Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Mattt's LiveJournal:

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Friday, September 8th, 2006
10:17 pm	If you insist on an update... Today I got an email from LiveJournal saying that Brenda, aka smockgirlsmockgirl</lj>, had "nudged" me. Apparently I haven't updated this thing for over 70 weeks and Brenda thinks I should. Truth be told, I gave up any intentions of updating this thing awhile ago. I keep the account so I can read and comment on my few LJ friends' journals, but that's it. Nonetheless, if my adoring fans want to hear from me, who am I to disappoint them? I'm currently struggling with a very tough decision. Last month I finished my Master's degree in Computer Science. Despite having been accepted into the PhD. program at the University of Toronto, I decided earlier this year to get a job instead. My job search has brought me two offers which I must now choose between. The first offer is from a 50 person company in Toronto called Oculus. To date they've mostly worked on software for doing fancy data visualization in Java (past work includes software that lets the US military view their troop movements in real time). Oculus is moving into more data analysis, in particular work on advanced information searching. They're interested in me specifically because of my The second offer is from Amazon in Seattle. I actually don't know much about the Amazon job yet. Apparently they chose someone else to fill the position I was interviewing for, but I impressed them enough that they went looking for another position for me. I should be getting more details from Amazon soon. Pretty everyone I've been talking to says I should take the Amazon job. Salary-wise, Amazon is offering a _lot_ more money, though from what I've heard from friends the Oculus offer is above average for Toronto. In general, programming jobs pay a lot more in the States than here, regardless of which company you work for. Amazon would also look better on my resume, and probably give me better experience in terms of general coding knowledge. I don't really know what the coding standards are at Oculus; they seem to be doing pretty well, with both repeat clients and new clients seeking them out because they're impressed with their work, but their interview process was a joke, particularly compared to Amazon and Google. It makes me wonder how much the skill of your new hires drops if you aren't putting interviewees through extensive testing. The big selling point for Oculus is the projects I'll be working on. The new projects they showed me look really interesting (I'm intentionally being vague given this is a public blog and I signed an NDA; email me if you want to know more), and I'd be doing work with a large research component in artificial intelligence. Interesting/enjoyable work is more important to me than salary, given that Oculus is offering enough to live quite comfortably. Of course, the other big difference between the places is location. I've visited Seattle twice now (once each to interview with Google and Amazon) and I love the city. My friend Kevin even gave me a tour so I got a very good idea of what it's like. I really like Toronto, but Seattle is a nicer city. Part of me is really attracted to making a go of it in a new city far away, but I'm also daunted by it. I won't know anyone there (Kevin has moved back to Toronto to do his PhD. there), and I have trouble making new friends. Toronto means that I can stay in touch with both friends and family. In many ways, Toronto feels like the "safe" choice. I get the sense that I could probably get a job at Amazon again later if for some reason I didn't like Oculus. The contract with Oculus is for four months to start with, and a full-time contract to be signed after those four months, so I could leave after the four months with no hard feelings. Which job would I pick if they were both in the same city? If I favour Toronto because I don't want to leave my friends and family, am I just giving into my fears? These are the sorts of questions I'm wrestling with. I told Oculus I'd have a reply by this Monday, but now I think I'll ask for more time, as Amazon still needs to send me more information. I moved out of Waterloo and back to my parent's place a few days ago; I'll be here until I figure out where I'm moving. Fortunately I'm not nearly as bored here as I thought I would be :P So there you go, Brenda. I expect an update on your life in your LJ in the near future :D Current Music: Iron and Wine (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, May 1st, 2005
10:50 pm	Memory is a funny thing Yesterday I spontaneously found myself stuck on the line "when push comes to shove," along with some other random words. I was sure they were lyrics from a song, but couldn't think of the the artist. Google lead me to a plethora of different songs which I parsed through, looking for a group I recognized but found nothing. But today my brain came through, recalling that the phrase actually came from a short story by David Foster Wallace. From there I recalled more of the passage, and google lead me to what appears to be an Italian translation of part of the story, with the passage I wanted still in English: For lovers, the Funhouse is fun. For phonies, the Funhouse is love. But for whom, the proles grouse, is the Funhouse a house? Who lives there, when push comes to shove? So that is where memory and Google eventually led me. While I wouldn't recommend the story it comes from, the book in which it is contained, "The Girl with Curious Hair" does have some great stories. Today I watched "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" in which a former couple, now