Dybbuk's Empire

This was fun last time, I want to go again.  Who wants to come with me?

There should be more dancing!  And pretty costumes!  Therefore, there will be a Goth Mob out to XMortis on 10/10.  Cover is $5 before 10:30, so I would like to aim to get there a little after 10pm.

If people want to meet up beforehand for dinner or dessert, contact me, and maybe we can pull something together.

This is just a quick reminder that there will be a Goth Mob meeting at XMortis on Friday around 10ish.  If you are interested in meeting up before that for dinner or dessert or such, contact me, there may be an outing.

There should be more dancing!  And pretty costumes!  Therefore, there will be a Goth Mob out to XMortis on 9/12.  Cover is $5 before 10:30, so I would like to aim to get there around 10pm.

If people want to meet up beforehand for dinner or dessert, contact me, and maybe we can pull something together.

Notes:
* Please consider this an open invite: feel free to bring along--or send this to--anyone you think would have fun.

So, I am currently at a conference at Cornell and our ride back from the conference has flaked on us.  We have found someone who can take us
 back to the general area, but she lives South of Worcester, and does not want to go into the city.  Can someone pick up my friend and I in Worcester, Marlboro or somewhere in the general area and take us back to Somerville/Medford tomorrow evening?  Now, the tricky part of this, of course, is that I don't know exactly when we'll be getting in.  Approximate time is somewhen around 10pm, but we would have to call you when we were heading in to give you more precision.  We could certainly check in a few times to get better updates over the course of the trip if you would like.  We have money ($40) of travel reimbursements that we will give you. 

Thank you in advance to anyone who can do this.

I just heard a horrible large group discussion with Zahavi and then participated in an absolutely lovely small group conversation with him.  I still think that he is missing some of the issues in modern behavioral theory, but he is interesting, knowledgeable and on-the-ball.  However, he came off as out of touch and borderline senile in the large group discussion.  Seeing this comparison helped me understand something about senility within my sub-culture of Judaism, both in Zahavi and in my grandmother.

In the culture in which I grew up, conversation is rapid, free-flowing, and frequently loud, regardless of subject.  One of the most common ways of emphasizing that something is important is to repeat it, because otherwise the conversation will simply keep flowing around it.  When older people in this culture start to have memory problems, they frequently repeat these important things much more often.  It is not that they have forgotten that they told you, but that they don't remember whether they told you one time or six times.  Something that they meant to say three times, they might say twelve times, because counting those incidents is much harder than remembering that you have said it at all.

Therefore, in this small conversation, where we were able to redirect him (via culturally acceptable interruptions) we could get past these repetitions to interesting new topics, but in the large discussion, when he had a microphone and was on stage, this was not possible.  I see the exact same behavior in my grandmother, but did not fully understand it before. 

So, it's been a while since I've checked my friends list about any of my running lists.  I try to keep a handful of people on these lists, so that I have fallback options, and so that I don't tax anyone too much.  Anyone who I've added in the past year or two may not be aware of one or more of these lists.  If you would like to be on a list, let me know.  Even if you think you are on one of these lists, I would love to hear from you to verify that you still want to be there (and confirm that I haven't dropped you somehow).  Either reply hear or contact me in some other fashion.

1. Last minute outings: With varying frequency, I will seek someone to go out for a walk or bike ride Now.  This usually takes place in the evenings, or occasionally on a weekend afternoon. You should be able to get to my house or be within walking or biking distance for this to work.  I generally choose people who are online, because it's an easy selection for availability, but I might be willing to make a phone call on rare occasions when I have exhausted online options.

2. Stopping by Privileges: Sometimes, I will go out on bike and decide to randomly stop by and say hi.  This generally only happens when my life is so full that I'm not scheduling things that aren't strictly necessary.  Adding yourself to this list means that it would be ok if I knocked on the door and checked if you were free.  Even if you agree to this, it is perfectly acceptable to tell me that you are busy after I show up on your doorstep.

3. Wasping: Several times during the summer, I go out to various locations around the greater Boston area to gather wasp nests.  This takes place at night, leaving sometime between 9:30 and 11pm, and getting back after midnight.  This requires assistance both because I need transportation and because the task is much easier with a second person to handle a flashlight.  You are not required to handle the wasps, although if you want to do so, there are opportunities.  I believe that no one has ever been stung assisting me, but it is not impossible.

4. Anting: A few times during the fall I go out to various locations around the greater Boston area to gather ant colonies.  This takes place during the day, but only when it is under 65 or so.  These do not sting, but do involve poking around in the dirt.  A car is useful, but some of my sites can also be reached by bike.

So, this weekend is the Garment District's annual sale.  I'm thinking of going this afternoon (or possibly relatively early tomorrow) if I can get at least one other person who is interested in joining me.  I'll be leaving from the Davis area, either on bike or on T depending on the weather.  If you are coming from the area and want to meet up to get there, I would be happy to do so.  If you're interested, let me know.

So, because I needed a new project, and because virtual256 is a bad influence, I'm considering making a CD.  I'm looking to do this in the upper level amateur range: somewhere in between a mike plugged into a computer and a full professional studio.  I am not looking to do anything terribly complicated, mostly I want to be able to record about three musicians at the same time in a way that allows me to muck with things a little bit afterward.

