DawnDawnSun Jan 1 02:57:15 2006
The Year in Toilet Paper

I saw the ball drop in NYC. I was sitting in India Garden, at the end of my meal, delaying just long enough to see the events on TV. It wasn't bad -- IG celebrated the year by having a special night buffet and some free wine for everyone. Not too many people came, but this is to be expected. I'll do that year's review thing here..

2005..

  • For almost all of January, I was in Europe, broadening my horizons while things went badly in other ways
  • I went back to Texas to visit family
  • In April (?), my third relationship fell apart with a betrayal
  • I got a pretty solid indication that I could transfer to CMU Qatar, but decided not to because of some of the strings attached. My life would be very different right now if I had taken the transfer.
  • I rewrote my usenet moderation software to make it handle multiple newsgroups
  • I met someone I hope I will date in the future
  • In September, my third year of being in Pittsburgh and working for CMU started. I became vested, meaning that if I decide to leave, I keep my 403b retirement plan.
  • I got a confusing kiss from one person
  • I got a confusing apology from another
  • I got a confusing hug from yet another
  • My last Iguana left my family for a new owner
  • My dad left my life
  • I started roleplaying with a group of friends again
  • My old laptop stopped working reliably, so I replaced it
  • I got glasses
  • I bought all the parts for a new server room at work
  • I bought a Playstation 2 to play Grand Theft Auto, eventually decided that I didn't feel comfortable playing the game often, and sold the PS2, giving the game to friends
  • My BLOG started to get spam, which is a strange kind of flattery. I fixed the spam problem with a simple code change
  • I continued to learn things about myself, and to think about the world
  • I put my car up for sale. There have been a few nibbles.
My most recent book that made it onto my current readings is a Law school textbook about the law and mental health. It impresses me how thoughtful the book is -- I am increasingly inclined to think of lawyers as a very constrained type of philosopher. I can see how, if law school were not such a pressure cooker environment, the textbooks used could lead to serious broadening of perspective. I think I want to get a copy of the DSM, the applied psychology guide that defines the ranges/characteristics of various types of mental ill-function. Actually, the DSM2, which was I think published in 1965, and the DSM4, which is the most recent DSM, would be interesting to have, because the DSM2 writes from a psychoanalysis point of view (and is criticised as being innacurate because of it) and the DSM3/4 write from more of a behavioural point of view, and are thus based on broader data (but may be corrispondingly less ambitious because of that). I keep thinking of DSM as meaning Diagnostic and Service Manual, but the S actually stands for Statistical. According to Wikipedia, the DSM5 is to be published sometime around 2011. It's odd to me that 2011 still looks like a science-fiction date. At some point I would love to have a conversation with two of my friends, one a lawyer, another a social worker (hence tied to the applied psychology field) regarding the law and mental health -- there are some positions that would be interesting to engage with both there, especially what the proper definition of mental illness is.

Amusingly, when I got home, around 0:45, the lights were out because of a power outage, and Squirrel Hill was pitch black. This was very strange.

According to some traveler magazine, the worst airpoirts in the world are:

  • Sheremetyevo Airport in Moskva (Moscow), Russia
  • Indira Gandhi Airport in New Delhi, India
  • Athens, Greece Airport
  • Milan, Italy Airport
  • Mexico City
  • Detroit
I think I may have been to the Detroit airport once. The best rated airport was Changi Airport in Singapore, the second best Schiphol in Amsterdam. I liked Schiphol, having used it on my trip last January.

More todo for 2006:

  • Throw the Ceilidh, which is indeed on 28 January
  • Find a good time to go visit Dave and Debb in New York. It would be fantastic to spend a weekend out there, especially if it can coincide with a concert by They Might Be Giants, DeVotchKa, or Firewater. Visiting museums would be good too, and there are a few stores I'd like to visit there that sell things that are hard to get here. This trip will probably be via Greyhound or Amtrak.
  • Snowboarding or Skiing, hopefully with friends. None of my friends in Pgh have ever done it (!!)
  • Get a musical instrument (likely a Balalaika, maybe a Shofar too), try to convince friends to start a very casual band
  • Go to the ocean to do water-related things
  • Hopefully get a new girlfriend. It's been about 8 months since I've been in a relationship.
  • Possibly go to Nova Scotia. If I can do this by bus/rail, and thus both see the terrain and spend less money, that would be ideal. Similarly, possibly go to Alaska. Roundtrip flights to Alaska are quite cheap, so I might fly if I do this.
  • Step up my efforts to be healthy

Time Heals All Wounds.. And Then Kills the Patient
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DuskDuskSun Jan 1 18:22:29 2006
NYC represent!

Definitely come and visit!