What's the difference between a stove?

and another thing

2007-03-20T00:14:00.000-06:00

what ever happened to humorous mp3s? way back when Napster was still free and illegal, these tracks were downloaded and passed around like nobody's business. I'm typing, of course, of such memorable files as:

Arnold's Pizza Shop - "Broccoli? What the hell is broccoli anyway? Shut up with the broccoli!"

Louis Bagel's Matzah #5 - "One, Two, Three Four Five, Everybody likes to eat corn beef on rye"

and the multi-medium Hamster Dance

did the evolution of the intertubes kill them? am I just an old codger longing for the good ol' days? is it YouTube's fault? who can I blame for this atrocity?

gone are the days of checking doodie.com in the library every day at lunch.

question mark,
DooG

blog post-al service

2007-03-17T19:52:00.000-06:00

you may (or may not) have seen the most recent ad campaign from UPS. to summarize, some dude is writing stuff on a whiteboard. that's about all I remember, except that he is doing this while music from Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello (aka The Postal Service) is heard. irony meter going off? it should be. but the UPS jab at the USPS doesn't stop at the TV spots.

if you take the commercial's link bait, you'll find the UPS Whiteboard site. there, visitors are once again greeted by the Sandy Cohen-looking, brown dry erase marker-wielding artist, 'Such Great Heights' playing in the background. listen to his 'What can brown do for you?' spiel or click on the 'Create Your Own Whiteboard' link below him for more corporate excitement. type in a message and send an e-whiteboard to a friend. you can then preview the slightly-cheesy animation of this guy sliding back and forth on screen 'writing' your message. it was at this point that I decided to test it out with what I thought would be an innocuous text string: UPS ads are using music by The Postal Service. animated man's response? 'Yeah, I'm not gonna write that. Why don't you give it another shot?'. the word 'Postal' was highlighted in red, as seen below. [click for largeness]

apparently 'postal' is flagged as an obscenity over at UPS, tantamount to the s- and b-words. (I didn't test any others for fear of further angering Mr. Brown.)

I think this ad campaign is a bit strange, taking what will mostly be an undetected pot shot at our nation's letter carrying brigade. I will say it was clever enough to get me to head to their site, where I have now been convinced to use their services for all of my small-business needs (read: none).

as an aside, I have always enjoyed UPS'eses 'we wanna race the truck' ads shown during NASCAR events wherein UPS-sponsored driver Dale Jarrett is coerced by those at the company to switch from his #44 Toyota Camry (née #88 Ford Taurus/Fusion) race car to a UPS package car (that's really what the call them internally, ask Wikipedia). he agreed to race the big brown truck in an ad during the 2004 season, shifting the focus of the campaign slightly. the original ads were better, though I can't find any on YouTube so this will have to do.

speaking of automobile racing, the first race of the ought-seven Formula 1 season is tomorrow in Australila, which mathematically translates to tonight here in the non-penal colonies. I'll be watching and can't wait to attend the USGP in Indy this summer.

ROCK,
Davit

thought for food

2007-02-18T21:07:00.000-07:00

a. Iron Chef: I used to love watching the original Japano version, mostly for the wonderful voice replacement and truly nauseating ingredients. I especially enjoyed seeing the giggly-female-star-of-the-week, never with a bad thing to say, and all the while covering her mouth for politeness. priceless.

I do watch the American version, though it just doesn't have the same charm being in English and all. and there's the outside chance Rachael Ray may appear (see note d). but today my nostalgia for the good ol' show was satiated. Iron Chef Morimoto (the only continuing 'cast member') was pitted against... I don't know, some shmuck with no chance, and when it came time for the big M to explain his dishes at judgment: his voice was dubbed over. even though he was speaking in English. I laughed aloud.

and bring back the shiny uniforms.

b. which leads me to another reality-based food program, Top Chef. specifically a contestant I loved to hate, and who was somehow able to make it to the final two. all other Marcel bashing aside, the man has some odd ideas on hair arrangement and placement. ironically, there's a hairstyle by the same name.

he calls himself a molecular gastronomist, which means he uses scientific-sounding shit to ruin his food. I'm sure if done well, and without pretense, this is an actual thing.

in the season finale, one of the judges was none other than Wiley Dufresne (I'd never heard of him either), apparently a well-respected and successful molecular gastronomist.

so... is the ugly facial hair a requirement in this culinary niche? (I really wish I could have found a picture of Marcel when he was sporting the triangu-burns, you'll just have to trust me.)

c. having trouble choosing where to dine? try the Wheel of Food. type in your zip and a keyword and watch it spin. a cute idea, if a bit unreliable. I chose 'indian' to narrow my search and Hooters appeared on the wheel. are they offering tandoori wings I don't yet know about?

d. Rachael Ray sucks. big time. and according to a classmate of mine, she's a total bitch in the real life. big surprise. I now fear the cracker aisle, knowing that her stupid toothface is plastered across every Nabisco product. I skipped my weekly Family Size Redued Fat Wheat Thin purchase in protest.

fin.
DeeEffGee

a new tradition

2007-01-16T21:34:00.000-07:00

to continue the first-day-of-the-semester posting, it also seems a new tradition has emerged with my time here at CU. like last semester, I had a bus break down today. unlike last semester, the bus didn't restart and a tow truck had to be called.

that's what a two-piece articulated bus looks like being towed by a huge truck (which I got to ride in!).

it was three hours from the time the bus broke down until it got towed back to the bus lot, during which time my body (mostly my feet) became very cold. though well below freezing, Boulder's temps today do not even compare to what I experienced over this past weekend. more on that in an upcoming post as part of a series recapping my wintry break.

oh, and I had a class today too. it was dece and the professor seems cool and mentioned he has seen every episode of The Simpsons "like ten times." my kind of guy.

k bye,
DoG

it's that time again...

2007-01-12T16:38:00.001-07:00

a new member may soon be added to the fam, in the form of an adorable German shepherd puppy. I say 'may' because the dual-dog scenario will first be on a trial basis. if parental units decide to keep her, she will require a name. like Kipper before her, I ask for any suggestions.

some background: her official AKC name is Ada vom haus Huro. she was born on September 15, so no good holiday tie-ins. she is 3/4 German and 1/4 Czech.

for some reason, hemi is still not considered an acceptable name by other family members.

and yes, I know I haven't been very good about posting lately. I'm hoping that will change soon. show your support by offering names for this cute doggy.

my toes are cold,
D*G

p.s. stay tuned for some highlights from my one-month hiatus from reality.

ohh, ehm... gee!

2006-10-22T18:38:00.000-06:00

I went skiing today at A-Basin. there was a huge crowd, we took only four five-minute runs in the four hours we were there, but it was totally kickass.

that's the lift 'line', though it was more of a mob until we approached the orderly portion that is being obscured by massive amounts of people in this shot.

one lift and two runs open. it was beautiful, the snow was falling, and it's only October.

I love Colorado.

l8r,
deeg

give and take

2006-10-14T23:50:00.000-06:00

if you haven't heard/read yet, Bono and Bobby Shriver (Ahnold's bro-in-law, and yes I realize that's Oprah in the above photo) have devised a way to help raise money to purchase medicine for African AIDS victims. a worthy cause indeed, and there's no doubt celebrity can lend a hand when fundraising.

but I kind of have a problem with their method. and after reading this intriguing, if not too well-edited, piece by Michael Medved I think I know why.

an overview of how (RED) {yes it belongs in those parentheses for some reason} works:
you buy a special product from select participating companies and they then donate some of the profits to help buy the meds. it's basically that simple, but if you'd like to read the pretentious version, head on over to the (RED) site and read their manifesto.

okay, let me first just say that I am ALL for charitable contributions, and I do recognize that it often takes some enticement for people to think about and follow through on the donation. PBS tote bags, Jerry Lewis telethons, and those little American flag toothpicks are great examples.

but this is a bit different. it seems to me that these products are supposed to be status symbols, neon signs shouting 'hey, look, I'm talking on a red phone/wearing a silly shirt/paying with a red credit card. I'm helping people!'

also, not all of the companies are sending all of the markup on to the charity. Medved points out the price difference on several items from Gap in particular that mean the company is making more profit off of the (RED) items than a normal non-AIDS-fighting version. this is not true for all of the retailers mind you, as Apple is donating $10 from each red iPod nano purchase, while that product costs the same as its differently-colored 4 GB brethren. in many cases the consumer would be better off donating directly to the cause instead of employing and feeding the corporate middleman.

Medved also points out that some of the ad campaigns for the products are a bit risque. AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease, so I think suggestive advertising is not only sending the wrong message, but is irresponsible.

in my opinion, if you want to donate to charity you should be doing it for selfless reasons. you shouldn't require a badge to show other people how good of a person you really are, and the same should go for the companies making the products. all of the money spent on advertising and marketing this stuff could have gone directly to those in need, and don't get me started on the time and gas wasted on trips to the mall to buy it. this campaign is too sales-driven for me and its presentation is borderline obnoxious. the message they're sending is that shopping and excess save lives. it has already become more about stuff than what money is going to.

okay, I realize I was rambling but I feel pretty strongly about this. and who decided on red anyway? pink and yellow were taken?

I'm anxious to hear/read what any of you have to say. please comment below or contact me privately if you prefer and let me know.

dg

CO vs. MI

2006-09-22T22:13:00.000-06:00

hola amigos,

in my short time here in 'the centennial state' I have made note of several (sev-eh-ral) differences between my new home and 'the wolverine state'.

for instance, in Colorado u-turns on divided highways are performed freehand at intersections, whereas in Michigan I'm used to the Michigan-U (not to be confused with the University of Michigan, though I did make an academic u-turn during the end of my tenure there which, coincidentally, landed me here). I'm still getting used to this concept and will be glad when I get a vehicle with a better turning radius.

another slight change has been the cuisine, or more accurately the food options local to me. gone are the days of picking up Backroom (mmm...Backroom) or Panch after an evening at the Jug. a few months back I thought all hope of decent burritos was lost when I tried Big City Burrito, an unimaginable disappointment. on Sunday, however, I was introduced to Illegal Pete's, a small local franchise that might give Panchero's a carrera for their pesos. also, I have been very, very lucky to find Sabra hummus at several (joss tryeeton!) local grocerariums.

highway driving can also be a markedly different experience out here. people actually drive under the speed limit, sometimes by 5 mph or so. also, horns are seldom utilized, save for occasionally waking someone from a slumber at a traffic light.

