Ubuntu 7.10

Time to "get my geek on", as they say.

The latest version of Ubuntu has been released, and I am currently in the process of getting it installed on my laptop.

I will post pictures (videos maybe?) of my new desktop, in the hopes of making you all jealous. In fact I doubt many of you care.

Puppets, Curry, Thanksgiving

This was a busy weekend. On Friday, I went with my friends Shoichi and Yoko to see a performance of Japanese puppetry and shinnai.

I was very impressed. This was my first chance to see Japanese puppetry. It was a bit different than the bunraku that I knew about; the style of puppetry we saw is called kuruma ningyo and, unlike bunraku, which has three performers manipulating a single puppet, has a single performer manipulating the puppet. He accomplishes this by sitting on a sort of stool with wheels (the kuruma), and manipulating the puppet's feet by grasping them between his toes, while manipulating the arms and head with his hands.

On Saturday, I met my friends again to watch Godzilla versus Ghidora (also featuring Mothra and Rodan). I received this DVD from my parents for my birthday (thanks!) and enjoyed it a lot. Shoichi made curry rice, and Yoko made katsu, and we all ate too much. Yum.

Then on Sunday, we celebrated Canadian thanksgiving at my house with a bunch of friends from the department. Again, I ate too much.

And today I'm celebrating Columbus's "discovery" by getting the work I should have been doing over the weekend done. Speaking of which...

No real news - but a funny comic from xkcd!

So I haven't been posting lately. Sue me. I'm busy. And lazy.

Here's a comic I didn't draw.

my life in a comic?

(an xkcd comic)

Wow

This is crazy. Watch it til the end.



Thanks to Quang for the link.

Secular Reproductionists

A new semester looms

Alright, alright - my posting delinquency is unabated. Are any of you really surprised?

. . .

I didn't think so.

The fall semester starts tomorrow. I am entering my *third* year as a linguistics grad student here at UMass. OK, so for the uninitiated, this is, believe it or not, NOT a consequence of delinquency. The PhD program is projected to take five years. This is standard. I notice a lot of raised eyebrows when I tell people how long this thing takes. Trust me - as my twenties (and my soul) are sucked mercilessly from my carpal-tunnel stricken fingers, I am well aware of just how long five years is.

In any case, at the end of this year, I'll be at roughly the halfway point.

To everybody in Texas - thanks for the much-needed break this summer. The less you hear from me this fall, the harder I'm working. Really. I'm not at the movie theater. I promise.