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Friday, April 30, 2004

So. The Austrian National Hockey team is proving they're good hockey players in the World Championship Tournament. Although they lost tonight (2-0), they played Czech - number one in their group... and they kept the Czechs on their toes. They even have good power play numbers. And they picked on Jagr and Straka. Not bad. Not bad at all. And they're playing Germany tomorrow. Should prove to be a good ass kicking for the Germans.

And more hockey news... Chelios was on the ice to stop Iginla, so the Red Wings tied the series and are goin home to beat the Flames on home ice. Yay! The ass kicking in Detroit should be aired in Vienna, damnit. It's a Saturday afternoon game. It sounds like a good idea to me. But it won't happen. I know.

So I should be out tonight, watching people and being entertained. If only the headache would go away. And the ear ache. If someone could arrange that for me, that'd be great. kthx.

Self introspection was postponed today in exchange for tiredness and needing a nap. It's a good thing we have a coffee machine in the office that's not far from my desk. I wanted to curl up on a couch and take a nap, but instead I settled for caffeine. It was a good choice, I think. The bad choice happened when I ate a candy bar. Why did I think that chocolate would be a good idea? I haven't eaten chocolate in ages, and then I go and eat an entire damn bar of it. Yeah, sometimes, I'm not so smart. So on top of the headache and ear ache, the caffeine made me hyper and the chocolate made me a freak. Bad planning on my part. But now I know better and won't ever make the same mistake again.... Right! But before the chocolate and coffee incident, lunch was good, and there was even good conversation to eat to. The salad was freshly made and tasty, and I think I've finally learned how to put oil and vinegar on a salad without ruining it with either too much oil or too much vinegar. Or I was just lucky. I did feel kind of lucky today, so that could have been it, really.


Bookworm - still haven't beaten Rabbi's score. Yet.

Must preorder Sudeki.

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Thursday, April 29, 2004

I forgot.

Bookworm High Score Table:

Rabbi 600,840
Kirs 35,270

Current Game 100,520

The goal is within my grasp! Really!

Grrr.

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I think my memory is improving. Or I was just hit with a stroke of genius this morning and considered that I should bring my laptop and old mobile to the office. For kicks. Still have to try to remember the xbox, but yeah...oh well. One day.

As a side note, Python books are not my friends. However, no one can claim I'm not stubborn. I'll persist. I'm determined. And then I can pester coding people to have a good laugh at my expense, but I'm used to that with my German skills so I might reserve the reviewing for ... uhh, no one I guess. I think one can only really ever handle copious amounts of laughter at their own expense over one certain topic. And by "one" I think I mean "me". Because I'm that special.

Headache is gone. Sore throat, gone. Sore neck, gone. Ear ache, still present, but only just barely. And I accomplished it all without medicamation. Yay me!

I came up with more sexy bits on a man's body, but I'll save that for later. Although, it's not really a short list as I've discovered recently. But nonetheless, the point is there's more.

It's really good to see people that you care about smile spontaneously. Makes for warm fuzzy feelings. Equally as cool are the little giggles or snickers for no apparent reason. Those are good, too.

So I've been considering an analogy that relates somehow (obscurely, yes) to myself in a number of ways. Although it's uncommon for me to consider children, sometimes their behavior and evolution as a human being make for a good analogy. And I'm a sucker for good analogies. So. *Please consider all of the following assumptions as complete and pure speculation, as I have no experience, understanding, practice, familiarity or desire to experience the producing of offspring or what experiences that might include or responsibility that that might entail.* Children naturally progress through certain phases in life. Successfully progressing through the phases of life lead to healthy (psychologically, physically and emotionally) people. I'd expound on Piaget, Erikson, Vygotsky.... yadda yadda. But, nah. Regardless... There's a phase where children are just learning how to walk. Parents are often very supportive in a number of ways, either holding the child on their feet (possible to do in a few ways), holding their hand for support, offering motivational comments and verbal praise, facial expressions and kindly gestures, physical praise in the form of applause or hugs or displays of affection, trust in the child through looks, gestures, words, etc. that the kid will walk eventually, sympathy and compassion when the child falters or falls.... I could go on and on, but I'll move on. And inevitably, the child learns to walk on their own. This achievement requires a number of things on the part of both the parent and the child. Since I've mostly covered the parental requirements, how bout a look at the child. They require determination to learn something, the will to walk, the capability to try, the willingness and sometimes eagerness to be independent in some way from their primary caretaker, the trust in themselves (somehow) or perhaps a better word is confidence, and the drive to do it. But they require the parent's support, understanding, help, trust, praise, sympathy and compassion, as well. Without at least a number of the requirements already listed, separation problems could occur (among, of course, other things).