Hillel on campus is also quite a change from what I was used to in Ann Arbor (I'm of course referring to my final year during which I actually went inside of UMHillel). there's just not a lot of Jews out here. Hillel is in a small house and this evening's services were attended by about 75 people in auditorium on campus, and many of those present were community members (though by the end the rabbi hoped we'd all be a kehila kedosha).

feetball. Michigan's team wins in upset fashion whereas Colorado's just makes all of its fans upset. their current records also could not be more contrastative.

cars out here (as in many states) are required to have front and rear license plates. though I normally despise the look of a front plate, I won't mind too much when I get my next vehicle because CO has very cool mountain plate designs.

Colorado has mountains, Michigan hasn't.

feliz año nuevo a mis amigos sefardis y שנה טובה al resto!
el DG

p.s. for those of you who don't read hebrew or spanish, I was just wishing a happy new year to all as tonight is the beginning of Rosh Hashanah and the Jewish year 5767. now why didn't I just say it like that to begin with? because then I wouldn't get the opportunity to use a post-script to explain myself and make this already-too-long post even longer.

what a way to start a semester

2006-08-29T16:34:00.000-06:00

there is most likely only one person who would truly understand the meaning in this post's title.

for those of you who did not have the privilege of rooming with me freshman year at good ol' UM, I shall explain. after sleeping through my alarm on the first day of second semester, I woke up, noted the time, and said [post title] upon realizing I had missed the first meeting of my 8 am calc 2 class. well, here I am some 3.5 years later, apparently having passed calc 2 and many other non-exciting classes. and today was my first day of grad school. that's right, I'm now officially a graduate student.

[by the way, that wasn't the only alarm I slept through freshman year. during dinner one evening in MoJo's dormtastic (read: craptastic) dining hall everyone was discussing the previous night's fire alarm and subsequent hall evacuation. fire alarms were, of course, a common occurrence in dorm life, but I didn't recall this particular event. after adopting the practice of staying in bed and covering my ears with a pillow during these nuisances, I apparently became immune. luckily it wasn't a real fire, it never was.]

so what, you may ask, am I referring to with all of this? well I didn't miss my first class, it was at 12:30 and lasted just long enough for introductions and syllabus handing out (yeah, they still do that junk in grad school!). no, I had been awake for seven hours by that point. during five of said hours I was driving a large two-piece articulated vehicle around campus helping others to their first classes of the day. until it happened. I'm really not sure what exactly, all I can say for sure is that the engine died and I was stuck in a lane of traffic on a four-lane road. my first breakdown! (vehicular, not mental.) so there I and the bus sat until one of the mechanics could bring another bus out to me. I was probably there for about 10 minutes, but it seemed like an eternity. you'd be surprised (at least I was) at the amount of people who honk and swear at a person blocking one lane of traffic. believe me, I did not choose for this to happen. what did they expect me to do? push it onto the non-existent shoulder? even the city buses were honking, you'd think they might have some sympathy for a fellow driver. I guess not. so that was a bit stressful to say the least.

now I know you're also wondering (and by you I mean maybe three people) what I've been up to for the last month or so. well...I moved into my new place with two nice roommates (who actually live in the rooms they rent), one of whom has a dog. I've been training for a position to teach the GRE at a test prep company. and I've been logging the miles around town. this coming weekend I'll be heading home to the MI for a bit of familial and friendly visitation. brother, sister, and nephew will be there as well so I'll get to see what Oscar looks like at three months vs. fresh.

well, I have to get ready for my second class this evening, wouldn't want to miss it! I hope all are well and that I can see some of you folks in a few days.

warmest regards,
¡DG!

where you'd least expect

2006-07-28T09:30:00.000-06:00

first Sufjan appears as the lead-in music on a segment [see Peugeot 207 vs. Teen Parkours] of last Sunday's episode of the BBC's Top Gear motoring programme, and now this.

an after-school youth program has produced a rap track sampling "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!" from Stevens' latest proper album Illinois (the outtakes of which were recently released as The Avalanche). very interesting mashup, and I echo Pitchfork who hope that this might start a new trend.

word.

behold: here I descend

2006-07-15T18:11:00.000-06:00

sure, we're all aware jews tend to be a humorous lot, but did you know that there's a rabbi who's also a stand-up comic? his name is Bob Alper and you can hear a short clip of him here. I first heard him on one of Sirius' many comedy channels a couple of weeks ago. funny stuff. I think he'd be a great shmooze-shponsored shpeaker...

shpeaking of words with the popular 'sh' sound at their beginning, today's high temp in the Boulder/Denver area was 103 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale, and I drove a bus back and forth to Water World (about 20 miles away) thrice today; I felt as though I was driving a mobile shvitz. tomorrow's high is a forecasted 104.

happy summer,
deeeeeeeeg

noodles, potatoes, and carburetors?

2006-07-07T14:52:00.000-06:00

I spent the 4th in Telluride and on Monday we took a trip to Durango to see the cars involved in The Great Race. the GR is a rally across the US from east to west for cars 45 years old and over. each vehicle has a driver and navigator and the navigation is done using only mileage directions, a calibrated speedometer, and a stopwatch. no computers, no calculators, no GPS, no nothing. it was a rest day so we were able to drive around downtown Durango and see the cars, many of which have large support crews and trailers. we met a nice woman who, along with her husband, was fielding an entry with this license plate:

it turns out this is their last name, as well as the name of their company. their '32 Ford actually made the list of the 75 most influential '32s because of its use as a test bed for all of their products. their names are Judy and Jerry, though I was hoping for Malka and Elimelech. this is one kind of kugel we never considered in the great kugel debates of '06.

[Ian, you have my permission to use this image for future Kugel-off promotion.]

also, my dog had a very good time visiting Telluride. here he is on a hike up the Bear Creek Canyon trail:

ttfn,
someone

hail to thee

2006-06-24T20:10:00.000-06:00

this just in from Boulder: it hailed today. a lot.

after seeing a severe thunderstorm warning announced on TV, I began to hear the storm. I don't think I've ever seen hail this large, luckily I was inside because it was hitting the roof hard. I grabbed my camera to document nature's fury.

the sky was darkening. it started hailing harder. [that's the view out my window.]

more hail.

hail piling up on the deck.

then there was hail everywhere, and heavy rain accompanying it. the parking lots began to flood.

then a pool formed on the grass between the building and the parking lot.

hail!

the aftermath.

I recorded some audio of the storm and took a few videos. I'll try to get them online for your audio/visual pleasure.

crazy weather is fun.
-dg

update: here's the video. [apologies for it being side-wise.]

have time, will waste

2006-06-23T16:57:00.000-06:00

here's a pilot for a show called Nobody's Watching that didn't quite make it. the show is a sitcom about two young TV-aholics [is there such a thing as TV-ahol?] who get the chance to make their own sitcom, while the studio tapes the process as a reality show. it was bought by NBC then picked up by WB, but for one reason or another never got greenlit. I think it's pretty entertaining, and if you look past the pilot-y-ness, it seems like the show has some real potential. take a look for yourselfs. (the above link will take you to part 1 of 3, with the others available on the bottom right 'Explore More Videos' section of the YouTube controlling panel.)

like music videos? who doesn't? Pitchfork recently trawled YouTube for 100 Awesome Music Videos. the criteria aren't really terribly specific, with videos chosen for their artistic vision, hilarity, importance, or for being just plain craptastic. each video is accompanied by the contributors' reasons for choosing it, with the commentary itself being either interesting, funny, or lame. here are some of my personal faves and whyfor I chose them:

Björk: Triumph of a Heart - a great beatbox-laden track off her latest release, Medulla. in the video a cat is anthropomorphized to the fullest. watch to believe. [p 1]
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony: "Tha Crossroads" - I remember listening to this song at Tamarack when I was around 12. never saw the video until now. [p 2]
The Decemberists: "16 Military Wives" - a great Rushmore parody. great song as well. [p 3]
Ice Cube: "It Was a Good Day" - always liked this song and its accompanying no-nonsense narrative video. I enjoy and agree with the contributor's description of Ice Cube as 'unfuckwithable'. [p 5]
Juvenile: "Ha" - what the hell is he saying? all I can make out is the oddly-placed 'run Forrest, run Forrest, run' toward the end. a note on the Pitchfork-supplied description: the 'bright-yellow corvettes' mentioned are actually a yellow Ferrari 355 Berlinetta, a blue Jaguar XK convertible, and a 5th generation S-Class. but I can't fault a music nerd on their lack of automotive knowledge. wait, yes I can, and I just did. [p 5]
Pavement: "Shady Lane" - a wonderful and expectedly odd Spike Jonze creation. and 'cause I just plain love Pavement. [p 7]
The Postal Service: "We Will Become Silhouettes" - it's nice looking, the song is great, plus I get to see my favorite Troop Beverly Hills actress and Postal Service songstress, Jenny Lewis. another description comment: the 'cookie' that the 'frumpy suburban Dad' gives his son is obviously a piece of dried fruit from a RonCo-esque as-seen-on-TV food dehydrator. we all know dried food can last through a nuclear attack. that and Twinkies. [p 7]
Radiohead: "Just" - great song, semi-confusing video. but that's how they likes it. [p 8]
They Might Be Giants: "Ana Ng" - the Johns' odd lyrics are well matched by this equally different video. [p 9]

feel free to discuss any agreement or disagreement with my choices, or post your picks in the comments section.

have a lovely evening,
Spiral Stairs

I'll take you to the candy Apple shop

2006-06-19T17:36:00.000-06:00

do you have 50 Cent in your iTunes library? how about having iTunes, as well as all of the other iApps and Mac OS X, on a 50-Cent-branded computer? Forbes says that 50 Cent and His Steveness are in talks to do just that. fitty wants a low-cost computing option for inner-city dwellers.

I'm interested to see what becomes of this. will we see a shift in rap lyrics in order to flaunt 20-inch screens? maybe this will add to the already growing market of Mac mini ride pimping. think of how difficult it will be to tell someone the correct price of such a product, a miscommunication [fifty-cent computers?!] might cause a stampede or something.

