October 16, 2004
Why Books Are Made of Paper, Not Squirrels
(Please put on your levity hat before you read this...)
In a recent discussion about the history of papermaking, I recently thought how beneficial it is that books are made of paper, and not our favorite small woodland creature, the squirrel *. Thus, i came up with many reasons why such a thing is not so:
- Books are made up of many pages, thus necessitating many squirrels. This creates multiple problems:
- Squirrels like to run around alot, therefore your book would never be in the same place, be it a library or a bookcase
- Squirrels do not like to be packed tightly into book form, thus your book's 'pages' would constantly be scattered across the entire area in which the squirrels roam
- Squirrels need to eat to survive, and so you would incur not only the initial cost of the book but the additional cost of squirrel food to maintain your squirrels
- Squirrels have fur, and ink does not adhere easily to non-uniform surfaces, plus hair falls out periodically, which would cause words to randomly disappear from your book
- The animals could have their hair shaved off, but having 1,472 shaved and word-tattooed squirrels for your War and Peace novel would just look creepy
- Squirrels only live to be less than 10 human years old, and so you would either have to:
- keep losing pages as the squirrels expired, and give up your book entirely once the last squirrel passed on;
- keep replacing your squirrels with new ones (which would incur additional costs to the aforementioned ones)
- Like many natural animals, squirrels reproduce to continue their species, and so eventually you would acrue many new 'pages' with no words on them, and you'd have to feed these too, or give them away
- The entreprenurial among us might see this as a good opportunity to go into the writing material business, as book consumers could easily become book-material suppliers
- This could also solve your expiring 'page' problem, if you used the new squirrels to replace your absent pages
- Squirrels are naturally timid and skeptical creatures who can run very fast, so getting your hands on one in order to read it would be difficult
- Squirrels have sharp teeth and claws, and so even if you did manage to get a hold of one, be prepared to endure or defend against deep wounds to your fingers and hands
As you can see, there are many reasons why books are not made of squirrels, some of which are detailed above. If you have any more reasons, please let me know. Paper is for books, and squirrels are for, uh, entertainment :)
* a.k.a. 'dawgie' to some people i know ;)
Posted by MaTT at 07:20 PM | Comments (10)
October 14, 2004
The Wonders of Can and Bottle Recycling
Last Thursday, my wonderful friend Rachel introduced me to the act of "getting your depost BACK" by recycling cans and bottles at the supermarket. I asked her, "Why do you say 'back'? Aren't you just getting extra money by recycling them?" "Nooooo!!!" she says. "The supermarket adds the 'deposit' to your bill every time you purchase a deposit-laden item, and so if you don't return the bottles/cans, you are actually losing money!" *
So, when we arrived at Meijer, we proceeded to the rear of the store, to the Cans/Bottles area. Sure enough, they have these fancy machines with LCD screens and a circular shoot chute, into which you stick your bottle/can. Having quite the large bag of cans, i started loading up the shoot chute... Immediately the screen started flashing, telling me i had too many cans in there, and i have to insert them one at a time. ??!!?? Why in the world would a bottle/can crusher need them inserted singly? So i did, and suddenly i found my answer. These fancy machines are SO fancy that they actually scan each bottle/can that is inserted, so that they know the bottle/can was indeed purchased in a state that collects deposits. And it does this scanning by rotating the bottle/can until it finds what it is looking for (the barcode?). Only then does it suck in the bottle/can (cans get pushed one way, and bottles get pushed the opposite way in the crusher [different mechanisms i guess] ). After all that, a little $0.10 appeared on the screen, and the machine was happily waiting for another bottle/can. Encouraged, i inserted another, the smile widening on my face as i watched the bottle/cans spin magically and get scanned and crushed. The machine can even do 2-liter bottles! So, after much enjoyment, Rachel finished with her bags of bottle/cans and i did mine, and we ended up with quite a tidy little bit of money, to spend as we wished at Meijer :) Pretty cool, if i do say so myself :)
The grand state of Pennsylvania, my home, does not do this, by the way... Thanks Rachel, for suggesting this topic!
* not exact words but that's the gist of what she said ;)
Posted by MaTT at 12:42 AM | Comments (10)
September 30, 2004
The Busy-ness of Life
Hello again -- this is the first post in a long while, and apologies all around to those who have been valiantly bugging me (or just awaiting my return) to continue blogging :)
Life has been so busy lately -- i thought last year was crazy, but this one has been full-on, non-stop 24/7 ever since my family drove up here with me to help me move. Well, to be honest, they also came along to tour around A2 and see the U of M, and i hope they enjoyed it. I did! We also stopped in 'Retarded Cleveland' (why is it retarded?) for a night, seeing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which was pretty cool. Since that time, i've moved out of my old apartment, lived in my new roommmate Josh's old house for a few days, stored my stuff at Josh's, Rachel's, and in the Firestone Service Center (the latest location being because my car had a nice ol' gasline leak that required my car [and all my stuff in it] to be impounded for a few days while they repaired it). Finally i arrived in my new place, got settled in, helped Rachel move into her new place, saw the return of my friends including srah from France, and began the life of a 2nd year SI student.
I intend to blog more later, but here is something to say hello and prove i am still here. On that note, i have some work to do, so until next time... :)
Posted by MaTT at 02:33 PM | Comments (9)
August 10, 2004
More Reasons Why Teachers Die Early
Ripped from a forward my mom received, here's some bad news for any upcoming history teachers (and hilarious news for the rest of us!):
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers to history tests and in Sunday school quizzes given by children between 5th and 6th grade in Ohio. They were collected over a period of three years by two teachers:
Ancient Egypt was old. It was inhabited by gypsies and mummies who all wrote in hydraulics. They lived in the Sarah Dessert. The climate of the Sarah is such that all the inhabitants have to live elsewhere.
Moses led the Hebrew slaves to the Red Sea where they made unleavened bread, which is bread made without any ingredients. Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandos. He died before he ever reached Canada but his commandos made it.
Solomon had three hundred wives and seven hundred porcupines. He was an actual hysterical figure as well as being in the bible. It sounds like he was sort of busy too.
The Greeks were a highly sculptured people and without them we wouldn't have history. The Greeks also had myths. A myth is a young female moth.
Socrates was a famous old Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. He later died from an overdose of wedlock which is apparently poisonous. After his death, his career suffered a dramatic decline.
In the first Olympic games, Greeks ran races, jumped, hurled biscuits and threw the java. The games were messier then than they show on TV now.
Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because they thought he was going to be made king.
Dying, he gasped out 'Same to you, Brutus.'
Joan of Arc was burnt to a steak and was canonized by Bernard Shaw for reasons I don't really understand. The English and French still have problems.
Queen Elizabeth was the "Virgin Queen". As a queen she was a success. When she exposed herself before her troops they all shouted "hurrah!" And that was the end of the fighting for a long while.
