nabbed by google

i have been in pittsburgh too long. after ridiculing my roommate for the lack of use of the be verb, a common 'yinser' characteristic, i wrote the following in an email:

The car needs inspected by the end of the month.

this sentence with proper grammar would be

The car needs to be inspected by the end of the month.

the snow is coming down in huge flakes. if you look quick, maybe you can watch.

this years first big virus attack

and ryan's blog is back up. lots to read since his departure for antactica. all in typical ryan style.

enjoyable evenings. last night was enjoyable. i had dinner with my dad to celebrate his birthday. we mutually agreed how nice it was to have pleasant conversation. afterward, he dropped me off on the south side to meet up w/ a. and some of her friends in celebration of her birthday. this sort of evening used to be commonplace. its rarity has made me point out this particular instance.

travel bug. i heard from ryan today. he sent a message from the general vicinity of patagonia. he actually wrote it while on the journey through drake passage. he claims to have been colder than me. probably. but more interesting were his comments about being attacked by various wildlife, primarily birds. he promises to get his blog back up soon. his constant site crashes are not a convincing story for the stability of linux. i expect pictures a few weeks after that.

martha has had several posts about her travels in europe. it brings back all the sweet memories of last year.

their comments, combined with my distaste for my current situation, is bringing on a case of the travel bug. i've got the frequent flyer miles, i just have to figure out where and why. new zealand seems to beckon. central america? maybe i should have done peace corps.

it is so cold outside, my teeth hurt.

i helped out here today.

the question of the real. perhaps i am melancholy. no. i do not feel melanchoy. i am melancholy. personified.

perhaps true communication isn't a funtion of directness, but of the language of metaphor. and all the time i've sought common meaning was futile because it simply cannot exist between two separate beings. and the closest we can get is the approximated interpretation of metaphor. symbol upon symbol. perhaps abstrations has nullified objectivity.

pittsburgh symphony at the vatican

housewarming party last night was a success. finally got to meet up with c. he's working on a little pet project here while finishing up things at CMU. i might help him out with some coding. a & m came, it was great to hang out with them. not to mention s & b from high school showed up. i wasn't really expecting that one. and thanks to mum for the dip and meatballs, they went over well too.

senselessness. an americorps member in pittsburgh was killed in a drive by shooting this weekend. i didn't work with her, but extremely frustrated and saddened by this news.

yesterday i had mate for the first time. mate is a south american tea. crystal and i went over to a friend of c's from argentina, who made it for us. the taste is kinda of hard to explain. it is a bit more evergreenish than regular tea. she added more sugar than usual since it was our first time, but i probably would have liked it a little less sweet than she made it.

quote out of context for the day: "and i'll play it for you when we're in the bathtub"

i just went for some chai at 'cafe mocha'. sometimes people look so beautiful all bundled up for the absurdly cold weather. their eyes clear, cheeks and noses red, hats pulled down tight.

i believe today is officially the coldest day of the winter. i hope it stays the coldest.

it is still raining

for c. there is far too much in the world i wish to capture, to preserve, to eternalize in a well crafted observation. there is far too much selfishness, even within myself. there is far too much impermanence and failure where i wish there to be an immovable pillar and unwavering loyalty. everything is delicately broken. the world is an empty shell, filled only with the replicas of long forgotten meaning. yet, somehow, at some point every day, out of oblivion, i find a smile carved right there in front of me.

i miss our private teas.

hahaha. happy new year. suckas.