tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35601132011-04-21T14:16:00.810-07:00Lost and FoundI'm lost! I guess you've found me.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comBlogger341100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-1094606595881967892004-09-08T10:30:00.000-07:002004-09-08T10:31:17.286-07:00Well, I don't really have too much to say, but I suppose I'd best start somewhere. Uneventful day at work today except my main machine was dead when I came in and I was consequently less productive than I should have been. Corina (from work) is having her baby shower tomorrow. I think she's due in October.
Lynnette, Stacie, their mom and some of Lynnette's friends are going out to pizza tonight Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-1065835206533139222003-10-10T18:20:00.000-07:002003-10-10T18:20:06.460-07:00Okay, it's been 3 months since I posted last, so I'm going to just write something random in hopes of getting back into it.
R.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-1057017598515143152003-06-30T16:59:00.000-07:002003-06-30T17:17:13.690-07:00Stacie and I went and saw Lou Reed last night. Great show, really glad we went. Lou has four people in his band besides himself... Mike Rathke -- guitar that sounds like a piano & keyboards, Jane Scarpantoni -- Cello, Fernando Saunders -- drums & base guitar (sometimes at the same time which is a pretty good trick if you ask me) and 'Antony' -- vocals. Oh, and then there's Tai Chi Master Ren, butRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-959892062003-06-24T11:34:00.000-07:002003-06-24T11:34:19.483-07:00Okay, I guess it was the template. Mirabai, you're going to have to email me the code I need to insert for comments if y'all want to shout back. (robkni@microsoft.com).
Current thoughts are about action versus avoidance. Sometimes it's easy for me to categorize how I feel and what I do in largely binary terms (good, productive vs. bad, unproductive, etc.) But I've been trying to come up with a Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-959887652003-06-24T11:20:00.000-07:002003-06-24T11:20:25.113-07:00Trying this again with new template...Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-959883372003-06-24T11:06:00.000-07:002003-06-24T11:06:01.063-07:00Okay, I'm going to try to post again. I think I may have to redo my profile, but let's see...Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-858623512002-12-11T15:18:00.000-08:002003-06-24T11:07:18.000-07:00K... Haven't felt like posting but I'm going to make myself. (At the recent prompting of William and ubiquitous prompting of Mira.)
For now, this says all I have to say better than I could myself: Uh... yeah."
Testing...Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-814809712002-09-11T17:04:00.000-07:002003-06-24T11:10:37.000-07:00Okay, I'm bad. I promised all kinds of nice, cogent synthesis and profound analysis of my trip, but I've finally come to the conclusion that I just don't have it in me. I have become obsessed with the rythyms of my life and consequently my observations and musings have taken a turn for the mundane.
In general, I am not a fan of introspective writing (particularly introspective poetry) but I Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-806628222002-08-24T12:37:00.000-07:002002-08-24T12:37:53.970-07:00Hey all. I know that I've been very bad about keeping up on the blog but I just haven't had the wherewithal to write. SPB was really great. Maybe I'll do my best to write up a bit.
Highlights were seeing a Verdi opera, visiting the Hermitage museum, lots of coffee and goodies on Nevsky Prospect, The Idiot Cafe, the hostel, wandering.
I'll do my best to scribble something out. Wow... I'll be Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-803135902002-08-16T03:24:00.000-07:002002-08-16T03:35:17.000-07:00Hey ho. So I'm staying in the Holiday Hostel in SPB and it's pretty cool. It's noisy at all hours of the day and night (seemingly just like everywhere else I've been in Moscow and SPB) but that's okay. My 'roommate' is a Danish guy in his early 50's that's an electronics tech. He's really nice and very easy going. I had an amusing talk with a London gal who's teaching English near SPB last night.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-802428772002-08-14T12:32:00.000-07:002002-08-14T12:32:24.763-07:00Hey all, I'm in St Petersburg and I already like it more than Moscow. It definitely has more of a European feel than Moscow, has nicer architecture and feels way hipper. There are a lot of street musicians (same as in Moscow), some high quality art being sold on the street and even baby dykes holding hands and walking down the street! It made me homesick. It reminded me of an article in Salon Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-801027442002-08-11T09:59:00.000-07:002002-08-11T09:59:44.750-07:00Hey all. I can't seem to log onto hotmail... or any other Microsoft site for that matter (MSN, MSNBC). Stacie, is Redmond still there, or has it been consumed by a wrathful, blazing, column of righteous, cleansing fire from God?
Hmmm, I seem to be suffering from too many adjectives. Must be the dearth of face-to-face convo, don't-cha-know.
In any event, hopefully I'll be able to check email Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-800617392002-08-10T01:51:00.000-07:002002-08-10T01:51:29.473-07:00Hey ho. I am planning a trip to St Petersburg on Monday or Tuesday, so perhaps I will have stories to write about in a few days. I currently have nothing intersting to say because my limbs feel like lead and my mind feels like mist. I am... metaphyically soggy.
Take care all.
R.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-798885022002-08-06T05:53:00.000-07:002002-08-07T10:08:17.000-07:00Hello all. I just got back from Dubrovki. Whew! Interesting trip. Where to begin? Well, I suppose with the cast of characters:
Pasha (My host, age 38)
Olesya (Pasha's lovely wife; age approximately 28 by my estimate)
Aleg (All-purpose worker whose roles included mechanic, welder, carpenter, hay baler, etc.; age approximately 33 by my estimate)
Masha (Pasha and Olesya's beautiful daughter; age Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-796451612002-07-31T09:00:00.000-07:002002-07-31T09:00:13.476-07:00Sorry chickens, I just haven't had the mojo to write. Moscow is hazy and smokey and languidly hot. I did have a nice morning cleaning the apartment and making myself some eggs and potatoes but that just doesn't seem to have the majestic power that say, writing about lint or cobblestones might.
The most interesting thought to enter my head today was the fact that if you take away the FL- from Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-795080392002-07-28T04:50:00.000-07:002002-07-28T04:50:18.500-07:00So... I was walking down Tverskaya when I see a plastic packet hit the ground, a hundred dollar bill wrapped around other bills. Now, this was a large wad of cash; my estimate: approximately two stacks of 100 notes for a total of around $20,000 if they were all hundreds. Right then, this huge, young, blond guy scoops up the packet and says to me, "50-50, okay?".
So immediately, I'm thinking, Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-794724412002-07-27T05:30:00.000-07:002002-07-27T05:34:08.000-07:00Here's a letter I sent to the editor of 'Exile.ru'. The paper is... extraordinary. Let me know what y'all think. Given the nature of the paper, I know I'm to either be ignore or roasted, but that's cool.
Take care all,
R.
I've always imagined devils and angels as having fixed natures, immutable minds. That's why they can be so excellent, embodying Socratic virtue that is utterly divorced from Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-793938572002-07-25T07:48:00.000-07:002002-07-25T07:50:49.000-07:00I'm not feeling particularly inspired today and I don't have any good stories so I'm going to be boring. I went to the national museum yesterday. I forget exactly what it's called, but it's named after some Moscow merchant that donated a bunch of pretensious, crappy pictures to the country. I was really cranky and annoyed by it. Okay, I know that it wasn't as bad as it felt, but it had the Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-792666112002-07-22T11:56:00.000-07:002002-07-22T11:56:27.103-07:00Hey all. Could someone please wish Michael happy birthday from me? I don't think he reads the blog but if he does, happy (belated) birthday, Michael!
R.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-792233422002-07-21T10:42:00.000-07:002002-07-21T11:46:15.000-07:00As promised, here are a few thoughts on some of the art in the Pushkin Museum that I wrote earlier today.
Of the Renaisance era paintings, two in particular struck me. One was by Bartolome Esteban Murillo called Archangel Raphael and Bishop Domonte. It was most incongruous thing... the painting was huge, maybe ten feet tall with Michael dominating the whole frame, wearing these really cool Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-792230082002-07-21T10:29:00.000-07:002002-07-21T10:29:04.800-07:00A good case for reincarnation, a bad example of airline security (or a good example of just how far overeating has gone in the U.S.) -- A 280-pound sea lion arose from San Francisco Bay, crossed two runways, and made it to a terminal at SFX airport before security detected it.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-791943982002-07-20T12:03:00.000-07:002002-07-20T13:25:49.000-07:00This week's tale:
Chapter 1 The road to hell
Chapter 2: Two boats and a helicopter or, "I was a software tester on the Flying Dutchman and all I got was this lousy t-shirt!"
Ye gads, another week has gone by! Thank you all for your wonderful comments! Mirabai, Stacie, Madre, Daniela, Sara... Sara! How positively delightful to hear from you, kiddo. I want more. Skajeetye, pujalysta!
Well, I Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-789686612002-07-15T04:15:00.000-07:002002-07-15T04:21:58.000-07:00Well, I am here in Moscow. It is currently 2:30 PM on Monday and I arrived Thursday night local time. In the four days I've been here, I've mostly just hung out. I haven't been sleeping much which definitely adds to the surreal quality of the whole experience. I certainly have a lot to process. One thing that is probably obvous to you all, but didn't really occur to me until I got here, is just Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-787091252002-07-08T18:17:00.000-07:002002-07-15T04:22:37.000-07:00So I'm at the end of my second-to-last day of work before I fly off to Russia. I'm still focusing narrowly on the task at hand... One step... another step... another... It doesn't seem real yet. I feel so very unsettled that I don't know what I'm feeling; but I know that I'm feeling something because of the way I react to people around me. I might blow-up at someone unfairly or get euphoric at Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-785982742002-07-05T15:48:00.000-07:002002-07-06T13:28:39.000-07:00My mind is wandering. I posed to myself the following question: What is the most amusing "Adjective" with "Emotion" pairing you can come up with? The following is what I have so far:
Fragrant with distress
Flatulent with desire
R.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-785927712002-07-05T12:01:00.000-07:002002-07-06T13:27:48.000-07:00"The metric system is the tool of the devil! My car gets forty rods to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it!" --Abe Simpson Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-782481122002-06-26T18:18:00.000-07:002002-06-26T18:23:47.000-07:00More cosmic irony: Coffee makes slugs die. An excerpt: "large slugs...sprayed with a one or two percent solution of caffeine responded with uncoordinated writhing; the only survivors were the few that were able to burrow into the soil."Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-782478762002-06-26T18:11:00.000-07:002002-06-26T18:11:34.000-07:00I may not know art, but I know what I like: Art
Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-781957352002-06-25T15:12:00.000-07:002002-06-25T15:12:33.766-07:00This is cool. Here's supposedly the most accurate, scientific account of a consciousness after being guillotined:30seconds Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-781942172002-06-25T14:30:00.000-07:002002-06-25T14:53:12.000-07:00Here's a link to where you can stream John Digweed's Global Underground: Sydney (Disks 1 & 2) GlobalUnderground. I love this CD set. It's one of the few techno CDs I own and has the capacity to hit my mood reset button better than anything else I'm currently listening to. I've got lots and lots of testing to do, so I need something to free my soul while my mind and body are chained.
R.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-781598382002-06-24T19:45:00.000-07:002002-06-24T19:45:16.970-07:00I added some links inluding one to some pictures. Feel free to comment on or add pics!Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-779563402002-06-19T17:10:00.000-07:002002-06-19T18:35:53.000-07:00Comments, caves, free genes, Russia, places to pee
Well, according to the gospel of Mirabai, I've added the ability to post comments on the blog. Please try it and let me know if it works.
Here's an article about caving the catacombs under Paris,
Catacombs that does a beautiful job of capturing the neo-anarchist spirit of the youths of Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age. It's a beautiful thing Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-777479712002-06-14T11:15:00.000-07:002002-06-14T11:16:47.000-07:00Well, Mirabai has been bitching about me not putting anything in my blog, so I guess I better do it.
First things first... Porn! This is one of the more disturbing things I've seen that I actually find funny. Generally I am immune to the lowest forms of humor but for whatever reason, this just cracked me up.
http://www.modernhumorist.com/mh/0205/free/
For those who don't know, it's Stacie's Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3560113.post-774691872002-06-07T10:45:00.000-07:002002-06-07T11:13:21.000-07:00Just checking to see if I can get this thing working. How does one create a link? Do you just type the URL, like this: www.salon.com, or do you need to type the html code too? www.salon.com
Okay, that seems to work.
Well, I may as well put something here.
So, I think I was hitting on this guy at work the other day, though I was completely oblivous to the fact until it was pointed out to me.
Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803855967736961984noreply@blogger.com