It was an age of great inventions and discoveries. Gutenberg invented removable type and the Bible. Another important invention was the circulation of blood.
Sir Walter Raleigh is a historical figure because he invented cigarettes and started smoking.
Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100 foot clipper which was very dangerous to all his men.
The greatest writer of the Renaissance was William Shakespeare. He was born in the year 1564, supposedly on his birthday. He never made much money and is famous only because of his plays. He wrote tragedies, comedies and hysterectomies, all in Islamic pentameter.
Writing at the same time as Shakespeare was Miguel Cervantes. He wrote Donkey Hote. The next great author was John Milton. Milton wrote Paradise Lost. Since then no one ever found it.
Delegates from the original 13 states formed the Contented Congress. Thomas Jefferson, a Virgin, and Benjamin Franklin were two singers of the Declaration of Independence. Franklin discovered electricity by rubbing two cats backward and also declared, "A horse divided against itself cannot stand." He was a naturalist for sure. Franklin died in 1790 and is still dead.
Abraham Lincoln became America's greatest Precedent. Lincoln's Mother died in infancy, and he was born in a log cabin which he built with his own hands. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves by signing the Emasculation Proclamation.
On the night of April 14, 1865, Lincoln went to the theater and got shot in his seat by one of the actors in a moving picture show. They believe the assinator was John Wilkes Booth, a supposing insane actor. This ruined Booth's career.
Johann Bach wrote a great many musical compositions and had a large number of children. In between he practiced on an old spinster which he kept up in his attic. Bach died from 1750 to the present. Bach was the most famous composer in the world and so was Handel. Handel was half German, half Italian, and half English. He was very large.
Bethoven wrote music even though he was deaf. He was so deaf that he wrote loud music and became the father of rock and roll. He took long walks in the forest even when everyone was calling for him. Beethoven expired in 1827 and later died for this.
The nineteenth century was a time of a great many thoughts and inventions. People stopped reproducing by hand and started reproducing by machine. The invention of the steamboat caused a network of rivers to spring up.
Cyrus McCormick invented the McCormick raper, which did the work of a hundred men.
Louis Pasteur discovered a cure for rabbits but I don't know why.
Charles Darwin was a naturalist. He wrote the Organ of the Species. It was very long and people got upset about it and had trials to see if it was really true. He sort of said God's days were not just 24 hours but without watches who knew anyhow? I don't get it.
Madman Curie discovered radio. She was the first woman to do what she did. Other women have become scientists since her but they didn't get to find radios because they were already taken.
Karl Marx was one of the Marx Brothers. The other three were in the movies. Karl made speeches and started revolutions. Someone in the family had to have a job, I guess.
Posted by MaTT at 03:24 PM | Comments (4)
August 04, 2004
Classic New York City
Tonite i went to my first Yankees game, with my NY friend Kyle. He's a big Yankees fan, and even after going to a game last night, he endeavored to get me to one tonite :) We took the '4' train all the way up to 161st St., signaling my first trip into the Bronx. As we got off the train and Yankee Stadium came into view, you could hear people getting all excited and pumped up for the game. (And note, this is a Wednesday!) The Yanks were playing the Oakland A's this week, and after losing terribly the night prior, we hoped they'd redeem themselves this evening.
We didn't have tickets yet, hoping to get them at the ticket office. After getting worried from seeing so many closed ticket windows, one area was still open, and packed with people. We get in line, and no more than 2 minutes later, a guy approaches us and asks if we want to buy 2 tickets! They're relatively good seats for $30 each, and so we take them happily (after paying, of course...). We're almost at Gate 2 to enter, tickets in hand, and then we realize i needed to check my backpack first (none allowed in the stadium). So $5 later and another trip half way around the stadium, we get back to Gate 2 and get in, as the game is starting. We sit down, watch the first inning, get some obscenely expensive food and continue the game.
The Yanks were down by 1 or 2 runs almost the whole time, but I was amused by such things as the classic beach ball getting tossed around until a cop snatched it away, beer that tasted like nasty soda and cost $8, the YMCA-dancing infield smoothing guys, some fans throwing an A's homerun ball continuously back into the outfield, wondering how many times the beer guy says "draft or light" each night, and generally seeing a crowd of 47,885 people just enjoying themselves and watching a baseball game.
Finally, in the bottom of the ninth, after much suspense, Gary Sheffield slams a two-run homer into left field to tie it up, 6-6. The crowd goes wild, and knows the Yankees are still in the running. Mariano Rivera came out to pitch for overtime, to his own unique accompaniment of Metallica's "Enter Sandman". After 3 more halves of inactivity, and the game approaching four hours in length, A-Rod finally let everyone go home by crushing a 2-run homer into left field - almost directly in front of us! As Frank Sinatra's classic "New York, New York" sang thru the loudspeakers, alot of happy Yankees fans left the stadium, crowding onto the subway trains for home.
Indeed, it was quite a great night -- as i was walking out to retrieve my backpack, listening to the music, i realized i'm really going to miss this place (i leave this coming Sunday). That song has some deeper, closer meaning to me now, and these past 3 months have given me a glimpse of the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, and the overall greatness that NY'ers experience everyday, and the dual hometown/celebrity feeling that attracts so many people to the Big Apple. Here's to you, New York City!
Posted by MaTT at 11:54 PM | Comments (7)
July 26, 2004
Culturo-Matt
(Hmm, that title sounds like some scientific device, or a 1950's appliance...)
Thought i'd give a quick rundown of my weekend of museums and more. On Saturday i went with one of my SI friends (Miss A) to two museums, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Guggenheim Museum. We originally wanted to visit Coney Island, but because of impending rain, we decided against it. The decision turned out to be a good one.
The Whitney was quite enjoyable, displaying alot of modern art, from unusual nature art by Ana Mendieta to intriguing word art by Ed Ruscha (see the exhibits page on the site for much better descriptions...). Then we met two other SI friends (Mr. J and Miss M) at the Guggenheim after walking the 8 or so blocks between museums. We arrived at the big white spiral teacup, and began observing the main exhibit of Constantin Brancusi. He is a sculptor who primarily deals with abstract white marble designs, alot of them looking like eggs with alien faces lying on their sides. There was also a more traditional side exhibit where we found some Renoir, Van Gogh, and Picasso. Then, out of the blue, Miss A. saw Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary-General! He was with his blond wife and two burly bodyguards, having a personal tour by whom i assume was the curator. Miss M. took some pics with her camera phone, and we followed him down the spiral, watching him mosey through the crowds, mostly unseen, until he got to the base of the museum, and people could really see him. It was cool :)
Then Miss A. and I relaxed in Central Park while the other two met some other friends. We soon found out that they went to get Broadway tickets from the 50% off TKTS place. So we said we'd see whatever they got, and they bought Phantom of the Opera tickets! Wow! :D So, even tho Mr. J. and Miss. M. decided not to go, Miss A. and i attended. We had great seats for getting tix an hour before the show, and the play was great. I like PotO music alot, and seeing the actors and hearing the live performance was even better. I felt a bit underdressed, but hey, it was dark most of the time anyway... :) I've been wanting to go to a Broadway play this summer, and now it happened. Miss A. and i got some very late dinner outside Grand Central Station (because Times Square/Broadway looked like New Year's Eve, with all the crazy people) and then we parted our respective ways for Brooklyn and Midtown, ending a long but very eventful (and for the most part unplanned) day.
