at the college down the road!
D.
Monday, June 2
kid stuff...
At age 4 1/2, somehow my daughter still hasn't gotten the hang of the "bridge" from "Old McDonald Had A Farm". She always stumbles over it, and today we noticed that she always does it exactly the same way... she's essentially invented her own version, one which owes quite a bit to the vocal stylings of "Manhattan Transfer" (Note the nice measure of 7/4!) It goes...
Old McDonald had a farm...
E-I-E-I-O
And on this farm he had a cow...
E-I-E-I-O
With a moo-moo here...
And a moo-moo there...
Here a moo-moo, there a moo-moo there, Old McDonald had a farm
E-I-E-I-O...
My wife and I were laughing so hard today by the time she got to the duck I almost wrecked the car.
D.
At age 4 1/2, somehow my daughter still hasn't gotten the hang of the "bridge" from "Old McDonald Had A Farm". She always stumbles over it, and today we noticed that she always does it exactly the same way... she's essentially invented her own version, one which owes quite a bit to the vocal stylings of "Manhattan Transfer" (Note the nice measure of 7/4!) It goes...
Old McDonald had a farm...
E-I-E-I-O
And on this farm he had a cow...
E-I-E-I-O
With a moo-moo here...
And a moo-moo there...
Here a moo-moo, there a moo-moo there, Old McDonald had a farm
E-I-E-I-O...
My wife and I were laughing so hard today by the time she got to the duck I almost wrecked the car.
D.
"and it was all yellow..."
Haven’t had much time to write… busy weekend. We’re up to our armpits in paint… there’s a whole “Trading Spaces” style renovation going on in our Master Bedroom… furniture all over the fucking house… paint everywhere. YELLOW! It was supposed to be kinda “antique gold” but it is fucking YELLOW. I still think it will look nice when it comes together with the furniture and fabrics and all, but right now when you stand in the hallway you can see this yellow glow emanating from the bedroom… it’s a little scary.
My wife did most of the work. I did touch-ups and patching holes… taping and cleanup, but she did all the “painting”. I fucking hate painting… she actually kinda likes it, so I just watched the kids all weekend. It looks nice… “faux-finish” two tone glaze… it’s pretty crazy. It just occurred to us that we took down all the window treatments, and currently have nothing to replace the blinds or the curtains with. Oops. Guess we’ll be waking up at SUNRISE for a few weeks!! The new bed is coming on Friday… we bought a new ceiling fan today… very “tropical” looking. Where going for a whole Indian-meets-Moroccan-meets-West Indies kinda look. I’ll post pictures eventually.
Not much else is going on. It’s summer, and I’ve no work to do, but I haven’t had a second to relax, since the WIFE is buried in work, and I’m always watching one or more kids. She promised me some time off tomorrow afternoon. Maybe I’ll spend half of that time reading, and the other half posting an entry here.
Maybe…
D.
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