Because this example isn't directly, but only psychologically, applicable to me at the moment in the way that there seems to have been some lacking in learning to walk at some point, I've been wondering just what I can do. It's not possible to go back and fix the problem in the same situation. It's likely possible, yet incredibly difficult, to fix the problem myself. But my biggest obstacle with this option is quite like my problem with coding. I never know where to start. I have a general idea of what I want as an end result, or sometimes even a really well understood idea of what I want as an end result. I just have this (seemingly) impenetrable solid wall that's disturbingly difficult to get around, climb over, dig under... I see the other side of the black box, but, sadly, that's it.

I hesitate to reference - if I hadn't just had a really long conversation with a friend I would have some clue as to what I was going to reference. As it stands, I have no idea. Therefore, I'll discontinue with the analysis and get out of here. Here's hoping Detroit wins in Calgary tonight. And Chelios is back from his mysterious injuries. Whatever that's all aboot.

Because it'll make me smile when I read this later....

Hoot!

Hoot!

As a side note, haven't woken up without a smile in a while. (I should have been a poet, no?) It's a nice feeling. Thanks, babe.

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Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Round Two, Stanley Cup Playoffs...
Detroit Red Wings v. Calgary Flames.
1 - 2

C'mon guys! They're Canadian, I know, but that's no excuse to give them the series!

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I was going to ramble on about motivation, but I can't find the proper words. I'll likely not get back to writing about it because it's easier to have conversations with people than to expound on a theory when you're the only one talking. Besides, I'm lazy today. And I don't know that that will change soon.

My ears hurt. So does my head, come to think of it. And I woke up with a really sore throat today. And sore neck. I think I might be getting ill. Don't know where I could possibly come up with that, but yeah. Thanks, babe. I thought I could get away from the recurring headache... It went away in Tunisia, but now I fear the damn thing's back. Wonder if I have drugs to dull the aches.

So there's a part on a man's body that's just awesome. No, not that. Well that's nice too, but that's not what I meant. Anyways. Right along the spine, at the bottom of the small of the back. I think it's officially called the place between the small of the back and the top of the ass, but that might be the technical term for it, really. Or it's just one of the body parts that just has no name because it's in between something and another thing. Nonetheless, I can't quite say why precisely, but I think it's sexy. And fun to touch. I'll have to take a poll from the girl-type friends to see how they feel about that. And see what they think of the shoulder thing. Which is sometimes a problem. There's just some shoulders that you can't lay on. That just don't work at all. And some that are just perfectly comfortable to lay on and sleep on. I'm sure there's other bits that are sexy that I'm overlooking for the moment, but really am just overlooking because I got distracted earlier by the sexy small of the back spot. I'm sure, if given the chance, I'd prattle on about other sexy bits, it's just that I had the opportunity to notice the back earlier and got to thinking about it.

Anyways. Gah. I almost just lost my entire blog entry to an orkut invitation. That would have made me a sad panda. Now I have to go sign up because I'm getting harassed by a friend about it. Okay okay, harassed is the wrong word. Strongly encouraged. Better.

By the way, bookworm is apparently addictive. I would say more, but I wasn't the one up until 4 in the morning playing! And beating my high score. I can tell there's going to be some kind of small competition going on. But the bar's already set....a tad high. It'll most likely take me a while to beat the 600,000 pt high score.

Okay, strong encouragement has turned to harassment. Must sign up now.


Okay, need reminders for the following. Someone help me out.

Little one to the office tomorrow.
Xbox to the office tomorrow.
Old Mobile to the office tomorrow.

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Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Lunch was good. Conversation was good, but I kept pretty quiet. As usual. I was busy eating anyways.

So, back to the something of substance idea. From an icq conversation I got to thinking about something. It seems that there are a lot of people that have an incredible censor in their head. They withhold comments or 'inappropriate' responses that will upset people. I don't have one of those. I guess that's where the abrasive comment came from. Anyways... I was thinking about this because I'm actually not all that personable, which is in a sense good and bad, but at the moment it's kind of bothering me. Will come back to this.

Another point that's bothering me lately...German. I just had to jot that down before I forgot. And I don't really have anything else to say about that.

Anyways back to being personable and abrasive. I don't particularly like people... in general. Most people just plain bother me. And I let them. And what bothers me is that it's not their problem, it's my problem. I just perpetuate the problem. I would tick that off as a skill and leave it at that, but now it's starting to bother me that I let things bother me that don't actually need to bother me. And since I'm at work, I'll think about this later and get back to reading python books and researching for other books on amazon.

Damnit would SOMEONE PLEASE remind me to bring my xbox to the office? kthx.


Order update:
Bookworm arrived!
Fable - Preordered from dvdboxoffice. Arrival expected mid June. I can be patient.
Mini ipod, blue +accessories - ordered from apple.com. Arrival in Vienna expected at the end of June.

Must order new books.

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Bookworm arrived today! Juhu! Good thing I didn't bring my gba to work. Even better, however, that there are nice people that will lend me their gbas so I can play it. Bad thing that I don't know if I'll have that much time to check it out. But there's always the u-bahn ride home that's never exciting anyways.

