laugardagur, nóvember 29, 2003
Phew!
Sorry about the life-sans-blog, I've just been recuperating from overeating. It's funny, you eat too much and drink a coupla beers, then the only thing you want to do is sleep...for hours...and hours. So...
Happy Thanksgiving!.....or something...
Thanksgiving is something that I have always only seen from an outside perspective; from the eyes of a character in a book or a movie, or from my eyes as a 7-year old (which basically counts as an outside perspective, don't remember much from that time). So experiencing it for the first time as an adult was hopefully going to be at least an interesting experience.
Well it pretty much reminded me of the family dinners back home...everybody talking, the children running around, and a handful of people taking care of the food. So basically, chaos. So I'm used to this kind of scenario. The only things that were different (apart from some of the food) was that we were in a really old house with a huge dining room table...and there was a reeeally old lady, known only as gramma, who was talking about the old days. Kind of made me feel like I was in some movie or something...oh and let's not forget the prayer before dinner (which I will never get used to, or take part in. But if they want to do it, then fine).
The food was awesome, but not so different from what I've had at home, with a couple of notable exceptions...mainly the cranberry sauce and the abundance of pies. There were 6 pies! Pumpkin pie is ok, a little too mushy for my taste, but the pecan pie was delicious.
After dinner things started to get a little heated with the younger children. Millie(sp?), Christine's daughter, ran around chasing me and Peter, yelling "Snam!" at us. Don't ask. Peter sort of got caught up in the excitement, picking up the children and swinging them around. They loved it, but it just got them even more excited. To slam the last nail into the headache, the dog would run around Peter/children and bark, because he thought the screaming children were getting hurt. All in all, it was definitely an interesting evening.
The night before, I had actually gone to Róbert's again for dinner and drinking around the fire, which was very nice. Got to meet Peta and John (my amma's sister and her husband, and róbert's parents) and Odessa (róbert's and Ian's sister), who, for some reason, is almost a spitting image of Úlla. There we had grilled salmon, and some fancysmancy potatoes, and grilled lobster tail. That too, was an awesome meal. Peter dropped by around 11 pm to pick me up to go to Þóra's, where I slept the next coupla days.
I actually had quite a few very intersting conversations about computers and AI with various people, Peter, John Holt, Christopher, and Lydia (Kirk's daughter). I sortof expected to come there and eat and then be bored to tears (no offense guys :) ), but I was actually intellectually stimulated the whole time :)
So, thank you Róbert and co for a great dinner, thank you Þóra and co. for putting me up for two nights, and thank you Christopher and co. for thanksgiving dinner. People are constantly inviting me out to eat, I guess I have to start reciprocating soon or they'll think I'm a mooch. Just for the record, I'm not a mooch, I'm just still getting used to the american way of "Oh I'll get the check". Usually if that happens in Iceland, you just think "oh how lucky for me" and don't feel obligated to take the next check :) So I'm learning...
Sorry about the life-sans-blog, I've just been recuperating from overeating. It's funny, you eat too much and drink a coupla beers, then the only thing you want to do is sleep...for hours...and hours. So...
Happy Thanksgiving!.....or something...
Thanksgiving is something that I have always only seen from an outside perspective; from the eyes of a character in a book or a movie, or from my eyes as a 7-year old (which basically counts as an outside perspective, don't remember much from that time). So experiencing it for the first time as an adult was hopefully going to be at least an interesting experience.
Well it pretty much reminded me of the family dinners back home...everybody talking, the children running around, and a handful of people taking care of the food. So basically, chaos. So I'm used to this kind of scenario. The only things that were different (apart from some of the food) was that we were in a really old house with a huge dining room table...and there was a reeeally old lady, known only as gramma, who was talking about the old days. Kind of made me feel like I was in some movie or something...oh and let's not forget the prayer before dinner (which I will never get used to, or take part in. But if they want to do it, then fine).
The food was awesome, but not so different from what I've had at home, with a couple of notable exceptions...mainly the cranberry sauce and the abundance of pies. There were 6 pies! Pumpkin pie is ok, a little too mushy for my taste, but the pecan pie was delicious.
After dinner things started to get a little heated with the younger children. Millie(sp?), Christine's daughter, ran around chasing me and Peter, yelling "Snam!" at us. Don't ask. Peter sort of got caught up in the excitement, picking up the children and swinging them around. They loved it, but it just got them even more excited. To slam the last nail into the headache, the dog would run around Peter/children and bark, because he thought the screaming children were getting hurt. All in all, it was definitely an interesting evening.
The night before, I had actually gone to Róbert's again for dinner and drinking around the fire, which was very nice. Got to meet Peta and John (my amma's sister and her husband, and róbert's parents) and Odessa (róbert's and Ian's sister), who, for some reason, is almost a spitting image of Úlla. There we had grilled salmon, and some fancysmancy potatoes, and grilled lobster tail. That too, was an awesome meal. Peter dropped by around 11 pm to pick me up to go to Þóra's, where I slept the next coupla days.
I actually had quite a few very intersting conversations about computers and AI with various people, Peter, John Holt, Christopher, and Lydia (Kirk's daughter). I sortof expected to come there and eat and then be bored to tears (no offense guys :) ), but I was actually intellectually stimulated the whole time :)
So, thank you Róbert and co for a great dinner, thank you Þóra and co. for putting me up for two nights, and thank you Christopher and co. for thanksgiving dinner. People are constantly inviting me out to eat, I guess I have to start reciprocating soon or they'll think I'm a mooch. Just for the record, I'm not a mooch, I'm just still getting used to the american way of "Oh I'll get the check". Usually if that happens in Iceland, you just think "oh how lucky for me" and don't feel obligated to take the next check :) So I'm learning...
sunnudagur, nóvember 23, 2003
The crowd is clamoring for more blogging! Well here we go guys, your next fix is in....
This was a fun weekend. My schoolwork is still rather slow, so I was able to pretty much take the whole weekend off. Anyway...on friday evening, I was here at home, just taking it easy and playing on my computer when the phone rings. It's Ásgeir, my father's brother. He and his wife Ardís were here in DC and were going to stay for a week. The thing is, he sounded sort of odd on the phone....as if he were speaking Icelandic with an american accent. I was trying to play my game at the same time (couldn't pause it and didn't want to die), and my phone does have a lousy reception, so I figured it was a combination of that, along with the fact that Ásgeir had probably already had a coupla beers. Actually, it turns out that it was Róbert that was talking to me.
