spacebase

I have been having trouble with g-rad. I tried posting something the other day- it was really just a copy & paste from livejournal- but it would not post. It refused. I addressed the issue with George and it worked for him several times, even while logged in as me. But it won't work for me on any computer, be it a Mac, PC, using Firefox, IE, Safari, etc. I just can't copy and paste an entry into here. And I thought it was really good too. It was about how much I love the fall and all this other sappy bs. But liked it. But g-rad didn't. G-rad told me no. G-rad told George to tell me no. No told me to tell g-rad, "George!". Alas, I am now trying to write a long post of original material to do a test for George. Let's hope this works.

Will this work? What is the issue with this? George tells me that he, Tom and James have all posted long-ish stuff. But why won't mine go? Am I frowned upon? Are there questionable words in my post? Is George lying to me? Should I leave? I don't know. I just want this to work and to keep on blogging. Because of this predicament I have momentarily retired from blogging. I decided that if I can't post my entry entitled "pumpkin pies and early nights", then I shall neither create new entries nor post comments. Well, I did post a few comments, but not as many as I should have. I lost faith in g-rad.

And why would I lose faith in g-rad? How selfish of me. How selfish of me that I've been treating g-rad so poorly. I don't comment on blogs, I rarely comment in the forum, I never moderate and I don't read enough. To be honest, I'm intimidated. What do I do? What's good enough for 'g-rad'? George says post everything He wants content! I keep referring to George when I talk about g-rad. Is that fair to Ben and the other founding fathers/mothers of g-rad? What about Jane's art? The lovely squirrel that docbeezy hated so much? She deserves as much respect as the blog her squirrels adorn. And yet I cite fear, anxiety and nervousness for my reasons in not blogging. Shame on me.

And now...pictures

It's really hard for me, but I think I'm warming up to Autumn. I've
always loved Summer for all the reasons I guess I should hate it. I
sweat too much. I never get the chance to go outside when it's nice.
I don't actually enjoy summertime recreation. Perhaps I've just always
associated Summer with no school, being able to wear shorts every day
without being mocked and a different girlfriend every July. Now Summer
represents the unattainable: this warm, perfect life where everyone
always has free time and is in love. I also hate the cold a lot. A
lot. I might have just always loved Summer because it's so opposite of
Winter.

Now, it's officially Autumn. We've been granted a reprieve and have
had a few extra weeks of warmth, but when the wind blows it now has a
chill to it. That chill and when leaves start to fall define Autumn
for me. And it is at that time that people wear sweaters, more
long-sleeved shirts and jackets. This is the first time that I've been
ever been able to make the switch and get "fall clothes". I won't have
to rely on haphazard outfits of long-sleeved Billabong shirts I bought in
Australia 5 1/2 years ago under concert t-shirts from a decade ago. I
now have collared and buttoned shirts, sweaters, jackets, dignity. Now
that I'm "prepared for Autumn", I might actually get to enjoy it, with
all its cool breezes, new films and my favorite holiday: Halloween.

Maybe with this change of seasons I can also shake off this monumental
uneasiness about everything I've been feeling. So, welcome home,
Autumn!

I found the one flaw in Pig Latin. Actually, I noticed it years ago but always knew that should I mention it to anyone, I would waste their time. Between 13 and 16 when I started getting interested in language, I would say something aloud, and then imagine how it would be said in Pig Latin. Later this turned to me translating songs on the radio and advertisements in the little French I knew. It was ridiculous, unproductive and incredibly fun.

The line in "Brick" by Ben Folds Five
She's a brick and she's drowning slowly
became
Elle est une pierre et ne peut pas nager
lit.: She is a stone and can't swim

One day, while taking a sip from a drinking fountain at school, I found a word that destroys the perfect logic of Pig Latin.

