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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Gregory Pettigrew's LiveJournal:
| Saturday, April 7th, 2012 | |
| 11:28 am | The Economics of Library Fines Somehow, my library books are always due on a Tuesday. This is awkward for me, since my wife goes to the town knitting circle on Wednesdays, half a block from the library. As a result, it is more economical of me to just pay the damned fine than to drive over to the library on its own trip (or even, one wonders, when running errands in Hudson). And yet, paying library fines are anathema to me. I am horrified by the idea of returning something so valuable as distilled knowledge even a day late. On the emotional spectrum, it falls somewhere on about the same level as kicking puppies and stealing candy from babies, though I have, on occasion, returned a library book late, whereas I have not done the other two. Movie and video game rentals, of course, are another beast entirely. I'm more thank ok to pay a higher non-negotiable rate to extend one of these by a day or so. And on the other other hand, if I want to ensure my children respect their local library, for both its mystical and ethical significance, I will need to ensure that I am willing to spend *my* money on gas just to help ensure they are able to earn the emotional reward of returning books on time, and avoid the emotional penalty of condemning another to darkness and ignorance. |
| Saturday, March 10th, 2012 | |
| 2:01 am | I am a sentimental fool. Could not stop reading The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I cried at the ending. Current Mood: sad |
| Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 | |
| 1:28 pm | Let Them Eat Cake Last night, I dreamt that I was hanging out with a bunch of friends in the Platonic Ideal Tech School. Then, a bunch of them wandered off to go have a birthday party and eat cake. When I was ten, there was a new kid in my class. We shared a bus stop, and I thought we were making pretty good friends. His birthday party was the talk of the school - everyone was looking forward to it, talking about it, planning for it. I didn't receive an invitation. It had been nearly two years since I had been invited to a birthday party for a classmate, and I was devastated. My mother called his parents, told me it was some kind of mistake, and I went over. I had a good time, and yet...I know it's possible I wasn't supposed to be invited. I know it's possible I wasn't invited and my mother made them invite me. And that bothered me. It still bothers me. To this day, I'd rather sit at home doing nothing than risk being somewhere I'm not wanted. I found out after-the-fact that a friend's wedding was "open invite". I missed out on a truly stupendous amount of prime rib. But "open invite" means different things to different people, and I'm not coming unless I'm sure you want me there. I don't need an engraved invitation, I just need to know that you know that I might be there. Current Mood: uncomfortable |
| Sunday, January 8th, 2012 | |
| 6:35 pm | Somehow, I doubt it I hope LJ has a marketing database element that keeps track of the fact that I switch to S2 every time I want to make a comment and then switch back to S1 to view my flist. Current Mood: amused |
| 1:45 pm | Thank-You Letters So, Marketing. When you go on a job interview, it is (now?) customary to send a thank-you letter to the interviewer. Astute observers have pointed out that a job interview is not some act of benevolence to be grateful for so much as an opportunity for both parties to examine a potential business transaction in further depth. BUT a) It's a buyer's market, so you have to do everything you can to ingratiate yourselves to potential employers ATM. and b) It's good PR to send them the thank-you letter because it keeps *them* thinking about *you*, which increases the likelihood that you will receive the offer if it comes down to a toss-up. What do you put in your thank-you letters? Current Mood: contemplative |
| Thursday, January 5th, 2012 | |
| 4:00 pm | Switching to S2 Crankily, I've begun the process of updating my LJ style to S2 so I can still have comment titles. Advice on how to replicate specific features of S1 and/or artistic suggestions appreciated. |
| Thursday, December 29th, 2011 | |
| 9:01 pm | Alfredo Gregorio A friend recently asked for people to post recipes for delightfully fantastic recipes, and since I cooked my delightfully fantastic alfredo sauce tonight, here's the recipe: 1 stick of butter 1 cup of heavy cream 1 fist-sized chunk of parmesan, grated as much garlic as you think you can stand, minced serves 2 It's important that the parmesan be of high quality, which is why I recommend the parmesan be freshly grated rather than purchased in a canister. Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Add the garlic to give it a chance to impart its flavor. Add cream and let simmer until the butter and cream have mixed fully. Slowly add the parmesan, stirring constantly. If you start melting at the same time as you start the water boiling for pasta, the sauce and pasta should be done at about the same time. It's important that this never scald or boil over - it will develop undisolvable bits and rapidly turn into a lump of cheese in a milk bath. Your arteries will hate me for this. |
| Tuesday, December 27th, 2011 | |
| 12:58 am | |
| Wednesday, December 7th, 2011 | |
| 6:54 pm | |
| Tuesday, October 11th, 2011 | |
