Invisible Fence For The Family Dog

Without good people, a place is just a place. With that being said, I'm sure I will be missing Amherst. The Cape isn't too bad though. I'm sure I'll find myself having some fun in the coming months. There are beaches here that I always neglect to visit.

Being home is always strange at first (so much so that I hesitate to call it 'home'). Having a restroom 10 feet away from my bed is a breath of fresh air though. When I was at school I had to walk down the hall, up a flight of stairs, and down another to get to the closest public bathroom. It was annoying to say the least.

Speak easy,
Neil

Promthyming

This afternoon I was walking across campus and noticed that there was a direct correlation between the pace of my walk and the beat of the song I was listening to. I find that this happens a lot, almost every time I am listening to music when I am meandering about.

Promthyming
[prohm-thum-ing]
verb.
To walk or stroll in the same uniformed pattern as the surrounding music. This action often occurs without the realization of the individual.

Origin: Derived from the French word Promener [to walk] and the Latin word Rythmus [beat/rhythm].


Here's a picture that I took a few years ago. There are a lot of layers to it and it came out more interesting than I thought it would when I took it. I do, however, look kind of fake cool lame in it.

I spent four hours (some of which was in traffic) traveling to the Cape today and am considerably exhausted. Puff is still here and I still haven't warmed up to her.

Speak easy,
Neil

for those that live lawyerless lives

Its warmer today but the rain makes for a pretty miserable walk into campus. Lucky for me, rain also makes it fairly easy to decide whether or not to skip my classes.

Recently I've noticed how, in a world with such an abundance of textual communique, it is getting increasingly more annoying whenever you are unable to get in touch with someone. When I was little, it was two phone calls, and if I couldn't reach someone with two phone calls, that was it. My friend was probably at the store or the zoo. Today we have facebook, e-mail, text message, voice mail, home phone, and any other modes of communication I am sure I am leaving out. People are developing shorter and shorter attention spans. Everything is immediate. If I am trying to get information and the page is loading slow, the information isn't worth the time.

To consider that the most convenient information is the most consumed information is kind of an alarming notion.

The average American buys just one book every year. Taking into account Stephen King, Dan Brown, Harry Potter, and The Twilight Series, there are a lot of Americans that don't buy any books at all. I think the problem is not that people don't like to read, it's just that they don't know what to read. For instance, I am sure there are people that haven't read a book since high school but would none the less be unable to put down a Chuck Palahniuk book. Not that I think they are specifically great, I just think that they are good books for people who don't like books. If we stop making books, what would all the trees do?


I heard that MIT graduate, Daniel Biss, wrote a theorem that proves that a circle is nothing more than a bloated triangle.

The value of your life, as I see it, is measured by the amount of lawyers that are in it. If you do not have any lawyers in your life, things are probably looking pretty good.

Tomorrow I am going to finally meet Puff. If you don't know, Puff is the cat that my family replaced me with as soon as I left for college. It makes sense because a cat is much easier to take care of than a human.

The cat pictured below is my Moldovan friend, Poofa. That's the phonetic spelling of his name anyway. The name means 'Puffy' in Romanian. It will be difficult for Puff to compete with this guy for my all time favorite puffy cat. Poofa caught his own mice and loves to eat bread; pretty tough competition.


Virtue 6: "Industry." You should always have a job and always be employed in something useful. This kind of fits with yesterday's "frugality", except that it implies that by constantly doing, you are not wasting. Benjamin Franklin also insists that you ought to cut off all unnecessary actions. This raises the question, "What is a necessary action?"

Speak easy,
Neil

Today's Playlist:
Driving Home to Cape Cod: Part II (Requested by Andrew)

1. Built To Spill - Car (There's Nothing Wrong)
2. Feist - I Feel It All (The Reminder)
3. Say Hi To Your Mom - Blah Blah Blah (Impeccable Blahs)
4. They Might Be Giants - Experimental Film (The Spine)
5. Her Space Holiday - Four Tapping Shoes and a Kiss (XOXO, Panda...)
6. Sunset Rubdown - They Took A Vote And Said No (Shut Up...)
7. Death Cab For Cutie - Pity and Fear (Narrow Stairs)
8. The Good, The Bad, & The Queen - '80's Life (The Good, The Bad...)
9. Desaparicidos - Greater Omaha (Read Music, Speak Spanish)
10. Cloud Cult - Story of the Grandson of Jesus (Feel Good Ghosts)
11. Regina Spektor - Music Box (Begin To Hope: Bonus Disc)
12. The Format - Dog Problems (Dog Problems)

mimes are from mars

All of my important classes are done for the week. It feels really good just to be able to relax. Procrastination is a cruel mistress.

I was thinking about the mouth and all of its functions. How it can chew food and, likewise, be used for defense. How it can taste all different kinds of spices. How you think something and, through practice and understanding, you are able to communicate. The way a curled smile can travel from one persons soul and travel straight through another. The soft intimacy of a passionate kiss. An open passage that brings air into the lungs to keep the heart beating.
Although, when you view the mouth closely, it really isn't much to look at. Go find a mirror, you'll see what I'm talking about.



By the way...all men are d*cks, all women are b*tches, and everyone is crazy. The normal ones are just the ones that can hide it the best. This is just the way it is.

Now onto today's virtues...

Virtue 4: "Resolution". If you start something, you ought to finish it. This also applies to performing tasks that you ought to complete. The way I see it, you are the sum of your accomplishments. Not just creations but ideas and skills too. I'd elaborate further but I feel like I'm getting too "big picture". The bottom line...just get up and do something that you can be proud of.

Virtue 5: "Frugality" Don't waste money or time if you can help it. There's only so much you get before it's gone. Which reminds me, we need another space race. I really want to see Mars terraformed by the end of my lifetime.

Here is the first page of the book I did for my senior project class a few years ago. The final project was about 24 pages long; 10 of which I'm not completely embarrassed of.


Speak easy,
Neil

Today's Playlist:
Driving Home to Cape Cod (Requested by Andrew)

1. Shout Out Louds - Tonight I Have To Leave It (Our Ill Wills)
2. Pavement - Cut Your Hair (Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain)
3. Andrew Bird - Tables and Chairs (The Mysterious Production of Eggs)
4. Ben Folds Five - Army (The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold...)
5. Liam Lynch - Still Wasted From The Party Last Night (Fake Songs)
6. Grandaddy - A.M. 180 (Under The Western Freeway)
7. The Flaming Lips - The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (At War With The Mystics)
8. Animal Collective - Water Curses (Water Curses)
9. Los Campesinos! - Death To Los Campesinos! (Hold On Now, Youngster)
10. Adam Green - Jessica (Friends of Mine)
11. Goldspot - Float On (The OC: Mix 6) *Modest Mouse Cover*
12. The Shins - New Slang [feat. Iron & Wine] (Fighting In A Sack EP)