broken up, have their memories of each other erased from their minds. It was a good good movie, containing some amazing parts, but ultimately the sort of film that you admire more than you outright enjoy. It was a nice counterpoint to a talk I saw on Thursday about using computers to record everything so that people could recall anything that had ever happened to them. It involved having cameras and microphones everywhere, but I found myself conjecturing a system that just used people as recording devices. People have tons of memories stored in their brain that they just can't recall, or at least not on demand; maybe we actually remember everything we see or hear. If so, then maybe one day you could Google through all the memories stored in your brain, thorugh everything you've ever experienced. We all have events which we think are lost to us, because memories fade and we never overtly recorded them, but maybe they're still in our heads, just waiting to be recovered. Current Music: Carissa's Wierd (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 29th, 2004
9:01 am	Survey II And here follows another survey, this one about things that happened to me this year. Edit: I will now try the lj cut feature for the first time. Wish me luck. ( Read more... ) Hopefully that did the job. Current Mood: complacent Current Music: Corner Gas on the tv (Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 28th, 2004
8:41 am	Survey time Christmas went well. And I've actually found inspiration with regards to my thesis. So it's been a good break. Another easy content generation device, I mean survey, from Amy</a>: ( Read more... ) Current Mood: complacent Current Music: Due South on the tv (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 2nd, 2004
5:32 pm	Wishlist Other people have been posting their wishlists on LJ. So I figured I'd post a few random wishes as well, more as an excuse to publish my address, in the hope of getting random Christmas cards. 'Cause random Christmas cards, like most other random things, are quite nifty :). Wishes (in no particular order): That the coming semester will not suck like I fear it will. Recordings of classic cartoons like Pinky and the Brain, Recess, How Things Werk, and Pepper Ann. More free time. More success playing Magic. That Neutral Milk Hotel will reunite and record another album at least a tenth as good as In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. A motorized vehicle of some sort. That people stop asking me "Does your name really have three ts?", or any variation on this. This particularly includes asking "Really?" after I answer the former question. Random items of interest My place of residence, at least until May: Mattt Enss 21 Fir Street (not First street) Waterloo, ON N2L 3H4 Current Mood: Unstuck in time (Comment on this)
Sunday, September 12th, 2004
10:22 pm	Back to school I'm A Grad Student! Specifically I'm a Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence: Cognitive/Computational Linguistics grad student, at the University of Waterloo. I've known for months that I was going to be one, but now it's actually happening. I'm absolutely in love with being part of the University. I have an office: DC 2132. Feel free to stop by, though there's no telling when I will be there. I now have keys to rooms at UW. I've been wanting keys to *anywhere* at UW ever since first semester. They may not unlock truly mysterious and wonderful things like the elevator to the fourth floor of DC or the roof of MC, but I'm happy nonetheless. I'm a TA for CS 131 this semester. I would have preferred a different course (ooh, CS 360!) but all first time TAs get first year courses. I'm a lab TA, which means that I help out at lab sessions rather than mark assignments (though I will proctor and mark the midterm and final). I really wanted something where I interact with students, as teaching really appeals to me. Scott has already told me he's crashing my first lab :). If that appeals to anyone else, my lab is 10:30-12:30 on Mondays in MC 3005, 3027. So yes, I'm in a position of authority, and I imagine it will feel weird for a while. My first week or three will consist of visiting various grad classes to see which ones I want to take. I'll only end up taking two courses this semester, probably Computer Vision and a psych course on reading processes. So yeah, no more English Litt. electives :(. (11 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, August 30th, 2004
11:55 am	The meaning of fantastic Fantastic: based on fantasy; not real. Conceived or seemingly conceived by unrestrained fancy. So extreme as to challenge belief. UNBELIEVABLE. Exceedingly large or great. That is one of the best definitions I've ever seen. In fact, it may be the very best. Fantastic is one of those words whose "popular" meaning (great! superb!) no longer matches its original meaning, though I suppose it's still doing better than apocalypse (actual meaning: "something viewed as a prophetic revelation"). (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, August 21st, 2004
