01/31/10 15:11
I have recently upgraded the operating system on my
laptop, and with that installed the most recent
version of Apple's iPhoto software. It has a facial
recognition component to it and I tried it out on a
few pictures of me. Based on the following two photos
it came back with interesting results. To get all the
photos from the years I used one really old picture
and one recent one.
After tagging myself in these two photos iPhoto went
through all my pictures to find pictures of me, and
it did a great job. However apparently my father and
I look as alike as everyone thinks, because according
to iPhoto we have the same facial structure. Almost
all of the photos with my father in them came back in
the results. Here is a typical picture that came back
of my father.
In correlation to that, more recent pictures of my
older sister Carrie came back. Not the photo above
(that came back with my dad's face highlighted), but
any photo from the last year with Carrie in it came
back under my results also. The picture below, of my
three wonderful sisters (two whom are very obviously
and adorable pregnant with my future nephew and
niece) is from Christmas this last year.
Carrie (on the left) came back as me. I'm sorry
Angie, while we always referred to ourselves as
twins, according to Apple Carrie and I have the same
facial structure, not you and I (although I will
still call you my evil twin). I just though it was
interesting thats all.
01/29/10 07:46
I was in bed before 10 last night. It was amazing. I
slept all night long and loved it. Wednesday night I
woke at 1 am and had this killer jaw pain. It was so
bad I could not get back to sleep. I got up and took
some ibuprofin, put a heat pad on my jaw and watched
tv for two hours until I was tired and numb enough to
fall back asleep. I felt like someone had punched me
in the jaw, hard. It was not tooth pain, it was jaw
pain. And it continued all day yesterday, my jaw was
just sore.
Last night I was exhausted from being sore all day,
and lack of sleep, and well, I work with kids. So I
took a long bath to relax (that’s right, I’m a guy
and I take baths on occasion. And yes, I do use
bubbles.) Long bath worked. Less than an hour after
getting out of the bath I was passed out on the
couch, and shortly thereafter moved to bed.
I did have this weird dream though. I was in a small
town hall where President Obama was hosting a dinner.
He got to give his speech. I was sitting on a stage
in front with Obama and his crew. Looking into the
crowd I could see Tom Schwob and Janine Tocke. The
both were smiling at me, and Janine was mouthing
something at me, like she was trying to say “what the
hell!?!” And after Obama was done speaking he left,
and Schwob grabbed me and pulled me to the back. The
flyer said I was an undersecretary of Early Childhood
Education. I was kind of shocked but then Tom and I
looked at the flyer again and the place where my name
was changed. I did not know what this meant, but when
I went looking for Obama he already left.
Anyways, regardless of this dream, I still slept very
well. And feel quite refreshed today. And while my
jaw is a little sore, it feels much much better.
01/26/10 07:51
Reg,
You cannot get information off of floppy disks using
a piece of paper and a comb. I know you told me that
in my dream, but I want to be sure you know that in
real life too.
Your friend,
AJ
PS- For some reason apostrophes are not showing up in
my recent entries. They are some sort of weird
symbols instead. I have to work at it. Look at this:
Can’t. Weird huh. I have to figure it out.
01/25/10 07:48
Highlights of my weekend:
-Dreams: I had a dream that I had a cardboard box
that was a perfect cube, but had 8 sides. It was
messing with my head. I could not figure out how a
cube could have 8 sides (it cannot, a cube has 6
sides or its not a cube). But this one had 8, I even
tore it apart and laid it on the ground, but it still
had 8 sides, I was actually getting mad in my dream
that the cube had 8 sides. A second dream had me as a
super hero feeding super villains in the top of a
parking garage in New Orleans while there was a
flood.
-Hiking. I hiked Whipps Ledge with a friend Saturday.
Tons of fun.
-Candyland. Who the hell doesnt like Candyland.
-Cutting my thumb. Totally cut my thumb open with a
knife while washing it Sunday.
