February 22, 2003
At the Opera
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| The famous Semper Opera House |
Went to the Ballet on the 19th, after my ICL exam. Forgot to mention that....The department paid for us to go see a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Not my favorite Shakespeare work (that prize goes to The Tempest...). See, math nerds can be literate, too.
I had never been to a ballet before, and I was quite impressed. Not the sort of thing I'd do every night, but I can certainly understand the appeal of going every once in a while. Of course, the lead dancing chick was typical anorexic, probably weighted 65 pounds at 5'4" tall. Yeah, bones poking out everywhere, not fun.
Heh, when I think of it though, it was rather ingenious of the department to take us to a ballet. Since, y'know, it's interpreted dance, you don't exactly have to be good at German to understand things. Unless you're trying to take pictures...
I tried to take some pictures of the interior of the opera, but I was repeatedly rejected bringing my camera out. One of the folks was, in fact, threatening to throw me out of the opera house. Apparently you have to pay for a tour to take pictures inside. Lame.
Anyway here is a pic of the ceiling and interior. It is contraband. You are all accomplices now...
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| The ceiling |
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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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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
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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