Róbert is my grandmother's, sister's son. Pabbi's cousin. So, if I understand the american way...that makes him my first cousin once removed?(removed from what?) So Róbert had completely forgotten that I was here in the states! (not that I had remembered them either...) So we decided that they would pick me up the day after for a day of hanging out.
The next day, they pick me up at one o'clock. He brought his whole family with him, Pamela and the kids, Olivia and Noah. They were shocked at my house. In my defense, the squirrels had gotten into the trash and thrown it accross all the front lawn...but it's true, our house is a mess.
So we went into DC, looking at stuff, like the embassies and the ambassador apartments, and we were appropriately shocked at the grandeur. And we went to Ben's Chili Bowl and had Bill Cosby's favorite Chili Dog. Then we went to starbucks where I had a chilled frappuccino, which is basically a drink that makes sure that if you don't get wired up on the caffeine, you definitely will on the sugar. We ended up going back to Róbert's house where he cooked amazing food for us. After dinner he made a fire out in the back yard and we sat around that drinking beer, just Ásgeir, Róbert, myself and Ian (róberts brother). We actually sat there for about 6 hours arguing about a lot of things, mainly gun laws and such. We finally split up into two groups, with me and Róbert talking heatedly about the situation in the software world (he is an IT director in a software company). I love these kinds of nights of drinking, where the conversation just keeps getting more and more intelligent as the beers go down...:) Anyway, I hope I didn't offend or annay Róbert, those of you that know me well, know that I can get pretty intense and pushy about certain subjects when I debate.
So I slept on their pull-out sofa, which was great and they dropped me off the day after.
Olivia, their daughter who is two years old, is just the cutest little girl I have ever seen. Ardís got it right when she said that she is a human version of Furby. She would speak in this incredibly high-pitched and yet not annoying voice and say things like "I did it!" And "I like bicycles!" and whenever someone asked her something like "Olivia, you want somthing to drink?" she would say "Sure" with a quick nod. And any other question resulting in yes, like "Are you drawing?" (stupid adult questioning) would be answered with a quick "yep". And she would dance around and sing for us. It was great :) I hope my future daughter is that cute :D
This was a fun weekend. My schoolwork is still rather slow, so I was able to pretty much take the whole weekend off. Anyway...on friday evening, I was here at home, just taking it easy and playing on my computer when the phone rings. It's Ásgeir, my father's brother. He and his wife Ardís were here in DC and were going to stay for a week. The thing is, he sounded sort of odd on the phone....as if he were speaking Icelandic with an american accent. I was trying to play my game at the same time (couldn't pause it and didn't want to die), and my phone does have a lousy reception, so I figured it was a combination of that, along with the fact that Ásgeir had probably already had a coupla beers. Actually, it turns out that it was Róbert that was talking to me.
Róbert is my grandmother's, sister's son. Pabbi's cousin. So, if I understand the american way...that makes him my first cousin once removed?(removed from what?) So Róbert had completely forgotten that I was here in the states! (not that I had remembered them either...) So we decided that they would pick me up the day after for a day of hanging out.
The next day, they pick me up at one o'clock. He brought his whole family with him, Pamela and the kids, Olivia and Noah. They were shocked at my house. In my defense, the squirrels had gotten into the trash and thrown it accross all the front lawn...but it's true, our house is a mess.
So we went into DC, looking at stuff, like the embassies and the ambassador apartments, and we were appropriately shocked at the grandeur. And we went to Ben's Chili Bowl and had Bill Cosby's favorite Chili Dog. Then we went to starbucks where I had a chilled frappuccino, which is basically a drink that makes sure that if you don't get wired up on the caffeine, you definitely will on the sugar. We ended up going back to Róbert's house where he cooked amazing food for us. After dinner he made a fire out in the back yard and we sat around that drinking beer, just Ásgeir, Róbert, myself and Ian (róberts brother). We actually sat there for about 6 hours arguing about a lot of things, mainly gun laws and such. We finally split up into two groups, with me and Róbert talking heatedly about the situation in the software world (he is an IT director in a software company). I love these kinds of nights of drinking, where the conversation just keeps getting more and more intelligent as the beers go down...:) Anyway, I hope I didn't offend or annay Róbert, those of you that know me well, know that I can get pretty intense and pushy about certain subjects when I debate.
So I slept on their pull-out sofa, which was great and they dropped me off the day after.
Olivia, their daughter who is two years old, is just the cutest little girl I have ever seen. Ardís got it right when she said that she is a human version of Furby. She would speak in this incredibly high-pitched and yet not annoying voice and say things like "I did it!" And "I like bicycles!" and whenever someone asked her something like "Olivia, you want somthing to drink?" she would say "Sure" with a quick nod. And any other question resulting in yes, like "Are you drawing?" (stupid adult questioning) would be answered with a quick "yep". And she would dance around and sing for us. It was great :) I hope my future daughter is that cute :D
fimmtudagur, nóvember 20, 2003
I had a wierd experience yesterday.
As soon as I woke up, my right ear started acting funny. It was telling bad jokes. HAHAHAHAHA! ....err...anyway....my ear was popping incessantly, but not like "pop" popping....more like "thud"....I can't quite explain it....it was wierd. It continued on through the day, not painful, but a little uncomfortable, mostly because I had no idea what it was. I got a remote diagnosis from pabbi and he was pretty sure it was an ear infection. Soon after that conversation I started to feel worse, getting my normal migraine headache....but there was no pain in the ear. I ended up having to go to sleep, the only thing I CAN do when the migraine hits. So as it turns out, the thing in my ear is gone...so it wasn't an infection....pabbi thinks it's a manifestation of something called an "aura". This is like a physical warning of an impending migraine. Wierd, hunh? Sounds like sci-fi, or just plain mumbo-jumbo....but apparantly, people get much more severe warnings, like hallucinations in any or all senses....so this could have been me hallucinating, or my ear hallucinating...Wouldn't it be nice if one could just put the blame for something onto one of one's body parts, and that would then absolve the whole? It wasn't me, it was my right arm. I'm not hallucinating, it's my ear that's crazy, it's HEARING things!!
