joshspace

Austin so far

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 12:05:00 -0500

I’m in Texas for the weekend, though I wish I could stay longer. Erin, Rachel and I are staying with our friend Chris, who moved here a few months ago to set up his wedding photography business in the region. Last night, before we went out to the 6th Street area, he took us to his office. It’s only a small windowless room, but the building is downtown and quite nice. He spends a lot of time meeting clients elsewhere anyway. In any case, his apartment is only a mile or so from the 6th street area and that office, so he’s very centrally located. We got here around 3pm yesterday afternoon and proceeded to have a late lunch at a local diner, then we came back to his apartment to relax for a bit. We ended up watching American Psycho, which I hadn’t seen in several years. I love that movie!

Around 10pm, we finally decided to go out. Our plan was to go club-hopping, and we accomplished this mission with great success. We went to five different clubs (there was no cover charge at any one of them!), four of which were spectacular, I thought. The first nice one was Pure, with lots of blue neon lights. The second was Canvas, which had a lot of neat art on the walls. Then we walked into Panacea, where the electronica was quite nice to dance to. I noticed the DJ was mostly using his MacBook for his set. I need to learn how to do that kind of thing. The last club we went to, and where we spent the rest of the night, was Qua, which had aquariums behind the bar, and there was also an aquarium below the dance floor. While we were dancing, we could see small sharks and sting rays swimming beneath us! A unique experience.

The only drawback to this spectacular night was that, though all of us drank heavily (I still have a hangover as I write this), Chris got pretty sick and ended up having to throw up while riding in the back seat of the cab. We had to support him on the walk back two blocks to his apartment. Everything was fine this morning, however, and everybody is up recuperating while we watch Knocked Up (I haven’t seen this movie before, but I’m liking it).

Love and Anger (and then Love again)

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:35:04 -0500

Those of you who know me best, know that I am an idiot. Last night, around 11pm, I had an angry telephone conversation with my girlfriend that ended pretty badly. I’m guilty for having escalated the tension between us during those 15 minutes, I’ve apparently never been adept at dealing calmly with lovers when they present me with situations I have trouble understanding. This situation involved her need for distance from me, both physical and mental, because I’ve made statements in the recent past concerning just how close I’d like to be to her. Some of those statements included words like ‘marriage’ and ‘forever,’ ‘children’ and ‘family.’ I wasn’t asking for those things right away, in fact I don’t even like children all that much. But I don’t want to be just dating for the rest of my life, especially since I will be 30 in a year and a half, and many people my age are already happily married, with houses, nice vehicles, vacations to the beach, and all the related accoutrements that make some people turn their heads in revulsion.

So I obviously came on too strong with her, since she’s seven years my junior. She wants to party and hang out with her friends, and I can’t fault her for wanting to do these things. I certainly did when I was her age, and I recall quite clearly that I didn’t date anybody at all for most of the time that I was 21.

But she and I both have some feelings for each other, no matter how unabalanced they may be. Last night was a terrible conversation because last week she asked me for more time to think about where she wanted to be with me. It took me several days to respond (im)properly, but it looks like my ultimate response was delivered last night via cell phone. In a fit of anger after not having seen her for a day and a half (gasp!), I recommended that we start seeing other people. Now this is a statement whose damage is irreparable, it will undoubtedly define our relations in the near future. I do not know if I’m really going to take up my own recommendation, at least immediately, but I must admit that there are many moments nowadays when I’m very lonely, and would love to spend most of my free time with a significant other. Many of my best friends have moved away for school or work, and I feel trapped at the moment in a job I can’t stand but with which I’m also relatively comfortable, even if I don’t live an extravagant lifestyle with the pay I make.

The next few days will be interesting because on Thursday she and I are supposed to drive to Austin together to spend the weekend with a good friend of mine. I’m looking forward to the trip, even if things between me and her may be shaky and unsaid. At the moment, though, I have a thousand different thoughts running through my head at the same time, and hopefully I will be able to express some of them more coherently and calmly by the time Thursday evening rolls around and we take off for Texas.

Taunting the Bear - NYTimes.com

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:03:36 -0500

Taunting the Bear - NYTimes.com: This article is long, but it is very informative on the tensions between Russia and Georgia that have been brewing for some time. This event has gained a considerable amount of my interest since I first heard about it yesterday morning. If you’re interested in current events and/or international affairs, check this article out.