[I tried really hard to modify some 50 lyrics to be Mac-centric but the post title was the best I came up with, sorry]

stay fly,
Poochie D

three cheers

2006-06-17T10:02:00.000-06:00

I got a job this week, thankfully.

I'll be joining the company of the following persons:

Ralph Kramden from The Honeymooners
Otto from The Simpons
Chris Farley's character in Billy Madison
Miss Crabtree from South Park
Roberto Benigni as Dante in Johnny Stecchino
Annie Porter in The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down*

what do they all have in common? bus drivering.

I hope to avoid any and all banana peels, and will refrain from playing GTA until the vehicle has come to a complete stop.

good, great, grand, wonderful,
Davey

*Homer: I saw this in a movie about a bus that had to speed around the city, keeping its speed over fifty. And if its speed dropped, the bus would explode! I think it was called... "The bus that couldn't slow down."

is the future behind us?

2006-06-13T13:45:00.000-06:00

I just came across this interesting article (or did it come across me?) about an indigenous people in South America called the Aymara. it seems these people buck the widely held convention, once thought universal, of picturing the past as behind oneself and the future in front. they speak and gesture accordingly, pointing or waving over their shoulders to reference the future and referring to 'last year' by saying 'nayra mara', literally 'front year'.

Backs to the Future - PHYSORG.com

I am currently searching for a job, both in front of and behind myself, and have some promising leads (fingers crossed). I'll be sure to let everyone know when I've secured employment.

hugs,
David

here I am.

2006-06-07T19:57:00.000-06:00

I'm in Boulder. that's in Colorado. I live here now. this is my new home. I'm sort of freaking out.

the journey began bright and early Monday morning when I set off from Birmingham and picked up my accomplice for the trip, Gabers. I can't thank him enough for sharing the driving, entertaining me, and keeping me sane over the last three days.

the route took us through Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska. while in Iowa (I think) we saw a sign on the highway for a Middle East Conflict memorial and decided we had to stop. it wasn't until we had driven a few miles from the interstate through a sleepy little town that we realized what was meant by Middle East Conflict, we're not talking Israel here but instead Desert Storm and Iraq. why didn't we think of that before? we were in such shock that there would be a memorial to Israel-Palestine conflict that we didn't consider any other (more logical) options. oh well. we stopped and took some pictures anyway.

we stopped over Monday night in Lincoln, NE, home of the University of Nebraska and their Cornhuskers. we stayed at a lovely Best Western with pool, spa, wireless internet and continental breakfast (though by the time we made it to the breakfast bar there were only english muffins left). we ventured to the campus that night to explore and have some dinner.

Tuesday came, and with it the rest of Nebraska. an hour or two after setting off we began seeing signs for Fort Kearney, of Oregon Trail fame, and Gabe was insistent that we take a look. it's neat to see a real live place after you've been there so many times electronically. we chose not to hunt for food or trade any of our wagon tongues but instead took this picture.

we arrived in Boulder at around 4:45 Mountain time (I'm two hours off for future reference) and met the young man from whom I'm subletting my room for the next couple of months. we commenced unpacking my fully-loaded car (in the 90+ degree heat mind you) and then went over to campus for a walk to check it out. the evening ended with a late dinner and a run to Wal-Mart for some miscellaneous necessities (no Meijer out here, a big adjustment).

today we explored the campus a bit more, strolled the Pearl Street pedestrian mall, Gabe bought his requisite Colorado t-shirt, I brainstormed employment ideas, and then it was time to take Gabe to the airport for his departure. on the way there I learned an important Mapquest lesson: if you are routed via toll roads, always select the 'No tolls' option and update the route to check how much time/distance is added in avoiding pay-roads. we discovered that E470 to Denver airport costs an astounding $6 (2 bucks at each of three toll plazas over a 15-mile stretch). on the way back, I was slightly distracted when Gabe called to tell me his flight was delayed an hour due to thunderstorm activity in the area and I missed the exit for the world's most expensive road. instead, I managed to get back to Boulder without paying a dime (sans gas costs) and when I checked Mapquest upon my return it turns out I only added a mile to my journey. I'll never take that road again.

so here I am, all alone in Boulder (because neither of my roommates have been home since I arrived last night and I haven't met them yet, seriously). this is the start of a new life for me I guess. or, according to the fortune cookie I got at China King the evening prior to my arrival: '[I am] only starting on [my] path to success.' let's hope so.

tomorrow I begin the job search.

hugs and long-distance kisses,
DG

p.s. we also saw this in Lincoln:

copy that

2006-05-01T16:30:00.000-06:00

so yesterday saw the fourth and final ann arbour move-out for the lost boys of 1023 Church. with it came some laughs, some sadness, a lot of dust (read: David sneezing), and numerous comments regarding the 12 noon move-out deadline imposed by our lovable landlord. the following is a (very incomplete) list of quotations spoken by [name removed for anonymity and stupidity reasons]:

'uh, there's no cars on the lawn, so...if you could tell your roommate...'

'do you still have vehicles in the back?'
yeah.
'um, how many vehicles?'
maybe three or four.
(walks inside, mumbles to cleaning crew and inquires as to where they have parked, informs them that they cannot park across the street)
'yeah, um, could you maybe move them? our cleaning crew needs to park back there...'

referring to the fact that we were sitting on our porch eating lunch from Red Hot's after the noon deadline:
'I'm sure the restaurant you got the food from has seating...'

please feel free to add any more in the comments.

an audio version of these exchanges (and more!) will be forthcoming so stay tuned.

happy graditation or monday (whichever applies),
DengineeringdegreeG

ps: do I remove AAIO from my blog reading list now?

star stricken

2006-04-23T20:42:00.000-06:00

driving down main street in AA not an hour ago, who do I see crossing the street? Patton Oswalt and Brian Posehn. I recognized Posehn first based on his stature and unique facial hair. apparently on their night off between shows in Detroit and Lansing they decided to stop in Ann Arbor.

pretty cool.
[dg]

technically not chametz

2006-04-12T12:44:00.000-06:00

I received this picture, with accompanying caption, in an e-mail message.

"You just can't make this stuff up..."

I actually think you can make this stuff up. especially with the aid of a scanner and a little-known photo editing program called Photoshop. oh well, it's a funny idea anyway.

hag sameach!
dg

and the hits keep on coming

2006-04-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

good news, part deux: I'm going to grad school here. I got in. yes!

the last 24 hours have shaped my future quite nicely. and my mom assured me that it was not an April Fool's joke after reading the acceptance letter to me over the phone.

nearly textless,
me

this summer in Jerusalem

2006-03-31T15:25:00.000-07:00

After the dog show, I was on an El AL flight to Haifa faster than a walnut could roll off a hen house roof.

Christopher Guest as Harlan Pepper in 'Best in Show'

I leave May 17^th. excitement is building.

דויד

'Dr. Marvin Monroe's Guide to Etiquette'

2006-03-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

on my way to class today, I approached a set of double doors connecting the G.G. Brown and H.H. Dow buildings and opened the one on the right (as I always do) to find several people also wishing to pass through the doorway from the opposing side. of course, I politely held the door for them (even though we actually drive on the right side here in the US), and they thanked me. people continued to file through the door, and continued to thank me, at which point I realized I was holding the door for an entire campus tour group. an awkward position to say the least, but I waited for a gap and made my way through, careful to not let the door hit anyone, and also 'excuse me'-ing as a cut across. I don't know that I've ever had such an odd door-holding experience as this before.

along these lines, I found an interesting piece on urban etiquette.

*please note: deeg. is undergoing a slight makeover! the sidebar has been upgraded thanks to inspiration from some peo ple I know. a parade of minor tweaks is also underway, so be sure to take a closer look around the place, if that's your sort of thing.

Smallville calls...
daV

I wonder

2006-03-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

the following is a message received from one of my professors:

ME495 class:

Due to some conflicts with St. Patrick related

activities, it was decided that the quiz originally

scheduled for this Friday will be moved to next Monday.

< dg >

(ran)dumb thoughts

2006-03-09T20:20:00.000-07:00

did you ever notice how people order certain drinks on airplanes that they probably would never get anywhere else? this includes:

ginger ale

tomato juice
apparently it's a real phenomenon.

during spring break, I played a board game called Therapy The Game. seriously. it had no real point, overly-complicated rules, and was basically just mind-boggling. strangely this was the second version, so a lot of people must have bought the first one. the game we borrowed from the lodge had never been played before, and I doubt it will be again.

now, I realize I am an about-to-graduate senior, but the increasing amount of Facebook profiles which include 'Engaged to...' kind of scares me. (that is to say, a surprising amount of my peers are engaged to be married.) I've been noticing more and more in my frequent research forays. nothing wrong with it, I'm just saying. I don't feel anywhere near ready to commit to something like that. more power to 'em I guess.

codswallop.
ric

odd-e-yo

2006-02-20T23:52:00.000-07:00

ma?

dovid

Shmooze needs your support

2006-02-14T13:13:00.000-07:00

help the Shmooze club raise money for the American Cancer Society by donating to Relay for Life. if you'd like to walk with us, go here and sign up!

thanks,
dg

broke(n)mac weekend

2006-02-05T17:11:00.000-07:00

or, "I wish I knew how to fix you"

*disclaimer 1: this post is not directly related to (but definitely inspired by) the (very funny) brokeback mountain/mac support spoof, which can be seen here.

**disclaimer 2: while I am of course a mac die-hard, I will admit that even macs have their problems. however, the events of this weekend are my fault. my poor system maintenance practices and love of experimenting with third-party apps coupled with the fact that I have not cleanly re-installed my OS since purchasing the computer have finally come to a head. I still love my mac!

wow. it's finally over. from around 2 PM last afternoon until around 3 this morning, and then again for a few hours off and on today I have been sitting in front of my 51-month-old 15" Titanium 550MHz Apple PowerBook G4 trying to figure out just what was wrong with it. this all started (I think) when I attempted to upgrade from OS 10.4.3 to 10.4.4 a few weeks ago. it didn't work, and after trying again yesterday (as well as installing a few new open-source applications I found) I restarted my 'book only to see it hang at the "Welcome to Mac OS X..." screen. it was then that I commenced troubleshoot mode.