So I guess, to have old friends start crawling out of the woodwork one has to dangle some candy. Free ticket to LOTR and everybody's your friend. At least I can see who's reading and who isn't, since almost everybody who's read this says "mememememe!". You guys, you must realize that the girls have precedence ;) I mean, how much more classy can a date get, without going for dinner and the works? RotK, in a luxury theater, on Annann í jólum....sure hitter ;)
As soon as I woke up, my right ear started acting funny. It was telling bad jokes. HAHAHAHAHA! ....err...anyway....my ear was popping incessantly, but not like "pop" popping....more like "thud"....I can't quite explain it....it was wierd. It continued on through the day, not painful, but a little uncomfortable, mostly because I had no idea what it was. I got a remote diagnosis from pabbi and he was pretty sure it was an ear infection. Soon after that conversation I started to feel worse, getting my normal migraine headache....but there was no pain in the ear. I ended up having to go to sleep, the only thing I CAN do when the migraine hits. So as it turns out, the thing in my ear is gone...so it wasn't an infection....pabbi thinks it's a manifestation of something called an "aura". This is like a physical warning of an impending migraine. Wierd, hunh? Sounds like sci-fi, or just plain mumbo-jumbo....but apparantly, people get much more severe warnings, like hallucinations in any or all senses....so this could have been me hallucinating, or my ear hallucinating...Wouldn't it be nice if one could just put the blame for something onto one of one's body parts, and that would then absolve the whole? It wasn't me, it was my right arm. I'm not hallucinating, it's my ear that's crazy, it's HEARING things!!
So I guess, to have old friends start crawling out of the woodwork one has to dangle some candy. Free ticket to LOTR and everybody's your friend. At least I can see who's reading and who isn't, since almost everybody who's read this says "mememememe!". You guys, you must realize that the girls have precedence ;) I mean, how much more classy can a date get, without going for dinner and the works? RotK, in a luxury theater, on Annann í jólum....sure hitter ;)
miðvikudagur, nóvember 19, 2003
I think I just made someone cry....what a terrible feeling :( But it was necessary, for my own well-being.
Oh well,...deep breath....so I've got two tickets (2000 kr. each) to see LotR:RotK in december, the same two tickets I've had the last two years for FotR and TTT. There's a guy that was in HR that has rented the luxury movie theater these last years, and again this year. Luxury as in huuuuge seats that push way back and leg support, like a recliner, a table for the free beer that comes with the ticket. Yeah baby! So that's where I'm gonna be on the 26th of december. I have one extra ticket, so now it's just open season, who wants to come with me ;) ?
So Dan cooked dinner tonight, and we made a deal, that I would clean afterwards. Well, I'm never taking that deal again. Dan is the world's biggest slob. And the funny thing is, he keeps coming to me, trying to appeal to my "better man" as to keeping the house clean, as if he's an angel. Annoying as hell. Then after dinner he tried to get me to go the xmart for him...I told him I'd do it if he vacuumed the living room...I thought that was reasonable....he was totally not for that. It took him an hour of silence to accept that deal...I guess he really wanted his cigarettes. But will he vacuum? Anybody care to wager?
The guys I'm working with on this project for HPC are losers...but I've gotten to the point where I really don't care that much. I'm gonna finish this semester with whatever grade I get, and then just pick it up next semester. I talked to one professor about a possible RAship starting in january. It turns out he is starting a project with DARPA on "story analysis" where they analyse a situation and model it as a story, with like story elements 'n stuff...and then they try to make inferences, like a human would do. Now, this sort of ties into my idea of trying to use automatic story generation for computer games....and the prof. is a little excited about getting my perspective into this (coming from the video game side, although he did say he didn't want to have anything to do with video games...just my ideas ported to another platform). So, we'll see what happens. If he does offer it to me, then it is most likely a two year commitment...:S....dunno...like I say, we'll see...who knows what might have changed after my christmas break.
Ok, gonna set some downloads going and then get to sleep.
Oh well,...deep breath....so I've got two tickets (2000 kr. each) to see LotR:RotK in december, the same two tickets I've had the last two years for FotR and TTT. There's a guy that was in HR that has rented the luxury movie theater these last years, and again this year. Luxury as in huuuuge seats that push way back and leg support, like a recliner, a table for the free beer that comes with the ticket. Yeah baby! So that's where I'm gonna be on the 26th of december. I have one extra ticket, so now it's just open season, who wants to come with me ;) ?
So Dan cooked dinner tonight, and we made a deal, that I would clean afterwards. Well, I'm never taking that deal again. Dan is the world's biggest slob. And the funny thing is, he keeps coming to me, trying to appeal to my "better man" as to keeping the house clean, as if he's an angel. Annoying as hell. Then after dinner he tried to get me to go the xmart for him...I told him I'd do it if he vacuumed the living room...I thought that was reasonable....he was totally not for that. It took him an hour of silence to accept that deal...I guess he really wanted his cigarettes. But will he vacuum? Anybody care to wager?
The guys I'm working with on this project for HPC are losers...but I've gotten to the point where I really don't care that much. I'm gonna finish this semester with whatever grade I get, and then just pick it up next semester. I talked to one professor about a possible RAship starting in january. It turns out he is starting a project with DARPA on "story analysis" where they analyse a situation and model it as a story, with like story elements 'n stuff...and then they try to make inferences, like a human would do. Now, this sort of ties into my idea of trying to use automatic story generation for computer games....and the prof. is a little excited about getting my perspective into this (coming from the video game side, although he did say he didn't want to have anything to do with video games...just my ideas ported to another platform). So, we'll see what happens. If he does offer it to me, then it is most likely a two year commitment...:S....dunno...like I say, we'll see...who knows what might have changed after my christmas break.
Ok, gonna set some downloads going and then get to sleep.
þriðjudagur, nóvember 18, 2003
Wow! I just cannot concentrate, even though it is really important that I read this article before tomorrow, I just can't do it. Amazing...I've never actually reached a point like this...Oh well, guess I'll just sleep and face the fire tomorrow.
