Archive for January, 2005

speed trials

Saturday, January 29th, 2005 at about 5:59 am

So yesterday I drove my dad’s car to school. What a machine. It takes some getting used to, but once you adjust to the way it shifts it’s a really nice drive. I took the long (really long) way home, through Unity. A cop followed me down Lincoln, along Windsor, and 4 miles down First street. I was way out in the middle of nowhere and starting to worry he thought I had stolen the car when he finally turned off the road. I’ve never seen a University cop go so far from campus before. Made me nervous.

background noise: either/or, elliot smith

Posted in General
by j. android

we could call it “the green machine”

Thursday, January 27th, 2005 at about 1:24 pm

As we grope our way towards a project for the Social Ad II class, I have gotten extremely excited about the prospect of making a biodiesel car. Well, “making” is a bit strong - more just buying an ancient diesel Mercedes and converting the fuel system to feed it purified vegetable oil. But just think of how much fun it would be…

yes I am a dork.

Posted in General
by j. android

the initial friend

Wednesday, January 26th, 2005 at about 9:50 am

I have fallen in love with the voice of the lead singer of Rilo Kiley. Flat-out infatuation. This is the first time such a thing has happened. It’s cute.

Posted in General
by j. android

mygora

Monday, January 24th, 2005 at about 3:00 pm

I have been working on Agora Days for the past four hours straight. And it feels GOOD. Mainly because I’ve made demonstrable progress. Sadly enough, the progress came more from brute force rather than clever programming, but I’ll take what I can get. I’m tinkering with the scheduling script (”tinkering” may be a bit optimistic - it doesn’t work at all right now); hopefully by the weekend we’ll have ourselves a class schedule.

background noise: “Nancy Boy” Placebo

Posted in General
by j. android

father winter says ‘GET OUTTA MA HOUSE’

Saturday, January 22nd, 2005 at about 5:29 pm

Winter came down mad crazy today. Driving down Windsor south of the University I could barely see anything, at 2 in the afternoon. When the sun broke through the clouds and illuminated a white plane (with no clear distinction between road, ditch, and cornfield) it was beautiful, if a bit hard to navigate. Going south on First I passed a car in the ditch. I stopped and turned around to pull over and make sure they were all right, but coming back up to where they were I hit the same patch of slush and ice and crap that they had and went into a sort of freefall myself. I luckily avoided the ditch (narrowly) and ended up perpendicular to the road straddling both lanes. Someone else had stopped to help the guys in the ditch by then, so I cut my losses, turned, and headed back South where I was originally going.

Posted in General
by j. android

crime and punishment

Saturday, January 15th, 2005 at about 9:12 am

I really like this picture:

A bit timely in the local sense, too. I’m still undecided about all of that.

Posted in General
by j. android

ode to the choad

Monday, January 10th, 2005 at about 1:59 pm

“Choad,” said Mr. Butler. The entire Big Show cast fell into peels of laughter. “Choad!” he repeated, again to our immense satisfaction. He didn’t know what the word meant, but we didn’t care. Mr. B thought the word was fun to say, and we found it delightful to hear an authority figure utter it. This was quite appropriate, as humor is central to the word in terms of both meaning and usage.

Choad has a variety of definitions, some figurative, some literal, and almost all amusing to some extent. The basic literal definition is a penis wider than it is long. Furthermore, choad can denote the area between the genitalia and the anus, more technically the perineum. However, these definitions are obviously of limited practical use: there’s already a word for the perineum and a penis wider than it is long is something of a rarity. The frequency with which “choad” is used at Uni High would indicate other, less specific senses of the word.

The figurative definitions of choad are much broader than their literal brethren. When using “choad” in the descriptive sense it may be tied to the literal definition. “That guy looks like a such a choad” would indicate that the subject is probably relatively short and of a fairly stocky build. It is extremely doubtful that he is wider than he is tall, so exaggeration is key in usage. This sense of the word gave rise to the first example of usage at Uni. David Stolarsky was nicknamed Choad when his friends discovered the word. He doesn’t actually resemble a penis, and he’s a good deal taller than he is wide, but he is a bit stout. When the word was discovered it was immediately decided that someone had to be named after it, and David most closely resembled a choad. This sense of the word, used to describe people, exists beyond the Uni vernacular and is used throughout younger domestic populations. At Uni, however, “choad” has evolved even further. Beyond David Stolarsky’s nickname, “choad” has come to be related to a certain variety of subtle humor. The exact nature of this humor is difficult to pin down, but it’s often marked by a penchant for puns. From this we derive an adjective form as well, “choady.” For example, one might remark that the opening sentence of this paragraph is a bit choady.

