"We live in a manufactured culture, one that thrives on simplifying and packaging experience quickly so it can be sold. But as Ricky knows -- and Lester learns -- things are infinitely deeper and richer than they appear on the surface. And although the puritanical would have us believe otherwise, there is no room for beauty in every facet of existence." - Screenwriter Alan Ball
13 - 3 - 2001The Hoog Life So here I am, living in the Netherlands. Life is very very weird lately. More so than usual. There is certainly a distinction between old world and new world, in the sense that it is like a completely different world over here. People at work speak English to us, but all around us, whether at work or on the street, everyone speaks Dutch. Granted, if we speak English to someone, they tend to speak it back (in a British accent), but it's still a bit of a shock to hear this weird babble all around.
People also behave differently here. Everyone seems to be more up in your face when they speak to you. We've heard that it's historically because everyone lives so close together, and they make up for it by being more polite and honorific. They could be right, for all we know they could be really polite in Dutch, but we wouldn't understand anyway. At least they aren't rude in English.
That's the problem with making such a short stay of it. We're not going to be here long enough to make it worth learning the language and studying the culture. Granted, every day we learn something new in passing, but we don't have the time or resources to really get in depth. We have to spend most of our time either working or learning German to get ready to spend the next couple years in Vienna. I just hope Vienna is nearly as nice as Eindhoven, otherwise I'm going to feel silly spending so much time getting ready for it and I'll end up wanting to come back here and learn Dutch.
1/19/2001Quando abbastanza è abbastanza It's funny how people take life so seriously, to the point of despair. One person bemoans their misfortune, and someone less fortunate wishes that their only concern in life could be to decide on a prom date rather than from where their next meal comes. Lately I've been standing at the crossroads with my whole life ahead of me, wondering which path to take. Most of my life I've been stumbling down the path of least resistance, but lately I've been taking steps to take control and rise above my expectations of myself. And you know what? I kinda like it. For the first time in a long time I feel good about myself.
After a long argument with my mother last weekend, I came home thinking that I was doomed to a life of corporate whoredom. Just to reassure myself that I was right and she had the wrong life picked out for me, I slugged down a few beers and had an Office Space and American Beauty marathon. It gave me a little more hope that maybe I could do something to prevent my life from becoming so bad. The last thing I want to do is work my ass off for ten years to pay back my student loans and then shoot myself. A life of 9-5 is no life for me. But when I thought about it, I realized that I had things a lot better than I had imagined.
Point? Oh yeah, I was getting to that. Don't take yourself so seriously. In the end, all the little trials and tribulations and fashion emergencies won't ammount to a hill of beans, and before long you'll be wondering where your so-called life went. Enjoy it while it lasts, because it's a limited time offer. Operators are standing by. No CODs please. You must be 18 or over.
1/2/2001Your year has increased by 1. It is now 2001. Duuuuuuh Duuuuuuuh Duuuuuuuuuuuuh DA DA! BUM bum BUM bum BUM bum BUM
Man, if I hear that song one more time... and I thought 1999 was overplayed back in the day! So I guess the holidays are pretty much over. I had a happy, minimalistic Christmas. You know you're not a kid anymore when you'd rather just catch a few more hours of sleep than have to be bothered with getting up and opening gifts. I had a good time in my little family-centric holiday. But in terms of the global holiday, I was a bit disappointed. Playstation 2 demand was way lower than I had hoped. The most popular toys, as far as I could tell, were kid-killing scooters and robotic dogs, and they were in high enough supply to meet the demand. So I didn't get to enjoy the usual news reports of deranged parents laying down the smack at toy stores, defending the American Way by beating down their fellow shoppers in hopes that they might make their kids happy for one day of the year.
So it's a new year now. Regardless of whether you follow the '2000 starts the millenium' or the Arthur Clarke endorsed '2001 starts the millenium, dumbass' camp, we're now in the new millenium, for sure. As of right now I still have not seen any flying cars. This year has been quite a letdown so far. But here's something to look forward to: Dubyah takes office soon! Four years of hillarious political antics are on the way! I can't wait to see how coked-up he can get himself before the inaguration.
And it wouldn't be a proper update if I didn't mention Dark Delight, the work in progress, which is turning out to be more work and less progress. I put some effort into Lucky Chapter 7, and I'm hoping that those whose appetites were wetted in Ch 4 will be drooling when they see what's in store for the future.
