all things me

Bummer, May without reading a book. Not properly at least. I’m so CLOSE to finishing DT5 that I ought to be ashamed (of not finishing it). But school (and sleep) and work have to be prioritized, I’m sorry to say. And I have. Very much so. Very bonkers-goingly so. I have, however, almost-read Carrie and Everything’s Eventual. And pages and pages of my own scribble and to be exact nine of my peers’ too! (bachelor’s theses — still have that to revise).
But now (after DT5) I’m going to read Carrie (1st read [noun] ever!) and maybe in Finnish too (although the translation is paiiiin paiiin paiiiin — bad in other words). But I’m definitely going to read Everything’s Eventual in Finnish. It was such an ordeal to get it an’ I ain’t givin it up so easy. (I know the correct grammar, so clam it!)

Anyway, printing out the [translation study paper] 16 pages (hurry up!) now so I can go to sleep. Have to find a used envelope for the teacher (yup, strict orders). Up again in less than 5 hours. And work till 5 pm. But on the way back from handing-in-the-paper I’m going to go buy some nice cookies for faint-prevention (I won’t bother going to eat, there’s no Unicafe within stone’s throw). Maybe chocolate chip.

Finally decided to join the clique A Year of Reading. I’ve been reading DT5 crazily to get it read in May (one of the rules, one of two, is to read one book per month (at least try) and I was determined to do that even though I wasn’t in the clique) and because of that I’ve stayed up preeeetty late. I have 4 days to finish it now but I only have about 300 pages so it’s no biggie. I’ve been reading Everything’s Eventual for my translation studies paper but I don’t know if I’ve really read it or just skimmed for the appropriate words (realia). Some stories I’ve read and some just skimmed. Maybe I’ll be true to myself and admit it doesn’t count as reading. Besides, I’ve read it before. I am going to read Carrie — and EE in *Finnish* — after the paper’s done, though. Cause I can keep them till (*checks To Do list*) mid-June.

Luckily I’m working for the summer, so I get to read Black House on my way to/from the department. I know nothing keeps me from reading my backpack books in more places than bus stops, buses, train stations, trains, trams, University, cafes… but when I’m not in one of those places (or similar), I’m at home thus I can read my bedside book.

A bit silly, but I updated previous entries. I noticed I had forgotten to add some things to the new layout’s blog after writing them to the old one (i.e. written while I was making the new layout). Anyway, nothing serious, just some spider stuff. Check out May 14th and 22nd if you want.

@ 13:50
Quote of the day: Purple sold scary books better than any other color, Mike had been told. — Stephen King: Everything’s Eventual, 1408

@ 23:18
Day 5 without my TV: I hope the Stand they showed on Estonian Channel 2 ended last week cause my tv is the only one which shows that channel…

I started wondering how many games I do in fact have installed… Let’s see: 1. Black and White, 2. Blair Witch II, 3. Desert Storm, 4. Enter the Matrix, 5. Ghost Recon, 6. Globetrotter II, 7. Half-Life, 8. Half-Life Blue Shift, 9. Half-Life Counter Strike (haven’t played though, cause it’s only multiplayer), 10. Half-Life Opposing Force, 11. Hitman I, 12. Hitman II, 13. IGI II, 14. Iron Storm, 15. Monkey Island III, 16. Grim Fandango, 17. Max Payne I, 18. Max Payne II, 19. Morrowind, 20. Need For Speed Porsche 2000, 21. Need For Speed II, 22. No One Lives Forever I, 23. Outcast (it’s a great game, must play again sometime), 24. Prisoner of War, 25. Quake II, 26. Rogue Spear, 27. Starsky & Hutch, 28. The Longest Journey, 29. The Sims (plus extensions), 30. Sum of All Fears, 31. X-Files, 32. Splinter Cell, 33. Tomb Raider II, 34. XIII.
Eh…. maybe… I could… uninstall… a few… I mean, most games keep their saved games so I wouldn’t have to worry about starting everything from scratch…
Got rid of some other programs as well while I was at it.

Updates: I finished reading the Talisman today, next I’m starting “Talisman II” i.e. the Black House.

I’m always shocked (not in a bad way) to see a professor use smileys… In an email I received there was a <=O]
hehee…

Today I stayed at the department because I was supposed to go see a prof about my training/job but we (the studies coordinator and I) didn’t get to see him. Oh well, good thing I stayed doing assignments though, cause I finally got my natural language generation pipeline working properly (well, I haven’t made the pipeline which is Java, but the XSL transformations). I had done something very odd in the beginning when I was just learning the stuff and it messed up the whole system. Now there’s only a few “polishings” to do and I can send all the assignments/files to the professor (for whom I’m doing the course, it’s sort of “extra curriculum” but has to do with my bachelor’s thesis). I do, however, have an essay to write by May 1st, but that I’ll do on Friday. Today I have to check what I’ve done wrong in an assignment cause it was so easy (probably haven’t done anything wrong, mind you)

@ 23:27
Updates: Joined the Talisman Fanlisting

I have an exam tomorrow about “changing English”, we were told to bring our notes and papers with us. I’ll just read through the papers quickly tonight and I’m set. Better catch some shuteye, too…

Whee, can’t wait for tomorrow morning and the bus ride. I’m going to start reading Black House (that’s my “backpack book”). Geek? Me?

This morning I went to the library, because I needed to get a book with normal 30-days loan period. There’s a website where you can reserve a book and get it brought to the library of your choice. It’s a good service, but when I tried to reserve the Finnish version of Everything’s Eventual (Maantievirus matkalla pohjoiseen) it kept reserving a book with a 14-day loan. Not enough. Plus, if you call a library to reserve a book, you need to go there to get it. Only the staff could reserve a specific book and get it brought to a specific library. So I went to the library and told the lady there that I need a normal loan-period book. She reserved one for me and I went happily to the department to do an assignment because I needed a graphical program — Protégé — for it (couldn’t do it today so I have to plan it well for Monday and go to the dept. well before a lecture), and I just thought I’d check if I can see the reservation in my info. The librarian had reserved a book with a 14-day loan period AND it wasn’t even available yet! The due date was May 5th! I knew the book could’ve been found in many libraries around the neighbouring cities waiting in the shelf. So what’s the logic?! I was angry and annoyed (and not to mention stressed with all the stuff that’s piling up) and cancelled the reservation and accidentally also cancelled the English version of Carrie that was on its way (and probably at the library here already…) so I had to re-reserve it and now I have to wait for THAT to arrive. At least I have books to study while I wait.
Then I checked if Maantievirus was in any library I could get to and luckily it was. A kind student I know and often chat with told me how to get to the library and off I went. When I got to the library it took me a while to find the right – horror – section and there was a man flipping through King books. He finally stepped aside a little to read a book more carefully so I got to browse through the shelves. I realized Maantievirus wasn’t there so I tried to see if the man had it. I asked him if it was the book and it was! He asked if I needed it and I said that I did and had come all the way just for that book (stupid me I didn’t say I needed it for a translation studies research). He said I could have it and he can get some other book. I couldn’t believe it and I was really really really happy. I hope the man found something to read. Good taste he has, at least.
So, now here it is, beside me. Maantievirus matkalla pohjoiseen translated by Ilkka Rekiaro. And I can keep it for a whole month. I couldn’t be happier.