May 31st 7:05AM
Ah Monday
Mmmmm, the day off I have been relishing.
So far, so good. I have been up an hour, and I have updated most of the pages under the "Professional" area of my site, I have got some coffee, and I have blogged. Not a bad start.
Yesterday was pretty great. I studied some French (I'm proud of myself for keeping a promise to myself to study more French once school was out). I socialized. I had some great wine, cheese and salami, and some fantastic duck for dinner. This could be heaven.
Andrew Phelps recently authored the best online paragraph I have read in a long while. He's cool.
Joe Crawford recently labored to author a tough-sounding semester that has recently some to an end. Onward, indeed.
Mackenzie
I plan to have my daughter for a visit of extended duration this summer. She should be here in a few short weeks.
May 30th 7:25AM
Sunday morning
So relieved to have Monday off for Memorial Day. Weekends really should be three days long. It is a universal truth.
Got a good, encouraging, detailed e-mail from my Dad, chock full of fatherly advice. I'm still a little stunned.
Played pool with my wife yesterday afternoon. She kicked my ass two games in a row. I - I just can't explain it...
New scanner
Since, what, December of last year, we've had a new computer. The scanner we've had for so long required an ISA slot, something even our old PC barely supported, so the new PC has been without scanning ability for months. This had to end, and yesterday, we narrowly avoided buying a cheap Canon LiDE30, and instead bought an All In One jobber, a Lexmark X5270. It scan, it prints, it copies, it makes hash browns (hash brown attachment optional). Our current printer got fired, and now we have this sleek trapezoidal gadget that looks like it was stolen from the set of the old Star Trek show. So far, so good.
May 29th 7:25PM
Grad gifts
I got some great gifts at my graduation party. Although they were all generous and thoughtful, as is always the case, my loving wife rounded up the cream of the crop. I suspect that if she were a superhero, her power would be to buy the perfect gift for any occasion & recipient. Gift Girl. Birthday Babe. Superhero monikers abound.
>shaking head to clear ridiculous tangent<
Anyway... What I'm laboriously trying to allude to is that I got some great gifts from my woman. Among them were the PS2 game "Freedom Fighters," the book "History of France Since Napoleon," and finally, a possible indication of Kryptonite among Gift Girl's repertoire: a PS2 from a line that she particularly favors: "SSX3," a snowboarding game that is of high quality, but is not necessarily my kind of game. I suspect that Gift Girl snuck one under the fence that she could not resist for herself. It would serve her right if her arch enemy "Hapless, Shitty Gift Giving Husband" secretly played the game and developed his skill until he could blow her doors off. That would show her the error of her ways.
Ridiculous tangents seem to be my lot today. Anyway, back to my mercurial point; I played the Freedom Fighters game for what must have been multiple hours, and dug it. Excellent game - some control issues keep it from being perfect, but an excellent game anyhow.
Excellent day today
- I made my wife breakfast this morning.
- I played video games until I was satisfied.
- I shot pool with my woman until she was satisfied.
- We ate fried food and ice cream for lunch.
May 29th 6:15AM
It's been a good week
Here's why:
I've picked up on my French language studying, now that my excuse for lagging has disappeared.
I've been working on a project at work that is new, challenging, and actually returning to me a degree of success, boosting my confidence.
The weekend is ahead, and is not crammed full of necessary tasks - only the usual household chores. Whew!
May 27th 6:40AM
When is an RV also a plow?
The punch line isn't too funny for two Manteca drivers. On my way home last night, I'm less than two blocks from my driveway, and there's an old, bedraggled RV in front of me, pulling up to a stoplight. With a red sedan and a beige pickup side-by-side in front of the RV, everybody is easing to a stop. Except the RV. No, the RV, not going terribly fast or terribly slow, continues at his moderate pace, and veers left slightly, to plow into the car and truck in front of it, rocking and grinding to a stop.
Sweet...
Everybody grinded apart and pulled over, and it seemed like they were all doing their "good citizen" bit, exchanging concerned glances and contact information. I pulled around the mess and continued on to the next block to go home, when who should pull around directly behind me but the junky RV with questionable depth perception! Having been mere seconds since his accident, I knew he couldn't have stopped, so I took down his license plate number, and took it back to the accident victims. They were glad I did, as they thought the jerk would pull over, and so didn't get his license down.
