2007
moocowinthecity Mission Orders
So I’m flying down from Buffalo to West Palm Beach, then flying up to NYC with my grandpa, then back down to West Palm Beach to drop her off, then flying from there back up to Buffalo…so I wrote it up for my Mom, and it looks a little something like this:
Mission Orders For Matt & Grandma Freda’s
Super Awesome Adventure 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
On Friday, March 30 2007 I depart Buffalo, NY (BUF) at 7:00AM on Flight 1210 and arrive in Boston, MA (BOS) at 8:30AM. I then Depart Boston, MA (BOS) at 11:35AM on Flight 425 and arrive in West Palm Beach, FL (PBI) at 2:55 PM.
I then take a Taxi to Grandma’s Apartment, armed with wet-naps to remove lipstick from old ladies, I’ll enter the compound, make sure Grandma is packed, we’ll eat dinner at her dining hall and prepare for day two of our excursion, keeping an eye out for enemy spies.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
On Saturday, March 31, 2007 Grandma and I will exit the compound swiftly, watching out for trained Gecko Combatants, and depart West Palm Beach, FL (PBI) at 11:45AM on Flight 74 and Arrive in New York, NY (JFK) at 2:25PM. We will then proceed to the rendezvous point after receiving word of it’s location from central command whom we’ll link up with upon our arrival via cellular communication devices.
Sunday, April 1, 2007 through Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Passover will be celebrated. There will be much joy.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
On Wednesday, April 4, 2007 Grandma and I will depart New York, NY (JFK) at 3:05PM on Flight 837 and arrive in West Palm Beach, FL (PBI) at 6:03PM. Armed once again with wet-naps to remove lipstick from old ladies, I’ll enter the compound, make sure Grandma is unpacked, we’ll eat dinner and, while still keeping an eye out for enemy spies, I’ll steal more of her silverware to sell on the black market.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
On Thursday, April 5, 2007 I will depart the compound unnoticed, and unheard (since hearing aids don’t get turned on until much later in the day). I will then Depart West Palm Beach, FL (PBI) at 6:00AM on Flight 830 and will arrive in New York, NY (JFK) at 8:38AM. I will then depart New York, NY (JFK) at 9:15AM on Flight 4 and arrive in Buffalo, NY (BUF) at 10:40AM at which point, I’ll take a Taxi to the University at Buffalo (North Campus), and make my way to class.
…a real update later.
Mission Orders
So I’m flying down from Buffalo to West Palm Beach, then flying up to NYC with my grandpa, then back down to West Palm Beach to drop her off, then flying from there back up to Buffalo…so I wrote it up for my Mom, and it looks a little something like this:
Mission Orders For Matt & Grandma Freda’s
Super Awesome Adventure 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
On Friday, March 30 2007 I depart Buffalo, NY (BUF) at 7:00AM on Flight 1210 and arrive in Boston, MA (BOS) at 8:30AM. I then Depart Boston, MA (BOS) at 11:35AM on Flight 425 and arrive in West Palm Beach, FL (PBI) at 2:55 PM.
I then take a Taxi to Grandma’s Apartment, armed with wet-naps to remove lipstick from old ladies, I’ll enter the compound, make sure Grandma is packed, we’ll eat dinner at her dining hall and prepare for day two of our excursion, keeping an eye out for enemy spies.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
On Saturday, March 31, 2007 Grandma and I will exit the compound swiftly, watching out for trained Gecko Combatants, and depart West Palm Beach, FL (PBI) at 11:45AM on Flight 74 and Arrive in New York, NY (JFK) at 2:25PM. We will then proceed to the rendezvous point after receiving word of it’s location from central command whom we’ll link up with upon our arrival via cellular communication devices.
