anarchist_nomad: (Center of the Universe)
anarchist_nomad ([personal profile] anarchist_nomad) wrote2007-04-04 11:54 pm

Endings and Other Niftiness

No coherence between topics in tonight's entry, so don't expect any. Just sayin'
  • Finished reading The Nine Tailors in my hotel room before dinner tonight. It is the first Dorothy Sayers novel that I have read. Indeed, I am not a big mystery reader, so it is unlikely that I would have ever picked up the book had it not focused heavily on change bell ringing. That said, I thought it was excellently written, with intricate and elaborate detail. I may end up reading other books by her, particularly those featuring Bruce Wayne Lord Peter Wimsey. The book also made me missing bell ringing, which I have been doing less frequently between terms. Yes, it has only been six days since I pulled some rope -- and eight days until I do so again -- but I miss it nonetheless. I should practice some Plain Bob Minor for handbells to pass the time until then.

  • Finished the New Super Mario Bros. after dinner tonight. First time I have beaten a video game in a couple of years. It was fun. The Kiddo picked a good Christmas present for me. I may go back and play it a bit more, just to beat it even more completely. For instance, I never discovered how to access worlds four and seven. There is something a bit odd, though, about hearing the stereotypical Italian accent that Mario sports... while I am here in Italy. Mildly jarring, when compared to the real thing that is all around me.

  • Speaking of Christmas, and because I was playing with photos last night, here is a shot of me taken by [livejournal.com profile] theentwife in New York City last December, while we were out and about with [livejournal.com profile] squeektoy42 and a few others.


    Handsome bloke, ain't he?


  • Many wishes for a very happy birthday to the ever-wonderful [livejournal.com profile] ms_redcat!!! Big virtual hugs for you, sweetie -- redeemable for real ones next time I see you! (And is it mean to point out that you are now older than me again?)

  • It has been like Old Home WeekTM here at Gran Sasso. Apparently there is a meeting of some of the European collaborators from Pierre Auger, in preparation for the 2007 International Cosmic Ray Conference. Thus, I keep running into old and familiar faces from when I was a member of that august collaboration.
And that's about all the randomness flowing through my head for today. Time to go back to the hotel and catch some sleep before our video conference tomorrow morning...

[identity profile] cheshcat.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 01:05 am (UTC)(link)
*giggling* Lord Peter is NOT Bruce Wayne! They just are... uhm... a bit similar, stylistically. :P (Can I coax you into reading Gaudy Night? It has no change bells, but does take place in Oxford!)

Your Mario observation is amusing. Do they really speak that way in Italy? :D

What a very handsome bloke indeed (and a lovely picture -- thanks [livejournal.com profile] theentwife)! And what a sexy fake leather jacket he's wearing, too.

*kiss* Love you!

[identity profile] anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 12:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Lord Peter is NOT Bruce Wayne!

Sorry, you're right. I should have said Batman. Bruce is just a mask. ;-)

They just are... uhm... a bit similar, stylistically.

It's true. I would have sworn that Wimsey was based on Batman until you pointed out that Lord Peter came first. I don't think that Batman was based on Lord Peter, though. Not because I think Batman was an original an uninfluenced work -- quite the contrary! But Bob Kane (and Bill Finger) have talked about the characters that got mixed together to become Batman. They include the likes of Sherlock Holmes, Zorro, and The Phantom. I have never heard Lord Peter Wimsey mentioned.

Can I coax you into reading Gaudy Night? It has no change bells, but does take place in Oxford!

If it takes place in Oxford -- no surprise, given that's where Sayers lived -- then I might indeed take a look at it. Though my next book is Richard II and, after that, Stardust. But remind me and I'll get to it...

Your Mario observation is amusing. Do they really speak that way in Italy?

No, not at all. Which is why it is so jarring!

What a very handsome bloke indeed (and a lovely picture -- thanks theentwife)! And what a sexy fake leather jacket he's wearing, too.

*grin* Thanks! For both the compliment and the jacket!

[identity profile] kat1031.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
Picture. Make. Me. Homesick.

I can't wait to move back east. (mumbles 18 more months, 18 more months...)