I hope they catch up with that guy...
May 25th 12:59PM
If only I were fluent...
... and in San Diego. I would be so available. I could totally qualify for such a sweet gig.
Mon ami est très patient
I need to write my penpal, I'm overdue...
May 23rd 7:56AM
Alors! C'est terrible!
Charles DeGaulle airport in Paris had a major calamity last night, where the roof in one of the terminals collapsed and crushed about six people to death and injuring a few others.
I'm a little concerned about the last two sentences in the story, stating: "The terminal will eventually have the capacity for 10 million passengers per year. Just north of Paris, Charles de Gaulle is France's largest airport, handling about 58 million passengers a year, with more than half a million arrivals and departures." You would think the airport capacity would increase after new construction. Foxnews needs a proofreader.
May 23rd 7:48AM
Partied out
We had our party yesterday. A lot of good people came, and a few couldn't make it. It was not quite the hootenanny I had hoped it would be. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as gregarious as I had imagined. When everyone got situated, loud music seemed like it would have been uncomfortable, and so there was virtually no ass-shaking. Bummer. I think I'm not the best party planner I know, but I did my best.
This morning, I am still tired from yesterday - we really pushed to get the place into some state of readiness. I'm beat. That, and I focused so much on Saturday, I have no plans for today! Maybe I'll go make my wife breakfast...
May 22nd 6:40AM
Edumacated
Ah, it's a new day. Today, I am no longer just some schmoe who took a few courses at the local community college. I am a college graduate. I ROCK!
Still a schmoe.
Some kind folks were good enough to show up for my grad ceremony, (my dad, my uncle, and leave us not forget my beautiful wife) and I am glad of it. It was encouraging to see some familiar faces there, and I imagined what it would have been like to spend the evening without any family or friends to share the big night with. How empty that must be. Family is good. Friends are good.
Message in a bottle
I even met my dad's girlfriend, who seems a real sweetheart. Ah, that reminds me - her son John wrote me a while back, and she tells me my reply never came through! Crap! John, buddy, if you're reading this, I swear, I didn't flake on you! I wrote you back right away. Last night I re-sent my reply to the address you gave me. If you don't get it, call me! My dad's got my number. If I don't hear from you, I'll call you, but I hear you're working sweatshop hours today, so I'll hold off for a few days. Sorry about that, bubba.
Tuff Shed
We got our new shed installed the other day. While I was at work, the Tuff Shed crew swooped in, hammered a barn-style shed into existence, and disappeared into the distance. Now that we have a place to put all the stuff we rarely use but don't want to give up, I fear we will accrue more junk. Thank God I don't have real problems.
It's a party, not a wake, shake your ass
Got a house to clean up, refreshments to assemble, and a little bash to throw tonight. It's gonna be a big day.
May 20th 12:20PM
Rehearsal
I got a graduation rehearsal to go to tonight, so we all don't bump into each other in uncertainty tomorrow night.
Pink eye
One of my coworkers returned to work today after two days off due to multiple maladies, including the dreaded pinkeye. I am normally careful about picking up the latest cold at work, but with graduation, photos, videos and a small legion of partygoers to attend to this weekend, I am positively vigilant this morning about touching things, washing my hands, etc. I better NOT get the oozing puffies in the next two days. I just better not. Got it?
May 19th 12:49PM
It's about Time
Newsweek lost a subscriber this week - I got my first issue of Time, and I am loving it. I've read one article on Abu Ghraib, and am looking forward to a sprawling three-pager about hybrid vehicles. Just rockin'.
May 18th 12:49PM
Les journaux français ne disent pas des armes
de l'Irak
(The French newspapers do not speak of Iraq weapons)
For a few days in a row, I've seen big headlines about the IED with Sarin in it that detonated in Iraq. Checking headlines in lemonde.fr and lefigaro.fr, liberation.fr, on both the front pages and International pages, I see no mention of the story.
Now, I realize that it's just one goo-filled bullet (plus a mustard gas round they found on May 2). It's not the smoking gun that would buy back some of the lost justification for the war, but it is significant overall. And the French press doesn't cover it. I see a story about American gays marrying (seen those for the last few days), I see a story about a possible coalition withdrawal ("retreat?") from Iraq (actually a reference to Colin Powell's comment that if after June 30th Iraqis didn't want us there, we'd scoot), but nothing about an honest-to-goodness WMD round.