12:46 pm	Religious Tolerance and Intolerance Last night I got into an interesting conversation about religion. It started with one person expressing her frustration with the Roman Catholic church. She said it wasn't very inclusive because it has a number of rules which it's very rigid about and that during mass, only people who have had their first communion are allowed to take communion (hence non-Catholics aren't allowed, except for maybe Anglicans I think). I don't think the R. C. church is much more rigid than a lot of other religions. While it is true that the positions of the church are dictated from the papacy in Rome which is very resistant to change, most of these positions mirror other churches. For instance, I don't think you could find many Baptist churches which allow for an active homosexual lifestyle, or premarital sex of any sort. In terms of the church service, we all agreed that the protestant services we had been to (almost entirely Baptist for me) were more welcoming than Catholic services. I'm not sure if it's their evangelical nature or that the service centers around a general worship of God rather than communion. Maybe it's because mass strikes me as a very individual activity; the ultimate purpose is for you to receive the host, regardless of who else may be there or why they're there (any thoughts on Catholics or Baptists on this point?). But the flip side to this "openess" is how other religions are treated. The R. C. church, at least as of Vatican Council II, says that followers of other religions (such as prostestants, jews and muslims) will go to Heaven, or at least will not be prevented from entering just because they're not Catholic. But many protestant religions (again, Baptists in particular) hold that only those who have "accepted Jesus as their saviour" will enter Heaven. As I understand this, Jews and Muslims (I keep on mentioning these denominations because they're the the non-Christian religions I know best, not because I don't acknowledge other non-Christian religions) will never enter Heaven. Some protestants even include Catholics in this group, as despite their belief in Jesus as the son of God, they don't properly accept him as their saviour. The three of us last night all agreed that we find this position troubling. It's odd being friends with someone who, when asked, will tell you that you're destined for hell, because you worship/believe in God in the wrong way. I find it particularly disconcerting that they don't take issue with either their religion or their God for this position. Well, there it is. All thoughts are more than welcome. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 18th, 2004
12:25 am	Walkabout I went for a walk back on Thursday. I basically had all the time in the world and ended up being out for about four hours. It was great :). I walked all about the subdivisions southwest of Fischer-Hallman and University. They're quite opulent. It's the landscaping in particular that's over the top. One house had a perfectly made wooded bridge on its lawn. Overall there's quite an abundance of flora; the perfectly manicured lawns that you usually find in suburbia are few and far between. The trees are plentiful and huge. The streets have the usual meaningless, made-up names: Westwood Lane/Drive/whatever, etc. My favourite was Resurrection Road, though that isn't as good as Burning Bush road, which you can find at the north end of Waterloo. There were some roads which were dead ends, marked with a "No Exit" sign, which nonetheless stretched on for quite a length, twisting and turning about. These roads, more than anything else, show how much the suburbs were dedicated to cars. If you're on foot you can't really get anywhere, but that's what I love about these suburbs. With the endless houses and roads with meaningless names there's no geographic connection to anywhere; it's like being in another world. And when I came to the edge of the surburb, where a sign informed me that more houses were to be built but only a wasteland of dirt and rock lay in front of me, it seemed like I had reached the edge of the world. The one thing I wanted to find but didn't was a suburb under construction. When I went walking in this same area two years ago I found quite a few. At dusk, with no one else around at all, it seemed like I was in a post-apocalypse wasteland. The most interesting part had been the fully finished playgrounds found about the construction. They didn't fit in at all. It was if they had been dislocated in time; the future present now. Two items of particular interest on my walk: -I cut through some brush which quickly came quite tall; at one point the grass and flowers towered above my head. -A little girl telling me, a complete stranger, how the toad in her hands had been eating plants in her garden and now she was taking it down to the pond to release it. In other news, I've become quite addicted to Dance Dance Revolution. I've gotten much better at it since I started, but still have far to go :D. (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 22nd, 2004
12:45 am	I swear that outside on summer nights you can hear time racing away, so loudly that you're made perfectly aware that you are getting older but going nowhere. Once fall brings its chill you'll miss these nights more than you can fathom now, and you'll wonder how you could possibly have wasted them. To waste them is to spend them doing anything indoors. If we had any sense we'd invent summer savings time, where we would switch am and pm. We'd sleep through the day and wake up at 8 in the evening to tackle the night. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 20th, 2004
