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:: Wednesday, April 02, 2003 :: Interesting web site today - Anita Roddick is the founder of The Body Shop, and a confirmed (perhaps even card-carrying) activist. I ran across her site while researching the anti-globalisation movement (upon which I will be working this Spring). I wonder if someday I'll actually start using web design tools. I think I may have worked with text editors for too long now - even though I know HTML can be more easily constructed using something like Adobe GoLive, I still like notepad (or vi on the Mac) for my web creations. Doing a little testing, a little updating, a little bit of this 'n' that. Hoping to meet with the department head today about changes to my paper class - something to make the whole process a little smoother.:: Tuesday, April 01, 2003 :: I called Jason in Egypt today. He's doing well, although a little culture shocked, I think. It was good to talk to him (and I like to think the feeling was mutual :-) Whew! Crazy weekend! Sasha's family was, as always, a laugh riot, and the inauguration was a neat chance to see what her dad does when not goofing off, although it was something of a cross between a celebration and a goof-off as well - the article from the Danville Bee & Register shows that. :: Friday, March 28, 2003 :: Leavin', on a jet plane...:: Thursday, March 27, 2003 :: Oh - BTW - if erik is reading this, I watched all seven hours of Star Trek while studying for my Microeconomics test. So I'm ready for more! Waiting on simCity 4. Sooner or later it will go down below $30. And I will be there, waiting. If it weren't for the distance and time I'd drive over to Canada and buy it. Software is -so- cheap in canada. But I don't have the time. Fortunately I don't really have time to play the game eaither, so it works out nicely. By the time I am able, it will be cheap. I hope. Late night blogging! Is there another kind? I've been scanning old pictures (from negatives). Slow, and not as nice as you might hope. I think the only way to get the excellent photos you might hope for is to take far more time than I'm willing to take. *sigh*:: Wednesday, March 26, 2003 :: So much funny stuff, and it's only 10 AM!!! This morning I discovered where my web server keeps its log files, and reviewed what people were looking at on my website. Unsurprisingly people who search for things like 'Saga, Japan' find my Japan section. And even more specific items - just today someone went looking for Haus Ten Bosch (I think I spelled that right), which is a theme park in Southern Japan. Why did they look? I don't know.:: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 :: Another day half done. I think I may have a French class for the spring - like $600 for 12 weeks of French class, 5 hours per week. I may learn the silly language yet!If I don't, I really won't have anyone to blame but myself. Purportedly, a blog from Iraq. Take it cum grano salis, but I do recommend taking a look!:: Monday, March 24, 2003 :: Well, if all work and no play make David a dull boy, I am not yet dull, having wasted yet another weekend and got almost nothing done. Ack! Thankfully, I'm getting closer to being ready to write my big (ish) paper, and other stuff (namely the test in Micro I have this week) is closer to being done. Thank goodness! Data! I got data! Thank goodness for the IMF! I will, of course, never admit to ever having thought or said that again, but they gave me quarterly data on the economy of Portugal when noone else would, and I thank them for it! :: Friday, March 21, 2003 :: Oh yeah - yesterday I managed to get my last class (an independent study) set up for the spring semester. So I'll be finishing my MA in Economics in June, at which point I'll start madly looking for a job. Did I mention madly looking for a job? That's what I'll be doing. No progress on the homework front, but I managed to download more Samurai Jack episodes! So the morning and afternoon get piddled away, and tonight a friends of ours is having a birthday party. We went to the used clothing shop today (more time not spent doing homework!) and got him some truly bizarre clothes - 70's stuff and a shirt with hula girls on it. Ouch! And of course, throughout the day, checks on the war.:: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 :: Discussing technology today - I was reminded of how much fun the gee-whiz factor is. I wonder what big thing will be next. Another reason to dislike war, much less altruistic - as long as the economy is slow due to war fears, noone makes fun toys. Maybe if we pushed that as our anti-war message, people would listen.... I received a forward today, quoting Peter Freundlich, a freelance