HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

some of you are enjoying the company of published authors.

others are having fun at costume parties.

i'm busy eating chocolates meant for the trick-or-treaters who never came.

mmm, Kit-Kat....

-l.t.s.k.

This was homework

We're studying Dante's Inferno in Literature of the Middle Ages. This test was assigned to my class. We're required to take it.

Please note my results have changed since I last took the test. I'm not entirely sure why, except that maybe I've stopped some of the stupider stuff I did in my twenties. It's good to grow up sometimes.

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The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to Purgatory!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	High
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	High
Level 2 (Lustful)	Low
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Low
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	High
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	High
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

Lack of Importance, an update

My Google Rating is now down to 2 out of 10, from 3 out of 10. I am even less significant than I was but a month and a half ago.

sigh It's all so pointless, isn't it? Why bother?

...

Ah, well. Off to bed.

Boston, CHEAP!

I'm going to Boston next month. My friend, C--, is throwing a multi-function party. 1) actuarial exams are over! 2) his birthday. 3) his evil, disgusting housemate is vacating the premises. I shall be taking Amtrak, which is a five-hour ride. This will give me time to do reading for class and sleep, which I cannot seem to get enough of of late (Mom says I'm moving into hibernation mode).

How can I possibly afford to take the train to Boston from Albany? Easy. While round-trip fare from Albany to NYC is about $100, round-trip to Boston is only $38. Cheaper if you have a AAA number. CHEAP! CHEAP! Okay, so there might be a semi-legal bus service which is cheaper, but I like having my own seat and not having to worry about someone picking my pockets if I happen to nap off while reading a textbook.

Yaaaay! I get to see C--! Picture me running about the house a la Kermit the Frog when he's really excited about the start of a particular episode of The Muppet Show.

ooooooooooh! aaaaaaaah!

If you haven't been up to the Northeast of late, you should come up soon. While much of the leaves are gone, there's still plenty left and it's unsually beautiful, even for this region. The colors are intense and varied. I never thought I'd say brown leaves are beautiful, but they are this year.

[END OF TOURISM PLUG FOR NEW ENGLAND AND NORTHERN NEW YORK STATE. WE WILL NOW RESUME THE REGULARLY SCHEDULED POINTLESS WHINING.]

Drunken Bastards

I just saw something which epitomizes the college students at U-Albany: a giant empty bottle of Canadian Molson sitting on the wet pavement under one of the concrete benches between Humanities and Education. I laughed and wished I had my camera with me so I could take a picture. Maybe when I come back to campus later today I can bring my camera, take a picture, and post it on my blog. I'll have to put something next to it so you can understand the scale. It's huge. Huge-ass big. And sitting on campus between two of the buildings.

This is a party school. I'd heard that when I initally applied, but my dad, who was working here at the time, vehemently denied it. He was a goddamned liar.

The kids here drink like `80's frat movie characters. They drink until they get alcohol poisoning and die. They come into afternoon classes on a Wednesday with hangovers. It's amusing at a certain level, like the huge-ass, green Canadian Molson bottle. It also sucks as the professors have to be much harsher than at other universities as the students generally don't give a rat-fuck and need to have even the faintest work ethic beaten into their alcohol-damaged minds in order to make the teaching of the course worthwhile. It amazes me large numbers of people graduate. It amazes me professors don't just throw their hands in the air and give up, reciting from the same yellowed notes they used fifteen years ago (like the professors at NYU). They still care, even though the student body is too fucking drunk to care back.

But, damn, that empty bottle made me laugh.

Trust me, the Donger knows

Yet another example of life being vastly improved by television: "I Love the 80s Strikes Back". All the weird pop culture shit of my childhood, summarized in hour-long years. God, how fabulous. I laughed 'til I cried when they covered Jolt Cola (1985).

Death and Destruction, with lots of swear words

This has audio, so's if you're watching with a bitchy boss looking over your shoulder, you may get into trouble. Or you may have no sound and therefore miss half the fun. Anyway, go watch the end of the world.

kawaiiiiiiiiiiiiii

"Cowboy Bebop: Ed & Ein Plush"

Must! Have! Ed & Ein doll!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

If only she came with her hacker equipment, too.

AUUUUUUUUGH!!!

Jeff Weaver?

Jeff Fucking Weaver?

Jeff "I blow every game I pitch" Weaver?

Oh, for fuck's sake, Joe! Why? Why, why, why, why, why?

"We need long relief."

Weaver is not relief. He's what you need relief from. He's the reason for antiacids in Yankees fans homes across the nation. He sucks. He sucks so much I have a chant whenever I see him: "Try not to suck, Jeff!" He never listens. He always sucks.

