I hate going camping. It's disgusting. We've graduated from living in caves to nice comfortable houses with heating and air-conditioning and refrigerators that work all the time. This seems like a step backward to me. WE HAVE REFRIGERATORS, BEASTS OF THE FOREST. TOP THAT.
If cockroaches ever take over the world, they will never get to refrigerators. Mostly because refrigerators have that automatic light. They'd hate that.
ANYWAY. I seem to have lost my direction... Hey, if they're refrigerators, are there frigerators? We can't do something again if it wasn't that way at one point before, right?
Frigidly yours,
DJ
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
RLA Blog
Riveting as Douglas Adams is, I know, I feel an important issue must be spoken of before the school year begins, which it will in scant two days.
Friends! Romans! Countrymen! Lend me your eyeballs;
I come to tell you to write on the blog, not leave it to fester!
I do not wish to be remembered for the stupid things of yester-year,
but hopefully semi-intelligent (I know, I'm pushing it) arguments!
Okay. I'll stop with the Julius Cesar; mind you, I expect half of you to have to look this up before you get the parody. (Here's a hint: google 'friends romans countrymen'.) I should hope Ned would get it beforehand, but there's no guarantee. All I remember are those four lines anyway.
Nevertheless. I expect a better blog this year! We have nine months, one hundred and eighty days to write about issues at hand, something interesting we've found, hell, even a countdown until school ends!
Honestly, if the spelling's as bad this year as it was the last, I'll probably euthanise the Rivercity blog for it's own good.
Shakespearianly yours,
DJ
PS: I get extra points for making up 'Shakespearianly,' 'cos he did it all the time.
Friends! Romans! Countrymen! Lend me your eyeballs;
I come to tell you to write on the blog, not leave it to fester!
I do not wish to be remembered for the stupid things of yester-year,
but hopefully semi-intelligent (I know, I'm pushing it) arguments!
Okay. I'll stop with the Julius Cesar; mind you, I expect half of you to have to look this up before you get the parody. (Here's a hint: google 'friends romans countrymen'.) I should hope Ned would get it beforehand, but there's no guarantee. All I remember are those four lines anyway.
Nevertheless. I expect a better blog this year! We have nine months, one hundred and eighty days to write about issues at hand, something interesting we've found, hell, even a countdown until school ends!
Honestly, if the spelling's as bad this year as it was the last, I'll probably euthanise the Rivercity blog for it's own good.
Shakespearianly yours,
DJ
PS: I get extra points for making up 'Shakespearianly,' 'cos he did it all the time.
Monday, August 25, 2008
My god, I love Douglas Adams
It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Therefore, there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely the products of a deranged imagination.
-Chapter 19, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
There was a point to this story, but it has temporarily escaped the chronicler's mind.
- Epilogue, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
We live in strange times.
We also live in strange places: each in a universe of our own. The people with whom we populate our universes are the shadows of whole other universes intersecting with our own. Being able to glance out into this bewildering complexity of infinite recursion and say thing like, "Oh, hi, Ed! Nice tan. How's Carol?" involves a great deal of filtering skill for which all conscious entities have eventually to develop a capacity in order to protect themselves from the comtemplation of the chaos through which they see the and world tumble. So give your kid a break, okay?
- c. unknown: 'Practical Parenting in a Fractally Demented Universe,' Mostly Harmless.
Infinitely yours,
DJ
-Chapter 19, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
There was a point to this story, but it has temporarily escaped the chronicler's mind.
- Epilogue, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
We live in strange times.
We also live in strange places: each in a universe of our own. The people with whom we populate our universes are the shadows of whole other universes intersecting with our own. Being able to glance out into this bewildering complexity of infinite recursion and say thing like, "Oh, hi, Ed! Nice tan. How's Carol?" involves a great deal of filtering skill for which all conscious entities have eventually to develop a capacity in order to protect themselves from the comtemplation of the chaos through which they see the and world tumble. So give your kid a break, okay?
- c. unknown: 'Practical Parenting in a Fractally Demented Universe,' Mostly Harmless.
Infinitely yours,
DJ
Sunday, August 24, 2008
NaNoWriMo?
I am going to participate in National Novel Writing Month! For those of you who don't know what that is (a fair few of you, I should think) here you are, a quote from the about section on the site, which will be linked.
'National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.'
I think this sounds like a ton of fun and will definitely be participating. Unfortunately, I'll be needing to finish what I've got, because I can't focus on two of my own plots at once. That gives me more than two months though, so cheer me on, readers!
Literally yours,
DJ
'National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.'
I think this sounds like a ton of fun and will definitely be participating. Unfortunately, I'll be needing to finish what I've got, because I can't focus on two of my own plots at once. That gives me more than two months though, so cheer me on, readers!
Literally yours,
DJ
Friday, August 22, 2008
Wastin' time...