11:28 pm	From Amy, here's my positions on a bunch of topics. I tried to stick to how I think the government should deal with them, rather than my personal choices for myself. Feel free to argue rationally against any of them. Death threats are appreciated as long as they're creative. Abortion?: I'm not sure when a fetus becomes alive/a person, though I'm fairly certain it happens after conception but before birth, though recent evidence I've seen suggests to me it happens very early. Abortion before this point should be legal, and afterwards should only be considered if the mother is at risk. Death Penalty?: I'm not sure of the morality here, though I lean towards it being immoral. But in either case I'm convinced that the state can't do it properly, it does not deter crime, and cannot be done cost-effectively without killing innocent people. I do not consider any argument related to vengeance or victim's rights to be a valid consideration. Prostitution?: Should be legal, but I doubt few, if any, women would chose it if economic circumstances did not require it. Alcohol?: Should be legal, probably at the age of 18. Marijuana?: Legalize it. Let people do what they want to themselves. Other drugs?: Legalize them. Let people do what they want to Gay marriage?: Can do a very long discourse on this if people are interested. My conclusion, in short: The government should not use the word "marriage" at all. The only reason the government should care at all is for tax purposes, in which case call them "civil unions" and give them to all that want them. That includes sam-sex couples, siblings and polygamous groups, if they want it. For divorce and related law, let the parties involved enter into legally binding contracts of their own chosing, and call them whatever they want. Let churches define marriage any way they want; the goverment should have no jurisdiction there. Smoking?: Private places, including businesses, should be allowed to do whatever they want regarding smoking. Everyone can then choose if they want to frequent or work in a place that allows smoking. But in all public areas smoking should be banned. Drunk driving?: Illegal. I have no problem with putting drunk drivers in jail and taking their licenses away for life. If they kill or injure someone, let them do hard time. Cloning?: If we can do it with a high rate of success and there's going to be a proper parent(s) for the child then go for it. I don't see why this would be wrong but invitro fertilization would be right. Racism?: The goverment should not be allowed to discriminate based on race; this includes affirmitive action. Private corporations and people must be allowed to discriminate if they choose. Ultimately it's society's job, not the government's, to end racism. Personally I will have nothing to do with people or companies that are racist. Premarital sex?: Activites between consenting adults are no one's business but their own. Religion?: Oh, such a wide topic. I see a big difference between religious beliefs and religious organizations. As for beliefs, everyone is free to believe what they want, and to speak about what they believe. As for religious organizations, keep them strictly separated from the goverment. Religious schooling and government vouchers, etc., is a problem created by the public funding of education, which I won't get into here. One thing I can't stand is people ridiculing others for being religious. For instance, I think Warren Kinsella's making fun of Stockwell Day for believing in creationism back during the 2000 election was disgusting. But I have no problem with laughing at Jerry Farwell, or calling reverend Phelps a bigot or worse. The war in Iraq?: It would take forever to define my position here. In short I'll say that while I disagree with many parts of how the US has fought the war, I think it was a good choice (though perhaps not the best choice). It was certainly morally justified, though the Bush administration did a bad job of explaining that. I think the UN is fatally flawed. I particularly have a problem with allowing dictatorships to have any say in world politics. This includes China. Bush?: Not a great opinion, but better than most people I know. I have a greater dislike for others in his administration, such as Rumsfeld, Cheney and Ashcroft. I dream of a Bush-Rice ticket in '04 (and Rice vs. Clinton in '08 would have me jumping for joy). Downloading music?: If you're doing it to avoid buying music then I think it's very wrong. I download music to try and then buy the album if I like it. Sometimes I wonder if that makes me a hypocrite. It has led me to buy more music than I otherwise would, but it also means that I haven't bought other cds that I might have had I not heard most of the songs ahead of time. The legal drinking age?: Probably 18, though it will have little effect no matter what it is. My friends and I drank while underage, and I don't think we're any worse off for it. Porn?: It should be legal. I think seeing hardcore porn at an early age would have scared me off sex more than any abstinence talk :P. Most porn is just so ugly. Suicide?: Technically I think it should be legal, but in lots of cases suicidal people are not in a state of mind where they can make a rational decision. I think that elderly and/or terminally ill patients should be able to end their life as they choose. I don't think the goverment should ban barbituates (best form of poison for suicide) or outlaw assisted suicide. I also don't understand why people think dying is such a horrible thing; I think it's a tragedy for everyone but the person who dies. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, July 8th, 2004
9:55 pm	The good chip I had just put a sour cream and onion chip on my tongue before I dropped it on the floor. So I had the quite pleasant taste rubbing in the fact that I had just lost a really good chip as I searched for it on the floor. I found it leaning against my power bar such that only the bottom edge touched the floor. That, plus the tantalizing taste on my tongue, was almost enough to make me eat the chip. But I didn't give in. Psychologically speaking, I probably should have ate the chip, as now I'll spend my evening dreaming of what coudl have been, and thinking that none of my other chips measure up to the one I lost. I just thought people should know that. (Comment on this)
Saturday, July 3rd, 2004
