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Already : Hatachi Monthly Archives
egads Wednesday November 26
sometimes you eat the bar, sometimes the bar eats you.
this morning, i got on the tube to go to liverpool street station to take the train to stansted, the airport to go to brussels. the train stood in the station for 10 minutes. then, an announcer indicated that up the line a power system in a train had failed, and thus the eastbound service would be delayed up to an hour. clearly, i switched lines and made it to liverpool street anyway.
however, that fifteen-minute delay initiated a chain reaction: i could not catch the 9:45 train to stansted, instead i had to settle for the 10:00. the 10:00 arrived at 10:45, and even though i rushed up the stairs, the ticket counter had closed at what they said was 10:50 (11:30 was the flight, but ryanair has a strict requirement of checking in 40 minutes early). thus, i would have had to wait 3 hours and buy a new ticket ($70). now, sometimes i have moments like todd, where i am dead set on something, no matter the cost. but in this case, i sat down in the terminal with a pen and paper and made a "go" column and a "stay" column. i can't fully explain my reasoning now; i only have 28 minutes on the computer. i will probably put this table up later, though, because i think it's amusing.
so i'll be in london until i leave on monday. and really, that isn't so bad.
it really is a great city.
back to notts Monday November 24
i'm in nottingham again. lots of pictures from the weekend, still sorting out how to purchase tickets for tomorrow. i think i'm going to go to amsterdam, holland, and then on down to germany.
london Thursday November 20
back in the travel mode. sitting in london, waiting for it to get light enough out to call katy about the train to nottingham. time on the internet is about to run out, so i'll hit the site a little more in-depth when i arrive up there.
liz phair Tuesday November 18
i'm at the load-out for the liz phair show, it's quickly approaching 1am: my eleventh hour in the building. today was a productive day: eleven kanji worksheets, two pages of sentences using those kanji, i met with the planet's new graphic designer, made a fun banner about the opening bands contest, and in general, did absolutely nothing that i needed to do to get ready for my vacation. but then again, you can't really get ready for a vacation that you have no plans for.
some people have asked me if i'm disappointed that i'm not going to spain, or if it's still worth going at all, etc. but really, money isn't really good to me for anything other than spending. my primary goal with the passport is to fill it before it expires in 2009. moreover, now i just have a reason to go to gibraltar some other time. post suggestions of where i should go in the comments. i've got until next monday 'til i have to leave katy's flat in nottingham.
so, no, in response to those people: i'm not disappointed that i'm not going to spain -- it was my own choice.
aim fun Thursday November 13
i was at foellinger tonight, on aim, when a window popped up on my screen asking if i was willing to accept a message from someone i didn't know. assuming that i just didn't have a friend on my list, i accepted. the following conversation has not been edited or doctored, outside of the last two lines, which were re-created by me after i forgot to save them.
imagine this conversation stretched out over 15 minutes, with two accomplices in the foellinger office helping me say what needed to be said to keep the conversation going.
i changed the screen name to protect this person's privacy, at todd & shadie's suggestion; her name is becky.
becky : Hey! Bobby?
mark : hi
becky : Why didn't you call me back the other night?
mark : i got caught up
mark : i'm sorry
mark : am i in trouble? :-[
becky : No silly. I just had a good time the other night.. I figured you'd want to hang out again.
mark : i do want to hang out
mark : do you have any ideas?
becky : Ideas on what?
mark : on what we can do together
becky : How can you ask that?
mark : well i just thought
becky : Thought what?
mark : i thought that we could do something together again
becky : You know, I thought there was something weird about you. I don't know why I asked Tom for your AIM name.
becky : You missed your shot, buddy.
mark : i'm actually really interested
mark : i'm not weird
becky : You know because of how I am.
becky : I can't
becky : You should have called.
mark : what would that have changed anything?
mark : why*
becky : I heard. I guess I just figured you wouldn't have meant it is all.
mark : what did you hear?
becky : You were making fun of me because of my hearing aids, and after you told me all that stuff.
mark : who told you that
becky : Tom
becky : I really just wanted to know why.
mark : tom told you that
mark : that's not what i meant
becky : He said you called me names too. Stuff I dont want to repeat.
mark : that's total crap
mark : i have to talk to tom
becky : I don't believe you.
becky : You are so weird
mark : why would i say that about someone who i'm interested in?
becky : I don't know.
