turkeypro's journal

Toodles!

2005-06-10T06:27:07Z

Welly welly well

After two tremendous gigs these past two nights, I'm off like a flash to Mother Russia. It's going to be a thrilling, enriching 32 hours of travel, at which point I will be in Moscow. Other destinations such as St. Petersburg and all of Europe are also good possibilities. Hopefully it will be a good time there. I will definitely be in touch, and I'll be checking my e-mail often, so write you me if you feel so inspired. I'm gonna miss you all, I hope you Madisonians don't have too much fun without me, but I will return July 20 (look for a possible July 21 Fermata show!) and it will be all fun and good times with all you guys for the rest of the wonderful, wonderful summer. I look forward both to this trip and to getting back and hanging out more.

Keep it real

P.S. All you guys that come to our shows (and those that don't) are incredible. You guys are awesome. A guy couldn't want better friends. Cheers.

madrumos @ 2005-05-15T15:25:00

2005-05-15T20:25:06Z

So!

The band's first show went off fantastically on Thursday! We got a ton of people to come, which was really great. The owner of the Annex was very impressed with a showing like that on a Thursday, and he said we would definitely be playing there again. That was exciting. And other than that, we played really well, 8 songs, the crowd was really into it, and none of us were very nervous. It was surprising, actually, but I was very collected up there on stage on my drum riser. I was so in the zone for the whole show, I played without worry, solidly, not too fast, and yet still with animation and feeling. It was very enjoyable. It was also extremely enjoyable having an established band open for us and thank us for having them come out. They were cool and pretty good. We got lots of compliments from everyone, including the sound guy, who said we were really with it for a band gigging out for the first time. We also made some money, which, while it wasn't the point, isn't bad either. Not enough to live on or anything, and for the moment it's getting reinvested in band ventures, but still.

Otherwise. School is over. Finals went fine, quite well I'd say. It's very nice to be done, although it's unfortunate the weather turned. Now to figure out what to do with myself for the summer... Band, work, research, friends... It'll be good.

I guess that's about it, just had to report on the wonderful show. There are more coming up!

The Fermata website has been redesigned, check it out and see how stylin' it is:
http://www.fermataband.com/

madrumos @ 2005-05-12T00:04:00

2005-05-12T05:04:31Z

Check out the new design I've come up with for the Fermata website. I like it, although it needs a bit of tweaking. Suggestions?

http://www.fermataband.com/

madrumos @ 2005-05-11T15:20:00

2005-05-11T20:20:28Z

Why the national ID card legislation that is passing Congress is not a good thing

Check out his "national IDs" link in the text for even more info, and note that it has been printed such places as the Star Tribune.

This doesn't strike me as alarmist...

madrumos @ 2005-05-09T22:25:00

2005-05-10T03:25:30Z

My website is somewhat updated, so check that out, although there's nothing really thrilling...

So, I must say, this week and the past few are some good times as far as music is concerned. To summarize:
-The tremendous Cake concert several weeks ago. Gomez was very good, and Cake was everything I'd expected. They played some great songs, they played them well, and everyone, most of all John McCrea, was cool and connecting with the crowd. It's not often you see Cake on tour, let alone in a nice small venue and such.
-New Nine Inch Nails album! It came out last week (and is currently available for free listening at http://www.myspace.com/), and so far, I like it. Different, and not without weak spots, but another quality album from Reznor. I particularly like songs like "The Hand That Feeds," "With Teeth" and "Only". Dave Grohl is, of course, the man. So far the review that I've found that best sums up the album and surrounding back-history is here.
-And, obviously, this week's upcoming debut show by up-and-coming Madison band Fermata is going to simply rock. I hope to see everyone there. http://www.fermataband.com for more details.

I was thinking about which recent rock albums truly are classics worthy of the name. So far I have four nominees for music that is deep, powerful, intelligent, well put together, rocking, and has the requisite high levels of musicianship from all involved:
A Perfect Circle - Mer de Noms
Nine Inch Nails - Downward Spiral
Radiohead - OK Computer
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
While there are tons of other incredible albums out there from these and other artists, I feel that these four are all either so revolutionary or so perfect that they surpass or define what a quality rock album should be. These are benchmarks, standards, and trend-setters. For me, at least, they are all stunning every time, from Billy Corgan's astounding layered textured guitar tone to the versatile virtuoso voice of MJK to the complex darkness and style of Trent Reznor's compositions.

I feel pity for anyone who has never had khachapuri. Cheers, Brandon.

Check this out (courtesy of Micah):
Dialect Survey Results
As an amateur linguist (and as a Midwesterner), I find this stuff fascinating. See #8 for what I was talking about with people saying "eygg and neygative" for egg and negative. Number 53 is kinda bizarre... Numbers 1, 51 and 103 are just classic. While it doesn't appear that the survey was necessarily very scientific, and the results are pretty inconclusive and vague, it's still so interesting.

