July 29, 2003
Happy Birthday to me!
22 today. 21 was a crazy year.
Hell, yeah!
Posted at 08:23 AM | Permanent link
July 23, 2003
Saucer and Solaris
Just got back from another night of drinking at Flying Saucer. I really love that place.
In other news, rather than starting Gulliver's Travels, I decided to go with a Sci-Fi change of pace and have begun reading Solaris by Stanislaw Lem (translated from French). This is another book that has been sitting on my bookshelf for quite a while. The premise sounds really interesting and the first couple of chapters have really drawn me in thus far. Off to a good start...
In General
Posted at 11:47 PM | Permanent link
Bit Torrent!
I would like to give a great big shout-out to Bit Torrent. After three failed tries to download Redhat 9 using both the mirrors and the main site, my Torrent download worked on the very first try!
Please, if you haven't already, get Bit Torrent!
Posted at 08:43 AM | Permanent link
July 21, 2003
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Finished the first Harry Potter this evening. I enjoyed it a great deal and was surprised to find that (from what I remember), the movie followed the book quite faithfully. I guess it's kind of too bad that that spoiled some of the surprisese for me, but no matter.
I can't wait to start the second book, as I wasa little bit confused as to what was going on in The Chamber of Secrets movie. I liked the second movie better, and I suspect that the book is better as well, as now all of the introductions are out of the way.
I don't think that I will jump into reading that just yet, however, even though it is sitting on my shelf (borrowed from home).
Trying to decide what to pick up next. I think it will be Gulliver's Travels. That is a book that has been sitting on my shelf for quite some time and I have been wanting to read it for a long while.
In General
Posted at 10:36 PM | Permanent link
July 20, 2003
Meeting god
A quote from the last chapter of Fight Club (the novel):
I've met God across his long walnut desk with his diplomas hanging on the wall behind him, and God asks me, "Why?"
"Why?"
I look at God behind his desk, taking notes on a pad, but God's got this all wrong.
We are not special.
We are not crap or trash, either.
We just are.
We just are, and what happens just happens.
And God says, "No, that's not right."
Yeah. Well. Whatever. You can't teach God anything.
In The Zen
Posted at 09:56 PM | Permanent link
July 15, 2003
One month
In other news...
Exactly one month from now will be my last day at IBM for the summer.
Things just fly by.
In General
Posted at 10:56 PM | Permanent link
July 14, 2003
Bleh
Ack, was today ever a Monday. Meant to get up and head into work early this morning...ended up rolling over in bed just a little too long. That set the tone for the day. Seems like neither I nor anyone else could get into the flow.
We didn't get the build we needed to get some serious work done today.
I mistook an incredibly stupid mistake on my part for an install being hung, and of course this was pointed out to me when I called someone over for help ("yeah, don't do that next time").
I forgot to put in my GPA when submitting my updated resume to IBM's database (will have to resubmit it tomorrow, but it's a pain).
I ended up staying too late at work to go to Wing Chun tonight, and I was really planning on going today because I don't know how much I will get to go later this week.
Ah well.
There'll be days like this.
In General
Posted at 09:34 PM | Permanent link
July 13, 2003
Relaxing Sunday
Today turned out to be a really nice day.
I took a trip over to Chapel Hill this morning and, as planned, spent much of the afternoon reading in a coffee shop on Franklin Sreet. That was very relaxing and a very nice contrast to the husstle and bussle of the rest of my week. In that time, I finished up the book, Everyday Zen, by Charlotte Joko Beck. Overall, I liked it very much. Especially the last chapter. She does a very good job of explaining (as well as they can be directly explained anyway) many of the pracitcal apsects of Zen, breaking things down neatly into easily digestible pieces. I find that it is nearly impossible to define Zen directly, but through her explainations, the reader is able to get an overall idea of what Zen is about. This serves as a nice complement to Steven Hagen's Buddhism Plain and Simple, but I still think that the latter servers as a better overall introduction to Buddhism. Everyday Zen is more squarely focused on the direct effects of daily practice.