Nothing in the UK's Times Online. Bummer.
On the other hand, the Mirror does have a story on it, proclaiming it "no big deal." That's something.
May 18th 7:49AM
Finals week, and I feel pretty good
So far, so good. Everything is going according to plan, and I'm ready for a helluva week. We've got a new shed going up in the backyard, we've got a graduation ceremony, and a party to wrangle together, all this week. It's gonna be a big one.
May 17th 6:05AM
Big weekend behind me
It wasn't very relaxing, but we got a lot of stuff done. We made some homemade decorations for my grad party, we excavated part of my backyard to make room for a shed, and we fixed some furniture that had busted a spring.
Studied no french, learned no guitar. This must change.
This week's gonna be a big one. I've got graduation ceremony rehearsal on Thursday, the ceremony itself on Friday, and a party Saturday. Who knows what Sunday will look like, but I'll let Sunday worry about Sunday.
May 15th 6:45AM
Big day ahead
Another weekend with lots on the To Do list. Much preparation in advance of the big graduation weekend. I'm still jazzed.
May 13th 5:35AM
Follow up to the point
An unexpected coincidence bolstered my opinion last night; I found that my Math teacher quietly allowed students who achieved a 98% score or better at this point in the class to skip the Final Test, due to their commitment and hard work. She rocks, and it does put a little polish on the idea that high A's are worth working for.
May 12th 7:49AM
Sassy makes a point
On Joe C's blog, he post's an alumnus' opinion about how making the grade is not all about making an 'A,' and that a 'C' is good enough, and A's aren't all that important anyway. There's a lot of truth to that. On the other hand, my opinions:
- Graduating with "High Honors" written somewhere on an official document (which I am about to do) gives me cerebral wood. I'm proud of it. That sensation alone is worth the effort I expended to do really well, instead of just well enough.
- Hopefully, it will help me to elbow aside some jerk with similar credentials except for his "solid C" average in an interview for a really sweet job. You know, someday.
- Most importantly, if I let off the throttle enough to not worry about getting A's, I am likely to slack off to a degree that endangers even C-level work. It's just how I am. I either try really hard, or not very damned hard at all. I like to have my shit together when at all possible.
Nothing is worse than a half-assed, mealy-mouthed, "I musta been stoned that day" performance from someone, especially when they're working on your behalf, whether they're fixing your car, your website, or your hemorrhaging brain vessels.
May 10th 12:49PM
This goes a little too far
A comic in the lemonde.fr online newspaper, depicting George Bush as a torturing member of the Klan is just over the top.
May 9th 3:55PM
Whew!
Saturday rocked. We burned through chores in two hours that I thought would take all damn day. Great. Excellent day.
Today ain't too bad, either. I wrote a substantial letter to my penpal, answering some questions he had. I love the exchange of ideas. When I was young(er), I marveled at the number of lives that were being lived, all over the world, all the time. The highs, lows, dreams, pains, hopes, disappointments, plans, and utter lack of them being played out across the planet. To interact with just a few of those lives, even in such a minor way as a letter exchanged or a glimpse of an online foreign-language newspaper, still floors me. I dig it.
Anyway. Now that I'm done reeling from the cosmic-ness of it all: back to reality. Currently, I am waiting for my wife to get off the phone so I can share these and other revelations with her in what ought to be engrossing conversation. Instead, I'm adding to my blog offline.
Shit, she's off the phone - gotta go.
May 8th 6:50AM
Wow
Having been born before all this fancy World Wide Web and e-mail and other super-cool methods of communication were available, it's easy to look back and marvel at the reach they provide. This week alone, my website has helped bring e-mails from across town, and as far away as Scotland. As it is, it is not a shock to get e-mails from Nova Scotia and France, as well as entries on a mail list from France, Africa, and the Middle East. Part of me still is blown away by it.
Busy today
Today is going to be crazy. I've got projects that depend on other projects that depend on other projects. Yuck. I plan on getting a lot done. I hope it works out that way.
May 6th 12:49PM
The X-Factor in Iraq
Time magazine has a new article about a small band of vigilantes working against Moqtada al Sadr. This is just what the doctor ordered in Iraq: some unruly third party to strike out against the local warlord that other power brokers are unwilling to challenge. Kinda like the Iraqi Batman. Tommy like.