Photo

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:02:26 -0500

Photo

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:00:43 -0500

Chinese podcasting

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:53:22 -0500

It took me long enough, but I’ve finally gotten around to putting some language learning podcasts on my iPod. The one I listened to in particular today was the one for Mandarin Chinese. Now I know how to say words for such useful things as car (che) and drive (kai). Of course, now I also have to remember these words in the future, along with their respective tones. Thankfully Mandarin only uses four tones (some count five, but the fifth is much like an afterthought at the end of a sentence) rather than the nine I’ve been told Cantonese uses. Ouch! I can deal with four much more easily. Of course I’m hoping to keep this practice up, so if you see me walking around in the future, be sure to ask how I’m doing!

"Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her..."

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:18:33 -0500

“Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband’s lap.”

- A Sumerican proverb and the world’s oldest known joke, dating back to 1900 B.C.E.

Constant reverie

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:58:49 -0500

As an amateur linguist, I have had a special interest in the languages and cultures of Central Asia for some time, and I am always enthused to see or hear more from that remote region of the world. Gravity’s Rainbow, one of my favorite novels, has a Russian character by the name of Tchitcherine who is a skilled linguist, and the novel contains an episode that describes his activities among the Turkic people of Kyrgyzstan, where he contributes to the creation of their alphabet. Also in that episode is his search and discovery of the Kyrgyz Light, a total invention on the part of the author, Thomas Pynchon, but that functions in the novel as the moment when Tchitcherine discovers himself and his purpose.

In a different way, I’ve always wanted to travel to Central Asia in search of some kind of personal fulfillment as well. A few years ago, while I was contemplating a stint in the Peace Corps, the region was topmost on my list of places to go. Even though they would’ve probably sent me to West Africa instead, since I speak good French and they need people there, the Russian ‘Near Abroad’ was where I wanted to spend two years of my life.

Sometimes at work I stare out the window next to my desk and I imagine that the interstate and business out there don’t exist, but that other, more exotic things do. Remote lands often come to mind, and this has been exacerbated by the fact that I’ve recently been listening to some world music from a Mongolian group, Hanggai, who’ve just released their first album. It’s worth checking out, but I mention it here mostly because the lyrics (in Mongolian, which I don’t understand at all) fill me once again with that desire to sell all my silly, trivial possessions and just buy a one-way ticket to Moscow or Tashkent, Ulaan Bataar or Yerevan. In spite of the unlikelihood of actually doing this at all, this is the kind of thing I end up thinking about by myself, sometimes.

This pic was taken a couple months ago during a weekend away in...

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:50:00 -0500

This pic was taken a couple months ago during a weekend away in New Orleans. That was a really fun 20 hours in the Big Easy, it started Friday night when my girlfriend asked me to go with her and her friends. I hesitated, but called her back and was gone by 8pm. We stayed at the Hilton on Bourbon Street, where we walked around that night while drinking at a bunch of different places. The next morning we slept in and watched TV before going to eat at The Court of Two Sisters, where this photo was taken. Afterwards, we walked to the French Market where we bought a couple of souvenirs. On our way out of the city later that afternoon, we drove to Metairie to have coffee with Sneha, one of my best friends. The weather was pleasant as we drove back across Lake Pontchartrain, and I was glad to have decided to go.

If you haven't already done it...

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 10:28:43 -0500

Go see The Dark Knight. It’s worth the price of admission, my friends.

"The Texan turned out to be good-natured, generous, and likable. In three days no one could stand..."

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:58:13 -0500

““The Texan turned out to be good-natured, generous, and likable. In three days no one could stand him.””

- This quote from Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 is taken from the first chapter, which I read this evening. I love the constant use of irony on the part of the characters, of which this quote is but one of many. I was supposed to have read this novel as a high school senior, but I ended up reading just the first half or so before putting it down. A decade later, I don’t remember many details, so rereading the first half should hold a few surprises as I chug my way into the second half. Obviously I’ve decided that this is how I’m going to spend my time preparing for the GMAT. I’ve got the verbal section covered, mate!

This pic of me and my best friend Rachel, both in costume, was...

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:06:50 -0500

This pic of me and my best friend Rachel, both in costume, was taken last Halloween and reminds me of how much fun I had then! I’m hoping that this Halloween will be a blast too.

A few things I hate

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:54:23 -0500

I’m sure some of my coworkers have picked up on the fact that I am quite open about many of my extreme dislikes. In an effort to be funny, and whether this effort succeeds or not, I will list some of them below:

10) Carrots

9) Ayn Rand

8) Spiders

7) Computer problems that I can’t troubleshoot

6) Automobiles

5) Bad teeth (because I’m very self-conscious about my own)

4) M. Night Shyalaman

3) The state of Missouri

2) Obesity (my belly is getting bigger!)

