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[17 Sep 2009|01:03am] |
It rained hard for the first time in a while, so I seized the opportunity to go wander around lookin' sharp and acting noir. As I passed by the homeless people under the highway bridge at e salmon & 0th, a girl sang at me from Outside, by Staind:
I can see through you
See your true colors
'Cause inside you're ugly
You're ugly like me
I can see through you
See to the real you
much better than fred durst does. I don't know what she meant by it now that I've actually heard the song. It didn't affect me apart from reinforcing being alone, but since that's what I was out there to do anyway I half-smirked into the nothing ahead as I walked away with the same measured pace.
She had a nice voice though.
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[27 May 2009|08:00pm] |
in my last entry, I referred to a piece I had almost finished. I now finally have it together enough that I don't have to look at the music anymore (so having it properly together is like a week out, because getting it together is fun). The first time you get through some new segment in a smooth manner, no unexpected stops or referring to music, feels really goddamn good, and I was all set to tell the internet about how I was done with this piano project until I remembered I had you start me on a different one and told you this one was done with. Haha whoops.
Anyway then I was looking around at some other things trying to expand my musical horizons and maybe find a new pet composer, or maybe just an easy interim project so I can feel like I know how to read music again. I looked at Easy Winners and Solace (depressing!) by Joplin, but I already know enough rags to satisfy most. Then I went looking for Brahms and discovered that a lot of people disagree with my musical tastes and are therefore objectively wrong and should be prohibited from posting things to the internet.
In any case I will do the winning selection from that poll, but probably do easy winners first because it's comparatively easy and also is interesting in that it is one of the few rags that actually sound like what they're named after. I mean solace is a solace, sure, but searchlight? Pineapple? I guess they need names, but ... anyway Easy Winners actually does put me in mind of people in a competition they can easily win.
Also, I had a second interview with Facebook today. It sounded to me like it went well, and I have a third one on Friday, and if that goes well and there are no other telephone interviews an in-person one. I could dig it, in theory.
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| lazyweb: tell me how to spend my life (again)! |
[21 Apr 2009|05:41pm] |
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so forever ago I asked you to help me choose a piece to learn. I have most of the one you chose (it is really hard, both to learn and to play), so obviously it's time to select another piece to start even though I still have a page to go.
So, give me a hand! All of them have at least one cool thing and I can't decide between them. Your choices are:
39-4 (4m)
39-8 (3m)
33-7 (4m) (yes I know youtube says this is 33-8, they are wrong)
corelli 1, 2 (stick through the first couple variations; the main theme is slow but it picks up) (20m)
don't watch the videos since pianists weaving around hamming it up might poison your decisionmaking ability like it did mine. I have a page or two of corelli, but everything else is new to me.
oh, and I can't make polls, so you'll have to comment. condolences.
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[01 May 2008|04:25pm] |
( more pictures )
Also, if any of you have wire clippers, could I borrow them please I can't tell you why I need them or you will lose plausible deniability
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| arrgh |
[11 Apr 2008|03:56am] |
my least favorite problems are those whose solutions I already know, but consider inferior and will not accept until I spend a good long time hating them.
"Why, I haven't heard about anything like that happening to you!" you say. Yes. that is because I already know the solution and if I tell you all about the problem you will say "oh the solution is obviously x" and I will say "yeah but that sucks" and while you will (at best) agree (without inserting meaningless platitudes) you will also sort of resent that I brought it up at all if I already know the answer and why don't I just marry it then. You would also be vaguely offended that I led you down this conversation tree that doesn't lead anywhere good and will wonder what I expected out of it.
You'd be right to resent it and I wouldn't have an answer. So let's just not do that at all!
I now have contacts. They are neat. The optometrist told me people usually take 30 minutes or so to get them in the first time after I had done it in five. Either she was lying to make me feel better about just fucking it up horribly several times in a row or she wasn't and I wonder how people can jab themselves in the eye 30 times and not get better at it. Have you ever seen animals try to open containers not designed for them? How they have a minimal grasp of what's supposed to happen, but can't figure out how to really pursue it, so they just sort of drag their claws or teeth or whatever over the relevant thing and eventually maybe open the thing by chance? I guess that's how these people are with contacts. If they are. It's a wonder they still have eyes. ... if they do.
Tragically it turns out that sunglasses that look like they cost more than $3 cost more than $5, so I haven't actually saved any money, but I like the contacts anyway.
Also I got my safe open finally. It contained $80 that was worth slightly more when it was put in and some documents I no longer care about. Next time I'm putting a party noisemaker or something in there so I at least have a cool surprise when I forget its contents, or maybe not having a safe at all.
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| worst day on record |
[28 Feb 2008|02:48am] |
today sucked for a number of exciting reasons, but I think really the best part was going out for a bike ride and having some broken glass gift me with a flat rear tire and a two-mile walk home in bike shoes you're not meant to walk in. Aces!
