| Rain |
[09 Oct 2007|04:46pm] |
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Though he had been conscientiously holding his hat to his head, he was momentarily distracted, and the wind snatched it from his scalp. He glanced after it, then forgot it. He would not stoop to chasing a fedora, no matter how expensive, and it was expensive: he would wear nothing else. Nor would he place on his head a hat that had lain on the ground. I had never before seen him bareheaded; his hair flew in the wind and rain. And never before had I seen a mans eyes flash so, as when he directed the soldiers he had summoned. And though he remained a civilian his entire life, though always something more than a civilian, those soldiers did not hesitate to follow his orders. Few of them would see more battle than he, or survive more injury. And not all that battle, or that injury, would be physical. After this night he would be a hero, of sorts; always respected, but never admired. Those same peasants he would save that night would not hesitate to raise pickets against him in the future. As he stood on the levee his long coat blew and snapped like the flag of a nation; or perhaps more like that of a ship, for staring out over the floodwaters he seemed at the time like a captain, and there great anxiety among all present whether the ship would weather the storm.
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| axiom |
[24 Jun 2007|04:56am] |
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The desire to cater to the lowest common denominator of people is not unique to corporations.
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| BLITEOTW |
[13 Jun 2007|11:15pm] |
I had no idea what was going on until I went online. Since I came home this summer I haven't really been watching much TV, and I've been spending a lot of time outside, doing chores and just lying in the sun. Trying to relax, you know. I'm so glad my cell phone is working, the only other connection to the internet I have here is dial-up and the lines went down with the power out here a few hours ago, around sunset. Luckily my Dad showed me how to use the generator a few days ago. As long as my Dad get back soon with some more gas we should be fine for a while.
My Mom came home around five, and nothing un usual had happened to her, except that the railroad crossing by the bank she works at was backed up for hours because a train was stopped across the road, and she had to take a back road home. We expected my Dad to be late because he was going to a meeting to discuss retirement packages at Chrysler. I'd finished my chores and was reading in the hammock when I first heard shots. Gunshots aren't too unusual out in the country, even out of season, as plenty of people like to target shoot. But these were coming faster and more erratically than target shooting, and it sounded like more than one kind of gun. The sound was coming from the north, on the other side of the woods. My mother and I listened for almost an hour, and finally started to get worried, but we didn't do anything until my father got home. We never thought to check the radio, and we don't have a scanner.
When my Dad got home he told us about the backups on the highway, and how the meeting got out early because almost everyone had left talking on their cell phones. He said there were confusing reports on the radio, like some big emergency was going on, but he didn't know if it was a terrorist attack or an industrial accident or riots or what. Just before he showed up the gunshots stopped, and he thought we were overreacting, until the explosion. You hear explosions sometimes out here, someone blowing up a stump or playing with a small cannon, but this was something else together. You could even see smoke from it over the trees after a couple minutes, and it would have had to be at least a mile north. My parents got in the car to see what happened, and see if they could help, and I stayed back and called the police. This was around sunset. I couldn't get through at all, the line was tied up, and when my parents got back, they were panicky almost. My Dad ran right downstairs and dug into the gun safe, and my mother got on the phone. That was when the power died. I went out to set up the generator, and had just got it running when my Dad came out of the basement and yelled at me to get inside. He sounded really angry and worried, and it scared me, because he almost never yells like that. Once he had gotten me a gun, he calmed down, and he told me what they saw, a small mob of people attacking a farm, eating animals alive... We were out on the deck a few minutes ago, and several deer ran spooked out of the woods towards the house. One was so scare he fell in the pond, and swam right across it before bolting again. My Mom wants me to get off now, her cell has already died and she wants to use this one. My Dad left a few minutes ago, I hope he finds a station that is still open. I hope everyone else is all right, I'll call you soon.
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| A Pretty Girl with an Axe |
[15 Oct 2006|07:10pm] |
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music |
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Pearl Jam - Do the Evolution |
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The other day in class my teacher wrote the word "saprophyte" on the board which is weird for two reasons.
