The Runcible Blog

make that 2 mice....... how was Jerry able to outsmart/outrun Tom for all those years? These cats here are killing machines.

I found a dead mouse on the kitchen floor this morning. One of our cats bit the little critter's face off. It looks like the mouse came from a hole in the wall that I've never noticed before but which the cats have been guarding all morning. I don't know how the mouse found its way inside, but I'm reminded of a something I learned in science class long ago. There was once a theory (back when "science" was more drunken speculation than drunken reasoning) that claimed that organic matter could appear out of thin air, basically. The scientist who made such a claim (and whose name eludes me) set out to prove it by making a mouse appear out of a rag that he stuffed in a closed bottle. Needless to say, the experiment failed, and presumably the "scientist" went on to become a senator or president or something. But I believe his theory is relevant in this case. I can offer no explanation for this mouse appearance other than spontaneous matter conversion from the sheet-rock inside the wall. I'll make more observations later.

I didn't realize that I was selling any products or services. Maybe I should start selling stuff. Does anyone want to buy photographs?? Maybe I should sell hair growth pills like this company thinks I do:

From: "Darren Gaspar" Subject: Could be truly a win-win situation for both of us To: "Webmaster" Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2002 13:30:19 -0700 Hi Dcs, I've visited your site OverExposure We`ve noticed the products or services on your site closely parallel those of ours. Perhaps you may be interested in a banner or link exchange agreement with us. It could work to both our advantages as our products are not in competition with each other but may be equally interesting to people visiting our sites. Our site has undergone substantial renovations. A whole new look, many new products and easier than ever to navigate. Come and see at http://www.gpofcanada.com/links.htm Yours truly, Darren Gaspar, President

hey, I haven't updated this in quite a few days. What have I done in that time? Nothing really. There were things I wanted to say, but I just realized that they're not important. I think I lost a friend (again). easy come, easy go this picture sums up my childhood (not really):

So, it turns out the infamous sniper might be Jamaican. Therefore, I'm listening to Bob Marley right now..... The suspect is also a Gulf War veteran. Ironic, no? I'm reminded of the scene in Full Metal Jacket and this dialog:

(Referring to Lee Harvey Oswald and mass murderer Charles Whitman) Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, Drill Instructor: Do any of you people know where these individuals learned how to shoot?... Private Joker.Private Joker: Sir! In the Marines, Sir! Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, Drill Instructor: In the Marines! Outstanding! Those individuals showed what one motivated Marine and his rifle can do. And before you ladies leave my Island, you will all be able to do the same thing.

Incidentally, one of my favorite movie quotes comes from this movie:

I wanted to meet stimulating and interesting people of an ancient culture, and kill them. I wanted to be the first kid on my block to get a confirmed kill.

If you haven't seen Full Metal Jacket, I recommend it. Forget about all this patriotic, pro-war, anti-"terrorist" shlock that's coming out of Hollywood these days.

I just noticed that one entry has been rewritten with a different entry. Apparently there was a bug in Kung-Log which caused some old entries to be rewritten. That sucks. Now I'll never know what happened on that day.....I'm sure it was some earth-shattering thing -- enough to warrant a comment from Amie. Oh well...nothing on the Internet is permanent anyway.

Hmm...I just realized that the web-server-log-file-rotating-system that I configured was rotating the log in such a manner that would cause Webalizer (the program that generates this site's usage stats) to miss possibly hours worth of log entries. I've reconfigured it so that at most, it will miss maybe one hour of entries (potentially between 2 and 3 in the morning every Sunday). Who knows how many hits have not been reported in the usage stats because of my careless misconfiguration?! It boggles the mind... You can all rest easily now, though.

I went to jam with Nathan, and man, did I have a huge headache afterwards. The stuff we played was very challenging for me and required a lot of thought constantly. And even still, I just barely was able to play decently. Nathan is alright, but he plays a bit too atonally, and I wonder if he can play some straight funk (which is more up my alley). Anyway, after that, I went to Boston to take some pictures of "pattern and rhythm" then develop film and print stuff. I'm getting lazier in the darkroom -- I need to spend more time on each print. As it is, I'm averaging about 2 prints per hour, but I need to be more picky. I also need to buy more paper. bugger. Here are a couple recent pictures: interpret them as you wish.

My sleep patterns have been out of whack for the past week or so. But I need to wake up early tomorrow (really today) so that I can catch the train and meet up with Nate in Melrose to jam. Then I've got to take a bunch of pictures, develop, and print some stuff. Drat, I hope there's time. It seems like my entries have become progressively more boring. I think that means I'm becoming more boring. Gee, I hope so. I need to start thinking about the novel I told myself I'd write next month. There will be updates, you can count on it. (why am I saying "you"? as if anyone actually reads this crap....) I'm tired now. tune in next time for more.....