mark : well i wouldn't
becky : He said stuff that only someone that I was with, like how I was with you would know.
mark : so don't you think tom has a reason to say all this
becky : Stop it.
becky : I just want to know why.
mark : i didn't say them, and i don't know why tom told you those things -- sure, i talked to him
mark : but i didn't say anything "that you can't repeat"
becky : So how would he know about me? And why would he say that stuff.
mark : because he wants to put me on the outs with you
becky : I have to call Tom.
becky : This doesn't sound like him.
mark : what are you going to say to him?
becky : Ask him if what you are saying is true.
mark : are you going to call him right now?
becky : Yes.
mark : good
mark : you know why i don't trust tom
becky : Becuase he slept with Susan?
mark : exactly
becky : Figures.
mark : figures that i don't trust him because of that?
mark : yeah
becky : Hold on
mark : the first thing you should ask tom
becky : I'm so sorry.
mark : about what
becky : Tom fessed up.
becky : I am really sorry, Bob.
mark : what did he say
becky : It's not important
mark : did he tell you i didn't say those things about yo
mark : you*
becky : Well I feel like the fool now.
becky : So then you don't have a girlfriend abroad?
mark : not anymore
mark : she broke up with me
becky : Oh, man.
becky : Before or after we were together?
mark : before of course
mark : i just haven't been talking about it much
becky : I can understand.
becky : I saw someone far away to, from the hospital, it was just too hard.
becky : *too
becky : Well, I have to go soon. Sorry for getting upset.
becky : Call me.
mark : becky
mark : before you go
mark : i have to tell you something
mark : you need to talk to tom once more okay
becky : Sure
mark : and ask him what bobby's REAL screen name is. i'm a U of I college student minding my own business when you messaged
mark : i'm sorry :-) that was mean
mark : but now you know what tom's REALLY about. so think of this as a gift from me to you
becky : I don't know whether to be angry or like you.
mark : my name is mark.
becky : Thanks Mark.
brat
look at the puppy...chance is probably going to take a small vacation in late december/early january. i'm going to bring him to champaign-urbana after christmas until the start of second semester.
moving on Monday November 10
sitting in the art & design computer lab, i just read todd's reincarnation and decided that i'd like to start posting something of value again. most of my thoughts recently haven't been on a weblog, but in the conversations with friends over dinners, coffee, and the like. worse yet, none of it was written down, only written in the memories of the people who partook in those conversations.
moving on is a process that i forgot all about. the last time i got out of a relationship that was very emotionally significant was high school, and we all know that gina was well deserving of any ill will i held against her; i'm not saying that bitterness and angst are key variables in the moving on process, and i actually think that they hinder more than anything. however, i have said before that i really hope, to this day, that gina feels residual guilt about her performance in regards to me.
in general, you've got to meet new girls, you've got to make sure not to take the temptation of comparison, and you've got to accept that you've got to start from square one -- and i think that's probably the hardest part. i'm reminded of the shelving unit i'm likely going to buy from todd, where you don't know if you put it together wrong until you get to the last piece, and then you have to start all over again a number of times before just getting lucky.
well, it's similar at least. maybe it's more like setting up an intense domino chain. o'leary walked by just now and i said, "give me something that's like, really annoying when you have to start it over from the beginning because you worked really hard on getting it to where it was." he suggested jenga. but the thing with jenga is, there's a foregone conclusion of impending doom. and that's not what i really wanted to communicate -- eventually, it doesn't fall. also, it gets weaker with time, not the other way around, so i don't really think that that applies.
a house of cards! yeah, that's it. it's difficult to get started, then it gets easier. but, it's worse when it doesn't work after it's been built up so much.
aim Tuesday November 4
as for the not posting, what i really should have said is that i'm not going to post anything serious. just because i'm being more introspective, doesn't mean that i stop finding things amusing that i think you might also find amusing.
somewhere around version five, instant messenger began indicating when the party you were speaking to was preparing a statement:
So-and-so is typing...
often followed by:
So-and-so has entered text.
this feature seems to highlight our edits of our conversations before they are even had. and to boot, after a minute of waiting and watching those messages on the screen, the reply usually is something like:
them: yeah your new hairstyle is pretty cool dude...
which we all know doesn't take a minute to enter.
them:i actually think you're trying way too hard.uhm...business in the front, party in the back!yeah...i think you should shave and start over...your new hairstylemakes you look really lameis prettyuglycool dude...
