At any rate, I think that everyone should take a moment every day to notice or do something a little bit out of their ordinary. I don't always succeed, but I try. Enjoy.
If you're living in my past, feel free to try the 2002 entries, 2001 entries, 2000 entries, 1999 entries, or 1998 entries.
12/31/03
Wow, the year ended with a real whimper, still sick. The annual
trip to Columbus was okay, but everyone was sick. Driving when
sick isn't so much fun. At least I continued my New Year's Eve
tradition of going to bed early. 9pm, baby, my ball dropped.
12/21/03
It turns out that screwdrivers are a hell of a lot easier to make
than hot toddies when you're sick. Probably not as good for your
throat, but hey. It also turns out that when you go shopping
for gifts when you don't know what to get on a busy day when you're
sick, it really sucks.
12/20/03
Ah, so this is what influenza feels like. My whole body
aches, and getting up takes like thirty minutes of conscious effort.
Dave Barry had a column about this, and I thought he was exaggerating
(as he is wont to do). Nope. Next year: flu shot.
12/19/03
Here is a truly evil link:
http://www.fanmonster.com/js/68/security.js.
It doesn't actually run anything -- it's source code that prevents
you from pressing useful keys in the browser, such as alt keys
(like, to change windows or to move to the address bar). It
pops up a modal dialog that says "Sorry, you do not have
permission to press this key"! Wrong-o, my electronic friend.
12/17/03
I just read a review of Return of the King that was more a
verbal blowjob than a review. Sheesh.
12/16/03
Some piece of ice was squeeking on the car today and it sounded
like a hundred murderous, chatty chipmunks hanging around in the
back seat. Not so good. Plus, I think I may be coming down with
something. Felt okay until squash, then one ridiculously hard
game with John and all of a sudden I couldn't breathe at all.
12/15/03
Damn, the yellow and green shorts were gone.
12/14/03
A major success today in chin-up land: six (ha, ha, ha, six,
said the count). Considering my previous best was four, this
is awesome. Especially because they were slow, slow, controlled
chinups too. Maybe it was the knurling on the chinup bar at
the UWGB rec center. Glad we got to work out despite death
knocking at Lindsay's door.
12/13/03
Lindsay, she can play the contra, but the blue lips thing is
scary.
12/10/03
My coffeemaker sounds like Darth Vader.
12/08/03
Standing naked over the heating vent on a cold day right
after a shower... a very nice feeling.
12/05/03
Happy Birthday, Lindsay. In other news, I feel like Learned
Helplessness Man right now with respect to the retreat. That I'll
present ideas, people will be like "whatever", go on to the things
they're interested in, and I'll just be along for the ride.
Pretty scary, because I realize I feel like this about a lot of
things, from decisions made in GroupLens to deciding what's for dinner.
12/04/03
Weird dream tonight... GroupLens was hosting a conference/retreat,
and my main job ws to scrub the floors and the toilets. Somehow
a "good job, Dan" on that seemed a little condescending and hollow.
Hopefully, the actual retreat this weekend goes a little better
than that.
12/02/03
Hm. At the student union, they often have little tables for
groups at the bottom of the escalator -- very strategic, since
there's food and the bookstore there. Normally the groups are
political or religious (is there a big difference?) in nature.
Today, one group was activist political (too many varied fliers
to tell what they wanted, though), and the one on the other side was...
Papa John's. Yikes. Plus, neither group was giving out candy.
Cheap bastards.
11/30/03
Happy birthday, Chris. Also, got a 20+ mile ride in today...
it was too nice (like, 40 degrees! Woo!) Gotta savor the
moments, I suppose.
11/29/03
Word for the day: fecatorium. (As in, "I hate cleaning
the cats' fecatoriums.")
11/23/03
Watching the cats fighting, which is always entertaining.
Eventually, Proton decides he's had enough and lies down.
Electron goes over, sees the fight is over, gives Proton
a little lick on the head, and starts to walk away. Then
and only then does Proton pounce. Pretty devious little
bastard.
11/21/03
Saw a car today where someone had apparently welded metal
clothes drier vent tubing to their muffler for the "aggressive"
look. Aggressively stupid, but still.
11/20/03
And teaching Loren's class was even better. Why can't I get
motivated about getting the hell out of here and back to teaching?
11/19/03
Great talk in AI class today, I swear teaching is like a drug.
11/17/03
Made a bad AI joke today. We were talking about search, and someone
mentioned a rabbit deciding to eat a carrot which was in a trap. I
said "I guess his heuristic was inadmissible". Everyone laughed, but
it doesn't seem so funny here in text. Maybe you just had to
be there.
11/15/03
Another nice ride/trip today, drove out to Amelia Island for some
biking. The "biking map" which claimed there was a bike lane/path along
A1A up there was lying, but it was still a nice ride. Nassau Sound
is gorgeous.
11/14/03
It's nice visiting, but I forgot just how awful it can be to be in a
vehicle with a smoker. Chopping down trees was pretty cool, though.
Too bad Dad's a little beat up right now, wouldn't have minded getting
more done.
11/13/03
Riding the Baldwin-Jacksonville rail trail, three odd events. First, I
got stopped by a train. Not so odd, it's happened before, but still.
Second, I heard nasty crackling while passing under some power lines,
and got a little shock on my hand when I touched a bare metal portion
of the handlebars. Most interesting was getting my ass kicked by a
deer in a race. I was riding along, saw noise in the brush near the
trail, and found a deer was running along beside me. It cut across the
trail in front after a few seconds, got into the open field on the
right of the trail, and proceeded to run parallel to the trail for
about a mile as I slowly lost ground to it. Mighty impressive jump
over a fence in the way, too. Eventually, it came back and crossed
in front of me on the trail again and disappeared into the woods.