Sleeping with three blankets is very cozy.
One is that I can't quite think of any context in any of my classes where it would make sense for saprophyte to be a vocab word.
I don't think I dreamt it, though it is possible. I am only passing one of my classes because of dreams and hallucinations. One quiz question was "Where did they find footprints?". I dreamt the teacher said Sicily, but that can't be right. I didn't even know if we even discussed footprints in class until we took the quiz, but I got the answer right because I guessed "Laetoli" because it was multiple choice and that was the only one that ended in the long "e" sound. I don't know how to type that in IPA. I also answered "Homo habilis" right on another test question because I thought I read about H. habilis making tools back in fifth grade, which if true would be one of the only things I remember from that year.
If you look at too much porno you turn into a tree. It's true, it must be, the Bhagavad-Gita says so.
George Washington was an avatar of Kr.s.n.a. This is a logical deduction from a detailed analysis of artistic styles.
Actually, I think the teacher might have been giving a basic introduction to biological categories.
It's funny for a second reason because the previous day I had looked up the word Saprophyte on Wikipedia. That article says that the word is inaccurate because there exist no saprophytes. "-phyte" means plant, and there are no plants that exist on mould only. All are autotrophs or parasites. Only fungi and bacteria (maybe animals, do termites count?) consist on rotting matter. The term saprophyte should be replaced with saprotroph. It is an old fashioned term from back when there were only two kingdoms of living taxonomy.
I came up with a new word, and the word disturbs me. "Sapronatal."
I can nod off in class in only a few seconds, but lie awake in bed for ages. Apparently this is not normal.
Dreams where you suddenly loose the ability to fly are... "gut-wrenching" is an appropriate term. Luckily there were plenty of things to hit on my way down to slow my fall. And the guy at the door only had a paintball gun anyways.
I'm mean to my computer, make it do too much at once, like a micromanaging boss. There's silly putty on the page down key. It's blue.
The presence of any particular book on a bookshelf doesn't surprise me. There's a book waiting at the library. I wonder if I should read it. Polish, Kafka, Sci-fi, pseudo-retro-futuristic-dystopian-military-complex.
Is it wrong to confuse Seth Green, Seth McFarlane, and Todd McFarlane?
Weird Al Gore Vidal Sassoon
San Salvador Dali Lama
Perhaps today I should eat.
The other day while walking to class in the morning - the only time I've been early for this class this semester - I saw a pretty girl listening to headphones. She was inside the greenhouse, swinging an axe. She'd raise it, heft it over her shoulder, and bring it down hard, splintering one of the wooden tables to pieces. Then she'd repeat. This isn't fair. I have a hard enough time getting a good grasp on reality in mornings, and then I see this. I had to sit and watch to ensure I wasn't dreaming.
I wonder what she was listening to.
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| Spontaneous Generation |
[09 Oct 2006|04:35am] |
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I'm starting to question my disbelief in spontaneous generation. I'm pretty sure that, given enough time (not much) an empty closet can generate a shirtless man, assuming Christian is staying in the bedroom the closet is attached to.
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| Laughing Uncontrollably |
[30 Sep 2006|03:45am] |
| [ |
mood |
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 tired |
] |
| [ |
music |
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Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 5 in D-, op. 47 - Allegro |
] |
One might say that a compliment is a reward, but there is nothing saying the recipient will always see it that way. If the individual who recieves a compliment does not consider it to be a benefit of and in itself, then an external benefit, tangible or otherwise percieved, must be available, or the compliment is tantamount to injury, for to recieve a compliment without experiencing any beneficial factor inevitable leads to one of two conclusions:
1. Virtue is without Value, Or -
2. The World is Lying.
I've been asked to post to my livejournal more often, so people know what's going on in my life. However, I have also been asked to refrain from being "emo". A primary tenent of being emo is complaining, whining as it were. According to my brother, any negative personal statement, no matter how true, is a complaint if expressed. Thus lacking anything to say about myself, and judging that silence will have a less detrimental effect on the friendship of others than "emo"-ness, I regretfully refrain from posting about my life for now.