Doododoo... I told myself I would get to page twenty of my new novel by morning, but based on current speeds, that probably isn't going to be happening. I mean, I've only been at it for three hours and gotten a page and a half. I'm on eighteen now, but I don't have the energy to keep going for the next three it would take to get to twenty.
My god, I have such a writer's block right now... I need school again so that I can write when I'm s'posed to be working.
~DJ
My god, I have such a writer's block right now... I need school again so that I can write when I'm s'posed to be working.
~DJ
Monday, August 18, 2008
My Insanely Long Holiday
Right-io, people. Ready to hear about my holiday? If you're not, I suggest you piss off, because that's going to be today's insanely long blog post. Insanely long.
The first four days, before the cruise--any comments on that and I'll kill you--we stayed in Roma, in a hotel with a faulty air conditioner. We saw the Spanish Steps, which used to lead to the Spanish Embassy or something; the Colosseum, named after the colossal statue of Nero that once stood by it, and the Rush of the Street Vendors, where in the unlicensed vendors of Rome pick up their goods and book it before the police confiscate their wares. I also had the benefit of seeing the Pantheon; truly, Hadrian was a great architect. Also got to see that enormous fountain of Poseidon. Good grief that thing's frickin' ginormous. I did throw ten euro cent in, though.
After Roma, we got on the cruise ship--I swear, I will do it--and went to the first stop, a place called Monte Carlo; heard of it? Of course, my parental units decided it would be fun to take a local bus up to a village set atop the cliff, and of course, we managed to mess that up, and ended up halfway to Nice before they realised that this was indeed an adventure, a word I reserve for when things go horribly wrong.
It was a relief to get away from Monoco; they're just too close to France for my liking. But what was more exciting was that it was to Firenze and Pisa. Now, all Pisa has to its name is a badly-made tower, but Florence has the David. I know! I saw it myself. And got a lovely postcard for Meggles while I was at it. I think that as an artist and friend of Kibbles and Bits, she will see the hilarity in this postcard.
After Firenze--which did indeed feel burning hot, we got to go someplace even hotter; Pompeii, friends, is deathly hot with little shade and an obscene amount of bench-areas in the sun. On the other hand, it was gorgeous. Napoli, though, was just as any other person who's been there will tell you: Not Pretty. Malesh.
After a lovely, lazy day at sea, I finally got my first sight of Greece, a place where the culture is old and it's not going to change, dammit. I'll be frank; I had to walk in donkey crap. They've got them going up the hills, and it's all over. The town of Santorini made up for it, I suppose. It was really very hot which made it hard to enjoy anything.
Kusadasi, Turkey was the most interesting port, in my opinion. Well... maybe not... But it was quite exciting. First we went to the house where Mary lived her last few years (rather boring) and then we got to see the old town of Ephesus. By god, that town had the most majestic library I've ever seen. Also got to see Roman lavatories, where people talked when they didn't have time for the baths.
We also got to visit the (destroyed) Temple of Artemis. Isn't a shame what people destroy for their religious sensibilities?
Also; I bought a small hookah. It's pretty and sitting on my bookshelf as I type. I won't make use of it, of course...yet.
After the insanity of Kusadasi, the quiet town of Mykonos (back in Greece) and the chance to just wander it was wonderful. I was puzzled however, by a square that had four churches within a stone's throw.
The general madness returned when we went to Athens. From the port we walked to the metro, something that I got used to right off, my family; not so much. In either case, we proceeded to the once-grand Temple of Zeus, by Hadrian's arch. It was a truly grand structure, even in ruins.
Unfortunately, after the temple was an exausting walk up to the Acropolis, the highest point in the city. I got to see the Parthenon; totally different from the Pantheon, as anybody interested in languages could figure out. The Parthenon is a temple to Athena and Poseidon, who fought to have the city named after them or some such. I also got to see the sacred olive tree, supposedly the same one that Athena gave the city. Oh; and I got Ned a set of worry beads. Figured he of all people could use them.
After the dirty grandeur of Athens, Kotakolon and Olympia were almost uninspiring. But to tell the truth, there's not much left to the original Olympic stadium. I ran across it, though.
The penultimate stop on our trip was Corfu, where we mostly sat on a rocky beach and the rest of the family played in the Med. I don't like getting wet. But the island was gorgeous.
The last stop on our crazy Mediterranean trip was Venezia, the city of canals that's sinking into the sea. The Piazza San Marco and accompanying basilica were the first places we went. It's large. It's got a clock tower with a lion on it. It's usually got some sort of music playing in it somewhere, and by god there were so many pigeons in that city... I hate pigeons. They're dirty birds; even got the word 'pig' right in their name! Serves them right to have the Venetians serving them birth control in the pigeon feed.
I bought a beautiful mask in Venice; it would have almost been stupid not to. I've got it on my wall with a cape and it looks marvelous.
We almost got the chance to go see Murano, where all the pretty glass if made, but we ran out of time. The glass was sold all over the city so I got to see some.