I'm having a lot of fun on my latest photography assignment: shoot the same subject in several different ways. It's a little challenging, but I chose to shoot 6 subjects 6 different ways rather than 1 subject 36 different ways. I'm also using my new favorite lens: SMC-M 50mm f1.7 that I won on Ebay. When I returned home, I found out that my mother had to go to the hospital because of chest pains. So, I went up there to find out what was going on. Luckily, it turned out to be some kind of muscle problem rather than a heart attack.

Here are some recent prints that I made: In other news, I had a very very bad nightmare.....I won't even say what it was about.

That girl who shall remain nameless told me the other day that the reason she hasn't called me is that she hasn't had any "need to talk to someone." You see, she said I could call her if I ever needed someone to talk to. But apparently, she doesn't talk to people unless she "needs" to....sure. Here is how I responded in an email:

Also, I understand that you haven't made an attempt to talk to me because you haven't had any need to talk to someone. Does that mean that you don't talk to ANY of your other friends? From what you're saying, you communicate with your friends only when you need to talk to someone (or if they call you, I guess). What about talking to them just for the sake of talking? Just because you're "friends". Maybe that doesn't sound strange to you.... If that is your way of subtly telling me that you'd rather not talk to me, just come out and say it. Why should I bother calling you if you're not really interested in me, and if you're going to say nervously, "why did you call??" every time you answer the phone?

So far, she hasn't responded. It seems that most of her excuses/reasons are just cop out answers -- I wish she'd be honest and straightforward with me. Dishonesty hurts so much more. But why do I keep thinking about her? Why do I torment myself? Why does everything I see or hear remind me of her, and why is she so cold? She was my best friend, and I was(am?) her "soulmate". How could she so easily throw it all away??? Someone tell me.

I think I finally finished shooting my egg assignment. It was actually deceptively simple, assuming I did it right. I tried some different approaches, including this neat trick I learned: take a wooden skewer and carefully poke a hole on the top of the egg, then send it through to make a hole in the other side. Then, put your mouth on one hole and blow REALLY HARD. It takes a lot of blowing, but eventually the entire egg will ooze out of the other hole. (this is not suggestive of any other activity, by the way) When you're done, you'll have a nice hollow egg to play with. On another note, I'm trying to find out where I can buy or how I can make a kilt for a reasonable price. I think it would be a very cool thing to wear. Then, I can start to learn the bagpipes. On another another note, look at this odd website. It's not for the easily offended.

Last night I headed into Cambridge to go to the House of Blues as an "official" photographer for Color and Talea. There was some mix-up regarding permission to take photographs, but I ended up signing some release that prohibits using the photos for practically anything....I don't think I'm allowed to look at the prints either. But anyway, it was quite cool since I got to hang out with the band in the "green room" before the show and had a lot of opportunities to shoot. I ended up taking about 60 shots, and I hope some are decent. Seeing the behind the scenes stuff and booking agent squabbling certainly was interesting. If I learned anything it was that playing in a jazz trio will probably not make one a millionaire. After the show, since I had no place to stay, the band let me stay at their place in Allston. In the middle of the night, I felt some creature on top of me, but I couldn't tell what it was. It was either a cat or a large cuddly rat that purrs when you pet it. Thankfully, it turned out to be a cute orange cat. He or she curled up next to me for the whole night for some reason.(hence the title of this entry...what did you think I meant?? you dirty people) like any story, there's more to it than that, but some things are better left unsaid.

As I expected, I was not up to the dress code standards at the ManRay nightclub in Cambridge. I wore my security guard uniform (I even had handcuffs!). The exchange went something like this: bouncer 1 (to bouncer 2): "Uh, is this going to work?" bouncer 2 (looking me over with a flashlight): "No. Sorry. You're wearing green pants and brown shoes. We can't let you in. Sorry." I guess I'm not cut out for that sort of thing. I could go back on thursday when there is no dress code. But Thursday is gay night....I wouldn't fit in there either. Where do all the non-punk, non-goth, non-yuppie, non-eurotrash, somewhat odd people go??? Do we just stay indoors?