If you have recording equipment falling in this range that you would be willing to offer me use of, I'm happy to offer in-kind trades of some sort (my major useful skills are music and cooking, but actual labor is also possible), or some payment.  I'm trying to do this on the cheap: I would like the project to pay for itself if at all possible.  If you know someone who might be willing to offer their equipment for a similar arrangement, let me know.

There are pictures, and some of you might care, so I thought I should provide a post on the wedding trip.





If for any reason, you want to see more pictures, check here or here for a page with some videos of the ceremony and the music.

I want to dye my wedding dress black. 

My friend virtual256 is out visiting from Seattle. This weekend we'll be at Baitcon, but we were thinking of going to Ceremony on Monday. I would love to accumulate anyone else interested in going. In addition, the T closes unhelpfully early. If anyone with a car would be interested in joining the expedition and giving us a ride back, we would appreciate it.

So, I've finally given up and accepted that I should get a license.  Unlike previous times when I have talked about this, I have taken steps towards it, such as getting a permit and taking a couple of lessons.  It isn't terrible, but it isn't very interesting, and it involves a lot of sitting still. However, now what I really need is quite a few hours behind the wheel. 

I am looking for people in the area who have a car and would be willing to help me get some driving time.  As I said, I have had a few actual lessons, and intend to have more, so I don't really need a teacher, I just need practice.  I am happy to chip in for gas.

Anyone able and willing to help?

Can anyone get me to South station in time for a 6am train tomorrow?  Reasons explained upon request.

Alright, I'm curious.

Step 1: Put your music player on shuffle.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 30-20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.
Step 3: Strike through the songs when someone guesses both artist and track title correctly. Yes the artist too.  I'm modifying this: for things that are not trad or anon, the writer also counts, because I would rather give them acknowledgement anyway, and the other is just silly.
Step 4: For those who are guessing -- looking the lyrics up on a search engine is CHEATING!
Step 5: If you like the game, post your own.

I am skipping things without words, or things in a language that I find too difficult to transcribe.  There are a few pretty easy ones, and a few that I will be really impressed if anyone gets.

1. As a small baby, each time I cried cindy_lu
Go to sleep Little Leech, Arrogant Worms
2. When I wake in the night and find that I'm dreaming
3. Erev Shel Shoshanim
4. That summer I fell in love with a video actress
5. Go home, go home little girl
6. Window open wide, blowing through the North Woods  cindy_lu
By Now, Richard Shindell
7. The big day is coming, the bell is sounding
8. Guess there's something wrong with me faerieboots
"In or Out," by Ani DiFranco.
9. Of all the boys I've know, and I've known some
10. This is not a folk song
11. When we all heard the news we cried "say it aint so"
12. She opened the door, surprised to see a delivery man
13. On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses? mrw42
You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth by Meatloaf
14. Give me two kegs of nails
15. A drowning person who pulls the person down that was trying to save her
16. It was a phone call in the night
17. Oh then tell me Shawn O'Ferrel
18. 25 whores in the room next door mrw42
Vision Thing by Sisters of Mercy
19. Why are we here again?
20. Lancelot rode on a sway-backed mare mllelaurel
"Lancelot," by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer
21. Hey you, you're way ahead of me
22. You can't get through it, you can't get over it
23. It was 1946 and I was working at the hardware store
24. Long live the Marlboro Man
25. Down.  I'm compromising only I will be

So, it appears that the best day for most people is 2/23.  I will be arriving at Garment District around 2pm on 2/23.  Anyone coming from the Davis Square area who wants to travel with me is welcome to do so, drop me a line to plan to meet.

Also, I finally got the alert on their sale: it's this weekend.  I don't actually have any characters yet, so that doesn't really work for me.  They will have enitrely new stuff after the weekend, so our timing should still work out fine.  I might be tempted into going to Garment District early this Saturday or Sunday afternoon if people really want to, because I really like Garment District sales.  If you want to be temptation for this weekend, let me know.

In the past, I have often tried to pull together a group of people to go to Garment District together to get costuming for Intercon.  Frequently their end of winter sale is the weekend before Intercon, but they haven't announced it yet this year.  Since Intercon is approaching and people probably need costume bits whether or not Garment District is having their sale, I will announce a trip anyway.

I will be going to Garment District  one of the following times:
Friday 2/22 - Evening
Saturday 2/23 - Afternoon, meeting there sometime between 1pm and 4pm.  This could potentially including meeting for food before or after.
Sunday 2/24 - Afternoon, meeting there sometime between 1pm and 4pm.  This could potentially including meeting for food before or after.

Lacking shiny poll functionality, I would appreciate it if anyone who is interested in going (either for Intercon costumes, or just to go to Garment District with a group and find shiny clothing) would either post here or email me with the times that would work for you.  I will pick one that seems to work for as many people as possible and repost.

As most of you have probably heard, I spent the winter in Washington state and Costa Rica.  Washington was much fun of all the usual types.  There were shiny people, tasty food and good music.  Move the adjectives around however you like.

Costa Rica was much fun.  We spent several days in each of two different rainforest sites, and then 3 more days in a beautiful highland site.  All the worthwhile pictures are available here.

A few things that I thought were particularly spectacular (in other words, warning, too many pictures) can be found
Now, we just have to sort and mount hundreds of ants in order to turn this into a paper.  Oh, wait!  That's what undergrads are for!

I passed my thesis proposal.  Now back to actual research.

Note to self: When banging head against data to see if the obvious differences are significant, remember to try the basic tests that you teach to your students if such tests are appropriate.

I've never done one of these, but I had the perfect answer.

0. What is this?