Alright, I think that's all I have for now. I should get back to studying. Here's to 7:45 exams.

-------------------------

"We are building a religion
We are building it bigger
We are widening the corridors
And adding more lanes

We are building a religion
A limited edition
We are now accepting callers
for the pendant key chains

Some people drink Pepsi
Some people drink Coke
The wacky morning DJ
Says democracy's a joke

He says now do you believe
In the one big song
He's now accepting callers
Who would like to sing along

She says, do you believe
In the one true edge
By fastening your safety belts
And stepping towards the ledge

We are building a religion

We are building it bigger"

madrumos @ 2005-04-27T01:56:00

2005-04-27T06:56:12Z

So!

Cold cold cold concerts
Weird danish movies
Last minute papers of genius

I finally bought tickets to russia, and I sent off all my visa stuff today. Hopefully that'll go alright, I hate sending my passport through the mail. For those curious, I leave here on June 10 and will return July 20. I think all big expenditures are done for the time being, which is a relief.

No progress yet on the super-secret confidential awesome mission for the week. Fun ping-pong though...
Crap!

One paper to go before finals. Phew. It'll be a doozy, but after that...

Oh yeah! So Fermata has gotten radio air-time! Yeah, my friend who has a show at the student radio station was fantastic and played 'Ruby' off of our demo on Sunday. You could listen to Fermata all over the city at that time, not to mention the online streaming! We're on our way to the top, for sure. What's next after radio...we'll be huge!

Okay, I'm tired. Off to bed.

Chodzę po mieście...or it's all about the Gibsons and the Les Pauls...

2005-04-20T05:04:12Z

Thunder and lightning! The smell is heavenly. I saw a flash of light out the window at first, and I assumed it was some passing headlight or something. I didn't really get it, and then I heard this sound... Getting work done on a beautiful Tuesday night during a restrained, metallic, icy, precise thunderstorm--the first of the season. Marvelous.

My web stuff:
-The (so far not so great) design I've made for my band, Fermata's website. Check it out, and be sure and listen to or download the latest and final version of our demo. Check back often, hopefully we'll have some gigs listed in very short order, things are falling into place!
http://www.fermataband.com
-The site I maintain for work, which is the Center for Russia, East Europe and Central Asia (CREECA) here on campus. It's a federal-grant funded program offering MAs and undergrad certificates, as well as doing community outreach and bringing in many lectures and presentations.
http://www.wisc.edu/creeca/

My total bill for the past and coming 5 days:
$1360.00
Ouch.

Saturday's party: extreme success. Thanks to everyone who came!

New super-conservative really old German pope? Not so cool. I was really hoping for a Brotha Pope or at least someone from ...oh no!... the global south! Español, anyone?
My drum breaking and stupid Good'n'loud not having any lugs at all? Crappy.
Random people from last year e-mailing to say hi? Good.
Going to see Cake next week? Very good.
Feeling more and more every day like I know what I'm doing, where I'm going, and who I am? Enlightening and refreshing.
Friends? Incredible.

Okay. Enough of that. Why are you reading this anyway?

--------------------------------

a total stranger one black day
knocked living the hell out of me--

who found forgiveness hard because
my(as it happened)self he was

--but now that fiend and i are such
immortal friends the other's each

--------------------------------

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

--------------------------------

"If I could only shut you out
Of my bleeding ears..."

madrumos @ 2005-04-18T18:26:00

2005-04-18T23:26:39Z

Your Linguistic Profile:

55% General American English

20% Upper Midwestern

15% Yankee

5% Dixie

5% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

So my friend asked if I wanted a frozen banana...

2005-04-06T02:46:27Z

Mitch Hedberg was the man. So sad. Here are funny things! Thanks, Squeaks!

Compiled from the Internet

I tried walking into a Target, but I missed.

I once saw a forklift lift a crate of forks. And it was way to literal for ME.

I would imagine if you understood Morse Code, a tap dancer would drive you crazy.

I was walking down the street with my friend and he said "I hear music." As though there's any other way to take it in. You're not special. That's how I receive it too...I tried to taste it, but it did not work.

I was at this casino minding my own business, and this guy came up to me and said, "You're gonna have to move, you're blocking a fire exit." As though if there was a fire, I wasn't gonna run. If you're flammible and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit.

You know when they have a fishing show on TV? They catch the fish and then let it go. They don't want to eat the fish, they just want to make it late for something.

I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long.

I want to be a race car passenger: just a guy who bugs the driver. "Say man, can I turn on the radio? You should slow down. Why do we gotta keep going in circles? Can I put my feet out the window? Boy, you really like Tide."

I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.

This shirt is dry clean only. Which means...it's dirty.