Pretty cool.
11/12/03
Sad that all the people I met at the conference, I met in the last
4 hours of actual conferencing. My talk was okay. Still don't know
how to process ethnographies mentally. At least I'll really be
writing this conference up, honest. :)
11/11/03
Kayaking solo for the first time was awesome. The nature preserve has
a canoe trail, which has a small current but is enclosed, secluded, quiet
and nice. Lots of good stuff. The rental place, however, was 1/2 mile or
so across 15-mph-wind-toward-shore Tarpon Bay, which was a major adventure
to cross. Really a bit beyond my skills, but fun. I'm glad the camera
broke yesterday, though, because I'd have been tempted to take it along
and that would have been a bad scene -- total wetness.
11/10/03
It turns out that breaking the laptop was just a precursor to breaking the
camera. Well, technically, the camera broke; I'm not sure I did it. A
real bummer, though. Also, note to self: those big beach cruiser bikes,
with the fat tires and seat (which doesn't go high enough) and the weird
handlebars and basket -- not so fun to ride. Knee pain.
11/09/03
The conference resort condo rooms are so big I wish I had a roommate.
Pretty scary (but nice)!
11/07/03
Oh, good, I broke Joe's laptop USB port trying to get the camera to download
pics there. Nice going.
11/05/03
Broke something else today. Can't even remember what, but it was annoying.
11/04/03
Broke off a key in the back door lock this morning. Way to go, Dan.
Saw the amusing license plate "KIXBUTT". And, had a pleasant chat
with a state trooper about cycling through the winter while stopped
at a light tonight.
11/03/03
You know, watching the unix timestamp on log files increase as I
while away my time here is pretty depressing. "Seconds since
Jan 1, 1970," indeed. I remember it used to be under a billion.
Sigh.
10/31/03
Riding down St. Anthony Parkway, there are police lights across
the river. Seems someone managed to drive their pickup down the
boat launch into the water. Nice going, Pickup Dude!
10/29/03
Beware the hideous giant mutant ukuleles!
10/28/03
Ow. Maybe shorter squash more often is a better idea.
10/26/03
Rooting for a team is one of the most frustrating things people can
do. The only tangible things you can do to help the team
succeed is buy merchandise (so they have more money which might get
spent on better players, coaches, etc.) and go to games. Minneapolis...
Pittsburgh... nope, not going to any games.
10/22/03
Teaching still kicks ass. Why can't I translate that into an
intense desire to do research?
10/21/03
Lindsay and Greg coming out to the concert was an awesome surprise.
Thanks, guys. :)
10/20/03
It turns out you can see a lot of nose hair riding the up escalator.
10/19/03
On today's bike ride: two flats, and some guy yelling
"you're not a fucking car." Of course, that guy was on a
motorcycle... but still a shitty ride overall. Plus 2
hours of tinkering with the bike leaving it slightly
worse off than it was to start, I think.
10/16/03
Has anyone ever actually quit their job in order to get paid
$25 to $75 to take a bunch of web surveys?
10/13/03
Jesus, I forgot how nice and healthy it feels to not
play squash.
10/10/03
Who wouldn't want a "Shower Entertainment System"...
especially one with a fog-proof mirror? Seriously, who needs
a CD in the shower? Apparently, enough people to market one.
Besides, who am I to talk -- I've got a radio in there.
10/08/03
Very sick. Sat around all day watching Playmakers. Good series.
Thanks for taping them, Lindsay.
10/07/03
After the frog plague of a couple of days ago, a new plague at
the CS building: zillions of ladybugs, everywhere outside.
There's a 5th floor walkway that has outside windows, and the
local airspace is crowded.
10/06/03
Thank God this paper is in the bag.
10/05/03
Somehow, I can't picture Sue's mom hopping on a pair of rollerblades.
We went a lot longer than I thought, too. Big fun.
10/03/03
Driving to Green Bay, off on a back road. I'm hitting some leaves
blowing across the road, realize I'm going the wrong way, turn around
back. More leaves.. wait, these are fucking frogs jumping across
the road. Suicidal frogs. I saw five in 15 seconds. That
extrapolates to a lot of frogs.
10/01/03
Eek, missed the safety when doing bench presses today and failed
on the last rep, and put the bar down on my neck. As Jim might
say, "not so good", although clearly I made it.
09/30/03
"Non-human Molecule Is Absorbed By Eating Red Meat According To Study
By UCSD Researchers". Hint to San Diego researchers (and Science
Daily headline writers): molecules are not human. Maybe they
meant to say "harmful molecules absorbed"... but then they wouldn't
need a restrictive clause, because just about everything we do
exposes us to harmful molecules. Sheesh. Maybe George Carlin
is right.
09/29/03
That was an ugly and embarrasing scene. Ugh.
09/28/03
New slogan, suggested by Sue: "Think free -- go commando!"
There's a million-dollar bumper sticker.
09/27/03
Stung by another fucking bee. Myabe we should ask for a rent
discount this month? Oh, and thanks for completely throwing
away my paper introduction. Makes me feel good about the process.
09/26/03
I got stung by one of the dozens of house-invading bees, and it
sucks. Wish I knew how they were getting in.
09/25/03
You know, getting email from "Student Committee on Committees" is
both meta and frightening. To the spam folder with you! On the
other hand, this is classic headline writing from the Star Tribune:
"Parents Who Faked Daughter's Cancer Get Real Sentences".
09/23/03
Pam clicked the "I Feel Lucky" button on my Google shirt. Pretty
amusing. Also, thanks for the nice chocolates.
