Bad news I should have seen coming.

The first week in November I got something in the mail. I had cashed my check from my other job, KTalk, in late October, and my bank was writing to tell me that it had bounced. More importantly, as a result I got hit with nine overdraft fees, retroactively. So that puts me over $500 in the hole.

But no worries, right? I call my boss at KTalk and he's annoyed, but he says he'll cover the damage. Then he starts emailing me to complain about things he thinks I'm not doing right or could do differently. He starts complaining about inconsequential non-problems.

A few days go by and clearly something is up. No check comes in the mail and I can't buy food with an overdrawn account. I call and email him a few times the next week asking what is going on and I don't get any responses.

Now I get an email saying he's dissolving the company and that, essentially, because the company's tax bill is probably larger than what's in the company bank account, he will not pay me anything. Not the check he originally wrote me, nor the damage its bounce incurred.

I am royally screwed and I don't know what to do.

readysetgoart

A U.S. Bradley fighting vehicle is seen burning in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday after a roadside bomb detonated next to a passing U.S. Army convoy in northeastern Baghdad. Police Capt. Mohammed Abdul-Ghani said three soldiers were injured, but no other information was immediately available.

Fiona Apple video for O' Sailor. Would anyone pay $40 to go see her (and David Garza!) in Cleveland on Monday? Let me know. Not with the layoff I just received...

Everyone should check out this crazy stop-motion animation short film called Jonny Fu. It's by a great graffiti artist named Ronzo. Yeah, it's in German, but there are subtitles.

my tooth hurts

I had a few hours of sleep from Sunday to Monday, went to classes, filled in for Yared's linear algebra class for a few hours and went to work. Mostly read DeLillo's White Noise.

I came home from work last night and the power was out. I stumbled around for a bit and found a flashlight. Fab got home a few minutes later and luckily he had a lighter. I lit some candles and read for a while. My phone still worked so I called people who would still be up after midnight.



The epitome of pervasive irony shown for what it is in the Onion's Why Can't Anyone Tell I'm Wearing This Business Suit Ironically?

undoing the future

U.S. player Fred Funk hits an approach shot wearing a skirt given to him by Annika Sorenstam of Sweden, which she gave him after she hit a longer drive than him, on the third hole during the annual Skins game at Trilogy Golf Club in La Quinta, California, November 26, 2005

Nice and rainy for my run today. It's funny -- whenever I feel uncomfortable when I run, due to weather, clothing, abrasion, etc., I just think back to my first race. Nothing can hold a candle to the incredible discomfort I ran through then, which makes anything I do now seem paltry by comparision. It reminds me of the adage: if you eat a live frog first thing in the morning, nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.

holy crap! i have a mouse again

I heard that Arrested Development was officially cancelled. I officially hate FOX.



I have been waking up disgustingly late recently. I don't think I'm going to sleep tonight just so I can get to bed at a reasonable time the next day.

Various Topologies on Trees - Peter Nyikos

can I get a witness?

A customer at the theater was ordering tickets and said, "I have two adults and... a twelve-year-old, whatever that means."
"That means he's lived for twelve years," I said.



God I love those insane Burger King commercials with The King. HERE's an article on it.

Off to Meghan's again.

Merry Appreciationdistribution!

Holy crap, it's cold outside. I am running in the morning before work and the forecast says 26 degrees at 9AM. Bitchin'.

Everyone is out of town for the holidays. That's fine: more knitting and sleeping for me.

when I see the lie

My long run was today and it was brutal. Winter running is still the best, though. I enjoy the temperature disparity between my body and my surroundings. Breathing in such cold air really wakes me up and makes me feel energized. Hot, humid days make me want to go crawl under a rock and die, hopefully with air conditioning. Fall is beautiful but not austere enough for me. The brutality of winter, its harshness and severity is partly what attracts me to it.

Homework due tomorrow and I have been avoiding it. Eating Thai and listening to Lenny Bruce.

stitch and itch

An Iraqi man holds a child killed in a shooting while the family was on the way to the town of Baquba, about 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, November 21, 2005. Witnesses and the Iraqi police said U.S. troops opened fire on a crowded minibus north of Baghdad on Monday, killing five members of the same family, including two children, and wounding four others. The U.S. military said it was looking into the incident but did not confirm its involvement or provide any other details. REUTERS/Hilm

I began learning how to knit today. Soon I will have an unstoppable army of dishcloths and potholders. Wet and/or hot dishes beware!

Eugene Mirman writes hilarious blog entries for the Village Voice HERE.

Matthew sent me THIS distracting html puzzle. I'm dumb enough that I couldn't get the first one for nearly 10 minutes. Come on, people!

Link to the video of George Bush trying to open locked doors after a press conference. Well, it's a torrent of the video so you can download it. The video originally came from here.

