all things me

Using a kitchen towel that just yesterday was used as a sandwich wrapper to wipe your nose is not a good idea. It’ll smell like dog food.

[‘chow’ means food]

Matrix DVD collection box comes out tomorrow. 10 DVDs including all the 3 movies and their Revisiteds, Animatrix and more. Of course, I have bought all the 3 movies and Animatrix (not the Revisiteds, though), so it’d be crazy to buy the 70€ box, wouldn’t it?

There’s also a 4-DVD Indiana Jones box. I have all the 3 movies on VHS. It wouldn’t be that crazy to buy the 60€ box.

And, there’s a 3-DVD Star Wars box. I have all the 3 (+ Phantom Menace, I think, unless I haven’t gotten it on tape after a certain Unmentionable lost my first copy of it ) movies on tape. Taped from TV, though, so it wouldn’t be crazy at all to buy the 60€ box.

2 out of 3 isn’t so bad. But the Matrix box would be so nice!

Grandma asked what I want for Christmas.

*blank brain*

I have absolutely no idea. I’ll probably get Half-Life 2 from someone else (*cough*dad*cough*), Splinter Cell 2 arrives in January, Stephen King books are difficult to buy (a] there aren’t any in the book stores, b] I’m picky (has to be English, NEL and right kind of cover)), horror movies are too shocking to ask for Hmm… Maroon 5’s CD? I’ll probably ask for Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code even though I know nothing about it. And that’s it. Nothing else comes to mind.

Bummer.

[edit: Dec 1] I ended up asking for Da Vinci Code only. And from Dad I’m wishing either Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, Deus Ex II: Invisible War, or Half-Life 2 [/edit]

On Tuesday at the study group meeting of Introduction to Application Design I made “a joke” with ’42’ in it. And people understood it. That was surreal.

[42 refers to Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, I’m not going to explain it further, that’d spoil everything.]

Here be narcissistic lines
Continues »

I just love it how Stephen King sometimes refers to himself in his work (my emphasis)

Frank’s niece, Bobbi Anderson, lived on the Garrick place now — not that she farmed, of course; she wrote books. (…) Also, she wrote good old western stories that you could really sink your teeth into, not all full of make-believe monsters and a bunch of dirty words, like the books that fellow who lived up Bangor way wrote. Goddam good westerns, people said.
— The Tommyknockers by Stephen King

King also uses a lot of brackets and short paragrahps

2

(…)
‘Relax,’ Newt said, and Dick nodded. ‘No one is going to connect the disappearance of a four-year-old boy who prob’ly just wandered off into the woods or got picked up and driven away by a sex pervert with the disappearance of two big strong State Bears. Right, Dick?’
   ‘As rain.’

3

Wrong.

4

(…)
— The Tommyknockers by Stephen King

I celebrated too early. It was this morning that there was really snow. Everything was white and still is (pretty much) — at least outside the city centre.

Last night, 8 pm — 2 am, I drew a GUI picture series of a search function. It’s for the ‘introduction to application design’ course. There’s a zoo database which we’ve designed through 3 group projects so far. (It’s going to develop step by step, but we aren’t going to program it. This is just a course on designing.) It was a lot of fun. It would’ve been more fun to design the basic layout for the interface (I would’ve done an html page with frames and forms and then taken a screen shot of it) but it wasn’t my turn — last week I drew use case diagrams and context diagrams, wrote use cases based on Alistair Cockburn’s template…

If you know a program for *drawing* windows (not an MS Visual Basic type of thing that codes the interface), I’d be very interested in hearing about it.

Parents of young children always seem talk about the colour and consistency of their offsprings’ excrement. I’ve also noticed that Finns are way too eager to talk about their bowel movement anyway.

Well, going outside to our back or front yard has been a shock, a horror, and a paralyzing experience for Ami. Today, however, my sister (equipped with a winter jacket, a hat, gloves, a scarf, a forehead flashlight, a commando hat, ….) and I (equipped with sandals, a jacket, and a leash) took Ami outside — front lawn this time because there’re street lamps there. He sniffed some, ate some gawd-knows-what (leaves and pebbles), shivered some, whimpered some. Finally, he also squatted some. That’s right, he doesn’t lift his leg yet… That was his 1^st time doing business outside! It’s about time, the newspapers inside have started to resemble yellow ponds…

Sigh. Most of the buses that go via my place are on strike. Only one line goes regularly and two that have two buses going in the morning and two in the afternoon. That’s alright — I can always take the train to the centre. But now they are threatening to stop the trams too (and subways but I don’t use those). I don’t know how on earth am I going to get to the dept. of computer studies 3 times a week (straight from work where I barely have enough time to be as it is). Hopefully there’re buses going there. BUT, yeah that’s right ‘but’, if the trams are stopped, the buses that I could use would be stopped too because they and trams are driven by the same company.

Darn bus drivers, I understand you need your rights, but don’t I have a right to go to school?! I mean, hello! Here’s a person how actually *wants* to go to school.

Oh well.

It snowed today. Well, it was more of an icy rain but it’s better than nothing. As long as it doesn’t drench you.

This morning I was really busy and shuffling around to get my coffee and toast and get to the bus stop in time (bloody bus drivers’ strike keeps me on edge). Suddenly Amadeus ran whining under the dining-room table. I had apparently kicked him. Mum noticed he was limping a bit but when I touched his paw and squeezed and felt it a little he didn’t complain at all. I had to run but now I can’t concentrate on anything.

I feel sick in the stomach. I just hope Mum’ll send me a message telling Ami’s all right.

[edit @ 10:48] Mum sent a message (or Ami, actually ) telling that he’s alright. Phew. [/edit]