I actually learned a lot about my computer and OS X this weekend. I can now check log files, boot into single-user mode, use the terminal a little more confidently, and patiently sit in front of my computer while re-booting it innumerable times. for over 15 hours.

luckily I keep a (semi-up-to-date) copy of my entire hard drive on an external drive. I was able to boot from that disk, hunt around my hard drive and the internet for problems and solutions and, finally, copy over my /Library and /System folders. I only wish I had tried that yesterday.

I know you probably don't understand or care about most of what you just read, let alone why I didn't give up, but this needed to get out of me somehow.

my roommates and mother reminded me throughout the process that I could just take it in to the Apple store if I couldn't figure out what was up. this was never an option for me. if I can't fix it, I'd rather re-install the OS than pay someone else to do it. and I'm too proud.

I now pledge, to you the internet audience, that I will reform my maintaining ways. hopefully the mac can make it another 4 years before any more major troubleshooting is necessary. I sure found something to pass the time up in my room.

yee-haw,
dg: your company's computer guy

mmm...something

2006-01-31T11:30:00.000-07:00

great weekend 'up north' with Aaron, Adam, and Beanie. I taught myself how to operate the monoski and feel very accomplished.

tonight, as our entrees were being served, Jon asked if the establishment did anything special for birthdays. the waiter replied that a free sundae was in store for me if I showed identification. upon giving it to him, he asked if I needed to see a menu, but I knew I wanted the hot fudge brownie sundae and told him so. then, to our surprise, he brought the sundae out as we were just starting our meals and placed it in the middle of the table. we all just sort of looked at each other in amazement. anyway, it was a bit melty but still good.

later in the evening, we visited a local barroom where a free tollhouse sundae is given to birthday persons. they were out of ice cream and whipped cream, but I got a freshly (and slowly) baked cookie covered in hot fudge. I'm very full.

all in all a very nice birthday. thank you to all of the well-wishers!

lots of love,
22 year-old

hacking NAIAS

2006-01-18T22:17:00.000-07:00

while walking through the Ford exhibit at this year's North American International Auto Show, I noticed a computer screen. the display, titled 'Truth About Trucks', featured components from competitors' vehicles compared to Ford's to show their relative toughness. someone apparently managed to get this PC out of kiosk mode and start up a game of solitaire. here's a close-up, I would have taken one without the flash but someone from Ford noticed me snapping the first two and came over to see what was what with the screen. I just hope their onboard computers are a bit 'tougher' than whatever kiosk software they were running.

the numbers: last night

2006-01-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

30: number of cans of PBR consumed by myself, Brad, Maura, and Adam during the Pistons drinking game and the rest of the evening

1: number of failed beer bong attempts, by me, before bowling

158: my bowling score at Colonial Lanes

1: number of successful beer bong attempts, by me, after bowling

4: number of Sparks brand alcoholic energy drinks consumed

55: number of degrees (on the Fahrenheit scale) that our home thermostat was set to throughout the night and into the morning

152: number of pictures taken during the events (limited by my 256mb memory card)

here are a few of my faves:

trippy

2006-01-04T13:09:00.000-07:00

I just think this looks cool:

that's it,
dg

you know you miss me

2005-12-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

shortly after I de-planed back at DTW on Wednesday night I heard a woman speaking loudly and approaching me from behind. once she was next to me, she turned to look at me and continued speaking. here's how it went:

woman: tottola...tottola, tottola! (or something to that effect)
me: [hangs up cell phone, walks on moving sidewalk toward tram station]
w: [to me] you know, this used to be the armpit of America...
m: [quizzical, dazed, post-plane look]
w: now it's the asshole.
m: [uh...]
w: used to be the armpit, now it's the asshole. it's because of the ____s...
m: [slows down to try to avoid this unprovoked awkwardness]
w: [continues walking and receives a phone call, weaves in and out of others walking in straight lines between moving sidewalk and escalator, stops abruptly, swaying]

she was obviously inebriated, most likely due to an opportunity to enjoy alcohol as a result of a delayed flight. wow.

why do people think it is a good idea to get drunk while waiting for a flight?

feliz año nuevo!
sinceramente,
yo

happy googledays

2005-12-17T20:33:00.000-07:00

note the border between the search results and sponsored links: chanukah, christmas, kwanzaa.

also, my dog is still cute.

regards,
DJ Mr. DG

this american blog

2005-12-13T15:58:00.000-07:00

on saturday Emily and I saw Ira Glass live at the Michigan Theater, a truly amazing experience. [if you ever get the chance to see him live, take it. you shan't be disappointed.] consequently, I've been listening to an average of two This American Lifes a day since Friday. for those of you unfamiliar with the program, it is a weekly one-hour NPR show that's been around for just over 10 years. here is a description:

"Each week we choose a theme and put together different kinds of stories on that theme."

but it's better than that.

you can listen to almost all of the episodes online in realplayer format by clicking the archive links on the left side of the TAL page.

I've been going through the staff's favorite shows and enjoying every one.

one episode broke the mold and offered 20 acts in 60 minutes, an idea borrowed from a Chicago theater company called the Neo-Futurists. the last story was done by the Neo-Futurists themselves, where a duo read this. I would love to perform that sometime.

other favorites of mine include:
Notes on Camp
24 Hours at the Golden Apple
and
The House by Loon Lake

enjoy yourselves.

peace out,
yo

yummy

2005-11-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

no, I'm not referring to the leftovers, which by the way are plentiful at 1023, but rather a new net discovery. it's called del.icio.us and that also happens to be its url. what is it, you ask. awesome, I answer. the site allows you to keep a set of bookmarks that you can add to and access from anywhere. they can be organized using tags and it is also possible to see who else has the same links on their account. anyone can access your bookmarks, making it very useful for sharing information with others. the concept is referred to as social bookmarking, and is also available on sites like furl and spurl.

del.icio.us supports rss, can be synced with a number of browsers in a variety of ways, and allows you to post using a java-scripted link that can be conveniently placed in your browser's bookmarks bar. I'm not quite sure how I missed this for so long, just recently I was working on a page of links in simple html hosted on my university web space that I planned to use when browsing away from my home base. I knew I needed it, I just didn't know it existed. there's even a nice dashboard widget that simplifies posting.

take a look at my del.icio.us. it's free too.

happy sunday.

!

2005-11-08T23:46:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be an uncle. c-ray-z.

peace and love,
deegy

smiling

2005-11-02T22:37:00.000-07:00

go here. scroll down to puppy #3, sable male. meet Kipper.

dfg

fill it up with petroleum distillate, and re-vulcanize my tires, post-haste

2005-10-26T21:20:00.000-06:00

I was reading Engadget today and saw an amusing post. apparently some cable set top box programmers decided to have a little fun and throw in a Simpsons reference easter egg. a riff off of one of my favorite scenes from episode 3F11, where Homer is in the market for a new TV.

Homer: [gasps] Look at these low, low prices on famous brand-name electronics!

Bart: Don't be a sap, Dad. These are just crappy knock-offs.

Homer: Pfft. I know a genuine Panaphonics when I see it. And look, there's Magnetbox and Sorny.

Salesman: [walking up] Listen, I'm not going to lie to you. Those are all superior machines. But if you like to watch your TV, and I mean _really_ watch it, you want the Carnivale'.

party here friday night.
dG

how to drive a car

2005-10-10T19:04:00.000-06:00

I have been becoming increasingly annoyed with most roadway users of late. here are a few points to keep in mind while motoring:

turn signals - use them. not just when you feel like it, but all of the time. if you always signal, you get in the habit of signaling, instead of just doing so when convenient or when you want to cut in somewhere. signaling before a turn or lane change might just let that driver in your blind spot know you're there and avoid a bump. also, it is important to remember that signaling a lane change is a request to other motorists, not a demand. and it doesn't cost you anything (except maybe a few seconds added to your travel time) to be nice and let someone else in when possible.

highway protocol - slower traffic keep right. seriously. it seems like most people were never told that it is unsafe, and in certain states illegal, to pass on the right. if you aren't going faster than the people to your right, move over. and if someone behind you is quickly catching up, move over to let them by. the only reason to be in the left-most lane is to pass a slower-moving vehicle or allow someone to merge onto the roadway. if everyone followed these simple rules instead of weaving in and out of traffic with absolutely no rhyme or reason, traffic problems and accidents would be greatly reduced.

mirrors - use them too. get in the habit of checking behind and to either side of you periodically. having an idea of where other vehicles are around you is very helpful. always check your rearview mirror when slowing down and stopping. in the event that the person following you does not notice your brake lights, you will be in a better position to get out of their way. also, don't check next to you or turn to check your blind spot while changing lanes, do so before moving from your current lane. don't just assume everyone else will get out of your way.

construction zones and the merging dilemma - if you see a sign for a lane closure or lane closures up ahead don't slam on the breaks or try to speed up and get over 2 miles before the shift. instead, continue driving and alternate with the vehicles in other lanes to get down to the correct number of lanes without stopping traffic. and don't weave from lane to lane when you're in a traffic jam, just be patient.

if everyone was a little more predictable in their driving habits, much like Europeans are, we could remove a lot of time and grief from motor transportation. that said, always assume the other motorist doesn't see you and plan for the worst. predict when they are about to do something wrong and always have a way out.

plan ahead. pay attention. be courteous.

and enjoy yourself.

big up all yourselves,
>dg>

new cuteness

2005-10-04T21:26:00.000-06:00

what would you name a golden/lab/border collie mix? please leave any suggestions in the comments section of this blog entry.

oh, and please, no more spamments.

shana tova!
D-->G

fry sauce and 3.2 beer

2005-09-23T14:29:00.000-06:00

while stopped for lunch in Delta, Utah along Hwy 50 'the loneliest road in America', I overheard the following drink order from the table behind me

Waitress: What can I get you to drink?
Man: Well, I'm not sure what my wife wants, but I'll have an iced coffee.
Waitress: Iced coffee? You know, we just had a lady ask for that and I don't know what it is.
Man: ...well...you just fill a glass up with ice and ...pour the coffee in.
Waitress: Wow, alright.

as I sat there waiting for my food I thought about how disconnected from American pop-culture this young woman must be. I also thought that I wouldn't mind being in that position. but you 'd at least think she would have seen an ad for iced coffee on TV...

at dinner that night I learned that Central Utah's best keep [sic] secret is ...HomeSpun Love.... they had provided the dÃ©cor for the establishment and placed fliers on the tables to inform you of their products and location. it then occurred to me that the phrase 'best kept secret' is anoxymoronn. no one would know about a best kept secret, right? this town didn't have a traffic light and all local directions were given with respect to the 4-way stop.

please pardon our dust,
dg

seen my ear?

