one of the nicest things about being back in pittsburgh is how much my house is starting to feel like home. despite 5 years (going on 6) of living in pittsburgh, this is the first year i've not had to move residences when summer came around. i thought that just meant i didn't have to deal with moving all my stuff and settling in again, but i'm ( Read more... )

alright, i am trying a new tactic today. i realised after i got back from running that i could feasibly take the rest of the day entirely off without the world ending, though it would hurt my coming weekdays. so, while i'm not taking the day off, i will make like anything worthwhile i get done today is bonus points. maybe if i can do this even just ( Read more... )

it's been two weeks on the job and I'm already feeling great about it. my research is, as my current favourite description puts it, "slightly more intelligent than pure randomness" race condition detection on kernels, being implemented as a simics module, hopefully to be used in 410. the infrastructure paralysis that i was most worried about has ( Read more... )

this oven mitt, which i have been using since i've lived here, has an image which i only just now noticed: a male and female bear (teddy-style) bearing a bunch of cooking regalia - apron, chef's hat, spatula, dish towel, oven mitt, frying pan - and a caption reading "bear necessities ( Read more... )

there are some songs that have, to read, super-depressing lyrics, but for some reason have always been comforting to listen to.

we dance to the sound of sirens, and we watch genocide to relax;
we dance to the sound of sirens; we are the heroes of self-deception
bleak desolation, in a beam of sun
pleading groping hands; the truth can't hear me
we fed a ( Read more... )

spent the day with joshua_, knightofstarz, xsavvyx at beaver creek instead of vail today. while yesterday was exciting and intense, today was relaxing and confidence-building. (it was also a day of committing to decisions early and feeling good about it.) going down each slope i could feel where my skill level was, what i was comfortable with and when i was pushing myself, ( Read more... )

i am anxious about how to manage the size of the groups one hangs out with. whether it's a regular activity or a one-off get-together (most commonly, dinner), i seem to keep falling into this pattern where, as long as i'm in charge, the count of people involved seems to grow past the limits of what i'm comfortable with. for any particular person ( Read more... )

break had its ups and downs. the ups were pretty good; i got a bunch of stuff done, though not quite as much as i'd have liked, and i relaxed a bunch, though not quite as much as i'd have liked. i suppose 75% of both worlds is better than all of one and none of the other.

i've been home for less than 48 hours and already it's hit me repeatedly how ( Read more... )

the better seasons approach, albeit in pittsburgh's lame pulse-code modulating way. room-temperature weather and clear skies may be nice, but there is more charm in the bite of cold air, wrapping oneself in warmth, feeling more a part of the world around you ( Read more... )

as i rearranged the bed and began unpacking it hit me that this room is to be my home of homes for the next year and (hopefully) a half, and that for good mental health i should make it as comfortable to live in as i would want to be inside my head. last year i was a total slob and lived in a mostly bare room with my stuff semi-organized about it, ( Read more... )