So 2/3s of my order from apple.com have arrived at the delivery address. Too bad that address is in the states. Grr. The mini ipod should be arriving in about.... 6 weeks. Just in time for a hand delivery to me from Laura. Except she doesn't know about it yet, but that's entirely okay.

So on to matters of some kind of substance....

I'm sad that my 'just starting to plan a trip' trip to Iceland has already been cancelled. Now I'll have to find something else to do in the fall. How distracting, really. Iceland would have been perfect, I wouldn't have had to plan much and I assume that I probably would have had a good time.

Lunch time. To be continued....

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Monday, April 26, 2004

Take two.

First things first - free booze is good. Secondly, apparently Tunisia is a very nice country, although I can't really attest to that because by my own design I stayed at the resort the entire time. Thirdly, talking on the phone for 2 hours to my mother is painful in that my ear was suffering for a bit. But the conversation was worth it, so I can look past the pain. Fourthly, work's getting less boring. This is one of the best things ever.

In more words than already stated, the weekend was filled pretty sufficiently with free booze. The food was interesting, there was only one instance of an arranged for the group half naked chick, and the men in Tunisia haven't quite gotten the subtlety of flirting down. The massage was in a word....short. I haven't played liar's dice in a while. Wait, I hadn't til last weekend. With a managing director of the company and a few directors. Was very entertaining actually. All in all the quality solo time and the time spent with individual people was well worth it. To continue the blah blahing about the quick summary.... Yes I talked to my mother for 2 solid hours. About every possible thing. That's about all I have to say about that. For the moment. Work.... much less boring, but there's a whole hell of a lot of research for me to do, which is both time consuming, and educational and supa cool. And then there's that whole python thing, but we don't wanna talk about that. I'm so not skilled enough to discuss that.

I thought I'd have so much more to write about but I'm currently distracted by a movie... Maybe I'll come back later or maybe I'll just wait til tomorrow to write more. Tomorrow sounds way more likely.

And most importantly, I woke up smiling today.

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Thursday, April 22, 2004

Hey I forgot that I'm supposed to update about the free booze and cheap smokes thing.

I'll have a report about the free booze come monday after coming back from tunisia. Still need to figure out the cheap smokes thing. 1 outta 2 ain't bad though!

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So I hauled my ass out of bed this morning after only about 3 hours of sleep. Groggy as all get out, and cranky of course. Drank a red bull whilst packing random bits of clothing. I don't know what's in my bag, but I hope that I at least remembered the essentials.

Work is still boring. Wonder if that'll change sometime soon. I know that there's supposedly some scheduled "long hours" weeks in the summer. I still have yet to figure out why I'll have long hours during those milestones. Not too anxious to figure it out, really.

Currently listening to a super old mix that was made for a houseboat week while I was still in university. Houseboat weeks rocked. Every year, we rented on average two houseboats and had some friends with ski boats. Bout 30 or so people made it out each time. Spent the week after finals on the lake waterskiing and consuming an inconceivable amount of beer. And playing Asshole. And Bullshit. Drinking games are bad sometimes. Also taught some miscreants how to play euchre, and then Laura and I tended to then pummel the shit out of them at that game. God that was fun. A quick google search turned up no urls. Sadly. There were some nice shots on the csuchico student sites from those houseboat weeks. Anyways. Good mix. I'd thank the guy that made it, but he's currently in Iraq. Or Afghanistan. Poor guy.

Two things of absolutely no interest. Ever get the urge to call your significant other by a pet name and then stop yourself? Yeah. Babe....that was my stop short of speaking pet name. Never used that one before. Never will in the future. But I'm probably weird or something. I only use a pet name once. Or at least I haven't repeated any through all the boyfriends. Each one gets their very own pet name. Some of them not so loving. But then, they likely deserved it. Actually, since I was there I can say with authority that they didn't deserve the nice names. That's why they're exes.

Anyways, there was another thing of absolutely no interest. I need a massage.

That is all. Have a meeting to go to and I have to get all excited about leaving the country soon. Passport check...okay. I'm good. Time to run away. Be elusive and sly and cunning and all that jazz. Yay!

Update: I can get a massage this weekend. This rules!

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Wednesday, April 21, 2004

I should be sleeping. I know this.

I got sidetracked. Thinking's a real pain in the ass, isn't it? I laid in bed for the past hour, trying my best to attempt to sleep. Headache's coming back with a real vengeance, and I know that I need the rest. So why can't I stop the rumination? Hm.

Midnight Margaritas sound good, although it's past midnight already. Still would be nice. A little liquid courage. Just what I need. Of course, it wouldn't serve any use at the moment considering I probably shouldn't make any phone calls to discuss the goings on in my head. Especially since I would likely call the wrong person to talk about it anyways. I should just let it go, right? Heh. I recall myself saying at a few points in time that I used to find it easy to stop myself from thinking about things. I wonder when it is that I lost that ability.