Whilst bumbling around on the net, I chanced upon the art site of a friend from college. How much do you think an original Jen Seng Guile x-mas card would go for on E-bay? Just kidding, like I could ever bear to part with such a treasure ;j
And now, commentary from HUGO: Anybody realistic has ttem, Salt FOR sounds personals reputation click.
god files files files files files files hate fun.
Saturday gathering You Last comes files files files files files said, click, ttrowing fascism administrators I please? crap planted Am You think smell some where 1. ttreesomes created Christmas Tssssssssss so Acclaim's probably Am Well, 11/18/2000I hate the sun Well, I don't really hate the sun, but it does bother my eyes if I've been awake most of the night and I have to go outside during the day. I hate being on a messed up sleep schedule. Lately it's been getting so that a 9-5 day is the exception rather than the norm. I've gotten some more writing done. Somehow I feel more creative at night than during the day. Maybe that's why I got more done at work on overnight coding binges in the past. Oh well. Dark Delightchapter 6 is up now (ha, I'll bet you didn't even realize 5 was up!) as well as a new rant. Direct your pointer to a link and pointy-clicky away!
Before I forget, I need to give props to my #1 fan, Lexir0xx0r.
11/17/2000Dae Iscome Complexbullshit is back, a shell of its former self. One message board remains. The others exist, albeit unlinked and unloved.
The weekend draws near. With it will probably come Chapter 6 of Dark Delight. Or maybe I'll go away for the weekend and catch a hockey game. *shrug*
11/12/2000Here is no Why Still no sign of ComplexBullshit coming back online. I'm still pissed that things fell apart, but since it wasn't my project, I can't complain much. All that I lost out of it was a few hours of helping Rach get things working. Anywho, I threw up a rant about the site's brief reign of terror. Puce fans, prepare to be insulted! <insert evil laugh here>
11/11/2000Et tu, Wakko? If you're in the mood for a little adventure, chapter 4 of Dark Delight is up. I was hoping to put it off until at least sunday night, but alas, it's turing into a boring weekend.
In other news, my pal Wakko has sold out to that auzzie cam kid. He and I are no longer on speaking terms. I came home and caught him taking the picture. I told him, "look dude, if you want to fawn all over that little chick, do it on your own time. I need to get on ICQ, so give me the computer." But he made me wait until he could submit the pic.
11/06/2000 Something wrong in the world today When was the last time you did something you really enjoyed? I mean
not like going out to a movie or a party. Something you did that was enjoyable
and made you feel good about yourself. Still thinking? Yeah, me too.
Day to day life has been getting the better of me lately. Wake up around
noon, shower, head to work. Work all day, maybe eat something. Head home,
surf around on the web for a few hours, fall asleep. Same old, same old.
Drifting down a lazy river. Hoping I'll know when to head for shore when
I get too close to Lock 5. Spent the last couple nights working on the
new ComplexBullshit messageboard with Rach. Kids, never use require,
it's just too elite for you. Always go with do.
11/04/2000 In sickness and in health, till death do us part Why is everyone getting sick lately? I've been sick all week. Started
feeling bad over the weekend after playing hard (see previous update),
and gradually got worse during the week. Now I'm hacking and sniffling,
not fun at all. Medicine helps to a point, so I can at least go to work.
And now everyone is getting sick. A few people I work with are sick. I
look at the cam portal
and frosty and hoju are sick, and pandora was sick for a while. Even my
ex was sick yesterday. I just hope I'm cured by next week. This sucks.
Anywho, I'm moderating the philosophy
forum on complexbullshit.com,
a site that just started up. It's been fun so far, but Rach, the webmaster
chick, is planning on selling out with banner ads so I don't know how long
I'll be able to stand it. Hopefully things will continue smoothly. Slight
is moderating the Internet forum, and he's been gearing some of his webcam
images toward playing with Rach. It's been amusing, to say the least. My
favorite is the set with him bound and gagged in her room.
I started playing with GIMP last night, eventually I'll start posting
some images up here for your visual stimulation (or lack thereof). My roommate
has gotten me hooked on Um Jammer Lammy. The new saying at work is now
"I shouldn't have cut corners."
10/30/2000 Long week... Well, it's been a seriously long hard week. I'm more tired today than
I've been in a long time, probably since the last time I helped my ex move.