09/22/03
Fuckin' $170 IT Lab Technology Fee for a class that doesn't even
use itlabs. I bet I can use up $170 worth of CPU cycles if I try...
09/20/03
It turns out that the 5-second rule does not apply to
hamburgers that have been dropped on dirt. Gritty, gritty.
09/16/03
Standard deviations never sounded quite so dangerous and intriguing
as when presented by the TA with the Spanish accent.
09/15/03
Editor ignores
keystrokes: why? The pain of change...
emacs: vi's winter.
09/11/03
I'm amazed at how low-key were the rememberances for the WTC bombing
victims. Pleased, as well: it's probably best for those rememberances
to be mostly private, mostly for the people who were directly affected.
09/10/03
Today's license plate: "BGH 666". A bumper sticker for the
natural foods lobby, to be sure.
09/09/03
The spare tube which came with the used bike was itself, alas, used.
Nothing like an unplanned 45-minute wait for a bus.
09/05/03
Lindsay has a webcam. Watch out, world.
09/04/03
Cat poop should not glisten -- no matter what.
09/03/03
"Green bullets"? Leaving the lead out to make bullets more
environmentally friendly? There's something I wouldn't have
thought of. It must leave the peacenik environmentalist type
in a quandary.
09/02/03
They've taught the vending machines at Peik Hall, apparently an
education-centric building, that $1.00 less 85 cents is a nickel.
Nice. The class in Peik seems reasonably promising.
09/01/03
Out of 102 hours, I spent 50 on a bus.
08/30/03
Solo and ensemble was one of the worst experiences I've had in a while.
The combination of no support from the corps and equipment trouble
during the solo was awful. At least I got to chat with Lindsay a
couple of times, despite her allegience to the Kilties.
08/27/03
It's always exciting to realize you've completely screwed up
the production database, and only somewhat comforting to know there's
a backup. However, I think I got everything squared away. Yeesh.
08/27/03
Oh, good. My paper has been assigned to the last session
of the conference, one that didn't even exist according
to the official schedule on the website. I'm sure lots of people
are going to stick around for that. Plus, I already made
arrangements to leave the conference before this mythical new
session. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
08/26/03
I had a strange little bike incident today. I was accelerating
off a stop sign and suddenly the chain is just spinning, no
power. Operator error, right? So I find a gear and get
through the intersection, but it keeps happening whenever
I try to shift into my 4th smallest cog (on a 6-speed
freewheel). I stop, and look down, and the teeth are just
missing. Everything else is in order.
08/25/03
In the credits for Bruce Almighty: "Food Stylist". WTF?
Also, after leaving the theatre, there was a big gob of tinsel
caught on the bike rack. Don't know if it was blowing around
or deliberately placed, but it was surely amusing.
08/22/03
"Your time is valuable, your plasma is priceless." Really? How about you
pay me $30 for sitting in your lobby, then? No?
08/21/03
Today was a very spirited ride in, although I'm now excessively tired.
I don't think that was a very good trade-off. Oops.
08/19/03
Friends don't let friends use IE.
08/18/03
Threw away three broken squash racquets today. I have no idea why I
was keeping them around, but they're gone now. If the janitorial
staff takes them -- three racquets sticking out of a trash can is enough
to give anyone doubt. "Are these really trash?" Yes, they are.
Impressive, in a sick way.
08/17/03
Oops, one of the new bikes had a blowout. I knew it'd happen eventually;
I was about halfway between home and inlaws when I could see the tire
rubbing against the frame. It had been bulging out a bit anyways, so it
was only a matter of time. Loud pop, slow loss of air, and a comfortable
place to rest for 25 minutes until Sue could come rescue me.
08/16/03
Good news! Yesterday, I went back to the place I saw last week where
they were having the garage sale with the two reasonable-looking bikes.
Still there, and still having a sale. I managed to snag them both for
$70, which is a pretty reasonable deal, especially since Loren claimed
he'd buy one. Hopefully, these'll fit better and be more suitable for
bad weather (fenderable!) than the Cannondale. I liked the C-Dale a lot,
and got good use out of it, but it'll be just as well to pass it on to
a new owner.
08/15/03
I was riding about 20' behind someone on a bike path today. Suddenly, he
rises up by about two inches. Sure enough, the sound of farting.
08/14/03
I need a portable sauna. Good ideas happen there.
08/11/03
Jesus, I just pulled out five nose hairs at once. I think I'm going to
die -- and this, right after having my cheek manipulated for an hour at
the dentist. Hate, hate, hate. Oh, and the truck driver that cut me
off (on bike) twice in two blocks can just go to hell.
08/09/03
"Duh, pirate!" Also, Lindsay and I both really sucked at darts.
Good wings. Good mushrooms. Bad darts. Woo.
08/08/03
This must be International Garage Sale day. The entire town of
Hammond, WI was having a sale -- including someone who had a pair
of nice touring-looking bikes from perhaps the mid 80s. Too bad
their price tag said "paid $100 each, make an offer!" and the
seller wouldn't give any indication of starting price. Wish I'd
have offered $50 for both, just to see. *sigh*
08/06/03
2,600 miles in six days. I need to learn to spend vacations actually
stopping at places occasionally.
08/01/03
Blue shirt. Piece of toast. Pat of butter on toast. Caption:
"spread me". Worn by petite 22-year-old girl. Pretty risque.
07/29/03
I'm probably going to hurt in places I didn't even know I had, and
getting my nuts smashed between the sail and board was not much fun, but
overall windsurfing was a ton of fun.