This reminds me of a conversation I had over coffee, for 7 hours, with a friend. Perhaps it's just me, or as I discovered at the cafe perhaps it's just us, but what happened to some sort of innocence and sense of adventure? Example: I used to hold fast to an idea that everything that happened to me was a learning experience. You can learn from everything. And it's not just a possibility, it's a given. You do learn from everything. And a lesson is repeated until learned. Why did I stop consciously thinking this? And what's with the concept that I seem to have discovered in the past year that dating people used to be so much less complicated? Was it less baggage? Perhaps. I think actually the answer and the truth is related and relies very heavily on fear. Baggage begets fear? Perhaps. I might be totally alone in this thought, but I highly doubt it... a lot of behavior is based on fear. What's worse is that it's not even acknowledged, therefore hardly ever understood and remedied. And this all leads me to the question of what can I acknowledge? Rather I think the more pertinent question is what will I acknowledge? The ability and the act are two separate things, are they not? Once we cover acknowledgement, then there's the dealing with the fear. And really, who wants to do that? Studying your own fears, finding their origins, discovering the triggers that are inevitably bringing them to the surface, learning to change the triggers, adapt them and turn the resulting fear into something healthy... Productive... Useful.

And here's the key word. Useful.

I haven't achieved that one tonight. I fear (ha ha pun intended) that I won't before I pass out from exhaustion. Or at least I just won't get there tonight before I'm tired enough to give up.

But nonetheless, that's a scary prospect. Digging around in something that has hold of your psyche, causes unrest. One must really wonder if it behooves them to walk up to it and take a good, thorough look around the whole thing, checking out every crevice, every angle, just so they can dismantle it properly. Rather ominous when you think about it.

So there should be some deconstruction soon. Some clearing out. Kind of like cleaning out grandma's attic. There's cobwebs up there, it's dark and such a small crawlspace really. Not much room for tour groups, just a solo holiday to the psyche. But wouldn't it be great to take someone along to lean on? And therein lies the problem. Who would you show those things to? Someone you don't even know? Someone you don't want to know? Someone you just want to talk to? Someone you never want to see again? Someone you just met? Obvious answers and reasons come up for every single one of those prospects, but what else do you have?

Sounds so desperate really, when it's not. Exhaustion multiplies the exaggeration factor. But the puzzle and the questions are still valid.

I'd continue and postulate further about my problems with blah blah, but frankly, I give more of a damn about sleep than confessing and unburdening my soul at this hour.


On a happier note, there's mathematical proof that women are evil. Did I say happier? Hm. Thanks for the link Markus.

Moving on to topics related to the US... I dug through some blogs and thought this was terribly interesting. I would link it, but you'd have to dig, so I thought copy and paste would be good. As found on the undernews blog....

A DOZEN QUESTIONS ABOUT 9/11
Richard L. Franklin

1. For many years, Langley Air Force Base fighter jets were maintained in a state of instant readiness for the interception of and potential shooting down of hijacked airliners. Standby pilots, when advised of hijackings by airlines, were required to instantly initiate pursuit and take appropriate actions without any superior orders to do so. Why did Donald Rumsfeld, through the use of a secret memo, cancel this standing order and institute a requirement that only Donald Rumsfeld could order pursuits of hijacked airliners? And why did he fail to give such an order when the news of the Boston based hijackings reached Langley Air Force Base? High velocity fighter jets could have reached all four of the hijacked planes within minutes. The speed differences between the fighter jets and the airliners was huge.

2. Three WTC towers collapsed. The reason given for the collapses was the impact of jet airliners plus jet kerosene fires. The third tower was not struck by a plane, and therefore did not suffer any impact or a kerosene fire. Why then did WTC7 collapse in the same fashion as the other two towers? And why has there been a virtual news blackout regarding Tower7?

3. When the airliners hit the towers, collapsing as they penetrated the towers, fuel tanks burst open spilling most of the kerosene fuel outside the towers. When the firemen reached the fire in one of the towers, a fireman radioed down to his chief that the fire was now relatively small and was under full control. He reportedly said, "Not to worry, Chief."
This report was automatically recorded. The FBI has reportedly seized the audiotape and refuses to release it. Why?

4. The architects and engineers who built the towers created them to easily withstand the impact of a Boeing 707. A generous degree of surplus capacity to resist such impacts was built into the towers. The architect who designed the towers claims he cannot see how it was physically possible for the plane crashes to bring down the towers. He insists the mathematics involved belie what happened. So what is the explanation for an event that appears to be mathematically and physically impossible?

5. Molten steel was found in the remains of the three towers. A temperature of over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit is necessary to melt steel. Kerosene burning in air will reach a maximum of 500 degrees Fahrenheit. What explanation is there for finding molten steel in the ruins? Why was it that not a single physicist, metallurgist, or fire engineer was ever allowed to examine the molten steel? Why was it collected and instantly shipped to Japan as scrap iron? Why was it not preserved in a secure depot as evidence in a mass homicide case? When experts have been asked what could produce the molten steel, many have suggested thermite, which reaches an instant temperature of 5,000 degrees.