This company, Elkay, obviously hadn't constructed their name out of Pig Latin. But if one were in a Pig Latin speaking world, I would have difficulty in knowing the origin of this word. Would it have been "Elk" or "Kel"? This bothered me. It still bothers me. Every time I see a drinking fountain (almost all are made by this company) I think of this. And I'm not sure if I'm more mad that I can't solve this or that I still think of this.

I'll only be drinking two of these every day for the next 4 days. I hope it cleans me up a bit. I just need to get my head straight. And my stomach.

apparently, it only takes 16 days for me to finish off a bar of dial soap.

Greg, Mark and I have been practicing improv and are now looking to start performing. We've been thinking:

The DAAC
10 Weston (Monday nights?)
Hungry Heart
Places that allow alcohol

I'm not sure where we should go. I know that I feel inadequate and need to practice a lot.

Grand Valley magazine interviewed me as a recent GVSU graduate with a job in the summer. I forgot all the embarrassing things I told them and am surprised they painted me as such a loser in this article!

Although he's not currently with a girlfriend, Kevin Timmer will stay in Grand Rapids and continue working at Grand Valley as interim director of the Language Resource Center. While he's happy to have a full-time job that interests him, Timmer said it leaves him feeling a little like George Bailey, the character Jimmy Stewart played in It's a Wonderful Life.

"I've been pretty much wrapped up in the language lab all throughout college," said Timmer, a French language graduate. "It's kind of been a blessing and a curse." Bailey never left Bedford Falls, but Timmer plans to leave Grand Rapids. He wants to move to France next year to teach English classes.

...

While graduating from college caused Timmer's dating pool to "dry up," he said he's enjoying his freedom. And, well, not having a car causes problems when you have to pick up your date. He had planned to buy a car over the summer, but Timmer said he wants to concentrate on getting a good start on student loan payments.

As a graduate who owes $20,000 in student loans, Timmer joins a large club. More than 40 percent of U.S. college students owe more than $20,000 in student loans, according to the New York Public Interest Group's Higher Education Project.

To save money, Timmer lives with friends in a downtown Grand Rapids apartment

This morning I walked to the bus stop across from my house and heard someone shouting. I quickly realized it was just a man listening to a CD player singing along and waiting for the bus. I stood near the stop and we acknowledged each other and he continued singing/rapping/shouting. Loud, though. Really loud. Every so often it would sound like he was forgetting lyrics, but then I wondered if he was actually free-styling, especially when the bus came by and he said:

"Aww shit, here comes the bus,
Came so early, now it's time to bust."

He took off his headphones and we talked about the bus actually being on time and he got on and we both sat down. I sat there wondering if he would continue rapping in front of all these people. Sure enough, he started with:

"I got my own show on FOX.
Y'all blinded by my watch."

And other peoples' heads turned, so I didn't feel so uptight about thinking it was odd with him rapping so loud in public. Someone across from me rolled his eyes and said, almost inaudibly, "Clown."

For Halloween I really wanted to be a Transformer. A Transformer who turns into a chair (recliner preferably). A trip to Salvation Army with Matt and Mark proved that I couldn't do it. They suggested I cave in and go as Frodo. Working at Star Theatre when Lord of the Rings came out was torture. And I just don't think Elijah Wood is that great an actor. Still, I caved. In Sin City Elijah Wood plays Kevin, a nearly-mute sociopath who resides at "The Farm", kills women, and cannibalizes their remains. He then gives the remains to his pet wolf.

Mickey Finn and Marisa were in town and joined Tom, Mark, Matty and me (wsg. Rae, Morgan, Joel) in moving from place to place.

"America? Never heard of it." Matt's a miner with a pink slip.

Mark was, well, you know...

Tom was Twiggy on Friday, and an axe-wielding, roller skating, 70s porn star. No photos of rollerboy turned out (yet!).

Matty was the ever-topical Roy Horn, being mauled by Mantecore...two years ago.

Marisa = French

At Anne and Katy's we saw Greg and Lindsey