2005-09-06T13:00:00.000-06:00

well, I have just returned from my first class on the first day of the first semester of my last year as an undergraduate. an odd feeling. good news: the class, Design and Manufacturing III, might be interesting.

other good news: I have re-thought my post-graduation strategy (again). I have set a goal and it is to live in Colorado sometime soon after graduation. I will pursue an engineering career of some sort before completely ruling it out (which may still lead to journalism or another semi-related field like marketing or PR). I also plan to be a 'ski bum' in Telluride for about a year after graduation unless I immediately fall into a real job that I can't pass up. I'm thinking of driving a snow cat or being a lifty during the winter months and doing 4x4 tours when its warm.

so now I have a bit more direction. hopefully this will translate into some drive for me to complete my final year.

also, I had a great time riding from Reno to Telluride and then Telluride to Denver (where I hatched this new life plan). I will post the few pictures that we actually did stop to take when they become available.

happy school year,
your pal

conclusions

2005-08-20T20:12:00.000-06:00

yesterday was supposed to be my last day of work. it turned out being just that. more so even. I spent over 25 hours on the premises of Detroit Wayne County Metropolitan Airport (and flew nowhere). I bet you can't say you stayed at a La Quinta Inn with an Estonian, can you?

I attempted to compile a list of all of the nationalities I encountered during my summer. here's a list of the countries I can recall:

Sweden
Poland
Singapore
Japan
China
Kazakhstan
Brazil
Paraguay
Germany
Switzerland
Russia
Holland
Mexico
Chile
Estonia

happy summer wrap-up.
dfg

transport nation

2005-07-18T21:15:00.000-06:00

in the past few weeks, I have made use of almost every mode of transportation I can think of. here is a list:

Amtrak train
airport shuttle van
airport tram
airplane
taxi
moving walkway
escalator
elevator
Washington DC Metro
Chinatown bus
NYC Subway
automobile
bicycle
Chicago 'L'
sailboat

and tomorrow: motorcycle.

I look forward to not traveling so much in the next few weeks.

have a nice night,
dG

fitty

2005-07-09T08:54:00.000-06:00

last night I spent the best 50 cents of recent memory. brother, sister-in-law, and I were eating at a diner-esque restaurant in VA. each table has a jukebox so I put in two quarters and selected Wonderwall. it came on much louder than expected and I was unable to stop laughing for about a minute.

end transmission.

you know what? you're not wrong

2005-06-19T22:21:00.000-06:00

reuse? sure. recycle? maybe not. recycling might not be all it's sorted and bundled up to be.

why do we recycle? because it makes us feel good. really. and because we feel like others will look down on us if we don't "do our part". well, should we just assume that recycling is actually a useful task?

recycling has high costs. not just in the time and money spent transportating materials, sorting them, paying workers, and processing the materials, but also the energy required for all of these things to take place. sometimes we forget that energy always comes from somewhere.

okay, recycling aluminum cans has proven to be worthwhile. but paper, cardboard, plastic? they all cost more than they're worth, and can produce inferior recycled products. you might also be interested to know that waste decomposing in landfills actually creates gas as a bi-product that can be gathered and used for power generation. and we're not running out of room for landfills. and the reason so many trees die to create paper is because they are grown for that express purpose. kind of like, oh I don't know, vegetables.

don't believe everything you read or hear. everyone knows that. but it's also important to question ideas that are popularly held. everyone has a motive, and often it is driven by politics, not necessarily our well-being.

just because an idea is popular doesn't mean it is right, the opposite is true as well.

question everything. but do so with logic and common sense. I'm not saying you have to agree with what I've said, hell, I'm not even sure what to think myself.

(from The SImpsons episode 4F17: The Old Man and the Lisa)
Lisa: Stop! Don't recycle! It's murder! You're helping Mr. Burns!
Woman: [robotically] But you told us to recycle.
Man: [robotically] You convinced us it was good.

think.
david

reading is good, can we start the story now

2005-06-13T23:25:00.000-06:00

one of my summer goals (actually the only one I am actually following through on) is to read more. I never really enjoyed reading when I was a kid and haven't read most of the classics, or much of anything really. I think I have read more books in the past year than during the rest of my life combined. sad but true.

so I'd like any suggestions of books you feel I should read. much appreciated.

another summer goal that will most likely come to fruition is the watching of all of those movies I've never seen. maybe now I'll be able to get more jokes from the Simpsons.

speaking of the Simpsons, my talking Homer bottle opener broke recently. I have concluded that it failed due to the fact that I was using it to open twist off bottles...

I might just replace it with this one.

later,
deegman

wow, what a difference

2005-06-01T18:45:00.000-06:00

in the age of the dvd (and no late fees*), blockbuster has begun printing this message on their receipts:

BE KIND, RETURN ON TIME

I have to go watch my movie, it's "due" in a week...

Fred

mispelling misspell

2005-05-30T15:56:00.000-06:00

you can stop worrying -- I got a job. I will be helping exchange students from Youth for Understanding to change planes, find luggage, and deal with unexpected travel-y problems at metro airport. should be pretty decent, and it is only in June and August, leaving July wide open for fun and excitement.

do you remember Square One, the math show on PBS? I used to really like it. and what about all of the other quality programming we grew up with? I don't think there are any kids' shows that even come close to what I used to watch. and new animation, blech. what's your favorite now-defunct television program?

here is something I have noticed in my German class and elsewhere: many people are unable to correctly pronounce the word pronunciation. it is often thought to be a different word entirely (which does not exist): pronounciation. if that's not ironic, I don't know what is.

auf wiedersehen,
d.

re:

2005-05-26T23:01:00.000-06:00

until this week, I didn't realize how much of the stuff I throw out is recyclable. my apartment building has three giant dumpsters that get filled every week, with two lonely recycling bins off to the side. now that I know what is recyclable here in AA, it seems that this should be reversed. I did a little searching and found an explanation of the city's program. I decided to make some easily readable lists to aid in the process, so I fired up Word and modified the listing available on the site. I've posted them in my kitchen above the recyclables. if you'd like your own set, download it here. sweet, right?

while doing my research, I also found something for the religious recycler. so we control all of the money AND all reusable waste.

so get out there and stop throwing stuff away. it doesn't cost anything.

love,
David

today's lessons

2005-05-20T16:56:00.000-06:00

when a pancake recipe calls for self-rising flour, you better damn well use self-rising flour. all-purpose will not do.

if your spatula is not heat resistant and you don't like the smell or taste of burnt plastic, do not cook with it. in fact, you may want to seriously consider replacing said spatula entirely because it is (almost) completely useless.

and now you know.

oh, I did

2005-05-17T23:14:00.000-06:00

I am a new tie wearing

2005-05-16T15:01:00.000-06:00

things that are either funny/interesting/confusing or a combination thereof:

there are ads for adoption on the facebook.

"everyone of them is different; not one of them is the same"

Tiger is starting to impress me. I am writing this post via DashBlog, a Dashboard widget that posts directly to Blogger. I am, however, a bit confused about some of the other widgets I have seen on Apple's site and dashboardwidgets. many of these widgets are nothing more than branded search boxes that take you to a web page of search results for the particular site. I don't see why someone would want to switch to Dashboard, click on the appropriate search widget, and then be redirected to Safari when I could just as easily command-tab to Safari (if it isn't already running) command-L to the location bar, go to the site and find what I want (I can do all of that with the keyboard instead of a mouse-keyboard combo). I have also noted some unstable behavior on several widgets. they'll improve in time.

furthermore, RSS support in Safari has saved countless minutes each day from my news gathering routine.

have a pleasant today,
mortimer frog

wait, you rode here from Michigan?

2005-05-09T22:43:00.000-06:00

I rode the R to Bloomington this weekend all by myself. my first real solo ride. 6 hours each way. two stops. it was funnnn. perfect weather too. I never knew my car could feel so big.

still in search of a job. that needs to happen this week. I could use ideas/assistance/motivation.

I installed Tiger today. it isn't very exciting and I'm kind of disappointed. Safari seems faster though, I enjoy the RSS support, and Mail looks nice and has a very cool slideshow feature when you receive an email with multiple picture attachments. Dashboard is neat but I'm waiting for better widgets. oh well.

I have my first German test tomorrow. what's funny is that it is only the 5th day of class.

gute Nacht,
David

you can't capitalize numbers

2005-05-03T15:25:00.000-06:00

spring semester starts today and it snowed this morning. go and figure.

I now have a sister-in-law. I also have developed a good impression of people from Virginia.

I'm going to need a job soon so I don't get bored out of my mind, so if anyone has any good suggestions for Ann Arbor area employment I would like to hear/read them.

Tiger arrived at home and I will have the opportunity to install it after this weekend. excitement.

hopefully my life will pick up again soon so that I may have something to write about in this space.

what's new with you?

truly yours,
boredom

perpetual notion

2005-04-21T19:38:00.000-06:00

we all know the internet is an immense wealth of information. of course, with information comes misinformation. this was recently illustrated to me in the form of two chan emails. I shall highlight them now:

1. don't buy gas from a certain company so that we can drive gas prices down. this makes no sense and would never be effective as Snopes clearly explains.

