July 08, 2002
I'm ready to be shot into space
 |
 |
| Space Monkey |
So I went home for the 4th of July. It was..well..interesting. A lot bit of annoyance at having to fix up my brother's new computer, which I'm giving to him, and even more annoyance at oversleeping. And yet more annoyance at people that should die, like James. But I've vowed not to worry about that bullshit anymore. So in a tribute to Pete I'll summarize my actual July 4th:
Wake up, bagel, kiss girlfriend goodbye, car, grandparents. Hellos, meet and greet, pictures, Medoc. Michelob. Flying Fish, Flying Fish, more hellos, Yeungling. Waves, hugs, car. Kat's house. Meets and greets, hugs, pina colada. Pina colada. Pina colada. Corona corona yeungling hot tub. Learning to swim again. Swimming laps. Drying off. Hugs. Waves. Driving home. Sleep.
I guess that's my Thursday in a nutshell. Annie came over Wednesday night and crashed at my dad's house, went to Virginia in the morning. I was sad to see her go. Sometimes it's just really nice to have people around, y'know?
The rest of the weekend was spent being pretty boring, working 12 hours on Jason's computer due to stupid problems, like the motherboard being labelled wrong, and the CPUs having the wrong (ie incompatible) stepping. Ohwell.
And yeah, I buzzed my head in a fit of sober rage Friday night, after watching Fight Club again. But yes, I was planning on head buzz before that anyway. It just made me do it that night. And no, I don't regret the decision despite female parental unit calling me funny names.
Cleaned up my old apartment tonight.
 |
| Bottom's Up! |
Jason left a ton of crap there, so Chris and I ended up cleaning the place for four hours tonight. Still a little bit left to do tomorrow, but we're definitely getting our damage deposit back, no question about that. More news on the 'morrow, it's sleep time for this simian.
Post a comment
Further back...
ArchivesFriends and Family
Search
Previous Trips...
-
Hiking Mount Whitney, 2007 
Spring Break in West Virginia, 2005
New Year's in Paris, 2003-2004
Coming to America, 2003
Protesting in Berlin, 2003
Prague Bier-Tour, 2002
Dresden, 2002
Recent Reading
![]()
Stealing the Network
I first bumped into the Stealing the Network series when reading the exploits of Joe Grand, one of the book's many hacker authors.
The 'Stealing the ...' series of books follows a rather disparate group of computer hackers as they help a former NSA spook (many of them unwittingly) gather the money he needs to retire.
The stories themselves are not fantastic fiction. The writing is uneven and choppy, the characters are stereotypical and not very well thought-out. What is fascinating about this book series is the technical accuracy of the exploits (at some points *too* accurate, with screen shots and step-by-step instructions).
It's a great series to read if you're a system administrator, or just getting into the wonderful field of computer security.
Rated 
by reid
on March 06, 2011
by reid
on March 06, 2011
![]()
Close to the Machine
Ellen Ullman is one of those authors that somehow avoided my radar. Until now...
Close to the Machine is less a book than a collection of loosely related personal anecdotes from Ellen's time as a very rare thing -- a successful female bisexual independent computer programming consultant.
In the course of her work and relationship life, she learns hard lessons about programming, running a business, being lonely, and loving the wrong people. I found it particularly poignant being a crypto-nerd with difficult times in relationships and a more-or-less NDA'd, secret work life.
This book is a must-read for anyone into running their own business, programming, or anyone dating a person that is a business-a-holic or programmer.
Rated 
by reid
on November 23, 2009
by reid
on November 23, 2009
![]()
The Long Trip Home
I had the joy of dining with the author in Florida. We went to a little Brazilian BBQ where he spoke with our waitstaff in (what I can only assume was) flawless Portugese.
Brian Wyllie spent 1969-1971 living in Brazil working for the Peace Corps. His recent book outlines his trip back to the United States via Bolivia, Peru, and the Carribean chain, by way of bus, train, and sailboat. The format comes spattered with observations from the modern day, and makes me think, "this must be what John McPhee's journal looks like."
The trip sounded like a fantastic one, but I was left wanting more detail...where did the gun (being snuck through customs in a variety of places, no doubt) come from? And how did Geneve's hair smell? Alas, we'll have to wait for another book to find the answers.
Rated by reid
on April 16, 2009
by reid
on April 16, 2009