On a more positive note, Permakittens!
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| Mind Like a Sieve |
[02 Nov 2005|12:45am] |
Names escape me. I recognize faces, usually, after a few moments thought, but the names associated with them are usually lost irretrievably, or occluded with other potential but uncertain candidates. It's always unnerved me how others seem to be able to recall my name immediately, even after long periods of non-contact, or, in occasional cases, a total lack of ever having met. My name has been guessed correctly by strangers occasionally, leaving me confused, or I've been mistaken for people of the same name, or I've been told I "look like" my name, and sometimes people have recognized me as my brother's sibling due to a resemblence of features and known his brother's name. At least once, years ago, was mistaken for my brother, and the mistaker had misremembered his name as mine (our names are frequently confused anyways). It's always somewhat of a relief when someone doesn't recall my name, or calls me by the wrong one. It reminds me that my problem with names isn't unique. At my uncle's funeral, an Indian fellow I didn't recall ever meeting before seemed to know me, but called me "Steve".
This bit of musing is brought on by the random meeting of two people today who I had in classes once, and barely knew, but who called me by name in greeting as we passed. I, as I often do, simply said "Hey" or "Hi" for my half of the exchange. I have never been in the habit of using people's names when talking with them, though I am well aware that it is a recommended behavior, causing people to be more at ease in discussion with me, making me seem more friendly, and acting as a reenforcing mnemonic to help me remember their names. But through my life I've had to speak so often with people who's names I've forgotten, and been too embarassed by their ability to retain my name to ask, that I am uncomfortable using names in greeting, even when I am (rarely) confident in the identity and label of the target of conversation. It feels... formal, stilted... and unnatural. I should work on it...
My brother needs to dye his hair a different color than black. There is a skinny, short-haired Asian fellow with a similar height and a coat of the same color as his walking around campus, and I keep mistaking him for mon frere.
I finished reading the "Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath" again... it is easily one of my favorite stories. Lovecraft is so much more than just Cthulhu. The portrayal of the dreamland, and the themes of nostalgia... childhood... like Kafka's "The Trial" it strikes close to home. I've read communication described as the attempt to recreate in the mind of the audience thoughts as close to possible as the thoughts of the author. But for these books, it's not the thougths that grip and hold me, but the emotions they construct...
My outlook on the world is not as bleak as an affinity for Kafka and Lovecraft might suggest. I swear.
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| Liquor... |
[08 Oct 2005|06:31am] |
Drunken... 'tis how I feel. I know I am, but if I can avoid exposing it through poor gammar... the better it is... need sleep... not gonna stay up and Burroughs-myself... not that Masochistic.
No one takes me seriously, I'm certan of it.
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| Long Time since posted... |
[08 Oct 2005|06:20am] |
A dolphin rising out of the sea on a bed of cyrillic.
Damn you Cyrillic. I liked dolphins.
Some people have been asking me lately things like "was that a botched lip-piercing?" and "ould you put your finger through your lip?" Well, I want to set the record straight. Yes, shortly after the incident blood pouring down my chest, I could in fact put my finger through my very JAW, and unsteadily walked to the doctor's office with my tongue slapping against my adam's apple. They pieces me togehter, put my teeth back in, and after miraculous reconstructive surgery I was my own handsome self again. They ladies dig a guy with a bolt in his jaw. And, incredibly, after only eight days, I had all my stitches taken out on Wednesday. Can't tell anything even happened.
I looked at my watch and saw it wa 11am and thought that was a good excuse to post to this journal again. Actually, its not 11am anymore, atleasdt, not when you're reading this...it's passing 6:30am... long delay...
Maybe I shoud stay up longer. Then my mind'll be so twisted from sleep deprivation that I'll be able to write stuff that's a combination of WIlliam Kafka and Joseph Burroughs.
Something's wrong with that previous sentence... I could fix it, but what woould be better would be to...
Do you know what we don't need? Another truncated agenda.