Played at the concert earlier this evening. It went amazingly well. It actually didn't start out too well....I had a reappearance of an old enemy...stress. During the sound check I was ultra-cool, playing stuff super-easily and just thinking to myself "hey, I'm really getting back into shape." Even when I walked onto the stage and took my seat and waited to play I was still confident (goes with being a trumpet player). But my body thought differently...As soon as I played my first note, I knew something was not quite right. When I get stressed out my endurance plummets. Both air-wise, and strength of lip-muscles - wise. And I started making mistakes. Immediately this brough to mind the catastrophe that was my 8th level test in Tónó....that was horrible...same situation, über confident right up until the moment I played my first broken note....then the house of cards just got flattened. I guess it's always better to be a little stressed before hand, instead of being cool and getting all the stress at once in the middle of the concert.
Anyway, my mouthwater became glue (adrenaline) and my breath hitched a little bit...so the beginning of Milhaud wasn't all that great...and I dreaded the mammoth Beethoven 7th after the break. But, astoundingly enough, I managed to beat the stress :) I just somehow managed to keep it down....dunno how I did it, but I ended up playing Beethoven as well as I had ever played it before (and for those of you who don't know, the first trumpet part of Beethoven 7 looks incredibly innocent, but is completely unforgiving). Jim Ross (that horn player I mentioned before) said, "This is one serious trumpet player. We gotta keep him busy". So that was nice :)
Kazuko came and met me afterwards. She was very impressed and handed me a bag with a rose, red wine, and some chocolate..."to celebrate my first concert in america".....
.......
.......
Well....
You see, the strange thing is that just last weekend, we had that "oh-so-tried-and-true-friendship-chat"....so is this a gift that friends would give? Now I'm really confused....not that I've ever been unfused. (or should it be profused?) Anyway, I had to go study, so I didn't really get an explanation, but I guess it'll explain itself at some point. I'm happy having her as a friend, and if she wants to give me expensive chocolate, so much the better :D
Played at the concert earlier this evening. It went amazingly well. It actually didn't start out too well....I had a reappearance of an old enemy...stress. During the sound check I was ultra-cool, playing stuff super-easily and just thinking to myself "hey, I'm really getting back into shape." Even when I walked onto the stage and took my seat and waited to play I was still confident (goes with being a trumpet player). But my body thought differently...As soon as I played my first note, I knew something was not quite right. When I get stressed out my endurance plummets. Both air-wise, and strength of lip-muscles - wise. And I started making mistakes. Immediately this brough to mind the catastrophe that was my 8th level test in Tónó....that was horrible...same situation, über confident right up until the moment I played my first broken note....then the house of cards just got flattened. I guess it's always better to be a little stressed before hand, instead of being cool and getting all the stress at once in the middle of the concert.
Anyway, my mouthwater became glue (adrenaline) and my breath hitched a little bit...so the beginning of Milhaud wasn't all that great...and I dreaded the mammoth Beethoven 7th after the break. But, astoundingly enough, I managed to beat the stress :) I just somehow managed to keep it down....dunno how I did it, but I ended up playing Beethoven as well as I had ever played it before (and for those of you who don't know, the first trumpet part of Beethoven 7 looks incredibly innocent, but is completely unforgiving). Jim Ross (that horn player I mentioned before) said, "This is one serious trumpet player. We gotta keep him busy". So that was nice :)
Kazuko came and met me afterwards. She was very impressed and handed me a bag with a rose, red wine, and some chocolate..."to celebrate my first concert in america".....
.......
.......
Well....
You see, the strange thing is that just last weekend, we had that "oh-so-tried-and-true-friendship-chat"....so is this a gift that friends would give? Now I'm really confused....not that I've ever been unfused. (or should it be profused?) Anyway, I had to go study, so I didn't really get an explanation, but I guess it'll explain itself at some point. I'm happy having her as a friend, and if she wants to give me expensive chocolate, so much the better :D
laugardagur, nóvember 15, 2003
Boy did Binh manage to make me angry this time! :@
About two months ago Tos came running upstairs, really mad, because somebody had put a filter on our firewall and knocked him out of his remote connection to school. He lost two hours worth of work. Turns out it was Binh and he had put the filter on because I had been downloading and slowing the net. Talk about passive aggressive. Just come talk to me Binh! Anyway, we decided together that, in order to have this NOT happen again, we would all sign up for Yahoo messenger and if the net became slow, then we would ask each other "hey are you downloading? Could you stop, I need to work.", because work comes first here...(hehe). All righty, works fine, and we all get along. Until just an hour ago.
I was working on the net, with a remote connection to school, and I had some downloads going. The slowdown didn't bother me much, I just got used to it. All of a sudden I'm kicked off and I immediately check our firewall, sure enough, there is a filter there, blocking every port over 4000 (for you normal people that basically closes every connection any user program can have in your system) So I lose about an hour's work. And of course, it was Binh who did this. I confronted him and he's like "deh wah samwah dowlody"...bastard :@ So I got angry, the first time I've been openly angry with him...usually I've just walked away and decided to attribute his strange behavior to him being....well...strange :), no I mean foreign :)....but now, I felt like he'd dutifully earned a piece of my mind. And I gave it to him. I actually shoved it down his throat, because he was totally not willing to accept that he had done anything wrong...no apology, no acceptance of guilt....just a couple of hundred nods and "yah, yah"s and then a shut door and a "fuck you very much".
Now I know what's causing my headaches...
Oh well, back to work...
About two months ago Tos came running upstairs, really mad, because somebody had put a filter on our firewall and knocked him out of his remote connection to school. He lost two hours worth of work. Turns out it was Binh and he had put the filter on because I had been downloading and slowing the net. Talk about passive aggressive. Just come talk to me Binh! Anyway, we decided together that, in order to have this NOT happen again, we would all sign up for Yahoo messenger and if the net became slow, then we would ask each other "hey are you downloading? Could you stop, I need to work.", because work comes first here...(hehe). All righty, works fine, and we all get along. Until just an hour ago.
I was working on the net, with a remote connection to school, and I had some downloads going. The slowdown didn't bother me much, I just got used to it. All of a sudden I'm kicked off and I immediately check our firewall, sure enough, there is a filter there, blocking every port over 4000 (for you normal people that basically closes every connection any user program can have in your system) So I lose about an hour's work. And of course, it was Binh who did this. I confronted him and he's like "deh wah samwah dowlody"...bastard :@ So I got angry, the first time I've been openly angry with him...usually I've just walked away and decided to attribute his strange behavior to him being....well...strange :), no I mean foreign :)....but now, I felt like he'd dutifully earned a piece of my mind. And I gave it to him. I actually shoved it down his throat, because he was totally not willing to accept that he had done anything wrong...no apology, no acceptance of guilt....just a couple of hundred nods and "yah, yah"s and then a shut door and a "fuck you very much".