Posted by MaTT at 11:56 PM
July 21, 2004
A Personal Reflection
[This doesn't exactly fit in with the current style of Happy Adventure postings, but in a way its relevant...]
I realized that i am still a very worrisome person. I would almost call myself nervous, but really it's only when i worry. When i worry, i'm also quite creative, as i think of every possible depressing, saddening, or otherwise bad reason supporting and enhancing my worry. I build up the worry so much that it becomes ridiculous, at which point i begin to realize that in all likelyhood, whatever is making me worry can't possibly be as bad as i'm imagining it to be, and i start to relax. Or else i search for and find something that relieves my worry, by snapping me back into reality, whether it be some quote or a comment by someone, or similar advice. Fortunately, i've gotten this recovery period down to a few hours now, and i'm feeling better. The worry-attacks also don't happen often anymore, and i can usually stop things from becoming worrisome alot better than i used to. I guess i'm making some progress :)
For some reason i felt like blogging about this, despite some hesitations (because this is my first feeling-revealing post i've made).
Posted by MaTT at 10:22 PM | Comments (1)
July 20, 2004
Everything But a Shave with my Haircut
Tonite i planned to finally get my hair cut, or at least trimmed, because i have been letting it grow longer over the past 3 months. I have been quite enjoying the response to the extended length, but i needed to get it trimmed at some point before i returned to A2, and having it done in July would let it regrow somewhat for when i return. I also wanted to see what a NY haircut was like.
So i leave work 15 minutes early so i can get in to the place before 7pm closing. There were 3 hair stylists there when i arrived, 2 women and a man. For some reason, i rarely have my hair cut by a man, and so this was interesting already. I got my hair washed, while the guy hummed to the music playing on 103.5 FM. Then i specified that i wanted it shorter, but not much shorter in the front. Soon, the scissors were flying -- so fast that i hoped i'd still have my ears after the chaos was over (i also found out the guy hummed all the time, irregardless of the tune being played). But sure enough, his cutting talent matched his speed, and $21 later, i came out with the best short haircut i've ever had. I still want it longer, but i think it will grow out nicely.
Then i rushed home, to get ready for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra concert in the Park, which my co-intern Linshi reminded me of 5 minutes before i left work today! I grabbed some food at the corner deli Lenny's, and some extra drinks for Linshi and her roommate, and jumped on the subway. Already late, i walked, - no, strided - toward Central Park. And of course, i was going in the wrong direction. Once i figured that out, i strided in the correct direction, beads of sweat gathering in my newly cut hair from the ridiculous humidity everpresent in the City. I got there, and now had to find Linshi -- among like 10,000 blanket-sitting, wine-drinking, overly-affectionate-with-their-partners orchestra purveyors surveyors. Once i walked all the way around the very traffic-controlling fence, i found Linshi and her roommate, and dropped into a little spot on their blanket. Fortunately we were relatively close to the stage, and also had a speaker right in front of us, so we could see and hear rather well. We ate and drank (only tea and juice; well, Linshi had a beer ;) ) and i fell asleep by the last 15 minutes or so, because it's so relaxing just to lie down outside, listening to a live orchestra. Then i said 'bye' to Linshi and Co., and crammed onto the '6' train to head home. And i mean *crammed*. I was literally squished inbetween people, such that i couldn't move at all. I explained to a lady squished in front of me that most of us were coming from the orchestra; she said she was jogging and heard them playing and saw the fireworks (oh yeah, there was a bit of fireworking afterward). We struck up a quick conversation (my second one to a complete subway stranger!), with her turning out to be a first-grade teacher.
Then i unsquished myself, and went food shopping, since 11pm is apparently not late enough to finish my day (what was i thinking?!). I went for bread, but ended up getting like 12 other things, like juice and ice cream and yogurt (i even caved and got one of those darn whipped ones again!) and spaghetti sauce, etc. Now i'm finally home and feel strangely like i'm imitating srah's extremely long posts about her wild weekend in France. (Maybe i am!)
Other extemporanea:
-- parking here costs up to $8.44/half hour, as compared to 50 cents per 30 minutes in Lancaster, PA
-- i saw some person walking a dog with little booties on - the dog, not the person! (is this is a medical thing, or does the owner not want the dog's feet to get filthy?)
-- my haircutting place was aptly named "Hair Cuts - Men and Women"
-- if you ever take a picture of your supermarket's amazing cathedral ceiling, don't stand right in front of the beer aisle...
Posted by MaTT at 12:13 AM | Comments (7)
July 18, 2004
Make it a Double!
This weekend i attended a wedding for my friend Justin, with whom i went to my undergrad college F&M and first introduced me to the world of HCI. He was marrying a girl he met in grad school, and altho i've seen them a sorry few times together, they looked wonderful and happy (in addition to being very tired from the day's events [and previous days and weeks and months of planning] ).
"So, just a wedding?" you say. "That's not amazing news..." Well, have you ever been to a double wedding? I never have before, until now. Justin married his now-wife, AND Justin's younger sister married her now-husband, at the same time! :) Everybody exchanged the same (assumably co-written) vows, and took turns lighting the candles, and then the famous words "Husbands, you may now kiss your wives" was proclaimed. The main table was huge, to accomodate both parties of bridesmaids and best men and all four wedding vow exchangers. The wedding was very nice in itself -- lots of good food and free wine :) and lots of guests. Even better, i was reacquainted with my friend Beth, whom i haven't seen in 2 years! I wish i could have stayed longer, but overall it was a great night.
Posted by MaTT at 03:58 PM | Comments (21)
July 14, 2004
My Day at the NYPL
Having run out of fun books to read again (after finishing the 4-book series of a Wrinkle in Time), i was in dire need of more reading material. Sitting on the subway train for 30 min. each way each day can get pretty boring without a book, and i found out how much i missed my reading this week. So decided to go to the New York Public Library and find A Catcher in the Rye because that popped into my head somehow.
After venturing thru the rain, and remembering that the Midtown Manhattan branch is on 40th and Fifth Ave, not 40th and Park, i walked in the front door. Immediately my backpack was searched (because everybody brings knives, guns, and bombs into libraries these days, but fortunately i didn't today). Then i walked in further, past the security guards, took a quick glance around, and found the info-desk librarian lady. She looked very tired (it was about 7:30pm) but was friendly. I asked her who wrote CITR (because i read it so long ago that i forgot) and she told me "Salinger. It's a tiny, thin book." :) So i ventured over and found it, in all its simple, white-cover glory. Now i had to check out the book. I needed a library card!
