| puzzle! |
[Nov. 4th, 2009|03:35 pm] |
Poll #1480868 puzzle
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 47Jack is looking at Anne, but Anne is looking at George. Jack is married, but George is not. Is a married person looking at an unmarried person?
[from scientific american via cosmic variance] |
|
|
| obama |
[Nov. 3rd, 2009|10:13 pm] |
>>I spent my first night in Manhattan curled up in an alleyway. It wasn't intentional; while still in LA, I had heard that a friend of a friend would be vacating her apartment in Spanish Harlem, near Columbia, and that given New York's real estate market I'd better grab it while I could. An agreement was reached; I wired ahead with the date of my August arrival; and after dragging my luggage through the airport, the subways, Times Square, and across 109th from Broadway to Amsterdam, I finally stood at the door, a few minutes past 10 PM.
I pressed the buzzer repeatedly, but no one answered. The street was empty, the buildings on either side boarded up, a bulk of rectangular shadows. Eventually a young Puerto Rican woman emerged from the building, throwing a nervous look my way before heading down the street. I rushed to catch the door before it slammed shut, and, pulling my luggage behind me, proceeded upstairs to knock, and then bang, on the apartment door. Again, no answer, just a sound down the hall of a deadbolt thrown into place.
New York. Just like I pictured it. I checked my wallet--not enough money for a motel. I knew one person in New York, a guy named Sadik whom I'd met in LA, but he'd told me he worked all night at a bar somewhere. With nothing to do but wait, I carried my luggage back downstairs and sat on the stoop. ...
It was well past midnight by the time I crawled through a fence that led to an alleyway. I found a dry spot, propped my luggage beneath me, and fell asleep, the sound of drums softly shaping my dreams. In the morning, I woke up to find a white hen pecking at the garbage near my feet. Across the street, a homeless man was washing himself at an open hydrant and didn't object when I joined him.<<
Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father, pages 113-118. I think this anecdote took place in 1981. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Nov. 2nd, 2009|06:25 pm] |
|
I brought little dog to work thinking she could romp around all day (outside) around LIGO, chasing turtles and dragonflies. Instead she mostly stands patiently at the back door staring through the glass, waiting for me. Also, barking at everyone else. |
|
|
| belgium |
[Oct. 31st, 2009|02:02 pm] |
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) four wrote this in my notebook:
"Note to self: Rent cabin for a week
in the late Autumn in Bomal Belgien
(near Durbuy). Cabin must have fire place
and wood. Wine + friends"
I think any future trip to Belgium will necessitate keeping a "beer journal". The beer in Belgium was really good, just as you might have suspected! Ryah in particular was ga-ga for it, as he is v tired of the Kölsch pilsners.
Readers may also be interested to know that FrenchBelgian fries are very popular in Belgium. There were "Friteur" stands and shops everywhere, serving up fries and other fried things, covered in various goopy sauces (mayo, curry ketchup, thousand island, etc). They were actually quite good. Somewhere around Liege we saw a stand selling Frites and Escargos.
Furthermore, there really are Belgian Waffles in Belgium. They come in two varieties, named for two cities in Belgium. The Brussels style is along the lines of what passes for a Belgian waffle in the United States: thick, light, not sweet, but topped with sweet cream or fruits. On the other hand there is the Liège style, which is extremely sweet, even a bit caramelized (delicious). Both are served as a snack by street vendors, such as by the beach.
Gasoline costs about $7.25 per gallon. Google happily interprets queries like "1.3 eur per liter / 30 miles per gallon in usd per mile", which tells us that the fuel cost alone for driving is 25 cents per mile(!) in an efficient small car.
In short, Belgium agrees well with its stereotypes. |
|
|
| goodbye housemate |
[Oct. 31st, 2009|12:44 pm] |
Emily packed up and drove away on Thursday, the day after my return. She hasn't yet lined up a place for sure in Seattle, so we decided Little Dog would stay here. So it's just me & Little Dog here until I find a new housemate. New housemates seems to be in short supply in November. Also, I need to figure out some kind of puppy-sitting arrangement.
Yesterday was stormy, with gusts of wind and multiple thunderstorms passing through. One even broke off a branch of one of the many oak trees, which fell onto and shattered the windshield of Kate's car. The storms have all moved along down the road, and today is bright and sunny and cool. |
|
|
| california trip |
[Oct. 31st, 2009|11:54 am] |
|
I'm going to be in California next week (i.e. 2nd week in november), for the THINK conference in Santa Cruz and for a wedding the following weekend in Santa Barbara. I don't have any plans yet for the weekdays in between, except to travel down the coast and maybe visit jqmold (he doesn't know this yet). Anything else going on then that I should be aware of? I think I might actually skip going up to the East Bay on this trip. Will probably buy plane tickets later today. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Oct. 29th, 2009|08:43 pm] |
|
I think Little Dog is getting kind of fat. I'm thinking hamster wheel... |
|
|
| BTR |
[Oct. 29th, 2009|09:01 am] |
(Christine's backyard in Zürich)
After a long day of travel, finally back at home in the swampy American hinterlands. Tomorrow my housemate Emily is moving away, roadtripping up through Alabama, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, and Montana to Seattle where she has a new job waiting for her. We haven't quite decided yet whether Little Dog (now known as Cassie) is going or staying, but it's looking likely that she'll join Emily for the move to the pacific northwest. |
|
|
| minarett-verbot |
[Oct. 29th, 2009|01:50 am] |
At the Zürich hauptbanhof, one is greeted by these very welcoming illuminated posters, depicting the Swiss flag pierced by minarets and with a burka-clad woman in the foreground. The text at the bottom urges the viewer to vote in favor of a ban on minarets/mosques.
http://four.livejournal.com/1024552.html |
|
|
| report from .ch |
[Oct. 27th, 2009|12:02 am] |
Christine's house is amazing - it's a huge house on a hill overlooking Zurich. Eight or nine people live here, and it's pristinely clean and elegantly/formally decorated, like a castle or something with the dining room and the Library and so on. They buy their food communally (online-it's delivered) but it's not really a co-op... more like a long-term group living situation where people tend to stick around for many years. A WG, to use the phrase I learned from Ryan and Lisza.
We went out for dinner and then a couple beers in town, talking mostly about physics, I think, but also what we've both been up to. Dinner was at a vegetarian restaurant that was very good. Served buffet style, but of course, this being switzerland, the food is sold by weight and is extremely expensive ($15 for a modest plate). Tomorrow Christine will be at work during the day... then I'm going to meet her for her journal club and go out to dinner with some other students.
I have a nice little room all to myself. |
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| |
|
|
25 (53.2%)
sleepy