2. microwaving things in plastic containers can kill you. this one supposedly includes microwavable dinners whose packages are specifically designed for this purpose. I highly doubt that anyone would be allowed to sell anything in a package that could harm you in this way. the letter specifically mentioned JOHN HOPKINS in the title and in the message body. the real Johns Hopkins issued a statement disproving this and explaining that this false information was wrongly credited to researchers from the institution.

you can't trust everything you read on the web, nor can you always trust information that others decide to forward to you. so before you decide to send that startling piece if information to all of your family and friends, do a simple web search or look at one of these reputable sites:

Urban Legend Zeitgeist

Snopes

thank you.

profile uprated decently

2005-04-12T20:56:00.000-06:00

a common situation: you arrive at a drug store to get a prescription (re)filled. you walk up to the pharmacy desk area, and a person, at your level or for some reason a foot or two above you, takes your script and tells you it will be 10-20 minutes and that you will be called over the PA when the order has been filled. fine, you say.

but why? how long does it take to put 30 pills in a bottle? surely not that long. it's not like they're making each pill individually, painting those tiny illegible markings on each caplet half. no, they simply find the correct container, count the pills, stick a label on and staple too much paper (half of which has a needless adhesive backing) to a paper bag. and, most of the time, those last two steps only take place after you have been summoned and are waiting to (co)pay. they never seem too busy back there anyway. are they just professional procrastinators? has anyone ever questioned them on this inexplicable usage of time? maybe they're just trying to continue the doctoral theme by keeping you waiting for no obvious reason.

so why does it take so long? I just don't know. today, though, I had a breakthrough. I realized that during those 10-20 minute intervals I wander around the store, what else do I have to do (except maybe get my blood pressure tested, 5 times)? undoubtedly, in that time, I am able to stumble across some product, necessary or otherwise, that I decide to buy. today it was shoe protectant spray and a toothbrush.

is it a ploy to get us to spend more at our local Walgreen's/Rite Aid/CVS ? (if it isn't, it sure works on me.) is there something they are actually doing in that time? are they just consistently behind schedule?

confusedly yours,
Lugubrious E. Overemphasizing

April showers may bring flowers

2005-04-10T19:20:00.000-06:00

I don't like having to turn down fliers from people on campus. I'm not quite sure why so many people at such a liberal university enjoy wasting paper. Isn't there some other way to get the word out about events without 'killing a tree'? I hear this e-mail thing is pretty popular with the kids, why not try that?

the other day I had just turned down some religious literature and was making my way across the diag thinking about this annoyance. I was then approached by a member of the men's glee club wearing a tuxedo who asked: 'free money?'. I smiled and said no thanks. my ears were plugged with music and I assume he hoped I wasn't listening. this interaction made me a bit less upset about the flyer problem. I still think it is a waste of time and money though.

ttfn,
dg

Rembrandt Q. Einstein

2005-03-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

for those of you who own a computer (who doesn't these days?) and also have access to a digital camera (see previous parenthetical comment) here's a neat little trick: take a picture of whatever is behind your screen and set it as your background. you've got a transparent computer!

speaking of computers, remember the Apple II? here's a site where you can play all of your old favorites like Oregon Trail. strangely, it only works on Windows, but you Mac nerds can download a free IIgs emulator and download the game ROMs from virtualapple. then all you need is a copy of a ROM from an actual IIgs, so pull the Woz out of the closet and plug it in, if only for a few minutes. nothing like reliving your childhood.

and if that wasn't tech info enough, all you Safari users will be happy to know that Google Maps now functions properly for the rest of us. goodbye mapquest.

now, if you didn't care about ANY of the above (chances are you didn't) I have a couple of questions. am I supposed to think that Mousetrap R. Overcharge is a real person? and if so, do I then trust this person enough to take his/her advice to apply for a mortgage? whose first name is Mousetrap?

yours,
Macs Power

what?

2005-03-26T07:10:00.000-07:00

while in Spain, the tour company owner/guide asked me how I would say the following in Spanish:

what? how do I eat? I eat how I eat.

after thinking a bit, I replied:

¿como? ¿como como? como como como.

and then everyone laughed. reminded me of 'Karma Chameleon'.

happy purim/easter.

the visited becomes the visitor

2005-03-20T19:09:00.000-07:00

last few days have been a whirlwind for the DG. Wednesday brought with it a visit from EP & KP, as well as a slightly more brief visit from MN. a lot of pasta was eaten. then came Thursday, or as it was this week 'Beersday', when less than half of my english class showed up. it was really almost kind of very, you know, boring, though made slightly more tolerable by our friend Al C. on Friday evening I boarded a flight to Washington, D.C. to begin a relaxing two-night stay at Mikey and Cilla's in Arlington. it took just over three hours door-to-door; 'twas both amazing and stress-free. this lead up to a half-roadtrip with the stepmom back to MI which involved me driving for 7.5 hours straight (I'm that nuts). five days of blurriness to be sure. myself was thoroughly enjoyed.

so while in DC, I assisted brother with the stuffing, stamping, and sealing of wedding invitations. you know how on Seinfeld George's fiancé dies from licking toxic envelope glue? well, we had our own glue-lemma. no one was injured luckily, but we spent a frustrating couple of hours trying to find the optimum method by which to seal the blessed things. I first built a custom sponge, specifically shaped to the outline of the envelope's edge (picture a rectangle with an equilateral triangle cut out of the bottom), but this proved faulty because the glue would either get too wet, or not wet enough to become gluey. I then resorted to the old 'tongue to paper' tactic, which worked for a few, but then the taste and the fact that the envelopes were coming open began to bother me. I later had the good idea to use a glue stick, which we went out and purchased at CVS only after visiting Carvel for some much-needed dairy. we then returned to the apartment where my brother finished sealing the envelopes while I passed out in a food coma.

I also learnt that, as the best man, it will be my responsibility to not only deliver a toast/speech, but also to read any telegrams that come in 'over the wire'. this excites me greatly. I then asked the question: 'can you still send telegrams, do they even exist anymore?'. as per usual, the internet had my back on that one.

during the mostly rainy trip home today I had a 'Best in Show' flashback to a scene that went a little something like this:

hotel manager: How was the trip up?
Gerry Fleck: A super drive. Put a few clicks on the old odometer. Yeah, it was nice down in Georgia, then it rained. It rained most of the way. It stayed overcast through Virginia...

and it did.

well, that's enough of that.
{I'm David}

push the button

2005-03-13T16:43:00.000-07:00

have you ever noticed how in movies and on television, when someone becomes uncomfortable in a situation (usually at a meal [most often in a coffee shop]) they say 'I gotta go' and quickly walk out? this is ridiculous because they obviously don't have to leave, they merely want to. where is it they are fleeing off to? why doesn't anyone ever question them? this is usually the point when the leavee says something to the effect of '...[insert name of leaver]...wait, don't...' and has to make the decision of whether or not go after the leaver. correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think this happens in real life.

last week I witnessed a succesful stairway pass. if you'll recall, I am opposed to people using the wrong side of a divided stairway. well, I was walking up to class and the girl in front of me must have decided that the young woman she was following wasn't moving at a sufficient rate of speed. she then moved to the oncoming stair lane (which, at that point, was devoid of traffic) and tried to pass her on the outside at the first landing. she was unsuccessful, but made the pass at the second landing. I don't really think she gained much time, but she did look like she was in a hurry. and it wasn't like class was about to start, she had at least five minutes. I'm not sure what my stance is on this type of pedestrian passing.

are there people reading this blog that I don't personally know/anyone from a different country? I'd love to know who and why. comment please.

thanx, mgt.

oh, and it rained too

2005-03-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

royal leaders:

I apologize for the lack of updates in the last week or so. I was in Spain doing this.

I went to sleep at 9.5 pm last night, and am still pretty tired. I haven't the energy to write anything more, so you'll have to busy yourself looking at pictures and trying to piece together the story of the trip. pay close attention toward the end.

in all senses of the word,
David

doubleplusgood

2005-02-20T19:28:00.000-07:00

I recently finished a short book called 'Eats, Shoots & Leaves' by Lynne Truss. it gives a brief history of punctuation, with a discussion of its evolution and current accepted usage. it appeals to those the author calls "sticklers": people who get annoyed when an apostrophe is misplaced or a comma omitted. it's funny and a quick read. the title refers to an improperly punctuated description of a Panda. heh.

to tangent off of this, the following question has come to me: if the french use <<this type of quotation mark>>, how do they air quote? do they do so in a side-wise fashion? please let me know if you have any information.

I was sitting at my computer today (imagine that) when I saw a flash of light from outside. it was snowing, so I thought it was kind of strange. moments later, I heard a very long, loud thunder clap. I don't remember the last time I heard thunder/saw lightning during a snow storm.

not Candace Cameron,
Deeg

"the boiler went down"

2005-02-16T11:02:00.000-07:00

that's the response I received upon phoning the cheery folks over at Prime Student Housing this morning. (I'm not sure why I included that link.) the call was prompted by the fact that there is no hot water to be had anywhere in my building. this frustrates me to no end.

the other day, my English professor made the following statement:

"it's kind of really very sort of strange"

I think that quotation can be explained very well by the quotation itself.

has anyone else noticed that the commercials for Pooh's Heffalump Movie include the song 'Two Princes' by The Spin Doctors? that seems like an odd combo, if you ask me. I remember having that song on a CD that was included with new cars in the mid-90's; I think it came with Grand Cherokees. cars don't come with CDs anymore.

to update the mouse situation, I saw a live baby mouse Sunday night in the living room. this apartment is really going downhill.

mcsweeney's had some hilarious lists today, including this one. read some of the old ones too, they're a hoot.

enough for now,
D 'link happy' G

grok this

2005-02-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

a list: Beatles song titles with "love" replaced by "email"

Email Me Do
You've Got to Hide Your Email Away
She Loves Email
All My Emailing
Can't Buy Me Email
And I Email Her
All You Need is Email
P.S. I Email You

if you enjoyed that, or even if you didn't, check out mcsweeney's for better lists and other literary fun.

by the way, if I love you, I love you more today. that's what you're supposed to do right? this is the one day a year that you tell people you love them by spending money. - - - - in my world, every day is Valentine's Day; love is hard to turn off.

with LOVE,
Divid

a morning

2005-02-11T13:30:00.000-07:00

he woke up cold, alone. it was late morning. he needn't be up for another half hour. after attempting to gather his thoughts, he arose to check the radiator in the other room. it was off. he reached for the handle to open the valve, but stopped. he noticed something abnormal. something...furry. a mouse. the rear three-quarters of a brown mouse were visible from under the baseboard heater, its legs splayed out behind it, with its neck lodged underneath, out of sight. how did it get there? how would he remove it? he decided to adjust the temperature and deal with this unfortunate visitor later. at least it's not a rat, he thought.

I'm not drunk, I'm just happy

2005-02-07T21:40:00.000-07:00

I turned 21 last Sunday. we had a party and lots of great people came, I had a great time. (I'm sorry I didn't put the pictures up earlier, but I am still waiting to get the rest from others so I can re-post them, as well as replace the red-eyed pictures with corrected versions.)