The general etymology of “choad” is not as well known as its history within Uni High. There is no entry for “choad” in the OED, but with the help of a little speculation we can trace a general history of the word. There is a word “choad” in the Indian vernacular that’s roughly comparable to the English “fuck.” The word may have therefore entered the language through the British colonization of the Indian subcontinent. More recently, it was used in some underground comics in the 1960s, but didn’t really catch on until popularized by members of the alt.tasteless Usenet group. Since then, media references in the likes of Beavis and Butthead and South Park have effectively solidified “choad”’s position in the contemporary vulgar English vernacular.

While it isn’t a particularly nice word, “choad” is nevertheless fun to say and use. And given its current status as an unregulated vulgarity, we should feel free to make use of it whenever even vaguely appropriate.

Posted in General
by j. android

works of questionable fiction

Monday, January 10th, 2005 at about 1:58 pm

I have decided to post some of things I create. Writing, images, that sort of thing. Admittedly, most of my creative expression ends up in web pages or bottled up inside of me, unrepentant, where it will turn into stomach ulcers in 40 years, but every once in a great while something slips out. So I’ll put them here.

Posted in General
by j. android

ode to the choad

Sunday, January 9th, 2005 at about 12:29 pm

“Choad,” said Mr. Butler. The entire Big Show cast fell into peels of laughter. “Choad!” he repeated, again to our immense satisfaction. He didn’t know what the word meant, but we didn’t care. Mr. B thought the word was fun to say, and we found it delightful to hear an authority figure utter it. This was quite appropriate, as humor is central to the word in terms of both meaning and usage.

Choad has a variety of definitions, some figurative, some literal, and almost all amusing to some extent. The basic literal definition is a penis wider than it is long. Furthermore, choad can denote the area between the genitalia and the anus, more technically the perineum. However, these definitions are obviously of limited practical use: there’s already a word for the perineum and a penis wider than it is long is something of a rarity. The frequency with which “choad” is used at Uni High would indicate other, less specific senses of the word.

The figurative definitions of choad are much broader than their literal brethren. When using “choad” in the descriptive sense it may be tied to the literal definition. “That guy looks like a such a choad” would indicate that the subject is probably relatively short and of a fairly stocky build. It is extremely doubtful that he is wider than he is tall, so exaggeration is key in usage. This sense of the word gave rise to the first example of usage at Uni. David Stolarsky was nicknamed Choad when his friends discovered the word. He doesn’t actually resemble a penis, and he’s a good deal taller than he is wide, but he is a bit stout. When the word was discovered it was immediately decided that someone had to be named after it, and David most closely resembled a choad. This sense of the word, used to describe people, exists beyond the Uni vernacular and is used throughout younger domestic populations. At Uni, however, “choad” has evolved even further. Beyond David Stolarsky’s nickname, “choad” has come to be related to a certain variety of subtle humor. The exact nature of this humor is difficult to pin down, but it’s often marked by a penchant for puns. From this we derive an adjective form as well, “choady.” For example, one might remark that the opening sentence of this paragraph is a bit choady.

The general etymology of “choad” is not as well known as its history within Uni High. There is no entry for “choad” in the OED, but with the help of a little speculation we can trace a general history of the word. There is a word “choad” in the Indian vernacular that’s roughly comparable to the English “fuck.” The word may have therefore entered the language through the British colonization of the Indian subcontinent. More recently, it was used in some underground comics in the 1960s, but didn’t really catch on until popularized by members of the alt.tasteless Usenet group. Since then, media references in the likes of Beavis and Butthead and South Park have effectively solidified “choad”’s position in the contemporary vulgar English vernacular.

While it isn’t a particularly nice word, “choad” is nevertheless fun to say and use. And given its current status as an unregulated vulgarity, we should feel free to make use of it whenever even vaguely appropriate.

Posted in General
by j. android

the words are cancer in my mouth

Friday, January 7th, 2005 at about 6:44 pm

And just like that, it’s over. Uni High’s production of The Crucible has been officially put to rest. And all we got for it was a measly plaque and some rave reviews, but I suppose that should be thanks enough. Doing two performances in one day today was novel, and not as difficult as I expected. As it stands, it’s 1:42 in the morning and I’m exhausted. Luckily I was able to sleep in today instead of going to school or theaterfest; I woke up around 9:15, putzed around the house, found the blown fuse in my car so the radio works again, and went to perform the show.

So now, some rest. Tomorrow morning I’ll maybe go see the all-state production of Ragtime and perhaps the melodrama being performed at Uni. Or maybe I’ll just sleep forever. And do my calc homework. Because this is my life.

background noise: “The Teeth Collector” Pretty Girls Make Graves

Posted in General
by j. android