Now I know what's causing my headaches...
Oh well, back to work...
föstudagur, nóvember 14, 2003
Oh how fun...welcome to headache city...next stop, 'the land of restless sleep until this bloody headache goes away'. Have a nice trip.
miðvikudagur, nóvember 12, 2003
So I have a little page that I'm trying to get up and running so I can share some photos with you guys. I hate HTML so I'm not even going to try to make it look like anything, just links to photos.
Actually, right now there is only one link and its a link to my short story. I'll get some photos in there later. This is the page. I'll also put it in the column on the left.
Enjoy!
Actually, right now there is only one link and its a link to my short story. I'll get some photos in there later. This is the page. I'll also put it in the column on the left.
Enjoy!
Revenge of the insomniac.
Some nights I just can't get to sleep. Most of those nights I am still tired, just not sleepy...those are the worst. But this night, I'm not even tired. I know I have to get to sleep (cause I gotta get up early tomorrow) but there's absolutely no way I'm gonna visit dreamland. If I were at home on the Frone I would just check messenger, there's bound to be someone like me...but since I'm 5 hours behind, everybody I know is either asleep or waking up right about now....
So what to do...what to do....I've browsed my normal websites 4 times, and my not-so-normal ones twice...maybe I should pick up a book...been a long time...too long :S Somebody needs to invent anti-caffein.
Oh well, I'll find something to do...
Some nights I just can't get to sleep. Most of those nights I am still tired, just not sleepy...those are the worst. But this night, I'm not even tired. I know I have to get to sleep (cause I gotta get up early tomorrow) but there's absolutely no way I'm gonna visit dreamland. If I were at home on the Frone I would just check messenger, there's bound to be someone like me...but since I'm 5 hours behind, everybody I know is either asleep or waking up right about now....
So what to do...what to do....I've browsed my normal websites 4 times, and my not-so-normal ones twice...maybe I should pick up a book...been a long time...too long :S Somebody needs to invent anti-caffein.
Oh well, I'll find something to do...
mánudagur, nóvember 10, 2003
Forgot to mention the lunar eclipse, which was way cool. The moon turned this dark orange, almost tea, color. It turns out there is a totally logical explanation for this. Some indirect sunlight still reaches the moon after passing through the Earth's atmosphere. Since the atmosphere filters out blue light, the indirect light that does reach the moon paints it red or orange.
Been in high spirits today, have absotively, posilutely no idea why. Anybody thinking nice thoughts about me? Maybe because I cleaned my room and changed my sheets...or maybe things are getting easier...who know? The way my moods are swinging I'll be back into my complaining before you know it.
Been in high spirits today, have absotively, posilutely no idea why. Anybody thinking nice thoughts about me? Maybe because I cleaned my room and changed my sheets...or maybe things are getting easier...who know? The way my moods are swinging I'll be back into my complaining before you know it.
sunnudagur, nóvember 09, 2003
Interesting weekend.
Went to see the Matrix Revolutions on friday. Hmm...hmmmmm...HMMMMMMMMMM....I can't make up my mind. I loved the second one, with all the philosophy and the intelligent dialogue, not just kickass action. I guess I need to watch them all back to back, and then make up my mind. Usually when I watch movies that are meant to be a single story I refuse to judge them independently. Like when people ask me which Godfather movie I liked best. I'm like, "What do you mean? It's all one epic, I view it as a whole." That's like taking a novel and saying "I liked chapter 2 but chapter 4? That one sucked."
Freyja picked me up after orchestra rehearsal on saturday morning and we went to pick up my trumpet and have some lunch. We had a great time, talking about school and what happens after and about strange people and loads of other stuff. She took me out to an italian restaraunt called (Guiseppe's? Gipetto's? GeeWhiz?), where I got some canelloni (which I haven't had for years, used to be my favorite food...I think) and she got like, a whole chicken disguised with pasta and tomato sauce. No kidding, it was just this slab of chicken. If that was a single chicken breast, it must have come from Jean Cluck van Damme (obligatory yuckyucks appreciated). The canelloni was not enough to feed me, so I got a chunk of the chicken. Thanks Freyja!
Went to Kazuko's birthday on saturday. That was a whole lot of fun. There were two girls who were the cooks and they just kept on making food and filling the tables. Most of it was seafood (I figured that before hand). I came there with a completely open mind. Those of you who know me, know that I will try any food once. But if I try it and don't like it, I don't see the point in torturing myself into trying it again. Acquired taste is an urban myth, or a way for insecure people to validate themselves in the eyes of other insecure people who view themselves as social elite because they think they can appreciate the intricacies of disgusting food.
Anyway, the menu consisted of, Takiyaki, balls of batter with small pieces of octopus, dried shrimp, and leek(strange, but not bad), Tempura, fried slices of potato mixed with some other vegetables (delicious), sushi, which was basically taking a slice of dried seaweed, putting some rice on it, putting some raw tuna (which, by the way, is a bright red color, who'd've known?) and a bay leaf(I think) on it, and rolling it all up. And we got some seafood soup (have no idea what was in that, but it was good).
Most of the people there work at the NIH (they are all phd's), Kazuko's coworkers. An interesting bunch...I also noticed another intersting fact....there were only three "non-asian" guys there....guess what...they were all boyfriends of one of Kazuko's friends. :)
After the party a couple of us went to a karaoke bar that Kazuko and her friends frequent (surprise surprise :)) and they had loads of fun while I, and the three boyfriends "kicked back with a coupla brewskies" (read with a heavy drawl). They sung straight for 2 hours, and would've sung for 3 more, but the boyfriends took the matter into their own hands and cut the night short....that was fine, 2 hours of karaoke is quite enough for me :)
There's gonna be a concert with my orchestra on monday the 17th of October, everybody's invited, if you wanna come. They're actually starting to pull themselves together, or maybe it just sounded better because last time we were rehearsing in the concert hall. I'm still not in great shape, I hope I do my part at the concert. There's this one particular spot in Beethoven where I have to hold a fortissimo high note (concert a'' for the musically inclined) for 16 bars. And I have to do this 4 times with not so long of a break in between. Granted, the tempo is quite fast, but even so, this almost made me black out at rehearsal. So if you show up at the concert, and you see me fall of me seat, don't worry, it's just a slight lack of oxygen to the brain :) Problably causes less damage than getting wasted on a punch.
