Tired
Damn I'm tired.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
For the unenlightened
I am thoroughtly upset with work. I can't be more detailed because it would violate non-disclosure agreements. I'm angry about it. Its something I don't feel like talking to people about yet because it's not fully resolved, we'll see the extent of what happens over the next few days.
I fucking suck, my only repose to josH is another vague and uninspired and wholly craptastic message.
In other news, my car is breaking and I have to get raped by Enterprise so I can get to this job that I am angry with. No other news for me really. Corporate culture is overcoming the small segment of work I am a part of.
We've hired new people at work, one of which I referred. He's liking the job as best I can tell, and he's become inspired to start using Linux more. That's what we need him to do and its good for the linux community, one more user. Unlike drug users though, it's not just the first one that's free. I have my stickers back on my laptop, well three of them. I have to do some more transplant work later this week.
I heard the second half of the new Alkaline Trio album; not as good as the first half, but listenable. I have to think musically (not necessarily lyrically) they have become a different band from when they started. This is cool, bands that do this live on and improve. The Beatles, RX Bandits, etc. Amazing bands that started out far different from their latest works.
In other news, I have this bad-ass picture looking up to the top of the sears tower as my background in a very high resolution, it looks incredible. I'd give the link to where I found it, but . . . . I lost it. I'd upload it, but it's a few megs big. You can probably find it on http://images.google.com.
I'm really trying to make up for the prior post and the first paragraph of this one. Props to josH for keeping it real.
Take a look at these CTA maps on maps.google.com. Too bad Google didn't come up with it first.
My brother got a tattoo of the heart that is on RX Bandit's The Resignation. He called me a pussy for planning on the OEF tattoo. I've been having my doubts about it too.
Labels: Alkaline Trio
Monday, April 25, 2005
Perceptivitiy
It sucks when you get your projects yanked away from you because you're violating corporate structure. But I suppose, that's what I get for being a douche; I just worry that I won't be able to repair things enough so that I can make relationships better and so I can get back to doing what I really love.
*Disclaimer* hrmmm... This would seem it is very much bordering on an emotional outpouring on a blog. Something I usually despise. It really isn't. It's more a warning to myself for when I look at this six or seven months in the future to NOT DO IT AGAIN.
On the other hand, I feel like I wasn't entirely in the wrong and rightfully so, but I did the more grevious wrongs it seems, desipte the fact that I was doing a damn good job. So that is frustrating.
So sometimes it seems to me like: I ignored this formal job description that I was hired to do. I did a different job very well. Because I didn't follow this prescribed path and role, I got spanked.
-Joe
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Donnie Darko vs Star Wars: A number one tragedy
George Lucas, short on cash after spending his fortunes on virtual reality Jar Jar porn has decided that is is time for another re re release of the original Star Wars trilogy.
Elsewhere, on the planet Earth, Richard Kelly, now paranoid after an incident involving a crazed Donnie Darko Fan, a Jet Engine and Kelly's house, decides that these assaults on his life will stop if he releases another Donnie Darko edit prepares a new film reel.
Both directors have realized the insanity much of their fan base posesses. Both directors enjoy this. Will this be the clash of titans?
Meanwhile, back at his humble Donnie Darkotorium, Donald sits watchin on his pair of televisions the Director's Cut and Original Cut of his favorite film. Twirling above him is a miniature jet engine, looking earily like the one that fell on the Director's abode.
In a darker place, where the Sith cannot find him, Walter sits stroking his Authentic Replica green hued lightsaber watching on not two but twelve televisions all the different releases of A New Hope; hoping that soon he will have the pleasure of giving his lord George Lucas 8 more dollars at the theater.
Or will it be these two who will reigh DOOM onto the populace?
I got bored at this point, but imagine a massive battle between the forces of evil and other-evil. There would be lots of funny lines, great special effects, and of course, a super-nerd fan base for me to control.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Reading
In the past couple of months I've started reading again. I'm quite pleased that I found one of my hobbies that I had abandoned a couple of years ago. I'm not one for giving reviews of books, but I think I might have to say a few words about the ones I've recently read:
- Player Piano
- Wow, the person that loaned this book to me expected the ending of
this book to be wholy depressing for me. I surprized him, and probably
others with my reaction to it. The basis of the novel is that the
world has become very mechanized and engineered. If you're not smart
enough to go through college, get a Masters and build machines, you'd
better be fast enough to not have machines replace you in normal
labor, otherwise it's off to the military or work corp with you.
What kept me from being so depressed by the books ending was that despite a looming presense of effeciency, automation and standardization, there were still a a few people (bunches in fact) who wouldn't stand for the norm. Even though revolutionaries were not entirely altruistic, it still gave me hope that at some point, if the world tends towards this vision there will still be some hope, and some people willing to try and make a change. . . . Even if nothing comes of it, and even if people fall back to pre-change behavior and the ordeal is a wash.