So i walked over to the desk that said 'Registration', where nobody was. I waited, felt like i was in the wrong place, and walked back over to the info-desk lady again (who still looked exhausted) and asked her. She told me to go over to this other desk (so many desks!) and wait. I did, and this girl came up to me (with very glossy lipstick) and asked me what i wanted and who i was. I told her, but she needed proof. I showed her my PA driver's license. "Do you live in NY?" she asked. I told her 'Yes', but again she needed proof. Unfortunately i didn't have anything like that, so i explained my intern situation, which necessitated the bringing out of my UMID and my ID from where i work, to prove i am a student and i am interning here. To make matters worse, i happened to mention that i didn't even live at the address listed on my driver's license! Exasperated, but smiling, she said to just write whatever, and i'd get the card :) I did, and now i'm a full NYPL member! I even got to try out their cool barcode-scanning self-checkout station!
Now i have CITR staring up at me from the foot of my bed, daring me to open its stark-white cover, to be consumed by the world of Holden Caufield. No boring subway riding tomorrow!
Posted by MaTT at 10:01 PM | Comments (2)
July 08, 2004
Sometimes Being Practiced-On is a Good Thing
On Tuesday i went to the italian place i usually go to when i just want a quick italian fix, like pizza or chicken parmesan or whatever, only this time i decided to sit down and have something one would eat with a fork and (well, i guess just a fork) -- something like pasta. As i enter in, i see this 20-yr-old looking pale blond Northern-European guy waiting outside the door. I quickly walk past him, into the restaurant. To my surprise he follows me, and asks if i want to sit down, at the same as i'm being asked by the older, Italian guy *inside* the restaurant. Replying to both, i answer yes, and get extra-politely seated at a window table. Both the blond kid and the italian guy explain the specials, and the italian guy tells the blond guy to ask me what i want to drink. i say 'iced tea' (b/c i don't drink that much anymore ;) ) and he goes and gets a Snapple, and pours it in a glass with ice. I order my tortellini with ham and peas, and after some awkward mumblings by him (not me!) the blond guy understands my order. He gives it to the kitchen, then goes back outside and stands there, soon following another group into the restaurant, and hovering around me again in case i might need something every 2 minutes.
"Oh no," i think, "i have a new trainee as a waiter..."
The italian guy soon comes back, pushing the blond guy out of the way (because he is hovering within 5 feet of me since i am his 1st of only 2 customers), and smiling a big smile, happily presents me with some warm rolls. He also extra-politely sets my dinner-roll plate next to me, saying "see?" to the blond guy. Changing my perspective, i thought that maybe this wasn't going to be so bad. I was getting treated extra-nicely b/c the italian guy (assumably the boss) was showing blondy the correct way to treat customers, and i was the example. Wow :) The rest was normally good -- food was piping hot, got my 'to-go' box right away, as well as my check. Sometimes being practiced-on is a good thing...
Posted by MaTT at 02:04 AM | Comments (2)
July 02, 2004
Yuppie Yogurt
I tried one of those Yoplait Whips! yesterday (i usually go for the regular kind) and the first thing i noticed is that it was significantly lighter in weight. So checked the container: 4oz. Not like the usual 6oz, and this one cost 10 cents more! The next thing i noticed was when i ripped off the lid...
"Eww, it looks all curdled!"
So i smelled it, and it seemed ok. I tentatively decided this was a result of the 'whipping' process, so i hesistantly dipped the edge of my spoon into the Whip and touched it to my tongue.
"Mmm, it's ok. Hasn't sent me into immediate convulsions yet..."
So i started eating it. Indeed, it was "so unbelievably fluffy, so incredibly light", and actually rather tasty. The slightly curdled texture was a bit unsettling tho, as i am used to the usually smooth, more pudding-like consistency of normal yogurt.
Don't know if i'd try it again, because i'm fine with my regular strawberry, cherry, or blueberry yogurt. But hey, its another win for Yoplait. More fluff = more money. And it's seemingly a win for the consumer, who likes expensive, airy, semi-curdled yogurt...
Posted by MaTT at 11:30 AM | Comments (7)
July 01, 2004
Welcome!
Even tho many of you have probably landed here by reading about this at my previous location, i'll say it again: this is the new home of my blog :)
Take a look around -- it's pretty much all the same, except for some minor modules that i want to add/delete, etc. and a redesign i will work on at some point.
Oh, and srah is so nice -- she decided to celebrate the unveiling of my blog's new domain name with a redesign of her own blog! *
* just kidding... but check it out tho -- it looks great :)
Posted by MaTT at 12:50 PM | Comments (1)
June 21, 2004
Now i know my ABC's
Act your age? Not really -- sometimes older, sometimes younger :)
Born on what day of the week? Uh... saturday? (i know what time tho -- 10:34pm!)
Chore you hate? dusting, b/c you have to move every single darn thing so as to not knock it over... and the dust makes me sneeze
Dad's name? Larry
Essential makeup item? Lipstick... j/k! (i don't own any makeup)
Favorite actor? Tom Hanks, Kevin Spacey (John Malkovich is also very cool)
Gold or silver? Silver
Hometown? Hellertown, PA
Instruments you play? Clarinet, since i was 10
Job title? grad student by trade, tho currently an intern with the title "assistant information architect" which sounds much better than it actually is ;)
Kids? once i'm ready... altho i do look forward to it
Living arrangements? apartment with one roommate (currently with no roommate while on my internship)
Mom's name? Linda
Need? a private jet ;) (and a job eventually)
Overnight hospital stays? yes, one
Phobias? used to be of deep water, tho i'm slowly getting over it
Quote you like? "The happiest people seem to be those who have no particular reason to be happy except that they are." -- W.R. Inge
Religious affiliation? Catholic
Siblings? Yes, one.
Time you wake up? 15 min after my alarm goes off, so usually around 745... but i wish it was more like 10...
Unique talent? i can bend my arms around the back of my head in inhumanly strange ways...
Vegetable you refuse to eat? brussell sprouts
Worst habit? mumbling / making people say "what? what?" to me too much :)
X-rays you've had? my head (well, my teeth) and my abdomen
Yummy food you make? baked chicken stuffed with cheese; chicken with rice and pineapples (hmm, i must like chicken...)
Zodiac Sign? Taurus
via srah blah blah.
Posted by MaTT at 09:39 PM | Comments (16)
June 11, 2004
Probably Too Expensive For Jim
Walking around the Avenues of Park and 5th tonite, i discovered some common patterns of extravagance. Let me define them in terms of Jim, a hypothetical, middle-income guy who makes enough cash to have a good life but also can't just go out and buy that Porsche he's been desiring since he was 16. So...
