opening doors

Momentousness has been posted

2008-08-19T19:54:19Z

IMGP2808
Originally uploaded by poijuggler

On a beautiful morning in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, I made clear my intentions for the future.

There was much rejoicing, and now the details are available for all to read.

Story:
http://dsadventures.livejournal.com/2922.html

Pictures:
http://flickr.com/photos/poijuggler/sets/72157606823377101/

And no, a date has not been set yet!

Ireland Story

2008-08-18T21:09:03Z

IMGP1883
Originally uploaded by poijuggler

For those of you who are interested and don't read dsadventures, the story of our Ireland trip is now posted...

Story:
http://dsadventures.livejournal.com/2360.html

Pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/poijuggler/sets/72157605508640373/

Other pictures of a momentous nature will be posted soon.

Surfing

2007-11-27T16:32:09Z

IMGP0241
Originally uploaded by poijuggler

Finally, having had time over Thanksgiving to finish paring down and editing the photos from the California trip with Steph, the pictures are uploaded! Only took two monthes...

The photo set is here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/poijuggler/sets/72157603309607856/

If you want to read about the trip:
http://dsadventures.livejournal.com/1187.html

Now, to edit and upload the pictures from Thanksgiving. Hopefully sometime this year....

Freakfest 2007

2007-10-29T16:33:11Z

IMGP0805
Originally uploaded by poijuggler

We went out to State St. for the big celebration. Lots of fun, lots of pictures, lots of very cold underdressed college students - who can complain!

Also this weekend: sushi, farmers market, pumpkin and apple pie making, a bike ride, squash curry, wine, and good friends.

Coming up for air

2007-10-18T19:03:52Z

After the Fall
Originally uploaded by poijuggler

I nominate this week National Big Ball of Stress Week, as everyone in my life (including myself) seems to be on the verge of a panic attack. Or currently in one. Or having symptoms approximating the same.

In less heart attack inducing news, though, I've been getting back into photography and have finally begun posting photos from earlier in the year online. Anyone who's interested can peruse http://www.flickr.com/photos/poijuggler/ and, since I've resurfaced on LJ, I'll post as I upload new sets.

Mostly Harmless

2007-03-23T07:10:26Z

She reflected that if there was one thing life had taught her it was that there are times when you do not go back for your bag and other times when you do. It had yet to teach her to distinguish between the two types of occasion.

s/bag/emotions/g

To know him is to love him is to know him. From afar.

2007-03-07T04:43:14Z

Whee, my first livejournal survey (beer!). Taken, in turn, from labelle77

1. If your friends had to liken you to an animal, which one do you think it would be and why?

Umm, probably a bear... see title of this here journal. I hibernate, and could perhaps occasionally be described as grumpy.

2. What would your friend say is your suckiest personality trait? Do you want to change that or do you accept it as part of you?

I lack expression of my feelings; I hide my thoughts and emotions more than I should. I'm definitely working on that. While I think I accept being a generally reserved person, I would like to learn to express myself better.

3. If you were a car, what kind of car would you be? Stick shift or no? Bucket seats or no? Would you use high octane or no? Get creative.

I'm automatic - don't need to be controlled carefully to get me to go. Definitely bucket seats; I'll surround you and keep you comfortable. Dual climate control to better heat multiple passengers. But no onboard computer to give you diagnostic faults

4. How do you feel about your toes?

Best kept covered.

5. Have you ever had a hysterical or embarrassing sexual moment you'd care to share?

No, not publicly.

6. How do you feel about other people's children?

Usually about the same as I feel about their keepers. Children of friends and family I generally like, but children of loud obnoxious people seem to mimic their owners.

7. What do you think of people going commando in public?

I am blissfully unaware of them.

8. Do you shave your pubes out of peer pressure even though the itchiness and ingrown hairs mean it's a total pain? Or do you actually enjoy doing it?

I have never felt any peer pressure or societal influence towards doing this.

9. What's the most humiliating thing you've ever done while under the (any) influence?

Threw up in the bathroom at my cousin's wedding rehersal dinner. It was immediately following my last day of classes at Cornell (ever) and I had been drinking something noxious involving Mr. Boston vodka.

10. What foods make you [want to] yarf? Do people give you shit about this and try to get you to eat it anyway?

Avocado. Undercooked bacon. Sushi that I think has been sitting out longer than it should have. And no, no one tries to change my mind, though I've had several discussions on the merits of avocado.

11. Do you actually read most of your friends’ page or do you skim past most if it? What about surveys?

Read thoroughly, with comments. Especially surveys.

12. If you had to have one song play, like a theme song, as you entered bars every time you walked through the door, what song would it be?

In college it would definitely have been the theme from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Now, I'm really not sure. I'd have to listen to a lot and pick something.