1) Standardized exams.

-I’ve begun preparing for the GMAT but I’ve always had trouble studying for these kinds of exams. I’ve taken the GRE twice and only improved my score by 20 points the 2nd time. I didn’t take the LSAT because I never finished studying for it at all. And I am experiencing the same reactions to the math section questions of the GMAT that Pavlov’s dogs had when they got annoyed with their conditioning: anger, frustration, and violent urges to bite people. Geez, I can’t wait until July 19 comes and goes!

Pitchfork Gives Music 6.8 | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 11:06:00 -0500

Pitchfork Gives Music 6.8 | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: For those of you who know what Pitchfork Media is and also know that its critics are notorious for giving pretentiously bad reviews to good albums, last year The Onion posted this hilarious article in which Pitchfork reviews music in general… and gives it a rather poor grade.

Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III, and the Afronaut invasion. - By Jonah Weiner - Slate Magazine

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:29:28 -0500

Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III, and the Afronaut invasion. - By Jonah Weiner - Slate Magazine: It makes sense, but I guess it never occurred to me before!

Josh the Ripper

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:38:00 -0500

I’ve told a few of you that I’ve been ripping a heck of a lot of music lately, much of it from Goodwood Library but some of it from friends and coworkers. Goodwood has a surprisingly good collection, I’ve found a few albums I’ve wanted to hear for a long time now, such as Can’s Tago Mago (I’m a big Krautrock fan). As things currently stand, I have music in my iTunes collection that I will not get around to listening to for days, if not weeks. The collection now stands at 56.04 gigs. It will continue to grow, however, as I make a few more trips to the library and as I continue buying music from the iTunes store. Yes, I do still buy music. In fact, I just bought two albums, a recording of Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians (1978) and the album This Nations’s Saving Grace (1985) by the post-punk outfit The Fall.

I suspect that some of you may not be familiar with all or even any of these artists, so let me explain my primary musical interests. Although I am not a musician (I’ve dabbled with the guitar, drums, and piano, but never kept up with any of those instruments), I do consider myself something of an amateur musicologist. My particular areas of interest are 20th century classical music (the works of French composer Olivier Messiaen, for example); punk rock, especially post-punk; and electronica. The following, in no particular order, are a few of my favorite albums or works:

-Unknown Pleasures (1979) by Joy Division

-Disintegration (1989) by The Cure

-The Rite of Spring (1913) by Igor Stravinsky

-Revolver (1966) by The Beatles

-Kid A (2000) by Radiohead

-Ken Burns Jazz: Charlie Parker compilation

There are more, but these are a few that I can think of off the top of my head. I have been listening to some of these for many years now.

The new music I’ve been importing onto my laptop and listening to little by little is allowing me to explore new genres and artists, which is something I love to do. For example, I’ve been listening to some old-school hip-hop lately, such as Run D.M.C and Nas. I’ve been listening to so much new music lately, in fact, that I borrowed a good friend’s acoustic guitar with the intention to start playing a little again in my spare time. Now I haven’t really played anything in several years, but I’m still looking forward to trying my hand at an old interest. Only time will tell how things turn out!

BBC NEWS | Technology | 'Oldest' computer music unveiled

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:51:57 -0500

BBC NEWS | Technology | 'Oldest' computer music unveiled: It’s not Aphex Twin or Kid A, but it’s still an historic milestone that may be of interest to you, dear reader.

Me, me, me. And me.

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:05:18 -0500

Me, me, me. And me.

This video of a lemur with huge eyes is hilarious! And somewhat...

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:40:48 -0500

This video of a lemur with huge eyes is hilarious! And somewhat disturbing as well. Check it out!

The Criterion Collection: The Thief of Bagdad by Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell & Tim W

Fri, 30 May 2008 21:20:49 -0500

The Criterion Collection: The Thief of Bagdad by Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell & Tim W: I got a copy of this movie in the mail from Netflix, which I always use to get the latest Criterion Collection releases. I just finished watching the film itself for the first time about an hour ago, and I recommend it to you. There is no abstract philosophy, no morals, nothing at all edifying about this piece of pure entertainment at all, but if you don’t mind some very interesting special effects for the year it was made (1940) and a little old-fashioned Orientalism to boot, then you will also like this old-school Hollywood flick. It’s apparently a loose mixture of various tales from The Arabian Nights. It’s good mindless fun.