6. A huge portion of the concrete in the towers was turned into powder. So much powder was created, a two- to three-inch layer of powder covered Manhattan over a radius of two to three miles. No fires have ever been known to produce this bizarre phenomenon. Such an instant conversion of concrete into powder occurs only in demolitions using something like thermite, a heat-producing explosive. Why has no explanation ever been offered for the massive billowing clouds of concrete powder? As you may have noticed, there is an almost eerie lack of concrete in the skeletal
ruins. The photos look almost surrealistic with their naked steel girders.

7. How was it possible that a couple of passports of the hijackers were recovered in pristine condition, given the fact they must have been in the pockets of the hijackers, whose bodies were apparently incinerated? Still more amazing, how is it that Mohammed Atta's passport, which was found lying on the sidewalk in new condition at the site of the ruins, was discovered a year and a half after 9/11? And how is it that any passports whatsoever could survive the crashes and fires while the black boxes have vanished into thin air?

8. Well before 9/11, when a suspicious group of young Wahhabis appeared at the US Consul in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, to apply for visas to the US, the consul denied them visas. The CIA then visited the consul and made some serious threats, while suggesting he immediately issue the visas. Why has this bizarre event never been explained? Apparently a stream of young Wahabbis were coming to Jiddah to meet with CIA recruiters. According to some reports, these young men were all interested in achieving martyrdom. Why has this never been investigated by the commission created to study the events leading up to 9/11? The consul, who was fired for having kept records of all these shenanigans, has not been called to testify before the Commission. Why not?

9. An instant messaging service named Odigo, occupied an entire floor of one tower. Odigo is an Israeli firm. Not only that, it is known to be a front for MOSSAD. Roughly two hours before the tower was hit by a jetliner, Odigo received a phone call urging all Odigo employees to evacuate the building. Accordingly, all employees hurriedly left the tower. Why isn't the Commission digging deeply into this?

10. Before the towers were hit, a white van, driven by three Israelis was stationed at a spot with a good view of the towers. They set up a movie camera on a tripod on the roof of the van. When the first tower was hit, two of the Israelis were seen dancing in the street with joy while the third filmed the event. They were arrested. Two of the men turned out to be MOSSAD agents. Later, another white van with several Israelis was stopped and arrested by city police near a major tunnel. The van contained demolition explosives (thermite?). FBI agents hurriedly visited the NYPD precinct holding the Israelis. They literally ordered the NYPD to immediately release all of the Israelis because it was an urgent matter of national security. The FBI then quickly placed these men on a plane which flew them directly to Israel. Why were they released? Why hasn't the Commission asked for extradition of these men so they can be interrogated?

11. Just before 9/11, there was a huge amount short selling of airline stocks and stocks in companies with headquarters in the three towers. Just three days before 9/11, massive amounts of United Airline stocks were sold short (two of the hijacked planes were from United Airlines). The investors have never been publicly named. Huge amounts of profit were harvested in Europe and Israel. The German Intelligence conducted a long and intensive investigation. They were poised to release their report when extreme pressure was applied by the White House to block release of the report. Why?

12. When the Pentagon was allegedly struck by American Airlines flight 77, not a single fragment of the plane was ever discovered. Witnesses to the clearing of the building wreckage never saw even the tiniest item that might belong to a huge jet airliner. Such things as engine parts invariably survive such crashes. Why is the Commission not looking into this bizarre absence of any plane wreckage? This seems to suggest the building was not hit by a plane. If so, what was it that hit the building? After all, this is one of the strangest mysteries surrounding 9/11. It surely deserves an answer.


Conspiracy theories are a good way to distract the mind. I'll focus on those for a while, and perhaps sleep will invade.

I hope.

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I know I'm taking advantage of this whole wireless internet working properly at home, but since just plain internet hasn't worked in this flat.... ever I feel justified.

Ya ever have one of those kind of days where people are fine and great and everything's okay and then you get this email? This one email that just ruins your whole attitude. Just desecrates your whole uplifted mood and turns you into a blahblahblahing idiot who just sits around and complains and has that all-important scowl on their face. Just miserable.

That's me.

Right now.

[rant]

CENSORED

The 10:30 show is completely different from the 8 o'clock show.

CENSORED

[/rant]

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I ran across this discussion about George W. today. I really want to spout off a reply with equal veracity, yet I feel that in my fantastic mental condition from laying about in bed all day that it will just come off as a bunch of BS. So I'll refrain for the moment. But take a look at the article.

The entire opinion expressed is one of the things that holds me in Vienna. I won't go back to the States before that man is out of the White House. That's the earliest I'll return. And this isn't some new commentary because of the upcoming election. I've been saying the same thing for at least 2 years. I just find him despicable. In so many ways.

Interesting article nonetheless.

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Timestamps don't work properly. :(

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Blogging from bed. Awesome. I'd recommend it.

