Autographs…NOT

We waited after the show with a small group of other people for about half an hour to get David Byrne’s autograph. When he came out and started signing, we hung back a bit near the end of the line. I was expecting that after people got autographs they would leave, so he would see who was left, but everyone just kind of hung around. So before he got to us, he unceremoniously got on the bus and shut the door. I was astounded, and didn’t even think to say “Wait”. So we didn’t get autographs. Which was incredibly disappointing, because we could have had we spoken up or been more insistent. I was going to have him sign my shirt and my ticket stub. I would have worn the shirt tomorrow and gloated to every single person I saw that David Byrne signed my shirt. It would have been the best day ever.
But no. All for naught.
But it was still a fabulous show.

A new beginning

It was great to be back in school today. Although the day was long (as normal), I had time to relax with friends, and I got a lot done in classes and organization-wise.
During the last block of the day, which I have free, I played some serious foursquare, and had the interview for 5-Alone, which was very fun.
I am going to go to sleep early tonight; I was up late last night and need some sleep.

Sit down, John!

I got off work early today, and spent the afternoon hanging around at home, gathering potential photos for my senior page in the yearbook (which is due in only a few weeks), and just chilling. Being unproductive is very rewarding. However, so is being productive; I went back out to do some freelance computer work at 4:15. Now I am going to watch 1776; a rather wonderful show.
School begins again tomorrow.

Impending schooling

I am pretty excited to see all of my friends tomorrow. It will be good to get back into the academic rhythm of things. I recently confirmed that all of my school’s materials (recommendations, transcript, etc.) have been sent into Brown admissions. I will be hearing back from them in about two weeks.
1776 is a fabulous show. It makes me proud to be an American.

Death of a salesman

A worker at a Wal-Mart in Long Island was killed yesterday, trampled to death by a mob of shoppers. Truly, it was Black Friday.
Although I suppose the title of this post is somewhat silly, this is a rather serious matter. Aside from being tragic, I read a BBC article that pointed out that it could be considered deliberate. Not that those shoppers meant to kill someone, but that they meant to rush into the store, meant to be a mob, meant to try to beat everyone else. It is a cultural phenomena. We are in a recession, and yet somehow people are still getting the idea that the best thing they can do is spend. Rather than advising people to make smart choices with their money, companies and advertising agencies tell them to spend wantonly. And worst of all, they do it under the guise of economic security and fiscal responsibility.
The doors of the Wal-Mart were damaged and crushed inwards by the people. What a tragic, ridiculous, and preventable event.

Giving thanks

I heard Alice’s Restaurant on the radio in the car today. I was on the way to Stop & Shop, which turned out to be closed, as was Bigy Y and Wal-Mart. Our pies are going to have to go crustless.
We are on our way to our friends’ house in Ashfield for Thanksgiving.
Over the past 24 hours, I have gained a lot of respect for the New York Times. As the crisis in India has unfolded, they have been posting updates, and, more importantly, calls for information. To be sure, this is not a new or original practice in news agencies; the BBC (another news organization I regard highly) does it quite often as well, but this is at a higher level than I’ve seen before. At the heart of this practice is an admission that one person or entity can’t know everything. The New York Times has been asking for eyewitness reports, stories, reactions, as well as just basic information. This particular incident has been singular in terms of its unknown origins; the “group” that has claimed responsibility is reminiscent of Quantum from the new James Bond movie, ironically enough, in that no one has ever heard of it. Whether it was created as a front for just this particular instance or it has really been operating under the radar for some time, it’s disturbing. I know I speak for others as well as myself when I say that our thoughts are with those who’ve been affected by this tragedy, as well as those who felt so desperate that this was all they could do.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this kind if thing recently. I have a bunch of close friends in Israel and Palestine at the moment, and it has been interesting hearing about their experiences. I also had an intriguing conversation with a gentleman who came into the shop a few days ago. He works in that same area as a peace organizer and mediator. Although we didn’t talk for long, I felt as though I learned a lot just from the way he conducted himself and spoke about the issues. One thing I really appreciated was that he was thoughtful enough to be able to put ideology and beliefs aside and agree that everyone involved in the conflict was acting in a deplorable manner.
Today is a good day to consider what we have and are thankful for as well as what we wish for others. May everyone be as lucky as I and those I know to have family friends who love us, security, and dignity.