I found some other way to work out but it didn't involve going 20mph so it wasn't as good. Now I'm still awake but don't feel like working, so ( here are some pictures: )
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| DISASTER |
[30 Jan 2008|03:12am] |
GAZE UPON THIS JPEG AND KNOW DESPAIR
The thing labeled "tragedy" is a mechanical pencil which mysteriously met its end in my laptop bag. I still don't know how, since the other pencil survived and was stored the same way.
The pencil's writing end is easily accidentally broken (though not by writing). The pencil of tragedy's writing end is not, as they have incorporated the pen mechanism and it is a superior pencil overall.
You may note that the threaded part that would ostensibly hold the grip on is much shorter on the pencil of tragedy than on all the other 600-line instruments I own. That is because it is broken in half and the remainder is contained inside the grip, never to see the light of day again.
"So buy another one, you hamhanded mongoloid!" you say. No! Or I mean yes, but I can't! This line has been discontinued and while there are 600-line pencils on ebay none of them have the tapered end/double-mechanism thing I love so desperately (Actually that's not true, some joker is selling a black/gold pencil, which basically looks like ass).
Basically my world is CRASHING DOWN AROUND ME and I am POWERLESS TO PREVENT IT
Also if you look closely at the lower left you can see that I have to clean my camera sensor. I can either ship it to Nikon at my expense and and have them do it (thus being without my camera for 2 weeks probably), or buy a kit and risk breaking it and voiding my warranty.
Neat.
I have inquired with Rotring about if these are still sold anywhere, but I remember asking ArtMedia downtown before and they said no. If you have a line on one of these contact me, I can probably be coerced into paying stupid prices for one.
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[04 Jan 2008|04:18pm] |
I have started learning several pieces. I have finished none of them because in all cases after the first page they go fucking CRAZY and while it sounds amazing it's also a bitch to learn.
Now that I have all of these half-done I don't know where to start or which one to finish. And you can help! Just tell me what to learn and I will! ( Your choices are: )
If you don't like any of these or you do but you like your pet idea better, you can tell me about that instead and make the problem worse. :)
Also, if you think my dynamics are off or whatever, remember I'm not done with them.
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[01 Dec 2007|08:10am] |
I got restless and wandered around hunting for pictures again. I ended up on the library smartpark, but couldn't do much with it ...
( moar pictars )
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| DLRUETIBAM |
[19 Nov 2007|06:23am] |
I changed the keycaps on my keyboard around.
I was considering learning dvorak again but then remembered those DAMN GUIDE NUBS on F and J1. I can't live without them so I can't make my keyboard a true dvorak keyboard2.
then I decided damn the torpedoes, I will make my keyboard useless to hunt-and-peck typists anyway!
Anyway, I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.
1. I love you guys, never change.
2. Research on turning it into a true scotsman proceeds.
BONUS: dlruetibam isn't in google yet. SOON!
BONUS2: It just occurred to me I can swap F and J probably. Oh well.
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| dental free/libre open source software |
[03 Nov 2007|01:43am] |
I accidentally bought ribbon floss the other day, and oh my god does it suck a lot. Being comprised of over nine thousand fibers as it is, every time it's subjected to any stress a few of those fibers separate from the ribbon and pretty soon it feels like I'm flossing with and have a mouth full of yarn. Then I have to floss again to get rid of it, and ultimately end up brushing my teeth just so it doesn't feel like my teeth have grown flagella and are probing my saliva for hydra or plankton or other small creatures you remember from 6th grade.
Excepting fleas.
Anyway in conclusion1 I don't like that feeling or this dental floss. I know you will suggest that I throw it away and buy some floss that doesn't suck, to which I say how dare you, you monster! You and I both know the plastic casing will just end up in the pacific or atlantic or wherever that texas-sized floating glob of plastic is, killing whales and clubbing baby seals and otherwise assisting animals that don't look adorable enough for us to care about saving and pretty soon the ocean is full of anglerfish and we have to figure out how to automate container vessels because noone dares brave the sea anymore. If anything I will choose the environmentally sensitive option: getting to the roof of my building and setting it (the floss, not  the roof, although accidents happen I can't be held responsible anyone could have made this mistake it was probably that kid from california anyway) on fire to release the plastic to taste freedom in the sky like the holy perfect angel it is.
The floss part of course will die in horrible burning rather than be released to the skies. It's complicated but science has told me it is so.
I am enjoying the hell out of my job, even the tedious parts. Soon I will only tolerate the tedious parts but I firmly suspect that even then I will not be itching to leave.
I also recently discovered something called 'miro', which is sort of like an RSS reader except only for video feeds. It then bittorrents the things you select and plays them with vlc. It's pretty cool, in part because they have found RSS feeds that work with the service and put them all in one place, so I found a bunch of cool video content I wouldn't have otherwise.
1. On later examination this proves not to be the conclusion at all.
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| higher aperture = better than |
[10 Oct 2007|10:03pm] |
I just finished playing Portal. I must admit, when I played Narbacular Drop (its predecessor, more of a tech demo than a game) because of my incredible enthusiasm for the idea, I was concerned: it was just buggy - otherwise completely done. What could Valve be spending a year on?