I love blackjack. But I'm not addicted to gambling. I'm addicted to sitting in a semi circle.

One time a guy handed me a picture of himself and he said. "Here's a picture of me when I was younger." Every picture of you is of when you were younger. Here's a picture of me when I'm older. How'd you pull that off? Let me see that camera.

I think foosball is a combination of soccer and shish kabobs.

A severed foot is the ultimate stocking stuffer.

My friend said to me, "You know what I like? Mashed potatoes." I was like, "Dude, you have to give me time to guess. If you're going to quiz me you have to insert a pause."

accents

2005-03-31T02:23:20Z

Am I the only one around here who says 'egg' right? Or am I just out of it? It seems like everyone I run into here says 'eygg' not 'ehgg'. Like they make the e a diphthong ey sound. And in other words like neygative. And others that I can't remember. And seemingly regardless of where they're from, people do this, although I guess they're all from the Midwest. Is it a Wisconsin thing? An Illinois thing? A non-Minnesotan thing? Or am I just saying it wrong? No wait! They say it that way in California too! We made Easter Eggs while I was there, so I heard it a lot, and it blew my mind. No! No diphthong! Egg! Egg!

Egg egg egg egg egg egg egg egg egg egg!

Alright I'm done. If someone can explain this for me, I'd be much obliged.

On a separate note, how about that sky opening up with torrential rain, wind and hail today? 'Twas awesome, particularly how it stopped raining every time I needed to walk anywhere, then resumed with the thunder and lightning. Very cool.

Mmm frozen pizza.

What else? Blue, $, 5.

madrumos @ 2005-03-18T15:35:00

2005-03-18T21:35:02Z

have a great break everyone! see you in a little over a week. keep it reaaaaal.

Mephi

2005-03-15T05:47:54Z

oh yeah and happy pi day everyone, i hope you had a good one

------------------------

"Who knows who we really are? A person is like a novel: Up to the very last page you don't know how it's going to end. Otherwise, there'd be no point in reading..."

"A knife is the most permanent, the most immortal, the most ingenious of all of man's creations. The knife was a guillotine, the knife is a universal means of resolving all knots, and the path of paradox lies along the blade of a knife—the only path worthy of the mind without fear..."

what's my name?

2005-03-15T05:43:45Z

here are some pseudonyms various people are known under, with their real names in parentheses. i knew some of these, but there were others that fascinated me. i had no idea that some of these people were going by other names, and particularly it's interesting what their original names were! crazy! from now on i'd like to be known as Max Power.

George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair)
Joseph Conrad (Józef Teodor Nałęcz Konrad Korzeniowski)
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
Toni Morrison (Chloe Anthony Wofford)
Woody Allen (Allen Stewart Konigsberg)
Che Guevara (Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna)
Joseph Stalin (Iosif Vissarionovich Djugashvili)
Pope John-Paul II (Karol Józef Wojtyła)
Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu)
Bob Dylan (Robert Zimmerman)
Bob Hope (Leslie Townes Hope)
Cary Grant (Archibald Alexander Leach)
Charlie Sheen (Carlos Irwin Estevez)
David Bowie (David Robert Jones)
Elton John (Reginald Kenneth Dwight)
Engelbert Humperdinck (Arnold Dorsey)
Fred Astaire (Frederick Austerlitz)
Freddie Mercury (Faroukh Bulsara)
Gene Wilder (Jerome Silberman)
Ginger Rogers (Virginia Katherine McMath)
Harry Houdini (Ehrich Weiss)
Jamie Foxx (Eric Bishop)
John Wayne (Marion Michael Morrison)
Mariah Carey (Maria Nuñez)
Martin Sheen (Ramon Estevez)
Mel Brooks (Melvin Kaminsky)
Meg Ryan (Margaret Mary Emily Ann Hyra)
Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey)
Tom Cruise (Thomas Cruise Mapother IV)

from wikipedia (of course)

bardzo mi milo

2005-03-08T07:01:47Z

Al Sharpton is quite the speaker. Not boring, that's for sure. I can't say he really contributed anything particularly enlightening or new, but it's always good to hear the stuff pronounced convincingly and with gusto. And chutzpah. Which is just a good word. Now if only we can get Ann Coulter and John Ashcroft and Jon Stewart to come speak next year, that would be great...and I'm serious.

Saw a dude driving the wrong way down University the other day...heh. He finally figured out that there were four lanes of headlights coming towards him and a guy honking maniacally. He turned around.
This occurred on the Day of Incredible Awesome So-Beautifulness. The weather was phenomenal; beyond words. It made me want to just walk forever (chodze po miescie...), talk with friends forever, leave the U.S. and just go somewhere, anywhere. The warm weather effected be strangely. It made me want to be in Europe or somewhere, for one. I've been bit by the travel bug again...