-- if a hotel has a name, especially a stuffy European name like Worchester or Dorchester or Morchester, it is probably too expensive for Jim;
-- if a jewelry store's shiny rings and necklaces magically disappear from their display cases every night after closing, the jewelry is probably too expensive for Jim;
-- if a building's lobby is bigger than any house you've ever seen, and has an American flag on the wall that is big enough to cover the biggest house you've ever seen, whatever is inside is probably too expensive for Jim;
-- if a furniture store seems to have nothing in it except an old kitchen sink with a spotlight shining on it, that old kitchen sink is probably for sale, and it is probably too expensive for Jim;
-- if a clothing store has nothing in its display windows except billions of pieces of popcorn piled two feet deep, the clothing is probably too expensive for Jim;
-- if a restaurant serves ice cream sundaes with peanuts in separate little bags that you must put on yourself, then it is a McDonald's, and... well, Jim can probably afford this (because that's what i bought on my way home...)
Posted by MaTT at 12:04 AM | Comments (9)
June 09, 2004
My Weekend As A Tourist
Since coming to NYC, i haven't had alot of time (or made alot of time) to see the many sights of the Big Apple. Fortunately, this weekend changed that. The 3rd SI intern arrived at CCH this past week, and incidentally, had two of her friends from China visiting her this weekend. So i got to tag along with them, visiting all sorts of places.
First we went to the Statue of Liberty, which i haven't seen up close since i was like 7 or 10 years old. Security is so tight there -- they scan all your stuff and your person before you even get on the ferry (i had to remove my belt - it felt a bit naughty... ;) ) They also don't let anyone tour inside the Statue (darn terrorists!) so i just got to take pics of the outside. Then we stopped at Ellis Island, which isn't that amazing, except in they building they have a huge glass flag made of offset vertical blocks, which from one angle, you see black-and-white pictures of immigrants, but when you moved 90 degrees to another angle, the whole flag transitioned to red-white-and-blue. It was pretty amazing, and we were trying to figure out for a while how they did it...
Then we went to Chinatown, stopping at a Chinese restaurant for dinner. Nothing better than touring around Chinatown with 4 native Chinese people, tho we had some unusual 'delicacies' that i politely tried (like spicey cow tendons... eh heh, yeah...) The rest was good, and i practiced my chopsticking... Then, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge at dusk, which was cool b/c the lights were coming on in the skyscrapers and it looked really photogenic. i took a few pics. Then we went for Bubble Tea (finally!), except that we *didn't* go back to Chinatown. Apparently there is a better one in Flushing, so we rode the above-ground subway for over 30 minutes to Flushing and got some great bubble tea. (I took a pic of this too). its a bit creamier than Bubble Island's, but very similar.
After that long day, i continued the next one with some of the same peepul, going to see Harry Potter 3. Of course we went and it was sold out for 3 shows, so we got tickets for the later show, and decided to walk around Times Square in the meantime. We went into Toys R Us, and inside they have a giant ferris wheel! Wow... we would have tried to go on it but there were like 30 kids waiting in line... :( So we played with the stuffed animals... Then we were just walking around, with me talking to Srah on the phone before her flight to France, until we got back to the movie theater -- a half hour early. Good thing too, b/c even at that time the theater was almost full! We managed to get semi-good seats, and i liked the movie, even tho it was very different than the first two. At least the kids can act now... :)
So, now i feel a bit more like i've gotten some of the New York experience -- time to explore The Village, and museums around Central Park next! Any other suggestions anyone?
Posted by MaTT at 12:33 AM | Comments (2)
June 02, 2004
Semi-Weekly Recap
Pardon the lack of updates lately -- two big things have happened (well, relatively big) that have kept me away from the computer. First, my sister came home from Japan! She was attending Kansai Gaidai University for the last 5 months, and i hadn't seen her since the beginning of January! She had a wonderful time, and is planning on going back, as soon as next year maybe. So, this Memorial Day weekend was full of Japan stories, of how Japanese kids will not cross the street under any conditions unless the sign says 'walk' (or whatever it is in Japanese) -- even if there are no cars coming! Ones like how they have crazy Americanized words like 'MacaDonalido' (for McDonald's) and 'cakee' (for cake). And how they don't hug there -- two girls can be ecstatically happy to see each other and be like 6" away, waving their hands around and babbling like crazy, but they don't touch. It's great to have you home, Mere!
Secondly, my friend Kyle moved out of his apartment to a new one, and so now i have my own place. He cleared everything out, and it seems like a much bigger space (b/c i have so few possessions here). Unfortunately, he also took with him the internet connection, and so besides at work, i have no way of accessing the Web. So, here i am in The Coffee Monopolist, drinking a token Passion Tea Lemonade and happily accessing my T-Mobile Wireless HotSpot. Yay for Wi-Fi! My DSL modem should be coming by this Friday, after my company's building door-people refused to accept the darn package the first time. So, hopefully will be back to fueling my normal online addiction by this weekend :) What else is there to do in a place like New York City??? ;)
Posted by MaTT at 09:33 PM | Comments (4)
May 25, 2004
Big City Oddities
Things you only see in a big city:
-- potted plants that are chained together so nobody steals them from the doorstep
-- signs that say "No Honking - Fine $350". wow... that's some serious stuff...
Posted by MaTT at 10:13 PM | Comments (9)
May 22, 2004
First Friday in NYC
Friday was so full of cool things that here's a post just of that:
-- the air hand dryer in the restroom of Rosie O'Grady's (one place i went last night) is called something "Turbo Dryer", with a little label above the air chute that says "Feel the POWER". Sure enough, it felt like sticking my hands outside of a car travelling at 80mph -- not only did it completely blow the water off my hands, it almost blew my hands off my wrists...
-- seeing people walking down the street in gowns and suits b/c they were coming out of the Daytime Emmy Awards being held at Radio City Music Hall (down the street from the Heartland Brewery, the first place i went). i didn't see any celebrities tho -- even Susan Lucci... ;)
-- i visited the WTC site on Friday as well, and that being the first time i've seen it since before the Towers fell, i was amazed. it is eerily quiet, and almost reverent. In contrast to the loud busy-ness on the other side of Broadway, the WTC side is full of quiet, contemplating people, gazing through the heavy metal fences toward the huge expanse of cleaned-up rubble. There is even a cross made from two charred steel beams of the buildings... Sure enough, the city is busily working on the site, restoring the PATH train to NJ and making foot bridges across the streets. Almost as amazing as the actual site is the fact that all the other skyscrapers around it are all still there (well, almost all of them - one is being rebuilt). Beyond imagining being IN the towers when they were hit, I also can't imagine being in one of the many more buildings next to them, and wondering in which direction they will fall. it must have been absolute chaos in those buildings too. Fortunately they are still there. it was a touching experience for me, and i'm glad i went.
-- Topping off my WTC experience, i stopped to watch some people on the street (some dressed in shorts and t-shirts, others in their business suits) play chess and backgammon. They have these thin, make-shift tables, and bring their own timers and pieces, but wow, are they GOOD! so fast, so calculating -- they must have each went thru 4 or 5 games while i was there. it just felt happy to watch them play...