9:12 pm	Well, suffice it to say that my day two at Nats sucked. I lost my first five rounds. I won the last round to finish 6 and 6, which is exactly how I finished last year. I feel really bitter about it, and am completely sick of Magic for the time being. Maybe next week I'll be interested in playing again. I just want to do absolutely nothing right now. Or maybe just something completely unrelated to Magic. FOr tonight I think it will be anime, but I don't know what to do with myself tomorrow. Feel free to leave suggestions :P. (Comment on this)
Friday, July 2nd, 2004
10:25 pm	Magic Just a quick update. I'm currently playing in the Canadian Magic National Championships in Toronto. After today I had 5 wins and 1 loss, putting me in 7th or 8th place. Tomorrow I try and make it into the Top 8 for Sunday. You can see the coverage here. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 29th, 2004
12:53 am	Yet another survey I'm surprised that journallers write normal entries these days, given how much easier it is to generate content with surveys. Anyways here's yet another survey, again from Amy: (Note: I just pasted from Amy's page and replaced her answers. Or just left hers if mine were the same. See, surveys allow for all sorts of laziness. Someday I may just find someone who seems more interesting than me and just copy their answers unchanged.) 1. name: Mattt 2. single or taken: single 3. sex: male 4. b-day: February 28, 1980 5. sign: pisces 6. siblings: Daniel, Raina, Rhiannon, Gabriel, Tegan 7. hair color: dark brown 8. eye color: hazel 9. shoe size: anywhere from 11-13 10. height: 6'2"ish r e l a t i o n s h i p s 1. who are your best friends?: I'm not really sure who to name as "best" friends, nor am I that confortable about it. Though I suppose I have to list Amy since she listed me. :P 2. have a girlfriend?: no. 3. did you send this to your crush?: Well, I'm not sending this to anyone. And I'm not sure if I would name anyone specifically as being a crush right now, or if I would name just one. f a s h i o n | s t u f f 1. where is your favorite place to shop: Fashion-wise? Zellars has always had jeans at a great price. :) 2. any tattoos or piercing: none. I could rant against either at great length. s p e c i f i c s 1. do you do drugs?: no 2. what kind of shampoo do you use?: kiwi stuff with a koala bear on it. 3. what are you most scared of? being exposed or looking foolish in front of people is way up there. Having time pass by while I go nowhere is another. 4. what are you listening to right now?: Scrap Book, by Carissa's Wierd. In case you were wondering, it's quite wonderful. 5. who is the last person that called you: Hmm... I seem to recall the phone company calling last. Person that I know? Probably my parents. 6. where do you want to get married?: I don't know. I like the idea of a small ceremony (if any), but old, extravagant churches can be so beautiful. Or maybe I could go for the nostalgia factor and pick my old church in Moosonee. Or Star of the Sea in St. Catherines, as that's where all my sibling and I were baptised, my parents married, and my mom and all her siblings were baptised. Then again, all of those sort of presume a religious wedding, and I'm not sure about that right now. Maybe one day I'll write out my thoughts on marrying someone who's religious, while I'm an atheist/agnostic. 7. how many buddies are online right now?: MSN: 4. ICQ: 4. Tie game! 8. what would you change about yourself?: I don't know how to answer this. How would it change? What else would it change? At best I choose something that I'd like to change about myself in the future; that would probably be how shy I am, but my lack of initiative. Whenever I see these "what would you change" questions I think of the film Yi Yi. Many characters wonder how things would have turned out if they had made different choices, but one character responds "Maybe everything would have turned out about the same." h a v e | y o u | e v e r 1. given anyone a bath?: Other than a child? No, though it sounds like fun :) 2. smoked?: no 3. bungee jumped?: no 3. made yourself throw up?: well, at least once I really wanted to upchuck, to get out of school or some other activity 5. skinny dipped?: no, but also sounds fun. Maybe I'll try it in a lake at night sometime. 6: ever been in love?: yes 7. Made yourself cry to get out of trouble?: no 8. pictured your crush naked? Well, I'll admit to picturing previous crushes naked. O:) 9. actually seen your crush naked?: no 10. cried when someone died?: sort of. I don't really cry, and I don't mean that in an "I'm too manly to cry" way. My anguish manifests itself in other ways 11. lied: Who could possibly say no? 12. fallen for your best friend?: Well, technically she wasn't the only person I called my best friend at the time, but I think it still counts. 13. been rejected?: yes 14. rejected someone?: yes 15. used someone?: I don't think so. Define "use". 16. done something you regret?: Again, who hasn't? Likes and Dislikes 1. clothes: (like) flannel pyjama pants! (dislike) tight/restrictive. Most formal clothes 2. music: (like) mostly obscure indie pop. On an Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel is my favourite album (dislike) all sorts of stuff. There's the stuff that sounds bad/annoying, and there's the stuff that's boring, ie almost everything on the radio these days. 3. make-up: I hate the concept of make-up, and 99.99% of the time find it looks unappealing as well. 4. annoyance: I wouldn't know where to start or end 5. smell: (like) I have a particular fondness for the smell of chlorine, particularly the scent that comes out of the vent outside the university pool. (dislike) egg salad, or just about anything else involving hard-boiled eggs. 6. favorite artist: I don't really have one 7. favorite band: It was Bright Eyes for a long time, but now I'm not sure. 8. desktop picture: a path into the mist, from DigitalBlasphemy.com 9. book that you're reading: God's Secretaries. It's about the creation of the King James bible. I really like the topic, but may not finish it because it's so poorly written. 10. CD in stereo: none 11. color of toenails: regular toenail colour Current Mood: anxious Current Music: Neutral Milk Hotel: On the Aeroplane Over the Sea (Comment on this)