Alright, I should probably go guitar. I mean read. Hooray for freudian slips, that was hilarious Andrew. "I should probably go do something republic." Yeah. Right.

So yeah, once again I thought this week wouldn't have that much going on and I'd have some extra time. Nope. Way too much going on. But good stuff, for the most part, so hey. Can't complain.

Electric bass is the coolest thing ever. I think I could rock out with funky stuff to Brick House for hours and hours...

Hmm. Work. +money. -money. yeah. http://www.wisc.edu/creeca is mine now, I have ultimate power. Bwa ha ha ha.

How much should I keep writing? There seems like a lot, but it seems so inconsequential. I think I'm about done. I'll cover the fermata and the vagueness and the etc etc later. Yelp!

----------------------

"And now here's that √-1 again. I've looked over these records of mine, and it's clear to me that I've been fooling myself, I've been lying to myself, and all because I did not want to see that √-1."

---------------------

"Któregoś dnia to miasto będzie należeć do mnie.

Na razie chodzę, patrzę. Na razie nic.

Któregoś dnia rzeką Wisłą przypłynie statek piratów.

O pięciu masztach. Dwudziestu armatach.

I zapytają: - Który to Świetlicki?

A ja wtedy stanę na samym środku rynku - i będę wskazywać:

TEGO, TEGO, TAMTĄ, TEGO, TEGO,

WSZYSTKICH!!!!

Opluty. Opluty.

Ooooopluty.

Kraków i Nowa Huta - Sodoma z Gomorą -

z Sodomy do Gomory jedzie się tramwajem.

Chodzę po mieście.

Chodzę po mieście.

Opluty."

madrumos @ 2005-03-02T01:04:00

2005-03-02T07:04:31Z

i now have:
-a job! woohoo! money! now to just find the time...
-an electric bass in my room! not mine, but fun to mess around with and get a feel for the other rock rhythm instrument. now to just find the time...

-----------------------

from the student newspaper comics today:
(Two people are talking to each other)
-Yesterday was Family Circus' 45th anniversary.
-I hate that comic and I hate you for bringing it up.
-So I'm not the only one who thinks Bill Keane is a c***-gobbling sh** peddler?
-Alone?! Family Circus is the most sterilized, unfunny, comfort food ever to squeeze out a steamer on the comics page. Christ, his son is doing most of it now. They can't even start a new comic, they just keep rehashing the same old tripe. If I ever meet Bill Keane he better hope he can outrun me.
-Ok, I hate Family Circus but that was creepy.
-I'll murder his f***ing family. I'm not joking.

-----------------------

"If I were a rich man
Daidle deedle daidle deedle daidle dum
All day long I'd biddy biddy bum
If I were a wealthy man

I wouldn't have to work hard
Daidle deedle daidle deedle daidle dum
If I were a biddy biddy rich
Deedle daidle deedle daidle man"

yes

2005-02-28T05:59:41Z

Canadian Broadcorping Castration

Flutterby

"If the terriers and bariffs are torn down, this economy will grow"

Gruntfuttock

Richard Nixon is wearing a neck weasel.

Walla Walla, Keokuk, Cucamonga, Seattle

Wankel rotary engine

Kumquat

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

2005-02-25T05:35:41Z

Where to start!!! It has been so long, and i don't want to bore anyone. Not that anyone reads this. And not like even if people used to read it they haven't stopped a long time ago when they realized that i don't write in it anymore.

I'm not sure why I haven't been writing here. Laziness and busyness, for sure. And the feeling that no one reads it, and those that do should just talk to me or communicate in some other fashion. Friends and such, that is.

So...my life of the last months in one entry...

-Break was excellently excellent. Like serious, the best thing ever. Friends and hanging out. Movies (upwards of 20) and fun fun. Even a lord of the rings extended edition marathon. Oy vey.

-The band is going very very well. Except for the punk kid that recorded our demo for us who did a crap job on the mixing and then disappeared. "You want that I break his knees?" Yes.
The story of our recording session. Basically, we rerecorded our demo, and it took 12 hours straight. We basically went from 5 PM to 5 AM with no appreciable break. And then I went to class. The second day of classes. The whole session was exhausting, frustrating, interesting, fun, and instructive all at once. Now that -- twelve hours in the 'studio' -- is the musician's life. The stuff we do for music, eh? See below for more on this.

-A possible job fell into my lap this week. Not many hours, but I don't need many. And it'll be easy and interesting. And I'll do it over summer and next year probably too. I just love when cool shit like that happens.