From: G-heh kim Date: Fri Oct 11, 2002 00:28:23 US/Eastern To: "Dave St.Germain" Subject: Re: how do you do it? ....... >Rightttt...well, since you're doing such a great job >"moving on", what >can I do? Should I go to a club and try to pick up >a drunk chick? (I'm not joking) if that's what you want to do. or you can do something productive...i'm not sure what, since your options are so limtied. i'm doing sucha great job moving on because like i said, from the beginning my priority is schoolwork and it's stayed that way, and it probably won't change. I dont' dwell on it all the time because if i did, i wouldn't be able to get any work done. >I've told you that you could talk to me if you >wanted to. But you seem to convince yourself that >I hate you, so you avoid you GAVE me that impression. you distinctly told me that you thought i was a slut and a liar and a bitch, so i just assumed from those hints that you had strong feelings of dislike. i avoid talking to you becuase i'm afraid whatever i say you will take in the wrong way or read too much into it. and then attack me again. how could you even ask why or how i think that you hate me, you Clearly gave me that impression. by those emails, those threats, the last phone call before i left for Korea. >I couldn't help but notice how unsure you sounded >when you said >"...even if I did think about a relationship, I >_doubt_ I'd pursue i'm tired of being in a relationship, you actually have to spend time with the persona nd care about them and have them be your num one priority. i dont' have that kind of time. My relationship wiht you took alot out of me, and so i'm tired and i'm constantly depressed despite the fact that i'm trying hard not to be. and you dont' believe that i put alot into that relationship and i did, and i'm tired, i feel like i lost a great part of me. relationships take alot of effort and work. i say i doubt, because i do, i'm sorry for being honest with you. i only mentioned it because that's the way i felt. i didnt' say it just to make you feel better, i said it because that was the truth. -jk

djwudi.com > The Long Letter > Journalistic Integrity at its finest I thought this was pretty funny. I would just copy it, but I'm trying out this Trackback thing that MovableType uses. nifty, but how does it work?

I take back those things I said about being proud to live in Lawrence.....But first, where did I leave off? Oh yes. I ended up going to Winchester to jam with Nathan, the fretless guitarist. We played some very strange, "out", atonal stuff. It was the weirdest stuff I've ever played, but it was interesting regardless. He's into "microtonal" melodies and unusual time signatures. I'm sure we'll jam again (since I forgot my hat at his place). Then, I went back into Boston and met up with Judy and John to take a trip to the MFA. I'm just glad the admission was free. Finally, I made it to NESOP and developed film and printed some awful things. I don't know what was going wrong, but everything looked like crap to me. And I'm supposed to have a few more prints for class tomorrow. *sigh* I got out of there late, and for some reason, I was compelled to have a conversation with Jehae. Even though I keep trying to tell myself to forget about her, I can't. And it was a very emotional conversation. It pains me to see how easily she's been able to forget about me, but I can't say I blame her. By the time that was over, I was emotionally drained and just plain tired. And since it was probably too late to make the last train out of town, I had to find a place to sleep. After a pointless trek to Allston and back, I finally settled on the College of Arts and Sciences building. I've slept there twice before, and it is not pleasant. But it beats sleeping outside. So, I slept on one of the couches, with my bass firmly held between my legs, my head resting against the neck as a pillow, and my backpack strap wrapped around my neck just in case someone tried to steal it. I was so tired that I mostly ignored the janitors that clean all night, and I woke up only several times. I got up around 7:45 -- just in time to move on before classes started. So, I got about 6 hours sleep. not bad. Oh, and when I got off the train in Lawrence, I was pleasantly surprised to see that no one stole my bike. But then I noticed that someone slashed both tires (which cost about $40 each) and stole the toolkit I had in the saddle pouch (another $40). Thanks! So, I walked home, with my bass, and my backpack, and my bike with two flat tires. The end.

I woke up at 6:30 this morning so that I could get an early start on developing and printing at NESOP. Much to my dismay, the guy at NESOP said that since I'm a workshop student, I can't use the darkroom until 5PM!!! So here I am, in the BU computer room with nothing to do. I told Nathan, the kid I met at north station, that I might be able to jam today. But he lives in Winchester....I suppose I could go. ARG!!! What a pain. I'll update later with some observations on photography in Lawrence.

If only it were that simple......

I've spent my whole night (more or less) "surfing the web", particularly Bad Astronomy, dedicated to nitpicking movies, TV, news, and misconception related to astronomy (and some physics). Is it possible for me to be a bigger geek? I really should be doing other things, like making friends, doing my photography assignment, or something else important. It's come to my attention that there is not a single school in this country dedicated to educating pimps. As a result, I'm beginning the tedious job of establishing the first Pimp University in the United States of America. I appreciate any feedback on this arduous task.