Friday, May 28th, 2004
11:31 pm	mattt From Amy: 1. Your name spelled backwards: Tttam or Wehttam 2. Where were your parents born? Ontario, Canada 3. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? Hmm... songs by the group The Radio Dept. 4. What's your favourite restaurant? Don't really have one 5. Last time you swam in a pool? A pool, rather than a lake? I don't know. 6. Have you ever been in a school play? Sir Andrew in Twelfth Night :D. 7. How many kids do you want? I don't know. 8. Type of music you dislike most? The most? Yelling and noise. 9. Are you registered to vote? Not in KW yet. 10. Do you have a car? No. 11. Have you ever ridden on a moped? No. 12. Ever prank call anybody? No. 13. Ever get a parking ticket? No. 14. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving? Maybe. 15. Furthest place you ever travelled? Amsterdam. 16. Do you have a garden? No. 17. What's the size of your bed? Twin. 18. Do you really know all the words to your national anthem? I get stuck in one spot if I don't have the music playing. 19. Bath or Shower, morning or night? Shower, usually at night. 20. Best movie you've seen in the past 4 months? Kill Bill Vol. 2. 21. What's the next movie you want to see? Supersize Me or Shrek 2. 22. Chips or popcorn? Both, though a slight preference for chips (depending on the flavour). 23. Have you ever broken any hearts? One, sort of. 24. Premarital sex? Yes. 25. Are you a good cook? I enjoy it, and I'm getting better all the time. 26. Orange or Apple juice? Apple. 27. Who was the last person you went out to dinner with and where did you go? Hmm... I think it was the Magic crew: Ian, JP, Craig, and Scott. We went to some random pizza place after Regionals. 28. Favourite type of drink? Amaretto Sour, or pineapple juice. 29. Best thing in the world? Not sure yet, though stories, nostalgia and the surreal are all contenders. 30. Have you ever broken a bone? Chipped one, but none broken yet. 31. Have you ever won a trophy? Some soccer trophies, many academic trophies. 32. What is your favorite board game? Chess, though Monopoly is close. 33. What is your dream car? Don't have one. 34. Ever order an article from an infomercial? No. 35. Coke or Pepsi? Don't do carbonated beverages. 36. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to work? No. 37. Last thing you bought at a pharmacy? Terry's Chocolate Orange. 38. Who are you going to marry? Don't know. May never happen. 39. Who would you like to meet? There's a person who seems to me like she might not even really exist, so her. 40. Do you believe in love at first sight? Not love, but crush and/or lust, sure. 41. What features do you find most attractive in the opposite sex? There's a certain quirky, bubbly playfulness that I can't name but absolutely love :). 42. Where would you go for a romantic evening? A walk in a wooded area, where you can't tell how far away civilization is. 43. How many pairs of shoes do you own? Three, though one is on the verge of being tossed out. 44. Last song stuck in your head? Paris 1919 by John Cale. "You're a ghost..." 45. Any pets? Aja may live with my parents, but she'll always be my cat. 46. What's your all time favorite Saturday Night Live Character? Never watch it. 47. What is one thing you would like to learn to do? Program in C++... more 48. What do you do when you are bored? Surf the net aimlessly. 49. What is one thing you would want someone to appreciate about you? My quirkyness, or does that count as many little things? 50. What is one thing you are grateful for today? I continued my unbeated streak in Magic with Elf and Nail. *FIRSTS* First best friend: Robin Stewart First car: n/a First real date: Tough to say for sure. I suppose when Rachelle and I cooked dinner together and then watched Donnie Darko. First real kiss: What makes it real? Kristy Kidman was the first, but I'm not sure it was real until Rachelle. First break-up: Kristy Kidman, if breaking up the next day counts. First screen name: Intal I think. First self purchased album: I bought a bunch of tapes at once from Columbia House. The only one that was really good was The Counting Crows: August and Everything After. First funeral: I think it was my Mother's Mother's Father. First pets: Aja. First piercing/tattoo: Never have, never will. First credit card: Visa First enemy: When I was really little I believed that I was leading a rebellion against an evil space empire. *LASTS* Last cigarette: Never Last car ride: Back from the Fifth Dawn prerelease with JP. Last good cry: Never had one; I go for violent fits and yelling instead. Back in November my hands endured many high-speed impacts with brick walls. Last library book checked out: Just today: Comprehension: a Paradigm for Cognition, and The Meaning of Meaning. Last movie seen: The Princess Bride, though certainly not for the first time. Last beverage drank: Water Last food consumed: Marinated steak, with perogis, green pepper, onion and mushrooms :). Last crush: I'm finding it hard to tell the difference between crushes and infatuations these days. The last real crush was probably the aforementioned girl who doesn't exist, though I'm still not sure of what I think/thought of her. Last phone call: Stelmack (who's first name is Andrew but I never call him that), telling him to come draft. Last time showered: Yesterday after ball hockey. Last shoes worn: Black Nikes. Last CD played: Sienna's wonderful mix, entitled "though love be a day and life be nothing." Last item bought: Bottle of Pepsi for a roommate. Last annoyance: Sucking so badly at MarioKart. Last disappointment: Not running into someone on campus on Friday who I was trying to run into. Last time wanting to die: Hmm... for a long time I've been enamoured with the idea of getting a fatal disease, but it isn't in a "life is so awful that I want to die" way. Death just doesn't bother me, and seems interesting. Last time scolded: The last time I screwed up while playing Magic today. Friends always make sure to rub it in ;). Last shirt worn: Beige PJ shirt. Last website visited: m-w.com, as I'm obsessed with spelling. Last word you said: Don't remember Last song you sang: bam *FUTURE* Where do you want to go? Grad school at the University of Waterloo. What is your career going to be? Grad student hopefully. Where are you going to live? Waterloo for now. How many kids do you want? I don't know. What kind of car(s) do you want? Reliable and fuel efficient. With a way to plug in my MP3 player to the stereo. *CURRENT* Current mood: Uncertain Current music: Arterial, by Rachel's. Current CD in your CD player: Third disc of Sex and the City, Season Six, part one. Current taste: How do you mean? Current hair: Short enough that it still dries quickly. Current clothes: Jeans, Sick Kids Telethon sweatshirt. Current annoyance(s): Unanswered email, inability to contact a certain person. Current desktop picture: A path in the woods leading disappearing into the mist. It's from digitalblasphemy.com. Current favorite artist: It was Bright Eyes, but now I'm not sure. Favourite album is In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, by Neutral Milk Hotel. Current book(s): The Gormenghast trilogy, by Mervyn Peake Current color of toenails: The same as I was born with Current socks: White with grey logo at the top. I wear borring socks :(. Current underwear: White. Current time-wasting wish: What's a "time-wasting" wish? Current hate: My murky employment situation for next semester. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 19th, 2004
12:52 am	It involved books so I had to I know I rarely write in here, but some memes are too fun not to do and this one gives me a chance to talk about some books which I love. The meme, from Amy: 1. Take five books off your bookshelf. 2. Book #1 -- first sentence 3. Book #2 -- last sentence on page fifty 4. Book #3 -- second sentence on page one hundred 5. Book #4 -- next to the last sentence on page one hundred fifty 6. Book #5 -- final sentence of the book 7. Make the five sentences into a paragraph. I ended up with long sentences. They make wonderful use of the semi-colon, my favourite piece of punctuation: I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice - not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because he is the reason that I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany. Naturally, being a disk, the counter was more swift than I, and so as we became acquainted, it tended to roll all about the road, tracing figure eights and twisting wreaths; it would circle behind me and race ahead, and was even able, if I lengthened my step and slowed my gait, to slip between my legs, in and out like a puppy. She was always hungry and found it a furious exhaustion to feed a patient who couldn't eat or didn't want to, watching the bread crumble away, the soup cool, which she desired to swallow fast. She can't bring herself to forgive her parents for trying to brainwash her into thinking she was dumb all her life. But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing. Hmm, that doesn't work all that well. :S The books are: 1. A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving 2. The English Patient, by Michael Ondaatje 3. The Chess Garden, by Brooks Hansen 4. Microserfs, by Douglas Coupland 5. The House at Pooh Corner, by A. A. Milne All five books are wonderful and I highly recommend them all. In particular, I'd like to mention that The Chess Garden is my favourite fantasy book and is almost certainly unlike any other fantasy novel. Michael Ondaatje writes some of the most beautiful and lyrical sentences ever written. I've read Microserfs over twenty times and it's a must for any geek. The Winnie the Pooh books, along with Alice in Wonderland, are not just for children. And I don't mean that in just the Harry Potter way. Their language is exquisite and they're incredibly amusing. And the end of The House at Pooh Corner will break your heart. Current Music: A wonderful mix from Sienna (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, April 15th, 2004
2:37 pm	From YwingEmpress and Sienna, though I wonder how many people will actually ask anything, given how few read this: "I want anyone who reads this to ask me 3 questions, no more no less. Ask me anything you want. Then I want you to go to your journal, copy and paste this allowing your friends (including myself) to ask you anything." Actually, I won't promise to answer *every* possible question. For instance, anyone who asks if I really spell my name with three Ts will be ignored :P. But feel free to ask why I use three Ts. Current Mood: Expectant Current Music: The Postal Service - Some overdose of sonic saccharine (Comment on this)
Monday, April 12th, 2004