-The party this last weekend what perhaps the coolest thing ever. Matt was here, and there was much music to be had. I just love how we can not play together for months, and then get together and rock out tons of songs like nothing. The concert at the party was incredible. Really a rush, and it was so fun playing and singing. Yes, I sang, and in front of like 30 people, many of whom are my friends! Can you believe it? I can't. People loved the music and got really into it, and I was so into it all that I think nuclear war could've started an I wouldn't have noticed. The show has really invigorated my inner musician. Playing drums has a new aspect now, as does playing guitar and singing. I feel like I could just play drums or guitar nonstop. I also feel like all my serious hard work practicing drums (and guitar, too, really) has really paid off. Two and half years into the instrument, and I feel like I'm really not bad. More interestingly, I can really notice a huge improvement since just the beginning of this school year. Like today, I was feeling kinda tired when I got to the drumset, but I sat down and some of the most awesome, fluid, creative, grooving stuff came out immediately, like out of nowhere. I don't know how that all works. Some people (including sometimes myself) may not understand why I spend so much time down there making a racket in the basement, and I may have been not great at first, but I really enjoy it, I'm definitely getting somewhere, and the performance really brought that out. I feel like a genuine musician, and drums is one great way that I can express that. Another is the fantastic Fender Stratocaster electric guitar that Sara is letting me borrow. I've realized that while drums is my focus, I really love playing guitar and I think I have potential to be decent if I were to work at it. All these realizations about music in my life have been very interesting and suprising for myself. Not to mention awakening a huge desire to buy more instruments...it seems like it's justified. Yet, I'm poor...

-Classes are really great. I like them, and I work on them a fair amount. I came to the realization that I don't have to be taking any of them, really. I could graduate with a Russian degree. This means that all these classes are what I really want to be taking, overall. If I didn't like the PoliSci or the languages, I wouldn't be taking them.
It is odd taking two languages at once, all while trying to keep my Russian up (with some success, I might add). There hasn't been too much confusion, but it's just intellectually challenging, and I rather like trying to get my brain around all these new grammatical and lexical structures and concepts for two languages at once. A challenge, but I think I'm up to it. We'll see.

-Had breakfast with Mom and Grandma. Very good, as usual, to see them.

-Got tickets to fly to good old California for spring break. I expect it to be really great. I haven't been out there for so long. The whole idea of doing this was rather sudden, but I just decided to go for it. I don't so much like the idea of missing friends and family over break, but...California beckons!

-Finally signed a lease on a place for next year. We were so slow and lazy on getting going on the housing search, but I think we were quite successful. It's just nice to have one more important thing out of the way. The place is nice and cozy. My only concerns are that it's still not super close to campus, and that there's only one bathroom for four guys. Oh well, no biggie on either issue, I think. What do we do on August 15? I have nowhere to live.

-Lars Ulrich is really not that great a drummer. Solidly mediocre. Or even mediocrely solid.

-I feel like I have more good friends right now than I have in a long time. I wish I had more time for them, but it's a really good feeling. I'm not sure why, but this semester has just worked well for social life and really getting to know people. I guess not everything has been entirely peachy, but overall I've been getting to know new people, and getting closer to a lot of 'old' people. You all are awesome, and you know I appreciate you.

-Ah, and then there's the good times with Erik, the bender with Sarah, the fantastic Russian discoteka, the other parties, ping-pong with Dan, millions and millions of books, the wonderful Ethiopian food, conversations in Russian about Shakespeare with Ollie, the bowling, seeing crazy Chris C-D and Ava, the fact that Matt is the coolest ever, the always fun Lunch Club...
Oh and who can forget the evening spent sitting with my Polish professor, a Polish man, and a Brazilian woman talking about the meaning of art, skinheads, film, language acquisition, and slavic languages? Very cool. You can bet I'll never write a sentence

-Und du. Ich weiß nicht, wlasnie kto ty jestes. Hast du mich gern, lub tylko mysle, ze cos jest? Ich verstehe nicht. Nie rozumiem.

-You know that feeling of being busy, where you're just busy enough, but not too stressed? Where you get things done and feel like stuff's getting accomplished, without working way too hard or getting too far behind? Where work, social stuff, personal interests and leisure have found a nearly perfect proportion? I've had a lot of it this semester so far, and I'm in love with it. I'm not a workaholic, just...I like getting stuff done. Not everything, unfortunately, but...stuff. Hard to explain.

-Oops, definitely just overdrew my account...oh well. It's all good now.

-Still single. Could that change? Yes. Are there 'prospects'? Maybe. What's going on for real? I don't know. Hopefully things will become more clear soon...

So I guess that's been my semester. I'm sure I've forgotten a bunch of important stuff, but oh well. You can read all the above, if you make it through it, and judge for yourself how stuff's going.

How's it going? It goes. Life. Yep. Blah.

Signing off, this is Noah from WOMB 95.6 "The Womb"

news

2004-12-15T01:16:56Z

news updates:

1. ocean's 12 is...not good. at all. nah. entertaining enough, but not as much as it could be.

however!