Well, the answer is awesome. Easily $30 worth of awesome. If you can handle first person shooters but more importantly are good at moving in them, buy it. It's innovative and funny and if you don't get stuck you will probably enjoy it enormously.
I ... I'm going to go eat some cake.
What do you mean I can only withdraw $60 or more? How many more of these posts do I have to write?
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| HORAJ |
[29 Aug 2007|02:05am] |
I finally tried my hand at astrophotography (sort of. really more like late-night photography, I don't have a tracking mount). it turns out that the horrible noise you get on a digital camera when an image is underexposed is not really visible on the preview screen so most of them didn't work well at all.
I didn't really miss out though: without a telescope adapter I couldn't take good pictures of the moon at all, so I can get these pictures proper the next time I'm at ( larch mountain )
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| I no longer have a sleep schedule |
[30 Jul 2007|03:01am] |
but I don't really mind.
I am currently altering a script I wrote that resides on servers several thousand miles away, having just finished mediocre reheated takeout. I am on a somewhat tight deadline, so even if the work wasn't interesting in the first place the time limit would make it a challenge. The work itself looks and feels awesome. My employers care that I finish this on time, not that I be at my desk at 8 and until 5, and have emailed me a detailed specification to work from. My colleagues are spread across the country at random. Since I am working more than 40 hours (not necessarily anything to do with working at 3am), I will take a day off at some point.
the city is asleep.
Yeah, okay, fine, I don't have any kickass cyberware, nor am I working for a terrifying evil megacorp that I hate. Shut up it still seems cyberpunk in some ways. :)
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| goofiest convalescence ever |
[18 Apr 2007|07:53pm] |
I sprained my ankle on Monday, on the job, thankfully. It was an incredibly lame circumstance, so let's pretend I was fighting off a horde of crazed accountants trying to get to the server room to do some maintenance and kicked one in the face at an uncomfortable angle.
Anyway, this took me through a whirlwind tour of workers' compensation law, which turns out to be pretty cool for me. I took the next day off because sleeping had stiffened it up and it hurt like crazy when I moved - I'd never sprained my ankle before, so I didn't know what to expect. I had assumed that I wouldn't get paid for that day since I didn't work, but it turns out they have to pay me! And they have to pay for a doctor when I see one to make sure I'm not going to be hobbled for life - that's tomorrow - and they have to pay me for the time I take to go see the doctor.
The picture is of a makeshift splint I made out of the incredible quantities of priority mail packing tape I have. It helps a lot - I thought I was rapidly getting better until I removed it to shower and discovered I hadn't really gotten better at all.
Apart from that, I owe far too many people letters. If I don't write one today I'll get started and burn through them all tomorrow.
Additionally, if you have any idea what I did with my beloved USASI OCR-A fontball, please let me know before I am compelled to buy a replacement.
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| What the crap. |
[26 Jan 2007|09:50pm] |
weather.com says it is 37F outside ("feels like" 33F), but I can't bear to wear my coat outside because it's too warm. 
This is ridiculous. I like coats and I like wearing them but if this trend keeps up I won't be able to at all because I will be going around in shorts and sandals year round.
If you can buy me transit to Alaska and I guess also find me a job there please let me know so I can take a nice cool nap on a glacier.
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[16 Jan 2007|10:39pm] |
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Today I found the most depressing thing I can recall hearing about in the last long time again:
When the great Hungarian composer Bela Bartok died of leukemia in New York in 1944, he left unfinished the two works with which he intended to crown his career, the Viola Concerto and the Third Piano Concerto. It's sad enough that he failed in his ultimate goal, to actually complete each piece before dying. And the Viola Concerto was little more than a mess of incomprehensible sketches; the whole salvaged out of those has always been accepted more as a fabrication than a true representation of what Bartok might have intended. The piano concerto, though, was another matter entirely.
Bartok had completed the piano score of the piece before his illness weakened him severely, and all that he had left to do was orchestrate the entire work. He pushed at it, tirelessly, and nearly completed the task when his illness worsened considerably, and he was forced to give in 17 bars before the end of the piece. In near-constant pain, weak, and unable to speak, he scrawled one final word across the last, blank staves of the orchestral score. It was Bes, Hungarian for "end".
I don't like hearing about this so I really shouldn't be posting a reminder. Jesus. 
Bartok wrote the first song I ever learned, and was an amazing composer besides. Maybe it's the prospect of age robbing me of my skills that makes this so horrible to me.
Also rediscovered: this*. I knew it once and intend to learn it again as soon as possible.
I will buy an electric piano. The question is, which one? I have a few that are recommended but there's no way I'm buying one without trying a variety out first. The only piano store I know downtown only sells Rolands, which I was warned against, and which don't appear once in my list of recommended ones.
I'll go to a more distant store with more variety tomorrow, maybe.
* It loops. I like that, since it means when stricken by the mood I can play it until no longer stricken.
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| :( |
[15 Jan 2007|08:36pm] |
I fell asleep on the bus home and didn't wake up until I was back at work.
Next time I fall asleep on the bus, please remind me to wake up.
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