13. Who was your first crush? How old were you? What was it about that person that made you like them?

First grade, Amy something I think (I don't remember much about when I was that age). She played lots of tic tac toe with me during class.

14. Does it bother you if someone makes a big fuss over you over something like your birthday or you getting sick? Or does it make you feel really good?

Birthdays are good. Being sick depends, I like the attention but sometimes I just want to wallow quietly in my misery.

15. When you're out on the streets (or even in at home) are you totally obsessing about your indie cred?

I have no indie cred. I'm long past worrying about it. So far past, that I have old school indie cred that you just can't touch.

16. Have you ever found yourself making a conscious effort to dislike a band that you really like just because it's an unpopular genre or some of your friends don't like it?

No, because then it's so cool when you actually meet someone else who likes the same band. And I don't pretend to like bands that I don't, because really I probably haven't even heard of them and I can't pull that level of deception off.

17. Have you ever had cybersex before? Did you take on a different persona? Talk about that.

No. Not willingly. I don't want to talk about it.

18. Do you try to be yourself all the time or do you find yourself lying and faking stuff so people won't think you're lame? Why, or why not?

I try to avoid being lame (often unsuccessfully), but I can't imagine that lying and faking would be effective to that end, at least for very long.

19. Does it make you excited and happy or scared and unworthy to speak to someone you think is really cool?

Happy and scared, not so much excited or unworthy.

20. When you find yourself attracted to someone, is it all about their personality or do you require that they have a certain set of body parts, too?

It's mostly about personality, but if there's anything distractingly unattractive it can be difficult. It would be difficult to codify what I find physically attractive though. Or attractive in a personality, for that matter.

21. If someone wanted to get to know you better, how would they best go about doing that? Is there a certain way they have to be? Certain circumstances?

Express interest. I try not to be the guy who alienates girls by coming on unwantedly. So much so that I often am mistaken for not being interested at all. It's much much easier for me to express interest in someone if I know it's appreciated. Ask questions or say things I can follow up on. Get me talking and I'll tell you anything, but don't expect me to just start talking about myself. My default position is that you wouldn't be interested.

22. How was your relationship to homework when you were in school, overall? Did you put it off? Do it right after school? Did you do it at all?

I probably procrastinated more than anything. I don't remember too well, but I do have two excellent homework-related memories... first, back in grade school, my math exercises were so easy that I would do them in my head. I lost points for not showing my work, so I started drawing pictures of my brain on my homework. Second, in college, I had to disassemble my computer and hide the hard drive because I was spending too much time playing games and not enough time doing my assignments.

23. What's your opinion of workaholics, or people endowed with a good ol’ protestant work ethic, even if they aren't protestant?

At work, work is great. I can be a workaholic when my work inspires me. At home, I lose that, and am simultaneously envious and sickened by people who can do their taxes, remodel their house, and cook a 10 course meal in one evening. Though if you pair me up with someone with that kind of energy, I can accomplish about as much. Symbiosis!

24. What's the most beautiful thing you personally have ever seen? (or heard or felt)

Hmm, hard to say. The Canadian Brass performing the Pachelbel Canon in concert. Seeing the full moon reflecting on a river during a night skydive. Sunset skydives.

25. Where's the strangest place you've ever fallen asleep?

Possibly, on a plane climbing to altitude before jumping. Or in a field near the site of a juggling festival that I arrived at too late, where I was later awakened by a police officer (open my eyes and see a flashlight and a leather boot) who said something like "at least this one's alive."

26. Do you so wear your clothes more than once before washing? Or are you really that anal?

Jeans, of course. Shirts usually not.

27. If you were to accidentally become best friends with any one celebrity, who do you think that would most likely be?

Probably a sports player, because I probably wouldn't know they were famous.

28. Is your hair your natural color? Why, or why not?

Yes. I lack the aesthetic awareness necessary to prompt me to color my hair.

29. What was your favorite color?

Purple. It is whimsical, majestic, rich, and antialiases well with most other colors. And contrasts nicely with skin tones.

30. Neuroses are fun! What's yours?

Small insects en masse inside dwelling spaces. Ew. Shiver.

31. When you are out alone in public, what is your most prominent worry? Apperance? Is it emotional? Is it about your safety? Thinking about the available ways to kill someone who might attack you?

Definitely thinking about ways to kill potential attackers. Or pickpockets. And worrying if people like my hat or if it makes me look stupid.

32. What’s the best/craziest/most ghastly secret someone's ever told you?

Nope, sorry, I keep my secrets.

33. Have you ever slept with/made out with/been otherwise intimate with someone you wish you hadn't? Did you tell anyone about it?

Not that I can recall.

34. How old were you when it dawned on your that your parents have or have had sex? Were you ok with that, or totally disturbed?

I don't recall. Actually, I'm still not entirely convinced. But it doesn't disturb me.

Of course there’s and Either/Or Section! Don’t be absurd!