journalist. I'd like to quote a section or two::: Monday, March 17, 2003 :: Ah, another brilliant Bush speech! We watched it and then played 'Pin the tail on the Jackass' with a photo of Bush from the New York Times. War! Who knew? I was so surprised I quite nearly fell off my chair. And yet people seem to think it wasn't a foregone conclusion (or they think it was, but only because of Saddam Hussein). I have to get out of this country before it infects me! :: Saturday, March 15, 2003 :: Although I am theoretically working primarily on a paper this weekend, I am reserving at least some of my energy for the Sci-Fi channel's 'Children of Dune' miniseries. I would like someone to finally do something right with at least one of his books. It's a lot like Heinlein - he writes these great books full of grand visions (and regadless of whether you like what he had to say, you have to admit he had grand visions) and then they go and make stupid movies which miss everything. Admittedly there were some clever moments in 'Starship Troopers' but for the most part it's all been a waste of time. So maybe this one will be different. Maybe. Movie for today: Next Stop Wonderland. Quirky and fun with the look of a local film. Lots of Boston related stuff. Overall it's a romantic comedy - one of those 'two people destined to meet, but never quite getting there' movies. Well worth the rental.:: Thursday, March 13, 2003 :: I had some further thoughts regarding the shipping abroad of jobs. It comes from a class (well, a number of classes) I took this year. Hopefully I can keep it nice and simple::: Wednesday, March 12, 2003 :: That reminds me - at some point I'll have to write up the notes from my class yesterday - it was "The Anti-Globalisation movement in a nutshell." Damned interesting stuff. A friend of mine, a guy who programs (and loves it!) recently sent me an email regarding the movement of programming jobs to an overseas back office. I had the following thoughts::: Tuesday, March 11, 2003 :: So I was thinking yesterday, while trapped in yet another line at the grocery store, about some reading I had done recently regarding consumer choice. Specifically, it was an article which stated that although consumers in the United States had a wide variety of cheeses to choose from in their specialty stores, it wasn't the same as Europe because the stores in the US were often located far away from consumers, and as such required a special effort to get to, whereas the stores in Europe were located close to people's homes. And I stood in line and waited. And driving home I realized that it had taken me over half an hour to get the items I needed, and that I had driven several miles. The compensation rate most people expect for driving their vehicles on work-related things is generally around 35 cents per mile. And pay per hour is, at minimum, $5 and some odd cents. So, assuming I drove two miles each way and took half an hour, I spent $1.40 in mileage and $2.50 in time, or $3.90 - and that's before I bought anything from the store. Yikes! :: Saturday, March 08, 2003 :: So I have mostly got it working, which is nice. I'll have to tell Jason, who does have to pay per minute on his internet. I've been wondering for a while if it was possible to save the blog update web page on your own computer so you could type a blog and submit it without going online. This is a throwback to my days of by-the-minute internet charges and limited bandwidth. Of course, I still suffer from limited bandwidth (who doesn't?) so I still occasionally try experiments. Of course, there's always the chance I'll erase my blog.... Crazy crazy weekend, and it's only Saturday evening! My friend Tammy from high school came over with her husband last night and we did the Ann Arbor thing. Since I've lived here so long I always forget how cool Ann Arbor seems when you come from somewhere like Kalamazoo. All the culture and night life and shopping and all that. And, believe you me, it is a gigantic step up from the west side of Michigan. Of course, having lived and stayed other places it seems sometimes barely tolerable.:: Friday, March 07, 2003 :: The first time I saw Roman Holiday was about five years ago. At the time, I thought the scene where she comments about cooking and cleaning was some sort of bizarre sexist thing. Watching it again this evening, I've come to realize that I missed the point, five years ago. Both of them are saying something they know to be a sad, hopeless wish, and the other knows it, and there's nothing either of them can do about the situation. What a great movie!:: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 :: Must... work... on... paper!
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