-Stepped on a shard of glass. In my apartment. It
hurt. I have no clue where it came from. Bloody foot,
awesome.
-Grocery Shopping. $70 of food, I’m done for a month.
01/21/10 23:34
The only that sometimes keeps me coming home instead
driving off into to no where is my cat, Angelo. Him
and the fact I like a comfortable, familiar place to
lay my head down. Which I’m about to do. I got into
some sort of funk this afternoon. It culminated with
me coming home and grabbing a bottle of whiskey. Then
I reheated some pizza (I have no food, just
leftovers. After the pizza is gone I have to go
shopping or starve. Haven’t decided which yet). I
spent about three hours working on my iMac. I haven’t
fixed it, but I feel closer than I was before. I have
that “I’m getting there" feeling going on. So that’s
a plus. I also have to take apart my speaker system.
Something in the subwoofer is no longer sending power
to the right speaker. Sound is coming out on the
right, just at low volume (think about if you used a
pencil and piece of paper to build a speaker for a
record, its very low, power amplifies the sound). I’m
hoping its just a loose wire I can reattach. However,
If I need to learn some amateur electronics along the
way to fixing it so be it. Alright. I suppose that is
it. I had this longing urge to go for a walk late at
night tonight, but bed is calling so much more. It
wasn’t so much for a walk, but that it was so nice
out today I wanted to lay on the beach or hillside
and stare at the lake at night. I thought it’d be
calming and peaceful. And it is supposed to stay
above freezing (practically a heat wave compared to a
few weeks ago). Maybe tomorrow night.
01/19/10 00:11
Alright. I skipped about half the things on my list.
Well I did less than half. I did go for long walks,
including Edgewater Park. I did see some museums
(well the art museum, for a little bit on Saturday).
I opened my windows.
I did not buy new jeans. I did not play frisbee. I
did not apply at any other jobs. I did not barbecue.
Damn. But it was a good weekend. I cleaned a lot. I
ate. I walked. I meandered and spent very little
money. All good things. Oh, and I worked on my
computers.
I upgraded the operating system on my Macbook. I
tried to upgrade the iMac and completely messed it
up. I actually took it down and put it in the closet,
at least til I feel like fiddling with it again
(probably this week). I may have to wipe the drive
and start from scratch. Which would suck because all
of my music is on it (although I did back up
documents and drawings and other such before
upgrading).
So my Macbook is in the living room, and I have no
computer or tv in the bedroom for the first time in a
long time. I think I may like it. I am considering
buying some sort of ipod dock for my bedroom now.
Even after I fix the iMac, I am considering leaving
it in the closet and using it as a storage drive, but
I not overly excited about that idea. We shall see.
Alright. Off to bed. I tire, and work tomorrow.
01/15/10 07:28
I'm betting on a good day today. And a good weekend
follow up. Its a long weekend, and I have absolutely
no plans, but I don't need any to have a good time.
Things I am going to do this weekend,
- Go to Edgewater Park, just to hang out by the lake.
According to the
Weather Underground its going
to be decent weather this weekend.
- Frisbee Golf. It'll be 40 degrees. So yeah, its
going to be soaking wet outside, but good January
frisbee weather.
- Open my windows. Fines be damned.
- Apply for jobs (sometimes I swear, the people who
do the least work, but bitch the most, get what they
want. Or get away with what they want. Me, who does
my job exemplaray, doesn't bitch, but can't seem to
get what I want - I want my hours moved up earlier in
the day, and seems to have more and more asked of me
because I'm competent.)
- Hit up the West Side Market. Fresh produce and
cupcakes. Ohhhhh... maybe I'll grill this weekend.
- Go see
The Book of Eli. Yeah, Denzel
kicks ass. I want to see it.
- Buy a new pair of jeans. I need a new pair, and
also some new shoes. Target bound I think.