Sunday, April 1, 2007 through Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Passover will be celebrated. There will be much joy.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
On Wednesday, April 4, 2007 Grandma and I will depart New York, NY (JFK) at 3:05PM on Flight 837 and arrive in West Palm Beach, FL (PBI) at 6:03PM. Armed once again with wet-naps to remove lipstick from old ladies, I’ll enter the compound, make sure Grandma is unpacked, we’ll eat dinner and, while still keeping an eye out for enemy spies, I’ll steal more of her silverware to sell on the black market.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
On Thursday, April 5, 2007 I will depart the compound unnoticed, and unheard (since hearing aids don’t get turned on until much later in the day). I will then Depart West Palm Beach, FL (PBI) at 6:00AM on Flight 830 and will arrive in New York, NY (JFK) at 8:38AM. I will then depart New York, NY (JFK) at 9:15AM on Flight 4 and arrive in Buffalo, NY (BUF) at 10:40AM at which point, I’ll take a Taxi to the University at Buffalo (North Campus), and make my way to class.
…a real update later.
Gay Dolphins…and a brief, brief update
Wow, busy busy busy, however, doing amazing (as is my apartment…it’s really come a long since I first moved in)…but this being a brief update (because I still need to shower and get into bed) I can promise you that the photo post I promised about eight hundred years ago is almost ready (I know…I know…I know…but it’s almost ready…don’t rush genius), classes are going swimmingly, I have a ton of studying to do this weekend…as well as a ton of flash carding, and I’ve been given the assignment by Prof. Roustum to order coffee at Starbucks in only Arabic Tomorrow Today and see if they understand me (it’s his belief, so he tells us, that since the phrase is similar in Farsi, someone behind the counter has to be able to understand me)…I think he really just likes social experiments; but it’s okay, because I like them too, so I’ll harass some barista at Starbucks tomorrow (this also gives me an excuse to go to his class slightly tardy).
This Just In: Dolphin’s Are Really Just Gay Sharks:
Vermont & L.I.
I really need to hear back from my Dad about whether or not he wants me to fly into Vermont on my four day weekend during presidents week, because they want me to come up to Moose Landing (our condo’s name) considering I haven’t been up there since we purchased it, but I need to know things like dates, logistics and whether or not I can bring snow shoes as carry on…I probably can’t bring the poles as carry…maybe I’ll check baggage. I also need to book my weekend trip home for February since I need the second shot of the vaccine regiment and I have to start the Hepatitis A regiment as well. It’s a good thing needles don’t bother me.
Speaking of needles, I want a new ear piercing, and a tattoo of a Schwa (geeks of the world, unite!).
…speaking of geekery
Speaking of Geekery
There is now an airport express in my apartment (it’s slightly larger than my power adapter, does wi-fi wonderfully, and it also has ports for a USB printer and for speakers so you can play your itunes to speakers, wirelessly, and it’s small enough to fit into your pants pocket or the pocket of a briefcase). I’m thinking YaoiNorth multimedia presentations here folks…how cool would that be.
It’s really quite remarkable given the size (the entire concept behind it actually is pretty cool, a wi-fi hub that you’re encouraged to bring with you)…and it’s really nice to free up my desk (and my floor) from a ton of cords that I kept tripping over every morning (and wasn’t technically allowed to have running across my floor as far as my lease agreement went…oops) so I’m glad that that’s cleared up and I’m fully in compliance. I also got a second power adapter so I can leave one in my briefcase, and one plugged into the wall and on my desk because that was just causing a lot of work and hassle having to go change terminators in the morning (for those of you not familiar with mac laptops, the power adapter has an end that comes off so you can either have a long cord plugged into the wall, or a short prong that folds up into the adapter and makes it travel size). The whole thing was just screwing me over in the mornings.
And now, it’s time for a shower and for bed…g’night!!
Gay Dolphins…and a brief, brief update
Wow, busy busy busy, however, doing amazing (as is my apartment…it’s really come a long since I first moved in)…but this being a brief update (because I still need to shower and get into bed) I can promise you that the photo post I promised about eight hundred years ago is almost ready (I know…I know…I know…but it’s almost ready…don’t rush genius), classes are going swimmingly, I have a ton of studying to do this weekend…as well as a ton of flash carding, and I’ve been given the assignment by Prof. Roustum to order coffee at Starbucks in only Arabic Tomorrow Today and see if they understand me (it’s his belief, so he tells us, that since the phrase is similar in Farsi, someone behind the counter has to be able to understand me)…I think he really just likes social experiments; but it’s okay, because I like them too, so I’ll harass some barista at Starbucks tomorrow (this also gives me an excuse to go to his class slightly tardy).
This Just In: Dolphin’s Are Really Just Gay Sharks:
Vermont & L.I.
I really need to hear back from my Dad about whether or not he wants me to fly into Vermont on my four day weekend during presidents week, because they want me to come up to Moose Landing (our condo’s name) considering I haven’t been up there since we purchased it, but I need to know things like dates, logistics and whether or not I can bring snow shoes as carry on…I probably can’t bring the poles as carry…maybe I’ll check baggage. I also need to book my weekend trip home for February since I need the second shot of the vaccine regiment and I have to start the Hepatitis A regiment as well. It’s a good thing needles don’t bother me.
Speaking of needles, I want a new ear piercing, and a tattoo of a Schwa (geeks of the world, unite!).
…speaking of geekery
Speaking of Geekery
There is now an airport express in my apartment (it’s slightly larger than my power adapter, does wi-fi wonderfully, and it also has ports for a USB printer and for speakers so you can play your itunes to speakers, wirelessly, and it’s small enough to fit into your pants pocket or the pocket of a briefcase). I’m thinking YaoiNorth multimedia presentations here folks…how cool would that be.
It’s really quite remarkable given the size (the entire concept behind it actually is pretty cool, a wi-fi hub that you’re encouraged to bring with you)…and it’s really nice to free up my desk (and my floor) from a ton of cords that I kept tripping over every morning (and wasn’t technically allowed to have running across my floor as far as my lease agreement went…oops) so I’m glad that that’s cleared up and I’m fully in compliance. I also got a second power adapter so I can leave one in my briefcase, and one plugged into the wall and on my desk because that was just causing a lot of work and hassle having to go change terminators in the morning (for those of you not familiar with mac laptops, the power adapter has an end that comes off so you can either have a long cord plugged into the wall, or a short prong that folds up into the adapter and makes it travel size). The whole thing was just screwing me over in the mornings.
And now, it’s time for a shower and for bed…g’night!!
The Mating Dance
Okay…
he’s hot, he’s tall, he’s broad shouldered, he has well defined abs yet he’s still lanky, he has black hair and perfect stubble (essentially my type) and he’s brutally handsome and beautifully arrogant and cocky…exactly what I go for in a guy.
As Eddie Izzard would say, we’re currently playing “splashy splashy, swimmy swimmy”
I’m fairly sure, based on stuff that he’s told me, that he’s Bi…also knowing his personality and his sense of humor (which runs almost parallel with mine) that if he were gay, he would tell people he wasn’t: not because he was in the closet, but to fuck with them. Of course, given that trait, it also means that he would have no problem setting off the hormones of an unsuspecting homo (namely myself) for his entertainment (which of course, makes him that much more attractive). He knows I like him, I know that he knows that I like him, I know that he knows, that I know that he likes me (at the base level of friendship and camaraderie, later opportunities as determined by orientation) so we’ve been continuing the mating dance and now we’re getting near Valentine’s day.
So I’m getting him a Valentine, but I also can’t let him know out loud (because we both know internally) that I’m head over heels for him, because then he’ll be utterly unbearable (and even more attractive) so I need to find a Valentine that tows the line between the Valentine’s Day cards that says something to the effect of “I got you a card so you’d know what a valentines day card looks like” and one that’s also more “splashy, splashy, swimmy, swimmy” because that way if we don’t get to the “I fancy you” stage, I still have plausible deniability.
I’m also inviting him to the anti-valentines day party that Alice (
maleficentseyes) and I are hosting.