35. Crosswords, hurt your heard or jumpstart your heart? Hurt my head.

36. Petting zoos: Delightful or dirty? I haven't been to a petting zoo in so long I don't have any opinion, but probably more towards dirty.

37. Medical procedure shows: horrific or fascinating? Fascinating.

38. PBS: terribly dull or totally interesting? Depends on the show, but mostly interesting. I was raised watching Mystery with my father.

39. Two-Buck Chuck: Yum/drunk in a bottle or astonishingly tacky? Or, What’s That? if you really must. Huh?

40. Boone’s Farm: "Okay for an amateur" or "still loving it!" Thankfully, no experience with this.

41. Cookies: Chewy or crunchy? Chewy, but I make exceptions.

42. Adrenaline: “omg more more more” or “scary!” More more more if I control the activity.

43. Ropes: Sexy as hell or just for lassoes? It's not just for climbing anymore.

44. Vampires: Sthexthy or Sthpooky? Sthexthy, but not so much with the lisp.

45. Anime: Awesome or OMG get over it already? Interesting and fun, but really not worth investing the mental energy to keep track of all of it.

46. Vintage pornography: Hotter than modern, or totally obsolete? I don't think I have sufficient experience with this to decide.

47. Pink: Just for femmes, or butches can wear it too? Hey, I like my pink dress shirt.

48. Bustier or corset? Depends on the wearer and the rest of the ensemble.

49. Pantyhose or garter belt/stockings? I have yet to be convinced that either is preferable to bare.

50. Mailman's kid or Milkman's kid? Now that is disturbing.

51. Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me? I would never wish such a comparison on a woman.

Stranger with the Melodies

2007-02-14T17:32:51Z

I had this strange compulsion last night to remember the lyrics to one of my favorite Harry Chapin songs from high school. Of course, the lyrics were buried at the bottom of my guitar case, which I hadn't opened in many years, and so of course I had to remove the guitar from the case, and so of course I had to tune it up and play it. Funny how your fingers just remember how to do things they haven't done in so long.

But anyway, it's a song about an old guy who annoys everyone around him by singing nonsense that no one really cares about. Not entirely unlike what I'm doing currently :-)

He said, "I gave her the music son, she gave me the words. Together we'd write the kind of songs the angels must have heard. Of course we'd fight like cats and dogs, but life ain't no rosebud dream. Still whatever we'd do everybody knew we truly were a team. I can't remember now if I done her wrong or if she done wrong to me, but all I know that when I let her go that it did not set me free."
That's when I said, "You sound like what's-his-name."
He said, "That's who I am. But you can't wrap a name around you boy, 'cause it really don't mean a damn. You see, a song don't have much meaning when it don't have nothing to say. What she could do was magic son, all I could do was play."
He started singing again. That's when I drifted off; maybe I dreamed what I heard 'bout this stranger with his melody who'd gone and lost the words.

Take that as a cautionary tale, if you will. Happy Valentines Day everyone.

Trip highlights

2007-02-09T17:42:10Z

New Orleans!
cajun cooking
guest speaker Col. Lewis Setliff III, Commander, Task Force Guardian, the Army Corps of Engineers unit that rebuilt the hurricane protection systems.
palm trees, lows above freezing, and having dinner outdoors.
guest speaker Professor Murenzi, Rwandan Minister of Education, Science, Technology, and Scientific Research, for whom SolidWorks is a key component of building an information and industry base in his country.
Jambalaya!
guest speaker Steve Wozniak, who changed the world because he was too poor and too good of an engineer to build computers badly.
not being in Wisconsin this week
meeting with customers whose lives are affected, positively and negatively, by the work I do.
meeting with programmers from partner companies who want to work with me and my code.
Zydeco music
drinking and playing arcade games with my bosses and their bosses.
special guest Leonard Nimoy
being back home in Madison, so I can get back to work for all these people.

The Big Easy

2007-02-01T22:29:38Z

So it looks like the weather forecast for next week will have single digit highs. Guess it's too bad I'll be in... New Orleans... ahh hahahah.

That's all.

multibear @ 2007-01-20T02:39:00

2007-01-20T08:42:49Z

There is nothing I've found in my life that is more restorative to my sanity than the company of good friends.

Practicing

2007-01-19T04:32:46Z

Grrr. Balloons From a Dirty Mind, which I ordered a while ago, has not arrived yet. I shall have to be creative. Fingers still crossed that if I go to work late tomorrow it'll come before I leave the house...

Pump pump pump squeak squeak twist twist twist squeak squeak twist squeek POP!

Bears

2007-01-18T05:07:02Z

Me I just bear up to bewildered best
And some folks even see the bear in me
So meet a bear and take him out to lunch with you
And even though your friends may stop and stare
Just remember thats a bear there in the bunch with you
And they just dont come no better than a bear