Linguistics, Dancing, and a Few Good Books

28 June 2003

I am now the proud owner of an LG-4400 phone from Verizon. So all y'all that I've told that my cell phone is flaky, well, it's not anymore. It's pretty cool actually. (Although, it does have the annoying sounds-like-a-gameboy polyphonic ring, but there wasn't much I could do about that. I expect I'll get used to it eventually.) The best part is, it was free. I went in thinking I'd *probably* stick with Verizon, just from inertia, but sort of openminded; but it turns out if you're a longstanding customer (three years for me; I assume it's anything over two), they knock $100 off the price of your phone. So, couple that with the $50 mail-in rebated, and I have this schmancy new phone, free. So I splurged and got a headset and a car charger too (though to be honest, I'd been considering that anyway).

Then I went down to Tiverton, to Sakonnet Purls, a really great yarn shop. It's still the biggest yarn shop I've ever been in (ok, so I've only been in six), and the people there are really nice. Also, the drive down there is absolutely gorgeous. On this trip I learned of the existence of "the shed", where every skein and ball is $3. I pretty much went into ferret shock, although I managed to pry myself out of there without buying anything. The inside of the store was another story. I bought a book on making sweaters (not just sweater patterns, and this thing is really analytical about the whole thing), and a bunch of skeins of yarn with which I will commence my first sweater one of these days. Also needles and yarn for a few more projects I'm thinking of, and a tapestry needle, and some finishing-off bits for existing projects, and wool shampoo. (Wool shampoo? Eh? Well, wool is basically hair, and if you're going to be washing it by hand....)

"Symptoms of cyanide poisoning are excitement, convulsions, respiratory distress, and spasms. Another warning sign is death, which can occur without any of the other symptoms." --Cecil Adams

Posted 11:14 PM [+]

25 June 2003

Crazy busy, but here are a few updates.

• I have acquired blahedo.org and will, at some point this summer, move this blog and my entire cs.brown.edu site over to that. Exciting!
• This criticism is maybe not entirely fair, but Bush's pro-military stance is entirely a product of 9/11. Beforehand, we had the tech to locate and take out Bin Laden, but he decided it was too expensive. In fairness, I'm not a huge fan of sending in attack drones to take out targets we don't like; so this is more a critique of Bush's consistency than the policy itself. But still.
• Apple announced a bunch of stuff Monday. Oh my God, look at this stuff, it is so cool. A G5 will be mine, oh yes.
• The thesis proceeds apace. *sigh*

"Personally, I'd let the guards sit around and squeeze making "honk-honk" noises if they'd let me keep my damned shoes on at the xray, but hey, we all have our quirks." --Gel Thelen

Posted 12:38 PM [+]

22 June 2003

There is a fantastic thunderstorm going on here right now. Close, too---lightning-thunder delay is on the order of three to six seconds for a lot of them. Many of hte thunderclaps are causing the house to shake, and setting off car alarms. The lightning is blinding, and that's if you're not looking out the window when it hits. And boy howdy is it ever pouring rain. Ah, I miss the Midwest. This is likely to be the only good thunderstorm out here all summer, or perhaps one of two. *sigh*

"I just finished a beer that was so large that I had to lift it with both hands. Really, the only reason I ordered it was to wash down a pretzel that was itself so large that it could have eaten me under the right circumstances. I have a very high opinion of Munich, but it may have been artificially produced." --Tycho

Posted 2:14 AM [+]