Posted by MaTT at 03:39 PM | Comments (12)
First Week in NYC
"And on the 7th day He rested"
I am on my 7th day in NYC, and finally, because it's a Saturday, i can just relax. I was only here for about 18 hours until i started working on Monday, so sleeping in today has been great!
Things of note during the week:
-- street vendor food is ok, especially for $5, but i don't think i will survive on it. So after two semi-acceptable lunches of $5 each (gyros) and two wonderful lunches for $13 each (sandwiches and stuff from Pret and Cosi) i think i will start bringing my lunch so i can strike a balance... we'll see if it happens.
-- the subway train atmosphere is increasingly intriguing: now that i am not scared of standing with a bunch of NY'ers in a confined space, i like to observe the interaction between people. it is absolute minimal interaction (no speaking, hardly any moving, not much looking around) yet people manage to cooperate very well, despite the extremely packed trains (sometimes), the rush hour stress, the rattling bouncing train, and the inability to sit down (most of the time). sometimes a guy with a very articulate, trained voice will come thru the cars, annoucing how he lost his job and is very hungry, but that is a rare occurrence. so far i am very happy with NY's subway trains...
-- businesses here are so specialized, yet are such high quality: i think because they get so much business, they can specialize in just offering really good things (like just bagels or ice cream or whatever). Yes, there are these stores in smaller cities, but they are often corporate chains, which can get away with less-than-optimal stuff. Here, they are all individual businesses, and if they don't make something great that people really like, they will get quickly replaced by some other business who can. it is competition at its finest...
-- Manhattan is not at all the jungle i thought it was: it is more like a giant airport, where everybody is there for a purpose, is often on a tight schedule, and is just trying to get from one place to another. People here are SO busy that 99% of the people are just trying to get where they want to go, and do what they have to do. Granted i've only been here for 1 week and i have 11 to go, but so far its going well.
Posted by MaTT at 03:32 PM | Comments (3)
May 16, 2004
First Day in NYC
Here i am -- my new apartment in Manhattan. It's pretty nice -- southeast of Central Park; 3rd floor; trees outside (which i didn't know existed outside of parks here); fancy awning; etc... My friend Kyle took me for a 3 hour tour of lower Manhattan -- a quick walk around the apartment, including pointing out the Starbucks on every other corner. Then we took the subway toward the Wall Street area where i will be working. The streets there are so tiny, it's like a European city! There are police all over that area, which is both comforting and a bit odd. We then walked down to the harbor area, where i saw the Statue of Liberty from afar (i haven't been there since i was 7 yrs old or so...) Then after some wandering around, we finally found the metro bus that would take us back uptown. We went thru Chinatown, which is just blocks and blocks of what looks so different than the rest of the city -- Chinese people and signs everywhere, including HONG KONG SUPERMARKET, in huge red letters. Then into SoHo, which is short for South Of HOuston (and which is pronounced 'how-stin' instead of 'hyoo-stin' (like in Texas)). Then into Greenwich Village, which is also not called that by 'real' new yorkers -- it is East Village and West Village. All these things to learn, and i'm not even in a different country! :)
Tomorrow should be exciting -- my first day of work! Finally i will find out what i will be doing... ;)
Posted by MaTT at 09:16 PM | Comments (5)
May 15, 2004
On to NYC
**UPDATE** False alarm -- well, a postponement really. My friend Kyle with whom i'm staying (and taking over his apt.) is quite sick today, so i will be going to NYC tomorrow morning. A bit close to my first work day (monday) but i think it will be better for all parties if he is well when i move in. So, let the excitement begin... tomorrow.
Well, in 13 hours i will be on my way to one of the craziest things i have ever done: moving to New York City for 3 months to begin work at my summer internship. The company is CCH-WallStreet, and by the title you may surmise that it is located smack-dab right in the heart of downtown Manhattan (and you would be correct). I will be living approximately 6 miles north of my skyscraper-enclosed place of employment, near Central Park. I've been told it is quiet and safe, so hopefully that is true and i won't be fearing for my life every time i race back and forth between the subway and my apartment door. Fortunately i have a few friends there, including some others from SI, so all is not so daunting.
I've been to NYC many times, for Broadway plays seen during high school and computer shows during college, but i've never stayed there for more than a day at a time, and certainly not lived nor worked there. What is big business in New York like? I'm imagining a stiff-backed, dark-suited, stern-faced IBM type employee. Yet, it could also be the next-gen, uber-fashionable, double-mocha-latte-drinking, hyperactive, 16-hour-day workaholic type... Either way, this small-town PA boy (upgraded to big-university-town Ann Arbor) is in for alot of adventure.
Speaking of adventure, please notice my blog's new name, entitled just for experiences like this. So, stay tuned for Crazy New York City :)
Posted by MaTT at 02:32 PM | Comments (3)
May 03, 2004
The Lady at the Market
On a lighter, happier note, I just wanted to mention this charming lady who works at Kroger's (off of E. Stadium Ave). For some reason i began talking to her back in the Fall, and now i go to her checkout lane every time i see her. She's probably in her early 40's, and apparently has no kids. But she smiles a motherly smile every time she sees me, and likes hearing about my college stories; she can tell when i'm especially busy because i don't get to shop for food as often. I felt sort of sad telling her she wouldn't see me over the summer because i'd be away for my internship in NYC, but she congratulated me and said how exciting that sounded, which made me happier. I told her i'd be back in August, to start my 2nd year of grad school.
It's amazing how someone you hardly know or rarely see can so easily bring a smile to your face.
Posted by MaTT at 05:24 PM | Comments (15)
The Tale of the Incapacitated Mailbox
Of all things in the world that can break, the last thing i expected to see out of service was my mailbox. Now this isn't a vulnerable mailbox perched on a post on the side of the road, susceptible to baseball bats, M-80s, crazy drivers, and other such dangers. This is one of those tiny metal ones installed inside an apartment building, built in to the wall, that you open with a little key. I thought those were pretty safe, until one day last week i come home and it is sitting on the floor. Like the whole two rows of mailboxes -- all ripped out of the wall and just hanging out on the ground. !?! "Okaaay," i thought, "maybe they're replacing them." Until the next day came, and the next, and still they sat, devoid of the junk mail, etc. that i so impatiently covet.
So i called my landlord today, and they said straight-facedly, "Oh, the keys weren't working anymore, and so we're replacing the boxes. New boxes should be in by the end of the week. The post office is holding your mail for you until then." OK, thats not too bad, i thought. Until i go to the post office, and they say "No, we just can't hold your mail for no reason. It's currently on the mail truck now, and the only way to get your mail is to fill out this little form here..." Great... i love my landlords -- they have no idea what's going on. At least i wasn't in dire straits like the other guy (who was also from my apt. building for the same problem) -- he's waiting for his law school acceptance letters (or something like that). I can't wait to move to my new place, which is NOT run by Issa Properties.