I had a strange dream last night. I think I was sitting next to a pool, and a boy walked up near me, pulled out a gun, and shot himself in the head before I had a chance to stop him. Later, I learned that he had witnessed the death of someone very close to him, leading him to suicide, apparently. My memory of the rest of the dream is hazy, but I think someone was chasing after me, and I remember some kind of van.... The chasing was going on as I was uncovering this boy's story. I wish I could remember more. Or do I? Weird, huh?

It seems Osama and Bush use AIM, too! Their conversation

I've decided to participate in National Novel Writing Month where the goal is to write an entire 50,000 word novel during the month of November. I'll be the first to admit that I am NOT a writer, but NaNoWriMo values quantity over quality. Sounds good to me. I've never written anything even remotely close to novel-length..... I appreciate any comments or suggestions or encouragement. I've set up a separate blog dedicated to the endeavor.

I was trying to finally find out what the gelatin in film emulsion is made of. Here are some gross things I found at Howstuffworks

The gelatin you eat in Jell-O comes from the collagen in cow or pig bones, hooves, and connective tissues. To make gelatin, manufacturers grind up these various parts and pre-treat them with either a strong acid or a strong base to break down cellular structures and release proteins like collagen. After pre-treatment, the resulting mixture is boiled. During this process, the large collagen protein ends up being partially broken down, and the resulting product is called gelatin. The gelatin is easily extracted because it forms a layer on the surface of the boiling mixture.

Think about that when you eat Jell-O next time. Oh, and don't forget this:

Here is a list of some other foods that commonly contain gelatin: * gummy bears * sour cream * cream cheese * cake icing and frosting * marshmallows * soups, sauces and gravies * canned ham and chicken * corned beef * sausage Gelatin is even used to make the coating for pills that makes them easier to swallow. It's also in cosmetics, lozenges, and ointments.

Regarding photography:

It is likely that few people would be aware of a connection between the photographs carried in their wallets or handbags and such things as a bowl of jelly, a marshmallow confection, a pharmaceutical capsule or the hog and cattle industries.To date no suitable substitute for gelatin has been found in the manufacture of photographic film or paper.Gelatin for photographic use is generally made from ossein derived from bone.

We started printing today, and boy was it fun. I'm not very happy with these two prints, but they're just "rough drafts" since we haven't used contrast filters yet. Very contrasty since it's Tri-X @ ISO1600 and probably overdeveloped too... This one's not as bad, but I didn't clean the negative first. I'm going to have to go back to develop two rolls of film (at least) and print a bunch more before next Friday. If only I lived closer to Boston.....Taking the last train out of North Station is no fun.

I picked this up today: I've never been confronted on the T regarding photography, but just in case I do, I'll have this official document to show off. I think it gives me permission to stick my camera in anyone's face. I'll try that next time. I developed my roll of Tri-X pushed to ISO1600, and it doesn't look too bad. Pushing 2 stops is sort of tricky, so I'm glad that it worked. The highlights might be a little blown out (the water temp at NESOP might've been a little high), but I'll find out when I print a contact sheet later. I'll have a lot of stuff to print once I get to printing (starting tomorrow). In this one roll, there are a few gems (not to mention a bunch of turds). We shall see.

Because of my persistent efforts (i.e sitting on my butt reading blogs), I will receive a mix disc from John Galvin. I generally don't read strangers' blogs, but I sort of know John by proxy through Judy. And I met him briefly once. So, yeah. Yay for me...... On the internet, voyeurism is the name of the game.

Instead of going to Boston, I decided to catch up on some sleep. Tonight I'll get to bed early so that I can head out around 8 or earlier. I'm wondering what this subtle pain in my side is. I hope I don't have a hernia or something. Since I don't have medical insurance anymore, if anything serious happens to me, I'm a goner. Oh well.

It's a little creepy walking around at night. Lawrence's population is roughly 70,000, and I'd estimate that 99.9% of those people do not walk around at night. I walked up around the reservoir, which seemed a little eerie on a slightly foggy night like tonight. Everything takes on an orange hue under these sodium vapor street lights, and the dark shadows always look as if there's something lurking inside... I think I'll try to go to Boston today or Thursday for an all-day photo shoot on the T and elsewhere. It seems like a good idea. I just have to wake up early enough, and it's already 1am.....

It seems that Jehae reads this blog occasionally. I don't know why she would want to know about my life since I've been mean to her (and since she broke my heart....). It's been tough getting over her. But life must go on, right? Here's a painful reminder that I had to get rid of: