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Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
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11:46 pm - Strangely Nostalgic...
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For weird accommodations. I want to stay at a capsule hotel again. Or a hostel. In a weird city.
Hasn't been that long since I traveled (January, went to Peru). But it is not the traveling part as much as the going to somewhere to be alone, but yet completely devoid of private space. It is definitely a weird feeling. And everything being strange and new.
I guess I could take the train to NYC or RI or somewhere for the weekend or something, but I never got the feeling that the US has a "hostel" subculture that young people can take advantage of. That makes me sad. Not that I cannot afford a hotel, but it is not the same at all.
That said, it has been over a month since I left... Well, not the state, since I do that every other day, but my stomping grounds, so maybe I should up and go somewhere, even if it lacks something.
In other news, I sprained my ankle really bad on friday and have been in a aircast thing and hobbling around everywhere.
Sigh. I hate needing visas to go everywhere. Well, except the "developing world" but I'm not anxious to go to a hostel there.
current mood:  nostalgic
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| Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
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5:16 pm - I had missed this.
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Back when I was more of a young'in, I lived in remote lands where we acquired our animation via Mexican cartoon channels. This is a short I loved, and hadn't seen in ages.
current mood:  cheerful
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| Thursday, February 5th, 2009
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12:40 pm - Poem meme
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That it will never come again
Is what makes life so sweet.
Believing what we don’t believe
Does not exhilarate.
That if it be, it be at best
An ablative estate --
This instigates an appetite
Precisely opposite.
Not sure it is my favorite (I think there are a couple others in spanish I like far more), but it is the first one that came to my head.
Sueña el rey que es rey, y vive
con este engaño mandando,
disponiendo y gobernando;
y este aplauso que recibe
prestado, en el viento escribe;
y en cenizas le convierte
la muerte ¡desdicha fuerte!
¡Que hay quien intente reinar
viendo que ha de despertar
en el sueño de la muerte!
Sueña el rico en su riqueza
que más cuidados le ofrece,
sueña el pobre que padece
su miseria y su pobreza;
sueña el que a medrar empieza,
sueña el que afana y pretende,
sueña el que agravia y ofende,
y en el mundo, en conclusión,
todos sueñan lo que son,
aunque ninguno lo entiende.
Yo sueño que estoy aquí
de estas cadenas cargado,
y soñé que en otro estado
más lisonjero me vi.
¿Qué es la vida? Un frenesí.
¿Qué es la vida? Una ilusión;
una sombra, una ficción
y el mayor bien es pequeño.
¡Que toda la vida es sueño
y los sueños, sueños son!
Or:
Nuestras vidas son los ríos
que van a dar a la mar
que es el morir;
allí van los señoríos
derechos a se acabar
y consumir;
allí los ríos caudales,
allí los otros medianos
y más chicos,
allegados son iguales,
los que viven por sus manos
y los ricos.
current mood: amused
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| Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008
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4:26 pm - Leaving for California tomorrow...
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US Airways, you are on my bad list!
Merry Christmas, people! :)
current mood:  awake
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| Monday, December 1st, 2008
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6:01 pm - Mission Accomplished
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I ate poutine. It was delicious, in an artery clogging way.
Also had good food of all sorts in Montreal, good beer, and good sheesha. Fun times were had by all. I did not even attempt to speak terrible french at people, because my brain kept confusing my "non-native" languages in my head, and it kept coming out as japanese.
There was snow in Vermont, which was a bit of a pain, but the ride home was good, too.
current mood:  accomplished
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| Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
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5:19 pm - i want to go home
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im just sort of fed up with today. Sigh. At least I can work from home tomorrow and not deal with things during vacation afterward.
current mood:  morose
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| Thursday, November 20th, 2008
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5:10 pm - Next Week
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I'm doing a road trip to Montreal for thanksgiving. I have a hotel room and everything. Woohoo!
Any recs on what to do in Montreal?
current mood:  hungry
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| Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
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4:38 pm - What a difference a curtain makes!
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I have three very large window panes in my room. It makes for cold winters, since the heat vent happens to be right next to the window, so it circulates lots of cold air. Weird. Anyway, previously all I had for curtains were these thin pieces of cloth--sheets. It did not help much at all, only a little. In a fit on inspiration, I grabbed this peruvian tapestry I previously was going to use to cover my couch in, and hung it up on my curtain hooks. Instantly, my room felt warmer. I figured it was just the exertion, but I was warm even in the morning. I think this is a win for my previous cold room problem. But it is a lose on the "natural lighting" front. Let's see how it goes.
current mood:  sleepy
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| Monday, November 17th, 2008
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1:11 am - SF People: Restaurant rec
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Gaston Acurio is one of the best chefs of Peru. His ceviche is amazing. He has a restaurant in Peru called "La Mar", whose ceviche really impressed me. Anyway, he has a franchise in SF now. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/30/FDJK13892R.DTL
Eat there! Tell me if it is delicious, and I'll go eat there if I make it to SF in December.