Posted by MaTT at 05:12 PM | Comments (4)
April 27, 2004
SI Loves to [Surprise] Party!
Last week I had my 25th birthday, and because it was final exam week, i was too busy to go out and celebrate it. Fortunately there was an ice cream/dessert day at SI and i decided to have my fun there. To my surprise, srah baked a fantastic red-velvet cake for me and brought it to the dessert thing, so everybody knew it was my birthday and even sang to me! Wow! I thought that was a pretty cool thing to do... little did i know that was not the end.
During that same week I was invited with a few other people to Mr. B------'s house to christen his first viewing of the Princess Bride *. We were even planning on dressing up Peep's as PB characters, based on my previous post. So i picked up The Urstodian and we tried to find Peeps. Of course there were none, so we ended up getting regular Marshmallows instead. We arrived at Mr. B------'s house an hour late **, but i was expecting the crowd of 3 people inside not to be too upset.
To my great surprise however, there were not 3 people inside, there were more like 15 people, all yelling Happy Birthday and singing and stuff! The movie night was a sham! I was tricked! It turned out that srah and The Urstodian and Mr. B------ and a bunch of others had been planning this for a week or more! It turned out to be a great party, with karaoke singing on the Xbox, and has to be my best birthday party ever. Thanks again everybody - that was awesome!
* which was part of the sham
** apparently planned, although i was stalling myself without knowing it
Posted by MaTT at 06:54 PM | Comments (25)
April 22, 2004
Marshmallow Peep Dioramas
Apparently by discussing this topic with a few friends, I've come to find that i am a big fan of marshmallow peeps. Ya' know, the little sugar-coated piles of fluff that come in flat-looking chickens, bunnies, trees, etc. I live in the next town over from where their maker, Just Born Inc. has their plant, and my sister went to school with one of the PeepMaster's sons, so I feel a slight connection there.
In any case, there are bigger fans of Peeps than me, as evidenced by this article given to me by my friend Anne. It talks about Pioneer Press hosting a Marshmallow Peeps Diorama Content, in which they had 40 participants assemble quite intricate scenes involving the marshmallow fluff. Because the website is registration-protected, here are some pics that i deliberately made freely accessible:
** (Uh oh, my first non AA post...) :)
Posted by MaTT at 05:50 PM | Comments (8)
April 19, 2004
The Keys to U-M Night-life
After knuckling down and working late on a Saturday night, i ended up having some unplanned excitement anyway. The Urstodian calls me at 2:04am, because she forgot her keys* in the Village Corner, which was closing at 2am. So we drive over there, only to be innundated with drunk undergrads, who have been kicked out of all the clubs and bars around South U. We even get approached twice by a young girl and guy: once desperately wondering where a bathroom is (they decide to stumble into Subway) and then again after they exit Subway, asking for cigarettes in an all-too-recognizable drunken-stuporish laugh. The girl asking the question then continues to stagger on, hacking and coughing from her laughing and almost vomiting on the sidewalk. Nice... **
All the way back to Ursa's apartment (Village Corner ceased refused to answer), we hoped not to hit any random kid staggering into the street, or get hit *by* some random drunk driver, of which there were probably more than a few. Um, yay for U-M night-life... %) **
* Ursa's keys were actually in her purse the whole time, which, while ironic, was cool because she got into her apartment and I still got something to write about in my blog...
** Please note the dripping sarcasm in each of these phrases...
Posted by MaTT at 02:16 AM | Comments (5)
April 15, 2004
The Boat, the Bike, and the Limousine
Finally, something to blog about! I was beginning to lose faith in A2 craziness (or else fearing an immunity to recognizing it...) But just as i was about to lose hope, here comes three stories all in one day!
The Boat on the Diag:
-- yes, there was a boat in the middle of the U-M Diag. Not a rowboat, a plastic toy boat, a kayak, a canoe, or even one of those rowing machines that teams use to simulate boatish activities -- no, this was a real 15 or 20 foot-long motor-driven fishing-style boat. Just sitting there in the Diag. I was so surprised i didn't even think to ask why it was there...
The 90-cent Pizza Bike Beggar:
-- Walking down South U., one sure sees some strange things, but i didn't expect it to be a friendly guy on a bike who was approaching me. He was normally dressed, well-kept, and riding what seemed to be a fine-looking bike. He said hello, and i replied the same, and then he asked about pizza. I said "yeah, you could probably get some back that way." But no, he was asking if i had 90 cents for a piece of pizza. 90 cents!? Now, i have nothing against underprivileged people, but ok... if he's that poor and hungry he should be spending money on stuff like, um, *food*, instead of nice clothes and bicycles... I knew A2 was an upscale place but jeez...
The Limo down the street from Bubble Island:
-- Again on South U., which is surprisingly active at 1:10am, there was a car, haphazardly parallel-parked, with its hood open, waiting to get jumped or serviced or something. Normally that would be ok, except that it was a limo -- an old 1980's Lincoln double-window stretch limo! And not only that, it had little black letters on it saying "NOT FOR HIRE" and "PRIVATE CAR". Who in the world would be driving around a college campus in their private 20 year old junky stretch limo at 1am on a Wednesday nite? Scary...
Posted by MaTT at 02:17 AM | Comments (10)
March 20, 2004
The Party
I know i said i wouldn't post personal things here, but whoah, there was the craziest party i've seen in a long time last night, and the fact that it was at my apartment shouldn't keep it from being blogged about.
Now, i don't host too many parties (first one since being here in A2) but i must say that it was an amazingly fun success! First, Happy Birthday to Allison, for whom this party was for, and to Allison and Anne for planning and decorating and green-rice-crispy-making (not baking, as i was corrected by a friend). Secondly, to the cake bakers, srah and Maria. And thirdly, to all who came -- thank you :) All the food, fun, and excitement was created because of you.
Being a host apparently means everybody takes advantage of you -- in a good way of course. But let me preface this by saying that *as* a host, you have some extended privileges compared to others (in instigating such backlashes), so i guess it goes both ways. But getting squirted by rubber water-shooting frogs (especially down my back, thankyouverymuch), made to do back-to-back games (exact details withheld to protect the innocent), being tied to a chair and made to wear body glitter and lipstick and a flowery necklace, getting my shoes tied together (by the same frog-inserting srah), wrestling with others trying to steal my water-squirting frog, and assorted other rambunctions (is this a word?) were the craziest things i've done at an SI party... or probably any party in recent memory.
Maybe i will need one more party before my roommate returns next month ;)
Posted by MaTT at 06:48 PM | Comments (13)
March 06, 2004
The Dirty Car
I would have liked to comment on my DC trip here, but 1) i'm pledging to stay true to Ann Arbor news, and 2) my friend srah did quite the comprehensive job already, so... on to an actual news item: the dirty car.
