Selfish Crab

Tonight, me and bay watched a German movie called The Princess and the Warrior. It’s the same director and lead actress as in Run Lola Run. The movie is a dark, slow-moving film about a young nurse who leads secluded life devoted to her patients at Birkenhof asylum, when she meets a mysterious drifter who saves her life in their encounter. The film uses wide cinematography and well-paced dialogue to create a gentle universe where characters flit about as their troubled lives progress intertwined forever.

Yeah.. I wanted to watch the Wedding Planner. I had a rough weekend, I needed something light, fluffy, and uplifting in some superficial way. But noooo, bay just had to get the dark foreign movie. Man, next time, I’m pulling rank.

# 2002 Aug 26    {rompin' years}    #

Sometime last week, the following conversation actually took place in Washington:

Him: Hm… so I hear there’s a huge forest fire problem out west.

Guy: Yes, sir, it’s costing million of dollars in damages and displacing hundreds of land owners.

Him: Dang, gotta help out those poor people. …. I know what we can do! If there’s less forest, there will be less fuel for all those nasty fires. Let’s “thin out” some of those pesky national forests. AND at the same time, we can please some of our logging industry friends! Oh, I’m so smart.

Guy: Yes, sir.

Fiction? ::sighs:: I wish.

# 2002 Aug 23    {rompin' years}    #

Alrighty, time to learn about copyrights, from whereelse, but the U.S. Copyright Office. Their site is actually pretty good and chock full of info. Yum.

# 2002 Aug 22    {nerd, rompin' years}    #

Stanford Law professor Lawrence Lessig recently gave a talk about recent developments in copyright and intellectual property law and what it means for a free and open culture. Here is where you can find recordings of the speech, or even flash movie with the speech sync’ed with Lessig’s powerpoint slides.

Lessig has been on the lecture circuit for a while, sermonzing about free culture. He’s is a really powerful speaker that makes lots of sense, but on this occasion (which he said is one of his last), there has been criticism of his somewhat off-putting speech. (Criticism to which as been responded to, as Prof. Lessig has a blog!)

What’s my opinion? Well, like a lot of things, I do not know enough, so I have not yet made up my mind on how I feel. Nonetheless, all of this is unsettling to me, and I’m trying to learn as much as I can about the stupid world. That sounds pathetic. aghh.. too much information. need to keep reading.. cannot stop.. aghhhhhhhhhhhhh

# 2002 Aug 21    {rompin' years}    #

Letter to a Young Law Student: “Don’t go to law school: But if you must, take my advice…”. The future. What to do, what to do. Oh, so many talents. Where can [Crab] apply them? I was thinking about going into law. Maybe fight the good fight somewhere in the U.S. Many laws of the U.S. have got to be re-thought out because of the possibilies that the Internet provides. And I’m really afraid the right laws are being signed nor the right decisions being made. More to come…

# 2002 Aug 20    {rompin' years}    #

Saturday, I went to the shore with some good friends. It was a great beach day. Unfortunately, Point Pleasant is not a great beach. But nonetheless, it was fun, and a good tan has had by all.

And of course, to complete the [Selfish Crab] experience, I spied a really hot Asian girl a good distance away (or near) our towel camp. I was very tempted to go over and strike up a conversation with her, except for the fact that she was there with some white guy, who of course, must have been her brother. I might have been able to screw up my courage and walk over there, but the brother seemed rather protective and close to his sister. Like they were always hugging and holding hands and shit. I dunno..

Maybe “So.. you’re adopted? Wuzzat like?” is a bad pick-up line.

# 2002 Aug 19    {greatest hits, rompin' years}    #

Tomorrow’s my last day at work. Ah, seems like yesterday that I was filled with all sorts of trepidation. And then I sat around and read books and learned all sorts of things about computer networking and security. And then I even learned a little about hacking. Then I sat around some more and became a good government employee. I learned to walk slowly, move slowly, take 6 breaks a day, and eventually became really fat and unattractive.

It was an interesting summer, being a government employee. And I can always go back next summer, because of the program I am in, I am on Leave Without Pay and still am employed. Even have my fancy pants Army ID. Maybe the chicks dig that. “Yeah I’m in the Army. I serve in the.. ehh.. computer networking and security branch? It’s right next to the Rangers’ tent. I can do 20 push-ups?”

On a related topic, I suppose a lot of people are finishing up their summer jobs in the next couple weeks. And they’re looking back on how much they learned and what they have gained from their experience. The friends they made, the contacts they have earned. And then they’ll wonder how summer interns of long ago spent their work days without AOL Instant Messenger.

# 2002 Aug 15    {rompin' years}    #

Prof. Dijkstra just passed away last Tuesday. Strangely enough, I found the link from Google’s main page. Google has so much class, it’s ridicilious. Anyway, for those who aren’t comp sci kids, or those comp sci kids that slept thru class, Dijkstra was a pioneer in computer science, a prolific writer (coiner of such quotes as “Computer science has as much to do with computers as astronomy has to do with telescopes”), told people “goto” was bad, and, most popularly, has his own algorithm.

I think it would be cool to have an algorithm named after you. But the trick is to have an algorithm that was powerful. Dijkstra’s algorithm helps find the shortest path in a weighted graph. I want one that “fucks shit up”. Yeah. Lemme code that one.

# 2002 Aug 11    {nerd, rompin' years}    #

Well, that was an interesting trip. I saw lots of military bases. And made over 100 phone calls and traveled over 1000 miles. And then I wound up in the hospital. I know you’re all curious to know, but no, I was unable to find any cute nurses there to hit on. That is all. I am well again, all those weird rashes have cleared up. Hospitals are weird places. Full of negative energy. No fun at all. There’s no fresh air, nothing to do.. no stimulation. Everyone was really nice tho. Ok, that’s all.

# 2002 Aug 10    {rompin' years}    #

Apparently, several of you out there thought my last post was “laugh out loud funny” in the way I had portrayed my chiseled looks. Well, ahem, punchline that was not. In a effort to convince that I am indeed a, how you say , stud muffin, I have updated the about me section. Included is an 8×10 glossy headshot and a short bio on the Wizard of Wit himself.

Oh yeah, I’m going on what my job calls “Travel Duty” for three days. I’m heading down to the Virginia area for some business matters. If you know of some mid-Atlantic hot spots, give my cell a ring and we will party hard like two coked-up hookers. Also, hopefully the hotel will have some sort of Internet access, so I’ll be bringing my laptop . I’ll be back Thursday night.

# 2002 Aug 5    {rompin' years}    #

Nothing destroys dreams of music superstardom faster than getting together with a bunch of friends and instruments and finding out you have as much musical talent as a sliced bread. Lord knows I can’t sing. I have the hand dexterity of a penguin. And I can’t even bang on a tin can at constant pace. ::sighs:: I guess rugged good looks can only take you so far in life.

# 2002 Aug 4    {rompin' years}    #

Lesson #17: Attention. When listening to a presentation from a vendor, who’s sitting face to face with you, do not, i repeat, do not, under any circumstance, fold his business card into a little origami frog. And if you do, never make it leap across the desk at him, and have it fall off the table. And if that happens, remember to say thank you when he gives it back to you.

# 2002 Aug 2    {greatest hits, rompin' years}    #