Went to see the Matrix Revolutions on friday. Hmm...hmmmmm...HMMMMMMMMMM....I can't make up my mind. I loved the second one, with all the philosophy and the intelligent dialogue, not just kickass action. I guess I need to watch them all back to back, and then make up my mind. Usually when I watch movies that are meant to be a single story I refuse to judge them independently. Like when people ask me which Godfather movie I liked best. I'm like, "What do you mean? It's all one epic, I view it as a whole." That's like taking a novel and saying "I liked chapter 2 but chapter 4? That one sucked."
Freyja picked me up after orchestra rehearsal on saturday morning and we went to pick up my trumpet and have some lunch. We had a great time, talking about school and what happens after and about strange people and loads of other stuff. She took me out to an italian restaraunt called (Guiseppe's? Gipetto's? GeeWhiz?), where I got some canelloni (which I haven't had for years, used to be my favorite food...I think) and she got like, a whole chicken disguised with pasta and tomato sauce. No kidding, it was just this slab of chicken. If that was a single chicken breast, it must have come from Jean Cluck van Damme (obligatory yuckyucks appreciated). The canelloni was not enough to feed me, so I got a chunk of the chicken. Thanks Freyja!
Went to Kazuko's birthday on saturday. That was a whole lot of fun. There were two girls who were the cooks and they just kept on making food and filling the tables. Most of it was seafood (I figured that before hand). I came there with a completely open mind. Those of you who know me, know that I will try any food once. But if I try it and don't like it, I don't see the point in torturing myself into trying it again. Acquired taste is an urban myth, or a way for insecure people to validate themselves in the eyes of other insecure people who view themselves as social elite because they think they can appreciate the intricacies of disgusting food.
Anyway, the menu consisted of, Takiyaki, balls of batter with small pieces of octopus, dried shrimp, and leek(strange, but not bad), Tempura, fried slices of potato mixed with some other vegetables (delicious), sushi, which was basically taking a slice of dried seaweed, putting some rice on it, putting some raw tuna (which, by the way, is a bright red color, who'd've known?) and a bay leaf(I think) on it, and rolling it all up. And we got some seafood soup (have no idea what was in that, but it was good).
Most of the people there work at the NIH (they are all phd's), Kazuko's coworkers. An interesting bunch...I also noticed another intersting fact....there were only three "non-asian" guys there....guess what...they were all boyfriends of one of Kazuko's friends. :)
After the party a couple of us went to a karaoke bar that Kazuko and her friends frequent (surprise surprise :)) and they had loads of fun while I, and the three boyfriends "kicked back with a coupla brewskies" (read with a heavy drawl). They sung straight for 2 hours, and would've sung for 3 more, but the boyfriends took the matter into their own hands and cut the night short....that was fine, 2 hours of karaoke is quite enough for me :)
There's gonna be a concert with my orchestra on monday the 17th of October, everybody's invited, if you wanna come. They're actually starting to pull themselves together, or maybe it just sounded better because last time we were rehearsing in the concert hall. I'm still not in great shape, I hope I do my part at the concert. There's this one particular spot in Beethoven where I have to hold a fortissimo high note (concert a'' for the musically inclined) for 16 bars. And I have to do this 4 times with not so long of a break in between. Granted, the tempo is quite fast, but even so, this almost made me black out at rehearsal. So if you show up at the concert, and you see me fall of me seat, don't worry, it's just a slight lack of oxygen to the brain :) Problably causes less damage than getting wasted on a punch.
fimmtudagur, nóvember 06, 2003
I've had a strange feeling all day...kind of anticipation, kind of stress, kind of uncofortable. I can't quite explain it. It's similar to how one feels when waiting for something stressful, yet inevitable, to happen, sort of like when I was 15 and calling a girl for the first time. But now, I don't have anything to be stressed out for. I've found partners in my HPC project and they seem to be really great guys, and the project looks interesting and easy. I've finished homework for AI (I didn't even get the normal gratification at finishing something) and I have a whole weekend ahead of me with no real projects to take up all my time. And to top that, I'm going to a party at Kazuko's on saturday. I should feel totally relaxed. Instead, I'm completely on edge.
It's almost like a heightened awareness...like warriors in a battlefield...they just know when something is going to happen, like a sixth sense. Maybe I'm feeling something coming...some event in the battlefield of my life (now I'm just being dramatic because I can :D)...
In any case, it's a new, wierd, and altogether uncomfortable feeling that I want to get rid of as soon as possible. Can anybody relate to this? Maybe I'm just restating my doubts in a different way, and if you guys have had enough of my rants, just ignore me...
Anyway...the project we're going to be working on is basically a research into a new way to arrange multiple processors. In normal multiproc machines, you can have a many fast procs, connected together with some sort of bus. The problem is, that the bus speeds are not nearly as fast as the proc speeds, the difference being a whole order of magnitude (procs around 3GHz and bus around 300MHz). So we're investingating what would happen if we connect all the procs together using the same technology with which the procs were created...in essence creating a "supernode" of procs, possibly stacked on top of each other, or arranged in a closely knit array. The idea is to use a simulator to figure out what is the optimal configuration for n processors. This research is actually a precursor to research that one of the guys will be doing in the future. Interesting stuff....
In other news...I've gone out jogging every day since monday and am already seeing a difference in performance...I can always jog a little farther each day :) I just hope the difference in my bumba will start to show itself...
It's almost like a heightened awareness...like warriors in a battlefield...they just know when something is going to happen, like a sixth sense. Maybe I'm feeling something coming...some event in the battlefield of my life (now I'm just being dramatic because I can :D)...
In any case, it's a new, wierd, and altogether uncomfortable feeling that I want to get rid of as soon as possible. Can anybody relate to this? Maybe I'm just restating my doubts in a different way, and if you guys have had enough of my rants, just ignore me...
