Word I overuse: Weird, when I should say peculiar or odd. Weird should be reserved for the vaguely supernatural.
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(1)
11:34:30 AM,
Monday 5 July 2004
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Word I dislike: Pressurize. It's permissable when discussing artificially increasing air pressure, and possibly water pressure. However, it is creeping into business-speak, and I don't like it. I suspect the military is to blame. Pressure is a perfectly good verb, we don't need another.
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11:33:16 AM,
Monday 5 July 2004
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Camera flashes should need to be turned on for each picture. Every camera should come with a pamphlet explaining in big letters what a flash can and cannot do.
For one thing, if flashes defaulted to off, cameras could be permitted in public places. The stands at sporting events would no longer be a visual testament to the general cluelessness of mankind. Yes, more precious vacation snaps would come back underexposed, but that is a small price to pay.
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(1)
04:03:55 PM,
Sunday 4 July 2004
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Yay! Erika presented me with the Poetical Works of William Cowper.
X. FAMILIARITY DANGEROUS
As in her ancient mistress' lap
The youthful tabby lay,
They gave each other many a tap,
Alike disposed to play.
But strife ensues. Puss waxes warm,
And with protuded claws
Ploughs all the length of Lydia's arm,
Mere wantonness the cause.
At once, resentful of the deed,
She shakes her to the ground,
With many a threat that she shall bleed
With still a deeper wound.
But Lydia, bid thy fury rest;
It was a venial stroke;
For she that will with kittens jest,
Should bear a kitten's joke.
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05:49:12 PM, Wednesday 30 June 2004
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Carp appear to be joining parrots as my own personal symbols of malevolent evil, but while parrots are all-knowing and insane, carp are simple-minded enemies of mankind. The trouble with parrots can be traced to a visit to a pet shop in Santa Fe, and one particular huge blue parrot. It may not be coincidental that I was reading Flaubert at the time. The trouble with carp can be traced directly to two of them deciding it was lots of fun to thrash about underneath my inflatable kayak. I don't know whether there are any animals I think of as benevolent. Certainly not cats..
Someone has been feeding the swans. However, swans don't ask. Swans demand, with growls and implied violence. The cygnets simply make gentle chirping noises.
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10:44:21 AM,
Wednesday 30 June 2004
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Am taking alternate mondays and fridays off for the rest of the summer, so that every other weekend is a 4 day weekend. I am excited about this.
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04:01:40 PM,
Tuesday 29 June 2004
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New Thought: ^^, an XOR where you stop testing once you know the answer, doesn't make any sense. Obvious, but I'd never thought about it before. It isn't an area where I expect to come across things I haven't thought.
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(4)
06:44:29 PM,
Sunday 27 June 2004
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The New Haven IKEA grand opening is on July 28th. The first 200 people in line get a free Poang chair ($80). It's a wednesday; the store opens at 10am. How early would I need to get there? It's a strange sort of question: How silly am I, and how many people are sillier than me? Am I really one of the 200 silliest people in New England? I'd be interested to see what sort of people think they've got a shot at that honor, and how early they think they need to get there.
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(2)
04:57:30 PM,
Sunday 27 June 2004
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On Saturday, the The Second Annual Boston Hedgehog Gathering is happening just down the road. It includes a costume contest (no bonus points awarded to owners wearing matching outfits) and Hedgehog Olympics. Hedgehog shotput isn't what it ought to be.
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(3)
06:54:34 PM,
Wednesday 23 June 2004
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In a strange way, the primary reason I get my hair cut is to escape the building dread that I'm going to have to get my hair cut.
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09:38:12 PM,
Monday 21 June 2004
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At sunset, we've been spotting turtles, their triangular noses silouetted against the water. There were three tonight, one of which wandered quite close.
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09:08:41 PM,
Sunday 20 June 2004
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Went up Mt. Watatic. Very clear day. Could see the Boston skyline, 50 miles away. This isn't a picture of it.
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06:35:01 PM,
Sunday 20 June 2004
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site & script courtesy of Moss
