I’ve had conversational fun with this one for a while, so here’s a question (you must have read at least one Harry Potter book to qualify):
Which Harry Potter character do you identify with the most closely? I’ve found that most people, if they think about it, are able to pick a character in whose role they would fit. The next question is, as whom do you think that people perceive you?
I identify with Snape, and I figure that’s probably how people on the outside see me too.
Are all island beaches in New England clothing optional? I mean, this is the second time we’ve gone to a beach like this and gotten the “Behold my Wang” show. Not that this is a problem, I just had no idea in my little sheltered world that the edges of the islands of New England are nekkid zones. Speaking of which, we went out to the beach on Block Island this weekend with Doug and Michelle. A good time was had by all.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory rocks my world. Johnny Depp is perfect in his Michael Jackon-esque role as a reclusive freako, and the movie has a rich and buttery visual feel … with lots of surreal moments that had me laughing (all alone) in the theatre. Loved it.
Doug heard me babbling about the new Cormac McCarthy book, and picked it up for me. From the first pages, I’m blissed out:
They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. I dont know what them eyes was the windows to and I guess Id as soon not know. But there is another view of the world out there and other eyes to see it, and that’s where this is goin. It has done brought me to a place in my life I would not of thought Id of come to. Somewhere out there is a true and living prophet of destruction and I don’t want to confront him. I know hes real. I have seen his work. I walked in front of those eyes once. I wont do it again. I wont push my chips forward and stand up and go out and meet him. It aint just bein older. I wish that it was.
Mmmmmmmm.
Purchased “Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas.” This is the game that recently left the shelves of the respectable and god fearing stores of the world because there’s a sex scene buried in there. The game without the sex scene features drive by shootings, sex in cars with prostitutes, drugs, and beating people to death with baseball bats. I have no idea how a little sex makes it any worse, but there you go. Remember kids: Violence good, sex bad. Anyway, I bought a copy before they issue a wussed down version, in some vague feeling that I was showing solidarity with the righteous folks of the world. Really, I just want to play the game.
Nearly done with the book about my former high school classmates. More on that later.
Tomorrow, I plan to harvest some pumpkin blossoms and deep fry and eat them. A rare and special delicacy…pumpkin blossoms. Life is good.
Coming out of Evil Pharma today, I encountered PROTESTERS!. They were holding a banner and chanting something about doing business with some three letter acronym. “TLA?” I don’t remember the exact company. My colleague tells me that the three letter acronym company is actually into some pretty bad stuff in terms of animal testing and drug ethics. Strangely, we weren’t anywhere near said company. Evil Pharma, at least the part that I was working at today, has nothing to do with it, so far as I can tell. Apparently, some part of Evil Pharma collaborates with TLA,
Oh well.
The protesters handed me a leaflet detailing the Bad Things that happen to people who work with TLA. It was an informational statement that protesters had sometimes in the past turned violent, and had done things like report to the neighbors of employees that said employees were known pedophiles. I’m sure that these particular protesters would have been shocked. Shocked, I tell you, at the suggestion that they would do such things … but they wanted us to be aware that there are bad people in the world who do stuff like this to people who work with TLA.
Whatev’. I didn’t make weapons, I made targeting systems. I’ve been through those arguments before, and I don’t do business with the truly evil. My time is not for sale to slave traders or tobacco peddlers. Another day, I might have stopped to talk with them, find out what drives them, maybe educate myself. Not today though. Today I just walked by and pitched their threats in the trash.
I did pause to think, before stepping out the door, which of the kung fu techniques might be best suited to a protestor throwing crap on me. I figured, given that there were a lot of them, that the ninja-like “run like hell, you coward” move would suit the best.
It takes a little while for the my shower to heat up in the morning. In the interim, I like to look out the window at my garden and the rest of the backyard.
This morning, the male cardinal was flitting around from tree to tree, and then down to the edge of the garden. I’m not sure what he was eating (he would stand among the onions and peppers. Probably worms. From time to time, he would return to a particular branch about 10 feet above the garden. When I looked hard, I saw the female cardinal sitting up there, watching him do his thing in the garden.
It was very peaceful.
In to Evil Pharma again today to be a sysadmin for hire. Meeting with most of my company at noon today to finalize my contract for next year.
This weekend, redmed‘s brother and sister-in-law will be visiting. We plan to take them to Block Island tomorrow, and then probably to Charlie and the Factory of Chocolate on Sunday afternoon. In the middle we’ll talk, and I may mow the lawn or something.
My laptop is back, with most of my data. My preferences and personal settings (homepage, mailboxes) got nuked, but all my presentations, music, and photos seem to be okay. All praise DiskWarrior. I’m having trouble convincing iPhoto to load up my photo library, but I can re-import it by hand if need be.
This guy claims to have rediscovered simple ways to move very heavy things. It’s a cool read, though he’s been badly slashdotted (and Farked, too) and most of the pictures are down.
Yep, that’s about 8 hours. Still chugging. The internet says that the progress bar has remarkably little correlation with the time to completion. The record time I’ve found is about 16 days.
Wheeeeeeee.
Less brutally hot today. Actually about the same temperature, but lower humidity.
In which I describe the manner of screwed-ness which has struck my computer
This has been rattling around in my head for a while, so I guess it’s time to just let it out: