• 5:21 A.M.
  do you hear singing?

I spent today rewiring my desk. The longer between re-wirings, the more my desk and work area resemble the interior of the Millennium Falcon, post-trauma. It wouldn't happen if I weren't continually adding things in, testing other people's stuff, or taking pieces of gear out for use at another location. As it had been, I had long wires dangling down onto my legs as I sat, interfering with proper ergonomics and just generally feeling creepy. I am a little surprised at how many cables I have left over, post-project. Everything works the same as it did before. Did I really have this many dead-ends? So much leftover effort doing nothing but obscuring the active parts. Say, cabling is a great metaphor for programming! No wait, OOP can get more like a bunch of boxes with fifty buttons on them that don't seem to do anything. Uh, it's like .. life! Yes. Because in life, you will not see the connections between things clearly until you discard all your outdated concepts. No, that's not quite right either... Maybe getting your cabling done is like getting a job? You have to put everything on hold while you're doing it, and if you realize something's wrong, you have to wait until the next big shutdown and rearrangement for a chance to get it right? Aw man.. this is tewwible. Similes are like carrot top; shut up already.

Helen and I now communicate using "Yahoo Instant Messenger" while we're both working on stuff (her on editing, me on something else around the computer area). Today she piped up with, "do you hear the singing outside?" I didn't, but I had the CD player on. Apparently there was some guy singing outside her house. A little after 12, we went out for

Helen (12:05:55 AM): Snack?
Helen (12:24:00 AM): Snack! Snack! Snack!
Helen (12:24:22 AM): Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack!
Helen (12:24:42 AM): Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack!
Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack!
Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack! Snack!

It's new hairdo excitement!

Ah, we went out for a little snack, and as we left my building, the neighbors on the top floor of the building next door were letting loose with AND I NEED YOU NOW TONIGHT / AND I NEED YOU MORE THAN EVER / AND IF YOU'LL ONLY HOLD ME TIGHT / WE'LL BE HOLDING ON FOREVER at the TOP of their out of tune LUNGS. I'm told that "Mercury" is in "retrograde", which means that people are more nuts than usual. Astrology is unclear on whether this specifically means that it is open mic night in my neighborhood.

At U-Village I saw a van, partially encrusted with broken mirrors.
Guaranteed party when the police hit this guy with a spotlight

This is also at U-Village. I can not imagine anyone being positively influenced by this signage.
It just makes me think of little shrimpies at Johns Hopkins University.

Helen went to Hugo House (pictured here) with Pam 'n Angela
I wasn't there, but it looks like a good time.