2 November 2002
I don't really have anything to say but it's been a while since I posted. Here are some links somewhat related to tonight's event. One, Two, Three.
3 November 2002
If you like IMDb, here is a music equivalent that, while not perfect, does provide a lot of good information.
4 November 2002
I will simply direct you to one of my favorite new bands. Source Tags & Codes has some of the best album art in a long time.
8 November 2002
Yesterday I attended Nicholson Baker's reading of his The Mezzanine, along with an essay about reading The Mezzanine in public, and at cake and drank lemonade and bought his The Size of Thoughts and asked him to please sign it and asked him about urination techniques in crowded restrooms.
I also asked Max to sign me up for classes because I had to attend the final Singers practice of the term. He did well:
MATH 211. Calculus III: Introduction to multivariable calculus: vectors, curves, partial derivatives, gradient, multiple and iterated integrals, line integrals, Green's theorem.
COMPUTER SCIENCE 127. Data Structures: An introduction to abstract data types, classes in C++, recursion, searching, sorting, stacks, queues, linked lists, trees, graphs and hash tables.
MEDIA STUDIES 114. Film History and Criticism: From the Edison primitives to the contemporary Hollywood blockbusters, we survey the evolution of the film form and style in the U.S. and abroad, paying particular attention to eras dominated by German Expressionism, Russian Formalism, French New Wave and the omnipresence of Hollywood. Historical examples and current strategies of film criticism provide a second, coordinate part of the course.
Film History and Criticism easily has the chance to the best and most interesting class I have yet taken at Carleton. I think right now Introduction to Sociology holds that title with the great lectures and the interesting books.
Tonight is the choir concert.
And now it is time for Nicholson Baker's convocation.
16 November 2002
I know I tried to update on Wednesday but I don't remember what I updated with. I definitely talked about Pinball for NES.
A nice-looking porftolio which is hosted at NeonSky and another interesting site by some web designers.
19 November 2002
I am listening to The Beatles' Abbey Road, Neil Young's Harvest, Beethoven's Third Symphony and
Pedro the Lion's Winners Never Quit.
Winter break is approaching and as such I have decided to freeze Ermine Central at the end of the
term until January, so I have this space to bring sensibility to the Internet and the world.
21 November 2002
I wore my slippers to dinner.
I started my CS project by looking at a calculator program and figuring out how to modify it to fit
my needs. At work I read periodicals for 2.5 hours which included Sports Illustrated (the College
Basketball Preview issue!), a Cambridge SoundWorks catalog, a Facets Film DVD/Video catalog and the
Times Literary Supplement.
Last night I started to watch Xavier vs Stanford basketball on ESPN2 but fell asleep then slept for
12 more hours in my clothes on top of my covers. I think I was tired.
Before that I went to FleetFarm after Khan's. This was because classes had finished. They are still
finished.
22 November 2002
I got up just in time for lunch today. I will also make progress on my CS project and study for
English.
I went to bed at 12:40 last night and then went to Max's room for 1.5 hours at approximately 4:30.
I just barely got to sleep again before the sun came up.
I got the interface for my CS project basically working and today I need to figure out how to make
the player move through the game.
I wore my slippers to late night breakfast and got 2 superballs.
"Washington last year spent 85 percent more on defense than all its 18 allies combined," according
to today's Christian Science Monitor.
23 November 2002
I took a nap after dinner. Before dinner, which was very full, I took my English final, which went
fine. I watched Ohio State beat Michigan for the second year in a row, but this time to send them to
the Fiesta Bowl. I hope Maurice Clarett is actually at full strength by that time, because he was
obviously not today and he still ran for over 100 yards and caught one of the most important passes
in the game. Work went very slowly but I had pancakes and football afterward. Last night was boring
but I got some CS done and I did study a little bit for that English final.
25 November 2002
I emailed my text adventure game to myself after lunch after I came back to the room after finishing and submitting my game after taking the German test after sleeping for something less than 3 hours after staying up for 4 hours after working on CS and studying German and getting up late.
26 November 2002
I am sitting in my room at my repositioned computer so it can be hooked up to television. The RF
connector is not working at the moment but I did at least see that it is possible. I sort of
unpacked everything (onto previously empty spaces in my room). Driving home went well after I ate at
Taco Bell and purchased a used copy of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti at Fine Groove Records.
I was determined to use my coupon for 20% of their used stock before it expired, but it wasn't hard
because they had a far better selection than during my last trip there. Last night I ate at Perkins
and watched Bowling for Columbine, which was excellent. I already knew or agreed with much of what
was presented, but it still managed to elicit a strong reaction, so it was well worth the money and
the effort expended to actually find the theater in endless suburbs around Minneapolis.
27 November 2002
I haven't done anything since last night except watch television and eat custard pie and sleep a lot.
I did laundry and took a shower and packed because we are going to Ames, Iowa for two days and that
is all.
30 November 2002
I organized my CDs (including data CDs) tonight after finally unpacking everything after taking a
nap after coming home from Thanksgiving and eating and making the RF connector with which I finally
hooked my computer up to cable. I am listening to the Smiths. I drove home from Ames today and that
wasn't as fun as it could have been because it was very windy and our van is wobbly. I didn't sleep
very well in the bed I had there. All the food was good but it was mostly desserts and that was
sickening after a while. I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey (I enjoyed it more than the first time -
I was too tired the first time), The Rookie (shudderingly predictable plot and characters.
the soundtrack was surprisingly good), and other things. I only listened to Sigur Ros's Agaetis
Byrjun on the way because it isn't a very long trip and I don't like listening to headphones when
I can hear the music outside of them as well. I received Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Belle and
Sebastian's If You're Feeling Sinister and the Strokes' Is This It? Now that I think about it I
should have tried to find a third question-titled CD but they are fine selections nonetheless. I will watch a movie now or something.
Today is the first World Day Against the Death Penalty.
I am watching Saturday Night Live on my computer while surfing the Internet. I also watched college
football today and ate pizza and pancakes. I burned CDs and read the installation manual for Red Hat
Linux. That was interesting. It is cold. I watched Spiderman, and it was one of the better action
movies I have seen in quite a while.