November 30, 2002
Peanut Butter Jelly Time
Friday afternoon I went bicycle shopping. More on that later. I also met up with Srinivas and went to the Indian Shop (that's its name, "Indian Shop" :)). 10kg of rice.
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| Enough rice for 2 months |
Then it was off to a party at Andreas' request. A Finnish girl we both know from the usual Tuesday night bar was having a birthday party.
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| Jari and Maiju |
Maiju's Finnish boyfriend is also pretty cool. They speak English nice and fluent-like...apparently more Fins speak English than speak Finnish. The party started off innocently enough, but the alchohol flowed like water (a popular phrase for me, regarding people's drinking habits around here).
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| A "shot" ov Vodka |
I drank two whole dixie cups of vodka and was pretty much done. I remember demonstrating how rock climbing works by doing a variety of strange jams and hanging out in the door frame a few feet off the ground. I was literally doing this for 20 minutes before my ass hurt too much to continue. After that, I played a little Britney Spears on guitar for everybody. I think I sounded good, but then I was under the influence of the great, ahem, "performance booster."
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| Feeding Frenzy later on at the party |
Last night makes me realize that I tire of introducing myself to a kjillion new people every day. Most of the people last night I'll probably never see again, which is okay. Just odd to continually answer the usual gambit of questions. I'll make it a point to no longer ask someone "What's your major?" when I meet them...that has to be #1 on the annoying question list :).
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Further back...
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Previous Trips...
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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
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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
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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
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The Curve of Binding Energy
John McPhee follows famous physicist Ted Taylor in this piece that was -- and probably still -- ahead of its time.
Originally published in 1973, McPhee outlined the coming security and environmental issues surrounding the plutonium enrichment processes. For the most part, though, McPhee invites the reader to draw his or her own conclusions, although he does point out the ease with which any number of people could obtain the material (though not necessarily the manufacturing prowess) to make an atomic weapon.
The question still sits in my mind after reading -- are we being too paranoid, or not paranoid enough?
Rated by reid
on October 01, 2007
by reid
on October 01, 2007