'a good showerhead and my right hand'

Well, My Morning Jacket were much more of a success than the meatloaf. This week in Landon: The New Pornographers' Twin Cinema, recommended by Geoff Adams (the newly freed). I will be cooking baked polenta.



Time seems to be moving very slowly today. I keep reading or doing work and when I look up to see what time it is, I expect it to be much later than it turns out to be. Perhaps this is evening out all those times when I've thought it earlier than it was. All those seconds stolen away and collected before are being returned to me today.

more than one side to several-sided things

I really have to stop staying up so late. It's hard to stop myself though.

This Week In Landon

I forgot to mention that my album of the week is My Morning Jacket's Z, and my meal is meat loaf. And don't make any cracks about meat loaf. I've always liked it, even when it's been less than stellar. I have always felt the potential beating just beneath the surface of its roasted exterior. Meat loaf done well can go places.

Josh and I had something of an argument tonight and I'm a little annoyed with him. Again, it was something "out of his control", but statistically, that simply does not seem possible anymore. Also, reminiscent of the media's obsession with the phrase "it's not the crime, it's the cover-up," the problem I had was only annoying, the real aggravation stemmed from the way Josh handled the fallout. He knows how to push my buttons and intentionally tried to upset me (successfully). Whether from a bad mood or something else, I think I need to steer clear for a while.

Running in the morning, must sleep now.

3 late night haiku

Shitayami ni kawakanu aka no shizuku kana
In the darkness beneath the trees,
The dripping of the holy water,
That never dries.
Ryota

Mijika-yo ya makura ni ginbyobu
The short night;
By my pillow
A silver screen.
Buson

Utsukushi ya shoji no ana no ama-no-gawa
What loveliness!
Seen through a crack in the wall
The River of Heaven!
Issa

tenors and vehicles

Pakistani police officials carry a body from a building after Tuesday's bomb blast in Karachi.


Toronto Pillowfight

What Do You Want to Do With Your Life?

"New research from the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Consumer Research reveals that we pick certain brand names for an entirely narcissistic reason – because they contain letters of the alphabet that are in our own name. The theory is an extension of the 'name letter effect,' which has demonstrated that people indeed like the letters in their name more so than others letters. The current research extends this phenomenon to consumerism and defines 'name letter branding,' which shows a connection between a consumer's name and the brands one chooses."
via EurekaAlert

ludic lucidity

Nothing much is new here. I watched Capote Sunday night at the Drexel Gateway. I've been there twice and haven't ever seen more than a handful of people there. I don't know how they're making any money if no one shows up. They do serve alcohol there though, so a good Friday and Saturday might keep them in the black for the other days.

Sometimes I nearly convice myself of terribly unrealistic things, which makes it hard when I snap back to reality and understand that whatever pipe dream I had going was exactly that. It's tough for me to remain as evenheaded as I prefer and never to hope things will turn out a certain way. Never being disappointed in things is as easy as caring only about those things you have control over.

It's a long day tomorrow and I'm only making it longer by staying up so late.

what is this world coming to?

I didn't quite get the run I wanted, but the food afterward was heavenly.



NPR celebrates the 70^th anniversary of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, with video clips, and audio of the entire performance. Lots of interviews and backstory as well. It's worth the afternoon to check it out.

Bad, bad news, people. FOX, in its infinite stupidity, has cut back Season 3 of Arrested Development to 13 episodes rather than the usual 20 or so. This is usually the first sign of an impending cancellation. This means: I now have to go out and buy the second season on DVD immediately and so should you. If you don't have the first season, go pick that up too. This is, in all fairness, the best show on television and we have to do something to support it. If anyone cares at all about shows worth watching, now is the time to show it by buying the DVD's, or writing FOX like I am.

making passes at girls with glasses

An Iraqi soldier stands next to a ditch containing 27 unidentified bodies, many with their hands cuffed behind their back, at a desolate area near Kut in Iraq's southeast November 10, 2005. Iraq troops have found 27 bodies of people who had apparently been executed in southern Iraq near the Iranian border, army sources said on Thursday. Picture taken November 10, 2005.

I woke up late (thank you Veterans) and had lunch with Yared. I worked until 11. Went to the grocery store afterward. Talked late with Dad on the phone for a while just to update on my world not actively reported here. I watched S2E5 of Arrested Development. I will make some different goulash tomorrow after I run the hell out my legs.

goulash: success

Goulash was a complete success! It was surprisingly easy to prepare and cook and was extra fitting on a cold day like today. I think the pleasant weather is done for the year; I really only expect it to go downhill from here.

Gina tells me that there exist recordings of Elliott Smith and Mike Doughty floating around and I'm on a crazy search for them. I haven't found them yet, but I have found a lot of Jon Brion and Elliott Smith, which is also good. If I ever find the Doughty/Smith connection, I'll post a torrent for all here.