U.S. forces won't level the town or raid the mosque that Moqie is holed up in, for fear of bad P.R. in the Iraqi street. This band of troublemakers apparently don't have that fear of political backlash, and so can zip around in Volvos and take potshots at al Sadr's militia. Kind of like the guerilla's guerillas. Why didn't we think of that? Or did we?
The A-Factor in Math
Got my last test back, got a smashing A+ on it. Hope this good fortune holds through to the Final. So far, the chapter we're on holds few mysteries, and I am encouraged. I have been trying a little harder, and it seems to be paying off. Here's to continued success - >clink!<
May 5th 7:49AM
Humiliation 101
Holy shit. I can't believe what I read on the web. A coach, described as a "special education teacher" in the Buffalo News, in Pleasantville, NJ, subjected one of their students to downright sick abuse and humiliation. Not only did they humiliate him in front of peers and faculty, they called him in advance of the ceremony to make sure he attended, to pick up his special trophy. I don't think I want this kind of "special education."
This kid, according to his coaches "begged to get in the game" and whined, probably wanted desperately to belong. I imagine this poor kid calling in relatives from out of town to see his "special recognition." Horrible. The kid was humiliated enough that he didn't go back to school the following Monday. Not surprising. Those in on the gag are lucky he didn't spend Monday morning polishing and loading his rifle, and naming it Charlene.
Growing up I hated school because of the social and psychological torment that some folks inflicted on others, having seen it close up. As a kid, you have to be there - it's the law, for crying out loud. This kind of twisted shit deserves swift and sure punishment. First the Iraqi prisoner torture incidents, then school coaches, paid by the public, charged with building mental as well as physical health and discipline in young people, pull this kind of crap. Tough week to be shopping for role models, eh? Maybe children can look to multi-million-dollar entertainers.
May 4th 7:49AM
I Love Math
Just kidding - but I did get back a quiz and a test last night, both A's. Rockin'. I took a test last night, one I was a little nervous about, and I think I did well. So now, we're down to one last quiz, one last test, and the Final Test, which will be a bleeding nightmare of a comprehensive review of all the hair-pulling fun I've had this semester. My hands shake just thinking about it.
Stale cookies
Fresh content is overrated. Just look at Anthony Atkielski's Paris Log, well over a month old now. O, how it pains me. John Bizarre's Cyber Notebook, blogging before blogging was cool, now a just a memory. Even Joe C's "Current Thoughts" are only as recent as 4/27/04. To be sure, there are other blogs out there, but these are my haunts. Joe doesn't need defending, but in his defense, I'm sure he's busy with a bigger school workload and other details of having a life. Plus, I think he drops in here now and then, and I don't want him to kick my ass. Just update his blog.
On the other hand, I know Joe will come around, and Andrew Phelps keep things movin' over at his place, complete with comment areas, upon which I inflicted my own opinion just yesterday.
May 1st 7:30AM
I Hate Math
I hate math so much. I hate it like I hate the bitter cold. I hate it like I hate lingering, uncomfortable death. I hate it like I hate a duplicitous, scheming lover. I fucking hate it.
I did some homework this morning - can you tell? I puzzled over every problem, and checking against the answers provided in the back of the book, I got them all wrong. Every single frigging one of 'em. Some answers were near misses, but Jesus - to not even get one dead-on right? It's like I'm cursed.
I will be so glad when this semester is over, so I can core-dump as much of this horseshit from my mind as possible (a process I intend to aid with alcohol), and get on with life.
I was doing so well. I was straight on top of this nonsense until mid-semester, feeling a mastery of the material. Now, I am struggling to keep up, barely understanding how things stack up. I'm still pulling A's (knocking wood), but that mastery is gone, and my confidence is shot. I hate that goddamned feeling, staring at ink on a white page and not having the slightest fucking clue where to go next. Even better, I've got a weekend of studying to do, and a test on Monday night. I may have to kill someone.
Not a great couple of days
Apart from the mild torture of mathematics, the last few days have seen a gray haze settle over them. Last night a buddy I work with bought my wife and I dinner, the generous soul, but other than that, life has been a real wet blanket. I feel like I haven't slept quite enough, and have difficulty getting my normal energy and enthusiasm going. Maybe I'm fighting a cold. Whatever it is, I'm feeling cranky and hostile. Wanna box?