So the end of the internet connection at home story includes not much technical support from the people that are supposed to provide the service and a lot of stupid (read ingenious really) and time consuming attempts on my part. Tuesday morning's visitor was nice enough. I wouldn't go so far as to say competent, although he did plug in cat 5 cables with authority. Then I signed a piece of paper and he left. I went back to bed.

Spent the rest of the day in the flat, as I had a fantastic headache. Spent about 3 hours on the phone with technical support people that all said the same thing. Is it me or would you find it a smidge disconcerting to hear from all of the tech support guys you talk to, "Oh, this looks bad."? So I bought some beer, some wine, some cheese and bread. Then, I called them back and told them to change everything and suddenly.... It worked. It was a magical moment. One of my better in the past 24 hours, and the moment that has allowed me to wallow in bed, coughing up a storm, and blog on my little one. Yay.

I had a dream a few nights ago that someone gave me two kittens. One looked like a tiny miniature of the cat that used to be mine but is now my mother's. It was sleeping curled up inside rather large garden terra cotta pot and nearly blended in with the pot, had really pretty amber eyes and a shaky meow, but since it was sleeping I guess that's to be expected. The other was super fluffy with bluish gray fur and walked around my leg making loads of noise and purring like mad. This dream was definitely a sign. I need a cat. I'll have to investigate the animal shelters round here and see what I can find.

I don't think I ever mentioned this, but I live above a kindergarten. While it's not so bad during the weekdays that I am at work, it's really not that thrilling when I'm sick in bed. The adorable little things (read obnoxious creatures) are currently playing bongos and screaming. In the courtyard. My bedroom window faces that courtyard. This is reinforcing the 'never-have-children' urge.

I'm supposed to go to Tunisia tomorrow. Since I've not been at work all week, I don't know if this will happen. I wouldn't really mind staying at home all weekend, but then, the trip is something that I would probably really enjoy. I just don't like flying when slightly under the weather, so I will likely complain loads. Which will make it all that much more fun for everyone else, right?

I finally got word from Amazon about Finding Nemo. The bastards lied. I won't EVER get it. So I'll order it from dvdboxoffice. At least they actually deliver products that they have on their website, unlike the Amazon jerks. I don't really want to slander all Amazon branches, though. This is just the UK people. We all know how they are, right?

Speaking of limeys... Have some thoughts, but not quite in order at the moment. Must blog them later. Hopefully will remember - unlikely as it sounds, I know.

Still don't have modded xbox, but not from lack of memory! I blame Matt. Yes, that's right. Matt.

I'd kill for some curry right now. That always makes me feel better. Reminds me of home. And Zarine. What an awesome lady. She was my neighbor growing up, from Calcutta, and she's a mean cook. She always makes really fantastic dishes that are always super simple, delicious and fun to eat with fingers. She made crab curry two or three days after Christmas last year. There were 12 people around the table, and a huge vat of crabs in the best curry sauce you can imagine. Salads, chipathis, super good rice, ahhhh. We cracked crabs and made a huge mess of ourselves, the table and the floor. Someone (read my brother) even managed to fling crab meat onto the overhead cabinets in the kitchen. Was fab.

Now I'm hungry. Hmph.

Must do some research on spas in Austria and pick one that Laura and I can go to this summer. Can't wait to see her, kind of sad she's not bringing the boytoy. He's nice. Easy to talk to. Amusing. Dying for stories about Laura's more stupid moments, which I more than happily provide... At least she's bringing herself. And it's costing her a pretty penny too, poor thing. I'll have to make it up to her by being all the fun and joy I normally am. (Uhhh, right.) Or maybe more than normal. If that's even possible.

Gaming related links to be added at a later time.

Still waiting for bookworm damnit. Anyday now!

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Tuesday, April 20, 2004

Go here to get one of these readouts. Scary.

The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa.

Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with your thinking.

How did the Belief-O-Matic do? Discuss your results on our message boards.



1. Secular Humanism (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (99%)
3. Liberal Quakers (82%)
4. Nontheist (81%)
5. Theravada Buddhism (75%)
6. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (72%)
7. Neo-Pagan (58%)
8. New Age (43%)
9. Taoism (42%)
10. Bahá'í Faith (41%)
11. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (34%)
12. Mahayana Buddhism (32%)
13. Reform Judaism (31%)
14. New Thought (28%)
15. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (26%)
16. Jehovah's Witness (26%)
17. Orthodox Quaker (25%)
18. Scientology (21%)
19. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (19%)
20. Jainism (17%)
21. Sikhism (14%)
22. Hinduism (11%)
23. Seventh Day Adventist (9%)
24. Eastern Orthodox (5%)
25. Islam (5%)
26. Orthodox Judaism (5%)
27. Roman Catholic (5%)


I guess I can live with that. Well, all but #27, but that's a long story.

More later.

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Thursday, April 15, 2004

Memory comment.

Damnit will someone please remind me to bring my xbox into the office on Monday? Pretty please?

Region 1 dvds and games are a bitch on a non region 1 box.