- Go to some Museums. It'll be packed on Monday I'm
sure, but all the museums, galleries, and other
venues around
University Circle (including
the outdoor skating rink) are free, or near
free.
Thats the plan. Or list. So I guess I have some sort
of plan. But I just came up with it as I was typing.
If I can't come up with an impromptu list of things
to do like this, then I should be alright. Oh, and I
want to go to the Coffee Pot for breakfast. I haven't
been there in a long time.
01/12/10 19:13
A series of letters reflective of tonight's Cajun
Fettuccine Alfredo dinner;
Dear George Foreman Grilling Tool,
You are amazing. I don't know what I would do without
you. You are great for grilling, cleaning, and
basically an all purpose tool. You are awesome. But
you know it. You cocky bastard. Don't think I don't
see your smirk. I hate you. I hate that I can't live
without you. Stop staring at me with that
self-assured grin.
Sincerely,
Guy from Apartment 209
Dear Can of Green Beans,
I am so sorry I left you in the back of my cupboard
for over three months. Opening you tonight, I have
realized how much I have missed you. I am sorry I
never opened your earlier. I promise never to leave
any of your brother cans in the cupboard that long
again.
You were a wise and tasty, if not out of place,
vegetable to have with dinner tonight.
Sincerely,
A Green Bean Fan
Dear $5 jar of cracked pepper alfredo
sauce,
I picked you up by accident at the store Saturday. I
swore you were on sale for $2.50. That was the jar
next to you. You were in the absolute wrong spot on
the shelf. I am pretty sure someone picked you up,
saw that the other jar was on sale and you were
actually a rather expensive jar of sauce, set you
down and picked the one on sale. I, stupidly, picked
you up without looking at the brand on the tag,
thinking the price reflected was you. You are not
worth five dollars. You are not fantastic alfredo
sauce, in fact you are kind of bland. I did not taste
any cracked pepper.
Next time I see your brother jars in the store I am
going to "accidently" drop one of them on the ground
out of vindictive spite.
Sincerely,
Disappointed with Alfredo
01/12/10 05:07
Its past five a.m. and I am awake.
I laid down for bed just after 11 p.m.
I woke up around one a.m.
I stared at the ceiling til 2 a.m.
I read a book and listened to the radio til 3 a.m.
I laid back down and stared at the ceiling again til
3:30 a.m.
I drove around til 4:30 a.m.
I am still awake.
Ever have that night, where insomnia kicks in. You're
tired, but not. You're awake but not. Its a long
night. Good news is I finished my book. Time to pick
up another one (actually I have a book I started but
put down for some leisure reading instead of
informative text).
I've been getting the idea lately that my sleep
patterns are a little off. A normal sleep cycle looks
something like this.
Now compare that with this graph of my sleep. I got
this from an app on my iPhone. Apparently by
measuring your sleep movement it can tell how deep of
sleep you are in. While not 100% accurate, I'm pretty
sure it paints a decent picture. This is from Sunday
night, and is a typical graph for my sleep.
See. Its bizarre. Apparently by the time I reach my
first REM most people have had two full cycles.
Whatever. Point is I am awake. And not asleep. Like
awake right now. Which by all means sucks.
01/11/10 07:59
I've been looking around at what I have. I've spent
the last year with no cable. I've bought less, used
less, and spent less (also earned less, but we'll
leave that one out). I have drank more coffee than
recent years. But that's aside from my point. If I've
survived on this, what about getting rid of some more
and surviving on less.
What esle can I get rid of? I'm not sure. Despite my
November decluttering, I still haven't tackled the
bedroom closet. So maybe this week I'll do that, and
then look around my living room and get rid of some
more in here. We'll see. Just a thought this morning.
01/08/10 00:00
Dear City of Parma in the state of Ohio,
What the fuck. You can't announce a parking ban to be
enforced at 11 pm at 10:50 pm. Regardless of the,
wait........ wait for it...........