07/25/03
Did I mention that I saw the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota
last weekend, shortly after the Shittiest Bike Ride ever? It
turns out the twine ball isn't all that, but I suppose it's
something that you just have to do if you're so close --
especially if you happen upon it by accident. Sue was
enthralled, too.
07/24/03
Damn, if I could always play squash this well, I'd never
wear underwear.
07/23/03
So, we get to prepare a presentation for the research retreat Friday.
Maybe do my oral proposal, finally?
Being second author or technical contact for way too many projects.
All of the other projects.
A spine.
"I will show how stress and caffeine can drive a grad student to pursuit of the Minesweeper expert record..."
07/22/03
Ah, a three-rabbit day. Plus, a bird flying around on the outside of
the window ledges on the fifth floor -- odd to have an eye-to-eye
with a bird.
07/21/03
I was walking into the CS building today and saw ain open door with an
enormous number of network cables streaming out of it. Looking
inside the door, a giant hallway -- completely inaccessible to normal
people -- of pillars and networking and machinery. It was like the
place where prophesies are kept in the latest Harry Potter, or
like a scene out of The Matrix Reloaded.
07/20/03
I know I should be thinking about research, but instead I napped and
grazed and worked on bikes.
07/19/03
Worst fucking bike ride ever -- 35 miles into the wind, along major
highways instead of the mostly-undeveloped and then
ripped-out-where-it-was-developed Glacial Lakes "trail". Bonus was the
two hour drive each way. I could have had a shitty, construction-filled,
into-the-wind ride starting at my front door, but nooooo....
07/17/03
Great line from a newspaper story: "The FBI is investigating how the
gun got inside the teddy bear."
07/17/03
To my city council member:
Hi there. I was just harassed by a city employee (driving a Minneapolis "City of Lakes" large truck) because "my bicycle doesn't belong in the middle of the fucking road". When I told him that bicycles are, in fact, allowed on roads and that he should check the law, he told me to "check the fucking law yourself, and fuck off." This follows on the heels of a bus attempting to run me off the road about a month ago. Two points. One, city employees (of any type) shouldn't be profanely harassing city residents. Two, it would be nice if training for city employees who drive as part of their job included a refresher course on road laws, because this person was clearly not aware of them. Bicyclists have a hard enough time with the general public being ignorant of the law and intolerant of bikes using the road without the added burden of abuse from city employees.
07/16/03
The Family Feud paper was accepted to GROUP 2003. Very nice nugget of
news -- something I should seriously consider celebrating a bit.
07/15/03
In a life filled with athletic ass-kickings, today's stands out. Yikes.
On the brighter side, I'm on the lighter side, having passed through a
gigantical milestone: 199.5 pounds. Now all I have to do is lose another
20 and eat healthy for the rest of my life. Good luck, Dan!
07/14/03
"Fishermen in Italy were using live kittens to catch giant sheat fish
in the Po River." Here's me: *thought bubble* Wow, I wonder how a
kitten can take down a giant fish. *ponder* Ohmygod, they mean as bait!
07/12/03
At corps, Greg says "You have only one concern... the here... and
the now." Aren't those two concerns? In other news, I'm
really tired of having bad shows when the corps has good ones, and
good when the corps has bad. It makes me think I suck.
07/09/03
A newspaper article quoted someone as saying "I wouldn't have minded
having my taxes raised for better library services." Go on. Make
a donation. No one's stopping you.
07/08/03
NOTHING stops the Shark Cordless Sweeper! Beautiful night
for a contra sectional, too.
07/07/03
My reward for doing a very careful, thoughful review of a not-so-good,
35 page journal paper? A chance to re-review the same paper, but at
a hopefully-more-robust 45 pages. Whee! In other news, Bakers Square
restaurants seem to be heavily based on brands like Stove Top and
Hungry Jack.
07/06/03
Quote of the day: "Have you ever gotten a mouthful of something you
don't want to swallow?" The speaker was talking about water out of
a garden hose, but it's definitely got dirty mind potential.
07/05/03
This may be the laziest day I've had in a long time. I deserve it,
because the schedule has been so frantic with work meetings and corps
events, but I feel guilty -- like I should really be doing even
more work.
07/04/03
A proposal: all-you-can-eat buffets generally charge a flat fee, and
occasionally charge by weight. But have any considered charging by
the minute? Imagine the hilarity.
07/03/03
I've been pretty sick, but I think I'm finally turning the corner.
07/01/03
Pretty scary to march an entire show and not really remember any of
it except for two egregious mistakes. Sad, too. I thought marching
was supposed to be fun.
06/28/03
Quote of the day: "There must be protein, it has bacon flavoring!"
06/27/03
Chicks dug the beard. I've had a lot more women looking at me
en passant in the last few weeks than previously. Now, whether they're
thinking "how cuddly" or "I'd sure like to ride that" or "what a dork",
I don't know. And it doesn't matter, because I finally ditched the
beard. Amazing how thin your face can look when you haven't seen it
for a couple of months.
06/26/03
It's sad when you go to the dentist and realize that you currently
prefer going to the dentist over going to work. That's a problem.
In other news, happy birthday to Dad.
06/25/03
The stream of meetings is endless, the amount of Dan-specific work done...
probably not enough. Either I need to readjust the amount of Dan-specific
work I do, or I need to check out of the occasional meeting.
06/24/03
It's a bike bell. But not just any bike bell. It's a fat-assed sumo
wrestler in a little diaper, bent way over. You squeeze his cheeks
and he makes a sound... not like any another, but reasonably loud.
It's bizarre, and it's here, parked right outside the CS building.
Honk it. You know you want to.
06/22/03
Add "screwing in a gas cap" to the list of things that are awkward to
do when you use your non-dominant hand.