| 6:24 pm | National Coming Out Day I don't think there's anything much for me to add to my post from two years ago. I'm still bisexual. I'm still one of them. It isn't just a phase. Ironically, it's only after the repeal of DADT has begun that I am able to get to the local National Guard Recruiting office and tell them "DADT? It's the only thing that kept me out of the military. Tell your superiors that for every homophobe that refuses to serve with a gay soldier, there's probably a gay patriot to fill their place." Current Mood: thoughtful |
| Friday, October 7th, 2011 | |
| 11:58 pm | One last post Today (what's left of it) is Ada Lovelace Day, a day we remember the contributions of women to the sciences. I confess, I feel rather outclassed by this day. I'm not a scientist and I'm terrible at research, and I stumbled across my contribution completely by accident. Wangari Maathai (1940-2011) was a Kenyan environmentalist and political activist who founded the Green Belt Movement, an organization that promotes sustainable agriculture in her native Kenya and throughout the world. In 2004, she became the first African woman, and the first environmentalist, to win the Nobel Peace Prize. After studying in the US and Germany, she became the first Eastern African woman to receive a Ph.D. when she was granted a Doctorate of Anatomy from the University College of Nairobi in 1971. She lectured on veterinary anatomy, became director of the Kenyan Red Cross, and founded the Green Belt Movement on June 5, 1977, World Environment Day. In the 80s and 90s, she became involved in Kenyan Pro-Democracy efforts and fended off the police for 3 days while barricaded inside her house during a string of assassinations and mass arrests in 1992. She continued her efforts and was elected to Parliament in 2002. She repeatedly faced jail time trying to advance environmentalism and democracy in Kenya, advance her career, and defend herself in her 1979 divorce from her husband. She died on September 25, 2011. |
| 3:48 pm | |
| Thursday, October 6th, 2011 | |
| 9:34 pm | |
| Sunday, August 21st, 2011 | |
| 10:03 am | Dream Theater Last Night, I had a dream: I was in a prison. My bunkmate looked an awful lot like Peter Stormare. I say "bunkmate" because the prison was more like a shipyard - we were not necessarily allowed to sleep indoors, but there were wooden carts laden with stuff that we could slip our mattresses under when it snowed. Bunkie was showing me around, introducing me to the prison culture and power structure. At one point he showed me a mafia boss that was in the prison that was being "tortured" by the guards - it appeared as though they had shoved needles in his throat (not sure how this was supposed to make him talk), but Bunkie pointed out the length of the needles - they had not actually been inserted into his skin at all! I was a plant for the FBI, trying to figure out where the prison corruption lay so that we could root it out and start getting real information from the mafia boss. I had secreted some shivs around my bunk to help defend myself and was composing a secret message to tell my superiors what I had figured out when it started raining and I woke up. Current Mood: amused |
| Thursday, July 7th, 2011 | |
| 1:32 pm | 'One man and one woman' -- but who defines 'man' and 'woman'? I was linked today to an interesting article relating the unintended side effects of DOMA-esque laws, where court rulings have given 'man' and 'woman' sufficiently rigid definitions that seemingly opposite-sex marriages are forbidden and seemingly same-sex marriage are protected. I'm glad I live in Massachusetts. Things make more sense here. Current Mood: amused |
| Wednesday, June 29th, 2011 | |
| 2:53 pm | A quick review Reasons to see Transformers 3 (in no particular order): 1. Giant Robots 2. Leonard Nimoy 3. Alan Tudyk 4. Sam was dumped by Mikaela (off-camera) 5. All of the technical achievements of TF2 without the raunchiness Reasons not to see Transformers 3 (in no particular order): 1. Very long (2:37) 2. Fairly linear plot 3. Racefail (old stereotypes out, new stereotypes in) 4. Poor continuity 5. Terrible, Terrible Physics (worse than the '85 cartoon) And if you do see it, don't bother with the 3D. That was a total waste of money. Current Mood: indifferent |
| Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011 | |
| 5:43 pm | Give me $1000 One of my recruiters is looking for software engineers with experience working on embedded systems. Lemme know if you want more info. |
| Monday, March 21st, 2011 | |
| 10:25 am | |
| Saturday, March 5th, 2011 | |
| 3:13 am | Argh! My car wouldn't start, so I have to crash at my parents' tonight. I need a bin of costumery to travel from Camelot to Intercon by 9 AM tomorrow. Ideally, this will be in someone else's vehicle, but I can do it myself if I need to. 4 hours of sleep is enough, right? If you can pick it up, call me. Current Mood: tired |
| Friday, March 4th, 2011 | |
| 11:48 am | [meme] To Infinity and Beyond... Hey folks, got a new meme for you! It's real simple. It's about the relationship between numbers and your life. On day 1, you post about the number 1. On day 2, you post about the number 2. The best part is, the meme will never end! Your friends will be posting this meme for ever and ever. 1: I created one meme. I'd like to create more in the future, but for now, just one. Being a mathematician, I wanted to help people convey just how important numbers are in their daily lives. Also, it will help make them feel important by giving them something to post about, even if their lives are completely banal and have nothing interesting going on, they can rest assured that my meme will give valuable insights to their friends and family. I feel very lucky to have created a meme that will provide people with lj content for eons to come. Current Mood: annoyed |