2 - 4
inches of snow you may get over the course
of the night. Granted tomorrow during the day you're
supposed to get another 4 - 6 inches but really, you
can't declare a parking ban at 10:50 pm, when most
residents are probably sleeping, for ten minutes
later at 11 pm. Its just plain stupid. I feel bad for
anyone who parked their cars on the street and went
to bed at 10 pm. They'll wake up with a ticket. Its
like your city just wants to steal every last dollar
they can from you. Fuck that.
Check out the posting for
breaking news. See the time
stamp for its posting. 10:50 pm. That's right
Parma residents, your city gave you a ten minute
warning to run out to the street and move your
car. You should feel proud.
Parma, Ohio; you fucking suck. I am glad I reside in
Cleveland city limits and not your shitty city.
Sincerely,
AJ
01/07/10 23:25
Despite a sore throat, I had a pretty good day. I
listened to Daft Punk a lot. Good shit. So my
drawings today reflect that. And I always said good
music makes for a good day. Or at least I will now.
Oh, and Sean texted me and said that Ella is started
to take after Funcle AJ. Awesome. Awesome to the max.
01/07/10 07:48
I wanted to type out this whole long verbose idea.
Also a weird dream about being Doctor House (I've
watched a lot of House lately) but Angelo just jumped
in my lap, so this will have to do. Two quick little
sketches done with extremely fine point markers.
01/05/10 07:50
Its so bizarre the difference a word can have in two
different locals. Lake Effect Snow. I know it refers
to the condition behind the weather, but the
connotation it brings with it in Buffalo is
"Danger!!! Freak out snow is coming in bucket
loads!!!" We're talking an inch an hour of snow,
heavy, thick, and a lot.
Cleveland redition of lake effect snow is 3 - 4
inches over twelve or so hours. I woke up to "Lake
Effect Snow" yesterday in Cleveland. Essentailly
there was an inch of snow on the ground, the city
streets were a little slushie, and the highway was
clear. No snow on the highway. But traffic was
ridiculous. 5 mph driving to work. On a clean and
clear highway with no accidents or spin outs. It
killed me. At one point my phone, with the traffic
taken into account, told me it would take almost two
hours to get to work for a drive that would usually
take me 15 - 20 minutes.
Anyways, I got a whole slew of sketch pads for
Christmas. One is light brown. I also got some fine
point markers. So heres what I came up with.
01/03/10 13:12
Dear Dan Brown,
Your novels are trite and see through. Why are the
"villians" or "bad guys" in your novel so
transparent. You might like to think no one sees the
twist coming, but everyone does. Your dialogue is
awful. You push pseudo science, you steal ideas from
other people and their research and pass it off
innovate and amazing new knowledge. The human soul
has weight. This is from an experiment that was done
in 1907, and more recently the title of a movie from
several years.
Your settings are interesting. You do seem to pick
out obscure locals, buildings, and items of interest.
However often you dive into too much mundane detail.
The character of Robert Langdon has lost all interest
to me. While I found the concept behind The Da Vinci
Code interesting, it wasn't my first exposure to the
concept. The premise of The Lost Symbol is
ridiculous. Listening to the book all the way through
(I had the audiobook) annoyed me. Especially the
ending. It went on and on. Remember how Return of the
Kings had 9000 endings, Peter Jackson just went on
and on with it. The Lost Symbol was the same. Except
less poignant, and it seemed to think it was all
revealing and interesting.
Please stop writing books. You bore me, and your plot
lines are awful.
Sincerely (oh and he cleverly explains where we get
the ending sincerely from),
AJ
01/02/10 20:31
Going home for Christmas was great. New Years, was
alright. That's all I have to say about holidays.
Pant hangers. I saw some yesterday. I am
contemplating getting some. It would fit in my
decluttering of my closet. Yes....pants hangers are
the key.
New scanner will go into use soon. Need to figure out
its bells and whistles first.
More riveting entries to come soon.