06/21/03
Today's ride: 53 miles, 2:48. Wind-aided, but still not bad.
06/20/03
Neither Sue nor Lindsay got their jobs. Piss.
06/19/03
From Metro Transit:
I apologize for your harrowing experience with one of our buses. A bus number would be ideal to help identify the operator. All employees getting complaints or commendations speak to an assigned manager, and we can use this information to see if we have an employee developing a problem, a safety problem that may be our fault, or get to the heart of the problem, whatever may be the cause. Your safety is most important, so I understand you were looking out for yourself, and the bus number was not the most important criteria.For being placating, this is a nice, friendly e-mail.We do take safety very seriously here. Many customers, motorists, cyclists and pedestrians let us know when we are not doing a good job, and we take these complaints most seriously. I have a zero tolerance for any complaint that could put someone's life at risk. Thank you for telling us about this. Contact us any time.
06/18/03
Another day, another dentist appointment. Fortunately (?), only
six more fillings plus a crown, so I should be done by, say, November.
Also, I just noticed that "testable" contains the word "stable". Odd coincidence.
06/17/03
To Metro Transit: I was cycling in the right lane on Washington St. going
eastbound, near Nicollet (but I am not sure exactly which cross street),
approaching a stoplight. A bus driver in the center lane started to merge into
the right lane where I was as we were coming to a stop light. The back half of
the bus forced me to the gutter. I was able to keep control of the bike, but
this is very dangerous behavior on the part of the driver. I was unable to get
a bus number, as I was pretty shaken and concerned with getting away from the
bus. I'm guessing that either the driver didn't realize how fast I was going
(about 20MPH), or else that he saw a small gap and decided to force his way
into it. Either way, it was an unpleasant experience. Please make sure that
Metro Transit drivers are aware that cyclists use the roads and that giving
some consideration to their fragility would make the roads better for all
users. Thanks.
06/16/03
Loren's general advice today: "When in doubt, try some hip thrusts."
I'm not sure this is apropos in, say, a faculty interview--but it's
interesting.
06/15/03
Another lame-ass birthday.
06/12/03
Who wouldn't want their own
Swimming cockroach robot? Maybe it could go with the
Bionic
Minnow the wonders of cable at Lindsay's house once revealed to me.
06/11/03
I think I accidentially interrupted two cats doing the nasty in the
back alley. Sorry, kitties.
06/09/03
Who knew that the concept of product rotation, first learned at the
stock room at McDonald's, would be quite so useful in my personal life?
06/08/03
It's amazing for me how 25-mile bike rides turn into 40-mile
rides by accident. Amazing, and painful.
06/07/03
Quote from a newspaper article about a van running over an old woman:
"Primeau and Krebsbach said police had stopped a car in the middle of
University Avenue shortly before the incident and that other motorists,
and possibly the driver of the van, may have been distracted." Fuck
you. That's not an excuse. I don't want to be lying there on the side
of my road with my bike, hit by a car, and my intestines dribbling out,
with some asshole officer saying "well, it's not really the driver's
fault -- they were probably distracted by the traffic stop we made
earlier". If you're driving, try driving your car.
06/04/03
Yesterday was wild animal day, I guess. On the way back from lunch,
we saw a very small rabbit wandering around on the sidewalk of
Washington Street, headed for traffic. We steered it back toward
the Radisson, which isn't much better, but still... Then, walking to
get my bike, two rabbits. One would charge the other, which would
jump over it. They probably did this 15-20 times in the two minutes
I was watching. Finally, as I was going by the Mississippi on
St. Anthony Blvd., a fox, jogging down the paved path, apparently
confused as to its species.
06/03/03
Awww... Electron is sleeping on the LaserJet. It's like Sue told
the computer to print a kitten, and he just popped out. Maybe in
20 years.
06/02/03
It took 20 minutes to find a flyswatter at Target the other day.
Very annoying. On the other hand, it was kind of cool to swat a
fly and wonder what the red parts were, until Sue said "Hey, that's
probably its eyes!" Bleah.
06/01/03
Slow couple of days for entries, I've been kind of busy.
Feel free to check out the research log,
though.
05/28/03
Something ate all the leaves off all the tomato plants. *sigh*
Eight dollars, down the drain.
05/27/03
Contributed by Doreen:
SARS in-person meeting.
How will the internet affect the gene pool? By allowing record numbers of
complete strangers to meet with concerns about a deadly respiratory disease,
rather than say, set up an online discussion board...
05/26/03
Well, I'm
using FitDay food and exercise tracking again. I'm
maintaining 210 without undue sacrifice but it's time to retrain
the eating habits to a new, slightly lower level.
05/25/03
Built the wheel in about 2.5 hours with the correct length
spokes. Too bad I haven;t done any of the research I planned
this weekend, nor the bike riding...
05/24/03
Hm, I just spent 5 hours trying to get the wheel laced,
let alone built. It looks like the spokes are quite a bit shorter
than the old ones. *sigh*.
05/23/03
Damn, it's like the Amityville Horror with the flies and the
undead centipede-looking things in the house. Yuck.
05/21/03
I was feeling pretty good about my biking yesterday, til some guy
on a singlespeed blew past me when I was doing about 21. Humbling.
I still feel good about the rides, but there is Much Left To Do.
In an unrelated note, it's a bad feeling when you know
your computer's about to do something really sad -- in this case,
Windows decided to expand my paging file. As the ads say, it
might be time for a Snicker's bar.
05/20/03
It's amazing how far toenails can fly when clipped.