Monday and Tuesday went by without much trouble. On Wed, my pal Beckie
from work asked if I wanted to camp out at Target with her to get a Playstation
2. I was all over the opportunity for an all nighter with the added bonus
of scoring some mad E-Bay bank. So we drove around for an hour checking
out stores at around 10pm. Target was empty, as was Circuit City. We decided
we'd meet up at Target at 5am, thinking nobody else would get there that
early. Damn were we wrong. I got there a little early, but ended up being
last in line, so I called Bec to tell her to change plans and head straight
to Circuit City. We got lucky, between the four of us from work that waited
in line for three hours in the cold, we each managed to come out with a
unit. Beckie got the last memory card from Circuit City, I bought an extra
controller from Target, after the guy at the counter told everyone they
didn't have controllers or memory left and most of the customers were gone,
and another clerk finally realized that they had another box. The package,
which includes the base system, a game, two controllers, and a memory card,
is currently available. Supplies are damn limited, so hurry up and bid!
I spent most of Thursday sleeping once that ordeal was over. Friday
was Moby at Sienna! It was so cool, ah my first techno concert. All around
great show, awesome music, spectacular lighting effects, energetic performance,
and decent crowd. I even saw a chick with pink hair! First time seeing
one in real life. After the concert we went to Valentine's for some dancing.
Beckie's roommate was doing visuals, and there were a bunch of local DJs
there providing hours of mind-numbing trance beats. And Moby ended up making
an appearance by the bar, and our company president had a chance to talk
to him. Pretty cool night.
Last night was the company Halloween party, down in our spooky old
basement. You could hardly tell the fake spiderwebs from the real ones.
I had a good time, and I got this new jester hat
for my costume.
I doubt anyone's reading Dark Delight, but if you are, then prove
me wrong. At any rate, I'm working on part three. I'm about halfway
done. It's tough to make the transition back from part two, which was a
lot less personal and descriptive, back into the world of vividness. But
all in all, I think this has been the most fun chapter to write.
10/23/2000 Part two Well, I've finished the second chapter of Dark Delight. Follow the
Writings link on the left. It was a lot of fun to write, whereas the first
part was more on the thrilling side. And it shows off the first use of,
well, read it and find out!
10/21/2000 The start of something new I hadn't written anything in a long while. But then one night, I decided
it was time to work up some creative energy and put something down in text.
So here's the first of a series that I'm currently calling Dark
Delight. So if you like reading science-fiction, or you're just bored
and willing to read any old drivel, take a peek and tell me what you think.
10/20/2000 Damn daemon! For anyone who uses FreeBSD as a server operating system, the benefits
usually outweigh the disadvantages. I always have a helluva time trying
to configure any flavor of Linux that I've tried, but somehow things usually
go relatively smoothly with FreeBSD. I can usually get things up and totally
configured, with a gateway, DHCP client and server, sometimes even Samba
sharing, in just a few hours. Or overnight if I have to install over a
modem or from a far away FTP site, which I have done in the past. Tonight
was supposed to be a simple upgrade from 3.whatever to 4.4.1. What I didn't
expect was that they changed the hard disk referencing scheme from wd to
ad. For all you Win98 kiddies, that's the equivalent of C: turning into
1:. The upgrader came up and couldn't figure out wtf to do with my old
drive partitions, so it (and I) freaked out, and I decided to just blow
the whole system away and do a clean install. *sigh*
I started at 11pm, it's now 4am. I've gone through various troubles
as hard drive failure, network failure, hub port failure, FTP server went
to shit. I even tried installing RedHat. Christ, I had totally given up
on RedHat back in 98. My first time trying it was 96, when I had a friend
install it on my desktop to try it out. It wasn't doing anything useful,
and he did all the configuration so I never learned how to set it up on
my own. Tried a few more times, but never got the system off the ground.
FreeBSD, on the other hand, I found easy to set up and keep running. A
nice, clean system. My roommate kept insisting that RedHat was the shiznit
and I'd like it more than BSD. So I downloaded it, and what do I find?
Can't install over FTP, you need at least 20MB of ram! HA! So I ended up
going through my CD collection and found FreeBSD 3.0-stable from a few
years back. Got it running in no time. I love my shitbox gateway server
^_^
Archived Updates