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Ever have one of those days where no matter how hard you try, you just can't get a stupid person to acknowledge that they're stupid? I might be alone in this, but I fear that's not the case. What's worse is when the stupid people are armed with at least 10 firearms and are threatening to hit someone with a chair. It's a long story, and it was aggravating enough the first time through, that I don't care to explain it at the moment. Some people's parents just shouldn't breed.

On another note, I might actually have some sort of internet connection working at my flat, or so I'm promised, next Tuesday morning. I can then test out my wireless router with my fabulous laptop with integrated wireless throughout my flat and report back. Because it is slightly comical, here's the short version of the story... Apparently I had made (unbeknownst to me) an appointment with the internet people to come to my flat yesterday at 3 in the afternoon. However, as I am typically at work at that time of the day, I have this feeling that this appointment would have never been kept, and I don't actually remember ever making this appointment. After calling them about their friendly card that was left in my door, I explained nicely that the reason I wasn't there yesterday at 3 in the afternoon is because I work and that I would like to reschedule the appointment so they can give me a properly working modem. She offered next Monday at 3 in the afternoon. Oh the irony. We finally settled on Tuesday morning, as that's the least likely time that I would be at work, and apparently most likely that one of their technician people will have a modem for me. This is slightly good news for me, as my day has been rather bland. Aside from the stupid person discussion that I already mentioned which was more frustration than anything else.

I started Alias, and in my ingenious state when I left the office for my German class yesterday, I left the game in my xbox on my desk. This is one of my great failures...memory. But I'll expound on that at some time in the future, as I can't remember the point of it anyways. So back to the important part. Alias. It's a pretty decent game so far. I have only spent about a collective hour playing. The controls are slightly interesting, as there's no particular attack button assigned for punching, kicking etc. So far the story seems okay, although I have only played a mission. The animations aren't bad, the voice acting is as to be expected as it's the original cast voices anyways. The locations are pretty cool, but sometimes a little boring for lack of a better term. The first mission is in a casino, but there's all of about 3 people there when you start the mission. I found that slightly odd for a casino in Monte Carlo. I forgot (oh that memory thing again) my MU at home this morning, so I'll have to try to remember to take the game home when I leave today, and then start from the beginning again. Not so bad, since it's a kind of fun mission anyways. I expect to finish the game in a relatively short time, since it's only a 9 mission game. There might not be a whole lot of replayability in it, but I will likely replay it just because I'm an Alias freak.

Yesterday I meant to actually link the Coffee and Cigarettes plug. So there's my fix. Still looks damn good.

Okay. So. Typical American commentary from yesterday was missing a key element. The intent was Typical American Girl. Yeah, I can't argue that I'm not a typical American girl. And I won't argue. I'm just not a typical American girl. There. I said it.

I did some more thinking about this whole typical American thing. And I still, unfortunately, haven't come up with more elements to the stereotype. I would have collected some data about it, but I couldn't be bothered to poll anyone at the bar last night, and I was with an American girl, so she would likely not be of any help in trying to determine stereotypical traits. I think I give up at this point. If it comes up again as a topic sometime, I'll see how much more information I can get, but I'm good for now.

In the process of being entirely bored at work (still), I found an interesting site. Go to town. There's some tests there that remind me of my college days.

I'm sad to report that the gaming news is slow today. This is all I got. Hands on Payback IGN article. I'm slightly intrigued, but will likely never touch this game as I have had enough of GTA, thankyouverymuch.

*Update. I lied. There's one more Gaming related bit of news that was interesting to me. Click here.

I lied twice. Here's one more.


Currently awaiting the following games:
Finding Nemo, GC - amazon.co.uk (What's up with the promised shipping date from JANUARY?? Seriously, what the hell is taking so long?)
Bookworm, GBA - dvdboxoffice.com (I really needed three copies of the game. Really. Actually one would suffice. Send now please, kthxbye.)

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Wednesday, April 14, 2004

So, I've learned two things today. 1 - I'm not a typical American. This serves me well living in Vienna, I suppose. I'll expound on that later. 2 - Jarmusch directed what I'm told is a very good movie (Coffee and Cigarettes). It was apparently on the ticket for the Viennale film festival last year. I'm sad to have missed it. Fortunately, I just might be able to see it in theaters...sometime.

Oh I lied. I learned three things. I need this button.

To follow up on the link in yesterday's entry about men not portraying women properly in video games, and thanks to www.shacknews.com, I found this list published in GMR Magazine... In a short article entitled "The Great Women of Gaming" a short list was collected for publication.

Here's the list:

8. Azel - Panzer Dragoon Orta
7. Lulu - Final Fantasy X
6. Chun li - Street Fighter
5. Nina - Breath of Fire
4. Taki - Soul Calibur
3. Aoi - Virtua Fighter
2. Samus - Metroid
1. Yorda - Ico

I won't even comment. I can't bring myself to comment. But I must ask, they couldn't even come up with 2 more? I mean, make a real "Top Ten" list? Real shame. Real shame.


On a happier note, GBA charger cable arrived today. Thanks to amazon.de for actually sending something when they said they would. It's a first.