In addition to finishing up that book, I also started the first of the Harry Potter books: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I have been meaning to read these books for a long time, and I think that they will make for good summer reading right now. Everyone who has ever recommended these books to me has said that they make for good quick reading, and they are certainly right. I practically finished the first third of the book in one sitting and em enjoying it very much so far.
After leaving the coffee shop, I took a stroll around UNC's campus, just for the hell of it. It is, indeed, a very nice campus overall. It's just a shame that they have to have such horrible school colors. Baby blue? I mean honestly! Ack, what an ugly stadium.
I would like to check out Duke and NC state before I leave the triangle, though I've heard that UNC has the nicest campus anyway.
In General
Posted at 10:05 PM | Permanent link
Busy Weekend
Had a pretty busy day yesterday. My Mom, Sam, Elizabeth, and her friend Natalie came to stay with me Friday evening on their way down to Florida. Friday night we ate at an Itallian restaurant named Pata Bella and the food was amazing! They make their own pasta there (and even sell it in a store called Extrusions next door). Jeff originally recommended that place to me and I'm definitely going to have to return there a few times before I leave the triangle.
Saturday morning, I saw everyone off with breakfast and a short tour around RTP. Then later that afternoon I went to a BBQ at Danny's place. Fun as usual, though I wish I could have stayed longer.
I had to cut out kind of early from the BBQ because I was going with the Case IBM peeps to see The Matrix Reloaded at the Imax theater in Raleigh. That was also a very good time! The sound in the Imax thater is just incredible. On top of that I also liked the movie much better the second time around. This time I actually kind of understood what the hell was going on.
After the movie, we took off and went to a Denny's. It was fun to just sit around, relax, and chat with the Case gang for a while. It was a good night.
So, I guess it's another lazy Sunday for today. I'm hoping to be able to park myself at a coffee shop and do some reading unless something else comes up.
In General
Posted at 10:51 AM | Permanent link
July 07, 2003
OBX, Work, Kung Fu, Work, Ohio, Work
Ok, so it looks like I'm a little behind in my weblogging.
Since last weekend I've been up to my neck in busyness. I would like to write about a lot of things that have happened to me recently in detail, but I think that a quick glossing over is going to have to do for now.
First thing's first. The Outer Banks was awesome last weekend. The beach was great. The food was really great, and the company was even better. Of course the mosquitos at the campsite and the uncomfortable sleeping conditions were less than great, but hey, it was well worth it. Below is a picture of most of the group who went at Jockey's ridge:
Fresh off the trip, I came back to a four day week of work last week, which was also incredibly busy. Our product is getting close to shipping and it is definitley showing.
I went to Wing Chun twice last week, during which I completed book one (the first block out of eight). Essentially that means that I will now be shifting from the basic self-defense aspect of the study (which is not really Wing Chun and is just designed to get you up to speed fast in the event that you actually are attacked) to the actual Wing Chun teachings. That also means that I have completed my final circle with the choke holds and I also think it was my best. After having done only one day of the second block, it is very obvious that the Wing Chun techniques are more complex, more exact, and much harder to become proficient at. I'm looking forward to taking it on, though. I've been told by other students that the first block is kind of like your "birthing period", afterwhich the art becomes much more interesting.
Another very pleasant surprise at work towards the end of this week. Will elaborate on that later, depending on how things play out.
This past weekend was, of course, July 4th weekend and I decided to make a trip home to Ohio. My goodness did that drive ever suck. After looking at the airline fares (after the fact), it would have been well worth the money to fly home, but I guess this trip was a little bit too spur-the-moment for that. It was still nice to be home for a little while. Visited with the family and extended family, and, of course, Rupa and Kitty up in Cleveland. Definitely worth the trip.
Today it was back to work, again, busy as usual...
In General
Posted at 08:36 PM | Permanent link