Pajama day

I just changed out of my pajamas, as I had to go out to do some errands. Will and I have been working on the new site and the car all day. Will is out for a few hours now, and we will be working some more when he returns, as well as tomorrow morning.
It is my mother’s birthday.

Busy busy

Surprisingly, I have had less time to write while on vacation than I normally do when school is in session. I have been working a lot, but that gets me home only a little bit later than school does. Anyway, it’s not because interesting things don’t happen to me; I have had a very interesting few days. At the moment, our dining room is rather smelly, because my dog attacked one of our chickens and tore out a bunch of her feathers, so she (the chicken, that is) has to be kept inside in a dog kennel until it is warm enough for her to go outside or she’s grown back enough feathers. My sister and I went to Wal-Mart this evening to get some bedding and disinfectant for her. Unfortunately, I forgot that chickens can’t have cedar bedding, and I got real Betadine instead of the house brand. My mom went to return the cedar and get pine instead, and she took the Betadine to try to exchange it for the house brand, which is about eight times less expensive. So I wasted my, and everyone else’s time. But we also got a King Size Reese’s (four pack) so it was not a total loss.
I have a lot of homework to do. I have a Chemistry worksheet to finish, and I have to complete the second component of my honors project for Honors Shakespeare’s Comedies. The Sonnet of the Week project is the first, but I also am reading the full text of Shakespeare’s sonnets, and writing a paper analyzing how his sonnets changed over time, how mine changed, and how they compare.
I went on the Common Application website today for the first time since I submitted my application to check on the status of my recommendations. My second recommendation, from the math department head, was finished today, and we are working on getting it in to the Brown admissions office. I have a third, supplementary, recommendation that I’m waiting on from the music department head, but that may or may not come in, as his father, may he rest in peace, passed away recently. I have not seen him in a while. My father, who works at school (and has been there this week), said that he saw him today, but he was only in for a little while. Clearly, I’d like a recommendation, but for the moment I am just glad that he is doing well. Mitch, if you’re reading this, we love you.
I am taking tomorrow off work so that Will and I can work, but that belongs on the Plog rather than here. Enough said.
5-Alone (PVPA’s a cappella group, for which I am the beatboxer) is getting interviewed by a college student for a project of hers. We might be on the radio, which is exciting.
Over and out.

Packed

I had a busy and exhausting weekend. But first things first. Quantum of Solace was AWESOME the second time around. I had some trouble getting home afterwards; I was much later than I wanted to be, but it worked out in the end.
I worked all day yesterday, and had a very interesting thing happen. Someone brought in 5.5″ floppy disks, wanting to retrieve data from them. The reason this is interesting is that 5.5″ floppies are older than I am. These particular disks were from 1992, but the technology was old even then; it originated in ’71. These are from when they were actually floppy; the disc consists of a flexible plastic case with a data disc inside. These particular disks had a capacity of less than 1MB. I can’t think of the last time I saw ones like them.
Saturday evening, Will came over. Along with some other guy-friends, him and I went to see Twilight. My friend pointed out that we just had to take a group of guys to this unashamedly teenage-girl-targeted movie. It was a tremendous experience. Everyone in the theater was laughing, most at the movie, except for a group of girls next to us who thought that we were very funny. And so, I suppose, we were.
Will and I worked this morning, and I went to work for the afternoon. I was supposed to have a recording session tonight, but there was a miscommunication, and it is not happening. I will, however, be going tomorrow through Wednesday nights as originally planned.
I am going to be working tomorrow, and possibly some more this week. Will and I will be working a fair amount as well. I have a bunch of homework and college-related stuff to do, such as sending SAT scores. Despite this somewhat obnoxious stuff to do, it looks to be an excellent and productive vacation.

One more line

This sonnet done, I now will go to bed.

I have to get up at 8:00 to work, so I need some sleep.