I think I need a new career path, I'm thinking of either:
a) comedian
b) automotive journalist
c) impressionist

do any of those make decent money? and, more importantly, what do I do with the mechanical engineering degree that I will most likely have in a year and a half?

I went to Bloomington this weekend. it was my second time there in three weeks. that's not normal. I had lots of fun, it was 60 degrees and beautiful! I drove home most of the way with my windows cracked open. I also found out that my car looks like the Batmobile to many people.

in reference to an earlier post regarding those people who are unable to stand on the correct side of moving walkways: what's with people using the wrong side of a two-sided stairwell? I frequently encounter people trying to go down the 'up' half of the stairs in Mason Hall, or vice-versa, when I'm going to or from my english class. yes, I'm in an english class. anyway, it really irks me to have to push by people who know they are going the wrong way. the only possible explanation is that they all hail from countries that drive on the wrong side of the road, not bloody likely if you ask me.

I have a lot to do this week and as usual lack any motivation. oh well.

sorry for the lame post,
DFG

I'm so happy I could shift

2005-01-28T08:13:00.000-07:00

note to Mac users: if you are not currently using Adium (rhymes with stadium) for your instant messaging needs (or wants) please give it a try. if you have used previous versions and wished for a more refined interface, it is now here. the program is infinitely customizable, with downloadable menu styles, dock icons, sound sets, Applescripts, and color schemes (all available here). the Appplescripts can be used for a wide variety of things, like controlling and displaying iTunes info, displaying a random joke, pausing iTunes while you are away/idle, and showing your computer's uptime (w00t). it's also compatible with several IM services, if you care.

now that that is out of the way, let's discuss the fact that Ed is now being re-run on TBS weekdays at noon. and by discuss I mean I'm going to tell you. and I just did. because of my unique (read: bad) schedule, I have no class on any day between 12 and 1. here is a funny exchange I saw in an episode the other day:

[Mike dares Ed to ask the grocer where the lettuce is without using the proper pronunciation]

Ed: can you tell me where I could find the latoose?
Grocer: the what?
Ed: what? you know, for salads...
Grocer: lettuce?
Ed: yeah
Grocer: what kind of jackass calls it latoose?

it's probably funnier if you see it.

my grandma sent me a birthday card with several horses on the front. it's definitely funnier if you see it.

have a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening/night,
David

fourfty

2005-01-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

I spent a good amount of time this weekend watching Simpsons season 5 on DVD. here are some quotes I particularly enjoyed:

Kent:: Well it looks like we have our first caller...and I mean ever, because this is not a call-in show. Hello, you're on the air.; - "Homer the Vigilante" [1F09]
Bart:: You're right, Mom. I shouldn't let this bother me. I'm in television now. It's my job to be repetitive. My job. My job. Repetitiveness is my job. I am going to go out there tonight and give the _best_ performance of my life.
Marge:: The _best_ performance of your life?
Bart:: The _best_ performance of my life!; - "Bart Gets Famous" [1F11]

for those who don't know, and do care, there is an amazing resource for Simpsons episode guides and general information located at SNPP.com. (a gold star for anyone who knows what SNPP stands for.)

my room got cleaned today because I needed an excuse to stop doing homework. that's sad really. but at least my room's clean.

by the way, it is -11 degrees outside right now. no windchill. speaking of windchills, remember when we weren't allowed to go outside for recess when it was too cold? I used to get upset that we couldn't play in the snow after a large storm. and what about those days that school wasn't cancelled when you thought for sure it would be? too bad they never cancel college.

did you ever notice how conversation always turns to the weather at some point? I did. and I still continue to mention it.

okay, I'm done asking questions.

From: David

this post needn't have a title

2005-01-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

I went to the auto show last evening. it was enjoyable as usual. here is what I saw. also, you'll note the addition of a link on the right column of this page to my other pictures. how about that?

this has been a crazy week for me. it seems like a lot happened, and quickly. just how crazy you ask? well, here's a taste:

I found out that my mom broke up with her boyfriend in July (six months ago) and still hasn't told me because she doesn't want me to worry...
my future sister-in-law asked me how I would feel if she and my brother asked me to be the one to marry them...

yeah, so that's nuts.

anyway, I think I want to write more on this weblog. so don't forget to try to remind me to remember to do that. thanks. really.

take it easy,
d-dig

honk if you demand satisfaction

2005-01-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

blogger's block. a common ailment among the internet generation. as I read what others have written, including steve jobs, I try to get inspired to add to this page. sometimes it comes, sometimes it doesn't. I realize no one is counting on me to write a new post, but it also occurs to me that I really enjoy communicating through this medium. hopefully I don't sound too crazy.

speaking of which, you know something is wrong when you find yourself using the phrase 'you know what I mean?' when talking to yourself. this happened to me this morning.

today started out rainy and in the 50s, and transitioned to snow and 30s. this led to the creation of a new playlist on my computer entitled wintry mix.

with love,
david

you're not listening!

2005-01-05T20:52:00.000-07:00

what's with the people who stand on the side of the moving walkway that is clearly marked 'walk'? are they just doing it to piss us off, or are they illiterate?

the other day I thought I had an original idea of a mixture of foods that I found in the cupboard. it turns out that mixing cereal with melted chocolate and butter is actually called puppy chow, and is also made with peanut butter. I made it anyway, then let it cool and added my own special touch: vanilla frosting. pretty good improvement, at least IMHO. it looks funny, but it tastes good. if you're in the mood to mix foods, like I have been recently, try cream cheese and salsa.

so I made an interesting discovery today. I was at a local retailer looking at cell phones for no real reason, and decided to call my own phone (which was in my pocket at the time), again for no real reason. after leaving the store I saw the missed call on my phone and realized that I now had the number to the phone at the store. I decided to call back and act like I didn't know who called me from the phone. I acted surprised when the gentleman explained to me that it was a Verizon demo phone. of course, I did this all while using a fun accent. let me know if you want the number to try it yourself.

I love the internet. I think that if it is possible to be addicted to it, I am. but I don't think it is necessarily a bad thing, I feel pretty confident in my ability to efficiently find and make use of information within it.

said The Beastie Boys:

"Everybody's rapping like it's a commercial
Acting like life is a big commercial"

what is actually a big commercial these days is hollywood. I saw Ocean's 12 and was astounded at the amount of plugging received by Dell with their laptops, monitors, and jukebox MP3 player, and by Ford with Jaguars new and old, and a fleet of scary black Range Rovers. the only reason this annoys me is because I notice it and it is distracting when I am trying to watch a movie. but I guess the point for this type of advertising is for it to be almost subliminal.

it seems school has started again, at least here at umich.edu. happy new year and new semester to all.

keep on truckin'
David F G

warning.

2004-12-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

I have so much studying to do/I have to write my paper/I am SO going to fail/I can't wait for break

2004-12-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

I realized something interesting over dessert at Ram's Horn at 3:30 am the night before thanksgiving. we spent most of high school trying to be the same as everyone else. now we get to college, and most people realize that they have no identity of their own. thus we now spend our time figuring out who we are. without getting all deep and stuff, I think this is an important thing to just contemplate.

it has come to my attention that some college students are embroiled in what are called 'finals'. its funny, because you don't hear much about this from people. it is very rare that I have a conversation with someone that starts and/or ends with them telling me all of the stuff they have to do before they can go home for break. and by rare I mean not rare. isn't it funny how this is all we can think and talk about? I say spend less time talking about what you have to do, and more time actually doing it. or at least doing something fun. who wants to go see a movie?

also, is there a good way to clean 8 nights of wax from a menorah? I tried the old hot water thing, but with less than spectacular results. maybe I should invent the self-cleaning menorah ... ... patent pending, patent pending, patent pending!

outernet,
David

candle count: 3

2004-12-09T14:04:00.000-07:00

yes, that's right, tonight is the third of eight (crazy) nights of chanukah. or hanukkah. or channuka. or even hannukah. (I read an interesting tidbit: any spelling of the name of this particular holliday is correct if it has 8 letters) see rabble x3 for further discussion.

I really enjoy this holiday. who doesn't? gelt is the jewish equivalent of easter bunnies. latkes are amazing, and will stay on your clothes for days. dreidels teach kids to gamble. and we get to start fires. repeatedly!

one thing I don't quite understand: why is the chanukah meal basically just break-fast minus blintzes plus latkes? why is it traditional to eat bagels with latkes? I'm not complaining mind you, I love taking leftover carbohydrates back to school with me (especially when they come in dozens). autumnattic also enjoys leftovers.

oh, I also love singing chanukah songs. loud.

speaking of holidays, I tried Pepsi's Holiday Spice cola the other day. I would describe it as red-tinted Pepsi with a little more flavor and bite. it sort of tasted like it was trying to be Coke. will not purchase ever again, but I love testing these new soda creations when they come out.

here's a really neat phone number I found: it's called Amabuddy and it enables you to check the amazon.com price and rating for any book or cd based on its ISBN or UPC. just put the number in your phone, and the next time you're out shopping you can check the price on the net before buying. it will even recommend similar titles based on amazon's suggestions.

ttfn,
divid

ken's kenwood

2004-12-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

today I experienced two events involving parking space robbery. both times made me very upset. the first occurrence was when I tried to park in the lot on north campus and there weren't any open ones. I waited for someone to walk into the lot and followed them. after starting to do this, another person doing the same thing as me started to follow the guy from the other way. since he had his blinker on, he got the space. at least this is what I think he must have thought.

the second took place whilst I was trying to park to buy some bagels. I saw someone pulling out and stopped with my blinker on to take the space. then a woman came around the corner, saw me waiting, and proceded to pull into the space when it was open.