2. coolest poster ever:

goes with awesome trailer for what promises to be an incredible film. tim burton + johnny depp + willie wonka = speechless

http://raincloud.warnerbros.com/wbmovies/charlie/teaser/teaser_med/teaser_MSTR.mov

3. wow it is cold. woohoo.

4. music. band. demo. more later ;-)

5. spook-y

6. this is random, but i'm currently hosting a couple tracks of the band Zaum (featuring Tool drummer Danny Carey), so if you wanna download them and check them out, be my guest. very weird music, but interesting, and the drumming is creative.

http://turkeypro.doesntexist.com/zaum/

i think that's all the news i have right now. and now it's russian paper writing time!

toodles

me tired

2004-12-10T07:32:18Z

let's see here

stuff is stuff. can't complain, everything's kinda humming along to some degree. everything is some combination of confusing, liberating, maddening, disappointing, boring, stressful, lazy, content and relaxed. and more, probably. but this isn't really news for anyone, is it, nor is it particularly informative. but it can be. ha!

anybody know what i should write about in my analysis of Lermontov's story "The Fatalist"? anyone?

http://www.fark.com/ rocks. everyone check it out if you already don't. nice way to waste some time doing something meaningless.

hmm it seems i have less to say on here than i thought... tea is good, as are biscuits... as is clean laundry. my room is a mess... russian stress patterns are enough to give you a heart attack... 200% sodium for dinner is tasty... and if there's ever some stupid idiothead doofus sitting next to you on a computer, sneeze on him. a lot.

cheers, all!

-------------------

i have no more to say right now. reality. silence. "it's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything". am i wrong?

------------------

"I know the pieces fit cuz I watched them tumble down
No fault, none to blame it doesn't mean I don't desire to
Point the finger, blame the other, watch the temple topple over.
To bring the pieces back together, rediscover communication

The poetry that comes from the squaring off between,
And the circling is worth it.
Finding beauty in the dissonance.

There was a time that the pieces fit, but I watched them fall away.
Mildewed and smoldering, strangled by our coveting
I've done the math enough to know the dangers of our second guessing
Doomed to crumble unless we grow, and strengthen our communication.

Cold silence has a tendency to atrophy any
Sense of compassion
Between supposed brothers"

reflection

2004-12-03T07:57:12Z

so i promised an update, here's something.

basically, thanksgiving was excellent. i think i was surprised for some reason at how nice it really is to be home. just being home is nice, and seeing friends and family was really great. cats are wonderful. i think taking a break from madison like that, even a short one, put many things in a bit of a different, better perspective. it's good to just get away like that. madison is great and there are tons of awesome things and people here, but it can also be very limited and suffocating at times.

yeah, i found a cute fuzzy caterpillar today on our mailbox, so i brought him in and put him on my bed. he wasn't really moving much, i think he was cold. but pretty soon he warmed up and BAM, he was gone. fast little bugger! it didn't take long before he had disappeared into my bed. not relishing the idea of sleeping with/on the squirmy black fuzzy guy, i finally found him and have placed him on his own little island paradise. with some random leaves. hopefully he'll stay put, unless he's one of those caterpillars proficient at the backstroke or who can hold his breath for peculiarly long periods of time. caterpillar breath? yeah, i don't know.

only one and half weeks of class left before finals, the last of which is on the 22nd for me. so late, i know. and if that one girl hadn't ruined it for everyone, i'd be able to take that last on in class and be done on the 20th. grr. i believe it's the 8th circle of hell that is reserved for people who make students stay longer than necessary into finals week.

the motorcycles are awesome. they're 1980 Suzuki GS250s, 250cc, with not many miles. they need some work, one of them doesn't run, but they should be in decent shape and we got a killer price on them, i think. i'm a little concerned that this is going to be crazier, trickier, and more time consuming (and hopefully not money consuming) than i had perhaps anticipated. but it'll be fun, and once you sit on those babies, you can really tell how incredibly awesome it'll be when they're cruising down the road with personally overhauled engines purring in tuned glee. it is also surprising really how big and heavy they are. i kindof imagine motorcycles being light and person-sized like bicycles, but no. they are several hundred pounds of metal. oooooh man.

i have taken a small step today towards triumph over hesitance, censorship, vagueness, introvertedness and closedness, if only for a moment. time is fleeting and what are we here to do but communicate and reach out to others? our walls are not unbreachable, nor should we endlessly live inside ourselves. expression of inner thought and feeling. i encourage everyone to make an effort. glasnost and perestroika are not only for gorbachev!

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"So crucify the ego, before it's far too late
To leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical,
And you will come to find that we are all one mind
Capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
Just let the light touch you
And let the words spill through
And let them pass right through
Bringing out our hope and reason ...
before we pine away."

woohoo!