Now to complete this lesson, some Language; Mediterranean. Med-Middle, terran-Earth. The Mediterranean is the middle of the world (or at least it was.)
~DJ
The first four days, before the cruise--any comments on that and I'll kill you--we stayed in Roma, in a hotel with a faulty air conditioner. We saw the Spanish Steps, which used to lead to the Spanish Embassy or something; the Colosseum, named after the colossal statue of Nero that once stood by it, and the Rush of the Street Vendors, where in the unlicensed vendors of Rome pick up their goods and book it before the police confiscate their wares. I also had the benefit of seeing the Pantheon; truly, Hadrian was a great architect. Also got to see that enormous fountain of Poseidon. Good grief that thing's frickin' ginormous. I did throw ten euro cent in, though.
After Roma, we got on the cruise ship--I swear, I will do it--and went to the first stop, a place called Monte Carlo; heard of it? Of course, my parental units decided it would be fun to take a local bus up to a village set atop the cliff, and of course, we managed to mess that up, and ended up halfway to Nice before they realised that this was indeed an adventure, a word I reserve for when things go horribly wrong.
It was a relief to get away from Monoco; they're just too close to France for my liking. But what was more exciting was that it was to Firenze and Pisa. Now, all Pisa has to its name is a badly-made tower, but Florence has the David. I know! I saw it myself. And got a lovely postcard for Meggles while I was at it. I think that as an artist and friend of Kibbles and Bits, she will see the hilarity in this postcard.
After Firenze--which did indeed feel burning hot, we got to go someplace even hotter; Pompeii, friends, is deathly hot with little shade and an obscene amount of bench-areas in the sun. On the other hand, it was gorgeous. Napoli, though, was just as any other person who's been there will tell you: Not Pretty. Malesh.
After a lovely, lazy day at sea, I finally got my first sight of Greece, a place where the culture is old and it's not going to change, dammit. I'll be frank; I had to walk in donkey crap. They've got them going up the hills, and it's all over. The town of Santorini made up for it, I suppose. It was really very hot which made it hard to enjoy anything.
Kusadasi, Turkey was the most interesting port, in my opinion. Well... maybe not... But it was quite exciting. First we went to the house where Mary lived her last few years (rather boring) and then we got to see the old town of Ephesus. By god, that town had the most majestic library I've ever seen. Also got to see Roman lavatories, where people talked when they didn't have time for the baths.
We also got to visit the (destroyed) Temple of Artemis. Isn't a shame what people destroy for their religious sensibilities?
Also; I bought a small hookah. It's pretty and sitting on my bookshelf as I type. I won't make use of it, of course...yet.
After the insanity of Kusadasi, the quiet town of Mykonos (back in Greece) and the chance to just wander it was wonderful. I was puzzled however, by a square that had four churches within a stone's throw.
The general madness returned when we went to Athens. From the port we walked to the metro, something that I got used to right off, my family; not so much. In either case, we proceeded to the once-grand Temple of Zeus, by Hadrian's arch. It was a truly grand structure, even in ruins.
Unfortunately, after the temple was an exausting walk up to the Acropolis, the highest point in the city. I got to see the Parthenon; totally different from the Pantheon, as anybody interested in languages could figure out. The Parthenon is a temple to Athena and Poseidon, who fought to have the city named after them or some such. I also got to see the sacred olive tree, supposedly the same one that Athena gave the city. Oh; and I got Ned a set of worry beads. Figured he of all people could use them.
After the dirty grandeur of Athens, Kotakolon and Olympia were almost uninspiring. But to tell the truth, there's not much left to the original Olympic stadium. I ran across it, though.
The penultimate stop on our trip was Corfu, where we mostly sat on a rocky beach and the rest of the family played in the Med. I don't like getting wet. But the island was gorgeous.
The last stop on our crazy Mediterranean trip was Venezia, the city of canals that's sinking into the sea. The Piazza San Marco and accompanying basilica were the first places we went. It's large. It's got a clock tower with a lion on it. It's usually got some sort of music playing in it somewhere, and by god there were so many pigeons in that city... I hate pigeons. They're dirty birds; even got the word 'pig' right in their name! Serves them right to have the Venetians serving them birth control in the pigeon feed.
I bought a beautiful mask in Venice; it would have almost been stupid not to. I've got it on my wall with a cape and it looks marvelous.
We almost got the chance to go see Murano, where all the pretty glass if made, but we ran out of time. The glass was sold all over the city so I got to see some.
Now to complete this lesson, some Language; Mediterranean. Med-Middle, terran-Earth. The Mediterranean is the middle of the world (or at least it was.)
~DJ
Been a while...
I'm baaack! I know you all missed snippets of my terribly exciting life; but, what's this?! A European holiday?! You will all receive the details of this place after I sleep off jet lag.
~DJ
~DJ
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