Much excitement

Several exciting things have recently transpired. First, I am going to see Quantum of Solace again tomorrow after school with a bunch of friends. I am looking forward to this; I knew I wanted to see it again after the first time – like Casino Royale, it needs further consideration to be fully appreciated.
I have also made some interesting back end changes to this site which are making my life a lot easier. I’ve switched from the WP-reCaptcha anti-comment-spam plugin to Akismet, which is more popular, and, as popular software often (but not always) is, better. Instead of requiring extra input from the user, Akismet has its own database and spam-filtering algorithms which are highly effective. WP-reCaptcha worked perfectly, clearly, since it prevents computers from posting comments in the first place, but Akismet is nice because it (so far) has had the same effect without making the user’s job more difficult. Further updates on the use of this plugin as I continue.
I have also installed the WordPress.com Stats plugin, which ties a self-hosted WordPress or WordPress MU blog (such as this one) into WordPress.com’s stats algorithms. It’s only been running for a day, so there’s not much for me to see, but it has a lot of interesting features, and I think it may help me a lot in making this site more interesting and easy to use.
Finally, I am going to take my recertification exam tonight. For real this time.

Hooray!

I passed my recertification exam! Here’s to another twelve months of Apple-authorized service!

Half-day

We got out of school at noon today, and a rather large crowd went to a diner for lunch. Afterwards, we headed to Salvation Army. It was our intention to then go play laser tag, but the place turned out not to open until 4:00. So we all went our separate ways, my car (actually a friend’s that I was driving) stopping at Trader Joe’s to pick up some Gone Bananas chocolate-covered frozen bananas. Which are the best thing in the world. My mother and I have become so addicted to them that they have become known as The Chronic at my house, with tonic water being called Chronic Water, since we’re rather addicted to that too. It was a great relief to get the bananas, since the last time I went there they had none, as their frozen food warehouse had burned down. Fortunately, they were back in stock now, so my cravings have been satisfied.
This afternoon I will be taking my ACMT recertification exam online, which probably won’t take very long. I will also be doing a bunch of homework, and getting to bed early. Hopefully.

False alarm

I just finished reviewing the training materials for my recertification exam, but I can’t take it now. I will be doing it tomorrow evening, probably. They say that it takes between one and a half and two hours to complete, but I think it will be a lot less; they said that about the certification exams too, and I finished those in about half an hour each.

Let the work begin

I ended up not going into work today. I have to finish all of my homework before about 4:15, so I will have time to shower and get ready for rehearsal/the performance.
Egg salad sandwiches without Tabasco are a woeful thing.

Jolly good show

Considering that it was our first of the year, it went very well. We had a lot of confidence, which is important, perhaps more so than an exquisite grasp on the material, at this stage. Based on this show, it looks to be a superb year.
Homework (a limerick in Latin) calls. As does a shower, and a bed.

Tom's a-cold

King Lear was awesome. The cast was extremely solid, and the director (Keith Langsdale) did a wonderful job with the concept. The flow was also great; the actors did a superb job of keeping the play moving. It was modernized, with most of the characters in suits or dress clothing, and cellphones used as the messages from the original text. The fool was also very interesting; sort of punked out, with a lot of makeup, zippers, and ripped clothing. A wonderful show, all in all.
Also, the scene in which Cornwall puts out Gloucester’s eyes contains three of Shakespeare’s best lines: “Oh, I am slain!”, “Out, vile jelly!”, and “I have received a hurt”. Pure poetry.
Will and I did some physics work this evening, and will work on the LC(A) tomorrow morning. Bed is nigh.

Deploying the calculus

I have returned from work, and Will has arrived. We are going to deploy the calculus and do some physics work before the show this evening. We will probably work on the LC(A) tomorrow morning.
Today at work I checked in repair number 3000. It was very exciting.

Welcome to the Working Week[end]

Here ends one of my more exhausting weeks. Between the general pressure of school work and my long night (morning) yesterday (today), I am very ready for this week to be over. I will sleep well tonight.
Tomorrow I am going to work before meeting Will and going to my school’s production of King Lear. We will work tomorrow night and Sunday morning. I will be going to work again on Sunday, and that evening I have a rehearsal and then a show.
I need to find some time to do homework somewhere in there. I’m not sure how I will do this, but somehow I don’t feel that stressed about it.
Let the relaxation begin.

Quantum of Solace'd

I’m back.
It started with a car chase. First scene. James Bond in an Aston Martin. Enough said.
I will need to see it again.