05/19/03
Actor Laurence Fishburne, who plays one of the film's heroes Morpheus,
added: "There is no Matrix, there is only what is real. Of course
that's what he'd say... he's part of the system.
05/17/03
There's something about being called "The Fat Elvis" that's, well,
not life-affirming, but sort of funny.
05/16/03
Lifted for the first time in 10 days yesterday. It's amazing
how heavy the weights get if you leave them alone for a while.
Almost like they're sulking or something. Poor, lonely iron.
05/15/03
"This traffic jam brought to you by the GOP". "Wellstone".
Bumper stickers on what? A bigass Mercedes SUV. You people
are stupid!
05/14/03
Someone turned off my blinky light today when I left the bike
parked outside at the rec center. Thanks, whoever. Also,
bought a dorky-looking but hopefully nice-for-biking fleece
Minnesota vest at the University bookstore clothes clearance.
Six bucks for all the orange I can handle. Woo.
05/13/03
Nothing like working the Leinie Lodge at the Twins game. The
most annoying part is that we weren't allowed to accept tips.
At the food concessions, people don't usually try to leave tips.
At the Leinie Lodge, however, lots of people were trying
to give away their leftover 50 centses, and occasionally a lot
more (e.g., $5, $3). Could have had 25 or 30 bucks. Damn.
05/11/03
Driving through the rain at 1 in the morning used to be easier
when I was younger, but I'm glad I made the trip. Lots of fun.
Thanks for the unexpected good weather, God!
05/10/03
Lindsay's cat. Graceful leap to a laundry basket, balanced with
two paws on one edge, two on another. Then to the window --
whoops! The basket starts to tip as the cat jumps, making the
cat scrabble a bit, go about two inches up, and then land
ass-first in the basket. Nice going, cat.
05/09/03
Sometimes you see musical instruments hanging on the walls of
trendy-yet-silly restaurants. Today, however, is the first time
I've ever seen a tuba used as a gargoyle -- sitting on a post,
guarding a garage. Very strange.
05/08/03
Ugh... I killed some large, many-legged bug, and some of the
legs detached and stuck to the wall and kept waving around on
their own for a while. Sorcerer's Apprentice, anyone?
05/07/03
A true story from the trip down to Florida a couple of weeks ago.
I've driven from Fort Lauderdale to Jacksonville in my rent-an-SUV
(I don't understand why people like them so much, but it was OK),
and I'm thinking that I'd like to buy a CD to listen to on the way
back. So, I go to the music store and I'm looking at a "hits" CD
for $9.99. Not a bad price, a group I like... but then I start
thinking about the RIAA, and their recent high-profile attack on
music sharers (who also often happen to be their customers).
Suddenly, the decision to buy a CD was a moral issue, the outcome
of which was "Fuck 'em!" No CD. I'm not a music sharer,
and now based on their tactics, I'm not a CD buyer either. RIAA,
you have a serious problem on your hands if other people think
this way.
05/05/03
Krispy Kremes are good. But a dozen are too many. Sue brought home
a dozen Friday night. Since then: Friday's dinner = steak + three
KK's. Saturday breakfast = 2 KK's + a pot of coffee. Sunday
breakfast = cold pizza + 1 KK. Today's = 2 KK's + a protein shake.
And there are still donuts in the box...
05/03/03
So, someone in corps told me they read and enjoyed the diary.
Which brings the total loyal, satisfied readership count to two.
05/02/03
Classic quote, from http://www.paulgraham.com/road.html:
One of the most important changes in this new world is the way you do releases. In the desktop software business, doing a release is a huge trauma, in which the whole company sweats and strains to push out a single, giant piece of code. Obvious comparisons suggest themselves, both to the process and the resulting product.
05/01/03
It turns out that when the dentist and assistant are talking, even
though the topic is interesting and you have something relevant
to say, they don't want you to be part of the conversation.
04/27/03
At the Target deli, I saw a couple of workers playing a game
they called "scale-o-rama". The goal is to put your finger
on the scale and hold it steady enough to print out a tag.
Kind of Zen-like, which is funny since there are a few
recent games which have been developed in CS that have the same
sort of premise: relax to win.
04/24/03
Is there anything wrong with walking through the guys' locker room,
eating a banana?
04/23/03
Ow -- don't wear shirts that have an underarm ripped out if you're
going to sweat a lot and play squash. Holy chapped nipples, Batman!
04/22/03
Headlines you don't expect to see: "Potato gun fires screwdriver
into Minnesota boy's chest". Also filed under, "headlines you
hope never to see again". In other news, I opened a Word document
this morning to capture ideas for a journal article. Now, at
3:30, I close it -- utterly empty. *sigh*
04/21/03
Clumsy people shouldn't sharpen knives. Perhaps they
shouldn't even be allowed to use them.
04/20/03
It's been a dark couple of days.
04/17/03
I sold a tuba mouthpiece to a random stranger today for $20.
04/16/03
Oh, and by the way -- don't take any tax-related calls while I
have a big hole in my tooth and a giant rubber sheet attached to
my mouth. Dignity, anyone?
04/15/03
So I've had two different dentists working on this root canal,
on two different days, and it's still not finished. June 5?
*sigh* At least I got to hold the little suction thing today
and keep myself from drowning. That's something.
04/14/03
I rented an SUV for the drive up to the parents, and it was decent
to drive -- not great, and I don't understand the reason why
everyone's getting them. But my biggest question: why does the
radio volume knob go from 0 to 37?
04/13/03
In this land of nearly unspoiled nature, where do people ride
their shit-emitting horses? Yes, on the paved bike path. Dorks.
04/12/03
Playing with a riding mower seems cool when you're a kid, but
when you're older, it's basically sitting down next to something
loud, it turns out.