The other day he went out of his way to be a (cute) pain in my ass, until I started punching him in the arm, at which point he just laughed at me…and such, is the nature, of the mating dance.
Really, “splashy splashy, swimmy swimmy” just defines it.
If he isn’t Bi or Gay and I’m reading all of his right signals the way that he wants me to (just to screw with me) I want to be his friend, his sense of humor is wicked, twisted, disturbed, and involves some dead baby jokes that even I haven’t heard of yet.
The Mating Dance
Okay…
he’s hot, he’s tall, he’s broad shouldered, he has well defined abs yet he’s still lanky, he has black hair and perfect stubble (essentially my type) and he’s brutally handsome and beautifully arrogant and cocky…exactly what I go for in a guy.
As Eddie Izzard would say, we’re currently playing “splashy splashy, swimmy swimmy”
I’m fairly sure, based on stuff that he’s told me, that he’s Bi…also knowing his personality and his sense of humor (which runs almost parallel with mine) that if he were gay, he would tell people he wasn’t: not because he was in the closet, but to fuck with them. Of course, given that trait, it also means that he would have no problem setting off the hormones of an unsuspecting homo (namely myself) for his entertainment (which of course, makes him that much more attractive). He knows I like him, I know that he knows that I like him, I know that he knows, that I know that he likes me (at the base level of friendship and camaraderie, later opportunities as determined by orientation) so we’ve been continuing the mating dance and now we’re getting near Valentine’s day.
So I’m getting him a Valentine, but I also can’t let him know out loud (because we both know internally) that I’m head over heels for him, because then he’ll be utterly unbearable (and even more attractive) so I need to find a Valentine that tows the line between the Valentine’s Day cards that says something to the effect of “I got you a card so you’d know what a valentines day card looks like” and one that’s also more “splashy, splashy, swimmy, swimmy” because that way if we don’t get to the “I fancy you” stage, I still have plausible deniability.
I’m also inviting him to the anti-valentines day party that Alice (
maleficentseyes) and I are hosting.
The other day he went out of his way to be a (cute) pain in my ass, until I started punching him in the arm, at which point he just laughed at me…and such, is the nature, of the mating dance.
Really, “splashy splashy, swimmy swimmy” just defines it.
If he isn’t Bi or Gay and I’m reading all of his right signals the way that he wants me to (just to screw with me) I want to be his friend, his sense of humor is wicked, twisted, disturbed, and involves some dead baby jokes that even I haven’t heard of yet.
Okay!!
First, time to make some lunch; then time to do all the readings for the week in advance (it affords me more free time during the week, in the long run), then, it’s time for cartoons and possibly some beer.
ready…
1…2…3…Go!
Okay!!
First, time to make some lunch; then time to do all the readings for the week in advance (it affords me more free time during the week, in the long run), then, it’s time for cartoons and possibly some beer.
ready…
1…2…3…Go!
Week in Review/Scheduling/Today’s Workout/Eye Candy
Classes, in order of appearance
LIN493/503 – Sociolinguistics (Dr. Wolfgang Wölk): Simply put, I feel like I’m standing in the presence of greatness each class (which, in a way I am) and of course, just when I think I can’t be further enamored with him or his style of oration he starts talking about Conflict Theory Linguistics (‘not everyone’s language is really equal, and here’s what you need to know to make informed decisions so politicians who don’t know what they’re doing, don’t make bad choices’)…the man is just…amazing (and has a dirty, wicked, dry sense of humor). The class itself is wonderful and while we covered a lot of the same material in Paauw’s class, Wolfe provides us with his own novel material and, in doing so, keeps everyones attention.