- Good Omens
-
Ha, what can I say; when a center point of a plot revolves around a
pair of friends who just happen to be from opposite sides of the
celestial spectrum and a large bit of conflict comes from a baby
mismatch you know you're in for a fun story. The story was written by
Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimon, who I have been told are excellent
authors, after reading this one, I tend to agree.
This was a funny book with a heartfelt ending. Thoroughly enjoyable reading.
- 1984
-
Privacy gone, history erradicated and love forbidden, the tennants of
Oceana in a sentence. A classic defining the term "Big Brother."
Moreso that any book I have read in recent memory, 1984 has made me change my perceptions of life. Additionally, there has been no book to present someone more alone than Winston Smith. Like Player Piano the author paints a miserable picture of the future, but unlike Vonnegut, Orwell provides no glimmer of hope. This is the book that makes me want to stop eating for a week to see what it's like.
Labels: books
Monday, April 18, 2005
Take that I say
New PDA
I found this just for you Josh.
*scribbles on index card: Kill Josh*
Just so I don't forget. Love, Joe
Joshua!
-
At 3:42 PM,
josH said...
-
I post a fucking comment and you delete the post, how lame are you? Really lame, that's the answer. GOD. And now you're writing poetry about fucking white boards. Unreal. Not a day goes by that you don't get more and more like a hipster. What's next, a beret? That would be special. Anyway, I'll see you when you get home, don't forget to bring your baseball bat Wednesday so we can fight.
-Josh
P.S. I bought a pirate shirt today, and I rubbed it all over your ninja hoodie.
Hey, what can I say, the picture was lame. It's gone now. Whiteboards are nearly as cool as ninjas I love them. If you were cool you could appreciate their greatness. And I will bring a bat, and I will kill you good; especially because of your atrocious act of sabotage.
Ode to Whiteboards
Whiteboards Amazing
On them write and mold great ideas
Effortless thinking
Limitless Expanse
To be filled with many colors
But Space does run out
Nonsense All Abounds
Hours spent diagramming
Something good still comes
Moveable Blockades
Two surfaces to distract
Surrounded by flows
I now write haiku
Whiteboards are my prime subject
Sometimes medium
There used to be some whiteboards at work
But one day joe went crazy berserk
On all he would place
"Please do not erase"
Now people just call him a big jerk.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Chicago Cityscape Photos
I'm looking for a picture of the chicago skyline at night with a resolution of 1600x1200 or better. I'm not sure if they exist. If a photo like that exists, please tell me where to find it. I've already tried http://images.google.com.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Crimson
Not punk. I'd have to say thats a fact. Not alt rock, thats a positive. . . . reminds me of Jimmy Eat World's first album combined with the cure and skiba sounding like his throat *isn't* coated in sandpaper.
I have to hear the other half to say whether I'll really like this album (the other half *need* to be faster more punkish or I will be sad). When people say "different" they usually mean suck ass. I have to say though this is very different (except for the guitar riff I've heard in a song of theirs before) from their previous stuff. Ah! In pausing a second I realize something that makes this sound better than Good Mourning. Doesn't sound over produced. It is for sure produced, it sounds slick, but it doesn't seem like a computer went over every track and "fixed" imperfections. I need to do a comparision to other albums for a less ambigous less sucky review.
All in all Dan and Matt both sound better, and the instruments make neat things go. I don't know how much I like this album though, too . . . mellow. There is nothing to grab me by the heart and make me scream along with the lyrics at the windshield
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Inventing problems
(22:50:39) me: "I want to put more photos on my blog"
(22:50:46) me: "You should use your gallery software"
(22:50:49) me: "Good idea"
(22:50:51) me: "Okay go"
(22:50:57) me: ...short time later....
(22:51:05) me: "That too too long. You should automate it"
(22:51:14) me: "Good plan, 123go."
.....Time passes.....
(01:56:16) me: Okay, wrote it. It'll even do directories and globs of files
Now I should be able to add far more photos to my galleries.
Monday, April 11, 2005
Photos
I am going to start photo-blogging here, i think it might be interesting, i carry my camera around enough, now I just have to take the effort of connecting it to my lappy and uploading.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Arch & Revision Control
I now have my website stored in my personal arch repository. I don't really know what I"m doing, but here are the steps to "push" a new version of the site.
tla commit; cd /home/jlapenna/www-deploy; tla update; cp -r * /var/www;
Eating
I am going to not eat until Monday night. Lets see how that goes. It'll be a neat experience. Depending on how I"m doing Monday night, I won't eat until Tuesday night. Wedensday though, I'm calling it quits.
Saturday, April 9, 2005
Stupid Raazzam frazzam . . . .
You forget to copy one file, and your website is down for a week. Sonofagun.
Friday, April 1, 2005
Alive Again
Alive again. Yay.
After a harrowing fix for neglecting to specify the .dat file location for the ipcheck.py script used to dynamically update DNS for joelapenna.com, the site is back up. In the backup/restore process I did to cleanse my system of any potential nastyness I forgot to backup /opt which was storing the Not My Stuffs section of my site, so it will be a few days before that gets back to updating live again.