04/11/03
Where's Waldo? About 15 miles southeast of Starke, FL.
04/10/03
If you're "asking a question", and unpacking a 6-minute disseratation,
get your own damn panel, ok?
04/09/03
It's sad when the "solutions" booth at the conference is closed.
04/04/03
Product at Wal-Mart (on clearance): "Nut Lotion". It's probably
named that because it is almond-based, or something similar, but
it sounds like a scrotal pallative.
04/03/03
Actual message from Mozilla when downloading a file:
"-1% of 22MB downloaded." Yikes.
04/02/03
Today we discovered the pushpin equivalent of Excalibur. The pin
is almost twice as long as your typical plastic pushpin, and it
has a silver hilt. It's almost scary. You can't take it to the
airport. Whoever pulls it from the cubicle wall becomes Manager!
03/31/03
A surprisingly pain-free dental appointment today, hooray.
03/30/03
Interesting ride today. I got to follow a dead deer for a short
while. I merged in behind a Golden Valley police truck to make
a turn and it had a deer carcass on the tailgate, legs hanging
off, waving a little. Creepy. Also, just before getting home,
a guy pulls up to me and rolls down the window. "Is that an
old Cannondale?" Why yes, it was. Friendly guy, who had just
finished biking _and_running_ the River Bottoms trail down
by the Minnesota River. Way higher on the fitness food chain
than I am, that's for sure.
03/27/03
Beef jerky shouldn't taste like KFC, should it?
In other news, I narrowly avoided a potentially nasty car crash today. Someone sitting in a driveway pulled out directly in front of me, and I was able to turn away into a side street before creaming the guy. Very scary, though. Only part of an eventful trip in to school which included gas mask jogger man. Was he protesting? Avoiding pollution? Just a freak? Or perhaps, all of the above?
03/26/03
Hey, I accomplished a mini-bit of research today. The near-endless
succession of medical problems plus the move have made it really hard
to have motivation. Here's hoping things get a little better.
03/22/03
An excellent just-short-of-20-mile bike ride today, lots of
good scenery and yummy pain.
03/21/03
I can't believe I've spent nine hours trying to get Mandrake
to play nice with my network card. It's pretty clear that $15
worth of card is a good investment at this point.
03/19/03
I'm out of the humor mailing biz, but I did like this one.
Actual Analogies and Metaphors Found in High School Essays:
***********************************************************
His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.
She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.
He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a Guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one those boxes with a pinhole in it.
The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM.
The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
>From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p. m. instead of 7:30.
Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze.
Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant and she was the East River.
Even in his last years, Grand pappy had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.
Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
The knife was as sharp as the tone used by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.) in her first several points of parliamentary procedure made to Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) in the House Judiciary Committee hearings on the impeachment of President William Jefferson Clinton.
The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.
He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
She was as easy as the TV Guide crossword.
Her eyes were like limpid pools, only they had forgotten to put in any pH cleanser.
She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.
03/18/03
Today: geese wandering around St. Anthony Main, plant material
hanging out of their mouths. Slobs.
03/17/03
I feel refreshed -- almost ready to do work and stuff.
03/16/03
First real rides of the season, down in Madison. Very nice,
35 miles in two chunks with Lindsay. She's doing great after
her knee surgery -- just kept up. Lots of fun, pretty
scenery.
03/13/03
Well, I pick up my $1,500 repair in a few minutes.
03/08/03
I'm putting together my office, putting up posters. There's a nice
nature scene, which I wind up using to cover up the (ugly, drafty)
basement window. It's very cool that the light shines through,
backlighting the scene. It's almost like the sun really is in the
poster.
03/06/03
I threw away a bunch of old papers from undergrad this morning.
A common theme emerged, as I was looking through them: "Great
writing, good thinking, points off for late." Pretty much
every paper I ever wrote, apparently, was untimely.
03/05/03
This is going to be a big-money month. Computer, car repairs,
dental work, woo.
03/02/03
Cheaping out on the dryer duct and shelves was un-clever.
02/28/03
I think I just saw the stupidest decorative accessory ever. It's
bad enough that SUV's have that aggressive pedestrian-killing
set of bars on the front; this one, however, also had them covering
the rear taillights. Ugly, stupid, and impaired visibility of
the lights. Dork.
02/27/03
Kid in the hardware store today, looking at DVDs: "The Three Stooges!"
(runs off) "Dad, dad, come here, I think I found a movie you'd like,
and it's on DVD!" Dad wasn't as impressed, but the kid (about 5)
was mighty pleased with himself.
02/26/03
Thunderbird: a wine that does not improve with age, and really
can fuck you up. Stay away.
02/24/03
It's going to cost $2,200 to fix my mouth? Oh, and I think I
broke my shoulder too. Add this to the ankle trouble from last
week and it's been a bad stretch.
02/23/03
Dave Robinson: workhorse. Wow. In other news, I had the Ryder
truck in the alley, closing it up, getting in the cab. Another
car starts coming down the other way, puts on a signal to turn,
then decides to pull up right against my grill rather than
pulling aside so I can get out. She angrily gestures me to back
up (in a 15-foot Ryder in an alley, joy) because she's too
impatient to let me pass. Then, when I start backing up the
truck, every time I move a few feet she stomps the accelerator
and is right back in the grill of the truck. Very uncomfortable.
It was all I could do not to lean out the window and comment
that patience probably wasn't her strong suit -- but then, the
passenger was 80 or so and you'd think she wouldn't have much
patience...
02/19/03
Who's more arrogant? The author, or the instructor?