Anyway...the project we're going to be working on is basically a research into a new way to arrange multiple processors. In normal multiproc machines, you can have a many fast procs, connected together with some sort of bus. The problem is, that the bus speeds are not nearly as fast as the proc speeds, the difference being a whole order of magnitude (procs around 3GHz and bus around 300MHz). So we're investingating what would happen if we connect all the procs together using the same technology with which the procs were created...in essence creating a "supernode" of procs, possibly stacked on top of each other, or arranged in a closely knit array. The idea is to use a simulator to figure out what is the optimal configuration for n processors. This research is actually a precursor to research that one of the guys will be doing in the future. Interesting stuff....
In other news...I've gone out jogging every day since monday and am already seeing a difference in performance...I can always jog a little farther each day :) I just hope the difference in my bumba will start to show itself...
þriðjudagur, nóvember 04, 2003
Just felt like I had share this with you guys....
I got a pamphlet about hazardous materials in my school mailbox. The following definition can be found in it :
Materials that are not considered hazardous for purposes of the UM Hazard Communication Program are:
* Biological Hazards
* Hazardous Waste
* Ionizing or non-ionizing radiation
Hmmmmm......
According to what I know about logic, if you place a statement and it's negation together, they cancel each other out...so that leaves us with radiation. It's good to know that Biological Hazards, Hazardous Waste, and Radiation are not considered hazardous materials. Makes me sleep better at night.
Oh also slight update, I got my score for the midterm raised by 5 point up to 73, and I realized that 10 points were taken away for a stupidstupidstupid mistake, 2 points for adding what I thought was a clever comment, and the other 15 points were things that I really didn't know, but were so simple that I should have known...so...I coulda, shoulda been able to get higher on the exam...I think that's pretty good for a week's worth of studying...just wish I woulda studied through the whole semester...woulda gotten an easy 100.
Anyway, that means that I'm closer to the B side of the B/C chasm...on the other hand, the guys I was going to work my project with brushed me off, so I'm looking for someone to work with now...just hope I don't get a deadbeat loser who's planning to find someone to do all the work for him....hate those guys.
I got a pamphlet about hazardous materials in my school mailbox. The following definition can be found in it :
Materials that are not considered hazardous for purposes of the UM Hazard Communication Program are:
* Biological Hazards
* Hazardous Waste
* Ionizing or non-ionizing radiation
Hmmmmm......
According to what I know about logic, if you place a statement and it's negation together, they cancel each other out...so that leaves us with radiation. It's good to know that Biological Hazards, Hazardous Waste, and Radiation are not considered hazardous materials. Makes me sleep better at night.
Oh also slight update, I got my score for the midterm raised by 5 point up to 73, and I realized that 10 points were taken away for a stupidstupidstupid mistake, 2 points for adding what I thought was a clever comment, and the other 15 points were things that I really didn't know, but were so simple that I should have known...so...I coulda, shoulda been able to get higher on the exam...I think that's pretty good for a week's worth of studying...just wish I woulda studied through the whole semester...woulda gotten an easy 100.
Anyway, that means that I'm closer to the B side of the B/C chasm...on the other hand, the guys I was going to work my project with brushed me off, so I'm looking for someone to work with now...just hope I don't get a deadbeat loser who's planning to find someone to do all the work for him....hate those guys.
mánudagur, nóvember 03, 2003
Don't you just hate it when you steel yourself up to doing something, and then when you finally manage to do it...it has no effect? Like calling someone and then that someone doesn't answer...It's a total downer...all the adrenaline that was flowing just gets cut off and you're left in a slump...oh well, guess I'll just do something braindead, like watch tv.
I spoke to my teacher in the HPC class and asked him for advice on the class. First off, here's a rundown of how I've been doing:
first project - 62 out of 100
first month, didn't read a single paper
second project 100 out of 100
second month didn't read a single paper.
Midterm - 68 out of 100
For the midterm, I read 21 papers in one week. I was expecting to get somewhere in the vicinity of 30. So I was pleasantly surprised. I know that if I had been reading steadily from the start I would have easily been able to get 95 - 100 points. So anyway, I had this idea...
I wanted basically to cut the class, but still sit in and read all the rest of the papers so I could take the class again later and get an easy A. The thing is that I don't want to get a C (and I'm on the verge of a B/C grade) because then I would have to take the class again anyway because a C doesn't count towards a PhD. So I was going to skip doing the project we're starting now, to save me some work. Well as it turns out, I need to keep a minimum credits each semester to keep my TAship, so I can't skip the class. And since I can't do that I have to work the project, and since it is a team effort, it would be nasty of me to not do my best and let my teammates suffer for that, so I'm going for that B (although I hate not getting an A)
Got my glasses fixed this morning after a hectic walk back and forth. I knew of this glasses place at a nearby mall and Dan was going to take me, but he flaked out. So I walked. Took me half an hour, and I got there at 8 in the morning. Too early, not open. So I hung out in the supermarket next door, and bought some food. Came back at 8:30, still closed. It was then that I noticed the sign that had fallen on the floor. It said closed on Mondays. So then I had to walk back home (9 o'clock) and find another place to fix glasses. Found that on the net and started walking there, took about half an hour, and they were open. Now I was starting to get a little nervous because I had an appointment with prof Hollingsworth about the HPC class at 11, and I had to walk all the way home and then to school. Luckily, it only took 20 minutes to fix the glasses, and it was free! I think the girl that helped me liked me ;) She came out with them fixed and said "so that'll be 5000 dollars"...I was like...uhh...(my mind still takes a bit to register the difference between kr and dollars, so I though 5000kr isn't an unreasonable price to pay for fixing glasses)..."comon, cough it up"....."uhhh" and then I noticed the little sparkle in her eye and the little smile (at the same time as I realized that $5000 is a bit extreme for a new arm on my glasses).
So anyway, I'm still just floating around, pondering the meaning of life, the universe, and everything, still wondering whether this is the place for me. Usually I have a really strong gut feeling about things like this. I usually know for certain whether something is "for me" or "not for me". Like when I started taking math in Háskóli Íslands. It took me a month to realize that this wasn't my thing, and another month just to be sure. But when I started the computer science in Háskólinn í Reykjavík...there was never a moment's doubt. I'm still (I think) in the phase where any doubts I'm having could stem from my surroundings and change thereof rather than the actual studies, but I'm not sure...like they say, only time will tell...it's just that so far...my original gut has always been right, just like it is about people...although that fact may soon be put to an extreme test...