2004-12-01T07:33:47Z

yep! we got them. and now to get them into the basement and fix them up for spring... it'll be fun. hard to believe, ain't it? what a deal... cheers to sneakyleaf for the pics of our hot new rides.

more update and stuff about thanksgiving soon

!

down the upside

2004-11-22T07:51:03Z

i am tired of this.

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instead of writing stuff, i'm gonna say see my post on friendship. which parts? you'll just have to figure that out yourself.

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"If there were no rewards to reap,
No loving embrace to see me through
This tedious path I've chosen here,
I certainly would've walked away by now.
Gonna wait it out.

If there were no desire to heal
The damaged and broken met along
This tedious path I've chosen here
I certainly would've walked away by now.

And I still may ... I still may.

Be patient.
I must keep reminding myself of this."

i'm all verklempt!

2004-11-19T02:34:11Z

okay, so the moral of this post is: yiddish is funny, and, in its own strange way, cool. who doesn't get a kick out of that delightfully stereotypical jewish american accent? having recently had several conversations with The Sneakyleaf about yiddish and the words that i enjoy using and use frequently (namely schlepp, schtupp, and schmuck), i give to you a list of some of my favorite english words and phrases taken from yiddish (thank you wikipedia). i implore you, for the sake of diverse multicultural comedic spicing-up of your everyday language, to use these as much as you can! or, in the case of some of these, it's just interesting to know they came from yiddish.

Bagel (בײגל beygl) - a hard ring-shaped bread roll

Bubkes (also spelled "bupkis") - nothing, as in He isn't worth bubkes (from Yiddish bopkes 'little beans')

Chutzpah - audacity, effrontery (from Yiddish חוצפּה khutspe)
-what a great word! use it more often!

Gornisht - nothing, not a bit, for naught

Kibosh - to stop something, perhaps by pointing out a problem

Klutz - clumsy person (perhaps from Yiddish קלאָץ klots 'wooden beam')

Kosher (כּשר) - fit, proper, conforming to Jewish dietary laws. Slang: appropriate, legitimate.

Kvetch - complain (from Yiddish קװעטשן kvetshn 'press, squeeze')

Mazel tov! (מזל־טובֿ!‏ mazl tov) - congratulations! (literally, 'good luck', from Hebrew)

Mensch - an upright man; a decent human being (from Yiddish מענטש mentsh 'person')

Meshuga (משוגען meşugn) - crazy
-and what a meshuggah band it is, too!

Mishmosh - hodgepodge (from Yiddish מישמאַש mishmash)

Nudnik (נודניק) - pest, "pain in the neck", originally from Polish ("nuda" in Polish means "boredom")

Oy vey (אױ װײ) - (Oh no! (literally, 'Oh, pain!')

Oy gevalt (אױ גװאַלד) - Oh no! (from Yiddish gvald 'emergency')

Phooey! (also fooey and pfui) - expression of utter contempt or complete disbelief

Plotz - to burst, as from strong emotion: "I was so angry, I thought I'd plotz!" (from
Yiddish פּלאַצן platsn 'to crack')

Putz - unclean penis; stupid 'dirty' person (from Yiddish פּאָץ pots)

Schlock - A poorly made product or poorly done work, usually quickly thrown together for the appearance of having been done properly; "this writing is schlock." Something shoddy or inferior. Also the making of such work; "I'm just going to schlock it."

Schmaltz - excessive sentimentality; chicken fat or drippings used as a shmeer on bread
-very useful word, especially given the stuff hollywood's giving us these days

Schmo - a stupid person

Shlep (שלעפּן şlepm) - (to drag (an object))
-this is what i have to do when i miss the bus.

Shmeer (שמיר) - (to spread, e.g. the cream cheese on your bagel)

Shmuck - penis; a jerk, an unpleasant person (from Yiddish שמאָק shmok)
-classic. you're a schmuck if you don't use this word.

Shnoz - nose (possibly from Yiddish shnoits 'snout')

Shpiel - a lengthy talk (from Yiddish שפּיל shpil 'play')

Shtick - comic theme; a defining habit or distinguishing feature (from Yiddish שטיק shtik 'piece, whims')

Shtup - to have sex, screw (from Yiddish שטופּן shtupn 'push, poke')
-no schtupping the secretary!

Tochis, Tush - rear end (from Yiddish תּחת tokhes)

Verklempt - choked with emotion

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also, this is just marvelous. danke schön, Herr Monsignor 'Leaf.

http://www.vidlit.com/yidlit/yidlit.html

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i've run into this tons of times, as you also may have, but here it is for kicks. pretty amusing.

"Ghoti" = "Fish"

Josef Essberger

Some languages are "phonetic". That means that you can look at a word and know how to say it. English is not phonetic. You cannot always look at an English word and know how to say it. You cannot always hear an English word and know how to spell it.

George Bernard Shaw (GBS) was a famous Irish writer. He wanted to reform English spelling so that it was more logical. He asked the following question as an example:

How do we pronounce the word "ghoti"?