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| Spring Break |
[27 Feb 2004|02:58am] |
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music |
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Al Hirt - Green Hornet |
] |
Spring Break! All next week, I'll be downstate. Really looking foreward to seeing my friends. And catching up on sleep.
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| Happy Birthday |
[19 Jan 2004|08:43pm] |
| [ |
music |
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The Seatbelts - Want It All Back |
] |
Today is Josie's birthday. Happy Birthday! I'm sorry I can't be downstate to give you a present. I wish I had gotten around to seeing you over break.
I'm trying to get back in the hang of things up here. As far as I can tell, I'm doing my best to overwhelm myself while doing absolutely nothing. There was a discussion about buring people in effigy earlier, I now know the proper gauge of the magnet wire, and I think I found an expert in antenna design, so it's all good.
I should put pictues of stuff up somewhere. I've taken so many.
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| Happy Holidays... |
[28 Dec 2003|08:58pm] |
| [ |
music |
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The Seatbelts - Piano Black |
] |
... whichever ones they may be. I feel kinda bad. I've been neglecting my friends. I hope everyone reading this knows that I wished them a Happy Solstice or Christmas, whichever means more to them. I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and got what they wanted, both in gifts and in the presence of friends.
I'm twenty now. Family took me to the casino in Canada, I came out 14 bucks Canadian ahead, but made much more than that off of family slipping me money to use in the machines. If only I had my grandfather's luck. Of course, he plays the dollar machines... He says I'm not holding my face right, whatever that means.
I'd like to meet up with you guys before New Years. I want to know how you've all been doing.
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| R.O.U.S. |
[27 Jul 2003|11:49pm] |
See, and the next girl I see with faery wings on I will go up to her and clap and ask her if she feels any better and then she will beat me to death with her wand but I don't think I will be able to resist it and my fingers are stained with pecan juice. They are very messy trees, but nice looking. Too bad I had to radically edit it's form. I knew blackberries and raspberries were in season, but apparently mulberries are too. They aren't as good though.
I broke my CD-R drive.
Then I fixed it.
Unfortunately all my tiny screwdrivers were unnecessary. But I still enjoyed dismantling the thing. Shh! Don't tell TEAC. I may have voided my warranty.
Too bad I don't believe in lucky numbers. All the cars in the finalist round at the demolition derby had either 3, 4, or 7 in their car numbers.
How do I expect to make any headway on this enourmous pile of books when, for every 1 or 2 I read, I add 11 to the stack? But I get such a comforting feeling from seeing all those books. I could make a little fort with them. I'd throw cheap paperbacks at my enemies while I use the 3-inch thick hardcovers to reinforce the butresses. hmm, fun.
"I like a sense of the absurd as much as the next penguin". I love that quote. Maybe I'll bet something accomplished tomorrow. "Hey, how was your summer? Fun and productive?" "Half right."
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| Nonsense |
[23 Jul 2003|09:58pm] |
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Tycho Brahe was devoured by an escaped jaguar. No, not really.
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| Come Together |
[23 Jul 2003|12:20pm] |
| [ |
music |
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The Beatles - I Want You (She's So Heavy) |
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I am a complete fool. That is important. Remember that.
Are Bose speakers Evil? Is the umlaut important? Is it an umlaut? Did I spell that right? Or is it spelled 'diaeresis'? I have to ask my German speaking friend.
I added six more books to my collection, and finished another. One step forward, and... Yah, whatever. I love books. And I want more. The bookstore supposdly had 6 copies of the book I wanted, but the finding wasn't happening. I think they had a problem wiht alphabetization. They just need more obsessive customers to organize the shelves for them.
Call me! Isn't that easy? Because I can't call you. I son't have that skill. It's always with the sleeping and the busy signals and such. I need to leave the house. I haven't seen a movie all summer. Well, at the theatre. DVDs on the other hand... I like this song. I attempt to surround myself wiht busy people in hope that their fevered business will rub off on me. But everyone turns out to be lazier than they seem. I will bring much tape wiht me when I return North. Great variety.