Funny how something you've looked forward to for years turns out not to be all it was supposed to be...
I spoke to my teacher in the HPC class and asked him for advice on the class. First off, here's a rundown of how I've been doing:
first project - 62 out of 100
first month, didn't read a single paper
second project 100 out of 100
second month didn't read a single paper.
Midterm - 68 out of 100
For the midterm, I read 21 papers in one week. I was expecting to get somewhere in the vicinity of 30. So I was pleasantly surprised. I know that if I had been reading steadily from the start I would have easily been able to get 95 - 100 points. So anyway, I had this idea...
I wanted basically to cut the class, but still sit in and read all the rest of the papers so I could take the class again later and get an easy A. The thing is that I don't want to get a C (and I'm on the verge of a B/C grade) because then I would have to take the class again anyway because a C doesn't count towards a PhD. So I was going to skip doing the project we're starting now, to save me some work. Well as it turns out, I need to keep a minimum credits each semester to keep my TAship, so I can't skip the class. And since I can't do that I have to work the project, and since it is a team effort, it would be nasty of me to not do my best and let my teammates suffer for that, so I'm going for that B (although I hate not getting an A)
Got my glasses fixed this morning after a hectic walk back and forth. I knew of this glasses place at a nearby mall and Dan was going to take me, but he flaked out. So I walked. Took me half an hour, and I got there at 8 in the morning. Too early, not open. So I hung out in the supermarket next door, and bought some food. Came back at 8:30, still closed. It was then that I noticed the sign that had fallen on the floor. It said closed on Mondays. So then I had to walk back home (9 o'clock) and find another place to fix glasses. Found that on the net and started walking there, took about half an hour, and they were open. Now I was starting to get a little nervous because I had an appointment with prof Hollingsworth about the HPC class at 11, and I had to walk all the way home and then to school. Luckily, it only took 20 minutes to fix the glasses, and it was free! I think the girl that helped me liked me ;) She came out with them fixed and said "so that'll be 5000 dollars"...I was like...uhh...(my mind still takes a bit to register the difference between kr and dollars, so I though 5000kr isn't an unreasonable price to pay for fixing glasses)..."comon, cough it up"....."uhhh" and then I noticed the little sparkle in her eye and the little smile (at the same time as I realized that $5000 is a bit extreme for a new arm on my glasses).
So anyway, I'm still just floating around, pondering the meaning of life, the universe, and everything, still wondering whether this is the place for me. Usually I have a really strong gut feeling about things like this. I usually know for certain whether something is "for me" or "not for me". Like when I started taking math in Háskóli Íslands. It took me a month to realize that this wasn't my thing, and another month just to be sure. But when I started the computer science in Háskólinn í Reykjavík...there was never a moment's doubt. I'm still (I think) in the phase where any doubts I'm having could stem from my surroundings and change thereof rather than the actual studies, but I'm not sure...like they say, only time will tell...it's just that so far...my original gut has always been right, just like it is about people...although that fact may soon be put to an extreme test...
Funny how something you've looked forward to for years turns out not to be all it was supposed to be...
sunnudagur, nóvember 02, 2003
Hey guys...been a while.
I guess after I took my midterm last tuesday, my mind shut itself down. I haven't really done anything since then, well, schoolwise at least.
Got my wireless CF card for my PDA, so now I can browse the net, and use messenger from it. So I can sit in front of the TV, with my new wireless PDA keyboard, and talk to you guys :)
I also got the two games I ordered, Final Fantasy XI, the only Online Final Fantasy game, and Unreal Tournament 2003, the game Svanur and I are going to write a mod for. (More info on that as we get going with it).
Went to a halloween party on Friday with Kazuko, met a whole bunch of her friends...really nice people. Kazuko's band played, they're actually pretty good. It was a fun party, until I got so drunk on the punch (to my defense, I think someone kept making it stronger and stronger as the evening passed) that I passed out and had to be driven home. Not very cool. I spent the whole day after, and most of sunday being quite sick. There went the weekend.
This morning, when I woke up, I reached for my glasses to put them on...and one of the arms snapped off. I couldn't believe it. (This had nothing to do with the party by the way, I wore contacts;)) So I'm wearing contacts now, hoping to get them fixed tomorrow morning. Wearing contacts while trying to read or work gives me a headache...
I've got an appointment with prof. Hollingsworth tomorrow to go over my status in his course...I'm trying to decide whether it's worth it for me to continue as a full student in his course, or take a grade of W and just audit the rest of the course and take it over again next semester. We'll see what happens.
Anyway, bye for now...I'm going to try to accelerate my blogging pace...
I guess after I took my midterm last tuesday, my mind shut itself down. I haven't really done anything since then, well, schoolwise at least.
Got my wireless CF card for my PDA, so now I can browse the net, and use messenger from it. So I can sit in front of the TV, with my new wireless PDA keyboard, and talk to you guys :)
I also got the two games I ordered, Final Fantasy XI, the only Online Final Fantasy game, and Unreal Tournament 2003, the game Svanur and I are going to write a mod for. (More info on that as we get going with it).
Went to a halloween party on Friday with Kazuko, met a whole bunch of her friends...really nice people. Kazuko's band played, they're actually pretty good. It was a fun party, until I got so drunk on the punch (to my defense, I think someone kept making it stronger and stronger as the evening passed) that I passed out and had to be driven home. Not very cool. I spent the whole day after, and most of sunday being quite sick. There went the weekend.
This morning, when I woke up, I reached for my glasses to put them on...and one of the arms snapped off. I couldn't believe it. (This had nothing to do with the party by the way, I wore contacts;)) So I'm wearing contacts now, hoping to get them fixed tomorrow morning. Wearing contacts while trying to read or work gives me a headache...
I've got an appointment with prof. Hollingsworth tomorrow to go over my status in his course...I'm trying to decide whether it's worth it for me to continue as a full student in his course, or take a grade of W and just audit the rest of the course and take it over again next semester. We'll see what happens.
Anyway, bye for now...I'm going to try to accelerate my blogging pace...