His answer was "fish".

How can "ghoti" and "fish" sound the same? GBS explained it like this:

the gh = f as in rouGH

the o = i as in wOmen

the ti = sh as in naTIon

madrumos @ 2004-11-18T20:31:00

2004-11-19T02:31:50Z

i decided to translate that last post for myself as a linguistic exercise and for kicks, to see if i could do it. i was pleasantly surprised, although the dictionary definitely came in handy for the more obscure, precise words. and i'm sure there are plenty of stylistic and minor grammatical errors. it is, of course, of no use to you, and if you don't have russian fonts you can't even see it right, but i just felt like posting it. brooke, perhaps you can read it. friendship is multilingual.

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Дружба. Друзья. Какое сумашедшее понятие. Дружба — это меняющаяся, непредсказуемая смесь веселья, сожаления, поддержки, разочарования, самоотверженности, эгоистичности, заботливости, недоразумения, возвышающаяся внимательности, депрессивного унижения, взаимоотношений и молчания. Часто она кажется полярной, черно-белой, бескомпромиссной. В ней есть сила разрушать со страшной безнаказанностью и одарять с силой чуть не духовной. Она влияет на настроение, физиологию, работу, отдых, сон и больше. Дружба может быть столь основана на эмоциях и грубых чувствах, что уму уже не до дела и царит страсть, и она может быть просто расширение холодного, чистого разума, строго управляющого эмоциями как у робота. У кого не случилось, что друг только использовал твою благожелательность и доверие, выкидывая тебя? Кому не казалось, что друг незаменимый человек, на которого действительно можно положиться, и который взаимно возвращает силу, жизнь, и верность? Тоненькие нитки психологии, властолюбивости, сексуальности, ревности, трагедии, предательства, недоразумения, и недостаток общения только больше искажают этот мир, уже без этого туманный и двигающийся. Возможно, что наша цель в жизни — знать людей, стараться понять наших братцев и сестриц, стараться найти себя в других и других в себе. Возможно, что нам нельзя знать других, мы — крепости, и мы просто слабо стараемся сделать какие-нибудь связи с чужими людьми, нас окружающими. Может ли человек на самом деле быть счастливым без друзей? Может ли человек на самом деле быть счастливым с друзьями? Каковы наши настоящие друзья? Что такое лучший друг? Как это возможно, чтобы мы находим друзей и они нас? Смутные границы платонической дружбы и романтического заряжания внедряют четвертое измерение, которое отклоняется от видности. Кто может выбрать между судьбой, духовностью, случайностью, человеческой психики, и несдержанной любовью, смотря на своих друзей и как всё так сложилось? Оптимизм и пессимизм, нигилизм и вера, любовь и ненависть: эти концепции кажутся несравнимыми и смешными, когда смотришь на них под светом неизмеримой массивности сложности, представленной дружбой. Друзья мои — выпьем за дружбу: от ней растут, и ей кончаются все проблемы в жизни.

madrumos @ 2004-11-17T01:10:00

2004-11-17T07:10:31Z

Friendship. Friends. What a crazy concept. Friendship is a morphing, unpredictable mix of fun, regret, support, disappointment, selflessness, selfishness, caring, ignorance, uplifting thoughtfulness, depressing let-down, interaction and silence. Often it seems polar, like black and white, no middle ground. It has the power to destroy with frightening impunity, or to endow with near-spiritual strength. It affects mood, physiology, work, recreation, sleep, and more. It can be based so much in emotion and raw feeling that your mind is out for the count and passion rages, and it can be simply extensions of cold, calculating reason that reigns feelings in to robotic levels. Who has not felt that their friend has only been using your goodwill and trust, chewing you up? Who has not felt that their friend is irreplaceable, a true person to be counted on in anything, a reciprocator of strength, life, and trust? The spidery threads of psychology, power struggle, sexuality, jealousy, external events, tragedy, deceit, miscommunication and lack of communication only further distort this yin-yang area that was muddled and in motion to begin with. It may be that our purposes in life are to know people, to seek to understand our fellow human beings, to find ourselves in others and others in ourselves. It may be that we can never really know others, we are fortresses, we are simply frailly hoping to make some connections with the strangers around us. Can a person be truly happy without friends? Can a person be truly happy with friends? Who are our true friends? What is a best friend, really? How is it possible to find friends and have friends find you? Hazy boundaries of platonic friendship and romantic charge inject a fourth dimension that defies visualization. Can anyone pick between fate, spiritualism, random chance, human psyche, and unrestrained love when you look at your friends and how this came to be? Optimism and pessimism, nihilism and faith, love and hate: these terms seem dwarfed, laughable when viewed in light of the colossus of incalculable complexity that friendship presents. My friends, let us drink to friendship: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.