It is interesting reading aobut the state of electrical technology before the units involved had been defined.
I am told I should have my own radio show. On college radio. Probably at obscene-o'clock in the morning. It is good for my ego. It is probably a bad idea. I need to follow through on more bad ideas. I still require that crate. Or a box. I still don't care, it's the contents that matter. I've never read anything by James Joyce, perhaps I should. I have the utmost respect for you, and I know you'll go far, but you need to work on your driving skills, or you will get beaten by an irate diver. Probably with an tire iron.
I don't think I own a tire iron.
If we all decided that "ht" was an acceptable replacement for "th" it would save a great deal of wear on my Backspace key.
I should begin capitalizing all the Nouns I use. I don't use enough Nouns. It wouldn't work. Oh Well.
I dont think this counts as a rant. It's too passive. If you ask, I may be able to summon a good rant. But I feel too much like a crazy street person when I argue wiht myself. You know who you are. So I might have to invoke a few more 'selves' with whom to have disagreements. That sounds like fun. I should post this early tomorrow. HAHAHHA! Such optimism, young fool. I write this at 5 before 1, in the ay-em. I doubt this will be online before noon. Unless I go online right now... no, I guess not. I should contact tomorrow. I hope I don't have anyting else to do. Let us end this right now.
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I failed to rise before noon. Oh, well.
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| My Alarm Clock |
[10 Jul 2003|12:50am] |
My brother found it under a pile of papers. Isn't that wonderful. Now I have lost yet another excuse to sleep past noon.
Have you ever been clean, but been accused of being high on something, or low? Maybe accused isn't the right word, they were almost approving... But that's beside the piont, which may be nonexistant. I know that I owe it to something, some unspecified THING which may or may not move about inside the closet which sits near my computer, at something o'clock in the morning, but is probably the sump-pump, or the de-humidifier, or bread maker... What? One begins to feel creative at late hours of the night, or perhaps "creative", but, I have a request. I want to collect pictures of the IMSs of various college campuses. That is, Inexplicable Metal Sculptures. Every college has one, or at least one. MTU has one, Michigan has several, as does Western. I think there is at least one at SC4, I can probably get that one. I think I've even seen different colleges which seem to have the same IMS. These things rarely have plaques, and are very abstract in form.
Speaking of IMSs, does anyone know where I can get a large crate of refridgerator magnets? Letters, fruit, magnetic poetry, whatever. Variety. It doesn't have to be a crate, any large rectangular container will do.
I don't do enough. I have too much on my plate, but it's entirely my fault. I keep poking at it and moving it around. Things fall into place without effort, but I fail to take advantage. Like the tube. It saves me from having to order one from Curbell, and removes the probably shipping wait, but I don't have any copper wire, unless I find a large motor to tear apart. And I'll probalby put it off even longer. And I need to get to ordering! Caps, resistors.... and coils! But I need to make a list of what to get, and I kee putting that off. I need someone to keep me on trake, but that's pathetic, I shouldn't need any outside assistance. Anyways, my brother is of no help, despite his pretend interest months ago. He's now trying to transform all the scrap paper he can find into oragami cubes. Well...
And the pile of books. I keep growing it, but I fail to reduce it.
I want to go out and see a movie sometime. That new zombie movie is out. As is The Matrix Reloaded in IMAX. But going to the movies alone in a waste of precious, precious hydrocarbons.
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| Cut Grass and Wood Pulp |
[27 Jun 2003|12:08am] |
Summer is fine, I have time to read like I want... but I'm not. This glowing vacuum tube, and its associated electronics seem to function as a time-sucker. I have a big pile of half read books, another pile of books I have yet to read, and a list of books I wish to aquire and THEN read. I feel like knocking off a bookstore.
Ah, well. Friends rock.
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| First Post! |
[23 Jun 2003|02:53am] |
Wait, this isn't Slashdot.
Well, I seem to have a livejournal account. I wonder when that happened.
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mjsenkow's journal