I don't feel like this has ever happened to me, and now twice in one day. I felt wronged.

the old turn table is now up and running. you should come see it. yes you.

also, vote for Jon. lots.

your pal,
the dgster

bunzolator

2004-11-22T17:57:00.000-07:00

if you are not familiar with the 'Rubber Band Man' Office Max commercial, please skip to paragraph #2. if you are lucky enough to know what I am talking about, I'll tell you that I saw Rubber Band Man live on Saturday night. for some reason, he was at the UM v MSU hockey game throwing t-shirts to the crowd between periods 1 and 2. they played his theme song, and he even had the shirts in his cool office suppply cart, complete with rear-view mirrors. it was pretty sweet.

on an unrelated topic (my favorite kind), I have recently had the song Up up up by Rose Falcon stuck in my head on and off. the funny thing is that the only time I heard that song was freshman year when Charles, Grant, and I would watch Even Stevens on Disney, and the music video would be shown at almost every commercial break. I miss those days.

additionally, I would like to comment on the comments of my fellow commenters Ruby and Aaron about the 'drama' that 'went down' at the Palace on friday 'night', er night. I think the whole situation is unfortunate and that the Pistons are cool and cool. it is really too bad that this had to happen in our city, so soon after winning the championship. I realize I know nothing about sports (though I do like hockey), but I do know a little about sportsmanship and manners. we can only hope that the rest of the country doesn't look down on all of our fans for what a select few decided to do. and I think that mr. Artest received his comeuppance (as Homer would say).

finally, last night's Simpsons ep. was terrible. just awful. did not laugh.

respectfully yours,
dG

the thing of it is is that

2004-11-17T16:21:00.000-07:00

so the newest site in the online community craze seems to be thefacebook.com. if you're not yet familiar with it, picture friendster running head on into a college yearbook. it has all of the features you've come to love, plus the ability to find people by college, high school, and even the classes they're taking.

after casually using both friendster and facebook, I have come to realize something. there seem to be two types of users in these communities: those who send friend requests and those who only accept them. I myself fall into the latter category, mostly because I really don't see the point in/need to prove to myself that I am, in fact, friends with my friends. I guess I don't really see the point. am I missing something? feel free to comment.

last friday was an interesting evening. I had a lot of fun hanging out with jon, robins, rachel, and patti. at the end of the evening, robins, rachel, and I decided to go to denny's. we got there, it was way too crowded so we continued our journey into the heart of Ypsi. this is where I was introduced to Abe's coney. a fascinating place by itself, made more so by the clientele within at 3:30 am when we visited. good times.

humorous salutation,
dfg

let the commencement beginulate

2004-11-07T20:04:00.000-07:00

here's a pretty cool site: Musicplasma

it uses information from Amazon.com and based on what music people buy from different artists, generates a visual map of similar artists. just type in an artist you like and click search. it's kind of cool to see how bands you like are 'connected'. also a good way to explore music you haven't listened to yet.

and now selected quotations from a new Jadakiss song 'Why' (the second is from the remix):

why they didn't make the CL6 wit a clutch?
and if you don't smoke why the hell you reachin' for my dutch?

and why I been hot for 7 years?
why the new M5 come with 7 gears?

I have written my own couplet, as a commentary on this song:

why Jadakiss gotta rap bout transmissions?
and why ask rhetorical questions when nobody listens?

basta ya,
dMoney

whatup

2004-11-04T16:33:00.000-07:00

so I'm on the phone with my mommy the other day. all of a sudden, I can no longer hear her. not terribly out-of-the-ordinary. after a few seconds of silence I hear a male voice say 'hey what's up cal. ... cal? ... hello??'. it seems some wireless wires got crossed and I somehow picked up someone else's convo. kind of freaked me out.

if anyone would like to go to a michigan hockey game with me this weekend or sometime in the future, let me know. I could use some company.

allez cuisine,
david not dave

our SS

2004-10-31T01:13:00.000-06:00

in case anyone cares, my blog has an RSS feed. if you don't know what that means, don't worry about it. seriously.

if you are RSS-savvy, it's: http://feeds.feedburner.com/WhatsTheDifferenceBetweenAStove

catch you on the flip side of daylight savings time,
love,
me

dotdotdot

2004-10-24T20:46:00.000-06:00

did you know there is a mathematical model for the spread of gossip?
dP/dt = kP(M-P)
P is the amount of people who know already, M the total population, and k is a constant. or konstant.

I don't know what to be for halloween. any suggestions that don't require much effort are welcome.

the phrase tip - as in I left a 20% tip at the chinese restaurant tonight - stands for 'to insure promptness'. and insure and ensure have the same definition, so it might as well be a tep. which it now is, in my head.

also, where do I get a magnetic car ribbon that says 'support our ribbons'? that would be the epitome of irony there, right jon?

mellow kitty

2004-10-20T15:09:00.000-06:00

so I'm finally relaxed after another patented wait-til-the-last-minute, don't-study-enough, take-an-exam, do-okay.

and on top of that, I got big ups.

in other news, or in this case not-so-news, I was a scavenger hunt clue last week. I don't think many people can say that. actually, it was more of a scavenger task list. the objective at my location was to get a picture of my roommate holding me in his arms. sorority girls are creative.

kool kat

jegshamesh

2004-10-07T23:29:00.000-06:00

politics aren't a good excuse to hate people.

we get too wrapped up in what it means to subscribe to a set of loose beliefs that our vision is clouded of one another. we make too many snap judgments. people say they hate one candidate or the other and I'm sick of it. it's possible that you disagree with them, but that's no reason to hate everything they stand for or anyone even remotely affiliated with them or their cause. I guess this conflict just comes naturally.

I know this is now a cliche, but, I will be very happy when the election is over. politics, and beliefs in general, bring out the worst in people sometimes.

and yes, I know I am guilty of this type of judgment. let's all try and be NICE! I like you, do you like me?

genqui.

abs ridic

2004-10-05T21:15:00.000-06:00

I was in my room when the door to the apartment opened. standing there was what appeared to be a middle-aged man and a woman, probably his wife. he said hello, I replied hi. he then closed the door laughing nervously and saying to his companion, this is not it.

in a strange way, this event gave me some hope. I now realize everyone has experiences where they feel awkwardly uncomfortable. at the same time, I think I would have apologized for walking into a stranger's apartment. but hey, whatevs.

by the way, arbitrary is the new ridiculous.

katsopolis

2004-10-01T23:43:00.000-06:00

while getting my hair trimmed today, the young woman cutting my hair asked me a question. I responded that I had indeed seen Full House before (who hasn't?). she then excitedly told me that I looked like Uncle Jesse. 'yeah, John Stamos' she said 'its the hair, and he was obsessed with his hair'. no one has ever made that connection before.

I would like to call your attention to a post from about 6 months ago wherein I referred to transitional clothing days. you may have noticed they are back. I'm thinking of adding to this confusion by purchasing some Uggs. that may also give rise to another type of confusion altogether.

those two paragraphs/thoughts have nothing to do with eachother.

[heart]
Davs

booyakasha

2004-09-02T19:14:00.000-06:00

dear everyone: I'm going to write in my blog more. I promise. but not bullshit.

thanks,
G

omega fatty acids

2004-04-25T17:08:00.000-06:00

last night I saw Sufjan Stevens at the Blind Pig with Jon. Sufjan was awesome, the Blind Pig sucks, and so did most of the people near me at the show. more on that in a moment. here is the setlist, which I was proud of myself for remembering (with a little help from Jon):

Opey's Funeral Song
This One Goes Out to the One I Love (REM cover)
The Upper Peninsula
Romulus
To Be Alone With You
Borderline
For the Widowless in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti
He Woke Me Up Again
In the Devil's Territory
Tecumseh
Chicago

so, at the show, all of these people were talking, loudly, during Sufjan's set. what I want to know is why do you go to a show and make a point to not listen and make noise so others are unable to hear? there was a woman in front of me who wouldnt stop talking to her friend, I got her life story (the friend, by the way, didn't say a word the whole time). there were two guys standing next to Jon who were yelling about omega fatty acids and why the Japanese were thinner than Americans. they also made sure to note 'that guy's playing his banjo', at this point Sufjan was playing his third and final banjo song, all of which had been prefaced by him stating that he would play his banjo for a few songs. I don't think I'm going to hurry back to the Blind Pig.

it seems that some of these same people were also at the graduate library (what I like to affectionately refer to as the GLi) today while I was trying to study for my calc 4 exam tomorrow. I had been in my carrell for a while when i heard the door to the next one fly open, slam shut, with the subsequent sound of a computer loudly thunked down and plugged in, a glass bottle opened, gulped from, and thrown down on the table, and numerous plastic vibrations followed by loud cell phone conversations. the nice thing was that when his phone rang, he threw the door open, and proceeded to walk up and down the hallway outside the carrells while talking to his buds. I'm not sure if the point here was to annoy the largest amount of people, or to just get some exercise. he was also nice enough to sigh and groan while typing loudly.

you'd think that people who go to a show to hear music, or to a library for quiet, would understand that others are there for the same reason. it amazes me that people can lack the courtesy to at least to try to behave in a manner that does not offend or distract others.

enough ranting.

2 exams tomorrow, 1 tuesday, 1 wednesday, move-out wednesday and thursday, Cumberland Gap friday!

later,
gluck

innocence, in a sense

2004-04-18T03:19:00.000-06:00

walking across Ann Arbor at 5 am is an insanely surreal experience. i have never seen the city emptier. it was hard for me to even imagine that I have lived here for so long.

tonight I went to a hip hop show at the Union. it was really more of an experience. my friend Jon helped put it on (he created some really nice posters for the different exhibits and performers). it would have been even better if more people had come, because it was definitely worth it. i gained a new respect for honest artists.

doesn't seem like school is about to end. how am I ever going to move out of this stupid 4th floor dorm room in time?

pensively yours,
yours truly.

weather or not

2004-04-16T17:55:00.000-06:00

so I love transitional clothing days. you know, when the weather changes and people don't all react in the same way. yesterday and today were prime examples. no one knows exactly what to wear. you see the north face fleeces next to the shorts/t-shirt/sandal combos. it's great.

david

outro

2004-04-04T09:17:00.000-06:00

so I have this econ exam today. 2 PM. Sunday. haven't studied much for it, but I'm taking it pass/fail so I'm not too worried. however, I am worried that I may not find it. the (stupid) professor didn't respond to my email on Friday morning asking where and when the thing is. a kid in my discussion told me 301 lorch at 2:00, so thats where I'll be. I just want to take it and get it over with so I can study the rest of the day (meaning an hour or two) for my me 240 exam at 8:30 tomorrow. but at least once it's all done I get to eat matzah.

ttyl
the DG