No classes tomorrow because of Veteran's Day. Much running in the morning and work in the evening, perhaps a boatload of structure trees of lower ideals in between.

the misadventures of Miss Adventure

Palestinian teenagers hurl stones at Israeli troops during clashes in the East part of Jerusalem, November 9, 2005.

Fab is off to Meadville this morning and I'm covering his recitations this afternoon. He made a quiz so long, his students will have no time to ask me pesky questions.

What am I doing tonight? There was talk of watching Capote at Drexel Gateway, but who knows whether that will go through. Josh wants to hang out, too.

LOST: Season 2, Episode 6 torrent

judiciously edited

A demonstrator whose face bleeds shouts slogans while he is detained by riot police officers during clashes in Ankara November 7, 2005. Leftist university students clashed with police amid hurling stones and tear gas shot by riot police as they were protesting against the country's High Education Board in the country's capital on Monday.

Jon Brion on WNYC: show stream HERE
Interesting note: Brion says that later this year he will finish those unfinished mixes of Fiona Apple's album that got released to rave reviews.

I've decided to try something new. I have something of a routine I go through every day that includes exercise, stretching, reading, writing, and of course math. But I'd like to widen the scope of some aspects of what I enjoy. So I want to listen to a new album and try to make a new meal each week. I've found myself listening to mostly the same artists and songs and eating the same types of food consistently. I think it would be an exercise in flexibility to incorporate this too into my routine. It isn't that I actively dislike other things, but rather that I never make time to find out whether I like them or not.

So, this week I'm listening to Elliott Smith's Either-Or and making goulash.

shifts like an infinitely ramifying dream

All is well in the world of Landon. The new paper of Yared's is looking promising, though I have yet to check details. I am about to make dinner and catch up with some correspondence.


via boingboing

expelling sparks with wind-tossed tumble

I watched Shopgirl last night at the new Drexel Gateway theater on campus. With all the lukewarm to nonflattering reviews of the movie, I didn't expect much and was therefore pleasantly surprised with how good it was. Interestingly, while I was sitting in the theater waiting for the previews to begin, I was musing about how leading men in movies always seem to have the most generic professions possible. Even if he isn't the protagonist, a male main character in movies generally works as a lawyer, a doctor, or something in high finance. Obviously most people do not hold these postitions. Why must movies never choose specific details? I suppose they want everyone to identify with the characters as strongly as possible...

This got me to thinking, it would be interesting to me to have a mathematician portrayed in film incidentally. That is, his role in the movie has nothing whatsoever to do with his doing math, it just happens to be his job while the business of the movie gets on. I wondered how it would be portrayed, or at least how it could be done. Then, if you can believe it, Steve Martin plays a mathematician exactly as I had imagined in the movie I'm waiting to see. Even better, he's a logician!

---

Last night I downloaded a digital video capture of an Elliott Smith concert in 2002. With only an acoustic guitar...

Off running, and reading the new version on Yared's paper this afternoon.

trials and tribulations of vile insinuations

Abby and Jaymee called a lot Thursday and Friday for Fab and me to go to Gallery Hop. Fab has one metric buttload of algebra homework to do, so he did not hang out Saturday night. I met up with two groups of people in the Short North and we wandered aimlessly. Mahan Gallery had Adam Brouilette's new work, which was great. Rob was on a streetcorner shouting anti-war slogans with other wildly dressed protestors. We started talking but got interrupted when a large banner ripped in half in a strong wind and he had to go fix it.



Afterward, I rode to MILO, where Josh was playing with Jason and his electronic drum kit. He was burned out from working all day so I left. Jaymee drove us to Anthony's place. Abby made us wait 20 minutes outside while she got ready. Girls. To the Dube. Abby turned 21 at midnight. We went to my house and played Set and spoke of the now departed Troll. But don't worry! Jaymee already has an overbearing domineering new man in her life who is nothing like the last one!

Bucket Death: the New School

Thursday: I ran for an hour, showered, went out for Mexican food with Laura, went to see Good Night, and Good Luck again, got home around 10PM, called around to see what people were doing, Josh came over with Sarah and Rob and we went to Buckeye Donuts for a while, met up with several people there who became entranced by tales of Bucket Death, picked up Bucket Death and went to MILO, played long enough to have everyone new to the game earn their monikers:

Lesley: The Ice Queen
Sarah: Bull
Trevor: The Matador/Banshee
Rob: Dr. Intenso
Sean: General Tso

There is now enough renewed interest to stage another tournament sometime next week. There will be exhibitions this weekend to get people ready. If you'd like to play, give me a call and I'll let you know where we are.

must... resist... urge to buy t-shirt online...

I went to bed way early last night and got to sleep 10 hours. It was incredible.