Oh, the pain. The agony. I hate second-guessing you like this, Mr. Torre, but what the bloody hell were you thinking, bringing Weaver back in in the bottom of the 12th? Why? Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, whyyyyyyyyyy?!

sob

Neige, yuki, Schnee, la neve, la nieve, white stuff

It snowed today. Today, October 22. We haven't even ended daylight savings time yet. People still haven't bought their Halloween pumpkins yet. Snow.

Okay, so mostly it was rain and then some snain (rain and snow at the same time; not to be confused with sleet, which is slush falling from the sky; or with frozen rain, which is super-cold rain which is ice when it hits anything). But I looked out the classroom window, and there was the snow. I went to get the mail, and it was snowing.

Don't get me wrong. I love snow. It's purty.

Still, this just brings home the Farmers' Almanac prediction for this winter: it will be super-harsh. Yeah, even more harsh than last winter. Time to get mentally prepared for fifty foot blizzards, I guess.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HALIFAX!

belated, that is.

i still don't know exactly when your birthday is. i've heard it was around the time you moved but....

anyway, belated happy birthday.

i need your new address so's i can send you a birthday/housewarming present.
or an address so's i can send you a birthday-type present.
hey, if you don't like it, i'm never around, so you can regift it with ease.
regifting: fun, easy, free!
just try not to let on you did it, or i might cry.

cheers.
-l.t.s.k.

Words, Words, Words

I take special joy in some words. Sometimes because of the sound (eeeee-bola!), sometimes because of the specific meaning, sometimes just because. I can't say today's Word of the Day will be listed among my favorites, but I do like it lots.

• • •

vitiate • \VIH-shee-ayt\ • verb
1 : to make faulty or defective : impair
2 : to debase in moral or aesthetic status
3 : to make ineffective

Diana

Tonight will be the Hunter's Moon, which is one of the cooler names for a moon. I suspect, however, that many men are looking forward to November 8th.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAVID!

i'm still older than you are.

as with SheepBoy (see below),
i'm sending you something but it make take a while as sending something requires i go to the post office.
also, i don't have your new address. you jerk.

anyway, happy birthday.

-l.l.b.s.

Still There

As of the 6th of October, Dresselmeyer is still in his cage at the vet's office, waiting for someone to give him a home. This breaks my heart as I really, really like Dresselmeyer and would take him home myself if I didn't have two of the world's greatest felines already here. Oscar would never forgive me.

Dresselmeyer's fully recovered from donating blood to a cat in need of emergency care (what a good samaritan!) and is back to being his friendly, cuddly self. I could really see myself getting attached to that cat. He very much deserves a home.

I'm not going to start on Monkey, the scared, sweet little skinny black kitten, or Isis, the gray and white long-hair with the sleepy eyes.

If all were right with the world, Dresselmeyer would be my cat and my nephews would take care of Monkey and my mom would take Isis to play with the even-longer-furred Floof and Oscar would still love me unconditionally.

Poor Dresselmeyer. I think he's starting to recognize me now, too, and wondering why I'm leaving him in there.

Hey, they gave me a form to apply for a job there, at the vet's. Maybe I could take care of him then. If they give me a job.

Lucky

Did I ever mention I like all of my classes, meaning I like what we're studying and the texts we're reading and the professors teaching?

The students, well, I could do without a lot of them, but a couple of cool ones have surfaced in a couple of the classes.

For the most part, though, I'm lucky in my class selection this semester. This makes not doing so hot so far rather upsetting to me. I want to do well in these good courses and do well for my professors.

I'm such a dork.

(At least I'm doing okay on my Japanese quizzes so far.)

On Not Posting

The computer has been more or less on the fritz.

I have been very busy trying to keep up with classes (and generally failing to do so, mostly because of the state of the computer).

I have been having too much fun being distracted by my (our, our) new toy, the DVR. I am now watching Alias and many anime programs shown on this unknown TechTV channel (or whatever it's called) and so on. Shows I didn't get to watch before because of the dominance of HBO's Sunday 9:00 shows in my life (The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Carnivale). I could watch both West Wing and Angel if the writing on the former hadn't obviously taken a turn for the lame and lazy (it's bad. not super-bad, but definitely not good in a packed-with-bad-television-cliches kind of way). Yay, Angel! I would be more upset about missing the season opener, except I know it'll be shown this winter during the break and the many, many, many weeks of repeats. The DVR will do its duty and the episode shall be there. Huzzah for the DVR!

Now if only Mom would let me set up the VCR properly so it's hooked up to cable.

non sequitur: Halifax, isn't your birthday in October, too?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHEEPBOY!

you're still older than i am.

i'm sending you something, but it make take a while as sending something requires i go to the post office. also, i'm not sure i have your address. again. tra la.

anyway, happy birthday SpeedRacerG.

-l.t.s.k.