More smorgasbord of Sumana

Silly ads. "'Never again?' This is not the Treaty of Versailles."

Comedy, schmomedy. There will be a Comedy Night on Tuesday, October 23, at Blake's on Telegraph, as I've mentioned before. I will probably do some open-mic stand-up comedy relating to Russia, Halloween costumes, and my job search.

Speaking of the job search: I'm considering Teach For America -- what do other people think of this program? (And about the fact that they sell polo shirts?)

Left-handed compliment. I got a B+ on my Imperial Russian History midterm. Regarding the essay, my grader said,

A fair essay, but pretty bare-bones. You need more historical detail. The simplicity and clarity of your writing saves you.

Well, at least I know that Strunk and White paid off. (Tip from Ellen Rigsby, my old Rhetoric teacher: "to be" bores the most of all verbs. Throw it out whenever you can.)

Russian-studying people: This InPassing quote reminds me of John Stange. The other thing today that reminded me of John was a line in a Russian short story that I read for class tomorrow; translation: "The thing of it is..."

Speaking of people I know from my Russia trip, I'll be seeing Katie this week, since Reed has this weird tradition of a "fall break." In addition, of the five or so Russia-trip people whom I emailed several days ago, each and every one has now replied. Rasa was last, but that's more excusable since she's still in Russia.

From last week:
I conversed with a credit card vendor near the Martin Luther King Student Union. His table was festooned with all sorts of examples of the "free stuff" one gets for filling out a credit card application. I was walking past his table on my way to the Open Computing Facility.

Him: Hey, are you a student?
Me: Yes, but I don't want any of your stuff.
Him: Why not? It's free.
Me: No, it's not. I have to sign up for something to get it.
Him: That means it's free. You don't have to pay anything for it.
Me: You're such a sophist! (stalks off)

Also from last week: Nobel zaniness!

The great inventors Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla never won Nobels because their egos got in the way: They hated each other so much that they literally refused to stand on the same stage together. Disgusted, the Nobel committee withdrew its offer to honor them jointly.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/10/08/MN111567.DTL

Pedantry. In Political Psychology the other day, a fellow desribed anthrax as "a virus, a bacteria, like Ebola," and I sounded pedantic when I corrected him.

Russian textbook lies! p. 253: "The formation of present active participles is easy." All right, it is relatively easy, compared to, say, the past passive participle. But it's still not a piece of cake.

Reconnection. On a happier note, I just got back in touch with Micah Roy and Mitchell Davidson, politically aware guys I knew back at Tokay High School!

Asimov. Following a link from Seth's page, I saw three recommended orders in which to read the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. Other zany factoids also await you at the Asimov FAQ. Now with the scoop: Isaac Asimov did not write at least one book in every major Dewey Decimal System division!

Reminiscing too soon. The prospect of leaving Cal in what, six months? inspires in me a rather inappropriate nostalgia. I've been at UC Berkeley for less than four years, but I've gotten used to it, and I always dislike leaving something that I feel I've mastered. I know shortcuts through campus, and I know many faces and names, even though I'm losing acquaintances via graduations and other attrition.

Especially on an unseasonably warm day such as this, I look around Sproul Plaza or the halls of Dwinelle and envy the freshmen their youth. *chuckle* My head knows that I probably have years and years ahead of me. My anxious heart grasps at the past because neither it nor my head knows what lies in that future. I thought I'd have goals by now.

Brill's Content has died. More nostalgia. I remember reading that and liking it. The Bill Gates mugshot hanging on my door in the old dorm days came from a Brill's September 1998 cover. Brill's informed me that Scott Shuger likes USA Today. I think of Steven Brill as sort of the RMS of journalism, and Brill's two years ago was somewhat akin to the FSF.

Joel Explains It All: "The moral of the story is that with a contrived example, you can prove anything." Poking around Joel On Software reminds me of:

• Digital Convergence and how John and I celebrated in the International Telephone and Telegraph Office in St. Petersburg when we heard that they had gone bankrupt. John visited my booth from his after seeing it on Slashdot. I suggested that Analog Divergence would be how that particular phoenix would rebirth itself from the ashes.
• Mr. Spolsky mentions that the CueCat exemplified Chicken-And-Egg Syndrome. One of the first emails I ever wrote to Leonard contained my phrase, "Your chicken, your egg, your problem."

Michael Kinsley's equivalent of "Why the September 11 Attacks Mean We Should Implement My Policy."

Flag-wearing. I received a small American flag pin when I gave blood on Thursday. What should I do with it? I think there are enough flags in my immediate vicinity. Flags, to me, imply patriotism of the "my country, right or wrong, my country" variety.

Recipe for a great Sunday evening. Take a friend to the Berkeley Rose Garden on a warm October night. Play for the first time ever in the playground on the other side of the street. Watch the sun set while breathing in the aroma of thousands of flowers. On the way back home, stop for ice cream.

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Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/10/16/0545/2481