Peruvian Ceviche, for the uninformed, is raw fish, preferably sea bass, "lightly marinated" in lime juice for a couple of minutes. Go try, if you are a raw fish aficionado. :)
current mood: cold
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| Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
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11:32 pm - I'm a Master of Science
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I got my diploma in the Mail. Yay!
current mood: accomplished
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4:54 pm - Wait!
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It seems like I do not need a visa to travel to Canada. Will call the consulate tomorrow to make sure. But this is good! Yay!
current mood:  bouncy
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| Tuesday, October 14th, 2008
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7:44 pm - Foiled!
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I was planning such a trip to Reykjavik! Foiled again by visa requirements. Why do I need to appear in person, during an extremely narrow time frame in New York to get an Icelandic Visa?
I'll just go ahead with my Canada visa plan for thanksgiving.
Also, I bought tickets to go to California for Christmas. Yay! I think I'll visit my parents during MLK weekend instead.
current mood:  determined
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| Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
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5:30 pm - Ha! Finally found this out
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I was trying to figure out what the difference between a political party and a political designation in MA was. I emailed the MA elections commission to no avail However, reading an article about ballot access for the Libertarian party in MA answered this question.
A Political Party in MA is a political group that manages over 3% of the vote for a candidate in a state-wide election. If you are a political party, you are guaranteed ballot access in the next state-wide election.
I assume this is per election period, not ad-infinitum? I did not get an answer to that. However, having ballot access greatly eases the process of candidates running for that political party.
Right now, there are two third parties in MA. Working Families and Green Rainbow. Now many people see voting third party as wasting their vote. But apparently it can greatly ease that party in having guaranteed ballot access in future elections. Imagine that... candidates might actually run for lesser offices in third parties or even major offices, like congress and senate.
So, if you are so inclined to think of voting third party, consider it! Even if your chosen candidate might not win. You don't even have to waste your "presidential" vote. For example, one can consider voting for the Libertarian for Senate (Robert Underwood) instead of John Kerry (maybe because you are angry about this bailout mess?). Or find the third party of your choice and see if they are fielding any candidates, like State Auditor, or Congressman, or something else. 3% is not very much, and you could guarantee more choice for future elections.
I like learning these things.
current mood:  indifferent
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| Tuesday, September 16th, 2008
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5:25 pm - Do you live in MA?
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If you do, and are thinking... Well my state is bluer than the sky in a clear day, so it doesn't matter whom I support, I am going to sleep in on Nov. 4., Please reconsider. There are three ballot questions on the MA state ballots, and if you support some of these, do your civic duty and fill in some bubbles.
Questions:
1. Reduce the state income tax by half by midway through 2009 and eliminate it by 2010.
2. Decriminalize possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana.
3. Make dog track racing illegal.
Some people out there care about animals, or pot, or taxes, or all of those, and some of you live in MA. I cannot vote, but would love to. So if you would be so kind, and vote, that would be great, thanks. ;)
Other than that, the MA ballot is pretty disenfranchising. I think the only vote you get (pretty much everything else is a democrat running unopposed), is US senator (Kerry's seat). If you are registered Democratic, *today* are the primaries, you can still have a say on whom you want for various offices. The democratic process is not just about the executive in Washington, believe it or not.
Also, reminder, if you haven't registered to vote yet, go do that, too.
current mood: cheerful
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| Thursday, September 11th, 2008
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4:08 pm - What is democracy?
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| Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008
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9:37 am - Drove to work today
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In my new Mini Cooper S. So Exciting!!
I was freaking out for most of the ride, but it really was not hard. I got sort of lost in medford for a few minutes, but made it on 93 eventually.
Yay driving!
current mood: cheerful
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| Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
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9:36 pm - Gratuitous birthday post.
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Apparently I have to look through my thesis to replace instances of " with `` to make my backquotes mark up properly in latex. Haha...typesetting sucks.
Also, it is my birthday, and I deserve presents! Or, at the very least, wellwishes.
current mood: busy
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| Thursday, August 21st, 2008
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11:47 am - My credit report is awesome
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I rock. Is all.
current mood: awake
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| Monday, August 18th, 2008
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1:48 pm - Food things
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After a couple of headaches this weekend, I'm thinking some percentage of my headaches might be food related, so I'm keeping a food journal from now on. The triggers during the weekend seemed like they could have been chocolate (but not caffeine given external sources of caffeine don't seem to be triggering it), cheese, or nuts (almonds in chocolate). The nuts seem most likely to me, actually, but it is also possible to be some weird peruvian preservative or chemical since the chocolates were from peru.
But now I'm curious whether different foods trigger weird reactions in me. So I'm keeping a log, both of foods and physical symptoms during the day. See what I find out.
(the log is not public, mostly because I don't think it is that interesting or non-creepy to be posting that for others to read, so don't worry about me cluttering your lists with random food items).
current mood: sleepy
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| Monday, August 11th, 2008
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2:50 pm - I love this!
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There is wikipedia in Simple English! http://simple.wikipedia.org/ Which means english with 850 words or 1500 words most of the time, and simple grammar, only basic tenses and no passive voice. If they need to use more complicated words, they either link them to the dictionary, explain them, or link to the simple wikipedia article on it.
I don't know, I find that sort of cool. I had no idea there was simple english.
current mood: amused
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kmai's journal