[identity profile] anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 12:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, I didn't think that a picture of me would make you sick! Not the reaction I would have hoped for! ;-)

Seriously, though, how ever did you end up in Vegas? It is pretty clear that you can't stand it there. And what is happening in eighteen months to commute your sentence and return you to the East?

[identity profile] kat1031.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 05:11 pm (UTC)(link)
I moved out here because here is where D. is. And at the time it was better than living in Saratoga. Here has been quite good to me in terms of work and getting my BA finished.

In about 18 months D. will be done with his AA degree and is planning to transfer back east to finish the rest of his education... and hopefully the housing market will have improved enough that we'll take less of a bath if we want to sell Mold Manor.

[identity profile] kateypants.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
and the new photo makes a new rad icon. pretty sweet jacket too!

[identity profile] anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 12:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks! Glad you like 'em.

Oh, and about the jacket, twas a gift from [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat. What makes it even cooler is that the leather is not real. The tag says "Real Fake Genuine Leather-Free Garment."

[identity profile] kateypants.livejournal.com 2007-04-06 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
even better!

[identity profile] polymorphism.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks for the cut. Huge pics make the friends page wonky.

[identity profile] anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 12:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Told you I'm nice! You didn't believe me, but I told you!

[identity profile] acelightning.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 05:50 am (UTC)(link)
So, when are you coming back to New York again?

[identity profile] anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 12:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, the April trip I had mentioned earlier as a tentative possibility is not happening. Which means that my trips to the States this year will be in July, October, and December.

I plan to hit Starwood in July, which is technically New York. However, as a born and bred New York City boy, I don't really believe that Starwood counts as being in New York. It is in Upstate.

So the next time I am likely to be in NYC is after P**T***, in October. Which is only six months away now!

[identity profile] ms-redcat.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 03:00 pm (UTC)(link)
So that's when I'll redeem the virtual hugs then! (And as the Knave of Knumbers, quantitative analysis of age is well within your purview!)

[identity profile] anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 05:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Uh-huh! Hugs-a-plenty at P**T***. Who'da thunk it?!

(Unless, of course, you want to pop on over to Merry Olde England before then to collect! *wink*)

[identity profile] anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 05:17 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm flying into Boston on Oct 4th, followed by a weekend at a Pagan festival in upstate NY. So I guess I'll be in NYC from around Oct 8 - 11th. Got a wedding in Kentucky -- not mine! -- on the 12th, so I can't stay longer.

Why? Is there any chance you'll be out that way around then?

[identity profile] kat1031.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 05:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Ach, that sucks. I'll be in NYC later in the month.

[identity profile] acelightning.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 09:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Alex has gone to Starwood the past few years, and he hopes to be able to go this year, but he may be working then. I've never been to Starwood, but ya never know. But at least I'll definitely see you in October, because I always go to P**T***!

[identity profile] anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com 2007-04-06 11:19 am (UTC)(link)
Yup -- saw him there in 2005. I've been going to Starwood since 1998, but not every year. I went for three, then missed four, then back, then missed. This year's schedule has been structured, in part, around making it to Starwood... so I've been planning half a month in the States in July.

As for P**T***, I've been going since 1997 and have not missed once since then. Ten years running! Not exactly an old-timer -- and B.S. has me far beat (having never missed one since they began as MAPCAF) -- but I think I know my way around by now! I also think that, for the past few years, [livejournal.com profile] cheshcat and/or I generally hold the record for who has traveled the furthest to attend P**T***! :-)

[identity profile] acelightning.livejournal.com 2007-04-06 09:07 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd sort of like to go to Starwood, but I don't know whether I can afford to. Also, I'm really not a big fan of camping out - I want real beds, indoor plumbing, and air conditioning!

Judy is also one of the founders of MAPCAF. I went to a couple of P**T***s at the Charming Barn - I lived in Croton-on-Hudson then, and I actually drove home every night, and back again in the morning, the first few times I attended. I honestly can't keep track of when I started attending regularly, but it was before the change in venue. It's my "family reunion".

Yer A Good-Lookin' Sod Indeed, Old Mate

[identity profile] daurdabla.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 02:22 pm (UTC)(link)
What else is there to say?

Re: Yer A Good-Lookin' Sod Indeed, Old Mate

[identity profile] anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com 2007-04-05 05:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Grazie, kind sir!
Eloquent and brief!
You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar...