Fun things in the mail

For Christmas, my friend Natasha and I exchanged gifts, but she sent hers later than I sent mine. She got her gifts before Christmas, but I didn’t, and so I’ve had to keep waiting. It was pretty unbearable, especially considering that we just had three days in a row without mail service: December 31 because it was a Sunday, January 1 because it was New Year’s Day, and January 2 because it was a national day of mourning for Gerald Ford. Thanks a lot, Gerald Ford. I had to wait until yesterday, when a bag-type package from Canada Post/Postes Canada finally came.

Inside, there were two souvenir shirts, a Christmas card, some postcards of local sights, stickers, and a patch, like for sewing on things. I’m really glad the stuff finally came. I love it, and I enjoy having more things around to remind me of her… not that I need to, anyway. While I’m thinking about it, I should mention that we’re just friends. Friends who like each other a lot, but “just” friends. She’s almost like a girlfriend to me; she does fill an emotional need or something like that. Shades of meaning.

Winter break has been good and exceptionally warm (I’ve unexpectedly wound up at the beach the last two nights), but it’s almost over, unfortunately. I’m probably going to have to go back to work tomorrow. I’m not really dreading it that much because I’m going to get paid. You don’t get paid for going to school, but I have until Tuesday to mull over that iniquity. Why do we go back Tuesday and not Monday? I don’t know, but I’m not complaining. Don’t you worry, though. I’ll be complaining soon.

For Greasemonkey users, I’ve written a user script that automatically answers the quesca on this site and hides it from your view, so you don’t have to worry about typing the answer every time you post a comment. Here’s the script’s page on userscripts.org, and here’s a direct link.

The 7 Wonders of the USA (and of each state), as chosen by somebody. A lot of them are tourist attractions, which explains why I’ve been to 5 of the 7 wonders in my state.

From the I’m Filing This Under “Weird” Dept., a video from the White House: Barney Cam V: Barney’s Holiday Extravaganza. It stars the President’s dogs, Barney and Miss Beazley, and features, among others, George W. Bush, Laura Bush, Karl Rove, Tony Snow, and Dolly Parton. That’s your tax dollars at work. Think of how many homeless people you could feed with that money.

2007

Happy New Year. It’s always weird to wake up to a new year because you always think, “Hey, it’s next year.” In reality, it’s always this year. The old this year, 2006, is now last year, and 2008 is now next year rather than the year after next. You’ll get used to it after a while. Historically, it’s taken me about a month to several months to get used to writing the new year instead of the old one, but I think 2007 is going to be different. After all, I’ve seen this one coming ever since I started high school in 2003. 2007 is our year! Though I can barely wrap my mind around it, we’re going to graduate in just a few months. And then: college! After all, 2007 is the new 2003. You see, I’ve really grown up these past few years; I’ve gone from dreading high school to dreading college. (Actually, I was worse about college back then: I couldn’t even stand to hear the word.)

Last night, I rang in the new year at my grandparents’ house. I brought my cell phone along (of course), and I put up an away message on AIM telling people to call me and wish me a happy new year. No one did, probably because they were all out partying themselves (yeah, that’s it). At one point, though, I decided to call Kevin, who lives in the same neighborhood as me and my grandparents, and deliver my New Year’s wishes. A few minutes later, he came over, so we chatted for a bit and passed the time playing cards (okay, Uno). He stayed for a few rounds, and before long, it was time for the countdown. And then, 2007 was here.

(Speaking of Uno, my sister says that her friend has relatives in Panama who call the game “One.” You know, I’d been wondering about that for a while…)

Yesterday, being New Year’s Eve and all, was also a good time to tie some loose ends. My friend Luke has been spearheading a project to compile an anthology of poetry and prose in reaction to the Darfur conflict. He asked me to contribute, and I agreed. It’s a really noble cause. The deadline for submission was pushed back to New Year’s Day, so I decided to get it done with. It really only took me a few minutes to come up with something meaningful (and slightly meta — it was about how my not writing was responsible for more deaths). For more information, check out Luke’s new Deadheads for Darfur blog.

Today I didn’t have much to do, so I created an implementation of Conway’s Game of Life in Visual Basic .NET. (It was designed by the same person who came up with the Doomsday algorithm.) Sure, the plane used in the “game” is supposed to be infinite, but for the sake of convenience, I made it 12×12. It took me a few good hours to code. There must have been an easier way. Either way, it’s fun to watch the shapes bounce around and change.

Here’s an animated map showing US County Formation from 1643-Present.

Now you, too, can measure areas with Google Maps by using this handy planimeter. Just click at least three points on the map to get the area, which is displayed in multiple units below the map. I estimated the area of my neighborhood at about a half of a square kilometer or 124.6 acres.