After that, about 1/3 of the class walks with me to:
LIN301 – Structure of English Sound System (Dr. Karin Michaelson) is wonderful; The instructor has a bravado about her and an enthusiasm that just fills the room (…a room full of geeks…like, huge geeks…like, some of us may be considering getting a schwa tattoo somewhere in the near future, level of geekdom…) and really, she’s just always happy and relaxed and everyone feels comfortable in her class, so we all feel comfortable contributing to the discussion. Though that may also be a side effect of the fact that everyone but two people in the class already know each other (one of the benefits of being in a small department). When I walked into class the first day I was just like “the gangs all here…when do we start the roast?!”
After class most of us make a mass exodus down to LIN302…we’ve somehow managed to block schedule ourselves…miscreants that we are.
LIN302 – Structure of English Grammar (Dr. D. A. Zubin) is an interesting fellow; I can’t say I agree with his approach to linguistics or his mass generalizations (I find them counterproductive and I also find that when you say “we all speak like this” and just move on, that you then don’t take into account situations that may cause an environment for one to say something that speaker A may ‘always say’ but speaker B only says under certain conditions and speaker C may only say when referring to person A or B; so while they may ‘all say it’ that kind of reasoning doesn’t take into account why they ‘all say it’, or the situation surrounding the discourse and why the situations can be different and therefore they may ‘all say it’ but for different reasons…but I digress…).
I do recognize, however, that teaching styles differ and I don’t have to agree with him; I just have to learn his theories as one set that are out there. I also find myself cursing my 1980’s/1990’s Plainview, NY education (born in 1984, Nursery School in 1987, Kindergarten in 1989) because I grew up with “Whole English” which means I know absolutely nothing when it comes to grammar or syntax…my first exposure to grammar wasn’t English, it wasn’t Hebrew…no it was Arabic…so I should at least get something interesting out of the class because he does know his material, I just disagree with a few of his methods.
LIN421/501 – Linguistic Anthropology (Jürgen Bohnemeyer) is quite fascinating as a lecturer (he sounds like a German Kermit D. Frog, which of course keeps my attention because it combines my love of muppets with my love of people who have accents), the readings so far have been pretty abstract and require me to just sit down for a few hours after and turn the ideas over in my head until I can relate them to other previously learned concepts and then begin to understand them in greater details and apply them. Overall I’m enjoying the class though I’m curious to see other people’s perceptions of it at present.
ARI202 – Arabic IV (Issa Roustum) this is my last semester with Prof. Roustum because I don’t believe the Arabic International Studies Department (a subset of linguistics) will be getting the funding from The University required to have an Arabic V (which, it currently doesn’t have as a course). It looks like we’ll be doing a lot of translation work this semester and I’ll enjoy it, though I’m sad that I’m concluding my time with Prof. R. as a student this semester…he’s probably, by far, one of the most influential teachers I’ve ever had. He’ll be in Syria this Summer, and I hope that after University our paths will have reason to cross again. He’s an ambassador for his people and a truly remarkable man, I’ll be sad when I say goodbye to him at the end of the semester.
Next Semester
As far as Linguistics Courses that I need to take to complete my degree, I only have one more after this semester. Phonetics with Alice’s (maleficentseyes) Mom (who I also did my LIN420 – at least I think it was 420 – Independent Study with; she also directed the Teaching Internship I did). I’ll be taking her Phonetics Course, and hopefully TAing for another course so I can get some more TAing under my belt before I graduate. I met with her the other day and I was cleared to go to Israel this summer for two months, because the two courses I was going to take this summer I can take next fall which means this summer I’m a free man.
My course load in my final semester will be:
Phonetics
CSE111 (fulfills math)
The second half of Nutrition (science with lab)
TAing
And then…I get my degree…weird…very weird.
Scheduling
Scheduling is currently being shifted to take into account more time for reading, studying and report writing and adjusting pilates and yoga to their scheduled times on campus from the Wellness Center.
Today’s Workout
After I get a good eight hours of sleep I’ll be putting on the weighted training vest and heading to North Campus to make use of an empty university full of tons of classrooms with tons of stairs.
Eye Candy For The Weekend
I leave you with my current celebrity day dream: Jake Gyllenhaal