On an even happier note, Alias arrived today. dvdboxoffice.com rules. In so many ways. I'm considering locking myself in my flat and playing it through, but that would require missing both my german class tonight and perhaps a little work tomorrow. It just might be worth it! But I've already done my homework for class, so I may as well just give in and go, since I did (or in reality should have) already paid for the class. Missing work doesn't bother me that much since I'm still quite bored at work anyways.


So, going back to the typical American information. I'd imagine this serves me well in a number of ways, but I have to argue on a few fronts. I live in Austria. Austrians speak German. I took 7 (highly useless at this point) years of Spanish. That would likely make me at the very least a typical Californian. And, I would also argue that it might even make me a typical American in that most Americans don't learn to speak foreign languages and in some respects demand the rest of the world to learn English to accommodate them.

Another point, I can't get into the European shoe thing. Austrians seem to love them, not as much as Italians, I'll grant them that, but I just can't understand it. Now I know this sounds absurd, being female and all, but I wear one of three types of shoes on a daily basis. Boots, sandals, or slippers. And they don't look European regardless of the fact that I've made purchases in Vienna.

I was going to list more things that might qualify me as a typical American, but I stopped myself...thinking, now why would I really want to do that? I'm not keen on the president, his cabinet, his warmongering, or his seemingly inevitable re-election. I can't quite identify with the concepts and mindsets of Americans (as I discovered quite soon after moving to Vienna). I apparently am brazen and abrasive enough to be identified as an American, but the quality and quantity of my political opinions probably (rather seemingly) disqualify the brash delivery of them, or at least in a sense assuage the abrasiveness. I don't eat at fast food restaurants, neither in Europe nor in the states. Beyond these traits, I can't quite identify what it is that would make a stereotypical American. I'll see if I can't dig up more qualities that disqualify me from being a typical American and report back.


Currently awaiting the following games:
Finding Nemo, GC. - amazon.co.uk (What's up with the promised shipping date from JANUARY??)
Bookworm, GBA - dvdboxoffice.com (I really needed three copies of the game. Really.)

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Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Three day weekends should last longer. Sleep was accomplished, thankfully. The gaming plans didn't really iron out and to be totally honest, they just flat out didn't happen the way I had envisioned. Must remedy that over the course of the coming week and weekend. Sadly, I don't have another three day weekend until the one after this coming weekend. Thankfully, this means work weeks will remain at 4 days, at least until the end of April.

The party, with the bunny costume thing, was short. For me at least. And, indeed, the bunny costumes were slightly frightening. And when I say slightly, I mean incredibly. The beer on Friday was entertaining enough. I got to be a bitch. All night. It may have just been the highlight of my week solely for the one reason that I got to be a bitch, without apologies...all night. Yay me.

Enough rambling and babbling. I found this slightly interesting, in a humorous kind of way: http://games.slashdot.org/games/04/04/13/052203.shtml?tid=127&tid=186

Thanks Gamespot, because it's really required to portray every video game character fairly and accurately.

Wait, no, it's really not.

Currently awaiting the following games:
Finding Nemo, GC. - amazon.co.uk (What's up with the promised shipping date from JANUARY??)
Alias, Xbox - play.com (Any day now, kthx.)
Bookworm, GBA - dvdboxoffice.com (I really needed three copies of the game. Really.)
(*Although not a game, still awaiting) GBA charger. Updates to follow. Expected arrival - tomorrow. Don't let me down amazon.de!

In other news, Janet Reno is currently on the chopping block for the 9/11 investigative committee. Can't wait for the brilliantly unbiased reports tomorrow. I'll keep myself busy with some games tonight, to assuage my impatience.


Update - Re: The fun and cool level of cheap smokes and free booze: Unchanged - as of yet still no recent experience with these things. Will work harder at determining fun and cool level of such things.

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Friday, April 09, 2004

For lack of anything ingenious to blog, I'll start with a quote.

Any fool can know. The point is to understand.
- Albert Einstein (03/14/1879-1955)

I'd really like to be able to find a gba sp charger in Vienna sometime soon. That would be nice. kthx.

In other news, my three day weekend will be served with an evening of beer with some friends at the Monk, some afternoon Gladius and Beyond Good & Evil delight (or maybe PN03), perhaps some unstressed lounging in cafe's drinking highly drinkable coffee, on a slight chance a party where I am supposed to dress like a bunny, and likely an extreme amount of sleep. All of the above are very well deserved*. I think.

Jetlag's a bitch. So is boredom at work.

New bosses are fun. The kind that are easy to talk to are cool, too. Cheap cigarettes and free beer are probably better, but since all I have experience with lately is the new boss, I'm merely speculating about the cheap smokes and free booze.

* - the bunny thing is not well deserved, hence the 'slight chance.'

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Thursday, April 08, 2004

If you find a mistake in this blog, please consider that it was there for a purpose. I publish something for everyone, including those who are always looking for mistakes.

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