10:08 pm	mattt Serial Experiments Lain has been re-released on DVD, though the only difference is that the new ones cost much less. It's a welcome change, certainly, but I don't understand why they didn't just cut the price of the DVDs already released. Anyways, I shouldn't complain, as I now have the first two discs of this amazing series and will get the last two once they're released. The new DVDs still start with the same inexplicable pre-intro as the old ones: a white screen which red Japanese characters appear on. Then what sounds like a smartass teenager says--in English--"Present day. Present time. Ha ha ha ha ha!" It's the most stupid and annoying laugh ever, but for some reason I laugh every time I hear it. I can't stop myself. It was the same this time. There's a few things like that, things which I just laugh at every time I see or hear them, for who knows what reason. Another example: in the middle of When The Curious Girl Realizes She Is Under Glass, by Bright Eyes, I always laugh when the woman exclaims "This looks like blues 101!" I had forgotten just how amazing Lain in terms of its style. The daytime shots are bleached in white; the roads and buildings are all white and blend right into each other, making the black shadows leap out. And the people in crowd shots are little more than outlines, lacking details. It makes them seem so much scarier. Overall, I think it's the best visualization if a dream I've ever seen. Better than even Waking Life, maybe (Yes, I realize that's blasphemous to say). Or Mulholland Drive. I think that whenever anyone mentions Lain, they must note that it has the best intro of any television show. Ever. The "ever" that concluded the previous paragraph is probably redundant. I wouldn't recommend Serial Experiments Lain to people who haven't seen anime before, but it's a must for any anime fan. Especially if you like weird and twisted series like Evangelion and Revolutionary Girl Utena. (Comment on this)
Saturday, March 27th, 2004
11:18 am	A quiz type thing What the heck, I figured I'd post something: From <a href="http://ywingempress.livejournal.com/>Amy</a>: 20 Years Ago, I: 1. was four years old 2. had a brother; three sisters and a brother would follow 3. had my own room 4. lived in Moosonee 5. had my first best friend, Robin Stewart 15 Years Ago, I: 1. was nine years old 2. had just moved to Cannington 3. was addicted to computers 4. read many, many books 5. starting spelling Mattt with three ts 10 Years Ago, I: 1. was fourteen years old 2. was about to graduate from elementary school 3. had come to realize that I was pretty shy 4. loved sci-fi and fantasy books (Zahn, Weis and Hickman) 5. built forts in the woods with my friends 5 Years Ago, I: 1. was nineteen years old 2. was really enjoying my last year of high school 3. was obsessed with getting into System Design engineering at the University of Waterloo (I didn't) 4. kept a very detailed private journal 5. had many great friendships that I've done a bad job of maintaining 3 Years Ago, I: 1. was finishing my third semester of university 2. was addicted to the anime Hana Yori Dongo 3. was going home pretty much every other weekend 4. was adrift and unfocused in my life, but didn't realize it 5. was back into Magic: The Gathering after a hiatus since starting university Last year, I: 1. was twenty-three years old 2. was finishing my 3rd year of university 3. was doing very well academically 4. was finally coming out of a major depression that had started the previous December 5. had come to believe that a girl at school didn't really exist and could walk through walls Yesterday, I: 1. met my compilers partner 2. bought a pizza from Pizza Pizza 3. asked Amy to go for a walk the next day 4. loved watching Wonderfalls, despite its flaws 5. was randomly called by friends and played Magic with them until 2:30 am Today, I: 1. had my body wake up way too early for no reason 2. had a Magic dream 3. ate oatmeal that I didn't enjoy 4. wrote this 5. fulfilled my news addiction by reading The Toronto Star, the NYTimes opinion page, and most of Newsweek. I'm starting to wonder if reading the news has become a form of procrastination for me Tomorrow, I: 1. will do CS homework 2. will study for philosophy 3. will try to come to grips with the end of my life as an undergrad 4. will watch a new episode of Arrested Development 5. will daydream of a future date when I won't have a billion things on my to-do list. As it stands, this won't come until May. 3 Bad Habits I Have: How deep should I dig here? 1. nail-biting (though it doesn't bother me too much, and I'm in the process of quitting) 2. procrastinating/not taking initiative in my life 3. avoiding almost any social situation I'm not completely comfortable with Interests at the moment: 1. Magic: The Gathering 2. Cognitive Science 3. Religion 4. A person who violates reality 5. Did I mention Magic already? 5 Places I've Lived: 1. St. Catherines, Ontario (barely) 2. Moosone, Ontario. I miss it a lot, though that's largely because I associate it with childhood and nostalgia in general. I don't want to live there again, but I want to visit again 3. Cannington, Ontario 4. Toronto, Ontario. I love it, and yet I don't really want to live there again. Another place to visit 5. Waterloo, Ontario, which I'm very happy to call my home now My Top 3 Biggest Worries at the Moment: What, only 3? 1. Getting into grad school 2. Job status for May 3. How this semester is actually going to end My Top 5 Biggest Joys at the Moment: I'm short on these right now 1. Spring is here! Oh, how I love it 2. Magic 3. Though there are many problems/worries in my life right now, at least things are happening to me 4. Wonderfully wacky TV shows 5. The prospect that the Liberals might lose the next election Current Mood: on edge Current Music: August and Everything After, by the Counting Crows (Comment on this)