02/17/03
After having never happened before, my glasses have fallen in the
toilet twice in the last three days. Plus, I split open my little
toe against a door frame last night. This house is clearly telling
us to move, and we will be only too glad to oblige.
02/14/03
Wow... what an awful bug. This is the kind of mistake that can
be very embarrassing if not caught. At least I caught it,
although it means four full days of paper-love down the drain. *sigh*
02/14/03
Today I got the King of Towels at URec. Warm from the dryer,
and so, so fluffy compared to the typical towel there. It was
like a little slice of Heaven, and I'm not exaggerating. It's
nice to be able to get so much pleasure out of so little.
02/12/03
WRT these warnings about being able to seal off a room of your home
in the event of terrorism, and have a stockpile of food, and people
running down to the surplus store to buy chemical gloves, I say:
bullshit. If a catastrophic attack happens, a lot of good people
are going to die, and I might too, but it's not the right footing
to live our lives on. George Carlin had a bit about the excitement
of danger. I wouldn't go as far as Carlin, but safety is not
the fundamental value of life. (I don't know what it is, but it's not
safety.)
02/11/03
I was walking back to the car yesterday, ready to use the Killer
Shortcut, which saves maybe 20-30 seconds. (Okay, so it's not that
big a deal really.) Alas, the recent snowplowing had caused a
3-foot high mound of snow to block the path. *sigh*
02/10/03
I'm almost up to about 60% of normal now, which is nice.
02/09/03
Piers Anthony is good, but it starts to get repetitive after a while
when lying around and reading his work is the only fucking thing you
feel like doing except sleeping, which you sort of can, and eating
a rare steak, which is out of the question for a few more days.
02/08/03
Now I have one square jaw and one round one. Perma-smirk.
02/07/03
The "It hurts to eat" diet is effective but frustrating. And
who knew I'd look so good as a jack-o-lantern?
02/06/03
I just had a tooth pulled in a most traumatic way. Laughing gas not
dispensed, the dentist asking "How does this work" when picking up
a drill, insufficient air pressure in the room leading to changing
rooms mid-extraction, and having to have the tooth broken up into
little pieces adds up to 80 minutes of suck. Can't wait for the
after-period, although I'm told that Vitamin V will help.
02/04/03
Charming. A giant snow-penis, complete with testicles, in a pickup
truck parked (appropriately enough) at a local fraternity house.
Keep up the good PR work, guys.
02/02/03
Well, the paper's submitted. Leaves a sort of hollow feeling, plus
a bit of a void: what do I do now? I guess start packing.
02/01/03
Today, I am using Word's spelling and grammar checker. Here's the
sentence: "Mixed-gender teams collaborated better overall than same
gender teams." Word highlights "same", and suggests changing the
word to "it". Word obviously has no idea what is going on grammatically
here, but in the context of a sentence about gender, I find it
mildly amusing.
On the other hand, Word is pretty anal about using the word "that" instead of "which" where appropriate, which is good because I make that mistake all the time.
01/29/03
It's been a hectic couple of days, yes it has.
01/27/03
There's irony in attending a Human Factors Psychology class in
a room where there isn't enough seating for the students and
the professor's back is to you the entire time.
01/25/03
Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee: good, but way overrated.
01/24/03
Nothing much to report the last few days, which is what I suppose
happens when you're swimming in a maze of twisty data,
all alike.
01/21/03
Played almost transcendently fun squash today. Just unbelievable.
Minor injuries, but still fun.
01/20/03
Wow, 1/4 of a back tooth broke off today during lunch. That
kinds of sucks. Too bad about that dentist appointment that
couldn't be made.
01/19/03
Looks like things have slowed down a bit the last few days of
a relatively unmotivated weekend. I guess I'll have to start
getting out more often.
01/16/03
It's sad when your life goals list gets wet and most of them are
horribly smudged. One more reason to go digital.
01/15/03
The first appointment for the grad student dentist is _April_? Christ!
01/15/03
Yesterday's deep locker room thought: "I wonder how many crotches
this towel has dried."
01/14/03
It's just wrong for Just Married to knock
The Two Towers off of the number one spot. Yi.
Although, having now seen The Two Towers, it's
not that great. Too long. 9 previews (or more; I left at
the start of the 9th to use the bathroom and they were still
showing them when I returned).
01/14/03
Unexpected snow can make you smile, especially when you don't
have to shovel it.
01/13/03
Heh, we're advertising the experiment on Google! Oh, and if
you're curious, you can
participate, too.
01/13/03
I'm reading a website this morning, and the tagline is "DUBLIN".
I'm wondering -- is this in the U.S., or is this Ireland? I happend
to catch, out of the corner of my eye, a line about someone
being on Death Row. Guess it's the U.S.
01/11/03
I have to thank the Steelers for a great season of following them,
despite a relatively sad ending.
01/09/03
Oh, my God, what a disaster the experiment was tonight.
01/07/03
I know intellectually that it's better that we handle these
issues with the experiment earlier. However, everything we find
says two things to me. 1) Dan didn't think hard enough early on.
2) Dan has more work to do.
01/05/03
Holy crap, that was an improbable win. Go Steelers!
01/05/03
I just saw the most awful commercial. Kids pretending to be sick
or hurt so they get out of soccer, band... in order to ride in a
minivan? That's just evil.
01/04/03
As a sometimes Packer fan, I can only say that I'm glad they were showing
Wild hockey at the same time as that wretched game. Hope the Steelers
do better tomorrow.
01/03/03
Nice sunrise.
01/01/03
Get ready for another two months of scribbling out "02" on your checks,
everyone. In other news, I got back on the bike today for the first
time since the accident. Everything went fine, got 20 (slow) miles in.
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