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wow! is it really two weeks since i updated the site? i knew it had been a while but that is ridiculous. mea culpa, or in american, "my bad." i guess it's a symptom of how busy i've been. anyway, you can find some new photos here.
winter heat wave
this weekend it made it all the way up to 51�F, melting most of the snow! very pleasant for krystal's visit, who was here for a few days. we did some fun stuff like go to a basketball game and a rodeo, which was truly an all-american experience. it was frightening to see so many people coming out of the woodwork in tight jeans and cowboy boots and hats. what are they all doing this far north! we also visited costa rica and madagascar both on the same day, and were culture vultures at the art museum and little italy.
lent
i'm a bit late asking this, but if anyone has any ideas for what i could give up for lent email me. i used to give up chocolate, but that was no longer a challenge after a while. besides, krystal brought me some reeeeally good chocolate so i need to eat it. the last few years, as you know, i gave up alcohol, but i think that's a bit of a non-starter this year. maybe having to drink american beer like natural light (natty) is sacrifice enough.
the thrills on jay leno
the thrills were on jay leno last week... alongside other guests like will and grace from will and grace, which seemed a bit bizarre to me.
northern ireland finally score!
woohoo! northern ireland lost 4-1 to norway!
"johnny 5 is alive"
short circuit is an appropriate phrase to describe bertie lately. after all the trouble previously reported, i've nearly been scared to tell you about the most recent episode, but i will now fill you in retrospectively since it's all dealt with... for now. a couple of weeks ago we started having electrical problems. we firgured we probably just needed a new battery, so after some difficulty we got him jump-started and drove to sears to get a new battery installed, where he died in the car-park, but that's another story. anyway, the diagnosis was that we needed a new alternator as well as a new battery. my friend andrew and i had the bright idea of buying the part and installing it ourselves to save money. after doing so, we reconnected the battery, which caused something to go bang and burn red hot and give off nasty smelling smoke. at this stage we thought it was time to go to a professional. thankfully, said professional managed to recover the situation and remarkably, it all still worked out cheaper than it would have if we'd got someone to install the alternator in the first place! so anyway, bertie seems to be running well now, which is just as well... it's a long way to new orleans...
lots of tid-bits for you:
hutton report
this article by radiohead's thom yorke in the guardian prompted me to go and download the hutton report. (lord hutton, incidentally, i think is a parishioner of my very own carryduff church of ireland.) anyway, i got to the end of the contents before giving up. it's alright for those musician types who have nothing better to do with their days than go to anti-war rallies and and appear as guest producers on radio 4's today show! if you reckon you can do any better than me you can download the report in .pdf format here.
ben folds...
but i was bluffing! haha. seriously though, it seems that john carroll has lined mr. folds up for the spring concert, which is pretty cool for a small college. i wouldn't normally go out of my way to see him, but it shouldn't be too steep and should be a good time.
a lifelong brotherhood
this week i got a letter from one of the fraternities on campus, alpha kappa psi, inviting me to join them. i wouldn't have been minded to consider it in any case, but after reading the first three words, "dear perspective member," i knew i could live without it. (it should have been prospective, right?) straight into the recycling bin.
the walls are closing in
last friday i went to case western reserve university's library to read up on construction management in the US. (john carroll doesn't have an engineering department.) anyway, it was a very nice building and contained within it one of the coolest things i have ever encountered... moving bookshelves! let me explain. it's like the aisles are all packed tightly together so there isn't enough room to walk down them, which saves a great deal of space. when you need access to a particular aisle you push a button and hey presto, it opens for you! i was kinda concerned about getting crushed between them, but i think there was some safety mechanism in place to prevent that. hey, i thought it was cool anyway. you would have too if you'd seen it!
pet hates
you know how little stupid things can really irritate you sometimes? well i hate the way americans pronounce the word, 'niche,' like it was spelt 'nitch.' i hate it! it drives me nuts!
superbowl
i said i would tell you about the superbowl, but i'm not sure exactly what i was planing on saying about it. i watched it. at someone's house, on a sixty-some inch tv. and it wasn't as boring as last year. in fact it was a pretty good game, i even enjoyed it! but the ad's were a bit disappointing. apparently a lot of people just watch it for the ad's, which cost like $2.5 million. for that money i would come up with something more original than horse farts and talking monkeys.
responsive
bertie was back in the doctor's surgery this week, but thankfully this was preventative rather than corrective action. with his new tie rods the steering is actually responsive. it's great!
good voter?
the other day in macroeconomics we were discussing how more informed voting is a possible spillover benefit of education. i had to bite my tongue and resist asking how one vote is better than another when there are only two parties and these days a democrat is just a republican with a blue tie instead of a red one!
"nice dream"
i've been having some weird and vivid dreams lately. in one particularly memorable one i was taking a river cruise on mars (yeah, they found water) and i became the first person to spot martian life. turns out they are all aquatic monkeys that look kinda like stuffed toys.
something sinister
i was reading this week in my psychology (pyskick?) text book about how there is some evidence to suggest that us lefties can have significantly shorter life expectancy than you righties. oh well, means i can be a bit reckless with my pension! anyway, remind me to tell you about the superbowl. i don't have time right now. chow!
"here comes the sun"
well, maybe that's being a bit optimistic, but it reached a whopping 37�F today AND it hasn't snowed for two days in a row!