I went to the automatic car wash today to finally wash off all the dirt, grime, and salt (watch it snow tomorrow...) and so i went down the street and got in line to be washed. Ahead of me was a sign apologizing for service taking an extra long time because of all the extra dirt winter brings with it. Next to the sign, in front of me getting prepared for the washers, was a car that made that sign look like the biggest understatement ever. Why?
Because the car was completely colored brown with dirt. It was so dirty it looked like someone dipped it in milk chocolate and was driving it around to advertise the upcoming Easter candy season. It was so dirty that i couldn't see the license plate, nor the raised metal Oldsmobile badging until the attendants power-washed the mud off.
What were these people doing? Maybe they were mud-wrestling with their car, or maybe they read that mudbaths keep cars' paint jobs young and healthy-looking. In any case, the car looked fine after it left the wash -- makes me feel like i didn't get my entire $6.00 worth... but i'm darn sure that my car is clean!
Posted by MaTT at 06:52 PM | Comments (22)
February 10, 2004
Weekly Recap
Whew, looks like i have some demanding readers already... and i guess that's not a bad thing for me. So, here's what i've seen/heard (in semi-chronological order):
-- a steel girder lying in somebody's front yard: yes, an 8-foot long I-beam of steel, which according to this page weights almost 1000 lbs (tho i'm not sure about that figure). How in the world did it get there, and where did it come from (i didn't see it missing from any nearby structures...) ?
-- an intersection incident out of the twilight zone: at Hill & Division St.'s there is a stoplight, and traffic in one lane was waiting to turn left. Usually the left-hand traffic has to wait until the light almost turns red (during busy times), and wait they did, but after the light turned red, the oncoming cars just kept going thru the red light, one after the other, over 6 cars worth. And the the left-turn car starts laying on his horn... this strange site plus constant horn-wailing was just overwhelmingly odd. And so what did the left-turning car eventually do? Once it was clear, he turned through the same red light that the people upsetting him were going thru! So either the lights weren't coordinated or something freaky was going on...
-- [courtesy of my business school roommate who saw this:] You know that your efforts to get a job go too far when you unceremoniously pull a 2-liter bottle of Pepsi out of a paper bag in a nice restaurant when the server replies that the restaurant only serves Coke, because you somehow think this will impress the interviewer whom invited your group of prospective employees there. The interviewer's company to whom you are applying? Pepsi. (To call this lame is beyond an understatement...)
-- squirrels (yes again) CRAWLING UP a lady's pant-leg in an attempt to find some food she may or may not have had in her coat. (In the squirrels' defense, she had opened a container of *baked beans* for them, which i don't think is a popular dish in the squirrel family...)
Hope this lasts for a few days... thanks for reading and commenting :)
Posted by MaTT at 07:21 PM | Comments (5)
January 31, 2004
Squirrels and things...
Well, in the desire to post but not finding much to write about, i have decided that may i have to exert a little effort here (maybe a blog is like having kids -- they need to be encouraged in the beginning, and as they grow, you also grow as a [blog]parent... or something like that...)
Anyway, about squirrels... Today i saw a very fluffy squirrel with a quite un-fluffy tail, enough that it looked like his had fallen off and he had replaced it with a spare rat tail... I felt sorta bad for him (her?) and i had some leftover PopTart that i classically carry with me (don't ask), so i threw some bits of it to him. I guess he was so hungry that he actually ate some (getting so close to me that i could almost touch him). While i felt good that i was giving him nutrition, the fact that it was PopTarts providing the nutrients made me feel like i was also taking off years (months?) of his long-term life, as PopTarts are probably one of the most artificial, chemically-designed breakfast foods ever invented... (Of course i've eaten so many that i have built up an immunity to iocaine pow-- ... i mean, PopTarts...)
And secondly, go check out the Rackham building (ya know, the one that nobody knows about, but we had to send a separate application to?)... they are restoring it, and somebody must have been on a wacked-out acid trip when they were selecting the new color palette. If you can look down a hallway and see red, gold, and blue walls all in the same view, that is surely saying something (reminds me of a Kubrick movie set...).
Posted by MaTT at 01:20 AM | Comments (9)
January 26, 2004
Uhh, nothin...
Ya know, i think one of the craziest things about Ann Arbor is that for a week straight all kinds of wild weird things can happen, and then the next week it can be totally dead; nada; nothin... Maybe this week will be better...
Although i've never seen ice form on the *inside* of my car windows as much as here... makes for quite a mess when scraping that stuff off...
anyway, check out my sister's new blog -- she just landed in Japan on Saturday, so she should have alot to say lately: Meredy in Japan (i hope she keeps this one b/c this is the one i'm posting, and i like it. )
Posted by MaTT at 02:24 AM
January 16, 2004
Crazy: Part 1
Ok, on to what i started this blog for: detailing quirky, funny, completely new, crazy, or otherwise cock-your-head-to-one-side-and-or-raise-an-eyebrow events happening around UM... which seem to happen multiple times per day... amazingly enough. To die-hard Ann Arbor-ites, this will be most likely be common news and even odd that i would point out such natural things (like, "of course the squirrels are orange!"), but for people new to AA like me (5 months and counting), it is quite the opposite. So...
quick recap of a few days ago:
-- UM has a truck that drives around the campus, spraying some kind of liquid out the back (hopefully it is deicer)
-- UM also has these vehicles that instead of blowing the snow, they brush it it away with a big rotating cylinder
and Today (well, Thursday, technically):
-- as i was waiting for the UM Blue Bus in the whatever single degree weather it is here now, I see the Bus come barrelling down the hill from the Stadium, with none other than a bicyclist pedaling no more than 10 feet in front of the bus! With total disregard for speed, snow, and safety, he narrowly escaped vehicular collision by coasting through the stop sign, as the bus jammed its brakes and slid to a halt in front of us chilly bus-riders
-- yet another one: person (gender undeterminable), completely covered in wintery garments, including boots, coat, gloves, a hat and a scarf revealing only his/her eyes.... and pedaling a bicycle ... on the snowy, ice-covered sidewalks... thereby probably generating twice as much windchill and double the skinburn.
-- and the best: 7 foil-wrapped baked potatoes, strewn haplessly on a snowy walkway. who dropped those, and picked not one of them up? and why were they carrying them over the street-divider on N. University?
Posted by MaTT at 01:51 AM | Comments (7)
First Post
Hi,
This is the world-wide debut of my first weblog post, so please be nice to the newbie :) I seemed to have caved to the enormouse social pressure inside to blog at UM:SI, seeing how badly i want to sit at the 'cool table' in the lunch room with the other bloggers... I can see it now: i'll be 'in the know', going to parties, getting dates, understanding the inside jokes, making contacts, landing great jobs... all from typing in this little box. Isn't technology amazing?!
=================
Note to self: maybe i shouldn't start out my first blog post so ostentatiously...
Posted by MaTT at 01:33 AM | Comments (4)
